Just a few weeks removed from the announcement that talent from Lucha Underground would be allowed to continue appearing for both LU and Impact Wrestling, the two companies have come together to announce something even bigger. On Friday, April 6, at WrestleCon, stars from Impact Wrestling will be facing off against stars from Lucha Underground, and it will be live-streamed exclusively on Twitch at 9:00 p.m. CT.
BREAKING NEWS: Worlds collide as inter-promotional warfare will break out on April 6th at @wrestlecon in New Orleans. IMPACT Wrestling will do battle with the stars of Lucha Underground in a series of DREAM MATCHES. https://t.co/qIykdv5KRi
MORE: https://t.co/6bj14P9fdM pic.twitter.com/VXetjrKDn1
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) March 1, 2018
According to Impact’s official announcement, this will be part of the 10 hours of daily original content scheduled for that weekend, which will also include exclusive podcasts, behind-the-scenes footage, and Scott Steiner “live and uncensored.”
Scheduled to appear for Impact are World Champion Austin Aries, Alberto El Patron, Eli Drake, Eddie Edwards, Moose, oVe and Sami Callihan, LAX, Trevor Lee, “The Machine” Brian Cage, and Knockouts, Allie, Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie. Currently scheduled for Lucha Underground are LU Champion Pentagon, Fenix, Drago, King Cuerno, Aerostar, Matanza, Killshot, Jack Evans, and the Mack.
John Morrison will likely be there as well, although even Impact’s own Twitter account is not sure what side he will be representing in this inter-promotional war.
Johnny IMPACT and Johnny Mundo at Wrestlecon on April 6th. @TheRealMorrison pic.twitter.com/19TKDJ2HDW
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) March 1, 2018
While this will mark the first time that Impact and Lucha Underground will officially partner, it is not the first time that Impact will be involved with Lucha Libre. In March of 2017, Impact began working with Lucha Libre AAA, the source of much of LU’s talent, as stars from that promotion appeared at Slammiversary and stars from Impact worked the TripleMania XXV show as well. In the following months, several Lucha Underground/AAA talent including Morrison, Valkyrie, Cage and Callihan, all signed deals to appear with Impact on a weekly basis.
At the time of initial partnership, Vampiro, Lucha Underground announcer and producer, as well as AAA Talent Relations Director, spoke to Interactive Wrestling Radio about the talent exchange between Impact and AAA and if any LU stars would be part of that exchange. Vampiro said it wasn’t going to happen as the deal was between Impact and AAA, not Impact and Lucha Underground. Vampiro did mention his hope of being able to do some inter-company angles “way down the line,” but said it was going to be done in “baby steps” in order to do it right.
Well, it’s been just about a year so it seems that way down the line has finally arrived.
Please give us @ReyFenixMx! A partnership between Impact & LU would produce some great content for both programs.
Excited for this Wrestlecon event! Hoping for LAX Vs Lucha Bros 🙏🏻👍🏻🙌🏻 @SantanaLAX @Ortiz5150 @PentagonJunior #IMPACTonPop #LuchaUnderground #WrestleCon https://t.co/zDn6E1IZT5
— Brett (@HonestlyBretter) March 1, 2018
With Lucha Underground stating their willingness to allow stars to work both promotions, this WrestleCon showdown could be more than just a one-time thing as well. Both companies will certainly benefit from the added exposure and by using Twitch, Impact will continue to grow its brand. Not to mention the high profile nature of two of North America’s top televised promotions going head-to-head will draw in viewership. Especially since people will be able to see all of it live and for free on Twitch.
“We are very excited to partner with IMPACT Wrestling for this very special and unique event,” said Dorian Roldán, General Manager of Lucha Underground, in Impact’s official release statement. “We are also very excited to bring Lucha Underground to fans at WrestleCon for the first time. We think this is a great opportunity for both IMPACT Wrestling and Lucha Underground to put on a great show for all the wrestling fans who will be in New Orleans.”
