Lisa Marie Varon, probably best known for her character, Victoria in WWE, Tara in TNA/Impact has announced via social media that 2019 is her last year competing in a wrestling ring.
Varon is an accomplished performer in numerous promotions around the globe. She won her first WWE Women’s Championship in November 2002 at WWE Survivor Series and would carry it twice in her WWE career, she’s a five-time TNA / Impact Wrestling Knockouts Champion, and she even had a reign as the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions with Brooke Tessmacher.
She also won the honor of being the 2004 Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s Woman of the Year.
On social media, Varon wrote, “Hey Gang! Year 2019 will be my last year wrestling in the Squared Circle. An exciting new adventure is to come.” You can read her full retirement messages below:
X-Division Championship (Vacant) – Ultimate X Match: Jake Crist vs. Ethan Page vs. Rich Swann vs. Trey Miguel – Winner and new X-Division Champion: Rich Swann
Allie & Su Yung vs. Kiera Hogan & Jordynne Grace – Winners: Dark Allie & Su Yung
After the match, Yung and Allie continued assaulting Hogan until Yung’s undead bridesmaids brought out a coffin. Rosemary appeared out of the coffin! Rosemary took out the bridesmaids and tossed Yung in to the group of them. Rosemary met Allie in the center of the ring and Rosemary tried to touch Allie, seemingly trying to help her, but Allie screamed and escaped the ring. Rosemary posed in the ring.
Impact World Tag Team Championship: (C) LAX vs. Lucha Bros (Pentagon Jr. & Rey Fenix) – Winners: LAX
After the match, Konnan came out and says that he was wrong and they were able to separate the personal from the professional for an exceptional match.
Impact Knockouts Champion (Gail Kim as Special Guest Referee): (C) Tessa Blanchard vs. Taya Valkyrie – Blanchard & Kim got into it which led to Blanchard choking Kim and then Kim hitting Blanchard with Eat Defeat. Valkyrie hit the Road to Valhalla on Blanchard for the 1-2-3!
Winner and new Impact Knockouts Champion: Taya Valkyrie
Impact World Championship: (C) Johnny Impact vs. Brian Cage – Cage had a confrontation with Impact’s friends, the Survivor contestants. Impact is laid out and Cage wants the ref to count the 3 after the Drill Claw, but he’s still distracted by the Survivor guys. He comes in and counts only 2. Cage attempts a superplex with Impact on the apron but Impact is able to reverse and turn it in to a pining predicament for a questionable 3 count.
Winner: Johnny Impact
After the match, Cage dropped the title in front of Impact and stormed out in frustration. Taya Valkyrie came out and Impact and Valkyrie celebrate in the ring. Killer Kross appeared on the ramp and attacked Impact. Valkyrie tried to fight Kross off but Kross grabbed her and powerbombed her in to a group of men in the crowd as the show ended.
Impact Wrestling returns home to Nashville for it’s first pay-per-view of the year. Homecoming, Live Sunday, January 6th from the world famous Asylum in Nashville, TN.
Impact World Championship: (C) Johnny Impact vs. Brian Cage
Impact Knockouts Champion (Gail Kim as Special Guest Referee): (C) Tessa Blanchard vs. Taya Valkyrie
Impact World Tag Team Championship: (C) LAX vs. Lucha Bros (Pentagon Jr. & Rey Fenix)
X-Division Champion (Vacant) – Ultimate X Match: Jake Crist vs. Ethan Page vs. Rich Swann vs. Trey Miguel
Monster’s Ball Match: Eli Drake vs. Abyss
Falls Count Anywhere Match: Moose vs. Eddie Edwards
Tonight is the final Impact before this Sunday’s Homecoming pay -per-view and is also the final Impact on Pop TV before it moves to it’s new home, Friday Jan. 11 – 10/9c on The Pursuit Channel.
