Oct 7th; live iMPACT! to feature a $100,000 Battle Royal Gauntlet main event!

[The Main Event]

the following anounced on TNAWrestling.com

TNA WRESTLING AND HULK HOGAN SET THE STAGE FOR ‘BOUND FOR GLORY 2010’ WITH A SPECIAL LIVE NIGHT OF TNA PROGRAMS THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7 ON SPIKE TV

Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling will celebrate “Bound For Glory 2010,” the biggest pay-per-view event in TNA Wrestling’s history, with a three hour “TNA Thursday” LIVE special on Spike TV, Thursday, October 7 (9:00pm-12:00am ET/PT).

TNA’s flagship program “TNA iMPACT!” will feature a $100,000 Battle Royal Gauntlet main event, set by TNA President Dixie Carter, featuring every TNA Superstar competing at “Bound For Glory 2010”. Over 20 of the top TNA Superstars including Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle, Mr. Anderson, “The Charismatic Enigma” Jeff Hardy, “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles, Hardcore Legend Mick Foley, “The Icon” Sting, and many more. The winner of the battle royal gauntlet will net a $100,000 purse.

“’Bound For Glory 2010’ is TNA’s biggest event of the year, and to celebrate we’ve brought every single TNA Superstar competing at the pay-per-view to this live special event on Spike TV,” Carter said. “This will be an unforgettable night of action, surprises and some change for TNA.”

In addition, TNA’s innovative one-hour docu-style series, “TNA ReACTION”, will also be broadcast LIVE for the first time in that show’s history. As the drama and excitement builds for “Bound For Glory 2010,” TNA’s revolutionary documentary shooting style will follow the superstars of TNA throughout “iMPACT!” and immediately after,

so what u think ?! is this a good idea for a go home showbefore their biggest event of the year ?! let us know !

 

[johnbragg]

IT certainly has the chance to be good. A battle royale gives an easy excuse for wrestlers who will face each other Sunday to interact violently without giving the match away. I can't remember it being done before, so it's a fresh idea. The Battle Royale format also allows seeds to be planted for future storylines, either foreshadowing BFG surprises (very subtly--something that only becomes clear in retrospect) or setting up new post-BFG storylines (MCMG vs Sting & Nash, just to pick something random).

I'm more nervous of "ReAction" live. A lot of what I like on ReAction is the idea that the wrestlers are speaking calmly and with a little reflection.

If I'm formatting this, I lead with the Gauntlet match in the first hour, and then spend the rest of the 3 hour bloc teasing out the strands of the plot for the different matches.

This could backfire horribly. If this were taped, I would think it's a brilliant idea. Live--I have to give props for courage. The ring action live is one thing, actually doing all the post-match promos live is another. You could pre-tape a lot of them, I suppose.

 

[c.ochoa312]

Well according to TNAwrestling.com, “This will be an unforgettable night of action, surprises and some change for TNA.” I can't imagine what bunch of crap TNA will pull as the surprise before BFG 2010. I don't mean to bash TNA but every single time they hype any type of surprises, TNA drops the ball big time. TNA needs to stop hyping surprises and start focusing on the TNA Talent to produce a better show and going live is not going to raise the ratings due to spoilers online. Smackdown has spoilers as well and still outperforms TNA almost every week. One more thing before closing this post, TNA dropped the ball once again when WWE signed Tyler Black for Ring of Honor. It will be a matter of time before WWE will begin raiding TNA talent and send the company down washout lane.

 

[BigLuther]

I think it's a horrible idea. Although, maybe I'm biased since I'm not really a fan of battle royals to begin with. What I dislike most about the idea, and this is something TNA does quite frequently, is the $100,000 prize. Who cares? It doesn't mean anything, so why even have it? It'll never be brought up again in storyline, so it's a waste of time. They know the battle royal is meaningless, but what the don't know is that including a cash prize doesn't make it any more appealing to the viewer.

Having a battle royal that simply features all the BFG participants and having it end in a brawl around the Impact Zone doesn't make me wanna buy BFG either. Maybe have the main event of the show be Angle vs. Hardy with Anderson as referee, for example. Anderson's loyalty to Jeff has been the storyline all summer now, and putting him in at referee right before the triple threat on the PPV would be interesting, and maybe make people wanna see the PPV. I'm not saying the match should be long, because you don't wanna give away too much before the PPV, but do something to build tension and intrigue for the main event of your biggest show of the year.

 

[Furyof5]

So since its fixed doesnt this mean someone is just getting a pay raise?

