Hearing this interests me, so I’ve put together a list of 10 talents that I think Scott D’Amore must snatch for this new era of TNA. I’m going to try to be somewhat realistic with this ranking. I am not going to include people who have already signed somewhere else unless their contracts are running out. This list is also in no specific order, because I think they would all be great signings.

10. Mike Rallis

If you want to read my previous article on why I think Rallis could’ve been a star in the WWE, then click HERE!

I mean, just look at him here; the guy has an outstanding build. For a short period of time, he was really over in the WWE, but he ultimately lost that flair quickly due to a lack of character and Triple H refusing to capitalize on what he had. Now if Impact is able to give him a character, then the sky is the limit for him. With the right presentation, the guy could seriously be a big star for any company. Vince McMahon clearly saw this, and it may be time for Impact to capitalize on something he couldn’t.

The post Top 10 Signings That TNA Should Make leading Into The New Era appeared first on Wrestling Republic.

It was not long after this that Alexander’s contract with Impact expired. He would temporarily leave the company before returning a month later. There were likely plenty of options open for Alexander as far as his next step. If he had not returned, he could have tried to sign with WWE or AEW. If he wanted, he could have worked the indies. Ultimately, he chose to stay with Impact, and according to Alexander, it wasn’t a hard choice. He said as much while speaking on the Battleground Podcast.

“It was an easy decision for me. Right now, I think the one thing that’s changed in the pro wrestling landscape, especially for like free agents and professional wrestlers, is regardless of whatever you have to offer, you have to be in the top 10% to have a job now in one of those sustainable positions at any of these companies, Impact included.

“Because as you’ve seen with AEW signing up everybody that they can and all this other stuff, it’s just like, the waters are kind of picked dry a little bit, and whoever’s left is kind of fighting for whatever’s left. The thing that made my decision so much easier is I never planned on leaving.”

The Impact star also revealed that AEW had shown interest in him previously, but as part of The North tag team with Ethan Page. There was not much interest in utilizing him as a singles wrestler.

“Impact gave me an opportunity when no other company would. I was in contact with the people at AEW before Impact ever considered signing me and they had told me that they were not interested in me as a singles wrestler. Impact then came along and signed me, and before The North ever came to be, they were preparing to push me as a singles talent when I debuted. I did vignettes, and I did video stuff that was never aired as me being a singles person, and then when I showed up on my first day of work, they said, ‘We’re going to put you in a tag team with Ethan Page.’” (H/T WrestlingInc.com)

Re-signing with Impact is clearly working out for Josh Alexander as he is set to challenge Moose for the Impact World Championship on April 22 at the Rebellion pay-per-view.

The post Josh Alexander Says Choosing Impact Over AEW Was An Easy Decision For Him appeared first on Wrestling Republic.

Great show by the way in case you haven’t checked it out, particularly PCO/Jonah, Jay White/Alex Shelley and Deonna/Chelsea. Anyway, as Moose successfully defended the Impact World Championship, an old nemesis made his shocking return to Impact in Josh Alexander. The reason this return was so shocking is that weeks ago, Josh was written off of TV as he was “indefinitely suspended”. The real reason for this is the fact that Josh and Impact were having difficulty coming to an agreement on a new contract. As his Impact contract expired this created a domino effect for Josh as he no longer had a steady job in the US, that caused his work visa expired to enter the country from his home in Canada. This put Josh in a very tough spot as without a visa he couldn’t travel to the US for any wrestling company to perform and the US market being the most lucrative this made it very tough for Josh to make a living. As a result, with a family to support Josh returned to construction work, which was something he did before he started making a living in the wrestling business. Ironically the legendary Bruno Sammartino also made a living in the construction business when he was being blackballed in the states due to a dispute with Vince McMahon Sr. 

