Ethan Carter III regains the TNA World title

Ethan Carter III regained the TNA World title last night during the first Impact Wrestling television show on Pop TV, defeating Matt Hardy in the final match of the TNA World Title Series.

This is the second title reign for Carter, who won the first TNA World title back in June 2015 after defeating Kurt Angle also on Impact. Carter lost his title at Bound For Glory in October to Matt Hardy in a triple threat match that also involved Drew Galloway but then the storyline moved towards Carter filing an injunction against Hardy preventing him from appearing on Impact, forcing Hardy to vacate the title.

The TNA World Title Series was launched afterward but in reality it was all planned out several months in advance as the tournament was taped back in July without any mention. Only the semi finals and the final were live yesterday, TNA’s first new Impact taping since July 2015.

Carter is also a former WWE Superstar having previously competed there as part of the NXT seasons under the name of Derrick Bateman.