Andrew’s IMPACT Rebellion Results & Match Ratings: 4.23.2022

So Rebellion is tonight, and we did all have an idea there was going to be a tweak to the card. Jonathan Gresham is still going through possible concussion protocols, so his match with Eddie Edwards needs to be postponed. That puts a little more pressure on Jonah and Ishii, as well as, the main event.

Certain matches we expected to show up, and honestly I’m curious which match is starting things off. Like I’ve said the last couple weeks, I feel like this is exactly when Josh Alexander gets his vengeance, hopefully Trey Miguel looses and while I feel like Taya didn’t show up to lose, I wouldn’t be upset with Deonna retaining.

Let’s find out what’s good and what’s awful!

Ratings:

• Jay White vs Steve Maclin vs Chris Sabin: Maclin wins via Crucifix Pinfall – *** ¼
• AAA Reina de Reinas Championship: Deonna Purrazzo (c) vs Taya Valkyrie: Taya wins via Road to Valhalla – *** ¼ – TITLE CHANGE!!!
• X Division Championship: Trey Miguel (c) vs Ace Austin vs Speedball Mike Bailey: Ace wins via The Fold – **** ¼ – TITLE CHANGE!!!!!
• Jonah vs Tomohiro Ishii: Ishii wins via Vertical Drop Brainbuster – *** ½
• IMPACT World Tag Team Championships: 8 Team Gauntlet Challenge: VBD retain via Piledriver – *** ¼
• Knockouts World Title: Tasha Steelz (c) w/Savannah Evans vs Rosemary w/Havok: Tasha retains via Worst Michinoku Driver Ever – * ½
• IMPACT World Championship: Moose (c) vs Josh Alexander: Alexander wins via C4 Spike – ***** – TITLE CHANGE!!!

Results:

Jay White vs Steve Maclin vs Chris Sabin

Maclin comes out in some Punisher inspired face paint. A little on the Prince Devitt vibes as well.

Early on Jay powders to try and get the other two to fight, so it’s classic Jay. Maclin gets impatient and attacks Sabin, Jay tries to pick a spot, but it takes until a near fall from Sabin for Jay to interact. This leads to Maclin getting dumped to the outside, Sabin has a few Apron Sentons for both men and starts working things with a distinct advantage.

General pace picks up with Sabin and Maclin focusing on each other, but Jay decides to take offense to being attacked on the outside, yet Sabin goes from corner punches on Maclin, to eyes in the back of his head and hits Jay with the Cross Body. Jay eats some offense, Sabin fires back, Jay lights up Sabin with chops and then Maclin reenters angry. A few big lay out spots, Blade Buster on Sabin for a 2; Uranage on Maclin for a 2, so White is trying to figure out who to get back on top of.

He picks Sabin, posts him up, Maclin looks for the Powerbomb on Jay, both Jay and Sabin fight Maclin to avoid the big bump. Maclin tries again but White stays aggressive, gouges Sabin’s eyes, tries to get in a Superplex, but Sabin fights him off. Jay drops into the Tree of Woe. Sabin hits the Flying Crossbody on Maclin, but Maclin manages to get the best of Sabin and Tree of Woe him as well. Caught in the Crosshairs on Jay, Maclin tries on Sabin, but Sabin sits up and Maclin crashes into the post and to the outside. “Holy Shit” chants start up.

Both Jay and Sabin trade attempts at Finishers. Blade Runner, no, Cradle Shock, nope, Blade Runner, counter, Cradle Shock…HIT! But Maclin slides in and hits the Crucifix Pin on Sabin to steal the pinfall!

Not gonna lie, it’s a good surprise that we didn’t start with the X Division and that Maclin actually grabbed the win. It also wasn’t done in a way that injures any of them, it was a solid Three Way Dance.

AAA Reina de Reinas Championship: Deonna Purrazzo (c) vs Taya Valkyrie

They lock up a little quickly, but Taya quickly starts taking control. A bit more power than Deonna, better athleticism, and Taya pulls off the Sliding Rope Hang German Suplex.  It’s not really until Taya gets cocky on the outside trying to grab Deonna around the post and drive her head into it, that Deonna turns it around on Taya and finally gets in the power position.

