Hard To Kill (2021) was a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

(PPV)

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of e ...

produced by

Impact Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promot ...

. It took place on January 16, 2021 at the Skyway Studios in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. It is the second event under the

Hard To Kill ''Hard to Kill'' is a 1990 American action thriller film directed by Bruce Malmuth, starring Steven Seagal, Kelly LeBrock, William Sadler and Frederick Coffin. Seagal's second film after '' Above the Law'', it features him as Mason Storm, a d ...

chronology. The event crowned the reactivated

Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship The Impact Knockouts World Tag Team Championship is a women's professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the professional wrestling promotion Impact Wrestling. It is contested for mainly by teams consisting of two female wrestlers in I ...

's first champions since 2013, with Fire N Flava (

Kiera Hogan Kiera Hogan (born September 16, 1994) is an American professional wrestler currently working for All Elite Wrestling (AEW). She is best known for her time in Impact Wrestling, where she is a former two-time Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champion (wi ...

and

Tasha Steelz Latasha Harris (born April 3, 1987) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Impact Wrestling under the ring name Tasha Steelz. She is a former Knockouts World Champion and a former two-time Knockouts Tag Team Champion. She also ...

) defeating Havok and Nevaeh to win the titles. The main event saw the

AEW World Champion The AEW World Championship is a professional wrestling world championship created and promoted by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Unveiled on May 25, 2019, it is the promotion's top championship for male singles competitors, an ...

Kenny Omega Tyson Smith (born October 16, 1983), better known by the ring name Kenny Omega, is a Canadian-born professional wrestler. Omega is an executive vice president of All Elite Wrestling (AEW), in which he also performs. Omega is a former one-time ...

and the

Impact World Tag Team Champions The Impact World Tag Team Championship (formally known as the TNA World Tag Team Championship) is a professional wrestling world tag team championship which is owned by the Impact Wrestling promotion. The current champions are The Motor City Mac ...

The Good Brothers The Good Brothers are a Canadian country, bluegrass and folk music group originating from Richmond Hill, Ontario. The band's core members are Brian Good (guitar), his twin brother Bruce Good (autoharp) and younger brother Larry Good (banjo). B ...

(

Doc Gallows Andrew William Hankinson (born December 22, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, who is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Luke Gallows. Hankinson began his career in 2005 and participated i ...

and

Karl Anderson Chad Allegra (born January 20, 1980), better known by the ring name Karl Anderson, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE where he performs on the Raw brand. He also makes appearances for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), whe ...

) defeat the

Impact World Champion The Impact World Championship is a professional wrestling world championship created and promoted by Impact Wrestling. It is the promotion's principal championship. Like most professional wrestling championships, the title is won via the result ...

Rich Swann Richard Allen Swann (born February 15, 1991) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Impact Wrestling. He is a former Impact World Champion, TNA World Heavyweight Champion, Impact X Division Champion and Impact Digital Media Cha ...

, Chris Sabin, and

Moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...

in a

Six-man tag team match Much like the singles match, tag team professional wrestling matches can and have taken many forms. Just about any singles or melee match type can be adapted to tag teams; for example, hardcore tag team matches are commonplace. Tag team ladder m ...

. Other notable matches saw Manik and

Deonna Purrazzo Deonna Purrazzo (born June 10, 1994) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Impact Wrestling, where she is a former two-time Impact Knockouts World Champion and a former Impact Knockouts World Tag Team Champion. She also appe ...

retain the

X Division The X Division is a high-flying, high-risk, fast-paced style of professional wrestling seen in Impact Wrestling (formerly Total Nonstop Action Wrestling) and since then in various NWA member promotions. Its tagline is that "It's not about weight ...

and Knockouts Championships respectively, with Manik defeating

Chris Bey Chris Bey (born February 13, 1996) is an American professional wrestler currently signed with Impact Wrestling, where he is a former one-time X Division Champion. He is also known for his work on the independent scene. He has also made appearanc ...

and

Rohit Raju Rohit Raju is an American professional wrestler best known for his time with Impact Wrestling, where he is a former one-time Impact X Division Champion. Before working for Impact Wrestling, he worked over 10 years on the independent circuit in ...

in a

Triple Threat match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

and Purrazzo defeating

Taya Valkyrie Kira Renée Magnin-Forster (born October 22, 1983) is a Canadian professional wrestler, fitness competitor, and model better known by the ring name Taya Valkyrie. She is currently appearing for Impact Wrestling, where she is a current two-tim ...

. The event also saw

Matt Cardona Matthew Brett Cardona (born May 14, 1985) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Impact Wrestling and the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Zack Ryd ...

make his debut in Impact Wrestling, defeating

Ace Austin Austin James Highley (born February 28, 1997), better known by the ring name Ace Austin, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to Impact Wrestling, where he is a former three-time X Division Champion. He also makes appearan ...

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.

Storylines

The event featured ten

professional wrestling matches Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

that involves different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed

villains A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...

heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. At Bound for Glory, Impact wrestler and commentator,

Madison Rayne Ashley Nichole Lomberger (née Simmons; born February 5, 1986) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling under the ring name Madison Rayne, where she is also the coach of the women's division. She is best known ...

