Welcome to Fightful.com's live coverage for the 1/6/22 edition IMPACT Wrestling! We're just 48 hours away from the company's first pay-per-view event of the year with Hard To Kill, this Saturday, January 8 at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT!
— The show opens with a video package highlighting last week's contract signing between IMPACT World Champion Moose and his two opponents for this weekend's Hard To Kill pay-per-view, W. Morrissey and Matt Cardona before we get right into our opening contest.
Chelsea Green, Lady Frost & Tasha Steelz (with Savannah Evans) vs. Jordynne Grace, Rachael Ellering & Rosemary (with Havok)
— Ellering and Steelz start this one off. Steelz locks-in a head-lock but is reversed by Ellering, who locks-in one of her own. Ellering hits a back suplex which forces Steelz to make a tag to Frost, who's immediately dragged down by Ellering, who then hits a hip-toss but Frost spins out, backs to her corner and Steelz tags herself back in and Ellering tags in Rosemary, who comes out firing with a bevy of strikes and then plants Steelz with a heavy suplex, goes for the cover but Steelz lifts the shoulder after a two-count. Steelz gets momentum, drags Rosemary to the mat, picks her back up and tosses her into the corner. Steelz goes for a running clothesline but Rosemary slides out of danger and to the apron but eats a massive boot to the face from Savannah Evans on the outside. Back in the ring now and Steelz drills her with a running kick to the head but Rosemary powers back to her feet, tosses Steelz to the corner and makes a tag to Ellering, who goes right on the attack but Steelz escapes long enough to make the tag to Frost. Ellering goes right for Frost, tosses her into the corner and makes a tag to Grace, who tosses Frost around the ring a few times to show-off that power and makes the tag right back to Ellering. Frost immediately slides to her corner and makes the tag to Green, who drills an interfering Rosemary with a boot to the face, everyone except Frost goes to the outside to brawl and Frost lays everyone out after she launches herself onto the pile from the top rope. Green catches Ellering distracted back in the ring and nails her with the unprettier for the 1-2-3 and the win.
Winners - Chelsea Green, Lady Frost & Tasha Steelz (with Savannah Evans)
— We then see another video packaging hyping this weekend's IMPACT World Championship match between Champion, Moose and his two challengers W. Morrissey and Matt Cardona.
— IMPACT World Champion Moose is backstage and he says he knows that he's done a lot of despicable things to get where he is today, so just imagine what he's willing to do to keep the world title around his waist. Moose says most champions would complain about having to defend his title in a triple threat match but he's actually looking forward to it because on Saturday night he's going to prove why he's the greatest world champion in all of professional wrestling and why he's the wrestling God.
— D'Lo Brown and Matt Striker on commentary run down Saturday night's Hard To Kill card before we head into our next match of the evening.
JONAH vs. Jake Something
— JONAH goes right for Jake and tosses him into the corner and shouts 'THIS IS MY RING!'. JONAH tosses Jake against the ropes, Jake goes for a shoulder block but just bounces off of JONAH, who drills him with an elbow to the cheek but Jake launches himself off of the ropes and lays JONAH out with a running shoulder as we head to a break. Back from the break and JONAH is back on the attack and has a back bear hug locked-in, Jake eventually powers out, nails JONAH with a flying clothesline which forces JONAH to slide out of the ring but Jake keeps on the attack and dives out and knocks JONAH to the floor. Back in the ring, Jake looks for a suplex, JONAH slips out and hits Jake with a spinning back elbow and then a massive clothesline before hitting a jumping senton. JONAH goes to the top rope and flattens Jake with a splash and gets the ensuing three count for the win.
Winner - JONAH
— After the match, JONAH's opponent at Hard To Kill, Josh Alexander comes down to the ring and the pair immediately begin to brawl as IMPACT Wrestling security come out to split them up but JONAH takes all of them out then lays Alexander out with a slam and then a pair of sentons. JONAH goes to the outside and retrieves a table, Alexander tries to stop him from setting it up but JONAH uses the table as a battering ram and delivers it directly to the rib cage of Josh Alexander. JONAH sets Alexander up on the table, goes to the top rope and wallops Alexander through the table with a splash before we head to a commercial break.
— Back from the break and we see a video package highlighting the IMPACT Women's Championship match at Hard To Kill between champion Mickie James and challenger Deonna Purrazzo and we head right into the promotional debut of Masha Slamovich.
Masha Slamovich vs. Sandra Moone
— Slamovich immediately opens the bout with a spinning back fist then a gut-wrench suplex before a follow-up northern lights bomb for the 1-2-3 and the win.
Winner - Masha Slamovich
— Backstage we see Steve Maclin, who says at Hard To Kill he finally gets his one-on-one match for the IMPACT X-Division Championship against Trey Miguel. Maclin says he's never been beaten and he's done nothing but overcome during his IMPACT career and Gail Kim made a mistake accepting Maclin's request for a match against Miguel and at Hard To Kill it's going to be tag 'em, bag 'em and mayhem. Gail Kim walks-in and says she only told him half of the story because at Hard To Kill, if Maclin loses, he'll never get another shot at the X-Division Title for as long as Trey Miguel is champion. Kim walks off, Maclin laughs and we head to a commercial break.
— Back from the break and Gia Miller is backstage with both Chelsea Green and Matt Cardona. Gia says at Hard To Kill, they both face massive challenges as Chelsea will compete in the first-ever women's Ultimate X Match while Matt competes against Champion Moose as well as W. Morrissey for the IMPACT World Championship. Gia asks Chelsea how she's feeling after being hit with a chair by Moose during last week's show and asks if it'll have any effect on how she competes Saturday night. Chelsea says she'll be fine and after Saturday night, you'll be looking at IMPACT Wrestling's new power couple.