It sounds pretty cool, Ive always been a fan of battle royals. Who will end up winning? Who knows. Perhaps someone who needs a push right now, or someone whos place needs to be cemented in their particular devision. Either way Ill be tuning in, not much they can do anymore to make me not watch.

 

[johnbragg]

I like the idea for the $100,000 prize. It fills a nagging plot hole of why wrestlers, especially top wrestlers, should care about non-title wins. When Pope & Anderson tagged against Angle and Hardy, nothing was on the line for anyone, storyline wise. That always bugs me.

This event, whoever wins it should be over the moon, in kayfabe. I'm betting that the top TNA name left off the BFG card wins the Gauntlet and the cash, giving them a little momentum. (Note: There is no actual cash in the briefcase. There is also no sex in the champagne room).

 

[Rasha]

What I dislike most about the idea, and this is something TNA does quite frequently, is the $100,000 prize. Who cares? It doesn't mean anything, so why even have it? It'll never be brought up again in storyline, so it's a waste of time.

I agree. While I understand the point that "johnbragg" made about it filling some gaps in the incentive of the participants, I think there are much better ways to do this. What if the objective was that if you outlast your BFG opponent(s) in the battle royal then you get to choose a stipulation for your PPV match? And if you actually win the whole thing, then you get a World Title shot at the first Impact after BFG? That would be way more intriguing and add hype to the PPV as well.

 

[Fan_of_Wrestling]

And if you actually win the whole thing, then you get a World Title shot at the first Impact after BFG? That would be way more intriguing and add hype to the PPV as well.

I couldn't agree more! Say Pope won the battle royal, thus winning a title shot at the next Impact. You could spend Reactions hyping that, Bound for Glory hyping that, then hopefully pull a good number for the Main Event for Impact.

Having said that, isn't Rob Van Dam getting the first shot, so they can do that anyway with out. It would still be good to use this match to highlight the importance of one of there titles, instead of "cash".

 

[World_Series_Attiude]

I can understand having a battle royal to get the fans excited for the PPV but the $ 100,000 seems abut much, unless TNA is trying to make their version of Ted Diabise. Either way i want Pope to win

 

[goodlay]

Im fine with it. Not a big fan of Battle Royals, but this seems fitting for the BFG go home show. You get all your guys in there that are wrestling at BFG, they most likely interact with their opponent at BFG and like others have said, possibly hint at upcoming feuds. In kayfabe, the $100,000 prize adds a lot of intrigue and reasons to go all out. Now, we all know wrestling is fixed, but that should still add some interest to the match itself. Should be interesting to see who wins and gets put over all of these guys.

What i'm worried about is ReACTION going live that night. While it may be more interesting to see all of this unfold live, I feel like it could be prone to more mishaps. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[Rasha]

I can understand having a battle royal to get the fans excited for the PPV but the $ 100,000 seems abut much, unless TNA is trying to make their version of Ted Diabise. Either way i want Pope to win

Here's a math question for you, WSA... how many $100,000 Battle Royals would someone have to win to be the next Ted Dibiase? Think about it. Also, I'm surprised you'd want to Pope win it. Your boy Jeff Hardy's going to need that money a lot more.

Here's a real idea... have someone like Eric Young win the thing and then try to "buy" his way into Fortune. It's not like anybody winning this thing is going to make a difference for them, so use it to give somebody some direction that otherwise has none. Fortune could take Eric's money, let him tag along, and use him for comic relief as the whipping boy/fall guy.

 

[Bobby B]

It doesn't mean anything, so why even have it? It'll never be brought up again in storyline, so it's a waste of time.

I'm not saying for a second that your wrong, I don't doubt for a second that TNA will do this then completely forget about it.

But

They could do something with it. Not that they reveal talents wages or anything, but this is a serious amount of cash for some of the talent in this match, and you could have them use it to change someone's character. Maybe have the money go to a talent's head. Let Alex Shelley win it, it could create a nice little rift between the Guns. Let the Pope win it.

Whoever it is, if TNA has any sense (which I doubt) make it mean something. During the following iMPACT (or even at BFG) have the person who won the match turn up to the show (on camera) in a nice new car, something like that.

I've always wondered why WWE/TNA never tried something like this a bit more often. I agree that more than likely it will mean absolutely nothing, but it does add a little bit to the match - although I really do think in terms of throwing all of the BFG competitors into one battle royal, it's really lazy booking. And I'm not sure why people would tune in for that.

 

[johnbragg]

I really do think in terms of throwing all of the BFG competitors into one battle royal, it's really lazy booking. And I'm not sure why people would tune in for that.

