IMPACT! Wrestling Review - June 16, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Impact Knockouts World Champion Tasha Steelz and Savannah Evans def. Jordynne Grace and Mia Yim

Is it just me or has Steelz' title reign been completely cold since she won it? That shouldn't be the case for someone who owns two straight wins over Mickie James, but she simply hasn't done as champion in the last few months and I honestly hope she loses it at Slammiversary. Speaking of which, this was designed to serve as a preview of the Queen of the Mountain match with three of those five women being involved in this outing. It was decent, and Steelz probably needed this win more than anyone because of how much of an afterthought she's felt like lately.

Trey Miguel def. "Speedball" Mike Bailey

Both of these men will be competing in the Ultimate X match at Slammiversary and this was an excellent appetizer for that. They perfectly embody what the X-Division is all about and this was very fun as expected. Bailey has been on a roll since joining IMPACT, but Miguel hasn't won many matches since losing the Impact X-Division Championship, so I was fine with the outcome. I'd definitely be down for more matches between these two in the future.

Masha Slamovich def. Alisha

As I mentioned when she beat Havok a few weeks ago, it's about damn time Slamovich started facing women on the IMPACT roster and not just random enhancement talent considering it's been many months since she debuted. Se beat Havok almost immediately and this should've been no different. Thankfully, it wasn't. She made quick work of Alisha and beat her decisively. This was exactly what it should have been.

Impact World Tag Team Champions The Briscoes def. Bullet Club (Chris Bey and Jay White)

It was recently reported that White is done with IMPACT for the foreseeable future, and although this wasn't live, I didn't think he had any more appearances in the can, so that was a treat. Besides, he's onto to bigger and better things now that he's the new IWGP World Heavyweight Champion as of last weekend. This was an interesting clash on paper and it ended up being an entertaining affair. The roll-up finish wasn't ideal, but I guess it was done to protect Bey/Bullet Club in defeat. White's IMPACT run has been terrific, so he'll be missed.

Honor No More (Vincent and Kenny King) def. Aces & Eights (Wes Brisco and Garrett Bischoff)

Oh man, the Aces & Eights! It was far from my favorite faction in TNA history (it's probably one of my least favorites because of how badly the whole thing was booked from 2012 through 2013), but to be perfectly honest, that Aces & Eights entrance theme (with lyrics) was quite great, so I was happy to hear that again. Granted, Brisco and Garrett were the two weakest members of the group, but oh well. This was a passable match to get more heat on Honor No More (even though no one cared about Brisco and Bischoff). D'Lo attacking Eddie Edwards, Vincent and King on his own afterward was a bit silly, but the crowd was into it. The babyfaces then stood tall, but we didn't find out who the fifth and final spot on Team IMPACT will go to (Nick Aldis was announced as occupying the fourth spot, which is awesome).

The Impact World Championship Contract Signing Ended with Violent By Design Attacking Impact World Champion Josh Alexander

I've said it before, but Eric Young continues to prove with this IMPACT run of his that he's underrated as hell, and that's coming from someone who has never been his biggest fan. Both he and Alexander cut quality promos and the heels getting the better of Alexander to close out the show was a smart call to make it look like Young has a chance of winning the title at Slammiversary (Alexander retaining is a slam-dunk prediction, though).

Overall Show

A Queen of the Mountain match? A Monster's Ball match? The return of the Reverse Battle Royal?! Yep, IMPACT really is going back to its TNA roots for the 20-year anniversary at Slammiversary. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it's going to be an interesting night, to say the least. In all seriousness, this was a rock-solid go-home show. It wasn't hot by any means and not nearly as strong as last week's installment, but it set the stage nicely for Slammiversary and left me looking forward to it. The last several IMPACT pay-per-views have been tremendous and I hope they can knock it out of the park again on Sunday night.

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