Various: Rich Swann Signs New Contract with Impact, WOW TV Ratings, Sat. NJPW Strong Card, Indies

Dec 23, 2022

Rich Swann Recently Signed New Contract with Impact Wrestling

A recent episode of The Insight with Chris Van Vliet podcast had Impact Wrestling talent Rich Swann as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Swann revealing that he recently signed a new two-year contract with Impact.

“I’ve signed a two-year deal with IMPACT Wrestling. They have done nothing but treat me with the utmost respect. It’s been a place to where I’ve been able to grow, I’ve been able to watch other competitors grow and I’ve been able to watch the company grow into a spot to where it should be. Right now, there is so much of everything in all forms of entertainment. Wrestling, right now, is prospering. AEW is doing great, WWE has turned around and doing great. IMPACT Wrestling, the experience I’ve had, ever since I started in 2018, has been nothing but love, nothing but proposing and watching the company grow into what it is today. To be part of that and helping that after all the years of people saying, ‘IMPACT is going to die, TNA is dead,’ to be part of that and helping the company to where it is today, that makes me feel good and lets me know that I’m doing something right in this industry.”

Swann also gave his thoughts about his goals for his career in 2023.

“I want to become a Grand Slam Champion in IMPACT Wrestling. Of course, I’d like to become World Champion again. I would love to find a tag team partner, get these tag team titles, scratch that off my list, I’d love to have Willie Mack by my side, that’s my partner. Willie Mack or Ricochet, those are my two guys. To have that, that would be the ultimate. That would put me up there with guys like AJ Styles, Sting, Booker, Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe. That would put me up there on that list.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

WOW TV Ratings – Dec. 11, 2022 – Highest Since Relaunch

WOW: Women of Wrestling reportedly drew 358,000 viewers for their December 11th episode on syndication, up from the prior week’s 236,000 viewers.

This was the highest viewership for a WOW TV show since its relaunch this past September, beating the previous record of 334,000 viewers for their October 9th show.

It drew a 0.05 18-49 rating, same as the prior week’s rating.

Source: Wrestlenomics

Full Card for Saturday’s Episode of NJPW Strong

New Japan Pro Wrestling recently announced the full card for this Saturday’s New Japan Detonation 2022 Night 4 themed episode of NJPW Strong, which will air on New Japan World starting at 8:00PM EST.

Lince Dorado & Mascara Dorada vs. C4 (Cody Chhun & Guillermo Rosas)
Kevin Blackwood vs. Bobby Fish
NJPW Strong Openweight Championship – JR Kratos vs. Fred Rosser (c)

Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

WWE Hall of Famer The Godfather, real name Charles Wright, revealed on Facebook that he recently underwent successful hip replacement surgery.

As noted before, Lana was released by WWE in June of 2021. Fightful Select reported that Lana, real name CJ Perry, is one of the former WWE talents who have managed to surpass their best year earnings in the company from outside work. It was reported that Perry’s BrandArmy subscription-based website has managed to generate more money for her since her release than she earned during her best monetary year in WWE and wrestling career. It was also reported that a subscription to Perry’s website currently costs $19.99 per month.

During Thursday’s Road to Tokyo Dome 2022 event in Tokyo, Japan, New Japan Pro Wrestling announced that they will be officially replacing their trophy for their King of Pro Wrestling Championship with a brand new belt in its place starting next year. It was also announced that the rules to determine official title matches for the KoPW Championship will remain the same.

Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling talent Yuka Sakazaki reportedly will be returning to the United States for a new tour of the country this January, according to Post Wrestling. Andrew Thompson reported that this was the reason why Sakazaki and her tag team partner Mizuki was not included in the field for next year’s Max Heart tag team tournament.

Westside Xtreme Wrestling recently issued an official statement on Instagram regarding an alleged sexual harassment incident by several drunk men towards a female fan that took place shortly following their 22nd Anniversary event this past Saturday in Oberhausen, Germany. It was also announced that anyone who witnessed the incident to contact them.

Adrenaline Pro Wrestling recently announced that Sammy Guevara and Tay Melo will be making an appearance for the company at their Pandemonium 2.0 event on February 25, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia.

As noted before, former WWE and EVOLVE talent Anthony Greene worked at Impact Wrestling’s set of television tapings earlier this month in Florida. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that Greene is currently set to make his official televised debut for Impact this January.

During Thursday’s Impact! show, Impact Wrestling announced that next week’s show will be a Year-End Review special recapping the top moments from this year in Impact and the presentation of year-end awards to Impact talents.

Impact Wrestling recently two new matches and a new stip for a previously announced match for the card of their Hard To Kill 2023 event on January 13, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia:

Impact World Tag Team Championship 4-Way Elimination match – Major Players (Matt Cardona & Brian Myers) vs. Heath & Rhino vs. Ace Austin & Chris Bey vs. Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) (c)
Impact X-Division Championship – Black Taurus vs. Trey Miguel (c)
Impact World Championship Full Metal Mayhem match – Bully Ray vs. Josh Alexander (c)

C*4 Wrestling recently announced a new match for the card of their Go! event on January 20, 2023 in Ottawa, Canada:

C*4 Championship – Stu Grayson vs. Kevin Blackwood (c)