Hard To Kill (2021)

The 2021 Hard To Kill was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by Impact Wrestling. It took place on January 16, 2021, at the Skyway Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. It is the second event under the Hard To Kill chronology.

Hard To Kill (2021)
Promotional poster featuring various Impact wrestlers (This poster was made before Alex Shelley was withdrawn from the advertised match and replaced by Moose)
Promotion	Impact Wrestling
Date	January 16, 2021
City	Nashville, Tennessee
Venue	Skyway Studios
Attendance	0 (behind closed doors)[Note 1]
Pay-per-view chronology
← Previous Bound for Glory Next → Rebellion
Hard to Kill chronology
← Previous 2020 Next → 2022

The event crowned the reactivated Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship's first champions since 2013, with Fire N Flava (Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz) defeating Havok and Nevaeh to win the titles. The main event saw the AEW World Champion Kenny Omega and the Impact World Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) defeat the Impact World Champion Rich Swann, Chris Sabin, and Moose in a Six-man tag team match. Other notable matches saw Manik and Deonna Purrazzo retain the X Division and Knockouts Championships respectively, with Manik defeating Chris Bey and Rohit Raju in a Triple Threat match and Purrazzo defeating Taya Valkyrie. The event also saw Matt Cardona make his debut in Impact Wrestling, defeating Ace Austin by disqualification.

Production

Background

On October 14, 2020, at Bound for Glory, it was announced that Hard To Kill would take place on January 16, 2021.^[1]

Storylines

Other on-screen personnel
Commentator	Matt Striker
	D'Lo Brown
Ring announcer	David Penzer
Referee	Brian Hebner
	Brandon Tolle
	Daniel Spencer
Interviewer	Gia Miller
Pre-show panel	Jon Burton
	Madison Rayne
	Scott D'Amore

The event featured ten professional wrestling matches that involves different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.^[2]

At Bound for Glory, Impact wrestler and commentator, Madison Rayne, announced that after months of speculation, Impact will be reviving the Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship, which was last used by the company in 2013, with the new champions being determined by an eight-team tournament which began on the November 17, 2020 episode of Impact! with the final taking place at Hard to Kill.^[1] On the same episode, in the first match of the tournament, Havok and Nevaeh defeated Tenille Dashwood and Alisha to advance to the next round.^[3] On the November 24 episode of Impact!, Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz defeated Team Sea Stars (Ashley Vox and Delmi Exo) to advance to the next round.^[4] On the following episode, Jordynne Grace and Jazz defeated Killer Kelly and Renee Michelle to advance.^[5] On the December 8 episode of Impact!, Taya Valkyrie and Rosemary defeated Deonna Purrazzo and Kimber Lee to advance.^[6] On the following episode, Tasha Steelz and Kiera Hogan defeated Taya and Rosemary to advance to the finals. On January 5, Havok and Nevaeh defeated Jazz and Jordynne Grace to move on to Hard To Kill

At All Elite Wrestling's "Winter Is Coming", a special episode of AEW Dynamite that aired on December 2, Kenny Omega defeated Jon Moxley to win the AEW World Championship for the first time, following assistance from Impact Co-Executive Vice President and color commentator Don Callis, who was working as a special guest commentator during the match. After the match, Omega and Callis fled to a car with Callis stating Omega will appear on the December 8 episode of Impact! to explain what happened. During that episode, Omega and Callis explained the partnership between the two of them during an interview with Impact commentator Josh Mathews, with Callis saying that this partnership had been in the works for almost ten years and Omega dubbing himself as "The Collector".^[7] At Final Resolution, Omega and Callis appeared alongside Omega's former Bullet Club stablemate and one half of the current Impact World Tag Team Champions, Karl Anderson, in which Omega urged Anderson to revert to "the real Machine Gun", in reference to Anderson's days in Bullet Club alongside Omega.^[8] On the next edition of Impact!, after Anderson defeated Chris Sabin in the main event, the Impact World Champion, Rich Swann, confronted Anderson backstage only for Anderson to attack Swann. Anderson was then attacked himself by Sabin and Alex Shelley, which resulted in Anderson's tag team partner and fellow Impact World Tag Team Champion Doc Gallows attacking Sabin and Shelley. Swann then superkicked Gallows, but was then attacked with a hazard sign by Omega. Following the incident, Omega and Callis announced that Omega would team up with Gallows and Anderson to face Swann, Sabin and Shelley in a six-man tag team match at Hard To Kill.^[9][10] However, on January 15, 2020, Impact announced that Shelley had been withdrawn from the match due to "unavoidable circumstances" (later, Shelley revealed he could not work for Impact since he was working also as a physical therapy clinician and the company was more restrictive in its COVID-19 safety mandates)^[11] and would be replaced by Moose, who had been engaged in a feud with Swann and Willie Mack for the prior few weeks.

