Also, before I get into the article, I do want to qualify that I’m assuming it’ll be a five-way, as a lot of Ultimate X’s are around that number.

Tasha Steelz

She won the first one, so it’s only right that she’s in the second.

The former Knockouts World Champion has barely shown up in 2023, so this is a good opportunity to set her up for another long-term run. Sure, she’s been on and off on TV, but it’s only right to have her try and defend her knockouts Ultimate X crown. She would also be a great candidate to win it, as there’s a good amount of interest in a potential Tasha Steelz vs. Trinity match (assuming Trinity retains, of course).

Gisele Shaw

Gisele feels like a no-brainer.

Out of all the women in this article, Gisele is the only one who has had the most consistent showcase on TV. She’s always a feature and has been heavily involved with Trinity, Deonna Purrazzo, and Jordynne Grace in recent months. It’s good to have a recurring talent in this match, as it adds some credibility to the match in general for recurring viewers and gives the match some name value. If anyone in this article was to be a lock-in, I would say Gisele.

Harley Hudson

TNA’s most recently signed knockout!

Unknown to most, the young Scouser, Harley Hudson, is the most recent signing to TNA’s knockouts division. At only 21 years old, she was signed by TNA on their recent UK tour after winning the female gut-check competition.

Her in-ring skills are unknown to practically all TNA fans, so giving her a chance in this match could end up giving her a real breakout performance. A good performance in this match is the best way to start off her TNA career, and with it being a gimmick match, they should be able to hide her weaknesses and really highlight her strengths early on.

One Of The Released WWE Talent

With Hard To Kill happening after the 90-day non-compete clauses are up, I wouldn’t be shocked to see a fair share of the released talent signing with TNA (fingers crossed for Ali and MxM). Two names that spring to mind when it comes to a former WWE talent being in this match specifically are Dana Brooke and Tenille Dashwood. They were the two most high-profile female talents that were released and would suit the knockouts division. Obviously, Tenille has had her run, so I would personally go with Dana for this spot, as she deserves a chance to prove her naysayers wrong and show that she may actually be quite good in the ring (something she wasn’t really able to prove in the WWE).

And Finally, Who I Think Should Be Winning It…

KiLynn King

I cannot stress enough how great she is!

Ever since signing with TNA, KiLynn has shown how great she is in the ring. She’s got a really bright future ahead of her. She’s a great powerhouse, and TNA should not hesitate in hoisting up to the main event. There may be stigma around her from new viewers after her time in AEW, but I can promise you that she’s improved immensely since then.

Plus, if she wins, we either get another match against Trinity (the first one was great) or we get her going one-on-one with Jordynne in a woman’s hoss fight, which sounds amazing on paper.

If you want to read similar articles about my thoughts on the new era of TNA, just click HERE to read an article about my thoughts about Alex Shelley vs. Moose.

The post Honestly: These Talents Should Be In The Knockouts Ultimate X Match At Hard To Kill appeared first on Wrestling Republic.

Shelley’s Reign

While Shelley winning the world championship will go down as one of the greatest moments in the company’s history, the reign has lost a lot of steam in recent times. This is to no fault of his own; TNA’s taping schedule has been all over the place at the moment, and they’ve not given themselves any opportunities to build up interesting storylines. All of this, plus Shelley’s injury on the UK tour, has slowed down his momentum tenfold, causing his reign to be somewhat of an afterthought since Bound for Glory.

As much as it pains me to say, this loss of momentum is one of the main reasons why I think hitting the reset button on the world champion is the best idea.

Moose’s First Reign

I, for one, was a thorough enjoyer of Moose’s run with the Impact World Championship. While every match wasn’t crazy workrate-wise, they were mostly, at the very least, enjoyable. The triple threat against Morrissey and Cardona and the Full Metal Mayhem against Edwards are prime examples.

The main thing that really made this reign great was how strong he looked as the world champion. For all of his reign, he was booked like a dominant beast, making his loss to Alexander all the more special. To have a monster like him leading the new era would be a perfect way to establish the top babyface of the new era, who is the one to eventually get that big win over him.

Moose’s Contract

As you can see in the image above, Moose recently signed the longest deal ever in the company’s history. This makes it a no-brainer to stick the title on the guy that you know you can trust to be around for the long haul. With a company like TNA, which in recent history has been a revolving door for talents, getting only six-month contracts for a lot of talents, it’s good to have consistent names on TV like Moose in the main event scene.

Furthermore, if Moose isn’t going anywhere for a long time, then they have to build him up again. For those unaware, Moose hasn’t had the most successful 2023. The matches have been great (his match against Kevin Knight, for example), but he hasn’t had a consistent storyline push, with him most noticeably being on the losing end of a rivalry against Joe Hendry this year. So this is the perfect chance to build Moose up to the stature he once had as the monster heel on top of the company.

Establishing A New Era

As I have mentioned multiple times in this article, a reset on the world champion is a great way to establish the new era. It’s an easy way to do it, and it drums up some early interest for the product. A lot of new people will be watching the product, so presenting them with someone with the star power of Moose is a great way to get it kickstarted.

