Deonna Purrazzo cashes in and Lio Rush chooses a side to set up matches at Impact Emergence

Impact is holding the Emergence special event on August 27 in Toronto, Ontario. Stories unfolded during Impact Wrestling (July 27, 2023) to set up the first official matches on the card. Deonna Purrazzo cashed in, and Lio Rush chose a side.

First up was Deonna Purrazzo. The Virtuosa lost the Knockouts Championship to Trinity at Slammiversary. The new titleholder was in action to open the show on Thursday night. Trinity teamed with Dani Luna of Subculture to prevail over The Coven. Shortly after victory, Purrazzo made her way to the ring. She had a simple message for Trinity. Purrazzo is cashing in her contractual rematch for Emergence.

Impact made the bout official. Trinity will defend the Knockouts Championship against Purrazzo. There is a strong chance that this bout will be the main event at Emergence.

Second on the list was the Lio Rush. The Bad Child was fresh off winning the X-Division Championship from Chris Sabin at Slammiversary. Last week, Rush teased using Option C for a world title shot. Chaos broke out. Bully Ray, Moose, and Brian Myers were thumping Alex Shelley, Josh Alexander, and Kushida. The bad guys offered Rush to take a free shot at Shelley. Rush declined and rolled out of the ring to exit the scene.

This week, Bully was more forceful in demanding Rush chose a side. Rush didn’t trust Bully. Besides, he wasn’t in Impact to make friends. Moose set him straight on their union. None of them are friends, but they do have a common goal in winning gold. Bully demanded an answer from Rush by the end of the night, or else they will consider him an enemy.

Moose & Myers were in tag team action against the Time Splitters duo of Shelley & Kushida. Shelley outsmarted Myers for a roll-up to win the bout. Bully blitzed the ring for a beatdown on the babyfaces. Alexander entered the fray, but the numbers got him. That’s when Rush came out to attack Shelley. It was clear that his choice was made. This scene led to the surprise return of Sabin, who had not been medically cleared. The good guys cleaned house, surrounded Rush, and served him up to Sabin for clotheslines.

Impact addressed the situation to book an 8-man tag at Emergence. Bully, Moose, Myers, & Rush will stand across from Shelley, Sabin, Kushida, & Alexander for combat.

The current card for Emergence on August 27 includes:

• Knockouts Championship: Trinity (c) vs. Deonna Purrazzo
• Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Kushida, & Josh Alexander vs. Bully Ray, Moose, Brian Myers, & Lio Rush
• IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Sanada in action

How does the Emergence lineup stack up in your eye so far?