Spike TV Reportedly Not Bringing Back Impact Wrestling

By Raj Giri

Brian Fritz of The Sporting News reports that Spike TV, which is being rebranded as The Paramount Network in early 2018, is not bringing Impact Wrestling back to the Network despite Impact Wrestling recently securing a U.K. television deal with Spike U.K. This follows a report from Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet that stated that Spike Senior Vice President and Executive Producer Scott Fishman met with Jeff Jarrett before Sunday's Impact Wrestling taping "about various topics, including a U.S. return."

Fritz (@BrianFritz) tweeted this statement from Spike:

Spike statement: Spike TV officials confirm that Scott Fishman was there for personal reasons ? and is not negotiating any deals. That statement from @Spike was issued by David Schwarz, Vice President of Communications

Jason Powell of @prowrestlingnet has reported for months that Fishman has been backstage at various @IMPACTWRESTLING tapings. However, each time he was there visiting friends and not working on any business deals. Fishman lives in the Central Florida area. Of course, @IMPACTWRESTLING tapes their shows at Universal Studios, also in central FL so it's not far from where Fishman lives. Fishman has plenty of friends with @IMPACTWRESTLING considering that the promotion aired on @spike for over nine years.

So, despite making a deal with Spike in the UK, they are not negotiating a return in the US. Impact's current television deal with @PopTV expires late in 2017.

Satin replied to Fritz on Twitter and noted that his report never stated that there were negotiations, and that a return to Spike for Impact Wrestling was discussed. You can check out their exchange below:

Charles Maynard contributed to this article.

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