At Final Resolution, Manik, who is really TJP in disguise, returned to Impact Wrestling and answered Rohit Raju's Impact X Division Championship 'Defeat Rohit' challenge; resulting in Manik winning the title.^[12] TJP had to wear the mask after he lost their previous title match, which stipulated that TJP could never challenge for the title so long as Raju held it.^[13] On the following edition of Impact, Chris Bey agreed to a non-title match with Manik, believing that unmasking him would give Rohit the title back. However, Raju accidentally got Bey disqualified when he struck Manik in full view of the official.^[14] Raju still had a rematch clause, however, which he would invoke at Hard To Kill, but on the December 21 Impact, Bey was able to "finesse" his way into the match, making the championship bout into a three-way match.^[15]

On the December 8 episode of Impact!, Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie eliminated Impact Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo and Kimber Lee in the first round of the Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship tournament, with Rosemary pinning Lee.^[16] At Final Resolution the following Saturday, Purrazzo would successfully defend her championship against Rosemary. On the Impact! after Final Resolution, Rosemary and Valkyrie would be eliminated from the tag title tournament by Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz, after Purrazzo and Lee neutralized Rosemary from the match away from the referee's view. On part one of The Best of Impact in 2020, Valkyrie congratulated Purrazzo on her Impact rookie year, but claimed it was because the two rarely crossed paths in singles competition. She later challenged Purrazzo to a Knockouts Championship match at Hard To Kill, a challenge Purrazzo and Lee accepted the next week, and the match was made official.^[17]

Results

No.	Results	Stipulations	Times[18]
1P	Brian Myers defeated Josh Alexander by pinfall	Singles match[19]	10:55
2	Decay (Rosemary and Crazzy Steve) defeated Tenille Dashwood and Kaleb with a K by pinfall	Intergender tag team match[20]	8:55
3	Violent By Design (Eric Young, Deaner, and Joe Doering) defeated Cousin Jake, Rhino, and Tommy Dreamer by pinfall	Old School Rules six-man tag team match[21]	9:55
4	Fire 'N Flava (Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz) defeated Havok and Nevaeh by pinfall	Tournament final Tag team match for the revived Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship[21]	8:40
5	Matt Cardona defeated Ace Austin (with Madman Fulton) by disqualification	Singles match[22]	2:30
6	Manik (c) defeated Chris Bey and Rohit Raju by pinfall	Triple threat match for the Impact X Division Championship[23]	13:50
7	Deonna Purrazzo (c) defeated Taya Valkyrie by submission	Singles match for the Impact Knockouts Championship[24]	11:40
8	The Karate Man defeated Ethan Page	Singles match[21]	—
9	Eddie Edwards defeated Sami Callihan by pinfall	Barbed Wire Massacre[21]	18:50
10	Kenny Omega and The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) (with Don Callis) defeated Rich Swann, Chris Sabin, and Moose by pinfall	Six-man tag team match[25]	20:30
(c)  – the champion(s) heading into the match P  – the match was broadcast on the pre-show

Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship tournament bracket

Quarterfinals Impact! (November 17 & 24, December 1 & 8, 2020)

Semifinals Impact! (December 15, 2020 & January 5, 2021)

Final Hard To Kill (January 16, 2021)

Alisha and Tenille Dashwood

06:32

Havok and Nevaeh

Pin

Havok and Nevaeh

Pin

Jordynne Grace and Jazz

09:49

Killer Kelly and Renee Michelle

08:54

Jordynne Grace and Jazz

Pin

Havok and Nevaeh

08:40

Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz

Pin

Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz

Pin

Team Sea Stars (Ashley Vox and Delmi Exo)

