Impact Wrestling is in an odd position in 2019 — which, to be fair, one could say about Impact/TNA for most of its existence. They started airing at 10 PM ET on Fridays on the little-known Pursuit Channel; then Pursuit became even more obscure when it was dropped by some major cable providers. However, Impact’s main TV show continues to be available to watch at the same time on the Twitch, and, according to an announcement today, they will soon start producing more content for the internet streaming platform.
In a press release that you can read in its entirety here, Impact revealed that “it has renewed and expanded the scope of its agreement with Twitch.”
The renewal will include the production of more exclusive content on the Twitch platform (www.twitch.tv/impactwrestling), including original weekly programming, pre and post-shows, live monthly specials, weekly airings of Xplosion which features never-before-seen matches, IRL (in real life) first-person streams, and much more. To support Twitch’s development of its co-streaming features, IMPACT Wrestling will facilitate co-streaming of the weekly flagship show and will be announcing details of a contest featuring co-streamers in the near future.
The press release also included a statement from Jane Weedon, Twitch’s Director of Business Development, saying, “Impact Wrestling has quickly established itself as a leading wrestling channel on our platform. We are excited by the potential to expand on the content delivered by IMPACT Wrestling to the Twitch community, and their commitment to delivering live, shared, interactive and entertaining experiences for our audiences.”
A more Twitch-focused future could be read as a forward-thinking move by Impact, with a creative parallel of how they’re the first television American wrestling company to run a serious intergender wrestling storyline since Lucha Underground, with Tessa Blanchard and Sami Callihan about to have a number one contender’s match for the Impact World Championship. However, it could also be read as the latest questionable business decision in a long history of those, with a creative parallel of the TNA-typical unusual rules of the tournament that brought about Blanchard vs. Callihan II.
What do you think of this Impact Wrestling development? Give us your take in the comments!
