As of this writing Redemption, the new Impact Wrestling pay per view, is only a day away. There have been so many discussions lately about brand new starts and relaunches, but I believe this show is the one that cements the direction the company is going in.
It was announced at the last television tapings that the company was working towards a new pay-per-view called Redemption and I, along with others,became intrigued. Around the time Impact lost their deal with Spike TV they decided to trim down the amount of pay-per-views to only two, Slammiversary and Bound for Glory, while the others would merely become TV specials. While this obviously was a money saving measure for a sinking ship, it hurt the product. Without the big shows to work towards the product floundered and became derivative and stale. Feud would just end on the next episode and nothing felt important. The best matches almost always came on the big two. One of the biggest issues was the fact that Impact always taped their shows so far in advance that wrestlers might not be with the company, or be injured, before the pay-per-view.
Redemption is the start of a new method of taping. Ed Nordholm, head of Anthem, announced that the taping will be shorter and cover less dates, making the product more suspenseful since the fans would not know ahead of time what is going to happen at the end of the month. Impact has also been putting out their One Night Only shows more often, as well as various Twitch specials and they have most of the time been great.Redemption might just be the crowning achievement.
Several matches have been announced, even if the main event has changed from what it initially was supposed to be, and a few surprises promised. The fans are getting stars from Lucha Underground; Drago, Aerostar, Fenix and Pentagon Jr. and they have taken hurdles and made the best of the situation. After Aries, Fenix and Pentagon tore the house down at Wrestlecon more eyes have been turned towards the product and more people are excited about it.
I believe Redemption will do just that. Redeem Impact in many fans’ eyes, but there will always be naysayers and I just hope they can give it a chance.
C. Marry Hultman
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