Impact Slammiversary: Thunder Rosa, Mickie James, and Chelsea Green appear

Surprise appearances and returns are a major part of professional wrestling. Impact Wrestling presented Slammiversary on Saturday and the surprises came hard and fast, but especially in the women’s division. As women’s wrestling continues to gain momentum and draw with fans, it was exciting to see Slammiversary feature three big surprises in the likes of Chelsea Green, Thunder Rosa, and Mickie James.

Green was perhaps the easiest surprise to guess. She joined Matt Cardona as his surprise partner to take on Brian Meyers and Tenille Dashwood. This was a mixed-tag team match that with four performers that were once a part of the WWE but have seen their careers blossom with other promotions. Green returned to her Hot Mess gimmick that was one of the more attention-grabbing personas of her career. She and Cardona picked up the victory at the 6:05 mark.

Then two major surprises came during the Impact Knockouts Championship match later in the evening. Deonna Purrazzo was scheduled to face against a mystery opponent. A lot of names were bounced about in the rumor mill, but it would be none other than Thunder Rosa who answered the call. Rosa may be known as the “Busiest Woman in the Business,” and the fan reaction to her appearance made it clear that they were pleased by this selection. Rosa put up a hard-fought battle but she would go down to Purrazzo at the 10:30 mark.

Another big surprise came right after that as Mickie James appeared and made her presence known in Impact. James was recently released by the WWE and has been a part of NWA, especially in the build-up of that promotion’s women’s division. James invited Purrazzo to attend NWA, but the back and forth led to them getting physical with James coming out on top for the moment.

Surprise appearances will always get fans to their feet. As professional wrestling welcomes back fans, there have already been some big surprises across the industry. It is fantastic to see these three women highlighted by Impact Wrestling at Slammiversary and this is sure to not be the last of the surprises to come.