We told you last month RISE Wrestling, the American female independent promotion established by SHIMMER in 2016, found a partner to “Develop Tomorrow’s Women Athletes” in IMPACT Wrestling. A seminar and some tapings are set for May 11 and 12 in Pittsburgh, PA. But Impact Wrestling broke the news today the partnership will also include the creation of original content for IMPACT Wrestling’s Twitch channel and Global Wrestling Network multi-platform digital service.
On May 11, the first “RISE – Lights, Camera, ACTION: The Art of TV!” Seminar will focus on developing women wrestlers in areas specific to performance in a television environment. IMPACT Writer/Producer Jimmy Jacobs, Creative Director Sonjay Dutt, TNA Hall of Famer and Knockouts Producer Gail Kim and Executive Vice-President Scott D’Amore will share with the talents on a wide variety of topics, make them learn from their backgrounds, and evaluate the athletes.
Then, on May 12, RISE will tape some episodes of its new weekly episodic program, “RISE – ASCENT”. The program will debut by the end of May on its new streaming platform. Women selected from the Seminar will perform alongside RISE talents, including Phoenix of RISE Champion Delilah Doom, SHIMMER Champion “The Queen of Suplexes” Nicole Savoy, Jessicka Havok, Tessa Blanchard, Shotzi Blackheart, Britt Baker, Dust, Mercedes Martinez and more.
IMPACT Wrestling Knockout Sienna will serve as a color commentator for RISE – ASCENT. One of the women wrestlers selected from the Seminar and featured on the show will be selected for an opportunity to perform for IMPACT Wrestling at an upcoming set of television tapings.
Past events from RISE can now be seen on GWN, including all 2016 and 2017 shows. IMPACT Wrestling will work with RISE to develop other original content for the platform, as well as its Twitch channel. “From our beginnings, we have said that the future of pro wrestling is in collaboration, not competition,” said RISE founder and Executive Producer Kevin Harvey. “IMPACT Wrestling clearly believes this too. We can’t wait to work in tandem to build a bridge to a very bright future for women’s wrestling.”
“We are delighted to partner with RISE on the development of new women’s talent, reinforcing our commitment to the trailblazing Knockouts division,” said Scott D’Amore, Executive Vice-President of IMPACT Wrestling. “RISE was founded on the principle of talent development, so we will combine our efforts to foster the next generation of women’s professional wrestling stars.”