Trinity, Lio Rush & Subculture highlight multiple title changes at Impact Slammiversary
Nearly every title changed hands at the pay-per-view.
Impact Wrestling made their Slammiversary pay-per-view a newsworthy one with plenty of title changes.
In the night's co-main event, Trinity (the former Naomi in WWE) defeated Deonna Purrazzo to kick off her first run as Knockouts Champion.
Trinity got the victory following a series of headbutts, a full nelson bomb off the middle rope, and then Starstruck for the submission victory.
It's the first major singles title for Trinity since her second run as WWE SmackDown Women's Champion ended in 2017. After eventually gaining her WWE release, Trinity debuted with Impact in March of this year and is now 5-0 in her new home.
The win ends the three-month reign of Purrazzo who began her third run with the title back in April.
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In another high-profile change, Lio Rush defeated Chris Sabin to kick off his first-ever run as X-Division Champion.
The result didn't come without controversy as Rush attacked Sabin before the match, hitting a suicide dive that drove Sabin into the ramp that he sold as being knocked out. After an Impact doctor suggested he not wrestle, he continued and Rush eventually finished him off with two Final Hours to get the win and title.
Sabin had defeated Trey Miguel last month to begin his ninth reign.
Rush's first challenger for the X-Division title is likely to be KUSHIDA who won an Ultimate X match to earn a future title shot. The former NJPW star picked up the win after punching Alan Angels in the face, knocking him off the ropes to get the victory.
Rush and KUSHIDA are scheduled for a match on Sunday's TV taping.
Not only did Eric Young make his surprise return to the company Saturday, so did Jake Something. Something was a surprise entrant in the aforementioned Ultimate X match.
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Right afterward, Subculture (Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster) won their first-ever Impact Tag Team titles by winning a four-way that included now-former champions Ace Austin & Chris Bey, Moose & Brian Myers, and Sami Callihan & Rich Swann.
Predictably, The Rascalz (Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz) got involved after failing to gain entry into the match despite the stipulation of Wentz defeating Bey last Thursday to earn the opportunity.
Wentz and Miguel prevented Bey from landing the Art of Finesse on Myers, pulling Bey and Austin outside the ring. Webster took out everyone on the outside of the ring with the exception of Myers who was hit by an Andrews' shooting star press for the win and title change.
This was the first win in Impact for the former WWE NXT Tag Team Champions.
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The multi-month run for Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry has ended as Kenny King defeated him Saturday for the title.
King took home the win thanks to the aid of Sheldon Jean who held onto King's feet while they were on the ropes, giving him the additional leverage he needed to get the pin and title change.
This is King's first Impact title of any kind since his second X-Division title run ended in 2015. Since winning the title in November 2022, Hendry had successfully defended the title 13 times.
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Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly are leaving Windsor, Ontario, Canada, as the new Knockouts Tag Team Champions.
The duo defeated The Coven (Taylor Wilde & KiLynn King) to win the titles, their first in Impact. The end came when Slamovich countered a Witch's Wrath with a snowplow for pin and win.
Wilde and King's reign ends after just three successful title defenses dating back to February when they first won the titles.
Source: Figure Four Online
