Hard To Kill 2021 Predictions

In this edition of The Wrestling Estate roundtable, we discuss Impact Wrestling’s Hard To Kill 2021.

How do you feel about AEW and Impact Wrestling working together?

John Corrigan: It’s been fun, although I haven’t watched Impact since the first Kenny Omega appearance and I’m only interested in Hard To Kill 2021 for the main event. But I love the Tony Khan promos.

Steven Jackson: It’s really exciting! It isn’t just one company invading another. There is history and depth with the Bullet Club situation and given both companies having passionate fanbases, the sky is the limit. Please, please don’t mess it up!

Chad Gelfand: It’s a great partnership for both companies. AEW is allowed to do an invasion angle and borrow some talent from Impact without having them there for the long term. And it gives Impact its biggest buzz in years and the possibility of AEW sending over even more talent to work Impact shows.

Juan Bautista: I like the concept. It’s a slow burner and it may be better like that.

Jack Goodwillie: It’s a great move. It presents plenty of upside and minimal downside for both products. It’s the type of shakeup this industry needed if you think about it. There’s not a ton of precedent to what AEW and Impact are doing, but then again, we are living in an unprecedented age.

Is Eddie Edwards vs. Sami Callihan the greatest rivalry in Impact history?

Corrigan: Yes. The bat incident cemented Callihan as the most dangerous man in pro wrestling today, rejuvenated Edwards and gave the company some much-needed buzz. They always deliver in the ring and on the mic, too.

Jackson: Yes. The real-life situation of the baseball bat added so much to their feud, and the chemistry they share together is unlike anyone else. While you could argue other people have had the greatest rivalry (Styles vs. Daniels for example), their mic work and layering was nowhere near as good as Edwards and Callihan.

Gelfand: No. The greatest rivalry in Impact history was LAX vs. Christopher Daniels and AJ Styles. Eddie Edwards and Sami Callihan have certainly had the most intense rivalry in recent Impact history, but I can’t give it the title of greatest of all time.

Bautista: In recent history possibly, but not all time. Feuds like Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe, James Storm vs. Bobby Roode and others surpass it.

Goodwillie: If we’re talking about the complete lineal history of the company going back to the NWA-TNA days, it definitely can’t be and might not even crack the top five. In that scenario, AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels is a microcosm for everything TNA/Impact stood for. But if we’re talking strictly about the Anthem/Callis/D’Amore era, you can probably make a much better case. Its only competition would be maybe Brian Cage vs. Sami Callihan, but I’d probably edge Eddie’s feud due to the modernly iconic “bat” angle.

If you could send one Knockout to AEW’s women’s division, who would it be?

Corrigan: Taya Valkyrie. She’s done everything she can in Impact (including her record-setting title reign) and her husband is no longer there. AEW would be a wonderful change of scenery and she’d bring credibility to the struggling division.

Jackson: Jordynne Grace! Let her run over everyone and bring the AEW Women’s title back to Impact!

Gelfand: Su Yung. Her versatility and ability to play multiple characters would be a great asset to AEW’s women division.

Bautista: Deonna Purrazzo. She has made that belt her own. No one can say she’s just the champion because Tessa is not there. Deonna would be a great addition to the roster.

Goodwillie: The trendy answer would be Deonna Purrazzo (since nobody’s stock may be up more than hers in the company at the moment), but I’ll go in a slightly different direction here. Taya Valkyrie has wrestled everybody there is to wrestle in Impact and can sorely use some new opponents. Enter the AEW women’s division, which is craving a go-to star like Taya. It would be a great fit at worst and an epic fit at best.

Describe what will happen when Ethan Page faces The Karate Man at Hard To Kill 2021.

Corrigan: Ralph Macchio will make a cameo.

Jackson: It will be the greatest wrestling match of our times. We’ll never forget it!

Gelfand: Page will be looking up at the lights for three seconds like the true pro that he is.

Bautista: As it is his last appearance in the company, I imagine there will be a lot of craziness. It’ll be fun.

Goodwillie: A re-enactment of the final scene of The Karate Kid. Ethan gets Crane Kicked out of Impact, by himself no less, and into the waiting arms of Triple H down in Florida.

Who wins at Hard To Kill 2021: Kenny Omega & The Good Brothers or Rich Swann & The Motor City Machine Guns?

Corrigan: Swann & The Guns pick up the win after The Young Bucks interfere and tussle with The Good Brothers. Karl Anderson will eat the pin, by the way.

Jackson: Rich Swann and the Motor City Machine Guns. The Impact World Champion isn’t going to lose on his home turf to the AEW World Champion. Plus, after the events of Genesis, I am sure that Moose is going to have a part to play in the main event. It’s going to be awesome!

Gelfand: Rich Swann and MCMG. Omega and The Good Brothers have gotten the best of Swann and the Guns at nearly every turn and with this being an Impact PPV, it makes more sense for Impact’s long term future for its world champion to get his heat back and pick up the win.

Bautista: This is tricky because if Kenny and The Good Brothers win, it may make the feud pointless because the win was so quick. Rich Swann and The Motor City Machine Guns have to win so it causes Kenny and everybody to turn up the heat.

Goodwillie: Even though this is on an Impact event, the plan is for Omega to go over a good bit early into this inter-promotional issue. If anybody had the capability right now to win on a rival company’s TV show, it would probably be Omega and Impact. That said, I fully expect there to be some shenanigans bordering on the match being overbooked. My interest is piqued, no less.