Before leaving Impact in February, Josh was on quite a run, without a doubt the best run of his career and was in demand all over the independent circuit. When he was originally signed by Impact Wrestling in 2019, it was because Executive Vice President, Scott D’Amore saw something special in his fellow Canadian, Josh Alexander, that no one else saw. Josh had an amazing tag team run in Impact with fellow Canadian, Ethan Page as a part of The North. They were the longest reigning tag team champions at 380 days, but when Page decided to leave Impact and go to AEW, the question became what happens to Josh.  

Josh defied all the doubters and went on a singles run in Impact that was absolutely incredible. The division that defined Impact during its early days was without question the X-Division. A division that was built on the backs of AJ Styles, Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels just to name a few over the past 20 years. However, the division and Impact itself had seen better days at this point especially with the rise of AEW and so many botched opportunities in the company’s history that many fans turned their backs on the promotion. When AJ Styles left Impact in 2014, it was very much like the promotion lost its heart and soul and there have been a constant shift in talent over the years since that time, but the company was never really able to find that heart and soul performer. Eddie Edwards has arguably been the closest, but seeing what Josh Alexander was able to do with the X-Division reminded me so much of AJ Styles. 

The X-Division Championship has always been the workhorse title of Impact and Josh lived up to that tradition and put on incredible performances as the unbeatable champion and fans and peers alike took notice during his 151-day reign as champion. With no more mountains to climb in the X-Division and Impact desperately needing someone to step up and bring the Impact World Championship home from AEW, Josh answered the call executing Option C, which allowed the reigning X-Division champion the ability to relinquish the title in order to get a world championship title shot. For months Impact was involved in a crossover partnership deal with AEW, that I previously wrote about that really didn’t help Impact at all. The Impact World Championship was around the waist of former Impact and current AEW star, Christian Cage. A fellow Canadian talent that Josh looked up to his entire career. that had mirror careers of tag team guys that weren’t looked at as singles stars and proved the doubters wrong.

At Bound for Glory, Josh’s gamble paid off and in an incredible match he beat his childhood idol and won the world championship and brought the title home where it belonged in Impact. However, that moment of joy would be very short lived as he celebrated in the ring with his wife and young son, an opportunist arose in Moose, who earlier that night won the Call Your Shot Gauntlet trophy and was cashing in now. With his wife and son still in the ring and Josh’s concern for them he was distracted, and Moose took full advantage of that in typical heel fashion. Moose hit his spear and stole the Impact World Championship from Josh as his family looked on in sheer horror.

Josh wanted a re-match for the world title over the next several months, but instead of getting his hands on Moose, everyone was coming to Impact and wanted a piece of Josh. See the reputation that Josh had built up as X-Division champion and the face of Impact Wrestling didn’t go unnoticed by the wrestling industry as challengers such as the legendary Minoru Suzuki, Charlie Haas, Big Kon, Rohit Raju and Vincent were all coming in and challenging Josh. No bigger challenger than former NXT star, Jonah, who was looking to make an impact in this business after his WWE release. At Hard to Kill, the two men went to absolute war with each other.

Josh wanted Moose and with his real-life contract situation playing out behind the scenes, Impact couldn’t put the title on him if he was going to leave. On TV, Scott D’Amore said Josh was not in the right frame of mind to challenge Moose but would get his shot when the time was right. Of course, as already discussed, Josh was written off TV and was talked about as a former Impact star on TV even during a promo by Moose. Many began speculating that he was leaving Impact and joining AEW. So, when Josh not only returned last night at Sacrifice and attacked Moose, but he also shocked the world even further by announcing that he was not only getting his re-match at Rebellion, but that he signed a new multi-year contract with Impact.

 This rivalry between Moose and Josh has been exceptionally built and both men are doing their best work of their career. It is a good traditional wrestling story of face vs heel, and it has elements of realism, believability and is relatable to the audience, which makes it connect with them. Personally, I wanted to see Josh re-sign with Impact as I think that is the right place for him with both WWE and AEW already having rosters of talent that they don’t know what to do with at the moment. Impact needed Josh as he has been that anchor performer for them, and Josh will continue to thrive there.

