Impact Wrestling took over Don Kolov Arena in Mississauga, Ontario on July 14th, 2019. The crowd that gathered at Battle Arts Academy were treated to a couple of great Impact tapings. The energy never wavered among audience members despite a pronounced amount of heat in the venue. The crowd noticed it and only served to turn up the heat further with their fervent passion for pro wrestling. LM2’s resident wrestling nerd Dylan Bowker came to the show with his girlfriend who is very much not a wrestling aficionado.
The Machinations of the Mash-Up Tournament
One of the big features of the tapings was The Mash-Up tournament. Brackets were comprised of strange bedfellows who were to overcome their differences. The incentive to do this lies in the fact that a shot at the Impact title could await the victors.
Michael Elgin said “I’m teaming up with Willie Mack and we’ve had a little bit of a past. The winner of this Mash-Up tag tournament wrestles each other and then that winner gets a world title shot and as far as I’m concerned, I’m the uncrowned champion. So I gotta do what I gotta do”.
OVE members ended up standing across the ring from one another, Moose and Eddie Edwards linked up, and it made for some combustible matches as well as chaotic moments. The crowd was electric but that’s not an isolated happening as it relates to Canada audiences responding to the Impact product. A guy like Michael Elgin, who performed extensively for promotions like GCW in Oshawa early on, appreciates being with a promotion that has a strong rapport with the Canadian crowd.
Elgin said, “For me, I think it’s great. Growing up in the Canadian system and being in Ontario for many years before I broke out, I think it’s awesome. To come home is always great. To see so many people that I remember watching me as a young kid wrestling, I think that’s great.
To the point of his GCW matches, Elgin said, “I think that was vital to my career. I think those matchups and the people that were so far advanced compared to me, really helped groom me to the wrestler I am today and brought me to a company like Impact”
Michael Elgin Interview Audio HERE
Shows like this are by no means an easy undertaking. There is multiple key personnel required to pull off this caliber of a show effectively.
Matt Striker said, “They brought me on in different capacities as a consultant or as a producer but tonight I was directing. Calling all the camera stuff, working with all the camera guys, and it’s something that I’d done in other major promotions that I don’t know if we’re allowed to name. It’s just great to graduate. Being an athlete is one thing and I used to be a school teacher, but learning different things; learn how to referee, learn how to produce, learn how to film a video or pre-tape or edit. In this case, learn how to direct and sit in a production truck. It’s something that I think can take you very far in whatever it is that you’re doing. Don’t be satisfied with whatever it is you’re doing”
Matt Striker Interview Audio HERE
Jimmy Jacobs stated, “Well I’m a writer and producer here. They started having me do backstage interviews too. So the matches, the stories, the promos that you see have my fingerprints on them. We go “hey what should we do here? oh ok, let’s do this. How about it’s more like this?” You craft a TV show with professional wrestling elements to it”
Both Jacobs and Striker have had notable runs as wrestlers but they’re excited to lend their product knowledge to a wrestling show outside of the in-ring action.
Jimmy Jacobs said, “I was good but the guys nowadays are awesome. Just really, really amazing talent now…..I’ll say in the ring yeah good, fine…. But as far as what I do now, there’s very few people on the planet that do it as well as I do….That’s just sort of, I think, matter of factly”
Jacobs continued, “While I wrestled for a lot of years and still continue to wrestle, it was never my thing. The creativity with the physicality wasn’t what I excelled at. The creativity behind the scenes and with the talking, with the characters, that was sort of more what I excelled at. I get to do that. I get to do what I’m good at.”
Matt Striker stated, “Nerves kind of have fallen by the wayside for me. It more just reminds me that I’m alive. This isn’t for everybody but I’m a faith guy and in the scriptures, I read “do not worry for when the time comes it will be put in your heart and mind what to say”. The same thing applies for what to do. The worst thing you can do is mess up. That’s the worst thing you can do and it’s a learning experience. So nerves, no. But boyish excitement, yes.”
To the point of what his proudest contribution to Impact has been, Jacobs said “My fingerprints are all over the show so it’s really hard to say “this specifically this, this specifically this”….I go into a room with Tommy Dreamer and Don Callis and Scott D’Amore and we bang these things out. We’ve done that for Sonjay Dutt and Abyss. We all did it….The Undead Realm, how about that?! The Undead Realm, that was my idea from conception to execution….Some people hated it, some people love it, I enjoyed doing it”
There are quite a few instances of Impact Wrestling making their own mark within the idiom of professional wrestling.
Impact’s unique contributions to the wrestling world
Something Impact does to stand out from other wrestling promotions is how they present intergender wrestling. Women vs Men isn’t uncommon on the indie scene but few promotions (that have a regular TV/ pay per view caliber broadcast platform with notable reach) book it in a favorable manner.
