With recent announcements of the WWE’s deal with Endeavor and AEW’s venture to hold an event at Wembley Stadium this summer, there are questions surrounding how this will affect other wrestling promotions and if they can either remain competitive or carve out their own niche in the industry.
Impact Wrestling has done an exceptional job over the past several years of providing a successful product that has continued to show growth year over year. Impact has maintained a loyal base to the point where any move that AEW or WWE makes helps, rather than hurts their company.
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“When pro wrestling is in the mainstream media news cycle, that is always a good thing,” says Scott D’Amore, President of Impact Wrestling. D’Amore notes that this isn’t the first time a pro wrestling and MMA promotion share a space as Canadian media company Anthem Sports & Entertainment has both Impact Wrestling and Invicta Fighting Championships as part of their portfolio. “As the saying goes ‘a rising tide lifts all ships,’ so this is definitely a good thing for IMPACT Wrestling as well."
Impact's upcoming Rebellion pay-per-view (April 16 at 8 p.m. ET via FITE.tv) is a pivotal one for the promotion as the main event will feature Kushida vs. Steve Maclin for the vacant Impact World Championship. The company’s longest reigning champion, Josh Alexander, was forced to relinquish the title due to a triceps tear that will keep him out of action for much of 2023. Although losing Alexander has dealt Impact a mighty blow, the promotion has been diligent with new additions to the roster and established names who have helped build the two-decade-old company. While AEW and WWE appear to have slowed down on acquiring talent, Impact is happy to provide an opportunity for talent to ply their craft with their company.
“We are always looking at more talent to add to our roster and that includes established veterans and rising stars. Impact has, in my opinion, done a great job of balancing that,” D’Amore says while citing recently inked deals with the likes of PCO, Frankie Kazarian, Joe Hendry, and Jonathan Gresham. The company has also committed to re-signing longer-tenured talents such as Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley) and breakout star Chris Bey.
The company also recently re-signed lauded commentator Tom Hannifan to a multi-year contract. The 33-year-old joined Impact in January 2022 after a decade-long stint with WWE as a lead play-by-play announcer for NXT, SmackDown, and Raw. It didn’t take long for Impact to want to commit to Hannifan long-term and further cement his position as one of the best commentators in the business.
“The IMPACT family embraced me from my first day on the job,” Hannifan tells The Sporting News about joining the company after being surprisingly released by WWE in March 2021. “I needed that more than most people will ever realize. I decided to stay because I felt wanted, respected, and appreciated. This company gave me an opportunity to prove myself all over again, so now my goal is to repay that generosity with all my effort.”
D’Amore has likened Hannifan’s significance on commentary to that of the legendary Mike Tenay, who spent 14 years with the company and established himself as the voice of Impact. Hannifan aims to continue to honor that legacy by using his expertise both on and off commentary to help build a stellar product and an alternative to AEW and WWE.
“I also decided to stay because I see where IMPACT and Anthem as a whole is headed, and I want to be a part of that journey,” Hannifan continues. “This company lost a lot of critical pieces with the rise of AEW, and like many businesses, was slowed by the pandemic. IMPACT has had time to heal, rebuild, and grow, and I believe our current television product is outstanding. It rivals or exceeds some of the best the pro wrestling industry has to offer. There is so much more we can achieve. And the truth many wrestling fans need to grasp is this: when IMPACT Wrestling is live, we don’t miss.”
He’s right. The company hasn’t missed. They’ve been ahead of the curve in many areas over the years. Their women’s division -- coined as "Knockouts" -- was firing on all cylinders well before WWE had a “Divas Revolution” and their X-Division successfully gave the spotlight to smaller and more athletic talent when companies were obsessed with musclebound giants over in-ring ability.
Coming out of the pandemic, Impact’s in-ring quality has remained undeniable and has translated to Sunday’s pay-per-view being their fifth consecutive major live event that has sold out in advance. Add that to the fact that Impact continues to leave its door open to working with other promotions and you have a company that has a clear path to another successful year in the industry.
“We have long said, IMPACT Wrestling is open for business and willing to work with any pro wrestling company if the partnership is mutually beneficial,” D’Amore says. “We have worked with AEW, ROH, Pro Wrestling Noah. NJPW, and even WWE, which no one thought would ever happen!
“We stand by our word and put our money where our mouth is. We truly believe when companies put their differences aside and work together, it’s a win-win-win situation. Both companies and most importantly the fans are all better off for it.”