Tonight on IMPACT Wrestling, Kenny Omega and Rich Swann have their press conference ahead of the Rebellion PPV. Plus, Jazz announces her retirement and TJP goes up against Josh Alexander!
IMPACT WRESTLING
April 15, 2021, Nashville, TN
Commentators: Matt Striker & D’Lo Brown
MATCH 1
TJP vs. Josh Alexander
Collar and elbow to start it off. The two men literally butt heads in a test of strength and TJP powers Josh down There’s a couple pin attempts by TJP. The two reset.
Side headlock by Alexander followed by big shoulder block and head scissors. TJ frees himself and hammerlocks Josh on the ground. He soon rolls over for a pin attempt and has him in a guillotine. TJP escapes with a pin attempt, but Alexander remains in control until TJP goes for an octopus stretch. Josh drops him with an electric chair. Big ankle lock attempt but TJP makes it to the ropes.
Chops are exchanged but it’s Alexander who puts TJP in a Gory Special. He then catches a leaping TJP on the apron with an ankle lock, but TJ ends up catching Alexander in a major armbreaker on the outside! The ref counts, but Josh breaks it. TJP turns a top rope attempt into a superplex, but Alexander continues his ankle lock attempt. TJ rope breaks it. Massive kick in the corner downs Alexander in the cornrer. Boot washes occur. TJP counters Josh and has him in the armbreaker, but Alexander turns it into an ankle lock. TJP comes back with an armbreaker attempt and they continue to go back and forth. It ends up being TJP clutching in the ankle lock.
The two men trade kicks. TJP downs Josh and goes for the Mamba Splash, but Josh rolls nd turns it into n ankle lock. TJP battles but Alexander hits a Divine Intervention brainbuster for the 1-2-3!
WINNER: Josh Alexander
MATCH 2
Crazzy Steve (with Black Taurus & Rosemary) vs. Karl Anderson (with Doc Gallows)
Anderson starts off viciously, but Steve backslides him for a pin attempt. We head to break.
Back from it, Anderson is in total control. He delivers some harsh uppercuts before pulling on the mouth of Steve. Steve soon turns it around with a head scissors and then a neck twist on the ground. He connects with a low-man flatliner and covers for two. Doc distracts Steve as Black Taurus stares down Gallows. Steve is up top and ties Anderson up in the ropes. Steve eeps an eye on Gallows and pays for it as he runs into an Arn spinebuster. 1-2-3.
WINNER: Karl Anderson
Ace Austin and Madman walk into Swinger’s Casino. So does TJP. Bravo says TJP are the odds one favorite to challenge Ace, but so does Alexander and then Petey Williams who begins to do some Steiner Math! The Swingerellas look despondent as Johnny Swinger is feeling it. Alexander likes his odds.
Eddie Kingston and Willie Mack are in the ring. He says they may have lost to Violent By Design at Hardcore Justice and they aren’t out here because of that loss. They’re here because VBD thought it was good idea to attack Tommy Dreamer before their match. When you mess with Tommy, you mess with their family. He challenges Eric Young to come out here and take his ass whooping like a man.
EY approved of everything that happened at Hardcore Justice. One thing he isn’t a liar. He says he had nothing to do with Dreamer’s attack. Eddie nonetheless came out for a fight and he said let’s do it. As VBD surround the two men, out come Chris Sabin and James Storm. They clean house of the heels. Storm says VBD are like a pack of wolves and he challenges them to an eight-man tag at IMPACT Rebellion.
Scott D’Amore is in the back with Deonna and Susan. He makes it clear that they will not go out to the ring and terrorize Jazz as she makes her retirement speech. “Wasn’t planning on it,” says Deonna.
Tenille Dashwood has a new show called “All About Me” and it takes place on the same set as “Locker Room Talk.” Guest Gia Miller makes note of it, before getting directed as to what question to ask. “How is she going to win The Knockouts Title?” Tenille says she started the women’s revolution in IMPACT. She says that she’s faced Deonna outside of IMPACT but never in the promotion. She looks forward to that opportunity at Rebellion.
Out comes Jazz for her retirement speech. She thought she had one more run at a world title run, but she knows Deonna proved to her that she is the present and the future of women’s wrestling. Jordynne is standing beside her. She notes that she and Grace had a few wins in that tournament and she wants to thank her for the opportunity. She says these last few months have let her go out with a bang. And she went out her with a bang which brings her here to discuss tonight, but suddenly out comes Fire and Flava. Kiera Hogan says its about time. Where else can Jazz go from here, asks Steelz? Kiera says good riddance and has a good life. Jordynne says they talk too much. This is Jazz’s moment. Not yours so shut up. She says if not, at least say it with what you do in the ring. Let’s go. FnF says not today, but out comes the official and says that D’Amore makes it a match.
MATCH 3
Jazz & Jordynne Grace vs. Fire & Flava
Jordynne starts off on a major attack before tagging in Jazz , but Tasha tags in Kiera who gets jabbed down. Jazz sit out bodyslams Hogan and gets the W.
WINNERS: Jordynne Grace & Jazz
Jazz grabs the mic again. How disrespectful. As she was saying, what brings her here tonight is “it’s time that I fully say this is it. I am announcing my retirement and I want to thank all the fans over the years for their love and their continuous support.” Without them there’d be no Jzz. All of the IMPACT roster including Gail Kim comes out to applaud her. They all chant “Thank you Jazz.”