Final Thoughts:

I think this a great main event for Rebellion to built around, because it is a storyline that has been building for months and the fans want to see it. Arguably in my opinion, Impact has consistently been hitting on all cylinders and is producing some of the best wrestling on the planet right now, whether people want to admit that or not. So, I fully expect Rebellion to be a stacked card as all their 2022 Impact Plus shows and PPV has been so far this year. Moose vs Josh Alexander is a match that can deliver as Moose has really grown into the heel champion and Josh has the crowd behind him as the babyface that was wronged so I for one look forward to their build to Rebellion and the match itself. 

Photo Credit – Impact Wrestling

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While Impact isn’t talked about nearly enough, they have multiple marquee talents up and down their roster. One part is the established legends, like Tommy Dreamer and Rhino. Their talented Knockouts roster, including Deonna Purazzo, Mercedes Martinez, and Mickie James. Perhaps their strong suit of the X-division with performers like Rohit Raju, Ace Austin, or Trey Miguel. 

What often gets lost in the shuffle is their main event picture. While not as deep as the rest of the roster, the main event has been in good hands thanks to Moose.

Moose started off the year strong, teaming with Rich Swann and Chris Sabin to face off against Kenny Omega and the Good Brothers. This match showcased what Moose could do on a bigger scale, the performance highlighted by a spanish fly from the top rope.

Moose continued to pick up steam, declaring himself the TNA World Champion, despite the title being retired long ago. He became so dominant that the only option was to put him into a title unification against Impact World Champion Rich Swann. Even though Moose lost the match and his belt, this failed to slow his momentum.

Several months later, Moose earned himself a shot at the Impact Championship, this time facing off against Kenny Omega. He also earned the distinction of having the only Impact match at Daily’s Place, AEW’s homebase. Moose found himself on the losing end once again, but impressed against one of the best in the world, in what was probably Kenny Omega’s best match in Impact.

His Impact run would slow down after facing Omega, but this gave Moose the opportunity to work with New Japan and face Tomohiro Ishii at Resurgence. In his first match for the promotion in five years, Moose worked with Ishii in a brutal, hard-hitting affair, putting on another great match. Moose would also face Juice Robinson at Battle In The Valley, seeming to make more frequent appearances for NJPW.

Moose got the chance to return to the spotlight, winning the Call Your Shot Gauntlet battle royal at Bound For Glory, earning the opportunity to challenge for any title at any point. He would waste no time, dethroning newly crowned Impact Champion Josh Alexander on the same night. This marked the first time Moose won the grand prize in Impact after grinding for the better part of five years.

He followed up one of the best heel moves of the year by cutting a magnificent promo on the next episode of Impact. Moose made several references to the industry’s top stars like The New Day, Becky Lynch, and Roman Reigns. This promo did a magnificent job of establishing Moose as a top star in the industry, one which Impact will be heavily invested in for years to come.

The best part is that Moose’s title reign has only just started. He has only defended the tile once on Impact programming, defeating Eddie Edwards in a spectacular hardcore match to close Turning Point 2021. He will defend the title for the first time in 2022 at Hard to Kill against both Matt Cardona and W. Morrissey.

Moose has the potential to become the unstoppable heel champion of Impact, with his run should look very similar to Bobby Lashley’s. He should be running through the roster with ease, making it all the more impressive when someone can finally dethrone this unstoppable machine. Either way, Moose has earned his spot and isn’t looking to give it up any time soon.

The post Honestly: Moose Deserves Our Respect appeared first on Wrestling Republic.

Whenever a wrestling promotion has their biggest show of the year they should give the fans the best main event possible and there is no question in my mind that with the pieces that Impact has at their disposal they have announced the best main event they possibly could. It’s a great story going into it because both men’s careers are almost identical in so many ways. Two men that are from Canada, they made a name for themselves in tag team wrestling in a very successful team, they were then thrust into a singles career and had to prove themselves as a workhorse.

As part of the North, over two tag team title reigns, they held the tag titles for 401 and were the most dominant team in TNA/Impact history. When Ethan Page decided to leave Impact and jump to AEW, the biggest question mark was what happens to Josh Alexander? I’ll be perfectly honest, I did not see the transformation into a singles star happening so quickly and so successfully. I kind of figured Impact may have thrown him into another tag team but Josh had something to prove and Impact believed in him and was willing to give him that opportunity. 

