IMPACT! Wrestling Review - July 13, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Zachary Wentz def. Impact World Tag Team Champion Chris Bey

This marked Wentz' first IMPACT match in almost three years. I love the dynamic of him and Trey Miguel reuniting as heels. They'll be a part of the multi-team match for the Impact World Tag Team Championship at Slammiversary, so it made sense for him to win here. Him and Bey had an enjoyable opener and made the most of their time. I'd definitely be down for The Rascalz finally becoming Impact World Tag Team Champions this weekend.

"Speedball" Mike Bailey def. Kevin Knight

Knight has appeared on IMPACT! Wrestling a few times before (mostly teaming with Kushida I believe) and has always impressed. There was no reason to believe he would win here, but he had a very good showing, nonetheless. Bailey can have a great match with just about anyone and this was no exception. Both of these guys will be competing in the Ultimate X match at Slammiversary, so it virtually didn't matter who won.

Impact Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry and Yuya Uemura def. Sheldon Jean and Kenny King

Hendry vs. King for the Impact Digital Media Championship is official for the Slammiversary pre-show, so this served as a small preview of that. Jean is just to take the pinfall losses for King, but he held his own and it was a nice match despite being basic. Hendry continues to be super over with the audience and it's crazy to believe he's been champ for over eight months. I'm not sure if King will be the one to end his reign, though.

Moose and Brian Myers def. Sami Callihan and Rich Swann

Callihan and Swann obviously work well together because of their established history, but Moose and Myers have turned into a damn good team as of late. Myers and Matt Cardona were never able to win the Impact tag titles together, but maybe Moose and Myers will to give them something to do? This was similar to Bailey vs. Knight from earlier in that the outcome was irrelevant, but it made more sense to give Moose and Myers the momentum boost seeing as how they just joined forces and could use the credibility.

Impact Knockouts World Champion Deonna Purrazo def. Jody Threat

This was an open challenge from Purrazzo. I don't think anyone actually believed she'd lose her title ahead of her big Slammiversary match with Trinity, but Threat was a fine opponent for her considering she's new to the roster and was able to use this opportunity to show she can hang with a top talent in the division. It was a well-worked main event. Afterward, chaos ensued among the all the women involved in matches at Slammiversary, which effectively hyped those matches.

Overall Show

This go-home show didn't really move the needle for me at all as Slammiversary still feels like just another show despite having potential on paper, but this was still a quality episode. They didn't attempt to shove too many matches and segments into the show and the video packages were well done, specifically the ones for the Impact World Championship and Impact X-Division Championship matches. The show-closing scene with Scott D'Amore making a call to an old Team Canada friend to help him out at Slammiversary seems to indicate an Eric Young return, which is pretty funny considering he was "killed off" the show less than a year ago to reportedly return to WWE.

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