I’m so excited, we’ve just started 2021 and already we have what I think could be the BIGGEST and BEST night of wrestling this year.
History will be made this Saturday night, January 16, in the main event of IMPACT Wrestling’s HARD TO KILL pay-per-view extravaganza.
The six-man tag-team collision features IMPACT World Champion Rich Swann and the Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) taking on All Elite Wrestling World Champion Kenny Omega and IMPACT Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows) … and the match has captured the imagination of the industry.
IMPACT Wrestling Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore said: “Wrestling historians are split on the question of when the last time two legitimate world champions – who work for separate promotions – competed against each other like Swann and Omega will do this Saturday night.
“What is without question, though, is we’ve got a historic main event at HARD TO KILL. Two of the most spectacular singles athletes in the world – Rich Swann and Kenny Omega – teaming with two of the greatest tag teams on earth in the Motor City Machine Guns and the Good Brothers.
“This match was only made a month ago, but it feels like wrestling fans have been clamoring for exactly this type of collision forever.”
Here’s how I and some wrestling media and historians are characterizing Hard To Kill’s must-see main event:
Lee Medd, Host of Medd in the Morning on Alive 107.3 Radio
“There are certain things, key moments in your life that you always remember as a wrestling fan – Hulk Hogan turning heel at Bash at the Beach; Goldberg winning the WCW World Championship; Kurt Angle arriving in IMPACT Wrestling. The Hard To Kill main event will soon rank as one of those most memorable moments, three men (who) have dominated and changed Japanese wrestling will be facing three men that represent the past, present and future of IMPACT Wrestling.
“In just the third week of January we could see the match of the year – two of the greatest tag teams in the history of wrestling, alongside two of the most entertaining and well skilled world champs. The outcome of this match will have ramifications for the industry. It is a MASSIVE match, one that I believe will showcase and make a star of Rich Swann to the sports world while adding itself to that list of wrestling’s GREATEST moments.”
I can’t wait to witness history take place this Saturday night/Sunday morning LIVE on Premier Sports2.
Stephanie Franchomme, SteelChair Wrestling Magazine
“The main event is a unique match that really fits the long history of TNA/IMPACT Wrestling, when it comes to partnerships and welcoming talents wherever they are from.”
Damon Martin, SB Nation
“Part of the fun of loving pro-wrestling has always been the fantasy matchmaking where you’d hope to see champions from two different organizations meet in the ring. This main event (at Hard to Kill) is a dream-come-true type of showdown.”
Jonathan Snowden, Bleacher Report
“For a long time, IMPACT was wrestling’s best-kept secret, a show that competed creatively with the industry leader without ever receiving the same level of media hype. Now, with AEW’s Kenny Omega stepping into the ring with the company’s top talents, the world will finally learn what IMPACT fans have long known—this is one of the very best wrestling shows out there.”
Marc Raimondi, ESPN
“The storyline involving Omega and IMPACT is a breath of fresh air for pro-wrestling, showing it can be a sprawling universe and not a single world. I look forward to seeing where it goes at Hard To Kill.”
Gary Cassidy, Inside The Ropes
“The term ‘dream match’ is overused, but the only way a match of this magnitude can be described is with those two words. I said ‘dream match’ are the only two words to describe this colossal clash. Let me cut that down to one: Unmissable.”
Jim Varsallone, Miami Herald
“The magnitude of this match is huge.”
Bryan Alvarez, Figure Four Online
“This is the hottest angle in pro wrestling right now.”
Andreas Hale, The Sporting News
“This is the kind of inter-promotional match that you used to only be able to fantasy book. On Saturday, it will be a reality. Who knows where the hell this is going with two champions from different companies, but I’m buckled in for a thrilling ride!”
Bill Pritchard, WrestleZone
“Hard To Kill is huge for IMPACT because Kenny Omega’s appearance opens the company up to a brand new audience. IMPACT has enjoyed a few years of stability, found a new home on AXS TV, and has the talent in place. Omega’s involvement has created an opening for IMPACT’s audience to grow in a big way. They aren’t only putting on an event for the existing IMPACT fans, but also aim to keep the new ones who will be tuning in on Saturday.”
Andrea Hangst, Sporskeeda
“Major U.S. wrestling promotions haven’t worked together like this in decades, and Hard To Kill marks a sea change in the industry. With IMPACT and AEW coming together in the IMPACT Hard To Kill main event, it opens IMPACT to a large, new audience that might not be aware of all the strides IMPACT has made to become such a compelling promotion over the past couple of years. There is a very real opportunity to change the business with this match and this partnership. Kenny Omega and The Good Brothers vs. Rich Swann and the Motor City Machine Guns is hopefully only the beginning, a taste of what’s to come.”
Michael Morales, Lucha Libre Online
“Hard To Kill’s main event is something never seen before, at least in this era. You have AEW World Champion Kenny Omega, considered by many the best wrestler in the world, teaming with his former partners and friends in NJPW, the IMPACT Tag Team Champions, The Good Brothers, who are easily one of the best teams in the world. They’re wrestling against IMPACT World Champion Rich Swann, who will be teaming the Motor City Machine Guns, considered by the experts to be one of the best tag teams of all-time. The match puts on the table something never seen on this era. It (brings) athleticism, novelty and all the ingredients to be a Match of the Year. What makes it even better is that on the latest episode of AEW Dynamite, they opened a door so fans can speculate and wonder if more AEW talent are coming to IMPACT, such as, The Young Bucks. The storyline is perfect and has been done with perfect build up. This is possibly the biggest match in January for the whole pro wrestling industry.”
Trent Zuberi, Total Nonstop IMPACT podcast
“Growing up in other eras of professional wrestling, it was always a dream to see a champion from one promotion come and challenge the champion of another, but it never happened. This (match-up) has done just that. Hard To Kill will go down as one of the most historic and important shows not only in IMPACT Wrestling history, but professional wrestling as a whole.”
HARD TO KILL will be available on Premier Sports in the UK – Saturday night/Sunday morning at 1am, Pay-Per-View in North America this Saturday, January 16 at 8pm ET/5pm PT on InDemand, DISH, DirecTV, Vubiquity, Rogers, Bell, Shaw, Sasktel.
It will be available around the world digitally via FITE TV (pre-order NOW).
