Impact Wrestling - Destination Unknown

**God** · 11-27-2015, 04:20 PM

Towards the end of 2015, Destination America announced it had cancelled Impact Wrestling. The networks highest rated show. After Bound for Glory in October, Impact Wrestling went off the air and took a few months to re-group. Instead of wasting time looking for a new network that could easily do the same in a year’s time, Impact Wrestling announced the launch of their very own streaming service, titled Impact on Demand, set for a March 2016 launch. The cost would only be $4.99 and would include weekly editions of Impact Wrestling as well as the entire back catalog of weekly shows, monthly and weekly pay per view events and even all previous DVD releases from the company. Some questioned why the venture was being delayed until March when they have show’s announced for the UK in January. The simple answer was TV rights. Impact Wrestling would not have been allowed offer the service outside of the United States before March as that is when the vast majority of their international contracts expire. The big exception is the recent Sony Six deal from India, worth an estimated $60 million. Come March, they can launch everywhere except India.

The money from the Sony Six deal was used to finance the launch of Impact on Demand, we well as making some major changes to the way the company was run. The biggest change is also one that is sure to anger the WWE as Impact Wrestling now considered all contracted talent to be employees, rather than Independent Contractors. This means all talent who took the new contracts on offer are now on a guaranteed monthly salary as well as bring provided with full medical care, assuming the injury occurs while working for Impact Wrestling, or one of their partners. Anybody who opted to remain an independent contractor can continue to work wherever they choose but are only paid per appearance, and don’t get the medical benefits. The vast majority of the roster switched to the new contracts without much debate. Those that didn’t, do so under the idea of not giving up their other bookings.

The promotions who signed up to work with Impact Wrestling as partners going forward are Jeff Jarrett’s Global Force Wrestling (GFW), Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore (HoH), Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) from Mexico, Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) from Scotland and the DJ Hyde owned duo of Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) and Women Superstars Uncensored (WSU). Impact Wrestling did reach out to All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) but were unable to come to an agreement. AJPW are more focused right now on staying alive. Impact Wrestling were selling an alliance similar to what Ring of Honor (ROH) have arranged with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) that benefits all parties involved, but AJPW still showed little interest and talks broke down.

With things suddenly looking a whole lot more positive for Impact Wrestling, they announced that all three nights of the Maximum Impact tour would be recorded and would then be the first three new shows to be added to Impact on Demand. In an attempt to generate a little extra buzz, Impact Wrestling announced that Zack Sabre Jr. would be appearing on all three events in the UK as he competes against Manik in a best of three series. The winner of that Series will be granted a future X-Division Championship match.

**God** · 11-27-2015, 04:26 PM

Current Champions

World Championship
Drew Galloway (1)
Since: 31/01/2016
Championship History

Knockouts Championship
Gail Kim (5)
Since: 16/09/2015
Championship History

X-Division Championship
Rockstar Spud (3)
Since: 31/01/2016
Championship History

World Tag Team Championships
Mike Bennett (1) and Matt Taven (1)
Since: 07/08/2016
Championship History

Other Accomplishments

Bound for Glory Series
Ethan Carter III (1)
History

Queen of the Knockouts
To Be Determined
History

Super X Cup
To Be Determined
History

Gold Rush Rumble
Tyrus (1)
History

Active Roster

Injured

Guests

Part time Roster

Hall of Fame

Partnerships

Spoiler:

**The Pitbull** · 11-27-2015, 09:44 PM

I like the streaming service idea. But i really hope you use the partnerships to boost your roster . Right now Impact Wrestling needs more than 5 other wrestlers to sign. Also you need some tag teams.

**Kilik** · 11-27-2015, 10:08 PM

The changes that you've made to this company are pretty damn groundbreaking. They make more than their fair share of sense from a business standpoint and they also put Impact Wrestling in a league of their own. Just offering a streaming service for 4.99 is a bold move from a company that many perceive to have fallen off. It's going to take some serious work to get the casual viewer interested/re-interested enough to invest $5 every month to watch it. But I'm sure you'll have no problem delivering on that end. The partnerships will help in a major way as well since they'll get more outside eyes onto your product as well as offer a somewhat fresh roster change every once in a while. It won't be just Tigre Uno vs DJ Z vs Kenny King for the X-Division anymore. Fresh faces always help when it comes to attracting fans and creating storylines. Can't wait to see what you have in store. I do, however, have a small question about some partnerships. I know you have partners with some of their main partners, but was Lucha Underground ever approached as a potential partner? I just kinda thought that with their TV deal in place, them also being partners with AAA and their past common interest in Hernandez that they'd be a natural partner for Impact. Both parties get even more exposure and Impact doesn't have to have a TV deal just to draw some TV viewers to their product.

**Gambit** · 11-28-2015, 01:27 AM

This BTB has certainly caught my attention. I look forward to seeing what you are going to do with it.