Deonna slows things down when she rolls her back in, Bow and Arrow, quick Lariat, a small rope run into a Flatliner floating into the Koji Clutch. Taya rolls it into a pinning predicament, but things stay fairly equal. Dueling Russian Leg Sweeps into the apron, they both crawl into the ring and literally yell at each other before trading bombs.

Taya tries Road to Valhalla, Deonna fights it off, Pump Kick into a Standing Moonsault for 2. Deonna tries the Fujiwara Arm Bar but Taya gets to the ropes. Corner strikes, Deonna might be looking for a Superplex, Taya gets out, Deonna fights off the Avalanche Powerbomb. Deonna turns, goes for the Missile Dropkick, but Taya counters into a Sitout Powerbomb. Taya goes for an bowing STF, Deonna gets to the ropes. They fight back and forth, Deonna goes for the Queen’s Gambit, Taya blocks, clocks Deonna and hits Road to Valhalla.

Taya wins her fourth Reina de Reinas title!

X Division Championship: Trey Miguel (c) vs Ace Austin vs Speedball Mike Bailey

Ace decided to let his ego do the talking and told both guys to fight him, since you know, Ace is the place with the helpful hardware folks…or something. It’s a bit funny to watch Ace get completely lit up since he let his mouth run early. A lot of fast fluid motion where all of the guys hit portions of their moves before counters happen on the final step. So many blocked moves. Swings, misses, advantageous set ups. Just fun spots.

Trey has Ace on the apron looking for what seems like an Alabama Slam, and Speedball just does the Triangle Moonsault through both of them. Miguel went for a float over Northern Lights, into a big stomp, but Ace catches Trey and throws him into Speedball. Just frantic action, which you don’t often see this style of Triple Threat. No one is getting a full thought in. Speedball looks to go for an early homerun, misses Ultima Weapon, goes for a Tornado Kick but Trey ducks it and turns it into a Flying Cutter on Ace.

Action, Ace sets up The Fold, Trey goes for the Bodyscissors counter that won the tag match Thursday, but Ace kicks out. Speedball hits a huge Asai Moonsault on Ace, Trey hits a big dive on Speedball and they slowly work back into the ring. Trey hits the Jackie Bryant Switchblade Kick, looks for the Sunset Flip Powerbomb, Ace blocks and Speedball stands on Trey’s body and hits the Avalanche German Suplex.

Running Tornado Kick in the corner, Ultima Weapon from Speedball, but Miguel breaks it up! Speedball wipes him out, Delays the Buzzsaw kick on Ace, Trey looks for a Schoolboy, Ace looks for the advantageous Schoolboy, Trey rocks Speedball with the Brainbuster, Meteora and Ace pulls out the referee! Ace hits the Springboard Triangle Kick, and hits a nasty Fold on Trey to win his 3^rd X Division Title!

Jonah vs Tomohiro Ishii

So we see this go the normal way that a lot of Ishii matches go. Ishii always has problems with bigger guys, they press their power on him and he starts slowly chopping them down. Well placed elbows to the head, Tanaka style Sliding Lariats to the knees and just generally trying to take out the power base.

Great back and forth from the two. Lariats, headbutts, Ishii tries the Brainbuster four or five times and the size difference is just too much. Jonah hits the Jonah Bomb and then goes for the Tsunami, but Ishii moves! Sliding Lariat, but Jonah kicks out, more Headbutts and aggression, Ishii goes for the Brainbuster again, and finally connects! Ishii wins!

A little slow, and a little…every foreign Ishii match ever. Still entertaining, but nothing mind blowing.

IMPACT World Tag Team Championships: 8 Team Gauntlet Challenge

Major Players are the first team and they’re met by Jordynne Grace and Massive Cassidy! We saw the hints at this on IMPACT! and this is how simple story telling works. Myers and Grace start off, and Grace is pissed. Myers eats elbows and a Suplex for an early nearfall. Grace goes to tag in Cass and Myers bails to tag in Cardona.

