IMPACT Wrestling and Pursuit Channel Announce Broadcast Agreement to Televise IMPACT! Nationally Across the U.S.

IMPACT! to Premiere Weekly on Fridays at 10:00 p.m. ET on Pursuit Channel, Starting on Jan. 11

TORONTO | LUVERNE – IMPACT Wrestling, a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp., announced today it has entered into an agreement to broadcast its flagship weekly two-hour program IMPACT! nationally across the U.S. on Pursuit Channel, the most widely distributed outdoor network and one of the fastest growing channels in the country.

Beginning on Friday, Jan. 11, featuring the aftermath of Homecoming, IMPACT Wrestling’s first marquee pay-per-view event of the year, IMPACT! will air weekly on Pursuit Channel on Friday nights at 10:00 p.m. ET.

“Pursuit Channel is a natural fit for IMPACT!” said Ed Nordholm, president of IMPACT Wrestling. “It has a passionate viewership base that correlates strongly with our core audience, and is one of the few broadcast destinations that is expanding its footprint, enjoying a 15% increase in broadcast distribution this year alone. With IMPACT Wrestling coming off a tremendous year of audience growth globally and positive fan engagement, we look forward to leveraging our respective resources to bring fans more of the wrestling content they want to see: tougher, edgier action.”

“Pursuit Channel is pleased to welcome IMPACT Wrestling into our Friday night lineup of popular shows,” said Rusty Faulk, CEO and founder of Pursuit Channel. “IMPACT Wrestling programming is perfect for our audience, which enjoys adventurous content to feed their wild side. We look forward to a long partnership and providing our fans with new and exciting world-class content while expanding IMPACT Wrestling’s audience to a new base.”

Showcasing top professional wrestling stars such as IMPACT World Champion Johnny Impact, who starred in the most recent season of the hit CBS show Survivor, plus Brian Cage, Eli Drake, Moose, Eddie Edwards, Sami Callihan, Pentagon Jr., Fenix, Rich Swann, the high-flying X-Division and the Knockouts, including Champion Tessa Blanchard, Taya Valkyrie, Rosemary, Allie and Su Yung, IMPACT! has been a leading destination for professional wrestling fans, televised globally in 120 countries since its inception in 2002, while growing its popularity and reach on YouTube, Twitch, Pluto and social media platforms.

For more information, visit www.impactwrestling.com and www.pursuitchannel.com.

Ultimate X Returns

IMPACT Wrestling returns to Nashville in January for their first ever Homecoming event. According to SEScoops, IMPACT will be having an Ultimate X match to determine who will be the next X Division Champion after current champion Brian Cage announced that he will be cashing in on Option C.

Basic rules for Ultimate X:

• 3 or more participants (at Homecoming there will be 4).
• The X-Division Title or a giant red “X” are placed high above the ring (at Homecoming it will be the title).
• Two cables are attached high above the ring with the title or X placed in the middle.
• The first wrestler to grab the title or X is declared the winner.

LAX Pulled From Evolve

LAX was announced and advertise for an event with EVOLVE. However, Gabe Sapolsky has announced via Twitter that IMPACT Wrestling has pulled LAX from the show. EVOLVE is working on replacements.

Impact Wrestling has pulled LAX off the 12/15 & 16 dates. Working on replacements now. I was just informed. Our apologies to the fans.

— Gabe Sapolsky (@BookItGabe) November 27, 2018

This Week’s Preview

*Pentagon Jr. & Rey Fenix vs. Willie Mack & Rich Swann.

*A deep look at Johnny Impact vs. Brian Cage at Homecoming.

*Jordynne Grace vs. Katarina.

*Tommy Dreamer vs. Eli Drake.

*The Rascalz make their debut.

Scarlett Bordeaux Is Uber Popular

PWinsider is stating that “The Smokeshow”, Scarlett Bordeaux has one of the consistently long lines at the WrestleCade event last weekend. Bordeaux was well received at the IMPACT tapings I attended in Vegas earlier this month.

IMPACT In CALI

IMPACT Wrestling will be in Northern California this weekend. PWINSIDER:

The promotion will have a live event titled Gold Rush this Friday 11/30 in Newark, CA from the Newark Pavilion, streaming live on Impact’s Twitch channel with the following announced lineup:

*Impact Championship Johnny Impact vs Eli Drake.
*Impact Knockouts Champion Tessa Blachard vs Kiera Hogan (non-title).
*Brian Cage vs Moose.
*Dave Crist & Jake Crist) vs BTW Tag Team Champions The Freaks (non-title).
*Eddie Edwards vs BTW Heavyweight Champion “The Jackpot” Scotty Wringer (non-title).
*Matt Sydal vs Rich Swann.

IMPACT Wrestling has their week of TV tapings in Las Vegas, Nevada. From Sam’s Town Live, IMPACT had a really good week of tapings. I drove from Los Angeles to Vegas to watch night one of the tapings and I was immensely impressed.

A few things to note from the TV taping that I witnessed.

They started right on time. On night one, the show seemed sold out. I am going to reach out to IMPACT and see if they were sold out. The tapings were essentially a fast-paced version of the show. I really enjoyed the wrestling side of the tapings from start to finish. They only had two major promos and we didn’t see any backstage shots.

I hope that IMPACT  decides to make their TV product more like the tapings: Less backstage stuff, less craziness, and focus on in-ring action. If IMPACT can cut the fat from their TV tapings, they should do it.

