IMPACT! Wrestling Review - May 25, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Chris Sabin def. "Speedball" Mike Bailey

Like the commentators mentioned, it wouldn't be fair to call this a showcase for Sabin before he faces Trey Miguel for the Impact X-Division Championship at Under Siege. Bailey absolutely pushed Sabin to his limit and looked stellar in defeat. This was a wonderful opener with both guys coming away from it looking great. Bailey may not be doing much right now, but this was a really good use of him.

Kenny King and Sheldon Jean def. Decay (Crazzy Steve and Black Taurus)

We still know very little about Jean and his alliance with King. I guess he adds to King's act, but when he's merely an unestablished lackey, it's hard to care. Decay were just two dudes for them to beat here, so nothing about the match was out of the ordinary. Instead, this existed to give King a win before he faces Nick Aldis at Under Siege and for them to have a brief verbal exchange afterward to hype it up.

Impact Knockouts World Tag Team Champion Taylor Wilde def. Jessicka Havok

Havok had to go at it alone here without Rosemary in her corner, so although it made sense for Havok to lose, I was genuinely surprised this was essentially a squash. I'm not typically a fan of Havok's matches (especially on her own), so I'm not complaining. Post-match, Rosemary emerged to help out Havok, but it was as her Courtney Rush persona. I thought Havok would go back to being her old self in order for her and Rosemary to get back on the same page, so this was an interesting twist.

Rich Swann def. Angels

Swann will team with Sami Callihan and a mystery partner against The Design at Under Siege, so this was meant to be a small preview of that six-man tag team match. Both Swann and Angels are super skilled, so unsurprisingly, this was a quality contest with enjoyable action where they made the most of the time they had. Swann winning was the right outcome, but it's hilarious how The Design have not been built up as a threat whatsoever.

Jordynne Grace def. Alisha Edwards

Alisha has played her heel role well since turning last month, but she's primarily been utilized as an enhancement talent and that's totally fine because I don't see her as being above that level, anyway. This was over almost immediately as it should have been with Grace challenging Deonna Purrazzo for the Impact Knockouts World Championship on Friday night. It would have been unrealistic and unnecessary for this to go any longer than it did.

Impact World Tag Team Champion Chris Bey def. John Skyler

Skyler's partner Jason Hotch beat Ace Austin last week, so I thought Skyler might beat Bey here to set them up for an opportunity at the Impact World Tag Team Championship. Bey won instead, so maybe that's not where they're headed after all, not to mention I forgot that A B C (still hate that team name for Bey and Austin) will be defending the belts against Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster at Under Siege. In other words, The Good Hands were simply a filler feud for A B C to kill time before Under Siege, but perhaps there's more to come. This was well wrestled, though.

PCO Interrupted Impact World Champion Steve Maclin

Was Maclin defending the Impact World Championship against PCO at Under Siege ever really in doubt? They attempted to tease in this segment that Champagne Singh could be getting the title shot instead, but that was obviously never going to happen. This played out pretty predictably, but it was what it needed to be. I liked that PCO didn't get his hands on Maclin, and the ongoing angle with Maclin wanting respect from Scott D'Amore has been well done.

Overall Show

On the whole, this was a solid go-home show for Under Siege with everything on the card receiving hype. Sadly, I doubt anyone will be talking about the event at the end of the weekend due to how much wrestling there's going to be, but I am looking forward to multiple matches and assume it will be entertaining, regardless. Despite the nice flow, there's not much you need to seek out from this episode except that excellent opener between Bailey and Sabin.

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