Five Bold Predictions: Impact Wrestling Slammiversary

We are only a few days away from the 20th Anniversary of Impact Wrestling’s Slammiversary! The card is stacked with exciting matches and the rumors have fans on the edge of their seats for this weekend.

It is an exciting time for any fan of Impact Wrestling. The build-up to the 20th Anniversary of Slammiversary has everyone hyped for a stacked show that is also serving as a tribute to the past. Many names from the company’s early TNA days have been shown in montages the company has been airing. And of course, the wrestling world instantly has got to talking about who could possibly make an appearance at the show. With forbidden doors being broken down around the industry, you can never be sure what you will see these days.

We saw then Impact Knockouts Champion Mickie James make an appearance at the WWE’s Royal Rumble. Perhaps WWE may repay the favor by allowing some of their hired TNA originals to have a little freedom. Now, it’s been a minute I’ll admit it but I’m back to making bold predictions where the bolder the better. While some of these predictions are trying to hit home runs, that’s the name of the game. With one of the company’s biggest shows coming up in just a matter of days, here are five bold predictions for the 20th anniversary of Slammiversary airing this Sunday.

5. Abyss Gets Involved In Monster’s Ball

Despite being currently employed as a producer for the WWE, Abyss is a TNA Original that the fans would love to see in Impact Wrestling at least one more time. During Abyss’s storied seventeen-year run in Impact Wrestling, he won nearly every championship that was offered including a run in the NWA World Heavyweight Championship when the company was still affiliated with NWA. Besides all of the accomplishments Abyss has in the company, he is also credited for the Monster’s Ball match in which we have seen competitors destroy each other.

Abyss and the Monster’s Ball match go hand in hand with each other. Out of the fifty-four Monster Ball matches, Abyss has been in forty-nine of them. With this Slammiversary being a blast of the past, it would be incredible to see Abyss be allowed to show up on the show and get involved with the Monster’s Ball match between Sami Callihan and Moose. You can see some of the same mannerisms that you see in Abyss in Samii Callihan. he is violent and can be out of control at times. Perhaps Abyss could help Callihan win in a passing of the torch type moment.

4. America’s Most Wanted Win Impact Tag Team Championships

While even I have predicted that “Wildcat” Chris Harris and “Cowboy” James Storm will be the final two competitors on the TNA Originals team, let’s get a little bolder. The current Impact Tag Team Champions The Briscoe’s are currently scheduled to defend the titles against The Good Brothers. However, that doesn’t mean the card couldn’t change and one of TNA’s first home-grown teams couldn’t get a spot and make it a triple threat match. James Storm has won tag team gold in Impact Wrestling on fourteen separate occasions with five different partners.

However, Storm will always best be known for his reigns with Bobby Roode and Chris Harris. He won the NWA Tag Team titles six times with Harris as America’s Most Wanted and the Impact Tag Team titles with Roode as Beer Money Inc five times. With that being said, it has to leave a rotten taste in Harris and Storm’s mouths that they have never been the Impact Tag Team Champions. It would be the perfect place back in the original home of TNA, Nashville, Tennessee, where the Cowboy and the Wildcat ride again and could end up riding away as the new Impact Tag Team Champions.

3. Team Canada Mess With Championship Match

On the 20th Anniversary of Slammiversary, where two Canadians are competing in the main event for the Impact World Championship, it would be surprising if Team Canada somehow didn’t get involved. Once one of the biggest stables in the company, there are only two members of the former stable that are still with the company. The former leader of the stable Scott D’Amore, who has taken an authority role in the company, and Eric Young, who is competing for the Impact World Championship. Other members like Bobby Roode and Petey Williams are signed with WWE.

Some other members are still wrestling in the indies like A-1. However, you can never say never in this business. Since the Team Canada days, Eric Young has become much darker than he was and leads the dangerous Violent By Design stable. At Slammiversary, we could see Eric Young and Violent By Design breaking the rules to help Eric Young win the Impact World Championship for the third time. However, we could see a face version of Team Canada for the first time to come to the aid of Ontario, Canada’s own Josh Alexander.

2. Windham Rotunda Debuts

Let’s just keep getting bolder, shall we? For the past few months, the man formerly known as Bray Wyatt, Windham Rotunda has been teasing his next move. As I have already covered in Making A Case, signing with Impact Wrestling could be the right move for Rotunda. On a night dedicated to twenty years of success and paying a tribute to all of those who helped the company through the years, it would be perfect timing to bring in somebody new to start a path in a new direction. With Honor No More and the TNA Originals match getting everyone’s attention, it’s possible neither team ends up victorious.

When whichever team wins the ten-man tag team match, imagine that the lights in the arena go out. When they come back on, Windham Rotunda has found a new home and is standing in the center of an Impact Wrestling ring. You can easily imagine the roof being blown off the place from the pop from the Nashville crowd. It would stand as a moment that would be remembered for years to come as a moment that pushed Impact Wrestling towards the future and their next step as a company after twenty years of success. So I guess the only question for Impact Wrestling at this point is, will you let him in?

1. Jeff Jarrett and Sting Complete TNA Originals Team

You have to get bold as you can for the final choice. While both men are currently signed to different companies, Jeff Jarrett and Sting are the definitions of TNA Originals. They actually don’t come much more original in TNA than the co-founder Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett spent twelve years as one of Impact Wrestling’s biggest stars. He became known as the “King of the Mountain” in the company for winning the match with the same name on three occasions. In the early days of the company, Jeff Jarrett dominated the roster and reigned as NWA World Heavyweight Champion six different times.

While Sting wasn’t in the company from day one like Jarrett, Sting first appeared in the company in 2003 making sporadic appearances. It wasn’t until December 2005 that Sting returned to the company as a full-time competitor and instantly started a feud with “Mr. TNA” himself, Jeff Jarrett. The two fought over the world championship for the majority of the year. Overall, Sting spent eleven years in Impact Wrestling earning the world championship on five occasions. He was honored for his work when he became the first inductee into the Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2012.

Looking back at the twenty years of Slammiversary and it couldn’t have been the same without Jeff Jarrett and Sting being along for the journey. When you are creating a team of TNA Originals, these two would be an instant pick if they were available. While Sting is still competing in some matches for AEW, Jarrett hasn’t been in the ring since having a match on Raw against Elias. However, if AEW and WWE were open to allowing the two to be at Slammmiversary and Jarrett and Impact are on good terms again, Honor No More will be in serious trouble.