IMPACT! Wrestling Review - June 15, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Santino Marella Announced a 10-Person Tag Team Main Event

This started out as The Motor City Machine Guns addressing the audience coming off their two title wins at Against All Odds before they were interrupted by what felt like the entire IMPACT roster. In other words, it was a very WWE-esque segment in that it was essentially a revolving door of promo, designed to set up the night's main event. I hate when they take this approach because none of the mic work stands out, but I did like Motor City Machine Guns celebrating their new hardware.

Rich Swann def. Moose

I enjoyed the feud these two had over the Impact World Championship two years ago and it was cool seeing them rekindle their rivalry here, even though there was no formal setup to knowledge. They once again worked well together and had a really good match that was given plenty of time. Both men have done it all in IMPACT. I would question what's next for Moose, but we found out soon after in a backstage segment he'll likely team with Brian Myers. Okay, then.

PCO Saved Scott D'Amore From Bully Ray and Steve Maclin

Similar to how the show opened, this was another lengthy talking segment. We found out that it will be D'Amore and PCO vs. Bully and Maclin at Slammiversary, and although it makes sense after how Under Siege ended last month, it's a bummer that Maclin has to be dragged into this. I understand he can't go back after the Impact World Championship right now with Shelley defending against Aldis at Slammiversary and this is their way of getting him on the card, but it's almost like his title reign never happened. This accomplished what it needed to, though.

Impact World Tag Team Champions ABC def. Decay (Crazzy Steve and Black Taurus) (Non-Title)

Decay are glorified stepping stones at this point for the rest of the tag team division, so it was hard to take them seriously as threats to ABC here. This felt more like a showcase for ABC than anything else, but it was a quality contest with good work from both teams, even though it was too short to really get going. With Myers and Moose joining forces, they appear to be next in line for an opportunity at the Impact World Tag Team Championship.

The Motor City Machine Guns, Nick Aldis, Impact Knockouts World Champion Deonna Purrazzo and Trinity def. Trey Miguel, Kenny King, Sheldon Jean, Gisele Shaw and Savannah Evans

This intertwined several stories and got a lot of star power into one match. It was a crowd-pleaser and the action was entertaining. The babyfaces are the ones with the big matches on tap for Slammiversary, so it wasn't too surprising that they went over. This wouldn't have been anything out of ordinary had it not been for that post-match angle with Aldis attacking Shelley, turning heel in the process. He's a great babyface but is a natural heel and this definitely makes their match more interesting.

Overall Show

As you can probably tell, there really wasn't a ton to this show due to the talking segments lasting so long. There were some Slammiversary developments and a notable heel turn to cap off the evening, so it was a worthwhile show on the whole. I appreciated that we got a slightly different format than normal. The talking segments didn't need to be as long as they were, but I didn't mind the longer matches since it cut down on the filler for this week.

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