Last week I went over the worst matches to take place at Rebellion in TNA/IMPACT Wrestling and while many of those matches were bad due to it happening during the pandemic, there have also been a large number of matches that were fantastic.

From 2019 to the present day, Rebellion has provided some of the best matches in TNA’s yearly calender and 2024 looks poised to do the same thing.

This list was hard to narrow down because there have been so many great matches that have happened at Rebellion, but after thought and re-watching these match, I’ve managed to make a soild Top 10.

Honorable Mentions

Kuishida vs. Steve Maclin (Rebellion 2023) 

Sami Callihan vs. Rich Swann (Rebellion 2019)

Willie Mack vs. Ace Austin (Rebellion 2020 Night One)

Ace Austin vs. Trey Miguel vs. Mike Bailey (Rebellion 2022)

Tenille Dashwood vs. Deonna Purrazzo (Rebellion 2021)

The Rascalz vs. Moose & The North (Rebellion 2019)

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jonah (Rebellion 2022)

Trey Miguel vs. Sami Callihan (Rebellion 2021)

Johnathan Gresham vs. Trey Miguel vs. Mike Bailey (Rebellion 2023)

#10. Tessa Blanchard vs. Gail Kim (Rebellion 2019)

Before she completely sullied her career for a number of reasons, Tessa Blanchard was the most in-demand female wrestler of the modern era which made it all the more impressive that IMPACT was able to sign her to a contract with matches like this once in a lifetime bout with Gail Kim at Rebellion 2019 being an example of how great Tessa was.

For about thirteen minutes Tessa used her raw power to manhandle her rival while Gail used her speed and resiliency to get the better of Blanchard while Gail’s husband and celebrity chef, Robert Irvine and Tessa’s father, Tully watched on with the crowd.

The match ended in shocking fashion as Gail not only loss this match via submission (one of the rare times that’s actually happened), but Tessa’s embrace with her father and then the unexpected face turn by the young Blanchard upon re-entering the ring was a nice way to end things.

While this match will be remembered for being Gail’s first match since 2017 and the beginning of Tessa’s transition into fighting the male side of the locker room, this was good showing from both ladies including Gail Kim who certainly proved she still got it.

Tessa Blanchard vs Gail Kim IMPACT Rebellion – video Dailymotion

#9. Jay White vs. Steve Maclin vs. Chris Sabin (Rebellion 2022)

Rebellion 2022 is often seen as a one match show as there’s only one match on the card that anyone really remembers…and don’t worry will get to that later, but there were a few diamonds in the rough like this opening match.

Steve Maclin and his Punisher inspired face paint wrestled former World Champion, Chris Sabin and Bullet Club Leader, Jay White in a three way match which ended up becoming Maclin’s coming out party in terms of elevating his career to the next level.

This bout really played into the strengths of all three men with White’s calculated patience in the early moments until the time was right to take advantage, Sabin’s lighting fast offense kept the pace of match feeling frenetic and Maclin’s no nonsense style of wrestling saw a lot of power moves being used by the former Forgotten Son.

In terms of three way matches at Rebellion, this was certainly a good one and also a great way to build Steve Maclin’s momentum going into the main event scene.

#8. Taya Valykrie vs. Jordynne Grace (Rebellion 2019)

While Tessa Blanchard and Rosemary are often seen as Taya Valkyrie’s greatest rivals, another name that deserves recognition is Jordynne Grace as the bodybuilder and pro wrestler feuded with Taya from 2019-2020 which helped jump start Grace’s rise within Knockouts Division.

In one of their more overlooked encounters, both women faced off for the Knockouts Title at Rebellion and things looked to be in favor of Jordynne until Taya began targeting Grace’s arm in order to neutralize her power game…to varying degrees of success.

Grace, even at this stage had the makings of a superstar as she was able to match the future longest reigning Knockouts Championship throughout this near nine minutes, but the crafty veteran’s strategy on injuring her opponents arms ultimately led Taya escaping with the gold.

#7. The Lucha Bros vs. LAX (Rebellion 2019)

If you listen to certain parts of the internet wrestling community, they’ll probably tell you that Tony Khan and All Elite Wrestling are the greatest thing to happen to modern pro wrestling especially when it comes to tag team competition…Well considering he had Santana and Ortiz on his roster for many years and never put the tag belts on them, you should probably put that idea of TK being a great booker into question.

In the main event of the inaugural Rebellion pay-per-view, IMPACT fans bared witness to the final match in a feud that AEW wished they had done during Santana and Ortiz’s run within the company as LAX took on Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix in a Full Metal Mayhem match for the IMPACT World Tag Team Titles.

The match isn’t perfect as it does have one or two moments towards the end that looked botchy like Rey Fenix hitting a Spanish Fly on Ortiz off a ladder through a table.

Despite that, this match is a classic example of high flying, superkicking, tag team synergy with both teams holding nothing back in order to become the Tag Team Champions and wrapped up the first Rebellion event in spectular fashion.

#6. TJP vs. Ace Austin vs. Josh Alexander (Rebellion 2021)

As I briefly alluded to during the number nine entry, Three way matches at Rebellion tend to be an unintentional hallmark but when it involves the X Division Championship then it tends to be one of the best things about any Rebellion pay-per-view.

Out of the many that have taken place, the opening contest at Rebellion 2021 takes this spot because much like Steve Maclin in 2022 it helped to launch the career of Josh Alexander from tag team wrestler to eventual main event star.

Your appreciation of this match may also depend on if you can tolerate the fact this took place during the pandemic with no crowds in attendance, but all three men refuse to let that stop them as bodies are flying or being tossed around in this contest right up until the final bell with Josh winning his first and only X Division Championship and kicking off Rebellion in style.

