Impact Wrestling 4.26 Review: Rebellion Go-Home Show

[cero2k]

Impact Wrestling
April 26, 2019
Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Full Recap - https://www.f4wonline.com/news/impact-w ... how-282471

Eli Drake/Eddie Edwards Confrontation - Eli Drake opened the show coming down to the ring. He came down wielding a selfie stick with a microphone and Eddie’s kendo stick. He talked about Eddie Edwards not being the same Eddie as before and being the weak link in their team. Eddie Edwards ran down to the ring and attacked Eli, grabbed his kendo stick back, and ran Eli to the back. The cameras followed them back and outside the building. Running out of the building may as well be how Eli Drake gets written out of the show.

Tessa Blanchard vs Gail Kim Build Up Video - Great video with good production and good promos.

Ace Austin vs Aiden Prince - 7/10
This match is coming from Ace making the challenge to Prince since the latter stole the 6-way match from weeks back. Aiden Prince is the local wrestler, so the fans were mostly behind him.

This was a great opener with lots of athleticism and big spots. Aiden Prince looked far better here than the 6-way match where he debuted. Ace Austin's mannerisms were definitely more heelish here which played out at the end. Ace won with The Fold.

Post-match - Ace Austin kept attacking Aiden Prince. He hit a second curb stomp and was going for another Fold when Petey Williams came down for the save, hitting Codebreaker, but failing to hit the Canadian Destroyer when Ace ran away.

Taya and Jordynne brawl - Taya Valkyrie attacked Jordynne Grace at a gym, trying to choke her while she was doing chest press. They brawled around the gym using weights as weapons. Taya DDTd Grace on to a weight disc and left her for dead.

RVD Promo - Rob Van Dam cut a promo talking about the new talent and who he’d like to face. He brought up that Willie Mack’s Frog Splash had been getting called the 6-Star Frog Splash.

Moose jumps The Rascalz - All of the Rascalz were walking around backstage following some notes to meet at one point in the back. Wentz did some comedy trying to find the letter, but suddenly, they were met by Moose, looking dapper. Moose introduced his new friends who will join him to take on the Rascalz -- The North. Page, Alexander, and Moose jumped The Rascalz, beat them up around the hall.

Brian Cage vs Johnny Impact Build Up Video - The production was great. Both Johnny and Cage cut promos. The way they set up both guys in their respective locations for their promos made the video look top notch.

GWN Flashback Moment of the Week was LAX vs Lucha Bros from the Homecoming pay-per-view earlier this year.

Scarlett Bordeaux made an announcement that at Rebellion, there will be a live Smoke Show.

Rosemary vs The Undead Maid of Honor (w/Su Yung & The Undead Bridesmaids) - Squash
The Maid of Honor jumped Rosemary, and she still got her ass kicked in under 5 minutes. Finish saw Su Yung give her glove to the Maid of Honor, but Rosemary hit the Green Mist and a Spear for the pinfall victory. Short nothing match.

Post-match - Rosemary chained the Undead Maid of Honor and took her away as either a new pet or slave. Su Yung was devastated.

Rich Swann goes to the oVe Compound - Rich Swann went to Ohio to the oVe compound. Crists told him Sami wasn’t here, but Swann still went looking for him. No one answered the door, so Swann sat down and started talking to himself about his back story and about Sami’s mother passing away and he being there for Sami. Swann was done talking and took off. Sami then opened the door after all.

Lucha Bros/Johnny Impact Backstage - Lucha Bros met backstage with Johnny Impact and Johnny Bravo. Fenix told Johnny they don’t need Johnny, Pentagon told him that they don’t obey anyone’s orders. Johnny completely ignored what they said and gave them Johnny Impact gear to wear to the ring.

Killer Kross vs Willie Mack - 7/10
This was a power vs power match, while both men also brought a lot of speed to the match. Kross was dominant and tortured Mack throughout the match, and every time Mack had a small comeback, Kross would turn up the fire and regain control, looking like a beast.

In his final comeback, Mack hit a Samoan Drop and the Moonsault, but Kross caught him and locked in the Krossjacket Choke for the submission win when Mack passed out. Good match, I don't really know where this is going.

LAX vs Lucha Bros Build Up Video - It covered the feud all the way to the Full Metal Mayhem. A great recap of the story, from friendly bouts to a fight for respect.

The Deaners (Cody Deaner & Cousin Jake) vs Halal Beefcake (Idris Abraham & Joe Coleman) - Squash
They’re a great looking tag team, completely different form the Cody Deaner we knew from his original TNA run with ODB.
They had a good debut even if we didn’t see much, as they quickly won their match with a Deaner Side Slam. Cousin Jake is really impressive, he has size and potential.

Josh Matthews ran down the card for Rebellion, announcing that The Rascalz vs The North and Moose is now officially on the card.

Johnny Impact & Lance Storm Segment - Johnny and his entourage came down to the ring. Johnny Impact and Taya look like a million dollars out there, Johnny Bravo looks about two hundred dollars. Johnny cut a promo addressing the announcement of Lance Storm as the guest referee. He talked about Lance Storm’s integrity, but he brought up that Lance Storm is his OVW trainer, Taya’s trainer from Storm Wrestling Academy. They even invited him to their wedding. Johnny said it’s always nice having their friend's back.

Lance Storm came out to a big ovation. Storm hugged with Taya and Johnny, making Don Callis go crazy on commentary. Storm said on the mic that it was great to be back, but there was a misunderstanding. He said that he once told them to be an asset to the business and be integral and respect the business. Johnny only asked Lance Storm to protect him since he wouldn’t allow Cage to hit the Drill Claw on Johnny’s hurt neck, right?

Storm told Johnny that his integrity has never been for sale and if Johnny wants to retain his championship, he’ll need to defeat Cage himself. There was a small altercation and Taya slapped Lance, forcing Storm to defend himself from Johnny and superkicking him. Great segment, Lance looked great.

Brian Cage & LAX w/Konnan vs Johnny Impact (w/Taya Valkyrie & Johnny Bravo) & Lucha Bros - 8/10
This was a hell of a match, I really expected shenanigans or a cheap no content brawl so no one would take the pin heading into the pay-per-view, but instead, they gave us a fast paced long match where both teams perfectly worked together to try and win and not just do the usual 'These teams can't get along because our only options in life is babyface and heel and you have to adhere'.

Instead of doing the 'everyone hits their finisher' spots, they turned it around and did a everyone will take a big sequence of moves from their opponents for big near falls. At the end, when things were starting to get out of control, Brian Cage hit the Weapon X on Johnny in the middle of the ring for the pin win. Brian Cage was busted open in the back of the head at the end.

Final Thoughts --
This was a great go home show. It touched upon all the matches from the pay-per-view, built the missing matches, and even managed to deliver a great show inside the ring.