IMPACT Wrestling Results: June 17 2021 - Sami Callihan’s Future Decided

IMPACT opened with a recap of of everything Don Callis has been doing recently - favouring his relationship with Kenny Omega over his role as an IMPACT VP. We also saw the events from Against All Odds when Kenny Omega defeated Moose with shenanigans, only to eat a Sami Callihan beatdown afterwards before Callis fired Sami on the spot.

Gia Miller was waiting outside Scott D’Amore’s office, hoping to shed some light on the Sami Callihan situation. Gia was quickly bustled out of the way as Moose turned up looking for answers, and demanded a re-match at Slammiversary. D’Amore understood Moose’s anger, but said he didn’t have time as Anthem were sending someone down from head office to sort the Sami Callihan mess out. 

After IMPACT’s intro video we went straight to in-ring action with TJP taking on Decay’s Black Taurus. The two went back and forth in an evenly matched opening segment, as the surprisingly agile Taurus more than kept up with TJP, before using his size advantage to take control. TJP fought his way back into the bout, using everything at his disposal to keep Taurus down, and a Mamba Splash was the difference maker, netting TJP the win.

Post-match Moose attacked TJP, grabbed a mic and demanded D’Amore make time for him and threatened to hijack the show once again. Security goons came out to apprehend Moose, but the big man warned them off, before Chris Sabin rushed him and smashed a chair into his head. Sabin was hot and demanded a fight, but Moose walked off, unwilling to entertain the man he took out at Under Siege.

Backstage Rohit Raju was complaining to Ace Austin about Madman Fulton robbing him of his X Division Title opportunity at Against All Odds, and causing an Ultimate X match to take place instead. Austin apologised, but reminded Rohit that he had it coming for being involved in a group attack on Fulton. Austin placated Rohit by saying they were the top contenders as former champions, and suggested an alliance at Ultimate X so they could take out the other competitors and level the playing field. Rohit agreed and said he wasn’t the only one with an ‘ace’ up his sleeve.

Chris Sabin was marching backstage when he was stopped by Gia Miller. Sabin cut a promo on Moose and said the real wrestling gods sent Sabin to humble Moose, then challenged him to a match at Slammiversary.

Next up we had X Division Champion Josh Alexander in a non-title match against Madman Fulton. Alexander was looking beat-up from his recent Iron Man Match, and used his speed to avoid Fulton, but the big man soon got hold of him, nailing a huge release vertical suplex to bring the Champ down to Earth with a bump. Fulton manhandled Alexander inside and outside the ring, with Ace Austin getting some shots in when the ref was distracted. Alexander soon fought his way back in, Walking Weapon nabbing the win with the Divine Intervention as Ace tried in vain to break the count.

Post-match Austin beat down Alexander, but Petey Williams ran in for the save. As Maple Leaf Muscle went for the Canadian Destroyer, Rohit Raju ran in for a fight, followed by Trey Miguel. Shera then arrived and destroyed everybody, taking out Alexander with a chokeslam backbreaker. 

Backstage Deonna Purazzo was yelling at Kimber Lee and Susan about failing once again at Against All Odds. Kimber tried to keep the peace as Susan called Deonna a typical degenerate millennial.

Gia Miller spoke with W. Morrissey. The big man spoke about the idea of friends, saying that Rich Swann has Willie Mack, TJP has Fallah Bahh, Kojima has Eddie Edwards, but all were no use when push came to shove. Morrissey said everyone is under an illusion that their friends will help them succeed, but they’ll only stab you in the back. “In this industry, in this life, the only person I can trust is me.”

Match three saw the IMPACT in-ring debut of Steve Maclin, taking on ‘no-entrance’ Jason Page. A quick squash to put over Maclin, with the former Steve Cutler dominating Page from the bell - Maclin got the win with a sit-out reverse DDT drop in no-time at all.

