By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
Impact Wrestling TV
Taped in Poughkeepsie, New York at MJF Convention Center
Aired April 28, 2022 on AXS TV
Highlights from the Impact Wrestling Rebellion PPV aired…
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt were on commentary. Dave Penzer was the ring announcer…
The show started off with Eric Young, Joe Doering, and Deaner, the Impact Tag Champions, making their entrance for an in-ring promo segment. Young talked about how Violent By Design took power and control when they won the gauntlet at Rebellion. Young claimed that they beat 7 teams to defend their titles. They said the picture of them as champions will live forever. Young said that if you people are being honest, you will know that there’s nothing you or anyone can do to them. Young said the world doesn’t belong to you, “it belongs to us”. Rhyno and Heath [Slater] made their entrance.
Rhino took the mic and said that he and Heath didn’t get their retribution at Rebellion. Rhino said he still has the voices of Young brainwashing him in his head, so he has unfinished business with VBD. Rhino called Young a punk. Rhino said they don’t just want retribution, they want the tag team titles. Rhino started hyping up the crowd. Mark and Jay Briscoe’s entrance theme played as the Briscoe Brothers made their Impact Television debut.
Jay hyped up the crowd when he grabbed the mic. This invoked a “dem boys” chant. Jay said if you didn’t think dem boys would come back after the bullcrap that happened at the multiverse thing, then you’d be crazy as hell. Jay talked about winning titles every where they’ve been and it ain’t gonna be no different here in Impact. Jay said “we comin’ for” the titles. Heath took the mic and said he’s happy to see the Briscoes here. Heath then said that Impact is a new world where the Briscoes are in the back of the line behind he and Rhino. Young said this is all a you problem, not a “us” problem. Young said everyone needs to figure things out between themselves and whoever is left standing will see VBD. Both teams demanded a ref come out so a match could start…
John’s Thoughts: Now that Heath and Rhino have lost their match, can they go back to being singles wrestlers because they suck at being a tag team too? (In all seriousness, Heath needs to pull a Steve Maclin and elevate himself. Rhino can tag team with someone else as a goofball sidekick). This is coming off Heath losing just one world title match to Moose and declaring that he was a unsuccessful singles wrestler in Impact. Anyways, I honestly hope that Heath and Rhino get phased out in favor of the Briscoe Brothers. The Briscoe Brothers definitely belong in either AEW or WWE, but Impact is lucking out because the big companies are afraid to bring them in. While they’re here, they should make the best out of it. Especially if they also have Honor No More, Bullet Club, Machine Guns, and GoD (maybe?) around.
1. Heath [Slater] and Rhyno vs. “The Briscoe Brothers” Jay and Mark Briscoe. Mark and Heath started off the match trading punches. The Briscoes then traded quick tags to swarm both opponents. Jay took out both opponents with a Tope Con Hilo. Jay took out his opponents with a cannonball. Both teams brawled at ringside. Mark slowed things down inside of the ring and cut the ring in half on Heath. Rhino took down Jay with a lariat at ringside heading into commercial.[c]
Heath and Rhino cut the ring in half on Jay with quick tags and methodical offense. Heath tried to pull Jay’s hair to prevent him from tagging in Mark, but Jay headbutted Heath and tagged Mark in. Rhino also tagged in. Mark gave both opponents a rally of right hands. Mark caught Rhino with a Pele Kick. The Briscoes caught Rhino with a double shoulder tackle. Heath broke up Mark’s pin. Rhino tackled into the ringpost and got a two count on Mark. Jay took Heath off the apron with a Yakuza kick. Jay gave Rhino a neckbreaker. Mark hit Rhino with Froggy Bow for the victory.
The Briscoe Brothers defeated Rhino and Heath via pinfall in 6:35 of on-air time.
Highlights from the match aired…
John’s Thoughts: Awesome introduction of the Briscoe Brothers to the Impact audience. I thought Jay and Mark’s pluckiness came off well here for Impact viewers who may be seeing them for the first time. Hopefully Impact makes the most of the Briscoes time here, especially with so many other guest tag teams running around with high profiles in the wrestling world.
