After Alberto El Patron was fired from Impact Wrestling, Impact World Champion Austin Aries made his call at House of Hardcore and called on WrestleMania weekend opponents Lucha Underground opponents Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix to rematch him at Redemption with the title on the line. A triple threat main event with the Impact world title on the line tonight! Plus, Matt Sydal defends the X Division title against Petey Williams and Scott Steiner returns to Impact to tag with Eli Drake for the tag titles against LAX. All that and more tonight at Impact Wrestling: Redemption!
Video package preview kicks the show off.
We are LIVE from the Impact Zone in Orlando, Fla. Josh Mathews and Don Callis have the call for tonight.
Aerostar vs. Drago
Takedown exchange to start and Drago drops Aerostar with a leg sweep. Drago with a superkick to the midsection, but he gets tripped onto the second rope. Aerostar with an apron head kick and a twisting corkscrew crossbody lands, followed by hurricanrana to send Drago out. Aerostar with a springboard crossbody outside. Drago kicked down in the corner back inside, but he mule kicks out of the corner for a superkick. Drago in control and he lands a tope con hiro outside. Nearfall inside for Drago and a corner clothesline. Aerostar with a springboard trust fall outside, but Drago with the Dragon’s Tail inside for a nearfall and they exchange nearfalls until they take each other out with clotheslines. Drago with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and head kick for a nearfall as they get up and a hangman’s DDT off the top rope gets another. They exchange forearms and Drago moves out after a dropkick, allowing Aerostar to land a suicide dive. Kicks from Aerostar outside get a nearfall back inside. Drago comes back with a big boot and a dropkick to the head for a nearfall. La Magistral cradle gets Drago a nearfall. Aerostar with a rolling cutter after they exchange and he sets up a flying codebreaker after some botched attempts.
Winner by pinfall: Aerostar
Rating: 2.25 out of 5 stars
This really blew up down the stretch after a solid start and they went to the dives a few times too many, but a good enough lucha opener that was fun at times.
Josh Mathews helps Impact X Division Champion Matt Sydal prepare backstage earlier today.
Video package previews the Impact World Tag Team Championship match. LAX preparing in their clubhouse and they field a call. They flip the table of dominoes after hearing that “K-Dogg” was taken out and they try to get ready for the match.
Impact World Tag Team Championships: LAX (c) (w/Konnan) vs. Eli Drake & Scott Steiner
The referee tries to restore order before the match.
Drake starts with Santana and works him into the corner. Drake talks trash and gets hit with an enzuigiri and dropkick. Ortiz in with a double-team and a moonsault and splash one after another get a nearfall. Drake comes back with a knee to the midsection and brings in Steiner. Santana gets in the ring and distracts the referee, allowing Steiner and Drake to send Ortiz out and take advantage of illegal offense. Steiner and Drake work Ortiz in their half of the ring before sending him out again. Santana runs in to a flatliner from Steiner and Ortiz gets one as well. LAX laid out for elbow drops that get Drake a nearfall. Steiner back in and Ortiz out of the corner with a knee and tornado DDT on Steiner. Santana in like a house of fire on the hot tag. Rolling cutter from Santana on Drake and he fights out of the corner after Drake and Steiner get the numbers. Steiner crotches him up top and lands a Frankensteiner. Steiner Recliner in on Santana, but Ortiz makes the save. Drake lands a springboard moonsault to take Ortiz out. Santana and Drake fight in the corners and a superplex blocked by Drake. Ortiz gets his eyes raked as he goes after Drake and Drake with Gravy Train.
Winners by pinfall and NEW Impact World Tag Team Champions: Eli Drake & Scott Steiner
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Really solid attraction match with some fun spots and good brawling. Considering Steiner’s age and how he performed, this went off without a hitch and was good fun.
