After plenty of speculation, Eric Young made his return to Impact Wrestling at Saturday’s Slammiversary.
Rich Swann was announced as the mystery fourth entrant for the vacant World title fatal four way, but Young’s music hit afterward and he said the match was now a five way instead. He was eliminated by Swann during the match, leading to an attack afterward that injured Swann and made him prone to a subsequent elimination by Ace Austin.
The 40-year-old Young spent 12 years with Impact/TNA from 2004 through 2016, winning every title the company had.
He was released by WWE as part of their April financial cuts after five years in the system. He spent three years in NXT as the leader of the SAnitY stable, winning the tag titles, before they were called up to SmackDown in April 2018.
Toward the end of his run and after being split off from the group following a move to Raw, he was relegated to Main Event matches with the occasional Raw appearance thrown in.
One of Impact Wrestling’s tentpole events of the year saw three new champions crowned including a new World champion in the evening’s main event.
At Saturday’s Slammiversary, Eddie Edwards pinned Ace Austin in a fatal five way after two Boston Knee Party strikes and the Die Hard Flowsion to begin his second World title reign.
The match was made a five way when the returning Eric Young came out after Rich Swann was announced as the mystery fourth entrant. Young eliminated Trey Miguel while Swann eliminated Young, leading to an attack afterward by Young. Austin eliminated an injured Swann shortly thereafter.
In other title changes:
Deonna Purrazzo submitted Jordynne Grace clean to become the new Knockouts champion, ending the champion’s 182 day reign. Grace was looking for a second Grace Driver, but Purrazzo blocked and locked on a double armbar submission for the win. Purrazzo will defend against Kylie Rae at some point as she won a title shot in a gauntlet match earlier in the night.
Chris Bey defeated Willie Mack for the X Division title after he went to Mack’s eyes during a spot with a referee which led to him hitting the Final Finesse for the win. This is Bey’s first title reign while Mack’s first reign with the belt ended after 91 days.
The North continued their record tag team title reign with a win over Ken Shamrock and Sami Callihan and will face the Motor City Machine Guns Tuesday, while Moose retained his TNA title with a victory over Tommy Dreamer in an old school rules match.
After appearing on Raw only a couple of weeks ago, Heath Slater made his debut for Impact Wrestling tonight at Slammiversary.
In between matches, Heath came out and started to cut a promo. The announcers only identified him as “Heath”. Heath said he was going to answer the Rascalz open challenge, but arrived late. He instead said that he wanted in on the World title main event, where a mystery challenger is set to take part in the match.
Rohit Raju interrupted Heath, saying that he wasn’t going to allow Heath to get the title shot. He attacked, but Heath soon cut him off and took out Raju with a neckbreaker.
Later backstage, Heath reunited with his former tag team partner in WWE, Rhino. The reunion was soon broken up by Scott D’Amore, who asked Heath to leave as it was a closed set and he was not a part of the Impact roster.
Heath, who was released from his WWE contract in April, made a surprise appearance on the July 6 edition of Raw. He called out and confronted WWE Champion Drew McIntyre over not contacting him after he was released. He challenged McIntyre to an impromptu match, but was pinned in seconds following a claymore kick.
Dolph Ziggler, who brought Heath back in the storyline, attacked Heath after the match, but McIntyre made the save. The two resolved their differences and hugged to close out the segment.
For the first time since January’s Hard to Kill, Impact Wrestling returns to pay-per-view Saturday with Slammiversary, one of its biggest events of the year, live from Nashville, Tennessee.
A lot has changed since that January event: a pandemic, canceled shows, firings due to the #SpeakingOut movement, and a need to crown a new World Champion as the company parted ways with Tessa Blanchard in late-June. Blanchard defeated Sami Callihan for the belt in January, but neither of them will be involved in tonight’s main event.
That main event will feature some intrigue as Trey Miguel, Ace Austin, Eddie Edwards, and a mystery fourth entrant will compete in a fatal four-way for the title. Lots of names have been rumored for that fourth spot, teased by the company itself in preview videos.
Meanwhile, two wrestlers recently released by WWE in Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson officially announced they have signed with Impact and will debut on tonight’s show.
