Moose retains, but his mood is ‘broken’ by return of Matt Hardy at TNA Rebellion

Bob Kapur

Moose retains, but his mood is ‘broken’ by return of Matt Hardy at TNA Rebellion

Even without the assistance of The System – who were ejected from ringside midway through his title defense against Nic Nemeth at TNA’s Rebellion PPV on Saturday night – Moose was able to walk out of the match as World Champion. Unfortunately for Moose, he walked right into the Broken Universe, as Matt Hardy made a surprise return to the company to confront the champ, making it clear that he wants to “Delete!” the champ’s reign whenever he gets the chance.

Hardy’s show-ending appearance was the third surprise of the night, following the returns of Mike Santana and the “Death Machine” Sami Callihan earlier in the evening. Santana – fresh off a run in AEW – came back to challenge Steve Maclin in an unadvertised match. While Sami returned during the Knockouts Championship match, dispatching Kon and the Good Hands who tried to help Steph De Lander steal the title away from champion Jordynne Grace.

Overall, the show was a very strong event, highlighted by those surprises and strong matches from the top of the show to the closing credits.

Countdown Match 1: The Rascalz (Trey Miguel, Zachary Wentz, and Myron Reed) vs. ABC (Ace Austin and Chris Bey), and Leon Slater

This was an exciting, fast-paced match, which is not surprising given who was involved. Highlights included a huge Running Somersault Swan Dive by Reed who leaped over the cornerpost to land on ABC and Slater on the floor – wow. But as he and the Rascalz celebrated, they got nailed by Slater who did the exact same move – wow squared.

Later, after Reed hit a Springboard Stunner on Slater from the apron to the floor where they landed on ABC. This was followed up by a Triple Combo of flying moves that would have seen Slater pinned if Austin didn’t make the save in time.

In the end, after the Art of Finesse and Fold combo, Slater put Reed away with a stellar 450-Splash.

Really fun opener, reminiscent of the X-Division matches from the early days of TNA.

Winners: ABC and Leon Slater

In the back, Gia Miller interviewed Rich Swann, who was there with AJ Francis. They said they would be bringing some friends with them when Swann takes on Joe Hendry later tonight. They introduced the Man-Boy Mafia, who seem to be a bunch of people I would never want to associate with.

Countdown Match 2: Laredo Kid vs. Crazzy Steve (c) – for the Digital Media Championship

Laredo Kid used some razzle-dazzle offense on Steve early on, hitting a huge Moonsault to the floor, but Steve was eventually able to slow him down, catching Kid in a rolling attack and hitting him with a big Neckbreaker. After some back and forth, Steve hit a huge Superplex but Kid was able to kick out of the pin attempt. Fs

Steve went up top for a death blow, but Kid scrambled up top. He took a page out of Steve’s book by biting Steve’s face off. And then hit a Laredo Fly, and covered Steve for the 1-2-3. New champ!

This was a fun match, though the ending seemed a bit sudden. It will be interesting to see where Steve goes from here. He had a decent run as champ, so going after the X-Division Championship seems like a logical next step for him.

Winner, and new Digital Media Champion: Laredo Kid

In the back, Gia Miller interviewed Steph DeLander who will be challenging Jordynne Grace for the Knockouts Championship tonight. It was announced that Matt Cardona will not be in Steph’s corner tonight because he’s injured. Instead, she will be bringing The Good Hands instead. They joined in and said they’d have her back.

Countdown Match 3: Spitfire (Jodi Threat and Dani Luna) (w/ Lars Frederikson) (c) vs. Decay (Rosemary and Havok) – for the Knockouts Tag Team Championship

Lars Frederikson is the guitarist and vocalist for the band Rancid. The challengers started off aggressively, using their unorthodox style. In a rare instance, Decay didn’t hold a huge strength and power advantage in this one, since Luna and Threat are also very brawny. So it was a pretty even contest for a lot of the time.

But Luna maybe got a bit too confident when she tried to suplex Havok. Havok blocked it and hit a big one of her own, hurting Luna. They tried to put Luna away, but she eventually got the tag to Threat, who was on fire. After some exchanges – not all of them smooth – Threat hit a big move, hitting a huge High Cross Body off the top to the floor, flattening both challengers.

