Impact Wrestling Review - June 22, 2017

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Matt Sydal def. Trevor Lee, Eddie Edwards, Davey Richards, Suicide and Braxton sutter in a Sony Six-Way Elimination Match

As previously noted, I wasn't a fan of last week's Sony Six Battle Royal because of how it lacked a proper story, it came across as random, and the in-ring action wasn't all that good. While this six-way suffered from a similar issue in not serving a true purpose, the wrestling was far more enjoyable and everyone played their roles well, especially with Edwards and Richards furthering their feud going into Slammiversary. Multi-man matches aren't usually an effective way of getting over individual talents in the X-Division, but if nothing else, it was a fun showcase for this group of competitors.

GFW Women's Champion Sienna and Laurel Van Ness def. Knockouts Champion Rosemary and Allie

While this was designed to push two stories in the Knockouts division forward, the match itself left a lot to be desired, especially considering it had been built up over the course of a few weeks. If that wasn't disappointing enough, Rosemary was pinned for the first time here by Sienna, and although the commentators made mention of that, it didn't feel like a big deal whatsoever when it really should have given how dominant she has been as champion.

Low Ki Crashed Sonjay Dutt's X-Division Championship Celebration

Dutt's championship celebration was similar to the one Jinder Mahal had on SmackDown Live after winning the WWE Championship at Backlash, but blaming them for "copying" WWE would be dumb because it wasn't a major offense. Instead, I thought this was a solid segment that set up the 2-out-of-3 Falls rematch between Low Ki and Dutt as well as put heat on Low Ki (who hadn't been firmly established as a heel since returning to the company). Mahabali Shera's involvement was pretty pointless, though.

Mahabali Shera def. KM

Shera was made out to look nearly invincible by enduring a beatdown at the hands of Low Ki and then winning this match in quick fashion. It was a forgettable match as a result, but thankfully, it didn't matter much because KM has done zero for me during his stint in Impact Wrestling, anyway. Plus, with this show emanating from India, you had to know they would continue to book Shera strong.

Eli Drake and Chris Adonis Attacked Impact Grand Champion Moose

The big question coming into this week's show was who Moose would choose to be his partner against Drake and Adonis at Slammiversary, and ultimately he went with NFL star DeAngelo Williams. He made an appearance alongside Moose on TV not too long ago and I'm content with the decision because it should lead to at least some mainstream attention for Impact Wrestling. It's obvious the babyfaces will win that match, so I liked how Drake and Adonis got the momentum boost here by attacking Moose.

GFW Global Champion Alberto El Patron and James Storm def. Impact Wrestling Heavyweight Champion Lashley and ethan Carter III by Disqualification

These are the top two matchups at Slammiversary (and honestly the only two I'm looking forward to) and I was glad they received the spotlight on this show. They were given plenty of time and they made the most of it by having a well-wrestled match. Nothing about it was blow-away, mind you, but it did its job in hyping up both bouts for the pay-per-view while also protecting everyone involved via the non-finish.

Overall Show

This edition of Impact Wrestling followed the formula of the last handful of episodes in that it was straightforward and the two hours didn't drag, but there isn't a ton to get excited about at the moment. The card for Slammiversary is coming together nicely and it could be one of the more memorable events the company has done in a long while, but it's hard to say my anticipation level is through the roof for it.