— IMPACT Knockouts Champion Mickie James makes her way to the ring and she'll join commentary for our next match.
Deonna Purrazzo (with Matt Rehwoldt) vs. Mercedes Martinez
— Deonna attacks Mercedes before the bell rings, backs off for a moment and then drills Mercedes with a boot to the face the second the referee officially starts the matchup. Deonna lays Mercedes out with a hard clothesline and locks-in a choke-hold. Deonna lays Mercedes out with another clothesline, goes for the cover but Mercedes kicks-out at two as she stares down Mickie James on commentary ahead of their IMPACT Knockouts Championship match at Hard To Kill. Mercedes uses the distraction to plant Deonna with a saito suplex, then locks-in a choke. Deonna trips Mercedes up and locks-in an arm-bar, lifts her up and tosses her into the corner, where she lays into her with a clothesline before dragging her right back down to the mat and gets her right back into an arm-bar, which she transitions into a head-and-arm choke. Mercedes slips out for a moment, Deonna locks it back in and tightens the hold, Mercedes powers to her feet and backs Deonna up into the corner to slip out. Mercedes tosses Deonna into the corner, puts her on the top rope but Deonna knocks her back and jumps down onto her already worked-on arm. Deonna tosses Mercedes over the ropes and onto the apron and the pair collide that knocks them both to the floor as we head to a break. Back from the break and both women are in the center of the ring exchanging heavy strikes, Deonna hits Mercedes in the throat, Mercedes gets her down with a slam, goes for the cover but Deonna gets the shoulders up at two. Mercedes goes right back on the attack, plants Deonna with a DDT, goes for another cover but Deonna, again, kicks-out at two. Deonna gets back on the offensive but Deonna eats a knee to the face, Mercedes goes for her finisher and gets it but Deonna slickly sinks in the Venus de Milo and gets the tap.
Winner - Deonna Purrazzo
— After the match, Deonna shouts at Mickie James, who gets in the ring and they stare each other down as Matt Rehwoldt gets in the middle to break them up as he and Deonna head out of the ring.
— We then get treated to the first episode of 'All About II' with IMPACT Knockouts Tag Team Champions, The IInspiration alongside co-host Jai. The IInspiration's opponents at Hard To Kill Madison Rayne and Tenille Dashwood, alongside Kaleb with a K interrupt and everyone starts arguing and shoving each other around until the champions walk out and we head to a commercial break.
— Back from the break and we briefly see medical officials checking on Josh Alexander following the attack from JONAH earlier in the show.
Ace Austin & Madman Fulton vs. Hernandez & Johnny Swinger
— All four men start brawling in the center of the ring before Fulton and Swinger officially start things off. Fulton tosses Swinger around the ring a few times, drills him with a big suplex and tags in Ace, who tosses Swinger into the corner and lights him up with a pair of elbows, goes for the cover and Swinger kicks out at two. Ace tags back in Fulton, who goes over and taunts Hernandez as Ace sneaks in some shots to Swinger but Swinger slides out and sneaks past Fulton and makes the tag to Hernandez, who takes out both Ace and Fulton but Ace and Fulton get him in a double suplex but Hernandez overpowers and gets them both down with a suplex of his own. Fulton trips Hernandez up, lays him out with a slam and Ace hits a follow-up step-up leg drop and Fulton pins him for the three count and the win.
Winners - Ace Austin & Madman Fulton
— After the match, Ace and Fulton attack Hernandez, Fulton grabs a steel chair and chases Swinger off with it. Fulton puts Hernandez's arm in the chair, Ace grabs another and smashes Hernandez's arm as the pair celebrate.
— We then cut backstage and we see W. Morrissey. Morrissey says that when he came to IMPACT Wrestling, he did it on his own. Morrissey says when you're at the top, everyone wants to be your friend and be on your side but when he hit rock bottom...he did it alone. Morrissey says he should've known better then to think he needed to be in an alliance with Moose because once he stopped working with him, he immediately got an IMPACT World Championship match and Saturday at Hard To Kill, he'll be alone...and at the end of the night, he'll be the last man standing and he'll be the IMPACT World Champion...and he'll do it alone, just how he likes it. We head to a commercial break before our main event of the evening.
Karl Anderson (with Doc Gallows, Eric Young, Deaner & Joe Doering) vs. Heath (with Rhino, Eddie Edwards, Rich Swann & Willie Mack)
— Before the match begins, all eight men that aren't competing in the match start brawling on the outside and are all thrown out by the referee before we head to a commercial break. Back from the break and Heath is out to a hot start. He drills Karl with a suplex and a running clothesline to boot. Heath tosses Karl to the corner and nails him with another running clothesline, goes for the cover but Karl lifts the shoulders at two. Heath continues the offense for a moment but Karl trips him up and works the shoulder for a bit, Heath powers out, the two exchange back-and-forth until Heath nails Karl with a launching front elbow to a cornered Karl but Karl fires right back with a cutter and gets the 1-2-3 for the win and gives his team the advantage at Hard To Kill.
Winner - Karl Anderson
— After the match, both teams come back down to the ring and brawl with about every weapon in the arena until the show goes off-the-air.
Fightful will have complete coverage of IMPACT Wrestling Hard To Kill this Saturday, January 8 beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m, PT.