In other matches: Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace will defend against Deonna Purrazzo, X-Division Champion Willie Mack will defend against Chris Bey, The North will defend their tag titles against Callihan and Ken Shamrock, self-proclaimed TNA Champion Moose will defend against Tommy Dreamer, there will be a number one contender’s Knockouts gauntlet match, and The Rascalz have issued an open challenge.
Our coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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Show opened with an extended version of the tease commercial we’ve seen for months now, but now it ran down the card throughout the news cast. Two kids talked about being scared.
Josh Matthews and Don Callis on commentary, they announced that The Good Brothers have signed with Impact.
The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) defeated The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz)
The MCMG have made their return to accept The Rascalz’ challenge.
Wentz and Shelley started the match, they went straight for the collar and elbow, a couple of reversals and coutners for wrist control. Xavier and Sabin tagged in for another exchange of reversals and coutners, transitioned into a Sabin armdrag and clothesline for some momentum, but afterwards, Xavier would send Sabin outside with a rana, leaving Shelley aloneffor some double team moves. Sabin came back only to take a kick combo for a two count.
Ranscalz cut the ring in half on Sabin and worked over him with quick tags and sentons. Wentz would eventually get distracted by a kick from Shelley, allowing Sabin to recover and join Shelley for a series of punt kicks on the apron on both Rascalz.
Back in the ring, Xavier is down to tag out Wentz, so Wentz tried to strike out Shelley, who managed to take down Wentz regardless. Double elbow and kick by the MCMG for a two coutn on Wentz. MCMG gets Wentz at bay, also quick quick combos, sending him from corner to corner, kicking him for two counts.
Wetnz tried to comeback with strikes, but ended up getting another double discus elbows for his efforts. Wentz did however, managed to tag Shelley with a jumping knee and get the opening for Xavier to come in.
Dezmond hit several kick combos on Sabin, kept Shelley on the floor, Wentz came back and hit a footstomp on Shelley for a two count. Codebreaker on Sabin to get him out of the ring. Swanton bomb by Wentz on Shelley, but he got th eknees up, hit a desperation release German on Dezmond and tagged in Sabin.
Dropkick by Sabin on Xavier, another tandom strike combo, took out Wentz with the headlock and dropkick combo, and then hit the ASCS rush on Xavier for the win. Awesome opener.
Callis and Matthews ran down tonight’s card and hinted at least two more surprises.
Backstage, Taya berated John E. Bravo that she needed to win. Rosemary came in later and told Bravo that she had to win.
We got the Moose vs Dreamer build up video. Ok stuff.
TNA World Champion Moose defeated Tommy Dreamer in an “old school rules” match to retain
Moose started with control, pushing Dreamer to the corner by the neck, striking him, tossing him, big punt kick, and out of the ring. Dominant start, but Moose went for a dive, only to get a garbage can lid on the face. Dreamer started using some of the weapons on Moose, choked him with a jersey, whipped him to the guardrail, but when he went for the chair shot, Moose dodged, dropped him groin first into the rail, chairshot to the back, and dropped the rail on Dreamer.Moose hit a suplex on the stage.
Back in the ring, Moose used a kendo stick on Dreamer, but missed the last one, giving Dreamer the opening to hit a side leg sweep. Dreamer went for a second rope shot, but Moose caught him with a huge dropkick, completely taking out Dreamer. Dreamer set up a garbage can on Dreamer and followed with another dropkick. Moose, getting cocky, get for a top rope plancha, but Dreamer caught him with a ddt right on top of the garbage can for a two count.
Moose dropped Dreamer with a toe drop hold onto a chair. Moose went to powerbomb Dreamer into a pile of chairs, but Dreamer blocked and fought back with punches, went for a ddt, but Moose coutnered and hit a book end and standing moonsault for a two count.
Moose went for the top rope for another moonsault, but Dreamer moved, hit a ddt for a two count. Dreamer pulled out some tacks and ent for a piledriver, but Moose blocked and hit a low blow on Dreamer. Moose shoved Dreamer’s face into the tacks, but didn’t fully make contact as Dreamer powered up. Moose raked the eyes and slammed Dreamer into thet tacks.
