Happy New Years ladies and gentlemen, 2024 has just begun meaning it’s time for folks to do their new year resolutions…for about few weeks or a month before going back to do the same old stuff they did in the previous years.

For wrestling fans though, a new year offers new possibilities: free agents are going to be looking for employment, the Royal Rumble is on the horizon, and the future of AEW on TNT & TBS still hanging in the balance…Also TNA Wrestling is back with their first major PPV, Hard To Kill which is happening on January 13th at the Palms Casino Resort in Paradise, Nevada.

While the anticipation for the first TNA pay-per-view since 2016 is something to look forward to and it is, let’s take a few moments to reflect on the greatness that was 2023 for the former IMPACT Wrestling…These are the 10 Best Things About IMPACT Wrestling in 2023.

Honorable Mentions

Multiverse United 1 & 2

Alisha Edwards’ Heel Run

Re-signing Talent (Jordynne Grace, Moose PCO, Eddie Edwards, Brian Myers, The Rascalz etc.)

Signing Kushida & Trent Seven, Jade Chung, Dani Luna etc.

Partnering with Power Town to Produce Action Figures and Accessories

#10. Impact’s 1000th Episode/ Honoring the Legends

One of the things IMPACT/TNA does better than most is paying respect to the men and women who worked for the company in some form or fashion and this year had two examples of that.

First was IMPACT’s 1000th Episode on AXS TV which was broken into two episodes…so technically the company is also celebrating its 1001th episode but moving on. The shows were gilded with star power from the likes of Gail Kim, Awesome Kong, Raisha Saeed, The Beautiful People, Team 3D and America’s Most Wanted all having the time of their lives in the spots and matches they were in.

We also got to see the present stars compete on these shows as well with the most notable being Chris Sabin becoming a ten-time X Division Champion after beating up Lio Rush in a rematch from Slammiversary, Jake Something defeating Dirty Dango in a FOX Box Rules match and the couple of Frankie Kazarian and Traci Brooks got their revenge on fellow wrestling couple, Eddie and Alisha Edwards before it’s revealed that Traci Brooks will be one of the few people to be inducted into the IMPACT/TNA Hall of Fame at this Year’s Bound For Glory.

Speaking of the Hall of Fame, the entirety of that year’s Bound For Glory preshow centred on the Original Knockout and the legendary commentary duo of Mike Tenay and Don West getting inducted into the Hall of Fame.

A tremendous way to kick off proceedings before the actual show itself starts and further shows the company’s ability to honour the past and its achievements.

#9. MK Ultra

By the start of 2023, Killer Kelly wasn’t really doing much after her feud with Tasha Steelz came to an end and Masha Slamovich was still recovering from her high-profile losses to Jordynne Grace, Mickie James and Deonna Purrazzo; It almost felt like the two redheaded knockouts had no direction in the early parts of the year…Then came the Hardcore War happened at the Rebellion PPV.

In what is probably the single greatest thing to come out of Bully Ray and Tommy Dreamer’s insufferable months-long feud saw both men captain two teams and go to war in the most plunder-filled match of 2023 to not include the war games steel cage. 

Masha was on team Bully and Kelly on was team Tommy needless to say both ladies were the MVPs of the match as they bit and punched various wrestlers in the match and then each other, leading to a feud that gave use the first ever Knockouts Dog Collar match at Against All Odds with the ending of that match giving us a glimpse into what would be a strange, violent and voyeuristic tag team.

After saving Killer Kelly from a beatdown at the hands of KiLynn King and Taylor Wilde, the two would form a new pairing known as ‘MK Ultra’ and after beating The Coven for the Knockouts Tag Team Titles, Masha and Kelly continued their dominance within the division by defeating every team that stood in their way while also having backstage segments that were both unique and unusual much like the duo themselves.

It’s unclear how long they will continue to be the tag champions or a tag team in general, let’s hope it’s for a very long time as the two of them are doing some fantastic work as a unit and they have the appeal to draw in non IMPACT fans thanks to their work on indies and international promotions.

#8. Joe Hendry

Upon making his return to the company with much fanfare at Bound For Glory 2022 and then ending that year by defeating Brian Myers for the Digital Media Championship, the sky was the limit for Joe Hendry going into the new year and the company made him and by extension, the DMC belt feel kinda important.

Hendry’s 2023 started with him defending his title against former world champion, Moose both at Hard To Kill and at No Surrender while also racking up title defences over Matt Cardona and Brian Myers before becoming the longest reigning Digital Media Champion in company history.

Following an out-of-nowhere and surprisingly well-done heel turn by Dirty Dango, Hendry continues his winning ways by defeating the former fashion cop at Under Siege and Against All Odds until Joe’s antics of using parody songs to mess with his opponents failed him when Kenny King defeated Hendry for the DMC at the Slammiversary preshow ending his reign at just 266 days.

