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WEEKLY OVERVIEW – IMPACT WRESTLING (thru 12/8): 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 9, 2018

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

•Top Stories of the Week

  • Thursday’s Impact Wrestling episode, drew 116,000 viewers which is down five percent from last week’s 122,000 viewers. (SOURCE)
  • Next week on Impact, Moose will face Brian Cage, Santana will go one-on-one against Fenix. Also, the final two qualifying matches for Ultimate X will take place. (SOURCE)
  • Impact announced two new Twitch specials this week, Ohio vs. Everything on December 14, 2018, and Brace for Impact on February 2, 2019.

•Live Event Results

11/30/2018 – Gold Rush, Newark Pavilion, Newark, Calif.

(1) Eddie Edwards defeated Scotty Wringer

(2) Rik Luxury & Shane Kody & Sledge defeated Local Team – Six Man Tag-Team match.

(3) Rich Swann defeated Marcus Lewis

(4) The Freaks defeated OVE

(5) Brian Cage defeated Moose

(6) Tessa Blanchard defeated Kiera Hogan to retain the Knockouts Championship.

(7) Johnny Impact defeated Eli Drake to retain the Impact World Championship. LINK

•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. TBA vs. TBA – 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.

(More matches haven’t been announced, but are listed HERE.)

•Upcoming Events

  • 12/14/2018 – Ohio vs. Everything, Rockstar Pro Arena, Dayton, Ohio
  • 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: (12/6 Impact Wrestling)

Impact Wrestling from Dec. 6, 2018, from Sam’s Town Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Aired on Pop TV at 10 p.m. EST.

Announcers: Josh Matthews and Don Callis.

(1) Jake Crist (w/oVe) defeated Willie Mack – Ultimate X qualifying match

-Backstage, Tessa Blanchard said Taya Valkyrie will never be anything more than Johnny Impact’s wife. Moose called out Johnny Impact saying he was the real Mr. Impact (The promotion).

(2) Dark Allie (w/Su Yung) defeated Heather Monroe

-After the match, Kiera Hogan came to the ring and tried to talk sense into Allie. Allie and Su Yung then beat up Hogan.

(3) The Desi Hit Squad (w/Gama Singh) defeated Damien Hyde & Manny Lemons

-Backstage, Matt Sydal gave a motivational speech to Ethan Page. Page seemed disinterested and told Sydal to go get ready.

-McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Eli Drake. He showed her a letter that was submitted by Abyss stating, at Homecoming, he will face Drake in a Monster’s Ball match.

(4) Ethan Page defeated Matt Sydal – Ultimate X qualifying match

-In the insane asylum, Eddie Edwards was seen playing chess Raven, who said he checks himself in once per month. Raven then stole a key card from an employee and gave it to Edwards.

(5) Johnny Impact (c) & Taya Valkyrie defeated Moose & Tessa Blanchard (c)

After the match, Moose and Blanchard attacked Impact and Valkyrie. Killer Kross came to the ring, but Brian Cage made the save and helped Valkyrie get up.

For a more detailed report and analysis check out the full PWTorch.com TV Report HERE.

•LATEST PWTORCH LIVECAST COVERING IMPACT

PWTorch.com’s Mike McMahon and Andrew Soucek discuss Impact Wrestling! They take listener emails on the LAX/EVOLVE situation, as well as Impact’s television future. They break down Johnny Impact vs. Brian Cage, talk Raven’s return to Impact TV, and also discuss why Konnan got so mad at LAX and the Lucha Bros. They wrap up the show by giving a huge endorsement to MLW.

-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

  • On this week’s Impact conference call, Eli Drake commented on his Bound for Glory match and his thoughts on the speculation surrounding Chris Jericho. Drake stated, “Hell yea I would have wanted that match,”. He mentioned they both can talk and wrestle which would’ve been great chemistry. In reference to Ellsworth accepting his challenge, Drake said, “Oh boy. Well, that made it a little big of an easier hump if you will, just to get in and out of that one…” LINK
  • Eli Drake was questioned by Nick Hausman from Wrestling Inc. about the TV deal that Impact is currently in. Drake said a hybrid solution between TV and Internet is the best approach at the moment. During the call, Drake was asked why he decided to re-sign with Impact wrestling, despite having other options available. He said he was content with his life and enjoyed where he lived. He also said a year from now he still has options, but for now, he is happy where he is at. LINK

•Social Media Scene

https://twitter.com/SantanaLAX/status/1069977013069459456

•Closing Commentary

This past week, I decided to create a Twitch account and watch Impact Wrestling’s Gold Rush event. This event was plagued by technical difficulties and ruined the experience for people watching at home.

It seems I jumped in at the wrong time because many users in the chat room said this was a rare occurrence. Impact sent out an apologetic tweet following the event and said they would work hard in the future to provide a quality stream. The concept of giving away live wrestling on a popular gaming website is great, but Impact must meet certain standards for it to work.

I’m not sure how long of a partnership Impact has with Twitch, but could Impact’s weekly show end up on Twitch? If Impact is unable to obtain a contract with a larger network than Pop TV, could it be beneficial to air its Weekly TV show on Twitch at 8 p.m. ET and release the episode on YouTube the following day? Major League Wrestling uses a similar format with Bein sports. Pop TV is far from a cable juggernaut, but Twitch averages 15 million viewers a day. If only two percent of those viewers see Impact, that’s double their current cable ratings. Also, Impact’s YouTube channel has two million subscribers, which isn’t a small number.

Twitch could be the future home for not only Impact’s monthly specials, but also its weekly TV show. 2019 is shaping up to be a huge year for not only Impact Wrestling, but the entire wrestling industry.

P.S. There is a new app called Grappl that lets you rate wrestling matches dating all the way back to 1985 and is updated daily with recent TV/PPV matches. You can also follow people and see what matches they are rating. Feel free to follow me @PipkinBrand

NOW CHECK OUT OTHER WEEKLY OVERVIEWS HERE.

OR JUMP TO LAST WEEK’S IMPACT OVERVIEW: WEEKLY OVERVIEW – IMPACT WRESTLING (thru 11/30): 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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