* Brian Cage & Johnny Impact vs. Lucha Bros (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix)
* Fallah Bahh & KM vs. Desi Hit Squad
* Allie vs. Kiera Hogan
* 10 Man Tag: Willie Mack, Rich Swann & The Rascalz vs. Sami Callihan, oVe, Matt Sydal & Ethan Page
The show is now moving to a channel owned by their parent company, Anthem Entertainment. Despite Anthem owning the station, the show will remain at 10 p.m. ET, which is the timeslot that Pop TV moved it to last October. Impact has drawn its lowest viewership in their history in the 10 p.m. timeslot and faces a further uphill battle as they will be available in far fewer homes. 30 million homes have access to Pursuit, which is a 55% drop from the 67 million homes that receive Pop TV.
It was revealed in the latest edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter that “there were forces attempting to sell Impact” to the yet-to-be announced All Elite Wrestling promotion a few months ago. That would indicate that the talks would have taken place before AEW filed for their trademarks, as that didn’t happen until early November. The Observer noted that the proposal for the sale was declined.
Impact Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore spoke with Wrestling Inc. last Friday and said that the company was excited to work with their new partners, and that they have “some ideas and things in the work for other properties on Pursuit.”
“The first part of this deal is what we’re doing now, the flagship Impact broadcast, airing on Friday nights at 10 pm ET,” D’Amore said. “I know people look at that and go, ‘Oh my God, it’s the death spot.’ Well, if you look back, when we debuted on Spike TV, it’s a different era and network, but wrestling fans find good wrestling. When we went on Spike TV at 11 o’clock on Saturday, we went out there and did probably about 850k viewers when we debuted. We’re excited to work with Pursuit on building it as a platform. We have some ideas and things in the work for other properties on Pursuit. Also, looking to expanding our domestic and international distributions.”
Don Callis was on his Killing The Town podcast, thanks to Wrestling Inc. contributor Himanshu D. for sending this along: and talked about various topics related to IMPACT. You can listen to the podcast here:
Raven appearing on IMPACT:
“How awesome was it to have Raven on IMPACT television? I gotta tell you, I was like a kid in a candy store, came up with this idea to have Raven. I always love hanging out with him and I learnt so much even now just talking to him. I gotta tell you he was so great, my god just out there — no one scripted Raven. Raven just has great timing and he was great. Josh Mathews described him as the Keyser Söze of pro-wrestling and I think that’s right. I think that that is the ideal character for Raven at this point in his career it is to be Keyser Söze, the criminal, the ultimate master mind. I think that would be really cool. So that was a really awesome thing to see Raven.”
Working with IMPACT after being inactive from the business for many years:
“Being with IMPACT — you gotta understand, I was out of the business by my own choice for 13 years or more. To get back into the wrestling business and start tweaking those old scratches and itches and enjoying myself, it was just great. And people ask, ‘What was the best part? Is it the travel?’ Honestly, the best part for me is working with the talent. I always loved that. I always loved trying to play a role and passing on whatever knowledge I had, whether it was with the promos or how to get something over, get yourself over. Those are areas that I think I was pretty good at over my career. It’s just really cool. It’s hard work, it’s a grind, I have never been on the road this much. It’s really cool.”
Sami Callihan:
“Even a guy like Sami Callihan is effectively a psychotic. He is a functioning psychotic. Sami and I have had our ups and downs without a doubt. Sami has taken some liberties with me. If I were a wrestler, I probably would have something to say about it. But one thing I will say about Sami, Sami like I was is all about getting himself over. And some people don’t like that. Some people say, ‘God this selfish son of a b—h, he is just getting himself over’ and you know what I say to that? I say, ‘You’re an idiot’ because that’s the whole point of this business. If you are not constantly trying to get yourself over, and sometimes that means at the expense of other people — not everyone gets first prize, ladies and gentlemen. And if you think that you do then you are just never going to be over and Sami is a guy who is constantly trying to out wrestle, out fight, out talk, out do, out promote everybody else. And I love that about him.”
