Last night at Impact Wrestling’s Rebellion pay-per-view, Brian Cage defeated Johnny Impact for the Impact World Championship.
After the match, Michael Elgin made his Impact debut to confront Cage. Cage held up the title and told him anytime. Elgin punched him in the face, hit a spinning powerbomb and held the title for a moment. Elgin had finished up with NJPW on April 1.
As noted, Brian Cage was rushed to the hospital afterwards.
Impact Wrestling announced its new streaming platform, Impact Plus, which will be available on May 1. The service will feature the promotion’s library as well as exclusive events. This service will replace their current GWN streaming service. More information will be out next week.
Last night, Impact Wrestling announced Brian Cage was rushed to the emergency room after winning the Impact World Championship against Johnny Impact at Rebellion.
According to PWInsider, Cage suffered a legit injury, most likely to his back. The injury happened after Cage was on the receiving end of a spanish fly from the ramp down to the floor. After that spot, Cage moved very slowly throughout the match, although he was able to finish it and then take a powerbomb afterwards by the debuting Michael Elgin.
Cage tweeted out a photo of him at the hospital and commented on his night.
“Not how I wanted or ever imagined this incredible night would end,” Cage wrote. “I’ve chased this moment and have dreamt about this my entire life. And to have this be the outcome, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t break my heart.”
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Six-Pack Scramble: Petey Williams vs. Jake Crist vs. Aiden Prince vs. Ace Austin vs. Cousin Jake vs. Eddie Edwards – Winner: Ace Austin
Josh Mathews and Don Callis talked about Impact Plus, a new streaming service for the promotion, which will have the promotion’s library along with new events.
Rohit Raju (with Gama Singh & Raj Singh) vs. Scarlett Bordeaux (with Fallah Bahh) – Winner: Scarlett Bordeaux
The Rascalz (Dez, Wentz & Trey) vs. Moose & The North (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander) – Winners: Moose & The North
Impact Knockouts Championship: (C) Taya Valkyrie vs. Jordynne Grace – Winner: Taya Valkyrie
Backstage, Melissa Santos asked Gail Kim what made her decide to come back in the ring to face Tessa Blanchard. Kim says even though she enjoyed her current role, she says Blanchard wouldn’t listen to her and she’s doing this to teach Blanchard a lesson in respect.
Impact X-Division Championship – oVe Rules: (C) Rich Swann vs. Sami Callihan (oVe is barred from ringside) – Winner: Rich Swann via Submission
Melissa Santos talks with Tessa Blanchard and tells her what Gail said about teaching Blanchard a lesson in respect. Blanchard is tired of hearing about that, she knows about respect and talks about her family’s achievement in pro wrestling. Blanchard says she respects what Kim has done, even before there was an evolution. All of that went away though when Kim costed her the Knockouts Title. Blanchard said Kim is going to learn a lesson regret. Tully Blanchard suddenly shows up and says he’ll be at ringside to watch her match and tells his daughter to continue walking her own legacy. “You beat Gail Kim,” Tully says before heading off.
Tessa Blanchard vs. Gail Kim –Winner: Tessa Blanchard via Submission
Post-match, Blanchard goes out and hugs her Dad. He says to go back in and shake Kim’s hand. Blanchard goes in, looking like she’ll beat up Kim so more, but they shake hands. Kim gives her a hug, says some words to her, and Blanchard cries. Blanchard raises up Kim’s hand and heads to the back. Crowd with a “Thank You, Gail!” chant as she celebrates a little bit before heading to the back.
Impact World Championship (Special Guest Referee Lance Storm): (C) Johnny Impact vs. Brain Cage – Winner and new Impact World Champion: Brian Cage
Post-match, Michael Elgin makes his Impact debut. He confronts Cage, the two jaw a bit before Elgin punches him and hits a spinning powerbomb. Elgin holds the title for a moment before laying it on Cage and heading it to the back.
Impact Slammiversary will take place on July 7 in Dallas, Texas.
