It was just last week that Impact Wrestling announced that its upcoming indie co-promotion with Wrestle Pro, an new indie promotion owned by Pat Buck in New Jersey, would be the first exclusive show on Impact’s new Twitch channel, airing next weekend, on Friday February 9. The event features multiple Impact stars like Johnny Impact, Moose, Eli Drak, Eddie Edwards, Matt Sydal, and more facing off against many of the areas top indie talent.
You just heard it announced on IMPACT, the upcoming @WrestlePro Brace for IMPACT show will be our first Twitch exclusive event! pic.twitter.com/HxJSzBBNV5
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) January 26, 2018
Over the past few weeks, more and more Impact co-promotions have popped up, such as Border City Wrestling‘s March Breakdown in Windsor, Ontario (BCW is Scott D’Amore‘s own promotion) on Saturday March 3 and Toronto’s Destiny Wrestling on Sunday March 4. It’s reported that both will be filmed, most likely as future possible Twitch content as well.
BCW March Breakdown 2018 coming to @StClairCollege on March 3rd featuring @IMPACTWRESTLING Superstars @PrideOfMexico @AustinAries @findevan @TheEliDrake @AllieImpact @Sienna @TheMooseNation & MORE! Tickets NOW on sale at https://t.co/9TgEJPpYVJ pic.twitter.com/UKPRD68mJc
— Border City Wrestling (@bcwonline) January 12, 2018
we are proud to announce that Sunday March 4 will be @IMPACTWRESTLING Live Road Show with Impact champion @AustinAries plus @PrideOfMexico @TheEliDrake @AllieImpact @TheMooseNation and many more stars! clink link for tickets https://t.co/AlQaOUGppl pic.twitter.com/vJ4dHOGHHR
— Destiny Wrestling (@DestinyWrestle) January 24, 2018
The most recent announcement brings Impact Wrestling to the West Coast for a co-event with Big Time Wrestling, with a double shot weekend on March 23 and 24, in Newark and Salinas, California. With a double night of tapings, the footage could be used to construct a PPV (or One Night Only) or another special event on Twitch. Big Time Wrestling is one of California’s oldest indie promotions, started in 1996 by Kirk White (although they never truly got going until about 2001). This marks only the 14th time Impact has been to California in it’s 16-year history and first since 2013’s Bound For Glory in San Diego.
Co-promoting events with indie promotions in-between tapings and PPV events is a brilliant concept, as it accomplishes multiple tasks: it helps provide Impact Wrestling with fresh talent for their established stars and provides Impact Wrestling with new original content for their burgeoning Twitch channel, it’s far cheaper than taking the crew on lengthy road trips like the WWE, and it helps provide a larger audience to not only raise awareness of local independent promotions around North America (and the world), but to some local independent talent you may not normally get to see, like Toronto indie star Brent Banks, Windsor’s Aidan Prince, Mexico’s Ultimo Ninja and more. It’s a win-win, for Impact and indie wrestling as a whole.
So if you see an Impact co-branded event coming to an indie promotion near you, check it out. There’s a good chance it’s being taped for Twitch.
