| Slammiversary (2020) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Promotion | Impact Wrestling | ||
| Date | July 18, 2020 | ||
| City | Nashville,Tennessee | ||
| Venue | Skyway Studios | ||
| Attendance | 0 (behind closed doors)[Note 1] | ||
| Pay-per-view chronology | |||
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| Slammiversary chronology | |||
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The 2020Slammiversary was aprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV)event produced byImpact Wrestling. It took place on July 18, 2020, at the Skyway Studios inNashville, Tennessee. It was the sixteenth event under theSlammiversary chronology.
Seven matches were contested at the event. In the main event,Eddie Edwards defeatedAce Austin,Trey,Eric Young, andRich Swann (the last two being unannounced participants) in afive-way elimination match to win the vacantImpact World Championship. In other prominent matches,Chris Bey defeatedWillie Mack to win theImpact X Division Championship, andDeonna Purrazzo defeatedJordynne Grace by submission to capture theImpact Knockouts Championship. The event also marked the Impact debut ofHeath and the return ofThe Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley andChris Sabin).
| Other on-screen personnel | |
|---|---|
| Commentator | Josh Mathews |
| Don Callis | |
| Ring announcer | David Penzer |
| Referee | Brandon Tolle |
| Daniel Spencer | |
| Interviewers | Gia Miller |
On the June 2, 2020, episode ofImpact!, it was announced that Slammiversary would take place on July 18, 2020.[1] It took take place (with no fans) at Skyway Studios inNashville, Tennessee, which was Impact's home base during the bulk of theCOVID-19 pandemic.[2]
The event will featureprofessional wrestling matches that involves different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds andstorylines. Wrestlers portrayedvillains,heroes, orless distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.[3]
On Night 2 ofRebellion,Tessa Blanchard was due to defend theImpact World Championship againstMichael Elgin andEddie Edwards in athree-wayintergender match. However, due to Blanchard and Edwards being stuck in lockdowns inMexico andMassachusetts respectively as a result of the ongoingCOVID-19 pandemic, the match was unable to take place, and Elgin facedMoose andHernandez in a three-way match instead, which Moose won.[4] On the May 5, 2020, episode ofImpact!, it was announced that an eight-man tournament would take place to determine the number one contender for the Impact World Championship.[5]Ace Austin won the tournament during the June 2 episode ofImpact! after defeatingWentz, who stood in forTrey after he was attacked before the match, in the tournament final.[6] However, on the following week's episode, it was announced that Blanchard would defend her title against Elgin, Edwards, Austin and Trey in afive-way intergender match at Slammiversary.[7]
On June 22,Impact Wrestling released a statement announcing that alongside the termination ofDave Crist andJoey Ryan's contracts with the promotion, that Elgin had been suspended indefinitely pending a further investigation into allegations ofsexual assault made against him.[8] Four days later, Impact released additional statements announcing that both Blanchard and Elgin had their contracts terminated with the promotion, the former being stripped of her Impact World Championship and the latter being a result of the allegations.[9][10] On the June 30 episode ofImpact!, it was announced that Austin, Edwards, Trey, and a mystery opponent will face each other in a four-way match for the vacant title at Slammiversary.[11]
On the June 9 episode ofImpact!,Deonna Purrazzo made her return to the company, attackingKnockouts ChampionJordynne Grace after Grace successfully defended the title againstTaya Valkyrie.[7] The following week, Purrazzo interrupted Grace's backstage interview and once again attacked her. On the June 23 episode ofImpact!, it was announced that Grace will defend the Knockouts title against Purrazzo at Slammiversary.[12]
On Night 1 of Rebellion,Willie Mack defeated Ace Austin to win theX Division Championship, whereas the following week on Night 2, rising starChris Bey won anX Divisionfour-way match involvingRohit Raju,Suicide, and Trey. After the match, Bey went backstage to state that he deserved to be the #1 contender to the X Division Championship; a match he would get on the May 5 edition ofImpact! in athree-way match also involving Austin, but Mack retained the title.[5] Two weeks later on May 19, Mack retained the title by defeatingJohnny Swinger, after the latter was told by Bey the previous week that Mack was saying things behind his back.[13][14] However, after the match, Bey came out and assisted Swinger in a beatdown of Mack. The two eventually formed a team, that Swinger called "The Finesse and Bench Press Express"; though it was mostly as a way to get Bey to another X Division title shot. On the June 23 edition ofImpact!, Bey, Swinger, and Raju defeated Mack and The Deaners (Cody and Cousin Jake) in asix-man tag team match after Bey pinned Mack. Two days later, Impact announced that Mack will defend the X Division Championship against Bey at Slammiversary, with Swinger banned from ringside.[15]