Impact World Tag Team Championship – Full Metal Mayhem: (C) Lucha Bros vs. LAX – Winners and new Impact World Tag Team Champions: LAX
Post-match, Konnan checks on everyone and talks with both teams. He asks them if they are going to squash this. Both team end up hugging and raises up their arms. The Impact locker room empties out to give respect to the two tag teams. LAX celebrates.
Sunday, April 28th from the Rebel Entertainment Complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. IMPACT Wresting Presents Rebellion LIVE on Pay Per View. (Available on traditional pay-per-view and on FITE) 8pm ET/5pm PT
Below is the card:
Impact World Championship (Special Guest Referee Lance Storm): (C) Johnny Impact vs. Brain Cage
Tessa Blanchard vs. Gail Kim
Impact World Tag Team Championship – Full Metal Mayhem: (C) Lucha Bros vs. LAX
Impact Knockouts Championship: (C) Taya Valkyrie vs. Jordynne Grace
Impact X-Division Championship: (C) Rich Swann vs. Sami Callihan
The Rascalz (Dez, Wentz & Trey) vs. Moose & The North (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander)
Scarlett Bordeaux vs. Rohit Raju
Scheduled for tonight’s Impact airing on Pursuit, Twitch and FightNet.
* The Deaners debut
* Rich Swann goes to oVe Compound
* Killer Koss vs. Willie Mack
* Rosemary in action
* Ace Austin in action
* Brian Cage & LAX vs. Johnny Impact & Lucha Bros
WWE officials have had talks with Joey Ryan about coming to work in their developmental system.
Ryan was not given an official WWE offer as of earlier in the week, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, but he was contacted after the company got word that he was a free agent when he was let out of his Lucha Underground contract. Ryan was asked if he would be willing to move to Orlando, wrestle in WWE NXT for a few years, and then move into a coaching position.
The Observer notes that Ryan is expected to end up with All Elite Wrestling, but he’s not currently under contract with them. Ryan currently owns a home in Los Angeles and earns far more money working the indies than he would with an average NXT salary. The Observer adds that Ryan would have absolutely taken WWE’s offer if he was 29 years old, but at 39 he’s probably not interested in taking a pay cut to start with WWE, or anyone else offering far less than what he’s already making.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
AEW President and CEO sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Jacksonville, FL one month before Double or Nothing. Tony gives us an idea of what we can expect from All Elite Wrestling and also covers of number of topics like a TV deal, how he signed Goldust (Dustin Rhodes), his 5-year plan for the company, being compared to WCW, wins and losses counting in AEW, whether or not he wants to be an on-air personality and much more!
Source: Trevor Decker News
Tony Khan was a big fan of ECW, and was therefore asked if he would like to see AEW have a similar ‘edgy’ style:
“I think we are doing some very edgy things and I think what you see on our social media is not necessarily what you will see in our television product which I do expect to be much more advertiser friendly than ECW. But that doesn’t mean that we won’t push the envelope sometimes, that doesn’t mean that you won’t see really exciting high spots. A lot of what made ECW great was the work and we’re going to have the best caliber in ring stuff in the world.”
Many people have been comparing AEW to WCW. On the topic of the comparisons between the two promotions, Khan had the following to say:
“I don’t want to compare us to any other wrestling company. We’re AEW and we’re doing something very different. What’s great is what we will offer, which will bring people back to 20 years ago, and there will be a major alternative. There will be a second company with great production values and great exposure, it’ll be easy to watch and give you shows with the top wrestlers and the best matches on a regular basis. That’s something that hasn’t been readily available to people outside of WWE in a long time, almost 20 years.”
Khan also spoke about how he wants the touring schedule for his performers to be light, something that WWE doesn’t have:
“For us, I want to offer a quality of life and a work/life balance that is the best and is unparalleled in the business for the best quality of life. What that means is less time on the road, but still working regularly, still performing on pay-per-view and on television in the future. I believe you don’t need to spend 6 days on the road to make a good living as a wrestler or 5 days on the road per week necessarily”.