Back in the ring, Spitfire muscled up and hit a Double Powerbomb on Havok, and then hit a Spitfire Flip Bomb on Rosemary to get the pin.

This was rough. The teams didn’t seem to have chemistry and things looked choppy at times.

Winners, and still Knockouts Tag Team Champions: Spitfire

After the match, Masha Slamovich came to the entrance ramp, and was joined by Alisha Edwards, who the commentators said had been trying to partner with Masha and ride her coat-tails to gold, since Masha has a Tag Team Title rematch available to her, since she was on the team that Spitfire beat for the titles.

Rebellion – Main Show

The opening video showed The System walking around the city, while Nic Nemeth followed them around un-noticed. Or I think that’s what it was. The video was joined in progress, since the PPV feed on Rogers was messed up and for the first couple of minutes, a Boston Bruins video aired. I hope they sweep the Maple Leafs.

Match 1: Jake Something vs. Mustafa Ali (c) – for the X-Division Championship

The story of this one was the power and strength of Something versus the speed of Ali, and early on, it was all about Something, who threw Ali around with ease – including a huge Back Body Drop that sent Ali to the floor. But the wily Ali was able to outsmart Something, tricking into following him and then catching with a DDT on the floor, stunning the big man.

Ali then started a hit-and-run offsnse, getting in shots like a Neckbreaker on the elevated entrance ramp, and then scrambling away to keep out of Jake’s clutches. That worked for a while, until Jake did catch him. Specifically, when Ali tried for a Spinning Hurancarana, when Jake caught him and dropped Ali in a Powerbomb. Jake then hit some more big power moves. Something was going for a top rope move, but Ali escaped and then hit Jake with a German Suplex off the top rope to the apron – that looked great.

As one of Ali’s Secret Service team distracted the ref, a few others grabbled Jake and held him in position for Ali to hit a 450-Splash. But Something kicked out of the pin attempt and Hulked up.

He hit Ali with a flurry of shots and then planted him Into The Void – but Ali got his foot on the ropes just in the nick of time to break the pin. Something went for a Powerbomb, but Ali raked his eyes, then rolled up Something, using the ropes for leverage, to hold Something down for the dirty pin.

This was a good match, though there was really no question as to the outcome. They’ve tried to elevate Something, and he’s probably at the highest point he’s ever been in the company. But he just seems to be lacking something (pardon the pun) to see him as a champion.

Winner, and still X-Division Champion: Mustafa Ali

Match 2: Rich Swann (w/ AJ Francis) vs. Joe Hendry

They showed NFL veteran Shawn Merriman in the crowd – apparently he’s AJ Francis’ buddy.

Hendry’s introduction video showed AI-generated images of Swann and Francis dancing along to Hendry’s theme song. That was funny.

Swann’s new angry demeanour came out early in this one, as he tried to use the corner of the ring steps to blind Hendry. As the ref admonished Swann for the tactic, that allowed Francis to take some cheap shots from Hendry from the outside.

Back in the ring, Swann put the hurt on Hendry, using Hendry’s compromised vision to his advantage, hitting him from the blind side, and going back to Hendry’s eye with rakes and pokes any time Hendry tried to mount a comeback.

Hendry did eventually fire back, but before he could really get any momentum, AJ Francis low-bridged him and Hendry tumbled to the floor. Francis got a chain from one of the Man-Boy Mafia guys, but before he could clock Hendry with it, Shawn Herriman grabbed Francis’ arm and stopped him. Francis was angry for this interference and he and Merriman exchanged words, prompting Merriman to jump over the barricade and climb into the ring where he challenged Francis to throw down.

But it was all a ruse. As the ref tried to back AJ out of the ring, Merriman turned around and destroyed Hendry with a big Clothesline. Swann then climbed the rope and hit a Phoenix Splash on Hendry, and the pinfall was academic.

After the match, the female member of Man-Boy Mafia dry-humped Hendry and then she joined the celebration with Swann, Francis, Merriman, and the other Mafia members.