Myers causes Cass to chase him, Chelsea gets involved a little, Grace is distracted and sneaking in the roll up for the pinfall. Cass and Grace are irate and decide to beat the hell out of the nerds. Chelsea goes for another low blow, but Cass wore a cup Chelsea tries to run, Grace feeds her to him and BQE through the table on Chelsea. So Massive Grace may be eliminated, but they popped the crowd and left their mark.  The Good Brothers are next up against the Action Figure dorks.

Dorks don’t want to wrestle, they want to check on Chelsea. Good Brothers slide out after them, brawl, Superkick Myers’ head off. Magic Killer Cardona, and 1-2-3.  Zicky Dice and Johnny Swinger are the next team? Okay well The Good Brothers win and move on to the fifth team obviously. Big LG with the Double Coconut to start things off. Anderson Spinebuster on Zicky, Magic Killer, and like I said, Good Brothers win.

Rich Swann and Willie Mack are actually a legit team. So it’s nice to see we’re over the gimmick hump at the moment. Mack and Swann start fast to rock the OG BC. Karl and Rich do a bit of quick rope running fast spots before LG gets tagged in and slows it all down. LG gets Karl back in, they get a bit cocky and Machine Gun goes for a goofy flying kick and Karl crotches himself because Rich moved. Karl manages to get LG back in before Rich can tag Willie, and LG starts beating on the former World Champ. Staying on Rich LG brings Karl back in but that’s when Rich slips away.

Willie gets tagged in, Running Forearm, Twisting Headbutt, and then Willie knocks LG off the apron. Little Bread and Butter, near fall, Willie sets up the Stunner, it gets countered and Anderson Spinebuster. Magic Killer attempt, but Rich breaks it up. Willie dumps out LG, hits the Andrew Bynum on Karl and looks for the 6 Star Frog Splash. Karl meets him up top to stall to offense but Willie fights him off. Gallows grabs Mack off the top rope, the leg comes down over the rope. Rich tries to get some revenge but Rich eats the Uranage on the apron. Magic Killer, 1-2-3. Honor No More is next.

Maria comes out with Vincent and Kenny King even though OGK is announced. OGK attacks from behind, Karl gets Slingshot on from Taven and Maria holds down Karl’s feet and the referee doesn’t see it. OGK wins thanks to confusion and Maria. Heath and Rhino are the last team out before the defending champions. Good Brothers did land a Magic Killer on Taven before they left out of frustration, so Bennett is 1 on 2 for now.

Heath and Rhino hit some solid tandem offense, but Bennet keeps OGK in it. Taven comes in, gets things flowing, Rhino and Heath hit each other, things look bad and OGK sets up the Proton Pack but GORE! Heath and Rhino win! EY and Doering are the two to defend here and they take advantage of the  fact they’re fresher. Rhino is getting worked over. VBD works him in their corner, but Rhino finally fights out. Rhino takes the momentum into tagging in Heath after the old Double Lariat spot. Heath with the hot tag, Wake up Call on EY but EY gets his foot on the bottom rope. Numbers shenanigans come into play, Rhino and Doering have a brawl, Rhino lines up EY for the Gore, but Doering takes him out. Heath puts up a solid fight but EY hits the Piledriver and VBD retain!

EGV IS COMING!#REBELLION pic.twitter.com/xRaHm6qVK4

— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) April 24, 2022

Knockouts World Title: Tasha Steelz (c) w/Savannah Evans vs Rosemary w/Havok

Tasha comes out with Scar from the Lion King inspired gear and a little face paint. It’s…I suppose different but kinda corny as hell.

Rosemary charges as soon as the bell rings while Tasha is just messing around. Rosemary smacks her around and throws her around as well. Rosemary is bringing the intensity. Tasha is getting woman-handled and she does what she has to by powdering and provoking Havok to attack her. So Havok gets thrown out, giving Tasha the numbers advantage technically.