Moose hit the lights out spear and Moose picked up the win. Really slow, but Moose was great.
Gia Miller tried to interview the arrival of a new superstar, but it ended up being Johnny Swinger. He seems to have stolen Karl Anderson’s car.
Kylie Rae won the Knockouts #1 Contender Gauntlet Match
Tasha Steelz and Kylie Rae started the match. They wrestled for wrist control and into headlocks until Tasha caught Rae with a shoulder block, who came out with a rana. Tasha went for one herself, but Rae countered.
Third participant was Taya, well, it was John E. Bravo dressed as Taya. He was superkicked and immediatly eliminated. Rae tried to high five Tasha, but was taken out with a clothesline instead.
Kimber Lee came in as 4th, took out Rae with a sidewalk slam, Tasha with a backbreaker. Delayed vertical suplex on Rae, but as she posed around, Tasha caught Lee with a kick. Rae and Steelz went back at it. Kiera Hogan came in as 5th and joined Steelz, going after Rae. Kimber Lee tried to team up with them, but was striken down by Hogan and Steelz.
Susie was next, who ran down to help out Rae and take everyone out with palm strikes and Thesz press. Susie went for the arachrana on Steelz, but was blocked, only to get a superkick by Rae and get eliminated.
Katie Forbes returned as 7th. She clothslined Susie and Rae, sholder block on Lee. Hogan instead tried to make friends with her, but instead got attacked. Madison Rayne came in next and went straight for Lee and Hogan with enzugiris and clotheslines. She made fun of Susie, but Hogan stepped up and got into a verbal exchanged with her before coming to blows.
Havok was next as 9th. Took down Forbes and Lee first, dropped Hogan with a Sidewalk Slam, took down Susie and Rae, and it was Rayne the only one smart enough to not antagonize her.
The real Taya Valkyrie came in and immediatly took down Lee, Rae, and Havok. Katie Forbes attacked her, but Taya countered and started striking down Forbes in the corner, eliminating her with a kick.
Alisha Edwards was next, hit a couple of ddts until Rae tried to military press her, only for Havok to take Alisha and toss her on Rae. Nevaeh came in and joined Havok, took out Susie, Lee, and Hogan with a combo move. Double team backbreaker and clothesline on Edwards.
Rosemary was next, went straight for Susie wit a spear. Taya and Rosemary eliminated Susie. Another Rosemary came out, it was again Bravo. Taya and Rosemary started fighting over him and Taya accidentally attacked Rosemary. Havok tried to eliminate them, but Bravo snuck up and eliminated Havok. Kylie Rae eliinated Bravo and felt terrible.
Rae eliminated Madison Rayne and apologize afterwards. Lee and Hogan paiered up to eliminate Nevaeh and Alisha Edwards. Rosemary kicked Hogan to eliminate her.
Final four are Kimber Lee, Taya, Rosemary, and Kylie Rae. They came to blows in the middle of the ring. Rae hit a cutter and elimnated Lee. Taya and Rosemary ganged up on Rae, but fought back. Rosemary locked in the upside down, but Taya took advantage to drop Rosemary.
Final two are Kylie Rae and Taya, one-on-one match rules start now. Rae hit an early destroyer and superkick for the win.
Heath Miller made his debut, coming down to the ring. He said that he was planning to challenge the Razcals, but didn’t make it in time. He said that there was a still vacant spot for the World Title and he wanted in. Rohit Raju interrupted him and told him that he wasn’t going to allow him to get a shot before him. Rohit attacked, but was quickly reversed and taken out with a reverse ddt.
We got the Swinger vs Bey video package.
Chris Bey defeated X-Division Champion Willie Mack to win the title
They talked some trash at each other before coming to blows. Mack got the early advantage, they traded lucha armdrags, but Mack hit the standing meteora to send Bey to the floor. Mack tried to follow with a senton, but Bey blocked, only for Willie to caught him on the apron and dropped him with a draping neckbreaker to the floor.