The decision was made to place Josh in the X-Division, a once prominent and prestigious division but over the years much like Impact itself was trying to re-find its identity. The X-Division Championship much like WWF’s IC and AEW’s TNT titles, was long considered the workhorse title and arguably was the driving force behind TNA/Impact for years. Josh’s first shot at the title in February 2021 against TJP was unsuccessful but a few months later at Rebellion, Josh would defeat TJP and Ace Austin in a 3-Way to win his first singles title in his Impact career. It is often said winning something is the easy part but being able to keep it is the hard part. For the next 146 days, Josh Alexander would prove to the world that not only the X-Division still matters but that Josh Alexander is a talent that the world should be paying attention to as he put on performance after performance that not only elevated himself but the championship and the company that he represents. On a side note, at the same time Josh was doing this with the X-Division, Jonathan Gresham was doing the same in ROH with the Pure Title and both men have really had a hell of a year showing the world just how good they are.

Josh successfully defended the title against TJP in a 60-minute Iron Man match which was one of the best matches of the year, not just in Impact but in wrestling as a whole. He successfully defended against NJPW star, El Phantasmo in another great match. He also successfully defended in the X-Division’s signature match, Ultimate X, against  Ace Austin, Chris Bey, Petey Williams, Rohit Raju and Trey Miguel. Even in an open challenge he successfully defended against Jake Crist. 

For 146 days, Josh showed his dominance over the division and the question of who will beat him for the title is a question that will go unanswered as Josh chose to exercise a very unique concept that Impact has where the reigning X-Division champion can vacate the title for a Impact World Championship shot. At Victory Road, Josh successfully defended the title against Chris Sabin, who held the X-Division title more times than anyone at 8 reigns but Josh wasn’t done for the night after Christian successfully defended against Ace Austin, Josh confronted Christian and announced he was invoking Option C for a title shot at Bound for Glory (Impact’s version of WrestleMania).  

Since making his shocking return at the Royal Rumble and jumping to AEW a few months later, Christian has had the comeback of the year. Christian defeated Kenny Omega for the Impact World title and just came up short at All Out in his match against Omega for the AEW World title. Christian is continuing to build onto his legendary career as he has returned to the place that gave him his first opportunity to be world champion that being TNA/Impact. Christian very much likes giving back to the younger generation and just being in the ring with the young talent of Impact helps all involved. Impact and the Impact World Championship means a lot to Christian and it is clear to the fans that he does care and it makes this match mean that much more because you have two men that love this business and want to represent Impact.

This is a match with two men that will outwork anyone and that makes for potentially one of the best matches of the year and that is just on paper before they even build to the show. This is a match that any wrestling fan that truly loves wrestling will go I want to see this match and it will get people that were on the fence about buying the PPV to buy it. As I previously stated in another article, that the Impact World Championship on Christian was primarily to be a transitional champion that would drop to an Impact star because either Kenny Omega and/or Tony Khan didn’t want him losing to an Impact star. Christian has shown over his career that he doesn’t have a problem putting talent over and he is such a legend at this point a loss does nothing to his legacy but a win over him does a hell of a lot for the career of Josh Alexander. 

At Bound for Glory, it would be the perfect place to have Josh Alexander defeat the legendary Christian and become the first man in a year to be an impact star to hold it’s top prize. In Las Vegas, the gambling capital of the world, Josh is betting everything by giving up his X-Division title just for the opportunity to become the World Champion. The only thing certain about this match is that the fans will get their money’s worth as both men want to show the world that they are the workhorses of their respective companies and that Impact and the Impact World Championship does matter. 

As crazy as this world has been since the pandemic, the wrestling world has had an insanely entertaining 2021 and all the companies have come out with a bang and as the year is coming close to an end, it doesn’t appear that Impact is slowing that trend down. 

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