IMPACT! Wrestling Review - July 8, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Jake Something def. Brian Myers

Myers has worked well with pretty much everyone on the IMPACT roster over the last year, while Something has plenty of potential. He's just needed direction and a string of wins and he's gotten both of those things lately. This was a good choice for the opener as it was well wrestled and had a nice energy to it. Something winning keeps his momentum alive and we also got the return of Matt Cardona afterward, setting up Something and Cardona vs. Myers and Beale for a future episode or possibly Slammiversary.

Impact Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo def. Lady Frost

Frost has made a few appearances in the NWA recently but hasn't been positioned as anyone of importance. I was hoping to see a bit more from her here, especially since it was an open challenge for the championship, but she was once relegated to jobber duty here and lost to Purrazzo in a matter of minutes. It was a nice little match while it lasted but way too short to be anything memorable. Post-match, Purrazzo boasted about being the greatest Knockouts Champion of all-time when she was confronted by Gail Kim. I thought we would get Kim vs. Purrazzo at the pay-per-view, but instead, Kim announced Purrazzo will defend against a mystery opponent at the event. Chelsea Green is my first guess. Mickie James would be a solid second choice.

W. Morrissey def. Jason Page, Manny Smith and Deonte Evans in a 3-on-1 Handicap Match

Eddie Edwards challenged Morrisey to a match at Slammiversary and before this bout, Morrissey accepted the offer. Edwards is an IMPACT stalwart and is the perfect opponent for Morrisey to work with next coming off his recent battles with Willie Mack and Rich Swann. This Handicap match was designed to make Morrissey look more like a monster and it was successful in that respect. Keeping it short and sweet was also smart.

Rosemary and Havok def. Kimber Lee and Susan

Lee and Susan have run their course as a team, so I'm hoping their last few losses mean that we're getting closer to the two splitting up. I know Lee hinted at bringing back Su Yung, which would be an improvement over Susan, but that isn't an overly exciting idea, either. The match was fine for what it was and gave Rosemary and Havok another win before they vie for the Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship at Slammiversary. They're slowly becoming more and more of a cohesive unit.

Karl Anderson def. Impact World Tag Team Champion Deaner, Rich Swann and TJP in a Four-Way Tag Team Match

Beforehand, Tommy Dreamer announced that it will be Violent By Design vs. Swann and Willie Mack vs. TJP and Fallah Bahh vs. The Good Brothers for the Impact World Tag Team Championship at Slammiversary. This match was basically a small preview of what to expect in that tag team four-way. All of these guys are very good and were the best choice to represent their respective teams. The action was entertaining and filled the time well.

Impact World Champion Kenny Omega and Sami Callihan Signed the Contract for Their Match at Slammiversary

The story throughout the night was whether this advertised contract signing would happen or not after Callihan was "arrested" earlier in the evening for attacking Don Callis backstage, even though the footage was clearly fake. That was ultimately revealed here, leading to Callihan coming out and brawling with Omega before putting him through a table. It was a simple segment that built toward Omega vs. Callihan at Slammiversary, though I would've liked to see them go back on the forth on the mic for a bit before the inevitable physicality.

Overall Show

It's crazy to think that Slammiversary is next weekend. To IMPACT's credit, they have a strong card on tap and the shows leading up to it have been enjoyable and effective. We got more matches made official for the event on this edition of IMPACT! Wrestling and, per usual, everything served a purpose. The contract signing at the end was fairly basic and everything else was mostly straightforward, but I did think Something vs. Myers and the four-way were quality matchups.

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