Six-Way Match: Taiji Ishimori vs. Dezmond Xavier vs. El Hijo del Fantasma vs. Brian Cage vs. DJZ vs. Trevor Lee
Xavier and DJZ start out feeling each other out and leapfrogging and ducking. DJZ knocks Ishimori off the apron and lands a flip dive over the top. Lee and Xavier inside and Xavier sends him out. Fantasma and Xavier now and DJZ springboards in with a dropkick. Fantasma and Ishimori in with a springboard senton, but he runs into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker from Fantasma. Superkick sends Ishimori out and Lee starts taking everyone out, while keeping Cage out of the ring. DJZ set up top and he has the back raked by Lee. Lee with a back suplex for a nearfall. Lee hits Cage with a big boot on the apron and he rakes the eyes of DJZ. DJZ flips out of a suplex and Cage tags in, throwing Lee in the corner and landing corner clotheslines and a pop-up slam. Back bodydrop on Xavier and Cage like a house of fire. Ishimori caught, but Cage botches on a moonsault. He gets it the second time. Things break down and DJZ with a tornado DDT outside on Lee off the apron to the field outside. Fantasma tries a dive, but gets picked off by Xavier. Thrill of the Kill stopped by a DJZ superkick. Powerbomb out of the corner by DJZ on Fantasma. Ishimori with a rolling DVD and a spin kick for a nearfall on DJZ. Cage in to take out the field and he gets Fantasma and Xavier for a double fallaway slam and Samoan drop. Knee on Lee by Cage, but Lee lands the collision course crossbody for a nearfall. Ring post 619 from Xavier and a handspring kick lands. Fantasma takes Xavier out on a dive and lands a DVD for a nearfall.
Cage lands Weapon X on Ishimori and a finisher exchange goes back and forth until Cage lands a Drill Claw.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Your typical six-way spotfest, but a lot of fun despite some sloppiness.
McKenzie Mitchell with Impact Knockouts Champion Allie and Allie says this is Redemption. Redemption means a lot of things to a lot of different people and some people think she is a paper champion, but she has proven herself and will prove herself tonight. Allie says she trusted Braxton Sutter when asked, but she fights for herself tonight and does not put people ahead of herself. Tonight, she fights for her redemption.
Taya Valkyrie vs. Kiera Hogan
Valkyrie pats the head of Hogan and it starts a shoving match. Hogan with forearms, but she runs into a clothesline from Valkyrie. Hogan comes back with a hurricanrana and springboard arm drag that sends Taya out.
Tessa Blanchard joins the commentary team. Hogan looks for a hurricanrana out of the corner, but Valkyrie stops her with a buckle bomb and works her down. Valkyrie works Hogan down in the corner with forearms. Hogan with a crossbody out of the corner, but she gets caught on a crossbody attempt and hit with a spinning slam for a nearfall. Valkyrie works her in the corner, but Hogan comes back with a tornado DDT. Back elbows by Hogan and a senton for a nearfall. Hogan with a double stomp out of the corner for a nearfall. Valkyrie turns Hogan inside out with a Saito suplex for a nearfall. Valkyrie misses in the corner and Hogan with a superkick, but Valkyrie is able to land Road to Valhalla.
Winner by pinfall: Taya Valkyrie
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
This was a good match between two of the best Knockouts workers in the company, but a lot of it was spent putting Tessa Blanchard over on commentary and the focus went there. Not a knock on the quality of the match, but when the frame is on something else it tends to affect how it is perceived.
McKenzie Mitchell with Petey Williams and she says it has been ten years since he won the X Division title. Williams starts doing the numbers, but Steiner interrupts and throws some numbers at him before telling him to forget the numbers and saying Williams did the best when he looked like him. Steiner wishes him luck.
Video package previews the Impact X Division Championship match.
Impact X Division Championship: Matt Sydal (c) (w/Josh Mathews) vs. Petey Williams
Williams and Sydal feel each other out with submissions and chain wrestling. Sydal with the inverted Indian deathlock and Williams counters out. They exchange until Williams lands a hurricanrana for a nearfall, but Sydal with a leg kick. Drop toehold into the second rope by Williams and Sydal hit with a dropkick against it. Sydal and Williams fight up top and Sydal in the tree of woe. Williams superkicks the right leg and applies a Boston Crab on the right leg. Williams rolls him through, but Sydal with a spinning wheel kick and he opens up with leg kicks. Ax kick out of the corner gets a nearfall and a driver followed by a standing moonsault gets Sydal another. Williams elbows out of the corner and lands leg kicks of his own, but Sydal kicks him into the corner and lands a dropkick on the knee of Williams as he charges in. Williams fights from the apron and lands a slingshot codebreaker. Russian legsweep gets a nearfall for Williams and he lands a flatliner. Williams looks for a Canadian Destroyer, but Sydal counters and Williams gets the TKO. Canadian Destroyer blocked by a spinning back kick from Sydal. Shooting Star Press sees Williams move away and roll Sydal into the Sharpshooter. Sydal crawls and makes the rope break.
