Storylines
The event featured several professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines. Wrestlers portray heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. Storylines were produced on Impact's weekly television program. [6]
On April 16, 2023, at Rebellion, Steve Maclin defeated Kushida to win the vacant Impact World Championship. Maclin would later force Impact Executive President Scott D'Amore to present him with the title belt, but later strike him from behind with the title before being stopped by Nick Aldis, who was stationed at the commentary table after announcing his re-signing with Impact Wrestling. [7] [8] On the subsequent episode on Impact! , Maclin would hold a "Changing of the Guard" ceremony to celebrate his title win. However, he stated that while he is now champion, his "mission" in Impact was not yet complete; he wanted to win the title by defeating previous champion Josh Alexander in his home country of Canada, but Alexander had to relinquish the title after tearing his triceps. Maclin wanted to rectify that by issuing an open challenge for the title at Under Siege, so long as the challenger is Canadian. D'Amore would later interrupt the ceremony, accusing Maclin's challenge as him avoiding Aldis. [9] [10] He'd then announce Maclin's challenger for Under Siege, PCO. [11] On the May 11 episode of Impact!, after Maclin has his first successful title defense against Rhino, [12] [13] Maclin continued to attack Rhino as he targeted his injured left knee. As Rhino was medically evacuated, D'Amore informed Maclin that his match against PCO will be a no disqualification match. [14]
At Rebellion, Deonna Purrazzo defeated Jordynne Grace to win the vacant Impact Knockouts World Championship. [7] [8] On April 28, Impact announced that a rematch between Grace and Purrazzo, in which if Grace would lose, she could no longer challenge for the title as long as Purrazzo is champion. [15]
On the April 20 episode of Impact!, Time Machine (Kushida, Alex Shelley, and Chris Sabin) defeated Jonathan Gresham, Mike Bailey, and the Impact X Division Champion Trey Miguel in a six-man tag team match, where Sabin pinned Miguel to win. [9] [10] On May 1, Impact confirmed that Miguel would defend his title against Sabin at Under Siege. [16]
On May 4, Impact announced a six-way match to determine the number one contender for the Impact World Championship at Against All Odds. The participants are: Alex Shelley, Eddie Edwards, Frankie Kazarian, Jonathan Gresham, Moose, and Yuya Uemura. [17]
At Rebellion, during a four-on-three handicap match between The Design (Deaner, Angels, Callihan, and Kon) against Dirty Dango, Joe Hendry, and Santino Marella, Callihan turned on The Design by attacking Deaner with a baseball bat, causing The Design to lose the match. [7] [8] On the May 4 episode of Impact!, during a match between Callihan and Kon, The Design's "Army of Violence", who were clad in wearing yellow hoodies, attacked Callihan, causing a disqualification in his favour. [18] [19] On May 5, it was announced that Callihan will have to choose two partners to face The Design at Under Siege in a six-man tag team match. [20] On May 15, Impact announced Rich Swann as the first of Callihan's two partners. [21]
On the May 4 episode of Impact!, Trinity made her Impact Wrestling debut. [22] Trinity declared her intentions of becoming the Knockouts World Champion, which led to a conformation between Trinity, Jordyne Grace, and Knockouts World Champion Deonna Purrazzo. [19] [18] On May 8, Impact announced that Trinity has an open contract for Under Siege. [23] On the May 18 episode of Impact!, Trinity was confronted by Jai Vidal, the stylist of Gisele Shaw, who had criticized him for taking a selfie with Trinity the previous week. [24] [25] Trinity would retort by challenging Shaw to a match at Under Siege, which was accepted and made official. [26]
At Rebellion, Nick Aldis made his return to Impact Wrestling and immediately staked his claim to the Impact World Championship. [7] [8] Several weeks later, on the May 4 episode of Impact!, as Aldis was interviewed backstage, he was taunted by Kenny King, whom Aldis likened to as sort of a gatekeeper to new signees in Impact. [19] [18] On the May 11 episode of Impact!, Aldis had his first match in Impact Wrestling since June 19, 2022, at Slammiversary, where he defeated Sheldon Jean as King was on commentary. [12] [13] Later in the episode, it was confirmed that Aldis would face King at Under Siege. [27]
On May 12, Impact announced that the Impact World Tag Team Champions ABC (Ace Austin and Chris Bey) would defend their titles against former WWE wrestlers Subculture (Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster) who would be accompanied by Dani Luna. [28]
On the April 6 episode of Impact!, Director of Authority Santino Marella was mysteriously attacked backstage. [29] [30] Though Sami Callihan was originally thought of as the culprit as part of his initiation into The Design, Marella was found again laid out backstage on April 27, well after Callihan betrayed The Design. [31] [32] For the next few weeks, self-proclaimed Assistant Director of Authority Dirty Dango and Impact Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry investigated the case, with a tuft of hair being the sole piece of evidence they have. On the May 18 episode of Impact!, Dango would soon accuse Hendry of taking out Marella, only for a scuffle between the two to reveal that it was Dango's chest hair that Marella had taken – making him the true assailant. Dango would soon lay out Hendry while proclaiming "case closed." [24] [25] The following day, Impact announced that Dango will challenge Hendry for the Digital Media Championship on the Countdown to Under Siege pre-show. [33]
