It was recently reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Impact fired Hania the Huntress after she refused to do a 90-second job to newcomer Su Yung at a television taping on Jan. 13 in Orlando, Florida. On Twitter, Hania denied reports that she was fired, saying that she actually quit.
Source: WrestlingINC
Impact Wrestling’s KM appears in the following commercial from Jack In The Box featuring Martha Stewart, this was his first national commercial, and the ad will air during Super Bowl LII this Sunday.
On last night’s episode of Impact on Pop TV, Austin Aries made his return to Impact Wrestling and pinned Eli Drake to become the new Impact World Champion.
Thursday was described by the company as a “new era” for Impact going forward, especially with the title no longer being referred to as the Global Championship.
Here is the preview for tonight’s episode of Impact Wrestling, which are the first tapings under the new management.
* Chris Adonis Presents Facts of Eli Drake’s Life
* LAX comments on winning barbed wire massacre III
* KM vs. Lashley
* Alberto ElPatron & EC3 vs. Moose & Johnny Impact
* Kiera Hogan (Impact debut) vs. Laurel Van Ness
As noted, WWE has signed veteran Impact Wrestling employee Jeremy Borash to a deal. PWInsider reports that the hire was a Triple H decision and that Borash will be working with WWE NXT and the WWE Performance Center.
There’s no word yet on when Borash will start with WWE but it could be at Thursday’s NXT TV tapings from Center Stage in Atlanta. There had been some speculation on Borash being hired for the Matt Hardy storyline as he played a big part in the original “Broken” storyline in TNA but it does not appear that he was brought in for that, but he could always be put to work on the storyline down the road.
We noted before that Borash did voiceover commentary for Impact last week and filmed Impact content at the House of Hardcore show in Philadelphia, which appeared to be his final duties for the company. Borash’s departure will be changing Impact plans in a major way as there had been plans to move Josh Mathews into more of a character role in the storylines as the “spiritual advisor” of Matt Sydal, which started at the recent TV tapings. Officials then planned for Borash and Don Callis to be the new Impact announce team but the departure changes all of that. There’s no word yet on who might call Impact action with Callis or what Impact will do with any in-ring content that Borash had not already did voiceovers for. As we noted earlier, Borash’s departure is seen as a major loss for Impact as he could always be counted on when the company needed something done.
Source: WrestlingINC
WWE has hired longtime Impact Wrestling employee Jeremy Borash, according to PWInsider. Borash has given his notice to Impact and is done with the company.
Borash was backstage at WWE events in Philadelphia over the weekend but was telling people that he was just visiting friends. Word going around at RAW last night was that Borash has signed but there’s no word yet on what he will be doing with the company.
Borash did voiceover commentary work for upcoming Impact episodes this past Thursday and filmed Impact content at the House of Hardcore event in Philadelphia on Friday, apparently his final duties with Impact.
Borash has been with Impact since 2002, most recently working as the lead announcer. He has also worked as a producer, creative writer and backstage interviewer, among other jobs. Borash was seen as a MVP for the company as he could always be counted on and was described by PWI as the glue that held things together behind-the-scenes at times. Borash leaving is a major loss for the company.
Source: WrestlingINC
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* Moose vs. Lashley
* Impact Grand Championship (No Rounds, No Judges): (C) EC3 vs. Matt Sydal
* X Division Championship: (C) Taiji Ishimori vs. Trevor Lee
* Knockouts Championship: (C) Laurel Van Ness vs. Allie
* Impact Global Championship – Six Sides Of Steel: (C) Eli Drake vs. Johnny Impact vs. Alberto El Patron
* Chandler Park vs. Kongo Kong
* Rosemary vs. KC Spinelli
* Global Title Match (taped back in December at a Border City Wrestling event in Michigan): (C) Eli Drake vs. Alberto El Patron vs. Johnny Impact
* X-Division Title Match: (C) Taiji Ishimori vs. Desmond Xavier
* Barbed Wire Massacre: oVe (Sami Callihan, Jake & Dave Crist) vs. LAX (Homicide, Santana, & Ortiz) [airing on Twitch at 10PM ET]
According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Impact Wrestling is no longer working with Crash. Konnan was the intermediary between the sides so with him out of the CRASH (due to Konnan working with Aro Lucha) the relationship is over. AAA & The CRASH do not get along, and Konnan had met with AAA’s Dorian Roldan, trying to smooth things over for Penta 0M and Rey Fenix and others (which didn’t work since AAA sent Arolucha, which Konnan is involved with, a cease and desist on Penta 0M). This led to Konnan’s departure from The CRASH.
Source: 411Mania
It’s now confirmed that Ethan Carter III (Michael Hutter) will be returning to WWE soon, according to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter . It’s possible that EC3 will use the same name in WWE as he does own the rights to it. He previously used the Derrick Bateman name in WWE.
Regarding a possible WWE return for Bobby Lashley, it’s still believed that he will be returning to the company as some have expected it to happen for months but there’s been no confirmation like there has with EC3.
A Royal Rumble appearance for EC3 is possible as he’s now able to sign with any promotion he wants following the Impact Wrestling departure. As Raj noted before, EC3 was recently pulled from a Renegade Wrestling Revolution indie event in Houston, TX on the day of the Rumble. The promotion noted on Facebook that EC3 pulled out of the show due to a private family matter. They wrote, “Unfortunately it is a private family matter. He is ok just has to be with family. But don’t be discouraged there isn’t shortage of talent on this card”
Lashley could appear at the Rumble as well but it would take Impact officials giving approval to WWE.
Source: WrestlingINC
UPDATE:
EC3 was seen at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando this week, according to PWInsider.