Slingshot codebreaker onto the apron by Williams connects and leaves Sydal laying outside. Williams up top, but Sydal meets him with a jumping Frankensteiner. Shooting Star Press lands on the knees of Williams and Williams gets the Canadian Destroyer. Sydal rolls outside to avoid the pin. Williams takes Sydal up top and looks for the Super Canadian Destroyer, but Sydal holds on to the top rope. Shooting Star Press sees Sydal land on his feet again and Williams looks for the Canadian Destroyer. Sydal pulls through with a pumphandle driver and drops Williams.
Winner by pinfall and STILL Impact X Division Champion: Matt Sydal
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Old X Division feel here and it was a good story to see Williams struggle to land the Canadian Destroyer. Sydal’s matches are some of the most consistent in the company and this was no different.
Video package for the House of Hardcore match.
House of Hardcore Match: oVe vs. Tommy Dreamer, Moose, & Eddie Edwards (w/Alisha Edwards)
Jake Crist tries a dive and gets triple-powerbombed on the apron by Moose, Dreamer, and Edwards. oVe gets worked outside and Edwards takes a trashcan to the head of Callihan. Dave Crist hit with an elbow drop with a trashcan lid by Edwards. Dreamer with a kendo stick pumphandle throw on Jake and Jake in the tree of woe. Callihan intercepts with a pump kick and Edwards throws a chair in the face of Callihan. Edwards puts the trashcan into the face of Jake with the chair and Callihan and Edwards inside. Exploder suplex onto an open chair by Callihan gets a nearfall. Moose lands a pop-up spinebuster on Callihan and Callihan laid out on a ladder bridge outside. Flip dive from Moose lands on the ladder after Callihan moves. Edwards and Dreamer take out the Crists in the ring with a kendo stick and apply leglocks, but Callihan breaks the submissions with the kendo stick. oVe in control inside now and they bring out tables. Edwards fights out of the corner against oVe until Callihan throws a trashcan at his head. All-Seeing Eye on the chairs by oVe lands for a nearfall that is broken by Moose.
Moose takes out oVe with a trashcan and dropkicks Callihan off the top rope. Jake has a trashcan places over his head and Moose with a basement dropkick for a nearfall that is broken by Dave. oVe tries to choke Edwards out with duct tape inside and Dreamer lands a DVD through a table on the barricade outside on Callihan. Dave lays thumbtacks in the ring and puts Edwards up top. Moose takes out Jake and gets Dave up for a Doomsday Device Boston Knee Party on the tacks. Dave on a table outside and Moose looks for a dive, but Jake catches him for a cutter to take all three out. Callihan and Edwards inside and Callihan lands a Get Out of Here, but Edwards kicks out. Callihan goes for the baseball bat, but Dreamer in with the barbed wire bat. He knocks it out of Callihan’s hands and hits him with a shot to the midsection. DDT from Dreamer gets a nearfall and he low blows Dreamer for a small package.
Winners by pinfall: oVe
Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars
As good as a hardcore brawl you can have really and the story after was great, with Eddie Edwards’s revenge going a step too far.
Edwards attacks post-match and scrapes the face with a barbed wire bat. Callihan busted open and taped to the top rope by Edwards. Callihan spits in his face and Edwards with a low blow and he lights him up with a kendo stick. The referee tries to get between them and Edwards takes him out. Dreamer gets between the two and Edwards shoves him to the ground. Edwards with a shot to the head of Callihan and the Crists try to grab him from behind. They get laid out. Alisha Edwards comes in and tries to turn him around and Eddie catches her with the kendo stick.
Video promo from Rey Fenix and Impact World Champion Austin Aries interviewed by McKenzie Mitchell before the main event.
Video package previews the Impact Knockouts Championship match.
