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WEEKLY OVERVIEW – IMPACT WRESTLING (thru 12/22): Top stories of week, major show lineups, live event results, schedule of live events, noteworthy social media posts, more

By Landon Pipkin, PWTorch Contributor

December 23, 2018

SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...

•Top Stories of the Week

  • On Friday, Impact Wrestling announced they have agreed on a new TV deal with the Pursuit Channel. This deal will begin on January 11, 2019, and Impact will move to Friday nights at 10 p.m. ET. (SOURCE)
  • Thursday’s episode of Impact, drew 116,000 viewers which is down from last week’s 140,000 viewers. Despite the drop in ratings, Impact was ranked 134 on the Cable Top 150. (SOURCE)
  • Impact Wrestling announced its year-end awards results. Sami Callihan won wrestler of the year, Tessa Blanchard won Knockout of the year, and LAX won tag-team of the year. LINK

•Live Event Results

No new shows since last week’s oVe Twitch special.

•Upcoming Major Show Line-up: Homecoming in Nashville

Impact Homecoming
January 6, 2019
Nashville, Tenn. at the Fairgrounds

  • Johnny Impact (c) vs. Brian Cage – Impact World Championship match.
  • Tessa Blanchard (c) vs. Taya Valkyrie – Impact Knockouts Championship match.
  • Jake Crist vs. Ethan Page vs. Rich Swann vs. Trey Miguel – Ultimate X Match for the vacant X-Division Championship.
  • LAX (c) vs. The Lucha Bros – Impact World Tag Team Championship match.
  • Eli Drake vs. Abyss – Monster’s Ball match.
  • Eddie Edwards vs. Moose – Falls Count Anywhere match.

•Upcoming Events

1/6/2019 – Homecoming, The Asylum, Nashville, Tenn.
1/7/2019 – Impact Live, The Asylum, Nashville, Tenn.
1/11/2019 – Impact Live, Gran Casino Fronton, Mexico City, Mexico.
1/12/2019 – Impact Live, Gran Casino Fronton, Mexico City, Mexico.
1/25/2019 – Battle of Brooklyn, St. Pats CYO Sports, Brooklyn, N.Y.
1/26/2019 – One Night Only: New Beginnings, Holy Family Academy, Hazleton, Pa.
2/2/2019 – Brace for Impact, London Music Hall, London, Ont.
2/15/2019 – Impact Live, Sam’s Town Casino, Las Vegas, Nev.
2/16/2019 – Impact Live, Sam’s Town Casino, Las Vegas, Nev.
2/17/2019 – Impact Live, Sam’s Town Casino, Las Vegas, Nev.
3/22/2019 – Impact Tapings, St. Clair College, Windsor, Ont.
3/23/2019 – Impact Tapings, St. Clair College, Windsor, Ont.
4/4/2019 – Culture Clash 2019, 9112 144th Place, Queens, N.Y.

•Latest TV Highlights: (12/20 Impact Wrestling)

This week’s episode was part one of a two-part series showcasing the best moments/matches from Impact in 2018.

(1) Rich Swann & Willie Mack defeated Matt Sydal & Ethan Page – Bound for Glory 2018

(2) Tessa Blanchard defeated Allie – Slammiversary 2018

(3) Brian Cage defeated Lashley – Impact March 29, 2018

(4) Sami Callihan (w/oVe) vs. Eddie Edwards – Impact March 1, 2018

(5) Austin Aries (w/Moose & Killer Kross) defeated Fallah Bahh (w/KM) – Impact World Championship match – Impact September 13, 2018

(6) Austin Aries defeated Moose – Impact World Championship match – Slammiversary 2018

(7) Johnny Impact defeated Taiji Ishimori, Petey Williams, Fenix – International Four Way Match – Slammiversary 2018

See detailed results HERE.

•Latest PWTorch Livecast Covering Impact

PWTorch.com’s Mike McMahon and Andrew Soucek break down the year that was for Impact Wrestling. They look at the best and worst of the company in 2018, as well as hand out awards for Wrestler of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, Feud of the Year, and more. They look at the business aspects moving ahead into 2019 and they each make a bold prediction for the new year.

