Impact Wrestling Hard to Kill 2022 HOT TAKE
Hard. To. Kill.
If there was a definition of Impact Wrestling and its near-twenty year journey since debuting in June 2002, it would be hard to kill. From its fledgling days in the TNA Asylum and weekly Wednesday night pay-per-view events, Impact Wrestling has been bobbing and weaving, ducking and diving, staying one step ahead of detractors, attackers and at times, even extinction.
From Ken Shamrock to Jeff Jarrett to AJ Styles to Eric Young to Bobby Lashley to EC3 to Moose and beyond, Impact Wrestling's World Champions have led the promotion into battle, seeking to entertain fans across the globe while planting the flag in the middle of the battlefield, proudly bellowing that Impact Wrestling was here to stay.
No matter what others claimed or believed, Impact Wrestling was Hard to Kill. It remains Hard to Kill, because you can't kill a dream, a movement, a belief, a revolution. Impact Wrestling has been all of those things and more, ever-evolving, ever-growing and always standing tall, awaiting the next challenge to overcome and the next goal to ascend beyond.
This Saturday, Impact Wrestling returns to take over Dallas, Texas, bringing FITE viewers across the world yet another chapter in the never-ending legacy of Impact Wrestling. Live from the Lone Star State to every chapter of the globe and every device you own, learn firsthand why Impact Wrestling and its unique roster of combat sports stars are now, and forever, Hard to Kill.
Impact Wrestling's Hard to Kill 2022 on January 8th will feature the following main event attractions:
TRIPLE THREAT CHALLENGE FOR THE IMPACT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Moose has long-claimed he is a "Wrestling God" and over 2021, he methodically destroyed the Impact Wrestling locker room, slowly strategizing his way into an Impact Wrestling World Championship when he shockingly attacked and defeated Josh Alexander at the climax of Bound for Glory 2021 to become the Impact Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion.
With Alexander dealing with Impact interloper Jonah, this has left Moose to deal with the shattered remains of his unholy alliance with W. Morrisey, who made good on his word that once their tandem would no longer serve Morrisey's own goals, they'd be at each other's throats.
In the middle of this maelstrom of madness is Matt Cardona, who since coming to Impact Wrestling last year, has declared he was coming for the Impact title and would be "always ready" for an opportunity. After almost defeating Moose during BFG's Call Your Shot Gauntlet, the emboldened Cardona has been in hot pursuit of Moose and the World Championship with not even W. Morrisey was able to deflect the Long Island native's momentum.
Tasked with having to defeat two twin towers of terror, Cardona steps into the biggest match of his career, seeking to once again overcome unstoppable odds and inspired FITE fans around the world. To do so, he'll have to overcome two brutes who are not only out for each other, but seeking to ruin Cardona's New Year before it even truly gets started. Three men will enter but only one can achieve the ultimate victory at Hard to Kill and emerge World Champion.
TEXAS DEATH MATCH
When Mickie James returned to Impact Wrestling seeking to help set the roster for the NWA Empowerrr event on FITE, surely the last thing she expected to come out of that moment was to find herself standing in the center of a Texas Death match in Dallas, but this weekend, live on FITE, even James will step into a new battlefield for the first time ever.
At Bound for Glory, James excited the world by defeating Deonna Purrazzo to capture the Impact Wrestling Knockouts Championship, humbling the Virtuos. Purrazzo had disrespected and attacked the beloved veteran, even daring to invade her home and attack James on her own farm in the weeks leading to BFG, claiming she was going to put Mickie down once and for all. Instead, she found her flawless year ruined, an eternal blemish recorded forever in the Impact Wrestling time capsule.
After taking time off to navigate her rematch, Purrazzo returned, targeting James, setting the stage for the ultimate showdown in the Lone Star State, a Texas Death Match. No rules. No time limit. To the victor goes the spoils and the Knockouts Championship in an encounter where anything goes and the only way to walk away victorious is to defeat your opponent to the point she cannot answer the ten count.
Purrazzo has always represented the artistic side of professional wrestling, breaking down her opponent with exquisite skill and perfected prowess, but this will be a much different battle. In a promotion that has always championed its female combatants, Purrazzo and James will immerse themselves in the most physical brutality possible, live on FITE.
ALEXANDER VS. INTERLOPER
Josh Alexander has been obsessed with regaining the Impact Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship from Moose, but before he even had an opportunity to do so, Jonah smashed his door in and beat the "Walking Weapon" Josh Alexander bloody, successfully making a statement that the former WWE NXT North American Champion had arrived and was immediately targeting the most popular competitor in Impact.
For Alexander, who in 2021, was celebrated with having the best match and with being the top Male competitor in the entire company, Jonah's intrusion completely shattered Alexander's hopes to immediately rebound and defeat Moose to regain the World title. Instead, the entire trajectory of 2022 will be defined by whether Alexander can enact a measure of vengeance over an angry, rampaging Australian Kaiju.