 

At Impacts Vegas taping, it was announced that IMPACT Knockouts Champion, Tessa Blanchard will defend the title vs. Taya Valkyrie. The match will take place at IMPACT Homecoming on January 6th in Nashville.

I arrived pretty early to the Impact Wrestling taping in Las Vegas at Sam’s Town Live. There was a line out the into the casino floor to get into the venue. One of the things I looked for going into the venue was for any promotional material for the show. I didn’t see any. For other shows from ROH and Paragon Pro, there were signs and digital advertising for the event. I didn’t see any. They have their nice new stage that they debut at Redemption. I’ve been to sams a few times for Wrestling, Impact’s set up is probably the best I’ve seen. The Pillars of Destiny (Hunter & Jackson?) vs. The One Percent (Joerel Nelson & Royce Isaacs). The Pillars of Destiny win with an impressive slam off the second rope and then a diving head put off from another turn buckle. Both teams have really good looks. It’s time for Impact to start. IMPACT Wrestling tapings began. There were about 5-7 minutes of downtime where the crowd then chanted “Awkward silence” and Josh Mathews approved. Match One:  Fallah Bahh and KM vs. LAX with Konan. Fallah in the match first with Santana. Ortiz, from the apron, yells at Santana to knock Fallah off his feet. Pretty funny moment. LAX attempts to do a double suplex on KM but KM reverses it. LAX takes the win. LAX was super over with the Vegas crowd. The ring announcers comes out and announce that the next match will be the opener for one of their show. So they are going to tape out of sequence, Match Two: Ray Lyn vs. Impact Wrestling Women’s Champion Tessa Blanchard. Ray Lyn has a very impressive series of kicks. Blanchard stops her and takes control of the match. Blanchard presses Lyn above her head and drops her into a knee to the face. Blanchard does a cutter move. Lyn is able to regain control of the match and does a running knee into the corner. Hurricanronna. The crowd is really into Blanchard. Winner: Knockout’s Champion Tessa Blanchard After the match, Blanchard grabs the microphone and calls out Taya Valkyrie. Blanchard says that she’s been called every name in the book and Taya has made too many excuses. She said Taya’s nots the champion because she is. Blanchard asks how it feels to be nothing more than Johnny Impacts Wife. The crowd ate that up. Cue Taya’s music. She runs to the ring and Blanchard bails. Taya says that Tessa’s running. She said she is Johnny’s wife and proud of it, She says shes also the “Weda Loca”, and the Queen of Lucha Libre. Match is set: Taya Valkyrie vs.Tessa Blanchard in Nashville. Up next: Matt Sydal vs. Impact Wrestling World Champion, Johnny Impact. Impact is super over. Impact is in control of the match from the start. Impact throws Sydal into the corner and runs after him, but is kicked out of the rin by Sydal. First pin attempt is by Sydal with a two count. Impact attempts a Starship Pain but Page pulls Sydal out fo the ring. The two brawl outside the ring for a second. Sydal throws Impact into the ring. Superkick. Sydal goes tot he top rope but Impact stops him. Impact hits the Starship Pain and wins the match. After the match, Killer Kross comes out to the ring. Great reception from the crowd. Killer Kross starts with a very deep voice saying “Hello John”. Kross is super over. Kross says when he started in the business, he wanted to be the catalyst for change. Kross says that he lost to IMPACT fair and square as the crowd chants “one more time”. Kross says that maybe he isn’t the catalyst of change and maybe Impact is. Sounds like Kross is getting ready to offer an alliance of sorts to Impact. Looks like Impact is going to shake Kross’ hand, but instead, he grabs the microphone. Impact says that the crowd doesn’t know Kross as Impact does. He said straight up that Impact doesn’t trust Kross. Eli Drake is out to cut a promo. The crowd begins to chant “ELI. DRAKE” and then “SUCKS!”. Eli responds by saying “I didn’t ask any of you, dummies”. Drake then says he’s the last of a dying breed. Drake says that he ended Abyss’ career. Drake says that companies can’t sell out buildings and ratings tanking (after Impact gets record low ratings). As Drake is saying he will kill the gimmicks in wrestling, Tommy Dreamer comes out to the ring. Dreamer says that its skinny jean wearing millennials who forgot what wrestling is. Says “Hardcore is a lifestyle”. Dreamer says the most “Hardcore” people are the fans”. Dreamer and Drake tease a fight but Drake runs. Heather Monroe vs. Su Yung. Su Yung wins by submission. I missed the angle that happened next. Rich Swan & Willie Mack vs. Lucha Brothers. Willie Mack has an impressive standing hurricanronna. Lucha Brothers win the match. LAX comes out after the match. They show respect to each other. Ortiz grabs the microphone and says the match was legit. LAX says that they are looking for their next challengers. They said that they’ve been all over the world defending and retaining theit titles. LAX says that they want to give their “Familia” a chance for the titles. LAX challenges the Lucha Brothers for a title match at Homecoming on January 6 from Nashville. Off camera: the ring announcer comes out and tries to get the crowd pumped. He tries to do a “YES” chant and gets booed out of the arena.    Knockouts action. Katarina vs. Jordynne Grace. Grace wins by submission. This was an incredible match. Some filler matches I missed going to the restroom. X Division Championship Brian Cage vs. Sammi Callihan. Cage wins.