8 Ups & 5 Downs From Impact Wrestling (Jan 7)

2. Kicked Off In Style

While they're still scheduled to collide on Sunday evening at Hard to Kill, Michael Elgin and Eddie Edwards kicked off Impact Wrestling's 2020 in style with one of the most evenly-fought bouts this writer has ever seen from the company.

The night kicked off immediately with Edwards and Elgin being separated by a team of security, with Eddie later demanding the two face off then and there, opting not to wait until Hard to Kill. As the match progressed, it was almost as if both men traded movesets, with Elgin using a more strike-based offence while Edwards utilised some power manoeuvres. In the corner, the poor referee was left unable to control the pair, as they traded forearms and chops for a good few minutes.

'Big Mike' decimated the Boston native in the latter stages, dumping him on his neck with a German suplex and sending him flying with a stiff lariat, followed by both a buckle bomb and an Elgin Bomb as Elgin secured the win he needed to force Impact management into placing Edwards' Call Your Shot trophy on the line.

If the pay-per-view match is as good as the television match, then Impact fans are in for one beautiful treat in Dallas. Sure, Impact may have jumped the gun by putting this one on free television just days before their scheduled pay-per-view collision, but as long as they can put in the same sort of effort, that'll be forgotten about when Impact heads back to the Lone Star State.