Tonight on IMPACT Wrestling, what will be the fallout from Against All Odds and Sami Callihan being fired from the company? Plus, we’ll see Tenille Dashwood take on Rachael Ellering and Satoshi Kojima face Rhino for a shot at the IMPACT Tag Titles.
IMPACT WRESTLING
June 17, 2021, Nashville, TN
Commentary: Josh Mathews & D’Lo Brown
Gia Miller is backstage attempting to get an answer from Scott D’Amore. Moose comes barging in knocks on Scott’s door. D’Amore answers and he empathizes with Moose’s plight of being screwed at Against All Odds. He assures him matters will get handled as Anthem is sending someone to give a message, but he has to give it time. Moose says he’ll make time.
MATCH 1
TJP (with Fallah Bahh) vs. Black Taurus (with Crazzy Steve)
Taurus downs TJP but Perkins shows his elusiveness. The two come to a stand off after some speedy action. Taurus corners TJP but pays for it with some strikes. Taurus does regain control quickly and asserts his power. TJP tries to catch Taurus with a high knee, but Taurus evades and it sends TJP tumbling to the outside.
Taurus gets back in the ring for a two count, but TJP kicks out. Taurus hits TJP with a backbreaker for another near fall. TJP hits a hurricanrana. TJP catches Taurus with a leaping lariat from a springboard. Boot wash in the corner. Tornado DDT sends Taurus to the outside. TJP dives on top of everyone to the outside. Mamba splash on Taurus for the 1-2-3.
WINNER: Black Taurus
Post-bout, Moose comes charging in and attacks TJP. He brings in a chair and grabs the mic. He’s going to make Scott D’Amore make time for him. He’s hijacking the show and sits down. He warns security to not come in, but in comes Chris Sabin leaping off with a missile dropkick. He says Moose doesn’t need to worry about Kenny Omega, he needs to worry about Chris Sabin. He wants to fight right here and now, but Moose bails to the back.
Ace Austin, Madman Fulton and Rohit Raju are co-conspiring about the upcoming Ultimate X match. Raju accepts the offer, stating he has a plan.
After the commercial break, Sabin is backstage and asks Moose who he thinks he is. He challenges Moose to a match at Slammiversary.
MATCH 2
Madman Fulton (with Ace Austin) vs. Josh Alexander
Madman is dominant starting off and snake eyes Josh on the apron as we head into break.
Back from it, Fulton snake eyes Alexander once more, but this time in the corner. He hammers away at Alexander center ring. Ace gets involved at ringside and D’Lo takes exception to it. Alexander fights on and hits a stalling suplex on Fulton. Very impressive. Two count. ALexander hits a double underhook piledriver and gets the W.
WINNER: Josh Alexander
Post-bout, Ace attacks Alexander. Petey Williams comes in and hits a Code Red on Ace. Rohit comes in to attack. Trey Miguel joins the fold. A returning Shera comes in and clears house for Raju.
We see Deonna Purrazzo backstage and she’s reading the riot act to Kimber Lee and Susan. Susan fires back at her saying that Purrazzo wouldn’t be champ without them. Kimber Lee tries to play peacemaker, but Deonna is furious and storms off. Susan calls her a “typical millennial.”
Gia Miller is backstage with W. Morrissey. He talks about everyone “seeming” to have friends backstage. Didn’t work out for Rich Swann with Willie Mack, TJP with Fallah Bahh and Kojima with Eddie Edwards. Truth is, those aren’t your friends. They’re going to stab you in the back. W. had to learn it the hard way. The only person that he can trust is himself.
MATCH 3
Steve Maclin vs. Jason Page
Maclin corners Jason and chops at him in the corner. Shotgun elbow off the ropes. He chokes Page on the second rope and then hangs him out to dry over the top. Page briefly fights back but that all changes after a harsh clothesline. Rapid fire elbows. He does a sit-out Curtain Call for the 1-2-3.
WINNER: Steve Maclin
Jordynne Grace and Rachael Ellering are having some differences backstage which causes the former to walk off. Break time.