After break, D’Amore tries to set up a Knockouts Tag Title match between Jazz & Jordynne against Fire & Flava. Jazz however, is a woman of her word and will retire, but she has great partner for Jordynne. D’Amore is a-okay with that.
Brian Myers comes out for “The Pick Your Poison” matches as Myers picks Cardona’s opponent and Myers does the opposite. Cardona picked Jake Something.
MATCH 4
Brian Myers vs. Jake Something
Something body tackles Brian down. Big hammer strike to the chest of Myers. Jake hoists him up and flings him against the corner. A savate kick to the midsection stuns Something but his power is just too much as he nails him with a shoulder attack in the corner. Brian gets out of the ring and Something gives chase. As he enters, he hits Jake with a Roster Cut for the 1-2-3.
WINNER: Brian Myers
Myers then reveals that Matt’s opponent is Sami Callihan. The lights go out and Cardona is attacked from behind. We go to break.
MATCH 5
Matt Cardona vs. Sami Callihan
Cardona catches Sami for a near fall right out of the gate. Cardona corners Callihan, but Sami bails. The brawl spills out on the outside and both men are laid out, but Matt breaks the count and continues to strike a Callihan. Matt hits a Russian leg sweep against the barricade. Tbey make it back in the ring and Matt charges to only get dumped back to the outside. Sami takes his time in sliding out. He goes to suplex Matt on a laid out chair and when Matt attempts the same, Sami bites his hand. Cardona tosses him again in the barricade before breaking the count. The brawl continues. Exploder suplex by Sami on the outside.
Back from break, Sami has Matt in a headlock. They get back to their feet and trade punches center ring. Palm strikes by Sami but a forearm jars Sami. Sami does the same to Matt and knocks him down. Matt gets his knees up and hits a dropkick from up top. He clotheslines him in the opposite corner before hitting his Radio Silence boot. 1-2-no.
Matt kicks Sami against the ropes before dropping him down with a sit-out slam for a two count. Matt gets his finisher countered but he counters back with a sit-down pin attempt. Sami gets his own pin attempt right after, but Matt kicks out of that. Sami signals for the end. He goes for a piledrive, but Matt fights free as Sami is up top. Big frankensteiner by Matt from the top. He goes for his finisher, but Sami pulls the ref in front of him. He then thumbs the eye of Matt. Package piledriver. It’s over.
WINNER: Sami Callihan
Post-match, Sami pulls the rest of his broken fingernail from his finger. He grabs the mic. He says he just took care of that piece of trash. He then calls Trey Miguel out. Trey obliges. Sami says he isnt here to fight. He’s proud of Trey. He’s proud at what he did at Hardcore Justice. He was in the main event and he showed the definition of passion. Trey doesn’t need validation. Last week he came out because he had a bone to pick with XXXL. Didn’t that feel good, asks Sami. He thinks that rage Trey has could be channeled the proper way. If Sami mentors him, he can channel that rage to get Trey to the next level. He wants him to shake his hand. “With no due respect, absolutely not.” Sami should have shown him some gratitude for Hardcore Justice. He asks if he thinks it was a coincidence that Tommy Dreamer went down? Sami did that! This is Trey’s final offer, shake his damn hand. Trey attacks Sami who gets cheap shotted. Big clothesline by Sami. Sami hits Trey with a chair from the outside before flinging the steel into the ring. He sets it up and then exploder suplexes Trey on top of the open seated chair.
Fin Juice is broadcasted from Japan. They know that Good Brothers have won World Tag League before, but Fin Juice has proven they were better in IMPACT Wrestling. At Rebellion, they’re going to prove it again.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Tony Khan and Jerry Lynn are there along with Rich Swann and Scott D’Amore. Josh Matthews is MC’ing. Kenny is not there. Andreas Hale of Sporting News is the first to ask a question: What would it mean for Rich’s career coming out on top? Rich says it’s going to be history-making. Mike Johnson from PWInsider asks about title unification given the issues between AEW and IMPACT? What do you say to the fans coming with cynicism that we will not get a definitive winner. Tony says that Kenny will win, but no matter who does, they will fully commit to both schedules. D’Amore agrees. Kenny and Don finally arrive. When is Don going to stop playing sides? When is all this scheming going to end? Where’s Don Rickles, asks Callis? He’s had enough. Callis says Rich is a great champion. We all know this. He advocated for him. Rich also knows that Kenny Omega is his family. He then majorly introduces Kenny Omega to the podium. He takes his time. He says this isn’t new to him. He’s done this so many times. To him, this is natural. It’s like any other given Sunday. He’s a pro and a legend. He takes what he does seriously. Rich has never been here before and he can understand why he is a little scared or nervous. He can understand why he went to the bargain bin for his outfit today. No offense, but he was put on this earth to make a change. Rich is here because he likes wrestling. He credits Rich for that. Kenny can say with a certain amount of confidence that Rich doesn’t belong on this stage or in the ring. When fans look back on this match, they won’t care or remember Rich. He hopes he brings his A game as he’ll be taking part in history. He wishes him best of luck, but it’s going to be war. Kenny extends a hand and the two men brawl it out to end the show.
