IMPACT Slammiversary Review - July 18, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Motor City Machine Guns def. The Rascalz (Dez & Wentz)

I can't believe WWE didn't sign The Motor City Machine Guns when they had the chance. I know Chris Sabin has been injured for the better part of the past year and a half, but Alex Shelley had that short stint n NXT earlier this year and they could and should have snatched up him then. Nevertheless, it's great to see them back home in IMPACT. This was every bit as fun as you'd expect given who was involved and a hot start to the show.

Moose def. Tommy Dreamer in an Old School Rules Match

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm a Tommy Dreamer fan, but there is no reason for the guy to still be wrestling as regularly as he is on IMPACT TV in 2020. Did they really have no one else Moose could have faced instead? This benefited from the stipulation, but we've seen enough "hardcore" matches from Dreamer over the past few years that this didn't mean anything. Moose won and that's about the only positive thing I can say about it.

Kylie Rae Won an Impact Knockouts Championship No. 1 Contender's Gauntlet Match

This wasn't your typical Gauntlet match, as competitors were eliminated by being thrown over the top rope. The match could only be won by pinfall or submission when it came down to the final two. The change in format was probably for the best given the amount of people who took part in it. Unfortunately, this was all over the place and never really locked into a cohesive flow. IMPACT's Knockouts division is stacked with talent, but I could have done without John E. Bravo and especially Katie Forbes participating. On the bright side, Rae winning was the right call.

Heath Attacked Rohit Raju

Yes, the former Heath Slater is going by just Heath now, likely because his real name is Heath Miller. It was cool to see him pop up on this pay-per-view so soon after his recent WWE Raw appearance. He looks to be in excellent shape, though I'm curious how hard he'll be pushed in IMPACT. Following this solid segment, Heath reunited with Rhino backstage. Personally, I'd like to see them join the tag team ranks, just because I don't have much interest in Heath on his own and he most definitely is not at the Impact World Championship level in my opinion.

Chris Bey def. Willie Mack to Win the X-Division Championship

Bey has been one of the best anywhere for a long time now and it's been cool to see him killing it in IMPACT. The story going into the bout was that Bey needed Johnny Swinger's help to win the title, and with Swinger choosing not to stand in his corner, I figured Mack would retain the title. Instead, Bey won in clean fashion, so here's hoping that means his alliance with Swinger is over. This was a very well wrestled match, even though I was hoping for a bit more.

Impact World Tag Team Champions The North def. Sami Callihan and Ken Shamrock

Callihan and Shamrock were my pick to win, solely because The North have beaten everyone else in the division already and Callihan and Shamrock have nothing else going on at the moment. Well, I'm happy to have been wrong. The match itself was fine albeit unspectacular with The North dominating Callihan the entire time before Shamrock attempted to make the save. They couldn't coexist and that was what cost them the victory. If this is going to lead to them feuding with each other again, I'm not interested. As for The North, it was announced afterward that they'll be defending the Impact World Tag Team Championship this Tuesday against The Motor City Machine Guns and there's a good chance the titles change hands.

Deonna Purrazzo def. Jordynne Grace to Win the Impact Knockouts Championship

Purrazzo has been doing terrific heel work since coming to IMPACT and has been showing the world what WWE missed out on by under-utilizing her for the two years she was there for. She and Grace unsurprisingly worked well together and put together the best bout of the night. It was hard-hitting, they worked with intensity, and the story they told was logical. In the end, Purrazzo's armbar proved to be too much for Grace and a new champion was crowned. After being booked like a stepping stone in NXT, Purrazzo has come across like a star so far in IMPACT and has been booked perfectly. She can have one of the better Impact Knockouts Championship reigns in recent years if she can continue to have matches like this one.

Eddie Edwards def. Ace Austin, Rich Swann, Eric Young and Trey in a Five-Way Elimination Match to Win the Vacant Impact World Championship

Apparently in IMPACT, you can just show up and be awarded a title shot. I don't know who was originally intended to be the fourth mystery man between Swann and Young, but I wasn't expecting either of them to be involved. Swann had been out injured since January, so I'm glad he's back. As for Young, he was with IMPACT forever before leaving in 2016 and going to WWE soon after. I don't have an issue with him returning, but Eric Young coming out instead of virtually anyone else was underwhelming. That said, this was a quality main event on the whole with the elimination stipulation working to their advantage. Trey was bumped early on, Swann and Young canceled each other out and are bound to feud, and the final stretch with Edwards and Austin was well done. Edwards hasn't held the Impact World Championship in over three years, so he was the correct person to take the title here. Post-match, Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows helped Edwards fend off Austin and Madman Fulton before an EC3 vignette played. I know people (myself included) were hoping for a return of his old character, but I'm intrigued by this new dark persona he has going and it made for a hell of a cliffhanger.

Overall Show

I noticed looking at my Twitter timeline during the show that for the first time in several years, there was legitimate buzz surrounding the IMPACT product. It was well deserved because this was a damn good event. Granted, the question of who would return/debut was the main selling point of this pay-per-view for many fans, but the hope is that any new viewers will want to tune in on Tuesday and beyond to see the aftermath. If you've never watched IMPACT or haven't watched in a long time, it's worth giving another shot. The surprises largely lived up to the hype and there was enough entertaining action to make Slammiversary worthwhile. Now the key is IMPACT maintaining this momentum going forward