**RobyD** · 11-28-2015, 03:12 AM

I'm interested in this. Most BTB's are very hard to get into, but you've proven over again that you can be innovative and present a palatable idea worth reading. I love all of the common sense that is put into the story to bring it to life.

**NovaPen** · 11-28-2015, 04:30 AM

Love your layout and as a new member of the forum, I've actually never seen any of your work! Your idea seems really cool and I'll be looking forward to what you have to present!

**God** · 11-28-2015, 07:22 AM

Originally Posted by The Pitbull

I like the streaming service idea. But i really hope you use the partnerships to boost your roster . Right now Impact Wrestling needs more than 5 other wrestlers to sign. Also you need some tag teams.

When I start a BTB one of the things I always do is divide the roster into divisions to see where I stand. I have one actual tag team in the Wolves. Everyone else would be guys who have teamed together once or twice. Jeff Hardy is due back in the coming months but he and Matt and two of my biggest singles stars. I brought in Everett and Lee, then Everett ripped his knee apart and will likely miss most of 2016. Tag division will be put on the back burner due to what is coming up after the UK shows so I get to try out a few pairings while waiting for Everett to return.

Knockouts were another problem. I have seven active, one has a bad back so can hardly move while three of the others are on the same team. Two of the three that remain, are also on the same team. X-Division has enough numbers but most aren't anything special so that's three our of four divisions that have major issues. Only the World title scene is reasonably strong in my mind.

Originally Posted by Kilik

The changes that you've made to this company are pretty damn groundbreaking. They make more than their fair share of sense from a business standpoint and they also put Impact Wrestling in a league of their own. Just offering a streaming service for 4.99 is a bold move from a company that many perceive to have fallen off. It's going to take some serious work to get the casual viewer interested/re-interested enough to invest $5 every month to watch it. But I'm sure you'll have no problem delivering on that end.

I figured there was no way people would pay the $10 per month they do for WWE so decided to undercut them. Literally half price for the most recent show being available every Thursday. Also hoping to use 13 years worth of material as a selling point. There is some great content in the back catalog which is what I think makes a streaming service work. It's why WWE are now adding the old NWA stuff to the Network. Interest is at a modern low so they have to entice people to stay with the back catalog. [/quote]

The partnerships will help in a major way as well since they'll get more outside eyes onto your product as well as offer a somewhat fresh roster change every once in a while. It won't be just Tigre Uno vs DJ Z vs Kenny King for the X-Division anymore. Fresh faces always help when it comes to attracting fans and creating storylines. Can't wait to see what you have in store. I do, however, have a small question about some partnerships. I know you have partners with some of their main partners, but was Lucha Underground ever approached as a potential partner? I just kinda thought that with their TV deal in place, them also being partners with AAA and their past common interest in Hernandez that they'd be a natural partner for Impact. Both parties get even more exposure and Impact doesn't have to have a TV deal just to draw some TV viewers to their product.

The partnerships were done so I stay away from my usual tactics of relying on NJPW or ROH whenever I needed a new name or team to bring in. Both of those are now off limits. NJPW wouldn't work with Impact Wrestling after the Okada stuff which also rules out ROH and in turn CMLL. I prefer AAA over CMLL anyway so that's nice and convienient. GFW and HoH made sense to me due to their owners, and the fact that Dreamer also works for Impact Wrestling. The Knockouts needed a boost which is why WSU were introduced. I like a lot of the CZW roster so made it a package deal. ICW are the only group with a somewhat weak reasoning. They are UK based which is a strong market for Impact Wrestling and can be my European link since wXw are involved with NJPW. Also allows Galloway and Grado to continue to work for both companies.

Im not a fan of Lucha Underground. To me, it seems like it is making fun of pro wrestling but people have not noticed yet so they keep doing it. Besides that, they don't run like a regular wrestling promotion anyway so I can't run along side them like I can the other partner promotions. The vast majority of the talent on LU are also contracted to AAA anyway. Once it doesn't clash with LU's taping schedule, they'll be good to go as representatives of AAA. Hernandez has most definitely burnt his bridge with Impact Wrestling and won't be appearing unless I'm desperate.

**Sykotic** · 11-28-2015, 08:12 AM

Good luck God, enjoyed your last take on TNA so intrigued to see where this goes. Will admit apart from guys that have been around a while in the mainstream of wrestling i'm not took caught up on TNA's roster. So hopefully I can learn a bit wholst I read this.

