Impact Wrestling: Pentagon Jr. Wins World Title At Redemption 2018

Impact Wrestling and Lucha Underground have a partnership that allows both companies to showcase each other’s performers in the name of strengthening all the brands involved. At Redemption 2018, Impact took that to the next level by putting the Impact World Championship on Pentagon Jr.

I’ll admit it without any hesitation. When it was announced that Austin Aries would be defending the Impact Wrestling World Championship against Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix in the main event of Redemption 2018, I figured that it was 100% certain that Aries would retain.

And who wouldn’t? Aries is positioned as the top guy in Impact. He dubs himself “The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived”. He’s “The Belt Collector”, and he has a plethora of titles to prove it.

Well, in a shocking swerve tonight at Redemption, Aries lost the most highly prized of his titles, as he was pinned by Pentagon Jr. in the center of the ring. Pentagon Jr. played his brother Rey Fenix, and he hit Aries with the Pentagon Driver to pick up a defining win.

The fact that Impact Wrestling has put their world championship on a legendary wrestler from another promotion speaks volumes. Not only was it the third headline-creating event of the night, with the others being Scott Steiner’s World Tag Team Title victory with Eli Drake and Tessa Blanchard’s shocking appearance, but it’s also an important gesture.

Impact’s partnership with Lucha Underground should be fruitful for both parties, and it’s already paid legitimate dividends. Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix worked with Aries to successfully pull off all-important “bangers” at Wrestlecon and Redemption. Now that Pentagon Jr. is champion, Impact is also signaling to other promotions that they are even more serious about helping others to help themselves than even the most optimistic person could have surmised.

Recall that Impact has shown interest in working closely with Ring of Honor Wrestling, as Aries appeared on ROH TV to confront then-television champion Kenny King. A partnership between ROH, who already works closely with NJPW, and Impact would be huge for the professional wrestling world, and strength in numbers is certainly important in an industry dominated by the juggernaut that is the WWE.

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This main event at Redemption was excellent, and it capped off one of the most fun nights of wrestling this year. It will be exciting to see what’s in store for the fans with Pentagon Jr. as the champion, and I have “cero miedo” about his upcoming reign.