Tonights TNA iMPACT! (4/14/11): The Best iMPACT! in Months?

[TNA cross the line]

Tonight was the best TNA IMPACT! i have seen in months. And i believe it was because of the amount of wrestling that was put on the show. Usually there are only 2 or 3 matches and nothing but promos all night.


Tonight there were 8 matches and im counting all the matches in the AssHole gauntlet. Here is the card:

*Ken Anderson vs. Immortal - Gauntlet.

*Orlando Jordan vs. Douglas Williams vs. Jesse Neal vs. Crimson.

*Matt Hardy vs. Kazarian.

*Jeff Jarrett & Hernandez & Pope Dinero vs. Matt Morgan & Samoa Joe & Kurt Angle.

*Abyss vs. James Storm


IMO tonights Impact was the best showing for TNA on spike in months.

What do you guys think?

 

[Zeven_Zion]

I would have to agree. It was a great wrestling show and it brought me back YEARS ago when WWE(F) would put on similiar performances. iMPACT wasn't quite that good, but it was the closest I've seen a show get to the standard of a PRO WRESTLING show we all remember and love. Great job from everybody. Promos were top notch, there was more wrestling (and better wrestling), you had things to look forward to as the show progresses (gauntlet match, the Fourtune/Immortal thing) and a cool finish to close the show and leave us wanting more at Lockdown.

Amazing job, TNA. Keep it up!

 

[Matth3w]

That'd be right. TNA starts getting good as soon as they stop airing here in Auatralia >_<

What an unfortunate coincidence.

 

[ptsheridan]

The bar has been set so low by TNA that this was bound to happen. It was still mediocre at best.

 

[Rasha]

The bar has been set so low by TNA that this was bound to happen. It was still mediocre at best.

As a guy with a Dolph Ziggler sig, you'd be the expert on low standards.

This was a very solid and fluid show tonight. They spent time hyping the matches that still needed it and didn't waste significant time on feuds that are overdue for a blow-off like Morgan/Hernandez or Joe/Pope. I thought they could have done a little more with Angle/Jarrett, but overall I think they've done a nice job of building up Lockdown.

 

[roy]

everything in the show seemed tighter. the promos didn't feel too long and i enjoyed them actually. i felt like kaz was all over the place in his match but that is just my personal taste.

the crowd was a plus too. a lot of times in the last several months the impact zone has felt plan dead even in ppv. so bad that i was telling someone i wish they would just pay people to take up the tv rows just so it didn't feel so much like a funeral. lol

all in all 2 hours i enjoyed.

 

[Hourani777]

Rasha are you serious? Dolph ziggler = low standards? This guy is amazing in the ring and he can sell above average and has Vickie to do his mic skills while he improves and he has look at a promo from 2009 and one from 10 and 11 and see the difference. Ziggler is a future 2nd time world champion from going to spirit sqaud to world champ is pretty big.
plus he has the look hes like a modern day mr perfect look a like. ( which could start a good feud with Joe henning but that's a different topic)
Just my two sence

 

[AngryCenaFan]

The bar has been set so low by TNA that this was bound to happen. It was still mediocre at best.

Says a Dolph Ziggler fan.
Lol really? REALLY?

It was an excellent show TNA needs more of these types of performances

 

[Post]

I have to agree that it was one of the better shows in recent memory.

The highlight of the night for me was James Storm vs Abyss. Storm looked great and hit some really big spots...I marked out when he hit the Flying Body Press from the top rope, the Code Breaker out of an attempted chokeslam, and then the Back Stabber...a great match. I wish the Immortal/Fourtune series would have gone to a third match. I wanted to see Flair vs Roode.

I will say that I thought the whole Gunner thing with the TV title hanging from his teeth ALL NIGHT was terrible.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

It was definitely the best episode of TNA iMPACT! I've seen in probably well over a year. I wouldn't go so far as to call the show amazing, but there was a definite change of pace and energy about it last night.

TNA didn't do 20-25 minute promo segments, they devoted at least some time into hyping every match on the Lockdown card, they had about 32 minutes total of wrestling last night & that's considerably above the norm for iMPACT! this year and a couple of the matches were really good. It's very refreshing to actually see some relevant wrestling on iMPACT!. Now if they can only come up with a few interesting feuds & storylines that don't revolve around the tired & repetitive big faction angles that Vince Russo loves, they might have the makings of a nice little formula.

 

[Derrtown]

Wouldn't call it the best in months but Id probably go with weeks. This show had it all and like one of the posters above me said, brought me back to the days of the attitude era. Cant wait till Lockdown.

 

[rondiesel2005]

I guess they realize how bad they fucked up on the last pay per view and now they are trying to avoid doing the same mistakes. Instead of long promos like they usually they did more wrestling which am fine with that except for their first match where i had no clue what kind of match it was because wrestlers kept fighting outside of the ring or getting in the ring without being tagged.

I could careless if RVD or Anderson joins Immortals as you can see, they love fractions, and we all know how RVD does not want to turn heel, i don't think he can do a good job with that.. I am hoping I do not see Hogan wrestling at this point because he does not look him shape and i don't want to see a 3 minute match from him.

question is are we going to see the same thing next week, more wrestling and less promos who knows

 

[The Shockmaster]

I believe someone commented about crowd reaction earlier and how pumped they were...did they not realize no one was actually cheering; at least to that level anyway. They were pumping in crowd reaction all night. It totally failed for the first promo but worked better on throughout the night. Probably worked best with the mickie james promo because you couldn't see the actual crowd. Other than that it was a pretty good impact. More wrestling, less talking always equals a better wrestling show in my opinion.