#5. Rich Swann vs. Kenny Omega (Rebellion 2021)

In terms of sheer importance when it comes to modern wrestling this match should be higher, however AEW’s inability to promote the match on their show and a few botches that occurred in the match ranks it the fifth slot on this list.

You would be hard pressed to find any Kenny Omega match post 2017 that didn’t deliver in some form and it certainly did in this one-on-one match as the amount V-Triggers that Omega hits on Swann makes you hope and pray that Rich doesn’t end up with CTE following this.

Swann certainly proved himself against Omega as he was able to keep the AEW World Champion at bait in various parts of the match and almost looked like he could’ve become AEW’s new world champion with how close some of the near falls were.

A fantastic but not perfect main event match between two of the best representatives each promotion had to offer…Shame the rest of the partnership didn’t turn out this great.

#4. The ABC vs. Motor City Machine Guns (Rebellion 2023)

2023 was a year that among other things reminded the Wrestling World that IMPACT (soon to be TNA by 2024) was more than capable in producing so incredible tag team matches that could compete with the competition.

Another great opening contest at Rebellion sees the Motor City Machine Guns taking on the ABC aka Chris Bey and Ace Austin for the prestigious IMPACT Tag Team Titles in an Ultimate X match. While neither of the four men involved are strangers to Ultimate X matches, Shelley and Sabin do walk in with the advantage not only because they have been in more Ultimate X matches than Ace and Bey combined, but they’ve also competed and won in an Ultimate X Tag Team match against the legendary tag team: Beer Money Inc.

The action in this contest is simply fluent, fast paced and entertaining with this match going non stop by the opening bell as both teams use everything in their arsenal to get the better of one another and moments like Alex Shelley begging off both members of the ABC while Sabin goes for the belts, Shelley’s utter joy as he grabs one of Chris Bey’s leg through the ropes before hitting it with the dragon screw leg whip and the finishing sequence to the match makes this one of the all time best openers in the shows history.

#3. Team Bully vs. Team Dreamer (Rebellion 2023)

Bully Ray and Tommy Dreamer undoubtably had one of the worse feuds in 2023 as nobody wanted to see the aging legends from ECW wrestle each other, so when the announcement was made that a Hardcore War was set to take place at Rebellion and both men were the team captains…absolutely nobody wanted to see this.

So imagine mine and everyone elses surprise when this at one point potential stinker of a match turned out to be one of the best matches of the entire year, although what makes this match so great isn’t Dreamer or Bully but they do have a few moments of brilliance.

For over 25 minutes the match is filled to the brim with spots that are both funny and heavy on the action as both sides made a standard multiple person plunder match into some of the best team versus team matches since since Honor No More feuded with the Bullet Club in 2022.

While Tommy Dreamer’s team came out victorious in this match, the biggest stars to come out of it was Masha Slamovich and Killer Kelly who were a consist highlight through this match and not long afterwards used the momentum from this match to compete in the first ever knockouts dog collar match at Against All Odds which then led to them becoming one of the dominate tag teams in the Knockouts Division: MK Ultra.

#2. Jordynne Grace vs. Deonna Purrazzo (Rebellion 2023)

The first ever Grace versus Purrazzo match inside an IMPACT ring with fans in attendance and it took place in the main event…You really can’t ask for more than that.

So the story going into this match is that Mickie James was suppose to defend the Knockouts Championship against Jordynne Grace but an injury Mickie suffered saw the bout getting scrapped and James would vacate the belt weeks later. In the meanwhile, Deonna Purrazzo wins a number one contenders match for the title and Jordynne gets her rematch at Rebellion with both ladies facing off in singles action for the first time since 2020 with it being unclear as to whom would walk out the new champion.

Combine this with the fact that Deonna has always beaten Jordynne everytime they wrestled and the possibility of Grace turning heel in the weeks after her loss to Mickie at Hard To Kill made things all the more interesting.

When we finally got to the match itself, it was everything you’d expect from these two: soild in-ring work, crowd investment and their contrast in styles never fails to be a joy to watch whether it’s front of fans or an empty arena and while yes, Purrazzo once again defeats Grace for the Knockouts Championship it doesn’t take away from how splendid the match is…Plus Jordynne would finally be able to defeat Deonna in a singles match upon returning to company a few months later at the Victory Road event.

#1. Moose vs. Josh Alexander (Rebellion 2022)

One of the best wrestling matches of 2022…That isn’t me being hyperbolic, it’s the truth; Josh Alexander’s road to redemption culminating with him battling the man who ruined the greatest moment of his career in the main event of Rebellion…How could this not be number one.

For almost 24 minutes, Moose and Alexander beat the shit out of each other and the emotions running in this match is at a ferver pitch as almost everything in this bout is iconic from Josh making his entrance alongside his son whose dressed up like his dad, the staredown at the opening, Moose repeatedly throwing Josh into the guardrails, Alexander kicking out of the champion’s offense before flinging his head gear right at Moose in an act of defiance…Hell, the moment when Josh hits a Styles Clash on Moose had everyone up to their feet in shock and enjoyment.

A C4 Spike by Alexander, a three count and Tom Hannifan’s now legendary screaming of the word ‘Finally’ as the match comes to a close and The Walking Weapon’s wife and son joining him in the ring while strapping the belt around his waist; It’s a wonderful match and easily ranks as one of the best if not the greatest world title matches in recent history, go out and watch it…It’s that great.

And that’s my list, what do you think was the best match to take place at Rebellion? Leave your thoughts down below in the comment section.

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