By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Impact Wrestling Hits
Kenny Omega and Rich Swann press conference for Rebellion: A good segment that made the title vs. title match feel big time while also establishing that there will be a winner and a loser. Omega’s overly confident promo was well delivered and his cheap shot slap at Swann was fun. I have enjoyed Omega and Callis more in Impact than I have on AEW television. And speaking of AEW television, the thing that’s really preventing this from feeling like a mega match is that it’s not even a topic of conversation on AEW Dynamite. Nevertheless, the involvement of AEW talent has made Impact a better show and I am looking forward to the Rebellion main event.
Jazz retirement segment: It was ridiculous that she lost her career on Sunday and ended up being booked in an impromptu match just days later. Worse yet, Scott D’Amore tried to book her in a tag title match at the Rebellion pay-per-view. Fortunately, it appears as if the company will honor the stipulation going forward, as Jazz passed on D’Amore’s offer and officially announced her retirement. The wrestlers coming out to pay their respects was nice. It’s just a shame that fans couldn’t be there to send her off the right way.
Josh Alexander vs. TJP: A very well worked match to start the show. Alexander needed this win after losing previous matches to TJP and it was nice to see him get one rather than having them fight to a non-finish. Alexander and TJP challenging Ace Austin for the X Division Championship at Rebellion looks really good on paper.
Sami Callihan vs. Matt Cardona: Callihan needed to win this match and did. It would have looked bad for the former Impact World Champion to lose clean to Cardona, who hasn’t changed anything other than his name since being released by WWE. The post match angle with Trey Miguel was well done. They took an unconventional approach by having Callihan court Miguel with the goal of dominating Impact together. I like the added touch of Callihan revealing that he took out Tommy Dreamer to get Callihan into the Hardcore Justice main event. I also liked that once Miguel balked at forming an alliance, Callihan flipped the switch and violently attacked him. Hopefully we get more of this Callihan and less of the teleporting hacker nonsense.
Impact Wrestling Misses
Brian Myers vs. Jake Something: As much as I appreciate the way Myers has reinvented himself in Impact, I wasn’t a fan of seeing Something lose this match. Impact needs to build new stars. Terrible last name aside, Something has upside and should be protected. I’m not even suggesting that Something should have beaten Myers. Rather, Myers could have beaten someone with less upside in this Pick Your Poison match.
Karl Anderson vs. Crazzy Steve: A soft Miss. A distraction finish gave Anderson the win. I couldn’t tell if they were trying to protect Steve, put heat on Anderson and Gallows, or both. Regardless, the match was well worked, but it ultimately felt like a filler match with a flat finish.
Tenille Dashwood’s “All About Me: Another soft Miss. There’s still something missing with Dashwood’s influencer gimmick. It feels rather generic and she’s more of a tame pest heel than a heat seeking money heel. There’s potential for the gimmick to work, but they just haven’t found the groove yet and I am starting to wonder if they ever will.
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