07:10

Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz

Pin

Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie

07:58

Deonna Purrazzo and Kimber Lee

06:59

Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie

Pin

Notes

1. The event was held without a paying audience due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

References

1. "Knockouts Tag Team titles returns to Impact Wrestling". Impact Wrestling. October 26, 2020.
2. Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks, Inc. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on 2013-11-29. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
3. Powell, Jason (November 17, 2020). "11/17 Impact Wrestling TV Results: Powell's review of Dez and Wentz vs. Trey Miguel and Rich Swann in The Rascalz farewell match, Tenille Dashwood and Alisha Edwards vs. Havok and Nevaeh in a Knockouts Tag Title tournament match, Moose vs. Willie Mack in a No DQ match, Brian Myers vs. Crazzy Steve". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
4. Moore, John (November 24, 2020). "11/24 Impact Wrestling TV Results: Moore's review of Rich Swann vs. Ken Shamrock for the Impact World Championship, Johnny Swinger goes to wrestler court, Ethan Page faces a "Phenomenal Opponent"". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
5. Moore, John (December 1, 2020). "12/1 Impact Wrestling TV Results: Moore's review of The Motor City Machine Guns vs. Team XXXL, Rohit Raju vs. Crazzy Steve for the X Division Title, Killer Kelly and Renee Michelle vs. Jordynne Grace and Jazz in a Knockouts Tag Title tournament match, Willie Mack vs. Chris Bey". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
6. Moore, John (December 8, 2020). "12/8 Impact Wrestling TV Results: Moore's review of AEW Champion Kenny Omega, Don Callis, Tony Khan, and Tony Schiavone appearances, Deonna Purrazzo and Kimber Lee vs. Taya Valkyrie and Rosemary in a Knockouts Tag Title tournament match, Josh Alexander vs. Chris Sabin, Eric Young vs. Cody Deaner". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
7. Quarrinton, Norm (December 8, 2020). "AEW Champion Kenny Omega Appears On IMPACT". Pro Wrestling Sheet. Archived from the original on December 9, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
8. Powell, Jason (December 12, 2020). "12/12 Impact Wrestling Final Resolution results: Rich Swann vs. Chris Bey for the Impact World Championship, Deonna Purrazzo vs. Rosemary for the Knockouts Title, Defeat Rohit Challenge for the X Division Title, Karl Anderson vs. Ethan Page, Rhino vs. Eric Young". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
9. Rose, Bryan (December 15, 2020). "KENNY OMEGA TO TEAM WITH THE GOOD BROTHERS AT IMPACT HARD TO KILL". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
10. "RICH SWANN & THE MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUNS vs. KENNY OMEGA & THE GOOD BROTHERS HEADLINES HARD TO KILL™". Impact Wrestling. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
11. "411Mania".
12. "#ANDNEW: Manik Wins X-Division Title at Final Resolution". Impact Wrestling. December 12, 2020. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
13. "IMPACT! on AXS TV Results – Last Stop Before Turning Point". Impact Wrestling. November 11, 2020. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
14. "IMPACT! on AXS TV Results – December 15, 2020". Impact Wrestling. December 15, 2020. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
15. "Rohit Raju's X-Division Title Rematch Becomes Triple Threat at Hard To Kill". Impact Wrestling. December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
16. "IMPACT! on AXS TV Results – December 8, 2020". Impact Wrestling. December 8, 2020. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
17. "Virtuosa vs Wera Loca at Hard To Kill". Impact Wrestling. December 29, 2020. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
18. Powell, Jason (January 16, 2021). "1/16 Impact Wrestling Hard To Kill results: Kenny Omega, Doc Gallows, and Karl Anderson vs. Rich Swann, Moose, and Chris Sabin, Deonna Purrazzo vs. Taya Valkyrie for the Knockouts Title, Manik vs. Chris Bey vs. Rohit Raju for the X Division Title, Ethan Page vs. Karate Man". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
19. "Alexander & Myers Settle Unfinished Business on LIVE Countdown to Hard To Kill". Impact Wrestling. January 14, 2021. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
20. "Rosemary & Crazzy Steve Reunite at Hard To Kill". Impact Wrestling. January 12, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
21. "Barbed Wire Massacre & More Announced for Hard To Kill". Impact Wrestling. January 5, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
22. "Matt Cardona Competes at Hard To Kill". Impact Wrestling. January 16, 2021. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
23. "Rohit Raju's X-Division Title Rematch Becomes Triple Threat at Hard To Kill". Impact Wrestling. December 22, 2020. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
24. "Virtuosa vs Wera Loca at Hard To Kill". Impact Wrestling. December 29, 2020. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
25. "MOOSE REPLACES ALEX SHELLEY IN TOMORROW'S HARD TO KILL™ PAY-PER-VIEW MAIN EVENT". Impact Wrestling. January 15, 2021. Retrieved January 15, 2021.

External links

• Hard To Kill 2021 Official Website