, announced that after months of speculation, Impact will be reviving the

, 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. On the same episode, in the first match of the tournament, Havok and Nevaeh defeated

Tenille Dashwood Tenille Averil Dashwood (born 1 March 1989) is an Australian professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Emma. Dashwood started training for professional wrestling in Australia ...

and Alisha to advance to the next round. On the November 24 episode of ''Impact!'',

and

defeated Team Sea Stars (Ashley Vox and Delmi Exo) to advance to the next round. On the following episode,

Jordynne Grace Patricia Forrest Parker (born March 5, 1996) is an American professional wrestler and powerlifter currently signed to Impact Wrestling, where she performs under the ring name Jordynne Grace. She is currently the Impact Knockouts World Champio ...

and

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

defeated

Killer Kelly Raquel Lourenço-Winkler (born 21 March 1992) is a Portuguese professional wrestler best known under the ring name Killer Kelly, currently signed to Impact Wrestling. She is best known for her tenure with WWE where she competed on the NXT UK bra ...

and Renee Michelle to advance. On the December 8 episode of ''Impact!'',

and

Rosemary ''Salvia rosmarinus'' (), commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers, native plant, native to the Mediterranean Region, Mediterranean region. Until 2017, it was kn ...

defeated

and

Kimber Lee Kimberly Ann Frankele (born June 27, 1990), better known by her ring name Kimber Lee, is an American professional wrestler who is currently a free agent. She is known for her work on both the American and international independent circuits, mos ...

to advance. 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 All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. It is considered the second largest wrestling promotion in the United States behind WWE. AEW is owned by Shahid Khan and his son Tony, w ...

's "

Winter Is Coming "Winter Is Coming" is the series premiere of the HBO medieval fantasy television series ''Game of Thrones''. The first episode of the first season, it was written by series creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, in an adaptation of the first ...

", a special episode of ''

AEW Dynamite AEW or aew may refer to: * Airborne early warning, airborne radar system for detecting aircraft * Aerosvit Airlines, an airline based in Kyiv, Ukraine (ICAO airline designator: AEW) * AEW Capital Management, a property investment management company ...

'' that aired on December 2,

defeated

Jon Moxley Jonathan David Good (born December 7, 1985) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Jon Moxley. He also makes appearances for New Japan Pro-Wr ...

to win the

AEW World Championship The AEW World Championship is a professional wrestling world championship created and promoted by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Unveiled on May 25, 2019, it is the promotion's top championship for male singles competitors, a ...

for the first time, following assistance from Impact Co-Executive Vice President and color commentator

Don Callis Donald Callis (born October 13, 1963) is a Canadian professional wrestling manager, color commentator, and former professional wrestler and business executive. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he works as the on-screen manager of K ...

, 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 Joshua Matthew Lomberger (born November 25, 1980), better known by the ring name Josh Mathews, is an American professional wrestling Sports commentator, play by play commentator and former professional wrestler, currently signed to Impact Wrestlin ...

, with Callis saying that this partnership had been in the works for almost ten years and Omega dubbing himself as "The Collector". At

Final Resolution Final Resolution is a professional wrestling Impact Plus event held by Impact Wrestling in December. Initially introduced as a pay-per-view by TNA in 2005, the event originally took place in January until 2008, when TNA moved the event to Decem ...

, Omega and Callis appeared alongside Omega's former

Bullet Club (stylised as BULLET CLUB), sometimes shortened to BC, is a professional wrestling stable primarily appearing in the Japanese promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). In the United States, the group currently appears on NJPW events run by the c ...

stablemate and one half of the current

, in which Omega urged Anderson to revert to "the real Machine Gun", in reference to Anderson's days in Bullet Club alongside Omega. On the next edition of ''Impact!'', after Anderson defeated Chris Sabin in the main event, the

, confronted Anderson backstage only for Anderson to attack Swann. Anderson was then attacked himself by Sabin and

Alex Shelley Patrick Kenneth Martin (born May 23, 1983) is an American professional wrestler and physical therapy clinician, better known by the ring name, Alex Shelley, makes appearances with Impact Wrestling (formerly known as Total Nonstop Action Wrestl ...

, which resulted in Anderson's tag team partner and fellow Impact World Tag Team Champion

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 Much like the singles match, tag team professional wrestling matches can and have taken many forms. Just about any singles or melee match type can be adapted to tag teams; for example, hardcore tag team matches are commonplace. Tag team ladder m ...

at Hard To Kill. 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) and would be replaced by

, who had been engaged in a feud with Swann and

Willie Mack Willie McClinton Jr. (born January 5, 1987) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Willie Mack, currently appearing in Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide. He is best known for his tenure with Impact Wrestling, where he is a ...

for the prior few weeks. At Final Resolution, Manik, who is really TJP in disguise, returned to

and answered

Impact X Division Championship The Impact X Division Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by Impact Wrestling. It debuted on June 19, 2002, at the taping of then-TNA's second weekly pay-per-view (PPV) event. The current champion is Trey M ...

'Defeat Rohit' challenge; resulting in Manik winning the title. 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. On the following edition of ''Impact'',

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. 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 Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

. On the December 8 episode of ''Impact!'', Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie eliminated

Impact Knockouts Champion The Impact Knockouts World Championship is a women's professional wrestling world championship owned by Impact Wrestling. It is primarily contested for in Impact's women's division, known as the Impact Knockouts. The championship debuted on Octo ...

Deonna Purrazzo and Kimber Lee in the first round of the Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship tournament, with Rosemary pinning Lee. At

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.

Results

Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship tournament bracket

Notes

References

External links

* {{TNAPPV, Hard To Kill Impact Wrestling Hard To Kill January 2021 events in the United States 2021 Impact Wrestling pay-per-view events Events in Nashville, Tennessee