Impact Wrestling
Rebellion 2021
04.25.2021
Josh Alexander vs Ace Austin vs TJP
This was honestly a much better match than expected and a very solid start to the PPV. The match moved along at a solid pace and while I personally still don’t get the big hype behind Alexander he was the shining star of this match. TJP continues to honestly be mediocre and show that he just doesn’t seem to have anything between him for a major push. Outside of a few sloppy moments this was a good opener and hopefully Alexander can lead the X Division on a good route and in future bouts with Ace.
W Morrisey, Joe Doering, Deaner, & Rhino vs James Storm, Chris Sabin, Eddie Edwards, & Willie Mack
With the debut of Morrisey aka Big Cass we were given a chaotic 8 man tag that showcased almost everyone in a good way. Willie Mack I feel continues to be underused with his fast movements being a bigger guy. Morrisey looks great though and being a big man clearly towered over all, they made sure he looked great during his debut match so it’ll be interesting to see where it goes from here.
Brian Myers vs Matt Cardona
Both these men have tried to prove their worth since leaving WWE, and here while it was a decent story both to me just still seem so lackluster and bland. It was a good story of two ex friends against each other though. While I’m not a fan really of fake injury finishes as they did here it did play further into Myers heel work he has going. Its just a shame that the match didn’t do much else so thankfully it was over quick.
Jordynne Grace & Rachael Ellering vs Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz
This ended up being a short and quick tag title change match that mostly moved along at a solid enough pace. Towards the end the pacing had started to wear off some and at moments Ellering was slightly sloppy but Grace helped hold it together. Taking the belts off Fire ‘N’ Flava though seems to be an odd choice since Grace and Ellering are new partners, but I see many rematches in the future.
Trey Miguel vs Sami Callihan
What a sloppy match this was. Callihan controlled most the match putting Miguel through a series of spots and using various objects but due to this it just felt like moving from set piece to set piece. The pacing and momentum of the match never matched and thus made it feel like it continued to drag on and it didn’t help that the match ended with a slipped 10 count. I know it was done to not make Callihan look weak but instead it just came across as goofy since the finish came out of nothing that extreme. Not even a story could save this match either and I really hope they don’t try to push this feud further.
FinJuice vs Good Brothers
This was a very old school classic feeling tag match between the two. Finley fought the match as the face who needs that help at the help and that brought Juice in to run wild. Both teams show they’ve taken notes from older teams in their move set but FinJuice remained in the end. We’ll just have to see if their time in NJPW will be lessened for Impact or if the tag belts will be few and fair between.
Deonna Purrazzo vs Tenille Dashwood
Purrazzo continues to prove why she is one of the best women in wrestling currently and just how versatile she is in the ring. While this match was going solid enough once when it remained in ring between the two, once the outside interference started it just began to fall apart. For what it was though the match was solid enough and Purrazzo was going to retain it anyway.
AEW World Championship vs. Impact World Championship: Kenny Omega vs. Rich Swann
Company vs company and belt for belt on place here in a match that has been hyped for some time. Now I’ll say it from the start, everyone knew Omega would win once they gave the stipulation that there would be one solid winner. What we got here was a great match, paced perfectly, of two men giving it everything in their system to represent their companies. Swann ended up looking like a million bucks here taking Omega for everything in his system move after move. Seeing Swann push through what little he had left inside for any bit of offense through Omegas string of moves showed he was intent on defending his belt towards the end.
The only real downside is that you knew Swann stood no chance. Omega would take the belts, and given that AEW hasn’t promoted this match much anyway, you knew they wouldn’t let Omega lose. It will be interesting to see how this plays out for Impact though. Will Omega show up more on Impact to defend it or does he hold it till Impacts big PPV Slammiversary to drop it to one of the stars they teased last night.
Overall Rebellion was just a mediocre PPV. Outside of the first and last match everything was either just okay and forgettable or in the case of the Last Man Standing match a complete and utter trash show. Hopefully this continued working partnership with AEW helps Impact solidify themselves for upcoming PPV’s.
