Csonka’s Impact Wrestling Redemption Preview

WELCOME back to column time with Larry! Today, I am going to discuss and preview tonight’s Impact Wrestling Redemption PPV event. This is the first live PPV event since Bound for Glory, and also the first PPV under the Callis & D’Amore regime. Under Callis & D’Amore, Impact Wrestling, slowly but surely, feels like they are getting things together more than they have in the past few years by taking small, but effective steps instead of the grandstanding moves of the past that financially crippled the company. The shows are better and connected better than before, I wouldn’t say that they have put together a “hot streak,” but things are better. They are running more live events, they are airing some free content on Twitch, and the One Night Only events aren’t complete trash like in the past. Add in that they are taking a smarter path with live events, partnering with other established indies in the area, and are running smaller venues and selling those out, these are all positive signs. Hopefully, the creative and talent can come together and put on a great show, because there is a lot of potential on the card. Today I will break down the show, match by match, and give my predictions on everything. Feel free to make your picks in the comment section. Thanks for reading! It’s wrestling, we love it and will disagree. The only rules are “have a take, be respectful, and don’t be a dick.”

Drago vs. Aerostar: Pentagon vs. Fenix was originally the special addition to the PPV, but when Alberto El Fuck-Up got himself fired (absolutely no complaints as the company is better off without him), they needed to add another match and again, decided on a special addition of Drago vs. Aerostar. Again, with the main event being Champion Austin Aries vs. Pentagon vs. Fenix and the addition of this match, this card and the company as a whole are so much better off than with Alberto. Drago & Aerostar are a pair of good, high flying lucha lads that are an extremely fun addition to the show. Let these guys work a 12-minute, balls to the wall, highflying sprint style match and have them open the show. I’m really looking forward to this one, these two have tagged with and worked against each other a ton and know each other very well; at the very least it will be good, but has potential to be great. WINNER: Drago

Ishimori vs. Dezmond Xavier vs. El Hijo del Fantasma vs. Cage vs. DJZ vs. Trevor Lee: This was announced out of nowhere on April 14th via Twitter. There is absolutely no build to the match and no announced stakes to fight for, but it’s a good collection of talent, and if they can avoid things breaking down into a clusterfuck, this has tremendous potential to be a very fun match. And there is nothing wrong with adding a good and fun undercard match to a card. I love them bringing in Ishimori & Fantasma for this because both are great. It’s also nice that Impact remembered that they can use both DZJ & Xavier. Cage, coming off of two big wins over Lashley sort of feels wasted in this environment, but if this is how he’s used on PPV, this match should largely be the Cage show. Let the highfliers get their shit in, give us fast-paced action, and allow them to look great for a while. But at the end, Cage needs to go on a path of destruction, wrecking fools and looking like an absolute beast in a victory. WINNER: Cage

House of Hardcore Match: Ohio Versus Everything (Dave Crist, Jake Crist, and Sami Callihan) vs. Tommy Dreamer, Moose, and Eddie Edwards: This match was made on the April 12th edition of Impact, but it is not a match lacking in background. This match is only taking place because Sami Callihan legit busted up Eddie Edwards’ face with a bat shot on Impact. The company, along with the wrestlers, took what could have been a potentially fatal accident (if you think a bat shot to the face isn’t potentially fatal, you must have super powers) and turned it into a rather good angle. Sami hurt Eddie, Sami was a dick about it, Sami harassed Eddie and stalked his wife, Eddie tried to man up and “went into oVe’s house” and got outnumbered, and had his ass beat. oVe then promised to go after Eddie’s friends, costing Moose his world title shot. Sami & Eddie fought in an I Quit match, where Eddie got some revenge in the fight, but ultimately got his ass kicked and Don Callis threw in the towel for him. On April 12th, Moose defeated Sami Callihan via DQ when oVe attacked, beating down Moose and then Eddie. Tommy Dreamer made the save for them, and joined with them to bring us this match. Moose & Edwards bringing in Dreamer can be looked at as looking to fight fire with fire by going hardcore with Dreamer. I can get behind the reasoning, but Tommy Dreamer on PPV in 2018 doesn’t exactly excite me. The good news is that his limitations can be hidden through the stipulation, and he’s likely in to put oVe over. This will be a wild and weapon filled brawl, possibly bloody, and if worked right, a crowd-pleasing match. Impact feels focused on pushing oVe right now, and the climax should be Eddie defeating Sami in a one on one match, so I see oVe, who is a completely unified unit, pulling off the win here. WINNERS: oVe

Knockouts Title Match: Champion Allie vs. Su Yung: Allie finally overcame all of her past demons, kept working and finally made it to the top when she defeated Laurel Van Ness to win the Knockouts title, and basically send Van Ness out of the company. But unfortunately for the new champion, things were not all sunshine and bunnies; her on-screen flame (and real-life husband) Braxton Sutter turned into an asshole, he blamed her and her success for all of his failures. He even tried to get back with Laurel Van Ness a year after he left her at the alter on TV to be with C. The pathetic bastard even tried to get with Allie after all of this bullshit, but Allie was a new woman and refused. But Sutter wasn’t done, and found a new way to get what he wanted, which is revenge on Allie, “ruining his life.” And he did that two-weeks after Allie’s big title win, bringing in the undead bride, Su Yung. Yung is a great character, who can go in the ring, but often times relies way too much on her gimmick. I hope that she will be ready to impress once the bell rings at the PPV. Allie has been the most consistent in-ring female performer in the company, constantly delivering good matches with good crowd investment. They’ve set the stage well or this one, with Allie having to find her confidence, but Yung still overwhelming her. While it feels too early to take the title off of Allie, because the Allie character, as we know her, is better in a chasing role. The Yung win would then make sense, and could also allow us to go to Yung vs. Rosemary for a bit. The other way that they could go is an Allie character change. I’m not talking a complete overhaul; I’m talking some small changes to evolve the character. Think of it as Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the two have always referred to their relationship like Buffy & Faith. On the show, Faith was the unhinged slayer that turned evil. But even before her “heel turn,” she was the wild child and she tried to bring that out of Buffy. While Buffy never went to the full extreme, there were times where Buffy took these lessons to heart and became a more well-rounded character due to that. Again, Allie is a fun little babyface character and good in the ring, but she’s rather one dimensional, and the loss here could signal an important shift in her character moving forward. #WantTakeHave WINNER: Su Yung

