Impact, Ring Of Honor Need To Step Up

Thanks to the creation of AEW, it’s safe to say that the hierarchy of wrestling companies in the United States has drastically altered.

For a solid 15 years, it was clear that Impact Wrestling and Ring of Honor trailed behind WWE as the second and third biggest promotions in the country. But AEW, in less than one year, has usurped their spots and become the second biggest player in the game. On top of that, MLW has broken out as another major player, consistently growing its attendance over the past year and recently announcing its first pay-per-view scheduled for November. Meanwhile, Impact is impossible to find on your TV and if you do happen to find it, chances are it will go to commercial and never come back. As for ROH, the mass exodus of Cody, “Hangman” Page, SCU and the Young Bucks has led to declining attendance and a lack of buzz about the product.

Both Impact and ROH do have some bright spots, though.

Impact has seemingly found a new niche in intergender wrestling, as evidenced by main eventing Slammiversary with Tessa Blanchard vs. Sami Callihan. The company needs to follow that up at Unbreakable on August 2, exclusively shown via the Impact+ app, in which there will be a rematch with the winner getting an Impact World Championship match at Bound For Glory.

I’m speaking for many wrestling fans when I say DON’T FUCK THIS UP. Tessa Blanchard needs to win the rematch and earn that title shot. Regardless if she actually wins the title, Impact will win me back for one night as a fan if she main events its biggest show of the year against the world champion. I’ll buy the pay-per-view and cheer Tessa on in her history-making pursuit. And I have a feeling I won’t be the only one.

As for ROH, I am all for the Flip Gordon “heel turn,” if you wish to call it that. It makes sense based on Scurll and Gordon’s relationship in ROH and Being the Elite over the last year. Villain Enterprises is easily the most over group that the company has running today. But you have to wonder about Marty Scurll’s contract status now that Gordon has joined the stable. While Brody King and PCO signed their contracts last year, Flip, if I’m remembering correctly, renewed his contract last year as well. Depending on who you want to believe, Scurll’s contract is up either in the summer (maybe after Summer Supercard) or at the end of the year after Final Battle.

We can all agree that Scurll is going straight to AEW once that time comes. The same can be said for Flip, but he still has quite a bit more time left to go before we worry about that. While Brody and PCO have proven to be just fine on their own, don’t be shocked to see Villain Enterprises soon under the rule of a former Army Soldier who will lead his own mercenaries into battle. We might even see a potential world title reign for Flip.