11 Ups & 10 Downs For Impact Wrestling In 2020

8. Rohit's Reign

If you're a regular reader of these Impact Ups & Downs columns, you'll be fully aware of this writer's affection towards Rohit Raju, and the dire booking he had been receiving during his time in Impact. The company made it incredibly hard to believe, but it was all leading to something for 'The Desi Hitman'.

Raju ditched The Desi Hit Squad when the empty arena shows began, continued down his path of doing sweet f*ck all, and then all of a sudden, found himself with an X Division Championship opportunity at Emergence alongside TJP and then-champion, Chris Bey. He was there to take the fall, we all cried out. There was no way he was going to become the champion. Chris Bey was simply stringing him along, putting up with Rohit's shenanigans as a way to further his own title reign.

Nope. Rohit Raju became the X Division Champion in 2020. Hallelujah.

His reign wasn't a short one either. Rohit went on a tear as the X Division Champion, shoving back all challengers who stepped forward, and was even tasked with his own near-weekly segment - the Defeat Rohit Challenge. That challenge as a whole was superb, and created even more reason for Rohit's title reign being an Up; TJP barred from challenging for the title as long as Rohit was champion; Jordynne Grace seemingly becoming the first female X Division Champion for all of two minutes; the Scramble Match at Bound For Glory; and, of course, the aforementioned return of Manik, where he dropped the strap.

Even better, Rohit's loss of the title hasn't seen him immediately thrust out of the title scene. He and Chris Bey are both set to challenge the masked man at Hard To Kill. Considering Rohit wasn't even featured on the Slammiversary card (bar an appearance to be assaulted by the debuting Heath), which was on 18 July, and was then the defending champion by 18 August, says quite a lot about Impact's long-term booking.