For too long, Impact Wrestling has taken the backseat to the whole brand warfare between WWE and AEW. What started out in 2002 as NWA: Total Nonstop Action, quickly built a brand for itself. TNA left its mark and more on the professional wrestling world and rebranded itself to Impact Wrestling in 2017.
While the years haven’t always been kind to the company, they have continuously put out some of the top talents in the world. AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, and Christopher Daniels are just a few to make a name for themselves in TNA and became household names today. Impact held its annual “Hard to Kill” event on Friday night, and it certainly did not disappoint.
The show kicked off with an incredible match between Josh Alexander and Bully Ray for the Impact World Championship. Alexander would be victorious and continue to look like a beast over a very game Bully Ray. That match featured everything that a fan could want in a wrestling match. From hardcore, to hard-hitting, it had it all.
#ANDSTILL IMPACT World Champion! @Walking_Weapon #HardToKill pic.twitter.com/ii38NHJJh2
— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) January 14, 2023
Bully Ray winning the #1 Contendership in the Bound For Glory battle royale was met with a lot of boos. However, it is time to give Bully his flowers. Bully Ray can still be a top heel in any company. He makes people who he steps into the ring with look good, and most importantly, he makes fans still feel something. Whether you hate him, or you love him, Bully Ray makes an “Impact” wherever he goes.
Later on, an Impact original Frankie Kazarian returned to Impact and announced he has signed a long-term deal with the company. Over the course of the past couple of years, Impact has really gone back to its TNA roots in the best way possible. Motor City Machine Guns returned and are the current Impact Tag Team Champions, Eric Young had another nice solid run, and now Frankie Kazarian is back.
Santino Marella was revealed to be the new authority figure, PCO returned to confront Eddie Edwards, and Mickie James and Jordynne Grace had a great main event in a “Title vs. Career” match. This match culminated with Mickie James winning the Knockouts Championship and keeping her career alive.
SHE DID IT! @MickieJames is the NEW Knockouts World Champion! #HardToKill pic.twitter.com/wYiIqADwd0
— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) January 14, 2023
The TNA originals, mesh well with the Impact stars of today. Violent By Design, Moose, the Major Players, Trey Miguel, Joe Hendry, Ace Austin, Chris Bey, Sami Callihan, Eddie Edwards, and Josh Alexander are just some of the new faces Impact has put out.
One of the best things that set Impact away from other companies is its X-Division. Led by the X-Division Champion, Trey Miguel, Impact’s X-Division has put them on the map for the past 20 years, and not much has changed.
Impact also has one of the top women’s divisions in all of professional wrestling. The “knockouts” division features the likes of Deonna Purrazzo, Masha Slamovich, Taylor Wilde, Killer Kelly, Tasha Steelz, Gisele Shaw, Jordynne Grace, and of course, the new Knockouts Champion Mickie James.
Snow Plow on EVERYBODY! @mashaslamovich #HardToKill pic.twitter.com/Eu5zc4NbNH
— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) January 14, 2023
Simply put, Impact is on another level right now. While fans continue to fight over which is better between WWE, and AEW, it is time to add one more promotion to that mix. This is why it is time for fans to know about Impact Wrestling.
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