While Alexander's in-ring prowess is celebrated by FITE fans globally, this match will not be about whether he can outshine or outlast his opponent in competition. Instead, this will be a war of attrition, an old school professional wrestling grudge match where blood will beget blood and anger will incite hatred. It's two world class fighters with zero respect for the other and everything to accomplish if they can emerge victorious.
For Jonah, who has crushed everyone in his path thus far in Impact Wrestling, a win over Alexander helps to avenge the complacency forced upon him in other realms and places him in the running as the next big challenger for Moose's World Championship. For Alexander, a win is about vengeance and getting back to an even deeper-seeded lust for revenge against Moose. Needless to say, neither man will emerge unscathed. Indeed, perhaps the fans on FITE who will witness this rampaging war firsthand will be the only winners when the carnage has completed.
KNOCKOUTS MAKE HISTORY ONCE MORE
Since the formation of Impact Wrestling, it has always broken boundaries and shattered glass ceilings. The Knockouts division has been no exception, setting the stage for countless female competitors to break out across the spectrum of professional wrestling.
This Saturday at Hard to Kill, the Knockouts division will ascend to new heights yet again, making history as the first-ever Knockouts Ultimate X match will be presented live on FITE. The Factory in Dallas, Texas will become the answer to the trivia question as to where a match of his historical significance was presented.
An incredible bevy of talented fighters in Lady Frost, Rosemary, Rachael Ellering, Tasha Steelz, Chelsea Green and Impact Wrestling Digital Media Champion Jordynne Grace seek to enter the squared circle, ascend to the heavens and attempt to earn their way into becoming the new top contender for the Knockouts Championship.
While all six competitors have deservedly earned accolades and championships over the course of their careers, the Ultimate X is a completely different animal, one that calls for fearlessness, daredevil skills, impeccable timing and perhaps some of the most grueling physicality ever seen inside or above a professional wrestling ring. The scars will remain forever but so will the pride of knowing that once again, a most unique piece of professional wrestling history has been carved out at Hard to Kill.
So, look to the skies and witness history this Saturday!
RING OF HONOR CHAMPIONSHIP
With the future of Ring of Honor still being reassembled, the ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham has gone on an excursion, seeking to defend the ROH Championship against the best competition the world has to offer and of course, that means all roads lead to Impact Wrestling and Chris Sabin.
Sabin has had a celebrated career in Impact Wrestling and has held every championship imaginable but an opportunity for Sabin to clash with "The Octopus" provides a brand new, unique challenge for one of Detroit's favorite sons. Given that Sabin once exited Ring of Honor under less than great terms after suffering a torn ACL, what better moment of vindication could Sabin dream of than of capturing the Ring of Honor World Championship and forcing its management to deal with the terms he dictates?
Of course, no task is ever that easy, especially when Sabin would be stepping into the ring with a rare soul who stands as his equal when it comes to scientific professional wrestling finesse and technical ability. Gresham is considered to be in the top 1% of professional wrestlers inside the squared circle in 2022, a class he shares with Sabin. One cannot look upon this battle and see it as anything but a dream match between two competitors who inside the ring, are indeed Hard to Kill.
For the first time ever inside an Impact ring, The Ring of Honor World Championship will be defended, live on FITE!
AS DON WEST MIGHT SAY, ‘BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!'
Impact Wrestling has always been about providing the best deal for the consumer, the most action for their time investment and the best bell to bell wrestling that one can ever hope for. As the great Don West, Impact alumni, merchandise master and silver-tongued salesman might say, even after all that's been promised to you, there's more!
Impact Wrestling X-Division Champion Trey Miguel should be excited he's in the midst of his first championship reign, but instead, he's haunted by the fact that he's still yet to end the undefeated streak of Steve Maclin, who has tortured souls and pulverised opponents since entering the Impact Zone. After getting his wish for another crack at Maclin, Miguel hopes to finally shatter Maclin's streak and send him packing from Impact once and for all. Meanwhile, Maclin plans to add some championship gold to accentuate his continuing undefeated record in an Impact ring.
Then, what's the ultimate in battle in combat sports? A HARDCORE WAR! Eric Young will lead his troops, Violent by Design into battle alongside the Good Brothers, the Impact Wrestling World Tag Team Champions as they clash with the heart and soul of Impact, Eddie Edwards as he marches into war alongside Willie Mack, Rhino, Heath and Rich Swann. All five of these competitors have found their lives and careers uprooted and haunted by Eric Young's forces and The Good Brothers and now, live on FITE, they will face off once and for all to settle the score and leave a path of destruction that cuts through the entire Arlington area. All that FITE can promise you is this: there will be pain, there will be heartbreak, there will be violence and there will be a winner!
Impact Wrestling will present Hard to Kill 2022, setting the stage for all the feverish battles, all the violent mayhem, all the aerial assaults and all of the total nonstop action that will define not just January 8th but the entire year to come as one again, Impact Wrestling makes history and leaves indelible memories across the spectrum of professional wrestling and beyond - live on FITE!
Mike Johnson is the lead reporter for PWInsider.com and has been writing about professional wrestling since 1996. He can be found on Twitter @MikePWInsider and MikeJohnsonWrites.com.