IMPACT! Wrestling Review - April 26, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Eddie Edwards Attacked Eli Drake

Drake betraying Edwards last week was hardly a surprise, but it did make me look forward to Drake cutting a great promo on this show explaining his actions. His promo was short and sweet as Edwards wasted no time in exacting revenge on Drake by brawling with him to the back. Unfortunately, this segment was completely pointless as Drake has since been released by IMPACT, meaning this won't be leading to anything at Rebellion.

Ace Austin def. Aiden Price

Austin blamed Prince for costing him a victory in a Six-Man Mayhem match a few weeks ago, hence the reason for this bout happening. I'm not familiar with Prince whatsoever, but the hometown hero had a solid showing here and produced a really fun match with Ace. Afterward, Petey Williams confronted Austin, possibly planting the seeds for them facing off on Sunday.

Rosemary def. Undead MAid of Honor

Ugh, I am beyond ready for this rivalry between Rosemary and Su Yung to come to an end. Thankfully, it appears Rebellion will be the culmination of their near-year long storyline (fingers crossed it is, anyway). This squash match was merely designed to give Rosemary a last minute momentum boost before she squares off with Yung at the pay-per-view. Personally, I didn't care about it, but at least it was quick and painless.

Killer Kross def. Willie Mack

Kross has been trying to manipulate Mack for weeks into thinking that he doesn't need Rich Swann. Maybe Kross beating Mack in clean fashion is the first step toward Mack turning heel? Either way, this was a good match that might have been better with more time. The crowd being as quiet as they were for it didn't do these guys any favors, but I appreciated their athleticism and liked the outcome. I'm intrigued to see where both guys go from here.

The Deaners def. Idris Abraham and Joe Coleman

Cody Deaner was in IMPACT a decade ago as a comedy character and I remember when he teamed with ODB to win the Knockouts Tag Team Championship. His character still has some goofy elements, but based off how he and his partner come off here, he'll likely be a bit more serious this time around. This was a decent debut for them, but I can't say I'm excited about them being a part of the IMPACT tag team division.

Brian Cage and LAX def. Impact World Champion Johnny Impact and Impact World Tag Team Champions The Lucha Brothers

I could have done with Lance Storm superkicking Impact beforehand, but at least Storm established that he'll be calling his match with Cage at Rebellion down the middle. Meanwhile, this main event was extremely entertaining with everyone getting their time to shine and working exceptionally well together. I don't know why they had faces and heels team up, but it was something different. The pace never slowed and it was just a blast from start to finish. Things broke down in the final few minutes with the referee getting laid out and LAX and The Lucha Brothers hitting each other with chairs, but Cage was ultimately able to score the victory for his team by pinning the world champ (therefore proving he has what it takes to win the world title at Rebellion if it's a fair fight).

Overall Show

On paper, Rebellion is a pretty strong card, and I applaud IMPACT for their effort in building excitement for the event over the last month or so. As a go-home show, this edition of IMPACT! Wrestling succeeded in what it set out to do, which is all that really mattered. The video packages were nicely put together and the six-man tag team main event in particular was fantastic and well worth checking out.