Could someone please tell gunner he looks like an idiot holding the title with his teeth. I could see coming out of the curtain like that but carry it the rest of the way. I like this guys look but this whole title gimmick he does is killing my desire to like him.

 

[rondiesel2005]

I believe someone commented about crowd reaction earlier and how pumped they were...did they not realize no one was actually cheering; at least to that level anyway. They were pumping in crowd reaction all night. It totally failed for the first promo but worked better on throughout the night. Probably worked best with the mickie james promo because you couldn't see the actual crowd. Other than that it was a pretty good impact. More wrestling, less talking always equals a better wrestling show in my opinion.

Could someone please tell gunner he looks like an idiot holding the title with his teeth. I could see coming out of the curtain like that but carry it the rest of the way. I like this guys look but this whole title gimmick he does is killing my desire to like him.

I did notice the crowd wasn't standing or anything for the most part all night, like they had no idea what was going on or maybe they not real wrestling fans. As for Gunner, he looks like a real idiot like he suppose to be some kind of beast when he hasn't been on television for the last what 2 weeks. he better off putting the title around his waist because him holding it with his teeth, he looks like a complete jackass

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

In the Impact! Zone, crowd reaction means nothing to me. Real or fake, doesn't matter. Too few people, and the crowd usually sucks.

Decent show, best I've seen in over a year. Nice amount of wrestling, not all promos, and no one outside of Taz and Ken Anderson really bothered me. I can't say it was better than an average because I'm not a fan of the direction TNA is going in (Immortal, power-grab storylines, etc.). But it wasn't nearly as bad as previous weeks.

I won't be purchasing Lockdown, mostly due to the Victory Road debacle.

 

[He's Phenomenal]

iMPACT! has been on another level since Victory Road. Especially the promo work. The build to Lockdown has been great. And this episode continued that trend. There&#8217;s plenty going on at the minute and I&#8217;m interested in most of it.

I&#8217;ve been enjoying the back and forth&#8217;s between Hulk Hogan and Mr Anderson lately and it was a good way to open the show. I also liked the way Gunner stepped up and was the first one to take it to Anderson. I don't see the problem with Gunner carrying the belt in his mouth if he wants though. He's just doing something new and different. Something wrestling fans are always crying out for.

I&#8217;ve seen it mentioned that Eric Bischoff could be the Network and I&#8217;m starting to agree. We all know Eric&#8217;s an evil genius. But I never thought he had the balls to screw over Hulk Hogan. Will be interesting to see how it goes down if Bischoff is indeed the Network.

Now I mentioned the promo work lately, but what the fuck was that from the Knockouts? I had no idea they could deliver anything near that level. The Madison/Tara/Mickie segment was awesome and I&#8217;m not someone who particularly cares about the Knockouts. Great job from the three, especially Madison.

The 6 man tag match was fun and had a lot of top talent in it. Action packed match that done its job well. Jarrett&#8217;s scared of Angle, Pope cheats to beat Joe, and Hernandez has the numbers. I&#8217;m hoping Pope can beat Samoa Joe at Lockdown and then move onto better things. But by following the story, Joe should really kill Pope in the cage.

Bully Ray&#8217;s line to RVD of &#8220;This time the grass is greener. And it has less seeds too&#8221; was classic. Certainly made me laugh. I&#8217;m thinking Van Dam will turn down Immortals offer, but after walking out on Sting, I&#8217;m not so sure. I&#8217;d like to see him turn down the offer and then enter into a feud with Bully Ray though. Sting laying out Bischoff was awesome. But since when is Hulk Hogan scared of anyone?

The two matches to decide the numbers advantage at Lethal Lockdown were pretty decent matches. I thought Hardy looked great last night. The intensity, aggression and motivation he showed made him look like a real force. It&#8217;s nice to see that Jeff fucking up hasn&#8217;t affected Matt&#8217;s role in TNA at all. And I&#8217;m a bit of a James Storm &#8220;mark&#8221; so enjoyed his performance against Abyss. He put up a good fight but you aint kicking out of the Black Hole Slam. As for Lethal Lockdown, anyone else thinking: Daniels is last to enter for Fortune and then turns on them making it 5 on 3? Only for AJ Styles to return and kick all their asses?

Mr Anderson is the best thing in wrestling right now IMO. And TNA have done a great job of getting me fully behind the character. I&#8217;m never quite sure why they book Rob Terry the way they do though. When he steps inside the ring, he should be destroying whoever is in front of him. I&#8217;m still a little shocked at how little time it&#8217;s taken Bully Ray to establish himself as a main event player though. Now he just needs to tell Hogan that Immortal doesn&#8217;t need Mr Anderson or Rob Van Dam, because he can be their main guy

Once again a great episode and I can&#8217;t wait for Lockdown.

 

[shattered dreams]

It was really a great show. TNA just has a lot of good stories going right now and they built a great show around them. For those commenting about "crowd" reaction, they have been "enhancing" it for a few weeks now. Probably not so coincidentally since Bischoff got his new role. At first I thought it was silly but as the shots have been adjusted to make it harder to distinguish I am starting to see the genius in it. Say what you want about Bischoff but ever since he came in the production values have been steadily improving.

 

[blockanWo]

They kinda have to enhance the crowd though. When they prerecord two shows in one sitting, by the second show the crowd is dead.

Then take into account that everyone cheers for people that they want to be booed and people boo those who they want to push as faces it makes no sense for the TV audience.