Aside from a brief partnership with Yuya Uemura, winning the Glasgow Cup during the company’s first trip across the pond in several years and a mini-feud with Internet Wrestling star, Simon Miller that culminated at that year’s Turning Point event, there wasn’t much else for Hendry towards the end of year.

That said, his music parodies, work rate and ability to get over with the crowd helped to make the Scottish-born wrestler one of the high points of the year for IMPACT Wrestling.

#7. Wrestling Events Overseas

Between WWE’s Money in the Bank and Backlash pay-per-views taking place in the U.K. and Puerto Rico respectively and AEW’s success with All In where they sold out Wembley Arena…It’s safe to say that shows happening outside of the United States tended to do great for wrestling companies in 2023 and IMPACT decided to join in on all of the fun.

Traveling to Canada, England, Scotland and Australia gave way to several great IMPACT Plus Specials like Under Siege and Emergence not to mention Impact’s first tour to the UK in eight years but also the company’s first ever show in Australia with the IMPACT Down Under events.

IMPACT also had two of their major pay-per-views take place in Canada this year, one of which I’ll talk more about later on this list and the other was Slammiversary which did 4,400 PPV buys for the company which was auchored by matches like the opening Ultimate X match, Kazarian vs. Edwards, Trinity vs. Purrazzo and Shelley vs. Aldis.

With more and more European wrestlers appearing or signing with the promotion, it’s perhaps only a matter of time before we get to even more TNA Wrestling shows taking place outside of the U.S.

#6. Debuts & Returns

Considering the amount of talent that’ll be coming through TNA’s door this year and the announcement of a big signing for the company at the upcoming Hard To Kill, makes looking back at the people who came back or debuted in 2023 all the more fun.

From the previously mentioned legends who returned at IMPACT 1000 to Will Ospreay’s short but solid comeback to the company to Zachary Wentz reuniting with Trey Miguel to the surprise return of Nick Aldis before he became the Smackdown General Manager, TNA’s nostalgia ran wild in 2023 but it was only surpassed by the amount stars who debuted in the promotion.

I could list the names of all the people who made their IMPACT debut this year, so instead I’ll just briefly mention some of the more memorable:

• Zack Sabre Jr.
• Trinity
• Santino Marella
• Sonny Kiss
• Kilynn King
• Lio Rush
• Jody Threat
• KENTA
• Miyu Yamashita
• etc.

While some of these names might have only been there for a set of tapings or a temporary contract, the ones that have signed looked poised to do great things for TNA into the new year.

#5. The Year of Great Rivalries

Not content with having the year solely focused on the amount of talent that came into the company, IMPACT Wrestling also had some of the best wrestling feuds and rivalries out of any other wrestling promotion in 2023.

I mean the list is quite long but much like the previous entry here are just a few:

• Jordynne Grace vs. Deonna Purrazzo
• Mike Bailey vs. Johnathan Gresham
• Frankie Kazarian vs. Eddie Edwards
• Trey Miguel vs. Chris Sabin
• Scott D’Amore vs. Bully Ray (and Steve Maclin)
• The Rascalz vs. ABC
• Gisele Shaw vs. Trinity
• Steve Maclin vs. Josh Alexander
• Chris Sabin vs. Lio Rush
• etc.

What makes many of these rivalries so special is that they focus on different themes and tropes that wrestling fans are familiar with whether it’s Old vs. New in Sabin/Rush/Miguel, Waging War against the Authority in Bully & Maclin/ D’Amore, fighting over respect and legacy in Edwards/Kazarian and of course figuring out who the better the wrestler in Grace/Purrazzo and Bailey/Gresham.

If you haven’t checked out the matches and moments that took place during these feuds I highly suggest you do because while IMPACT may not get the respect it understandably deserves, 2023 was proof that the company could balance action, storytelling and emotion with the best of them.

#4. Tag Team Renaissance

What IMPACT lacks in a large tag team division, they make up for it by using the teams they do have and allowing them to be the best they possibly can be thanks to a combination of interesting storylines, work rate and fan investment…and good lord 2023 felt like a breath of fresh air for IMPACT’s Tag Team Division.

Ace Austin and Chris Bey’s slow burn to prominence in late 2022 following their time in NJPW to their meteoric rise to the top in 2023 is one of the best in recent memory as The ABC has consistently had the best tag team matches of the year with the likes of Motor City Machine Guns, Sami Callihan and Rich Swann, The Rascalz and TMDK while also becoming two-time IMPACT World Tag Team Champions for a combined 200 plus days.

But it’s not just Ace and Bey who has been a highlight of IMPACT’s tag scene, teams like The Good Hands, Subculture and The Rascalz have also been great with many of them becoming the tag champions at some point in the year and the matches all have been built properly and they also feel fresh and exciting to boot.

