IMPACT SLAMMIVERSARY HITS & MISSES (7/15): Alex Shelley vs. Nick Aldis for Impact Title, Eric Young & D’Amore vs. Deaner & Bully Ray, Purrazzo vs. Trinity, Kazarian vs. Edwards

IMPACT SLAMMIVERSARY HITS AND MISSES
JULY 15, 2023
WINDSOR, ONT AT ST. CLAIR COLLEGE SPORTSPLEX
AIRED LIVE ON FITE TV
REPORT BY JOHN LASLO, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

(A) THE DEATH DOLLZ (Courtney Rush & Jessicka) & JODY THREAT vs. GISELE SHAW & SAVANNAH EVANS & JAI VIDAL – HIT

A nice little match to give a few more people a payday and get the crowd warmed up. I liked the Death Dollz teaming with Jody Threat, and could see the team last a little longer.

(B) JOE HENDRY (c) vs. KENNY KING (w/Sheldon Jean) – Impact Wrestling Digital Media Title match- MINOR HIT

This is probably the best match I’ve seen Joe Hendry put on, but I am still very glad to see Kenny King take the title off of Joe Hendry. I enjoyed the tables being turned on Hendry with the stripper collar, and I really hope that this is the end of the whole stripper saga.

(1) JONATHAN GRESHAM vs. “SPEEDBALL” MIKE BAILEY vs. KUSHIDA vs. KEVIN KNIGHT vs. ALAN ANGELS vs. JAKE SOMETHING – Ultimate X match- HIT

I almost, ALMOST, thought that this was going to be the shortest Ultimate X match with Kevin Knight taking it. Having a big ol’ power house hoss in a match like Jake Something in a match like this changes the chemistry. While Mike Bailey might have made the single biggest move of the match, this match was an Alan Angels highlight reel.

(2) THE COVEN (Taylor Wilde & KiLynn King)(c) vs. MASHA SLAMOVICH & KILLER KELLY – Impact Wrestling Knockouts Tag Team Title match- HIT

I really like Masha Slamovich and Killer Kelly as a team. Normally, I’m all about the established team (A name, gear, and team moves) should be able to beat any ampersand team. Slamovich and Kelly, though didn’t move like a pair of individuals, they were in concert. Kelly was basically screaming this whole match, how her throat survived is beyond me. I couldn’t talk for days after cheering at a show, I can’t imagine that yelling that long. I’m looking forward to a long reign from the two of them.

(3) SCOTT D’AMORE & ERIC YOUNG vs. BULLY RAY & DEANER (w/Kon) – MINOR HIT.

Alright, the rest of the year, I’m going to pass on the nostalgia matches. Slammiversary, though? Nah, slap that straight into my veins. Go ahead and indulge yourself with blasts from the past. Just wallow in nods to the past, that’s the point of Slammiversary, its a celebration of what Impact was and where it is going. There wasn’t a lot of good wrestling in this match, and towards the end it was starting to drag, but it was an emotional match. I got choked up when the crowd started singing “O, Canada”, I’m not a total monster. Hopefully, this means that Bully Ray is going away for awhile.

(4) CHRIS SABIN (c) vs. LIO RUSH — Impact Wrestling X Division Title match – MISS

I’m not happy about this. I wanted a great match between great wrestlers, this was not it. This was a work, there is no way that anyone would override the doctor’s veto. I don’t think we’ll ever see the real answer. I hope that Chris Sabin is ok. I would have rather had the match canceled than this.

(5) ABC (Chris Bey & Ace Austin) (c) vs. MOOSE & BRIAN MYERS vs. RICH SWANN & SAMI CALLIHAN vs. SUBCULTURE (Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster w/Dani Luna) – Impact Wrestling Tag Team Title match- HIT

This was a great match. These four corners tag matches are pure chaos, there’s just bodies everywhere. Then the Rascalz got involved. It’s the type of match where anything could happen, and it does. This was a really interesting tag match, because Moose and Brian Meyers were the odd men out. This was much more like if the X-Division had a tag division, high energy, big spots, and all the flippy shit you can shake a stick at.

(6) FRANKIE KAZARIAN (w/Traci Brooks) vs. EDDIE EDWARDS (w/Alisha Edwards) – MINOR HIT

For what should have been the blow off for this feud, it didn’t seem like it. It felt like the fourth match in a best of seven series. It was a great match, technically speaking. It just didn’t feel like the end. I would like to get a mixed tag match at some point, but that’s probably just my desire for more tag matches showing.

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(7) DEONNA PURRAZZO (c) vs. TRINITY — Impact Wrestling Knockouts Title match – HIT

I’ve been waiting for this match. The build for this was phenomenal, and it paid off. Just the entrances for both of them were above and beyond anything anyone else did on this card. Which really encapsulates Deonna and Trinity, just putting in the work to be better. While this was a very slow match compared to the rest of the card, it was a great example of ring psychology with every piece adding to the drama and the tension until the end. For the first time in her Impact career, Purrazzo tapped out.

(8) ALEX SHELLEY (c) vs. NICK ALDIS — Impact Wrestling World Title match – HIT

This match was as pitch perfect example of how conflicting styles should work. Nick Aldis was wrestling a very old school southern wrasslin’ style (fitting coming from the NWA), and Alex Shelley was very much the modern X-Division style (which he helped pioneer). One thing I love is Shelley’s vicious streak that he gets to break out on occasion, and in this match it was really played up. The way that Shelley worked Aldis’s fingers was grimace inducing. Beat for beat, at no point did I think that either one of them had the upper hand. I was genuinely surprised when Shelley retained…until Josh Alexander walked out and announced that he was back. The match that Shelley and Alexander had last year was one of the best matches that Impact put on last year, and I can’t wait to see what happens when it runs again with the positions switched.

FINAL THOUGHTS – HIT

While I will complain that the nostalgia match and the Kazarian-Edwards match went long and the space could have been used to have a good match for Rush and Sabin (but again, we don’t know why that was), this was a great show. This was the Impact fan’s show, a big delicious slice of pie as a thank you for watching. Not a card to show to new people, but for those of us who are long term fans, it is exactly what we ordered.

RELATED: 7/15 IMPACT WRESTLING SLAMMIVERSARY 2023 PPV REPORT: Shelley vs. Aldis, Sabin vs. Rush

OR CHECK OUT THIS AT PROWRESTLING.NET: Impact Wrestling Slammiversary results: Moore’s live review of Shelley vs. Aldis for the Impact World Championship, Purrazzo vs. Trinity for the Knockouts Title