Khan was also asked if he wanted to be an on-air personality for the company:
“I have thought about it and I’m not going to do it. We have some of the greatest on-air performers in the world and look, I am who I am in the promotion. I am the president and the CEO and the founder of this company but it’s not going to be me all over TV and I’m not going to be doing a lot of interviews or backstage segments on television.”
He also discussed AEW’s television deal:
“I have negotiated some things and I am very excited about what we are doing. I do think it’s very important to give wrestling fans a better quality of life. I think 20 years ago was honestly in many ways not nearly as good of a time to be a wrestling fan. There was not nearly as much wrestling out there and available if you were really looking for it. If you are really looking for great wrestling now there has never been a better time to be a wrestling fan.”
The 5-year plan for AEW is that we will have built up a brand, we will have built up a roster, we will have established ourselves as a top brand in wrestling for people who want fast paced exciting action and want a product that is more of a sporting based product. I’ve talked a lot about how I want wins and losses to matter because at the end of the day, that’s why you’re having the match. There’s going to be a winner and a loser and it matters. It should matter to your standing in the company and it should matter to your standing in your chase for the championship which at the end of the day is what everyone is trying to attain”.
Finally, Khan was asked if he would like to see former WWE Champion, CM Punk, sign for the promotion:
“He’s a great talent and a great performer, I don’t know if that was Phil in the ring, but he’s great. I’m from Illinois and I grew up around Chicago sports and he’s obviously very popular there.”
Thanks to WrestleZone for the transcription.
WWE is reportedly “exercising its right to withhold talent from any events deemed not in the company’s best interests” by pulling The Undertaker and Kurt Angle from Starrcast II.
Event organizer Conrad Thompson told Sports Illustrated a deposit was made to Undertaker before announcing his inclusion in the event back in February. Shortly after, however, he was contacted by The Dead Man’s management team who told him WWE said he couldn’t appear at the event.
Taker’s deposit was returned after the two sides spoke.
“I had a friend discuss the situation with Vince McMahon, and I was assured the ‘heat’ wasn’t on me or my event but rather that The Undertaker shouldn’t be doing personal appearances outside of WWE,” Thompson told Sports Illustrated. “I was assured that damages would be covered, a suitable replacement offered, or some sort of compromise to make everyone happy.”
Adding, “I suggested Vince McMahon, Hunter, or Stephanie McMahon … and I said I would donate 100 percent of the proceeds to Conor’s Cure and match the donation personally, which would turn a negative into a positive for everyone involved.”
Unfortunately, Thompson was told he couldn’t book main roster Superstars. He then tried to book Shawn Michaels, but HBK reportedly backed out due to “the close proximity of Starrcast and AEW.”
“I asked to keep Kurt Angle and announce Shawn Michaels as the replacement for The Undertaker,” Conrad explained. “I offered to book everyone ‘through the office.’ I wanted to play by the rules but I felt like I already had, since each of these guys were actively marketing themselves for outside appearances via booking agents or their own social media. I have checked in daily for a week now and nothing is changing.”
According to SI, Kurt Angle and Undertaker both signed new WWE deals after taking the booking which allowed their employers to keep them from appearing at Starrcast II.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Four new All Elite Wrestling signings have been revealed in the latest episode of the “Being The Elite” series, seen at this link. Plus, Who is The Librarian?
AEW has signed the following talents:
* Private Party – tag team from New York City from House of Glory
* Leva Bates – the former Blue Pants of WWE NXT
Regarding Bates and Avalon, the storyline is that The Young Bucks believe Avalon is The Librarian character that has played out on Twitter while Cody Rhodes is going with Bates as The Librarian.
You can see tweets on Bates and Avalon below:
https://twitter.com/CodyRhodes/status/1120367022242705410
https://twitter.com/MattJackson13/status/1120367298676609024
Source: Wrestling Inc.
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