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What's the story?
Mike Johnson of PWInsider has confirmed with sources within Impact Wrestling that their next pay per view will take place in late April or early May. The theme for the pay per view is a familiar one for the company, Lockdown.
In case you didn't know...
The main event of the very first Lockdown event saw current WWE Champion AJ Styles take on "The Monster" Abyss where the winner would get to take on the then-NWA World Heavyweight Champion at the subsequent Pay-Per-View, Hard Justice.
AJ Styles would win the match against Abyss and then defeat Jeff Jarrett to become the company's top champion for the third time.
The heart of the matter...
Lockdown has been a staple of Impact Wrestling since 2005 (just a few years after the company was founded). During a Lockdown event, every match on the card is contested in the Six Sides Of Steel, or Impact's fancy way of saying a steel cage for their hexagon ring.
Mike Johnson also mentions that there are plans to add more pay per views to the calendar throughout 2018. In 2017, the first year under Anthem's ownership, there were only two pay per views: Slammiversary in July and Bound For Glory in November.
It's anyone's guess who will headline the pay per view, but the current Impact Global Champion is Eli Drake, the current Impact Grand Tag Team Champions are LAX, Matt Sydal holds the Impact Grand Championship, Lauren Van Ness is the current Impact Knockouts Champion; while Taiji Ishimori is the Impact X Division Champion.
What's next?
After some best of 2017 episodes, Impact will return with a new episode on POP TV next Thursday, January 4th.
Author's take...
I'm a little conflicted when it comes to my opinion on pay per views for Impact Wrestling. Under Anthem, they have regressed in television ratings, and SEVERAL main talents have left the company.
With some of their remaining big talents like EC3, Bobby Lashley, and even their Impact Global Champion Eli Drake, all of which potentially could leave the company next year, I think planning pay per views is the last thing the company should be doing.
