Labelled “too violent for TV”, Impact Wrestling’s Barbed Wire Massacre 3 won’t be shown with the rest of its weekly broadcast in the United States.
Instead, the promotion will air the much-talked-about-match exclusively on its new Twitch channel.
“It kinda sucks it’s not gonna be on national television but at the same time Twitch is becoming such a big avenue right now I think more people might actually be able to watch it,” Sami Callihan said.
“I’ve been saying it for years in interviews, I think TV in the next five, 10 years is gonna be dead. Everything’s going to be different streaming sites. I don’t even have cable anymore. I watch everything online.”
Barbed Wire Massacre 3 pits Callihan and his OVE stablemates, Dave and Jake Crist, against Homicide and LAX.
The first Barbed Wire Massacre saw Sabu overcome Abyss at TNA Turning Point 2005. The match returned in 2008 when Abyss defeated Judas Mesias at Against All Odds.
As a student of the game, Callihan made sure to seek out footage from the previous Barbed Wire Massacres before putting his own stamp on the match.
“I absolutely went back to watch the previous ones—I saw them live when they happened,” he told NZPWI. “Being an avid wrestling fan growing up I remember watching those matches in high school with all my buddies just like, ‘We wanna do this one day’.
“It’s come to a point where I am in my career, where Dave and Jake are in their careers… we’ve been in matches like this, just not on a televised scale or this big of a promotion. We’ve done this type of stuff all over the world, and now we get a chance to do it in front of the masses finally.”
Impact Wrestling’s Twitch channel, and the return of Barbed Wire Massacre, are just two developments to take place under a new management team. Don Callis and Scott D’Amore are calling the shots for the promotion going into 2018.
That in mind, Callihan urges lapsed fans to give Impact another look.
“I’m asking the wrestling community—you have may have felt jaded by Impact Wrestling in the past, but with the new people in charge, what they’re trying to accomplish now with their new vision, give this company another chance,” Callihan said.
“I mean, what’s it going to hurt you tonight? You can watch a no rope barbed match that people, I guarantee, are going to be calling Match of the Year, for absolute free … between a bunch of guys wanting to go out there and revolutionise, change the business—once again—for the better.
“You can’t go wrong. It’s free. That’s all I’ll keep reiterating, it’s free! You don’t have to do anything except click the link, and I’m begging you all, go click on this link and watch history live.”
Impact Wrestling’s Barbed Wire Massacre 3 airs at 4pm NZDT exclusively on Twitch
