Impact Wrestling live results: Slammiversary go-home show
Days before she defends her title at Slammiversary, Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo will put her title on the line on Thursday’s Impact on AXS TV in an open challenge.
Purrazzo will defend against Trinity on Saturday’s pay-per-view if she is able to survive whoever steps up Thursday.
Ahead of their Ultimate X match Saturday, “Speedball” Mike Bailey will take on NJPW’s Kevin Knight.
The Rascalz will look to punch their ticket into a multi-team Tag Team title match Saturday if Zachary Wentz can defeat Chris Bey in singles action.
Two of the teams involved in that title match will go head-to head as Moose & Brian Myers take on Rich Swann & Sami Callihan.
Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry teams with Yuya Uemura against Kenny King & Sheldon Jean. Hendry will defend his title against King on Saturday.
The BTI pre-show match will be Dirty Dango vs. Heath after the two have been on a collision course in recent weeks.
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Dirty Dango defeated Heath
Santino Marella joined the commentary desk for this match, talking about his issues with Dirty Dango. Part way through the match, Dango cussed about Santino’s daughter, which set him off, and resulted in Dango decking Santino as security held Santino back. Heath hit the wake up call on Dango, but Dango got his foot on the ropes, and then rolled up Heath before putting his feet on the ropes again, but this time to cheat to get the pin.
Impact Wrestling Main Show
We were shown highlights of Deaner on Busted Open Radio with Bully Ray, where he explained why he wanted to take the injured Steve Maclin’s place against PCO and Scott D’Amore, with Deaner saying Jeff Jarrett was the guy who brought him into TNA, and D’Amore has always had a grudge against him.
Zachary Wentz (w/ Trey Miguel) defeated Chris Bey (w/ Ace Austin)
This was an excellent opening match, typical of that X-Division style Impact became famous for (one of the few positives in those early TNA days). Bey and Wentz put on a great, fast paced match that setup the tag title match for the future.
After a series of quick exchanges, Chris Bey got distracted on the floor by Trey Miguel, letting Wentz to hit a kick to Bey to drop him. Wentz and Miguel cheated behind the referee’s back, allowing Wentz to get the heat for a few minutes. Bey countered a shoulder lock into an arm drag and soon hit a Code Red for a 2-count. Bey called for a “too sweet” chant from the crowd, and Miguel got on the apron.
Ace Austin pulled Miguel from the apron, and Miguel sprayed spray paint into the eyes of Austin and superkicked him. Chris Bey hit a dropkick through the middle and bottom ropes, and skinned the cat back into the ring, but got hit with a spray paint can in the gut by Wentz, who then hit a cravat into a DDT on Bey for the win.
–The Rascalz walked up to Santino and Scott D’Amore and asked Santino for a tag title match for Slammiversary, but Santino refused because they cheated. Miguel said that he would pay for that.
–A short promo video aired for Alex Shelley and Nick Aldis, highlighting their story, focusing particularly Alex Shelley’s career for nearly 20 years in Impact. It then shifted focus to Aldis and his journey back to Impact and his own history in TNA, before going back to Shelley saying that he was one of the ones that reinvented the wheel, and didn’t get to where he was by being over 6 feet tall, or a big guy, but by wrestling in a way that inspired an entire new generation of wrestlers.
He isn’t wrong. Alex Shelley is one of the most influential wrestlers of the last 20 years with his in ring work (particularly while teaming with Sabin), as they were mentors to the Young Bucks and countless others. This was awesome.
Mike Bailey defeated Kevin Knight
Mike Bailey and Kevin Knight delivered a PPV quality match on free TV here. This was awesome, and Bailey gave Knight a ton and made him look like he could win at any moment. Excellent match.
This match did not disappoint, with Knight and Bailey flying all over the place right away. Knight tried to hit a plancha over the ropes to the floor, but Bailey ran into the ring, hit the ropes and as Knight got back onto the apron, hit a pump kick and then a triangle moonsault to the floor. Incredible.
