Impact Wrestling Slammiversary Review - July 2, 2017

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Impact Wrestling World Tag Team Champions and GFW World Tag Team Champions LAX defeated Naomichi Marufuji & Taiji Ishimori, El Hijo del Fantasma & Drago, and Garza Jr. & Laredo Kid in a Four-Way Tag Team Match

This match wasn't even announced for the show until days beforehand on social media, so casual viewers had no idea who the two international teams were and why this match was happening. That said, this bout was a blast and the exciting action was non-stop from start to finish. It was definitely smart to open the event with it because it kicked off the night on a high note for sure. LAX were the only credible tandem in the matchup, so it was logical for them to hold onto the gold.

Impact Grand Champion Moose and DeAngelo Williams def. Eli Drake and Chris Adonis

I had zero expectations coming into this contest in regards to how Williams would fare, especially since most celebrities look awful inside the ring, but Williams honestly shocked me with what he was able to pull off. I later read he trained for only three days, which blew my mind because he looked damn impressive in this match and had a better showing than any of the other three. Yes, the botched table spot at the end was a bit of a bummer, but it's hard to blame the guy because it was tough to execute.

Ethan Carter III def. James Storm in a Strap Match

With this being one of the better built bouts leading into the pay-per-view, I didn't think it would happen so early in the card, but they contested a good Strap match, nevertheless. I was hoping it wouldn't be a traditional Strap match and rather the type that Frankie Kazarian and Adam Page had at ROH Best in the World, but the best part about this matchup was the storytelling with Storm selling the concussion he suffered (not legitimate by the way) and EC3 picking up the scraps. They work well together and I wouldn't be opposed to more matches between them down the road.

Jeremy Borash and Abyss def. Josh Mathews and Scott Steiner

I know I'm not alone in calling the Borash vs. Mathews feud a total waste of time, but this match was way more fun than it had any right to be. I laughed when they went backstage and aired pre-tapes instead because although I enjoyed it, that was the type of stuff Jeff Jarrett didn't want in his new Impact Wrestling, which is why The Broken Hardyz were not re-signed. At any rate, the crowd popped big for the cameos of Shark Boy and James Mitchell, who I'm really hoping is back full-time as Abyss' manager again. The tacks spot was well done, too, and I'd be happy if that wrote Mathews off television for the foreseeable future (though it probably won't).

Eddie Edwards and Alisha Edwards def. Davey Richards and Angelina Love in a Full Metal Mayhem Match

Could you believe that the crowd was more alive for the previous match than this one? Despite that, it was a well-worked match and the hardcore spots were perfectly befitting of the feud. All four wrestlers played their roles well and had their time to shine. My only gripe with it was that it felt like an afterthought by the end of the evening and that it was merely eight minutes long. A ruthless rivalry such as this one deserved more time than that.

X-Division Champion Sonjay Dutt def. Low Ki in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match

Nothing bothers me more than when the first two falls in a 2-out-of-3 Falls match end within a matter of minutes, completely defeating the purpose of the gimmick match in the first place. Thankfully, that wasn't the case here and this was an infinitely better bout than their encounter on Impact Wrestling in India last month. They were both motivated, the wrestling was exceptional and they incorporated a handful of sweet spots as well. Dutt deserves a lengthy reign as champion, so having him retain the title was a wise decision.

GFW Women's Champion Sienna def. Rosemary to Win the Knockouts Championship

Other than Gail Kim, who has been sitting on the sidelines for months now, Rosemary and Sienna are probably the two most talented women's wrestlers in the company, yet this match didn't click with me for whatever reason. It was a fine enough match with a believable nearfall down the stretch with Laurel Van Ness and Allie interfering, but the crowd was flat for the finish with Sienna being the one to unify the two titles.

Jeff Jarrett Addressed the Audience

Unlike his wife Karen, Jeff Jarrett has not appeared on-screen for Impact Wrestling since the big reboot back in March. In fact, I was slightly surprised the crowd didn't give him a louder reaction than they did, but part of that might have been due to this taking place so late in the show. I also figured this would be where he announced the merger between Impact Wrestling and Global Force Wrestling, but it never happened, so perhaps they're holding off on it until the TV tapings.

GFW Global Champion Alberto El Patron def. Lashley to Win the Impact Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship​

From an in-ring standpoint, this was a solid match, though I could have done without the shenanigans at ringside from Dos Caras and King Mo. What did they really add to this, anyway? Two top titles were up for grabs, but the match didn't come across as special as it should have, lacking that big fight feel. Again, the effort was there and there wasn't anything technically wrong with it, but I just didn't care about the title unification because the GFW belt had hardly been established as prestigious prior to this point.

Overall Show

The main event did very little for me, but the rest of the show delivered I thought and it was an entertaining event on the whole. The surplus of gimmick matches was a nice touch and each of them held my interest by and large. There was talk on Sunday about Impact Wrestling becoming Global Force Wrestling at Slammiversary, but nothing was made official or even discussed, so I won't begin giving my reviews a GFW label until I know for certain. Several parts of Slammiversary are worth going out of your way to see and I applaud Don West and Robert Flores for doing a superb job on commentary throughout the night.