You know, I just kinda lost interest during this match. Tasha is not credible and her stuff tends to look bad at times. I suppose her utilizing a Stratusfaction is a shot at Mickie for reasons, and it looked like Rosemary was gonna pull this off but a Springboard Cutter and a really terrible looking Michinoku Driver helped her retain. Rosemary looked better than she has in a quite some time, but this match just exposed Tasha on the fact that her size isn’t believable, her lack of ability is apparent and she really needs to lose the title in her next angle. That was pretty damn painful.

IMPACT World Championship: Moose (c) vs Josh Alexander

Josh looks like he was gonna start fast, but just gets in Moose’s face. Moose tries to bait out an emotional response, but Josh stays collected, takes Moose down and keeps him grounded with some amateur Greco Roman wrestling. A quick Ankle Lock, and Moose gets to the ropes and powders, then Josh lets Moose back in the ring. So just a lot of patience shown by Josh and Moose is getting more and more visibly frustrated.

Moose goes over to Josh’s wife and son to start stuff, which finally gets Josh to react emotionally and Moose lands a big Pump Kick to finally start taking control. This early pacing is great where you can see Moose trying to be methodical while he’s in control, but Josh pops into the driver’s seat and the emotion comes pouring out. Josh hits the Low Crossbody through the ropes, and Moose is having trouble trying to stifle the onslaught. 10 German Suplexes in a row from Josh to Moose was a pretty cool spot that really gets across the frustration he has to just drop Moose on his head 10 times.

C4 Spike attempt, but Moose can barely block to drop him back, Josh goes to the corner, Moose charges, Josh blocks and pops to the top. Okada style Dropkick and then the Go To Hell from Moose! You don’t see him do that often anymore. Light Out attempt misses through into the corner, Josh tries something, Pump Kick, then Moose goes for the Escalera Crossbody, but Josh dodges most of it and locks in the Ankle Lock. Moose crawls to the ropes and Josh is exhausted but tries to stay on the champ. Moose hits some defensive upkicks, but Josh is pissed. Josh slaps Moose and they are both mad now.

Japanese Strike Exchange spot! Moose gets the best of the strikes, rocks Josh into the ropes, he’s reeling, Uranage from Moose and a 1 count! Josh fires and throws Haymakers. Moose runs the ropes, Josh hits a Lariat, C4 Spike and MOOSE GETS HIS FOOT ON THE ROPE! C4 Spike attempt, Moose drives him to the corner, pummels him with punches and then bites his face!

Superplex from Moose! 1-2-kick out! Moose goes for the Lights Out, Josh catches Moose and his legs flip up, STYLES CLASH from Josh! Classic Ankle Lock and Moose is looking for the ropes to get out of this. Moose climbs up the corner, Josh pulls and Moose rips off the turnbuckle pad. Hebner has to get rid of that, Moose with a low kick to counter, Moose drives his face into the exposed turnbuckle and Josh’s mouth guard flies out. Lights OUT! NEAR FALL! Moose takes the top buckle pad off, Buckle Bomb, Lights Out attempt 2, but Josh knees Moose in the head and blocks the move! C4 Spike…and Josh wins!

.@Walking_Weapon is the NEW @IMPACTWRESTLING World Champion!#REBELLION pic.twitter.com/ZPdXaeouJO

— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) April 24, 2022

Overall Score: 8/10

Now damn, this might’ve been Moose and Trey Miguel’s best matches tonight! If it weren’t for that awful Knockout Trash thing, then this could’ve been a one of the better PPVs of the year.

Josh’s story comes around wonderfully in a great match that had great pacing, callbacks, storytelling and a 2nd or 3rd gear. Trey no longer being the X Division champion is wonderful since if it wasn’t for Tasha, he’d be the worst champion that IMPACT had. Ace won it beautifully, Maclin won a match in which no one really gave him a chance for on paper and Deonna’s armor is now cracked.

Congrats to Josh for getting a chance at a legit title reign, but damn did Moose bring it. That was such a beautiful match.