Impact Wrestling Emergence 2023 HOT TAKE

"Change does not take place easily but through painful emergence." ― Lailah Gifty Akita

As the temperature rises across the globe, so do tempers, resentment and war. In the world of Impact, slights evolve into rivalries. Championship opportunities ascend into bitter wars. Dreams of glory callous into nightmarish conditions endured in pursuit of victory. Every day, every hour, the landscape never stops shifting, a roller coaster of emotions that are broken, dissected and avenged in the name of victory and vengeance, physical and spiritual epiphanies that rise as arms are raised in celebration.

On Sunday August 27th, Impact Wrestling will broadcast live on FITE, emanating from The Rebel Entertainment Complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, a notoriously fitting home for Impact's biggest event of the summer. For it was Canada that became the home country of Impact Wrestling as it fought to fight back from the brink of extinction, evolving and emerging one again as one of the most important and celebrated wrestling promotions worldwide.

With a grand tour of Australia under its belt and a forthcoming tour of the United Kingdom making global waves, Impact is poised for greatness once again and the combatants who stand tall ready to charge into battle nightly are no less majestic and dangerous. Their drive to be the ultimate victors, the supreme warriors, the immortal champions continues to churn, a never ending evolution as they all seek to emerge victorious once and for all.

With Bound for Glory just a few months away in Chicago, the entire Impact roster is jockeying for position, seeking grand performances when the bell rings alongside the defeat of their opponents. The time is now to show the world everything they bring to the battlefield, as Emergence means it is time to show all or nothing inside the squared circle.

Out of everyone fighting at Emergence, perhaps no one has more to lose than The Virtuosa Deonna Purrazzo. Having lost via submission for the first time in her Impact Wrestling tenure, Purrazzo has invoked her Knockouts World Championship rematch clause and will step inside the ring in Toronto against the woman who took that title from her at the 2023 Slammiversary event, Trinity.

Trinity came to Impact with one goal in mind - to become the Knockouts World Champion - and since shocking Purrazzo by forcing her to submit the title, Trinity has bathed in the glow of championship gold. Now, she steps into a rematch of one of the biggest Knockouts dream matches of all time, knowing full well that Purrazzo is obsessed with regaining what she considers lost property.

Last time, this battle was defined by which competitor would score the perfect submission strategy. At Emergence, it's going to be a battle of wills - two incredibly talented in-ring competitors who have used the blessings of their talents and their wits to rise to the top of the professional wrestling world. For Purrazzo, however, there is now red in her ledger, and she needs to take Trinity out in order to wipe it out and start fresh. Trinity has never been one to be shoved aside and certainly at Emergence, she's seeking to dance down the aisle with all intentions of raising the profile of her Knockouts championship reign, not seeing it crash down like another forgotten one hit wonder.

Toronto might be nicknamed "The Six" but at Emergence, it will only take three seconds - or a well placed submission - to change the fates and fortunes of two of the most impressive Knockouts competitors ever, live on FITE.

"Reality is nothing but an illusion that only exists in the world of generated emergence." ― Joey Lawsin, The Single Theory Of Everything

In the world of Impact Wrestling, every single competitor is a villain to someone, but only one man, Bully Ray, is a villain to everyone. Since returning to Impact, Ray has emerged as one of the most vile, disgusting competitors to ever lace the boots, but that's exactly how he wants it. Whether it be breaking body parts, threatening family members, or committing all-out atrocities inside and beyond the ring, Ray regales himself in knowing that he can control the entire flow of energy of his victims' lives and careers.

So imagine the strength in numbers he feels walking into battle at Emergence with former Impact World Champion Moose, X-Division Champion Lio Rush and the ever-dangerous Brian Myers by his side as they stand united in their attempts to break down the forces of Impact Wrestling World Champion Alex Shelley, his closest partners in Time Machine - Chris Sabin and KUSHIDA - as well as the returning Josh Alexander, who has proven time and time again that he will defend Impact with all of his heart and soul.