Jordynne Grace and Rachel Ellering were talking ahead of Ellering’s match tonight. Ellering was addressing the pair’s frustrations about losing the tag titles, but was cut off as Grace was angry that the whole locker-room thinks Ellering was the reason they won the straps. Grace referenced how Tenille Dashwood has been sucking up to Rachel before walking off.

Gia Miller spoke to Don Callis about his issues with Scott D’Amore. Callis said when you have siblings you can love someone but have disagreements, and that’s how he views his relationship with Scott. Callis went on to say D’Amore has empathy for the talent, whereas Callis sees numbers on a spreadsheet, and is there to make the tough calls when Scott can’t. Don said Sami Callihan’s firing was inevitable, and he just ripped the band-aid off. Callis said he wasn’t worried about the Anthem execs coming to IMPACT, as Callihan was a problem that needed taking care of a long time ago and he was sure they'd agree.

Next up Tenille Dashwood took on Rachel Ellering, but noticeably Jordynne Grace didn’t accompany Ellering to ringside. Tenille and Ellering battled for leverage, employing traditional hold-and-counter-hold wrestling. Tenille soon came out with strikes realising she had been outwrestled, but Ellering responded and took control. Tenille got more aggressive as frustration set in, but this only fired Ellering up. Some more back and forth action, but as Ellering had the win in sight, Kaleb distracted her, allowing Tenille to get the win with a school boy.

TJP and Fallah Bahh were knocking on Scott D’Amore’s office, before Crazzy Steve and Black Taurus asked what the matter was. Bahh suggested the two sides have a tag match, to which Decay accepted.

Fire ’n’ Flava were gloating about their Knockouts Tag Title defence at Against All Odds and went looking for competition. The two harassed a janitor and a binman who didn’t know who they were, before Rosemary and Havok interrupted, attacked the champs, and suplexed Kiera Hogan into a bin. Hogan unearthed a bin bag with ‘Mickie’ written on it, as the segment ended. 

Our main event saw Satoshi Kojima take on Violent By Design’s Rhino, and if Kojima were to win then he and Eddie Edwards would get a shot at VBD’s Tag Titles. This was a hard hitting affair to the surprise of no-one, with the two veteran former World Champions vying to out-strike one another. Kojima built momentum and hit a top rope elbow for two, then continued striking the Man Beast looking for the win. Rhino executed a massive belly-to-belly, but Kojima came back and sank the Koji Cutter, then nailed the lariat for the win, and a shot at the tag titles. 

As D’Lo Brown and Josh Mathews were hyping up next week’s show they were cut off as an irate Sami Callihan was in-ring demanding Callis and Omega make their presence felt as several security guards tried to calm him down. D’Amore appeared before Callihan went postal, and said for once he was on Sami’s side. D’Amore said things were unfair and he was trying to fix things as Callis had overstepped the line at Against All Odds. Sami teleported, as Don Callis made his entrance. Callis called Sami crazy, and said he overstepped his bounds for D’Amore, because Scott has a soft-spot for the wrestlers, whilst Callis said the in-ring competitors were garbage and insects only there so the execs could make money. D’Amore fired back saying Callis fired Sami to protect Kenny Omega, nothing more, as the exchange became ever more heated. Tommy Dreamer entered the building, as D’Amore and Callis told him now was not the time. Dreamer revealed that he was Anthem’s representative, reinstated Sami Callihan, and fired Don Callis from IMPACT Wrestling effective immediately. An irate Callis screamed at D’Amore and Dreamer, and called Tommy a Bruce Prichard level stooge, before Dreamer revealed there was a garbage bag in the back with Callis’ name on it.

Callis made his way backstage where he met Sami Callihan. Sami said he was going to take Omega and bash his brains in, as he was the only person Callis loves.

Full results: • TJP def. Black Taurus • Josh Alexander def. Madman Fulton • Steve Maclin def. Jason Page • Tenille Dashwood def. Rachel Ellering. • Kojima def. Rhino