The ‘Smokeshow’ is done for IMPACT Wrestling.
IMPACT Wrestling confirms that it has released Scarlett Bordeaux from her commitments to IMPACT. We wish her every success in her future endeavors.
IMPACT Wrestling has not yet granted a release for Killer Kross.
Former IMPACT Wrestling World Champion, Eli Drake, is officially done with the company, according to Drake. In April of 2019, IMPACT Wrestling announced that they are parting ways with Drake and the termination of the contract was made official as of May 31.
According to the original report from PWTorch, Drake refused to work a match with former IMPACT Women’s Champion, Tessa Blanchard.
Drake said in a statement on Tuesday that he was a free agent.
“After 4 years with Impact Wrestling, some ups, some downs, I would like to thank them for the overall great experience. Through these years, I had the fortune of carrying 3 different title belts, having my own talk show (Fact of Life), and was always given the trust to craft my own promos, virtually from day 1. I appreciate the chance that was taken on me and the trust I was given, as well as the friends and experiences I gained along the way. I wish Impact Wrestling nothing but continued success and growth moving forward.
Today, I am OFFICIALLY a FREE AGENT”
Where would you like to see Eli Drake next?
IMPACT Wrestling Announces New UK TV Deal with 5STAR
TORONTO | LONDON – IMPACT Wrestling, a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp., announced today a new broadcast deal with Viacom-owned Channel 5 to broadcast its flagship weekly show IMPACT! on 5STAR across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland starting on April 26, 2019.
This is a renewal of the partnership of IMPACT Wrestling’s deal with Channel 5, which launched IMPACT! on 5Spike in spring 2017. 5STAR, which is also part of the Channel 5 stable, is available on Sky TV (128), Freeview (30), Freesat (131), Virgin Media (151) and other DTT platforms.
New episodes of IMPACT! will premiere on 5STAR from 26th April at 11pm with weekly episodes airing in the same timeslot on Friday nights.
“Since IMPACT Wrestling’s inception in 2002, the UK has always been one of our most passionate markets,” said Ed Nordholm, president of IMPACT Wrestling. “We are excited to extend our broadcast partnership with Channel 5 and launch our weekly programming on 5Star, whose younger audience more effectively aligns with our core fan base.”
Cherry Yeandle, Senior Manager, Acquisitions and Co-Productions said: “We are thrilled to be continuing our relationship with IMPACT Wrestling and are looking forward to bringing all of the high-octane action to 5STAR. As well as quenching the appetite of the UK fans with this flagship weekly show, we are excited to introduce a new audience to all the wrestling drama – with its young audience demographic, we see 5STAR as a perfect fit.”
In 2018, IMPACT Wrestling enjoyed strong weekly audiences on 5Spike and a social media reach of over 48 million in the UK.
IMPACT Wrestling showcases top professional wrestling stars such as IMPACT World Champion Johnny Impact, Rob Van Dam, Brian Cage, Moose, Killer Kross, Eddie Edwards and Sami Callihan, Mexican superstars such as Pentagon Jr. and Fenix, the high-flying X-Division and the Knockouts, including Champion Taya Valkyrie, third-generation star Tessa Blanchard and Rosemary.
For more information, visit www.impactwrestling.com and www.channel5.com/5star.
About IMPACT Wrestling
IMPACT Wrestling is one of the world’s largest wrestling entertainment properties, creating more than 300 hours of original content annually across television and other digital platforms. IMPACT Wrestling specializes in creating premium content, events, products, merchandise and music, as well as the management and promotion of professional wrestlers. Its highly successful flagship, IMPACT!, is broadcast globally, including Fridays at 10 p.m. ET/PT worldwide on Twitch, Pursuit Channel in the United States, Fight Network and GameTV in Canada, Sony ESPN in India, 5Star and Fight Network in the United Kingdom, SuperSport in Africa, and MVStv in Mexico.
For more information visit www.impactwrestling.com.
About 5STAR
5STAR is the home to drama, documentaries, factual entertainment and comedy for young audiences. Launching in Britain in October 2006, the channel rebranded as 5STAR in 2016 under the ownership of Viacom International Media Networks. 5STAR is available on main digital TV platforms in the UK, including Sky TV (128), Freesat (31), Virgin Media (151) and Freeview (30). The channel reaches over a quarter of the UK viewing public each month as a sister channel to Channel 5, 5USA and 5Spike. Over the past few years original content on the channel has grown including, Celebs on the Farm, Young Dumb and Banged Up in the Sun and Rich Kids Go Skint, alongside UK drama, Clink.
