So this list is coming out a week or two after this year’s Hard To Kill event, but that doesn’t mean I still can’t talk about it.

In fact I was planning on doing an article on the Top 10 Moments from HTK 2024, but then I realized instead of doing a piece with a few minor moments combined with the big ones, how about a Top 10 on all of the biggest Hard To Kill Moments.

Yes, despite only being around for five years at this point, Hard To Kill has become the place for iconic title wins, memorable debuts, shocking returns and everything else in between…So let’s not waste anymore time as these are the 10 Best Hard To Kill Moments.

Honorable Mentions

Rohit Unmasks Manik (HTK 2021) 

Ash By Elegance Debut (HTK 2024)

Crazzy Steve Wins the Digital Media Championship (Countdown to HTK 2024)

Honoring Don West (HTK 2023)

The Birth of The System (Countdown to HTK 2024)

Moose Hits a Top Rope Spanish Fly (HTK 2021)

Decay Returns and Win the Knockouts Tag Titles (HTK 2024)

Mickie James Wins the Knockouts World Championship (HTK 2023)

#10. Mickie No Sells Deonna’s Final Offense (Hard To Kill 2022)

Deonna Purrazzo’s accolades are too numerous to list here, but when it comes to her greatest rivals it usually goes: Jordynne Grace, Gisele Shaw, Trinity Fatu, and for the purpose of this entry: Mickie James.

Their feud from the summer of 2021 into early 2022 produced memorable moments like Deonna attacking James at her farm in Richmond Virginia, Mickie jumping off the top rope with a Lou Theze Press onto Purrazzo and some security, but this one is remembered…for a completely different reason.

Coming towards the end of Hard To Kill’s 2022 main event which was first ever Knockouts Texas Death Match, Mickie James grabs a guitar she previously brought in and attempts to use it, when Deonna decides and I am not sure how else to describe this…goes after Mickie’s special area which leaves the crowd shocked and the commentators flustered beyond all belief.

Mickie on the other hand, no sells Purrazzo’s grabbing of her “Hardcore Country” and instead smiles at this while licking her fingers in a ‘V’ formation which is a throwback to James’ bout with Trish Stratus at Wrestlemania 22.

It’s a brief but stunning moment in an otherwise awesome main event between two great wrestlers.

#9. Matt Cardona’s Debut (Hard To Kill 2021)

If his rise to popularity in the early 2010’s in WWE didn’t make it obivous, Matt Cardona (aka the former Zack Ryder) is perhaps the greatest example of betting on yourself and becoming a major success.

From his work in promotions like GCW, NWA and his brief dip into AEW, Cardona became the most in-demand wrestler of the modern era which made his debut in an IMPACT Wrestling ring all the more surprising.

At Hard To Kill 2021, Ace Austin and his muscle, Madman Fulton were annoyed that the former X Division Champion wasn’t put into a match for the pay-per-view, so out came Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore to fix that situation by putting him in a match against a mystery opponent.

Matt Cardona emerged from the back as Ace Austin’s opponent for this imprompt match and sure the match itself was anything special due to it lasting two minutes and ending in a DQ finish, but it was the first of several appearances that the former WWE Superstar would make in the company.

And speaking of which…

#8. The Debut of Santino Marella (Hard To Kill 2023)

Considering both Scott D’Amore and Gail Kim tend to be busy doing company business, they don’t always have the time to make matches onscreen which led to the promotion hiring a new authority figure to coincide with Scott and Gail with the identity of said figure being revealed at Hard To Kill.

On the show, Moose battled Joe Hendry for the Digital Media Championship with the former World Champion appearing to pick up the victory albeit by underhanded circumstances when the new Director of Authority, Santino Marella came out to a great reaction and restarted the match.

Hendry would keep his title after securing the win thanks in no small part to IMPACT/TNA’s newest kayfabe power player and master of the green sock puppet.

#7. Frankie Kazarian Returns (Hard To Kill 2023)

Sticking with Hard To Kill 2023 a bit longer we now go this unexpected return of TNA Wrestling legend, Frankie Kazarian.

After years away from the company while also competing in places like Ring Of Honor and All Elite Wrestling, Kazarian mentions how his brief return in 2022 that saw him wrestle guys like Mike Bailey and Josh Alexander led to the former X Division Champion making his decision to leave AEW so he could return to TNA.

What followed for Kazarian was number of matches including his memorable feud with Eddie Edwards which even led to both men getting their wives involved and also paved the way for Traci Brooks Hall of Fame induction announcement on the 1000th episode of IMPACT on AXS TV.

#6. Tasha & Gisele Win the Ultimate X (Hard To Kill 2022 & 2024)

Okay, so this is actually two moments instead of one, but you really can’t pick one over the other as their both so good.

At Hard To Kill 2022, the show kicked off with the first ever Knockouts Ultimate X Match which was won by Tasha Steelz in what was one of the most high profiled matches in her career up to that point, then just a few months later Steelz would go on to have the biggest match of her career when she cashed in her big red X to challenge Mickie James for the Knockouts World Championship at that year’s Sacrifice event.

This led to Tasha picking up the victory and become the first Afro Lantina to become Knockouts Champion in company history…just a shame she got the CM PUNK WWE Title treatment as her reign was overshadowed by Mickie’s feud with both Deonna and Chelsea Green.

Fast forward two years later and the company (going back to the TNA name) opened the show with another Knockouts Ultimate X match with the winner of this bout being Gisele Shaw making her the first LGBTQIA+ wrestler to win the Ultimate X in the company history.

While the jury is still out on if her cash-in will be a success, you can’t deny that she doesn’t deserves it with the amount of work she’s put in the ring, but for details on that be sure to check out my article on the Top 10 Best IMPACT Wrestlers of 2023.

