Impact Wrestling’s third live event, Impact Rebelion, featured 10 main event matches, including two pre-shows and one digital-exclusive match. The main event saw Josh Alexander defeat Moose to win the Impact World Championship. Other highlights from the night included the return of Ace Austin and the victory of Tessa Blanchard over Gail Kim. The event also marked Blanchard’s meteoric rise to stardom.
IMPACT Wrestling’s second pay-per-view of the year was held on April 23 in Poughkeepside, New York. Moose defended the IMPACT World Championship against Josh Alexander, while two other matches were aired live on Youtube as part of the Countdown to Rebellion pre-show. There were seven matches total on the pay-per-view card. The commentaries were provided by Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt, and the event opened with a dark match between Kenny King and Crazzy Steve. After the match, Jonathan Gresham was replaced by Chris Bey.
In addition to the main event, a number of other teams were also competing for the championship at IMPACT Rebellion. Moose had delivered his contract to Alexander’s house, and then speared his wife at a non-IMPACT show. Now, Alexander is determined to win the IMPACT Championship and exact revenge on Moose.
The IMPACT Rebellion 2022 saw the crowning of several new champions. The AAA Reina de Reina champion, Taya Valkyrie, won her match against Deonna Purrazzo, avenging a defeat she suffered 15 months prior. The IInspiration’s sloppy ringwork allowed the IInspiration to keep their Knockouts Championship, but they were not able to cleanly eliminate the two ladies.
The match also saw the debut of newcomers in the IMPACT stable. Jonathan Gresham was originally scheduled to face Eddie Edwards, but he was forced to withdraw due to injury. This forced the Bullet Club’s Chris Bey to step in. Chris Bey is an up-and-coming star in the wrestling business, and his association with the Bullet Club should help his future.
The Good Brothers match got the most airtime and was probably the highlight of the evening. However, Rich Swann and Willie Mack feel under-pushed, and the crowd was left feeling stale. The match took the wind out of Impact’s sails, and Rosemary had to repeatedly fire up the crowd.
The IInspiration match was a bit better than I expected. It featured a major near-fall spot that set the stage for a big finishing sequence. It was also notable for Maclin’s face paint. In addition, he wore white and black face paint, and his diving off the apron ended up transferring a good bit of it onto Sabin.
This match was originally scheduled to be the main event, but was moved to a pre-show. It was a good match. The pace was fast, and the two wrestlers looked very comfortable together.