Preview: Impact Pro Wrestling Presents Lethal Leap Day

This Saturday, the stars of Impact Pro Wrestling return to the Forte Center in Des Moines, Iowa. Not only will it be a night of action-packed professional wrestling, but it could be one that changes the landscape of IPW. Both the IPW men’s and women’s championships are on the line along with the IPW Tag Team Titles. Also, an IPW veteran says goodbye, a feud between brothers ignites and a contender for the IPW Championship will emerge.  Impact Pro Wrestling presents Lethal Leap Day.

Main Event: Instant Ticket Match

Photo Clint Dye/Tag TeamPhotography

Twenty wrestlers will look to climb their way into an IPW Heavyweight Championship match this Saturday night. The third-ever Instant Ticket Match will take place and here’s how it works. Before the show begins a free raffle is held for all the fans in attendance. During intermission, one lucky fan will be chosen at random and given an “Instant Ticket” to hide inside the Forte Center. Once the Instant Ticket match begins, wrestlers will enter at regular intervals. From there, the fans will direct wrestlers to either help them find the ticket or keep them from recovering the ticket.

Once the ticket is found all remaining wrestlers in the contest will empty the locker room. This is where it gets crazy.  The wrestler who places the ticket in a box suspended from a 12-foot-high pole in the corner of the ring wins the match. The ticket can be cashed in at any time for the next year for an IPW Heavyweight Championship match.

Wrestlers already announced for the Instant Ticket Match include The Death Dealer, Jackson King. Bryce Jordyn, Gable Galileo, and IPW Extreme Champion, Malice. The remainder of the field will surely have some IPW veterans and possibly a few surprises.

IPW Heavyweight Championship Match

The Big Picture © vs Justin Decent

Current IPW Heavyweight Champion The Big Picture Photo by Clint Dye/Tag Team Photography
Justin Decent will challenge for the IPW Heavyweight Championship this Saturday. Photo by Clint Dye/Tag Team Photography

Closing in on a year as champion, The Big Picture has been on a dominant run within Impact Pro Wrestling. Dispatching all comers, his most recent defense came against the Death Dealer.

Before that, he capped off 2019 with a title defense in a triple threat match against Sparrow and James Jeffries. A match that caused their relationship to crumble as neither was able to dethrone the champ.

Justin Decent is a crafty veteran who might just be wily enough to catch the champ off guard for an upset victory. Decent, ended his 2019 on a high note defeating Heavy Metal Lore during IPW’s final show of the year. These two have met before but this is their first meeting at the Forte Center.

IPW Women’s Championship Match

Kara Noia vs Miss Frankie Jay

Current IPW Women’s Champion Kara Noia is set to defend her championship this Saturday against Miss Frankie Jay. Photo by Clint Dye/Tag Team Photography

These two ladies know each other very well. They have met at numerous IPW events and each time the intensity is taken to another level.

This Saturday’s IPW Women’s Championship match is a rematch from last November. Photo by Clint Dye/Tag Team Photography

During the November IPW show, Noia successfully defended the gold against Jay in one of the night’s most entertaining matches. Jay, a former IPW Women’s Champion, is looking to reclaim the gold this Saturday. It won’t be easy as Kara Noia, has vowed to remain the standard-bearer for the women of Impact Pro Wrestling.

Matty Star’s Retirement Speech

Lethal Leap Day
Photo by Clint Dye/Tag Team Photography

During the first IPW show of 2020, Matty Star shockingly announced his retirement. After losing to Colt Cabana and his subsequent falling out with long-time manager Captain Midnight, Star told the fans, this was his final match. Star requested an opportunity to address the fans one final time and the officials of IPW granted the request for the 15-year veteran. Loved or hated, the fans of IPW will get to see Matty Star one final time this Saturday night.

IPW Tag Team Championship Match

Dual Shock – Ryan Slade & Jimmy Wylde © vs AJ Smooth & Daniel Mott

Ryan Slade didn’t have his tag team partner, Jimmy Wylde the last time the tag titles were on the line. Photo by Clint Dye/Tag Team Photography

When the IPW Tag Team titles were on the line last November, Ryan Slade had to go it alone against Badger Calhoun and The Shank. Luckily that night he received a helping hand from the Death Dealer to retain the titles. Slade’s partner, Jimmy Wylde, no-showed the event and one must wonder if there is some underlying tension between the tag champs heading into Saturday.

In January AJ Smooth let it be known he was coming for tag team championship gold. Smooth also proclaimed it didn’t matter who his partner was before choosing a random partner out of the audience. That partner was Daniel Mott. It will be interesting to see if Smooth and Mott can end the reign of the current IPW Tag Team Champions after Lethal Leap Day.

Grudge Match

Sparrow vs James Jeffries

Lethal Leap Day
Sparrow after he turned on his brother and partner James Jeffries. Photo by Clint Dye/Tag Team Photography

Formerly known as the Brothers Velocity, Sparrow and Jeffries union crumbled during the IPW Heavyweight Championship triple threat match in November of 2019. Both men wanted to be the one to end the dominant reign of The Big Picture and that competitiveness drove a wedge between them.

A brotherhood crumbled at the IPW show in November of 2019. Photo by Clint Dye/Tag Team Photography

After the match Sparrow attacked his friend and partner, leaving his mark with a vicious elbow drop from the top turnbuckle. Now, these two former brothers will step into the ring as enemies in one of IPW’s most anticipated matches at Lethal Leap Day.

Singles Match

Gable Galileo vs “The Golden Boy” Bryce Jordyn

Lethal Leap Day
Since losing the IPW Extreme Championship, Gable Galileo has vowed to become the next IPW Heavyweight Champion. Photo by Clint Dye/Tag Team Photography

The Last time Gable Galileo was in the Forte Center he was licking his wounds after losing the IPW Extreme Championship to Malice. Since then he declared he is done with the extreme division and now has his sights set on the IPW Heavyweight Championship.

Galileo is pulling double duty Saturday night, first in a singles match, then as an entrant in the Instant Ticket Match. Gable’s opponent Saturday is the high-flying Bryce Jordyn, who is one of the top up-and-coming stars of IPW.

The high-flying Bryce Jordyn is an up and coming star within IPW to keep an eye on. Photo by Clint Dye/Tag Team Photography

A victory over Galileo would go a long way in boosting Jordyn’s career and give him a signature victory over a former champion. Much like Galileo, Jordyn plans to enter the Instant Ticket Match in hopes of earning a future championship match.

The other matches scheduled for Saturday night are Badger Calhoun versus IPW newcomer Ethan Everheart along with “Timeless” Tyler Jones taking on Clay Cooper at Lethal Leap Day.