With the coronavirus pandemic locking so much down, even Impact took some time off before they started the empty arena wrestling like the WWE and AEW have done. It’s a difficult thing to perform in front on no audience, but to be honest, Rebellion was better than what the WWE has put out during this time. The culmination of the night came when Moose won the vacated TNA Heavyweight Championship.
It marks a possible new direction for the company as Josh Mathews mentioned Total Nonstop Action several times throughout the night, especially early on when the bar was set high.
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Change of plans
With Tessa Blanchard unable to leave Mexico due to the pandemic and Eddie Edwards was left in Boston, leaving Michael Elgin without an opponent. As he was about to force the referee to raise his hand and the ring announcer to announce him the new Impact World Championship, Moose came out wearing the TNA championship belt.
After some gabbing, Shawn Hernandez came out as the last remnant of TNA Moose had to beat.
In a match that was not the best of the night by far, Moose won and became the TNA Heavyweight Championship. Honestly, this felt more like something they came up with when Tessa Blanchard and Eddie Edwards were stuck in their respective corners of the world.
This has opened the discussion about what’s next for Tessa Blanchard and the Impact Championship. There’s been a debate around her winning the men’s championship since the beginning, mainly because of fears she wouldn’t make it believable and because, let’s face it, many believe a woman shouldn’t beat a man.
Many of those detractors would probably get their tail whipped by Shayna Baszler or most of the women wrestlers. It is what it is, for better or worse. The truth is, it was cool to see something different and it brought back memories of Chyna winning the WWE Intercontinental Championship and being a contender for the promotion’s top title.
Just wish they had done more with her to help make it legitimate, but there wasn’t much doubt this was temporary and has been called a PR stunt by many.
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Unification match
With the old TNA belt back in the mix, we can probably expect a unification match at some point in the near future.
The fact this was prerecorded on April 10 meant it was done at the height of the pandemic lockdowns, so it’s unlikely their absence is a storyline.
This brings us back to the idea of a unification match where it’s likely Moose will win and the two titles will be unified under the TNA name. It will be curious if they add another name to the list, or if they’ll leave it just between the two of them.
What really has fans talking and giving this title versus title match life is the fact moose performed in an Ultimate Warrior tribute tights. They could be working toward a WreslteMania 6 type of angle.
However they work the angle, it looks promising as Impact Wrestling enters a new era by possibly going back to their glory days. This is a really cool thing as it adds more competition for us to enjoy as fans.
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