IMPACT! Wrestling Review - June 24, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Rosemary def. Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champion Kiera Hogan

Rosemary and Havok seem to be next in line for a shot at the Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship and obviously that should be saved for Slammiversary. I think that's a great use of the both of them, especially if it means they won't be opponents anymore. This was the expected quality match from these two with the right result. Rosemary needed the momentum boost after losing to Deonna Purrazzo at Against All Odds and Hogan can absorb the loss. Good opener.

Impact Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo def. Susan (Non-Title)

Purrazzo apparently severed ties with Susan and Kimber Lee last week coming off their many failures in recent months. It should be noted that Susan is more fed up with Purrazzo than Lee, who is still trying to get the three of them back on the same page. I've said before Susan is my least favorite of her three personas and her matches tend to be throwaway, but Purrazzo worked her magic per usual and helped make this a better bout than I was expecting. Purrazzo vs. Lee is inevitable, though I would hold off on that for a little bit longer.

Rohit Raju and Shera def. Petey Williams and Trey Miguel

This wasn't your usual X-Division affair due to the involvement of Shera, but it did tell a solid story with Williams and Miguel fighting from underneath and ultimately falling short. We have a new alliance with Raju, Shera, Ace Austin and Madman Fulton, but the question is how long it's going to last. On a side note, I couldn't believe it when the commentators said that Slammiversary will mark the first Ultimate X since April 2019. There was a time a few years ago where IMPACT was doing it every few months, so I'm glad it's more special now.

Jazz Confronted Jordynne Grace and Rachael Ellering Before Ellering Attacked Tenille Dashwood

On one hand, it was cool to see a secondary, non-title storyline in the Knockouts division get a lengthy talking segment. On the other, virtually nothing was accomplished or furthered here. Don't get me wrong, I really liked the performances from everyone involved, especially Ellering, but I was hoping we'd finally get the Grace heel turn here and it didn't happen. Maybe it happens next week, but this would have been an appropriate time to pull the trigger. If we don't get Grace vs. Ellering at Slammiversary, a three-way with Dashwood would make just as much sense.

Jake Something def. Sam Beale

Brian Myers has taken Beale under his wing for the last month or so and their vignettes have been entertaining. It's the perfect gimmick for Myers, who has been calling himself "The Most Professional Wrestler" since coming to IMPACT. Obviously, Something ate Beale alive in a matter of minutes. Myers ran down Something on the mic afterward, so that's the next feud for both men.

Impact World Tag Team Champions Violent By Design (Joe Doering and Deaner) def. Eddie Edwards and Satoshi Kojima

Edwards and Kojima earned this title opportunity after Kojima beat Rhino in last week's main event. I like how Violent By Design are using the Freebird Rule as tag team champions as it allows any of the four members to defend the titles (or at least everyone but Eric Young while he's out injured). This was a top-notch main event with Edwards and Kojima working wonderfully together and Violent By Design playing their roles remarkably well as always. The action was enjoyable and Violent By Design retaining was the correct outcome. Edwards made a comment about W. Morrissey during a backstage promo beforehand, so I assume they're on track to face off at Slammiversary.

Overall Show

The consistent storytelling is one of this show's biggest strengths from week to week as well as leaving viewers with multiple things to look forward to the following week. I'm loving the logical booking and angle advancement on every episode, even if the two hours aren't always thrilling on the whole. I'm typically not a fan of authority figure drama taking center stage, but I assume this stuff with Don Callis will culminate at Slammiversary. I don't know if it can be dragged out until Bound for Glory. At any rate, this was a super solid story capped off by a well-worked main event.

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