Impact recap & reactions: Ace Austin vs Eddie Edwards street fight has a surprise ending

The latest episode of Impact Wrestling (June 16, 2020) featured The North defending the tag team titles against the Rascalz, suspects being eliminated for the attack on Trey Miguel, and a street fight between Ace Austin and Eddie Edwards with a surprise ending.

Let’s roll through the show from beginning to end.

The Rascalz were warming up backstage for their tag team title match when Trey Miguel faked an attack on Zachary Wentz. Wentz was confused. Trey told him not to worry. Friends don’t hurt each other.

Impact World Tag Team Championship: The North retained against The Rascalz. Zachary Wentz and Dezmond Xavier fired off high-octane offense, so Ethan Page and Josh Alexander slowed the pace down. The North worked over Dez until a hot tag to Wentz. That resulted in a couple of unsuccessful pinfall attempts. For the finish, Page caught a suicide dive from Dez and bashed him into the guardrail. Alexander rattled the top rope on Wentz’s springboard set-up. The North took advantage to hit their Torture Rack into spinebuster combo to win.

The tag champs went to the back behind the curtain, and the gorilla position area was completely empty. They were angry that nobody was watching their match. No one scouting, no one learning, nothing.

Trey was attacked again backstage. Wentz and Dez rolled up on the scene to see Trey down in pain. They blamed Reno Scum and went searching for the duo.

Jimmy Jacobs approached Ace Austin to accuse him as a prime suspect in the Trey attack. Ace denied the charge and listed a bunch of names with history of backstage beatdowns. Eddie Edwards ran in to yell at Ace as the perpetrator. Security had to hold Edwards back.

Nevaeh defeated Kimber Lee. Jessicka Havok was ringside. Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz were eating popcorn in the fan section. For the finish, Lee charged at Nevaeh, but Nevaeh trapped her for a DDT variation to win. Afterward, Hogan and Steelz threw popcorn in Havok’s face then ran away.

The North came upon a group of guys backstage watching the Impact app on a tablet. They were viewing Ken Shamrock matches. Page was peeved that they ignored his match, so he slammed the tablet onto the ground.

Cancel Culture had a message for Crazzy Steve. He is a danger to burn Impact, so he will get canceled next week.

Mentally Unwell Steve’s response was memories of being told, “No, you can’t do that.” He doesn’t fit in a little box. Steve needs to paint outside the lines. He’ll have friends next week to make a macabre masterpiece.

Rhino defeated Rohit Raju. Rohit attacked from behind before the opening bell. He controlled the majority of action, but Rhino turned it around by dodging a flying double stomp. Rhino gored Rohit to win.

Michael Elgin was on the phone with his Canadian mystery pal when Jacobs approached to accuse him as a prime suspect of jumping Trey. Elgin’s defense was that he doesn’t attack when nobody can see. When Elgin ambushes someone, he makes sure to bring a cameraman so the world can see.

Susie was chatting with Kylie Rae. Susie feels like people step on her when she acts good. Maybe she should be bad instead. Kylie tried to convince Susie to remain good. Enter Taya mocking Kylie’s goody two shoes personality. It is good to be bad. Susie made an innocent comment about Taya losing last week. Kylie giggled, so Taya got upset and split. Kylie pointed to herself as an example of good and to Taya as an example of bad.

TNA Heavyweight Championship: Moose retained against Hernandez. This was big men throwing big shots. Moose was more rugged by focusing on the head and eyes of Hernandez. SuperMex rebounded with a chokeslam, running corner smash, standing senton, and backbreaker. Moose kicked out at two on the pin. Hernandez continued the power game with a vertical suplex attempt, but Moose escaped. In the process of lifting Hernandez, Moose mule kicked SuperMex in the huevos. The referee was at a bad angle and missed the low blow. Moose speared Hernandez to win.