Bailey hit his series of kicks in the ring before hitting an enziguri and slamming Knight to the mat again. Bailey hit two knees to the back of Knight and got a 2-count. Bailey hit a sole butt and a series of hard kicks to Knight before going for a standing shooting star press. Knight moved, but Bailey landed on his feet. Knight got up and hit an Okada style dropkick, and then a second one shortly thereafter as Bailey was seated on the top rope.
Knight went for a springboard, but Bailey superkicked the ropes to kick them out from under his feet before hitting flying knees off the top rope onto the back of Knight for another 2-count. Knight hit a hurricanrana on Bailey who was seated on the top rope by jumping up and hitting it, but Bailey got up and hit a superkick as Knight dived towards Bailey.
Bailey went to the top rope and Knight leapt to the top rope and hit a top rope superplex for a 2-count. Bailey and Knight exchanged pinfall attempts before Knight went for a jumping DDT, but Bailey dumped him over his head into the corner and hit a tornado kick before hitting Ultima Weapon for the win. Fantastic match.
–Masha Slamovich and Killer Kelly had a video package where they talked about how they were going to destroy the Coven at Slammiversary. This was a very good promo.
–Joe Hendry came out and cut a promo on Kenny King, calling him “Stripper Kenny,” but noted that the fans chanting it would hurt his feelings, so the fans chanted it. Hendry then said that the fans believed in him, and his tag partner Yuya Uemura.
Kenny King & Sheldon Jean defeated Joe Hendry & Yuya Uemura
This was all sorts of fun. Perfect comedy match.
Kenny King wore a sweater throughout this match, as he did not want the fans chanting “Stripper Kenny” at him, and Hendry told him that he shouldn’t be ashamed. They worked spots around that until Hendry went for a power bomb, and grabbed the sweater. King tried to escape, and since Hendry was holding the sweater, the sweater was left with Hendry. King immediately tried to hide his chest, and ran from the ring and out of Center Stage. Hendry then hit the Standing Ovation on Sheldon Jean for the win. This recap does not do this tag match justice, but that spot was hilarious.
–Lio Rush had a promo video where he talked about how he came to Impact to win the X-Division championship. This was very good.
–Chris Sabin was with Gia Miller and talked about how Lio Rush was one of the most talented wrestler he has ever seen, but that he was arrogant, and cocky, but smart because found the cheat code to jump ahead of everyone else in line, but now he had to face the final boss, Chris Sabin. Good promo.
Moose & Brian Myers defeated Sami Callihan & Rich Swann
Myers and Swann started the match, with Myers shoving Swann to the mat. Callihan helped flip Swann off the apron onto both Moose and Myers on the floor. Moose shoved Swann off the top rope to the floor, and Myers pounced on Swann, hitting mounted punches on the floor. Moose continued to get the heat on Swann when they came back from break, hitting a big uranage on Swann before tagging out to Myers.
Swann managed to make the tag, and Callihan hit a DDT on Myers and a flatliner on Moose at the same time, before hitting a combo bulldog and clothesline on both men too. Moose and Callihan hit headbutts on each other before dropping each other with clotheslines. Swann hit a handspring cutter on Myers, but Moose shoved Callihan into Swann to break the pin. Moose and Myers kept having miscommunications, leading to Callihan sending Swann to the top rope with a hurricanrana on Moose.
Callihan hit a Death Valley Driver and then Swann hit a 450 splash, but Moose kicked out. Callihan went for a Cactus Driver on Moose, but Myers pulled Swann from the ring, distracting the referee, letting Moose hit a low blow on Callihan and a spear for the win.
–Subculture cut a promo via video, saying that they were going to win the Impact Tag Team titles at Slammiversary and they were doing it for anyone that felt left out, or like an outcast.