#5. Tessa Blanchard Wins the World Title (Hard To Kill 2020)

Ah yes, the match and moment that the company doesn’t talk about anymore because the winner’s reputation is about as toxic as any diehard wrestling fandom.

Now sure Tessa’s tweet a day before the pay-per-view may have been ill-advised thanks to the allegations that surfaced, not to mention how her run in the company ended may have left fans with a bad taste in their mouth but with all of that said, this moment is still historic.

The reaction within the building upon Tessa pinning Sami Callihan to become the new IMPACT Wrestling World Champion and the first woman since Chyna in 1999 to win a predominantly male championship was amazing.

Also the fact that the company still put the belt on Tessa despite the social media sh##storm that came a day prior is certainly a big if not polarizing decision…although most fans didn’t have enougn time to deal with the backlash of Tessa as a world champion or the allegations about her as a certain global pandemic would be a much bigger focus for the wrestling community and the world as a whole.

#4. Fire ‘N Flava Win the Knockouts Tag Team Titles (Hard To Kill 2021)

While were on the subject of the Covid-19 Pandemic, Let’s talk about the first (and hopefully) only Hard To Kill event to take place during a global health crisis.

This event will most certainly be remembered as the PPV where AEW World Champion, Kenny Omega made his TNA/IMPACT in-ring debut in a six man tag team match in the main event and also Matt Cardona’s shock debut, but there is another great moment to come out of this show and it involves the Knockouts Tag Team Titles.

When the announcement was made to bring the belts back after nearly a decade of being dormant, fans were excited to see who would become the inaugural champions for the new belts and that answer came at Hard To Kill 2021 when the team of Havok and Nevaeh took on the team of Tasha Steelz and Kiera Hogan aka Fire N’ Flava.

Following a solid matchup between these two teams, it was Tasha and Kiera who came out with the win and were handed the new Knockouts Tag Team Titles by Gail Kim and Madison Rayne.

Fire N’ Flava proved themselves to be the right choice for the inaugural champions as their first and second reigns with the gold made them not just one of the best tag teams champions in the Knockouts Division but, one the tag teams in the division…period.

#3. Jade Chung Fights Back (Hard To Kill 2023)

It’s still strange to think the woman who was terrorized by Moose and Bully Ray in 2022 and 2023 is now doing ring announcements for both of them in TNA, but I guess that’s a part the company doesn’t want you to remember.

For those unfamiliar with what I’m talking about, Jennifer Chung also known as Jade Chung aka Jade Alexander is not only the current ring announcer for TNA Wrestling and a former professional wrestler, but she’s also the wife of Josh Alexander and it’s safe to say she and her family have been brought into the Josh’s conflicts with members of the roster one too many times.

One such time would be when Bully Ray traumatized Josh in the lead up to Hard To Kill 2023 with threats of violences towards Jade which led to her not being in the crowd when match started, however Mrs. Alexander (unbeknowested) to her husband entered both the building and the ring to confront Bully only to be dropped to her knees in fear whilst her husband was ziptyped to ropes unable to do anything.

Bully attempts to frighten Jade into giving away her wedding ring…because reason?!?, but she refuses and leads to him holding a garbage can high in the air, before she hits a low blow right into Bully’s balls before hitting the Acid Drop on Bully Ray into the thumbtacks and freeing her man from the ziptypes.

A great moment but also makes you wonder how she can be so impartial when announcing guys like Bully or Moose to the ring knowing the history she has with many of them.

#2. Nic Nemeth’s TNA Debut (Hard To Kill 2024)

Call it receny bias if you will, but it can’t be argued that Nic Nemeth’s first appearance in TNA isn’t one of the best ending moments in company history.

After more than a decade of being a midtermer in the WWE, Nemeth was released from the WWE in 2023 and had already made his first major appearance for a wrestling company when he confronted David Finlay during an early 2024 New Japan event which eventually led to some physicality and a run of the mill passionate promo by Nemeth who looked determined to go after some NJPW title gold.

All of this is important to bring up because not long after his appearance in New Japan, Nemeth interrupted Moose’s celebration after winning the TNA World Champion over Alex Shelley in the main event of Hard To Kill.

Nemeth then stormed the ring from behind and after a brief staredown and some offense that took the new champion down to the matt, Nic ran back into the crowd where he torn off his Motley Crue t-shirt to reveal a TNA Wrestling shirt underneath which as you can imagine led a thunderous crowd reaction.

Considering this moment and Nemeth’s first in-ring promo in TNA have exceed or are nearing a million viewers on YouTube, should give you an idea of how much folks are hyped about seeing the former Dolph Ziggler in TNA Wrestling.

#1. The Debut of Honor No More (Hard To Kill 2022)

Nic Nemeth’s debut in TNA was great, but what Impact (no pun intended) will his run in the company have in short or long term remains to be seen, so instead I’ve given the top spot to a debut/moment that is just as awesome and kicked off almost a year of storytelling within the company.

The team of Eddie Edwards, Rich Swann, Willie Mack, Heath and Rhino defeated The Good Brothers and Violent By Design in a 10 man Hardcore War at Hard To Kill 2022 when the victory became short lived when a bunch for Ring of Honor stars entered the ring and destroyed everything in the ring before posing with the tag team titles and looking directly into the camera as fans and commentators alike were trying to figure out what was going on.

The invading wrestlers who were: PCO, Vincent, Maria Kanellis-Bennett, Mike Bennett and Matt Taven soon revealed themselves to be Honor No More in the weeks that followed leading to months of gang warefare, betrayals, unexpected alliances and some of the most compelling television IMPACT Wrestling have ever produced in a long time. 

It was a fanastic way to debut a new faction, leading some amazing storytelling and makes it an easy pick for number one on this list.

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.