10 Moments That Defined Impact Wrestling In 2020
Returns, debuts, and championship victories: these are the Impact moments we'll remember.
Given the craziness of 2020, many fans and critics alike would have readily predicted Impact Wrestling to fall flat in the no crowd era. After all, WWE and AEW had had some absolute stinkers before Impact followed in their footsteps with empty arenas. Remember, they pre-tape their content, so they began one month later.
Instead, Impact actually succeeded immensely throughout the year, proving all their doubters wrong.
Through a combination of credible booking, the rise of the correct talents - for the most part, at least - and the storytelling on offer, no matter how bizarre it may be at times, the former Total Nonstop Action has taken back its rightful place within fans' minds. No longer do we hop on social media after each weekly show to a chorus of jeers directed towards Impact, but rather we typically hear copious amounts of praise heaped upon the promotion.
In a way, the global pandemic actually helped the company. Had the world not gone downhill, there's no definitive way to know if WWE would have released so many great talents in one go. Furthermore, we most certainly wouldn't have gotten wild skits like Wrestle House, and Who Shot Bravo?
What moments from 2020 stand out the most, though?
10. Wrestle House
Post-Slammiversary, a fun new project was launched by Impact Wrestling entitled Wrestle House. At first, it wasn't entirely clear what Wrestle House was, but as time went by, we learned that it was whatever we interpreted it to be, whether that be a barrel of laughs to distract us from the outside world, or a waste of time for those involved.
From this writer's perspective, it was the former.
Wrestle House wasn't intended to be taken seriously. Stories such as which Deaner gets to sleep in a bed and which has to lie on the floor, and Susie having 'the runs' aren't exactly gripping television, but they didn't need to be. We had the rest of the two-hour show for the serious stuff. There was usually only one or two Wrestle House skits a week, allowing the remainder of the show to breathe out the seriousness.
As it, eventually, turned out, Wrestle House's main purpose was to set up the wedding of Rosemary and John E. Bravo, seeing as the residents all teleported back to the Impact Zone once Bravo had popped the question to 'The Demon Assassin' on 1 September.
That, in turn, led us on a whole different path...