Tom Hannifan and Matt Rehwoldt checked in from the commentary table. Hannifan noted that the Under Siege event is happening May 7th and is available to their Impact Plus and paid YouTube subscribers. Hannifan and Rehwoldt then ran through upcoming segments on this week’s show…
Moose barged into Scott D’Amore’s office saying that Josh had 6 months to prepare for Moose while Moose only has 5 days to prepare for Josh. Moose said that even though D’Amore has a soft spot for Josh, D’Amore shouldn’t forget that Moose gave D’Amore a match of the year candidate. D’Amore said he never got in Moose’s way during those six months and Moose proved his worth as champion. D’Amore said he’s just allowing Moose to do what Moose does best and prove he’s a “wrestling god”. D’Amore said that the winner of the match will face a hand picked opponent at Under Siege to defend the world title, and Scott assumed that Moose would love that. Moose said all Scott needs to do is think about how he’s going to console Josh’s pitiful family after what Moose does to Josh this week…[c]
The mystery wrestler vignette that aired at Rebellion aired. It was done in 70s movie trailer style (similar to what you see in Tarintino movies). There was also random binary code flashing on the screen (I hear people have translated the code to say “Sami” and since Sami Callihan’s a computer dude in the Impact world, we can assume Sami Callihan is on his way back)…
Entrances for the next match took place…
2. VSK vs. Bhupinder Gujjar. VSK threw a jacket at Gujjar. VSK pummeled Gujjar with punches. Gujjar came back with a running uppercut and dropkick. Gujjar hit VSK with a corner splash. VSK ducked to ringside for a breather. Gujjar caught VSK with a plancha. When the ref went to separate Gujjar and VSK, VSK yanked Gujjar’s face against the rope and followed up with a DDT for a two count. VSK followed up with methodical heel offense. Gujjar mounted a comeback with a shortarm lariat, sling blade, and ripcord knee. Gujjar hit VSK with a Samoan Drop. VSK raked Gujjar in the eye for a two count rollup. Gujjar hit VSK with a power slam to regain control. Gujjar milked the crowd for a bit and hit VSK with his 2nd rope spear for the victory.
Bhupinder Gujjar defeated VSK via pinfall in 4:31.
Raj Singh and Mahabali Shera confronted Bhupinder after the match. Shera and Bhupinder got in each other’s faces. Shera grabbed VSK and gave VSK an Attitude Adjustment. Raj got in between Bhupinder and Shera who were trying to shove and yell at each other…
John’s Thoughts: I’m still not a fan of Gujjar’s finisher that looks like he’s botching a move off the 2nd rope. I also say that because his Samoan Drop and Power Slam looked so much better as high-impact moves. Anyways, we got our weekly obligatory Bhupinder Gujjar segment out of the way. To his credit, it was his best showing yet, but that’s also probably a credit to VSK carrying him with some solid heel work. I’m surprised that they’re rushing him on TV before they can come up with a character and personality for him, because he’s got a good look and fundamentals. It’s between Bhupinder Gujjar and Von Wagner (Wayne Bloom’s son on NXT) where I see two wrestlers who were rushed on TV too soon (and Wagner has actually been getting better in recent months now that he’s starting to become less vanilla and more refined).
Gia Miller congratulated Ace Austin for becoming X Division Champion. Ace said he is a 3 time champion and he did it on his own this time, despite people saying otherwise. Ace said he’s Trey Miguel’s biggest weakness. Rocky Romero cut into the interview and told Ace that he wants to invite Ace Austin to the New Japan Best of the Super Juniors Tournament. Ace said it doesn’t sound like a bad and he might take Rocky up on that. Ace then demanded that Rocky get off Ace’s set/interview. Rocky said since he’s also a great X Division guy, he wonders if he could get a title match against Ace? Ace said that Rocky has to wait at the back of the line. Rocky walked away, saying that Scott D’Amore is his friend and may be able to hook him up with a title shot. Speedball Mike Bailey walked to Ace with a smile on his face, congratulating Ace on becoming champion. Ace brushed off Speedball’s handshake and walked away. Bailey happily yelled “I thought we were friends?”…
John’s Thoughts: Little detail, but I like that they set up Ace’s match against Rocky Romero with an actual segment as opposed to it getting a graphic and appearing out of nowhere. It makes the match seem more important. Romero has no chance because he’s here to boost Austin, but it doesn’t hurt to at least hype viewers up for what should be a good match. It’s the same old thing with Ace as champ again, but Ace has excelled in the spotlight before so he can hopefully make the best out of this. Hopefully we get a good singles feud (as opposed to multi-man feud) between him and Speedball too.