This was right out of the Jeff Jarrett School of Overbooking back when he was TNA Champion. Which is to say, it was a bit too much cheese, but also worked well for what they were trying to accomplish. AJ and Swann are a fun pairing, and this is actually making Swann feel more fresh than he has in a long time.

Winner: Rich Swann

Match 3: Eric Young vs. Frankie Kazarian – Full Metal Mayhem match

Kazarian attacked during Young’s entrance but paid for it, eating a shot from EY’s hockey mask and then nearly getting hit with a Piledriver in the opening minute. EY was the first to use a weapon, smashing Frankie with a ladder on the floor. Young bridged a ladder on the apron and the ringside barrier, but he was the one who felt the pain when Frankie rammed it into Young’s face.

They set up a table at ringside and exchanged attempts at trying to put the other one through it, but neither could make it happen. Instead, Frankie grabbed another ladder and threw it right into EY’s face before picking up EY and slamming him onto it. Frankie’s follow-up Springboard Legdrop attempt failed, though, and he landed hard on the ladder.

EY then pulled out some other weapons, like a cookie sheet, a trash can lid, a chain – and Janice! For you TNA newbies, Janice is a 2×4 with a bunch of nails poking out of it, and was introduced by Abyss back in the day. EY tried to shove Kaz’s face into Janice, but Kaz escaped.

Not only escaped, but also turned the tide, Spearing EY through the ropes and through the aforementioned table – that looked stellar.

Back in the ring, and the pace quickened, with the two getting into a hockey slugfest to the delight of the crowd. Then they walloped each other in the head with cookie sheets, which also looked great.

Frankie wrapped EY up in a chain and tried for a chain-assisted Chicken Wing, but EY got loose and flipped Kaz over with the chain. EY then put a garbage can over Kaz’s head and dropped a Flying Elbow onto the can – but Kaz kicked out.

Kaz then dropped EY with an Unprettier on a ladder, and then set up another table, this time in the ring. He went up top, but EY followed him there. After jockeying for position on the top turnbuckle. Kaz hit a Flux Capacitor off the top. They didn’t hit the table flush – rather, they clipped the side of the table on the landing, and EY’s head got sliced open – the blood spilling profusely from the gash. That was downright fugly. And it was enough to get Frankie the pinfall.

Medics checked on EY after the match, but it looked like he was able to get up on his own.

This was good, but not mind-blowing. Up until the final move, t was a pretty tame Full Metal Mayhem match – in that there was not a lot of blood or other “Holy S—” moments. With Kaz getting the definitive win, not sure if this will continue or if they simply move on to different feuds. Kaz and Nic Nemeth could be really good if they go that way.

Winner: Frankie Kazarian

In the back, Gia Miller interviewed Nic Nemeth, who challenges Moose for the TNA World Championship tonight. Nemeth said he was excited for the match, noting that his father was in the crowd tonight. He said he would prove that he is as good as he says he is, and will prove it by walking out with the title.

As the announcers talked about the next match, the lights in the arena went out. They turned back on and Steve Maclin made an unscheduled entrance. He came to the ring holding some papers in his hand. He unfurled the papers and said that they were his new TNA contract. He said that one of his demands for signing was a match tonight.

Director of Authority Santino Marella came out to the entrance ramp. He said that Maclin was lucky because he had just signed a contract with a brand new TNA star, and Maclin could face him. Santino then introduced the newest roster member, Mike Santana – recent AEW departee – who entered through the crowd to a huge ovation.

Match 4: Steve Maclin vs. Mike Santana

Santana got a huge response from the crowd who chanted “Welcome back” to him before the bell. Santana got off to a quick start, hitting Maclin with a Somersault Dive to the floor in the opening minute. But Maclin struck back by smashing Santana’s face onto the apron and then hitting him with a big Backbreaker for a near-fall.

Maclin put Santana in the Tree of Woe, and went for Crosshairs, but Santana avoided it. They both went for some big moves, with Santana winning that exchange with a Street Driver. More big moves exchanged, including a huge Running Knee by Maclin and a giant Cannonball by Santana that saw him get major air.

