Impact News: Former Impact World Champion Eli Drake signs a contract extension
What's the story?
On Monday afternoon, Impact Wrestling announced via their Twitter account that former Impact World Champion, Eli Drake, has signed an extension to remain with the company.
In case you didn't know...
A little-known fact about Eli Drake is that he was in a tag team with Dean Ambrose in the WWE in 2006. Going by his real name Shaun Ricker and Ambrose's previous wrestling moniker, Jon Moxley, they had the unenviable task of taking on The Big Show in a handicap match.
Drake came back to the WWE in 2013 reporting the Performance Center. He would have a dark match for the NXT television tapings, but was released in August of 2014 due to not getting along with then head trainer Bill DeMott.
The heart of the matter
Take a look at the official announcement from Impact Wrestling on Monday afternoon...
Drake last appeared on Impact Wrestling on June 14th where he lost to Moose in a #1 contender's match to face Austin Aries for the Impact World Championship.
Earlier this year, Drake held the Impact World Tag Team Championships with the legendary Scott Steiner; however, that title reign only lasted less than a month when they lost to DJ Z and Andrew Everett on the May 17th edition of Impact Wrestling.
Drake became the Impact World Champion on August 24, 2017, by winning a 20-man Gauntlet for the Gold Match after the title was vacated by Alberto El Patron due to his suspension for the airport incident with then-girlfriend Paige. Drake held the championship for 146 days before losing it to Austin Aries on February 1, 2018.
What's next?
One of Impact Wrestling's biggest pay per views of the year is a little less than a month away when Slammiversary takes place from Toronto, Ontario, Canada on July 22nd. At the time of this writing, it is unknown what part Drake will play in the event.
Eli Drake is my favorite wrestler on the Impact Wrestling roster. I've heard rumblings that he would return to NXT after this deal was up and I was excited to see him debut there, but he's been booked really well on Impact, so I'm happy for him either way!