On June 29, Impact Wrestling announced aKnockoutsgauntlet match for Slammiversary, with the winner becoming the #1 contender to the Knockouts Championship.Rosemary,Nevaeh,Susie,Kiera Hogan, Taya Valkyrie,Tasha Steelz,Alisha Edwards,Kylie Rae,Kimber Lee andHavok were announced to compete in the match.[16] On the July 7 edition ofImpact!, formerTNA Knockouts ChampionMadison Rayne announced during an episode of her chat show, "Locker Room Talk", that she would be returning to the ring to also compete in the gauntlet match.[17]
On the March 17 edition ofImpact!,Sami Callihan returned to Impact Wrestling as the mysterious ICU hacker, and launched a fireball into the face ofImpact Hall of Fame-designateKen Shamrock.[18] The feud would culminate on Night 1 of Rebellion in anunsanctioned match, where Shamrock submitted Callihan to anankle lock. Several weeks later on May 12, Shamrock appeared on "Locker Room Talk" with Madison Rayne and Johnny Swinger, only to be attacked by Michael Elgin, taking him out of the Impact World Championship #1 contender's tournament;[13] whereas the following week, Elgin defeated a noticeably limping Callihan in the first round.[14] The two kept their issues with Elgin going, from Callihan distracting him during his semi-final tournament match with Trey,[19] to an in-ring promo between Elgin and Shamrock,[6] and athree-way match won by Elgin.[7] On those same weeks,The North (Josh Alexander andEthan Page) had defended theWorld Tag Team Championships in Canada against questionable challengers, including againstCody Deaner and Wheels Deaner at the Deaner Compound.[19] They eventually returned on the June 16Impact! to defeatThe Rascalz (Dez and Wentz) in a title match.[20] Unfortunately, no one was watching backstage, and were instead watching Ken Shamrock's Greatest Hits onImpact Plus. The next week, Page went on about people watching Shamrock instead of them, leading to Shamrock challenging Alexander to a match that night. However, The North would attack Shamrock before he even got in the ring.[21] The following week, The North came to address their assault, only for Shamrock to come out looking for a fight. He was eventually joined by Callihan, fighting off The North alongside his rival before disappearing into the night.[22] Impact EVPScott D'Amore, looking to appease to an irate Page, scheduled a tag team title match between The North and the team of Shamrock and Callihan for Slammiversary.[23]
On Night 2 ofRebellion 2020, Moose interrupted Michael Elgin while wearing the oldTNA World Heavyweight Championship. Defeating Elgin andHernandez inthree-way match, Moose would proclaim himself TNA World Heavyweight Champion, doing everything to make sure everyone knew it, from pulling out of the Impact World Championship #1 Contender's Tournament,[5] to defending the title against TNA Originals. He defended it against Hernandez,[20] Suicide twice,[13][14] andCrazzy Steve.[22] After the match with Steve,Tommy Dreamer came down to check on the injured challenger, but Moose attacked Dreamer. Once Dreamer recovered from the assault, he cut a promo on Moose, claiming that he "lacked the passion and drive for his profession, despite having the God-given natural talent". He went on to criticize him for creating a title for himself because he couldn't win any, (despite Moose winning the now-defunctImpact Grand Championship twice), and stated that he would be "a footnote in both theNational Football League and professional wrestling" and calling him "a waste of talent". Moose responded by calling Dreamer's commentsslanderous and defaming of his character, threatening to sue him and the company unless he was given an apology.[24] The next week, Dreamer formally gave Moose a written apology, albeit with some backhanded remarks that poked at Moose's delusional behavior. Moose would interrupt him, but then told Dreamer that the "TNA Championship Committee" proclaimed him the #1 contender to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. After the confrontation, Impact announced that Dreamer and Moose would face each other for the TNA World Heavyweight title at Slammiversary in anOld School Rules match.[25]
On April 16,WWE announced that several of their talent, both on-air and recruits, as well as much backstage personnel, were released from their contracts.[26] On June 1, Impact Wrestling released a video on their YouTube channel to promote Slammiversary, featuring a hooded figure drinking and watching the news being broken about said people being released while flashing images of both former Impact and WWE wrestlers, teasing the returns of some of them, including at least one former World Champion.[27] Many names were teased, including the reunion ofTeam Canada with Michael Elgin,Heath Slater,[28]D'Lo Brown reunitingAces & Eights,[29]Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, andSuper Eric. At the end of the July 7 edition ofImpact!, it was revealed that the former World Champion wouldn't be alone, before ending the vignette with three hands grabbing glasses of alcohol.[30]
On July 18, 2020, Gallows and Anderson announced that they had signed two-year contracts with Impact Wrestling and would be appearing at Slammiversary.[31]
| Eliminated | Wrestler | Eliminated by | Method of elimination | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trey | Eric Young | Pinned after apiledriver | 9:35 |
| 2 | Eric Young | Rich Swann | Pinned with avictory roll | 15:38 |
| 3 | Rich Swann | Ace Austin | Pinned afterThe Fold | 18:53 |
| 4 | Ace Austin | Eddie Edwards | Pinned after theDie Hard Flowsion | 24:25 |
| Winner | Eddie Edwards | — | ||