{"id":4193,"date":"2017-04-21T19:04:31","date_gmt":"2017-04-21T23:04:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/?p=4193"},"modified":"2017-04-22T00:18:03","modified_gmt":"2017-04-22T04:18:03","slug":"anthemic-impact-new-impact-wrestling-combines-new-old","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2017\/04\/21\/anthemic-impact-new-impact-wrestling-combines-new-old\/","title":{"rendered":"Anthemic Impact: New Impact Wrestling Combines New With Old"},"content":{"rendered":"

While the official begin of the new Anthem Era of Impact Wrestling<\/strong> technically began a few weeks back with the last set of tapings, the live edition on Thursday, which preceded the beginning of the next tapings, felt more like the reboot of Impact many had been expecting back then. So after the grand exhale by Anthem and the new management last night, and from notes out of the first 24 hours of tapings and recent news, here’s the state of Impact Wrestling as we know it, and some moves they are going forward with.<\/p>\n

GFW MERGER<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"
Photo: GFW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The biggest news was arguably the least surprising, as many pundits and fans alike had been prognosticating this move since it was first announced that Jeff Jarrett<\/strong> was returning in an Executive Management and Creative role months ago. Last night Karen Jarrett<\/strong> came to the ring – in a vague power position\/PR mouthpiece – and announced that Global Force Wrestling<\/strong> (the only slightly imaginary promotion Jeff and Karen founded years ago) was merging with Impact Wrestling. In all likelihood, Impact Wrestling will remain the company name but all of GFW’s business deals and partnerships will now transfer to Impact. During the tapings that followed, the GFW Women’s Champion, indie sensation Christina Von Eerie<\/strong> (pictured above<\/em>) came out and defended her title. Reports later emerged that Von Eerie had signed with Impact Wrestling. The question now is when do they have the inevitable unification matches, with GFW World Heavyweight Champion Magnus<\/strong>, GFW NexGen Champion Cody Rhodes<\/strong>, and GFW Women’s Champion Von Eerie all now on Impact. It would be a perfect chance to unite the TNA World Heavyweight and GFW World Heavyweight (while you’re at it, throw in the convoluted Impact Grand Championship) to create the inaugural Impact World Championship, plus follow suit with the X Division and NexGen titles for the Impact X Championship and the GFW Women’s with the Knockouts for the first Impact Women’s Champion (the Knockouts thing was cute initially, but in today’s atmosphere, Knockouts is now the new Divas as far as outdated mantras for women wrestlers, no matter the pun intended).<\/p>\n

AAA & LUCHA UNDERGROUND<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"
Ricky Banderas, who portrays Mil Muertes on LU, back in his last run with Impact as Judas Messias (Photo: Impact Wrestling)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A few days ago, Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet reported <\/a>that Lucha Underground<\/strong> wrestlers were now free to work for Impact Wrestling and appear on their programming, a new perk of the new partnership<\/a> between AAA<\/strong> (Lucha Underground’s showrunners) and Impact Wrestling. The only drawback is that they cannot appear as their LU characters. While this could hinder some characters like Drago<\/strong> or Aerostar<\/strong>, wrestlers like Mil Muertes<\/strong>,\u00a0Matanza Cueto<\/strong>\u00a0or Son of Havoc\u00a0<\/strong>could potentially appear as Ricky Banderas<\/strong>, Jeff Cobb<\/strong> or Matt Cross<\/strong>. Technically, Ricochet<\/strong> could appear as well, as he is Prince Puma<\/strong> in the rest of Season 3, but Ricochet isn’t exactly a big fan of LU these days as his heart seems set on going somewhere other than Impact Wrestling.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/KingRicochet\/status\/854757303991533568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wrestlezone.com%2Fnews%2F830319-details-on-one-big-caveat-to-lucha-underground-talents-appearing-on-impact-wrestling-ricochet-reacts-and-more<\/p>\n

TNA ORIGINALS<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"
Photo: Impact Wrestling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the Dixie Carter<\/strong> Era of Impact Wrestling seemed to try and erase it’s TNA history, with the exodus or exile of such original stars AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Bobby Roode<\/strong> and Eric Young<\/strong>, the Anthem Era is making a concerted effort to redraw attention to it’s rich history of 15 years. “Cowboy” James Storm<\/strong> was immediately rebooted from his latest gimmick of the week, the DCC<\/strong>, and branded back to the fan favourite beer swilling ass kicker that made him a World Champion previously. He immediately got a World title match versus Bobby Lashley<\/strong> and was pushed solidly throughout the entire match – Storm held his own. They also continued to refer to him as an Impact Original. Combined with the returns of such TNA Originals as Low Ki, Crimson, LAX, Magnus<\/strong> and ODB<\/strong>, Impact Wrestling seems intent on bringing back the Impact vibe of the late 2000’s, and start to integrate that aura with the new indie stars they’re bringing in. A perfect example of the integration is the new tag team from last night’s tapings, the Veterans of War (VOW)<\/strong> featuring former TNA star Crimson (now known simply as Mayweather<\/strong>, his real last name) and former Ring of Honor<\/strong> and indie star Jax Dane<\/strong> (now known as Wilcox<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BTJ2eS7DlAp\/?taken-by=impactwrestling<\/p>\n

END OF DECAY<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n

Thank you to everyone @IMPACTWRESTLING<\/a> #prowrestlinglove<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/3xnJKliIZH<\/a><\/p>\n

— Crazzy Steve (@steveofcrazzy) April 21, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n