Josh Mathews on Impact Wrestling: 'The future to me looks bright'

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For just the second time in their history, Impact Wrestling is heading north of the border to host a pay-per-view. The company will broadcast “Bound for Glory” on Sunday, Nov. 5 from the Aberdeen Pavilion in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

That will be followed by five days of “Impact” tapings for upcoming episodes of the weekly television show which airs Thursday night from 8 to 10 p.m. ET on Pop! TV in the United States and Fight Network in Canada.

MORE: Wrestling legend Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan dies at 73

Count Impact color commentator Josh Mathews as one who welcomes the change.

“It's just an opportunity to get the brand and the shows out there,” said Mathews. “Being in Orlando, being in the Impact Zone is great, but when we're there so much and we film so much content there, it feels nice to get out. When we were in India (earlier this year), that felt amazing. When we did 'Bound for Glory' in Charlotte a couple years ago, that was pretty cool.

“(Orlando) is nice but it also breeds contempt. I just feel like it's nice to get out of the Impact Zone for a little while.”

The Impact Zone at Orlando’s Universal Studios is where the company has taped nearly all of its television for the past 13 years. As for a return, Mathews isn’t 100-percent sure.

“I think scaled back would be the best way to put it,” said Mathews. “I think it's always there; it's always going to be home. I think the longer you stay away from something, the more it means when you come back.”

Mathews has been ringside calling the action for Impact Wrestling for the past three years, following a brief time as a wrestler and a 12-year broadcasting career with WWE. The past year has seen fans turn on him, hitting him with vitriol to the point that he was arguably the most hated man in Impact Wrestling.

The company recognized it and turned into a storyline that saw him return to the ring at the August “Slammiversary” event. The match, where he teamed with Scott Steiner against Jeremy Borash and Abyss, concluded with him being slammed into thumbtacks and then pinned by his current broadcast partner Borash.

“I think a lot of it has to do with where I came from, the company that I worked for, for as long as I did and then came here,” explained Mathews. “I'm not one of the guys who goes to the Ale House after the show and hangs out with the fans. I don't do the post-show meet and greets. I rarely sign an autograph. I know it's a very family friendly environment down there but I'm there to work.”

Mathews admits that some of that hatred comes from a negative comment he made about WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross earlier this year on Twitter which he has since apologized for and regrets. He also earned contempt from some fans when he proclaimed that he is the best announcer in the world today. Nothing is going to change that as he wants to be the best at everything he does.

“At the end of the day, I do consider myself the greatest wrestling announcer that's doing what we do today and that's just not something that's going to change,” said Mathews. “There's nobody in 2017 going into 2018 that's doing this at the level that I'm doing it at.”

After several years as the play-by-play announcer for Impact Wrestling, Mathews recently shifted over to the color commentator with Borash now handling his former role.

“It's been, I don't want to say difficult but it's certainly been a transition that I've had to work at probably harder than I've had to work at anything in my career in a while now on-air because you're giving up the reigns to the show and becoming that sort of hybrid play-by-play, color commentator,” explained Mathews.

“I think I can shed some light on certain things that are happening in the ring from an athletic standpoint. I think my tenure in the business alone helps with the credibility part.”

The wrestling world is mourning the loss of Bobby “The Brain” Heenan who had a profound effect on the business. His incredible wit and charisma were on display both as a manager and an announcer which influenced Mathews at a young age.

“Just watching him as a kid and I think some of the things that he did that took you back a little bit when he would say something,” remembered Mathews. “I don't know if he was supposed to say that or I don't know if he really feels that way about a guy. He felt very real and, if anything, I always want to feel very real.”

MORE: The wrestling world reacts to the death of 'The Brain'

Throughout its 14-year existence, Impact Wrestling has been fighting uphill with various reports about business troubles and its possible demise. Those came to a front last year under previous ownership Dixie Carter who sold the company at the start of 2017 to Toronto-based Anthem Sports & Entertainment.

“If they weren't here right now, I don't know if we'd be here right now,” admits Mathews. “That's the truth.”

