Impact Wrestling Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Analysis from June 16

The final Impact Wrestling broadcast before Slammiversary set the stage for Sunday's pay-per-view, headlined by a contract signing between Josh Alexander and Eric Young ahead of their world championship main event.

What went down when they shared the ring Thursday night and what else happened to create buzz for the company's 20th anniversary?

Find out now with this recap of the June 16 episode.

The first-ever Queen of the Mountain match will be one of the highlights of Slammiversary, with Tasha Steelz defending her Knockouts world title.

Thursday's show kicked off with three of the wrestlers in that bout doing battle in tag team action as Steelz and bodyguard Savannah Evans battled top contenders Jordynne Grace and Mia Yim.

The heels isolated and beat down Yim for a large portion of the match before a hot tag to Grace sparked the babyface comeback. Even with Evans dropped on the floor, The Boricua Badass overcame her opponents by capitalizing on a miscommunication and pinning Grace for the win.

This was a strong contest that showcased all involved and had some solid storytelling to go with it. First, there was the idea that Evans will not be there to back Steelz up Sunday night and the champion will have to score the win on her own if she is to extend her title reign.

Then, there was the miscommunication spot that creates some tension between friends Yim and Grace and inevitably highlights the "every woman for themselves" nature of the upcoming title match.

The Knockouts can almost always be counted on to deliver and are consistently among the best parts of Impact. This was no different and kicked off the final show before Slammiversary with both a quality match and final hype for one of the marquee bouts of the PPV.

Grade

B

Top Moments

• Chelsea Green and Deonna Purrazzo watched backstage, continuing to hint at an on-screen partnership between the two.
• Grace floated out of a pinfall attempt and right into a crossface with great fluidity.
• Steelz realized Evans was nowhere to be seen and she would be forced to go it alone if she wanted to earn the win. A precursor to Sunday's match, perhaps?
• Backstage, Green and Purrazzo teased an alliance before settling on the idea that there can be only one Queen of the Mountain.

A first-time match between two of the best wrestlers in the world saw X-Division stars Trey Miguel and “Speedball” Mike Bailey battle for the opportunity to build momentum ahead of the company’s revolutionary Ultimate X match.

The bout, a back-and-forth affair between two lightning-quick stars with the ability to outwrestle any opponent, had the fans split down the middle and invested in the action as it unfolded.

The nonstop contest concluded with Miguel narrowly scoring the win with a roll-up that caught Speedball off-guard and dealt him his first singles loss in Impact.

This was easily one of the best free televised matches of the year. Miguel and Bailey had the fans in the palms of their hands, completely invested in everything they accomplished throughout the unrelenting contest.

Bailey has been one of the best wrestlers on the planet in 2022, a breakout star who continues to deliver every time he sets foot in the squared circle. Miguel might be the most underrated, underappreciated in-ring performer in the business. Few are able to constantly deliver the quality that they do.

Miguel dealing Bailey his first loss is an interesting option. Perhaps it hints at a series of matches between them in the wake of Slammiversary. If that is the case, fans should keep their eyes glued to Impact.

Grade

A

Top Moments

• Bailey smashed into the ring apron prior to the commercial but recovered and controlled coming out of the break.
• Miguel applied a Sweet Dragon Sleeper, but Bailey fought out of it. 
• The crowd rewarded the efforts of the competitors late, greeting an exchange of strikes with chants for both Miguel and Bailey.
• Tom Hannifan revealing the loss was Bailey's first singles defeat in Impact was a great bit of commentary and something he has consistently done since joining the company.

Alisha Edwards made the mistake of stepping up to challenge Masha Slamovich and being unafraid of her rival.

She should have been, though.

The Moscow-born wrestler squashed her opponent in a one-sided match that added to her winning streak but accomplished little else.

Slamovich is great. She has the look of a star and should be a major player in the Knockouts division for years to come.

While it is nice to see her finally scoring wins over KO roster members, it's time to see her square off against legitimate competition so audiences can see what she is capable of in an extended match.

Grade

C

Top Moments

• Slamovich appeared amused at the idea of Edwards standing up to her. She should have been because this was no even match.

Bullet Club's "Switchblade" Jay White and Chris Bey battled Impact tag team champions The Briscoe Brothers in non-title action.

The Good Brothers' Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson joined Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt at ringside.

In another great contest on a night full of them, Mark and Jay Briscoe overcame the focused attack of White and Bey to score the win with a roll-up on the latter.

