Impact Wrestling
Slammiversary (2023) -- Results & Afterthoughts

Dark Match: Tag Team Match

Heath and Bhupinder Gujjar defeated The Good Hands (John Skyler and Jason Hotch) by pinfall

This match didn't air as part of Countdown to Slammiversary, but instead was offered as of this posting (July 20) on IMPACT Wrestling's YouTube channel as a preview to their upcoming Multiverse United event. 

Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to check this out, so I can't offer my two cents about it at this time. 

Six-Person Tag Team Match

Jody Threat and The Death Dollz (Courtney Rush and Jessicka) defeated The SHAWntourage (Gisele Shaw, Savannah Evans, and Jai Vidal) by pinfall

Converting Rosemary to her "human" persona as Courtney Rush was definitely the shot in the arm in terms of excitement and adrenaline that the Death Dollz needed. I felt that they were wearing thin in terms of material in terms of where to take her and Jessicka's pairing now that Taya's departed from the company (again) and Jessicka needed someone else to play off of with her "normal" persona. Besides, I think The Coven has the whole supernatural/spooky gimmick on lock right now in terms of the Knockouts and they could always revert the Death Dollz' gimmicks back as needed down the road. I would definitely run with this as long as possible. 

Jody Threat definitely fits in well with them. I haven't seen too much of her in-ring work, but she seems pretty solid and another capable powerhouse that does some stuff that not many of the other Knockouts do in terms of power moves so it definitely makes her stand out. Sometimes I worry about Savannah Evans' evolution of her character and wonder if she's being complacent being just the "heavy" or rather bodyguard type for heels (first for Tasha Steelz and now Giselle) but she's a great fit for Giselle's faction that she's made for herself. Jai Vidal fits right in with the Knockouts (not even a knock on him in the least) as he's willing to get tossed around like a rag doll by the stronger women (Jessicka and Jody) while taking bullets for Giselle, such as eating the pin that cost the SHAWntourage the win here. Having one of those grunts in a faction where he can get beat and not take away from the rest of the faction is always a good thing. 

Singles Match for the Impact Digital Media Championship

Kenny King (with Sheldon Jean) defeated Joe Hendry (c) by pinfall

While I did get a few chuckles in keeping up with this feud via YouTube clips and recaps over the past few weeks, I thought the match itself didn't lend itself too many favors. It wasn't a bad match but it didn't feel like one on PPV either. This could have aired on any given week of IMPACT's weekly television broadcasts on AXS TV and no one would have batted an eye. While I was entertained with Joe Hendry as a whole in and out of the ring, I thought his Digital Media Championship reign had run its course and felt that maybe he should be moving a bit higher up on the ladder in terms of competition in IMPACT. No need for him to be pigeonholed into one corner when he clearly has the talents to be a bigger star here. Kenny King seems to be content right where he is in the pecking order and that's just fine, especially at this point of his career. His pairing with Sheldon Jean comes across as a poor man version of Carmello Hayes and Trick Williams' pairing over on NXT at first glance though. I haven't seen it much outside of this PPV, so I can't offer any other opinion on it other than what I have seen in this first impression.

Ultimate X Match to determine the #1 contender to the Impact X Division Championship

Kushida defeated Alan Angels, Jake Something, Jonathan Gresham, Kevin Knight and Mike Bailey

IMPACT always knows how to amp up their crowds with a kick-ass opener to their PPVs with the X-Division and this match was no different. It was great showing of talent here, but I can't say that I was over the moon about the unexpected return of Jake Something. Jake Something has to be in the conversation of worst wrestler names in 2023 along with Big Bill. My God. That being said, Jake had a strong showing in this match showcasing his power advantage over the other individuals in this match. 

I had to admit that I wasn't surprised to see Kushida go over here when he wasn't participating as much as everyone else to the variety of numerous high spots going on throughout this match. Alan Angels was more impressive here than his ENTIRE AEW run in that company. Gresham had some good spots here too, but I have to wonder how long he's still pegged to stick around with IMPACT when his wife (Jordynne Grace) finished up with the company during their last set of tapings at the previous PPV. I'm sure he's not signed to a long-term contract as he expressed desires to give AEW another chance since there's not any ill will between himself and Tony Khan. 

Mike Bailey is going to put on his best effort and working man shoes no matter where he's at, so no surprise there that he was doing great things in this match. I appreciated commentary highlighting the fact that Bailey put his name on the map by winning this match last year and that's exactly where I felt his star began to rise in IMPACT last year. He's been having banger after banger ever since in multiple promotions. Kevin Knight was the only competitor in this match that I wasn't familiar with, but from what I've seen from him here, I'd love to see him stick around more with IMPACT to see what else he has to offer. 

All in all, this was a solid opener and set the tone for the night in terms of great in-ring action. 