In short, the division that felt almost lifeless for the last several years, finally felt rejuvenated as we head into 2024 and with the appearances of the Grizzed Young Veterans and Mike Bailey and Trent Seven things can only get better from there.

#3. Rebellion

Now let’s talk about that other IMPACT pay-per-view that took place in Canada I mentioned earlier.

Rebellion 2023 might’ve been the most hyped and anticipated show in this PPV’s short history since Omega became the first person to hold the AEW, TNA and IMPACT World titles back in 2021.

The injuries of Josh Alexander and Mickie James in early 2023 opened the door to a new World and Knockouts Champions being crowned on this night and the two marquee matches certainly lived up to expectations culminating in the married couple of Steve Maclin and Deonna Purrazzo walking away with the gold.

Outside of those two bouts, the show officially got underway with The ABC vs. MCMG in an Ultimate X Tag Team Match, Trey Miguel defending his X Division Title against Mike Bailey and Johnathan Gresham in a three-way elimination match, PCO vs. Eddie Edwards, Santino Marella’s first PPV match in years and the incredible Hardcore War which as I mentioned earlier eventually gave us Masha and Killer Kelly as a brand new tag team.

If you want to learn more about my thoughts on this show then be sure to check out my article on the Top 10 Moments of Rebellion 2023.

#2. The Machine Gun Era

Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley have always been fan favorites whether they were a tag team or singles competitors, but in 2023 the men from Detroit Michigan became the flag bearers for IMPACT Wrestling and in the process had some of the best matches of their entire career.

Starting the year as tag team champions, the Motor City Machine Guns helped in establishing the ABC as the next big time when it comes to tag team wrestling; After losing the belts to Ace Austin and Chris Bey, both men would embark on solo runs that proved to be fruitful with Chris Sabin spending the majority of the year as X Division Champion and Alex Shelley becoming the new IMPACT World Champion during the second half of the year.

Sabin’s matches with the likes of Trey Miguel, Lio Rush, KENTA and Alan Angels for the X Division title were not only spectacular but also helped to make the men fighting for the belt and the title itself feel all the more important thus making it feel like the workhorse title that it was always designed to be. 

Shelley’s title win over Maclin at Against All Odds was unexpected but also the idea by fans that the former X Division Champion was only a “transitional champion” made things interesting as his bouts with Nick Aldis at Slammiversary and Josh Alexander at Bound For Glory made you wonder if the company truly had Alex be a place holder for the title before the other top stars came back to win it…thankfully this didn’t happen and Alex Shelley’s reign on top as world champion has been great.

IMPACT’s TV ratings on AXS TV have been increasing week by week since Shelley became world champion and the fact he got the word ‘Yup’ over that the company made a t-shirt about it which is also impressive.

Lord knows if the Machine Gun Era will continue after Hard To Kill 2024 but if not, we can be thankful that we got to experience it at all.

#1. Bound For Glory & The Return of TNA Wrestling

Arguably the best Bound For Glory of the entire Anthem Era, BFG 2023 was such a thrilling event which of course was helped by the fact that the show took place in Chicago Illinois, one of the rowdiest wrestling hubs in all of the United States.

Now I wouldn’t go into detail about all of the good stuff that happened on this show as I’ve already done a list on this subject, but the biggest takeaways from this show would have to be: Mickie James vs. Trinity for the company, Will Ospreay and Mike Bailey beating the crap out of each other and Alex Shelley defeated Josh Alexander to prove himself as the definitive world champion.

Those matches and everything else on this card would be enough to qualify this show as a great night of wrestling but it’s what came towards the end that got everyone talking.

The announcement of TNA Wrestling making its long-awaited return since 2016 or 2020 and the eruption of TNA chants by the crowd followed by Scott D’Amore’s declaration that “We’re F###ing Back!” inside the ring was one the biggest Holy S### moments in 2023…until you realize CM got fired from AEW that same year and then hell would be frozen completely solid when he returned to the WWE at the end of that year’s Survivor Series.

The entire locker room clapping and losing their minds in the excitement that TNA Wrestling is coming back further makes this moment great and while the company’s attempts to keep that momentum rolling into Hard To Kill have been disappointing when comes to their weekly episodes post BFG, the matches that have been announced for the PPV on social media and the Vegas tapings that come afterwards have fans completely intrigued…Especially with the announcement of Okada stepping into a TNA ring for the first time in over a decade and Will Ospreay vs. Josh Alexander Part 2.

But what did you think? What are the Best Things to happen to IMPACT Wrestling in 2023 For You? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

Make sure to follow Lace ‘Em Up on X @laceemupoffice You can follow me also on X @hakeemfullerton for wrestling-related articles like this and I’ll see you next time.