Back in the ring, Mack hit a fallaway slam, kip up and standing moonsault for a two count. Mack elbowed Bey in the corner, they exchanged kicks before Mack went for a superplex. Bey blocked him and went fo the sunset bomb, but instead kicked Mack’s legs in and hit a slingshot slingblade for a two count.
Bey hit a big jumping uppercut and swinging neckbreaker for a two count. Mack started slapping Bey, but Bey came back with a mule kick and bodyscissors for a two count. Third kick and an attempt to the dive, but Mack caught him with a bomb instead.
Mack hit a clothsline and spinning shoulder block, followed with more clotheslines and the running cannonball. Mack went for an exploder, but Bey countered into a roll up. Mack hit the exploder into the turnbuckles for a two count. Bey’s neck is getting destroyed.
Mack went for the 6 star, but Bey hid behind the referee, snuck a kick on Mack and followed with a dropkick to take down Mack. Bey caught Mack with a boot and the destroyer for a two count. Mack hit the stunner, but went for the 6 star that Bey dodged. Bey got pushed into the referee and took advantage to rake Mack’s eyes, hit the final finesse for the win. This match really needed fans.
Backstage, Heath Miller and Rhino had a small reunion. D’Amore walked up and told Miller that he doesn’t work here and that due to the pandemic, they can’t have guests. Rhino told Miller to show up on Tuesday and he’ll figure it out.
Impact World Tag Team Champions The North (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander) defeated Ken Shamrock & Sami Callihan to retain
Alexander and Shamrock started the match, going for some mat wrestling, trading momentum until Shamrock locked in the ankle lock. Callihan slapped himself in, but instead of wrestling, cheap shotted Alexander, took down both Page and Alexander.
Shamrock came back and worked on Page for a bit, punching him around, tagging in and out with Callihan, who would go for headbutts, headlocks, and quick pin attempts. Shamrock went for knees and a ddt. Shamrock and Sami kept the offense until Alexander interfered and pulled Page to safety.
The North ganged up on Shamrock outside and back into the ring. Alexander got Shamrock in the corner with shoulder thrusts. The North went for a double team move, but Shamrock caught them with a double clothesline and tagged out.
Callihan came out, took out Alexander, hit a superkick and brainbuster on Page for a two count. Page managed to get a dropkick on Callihan and tag in Alexander to keep Callihan down. They kept control with double team moves, a lot of striking, and quick tags. Eventually, Sami landed a desperation stunner to get an opening, but Page was smart enough to place himself between Sami and Shamrock. Sami tried to strike his way to his corner, ending in both men taking each other out with kicks.
Shamrock tagged in and ran wild with clotheslines and powerslams on both men. Callihan tagged in back again to early and got the cactus jack countered. The North caught Callihan with a double team Crucifix Bomb for a two count. Callihan once again managed to escape and tag in Shamrock, who came in and hit a belly-to-belly on Alexander to the floor.
Page took out Callihan, but then Shamrock and Alexander locked in the ankle locks on their respective opponents, both submissions were broken. Callihan took out Page, Shamrock locked in the ankle lock on Alexander, but Page managed to toss Callihan into Shamrock.
Shamrock and Callihan had some misdirection. Cactus Special on Alexander for a two count when Page broke it, but Shamrock just stood there, not knowing what to do. Shamrock caught Callihan with a kick accidentally and hit a top rope belly-to-belly on Alexander, who rolled out Shamrock went for a dive, but The North moved out of the way.
Back in the ring, The North finished Shamrock to retain their title. Good match, but it kinda broke down there at the end with Shamrock.
After the match, Page said that no one asked for their comments when they broke the year milestone. He said they decimated an entire division. Alexander said that they promised to make history and they have proved it. Page said that in this company, no one can touch them.
The Motor City Machine Guns came out and told them that in Impact history, the MCMG are the greatest. Sabin announced that office has granted them a title shot at The North on tuesday!
Gia Miller tried to interview The Good Brothers, but instead she got Rich Swann. He said that he was here to support Mack and announce that he wants a shot at the World Title once he is cleared to make his comeback.
