Redemption 2018 Preview
IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling
Yes this company still does non-One Night Only pay per views, even though it’s been nearly six months since their last one. What used to be Lockdown has now been changed to the rather generic Redemption and a lot of the card is going to be featuring Lucha Underground talent. That’s not a bad thing, but there have been a combination of changes to the card and matches added in after the TV tapings, meaning it’s kind of a mixed bag up and down. Maybe they’ll surprise me though as the recent TV has been pretty good. Let’s get to it.
Taiji Ishimori vs. Dezmond Xavier vs. El Hijo de Fantasma vs. Brian Cage vs. DJZ vs. Trevor Lee
You didn’t know these people were on the card or even still with the company? Well here most of them are to be destroyed by Cage. It’s clear that Cage is being groomed to be a big deal, if nothing else due to defeating Bobby Lashley and sending him out of the promotion. The rest of these guys are just there as cannon fodder, though it wouldn’t shock me if they went with someone getting the fall while Cage is busy bench pressing a bus or something.
But yeah, Cage wins here because, in theory/hope at least, they realize that a lot of the X-Division guys should be fed to him like villagers being sacrificed to Godzilla. Cage is a monster who needs to be destroying people and it’s not like any of these people are doing anything. I mean, they don’t even have a move called the Canadian Destroyer. Why would they be going near a title shot? Cage wins here and should do so in dominant fashion.
Taya Valkyrie vs Kiera Hogan
This is a match that wasn’t announced on Impact but why let that stop you? Valkyrie is coming off a loss to Rosemary (not on the show) in the big blowoff match of their feud and is in need of a big win. Hogan is too though as she’s still relatively new but someone that Impact seems interested in pushing. The division needs some new names so if they have something with Hogan, it’s worth giving her a shot.
I’ll be taking Valkyrie though as Hogan winning would be quite the upset. I do however expect this to be pretty competitive with Hogan getting in a lot as there’s no reason to have a squash on pay per view. Hogan might not go anywhere but it’s worth taking a shot on her if she’s gotten this far. Valkyrie needs it more though and should win, preferably with a heck of a Road to Valhalla for the pin.
Knockouts Title: Allie(c) vs. Su Yung
Now we’re getting to one of the confusing ones. Allie won the title so recently and wasn’t exactly a big success as champion in the first place so a second win to establish her as one of the bigger stars of the division would make sense. At the same time though, they just brought Yung in and I’m not sure what the point would be in having a monster slayed so soon. It really could go either way and for once, I’m not sure which to go with here.
I’m going to take Yung to win the match here, but not the title. I could see this going to a DQ to set up a rematch, probably after a few weeks of Braxton Sutter being a jerk go by. It’s the best way out of this booking corner and Allie can come back and win the big rematch by overcoming her fears. You know, by being what Bayley should have been since Allie is a Bayley clone.
Tag Team Titles: LAX(c) vs. Scott Steiner/Eli Drake
So this is a thing that’s happening because Chris Adonis walked out on the promotion and WE MUST have a muscular guy take his place because of reasons. Drake would be the kind of guy who gets any dummy (KM would still be a good option) to team with him and win the titles. But hey, let’s bring in Scott Steiner and reinforce so many stereotypes about the promotion and gives us a horrible looking match at the same time.
Of course LAX retains, likely with Drake taking the fall because they can clearly have him losing a fall when STEINER is in there as a backup option. LAX needs to win here, mainly because they’re one of all of three teams (if that) on the roster. Maybe they can find another team to feud with them because other than OVE and…..oh yeah the Cult of Lee (pretty much the end of the division), they’ve cleared out the division. That being said, I don’t think that’s it for Drake on the night but we’ll get to that later.
Aerostar vs. Drago
This is one of the Lucha Underground matches as these two have no real connection to Impact Wrestling other than filling in a slot on the card. That being said, it’s quite the benefit to us as it gives the audience something fresh rather than doing the same stuff we see on TV every week. They’re both very talented guys and can wrestle a fun match, which is often a benefit for a pay per view like this.
I’ll go with Drago, who is a bigger star in Lucha Underground and a slightly better talent overall. Aerostar is fine but never did a ton for me so he’ll really be there as an opponent for Drago rather than a major attraction. Either way, it’s nice to have a match like this and both guys should get the chance to shine on a bigger (at least somewhat bigger) stage.
X-Division Title: Matt Sydal(c) vs. Petey Williams
This is Williams’ Feast or Fired briefcase cash-in, which is a decent thing in a way. I don’t like having three Money in the Bank ripoffs running around, but at least they actually announce the match in advance for a change. It’s better than having people run out and steal a title for once, and thankfully they’re getting at least two of the three things out of the way in one night.
I’ll go with Sydal winning here, as he’s a more interesting character and someone who can go a little further than Williams. I know Williams is a fan favorite due to having a good finisher, but that and being Canadian are really all he has going for him. Sydal and Josh Matthews aren’t the best combination in the world but Matthews is a good heel and Sydal…well he’s trying at least. The match should be fun though, just for Sonjay Dutt making fun of Matthews on commentary.
OVE vs. Tommy Dreamer/Moose/Eddie Edwards
This is a hardcore match, because it’s not like Tommy Dreamer can do much else right now. Sami Callihan and OVE have attacked Eddie Edwards for a few weeks now (reasons still yet to be explained, but general chaos seems to be in the lead) and Edwards needs some backup in the fight. I haven’t been thrilled with the feud so far and making this a tag match seems like a way to get Moose on the card (a good thing).
I’ll go with OVE though, as Dreamer seems in there to take the fall more than anything else. They can do Edwards vs. Callihan for the blowoff later, but it still doesn’t seem like the most thrilling thing in the world. That might be due to Callihan and OVE being rather annoying and uninteresting as heels (at least in this role) but that’s not likely to change anytime soon. But yeah, OVE wins here.
Impact Wrestling World Title: Austin Aries(c) vs. Pentagon Jr. vs. Rey Fenix
Well, we lost Alberto El Patron and got Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix so I’d call that an upgrade. El Patron was scheduled to get the title shot and had a bunch of stuff with Aries filmed but, due to reasons of being a ridiculously unprofessional jerk, he no showed an event and was subsequently fired. Therefore, we’re getting a rematch of the Impact Wrestling vs. Lucha Underground triple threat, which was won by Pentagon Jr.
I’ll take Aries to win here, only to have Drake cash in his other Feast or Fired case to leave with the World Title. Aries can have some people to face down the line, but having him take the title from Drake again would be a good idea, especially for the sake of his promos being so great. The match itself will be fun and all three can work well together. That sounds like a good main event, but I don’t see it blowing the doors off of anything.
Overall Thoughts
I’m actually not dreading this show and that’s a rare feeling for an Impact Wrestling pay per view. The addition of the Lucha Underground talent should help things out a lot but at the same time, I’m not sure Impact Wrestling could do a three hour pay per view on their own. That’s not good given the amount of names on their roster, but the future is starting to have some color to it. That hasn’t been the case in a LONG time around here and I’ll take what I can get from these people.
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