Maclin avoided a Spin The Block attempt and smashed Santana in the back of the head with a Clothesline before hitting Crosshairs for 2.99. A final trade-off of big move attempts came to an end – as the did match – when Santana was able to hit Spin The Block and get the pin.

This was a good match and a strong return for Santana. Beating Maclin is a statement win so a good way to position Santana’s return as a big deal. Not sure that it’s so good for Maclin, though, losing so cleanly. It seems he will continue to be in limbo, floating between the mid- and top-tier as he has been since losing the World Title.

Winner: Mike Santana

In the back, Gia Miller interviewed The System IMoose, Brian Myers, Eddie Edwards, and Alisha Edwards). Gia asked Alisha whether Masha was part of the system after she and Alisha have seemingly formed an alliance. They said Masha wasn’t, but they still can do business together if it’s in The System’s best interest.

Moose said that, during his title defense against Nic Nemeth tonight, Nemeth won’t be the only one who has family with him. With that, Moose introduced former NFL player John Abraham. Abraham came out and gave props to Moose. Not sure if this was pre-taped before the audience was in the building or if the arena audio was turned down, but there was no reaction whatsoever to Abraham.

Match 5: Speedball Mountain (“Speedball” Mike Bailey and Trent Seven) vs. The System (Brian Myers and Eddie Edwards) (w/ Alisha Edwards) (c) – for the Tag Team Championship

The opening minutes seemed like this was Tornado Rules, as the referee didn’t do anything to enforce the tag rules, just watching as Bailey and Seven double-teamed Eddie for what seemed to be a minute.

A distraction by Alisha let the System do some cheating, and the end result was Seven getting smashed onto the steel ring steps on the outside. Seven was isolated in the wrong corner for a while, but he eventually broke free and got the tag to Bailey.

More chaos and non-tagging ensued and that allowed Bailey to get a very close pin attempt on Myers after a textbook Shooting Star Press. But then somehow Eddie and Seven were in the ring, exchanging in a chop exchange. Shortly after that, the champs had the challengers tied up in separate submission holds. But more non-tagging saw Baily kicking Eddie who had Seven tied up in a Single Crab.

More double-teaming saw Speedball Mountain hit a Quick Kick Suplex combo for a near fall. Then Eddie hit a Backpack Stunner on Seven and Myers hit an immediate Flying Elbow, but Seven kicked out.

Later, there was a Burning Hammer and Ultimo Weapon combo by the challengers, but Myers broke it up.

Bailey went for a dive off the apron to the floor, but Myers caught him mid-air with a Spear, effectively taking Bailey out of the match. Seven tried, but the numbers game caught up with him. He was put down with a Roster Cut – Boston Knee Party combo and that was all she wrote.

This was not good. This was a glorified TV match, made worse by the lousy refereeing. Seriously, the refereeing was so bad that it was not only distracting but frustrating. Somewhere, Rudy Charles is rolling over in his grave at how bad the refereeing was. And, yes, I know and am very glad to report that Rudy Charles is still alive and kicking.

Winners, and still Tag Team Champions: The System

Match 6: Josh Alexander vs. Hammerstone – Last Man Standing match

Alexander attacked at the bell and stomped a mudhole into his bigger opponent. Hammerstone retaliated with some power moves, planting Josh in the middle of the ring. They both exchanged huge moves, with neither man showing any signs of quit. Until Josh drove Hammerstone onto the ring apron, which hurt Hammerstone, who got up at the referee’s count of six.

Hammerstone immediately hammered back, though,, driving Alexander hard to the floor, and this time it was Alexander who had to get back to his feet at six. They continued to battle each other on the floor, with Hammerstone in control for most of that.

Until Alexander fired up, hitting Hammerstone with a huge Half Nelson German Suplex on the apron, and it took Hammerstone until the count of 8 until he could stand up.

Josh then tried to impair Hammerstone’s ability to stand up, smashing Hammerstone’s legs against the ring post several times.

A desperate Hammerstone then grabbed the headgear he’d stolen from Josh some weeks ago and smashed Josh in the side of the head, drawing blood from Josh’s ear. He then mounted Josh and ground-and-pounded him, laying out Josh who needed a 9-count before he could will himself back to vertical.