Steve Maclin cut a promo in a dark room. Maclin said he’s been stacking bodies since his debut in Impact. He said he proved it when he took down the Team Impact members one-by-one, and he proved it when he beat Chris Sabin and Jay White. Maclin said it’s obvious who D’Amore should hand pick for the world title shot at Rebellion. Maclin said the question everyone needs to ask is “What happens when a Walking Weapon or Wrestling god ends up meeting with mayhem?”…
Entrances for the next match took place. Tom Hannifan noted that Vincent and PCO weren’t with Honor No More at ringside, for now…
3. “Honor No More” Eddie Edwards, Matt Taven, and Mike Bennett (w/Kenny King, Maria Kanellis) vs. Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, and “Speedball” Mike Bailey. Both teams started brawling to start. Bennett and Taven managed to take down their opponents after isolating them. Bennett and Taven tossed Sabin into Edwards, who gave Sabin a power bomb. Bailey managed to dump Bennett to ringside. Bailey staggered Taven with a Roundhouse.
Bailey then hit Eddie with a flurry of roundhouses. King mocked Bailey’s karate katas on the apron. Bailey wasn’t distracted and ended up giving Bennett a boot. Taven took down Bailey with a wrecking ball kick. Eddie took care of Shelley and Sabin with a suicide dive.[c]
John’s Thoughts: One minor credit I give for Impact. Not only does Impact allow Maria Kanellis, one of the best talkers in pro wrestling, to talk on the mic; but Impact also doesn’t have a camera glued to Maria’s butt during Mike Bennett’s matches. I partially joke about that, but that was very noticeable in New Japan, Ring of Honor, and even 205 Live. Was that an Adam Pierce edict? Keep the camera all up in there? I’m kidding. I’m kidding.
Bailey hit Taven with a Knee Plus. Eddie knocked out the Guns to prevent Bailey from tagging out. Bailey managed to roll Eddie into a Shooting Star Meteora. Hannifan had the good line by saying “Eddie may be sterile”. Sabin caught the hot tag and cleaned house. Eddie escaped a Cradle Shock attempt. Taven caught Sabin with a Disaster kick. Sabin got in the ring and the Guns hit their opponents with double team offense. Everyone took each other out with kicks. Bailey and Bennett traded fighting spirit chops in the center of the ring. Bailey got the advantage with an Axe Kick combo.
Bailey hit Bennett with a standing Corkscrew Shooting Star for a two count. Bailey hit Taven and Edwards with dropkicks to their kneecaps. The Guns put Eddie and Matt in stereo Muta Locks to allow Bailey to dropkick them in the face. The Guns took out Shelley and Edwards with dives at ringside. Bailey hit Bennett with a modified Triangle Moonsault at ringside. The crowd was on fire for Speedball. The Guns hit Bennett with stereo Yakuza Kicks in the corner. Bailey followed up on Bennett with a Cyclone Roundhouse in the corner.
Bailey went for the Ultima Weapon but was distracted by Kenny King. Maria distracted the ref. Sabin took out King with a PK. Taven hit Sabin with Just the Tip. Shelley got Taven off the top rope by liking his hand and slapping Taven’s ass (which got a chuckle out of Hannifan and Rehwoldt). Taven escaped a Shell Shock and shoved Shelley into the rope to crotch Bailey. Bennett gave Shelley a spear. Eddie held Bailey in place so The Kingdom could hit Bailey with stereo superkicks. Eddie followed up with a Die Hard Driver on Bailey for the win.
Honor No More defeated Mike Bailey and the Motor City Machine Guns via pinfall in 7:35 of on-air time.
Shelley and Bailey jawed with each other with Chris Sabin trying to play peacemaker. Honor No More stood tall in victory in the ring. As Honor No More were leaving, Anderson, Gallows, Bey, and White, The Bullet Club, made their entrance. Bullet Club and Honor No More brawled at ringside. The Good Brothers singled out Kenny King and gave him a Magic Killer in the center of the ring. The rest of Honor No More retreated as the original Bullet Club theme played…
John’s Thoughts: Yo! I never heard of this Mike Bailey guy before his Impact run, but this dude is my dude! Not only does the guy do the same martial arts that I do (I do the Korean variant), but he’s also seemingly a Final Fantasy fan with the whole Ultima Weapon thing. Complements aside, I am impressed by his smooth integrating of Karate into pro wrestling and he reminds me a bit of a young Matt Sydal with how innovative he is in high-spots and striking. I thought he was the star of this match, which is an accomplishment given how everyone else in the ring has decades of star power. Speaking of which, on top of Bailey getting shine, this was Honor No More’s strongest collective showing on Impact with that stellar finishing sequence. They needed this after taking so many loses. Yes, it’s Eddie getting the win again, but Bennett and Taven got some shine from it.