Wentz and Dez confronted Reno Scum about the attack on Trey acting as muscle for Ace Austin. They claimed not to have talked to Ace in over two months. He owes them a bunch of money. Reno Scum pointed the finger toward TJP and Fallah Bahh as suspects.

The Deaners were drinking beer and sharing the love. They exchanged metaphors for happiness, while Willie Mack made reaction faces. Jake challenged Chris Bey, Johnny Swinger, and a third. They rattled off jokes about Swinger and Bey. The Deaners handed a beer to Mack, then he channeled his inner Stone Cold.

Reno Scum defeated XXXL. Luster the Legend hit a high knee to Acey Romero and knocked him out of the ring. Luster then smashed Larry D with a spinebuster. Adam Thornstowe came flying in with a double stomp to pin Larry.

Chris Bey wanted to know how Johnny Swinger is going to help him capture the X-Division Championship from Mack. Swinger made a phone call for a third person to help fight Mack and the Deaners. His buddy was finished working for (Vince) Jr. but still had to wait 90 days. The Swingman instead thought of an old outlaw to take that spot.

Deonna Purrazzo was profiled. She was 19 years old when she debuted in Impact. Purrazzo received several offers that she wasn’t ready for. She toured the world working on her craft. Now, she has a point to prove. Purrazzo is the best damn women’s technical wrestler in the world. Attacking Jordynne Grace was the first move on her chessboard.

Grace responded that she doesn’t understand Purrazzo’s attack last week. Grace isn’t hard to find. If Purrazzo wants a match, just ask. Boom! Purrazzo ambushed Grace again with an armbar.

Street Fight: Ace Austin defeated Eddie Edwards. Edwards attacked from behind during Ace’s entrance. Edwards went to the back for a garbage can full of toys, while Ace pulled out a chair from under the ring. Street fight action ensued. Highlights include Edwards with a belly-to-belly toss onto a leaning guardrail, a long distance flying crossbody over a table by Ace, and a brutal neckbreaker from Edwards on top of upright table legs.

As Eddie was preparing to finish Ace, Madman Fulton appeared. He goozled Edwards for two chokeslams. Fulton held Eddie up so Ace could hit The Fold. Madman and Ace are the newest pair on the Impact block.

The show closed with a teaser update of talent to appear on Slammiversary. At least one former World Champion will return.

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The overarching story for this episode of Impact Wrestling was trying to figure out who attacked Trey Miguel prior to the #1 contender tournament final. Let’s revisit the line-up photo from last week.

As far as I’m concerned, I’d say Michael Elgin, Reno Scum, and Zachary Wentz have been eliminated as suspects. I don’t see it being Rohit Raju, because that reveal would be a letdown for such a major story. Ace Austin had been cleared, but he is back in the mix after pairing with Madman Fulton. Fulton could have done the attacking, while Ace was busy. I’m still picking Moose as the culprit in a scheme to build the credibility up for his unofficial title run as TNA Heavyweight Champion. Moose is probably frustrated that only TNA stars want a piece of the belt.

Speaking of Madman Fulton, that is a smart move to align with Ace Austin. Aside from Sami Callihan, oVe were losers. Fulton can learn ways of success from Ace. This is also great timing for Ace as Madman’s presence could tip the scales in his favor in the five-way Impact World Championship fight at Slammiversary on July 18.

Too bad the Rascalz lost again in a title match. I don’t know if they were joking last week when they mentioned being 17-time #1 contenders, but their amount of title opportunities must be pretty high. I’m curious what the future will hold for the trio. It looked like they could be broken up in the Trey ambush story, but Wentz and Dez obviously didn’t attack Trey the second time. If the Rascalz stay together, it could take several months before any triumph story of winning titles.

On the flip side of the Rascalz’ loss, The North continue to establish their dominance as longest reigning tag champs in Impact history. I don’t see any of the current teams taking them down. We may have to wait for new arrivals to find potential squads worthy of taking the gold.

Share your thoughts on Impact. Which match stole the show? Who put in your favorite performance? Who do you think will finally dethrone The North?

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