Tag Team Match for the Impact Knockouts World Tag Team Championship

Killer Kelly and Masha Slamovich defeated The Coven (Taylor Wilde and KiLynn King) (c) by pinfall

From the moment that Killer Kelly and Masha Slamovich walked out with new, matching ring gear and a custom entrance video for their team, now dubbed "MK Ultra", I knew that it was a furgone conclusion that they were dethroning The Coven tonight. To be fair though, Wilde and King didn't make it easy, but it was still pretty obvious nonetheless. I don't want to take anything away from Killer Kelly and especially not from Masha from the successes she has been having on the indies over the past few months in terms of collecting belts, but let's not sell The Coven short here. IMPACT took in KiLynn King and paired off with Taylor Wilde, who has made the most of this current "witch" gimmick that she lives in and outside of wrestling, and ran with it. I thought they've done the whole "The Craft" style dark female heel tag team/stable much better than whatever Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre over in WWE were attempting to do on their end. No offense to Isla Dawn as I love her individual "witchy" gimmick for herself but her and Fyre together felt a little "forced" at times, even though they had that The Craft's lesbian vibes down to the tee more than The Coven did in any capacity. Not to mention, I thought The Coven operated more as a cohesive unit in and out of the ring. It never came across to me that they were two singles wrestlers shoehorned together into a tag team. 

That's my long-term concern for MK Ultra despite being happy to see them obtain IMPACT gold. How long will this pairing last before they split up or turn against each other to go for the Knockouts Championship? It seems like they are intentionally being kept out of the conversation for that singles title while focusing on this tag team division, which isn't a step down in the least as at least IMPACT treats their women's tag team division as more than an afterthought. 

Tag Team Match

Darren McCarty served as the special guest enforcer.

Team Canada (Scott D'Amore and Eric Young) defeated Bully Ray and Deaner by pinfall

I thought it was a tad disrespectful that all of the wrestling publications and dirtsheets waited until the day of the PPV to start releasing articles about Eric Young's quiet departure from WWE back in April, essentially ruining the surprise of his return to the company in this match. He requested and was granted his release once Vince McMahon returned to the company earlier this year - something I don't blame him in the least after how he's been booked there previously. I get that not a lot of people don't care for IMPACT but tactics like this by the dirtsheets are disgusting to see play out as they want to piss in IMPACT's parade by ruining the surprise when they are doing solid shows like this. Anyone who was following this storyline/feud should have known that Eric Young was more likely going to be the mystery partner when Deaner was made to be Bully Ray's replacement partner after Steve Maclin was injured. 

I honestly had to do a double take there for a second when Eric Young walked out as he looks like a dead ringer for Kurt Angle from his time period in the company. 

From bell to bell, this match was essentially a Team Canada mini-reunion. I had to laugh seeing Scott D'Amore work the match as I honestly forgot that he's had some training in the past. He wasn't bad here at all. A1, who was sitting on the front row, even got involved towards the end. Dude is still in amazing shape after all of these years too. Too bad that they couldn't get Robert Roode and Petey Williams to show up for this too, but even if WWE would've signed off on this, Roode's still recovering from some unspecified back injury and I have no idea what Petey Williams is up to currently. 

Singles Match for the Impact X Division Championship

Lio Rush defeated Chris Sabin (c) by pinfall

I didn't care for the fact that they essentially turned this match into a huge injury angle to give Sabin an out for losing to Lio Rush in a quick and promptly manner. If his injury is legit, then I hope for Sabin's speedy recovery while simultaneously hoping that we get to see these two get to have a proper one-on-one match that the fans deserve to see in a longer format. 

At this point in the show, I was thinking, "Man, Alex Shelley and Deonna have to be getting nervous as hell knowing that roughly every title has changed hands so far tonight..."

Four-way Tag Team Match for the Impact World Tag Team Championship

Subculture (Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster) (with Dani Luna) defeated ABC (Ace Austin and Chris Bey) (c), Brian Myers and Moose and Rich Swann and Sami Callihan by pinfall

This was an exciting tag team match with a few creative spots thrown throughout from bell to bell, but with the four corners format, it made it a little hard to keep track of who was the legal teams the longer this match went on. I don't fault the individuals in this match for that, but that's a flaw in the match stipulation that's clearly not made for this many bodies inhibiting a single wrestling ring. 

I was a little confused by The Rascalz coming out to lay out Austin and Bey towards the end. If their goals were to get the IMPACT World Tag Titles, wouldn't it have made more sense to help them retain the titles in this four-way match? Then again, I guess the plan is to ease the Rascalz slowly back into the mix before scrapping them with the gold again, especially after Trey Miguel just came off of a lengthy singles run as X-Division Champion. Subculture winning was a complete surprise, but I'm willing to give them a chance, especially being the freshest pair of new faces to be a part of this match. Myers and Moose don't feel like they will be a team for long-term and neither do Swann and Callihan.

