Last week’s episode of Impact Wrestling closed with a teaser of bringing new names and old names into Impact for the Slammiversary PPV on July 17. This week, Impact provided a few more teases with mentions of a Canadian, Heath Slater, Mike Bennett, Maria Kanellis, and Earl Hebner.
The juiciest piece was the closing scene of Michael Elgin taking a phone call from a mysterious Canadian.
"You know us Canadians, we've always been team players."
— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) June 10, 2020
#IMPACTonAXSTV @MichaelElgin25 pic.twitter.com/z4H5lHZjNb
That chat could relate to a recently released WWE talent, or not. It got me thinking about who would be in a position of power over Elgin. Elgin’s goal has always been to win the World Championship, so it would be lame if he took a backseat all of a sudden.
That leads me to believe Elgin was speaking to a manager. Don Callis is Canadian and worked many years as a manager. With Madison Rayne doing well on commentary in Callis’ absence, it opens up Callis to get back on screen as a nefarious fellow.
Another possibility could be a coach. Scott D’Amore has history coaching the Team Canada faction in TNA, however, that would be a convoluted reveal with D’Amore’s current position of power as Impact executive.
But what about the rest of Team Canada? As I peruse the member list, one name in particular sticks out. Eric Young. This could be a way to set up the return of Young. He wouldn’t need the World Championship to be relevant, so Elgin could still stick to his aspirations.
Back to the talent teases. Rhino brought up a reference to his old tag partner, Heath Slater.
"I've already got a tag team partner...and he's got kids." @Rhyno313 has no interest in teaming with @HakimZane. #IMPACTonAXSTV pic.twitter.com/XVL8xQFdCD
— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) June 10, 2020
Reuniting Rhino and Heath Slater would be cool for Impact’s tag team division. Someone needs to shut up The North as arrogant champs. Slater is just the man for that job.
Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis were featured in the flashback moment of the week. Bennett’s match was against referee Earl Hebner. That could be a sign Mike & Maria will come back to Impact for Slammiversary. Or, maybe it was a hint for the return of Hebner.
With all the hype that Impact’s Slammiversary teaser received, I love to see how they are smartly playing into the drama. All these little references create excitement and chatter for their product. It is also fun as a wrestling fan to speculate about who could be coming to town. I’m hoping Impact continues this trend each week leading up to Slammiversary on July 17.
Which of the latest teases excites you most to show up in Impact? Who would you like to see on the other end of the line speaking with Michael Elgin?