Writen by :Craig Ferriman (@MrImpact_Blog)
January 12 2020 IMPACT Wrestling will present their first pay per view of the new year, Hard to Kill. A few matches have already been announced and the whole card is shaping up to look like one hell of a pay per view, if you’re one of the few who still have a pretty strained relationship with the IMPACT product or looking to give it a chance then here’s a few matches already announced and what you can expect from Hard To Kill.
Eddie Edwards vs Michael Elgin
Eddie and Elgin are two of the best IMPACT have to offer, on more than one occasion Eddie and Big Mike have put on a fantastic match whether it be in singles competition or a multi person match, they deliver. Eddie has some of the hardest chops in wrestling today and Elgin has some of the heaviest forearm shots so it can easily break down into a power match but Elgin is arguably one of the best all rounders on the current IMPACT roster.
Big Mike laid down the challenge and Eddie happily accepted however Elgin added something else to it by challenging Eddie to put his call your shot gauntlet trophy which Eddie won at Bound for Glory in October on the line. Big Mike has already had match of the year candidates in the short time he’s been working with IMPACT and with Eddie being the longest serving member of the current roster this could be something special.
X Division Championship – Ace Austin vs Trey Miguel.
Both of these guys are incredible athletes who have made real names for themselves in 2019, Ace is arguably one of the break out stars in IMPACT Wrestling. Since his feud with Eddie Edwards he has truly broken out and became an outstanding character and since becoming the XXX Division champion he’s just become that much better.
As part of the rascals Trey is a great fit in the X division and is a truly incredible athlete, Trey earned his shot after winning a 6 way number 1 contenders match on IMPACT that was the beginning of the feud with Ace Austin. Ace has made it personal by trying to seduce Treys mom who started to sit ringside during the match where he became number one contender. This is a potential show stealer and although I can’t necessarily see Ace lose the title this soon after winning the title at BFG one things for certain it will be an incredible match.
Knockouts Championship – Taya Valkyrie vs Jordynne Grace vs ODB
Although this match was originally scheduled as a one on one between the current and longest reigning champ Taya Valkyrie and Jordynne Grace. To many IMPACT fans who have stayed with the product through the bad times were happy to see that ODB has been added to the match after she pinned Taya on IMPACT. ODB was only scheduled for one appearance and that was on ODB appreciation night at the NYC TV tapings, a show in which IMPACT donated the entire nights proceeds to ODB in order to get her food truck back up and running.
I originally thought that Jordynne Grace would be winning her first Knockouts championship but with addition of ODB that prediction is somewhat up in the air. But this match will be great as three hard hitting Knockouts square off over a title that’s been held by some of the best women’s wrestlers including ODB, but Taya has overcome matches in which no one gave her a chance and is now the longest reigning champion of all time and come hard to kill she will of been champion well over an entire calendar year.
Brian Cage vs Rob Van Dam
A dream match nobody knew they wanted to see, Van Dams character change has been so entertaining and all though he’s saying that this side is the real RVD it’s still the best version of the whole F’n show we’ve seen. Brian Cage has struggled with injury since he became world champion in April at Rebellion but now the machine is back to himself and has already had a few match of the year candidates against Michael Elgin and Sami Callihan.
This match came about during an interview segment between the former World Champ, Cage and Jimmy Jacobs in which the machine was saying that he’s back and is ready for the next challenge after losing the world title. RVD and his girlfriend Katie Forbes then appeared and began to let’s say celebrate Robs win over Rhino on the couch next to Cage.
RVD then mocked Cage for losing to Tessa Blanchard a few weeks ago then IMPACT broke the news on social media that the two will be facing off at Hard to kill, since his return Rob hasn’t had great matches but with this new character the match doesn’t have to be incredible because Rob is a natural heel and really plays up to it, It’ll certainly be an entertaining watch.
World Championship – Sami Callihan vs Tessa Blanchard.
What can be said about this match that hasn’t already been said?. History making, it’s as simple as that. This amazing feud has been going since Slammiversary earlier this year. The two have faced off several times in different matches from Singles to multi person tags, Sami has been world champion since the debut episode on AXS TV last month after defeating Brian Cage inside a steel cage.
Tessa immediately made herself known to Callihan making sure he knew that she wants to be world champion and she is well on her way. She’s overcome several obstacles and came close a few times having almost won the X Division title at BFG, But then she won a 6 person elimination challenge on IMPACT after pinning Brian Cage to become number one contender, which in itself was history making.
Many people have compared Tessa to the ninth wonder of the world Chyna and nobody can deny the impact she made on Intergender wrestling. But Tessa is taking it one step further, the question is will impact pull the trigger or will Sami retain his newly won world title?. All I do know is it’s can’t miss, history is being made and IMPACT wrestling are tearing down the stigma of intergender wrestling.
Thanks for reading.