Jake and Dave Crist:
“I can’t stand The Crist brothers. That’s a redemption story too. I wanted to fire those guys when I first came into IMPACT. I’d seen them on TV a couple of times. I was like, ‘What?’ But this is the thing, people say, ‘Oh you like the Crists now. They are really cool. What they do, they are great heels. What did you do, Don?’ I didn’t change anything about the Crists. We didn’t change anything about the Crists. We let the Crists be the Crists. My thing was always I want Jake and Dave to have their time. Yeah, Sami is Ric Flair and those guys are Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson. That’s not a bad thing. Not everyone can be Ric Flair. That’s Sami Callihan. But that doesn’t mean that Tully and Arn don’t have their own thing. And I want Jake and Dave and we all want Jake and Dave to have their own thing. And man, I tell you they have really stepped up. Jay Crist doing the ‘mini draw’ thing to me is… man, I love that is just so ridiculous and crazy and awesome. Dave Crist has got some of the best facials in wrestling on these promos and Sami is Sami.”
Johnny IMPACT:
“You talk about guys like Johnny IMPACT. He’s our world champion and man, he’s been a pleasure as well. Such a good dude. You talk about the prototype world champion, that’s the guy.”
Brian Cage:
“Getting to work with Brian and I think that maybe my tone and my way of talking to Brian early on might have been a bit of a shock to him. And I’m not going to get into what was said, but if you listen to this podcast you kinda know. I wanna see aggressive, driven, selfish Brian Cage. GMSI stands for ‘Get My s–t In’, it doesn’t stand for ‘Get Your s–t In Too’. I love working with Brian and I think Brian has maybe the most untapped potential in the wrestling business, which is scary when you think about saying ‘untapped potential’ and all the stuff he already does. It’s the stuff he’s currently not doing, that’s the stuff that’s gonna make Brian Cage the biggest star in wrestling at some point.”
The Pursuit Channel deal:
“This week we announced our move from Pop TV which was a great partner for us. A lot of fans thought, ‘Wow, you guys should be on a different network with a different demographic’ so we announced this week we’re moving to Pursuit which is an exciting thing for me. When you talk about how you deal with your content as a company because our parent company Anthem owns not only the Fight Network and Game TV, they also own a significant stake in Pursuit. It’s a great strategic move for us, and I think people are going to love to see a sexier, edgier, maybe even a little more hardcore IMPACT Wrestling. I’m really, really pumped about that.”
Yesterday, Impact Wrestling Star Jordynne Grace and ROH Star Jonathan Gresham announced their engagement while the two were vacationing on a cruise. Grace worked the battle royal at “All In” and debuted with Impact back in October where she’s feuded with Katarina. Gresham took on Zack Sabre Jr. at ROH Final Battle earlier this month, Sabre Jr. would win via pinfall. Congrats to the happy couple on their engagement!
Impact Wrestling announced today that its flagship weekly two-hour program, IMPACT!, will move to Friday nights on the Pursuit Channel in January. As noted, SmackDown Live will also begin airing on Friday nights when it moves to FOX this October, while MLW FUSION also currently airs on Friday nights on beIN Sports.
Beginning on Friday, January 11, featuring the aftermath of the Homecoming pay-per-view, IMPACT! will air weekly on Pursuit Channel on Friday nights at 10:00 p.m. ET.
“Pursuit Channel is a natural fit for IMPACT!” said Impact Wrestling President Ed Nordholm. “It has a passionate viewership base that correlates strongly with our core audience, and is one of the few broadcast destinations that is expanding its footprint, enjoying a 15% increase in broadcast distribution this year alone. With IMPACT Wrestling coming off a tremendous year of audience growth globally and positive fan engagement, we look forward to leveraging our respective resources to bring fans more of the wrestling content they want to see: tougher, edgier action.”