Gia Miller interviewed Josh Alexander about his rematch against Moose later on. Alexander recapped his journey back to the title and talked about Moose whining about only having 5 days notice to get the rematch. Alexander said he’s about to shut Moose up for good. Gia reiterated D’Amore making a hand-picked opponent for the world champion at Under Siege. Alexander said whoever it is, he’ll be waiting on the other side…
AAA Reina De Reina’s Champion Taya Valkyrie made her entrance to her new rap entrance theme…
John’s Thoughts: Darn, I loved Taya’s old Impact theme. Taya’s NXT theme was pretty good too. This new theme just sounds like generic mumble rap, I’m sorry.
Taya took a mic for a promo. Taya soaked in the cheers for a bit. Taya talked about having a long time to self reflect over the past year. She said she’s been away from home, friends, and family. She said her passion and creativity have been held captive. She said she is standing in the Impact Wrestling ring with the fans and knows exactly who the hell she is. A “wera loca” chant started.
She said she knows here worth and knows that you have to hit rock bottom to know how to reach the top again. She said she did exactly that at Rebellion by taking out the Champ-Champ and becoming a 4 time Reina De Reinas champion. Before she could finish her promo, Deonna Purrazzo attacked her from behind and put her in the Fujiwara Armbar. Rosemary and Jessika Havok made their entrance, walking to the ring. Deonna walked away. Taya and Rosemary glared at each other. Hannifan noted that Taya and Rosemary are former rivals. Tasha Steelz and Savannah Evans made their entrance for the next match. Both teams brawled at ringside before the bell…
John’s Thoughts: As much as I prefer Taya as a heel, she’s one of the best female heels in the business, this was a solid heartfelt little bit of promo for her to vent a bit. I feel bad for her too. Not her fault. WWE was giving her a big push when Paul Levesque was in charge of NXT, but then once the 2.0 thing happened they pulled the rug from under her, Paul, and a lot of NXT standouts. Looking forward to her in Impact, where she shined the brightest. Rosemary vs. Taya can be a good comeback match for Taya if they want to go there. I have bad memories of Rosemary and the Reina de Reinas title though. Last time Rosemary challenged for that title, was when that horrible Sexy Star incident happened that put Rosemary on the shelf for a long time. Rosemary has never been the same in the ring ever since.
4. “Decay” Rosemary and Havok vs. Impact Knockouts Champion Tasha Steelz and Savannah Evans. The match started once Havok and Tasha entered the ring. Havok used her power to woman-handle Tasha. Havok and Rosemary traded tags to cut the ring in half on Tasha. Evans tagged in and no sold Rosemary’s forearms. Rosemary managed to drag Evans into a tarantula. Evans no sold the move and power bombed Rosemary. Rosemary escaped a Samoan Drop and tagged in Havok. Havok hit Evans with a DVD for a two count. Tasha dragged the title belt into the ring. Rosemary tripped Steelz off the apron. Havok held Evans in place with a Backbreaker and Rosemary speared Evans for the victory.
Decay defeated Savannah Evans and Tasha Steelz via pinfall in 4:51.
John’s Thoughts: Even though Tasha was kept out of the finish I wonder why Steelz and Evans had to be fed to Decay? This is something they’ve done with Tasha before and it was questionable. I praised Impact for giving Steelz clean and credible wins, but I don’t think they need immediately wash away that credibility by having her boost lower card wrestlers that they want to elevate. Tasha might have been injured during this match too it seemed and I think I heard somewhere that she was injured coming
Tenille Dashwood hosted her “All About Me” talk show where Madison Rayne was her guest. The Influence were gloating about how they are still tag champions and how they got rid of their dead weight in Kaleb. They talked about how they also rid the locker room of the IInspiration. The lights went out and Giselle Shaw appeared after a light went back on. Giselle and The Influence argued over who the spotlight should be on. Gisselle ended up challenging Dashwood. Rayne accepted the challenge on behalf of Dashwood…
A vignette aired to hype up Slammiversary 2022. The graphics focused on classic TNA footage…
Vincent was muttering. He called himself, PCO, and Jonah monsters. Vincent said that there will be a Monster’s Ball next week. The camera then panned to PCO who was twitching. He yelled “JONAH!”…
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt advertised the following matches for next week’s Impact: PCO vs. Jonah in a Monster’s Ball Match, Ace Austin vs. Rocky Romero for the X Division Championship, Brian Myers vs. W Morrissey in a Tables Match. The commentary team also ran through the Impact Under Siege card. Hannifan noted that Taya will defeind her title against Deonna Purrazzo in a rematch from Rebellion at the Under Siege show…
Entrances for the world title main event took place. Dave Penzer handled the formal in-ring introductions for the world championship match. Penzer announced Brian Hebner as the referee…
John’s Thoughts: Nice! Impact sorta stopped doing the formal in-ring introductions ever since Jeremy Borash left the company and took that technique to NXT. A little touch like that really adds prestige to a world title match on a card. Fans of Michael Buffer from back in the day (and the Ready to Rumble video game) know exactly what I’m talking about.
