Post by blackHEART on Nov 18, 2023 14:46:53 GMT -5
In the midst of the pandemic, everyone was struggling mentally and financially. In the spring of 2020, NWA went on hiatus due to the pandemic and several allegations, including VP Dave Lagana who resigned from his position. During this year, Billy Corgan contemplated whether he wanted to continue with the industry. After a long deliberation, Corgan opted to sell the company.
In the wrestling world, WWE and AEW were just getting by with no crowds while Impact Wrestling was at a stalemate. Billy Corgan then made a call but Impact declined to do business with Corgan. Financially, it wasn't the right time for them.
WWE would then begin to release talents. April, May, and June saw some massive budget cuts for the company and this was a catalyst in one of the biggest moves in modern wrestling history. Once opposed to it, Impact contacted several donors to see if they would back the company in their endeavors.
Receiving financial assistance, Impact picked up the phone and made the call to Billy Corgan and according to reports, officially purchased the NWA. This was later confirmed on an episode of Impact where Scott D'Amore appeared on-screen and suggested Impact would go back to its roots with the NWA officially at Slammiversary 2021.
One of the major contributors to this move was their working partnership with AEW at the time. "Belt Collector" Kenny Omega was fighting everywhere and currently held the Impact Wrestling Championship as of Rebellion on April 25th. AEW allowing select wrestlers like Kenny Omega to compete on Impact was big for attracting viewers to its product. And now, it'll help attract people to watch the first PPV back under the NWA banner, Slammiversary on July 17th.
In the main event, Kenny Omega walks in as Impact World Champion. Nick Aldis walks in as the reigning NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion. Slammiversary will celebrate Nick Aldis as champion for 1,000 days... but will Omega spoil it in his quest for another belt? Aldis versus Omega.
In another unification match, NWA Women's Champion Thunder Rosa battles Impact Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo.
NWA Tag Team Champions Aron Stevens and JR Kratos are added to the tag team match to make it a triple threat "winner takes all" bout between The Good Brothers and Impact Tag Team Champions Violent By Design (Joe Doering and Rhino).
In another unification, NWA National Champion Chris Adonis wrestles NWA Television Champion Tyrus with the winner keeping their championship reign alive.
Other matches at Slammiversary include:
X-Division Championship "Ultimate X Match"
Josh Alexander(c) vs. Ace Austin vs. Chris Bey vs. Petey Williams vs. Rohit Raju vs. Trey Miguel
Matt Cardona & Chelsea Green vs. Brian Myers & Tenille Dashwood
Chris Sabin vs. Moose
