Impact Wrestling: Looking to Conquer the UK Once More

It’s been a busy news week for Impact Wrestling, as the company looks to conquer the UK market once more. Impact’s return to live events on British soil is another step in the right direction.

The UK was once Impact Wrestling’s strongest market. With strong ratings and a well attended, yearly live tour, the company were wise to capitalise on the British appetite for all things American wrestling.

As with many things associated with TNA, good things didn’t last: ratings stagnated, live event attendance dropped and yearly touring halted in 2016.

Fast forward to 2018 and Impact are returning to the UK as part of the Wrestling Mediacon convention.

With less than a month till the big return, Impact Wrestling have started the social media blitz to drum up interest in one of the biggest wrestling events on this side of the pond. In May, Impact sent out a challenge to British promotions in an Impact vs The UK special event.

This was a wise move for Impact. Practically, costs can be kept low by not having to produce a live event from scratch. Creatively, the ‘versus’ concept continues the companies collaborative efforts to share talent and work with like-minded promotions.

These co-branded events can only be a positive for all involved and continue the successes of Impact vs Lucha Underground and the upcoming, Impact vs Ring of Honor (on The Cruise of Jericho). Impact continues to be seen as a friendly partner, a far cry from the ‘us vs them’ mentality of years gone by – with NXT UK and World of Sport newly launched, an aggressive, Impact-only tour may have proved costly.

The announcement that one of Impact’s premier and most watchable stars, Sami Callihan, would be taking on ‘King of The Deathmatch’, Jimmy Havoc, is a much watch for the hardcore wrestling fan (be warned, the footage below is graphic).

Jimmy is a dark and compelling protagonist for the deranged Callihan to have a first-time ever, extreme war. It may not be to everyone’s taste, but this match will draw interest based on the bloody and bloodthirsty nature of both men’s matches around the world for different promotions. A good move by Impact management and once again highlighting their more mature ethos.

Next up, LAX (Ortiz and Santana) will be pitted against Jody Fleisch and Jonny Storm. LAX have proven themselves to be a highlight of the Impact roster and were one of the few success stories of the GFW era of 2017.

High flying, great brawlers and adaptable, the Impact tag team champions will tear the house down the Storm and Fleisch. Legends of the UK  independent scene, the Brit duo were instrumental in changing perceptions of what UK wrestling could be in the early 2000’s, both competitors have matured from cruiserweight specialists to hybrid performers capable of quality matches with a wide variety of opponents.

This could be special. See below for a taster of what these guys offer:

And…just announced (as I write this), The Prestigious One, Joe Hendry has issued a rematch challenge to, The Namer of Dummies, Eli Drake. A continuation of their fun interactions on the weekly television show, it’s good to see Impact bring an element of their storylines into the UK show. Both men are hugely popular performers and will satisfy the Impact fans who are there to support the current product. This should be the Sports Entertainment match of the night.

Impact Wrestling are making wise and fan pleasing decisions with their return to the UK. Interesting matches, quality wrestlers and an emphasis on quality over quantity.

I’m attending the show on September 9th. I’m genuinely excited. I expect an intimate venue, a rowdy crowd and a potentially great card. I hope this lays the foundation for a full roster tour in 2019. I’ll be doing a full report from Manchester over that weekend.

I have been to Impact live events in the UK and the US. I have always enjoyed the experience. However, this show feels more important than any show I’ve been to previously – it’s Impact’s chance to wipe the slate clean of the dreaded TNA reputation.

This is another step in the right direction  for the re-emergence of the Impact brand, let’s hope they knock it out of the park.