It's no surprise given the talent involved, but this was a ton of fun. The Briscoes are always going to be standard-bearers in tag team wrestling, while White and Bey have developed strong chemistry as partners during their run with Impact.

The Briscoes went over to build momentum ahead of their match with The Good Brothers at Slammiversary, and White was protected to preserve his status as the top dog in New Japan Pro-Wrestling and leader of Bullet Club.

Bey could use a reprieve from constant losses, but he almost had to eat the pin in this situation. Luckily, losing to a team the stature of The Briscoes is hardly devastating to anyone's credibility.

Grade

B

Top Moments

• Anderson and Gallows breaking Hannifan by referring to him as "FKA Tom Phillips" was good stuff.
• Bey unloaded a heel kick that was picture-perfect and stunned Jay.
• Bey rocked Jay with a Superman forearm and then downed Mark with a Code Red for a near-fall.
• The Ultimate Finesser handled the majority of the in-ring work for the heels as White was clearly protected by the booking of the match. That he just became the IWGP heavyweight champion by defeating Kazuchika Okada suggests it was the right call. 

A tense confrontation between Honor No More and the returning Aces and Eights' Wes Brisco and Garett Bischoff led to an impromptu tag match between the two factions.

Kenny King and Vincent represented the heels, while former vice president of Aces and Eights D'Lo Brown seconded his associates.

The match was fine for what it was, with Bischoff and Brisco getting some shine before the heels scored the victory. As they should have.

Nostalgia be damned, there was no reason whatsoever for Bischoff and Brisco to go over here, especially considering how much Vincent and King needed a win to preserve credibility. Honor No More have been building momentum, but those two, in particular, needed a win to reverse their fortunes in Impact.

The tease of a Low Down by Brown was met with overwhelming support, and the desire to see D'Lo go back to 1998 and break out the move that earned him his fair share of European Championship victories grew.

Grade

C+

Top Moments

• Prior to the match, Hannifan and Rehwoldt revealed NWA world champion, and former Impact world champion, Nick Aldis will join the Motor City Machine Guns and Frankie Kazarian at Slammiversary in their battle against Honor No More.
• Never did we imagine the Aces & Eights theme song would be heard on Impact television again.
• "Does this mean I have to leave?" Rehwoldt asked as Brown made his way to the ring with Brisco and Bischoff. It was a great callback to The Drama King replacing an injured Brown at the commentary position in the first place.
• Brown laying out King, even if his babyface fire was short-lived, was a nice bit of revenge for an Impact legend whose last appearance featured him being laid out by Honor No More.
• Motor City Machine Guns' Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley made the save, cleared the heels and stood tall with Aces & Eights.

Josh Alexander defends the Impact world title against one of the most decorated and storied competitors in the company's two-decade history, Eric Young, at Sunday's Slammiversary.

Thursday night, they sat across from each other for a special contract signing, presided over by executive vice president Scott D'Amore.

A promo-heavy segment concluded—predictably—with physicality. Violent By Design's Young, Deaner and Joe Doering beat down the world champion, bloodying him before choking him out with the disconnected top rope.

The heels tore the ring apart and delivered a wicked spike piledriver on the exposed wood to a chorus of boos from the fans.

This was a surprisingly good segment, with Alexander attempting to remind Young of who he is and was, with the mere mention of EY's past in Team Canada or as the ultimate underdog of TNA, making him visibly uncomfortable.

The top contender's response? Violence, which left Alexander reeling and momentum on the side of the heels entering Sunday's show.

What may not be the most dazzling main event on paper was emphasized and escalated with some great booking Thursday night.

Hopefully, it generated interest in a match that has the potential to be great and put an exclamation point on a Slammiversary card that is shaping up to be one of the best of the summer.

Grade

A

Top Moments

• D'Amore put over Young's history in Impact for those who might have forgotten how significant a role he has had with the company since the days of Team Canada.
• Alexander recalled his history with Impact as a fan and watching everything Young accomplished along the way.
• "At Slammiversary, I walk in with this entire company's history on my back. At Slammiversary, I walk in with this entire company at my back." Alexander said.
• "Of course I knew who 'Showtime' Eric Young was because I watched him build his career here from the ground up," Alexander said. 
• Good looking-out from Violent By Design's Doering, who pushed a table out of the way, preventing it from rebounding off the ropes and hitting any of the other guys involved.