–Alan Angels had a promo video, talking about how he was in this match to win the Ultimate X match to become the #1 contender to Sabin’s X-Division championship. This promo also made it clear that he was no longer in The Design.
–After running down the card for Slammiversary, Nick Aldis had a promo video for his journey back to Impact and hit title match against Alex Shelley. Aldis said he was sick of the “you deserve it” mentality, and called Shelley a huge hypocrite, saying it was utter nonsense that the Machine Guns owned the house that was Impact Wrestling. Aldis said that it was ridiculous that they built Impact, because they weren’t there when he beat Jeff Hardy, Sting, Samoa Joe, and Kurt Angle. Aldis claimed that Impact management wanted him as champion, and it was on Alex Shelley to prove he wasn’t a transitional champion, and if Shelley could beat him, it would prove his legacy, but it was up to him. Excellent promo.
–Deonna Purrazzo came down to the ring to issue an open challenge for the Impact Knockouts Championship.
Impact Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defeated Jody Threat to retain
Purrazzo immediately played to her strengths, going for are more ground based and technical match, while Threat tried to counter, with limited success. Before going to the break, Purrazzo did a Pentagon Jr. style arm break spot and continued to work over the arm when they came back from break. Purrazzo tried to suplex Threat from the top rope, but Threat managed to turn it around and hit a suplex on Purrazzo instead. Threat hit the ropes and hit a pump kick and double knees to the back of Purrazzo before hitting a German suplex for a 2-count.
Threat went to the top rope and hit a cannonball off the top rope before hitting a clothesline for a 2-count. Threat went for a burning hammer, but Purrazzo landed on her feat and as Threat charged Purrazzo, Purrazzo countered into a Fujiwara armbar, but Threat got to the ropes. Threat hit a Michinoku Driver on Purrazzo for a 2-count. Purrazzo countered a F416 into Venus de Milo and got the submission for the win.
–Gisele Shaw and Savannah Evans ran down to attack both Threat and Purrazzo, which brought out the Death Dollz, which brought out The Coven, which brought out Killer Kelly & Masha Slamovich, which brought out Trinity, and both Trinity and Purrazzo cleared the ring before breaking into a brawl with each other that security had to separate. All teams broke off into their own feuds, with The Coven brawling with Slamovich and Kelly, and Shaw and Evans brawling with the Death Dollz.
–Impact closed with a final hype video for Impact Slammiversary, which was excellent.
–The show closed with Scott D’Amore on the phone, saying they tried everything, and apparently this time PCO can’t come back to life, but he was wondering if the person on the phone could, before focusing on a Team Canada jersey. I think we may see Eric Young return to Impact here, since he died on screen when Deaner killed him, and it would fit for him getting revenge on Deaner.
Final Thoughts
Excellent go home show for Slammiversary from Impact tonight, as every major match got good promotion tonight with hype videos, promos, and angles. This is making me look forward to the show a lot, which is saying something on a weekend that also features AEW Collision and the first two nights of the G1 Climax in NJPW! Well done, Impact.
Slammiversary: This Saturday
- Impact Knockouts World Championship: Deonna Purrazzo (c) vs. Trinity
- Impact X-Division Championship: Chris Sabin (c) vs. Lio Rush
- Impact World Tag Team Championship: ABC (c) vs. Bryan Myers & Moose, Rich Swann & Sami Callihan, & Subculture
- Bully Ray & Deaner vs. Scott D’Amore & A Mystery Partner
- Ultimate X: Mike Bailey vs. Jonathan Gresham vs. KUSHIDA vs. Kevin Knight vs. Alan Angels
- Frankie Kazarian (w/ Traci Brooks) vs. Eddie Edwards (w/ Alisha Edwards)
- Impact Knockouts World Tag Team Championship: The Coven (c) vs. Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly
- Impact World Championship: Alex Shelley (c) vs. Nick Aldis
Impact on AXS: July 27, 2023:
- Tommy Dreamer & Darren McCarty vs. Champagne Singh & Shera