**Looking Glass** · 11-28-2015, 08:39 AM

I am behind this project, reading it I kind of feel like it's TNA going back to its roots with the on-demand streaming, at the same time it kind of pushes forward with a 'TNA Network' project. At this point in the company's state, I just feel like it's relying on its history of when it was a competitor with the back catalog of history. I know WWE essentially do the same, but it's still a viable product with years of history, but anyway that's more how I'd see if it this was done in real life. Of course, I want TNA to get back to a competitive level where it can be a polished product but have that same vibe it used to. I think it's incorporated the partnership aspect from Global Force Wrestling, which works in a sense from a talent point of view but then if TNA is now offering better, more secure contracts, why does it need to borrow talent? I think when I look at GFW, it's a company starting out so it needs all the talent it can get until they find something that works, whereas here TNA needs to re-establish its identity. Still, if TNA is stripping back to go forward again, maybe it needs this, I just can't help but feel that it'll start to use talent and just end up poaching from its partners going forward.

As others said, there does need to be a more in-depth roster, but the talent that are there need some work too. I just feel that at one point, the characters of the company filtered out and we've been left behind with the jobbers that appear and work, but have had no formal introduction or actual effort invested in them. I'd like to see that change going forward so the existing talent that perhaps wasn't given the time of day, gets some momentum moving forward.

Good luck with this, I'm sure you won't disappoint!

**Joey Bananas** · 11-28-2015, 02:07 PM

Always love what you put out God, interested to see if you can take TNA to the top once again. Best of luck!

**God** · 11-29-2015, 02:20 PM

With a roster of only 20 wrestlers, Impact Wrestling made the annual trip to the UK for three nights of shows billed as Maximum Impact One Night Only. All three shows were to be recorded and would be among the first content added to Impact on Demand in March. One of the first surprises announced by Impact Wrestling was yet another change to the commentary team. Impact Wrestling were looking to drastically improve on the much criticized duo of Josh Mathews and The Pope. While The Pope is energetic, his commentary style has proven to turn off a lot of people in very quick time. The Pope was offered a chance to return to the ring but has yet to make a decision having rarely wrestled in recent years. Josh Mathews wasn’t so lucky. With both Mike Tenay and Jeremy Borash already under contract, his value was at an all-time low and he ended up agreeing to mutually terminate his contract. The new commentary team would debut at Maximum Impact and were announced as the returning Tony Schiavone on play by play, and the retired former World Champion Raven on colour commentary. Mike Tenay was also announced as returning to his old position of analyst whenever outside talent or newly signed talent are featured on the broadcast.

One Night Only
Maximum Impact – Manchester
January 29th 2016

Impact Wrestling were looking to make their return to the UK a memorable one as they announced Matt Hardy making his first defence of the title he won in controversial fashion at Bound for Glory. His opponent would be Drew Galloway. Also on the line-up was Gail Kim defending her Knockouts Championship against Jade and Match One in the Best of Three Series pitting Zack Sabre Jr. against Manik. The winner of the series will get a one on one title opportunity against the X-Division Champion, currently Tigre Uno.

Speaking of Tigre Uno, he was to feature in the first match of the tour as he teamed with Rockstar Spud to face Mark Andrews and Grado in tag team action. Unsurprisingly, Grado was having a great time being so close to home, as was Rockstar Spud. Mark Andrews was a lot more focused and it showed. Grado and Spud were happy to play to the crowd whenever they could which left the door open for Andrews to score an upset victory as he pinned the X-Division Champion, Tigre Uno, following a Shooting Star Press. After the match, Andrews handed Uno the X-Division Championship belt but made his intentions clear despite the handshake between the two.

Former World Champion Eric Young was next to the ring and unlike the majority of the roster, he was unhappy with being forced to take part in this tour, stating he could be back home fishing instead of fending off the local morons who constantly try to talk to him. Young yells that if he doesn’t talk to you, it’s a bad idea to talk to him. An obviously angry Eric Young then laid out an open challenge for anyone from Britain to come to the ring and get dropped on their head. Without having to wait long, Young got a challenger in the form of former X-Division Champion Doug Williams. Williams initially got a lot of strong offence in as his style was not something Young is used to having to deal with. Instead of countering it, Young poked Williams in the eye and from then on attempted to blind his opponent before the inevitable Piledriver for the decisive three count. After the match, Young stood over his fallen opponent and repeated his challenge, this time for tomorrow night in London.

The Impact Wrestling Knockouts were next up as Marti Bell locked up with Madison Rayne. Velvet Sky became sick and tired of Dollhouse leader Taryn Terrell during the Fall of 2015 and helped Gail Kim put her on the shelf with a shattered wrist. In retaliation, Marti and the rest of the Dollhouse took out Angelina Love late last year, ripping her shoulder apart. It’s almost like these girls don’t like each other as Madison spears Marti before the bell to jumpstart the match. In the early going both women get in a fair share of offence but with nobody to help Marti Bell, Madison Rayne soon takes over and eventually catches her with a Rayne Drop for the three count. Marti held her own, but the big match experience of the former Knockouts Champion carried her through and saw her named the new number one contender for whoever leaves tonight as Knockouts Champion.