We got the Purrazzo vs Grace video package
Deonna Purrazzo defeated Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace to win the title
Heated collar and elbow to start, Grace drove Purrazzo to the corner and wouldn’t let go. Purrazzo relied on leaving the ring and stalling to get her standing back. Back in the ring, Grace went for Purrazzo’s arm, but was outwrestled, only for Jordynne rely on her power advangage to send Purrazzo back to the floor.
Grace caught Purrazzo with a shoulder block and once again to the floor, but this time, Jordynne followed with a dive, taking her out. Jordynne went for an early muscle buster, but Purrazzo fought her off and dropped a knee on Grace’s arm to finally start working on it.
Purrazzo focused on the arm, switching between strikes, armbars, kicks, and snaps. Purrazzo tried to got for short distance clothesline, but Grace wouldn’t budge, so instead, went back for the armbar until Grace made the ropes.
Purrazzo locked in the Fujiwara armbar, but Grace rolled over. Purrazzo transitioned into another armbar, but Grace blocked and made the ropes again. Purrazzo went back into snapping Grace’s arm over and over again. Grace managed to land an elbow to get some space and latch on the ropes to block Purrazzo, getting the chance to recover and drop Purrazzo with a clothesline and senton for a two count.
Jordynne went for a backplex, but Deonna blocked and got a two count with the O’Connor roll, only for Grace to counter into a sleeper. Purrazzo rolled over for a two count. Grace caught her with a clothesline and got her in a bow and arrow onto the ringpost, but as Grace made her way back to the ring, Purrazzo once again snapped her arm on the ropes.
Grace tried to strike down Purrazzo and got a Grace Driver for a two count. Tried to follow with a powerbomb, but Purrazzo almost got the triangle lock, forcing Grace to release, yet she got a desperation spinebuster in the last second.
Both women started trading strikes in the middle of the ring until Jordynne just started hitting scoop slams over and over, they started trading German suplexes, and lastly, Purrazzo got two kicks in and the pendulum snap suplex for a two count.
Grace caught Purrazzo with kick, hit the running knees and diving elbow, followed with the Vader bomb, but only for a two count. Jordynne chased the Grace Driver again, but Purrazzo kept blocking, so she relied on strikes. Deonna locked in the armbar in the middle of the ring, made it double and submitted Jordynne Grace. Match of the night so far.
Matthews and Callis announced Bound for Glory for October 24th.
We got the video package for the main event.
Mystery opponent was Swann, who came out dancing with the crutches at hand, completely healed. Swann was getting a big push before the injury, and he’s right back at it. After his entrance, a 5th man made his entrance, Eric Young, now going as the World Class Maniac, so I guess this is a 5-way now.
Eric Young took the microphone and confirmed that it’s a 5-way.
Eddie Edwards defeated Ace Austin (w/Madman Fulton), Trey Miguel, Eric Young, and Rich Swann in a fatal five way to win the vacant Impact World Championship
Match stared, Ace and Trey went straight for it outside the ring. Inside, Young, Eddie, and Swann went at it. Young early on dropped Eddie with a slam, but Swann tossed him out with a dropkick. Swann got rid of Ace who tried to get in the ring, but wasn’t able to do the same with Trey, who he traded counters and reversals Jr. Heavyweight style.
Eddie came in and send them both out, went for a dive, but Fulton caught him and slammed him on the apron, prompting the referee to send Fulton to the back, or Ace was DQ’d. Ace sent Fulton acbk to not risk disqualification. The distraction allowe for Trey to recover and go after Austin, but Ace escaped.
Back in the ring, Swann took out Ace, Young took out Swann, then Eddie came in with Kawada style chops on Young and Swann. Mule kick by Swann on Eddie, followed with a rana, but Eddie blocked on powerbombed him into Young.
Backpack Stunner by Eddie on Ace, but Ace reversed, kicked out Eddie and Trey, but Swann was there with the cutter. Blue Thunder Bomb by Eddie on Swann, annndd DVD by Young on Eddie. Finally, Trey caught Young with a footstomp, who is already busted opened.
Trey went back at Ace and they started trading strikes in the middle of the ring. Trey managed to dodge most of Ace’s strikes until he dropped Ace. Trey hit a rana on Ace, but Young returned to the match, only to take a rana by Trey, who followed with a neckbreaker on Ace.
