Five Titles Change Hands At IMPACT Wrestling Slammiversary 2023

It was a big night of action for IMPACT Wrestling.

Jul 16, 2023 July 16th, 2023

Last night's Slammiversary PPV saw five IMPACT Wrestling titles change hands.

The first title switch of the night took place on the event's pre-show, with Kenny King defeating Joe Hendry to become the new Digital Media Champion.

In the second match of the main Slammiversary card, Killer Kelly and Masha Slamovich toppled the Coven's Taylor Wilde and KiLynn King to become the new Knockout Tag Team Champions.

Elsewhere, Lio Rush got the better of Chris Sabin to embark on his first run as the company's X-Division Champion. That bout was immediately followed by Ace Austin and Chris Bey putting the Tag Team Titles on the line in a four-way against Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster, Brian Myers and Moose, and Rich Swann and Sami Callihan - with the Subculture duo of Andrews and Webster emerging victorious.

In the final title change of the evening - and likely the most notable one - Trinity tapped out Deonna Purrazzo with her Starstruck submission to win the Knockouts Championship. This marks the former Naomi's first slice of gold with IMPACT Wrestling, and this also brings an end to the Virtuosa's third reign with that prize.

Where Slammiversary's one other title match is concerned, the main event of the PPV had Alex Shelley retain the IMPACT World Championship against Nick Aldis. Post-match, Shelley was greeted by the returning Josh Alexander. The Walking Weapon had been out of action since March due to a torn triceps, and as a result Alexander had to vacate the IMPACT World Title after a sensational 335-day run with that belt.

Josh Alexander wasn't the only surprise return to take place at Slammiversary, though, as Eric Young was revealed as Scott D'Amore's mystery partner to take on Bully Ray and Deaner. EY and D'Amore - who of course were Team Canada buddies - scored the win here. As for the rest of the card, KUSHIDA overcame Alan Angels, Jake Something, Jonathan Gresham, Kevin Knight, and 'Speedball' Mike Bailey to win the Ultimate X contest; Eddie Edwards got the better of Frankie Kazarian; and the pre-show also had Jody Threat and the Death Dollz beat the SHAWntourage trio of Gisele Shaw, Savannah Evans, and Jai Vidal.

Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

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