The highly anticipated debut of Zack Sabre Jr. was next on the line-up as Mike Tenay joined Tony Schiavone and Raven for commentary. Tenay puts over Sabre by claiming he has a counter for every counter and is almost impossible to beat if he gets you on the mat. Tenay adds that Hall of Famer Kurt Angle would have a hard time keeping up with Sabre. Despite the odds being against him, Manik was not one to back down and took the fight to Sabre. Sabre clearly won the mat based competition but Manik was leaps and bounds ahead when he took it to the air. The match soon became a contest to see who could maintain the advantage long enough to do some meaningful damage to his opponent. In the end, it was Manik trying a blind cross body that led to the finish. Sabre rolled out of the way leading to Manik crash landing in the middle of the ring. Sabre followed up with a punt to the chest and a Cross Armbreaker to force the Tap Out. Following the bell, Sabre instantly released and checked on Manik before celebrating his successful debut in his home country.

Backstage we find Jade and Marti Bell arguing with each other. Jade tells Marti that she let the side down and just think how happy Queen Taryn would have been if they both won and became Knockouts Champion and number one contender. An upset Marti doesn’t reply as Jade announces she will have to do it herself. Gail Kim has other ideas. The first Knockouts title match of 2016 ended up being one of the best in recent memory. Both women looked strong on offence and stable on defence as they both seemed to be almost perfectly matched. An interested Madison Rayne made her way to the top of the ramp to watch but came no closer. Despite that, her presence alone was enough to distract Jade who foolishly took her eyes off Gail Kim and mocked Madison Rayne. Rayne didn’t respond and simply watched Jade walk into Eat Defeat for the three count. After the bell, Rayne kicked Jade from the ring and got toe to toe with her former best friend, eager to step out of her shadow tomorrow night in London.

Despite Ethan Carter III spending most of the past few months attempting to get the World Championship match cancelled, it went ahead with Impact Wrestling management telling EC3 to earn himself a rematch. EC3, along with Tyrus, looked to do exactly that as they waited for an opportunity to ruin the evenly matched main event of the evening. EC3, followed by Tyrus, ran in near the end of the match, just as Galloway connected with the Future Shock DDT after blocking the Twist of Faith. Before Galloway could collect his prize, Tyrus yanked the official from the ring and took him out with a clothesline. An exhausted Galloway tried his best but was no match for the fresh EC3 and Tyrus who easily left him laying with the 1%er. Matt Hardy tried to come to the aid of Galloway but he met a similar fate following a Spike from Tyrus. Tyrus collected the World Championship belt as EC3 waited. And waited. Tyrus took his time with the belt in hand before reluctantly handing it over to his boss to end the first night of Maximum Impact with EC3 back on top, yelling at Tyrus for taking so long to do his job.

Quick Results:
Mark Andrews and Grado def. Tigre Uno and Rockstar Spud
Eric Young def. Doug Williams
Madison Rayne def. Marti Bell
Zack Sabre Jr. def. Manik to go 1-0
Gail Kim © def. Jade to retain the Knockouts Championship
Matt Hardy © vs. Drew Galloway ends in a No Contest for the World Championship

**Sykotic** · 11-29-2015, 04:08 PM

Great start God.

Big fan of Sabre so can't wait to see what you have in store for him.

The Dollhouse looks like falling apart, but Taryns return will be interesting.

Loved Eric Young being obnoxious. This series of challenges should be a fun read, wonder if you've got a big surprise in store.

Tension between EC3 and Tyrus, certainly going to derail the title charge for the former.

Keep it up God

**Gambit** · 11-29-2015, 04:34 PM

I love how Sabre was used. I expect him to be a major player in iMPACT wrestling. It looks like both the Dollhouse and EC3/Tyrus are having some issues. I really hope the latter break up instead of the former because I actually like the crazy duo of Bell and Jade. I'm interested to see how it will play out.

**Kilik** · 12-01-2015, 08:58 PM

Maximum Impact 8 Review:

-I already LOVE the change to the commentary team. I like The Pope, but on commentary he kind of sucks. Just cause he can cut a great promo doesn't mean he can work a headset just as well. Tony Schiavone and Raven will be a very interesting team! I'd like to see if Pope returns to the ring.

-Nice opening match that is starting to build a star out of Andrews already. Very interesting to build Andrews toward a rivalry with Uno while Manik and/or Sabre Jr. are headed that direction as well. Does this mean Andrews is going to challenge Uno for the title before Manik or Sabre get their chance?

-Very nice play up to the British crowd by having not only Spud in the opening match, but Doug Williams answering Young's open challenge in the second! Williams looked great in defeat because Young cheated to win and Young gets more heat on him for the second challenge because people wanna see his ass get handed to him now.

-Madison Rayne should be a very interesting contender for the Championship, but I think Gail's walking away with this one.

-HELLS YEAH! That's an excellent debut match for Sabre Jr. I think Match three's gonna be the most interesting since Manik's most likely getting his win back the next time they go at it.

