Impact Wrestling preview (Apr. 19, 2018): Redemption finishing touches

Impact Wrestling returns tonight (Apr. 19) from the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida and it is the twelfth and final episode from their last set of tapings. It is the go-home show this Sunday’s Redemption pay-per-view (PPV).

Here’s what’s advertised for tonight:

• A replay of the Austin Aries vs. Pentagon Jr. vs. Fenix match at WrestleCon
• Braxton Sutter & Su Yung vs. Fallah Bahh & Kiera Hogan
• Johnny Impact vs. Kongo Kong
• Brian Cage in action

As per usual, here are our five questions about Impact tonight:

1) Is the WrestleCon replay the extent of the title build this week?

Given Impact released Alberto El Patron less than two weeks ago, and that he was supposed to be in the main event of Redemption, Impact was left scrambling.

They ended up booking the altered WrestleCon main event (altered after Alberto no-showed) of Austin Aries vs. Pentagon Jr. vs. Fenix, booking it for the title.

It’s an exciting match in-ring wise, but there’s really no build to it. All of these episodes of Impact were taped in January. Taping three months of television at once doesn’t allow for audibles when issues like these arise. It’s a tough position to be in, though Impact isn’t completely faultless is this.

They were the company that opted to not just continue working with Alberto after they felt the need to suspend him for months last year, but they quickly put him back in the main event and built a PPV around him. Fool me once, fool me twice, and all that.

Because of the situation, the best they could do for the go-home show is to air the match that happened at WrestleCon. Which pretty much means they’re giving us the match they want us to pay for on Sunday for free tonight. Are they going to do anything else to sell us on this match? Surely, the in ring action will deliver, but will they be able to add more than “Awesome movez coming!” to the allure?

2) Is Jimmy Jacobs going to wrestle?

It was a bit surprising to see that Kongo Kong vs. Johnny Impact is a match scheduled for tonight. With neither doing anything at the PPV, this felt like it could slot onto the card instead. And it still could. They could end in a non-finish, throw in a stipulation, and run with it.

But there’s another direction they can go. They can set it up that Johnny gets to fight Kong’s handler Jimmy Jacobs instead. The Zombie Princess is not just a manger. He’s a wrestler. And in the Kong/Jacobs pairing, Jimmy is the one carrying the charisma. Seeing someone finally get their hands on the manipulator will be a fun moment.

It very well may not happen soon, but it’s something that should happen eventually.

3) What’s the relationship between Su Yung and Braxton Sutter?

Braxton Sutter is an interesting cat. I mean, he’s a big, pathetic loser. But for some reason, he’s always hanging with Su Yung. And we’re not sure why she’s allowing it.

It’s clear why he wants to latch onto the Undead Bride. He has issues with Yung’s Redemption opponent Allie, who he believes ruined his life. So he’s here to use Su Yung to issue revenge.

Why she’s allowing him to is another story. The Undead Bride almost comes off as a feral, emotionless character. Well, emotionless is probably incorrect since it looks like rage is in her arsenal. But she doesn’t seem like the type to scheme and use Braxton to get to the Knockouts champion. And it certainly doesn’t seem like she likes the guy- or that she likes anyone for that matter.

My guess is still that she’s tolerating because she’s kind of thrown off by it, but once she learns he’s a huge creeper, she’ll kick him to the curb. Maybe literally.

4) What are Rosemary and Taya doing at Redemption?

Last week, Rosemary defeated Taya Valkyrie in a Demon’s Dance match when she piledrove Taya through a table from the top rope.

That felt like a feud ender right there. That leaves them open for Sunday.

It would be hard to believe they are leaving them off the card. So the options are to either run a rematch with a different stipulation, which I’d be all for, or run a random tag match involving other members of the KOs division. The only issue I can think of with that is there aren’t many members of the KOs division left to do that. Outside lesser used Knockouts like Kiera Hogan and Amber Nova, who haven’t been featured in any real programs, there’s no one I can really think of to fit in that role.

That doesn’t mean they can’t bring in some women from the indies to be part of a bigger match for one night.

Either way, it feels odd that Rosemary and Taya are both directionless just days before the show.

5) Is Brian Cage back to squashes?

Brian Cage is advertised to be in action. And when they phrase it that way, I think “Squash match.”

That would be a step back since Cage just finished a short program two wins over now Raw talent Bobby Lashley.

At Redemption, he’s in a match with a bunch of other random talent who didn’t make it on the card. It’s a match that’s likely meant to continue to build his stature. We’ll likely need to wait until that’s finished to get another real feud for the Machine

Impact Wrestling airs tonight at 8 EST on Pop TV. Who’s watching?