IMPACT Wrestling has announced that it has parted ways with former IMPACT Heavyweight Champion, Eli Drake.
Drake’s contract was set to expire next month. Over the last few months, Drake began to push back against IMPACT creative.
Statement from IMPACT: “Impact Wrestling announced today that it has terminated its relationship with Shaun Ricker, known as ‘Eli Drake’.”
The report from PWTorch is that Drake refused to do a match with Tessa Blanchard.
WWE has announced that Kurt Angle will be wrestling his final WWE Smackdown Live! match this week. For the first time in a WWE ring, WWE and TNA Hall of Fame member Kurt Angle will go one on one with AJ Styles.
Styles and Angle had some incredible matches over the years in TNA.
.@AJStylesOrg has a message for @RealKurtAngle heading into his last ever #SDLive match this Tuesday Night. #WWEBuffalo pic.twitter.com/zLolpNO4ob
— WWE (@WWE) March 24, 2019
Former Impact Wrestling, WWE, and ECW Champion, Rob Van Dam, is set to return to Impact Wrestling. He is currently set to team with Sabu to take on Pentagon Jr. and Fenix in an Extreme Dream match at United We Stand.
RVD dropped the news on TV Insider while promoting his new documentary.
“There are people who have RVD money. But having said that, I can tell you after talking so much about AEW, Impact Wrestling also has RVD money,” he said. I don’t know if I’m spoiling any big announcement or anything, but yes.”
Commentary: I wonder if this will be a short term deal or an ongoing deal fo RVD.
IMPACT Wrestling announced today that they have renewed their contract with current superstar, Moose. Moose has been on of the cornerstones of the promotion in the last year. In their announcement, IMPACT Posted a video of Moose cutting a promo on the promotion. In the promo, Moose says how badly the company has treated him, yet he decided to renew his deal. Quite strange.
As first reported by @sportingnews, @TheMooseNation has signed a new contract with IMPACT Wrestling!
— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) March 4, 2019
Mr. IMPACT Wrestling is here to stay! pic.twitter.com/xxGjLW1HmV
Commentary: In a changing world, I am surprised that Moose decided to stay with IMPACT. It show that either there was no interest from AEW or WWE or that IMPACT is spending money again.
IMPACT Wrestling was struggling on POP TV to maintain its 130,000-170,000 weekly viewers. Since moving to the Pursuit Channel, the brands viewership has crashed and burned, to say the least.
Let’s put it this way: For the last month, numbers for IMPACT Wrestling on Pursuit were not available because it hadn’t broken the top 150 shows on cable. Dave Meltzer has gotten the number of viewers for IMPACT Wrestling.
Up until now, the only numbers that we were able to get were off their Twitch channel, which was about 15,000 views. On Pursuit, they are averaging about 7.000-12,000 views. Pursuit is happy as that is a nice increase for the network, but that is less than 10% of the audience they had on POP. Heck, that is less than 5% of their viewership back on Spike TV.
Commentary: This is a terrible number for IMPACT Wrestling. The only good thing going for IMPACT right now is their Youtube channel getting between 20,000-40,000 views.
PWInsider is reporting that IMPACT Wrestling has lost two of their creative team members who are believed to be WWE bound. These names are major blows to IMPACT’s creative team.
IMPACT Wrestling Hall of Famer Abyss has exited the company as well as Creative Team member, Sonjay Dutt. IMPACT Wrestling informed their roster via email that the two have left the company.
Abyss was the longest tenured wrestler (and probably employee) of IMPACT Wrestling having been with the company since 2012. Sonjay has been in and out of IMPACT over the years.
Their replacements are Tommy Dreamer and Konan.
Scheduled for tonights debut episode of Impact Wrestling on Pursuit TV (simulcasting on their Twitch.TV channel) tonight:
*The Lucha Bros vs. Zachary Wentz and Desmond Xavier of The Rascalz.
*Willie Mack vs. Sami Callihan
*Tessa Blanchard in action
*Johnny Impact seeks revenge on Killer Kross.
*The Dark Allie-Rosemary storyline will continue.