Trey dodged Eddie’s rush, landing in destroyer position on Swann outside the ring. Back in the ring, Young dropped Eddie with a superkick, but Ace was there to hit a suplex on Young to cut him off. Eddie started chasing the tiger driver, but Ace escaped blocked and backed Eddie to the corner, taking out Trey in the process. Eddie pancaked Ace, hit the tiger driver, but Trey was there with the meteora to break the pin. Young picked Trey, hit a piledriver and eliminated Trey Miguel.
Young stomped around everyone left. Swann made a comeback and punched down Young, but was caught with a big backplex for a two count. Young went for a weird piledriver attempt from the second rope, but Swann turned it into a second rope bulldog.
Eddie came back and tried to superplex Ace to the floor, but Swann stopped them. Young took away Swann, bombed him into Ace and Eddie, who crashed down to the timekeepers table outside the ring.
Young went to piledrive Swann, but Swann reversed, rolled up Young, and pinned him, eliminatng Eric Young from the match. Young took out Swann’s bad knee before leaving, Pillmanizing the knee over and over again. Young got taken away by security, shouting at Swann that he asked for it.
They teased Swann being taken out, but Swann denied. Ace went for the easy pick with a figure 4, but Swann kept reversing to pins. Swann started slapping down Ace, but Ace kicked his leg out, hit The Fold, and pinned Rich Swann to eliminate him from the match.
It’s down to Eddie Edwards and Ace Austin. They went straight to simultaneous kicks and trading forearms and chops. After about a minute of strikes, Eddie chopped down Ace to the mat. Ace still hit a desperation spinning kick to get some space.
Ace went for The Fold, but Eddie turned it into a belly-to-belly into the corner. Eddie hit the Boston knee party, but Ace kicked out at two. Ace hit The Fold, but Eddie kicked out at two. Ace went for the top rope, but Eddie dodged, hit a second BKP, hit the diehard flowsion and pinned Ace to win the Impact World Championship for a second time. This was a hell of a match, not the best of the night, but it had it all.
After the match, Madman Fulton attacked Eddie Edwards. Fulton set him up for Ace, but suddenly the Good Brothers made their debut. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows entered the ring, face off with Fulton and Ace, who tried to make friends, but instead, Anderson hit the gunstun on Ace, Eddie took out Fulton, and one final magic killer on Ace. Anderson and Gallows joined Eddie to celebrate with a beer bash.
Suddenly, the lights went out again, and we got a video of ECIII teasing his return as the show closed.
Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson confirmed they have signed with Impact and will make their debut at Slammiversary on Saturday.
The tag team announced during a livestream on their YouTube channel that they had been tested and had been cleared. Anderson said everyone wanted to know where they would be going. Gallows said that the rumors were true and confirmed that they have officially signed with Impact Wrestling. He then confirmed they would be at Slammiversary.
The announcement confirms a report from last month that the tag team would be heading to Impact once their no-compete with WWE expired. The report also said that the duo would be able to work New Japan Pro Wrestling once travel restrictions are lifted.
Both Gallows and Anderson were released by WWE in April amid a wide range of cuts across the company. They had previously teamed together in NJPW, winning the IWGP Tag Team titles three times before signing with the WWE in early 2016.
The Rascalz will be in action at Slammiversary this Saturday (July 18), but their opponents haven’t been revealed.
Impact Wrestling announced today that The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) have issued an open challenge for the pay-per-view: “BREAKING: The Rascalz have issued an Open Challenge for #Slammiversary THIS SATURDAY LIVE on PPV and @FiteTV!”
Trey Miguel, who is also part of The Rascalz, will be part of the main event for Slammiversary. He’s facing Eddie Edwards, Ace Austin, and a mystery opponent in a fatal four-way match for the vacant Impact World Championship. Tessa Blanchard had held the title prior to Impact terminating its relationship with her.
Impact has teased that Slammiversary will feature involvement from wrestlers who were released by WWE in April. It’s also been announced that a former World Champion will make his return at the PPV, with Impact saying that he isn’t coming alone.