-Damn. The Dollhouse looks like they're splitting soon. Without their leader there, it looks like they may start fighting any moment now. Especially since they both lost tonight! Kim vs Rayne should be interesting.

-Seeds-a-plenty planted in that Main Event. Sucks that the match was ruined, but you did a great job with planting seeds for potential feuds with EC3 in not only Galloway and Hardy, but also Tyrus! It'll be intersting to see how the break up between Tyrus and EC3 goes.

All in all, great first show! Really looking forward to the directions of Sabre Jr. and The Pope.

**God** · 12-03-2015, 03:46 PM

One Night Only
Maximum Impact – London
January 30th 2016

Impact Wrestling returned to London, England with three Championship matches including the X-Division Championship, the World Tag Team Championships and the Knockouts Championship, along with match two in the Best of Three Series between Zack Sabre Jr. and Manik and also a huge main event tag team match featuring World Champion Matt Hardy teaming with Drew Galloway to face former World Champion Ethan Carter III and Tyrus. With so much happening, the first match kicks off straight away as Eli Drake and Jessie Godderz have somehow talked themselves into a championship match with the Wolves. It seemed like a good idea for the cocky youngsters, but the Wolves were in no mood to play games and spent much of the match taking turns simply kicking their opponents as hard as they could. By the end, neither Godderz or Drake wanted to tag in. Eventually the Wolves mercifully put an end to the match with Creeping Death on Eli Drake for the three count. With the Wolves showing such dominance, it is hard to see anyone who can take the gold from them at this point in time.

Following their tag match the previous night in Manchester, Grado claimed that Rockstar Spud was jealous of his connection to the fans and challenged him to a match tonight. Spud was obviously blindsided by the claims but agreed to slap some sense into Grado. In the early going, Grado played up to the fans but whenever Spud tried to get any support, Grado would cut him off, eventually leading to Spud attacking Grado like a pit bull. The duo is usually known for being easy going but this match showed another side of both men, mostly Spud. Whenever Grado regained control, he would instantly look for fan approval which usually led to Spud getting back into it. Eventually, Spud was able to score the victory with the Underdog. After the match, Grado apologised and offered a hug, but Spud blanked him and walked away. Backstage, Spud would reveal to Jeremy Borash that he never got along with Grado and is done pretending to like him and his antics. Spud went on to challenge the winner of Tigre Uno and Mark Andrews later tonight to an X-Division Championship match tomorrow night in his hometown. Spud is quick to point out that the X-Division Championship is his priority, not making friends. He tried that before and he had nothing to show for it.

Eric Young was next to appear on Maximum Impact and he did so wearing a Scotland football shirt in London, obviously with the sole intention of annoying the fans in attendance. Young again claimed he was forced to be on this tour but is making sure they never make him come back by destroying as many locals as he can. Young calls himself the most dangerous man alive and claims to have ended Kurt Angle’s career before calling out his challenger tonight. Young introduced him as some English guy. It turned out to be Mark Haskins who was born just outside London so this is almost his hometown. Haskins claimed London was his unofficial home town and he will be proud to get Eric Young ejected from the country for good. Young responded with a head butt. Haskins got some offence in when he picked up the pace, but the majority was all Young as he seemed to focus on the ankle of his opponent. The strategy paid off as Haskins took a lot longer than usual when trying to scale the ropes which allowed Young to kick him off and drop him with a Piledriver for the three count. Young put his foot on the chest of Haskins and once again announced an open challenge for tomorrow night, this time in Birmingham before he can finally leave this hell hole.

Mark Andrews last night scored the biggest win of his young career as he pinned the X-Division Champion Tigre Uno in tag team action. Andrews looks to continue his good form tonight as he challenges for the gold against the long-time champion. In a backstage interview, Uno admitted he took Andrews for granted last night but swears he never makes the same mistake twice. Andrews obviously knew Uno would be better prepared tonight and kick started the match with a suicide dive through the ropes before Uno could even enter the ring. That would set the tone for the rest of the match as both men took it to the sky and were obviously willing to risk life and limb for the right to be called X-Division Champion. Andrews stunned Uno with a Yoshi Tonic but missed the follow up Shooting Star Press. Tigre Uno made no such mistake and hit the Sabretooth Splash for the three count. Following the victory, Uno offered Andrews a handshake and raised his hand, giving Andrews his respect before Rockstar Spud got in his face, making it clear he wants to win the X-Division title in his home town tomorrow night.

Zack Sabre Jr. made an impressive start to his career in Impact Wrestling last night as he was able to outwrestle and then submit the former X-Division Champion Manik. Manik declined to comment following his loss but did offer a handshake to start tonight. Sabre accepted and Manik kicked him in the ribs in a clear change from his usual game plan. As the match progressed, Manik would use more dirty tactics that would have previously been used by his former mentor, James Storm. The tactics worked as Manik attempted to break the fingers of Sabre, making it almost impossible for him to ground him like the night before. Sabre fought through the obvious pain but when he got the chance to apply a Cross Armbreaker again, wasn’t able to hold it due to his fingers. Manik continued the assault on the fingers of Sabre before eventually stunning him with a Detonation Kick and following up with a Frog Splash to tie the scores at one a piece. After the match, Sabre sat alone in the ring nodding his head, seemingly having accepted that Manik’s game plan worked a treat and he would need to counter it in Birmingham to win the series.

