IMPACT Rebellion Results & Recap
This past weekend, IMPACT Wrestling put on the Rebellion pay-per-view live from Toronto, Canada. IMPACT is sorely underrated and every PPV they put on falls under the radar, which is unfortunate. Whether you consider yourself an IMPACT fan or not, they have an exceptional roster, and consistently put on good wrestling. Rebellion was no different, this was a 3 hour PPV, but it did not feel that long.
Let’s break it down and discuss each match.
Six Pack Challenge: Ace Austin def. Petey Williams, Jake Crist, Aiden Prince, Cousin Jake, Eddie Edwards & Ace Austin.
In an unannounced match, we had a very exciting match with six men who were all from Toronto or the surrounding areas. When this match started, I didn’t expect much from it if I’m honest, but there was not one minute where I was bored. All six men had their spots to shine and while this was not the longest match, it was one of the most fun on the entire show. Jake Crist really stood out for me in this match, he is so smooth in the ring and his creativity surrounding the cutter makes his matches even more exciting to watch. I have one nitpick that I want to get off my chest, I hate when an event is in Canada so they feel the need to do a Sharpshooter, but that’s just a pet peeve. We also got to see a Canadian Destroyer from Petey Williams, which makes this a great match in my books. In fact, to end the match, Williams hit a Destroyer on Crist, but Austin rolled up Williams before he could make the pin.
Short match but entertaining from start-to-finish and a nice Canadian spotlight match to kick things off!
Scarlett Bordeaux def. Rohit Raju.
In a rare intergender match on IMPACT TV, we got Rohit Raju of the Desi Hit Squad vs ‘The Smokeshow’ Scarlett Bordeaux. This was also a short match, but I really enjoyed it. Intergender wrestling is a very tricky thing to pull off for obvious reasons, but this match did it perfectly. This was basically Raju’s strength vs Scarlett’s speed and Raju took her lightly which led to his downfall. I believe this was my first time seeing a Scarlett match and I was impressed, she is really good in the ring! Scarlett hit a German Suplex at one point which was a super cool spot. The match finished when Raju attempted to do a stinkface to Scarlett but she kicked him in the groin and hit a Muff Driver for the win. This was a super fun match, it was just the right amount of comedy and athleticism on both ends.
If anything, this made me a big Scarlett Bordeaux fan, and was a fun match from bell-to-bell.
The North & Moose def. The Rascalz.
Going into this match I had never even heard of The Rascalz, but man did they impress me in this match. This was very much like that first match, it was action from bell-to-bell. The Rascalz are some of the best highflyers I have ever seen, diving all over the ring and outside of it too. The match was fairly even, and this was a really good impressive performance for Ethan Page and Josh Alexander who are new to IMPACT. This was essentially a big guys vs little guys match and they played that dynamic perfectly with The Rascalz trying to use their speed. Moose got the win for his team with the best spear in wrestling on Dez from The Rascalz.
This was an extremely fun match and more people should know about The Rascalz because they are amazing.
Knockouts Championship Match: Taya Valkyrie (C) def. Jordynne Grace
Then we move on to probably my least favourite match on the card, nothing against the two women and it was by no means a bad match it just wasn’t the best on the card. I think the reason I didn’t like this match as much is because in comparison to the rest of this card, it was a slower match, and more technical. I think that’s more on Taya than it is on Jordynne. Regardless, this was still a solid match and sold a very good story throughout with Taya working over the arm of Grace, and Grace selling it well. The action really picked up at the end, and Grace went for the Grace Driver but Taya countered it with a nasty headbutt. Taya hit her finish, the Road to Valhalla, and retained her IMPACT Knockouts Champion.
X Division Championship Match, oVe Rules: Rich Swann def. Sami Callihan.
