Impact recap & reactions (June 22, 2023): Can I trust you?

Trust is a difficult thing to build, especially for former foes trying to become allies. That was the case when Frankie Kazarian teamed with Eddie Edwards in the main event of Impact Wrestling (June 22, 2023). Unfortunately, good intentions led to a bad outcome.

Kaz and Edwards had a match against Bully Ray and Steve Maclin. Edwards tried to convince Kaz to trust him, so Edwards went to the extreme of swearing on the grave of their trainer, Killer Kowalski.

For the most part, Edwards and Kaz worked okay together until the finish. Edwards pulled a bonehead move that will likely ruin his chances to earn Kaz’s trust. Kaz had the chickenwing submission on Maclin in the center of the ring. Edwards went for a superkick in an attempt at combo offense. He ended up blasting Kaz in the face instead of Maclin. Bully dumped Edwards from the ring, and the bad guy finished Kaz with a back suplex neckbreaker combo.

Based on Edwards’ reaction, I have to assume that kicking Kaz was not part of the plan. I’d lean more toward a stupid decision backfiring. The reason I call it stupid is because of the angle. Due to the nature of the chickenwing, Maclin was already lower than Kaz. Too low for a superkick. That’s what makes the superkick a weird choice from Edwards at that particular moment. He didn’t act heel in the aftermath, so that’s why I give him the benefit of the doubt.

Kaz was not pleased, especially since the contact gave him a black eye.

Kaz was holding onto the grudge even a few days after.

Kaz is taking it personal. He sent a message on social media that he’s coming for that mother(expletive).

That wasn’t the only bond of trust eroding before our eyes. The Design appears to be disintegrating. Angels and Kon were in tag team action against Jonathan Gresham and “Speedball” Mike Bailey. Deaner was on the outside advising the Design, but he ended up being more trouble than he was worth. Angels had Bailey down ripe for the picking. Deaner hopped onto the apron ordering Angels to finish his opponent. Angels was doing just that climbing the turnbuckles for an aerial attack. An argument ensued, time was wasted, and Angels missed the target on a frog splash. Bailey pounced to win via Ultima Weapon knee drop. This will be another instance when Angels gets blamed, even though, it was Deaner’s fault.

It wasn’t all negative on the trust front in this episode. A few more pairs appeared to build a stronger bond.

Killer Kelly picked up a win over Taylor Wilde. Kelly applied the Killer Clutch submission, but Wilde rolled out to escape. Kelly trapped Wilde during the transition for a roll-up to win. KiLynn King was ringside, so the Coven stomped Kelly after the match. Masha Slamovich arrived on the scene. It was unclear which side she was on. Would Slamovich join the Knockouts tag champs in smashing her dog collar rival? Or would Slamovich show respect for the guts of Kelly? The Russian sided with Kelly to clean house on the Coven.

The show opened with trios action as Sami Callihan, Jake Crist, and Madman Fulton battled Brian Myers, John Skyler, and Jason Hotch. oVe was in control down the stretch. Fulton and Crist were setting up a teamwork finisher when Moose ran in to shove Crist off the turnbuckles. Callihan and Fulton chased Moose up the ramp, meanwhile, Myers flattened Crist with the Roster Cut lariat to win. Moose’s interference is a sign that he is receptive to Myers’ idea of becoming a tag team to chase the titles.

Backstage, Rich Swann approached Callihan. Swann knows what Moose and Myers are like. His priority is to have Callihan’s back.

This feels like the oVe reunion might have been a special Ohio treat for the Columbus crowd, and it is time to move on. Swann and Callihan appear to be a team going forward on television. Friends are back together again.

Neveah caught up with her former partner Havok, except Havok was now Jessicka with no memory of her former persona. Neveah explained the Undead Realm situation to Jessicka and Courtney Rush. The Death Dollz were hesitant to buy this story, but they decided to trust Neveah. They ran off all excited at the prospect of going on a quest.

Let’s blitz through the rest of the results from Impact Wrestling.

• Dango defeated Bhupinder Gujjar. Dango dodged a gargoyle spear to pounce for an inverted DDT for victory. Afterward, Santino Marella came down to hit Dango with the Cobra.

• Zicky Dice graduated from referee school. Johnny Swinger was excited to have a stooge ref in his back pocket, so he can screw his way to 50 wins and earn a world title shot.

• Trinity was tired of Jai Vidal, so she challenged him to a match next week.

• Nick Aldis was not present after his cheap shot attack on Alex Shelley last week. Jimmy Jacobs read a letter aloud explaining that Aldis fears for his safety due to Shelley’s rabid fan base sending threats and harassment on social media. Shelley called bullshit on that. Jacobs claimed that Aldis will be in the Impact Zone next week to address his actions. Shelley wasn’t happy, but he had no choice to wait. Once Shelley exited, Jacobs muttered how fame went to Shelley’s head so quickly as champion. Shelley heard that remark and superkicked Jacobs. Aldis responded to this incident on Twitter, “Completely unprofessional. What a disgrace to the World Championship. I hope Jimmy slaps him with a lawsuit! He deserves a safe working environment!”

• Scott D’Amore realizes he isn’t on the level of Bully Ray and Steve Maclin in the ring. He wasn’t even on their level in his prime. D’Amore isn’t worried though. He’ll get down and dirty breaking the rules, if he has to. D’Amore brought Bully into Impact, and he’ll have to be the one to take Bully out of Impact. It is going to be war at Slammiversary.

• Impact Digital Media Championship: Joe Hendry retained against Yuya Uemura. Hendry caught a flying crossbody to counter for the Standing Ovation slam. After the match, Kenny King stepped up as the likely next challenger for the championship.

We’ll close with good news for Impact fans in the UK and Ireland. The weekly show will now air on the DAZN channel on Sky TV.

Share your thoughts on the latest episode of Impact Wrestling.