While I do recognise that some may have divisive opinions on The Wrestling God, it’s hard to deny his talent and stature, which would make him such a good champion to lead TNA into the new era.

The post Honestly: Moose Should Win The TNA World Championship At Hard To Kill appeared first on Wrestling Republic.

Impact wrestlers such as Willie Mack and Rich Swann tried in vain to fight off the invaders but were beaten into submission. Those on commentary seemingly had no idea what to make of what was happening and speculated that it was a full-on invasion from ROH. 

Scott D’Amore was asked about the events that transpired but simply replied that he needed to make a call to Baltimore, which is the location of the ROH headquarters, to try and get some answers. This angle is likely ROH’s way of staying in the headlines until their hiatus can end in April of this year. 

You can view the match results from Hard To Kill below:

– Jake Something defeated Madman Fulton

 – “Speedball” Mike Bailey beat Chris Bey, Laredo Kid, and Ace Austin

 – Tasha Steelz won the Ultimate X match by beating Chelsea Green, Alisha Edwards, Rosemary, Jordynne Grace, and Lady Frost

 – X-Division Champion Trey Miguel retained against Steve Maclin

 – ROH World Champion retained against Chris Sabin in a Pure Rules match

 – Josh Alexander defeated Jonah

 – Eddie Edwards, Rich Swann, Willie Mack, Heath, and Rhino defeated Impact Tag Team Champions Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) & Violent By Design (Eric Young, Joe Doering, & Deaner) in a Hardcore War match

 – Impact World Champion Moose retained against W. Morrisey and Matt Cardona

 – Mickie James retained the Impact Knockouts Championship against Deonna Purrazzo in a Texas Deathmatch

The post Multiple ROH Stars Invaded Impact Wrestling During Hard To Kill appeared first on Wrestling Republic.

Paquette wrote on her official Twitter account, “Huge news!! @TomHannifan joins @IMPACTWRESTLING as their newest play-by-play announcer at Hard To Kill! What a pick-up for them! I have Tom’s first interview as this coming Tuesday on The Sessions!! @TheVolumeSports.”

Hannifan was also spotted in Dallas, Texas, on the morning of the eighth, which led to fan speculation prior to the official announcement of his signing. According to PWInsider, Hannifan will be replacing longtime Impact announcer Matt Striker who revealed earlier in the week that he was finished with Impact Wrestling and departed from the promotion. 

On his departure, Striker said on his Twitter account, “I am disappointed that my time with #ImpactonAXSTV is done. I really enjoyed that locker room. Thanks for allowing me to tell your story. Thanks, everyone. Stay safe.”

WWE legend D’Lo Brown will retain his spot on the announce desk for Impact and will be joined by Hannifan to call the play-by-play action for the Hard To Kill event. As of this Thursday’s episode, the pair will be Impact’s new commentary duo moving forward on Impact on AXS TV.

Hannifan, age 32, was a part of WWE’s staff from 2012 to May of last year in a featured commentary role for company programming. WWE released him as part of the over 80 cuts that have occurred in the past two years and which continue currently. The most recent cuts on January 6 included William Regal, Timothy Thatcher, and Danny Burch. Hannifan’s roles within WWE included producing and managing announcers as Senior manager of On-Air talent under Michael Cole.

Prior to signing with Impact Wrestling, Hannifan had transitioned to hosting Paydirt: Penn State Football Podcast, which covered college football matches and topics.

The post Tom Hannifan Has Signed With Impact Wrestling appeared first on Wrestling Republic.

ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham will defend his title against Chris Sabin. This is the first time that the ROH World Title will be defended in IMPACT Wrestling.

Earlier this week Game Changer Wrestling announced that ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham will defend his title against Blake Christian at the Hammerstein Ballroom event on Sunday, January 23 in New York City

Impact Hard To Kill will take place live on PPV and Fite TV, Saturday, January 8 from The Factory in Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas.

Below is the current card for the Hard to Kill:

–Triple Threat Match for the Impact World Title: Matt Cardona vs. W. Morrissey vs. Moose (c)

-ROH World Championship Match: Jonathan Gresham (c) defends against Sabin

-Texas Death Match for the Knockouts Championship: Mickie James (c) defends against Deonna Purrazzo 

-IMPACT X Division Championship Match: Trey Miguel (c) defends against Steve Maclin 

-Knockouts Tag Team Championships Match: The IInspiration (c) defends against Madison Rayne and Tenille Dashwood

-Knockouts Ultimate X Match: Chelsea Green vs. Lady Frost vs. Tasha Steelz vs. Rosemary vs. Rachael Ellering vs. Impact Digital Media Champion Jordynne Grace
Winner receives a future title shot.

-Hardcore War Match: Heath, Rhino, Eddie Edwards, Rich Swann and Willie Mack vs. Violence By Design and IMPACT World Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers 

Jonah vs. Josh Alexander

The post Ring of Honor World Title to be defended at IMPACT Hard To Kill PPV appeared first on Wrestling Republic.

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.