Before the Knockouts Championship match, we are shown Madison Rayne and Velvet Sky backstage. Rayne asks Sky to watch her back tonight as she knows Jade and Marti Bell will blame her for the outcome the night before. Sky agrees and accompanies Rayne to ringside. Gail Kim doesn’t seem to care and simply takes it to her one-time best friend. Much like the night before, Rayne is able to raise her game another level and practically match Gail Kim who is widely accepted as the best women’s wrestler on the planet. Rayne and Kim have a straight up match with no outside interference until Jade and Marti Bell make their way to ringside. Velvet tries to hold them at bay but is outnumbered and taken down. Instead of risking a disqualification, Jade and Marti grab a couple of chairs to use on Velvet, taunting Rayne and forcing her to come to the rescue. The Dollhouse run for the hills as Rayne unknowingly allows Kim the time she needed to recover. When Rayne re-enters, she is greeted with Eat Defeat for the three count. Gail Kim once again shows she is the best in the world as she doesn’t let outside actions distract her. Gail likely would have let Velvet get injured if it meant she retained her gold.

The main event is next but first we are shown EC3 and Tyrus heading to the ring. EC3 still with the World Championship in his possession despite not being champion. Carter is overheard telling Tyrus that if he gives an order, Tyrus should follow and not have to be told twice. Tyrus simply nods and Carter seems happy his point was made following the hesitation from Tyrus the night before. Galloway and Hardy were both out for blood tonight but each for a different reason. Galloway was seconds away from becoming World Champion while Hardy has his Championship belt literally stolen. EC3 being the reason for both meant that Tyrus started and wrestled the majority of the match. Carter would only tag in when he felt it was safe to do so. As soon as he looked in danger, he quickly tagged out and had Tyrus take the brunt of it. The emotions got the better of both Galloway and Hardy as they soon started to ignore each other in their quest to get their hands on EC3. It was this miscommunication that saw the duo get into a shoving match, allowing Tyrus to take them both out with a double clothesline. Tyrus followed up with a splash and a Spike for each man before Carter tagged himself in. Tyrus was irate as Carter picked up the scraps and pinned Hardy, having done practically none of the work.

After the match, Carter ordered Tyrus to dispose of both men but was ignored. Carter yelled at Tyrus and even slapped the big man as Galloway got back to his feet and hit Carter with a running boot. Tyrus simply stood and watched as Galloway connected with the Future Shock DDT on the former champion. Tyrus and Galloway exchanged words but no contact as Matt Hardy saw his chance. Hardy hit Carter with the Twist of Faith in front of Tyrus before collecting his World Championship belt and leaving the ring before Tyrus could attack. A lot worse for wear, Carter eventually recovered and yelled at Tyrus for not protecting him. Carter tried to slap Tyrus again but it was blocked and he got a Spike in return from his bodyguard. Tyrus paused for a few seconds as he looked down on the lifeless EC3 before walking away, leaving his boss laying in the middle of the ring to end the show.

Quick Results:
The Wolves © def. Eli Drake and Jessie Godderz to retain the World Tag Team Championships
Rockstar Spud def. Grado
Eric Young def. Mark Haskins
Tigre Uno © def. Mark Andrews to retain the X-Division Championship
Manik def. Zack Sabre Jr. to go 1-1
Gail Kim © def. Madison Rayne to retain the Knockouts Championship
Ethan Carter III and Tyrus def. Matt Hardy and Drew Galloway

**God** · 12-10-2015, 02:09 PM

One Night Only
Maximum Impact – Birmingham
January 31st 2016

The final show of the Maximum Impact tour opened with Eric Young in a cheerful mood. The reason was soon explained by Young himself. He stated that in only 4 hours, 53 minutes and 21, 20, 19 seconds, he was getting on a plane and finally leaving this pathetic excuse of a country. All he has to do is have one more match which is why he decided to open the show. Young says he hopes it is the last time he ever has to wrestle in England. An eager Eric Young demands his next victim come to the ring to get dropped on his head so he can go home. Young’s mood does a 180 when he sees the size of his opponent, Dave Mastiff from just outside Birmingham. Mastiff doesn’t have any words for Young, other than good luck dropping me on my head. Young cheap shots Mastiff but its easily shook off as Mastiff fires back and Young finds himself in a brawl having had two fairly simple wrestling matches thus far on the tour. Young and Mastiff fight inside the ring, outside the ring and even in the crowd before returning to the ring. Young clearly bit off more than he expected and needed a low blow to hit a struggling Piledriver for the three count. After the match, Young didn’t have anything to say and quickly left before Mastiff could recover and likely resume fighting.