“Pursuit Channel is pleased to welcome IMPACT Wrestling into our Friday night lineup of popular shows,” added Rusty Faulk, CEO and founder of Pursuit Channel. “IMPACT Wrestling programming is perfect for our audience, which enjoys adventurous content to feed their wild side. We look forward to a long partnership and providing our fans with new and exciting world-class content while expanding IMPACT Wrestling’s audience to a new base.”
Below is the full press release from Impact Wrestling:
IMPACT Wrestling and Pursuit Channel Announce Broadcast Agreement to Televise IMPACT! Nationally Across the U.S.IMPACT! to Premiere Weekly on Fridays at 10:00 p.m. ET on Pursuit Channel, Starting on Jan. 11
TORONTO | LUVERNE – IMPACT Wrestling, a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp., announced today it has entered into an agreement to broadcast its flagship weekly two-hour program IMPACT! nationally across the U.S. on Pursuit Channel, the most widely distributed outdoor network and one of the fastest growing channels in the country.
Beginning on Friday, Jan. 11, featuring the aftermath of Homecoming, IMPACT Wrestling’s first marquee pay-per-view event of the year, IMPACT! will air weekly on Pursuit Channel on Friday nights at 10:00 p.m. ET.
“Pursuit Channel is a natural fit for IMPACT!” said Ed Nordholm, president of IMPACT Wrestling. “It has a passionate viewership base that correlates strongly with our core audience, and is one of the few broadcast destinations that is expanding its footprint, enjoying a 15% increase in broadcast distribution this year alone. With IMPACT Wrestling coming off a tremendous year of audience growth globally and positive fan engagement, we look forward to leveraging our respective resources to bring fans more of the wrestling content they want to see: tougher, edgier action.”
“Pursuit Channel is pleased to welcome IMPACT Wrestling into our Friday night lineup of popular shows,” said Rusty Faulk, CEO and founder of Pursuit Channel. “IMPACT Wrestling programming is perfect for our audience, which enjoys adventurous content to feed their wild side. We look forward to a long partnership and providing our fans with new and exciting world-class content while expanding IMPACT Wrestling’s audience to a new base.”
Showcasing top professional wrestling stars such as IMPACT World Champion Johnny Impact, who starred in the most recent season of the hit CBS show Survivor, plus Brian Cage, Eli Drake, Moose, Eddie Edwards, Sami Callihan, Pentagon Jr., Fenix, Rich Swann, the high-flying X-Division and the Knockouts, including Champion Tessa Blanchard, Taya Valkyrie, Rosemary, Allie and Su Yung, IMPACT! has been a leading destination for professional wrestling fans, televised globally in 120 countries since its inception in 2002, while growing its popularity and reach on YouTube, Twitch, Pluto and social media platforms.
With the success of his first venture, Jericho announced yesterday that a second cruise is a go. In the video below, he said more details will be announced in January, but for fans who missed out the first time, they will get another shot to cruise with Jericho. Here is his full announcement.
“I want to thank all of you who were a part of Chris Jericho’s “Rock ‘N Wrestling Rager at Sea,” Jericho began. “We made history, we sold it out for the inaugural voyage, for the first time ever, wrestling in the middle of the ocean. We had live comedy, live rock ‘n roll, podcasts, all of you said it was the best vacation of your life. Well, I got some news for ya. Chris Jericho’s “Rock ‘N Wrestling Rager at Sea” part two, second wave, is happening! Yes, we did it! We’re gonna make it happen, all the details: who, what, where, when and how, coming up in January. In the meantime, sign up now at chrisjerichocruise.com for the mailing list, get all the information. It’s happening! I can’t believe, I’m so excited.”
At the end of last October, Chris Jericho’s cruise set sail out of Miami and featured a number of musicians, comedians, and ROH / Impact / NJPW wrestlers over the multi-day event.
The sold-out cruise included a ring on the top deck where the ROH Sea of Honor tournament took place, along with Alpha Club (Young Bucks and Jericho) vs. Bullet Club (Cody Rhodes, Kenny Omega, and Marty Scurll), which was later streamed on FITE.