In recent weeks, the attacks from Ray and his unholy legion of doom have all been designed to soften Shelley's grip on the World Heavyweight Championship, in order to give Bully an advantage in his pursuit of the title. Time Machine and Alexander however, have united, steadfast in their belief not only will they be victorious in this war, but triumphant once and for all. Live on FITE, this eight man tag team war may very well set the standard for not just the World title picture leading into Bound for Glory but the entire trajectory of Impact Wrestling itself as the calendar hurtles towards 2024 and beyond!

The Tag Team divisions of Impact Wrestling will also be on display in full force at Emergence.

For the men's division it is the once beloved and now rejected Rascalz of Trey Miguel and Zach Wentz who have emerged victorious and at the top of their game after winning a top contender's tournament, as seen in recent weeks by Impact+ subscribers here on FITE. Now, they enter Toronto seeking to upend the recently crowned World Tag Team Champions Subculture, Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster. Led to the ring by Dani Luna, the British stars have already shocked the Impact system and are now seeking to prove their supremacy inside the ring once more - but to do so, they'll have to stave off the ravenous Rascalz, who believe the entire wrestling world is deservedly theirs to pirate and steal.

The Knockouts World Tag Team Champions MK Ultra, Masha Slamovich and Killer Kelly, have never stepped away from a fight, not even against each other! At Emergence, they will have collected all of their foes in one place, seeking to showcase their ultimate supremacy in the Knockouts division. The Coven and The Death Dollz have been at war with each other for some time and very well even cancel each other out, so perhaps the most dangerous challengers for MK Ultra will be the ever-deceitful Gisele Shaw and her powerhouse muscle Savannah Evans - but as any pro wrestling pundit knows, the twists and turns involved with this many competitors in one place at the same time could lead to infinite possibility, so who truly knows what could happen beyond all our mayhem in this never-ending maelstrom of a championship showdown, live on FITE.

"Emergence takes the place of the hand of God, mysteriously transforming a chaotic system into a self-organized one, with coherence and cooperation. Nobody seems able to explain how this actually happens." ― Douglas Rushkoff, Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now

Personal issues always explode into wars of attrition in combat sports and Impact Wrestling is no exception with several set to climax at Emergence. The return of Eric Young at Slammiversary shocked no one more than Deaner, his former follower and protege. Now soundly at the helm controlling The Design, Deaner wants nothing more than to decimate and destroy Young's Impact homecoming. He will get the chance to do that at Emergence in a No DQ match, allowing all the violence to flow freely, by design, until one man is left for dead.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, but no less a personal grudge that is a true powderkeg set to explode are the personal issues between Eddie Edwards and Frankie Kazarian. Two competitors who's literal origins in professional wrestling stem from the wealth of knowledge bestowed upon them by their trainer, the late, great Hall of Famer Killer Kowalski, Edwards and Kazarain could not be any different in style and attitude, in life and inside the ring. What started as a simple rivalry in the ring has grown to envelope their entire existence, their families and their careers. At Emergence, they will settle it once and for all inside an Empty Arena, looking to prove to themselves, their families and the world at large who is truly the better man. One competitor will emerge the victor - the other will be intensely humiliated, forever.

As if all this wasn't enough, somehow, some way, Johnny Swinger has gotten himself into a championship match. Hey, stop laughing. After outmastering Zicky Dice, Swinger now swings into Emergence, challenging the Digital Media Champion Kenny King. Swinger has promised that should he win, it's Atari 2600 celebration time, Daddy! Yeah, well, FITE fans will see if THAT happens.

Having shocked the world with his return to Impact Wrestling, Jake Something will battle the irredeemablct Dirty Dango, led to the ring by John E. Bravo, at Emergence as well!

On Sunday August 27th, FITE and Impact Wrestling unite once more to host Emergence live from Toronto, as the most talented and most badass professional wrestlers in the world seek to make their mark and strike down with the greatest impact imaginable on your FITE devices across the globe!

Mike Johnson is the lead reporter for PWInsider.com and has been writing about professional wrestling since 1996. He can be found on Twitter @MikePWInsider and MikeJohnsonWrites.com.