On a night filled with surprise appearances, two more stars made unannounced showings at Impact Wrestling’s Slammiversary PPV.
NWA’s Thunder Rosa appeared on the show as Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo’s mystery opponent in a title match.
Following Rosa’s defeat, Mickie James came to the ring to issue an invitation to Purrazzo to appear at the NWA Empower all-women’s PPV on Saturday, August 28. James is serving as executive producer for that event.
Purrazzo did not officially accept the invite, but insulted James and made reference to the trash bag incident that James took public following her April release from WWE. James then laid out Purrazzo with a kick.
Prior to tonight’s event, James last appeared in Impact in 2015. Her most recent in-ring appearance came at WWE Royal Rumble on January 31. She has announced a return to the ring at NWA’s 73rd anniversary event on August 29, one day after Empower.
Tonight’s appearance marks Rosa’s most high-profile match since facing Britt baker in an unsanctioned match on AEW Dynamite in March. Rosa has since primarily appeared on AEW Dark: Elevation and NWA Power.