Callihan Turns On The Design, Santino Marella Wins Return To PPV At IMPACT Rebellion

Callihan gave The Design a thumbs down at IMPACT Rebellion.

Callihan gave The Design a thumbs down at IMPACT Rebellion.

For the past number of weeks, Callihan has gradually aligned with The Design (Angrels, Big Kon, and Deaner), but his loyalty to the group has been questioned on multiple occasions. Callihan had a major chance to prove himself at IMPACT Rebellion, as The Desing battled Dity Dango, IMPACT Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry, and IMPACT Director of Authority Santino Marella in a handicap match. The match marked Marella’s first match on a pay-per-view for an American wrestling company in nine years.

Callihan and The Design worked like a well-oil machine for the duration of the bout, and Deaner showed that he trusted the former world champion by giving him his baseball bat. Callihan was seemingly going to use it to help The Design score the win, as he gave a thumbs up. But he then gave Deaner a thumbs down and hit him with the bat. 

The Death Machine is back! @TheSamiCallihan #Rebellion #ImpactWrestling pic.twitter.com/enSBBsfKob

— ———— (@WrestlingCovers) April 17, 2023

Callihan walked away, and Marella capitalized by hitting Deaner with the Cobra and pinning him for the win in front of his hometown crowd. 

Callihan commented on the twist by noting that no one is better at the long game than him. Meanwhile, Angels simply tweeted that Callihan is a “dead man.”

Eat shit, you stupid son of a bitch.

There is nobody better at the long game than me.

The DEATH MACHINE is BACK!#Rebellion https://t.co/bi6DA7CG38

— C A L L I H A N (@TheSamiCallihan) April 17, 2023

Catch up on our coverage of IMPACT Rebellion here. For a full review, check out our post-show podcast on our YouTube channel.