Impact Rebellion preview: Josh Alexander put Moose through a table prior to world title fight

Impact is riding high to the Rebellion PPV on Saturday, April 23, 2022 from Poughkeepsie, NY. The show is available through PPV and Fite TV (order here) starting at 8 pm ET. The YouTube pre-show at 7:30 pm ET heats up the action. Let’s break down the card with previews and predictions.

Impact World Championship

The main event features Moose defending the Impact World Championship against Josh Alexander. This story began at Bound for Glory in October 2021, but Alexander’s quest to be the best started long before that. When Alexander defeated Christian Cage to become wold champ, Moose cashed in to steal the title. Alexander had been celebrating with his wife and young child as Moose made his move. Alexander protected his family as they exited to safety and took a beating from Moose for their greater good. Alexander’s title reign lasted mere minutes. All that hard work was flushed down the drain.

Alexander was intent on payback but numerous obstacles kept popping up. The biggest was his contract expiring to cause visa issues. Once that mess was sorted, Alexander returned in a big way. He had a new Impact contract and official paperwork for the Rebellion title shot. Alexander also ambushed Moose to make an emphatic point.

As if this feud wasn’t personal enough, Moose speared Alexander’s wife at an indie show. Alexander went the route of attempted murder by trying to drop Moose off a balcony. Tensions eased a little as Rebellion came closer, then chaos erupted on the go-home.

Management requested a public apology from Moose for his actions against Alexander’s family. Moose was sorry... Sorry he exposed Alexander as a lousy protector and role model to his family. Moose plans to send Alexander home as a broken, pathetic man. Those were fighting words. Alexander came out, a skirmish ensued, and Moose was put through a table on a C-4 piledriver.

Prediction: Moose retains. I have a sneaking suspicion that Alexander doesn’t get the job done on this evening. Shenanigans could be afoot, and I’ve got my eye on Scott D’Amore. He stood in the way of Alexander’s rematch for months. I don’t buy his reasons why. Alexander never did get his emotions under control, so perhaps that is the impetus for something wacky.

Impact Knockouts Championship

Rosemary earned #1 contender status via battle royal to earn a shot at Tasha Steelz. Rosemary doesn’t need wicked mind games to get in Steelz’ head. She already did that long ago by winning the tag titles with Havok from the Fire ‘n’ Flava duo of Steelz and Kiera Hogan.

Prediction: Tasha Steelz retains. In a battle of heaters, I’m picking Savanna Evans over Havok. That should give Steelz the edge.

Impact World Tag Team Championship

Violent by Design has the odds against them in an 8-team elimination challenge. The format hasn’t been clarified. Eric Young’s crew better hope that they don’t have to survive the gauntlet as #1 entrants. Other teams to keep an eye on are the Good Brothers, Heath & Rhino, Rich Swann & Willie Mack, OGK, and Vincent with the resurrected PCO. There is room for a surprise team, so perhaps the winner will be a shocker.

Prediction: New champs. I’m just not sure who without knowing all the participants. I’ll pick Matt Taven and Mike Bennett. Winning the tag titles would help Honor No More establish themselves as current threats instead of disgruntled stars coasting on past success.

AAA Reina de Reinas Championship

Deonna Purrazzo is the current AAA women’s champion. She won the belt from Faby Apache. Purrazzo is also the ROH women’s champion. She won that strap from Rok-C. In an effort to undermine Mickie James as Knockouts champion at that time, the Virtuosa aimed to prove she is still the best by holding Champ Champ Challenge contests. Purrazzo set up matches against anyone who wanted a shot at either title.

Knock, knock. Taya Valkyrie was at the door. Taya returned to Impact at the Multiverse of Matches to issue a challenge for Rebellion. Purrazzo did not hesitate to accept.

The AAA Reina de Reinas Championship holds a special place in Taya’s heart. The Canadian learned the business and honed her craft in Mexico to rise the ranks of AAA as a three-time titleholder. She never lost the belt. When Taya signed with WWE, the COVID pandemic forced her to vacate rather than returning to Mexico to drop the championship in defeat. Taya has since returned to AAA, and she wants her gold back.

Prediction: Taya Valkyrie becomes a four-time AAA women’s champ. It would make a lot of sense for AAA to keep this title change for their own show, but AAA doesn’t always do what makes sense.

Three-way pain

Chris Sabin versus “Switchblade” Jay White versus Steve Maclin should be a doozy. I’m picking this as the show-stealer. The big match abilities of Sabin and White are well documented. Maclin has quietly turned into a good hand himself.

The contest came about when Maclin interjected into a beef between Sabin and Switchblade. When White tangoed with mentor Alex Shelley, Sabin arrived to watch his partner’s back. That led to a singles bout where Sabin pinned White. Maclin attacked Sabin in the aftermath as payback for doubting his allegiance in the Team Impact versus Honor No More story.

White took a cheap shot on Maclin for sticking his nose in Bullet Club business. Thus, the three-way dance was booked.

Prediction: “Switchblade” Jay White picks up the pin. White is a sneaky fellow. He’s tricky enough in a standard singles duel. For three-way action, he’ll have tricks to be in the right place at the right time.

ROH in the house

Jonathan Gresham will be in action as the ROH world champ, however, that belt will not be on the line. Gresham battles a former ROH champion in Eddie Edwards. During the Team Impact versus Honor No More story, Gresham was jumped backstage. It turned out that Edwards was the culprit. Gresham has the chance for revenge.

Prediction: Jonathan Gresham wins. ROH has new management led by Tony Khan. TK has a past relationship with Impact, but I struggle to envision him okaying his ROH world champ losing on this evening.

Update: Gresham has been pulled from the show following reports of an injury. Chris Bey is the replacement. The match was moved to the pre-show.

Hoss fight!

JONAH versus Tomohiro Ishii. No story here. Just enjoy the fisticuffs.

Prediction: JONAH clobbers to victory. JONAH has main event potential for Impact. He lost to Josh Alexander in his first feud, but the Top Dog has rebounded in hoss fight competition. A win here should elevate JONAH to the world title picture. If Moose manages to retain, that would play back into JONAH’s original target when arriving.

Impact X-Division Championship

Trey Miguel has a three-way competition for his next X-Division Championship defense. Ace Austin and “Speedball” Mike Bailey both won qualifiers to be in the match.

Ever since Bailey arrived in Impact, Ace has been trying to poach the karate man into his group. Ace had the idea that they could team up on Trey to guarantee a new champ. What went unsaid was that Ace expected himself to achieve the glory. Bailey knew this and teased Ace with riddles about his cooperation. When push came to shove, Bailey did not fall to the dark side. Ace had Trey ripe for the picking for a Bailey kick, but Speedball didn’t take the bait. He kicked Ace instead. The statement was that it will be every man for himself at Rebellion.

Prediction: Trey Miguel continues his hot streak. Each man has a 33.33% chance of winning... You can figure out the rest with Steiner math principles.

Impact Knockouts World Tag Team Championship

The Influence and the The IInspiration will go at it one more time on the pre-show. Tenille Dashwood & Madison Rayne won the belts from Jessie McKay & Cassie Lee with a little help from Kaleb Konley. Kaleb with a K is out of the mix after being fired by the Influence and cast aside by the flirting IInspiration. Dashwood and Rayne are not worried about Konley’s absence. They have achieved enough success on their own before he joined them.

Prediction: The IInspiration regain gold. McKay and Lee will become iconic as two-time Impact tag champs.

Share your predictions for Rebellion. Which match are you most eager for? Which contest will steal the show?