Before I get into the actual match, I want to say the video package they put together to hype it was absolutely fantastic, and the production value throughout the show impressed me. As for this match, it was everything you would expect it to be, absolutely crazy. Swann and Callihan used a staple gun on each other in the beginning of the match and it set the tone immediately for this extreme match. The two went back and forth with all kinds of weapons including chairs, a wet floor sign, a garbage can, very ECW in that sense. Near the end of this match, Callihan pulled out a giant Lego brick and in that brick was thousands of lego bricks which he spread out near one of the corners. Callihan then hit a second rope piledriver onto Swann onto the Lego bricks. Now I can watch someone get slammed into tacks and be fine, but these Lego spots make me cringe everytime, which is weird. The match came to a close when Callihan pulled out a barbed wire Baseball Bat and before he could use it, Swann got it away from him. Swann hit him with the bat, and put the challenger in a crossface, using the barbwire on the bat forcing Callihan to tap out.
Fantastic match here and the storytelling throughout was also top level.
Tessa Blanchard def. Gail Kim.
Then we had Toronto’s own Gail Kim, taking on Tessa Blanchard. Man I don’t know how Tessa isn’t in WWE right now, she is so good it’s crazy. This was a decent match, didn’t live up to some on the rest of the card, but still a good match. Gail Kim also hasn’t lost a step and I don’t understand why she’s retiring because she kept up with Tessa here, they looked very evenly matched. Nothing groundbreaking in this match, but a good pace and it certainly was never boring. Although there was spot at the end of the match that was nasty where Tessa did a facebuster onto Gail and usually her opponent would land beside her face down, but this time she did it off the ramp so Gail took a nasty fall. After that Tessa put Kim in a crossface to get the win. Both ladies hugged after the match and Gail Kim had a bit of a curtain call, again.
IMPACT Championship Match: Brian Cage def. Johnny Impact (C).
Then in our co-main event of the evening, Brian Cage would try to get his revenge on Johnny Impact in a match officiated by Canadian legend, Lance Storm. Brian Cage is one of the most underrated wrestlers in the world, he’s big, he can talk, and he can wrestle like he’s in the X Division. Brian Cage at 268 pounds, hit a standing Moonsault at one point which is insane. Right after that, Impact hit a Spanish Fly on Cage off the ramp, I audibly gasped, crazy spot. At some point in the match Cage got a nasty cut on his forehead, but it added to the drama of the match. Outside the ring, Taya and Bravo set up a table outside and while Storm was distracted, Impact clocked Cage with the title. He then took out Storm and hit Starship Pain, he went for the pin and Bravo tried to count the pin but Cage kicked out. For those that don’t know in Storyline, Johnny Bravo was the head official in IMPACT, but was bought off by them. Storm runs in the ring and hits a Superkick on Bravo, absolute Canadian legend that man is. Cage hits the Drill Claw and got the win.
Cage finally wins the Impact World Championship in a banger of a match, and it was an extremely satisfying end to this fantastic story between Cage and Johnny. After the match, Michael Elgin makes his IMPACT Debut and confronted Cage, then takes him out with a Powerbomb.
Full Metal Mayhem Tag Team Championship Match: LAX def. The Lucha Brothers (C).
I was a bit shocked when I saw that this main evented over the IMPACT Championship, but once I saw the match, I understood why. I knew this match was going to be chaos and I was right. These four men have insane chemistry and they put on MOTY contenders every single time. So many insane spots in this match, I’ll try and go over a few. At the very beginning of the match, Lucha Bros dove out of the ring putting LAX through tables, and this was in the first five minutes. Later on, Penta and Fenix hit a Package Piledriver/Double Stomp on Santana through about six chairs. After that, we got a scar spot where Fenix hit a Spanish Fly off a ladder through a table but he didn’t rotate all the way and landed square on his head. The match started to come to an end when Penta poured thumbtacks over two tables. Penta tried to suplex Santana off the ladder through the tables but was saved by Ortiz. Santana stabbed Penta in the head with a fork, Ortiz powerbombed Penta through the table to win the match and the titles.
I haven’t done this match justice in the slightest, truly go out of your way to watch this match. These four men put it all out there. Lucha Bros have also signed exclusively in the States to AEW so this may be the last time we see these four in the ring.
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Average Rating