5. “The Walking Weapon” Josh Alexander vs Moose for the Impact World Championship. Moose boulder tossed Alexander across the ring. Moose worked on Alexander with chops in the corner. Alexander turned the tables with rapid chops. Moose ended the rally with an uppercut. Moose gave Alexander a snap suplex Alexander slowed down the match and ran Moose into the corner. Alexander got a two count. Moose escaped an ankle lock. Moose shoved Alexander off the top rope for a moment of respite, heading into commercial.[c]
Moose worked on Alexander with methodical offense. Alexander tried to come back with chops, but Moose gave Alexander a power bomb on the apron to end the momentum. Moose went back to methodical offense on Alexander, making sure to keep Alexander on the mat. Moose’s methodical offense lasted for several minutes. Alexander rallied with open hand palms to Moose’s face. Moose came back with a knee. Alexander hit Moose with two Yakuza Kicks and two German Suplexes.
Alexander went for an Ankle Lock, but Moose blocked it which caused Alexander to adjust into a Sharpshooter. Hannifan noted how the Sharpshooter is a signature move for Canadians. Moose got to the bottom rope for the break. Moose escaped a Jay Driller attempt. Alexander and Moose traded chops and forearms in the center of the ring. Moose went for a discus forearm but Alexander blocked it with a right hand. Mosoe gave Alexander a headbutt. Alexander rolled Moose into an Ankle Lock.
Moose shoved Alexander into the corner and got a moment of respite after hitting Alexander with a Uranage. Moose hit Alexander with a Buckle Bomb. Moose set up a spear, but then decided otherwise. Alexander escaped a power bomb attempt and gave Moose a power bomb. Alexander gave Moose a Jay Driller for the victory.
Josh Alexander defeated Moose via pinfall in 12:40 of on-air time to retain the Impact World Championship.
Before Alexander could celebrate his win, Tomohiro Ishii made his entrance. Hannifan noted that this must mean that Ishii must be the hand picked opponent that D’Amore picked to face Josh Alexander at Under Siege. Alexander and Ishii butted heads and grunted at each other to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: Of course it wasn’t as good as their Rebellion match, notably due to the commercial break, but it was still good all things considered. I’m not the biggest fan of giving away the world title match of a PPV on the free TV show right after the PPV, but this wasn’t too bad as at least they used this episode to build back to it in short order. I’m curious where Moose goes after this and I wonder if him deciding to not go for the spear would play into that? They can tell a story of him costing himself the match by wasting too much time deciding to do an alternate move, but why did he decide to go with a move that wasn’t his finisher?
Tomohiro Ishii though? Eh. I like Tomohiro Ishii, but this doesn’t necessarily feel like a showcase opponent for Josh Alexander. I guess this is why they put Ishii over Jonah. I felt like Minoru Suzuki and Jonah were bigger deals when Scott D’Amore set them up as barriers. Heck, Impact has Jay White in the tag division, who’s also taking clean losses to Chris Sabin. Alexander vs. White seems to be the bigger “dream” opponent (I understand that politics might be involved, but they did have White lose clean to Sabin in that Multiverse replay on AXS). Maybe they’ll do Alexander vs. White on New Japan Strong? As for the rest of the show, I continue to praise Impact’s new direction as a pro wrestling show. A lot of people are not going to give it a chance because of it’s low visibility, but if you want a straightforward wrestling show that’s consistently having good matches, Impact is your show to watch. Hey, and they might be getting Sami Callihan back if the fan speculation on the binary code is correct.
Review the Review Notes:
Bhupinder was trained by the Great Khali — I hope yer not expecting him to have a mat classic… Though, that is from prowrestling.wikia.com
Eddie Edwards is fun to chant, both internally and externally
It’s a rematch.. oops the bookers made a mistake OR King of the Ring 98 happened… Or perhaps they want to put over a future meeting, when roles are/probably oh wait.. Alexander won.. nevermind