It could be lazy booking. But I think the idea has real potential. You'll have Fourtune and EV2 involved, you'll have Sting & NAsh involved, plus MCMG, Beer Money, a possible British Invasion reunion, plus the world title contenders.

There are a lot of possibilities for hyping the BFG matches--Joe eliminates Sting, gets eliminated by Nash, STing and Joe brawl to the back. There are also plenty of ways to plant seeds for post-BFG feuds--MCMG eliminate, oh, let's say Matt Morgan. Boom, MCMG vs Morgan-and-a-partner.

If TNA Creative sits down and plans out where they want to take their angles, then this could be a very useful idea, possibly an annual pre-BFG tradition.

And whoever does win, assuming it's not a WWF-WCW millionaire, should be strutting around the next week after collecting a year's pay in a night. They can brag on this win for a couple of months, while a title shot is gone in one night. Neither TNA nor WWE has booked title shots as being rare enough to be that big a deal--the world title is defended 3, 4 times a month, and plenty of guys had a title shot on PPV.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

It could be a fun match. The $100,000 prize has something of an old school feel to it as I've seen matches from various NWA territories in the past that've had latter matches with bags of money hanging from a hook. I very much doubt that the winner is going to be presented with a legitimate $100,000 payoff, however. But, who knows, I might be completely wrong on that. In order for it to at least look remotely legitimate, then the person who wins the battle royal would have to be somebody that isn't earning the large salaries of a Kurt Angle or Jeff Hardy.

The battle royal in and of itself could potentially be a good last final hype for the BFG ppv in and of itself and it could be done well. Ultimately, that might all depend upon how well TNA hypes the bigger matches on the ppv. Overall, I have a feeling the battle royal won't do much to ultimately hype the ppv, but it could be a good match all the same.

 

[Notorious718]

Sure I guess. I'm indifferent to battle royales so I don't really have a reason not to tune in. This is good because it gives a sneak preview of some of the matches at BFG by having the competitors have some interaction with each other. In addition, the prize money will kayfabe give the wrestlers incentive to go all out which should make for a good match.

 

[DangerousDave]

A Battle Royal is a brilliant idea, mainly because it is different for TNA. As many posters have said, a lot of angles could come out of this one match. It is a great way to showcase the BFG main eventers without having them directly compete with each other. With 3 hours of programing, this is a good way to fill it without having to run so many matches that the audience eventually gets bored. Sure, there will be a lot of BFG hype to fill the gaps, but the Battle Royal and its $100k prize may just bring in some additional viewers out of curiosity.

I am really more interested in the promised "change" than the Battle Royal, but look forward to watching the match. I don't expect any earthshaking change to occur, but what ever it is I hope it is for the better.

I am going to be in the Impact Zone for the show (sitting in a seat, not chanting) and I am curious if they will allow us to watch Reaction or just throw us out at the end of the matches. Doesn't really matter because the DVR (not RDV) will be recording the whole thing. To me this show will be just as interesting as the ppv to see what develops.

 

[waylon p]

normally, i detest battles royal, as they usually turn into complete fusterclucks. i do not imagine this one will be much different.

but, in the back of my brain, something occured to me. nash will be involved. he's the guy with the "anything for the money" gimmick. it made me think that perhaps we'll see a tremendous screwjob ending to this. something where if nash doesn't win the match himself, he at least does something to pick the winner.

that's when i saw this

Here's a real idea... have someone like Eric Young win the thing and then try to "buy" his way into Fortune. It's not like anybody winning this thing is going to make a difference for them, so use it to give somebody some direction that otherwise has none. Fortune could take Eric's money, let him tag along, and use him for comic relief as the whipping boy/fall guy.

hmmm. you may be onto something there, rasha.

 

[Rasha]

hmmm. you may be onto something there, rasha.

Thank you, sir. I always think it's good for a heel stable to have a lackey, particularly when you have guys like Flair and Beer Money who can bring some comedy and use it well. I'm not saying Young should get any significant role in the stable or some big storyline out of it, but just have him be the guy that makes everyone else look even more elite. It'll especially help Kazarian and Williams look better, because right now they sort of feel like the "B Team" of Fortune.

 

[Kenny Powers]

I'm not crazy about battle royals either, but it will be interesting to see all of the BFG participants in one ring. I hope whoever wins the "prize" will be someone that needs exposure in TNA like Jay Lethal. I don't know if TNA will even put Lethal in a match at Bound For Glory though. He seems to be the best candidate since the other main eventers really don't need the prize or the recognition.