Despite the new ownership, that has stopped new reports that the company is in financial despair. Mathews, who also works in a social media role with Impact Wrestling, says the future of the company looks bright from what he sees.

“It's really hard and difficult because we're working so hard and diligently on three over-the-top networks,” explained Mathews. “ran Fighting in Germany which launched a couple of weeks ago, Pluto TV which is going to launch imminently and then GWN (Global Wrestling Network) which is going to be the most robust over-the-top network that's our own that everyone across the board has a hand in and is working hard on.

“Then you wake up in the morning and read an article from Sports Illustrated saying that Anthem wants out and they're hemorrhaging funds and they don't want to have anything to do with this anymore. To me, that's the furthest thing from the truth. They're invested. We're doing ‘Bound for Glory’ on Nov. 5 and all this momentum is going forward. Then one story and one thing and one negative piece of journalism comes out and it kind of puts you eight steps back and it's really difficult.”

Mathews admits that he didn’t feel comfortable publicly talking about the future the company because he was unsure, but with Anthem taking over, his mindset on that has changed.

“I'm more confident than ever that everything is going to work out,” said Mathews. “Instead of circling in the water, as long as we keep moving forward five, ten yards at a time forward, then I think we're going to be OK and I think 'Bound for Glory' in Canada is a great step in that direction.

“The future to me looks bright unless (Anthem) decide to close the doors, which I don't foresee happening.”

Another issue that the company has dealt with for years was something as simple as its brand name, having gone by both TNA Wrestling and Impact Wrestling which was confusing in the marketplace. A few months ago, the company rebranded to Global Force Wrestling, a name owned by Impact’s original Jeff Jarrett who returned to the fold this year.

It was announced earlier this month that Jarrett was taking an “indefinite leave of absence” to “focus on personal matters.” It’s uncertain if and when he will return but it looks like he has taken back the GFW name, which he still owns the trademarks for, with all press materials and talking points again referring to the company as Impact Wrestling.

“As it relates to 'Bound for Glory' and the TV's that we'll be taping in Ottawa, we're bringing Impact,” said Mathews. “The brand Impact will be coming to Ottawa for 'Bound for Glory' and the brand Impact will be taping its television shows in Canada. What happens after that, I don't know.”

The “TNA Wrestling” name had been used since 2004 and the name did not sit well with everyone. While it was stood for “Total Nonstop Action,” it was obviously a play off raunchy terminology in an effort to be edgy. That came to an end once Anthem took over with Impact Wrestling becoming the one-and-only brand name.

“I thought we did a great job of getting rid of TNA,” said Mathews. “Anyone that's listened to me closely call commentary, I never said TNA from the day I started here. It's not something that as a 36-year-old man, I don't want to go into a networking party and have somebody say where do you work and I tell them TNA. It's stupid and it's crass.”

It’s no coincidence that Anthem chose Canada as the host for “Bound for Glory” with its headquarters based in Toronto. That has led to speculation of Impact moving its offices out of Nashville to join up with Anthem’s.

“It would make sense but I don't necessarily know if that's their plan,” said Mathews. “I know that I went to my office (Monday) in Nashville. I believe I saw somewhere that somebody had said that all the offices right now are in Toronto and that's just not true.”

Mathews is not planning to move and admits he isn’t sure what he would do if Anthem decided to make the move.

“I'd have to wait and see if that was a real conversation to be had,” said Mathews. “I don't dislike Canada. I'm looking forward to going there for ‘Bound for Glory’ on Nov. 5.”

In the meantime, it’s business as usual for the company which continues to grow its imprint on social media and (hopefully) in digital media. Mathews believes the company finally has some stability it can build off and allow fans to enjoy the characters and storylines during the weekly "Impact" show.

“If you just watch the show for two hours and you stay away from all the (online) things, there's no drama,” said Mathews. “It's just one of those deals where you're entertained for two hours. You're not listening to the naysayers. You're not listening to the haters and you can enjoy a good, unpredictable two-hour wrestling show.”

Brian Fritz can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BrianFritz and listen to his Between The Ropes podcast on Blog Talk Radio.

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