IMPACT! Wrestling Review - June 23, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Tasha Steelz def. Nevaeh

This feud between the duo of Steelz and Kiera Hogan and the team of Nevaeh and Havoc started last week with Steelz and Hogan sat in on Nevaeh's match against Kimber Lee. I'm not sure who viewers are supposed to want to see win because everyone involved comes across like a heel. This was a well-wrestled opener and it's nice to have some new blood in the burgeoning Knockouts division, but I'm curious what the endgame here is.

Deonna Purrazzo def. Alisha Edwards

It's been a while since we last saw Alisha in action on IMPACT! Wrestling. She's talented, but she hasn't had many (if any) must-see matches since she started wrestling for the company and it's probably for the best that she's slotted at the enhancement level for now. This was a decent showcase for Purrazzo and I'm glad she was on offense for almost all of it. I've always enjoyed her work, but I hope she lives to the hype and doesn't disappoint like Tenille Dashwood did when she was brought in a year ago. Jordynne Grace attempted to get her hands on Purrazzo afterward, but Purrazzo ran off before she could.

Impact World Tag Team Champions The North Attacked Ken Shamrock

Ethan Page was talking trash about Shamrock backstage beforehand and that prompted Josh Alexander to challenge Shamrock to an impromptu match. However, The North ambushed Shamrock on the stage before the bout could begin. It was an effective way of establishing The North as a threat and setting them for a future matchup with Shamrock. I hope this isn't leading to them getting squashed by Shamrock in a Handicap match because they've run through everyone in the tag team ranks.

Taya Valkyrie def. Susie

Susie's matches up to this point haven't really been matches at all, so I didn't know what to expect from this. Thus, I was pleasantly surprised by how competitive it ended up being. There were definitely some rough spots, but it was an overall improvement for the Susie character, even if this wasn't too great. Valkyrie roughing up Susie afterward paves the way for her to feud with Kylie Rae.

Chris Bey, Johnny Swinger and Rohit Raju def. Impact X-Division Champion Willie JAck and The Deaners

Well, Raju being revealed as the mystery partner for the heels was a letdown. He's been all over these empty arena tapings, and while he's far from terrible, I can't bring myself to care about him at all. From an in-ring standpoint, this was a fun little six-man tag team match with everyone getting time to shine. Bey pinning Mack should earn him a shot at the Impact X-Division Championship at Slammiversary.

MadMan Fulton def. Eddie Edwards

It's been a while since I last took Fulton seriously because how he's been booked all year long, so I'm hopeful that his new alliance with Ace Austin will change that. Thus, this was a step in the right direction. He and Edwards worked well together and produced a solid main event. Fulton winning was absolutely the right call and Edwards will be fine as he'll be contending for the Impact World Championship next month.

Overall Show

I believe a match involving Joey Ryan was originally advertised for this episode, but IMPACT has since announced that Ryan and Dave Crist were released from the company after both were accused of sexual harassment (among other things) by multiple people in recent days. Michael Elgin, who was also accused, has been suspended indefinitely and his participation in the Slammiversary main event for the Impact World Championship has not yet been addressed. This edition of IMPACT! Wrestling on the whole was average as none of the matches are worth going out your way to see, but the storyline development for some of the feuds was well done.