Matt Striker said “You can see how people follow trends. So when Lucha Underground was around, they were doing the intergender stuff and all of a sudden other people started jumping on it. Then Lucha Underground went away, WWE kind of sort of, but the way Impact does it they’re doing it in a very classy way. In this day and age, it’s just athletes. It’s not man or woman….So I think going with an intergender…athlete. I think that’s just the term they should use across the board”
Striker continued, “If it’s done right and you’re not really bastardizing it and you’re not insulting anyone and again if you just address it as an athlete…Look I grew up with four sisters and they all kicked my tail. And I’m a professional wrestler and I play hockey. They are tough strong women. So when I hear people say “empower women”, I’ve only known empowered women. So I think if you remove the gender bias or the color bias or the sexuality or the religion, you’re just an athlete. Competing in the same sport I am. So why shouldn’t we compete against each other?….The chromosomal differences should not impede us having the match we should have”
With Man vs Woman matches, Jimmy Jacobs said “You don’t see it in WWE really. They’re starting to dip a toe in it but I don’t think they’ll ever go fully into it. Ring of Honor’s not going to do it. AEW’s not going to do it and we have the opportunity to do it. Not only do we have the opportunity to do it but we have the woman to do it with. I don’t think you can do it just haphazardly with anybody. Tessa Blanchard is maybe the best female performer in the United States today. You know there’s a couple. Becky Lynch, great. Charlotte, great. Asuka, great. There are some great ones. Tessa’s as good as any of them if not better. So we have the woman to do it with and the crowd’s reacting accordingly.”
Jacobs continued, “We had Tessa and Sami main event this last pay per view. I think that’s the first time you’ve had an intergender main event of a pay per view. Certainly in Impact Wrestling, probably in the United States. So yeah, we’re doing it and she’s doing it. When we signed her on a year ago, It was like yeah she’s got something and what a get for us. That was really something I was excited about when we got it and I was like oh man, everybody’s missing the boat. She’s doing great.”
Impact Wrestling also has tight-knit bonds with other organizations. Cross-promotion has become more prevalent in recent years within pro wrestling. The fans obviously appreciate these interactions but those involved in the wrestling promotions love it as well. Jimmy Jacobs said, “Independent wrestling right now is at an all-time high. So yeah, there’s a lot of different companies that work together. Impact Wrestling we get to work with a lot of independent companies and it just benefits everybody at this point.”
Jimmy Jacobs Interview Audio HERE
One promotion Impact has a bit of a history with is Lucha Underground. The status of LU has been largely unknown among wrestling fans but thankfully Striker is affiliated with both promotions.
Striker said, “I’m not at liberty to say too much but I do know there was some shopping for a new home and if they can find the new home then we are going to furnish that home with some things you’ve never seen before. So keep your fingers crossed. Lucha Underground may not be done just yet.”
This could result in even more spicy crossovers in the future. Despite Boyle Heights looming in the distance, there’s still much to analyze about these Impact Wrestling tapings in Mississauga, Ontario.
The Art of Battle
Don Kolov Arena is a great venue and also functions as an MMA/ pro wrestling school called Battle Arts Academy. The wrestlers and production team with Impact Wrestling all sang the praises of the Mississauga crowd that gathered.
Michael Elgin said “I’ve been here a few times for Destiny Wrestling. I love the building and the fans here are great. So I think tonight is going to be something special”
Jimmy Jacobs stated, “There’s a great audience here in Mississauaga. This building the Don Kolov Arena is super cool. It’s packed in tight and kind of reminds me of the old studio wrestling. So it’s got a nice atmosphere, fans were great, it was awesome.”
Battle Arts Academy imparts some level of MMA knowledge to gym-goers who are just attending for pro wrestling. The gym’s figurehead Anthony Carelli aka Santino Marella has a lengthy history with Judo and has an MMA background. The popularity of MMA nowadays has lent itself to many modern performers using MMA techniques in their move-set/ overall psychology. It both harkens back to the old school wrestling days where the champion needed to be a shooter and it’s also a modern way to utilize the rise of MMA while utilizing pro wrestling’s deep roots within mixed-martial arts.
Michael Elgin said, “I think the beauty of professional wrestling is individuality as well. With the landscape of the world with mixed martial arts so big and combat sports in general. I do think the mixture of that definitely helps pro wrestling. When there’s people that don’t necessarily have that hybrid style, it adds to that individuality. Which helps with how people support them. They have different viewpoints so not everything’s the same”
To the point of MMA techniques having utlity for a pro wrestler, Jimmy Jacobs said “It can. It just depends. There’s a lot of different tools to create an emotional connection with people. You tell a story and create an emotional connection with people by telling a story. So if it is a tool that can be used successfully to do that then yes, people have done that. Is it necessary, absolutely not.”
As fans filed out of the Don Kolov Arena and embraced the cool breeze outdoors, Matt Striker wrapped things up on a poignant note. Striker stated, “You’ve got to remember for me I’m just a kid from Queens, New York that everyone told “you’re never going to make it. What are you doing? Why are you bothering with that wacky wrestling stuff” but it was my dad that told me to follow my dreams. That encouragement allowed me to do it.
Finally, Striker stated, “So I think the thing that people should take away from this is that there’s always going to be people out there that try to dissuade you and bring you down. Don’t do it to yourself. So many of us go “oh I stink. Oh I shouldn’t try” Screw that. Try. Someone out there is going to try to cut your legs from under you. Don’t be the person that does it. You have no idea what’s possible so give it a shot.”
