Impact Wrestling’s June 22nd episode featured the fallout of Sonjay Dutt’s historic X-Division title win, besides also hosting a Knockouts Tag Team matchup. Additionally, the show was headlined by a Tag Team match with EC3 and Lashley teaming up to compete against James Storm and Alberto El Patron.
The show started with a video package that highlighted the X-Division Championship match which saw Sonjay Dutt defeat Low Ki for the title last week. Dutt’s post-fight celebration and speech were featured in the video, as were motivational phrases of believing in yourself and following your dreams.
The segment was followed by Sienna instructing Laurel Van Ness backstage, telling the latter to focus on their upcoming match. Sienna emphasised that Rosemary is no one’s friend and that the latter won’t help Allie in their Knockouts Tag Team match later in the evening, besides also stating that Van Ness will finally have her chance to exact revenge upon Allie.
Furthermore, the announcers for the episode - Jeremy Borash and Josh Matthews - got the show rolling, and cued to the special Indian ring announcer Siddharth Kannan.
#1 Sony SIX-Way Elimination Match: Trevor Lee, vs Eddie Edwards vs Davey Richards vs Matt Sydal vs Braxton Sutter vs Suicide
The announcers alluded to the fact that the winner of this matchup will be primed to get a shot at new X-Division Champion, Sonjay Dutt. Former ‘Wolves’ brethren Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards brawled with one another at the start.
This was followed by Richards meeting Sutter in the ring, only to be thrown by the latter to the outside. Richards was then attacked by Edwards, once again outside the ring. Meanwhile, Matt Sydal and Suicide went toe-to-toe with each other for a while, after which the latter knocked Sydal out of the ring, and then executed a huge dive on his rivals outside the ring.
Sutter and Suicide exchanged moves inside the ring, after which Trevor Lee blindsided Sutter with a forearm strike. Lee then proceeded to eliminate Sutter by scoring the pinfall, albeit with a bit of assistance by holding Sutter’s tights. Furthermore, Lee and Richards attacked Suicide inside the ring, after which Edwards came back into the fray, and took out Lee and Richards.
Edwards then missed a charge and rammed right into the ringpost. Suicide got back in the mix of things once again and tried to fend off Lee and Richards. However, Lee hit a Double Foot Stomp on Suicide and eliminated him from the matchup.
After a few more back and forth exchanges, Edwards attempted a suicide dive on Richards, only to be countered by a huge chairshot mid-air. This resulted in Richards getting DQ’d from the matchup, following which he tried to continue using the chair to debilitate Edwards.
Richards proceeded to set up the steel chair in order to attack Edwards, but it was Edwards who actually ended up slamming Richards on the steel chair, which in turn led to both former ‘Wolves’ brothers getting disqualified from the match.
The match then devolved into Matt Sydal and Trevor Lee going toe-to-toe, with Sydal tagging Lee with a huge kick, following which Sydal hit Lee with the Shooting Star Press and won the match by eliminating Lee.
Result: Matt Sydal def. Eddie Edwards, Davey Richards, Trevor Lee, Braxton Sutter and Suicide
The match was followed by a presentation segment wherein Bruce Prichard, Scott D’Amore and Sony SIX Pictures CFO Nitin Nadkarni present the Sony SIX trophy to Matt Sydal.
The segment was followed by Jeremy Borash and Josh Matthews who engaged in their routine verbal ribbing, with the latter trying to get JB fired before their upcoming match at Slammiversary XV. Nevertheless, JB presented a video package that saw Rockstar Spud try to get revenge on Swoggle in the streets of Mumbai.
The segment also saw a small Indian person break up the tussle between the Impact stars.
This was then followed by Allie panicking backstage and worrying about the fact that her Tag Team partner, Rosemary wasn’t anywhere to be seen, with their match about to start very soon.
The focus then shifted to Jeremy Borash and Joseph Parks, who prepped for their upcoming match against Josh Matthews and Scott Steiner at Slammiversary XV next month.
#2 Knockouts Tag Team Match: Sienna & Laurel Van Ness vs Allie & Rosemary
The Knockouts Tag Team matchup featured GFW Women’s Champion Sienna who teamed up with Laurel Van Ness to compete against Knockouts Champion Rosemary and Allie.
The match started with Allie waiting with a Kendo Stick in tow, following which Rosemary’s Decay theme hit, however, she didn’t appear. Sienna and Van Ness then attacked Allie and gained the upper hand.
However, Rosemary appeared from under the ring, and attacked both Sienna and Van Ness. Sienna and Van Ness then turned the tables on Rosemary, with Van Ness hitting the latter with a running drop kick, and then proceeding to engage in a bit of showboating.
Rosemary then got Allie into the fray, after which the latter would assume control of the match by taking down Van Ness. This spot was followed by KM coming down to the ring and distracting Allie, only for Braxton Sutter to enter the fray and drive away KM.
Nevertheless, the distractions allowed Sienna and Van Ness to regain control of the match, with Sienna hitting the Release German Suplex on Rosemary that was followed by a Curb Stomp by Van Ness; after which Sienna got the 1-2-3 on Rosemary.
Result: Sienna & Laurel Van Ness def. Allie & Rosemary
This was followed by yet another Slammiversary promo wherein Don West promoted the PPV, emphasising travel packages, fan access, meet-and-greets, parties and much more.