Velvet Sky and Madison Rayne earlier today issued a challenge to Jade and Marti Bell following the interactions over the previous two nights. It’s obvious the two sides don’t get along so Rayne proposed they end it once and for all tonight in a final meeting between the Beautiful People and the Dollhouse. Jade was overheard telling Marti to follow her lead in the match that followed but Marti didn’t seem to care for the attitude and did her own thing. Jade tried to make up for Marti’s lack of experience but the Beautiful People knew the weakness and exploited it. Velvet hit the Number One Stunner followed by a Rayne Drop from Madison. They dared Jade to get into the ring and take them on but she knew better and let the Beautiful People pin the lifeless Marti Bell to end the feud in decisive fashion. Following the match, Jade dragged Marti from the ring and practically carried her backstage. Despite Marti being to blame, Jade is still acting like the big sister and keeping her out of harm’s way while Velvet and Madison celebrate in the ring.

Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards had the night off last night and were clearly not happy about it. Earlier today they issued a challenge to any team in Impact Wrestling that they haven’t already beaten. The problem is, they have beaten literally everyone they can. In the end, the challenge was accepted by Grado and Mark Andrews who have teamed together only once but it was in victory. Despite the victory, it was not enough for Impact Wrestling to grant them a Championship match so it was instead a non-title match. Richards and Edwards were just happy to be competing even if the titles weren’t on the line. Grado tried to have fun and got kicked in the chest by Davey Richards. Several times. Mark Andrews knew how big of an opportunity this was and tried to get his partner to take it seriously but was unable to do so. Andrews gave a good showing but in the end Grado fell to Creeping Death for the three count. Afterwards, Andrews helped Grado to the back, clearly not thrilled with his partner’s antics costing them a potential future title match.

Zack Sabre Jr. revealed next in a backstage interview that he immensely respects Manik for his actions last night. In a surprise to many, Sabre reveals that doing whatever is needed to get the victory is something he greatly admires. Sabre shows his fingers are taped together tonight and admits he will be at a disadvantage but no matter the result, hopes he will get the chance to wrestle Manik again after this series has ended. Following these comments, Manik appeared to show some remorse and offered a handshake to Sabre before the bell. Manik then tried to kick Sabre in the ribs but Sabre learned his lesson and blocked it. Having to slightly adjust his style, Sabre wrestled the match focused on using his legs rather than his arms. Manik responded by targeting the knees resulting in a lot of kicks and unique submission attempts from both men. This being the third match between the two, they now know each other very well and are able to block every signature move the other tries. The match appears destined for a draw when Sabre is able to lock in a Fujiwara Armbar and use his wrists to grip rather than his hands. Manik tries but fails to escape and is forced to tap out again, giving Sabre the 2-1 victory and a future X-Division Championship match. After the bell, Sabre offers his hand to help Manik to his feet, but Manik instead rolls away and leaves without saying a word.

Hometown hero Rockstar Spud was out next to a large cheer despite his treatment of Grado the night before. Spud doesn’t seem bothered by Grado as he is instead insisting tonight he takes home the X-Division Championship for a third time. Tigre Uno, now into his seventh month as champion, obviously has other ideas as the two hold nothing back in their pursuit of the gold. Uno is willing to risk it all as he attempts to take it to the air again, but Spud was obviously paying attention last night and does the opposite by trying to keep Uno grounded. Spud surprisingly doesn’t go after the legs of Uno and instead focuses his attack on the head and neck. The strategy pays off late on as Uno struggles for balance on the top rope and allows Spud time to recover and throw him to the mat. Spud follows up with a Shining Wizard before hitting the Underdog and a stacked pin for the three count and the X-Division Championship. Spud celebrates with his hometown fans as a dazed Uno rolls to the floor holding his head after the tough match. As Spud celebrates, he is confronted by Zack Sabre Jr. Spud is ready to fight but Sabre simply raises his arm, letting him know he will be back soon for his shot at the gold.