Gia Miller knocks on the locker room of Kenny Omega. Out comes Don Callis. He compares his relationship with Scott D’Amore to that of siblings. He mentions the weakness of Scott is empathy with the wrestlers. Don just sees them as numbers. Scott loves going out to share good news while Don is harsh and straightforward, hence, his firing of Sami Callihan. Don isn’t worried about the Anthem representative coming. He says they better come bearing gifts because he took care of a problem that should have been taken care of a long time ago.
MATCH 4
Tenille Dashwood (with Kaleb with a K) vs. Rachael Ellering
Tenille offers Rachael a cheap iron-on tee as a means of respect, but Rachael isn’t very accepting. The two get extremely technical and this goes on for quite some time. That all changes when Kaleb wraps the tee around Rachael’s leg and Tenille attacks her. Dashwood pulls the hair and attacks Ellering against the ropes. Fight goes to the outside and Rachael gets thrown into the barricade. She answers the count at eight but Tenille gets her with a high cross body from up top. Two count.
Rachael turns the tide with a suplex and a sling blade. Some good chops followed by a twisting arm wrench. Leaping senton for a two count. The two women trade running strikes and Tenille gets a near fall with a clothesline. Rachael hits a spinebuster for her own near fall. Tenille once more gets a close pin. Rachael hits a spinning leg drop and as Rachael’s on the mat, Kaleb shines a ring light in her face and it allows Tenille to roll her up with a crucifix for the 1-2-3.
WINNER: Tenille Dashwood
TJP is knocking on Scott D’Amore’s office with a broom. Enter Crazzy Steve and Taurus. They aren’t pleased with the outcome of their last encounter (opening match they mean). Fallah Bahh offers Steve the opportunity to suffer a clean sweep and he accepts the challenge.
Fire N Flava are backstage asking random employees who the best tag team in Knockouts history. It isn’t going well as Rosemary enters the picture. She and Havok throw Steelz against a wall while they toss Hogan into a rolling dumpster. She stands up to find Mickie James’ WWE trash bag next to her.
MATCH 5
Rhino (with VBD) vs. Satoshi Kojima (with Eddie Edwards)
The two men lock up but it’s the powerful Rhino who downs Kojima with two shoulder tackles. The fight gets back to a vertical base as Rhino sets a target on Kojima’s mid-section. He downs the Japanese legend, but Kojima comes right back with a back elbow. Rhino powders and we go to break.
Rhino continues the assault on Kojima when we return with precision punches. The two duke it out at a steady yet slow pace. DDT to Rhino. He goes for the Koji-cutter, but Rhino hits a belly-to-belly. Rhino goes for the Gore, but a side step sets him up for the cutter. Both men are down. Kojima gets to his feet, goes for his lariat, but Rhino ducks. Kojima bounces off the ropes once more and nails it. 1-2-3. Kojima and Eddie will get a World Tag Team Title shot.
WINNER: Satoshi Kojima
Sami Callihan comes out and is irate that he’s fired. We go to break to build the suspense and back from it, Sami’s warding off security. Scott D’Amore comes out. He clears security. It’s just Scott and Sami. He’s with Sami. It was wrong and unfair. That’s why someone from the Anthem board is sending someone and word is they’re here right now. But Sami isn’t making a case for himself right now. Sami doesn’t like authority, but for once, he’ll do things Scott’s way. He hacks the IMPACT Zone and Sami vanishes. Don Callis says Sami proved his point. D’Amore questions that Don overstepped his bounds this past weekend. Don says maybe, but he did it for him. He reiterates what he said earlier about the wrestlers. He fired Sami because he meant nothing to him. Scott knows he did it for Kenny Omega. Out comes Tommy Dreamer. He’s not here to tell him so. Scott says Anthem is sending someone from the board, they don’t have time for this. Dreamer has been sent. He reinstated Sami Callihan. There’s something else. Someone does need to be fired. The board is going to make a change: effective immediately, Don Callis is fired from IMPACT Wrestling. He is no longer EVP. Don is irate and Tommy says there’s a trash bag waiting for him in the back.
Backstage, Callis runs into Sami. Sami isn’t going to hurt Don, but he’s going to bash Kenny’s brains in instead.