Singles Match

Eddie Edwards (with Alisha Edwards) defeated Frankie Kazarian (with Traci Brooks) by pinfall

For me personally, this was the lowest point of the show as I honestly didn't give a flying fuck about this match since anything and everything that Eddie Edwards is a part of does absolutely nothing for me. I find him to be the most overexposed person in this company and I think that he would do himself and his gimmick some good if he just stays off television for a while. I get that he's a company man and flagbearer for IMPACT, but I'm just beyond tired of seeing him. On the flip side though, I was happy to see Traci Brooks getting to be in her husband's corner, but she didn't play a pivotal factor in this match. I get it though. They wanted the Canada native and original Knockout to be able to represent here tonight in some capacity. I thought it was odd that Gail Kim didn't show up onscreen, but I guess she doesn't want to make an appearance for anything unless it could be special. I don't blame her either as she's already a IMPACT Hall of Famer and retired for all sense and purposes for the most part outside of her duties behind the scenes for the company. 

My biggest knock on this match is that it felt like it dragged on for an eternity without end. This match did not need to drag on as long as it did, especially for the wrong man to go over. Kazarian's return to IMPACT has gone over like a fart in church and a win over one of the established veterans would have done him some good to elevate his own stock value after being devalued for so long in AEW. I don't see what the endgame is here from this. It's not like Edwards needs any more elevating to move up the card. He jumps around wherever he sees fit anyway.

Singles Match for the Impact Knockouts World Championship

Trinity defeated Deonna Purrazzo (c) by submission

In terms of the Knockouts/ladies, this was the most anticipated match of the evening and rightfully so. IMPACT did a great job of building this title match up over the last several weeks with things finally boiling over to a head Thursday night on weekly episode of IMPACT on AXS TV. For the most part, I thought this was solid match, despite there being a few rough edges (read: botches) at various points, but it didn't take away from this being a good match to watch. Trinity definitely showed her flexibility here and ability to adapt in foreign territory as Deonna's definitely not an opponent to be taken lightly. Not to mention that she's not one that Trinity has faced extensively in her WWE career on a regular basis. I could tell that she's still working off the ring rust at various points of this match, but she's still every bit of the highly capable worker that I saw her as in her WWE career where numerous people underappreciated her in-ring talents. I thought she was able to shine (in more ways than one) with a generational talent like Deonna on multiple fronts. Deonna isn't to be sold short here either as she earns every bit of that Virtuosa moniker every time that she steps between those ropes. It amazes me that her name isn't in the conversation when people talk about the greatest women's wrestlers of this modern generation (at least stateside) when she should be at least in the conversation among the top 10-20 in the least. 

Trinity would win this contest by forcing Deonna to submit, a feat that shouldn't be taken lightly as not many other Knockouts can say that they were able to put that feather in their caps when facing against Deonna. It's usually the other way around when Deonna is in a high profile match like this. I wouldn't be surprised to see Deonna take some time off to be home with Maclin after this loss but someone has to be the breadwinner while he's injured. I'm anxious to see who is going to be Trinity's first challenger going forward too.

Singles Match for the Impact World Championship

Alex Shelley (c) defeated Nick Aldis by pinfall

Going into this match, I jokingly tweeted out that Shelley was probably shitting SEVERAL bricks at this point seeing that all of his peers lost their titles tonight. The writing was on the wall with Nick Aldis being pretty much a write-in for being the new World Champion. I can't speak for anyone else but I was very convinced that Shelley was going to lose here, much like every other champion that walked into this PPV with championship gold. Boy, was I wrong. 

Here me out though. I was thinkin that Nick Aldis was going to stick around in IMPACT for a while and be the flagbearer with something to prove given the fact that neither AEW nor WWE have extended the olive branch concerning wanting to bring him following his departure from NWA. I thought he was the complete package in terms of putting a lot of eyeballs on the revival of the NWA's product in its current iteration when he was presented as the "National Treasure" while he held that promotion's World Championship. Him doing the same for IMPACT would have redeemed his poor handling/booking from his first run in this company and may have convinced the skeptics to give IMPACT another chance under it's current regime. 

Nothing against Alex Shelley in the least, but I know I sure as hell didn't have him pegged to dethrone Steve Maclin so soon in their last encounter. That was the surprise that left my jaw on the floor a month or so ago. I definitely didn't have Alex Shelley as IMPACT World Champion on my 2023 wrestling bingo card - along with a lot of things as of late. That being said, this was one hell of an emotional rollercoaster of a match in terms of wondering who was going to come out on top. That's something that should be applauded for both Aldis and Shelley for keeping fans engaged with this match from start to finish. Sucks to hear that Aldis is pretty much wrapping up his short-term commitment to the company after this PPV too. I wanted him to stick around a bit longer, but that's one hell of an endorsement and impressive note on Shelley's resume to say that he's defended his title against World title against a former NWA World Champion on a night where every other title in the company has changed hands.