Here’s the updated card for Slammiversary:
Eddie Edwards vs. Ace Austin vs. Trey Miguel vs. a mystery wrestler for the vacant Impact World Championship
Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace defending against Deonna Purrazzo
X-Division Champion Willie Mack defending against Chris Bey
Impact Tag Team Champions The North (Josh Alexander & Ethan Page) defending against Sami Callihan & Ken Shamrock
Number one contender’s Knockouts gauntlet match (Rosemary, Nevaeh, Susie, Kiera Hogan, Taya Valkyrie, Tasha Steelz, Alisha Edwards, Kylie Rae, Kimber Lee, Jessicka Havok, and Madison Rayne)
TNA World Heavyweight Champion Moose defending against Tommy Dreamer
Self-appointed TNA World Heavyweight Champion Moose will have a title defense at Slammiversary.
It was announced on this week’s episode of Impact that Moose will defend his TNA World Heavyweight title against Tommy Dreamer at Slammiversary. The pay-per-view is taking place on Saturday, July 18.
Moose retained his TNA World title against Crazzy Steve on Impact last week. He then attacked Steve after the match until Dreamer came out to the ring to stop things and check on Steve. Moose acted like he was going to back off but then kicked Dreamer in the head and attacked him.
After being attacked by Moose, Dreamer cut a promo where he called Moose a waste of talent. Moose later demanded a public apology for what Dreamer said, leading to Dreamer doing an interview on this week’s Impact where he read a prepared statement giving a mock apology to Moose. Moose then appeared and said he didn’t think the apology was sincere enough.
Dreamer said he just got off the phone with the TNA Championship Committee, the TNA board of directors, and the TNA authority and they made him the number one contender to Moose’s title. Moose said the TNA Championship Committee doesn’t exist, and Dreamer responded by saying TNA doesn’t exist anymore either.
It was also announced on this week’s Impact that Madison Rayne will take part in the Knockouts gauntlet match at Slammiversary. The winner will get an upcoming shot at the Knockouts Championship.
A number one contender’s gauntlet match will be part of the card for Slammiversary 2020.
Impact Wrestling announced today that Rosemary, Nevaeh, Susie (Su Yung), Kiera Hogan, Taya Valkyrie, Tasha Steelz, Alisha Edwards, Kylie Rae, Kimber Lee, and Jessicka Havok will face off in a gauntlet match at Slammiversary. The winner will get an upcoming shot at the Knockouts Championship.
Jordynne Grace is the current Knockouts Champion. She’s defending her title against Deonna Purrazzo at Slammiversary.
Slammiversary is taking place on Saturday, July 18. Willie Mack defending the X-Division Championship against Chris Bey has also been announced for the pay-per-view.
Prior to Impact terminating its relationship with Tessa Blanchard and announcing that Michael Elgin won’t be appearing in any further Impact programming, Blanchard defending the Impact World Championship against Elgin, Eddie Edwards, Ace Austin, and Trey Miguel in a five-way match had been set for Slammiversary. Impact hasn’t revealed their new plans for that match or how their new World Champion will be decided.
Bey, Johnny Swinger & Rohit Raju defeated Mack & The Deaners in a six-man tag match on this week’s Impact. To set up the X-Division title match for Slammiversary, Bey pinned Mack to get the win.
Mack has been X-Division Champion since winning the title from Ace Austin at Rebellion night one in April.
Impact confirmed in February that Bey has signed a contract with them.
Deonna Purrazzo challenging Jordynne Grace for the Knockouts Championship is also set for Slammiversary. Tessa Blanchard was supposed to defend her Impact World Championship against Michael Elgin, Eddie Edwards, Ace Austin, and Trey Miguel in a five-way match at the PPV, but Impact issued a statement tonight confirming that they’ve terminated their relationship with Blanchard and stripped her of their World title.
New Impact Wrestling arrival Deonna Purrazzo is officially getting a shot at the Knockouts Championship at Slammiversary.
It was confirmed on tonight’s episode of Impact that Purrazzo will challenge Jordynne Grace for the Knockouts Championship at Slammiversary on Saturday, July 18. When she arrived in Impact two weeks ago, Purrazzo confronted Grace and put her in a Fujiwara armbar. Purrazzo also attacked Grace on last week’s Impact and put her in the armbar again.