The focus then shifted to Sonjay Dutt, who was seen celebrating his historic X-Division Championship victory in the streets of India. Dutt was dressed in traditional Indian clothing and was seen standing atop a Tuk Tuk aka an auto-rickshaw, in his homeland of India, with several fans cheering him on.
A video package then aired of LAX invading local professional wrestling promotions in Orlando, wherein they wreak havoc in the aforementioned promotions.
The segment was then followed by Borash and Mahabali Shera hosting a traditional Indian celebration for Sonjay Dutt, with the latter entering the ring, dance troupe in tow.
Dutt then spoke to the Indian fans in his native language and asserted how much his X-Division title win meant to him. He promised fans that he’ll be the greatest X-Division Champion of all time. Low Ki’s music hit and he made his way down the ring, coming face-to-face with Dutt.
After an initial show of sportsmanship, that culminated in Dutt giving Low Ki a 2 out of 3 Falls Match for the X-Division title at Slammiversary, Low Ki attacked both Dutt and Shera. However, Matt Sydal entered the fray and saved the hometown hero, Dutt, from Low Ki’s onslaught.
#3 Mahabali Shera vs KM
The next match for the evening was Shera taking on KM. Shera made his way to the ring despite being advised by the doctors not to wrestle and then proceeded to get beat down by KM.
KM targeted Shera’s injured ribs, and then attempted a Springboard Splash on him only to be countered by Shera, who hit the Sky High on KM and got the pinfall victory.
Result: Mahabali Shera def. KM
The match was followed by Kongo Kong coming down to the ring and attacking Shera. Although Shera fought back, both KM and Kong relentlessly pursued their attack of the Indian star, with the segment ending when KM laid out Shera and Kong hit him with a Frog Splash.
The focus then shifted to Borash and Joseph Parks who continued to prep for their match against Matthews and Steiner at Slammiversary. Borash jumped into a rooftop pool, and was followed by Parks who also did the same - with the video of Parks’ dive being shown in slow-motion for added comedic effect.
The segment was followed by Eli Drake and Chris Adonis coming down to the ring, and cutting a promo on Moose. Drake called the fans in attendance ‘Dummies’ and went on to state that Moose doesn’t have a Tag Team partner, owing to the fact that every Impact Wrestling star, apart from executive Bruce Prichard, is already booked for Slammiversary.
Moose then made his way down the ramp and revealed his Slammiversary partner to be former NFL star DeAngelo Williams. Impact Wrestling then hyped Williams’ upcoming appearance, by airing a video package that highlighted the football star’s training as well as the mainstream media attention that his signing with Impact has gotten.
Nevertheless, the segment would end with Drake and Adonis attacking Moose, and taunting the latter after knocking him out.
The focus then shifted to the announcers, Borash and Matthews, who hyped up the main event of the evening, besides also taking a look at the fight card for Slammiversary XV.
#4 Main Event: Alberto El Patron & James Storm vs Lashley & EC3
Ethan Carter 3 continued his Indian gimmick and played the part of E Singh 3 (a brif name change exclusively for the Indian fans), briefly meditating in the ring. James Storm was having none of it, and went after EC3, only for the latter to tag in Lashley.
After a few exchanges between Lashley and Storm, Storm tagged in Alberto El Patron. Lashley tagged himself out, and Alberto took on EC3, landing a few good shots on the latter and then throwing him outside the ring.
Lashley attempted to blindside Alberto, only for the Mexican star to send him flying outside the ring. Alberto then propelled Storm from inside the ring onto EC3 and Lashley outside.
Nevertheless, Lashley and EC3 resumed control of the match once again, attacking Alberto, only for Alberto to turn the tables and execute a Cross Arm Breaker on EC3. He proceeded to tag in Storm, with EC3 tagging in Lashley.
Storm got the better of Lashley in the initial exchanges and dragged EC3 into the fray, following which he grabbed EC3’s leather strap. However, the referee stopped Storm from using the strap, and the momentary distraction allowed Lashley to attack Storm and regain control of the match.
Lashley almost had the match in the bag, after a Delayed Vertical Suplex, however, Storm kicked out, and the battle continued. Storm was then Power-slammed by Lashley, and was almost done, when EC3 inexplicably slapped Lashley and tagged himself in. Storm somehow managed to tag in Alberto, following which Alberto went on the offensive against EC3.
Lashley gave EC3 a taste of his own medicine, by slapping the latter and tagging himself in. Patron then hit Lashley with a Backstabber only to get his count broken up by EC3.
All hell broke loose when all four competitors started brawling inside the ring, with the spot ending when Lashley hit a high-risk dive from the top. Lashley then attempted a Spear on Alberto, but missed, and was then hit by a huge Last Call kick by Storm.
Alberto then tagged Lashley with a huge kick and locked on the Cross Armbreaker on Lashley. However, the match would end in a DQ, when EC3 brought in his leather strap, and when told not to use it by the referee, Ethan whipped the referee with the strap.
Result: Alberto El Patron & James Storm def. Lashley & EC3
The match was followed by Storm getting the leather strap and chasing EC3 up the ramp, and Alberto and Lashley brawling outside the ring.
Alberto got the upper hand in the end, and then went on to grab his GFW belt as well as Lashley’s Impact Wrestling Championship, and celebrated with the Indian fans in attendance.