Hammerstone pressed the attack, rolling Josh so that his head was pressed against the ring post and then hitting a Running Kick, crushing Josh’s skull between his foot and the steel. He then put Josh in a Torture Rack before throwing him down. Josh stood up at 8, but then ate a Running Pump Kick.

As Hammerstone mocked Josh, he didn’t see Josh smiling. Smiling, because he’s lured Hammerstone into a trap – as the big man got close to him, Josh grabbed his leg and clamped on an Ankle Lock. He dragged Hammerstone by the ankle and put him into the Tree of Woe before hitting him with a Running Cross Body in the corner. Hammerstone was still able to get up at the ref’s count of 5.

Josh then hit a series of ferocious kicks to Hammerstone’s head. But instead of going after him further, Josh went and got a bag of thumbtacks from under the ring, then spilled them onto the canvas.

Josh tried to Superplex Hammerstone into the tacks, but Hammerstone fought back and hit Josh with the Nightmare Pendulum off the top and right into the sea of thumbtacks.

Alexander rolled to the floor at 9, and landing on his feet saved the match for him.

Hammerstone was going to finish Josh on the entrance ramp, but paused to go back to the ring and retrieve the headgear. That delay let Alexander recover enough, and he blocked Hammerstone’s headgear assault attempt, and hit Hammerstone with a C-4 Spike on the entrance ramp. Hammerstone tried to get up, but succumbed to the pain and collapsed as the ref reached 10.

This was a good slobber-knocker of a fight. Alexander was absolutely the right opponent for Hammerstone, and hopefully these two can go at it again at some point.

Winner: Josh Alexander

A video aired for Jonathan Gresham. He apparently is part octopus.

Before the next match, Ash By Elegance’s stooge Iceman introduced Ash who was going to watch the action from a sky box.

Also watching was former NFL star(?) Morlon Greenwood, who was shown in the crowd.

Match 7: Steph De Lander (w/ the Good Hands) vs. Jordynne Grace (c) – for the Knockouts Championship

Grace was out-sized in this one, with De Lander having an 8-inch height advantage over the champ. In that light, Grace used her speed game to try to hit De Lander with missile-like attacks, including at one point, hitting a Flying Dive from the ring to the floor, nearly braining herself in the process, but fortunately not doing so.

But De Lander was able to finally slow Grace down and use her strength to take over. She beat up Grace, throwing her around and hitting other strikes and smashes.

Grace jumped up onto De Lander’s back and locked on a Sleeper Hold. When it looked like De Lander would go nighty-night, the Good Hands got involved, distracting the ref and throwing in the title belt to De Lander to use on Grace. In the confusion, Grace accidentally knocked out the referee who was confronting the Good Hands. De Lander took the opportunity to flatten Grace with the belt and knocked her out.

One Good Hand took the ref’s shirt and was going to count the fall, but before his hand could hit three, the lights went out. When they came back on, PCO was in the ring. He destroyed the Good Hands and violently sent them both to the floor.

De Lander tried to flirt her way out of trouble, putting the moves on PCO. But he was undaunted, and grabbed De Lander, looking to Chokeslam her. Before he could, Kon ran in and clubbed PCO from behind, then dropped him hard on the apron.

Grace confronted Kon who shoved her by the face to the mat. Grace hit him with a low blow in response. She picked up Kon on her shoulders, but before she could drop him, the Good Hands kicked her and made the save.

Kon then took the hurt Grace and was going to wrench her neck, but the lights went out again. When they came back on, Sami Callihan was in the ring brandishing a baseball bat. He leveled Kon and the Good Hands with the bat, and then hit Jason Hotch with Cactus Driver 97. Callihan then grabbed De Lander and threw her back in the ring into the waiting arms of Jordynne Grace. Grace hit her with the Juggernaut Driver. Just in time for a second referee to run into the ring and count the pin.

This was good, even with the chaotic finish. The surprise return of Sami Callihan was well done, and the crowd appreciated his return. Could we be seeing Sami vs. Matt Cardona at some point, maybe in a death match? That could be really fun.