Purrazzo made her Impact in-ring debut on the episode that aired tonight. She tapped out Alisha Edwards with the Fujiwara armbar. After the match, Grace ran out to the ring but Purrazzo bailed.
A segment where Grace confronted Purrazzo on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio aired earlier on Impact tonight. In another interview after that, Purrazzo said she came to Impact to become a champion and will only face Grace with the Knockouts title on the line.
Tessa Blanchard defending her Impact World Championship against Michael Elgin, Eddie Edwards, Ace Austin, and Trey Miguel in a fatal five-way match has also been announced for Slammiversary, though Elgin has been suspended by Impact Wrestling “pending further review of allegations of misconduct.”
Impact Wrestling has confirmed that at least one former World Champion will be returning at Slammiversary.
Tonight’s episode of Impact ended with another teaser for Slammiversary. “We continue to follow the ongoing story of the 20-plus professional wrestling superstars released from their contracts two months ago,” the news anchor in the teaser said. “Reliable sources have just informed us that at least one former World Champion will make his return to Impact Wrestling on Saturday, July 18. More as this story develops.”
Quick glimpses of past footage of some former Impact World Champions and recently released WWE wrestlers were shown as part of the teaser:
EC3 was one of those wrestlers included in the video. Earlier on tonight’s Impact, his old theme music played after Moose retained the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Hernandez. The commentators acknowledged that it was EC3’s music and said that Moose recognized it.
Moose has been calling himself TNA World Champion since bringing the belt back at Rebellion in April.
Tessa Blanchard is the Impact World Champion and will defend her title against Michael Elgin, Eddie Edwards, Ace Austin, and Trey Miguel in a five-way match at Slammiversary.
Tessa Blanchard will defend her Impact World Championship against four challengers at next month’s Slammiversary pay-per-view.
After announcing that the future of their World Championship would be addressed on the episode, it was revealed on tonight’s Impact that Blanchard will defend her title against Michael Elgin, Eddie Edwards, Ace Austin, and Trey Miguel in a five-way match at Slammiversary. The PPV is taking place on Saturday, July 18.
Scott D’Amore made an appearance on tonight’s Impact to announce the title match for Slammiversary. The segment ended with Austin, Elgin, Edwards, and Miguel brawling.
Elgin and Edwards were supposed to challenge for Blanchard’s title in a triple threat match at Rebellion in April, but that match didn’t happen because Blanchard and Edwards weren’t able to attend the tapings for the show due to the coronavirus pandemic. Blanchard also missed the most recent set of Impact tapings.
On last week’s Impact, Austin defeated Zachary Wentz in the finals of a tournament to become the number one contender to Blanchard’s title. The tournament final was supposed to be Austin vs. Miguel, but there was an angle where Miguel was attacked backstage. Miguel’s attacker has yet to be revealed.
Impact Wrestling has announced the date for their next pay-per-view — and teased that recently released WWE wrestlers could potentially be involved with it.
This week’s episode of Impact ended with a video announcing that Slammiversary 2020 will air live on PPV on Saturday, July 18. Where the show will be taking place wasn’t mentioned.
The announcement video featured an unidentified person who was wearing a hoodie watching a news report that was created for the video. “Breaking news from the world of professional wrestling, over 20-plus superstars were released from their contracts amidst the ongoing global pandemic,” the news anchor said. “Their fate currently remains unknown. We will be closely monitoring the situation, and we wish them all the best in their future endeavors.”
Past Impact-owned footage of Eric Young, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, Drake Maverick, Curt Hawkins, Mike & Maria Kanellis, and EC3 was then briefly shown. There was also a Bulgarian flag featured. The video ended with the announcement of the date for Slammiversary.
Maverick is facing El Hijo del Fantasma in the finals of WWE’s interim Cruiserweight Championship tournament on NXT this week. He’s had an underdog story for the tournament, trying to win to save his job.
The WWE releases were announced on April 15.
Impact’s most recent PPV was supposed to be Rebellion in April, but that show instead took place as two weeks of television episodes due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Slammiversary announcement video is available to watch below:
