Josh Alexander vacates Impact World Championship due to injury

When it rains, it pours.

Late Thursday night, Impact announced that Mickie James was pulled from her Knockouts Championship defense at Sacrifice due to injury. Early Friday morning, Impact broke news that Josh Alexander is relinquishing the Impact World Championship due to injury.

Alexander suffered a triceps tear. He will be in surgery on Friday to remedy the issue. Alexander is the longest reigning titleholder of the Impact World Championship. His run now ends at 335 days.

Making matters worse is that Impact booked Alexander for three marquee matches over the next 24 days. First, Alexander was scheduled to team with Rich Swann & Frankie Kazarian versus Kushida, Alex Shelley, & Chris Sabin in trios action at Sacrifice on March 24. Second, Alexander was supposed to defend the Impact world title against Kushida at Multiverse United: Only the STRONG Survive on March 30. Third, Alexander (assuming he would have beaten Kushida, which was a safe bet) would have defended the title against Steve Maclin at Rebellion on April 16.

Impact announced the replacement plans. Maclin will step in for Alexander in the trios match at Sacrifice. For the Rebellion PPV, Maclin will wrestle Kushida for the vacant Impact World Championship. Alexander’s substitute for Multiverse United will be revealed in the coming days.

That’s a bummer for Alexander. He carried the company proudly as world champion and could always be counted on for a great match. Alexander had serious potential to have a once in a decade champion run for Impact. There was no telling how long his reign could have lasted. Another year at the top wouldn’t have shocked anybody. Well wishes for a healthy recovery.

It’s not all bad news for Alexander fans. Through the magic of television production, his recent world title defense against Kenta will air next week (Thur, Mar. 30) on the live episode of Impact Wrestling. That program will act as the pre-show for Multiverse United: Only the STRONG Survive.

Here is the official press release from Impact about Alexander’s injury:

Josh Alexander Out Of Action Indefinitely

New World Champion To Be Crowned April 16 At The REBELLION Pay-Per-View

The record-setting title run of Josh Alexander is officially over as he will relinquish the IMPACT Wrestling World Championship due to a triceps tear that will require surgery, IMPACT confirmed.

Alexander became a 2-time World Champion at the 2022 REBELLION pay-per-view event in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and is the longest-reigning IMPACT World Champion in company history, with successful title defenses against such stars as Moose, Rich Swann, Alex Shelley, Frankie Kazarian and Bully Ray, among others.

Josh Alexander is currently in Orlando, Florida, where Brad M. Homan, DO, FAOAO, will be performing a triceps tendon repair later today.

Steve Maclin will replace Josh Alexander to team with Swann and Kazarian tonight at the sold-out SACRIFICE extravaganza in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, against Time Machine (Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin and KUSHIDA).

On, Sunday, April 16, at the REBELLION pay-per-view in Toronto, KUSHIDA and Steve Maclin will compete in a match to determine the new IMPACT Wrestling World Champion.

Josh Alexander was originally scheduled to face KUSHIDA at the co-branded MULTIVERSE UNITED: ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE show on Thursday, March 30, from the sold-out Globe Theater in Los Angeles, as a part of WrestleCon. His replacement will be announced at a later date.

SACRIFICE will stream live tonight, starting at 8 p.m. ET from St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario on IMPACT Plus, YouTube for IMPACT Ultimate Insiders and FITE. A limited number of tickets remain for the SACRIFICE FALLOUT Show on Saturday, March 25, in Windsor. Tickets are available for FALLOUT at Eventbrite.ca.

“We wish Josh a full and speedy recovery, and everyone at IMPACT Wrestling, including our loyal fans, can’t wait to see him back in the ring,” said IMPACT Wrestling president Scott D’Amore.

The updated card for Sacrifice stands at:

• Steve Maclin, Rich Swann, & Frankie Kazarian vs. Kushida, Chris Sabin, & Alex Shelley
• Knockouts Championship: Mickie James (c) vs. Jordynne Grace (Knockouts Championship situation to be addressed on the show)
• X-Division Championship: Trey Miguel (c) vs. Lince Dorado
• Impact World Tag Team Championship: Ace Austin & Chris Bey (c) vs. TMDK (Shane Haste & Bad Dude Tito)
• Impact Digital Media Championship: Joe Hendry (c) vs. Brian Myers
• Busted Open match: Tommy Dreamer vs. Bully Ray
• Deonna Purrazzo vs. Gisele Shaw
• ”Speedball” Mike Bailey vs. Jonathan Gresham
• PCO vs. Kenny King

Sacrifice will stream live at 8 pm ET on IMPACT Plus, YouTube for IMPACT Ultimate Insiders, and Fite TV.