IMPACT Slammiversary Review - June 19, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Pre-Show: Impact Digital Media Champion Rich Swann def. Brian Myers

Swann beat Matt Cardona for the Digital Media title at a Wrestling Revolver show recently and the two were likely headed for a rematch on this show before Cardona got hurt, so Myers took his place. They had a quality contest, but it was wisely positioned on the pre-show because it's hard to care about that title. I assume we'll get Swann against Cardona when Cardona is cleared to compete again.

Pre-Show: Shark Boy Won the Reverse Battle Royal

The Reverse Battle Royal is widely known as one of the worst match gimmicks ever and for good reason because it's convoluted as hell. That said, it's a memorable part of TNA's history, so I get why they'd want to bring it back one more time, especially if it wasn't going to be on the main card. Yes, it was a mess, but the crowd was into some of it and they were really behind Shark Boy, so he was the right winner (especially given he helped come up with the Slammiversary name, which I didn't know until the commentators mentioned it). I honestly didn't know most of the people they brought back for this, but it was cool seeing Father James Mitchell.

"Speedball" Mike Bailey def. Ace Austin, Trey Miguel, Kenny King, Alex Zayne and Andrew Everett in an Ultimate X Match to Win the Impact X-Division Championship

This wasn't an all-time Ultimate X classic, but it was fun as expected given who was involved. Everyone had their time to shine, even though this was shorter than I thought it would be. There were some insane spots and it encapsulated what the X-Division is all about. Bailey has been incredibly impressive since debuting in IMPACT, so I liked that he took the title here. Now we can see him feud with the man who tried to recruit him early on: Ace Austin.

Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie def. The Influence to Win the Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship

Rosemary and Valkyrie just started teaming when Valkyrie abruptly left for WWE in early 2021, so they never had a chance to capture the tag titles... until now, that is. The match was pretty basic, but at seven minutes in length, it was well wrestled. Rosemary and Valkyrie winning the titles made for a nice moment, though I wouldn't have complained if they were in chase mode for a little longer, especially since there aren't many other teams waiting in the wings to challenge the new champs.

Sami Callihan def. Moose in a Monster's Ball Match

Monster's Ball matches are another TNA specialty, and although they were done to death at one point, it's been a while since the last one and the stipulation fit this feud because it was Moose who put Callihan on the shelf in storyline last year. Plus, hardcore matches are right up Callihan's alley, so this was all-out war you'd expect it to be. It was a hell of a brawl, and although some of the nearfalls got a bit ridiculous down the stretch, they gave it a commendable effort.

The Good Brothers def. The Briscoes to Win the Impact World Tag Team Championship

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has grown tired of Good Brothers in the last two years. They've lost a lot of their luster from years ago and most of their matches tend to be hit or miss at this point. To their credit, though, this was one of their better bouts in recent memory. It was a fairly straightforward tag team match with solid work from both teams. I fully expected The Briscoes to avenge their loss to Good Brothers from Multiverse of Matches with a win here, but no such luck. Instead, Good Brothers regained the gold. That doesn't make much sense unless The Briscoes were on a short-term deal with IMPACT and they're already on their way out. Also, America's Most Wanted showing up afterward was awesome. If only Bobby Roode wasn't in WWE still...

IMPACT Originals (Davey Richards, Frankie Kazarian, Nick Aldis and The Motor City Machine Guns) def. Honor No More (Eddie Edwards, Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, Vincent and PCO)

The infamous Dixie Carter made an appearance right before Richards was introduced as the fifth member of the IMPACT Originals, and I can't complain because she was very important to TNA's history and it's been years since she was last on IMPACT programming. At any rate, Richards wasn't even on the mind when I thought who the mystery partner could be, but it was cool to see him interact with Edwards again for the first time in five years. I know Richards is in MLW at the moment, so hopefully we can see him and Edwards cross paths again at some point. This was complete chaos but in the best way possible. Yes, it was overbooked to hell, but the crowd ate it up and so did I. D'Lo Brown getting a measure of revenge on Honor No More was a nice touch and Earl Hebner jumping the rail and making the three count was just terrific, especially with his brother Dave passing away only a few days ago. The IMPACT Originals going over made sense and I'm curious if this marks the end of the Honor No More storyline.

Jordynne Grace def. Tasha Steelz, Mia Yim, Deonna Purrazzo and Chelsea Green in a Queen of the Mountain Match to Win the Impact Knockouts World Championship (Mickie James Served as Special Guest Enforcer)

Similar to the Reverse Battle Royal, the King of the Mountain match is such a damn mess and the rules are tough to keep track of. That said, the ladies gave it their all in this one and busted their asses. I mean, that bump Purrazzo and Green took through the table at the end was just insane. Steelz getting pinned multiple times was weird if she was losing the championship, but it's not like she was booked to look all that strong during her reign, anyway. Grace winning the title was a bit random, but I'd rather have her back in that spot at this point than Steelz. I was starting to think that the Green vs. Mickie James feud was dropped, but it was made clear during this match that wasn't the case. Congrats to the Knockouts on making history, but I hope the King/Queen of the Mountain gimmick stays dead.

Impact World Champion Josh Alexander def. Eric Young

I wouldn't be a main event on a TNA pay-per-view if there wasn't a ref bump, interference and an absurd amount of nearfalls! Okay, I kid, but seriously, it's what a lot of longtime fans grew to hate about TNA after a while. I rolled my eyes when it happened here, but considering it was a 20-year anniversary show, I'll give it a pass. It was even dumber when Alexander kicked out of a piledriver on the exposed wood under the ring mat, but oh well. The important thing is that they delivered a top-notch main event. I wasn't too amped about this on paper coming into the show given what the rest of the lineup looked like, but they went above and beyond in giving the audience something special and all the tributes to former faces of TNA (Jeff Jarrett, AJ Styles, Kurt Angle, etc.) were very well done. They ended the event on a high note.

Overall Show

There were also video tributes that aired throughout the show dedicated to Mike Tenay and Don West (which was wonderful) and video messages sent in by Sting, Kurt Angle and even WWE's AJ Styles. That was a fantastic surprise since WWE doesn't typically let their talent do that sort of thing and he meant more to the promotion than anyone. This marked exactly 20 years to the day of when TNA started and they nailed it. Okay, so some of the match stipulations were stupid, but hey, they were a part of TNA's history and they didn't shy away from it. There was a ton of talent on this card and multiple above-average matches, making for a memorable night. I hate to sound like a broken record, but IMPACT is killing it right now (specifically on pay-per-view) and you should be paying more attention to the product if you aren't already.

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