IMPACT! Wrestling Review - May 18, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Impact X-Division Champion Trey Miguel def. Laredo Kid (Non-Title)

​As I've said several times before, Miguel has really come into his own as a heel during this reign as Impact X-Division Champion. Meanwhile, Kid makes the most of every opportunity he's given and I thought this was no exception. This was a fun little television match, but the focus was more on Chris Sabin's excellent post-match promo. That alone got me excited for them to go one-on-one for the X-Division title.

Jason Hotch def. Impact World Tag Team Champion Ace Austin

The Good Hands are, in fact, good hands, but they were largely booked like losers up until last week when they beat Decay. I guess that was enough to earn them a shot at the Impact World Tag Team Championship at Under Siege, along with Hotch beating Austin here. I was actually surprised this got more time than the opener, but it was well wrestled. Brian Myers' Learning Tree is apparently a thing again with The Good Hands becoming his new pupils.

Trinity def. Impact Knockouts World Tag Team Champion KiLynn King

Considering we haven't seen Trinity wrestle in almost exactly one year, I thought she fared extremely well for herself here and had a hell of a showing. King also deserves credit for making Trinity's offense look great. This was a very enjoyable affair that perfectly showcased what Trinity can do. Post-match, it was revealed that Gisele Shaw answered Trinity's open challenge for Under Siege.

Jody Threat def. Sierra

Threat is a handful of matches into her IMPACT run, and what we've seen from her so far has been solid. She's clearly competent in the ring, but the crowd hasn't taken to her yet, likely because we don't know much about her and we haven't seen anything from her that has stood out as special. IMPACT hasn't done anything wrong with her yet, but a definitive feud might help her build more momentum beyond just winning lukewarm matches.

Alex Shelley, Jonathan Gresham and Yuya Uemura def. Eddie Edwards, Frankie Kazarian and Moose

These six stars will meet in a Six-Pack Challenge at Under Siege to determine the next challenger to the Impact World Championship. There was a backstage segment that aired right before this teasing tension between Edwards and Kazarian, so you had to know their team would fall apart here and cost them the win. I'd be down for that as a feud coming out of Under Siege, but Kazarian is also the favorite to get the next title shot coming off the recent sit-down interviews he's done looking back at his career. This was a top-notch main event with strong work from all involved.

Overall Show

This was a really good edition of IMPACT! Wrestling and one that left me looking forward to Under Siege, a card that has plenty of potential on paper. I'm still not fully invested in Sierra yet and The Good Hands being in contention for the tag titles feels abrupt, but everything else on the episode gets a thumbs-up, specifically the main event and Trinity's in-ring debut. Props to IMPACT for fully capitalizing on Trinity's momentum. She's a strong addition to the roster at a time IMPACT could use more top talent (following the departures of so many stars since the summer).

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