Impact Knockouts Championship: Allie (c) vs. Su Yung (w/Braxton Sutter)
Braxton Sutter gets between Allie and Yung and she demands he get out. Yung moves him out of the way and drops Allie with a forearm. Allie comes back with a Thesz Press and works Yung down in the corner. Corner suplex by Allie and a sliding clothesline from Allie. Allie runs Yung into the corner and Sutter pulls Yung out of the corner. Allie goes up top and Sutter sweeps the leg to put Allie in the tree of woe. Neckbreaker in the tree of woe by Yung gets a nearfall. Yung snaps the head of Allie off the top rope to the floor and a flip dive off the apron. Yung with a nearfall inside and she brings out a glove, but Allie with a codebreaker to put both down. Uppercuts and forearms exchanged in the corners, but Allie with a DDT on the second turnbuckle and Allie works the comeback. Allie drops Yung in the corner with elbows and lands a Russian legsweep for a nearfall. Superkick from Allie misses and Yung with a hangman’s Pedigree for a nearfall. Yung gets Allie up, but she falls out and lands the Best Superkick Ever. Sutter on the apron and he catches a slap from Allie. Sutter asks if she is gonna hit him and she does and knocks him off the apron. Yung gets Allie up for the Panic Switch, but Allie rolls through with a victory roll.
Winner by pinfall and STILL Impact Knockouts Champion: Allie
Rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars
Better of the two Knockouts matches tonight and the usual match you can expect from these two weekly with a good story about Allie overcoming her fear of Yung and standing up to Sutter.
Post-match, Braxton Sutter gets in the ring and says he can see Yung is mad. Sutter knows how to fix this and he gets down on one knee and asks her to marry him. Yung mists him with blood and puts on a mandible claw to leave Sutter laying.
Video package for the Impact World Championship match.
Triple Threat Match for the Impact World Championship: Austin Aries (c) vs. Rey Fenix vs. Pentagon Jr.
Pentagon does the Cero Miedo sign in the face of Aries and Aries shoves him. Aries sits in the corner and Fenix shoves him. Pentagon does the Cero Miedo sign and Aries corners both and boxes their ears. Aries with chops and he comes off the ropes, but moves out before running into superkicks from the brothers. Fenix knocks Aries off the apron outside and Pentagon with a sling blade on Fenix. Fenix with a springboard spinning back kick in the corner on Aries and a rolling cutter on Pentagon. Aries sends Fenix to the apron and locks in Last Chancery on Pentagon, but a springboard dropkick from Fenix across the ring breaks it. Aries works Fenix in the corners and lands a flying elbow drop to the back for a nearfall. Aries keeps Pentagon outside and works Fenix down. Aries charges Fenix and Fenix pops him to the outside into a hurricanrana on Pentagon. Fenix slips on the turnbuckle, but recovers to land a springboard corkscrew. Swanton from Fenix on Pentagon gets a nearfall broken by Aries. Aries with knees on Fenix and he looks for the Brainbuster, but Fenix blocks. Aries gets him up, but Pentagon sneaks behind for a German suplex for a nearfall on both. Pentagon almost breaks the arm of Aries and Fenix hits him with a superkick.
Pentagon sent out and Fenix hit with a Roaring Elbow by Aries. Kneebreaker and back suplex from Aries followed by a corner dropkick. Aries up top, but Pentagon runs in and kicks him down off the top rope. Float-over lungblower out of the corner by Pentagon. Pentagon looks to pick up Fenix, but Fenix plays possum with his ribs. He kicks Pentagon away and runs into a superkick, but lands a rolling palm strike on the top. Spinning muscle buster gets a nearfall for Fenix. Fenix with a head kick on Pentagon and forearms. Fenix gets hit with a Pentagon Driver for a nearfall broken by Aries. Aries sends Pentagon to the apron with a Roaring Elbow. They fight on the apron and Aries falls inside to box the ears of Pentagon. Neckbreaker on the second rope by Aries and Fenix jumps off the steps into a Pentagon superkick outside. Aries sends Pentagon into the crowd and lands a double 450 splash on the brother inside for a nearfall. Aries with dropkicks in the corners, but he gets hit with superkicks and a double superkick by the two. Pentagon with a superkick on Fenix and he gets Fenix up with a Gory Special. Aries in the package piledriver and he plants both. Pentagon snaps the arm and lands a Pentagon Driver.
Winner by pinfall and NEW Impact World Champion: Pentagon Jr.
Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars
Post-match, Pentagon and Fenix embrace to close the show.
A really good show with legitimately nothing bad, which is a long way from where Impact has come.
