When Jeff Jarrett returned to Impact Wrestling after Anthem Entertainment secured ownership of the promotion, some of the international partnerships Double-J had set up for his Global Force Wrestling (GFW) start-up came with him.
It looks like some of those will be on full display at this weekend’s Slammiversary pay-per-view (PPV) in Orlando... including stars which rumors and reports told us never to expect in an Impact ring.
The company announced earlier that Mexico’s AAA will be sending Drago & El Hijo de Fantasma to Florida for a 4Way tag title match against the Impact champs LAX. The other two teams have not been revealed, but the story promises they’ll be “talent from two other international promotions”.
That AAA is specifically sending these two talents is interesting because they also work or have worked with Lucha Underground (Drago is still active in season three of the show, while El Hijo de Fantasma, who’d wrestled as King Cuerno on LU, hasn’t been used in quite some time - reportedly because of a dispute regarding his not being let out of his contract for a WWE offer to participate in their Cruiserweight Classic). AAA is a major part of the El Rey Network show, but past statements by their head of talent (and Lucha Underground star) Vampiro indicated no one from LU would be used on Impact.
Another issue is that Impact has a separate deal with Mexico’s The Crash, which is run by LAX leader Konnan - who famously had a falling out with AAA and Lucha Underground, including several top stars leaving the older company to join his. Rumors indicated Konnan was unhappy with AAA’s working with Impact and wouldn’t let their talent work with his... which also raises the question of who the other two teams in this match could be.
Representatives from Japan’s NOAH seem likely for one spot, but with The Crash seemingly ruled out for the other, it’s not clear who will provide the fourth team.
Stay tuned.