PRE-SHOW Rosemary and Havok defeated Susan and Kimber Lee
IMPACT X DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP Josh Alexander defeated Ace Austin (c) and TJP to win the X Division Championship
VBD (W. Morrissey, Deaner, Joe Doering, and Rhino) defeated Chris Sabin, Eddie Edwards, James Storm, and Willie Mack
Former WWE star Big Cass (aka CazXL) made a surprise appearance during Impact Rebellion PPV. He’s going as W. Morrissey in Impact Wrestling.
Eric Young was out of action tonight due to a torn ACL and CazXL was his replacement. He joined Deaner, Joe Doering, and Rhino against Eddie Edwards, Willie Mack, Chris Sabin, and James Storm in an eight-man tag match. Morrissey ended up hitting the east river crossing on Mack to get the pinfall victory.
Brian Myers defeated Matt Cardona
IMPACT KNOCKOUTS TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP Jordynne Grace and Rachael Ellering defeated Fire ‘N Flava (Tasha Steelz and Kiera Hogan) (c) to win the Knockouts Tag Team Titles
LAST MAN STANDING MATCH Trey Miguel defeated Sami Callihan
IMPACT WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP FinJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) (c) defeated The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows)
On the latest episode of the Grilling JR Podcast, Jim Ross talked about AEW going back on the road for live shows for the first time since the COVID-19 Pandemic started. AEW has found a home at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville for the past year but according to Ross, they’re “aggressively” ready to hit the road and have fans attend their shows in different towns.
“We’re making some changes, we’re adding more content sooner or later with a new show,” Ross said. “We’re getting our schedule together, looks like we’re going back on the road pretty aggressively in the beginning of July and getting back to a live audience is a blessing. I can’t wait, it will help everybody’s work. Just can’t help but feed off the adrenaline of the audience surrounding you.”
AEW recently hosted its first-ever non-televised live event at Daily’s Place on April 9th. AEW also announced in March that plans to travel Boston, Rochester and Philadelphia had been moved to later in the year. Though it’s unclear if those events will be affected again, Ross talked about the schedule he expects AEW to have for the rest of the year.
“I expect an amazing atmosphere and that’s going to help everybody involved,” Ross said. “We fed off them. I’m sure AEW will be releasing their schedule [soon], I’ve actually seen it, it’s very aggressive. It’s very exciting, hopefully something for everybody to look forward to.”
“It just makes the show better. Business will pick up essentially when we’re back on national television in front of a live audience. There’s going to be an awful lot of live television, I know where my Wednesday’s are going to be, in various locations around the USA. What about the UK? What about Canada? Would we look to go there? Of course we would but COVID’s still gotta play, you still got to play by the rules.”
Last night’s episode of AEW Dynamite saw the continued war of words between The Pinnacle and Inner Circle. The Pinnacle – Inner Circle parley is set for next week as the two teams build to a big Blood and Guts match on May 5.
On the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted that the May 5 episode of Dynamite will be a one-match show with just the Blood and Guts match. There will likely be pre-taped segments throughout the episode, but the episode will be centered around the Blood and Guts match.
WarGames matches are typically long, and with a five-on-five format, the match could see a long run time. The last WarGames matches on NXT both lasted over half an hour. The women’s WarGames match went over 35 minutes, and the men’s WarGames match went over 45 minutes. The matches were competed in a four-on-four format.
The Elite was originally supposed to face Inner Circle in a Blood and Guts match, but the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to that match taking place. There is no word yet on any other details on Blood and Guts.
Mauro Ranallo working the Impact Rebellion pay-per-view is reportedly a one-off, at least for now.
Impact announced on Thursday that the former WWE and MMA announcer will join the Rebellion commentary team on April 25 to call the Title vs. Title match between Impact World Champion Rich Swann and AEW World Champion Kenny Omega.
PWInsider reports that Mauro is only coming in to Impact for this pay-per-view, at least as of Thursday evening. However, the door could be open for more work down the line. The gig came together over the last several weeks with the idea of Mauro adding to the grandeur of the Title vs. Title main event.
Mauro was at the Impact studios on Wednesday night, doing voice-over work for the “5 Ways To Win” videos for Omega and Swann, which you can watch below. Mauro also did voice-over work for the “This Is Rebellion” special that will air on AXS TV next Tuesday night.
“Swann vs Omega, champion vs champion, title vs title – this match represents everything I love about professional wrestling,” Ranallo said in a press release. “I have been fortunate to call these two superstar’s matches in the past and I’m very excited to be part of this historic encounter.”
Mauro and Impact Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore go back a few decades after working together in Stampede Wrestling. It’s possible that this is the connection between Mauro and Impact.
“This once in a generation title vs. title showdown deserves to be called by the once in a generation play-by-play announcer,” D’Amore added in a press release. “I’ve known Mauro for over two decades. There are very few people in the world who are as passionate about or know their wrestling history as well as Mauro. This is an historic main event, the world champions of two major organizations putting everything on the line. I’m thrilled that April 25th, at Rebellion, fans will have Mauro’s legendary voice proving the soundtrack to history!”
This will be Mauro’s first pro wrestling work since leaving WWE in August 2020. He has continued to work for Showtime Boxing, and worked the Mike Tyson pay-per-view from Triller last year.
Below are the new “5 Ways To Win” videos Mauro did for Swann and Omega:
Tonight’s AEW Dynamite episode airs on TNT at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida.
* Chris Jericho vs. Dax Harwood with Mike Tyson as the Special Enforcer. Cash Wheeler and Sammy Guevara will be at ringside but the other Pinnacle and Inner Circle members will be banned from ringside
* AEW World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks defend against PAC and Rey Fenix
* AEW TNT Champion Darby Allin defends against Matt Hardy in a Falls Count Anywhere match
* Anthony Ogogo makes his in-ring debut
* Jade Cargill vs. Red Velvet
* Kris Statlander makes in-ring return against indie star Amber Nova
* How will Taz react if Christian Cage turns down his Team Taz invite?
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