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Credit: Impact Wrestling

The journey to Slammiversary on June 19 continued Thursday night on Impact Wrestling with a show that determined the next entrant into Ultimate X for the X-Division Championship, highlighted the Knockouts division ahead of the first-ever Queen of the Mountain match and brought Josh Alexander and Eric Young together in the same ring for the first time since the Violent By Design leader earned a world title opportunity.

Did Mike Bailey or Laredo Kid cash his ticket to Slammiversary, were The Briscoes able to retain their Impact tag titles and who earned momentum in the latest showdown between Honor No More and Bullet Club?

Find out with this recap of the May 19 episode of Impact Wrestling.

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Credit: Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling kicked off with a match every bit as fast-paced and high-flying as one would expect from “Speedball” Mike Bailey and Laredo Kid.

An uber-competitive match that saw neither man gain a sustained offensive for too long concluded with Bailey rolling his masked opponent up, Kid reversing, and Speedball reversing that reversal for the pinfall victory.

Bailey has been one of the best wrestlers in the world thus far in 2022, stealing WrestleMania weekend through a series of extraordinary matches and now has the opportunity to put an exclamation point on his career-defining run with an X-Division Championship run.

Kid is equally as great and really should have a greater presence on this show every week. He is good enough to excel beyond the X-Division, not unlike Trey Miguel did during his brief flirtation with the main event two years ago.

Grade

A

Top Moments

• Kid delivered a beautiful springboard plancha to the floor, wiping out Bailey and crashing into the guardrail.
• The counter by Bailey that won him the match was great, but the commentary was quick to play up controversy surrounding the victor’s placement under the ropes. Whether that factors into Kid getting into the title match at Slammiversary anyway bears watching.
• X-Division champion Ace Austin cut a promo from Japan on Bailey and their history, then vowed to win the Ultimate X match at the pay-per-view.

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Credit: Impact Wrestling

In a preview of the first-ever Queen of the Mountain match, Knockouts champion Tasha Steelz partnered with Savannah Evans and “The Virtuosa” Deonna Purrazzo to battle AAA Reina de Reinas champion Taya Valkyrie, Jordynne Grace and Mia Yim.

An action-packed six-woman tag match, this shined the spotlight on Grace, Steelz, Purrazzo and Yim, all of whom will compete in the historic championship bout at Slammiversary. Valkyrie shined late with a sliding German suplex and Yim scored the win for her team with Eat Defeat on Evans.

The match was fun, inoffensive and did what it set out to by putting some attention on what will be one of the marquee bouts of the June 19 pay-per-view event. In the process, it set Yim up as the woman to beat in the match and the greatest threat to Steelz’s title. 

As she should be.

Grade

C+

Top Moments

• Chelsea Green cut a promo on the Queen of the Mountain match from her honeymoon with Digital Media champion, Matt Cardona. 
• Yim’s entrance is that of a star and, hopefully, she has the opportunity to showcase every one of her skills that WWE failed to capitalize on during her run there.
• Yim delivered her ode to Gail Kim, Eat Defeat, to Evans to score the victory.
• Knockouts tag champions Madison Rayne and Tenille Dashwood presented the latest Locker Room Talk with guests Johnny Swinger and Zicky Dice. Decay’s Rosemary and Havok interrupted, teasing the next program for the champs.

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Credit: Impact Wrestling

The feud between Honor No More and Bullet Club continued with the rekindling of the rivalry between The Good Brothers’ Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows and OGK’s Matt Taven and Mike Bennett. Maria Kanellis joined Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt at the commentary position for the match.

The match was better than expected, with each team getting an extended heat portion by isolating an opponent from his partner and cutting the ring off. The solid tag teamwork gave way to an energetic home stretch that culminated with Bennett inadvertently spearing wife Kanellis and Anderson scoring the win for his team with a Gun Stun. 

It would have been nice to see Bennett and Taven score a big win over The Good Brothers here. Anderson and Gallows are essentially bulletproof at this point and would have recovered quickly. Taven and Bennett could desperately use a win of that magnitude and it would strengthen the credibility of the team. Instead, the perpetually over duo earned both the win and momentum for Bullet Club. 

Grade

B

Top Moments

• A fantastic video package highlighted Eric Young ahead of his Slammiversary main event against Josh Alexander for the Impact world title. 
• “I believe we make every single company we are a part of better,” Kanellis said of Honor No More.
• Hannifan put over Bennett and Taven strongly, running down every one of the former’s transformations away from the ring and the level of performance the tandem has been responsible for. 
• Bennett accidentally speared Kanellis in a moment that led directly to the finish.

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Credit: Impact Wrestling

Masha Slamovich continued her winning ways, dominating Shawna Reed in an enhancement match. The destructive competitor’s victory was not the story of the segment, though. No, it was the arrival of Havok, who came face-to-face with Slamovich to set up the toughest fight of the newcomer’s Impact career on next week’s show.

It was a development that absolutely needed to happen. The easiest way for Slamovich to get over at this point is to win matches against recognizable and credible opponents. Havock, hopefully, is the start of that trend.

The Impact Tag Team Championship was at stake in the night’s main event as The Briscoes defended against Violent By Design’s Joe Doering and Deaner.

Despite a superb effort by the former champions, it was Jay Briscoe who stacked up Deaner to score the win for his team via pinfall. After the match, Violent By Design attempted a beatdown of the champions but Impact world champion Josh Alexander made the save and joined the Briscoes in standing tall to close out the show.

The match itself was damn good, probably better than you would expect. Doering and Deaner have gelled nicely as a tandem while the Briscoes are one of the best teams of the last two decades. They had chemistry together and the result was an entertaining main event.

The right team went over but the biggest takeaway was the involvement of Alexander and Eric Young. Those two will clash for the world title at Slammiversary but might a huge six-man tag team match be next for both men before they clash on PPV?

Grade

C+ for Slamovich vs. Reed; B+ for the tag title main event.

Top Moments

• The Slamovich-Havok staredown was great and instantly enhances next week’s match.
• Mark Briscoe exploded late in the match, bringing an energy to the contest and wiping Doering out at ringside. 
• Mark just narrowly saved the match and titles for his brother in a neat bit of drama.
• The tension between Alexander and Young is palpable and it is only a matter of time before one does something to escalate the feud.