Winner, and still Knockouts Champion: Jordynne Grace

It was announced that Slammiversary will be taking place on July 20th in Montreal, Quebec. Other upcoming shows are the Under Siege special event on May 3rd in Albany, NY and Against All Odds on June 14th in Chicago.

Before the next match, Nic’s brother Ryan and father Don were shown sitting at ringside.

Match 8: Nic Nemeth vs. Moose (w/ The System) (c) – for the TNA World Championship

Nemeth went after Moose’s legs at the start, taking the champ down and perhaps mentally off of his game. Or maybe not, as Moose was able to catch Nemeth in a Flying Dive attempt and drop him hard on the apron. Moose then sent Nemeth back into the ring and hit him with many strikes and kicks. But when he charged for a running attack, Nemeth flipped Moose over the top and onto the elevated entrance ramp. Nemeth chased him and hit a Flying Headscissors and followed that up with a Missile Dropkick and a huge DDT for a 2-count.

Nemeth looked to end things with a Superkick, but the System blatantly interfered from the floor – so blatantly that the referee saw it, and promptly ejected them from ringside to the delight of the crowd.

With them gone, Nemeth tried to end things with a Superkick, but Moose kicked out. Nemeth then clamped on a Sleeper that Moose could only escape after scaling the ropes with Nemeth on his back, and dropping backwards into an Electric Chair.

That landing hurt Nemeth, allowing Moose to inflict some pain on him, throwing Nemeth into the ring steps. He tried to follow it up, but Nemeth was able to avoid it, and instead leapt off the entrance ramp and hit Moose with a Famouser on the floor. Back in the ring, Nemeth hit a series of rapid Elbow Drops; Moose thought he’d escaped the worst of them by rolling out to the floor, but instead it was worse for him, since Nemeth dropped the last one from the apron to the floor.

Nemeth hit another one – this time a Top Rope Elbow Smash a-la Randy Savage – but Moose kicked out yet again.

Nemeth went up top again, but Moose hit a huge Sky High, and this time it was Nemeth who had to kick out to keep the match alive.

A rapid-fire exchange of finishing move attempts ended with a big Powerbomb by Moose, earning him a 2.99 count. After that, Moose hit him with another Powerbomb, this time on the entrance ramp. But Nemeth was able to crawl his way back to the ring before getting counted out.

In the ring, Moose went for a Moonsault, but Nemeth avoided it, and then hit a Famouser, but Moose kicked out.

They then slugged it out in the middle of the ring, first exchanging punches and then big Boots to the Head. That led to another Famouser by Nemeth, and another kickout by Moose. Nemeth took a page out of Moose’s playbook, hitting a Spear, but once again, Moose kicked out.

Nemeth was going for another Superkick, but Moose dropped to a knee. Nemeth decided to change tactics mid-way, so changed direction to go for a Famouser. But that momentary pause by Nemeth gave Moose the opportunity to regroup. He dodged the Famouser, crossed past Nemeth and came off the ropes with a Spear – a three-count later, and Moose is still your TNA World Champion.

After the match, The Design came out to the ramp to celebrate their leader’s win.

This was good. Given where Nemeth came from, it’s not surprising that it felt like a WWE title match, with lots of kicking out of finishers, maybe even too much of that. But the crowd was into it all the way, up to and including the ending.

The clean and definitive ending makes you wonder whether that’s it for Nemeth in TNA – and, if so, where he may go from here.

The arrival of Matt Hardy was another great surprise to end the night with. It looks like that could be Moose’s next big feud, which could be fun.

Winner, and still TNA World Champion: Moose

After they got out there, the screen behind them started glitching and a mechanical voice said “Lights Out.” And the arena lights did indeed go out. From out of the darkness, the voice of Broken Matt Hardy could be heard saying “Yeeeesss!”

The lights turned back on, and Broken Matt Hardy was in the ring standing behind Moose. Moose charged, but Hardy caught him and dropped him with a Twist of Fate. He chanted “Delete!” and picked up Moose’s title to end the show.

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