Entertainment
IMPACT Wrestling: Samoa Joe, Mickie James and more appear in shock Slammiversary announcement
IMPACT Wrestling got everyone talking as Samoa Joe, Mickie James and Chelsea Green all appeared in the Slammiversary announcement during Rebellion.
All three stars – who were released from WWE earlier this month – have their history in the company, with the Samoan Submission Machine a former X-Division and world champion, while both women have held the Knockouts Title.
The promotion confirmed Slammiversary will be back in July, and they made use of their back catalogue by teasing the trio for the upcoming event.
With IMPACT owning footage of the talent from their past tenures, this was a brilliant move to get people talking and reveal the possibility of some big returns once the recently released stars’ 90-day non-compete clause expires.
Of course, this tease is no guarantee any of them will actually appear, but it makes perfect sense to throw out the possibility.
Last year’s Slammiversary saw the likes of Heath Slater, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, EC3 and Eric Young all make the jump to IMPACT, so it’ll be interesting to see where things go from here.
The three wrestlers left WWE as part of talent cuts earlier this month as the company released 10 superstars which also included IIconics due Billie Kay and Peyton Royce.
In a brief statement on WWE.com, they said: ‘WWE has come to terms on the release of Samoa Joe, Billie Kay, Peyton Royce, Mickie James, Chelsea Green, Tucker, Kalisto, Bo Dallas and Wesley Blake as of today April 15, 2021.
‘We wish them the best in all of their future endeavours.’
Mojo Rawley was later added to the list.
Following her departure, veteran Mickie thanked boss Vince McMahon for the role he’s played in her career.
After the announcement was made, she wrote: ‘Grateful for the memories. Grateful for the locker room. Grateful for the fans. Grateful for these little keys to my golden handcuffs.
‘You can never expected others vision of you to be big as your own dreams. Thank you @VinceMcMahon #AlwaysBlessedAndGrateful (sic)’
However, last week she revealed her belongings had been sent to her in a bin bag, which led to an apology and some strong action from WWE executives.
Stephanie McMahon tweeted: ‘@MickieJames I am embarrassed you or anyone else would be treated this way. I apologize personally and on behalf of @WWE. The person responsible is no longer with our company. (sic)’
And Triple H added: ‘Upon learning of the disrespectful treatment some of our recently released talent received on behalf of the company, we took immediate action.
‘The person responsible for this inconsiderate action has been fired and is no longer with @WWE.’
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