With the odds stacked against Impact with them losing their two main champions before this show, they prevailed. With nine excellent matches, the announcement of a new signee, and new champions here is my Rebellion 2023 review.
Pre Show:
Heath & Rhyno vs Champagne Singh & Shera:
This was a good way to get the crowd rolling before the show started. Heath and Rhyno are fan favorites, unfortunately, they did not get the win here. Singh and Shera win by taking the cheap way out as Singh had his foot on the rope, but Rhyno gets revenge by goring him. The feud is not over between these four competitors that is for sure.
Winners: Champagne Singh & Shera
Impact Knockouts World Tag Team Championship: The Coven (KiLynn King & Taylor Wilde) vs The Death Dollz (Jessicka Havoc & Rosemary):
The Coven is in such a role and that showed in this match. This was just a simple tag match to bring more momentum towards the new Knockout tag team champions, which they were able to show in the last match before we hit the main show. King is the future of the Knockouts division and she is just scratching the surface.
Winners: “And Still” The Coven (Taylor Wilde & KiLynn King)
Main Show:
Ultimate X for the Impact Tag Team Championships: Ace Austin & Chris Bey vs Motor City Machine Guns:
Ultimate X is my favorite stipulation match of all time and every time I have the chance to see one exceeds my expectations every time. These four were the perfect men for this stipulation because of the quickness they all have and their ability to be able to climb the cables so cleanly. The match ends with Bay upside down grabbing the titles and throwing them to Austin. Too sweet bay bay.
Winners: “And Still” Ace Austin & Chris Bey
The Design (Deaner, Angels, & Kon) vs Joe Hendry, Dirty Dango, & Santino Marella:
Never trust Sami Callihan. Although he completed all the steps to become a member of The Design he turned on them and helped Hendry, Dango, and Marella win this match. Seeing Marella in the ring for the first time in nine years was cool especially since his son got to see him wrestle for the first time ever live. The faces get the win with Callihan standing tall, the death machine has returned to the Impact Zone!
Winners: Joe Hendry, Dirty Dango, & Santino Marella
Last Rites: PCO vs Eddie Edwards:
PCO is not human because he dislocated his shoulder moments into this match. Although expectations were low this match actually delivered. Both men had a vengeance and a reason to want to win this match so this could have gone either way. Alisha came out to help Eddie, but unfortunately, she got super kicked by Eddie on accident. This gave PCO the advantage to help him win the match and get his last rights.
Winner: PCO
Triple Threat Elimination for the X-Division Championship: Trey Miguel vs “Speedball” Mike Bailey vs Jonathan Gresham:
This match lived up to the hype. Gresham was eliminated first, which was not a surprise to anyone especially since the main story was between Bailey and Miguel. This had many near falls and could have gone either way, but in the end, Miguel got the quick pin over Bailey who was shocked and disappointed. Bailey has lost a lot on Impact as of late, maybe he will move on to bigger golden opportunities.
Winner: “And Still” Trey Miguel
Hardcore War: Team Dreamer (Tommy Dreamer, Frankie Kazarian, Bhupinder Gujjar, Yuya Uemura, & Killer Kelly) vs Team Bully (Bully Ray, Moose, Brian Myers, Kenny King, & Masha Slamovich):
Earlier in the night Tommy Dreamer delivered an emotional promo stating that his mom had a seizure earlier in the week and she is currently unresponsive. You can tell the heartbreak in his eyes, so the sole fact that he even wrestled on this show, tells you the dedication Dreamer has to professional wrestling. The match, however, was all over the place. You had referees beating up Bully Ray, Killer Kelly biting Bully Ray, blood, and any weapon you can imagine. Tommy gets the win with all the referees holding the ladder to assure he didn’t fall as he dropped an elbow through a table.
Winners: Team Dreamer (Tommy Dreamer, Frankie Kazarian, Bhupinder Gujjar, Yuya Uemura, & Killer Kelly)
Impact World Heavyweight Championship: Steve Maclin vs Kushida:
Before we get to the match we got the announcement that Nick Aldis has signed with Impact full-time as he was on commentary for this match. This is a smart signing especially because he can elevate the men’s heavyweight division in Impact. This match was awesome. Both men wanted this title badly and they both proved it. Submission specialist Kushida applied multiple arms bars that were not enough for the New Jersey native. This was Maclin’s time they have been prepping this for a year and he got his moment tonight! And new!! After the match, he demanded Scott D’Amore to come out and hand him the title and Maclin attacked him with the title from behind. Aldis jumped in the ring to stare down Maclin, looks like that is the match we are getting at Under Siege.
Winner: “And New” Steve Maclin
Impact Knockouts Championship: Deonna Purrazo vs Jordynne Grace:
A women’s main event is always exciting, especially when you have this historic rivalry writing another chapter in the book. They both proved why this was the main event. This match was fast-paced and went all around the arena, including several standing moonsaults from the Virtuosa herself. This one went back and forth as both had the goal of becoming three-time knockouts champion, but the two-time knockout of the year got the win in the main event. Main event Dee!! Deonna and Steve become the third Impact couple to hold the main singles titles at the same time. They are added to the list that already included Su Yung & Rich Swann as well as Johnny Impact & Taya Valkyrie.
Winner: “And New” Deonna Purrazo
Overall:
The major four Impact pay-per-views (Hard To Kill, Rebellion, Slammiversary, & Bound for Glory) always deliver and this was no different. Although they lost their two main champions they got back up and proved that they are one of the best wrestling companies in the world. Now we are on the road to Slammiversary!