-On Tune In Radio HERE
-On Apple Podcasts HERE
-Or search “PWTorch” or “Pro Wrestling Torch” on your podcast app of choice

•Impact in the Media

  • Scott D’Amore recently spoke with Wrestling Inc to discuss the change in TV Networks. D’Amore said the demographics are a better fit on Pursuit than POP TV. He also defended the time slot saying when TNA debut on Spike TV they went on at 11 pm on Saturday and they were still doing 850,000 viewers in that time slot. Towards the end of the interview, he stated 10 pm ET is a starting point for now, but things could expand as 2019 moves along. LINK
  • Nick Hausman of Wrestling Inc. asked Desmond Xavier on the Impact conference call about The Rascalz portraying characters that appear to be smoking marijuana. Xavier said people are gonna talk no matter what and said they could be having a drink of water instead of vodka. He also said it’s not bothering them on what people say online or what they would say face-to-face. Xavier closed by saying they are having fun right now. LINK
  • Johnny Impact was recently a guest on the WINCLY Podcast. Impact was asked about AEW wrestling, but he quickly deferred the question and spoke about how excited he is for Impact wrestling in 2019. Impact also mentioned that he has had no communication with Austin Aries since Bound for Glory, but he wished him well. When asked about the comments he made to Impact’s wife Taya Valkyrie, Impact said, “I think he’s got some deep-seated issues with himself…” He also discussed his upcoming match at Homecoming, against Brian Cage and Ultimate X matches. LINK 1 / LINK 2
  • Sami Callihan was this week’s guest on the Impact Wrestling Press Pass. He discussed numerous topics including his ups and downs of 2018, personal goals for 2019, holiday plans, and much more. LINK

•Social Media Scene

https://twitter.com/TheTayaValkyrie/status/1076016383589154816

https://twitter.com/AustinAries/status/1075947011998855168

https://twitter.com/FALLAH1/status/1075805998567358464

•Closing Commentary

Well, the day has come where Impact wrestling has officially announced a new TV network deal for 2019. There were many rumors going around about potential landing spots, but all of them were false. Instead, Impact signed a deal with Anthem Sports and Entertainment affiliate Pursuit Channel. No, I am not joking that is a real channel that mainly airs hunting and fishing programs.

This is without a doubt the biggest step backwards Impact has taken in 2018. According to the Wrestling Observer, Pursuit just started subscribing to Nilsen in the early part of this year. Also, with this move to Pursuit, Impact will now air on Friday nights at 10 pm ET. Somehow Impact managed to land on a worse day of the week and on a much lower-rated station. I have no idea why this is surprising because this is typical Impact wrestling behavior.

Starting on January 11, 2019, Impact will air on a much smaller network than Pop TV and on a worse night of the week for ratings. Considering Impact is averaging around 116,000 viewers since moving to 10 pm ET, we can expect an even lower number when they move to Pursuit in January.

Scott D’Amore tried to defend Impact’s move to Friday Nights on Pursuit Channel, but he referred back to the original Spike era where they aired on Saturdays at 11 pm. I am no TV expert, but Pursuit is nowhere close to being as big as Spike TV (now Paramount Network). A lot has changed since those days and Impact has no buzz surrounding it. If I were running Impact, I would just accept that instead of trying to spin this as a positive move. Fans realize that Impact is headed in the wrong direction, and this only makes things worse. D’Amore did mention that this is only a start and things could change as 2019 moves along. Hopefully, he means more than just moving to 8 pm ET on Pursuit channel, because I don’t see that helping whatsoever.

Impact Wrestling/TNA has been dying for years now, and the running joke surrounding the company isn’t funny anymore. I understand people will lose their jobs and there will be one less promotion to work for, but come on – why can’t this company just die already? I’ve been an avid fan of Impact Wrestling/TNA since 2007, and it’s sad to see the way this company has changed. Hopefully, 2019 will bring good fortunes for Impact, but with this new TV deal, it definitely puts a damper on 2019.

NOW CHECK OUT OTHER WEEKLY OVERVIEWS HERE.

OR JUMP TO LAST WEEK’S IMPACT OVERVIEW: WEEKLY OVERVIEW – IMPACT WRESTLING (thru 12/15): Top stories of week, major show lineups, live event results, schedule of live events, noteworthy social media posts, more

Landon Pipkin has been a pro wrestling fan for over a decade. He is from Raleigh, North Carolina. Find him on Twitter @pipkinbrand. Email: pipkinlandon@gmail.com

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