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Slammiversary was an excellent pay-per-view that delivered on most fronts. Keeping up with the Slammiversary tradition, a number of surprises and returns took place.
Both tag titles on IMPACT Wrestling changed hands as Decay (Havok and Rosemary) and The Good Brothers won their respective divisions' titles.
Personal feuds were settled as Chris Sabin and W. Morrissey defeated Moose and Eddie Edwards respectively to gain momentum coming out of Slammiversary. Morrissey kept his unbeaten streak alive.
Chelsea Green and Mickie James made their returns to the IMPACT Wrestling brand while Thunder Rosa made her debut challenging Deonna Purrazzo for the IMPACT Wrestling Knockouts Championship.
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The main event saw Sami Callihan push Kenny Omega to a violent extreme, falling just short of winning the IMPACT Wrestling World Championship. Jay White made his IMPACT Wrestling debut post-match, before getting attacked by FinJuice.
On a night when Slammiversary got a lot of things right, what were the 5 things that stood out the most? Let's find out.
#5. Slammiversary pre-show
The Slammiversary pre-show featured a 45-minute video package and a title match.
The video package looked back at TNA and IMPACT Wrestling's history, as past stars and legends who made the company big were spotlighted. Several stars got their first break at TNA and spoke about what made TNA different and how it offered scope beyond just one wrestling promotion. The video transitioned into current wrestlers discussing Slammiversary 2021 and explaining why their matches were significant for them and the company. The importance of Sami Callihan beating Kenny Omega was spectacularly put over.
In the title match, Fire 'N Flava surrendered their IMPACT Wrestling Knockouts Tag Team Championship to Havok and Rosemary in a very good pre-show match. The crowd was off to a good start as the babyface team won the titles for the first time.
The pre-show was the perfect warmup for Slammiversary to officially kick off.
#4. Ultimate X match opens Slammiversary
It is important to get any show off to a hot start, let alone Slammiversary. The Ultimate X was the perfect match for that.
This match type is reserved for the X-Division of IMPACT Wrestling and took place for the first time in 2 years. Josh Alexander had to overcome Trey Miguel, Ace Austin, Rohit Raju, Petey Williams and Chris Bey to retain his title in a match that didn't rest from start to finish. There were creative spots, comedy relief and an excellent finish to make sure the show picked up from where the pre-show left off and the crowd was kept on the edge of their seats throughout.
Josh Alexander being the right person to emerge victorious made the start to Slammiversary even better.
#3. Don Callis on commentary for the Slammiversary main event
Don Callis is a person you love to hate. He's a great wrestling mind and even better on the mic.
He joined D'Lo Brown and Matt Striker on commentary for the main event between Sami Callihan and made the match viewing experience even better. Constantly praising Kenny Omega in over-the-top fashion and berating and demeaning Callihan, it was constant entertainment to listen to the former EVP of IMPACT Wrestling call the match.
He wasn't shy about using less-than professional language as he sounded off against anything and everything Callihan did, terming him "deranged" and a "psychopath" on multiple occasions. Callis' commentary made people want Callihan to win that much more just for the pure joy of hearing Don Callis whine even more. When people want that, you're doing an excellent job.
#2. Thunder Rosa challenges The Virtuosa at Slammiversary
A number of names were thrown in the hat with respect to who could challenge Deonna Purrazzo at Slammiversary for the IMPACT Wrestling Knockouts Championship. Some were highly predictable, like Chelsea Green and Mickie James. While some were slightly far-fetched, like one of the members of The IIconics. But when Thunder Rosa's music hit, it was a genuine surprise in the best way possible.
The Unstoppable is one of the best women's wrestlers in the world and presented a big threat to Deonna's title at Slammiversary. She had Purrazzo on the back foot for most of the match and got a number of nearfalls before falling to the Queen's Gambit in what ended up being one of the best matches of the night.
The surprise debut of the former NWA Women's champion and the excellent match that followed made this a great decision by IMPACT Wrestling to get the Mexican for Slammiversary. Considering the various partnerships on display throughout Slammiversary, Thunder Rosa would be a brilliant addition to an already strong IMPACT Wrestling Women's Division.
#1. Jay White shows up at Slammiversary
NJPW's Jay White made an unexpected debut at IMPACT Wrestling during the final moments of Slammiversary.
Kenny Omega survived an intensely physical and barbaric match against Sami Callihan. Callihan did everything he could to put the "Belt Collector" away, including slicing his forehead with a pizza cutter, delivering a piledriver through a table and hitting a tombstone on a barbed wire wrapped steel chair. Omega powered out of everything, and picked up the victory with a One-Winged Angel on thumbtacks to retain the IMPACT Wrestling World Championship.
As The Elite and Don Callis were celebrating, Jay White entered the IMPACT Zone for the first time and teased a reunion before FinJuice attacked him before the feed was cut and Slammiversary went off air.
The final segment, although cut abruptly, planted a lot of seeds for the future as Jay White and Kenny Omega have a rich history and a rivalry that fans will be clamoring to see again. Slammiversary did a great job in ensuring the coming weeks of IMPACT Wrestling are a must-watch.
