Cero Reviews Impact Wrestling Rebellion Night One

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Cero Reviews Impact Wrestling Rebellion Night One

Post by cero2k » Apr 21st, '20, 20:36

Impact Wrestling Rebellion, Night One
April 21, 2020

Full Recap - https://www.f4wonline.com/news/impact-w ... lts-309416

This was Impact’s first show without a crowd since the pandemic started. They’ve been taping towards the ramp for months, so there was little change from their normal set up.

Cold open was a great build up video of all ongoing feuds with a voice over quote of Charles Bukowski.

Rhino, Tommy Dreamer, & Crazzy Steve vs oVe (Madman Fulton, Jake & Dave Crist) - 5/10
The first minutes saw the usual pair ups, but for some reason, Crazzy Steve was completely out of focus getting in and out everything Fulton got a tag. These tags felt completely unplanned.

It's crazy to say, no pun intended, but it was Dreamer and specially Rhino that pulled the good stuff out of this match, Steve was just bad. Finish saw Dreamer took out Jake to the floor. Fulton tossed Steve over the top rope, but Rhino was there to send Fulton out too. Rhino hit the Gore on Dave Crist and took the win for the team. This was ok, Crazzy Steve was a detriment to the match.

Josh Matthews and Madison Rayne introduced the show and ran down the card. Matthews announced that both Tessa Blanchard and Eddie Edwards are in isolation and that it seems the World Title match is off.

Eddie Edwards Interview - Josh Matthews had a face-time interview with Eddie Edwards. Eddie talked about not being at Rebellion, as he forced himself to quarantine to protect his family. He said that once things are good, he’ll come back and go right after the championship.

Michael Elgin Interview - Gia Miller interviewed Michael Elgin about the Championship situation. Elgin talked about going to ROH and NJPW and his voyage to find the best competition and the World Championship. Elgin said that both Tessa Blanchard and Eddie Edwards were afraid of him and avoiding him. Elgin said that he’ll be the World Champion by the end of Rebellion.

The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) vs Fallah Bahh & TJP vs XXXL (Acey Romero & Larry D) - 8/10
This was really good, each team worked perfectly to their streanghts. XXXL were the powerhouses, Rascalz the speed demons with the awesome tag moves, and Bahh and TJP the babyfaces in peril. Every team got their chance to shine, but I have to say that while The Rascalz took the win, this really put XXXL over, Larry D was out there to earn his paycheck.

Finish saw Wentz hit a Superkick and Springboard Cutter on Larry D, and set up the Corkscrew finish by Xavier for the win.

Post-match - The North sent a message to Impact from Canada. They said that they were not stuck in Canada, but rather making sure that Canada was safe. They said that since they didn’t want to go to the US, they were making an open challenge to Canada’s best.

Willie Mack Interview - Miller interviewed WIllie Mack and Rich Swann. Mack said that he was really happy to have Swann there to back him up against Ace Austin. Mack said that he wished that they were winning Tag Team gold, but Swann stopped him and told him that the tag titles were in the past and now, it was Mack’s time to become the X-Division champion. Good stuff by Swann.

We got the build up video package of Mack’s chase to the X-Division championship.

X-Division Championship Match
Willie Mack vs Ace Austin (C) - 8/10
Willie Mack came out with an awesome new robe, but incredibly stupid looking purple contact lenses.

I guess one blessing of this pandemic is that Reno Scum wasn't there to interfere and we got a one-on-one match with a clean finish. The match was mostly a back and forward affair. At first it seemed like it would be a lot of mind games by Ace when he started stalling a lot, but once the fighting started, it was a go all the way through.

The highlight of the match was when Ace countered a Stunner, hit The Fold, but Mack kicked out. Moments later Mack would hit a Stunner in the third rope, follow with the 6-Star Frog Splash, and win the title. Pretty good match.

Post-match - Rich Swann came out to celebrate with Willie Mack. Backstage, Swann congratulated Mack and told him that they can still go for the tag titles once he’s good to return.

Johnny Swinger approached them and told Mack that The Mack and Pack Connection will live forever and asked for Mack’s first title shot. Swann said they were on the way to party and Swinger invited himself.

Kylie Rae Video Package - We got words from Gail Kim, Eddie Edwards, and Tessa Blanchard putting her over. Kiera Hogan, however, only talked trash and cut a nice heel promo.

Kylie Rae vs Kiera Hogan - 7/10
Rae started the match by folding her t-shirt nicely. I really liked this match, they got enough time and had a great match to show, both women had a lot of intensity in their movements, they don't look fake or slow. The match was mostly back and forward, a lot of Hogan bullying Rae until she would flip out. Kylie chased the Smile To The Finish from the start of the match, up until the finish, so it was a nicely planned match.

The main event scene of the Knockout's Division is pretty solid between Taya, Jordynne, and Tenille, but it be nice for either, preferably both of these women, to reach that level in the coming months.

Night Two Rundown - Matthews and Rayne ran down the card for next week. Suicide vs Chris Bey vs Trey Miguel vs Rohit Raju, Joey Ryan vs Cousin Jake, Full Metal Mayhem between Rosemary and Havok, as the Knockout’s Title between Jordynne Grace and Taya Valkyrie broke down, and the conclusion of Elgin’s threat to walking out as World Champion no matter what.

Unsanctioned Match
Ken Shamrock vs Sami Callihan - 7/10
This was exactly what it needed to be in terms of hiding Shamrock’s shortcomings and length. Only questionable detail is Callihan losing his first match since his return, but considering that Shamrock is headed to the Hall of Fame, it wouldn’t be productive to have him lose either at this point.

Match started with Sami jumping Shamrock with a dive during the entrance, they brawled around the ring, and then headed to the back. They brawled in the back with weapons, Sami was over first, then Shamrock, and then oVe jumped Shamrock, but to much surprise, as he had been hinting for weeks, Sami turned on oVe and took them out with his bat. Sami wanted his one-on-one cowboy match with Shamrock.

They took it to the parking lot, where after some more fighting, Shamrock locked in the Ankle lock and Sami passed out of the pain. I'm not a fan of passing out to an Ankle Lock to be honest, it just seems silly, at least wrap around the legs.

OVERALL THOUGHTS
This was a really good show by Impact. Four matches worth checking out, where I completely forgot it was an empty arena. This did feel like the stronger card of the Rebellion nights if indeed the World title and the Knockout’s title matches have fallen.
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