Impact Tag Team Title Match: Champions LAX vs. Eli Drake and Scott Steiner: The Impact tag titles are in an odd place right now, LAX are great champions, but they really have no challengers. This situation has happened several times in TNA/Impact’s history as the roster fluctuates, and was why we ended up with teams like Beer Money and the Dirty Heels. LAX beat oVe, and moved on from them (for now) and then took out the Cult of Lee. They are in desperate need of real challenges, and the division overall needs more teams (Bring in Jack Evans & Angelico!). Drake and Adonis were to be the original challengers here, but Adonis left the company, and Impact was left having to find a replacement. They chose Scott Steiner. Some people seem to be absolutely thrilled that Steiner is back, because they love his wacky promos, but the reality is this. Steiner is 55 years old and isn’t the Steiner of the past. He’s old, broken down, and really can’t go judging by his WrestleCon appearance. He may surprise me, and if they layout the match right, protect him well, and set him up for his signature spots, the match may be fine. But I’m honestly not expecting much from him. I feel that this will largely be a 2 on 1, with Drake working most of the way. Drake will work hard as he always does, and LAX is great. There is some hope here, but I think a title change would be extremely shortsighted and not make much sense. LAX should retain, and hopefully, the company has plans locked in for their next feud. WINNERS: LAX

X-Division Title Match: Champion Matt Sydal vs. Petey Williams: Sydal has been really good during his Impact run and was a good pick up to be sure. Also, his pairing with Mathews as a heel pairing has a lot of potential. Petey’s return to Impact has been better than anyone could have expected, especially with him coming out of retirement. He’s been an extremely consistent performer and has worked well with everyone. But while he’s had quality performances, he’s failed at his attempts to win the X-Division and World titles when given the chance. With the PPV being titled Redemption, and Petey using his feast or fired title shot to challenge here, I think that the idea is to give him some redemption and finally success in his return. Sydal will always be around and in the picture, and could even win it back and go on a run until he drops it to someone like Desmond Xavier (if they ever fucking use him, his run has been disappointing other than winning the abbreviated Super X Cup) would be fine. But I feel having Petey challenge and lose yet again completely pigeonholes him as a failure, and that only works, if he’s on his way out, which I don’t believe, is the case. Give then 15 and have them go all out and tear the house down, and then have Petey fight off Mathews, hit a Canadian destroyer to a great action and a title change. WINNER: Petey Williams

Impact World Title Match: Champion Austin Aries vs. Pentagon vs. Fenix: Impact and Lucha Underground finally got into the WrestleMania mix, and it was about time. The companies came together and put on a good and fun show with solid production, and I hope that the relationship lasts because there is an opportunity for a lot of crossover shows. But the biggest thing from the show was something that didn’t happen, and that was the fact that Alberto El Patron no-showed the event, giving us Pentagon Jr. vs. Austin Aries vs. Fenix as the new main event, and we were better of for it. And then he reportedly no-showed another Impact event, and the company fired him and I all could think was Good, Fuck That Guy. I have never been a big fan of Alberto. I never bought into him as a big star, and never bought into the myths that he’s a great draw & worker either. But Impact brought him in out of desperation, hoping he’d be a star and a draw for them, but with Alberto came baggage. The WrestleCon match (Aries vs. Pentagon vs. Fenix) was very good, thanks to him not being there, and I am absolutely thrilled to get a rematch here. The thing was that they were working their first match together, and (no disrespect intended), it wasn’t a big show and they weren’t working to kill themselves or to their full ability. Now they know each other better, now they will be the advertised main event, and I expect a great match here. Pentagon & Fenix are brothers, they tore it up in Lucha Underground leading to them becoming very popular and earning a ton of US bookings where they started making more than in AAA and wanted their independence. They are a great tag team, great rivals, and all around great lucha lads. Fenix is a great highflier, who will take wild bumps and has a tendency to get color in big matches. Pentagon can fly but is more of a hard-hitting brawler type. Aries is a great all-around performer, who can work with just about anyone with ease. With the change and Patron out, I just find this to be great news, because I am 100% sure that we would have gotten a lazy, overbooked mess, with him winning the title. With Patron out of the picture, I see this going one of two ways; Aries has agreed to a long-term deal and they keep the title on him since he’s been great and we maintain stability. Or Pentagon is set to become a featured player (he’s the focus of an upcoming One Night Only show), and they pull the title change and he becomes the new champion (I am not opposed to this at all). Of course, , the other thing to consider is a possible late Eli Drake cash in. I don’t think that’s the right play though, and might be better saved for a big TV angle, where more people would see it. I think they go for stability and continue the reign of the belt collector. WINNER: Austin Aries

JOIN 411 TONIGHT AT 8PM ET FOR MY LIVE COVERAGE OF THE SHOW!

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”