The main event of not only tonight but the entire tour was a four way for the Impact Wrestling World Championship. EC3 has spent months complaining about how Hardy won the gold at Bound for Glory but nobody was listening. Drew Galloway let his wrestling do the talking while Tyrus even had enough of Carter and laid him out last night, ending their relationship and eliminating the prospect of this being a handicap match. Tyrus, Galloway and Hardy were all focused on Carter who wisely decided to start this one on the floor outside the ring. Tyrus, Galloway and Hardy all quickly got into the action but whenever Carter tried to enter the match, all eyes were on him again, effectively excluding him from the match so he can’t win back the title. Eventually Carter was able to get involved as he dragged Hardy from the ring and laid into him. Tyrus dominated Galloway and looked to be on course to take the win when Carter got some payback for the night before. Carter decked Tyrus from behind before hitting the 1%er but it simply stunned the big man. Galloway finished the job with a Future Shock DDT. Carter tried to throw Galloway from the ring but by the time he did, Tyrus had rolled to the ropes and safety. Hardy re-entered the contest and surprised Carter with a Twist of Faith but was unable to follow up. As Hardy turned, Galloway connected with a running boot to the face. Hardy stumbled into the ropes and back as Galloway hit the Future Shock DDT again. At the same time, a still dazed Tyrus dragged Carter to the floor to Spike him, allowing Galloway to pin Hardy behind his back to score the three count and his first World Championship. By the time Tyrus realises he just helped Galloway win the title, it was far too late. Galloway was already getting his arm raised in victory. Galloway dropped to his knees and kissed the title belt as the last image from the Maximum Impact tour for 2016.

Quick Results:
Eric Young def. Dave Mastiff
Madison Rayne and Velvet Sky def. Jade and Marti Bell
The Wolves def. Grado and Mark Andrews
Zack Sabre Jr. def. Manik to win the Best of Three Series 2-1
Rockstar Spud def. Tigre Uno © to win the X-Division Championship
Drew Galloway def. Matt Hardy ©, Ethan Carter III and Tyrus to win the World Championship

**God** · 12-10-2015, 02:12 PM

Bound for Glory Series 2016

Impact Wrestling today announced the return of a revamped Bound for Glory Series for 2016. Unlike in previous years, the Series will be split into two groups featuring six competitors each. Each competitor will face five matches, one against each other member of the group. A win gets 2 points, a draw gets 1 point and a loss gets nothing. The winner of each group will then face each other in the final at Slammiversary to determine who goes to Bound for Glory to compete for the World Championship.

World Champion Drew Galloway was the first name announced, along with the footnote that if Galloway wins the Series, he obviously can’t challenge himself so will instead get to pick his own opponent for the event. Former champion Matt Hardy followed him. Ethan Carter III also gained a spot due to his unbeaten record and the fact that he was never pinned to lose the World Championship in October 2015. The World Tag Team Champions Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards have also been granted places in the tournament.

Despite 12 men competing in the Series, only 8 of them will be representing Impact Wrestling. The final four will be guest entries determined by partners of Impact Wrestling. Combat Zone Wrestling, House of Hardcore, Global Force Wrestling and Asistencia Asesoría y Administración will each be sending one representative to compete for the prize. The remaining three places in the tournament will be determined via qualifying matches on the return edition of Impact Wrestling. They will feature Bobby Roode vs. Ken Anderson, Eric Young vs. Tyrus and Bobby Lashley vs. Abyss.

The full list competitors and their blocks are as follows.

Block A
World Champion Drew Galloway
World Tag Team Champion Davey Richards
Ethan Carter III
Winner of Bobby Lashley vs. Abyss
Representative of AAA
Representative of GFW

Block B
Former World Champion Matt Hardy
World Tag Team Champion Eddie Edwards
Winner of Bobby Roode vs. Ken Anderson
Winner of Eric Young vs. Tyrus
Representative of CZW
Representative of HoH

Qualifying Matches take place on March 31st 2016. The first round of matches will then begin on April 7th 2016 exclusive to Impact on Demand.

**Austerio** · 12-10-2015, 06:33 PM

Surprised Dave Mastiff didn't go over Eric Young. Thought the end plan was for someone to go over EY on the last night of the tour. Does wonders for EY though.

Like the looks of the BFG Series tournament.

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**Sykotic** · 12-11-2015, 09:42 AM

First off loving the layout of the posts God, makes it look really classy.

Main talking point is we have a new champion. Galloway is a much better choice than Hardy, and the early change shows that the new TNA/Impact Wrestling is ready to be fresh and head in a different way. EC3 has sights on the title again and I hope he wins the series, maybe even beating Galloway on his way to add a big element of doubt in the champs mind.

Does Tyrus still have that free shot at the title? Would be another dynamic to an already unpredictable top title division.

Onto the X Division and I felt this was revamped massively. The turn of Spud was done brilliantly and he now heads the X Division as a cocky heel. I expect Sabre will return from other commitments in the near future to challenge for the title, leaving Spud busy with Tigre Uno and Mandrews for the time being. Again another shift in direction for a title.

As for the other title holders The Wolves, this is the beginning of the end for them I think. They've beaten every team there is and short of drafting another team into the company I see you using the BFG series as a way to put forward both men's thirst for singles gold. I think it's better in the long run for the company to push two of its best performers into the singles title mix and rebuild the tag division up.

Final thoughts:Eric Young was great, Grado is a clown, I'm eager to see any plans for Roode and the Knockouts Division is at an interesting point with Kim as champ. And Best Of 3 was well done. Nice to see theX Division get a clear sense of faces and heels with Spud and Manik's actions.

Keep up the great work God!!