Minus a few parts here and there for the sake of time including the BP segments, the endless shots of limos, and the main event because it was awesome and I didn't need to see it again. I also have a counter on my DVR so I can keep an eye on the time, which I think will be most interesting. My conclusion: Impact was not very good.
Well, let's see how you arrive at a conclusion contrary to everyone else.
We all got sucked into the moment and that's exactly what we were supposed to do. However, let's take a look at what actually happened last night and see how it sounds on paper.
Why? Seriously, the shows impact can only be accurately measured while watching it. When you go back over it, you lose all the "Holy Shit moments" and just sound like another smark trying to hate on a product because it's the cool thing to do. I know you don't tend to do that, however, all that matters is your enjoyment of the product while watching it, and while you were a bit reserved in the LD, I still know that you liked it.
Before the show starts, we have the card listed. Remember, most of these matches WILL NOT HAPPEN, even though we're told they'll be happening. It's like offering punch and pie and then not having any, yet hoping people will stay anyway due to being bored and having nothing else to do since they were lured in with something else. It's also called false advertising which is illegal but that's such a nasty term that we just won't use it here.
OK, so, going into the show, you were expecting one thing and got another. Well, congratulations for being the only person alive who was watching TNA for Barbed Wire Massacre match between Abyss and Rhyno. The rest of us were there for Hogan. He showed up, right?
We open with Bubba talking to fans. Who is this guy? I guarantee you a TON of people have no idea who this guy is. We hear about him here a lot because he's one of Hogan's lackeys, but how many people either A, know who he is, B, listen to him, or C, care. This is a wrestling show.
I agree. But with Hogan's drawing power and name recognition, you also get some bullshit. You know what you're in for.
Either have a wrestling guy like JB or a hot chick like Christy or Val. We're told he's a big name in radio. So? So are Artie Lange and G. Gordon Liddy. I don't want to see them on a wrestling show.
Then don't watch WWE, because at the rate of nobodies and has-beens they're using, those two might be on soon.
What do the fans want? Hot sexy wrestlers and NEW things, you know, like Hulk Hogan (his words not mine) who is approaching twenty six years since he won the world title. By a show of hands, how many of you were alive back then?
*Raises hand*
And Hogan is new to a lot of wrestling fans. All of these petulant children who pine for the Attitude Era probably have limited memories, if any, of Hogan. I remember the yellow and red, before the boas, I remember the ice cream bars, the cartoon show, the anticipation on the morning of Wrestlemania VI, and everything from Hogan's first run as well as his second run, and his third run. I am a mark for Hogan. Fuck it, I am a mark for the business. Last night was a complete and total mark out night. Time after time I was excited, and all TNA wanted to do last night was create excitement. Except for a few pessimists and Negative Nancies, they accomplished their goal.
First match: Steel Asylum
Now i know a lot of us were happy this started things out. However, let's take a look here. For one thing, there are 8 people in there. that's FAR too many. Four would be great but TNA likes to do way too much. Second, you can't see SHIT. The cage blocks everything and because so much is going on, the cameras are limited anyway, but the cage makes it nearly impossible to see most of the match.
I noticed that too. Putting a camera man inside the cage would have helped. Making that camera man Jeff Hardy would have made it better.
But FTS, WWE did that with Edge.
Fucking so what? It would have been an awesome way to reintroduce him to TNA.
As for the match itself, it runs 4 minutes. Yes, the X-Division got ten minutes for a segment. The match itself got about 4 of those while the rest were entrances and the shock, which we'll get to momentarily. The ending you ask? A no contest, or a DQ without saying it because a DQ can't happen in a cage match right?
Sure it can. It's an escape match. Nowhere in the accompanying literature did it say that weapon were allowed. If you assumed that, cool. I assumed that triple threat matches were no DQ also, but that got proven wrong by WWE in 2009.
Anything goes in a cage match right? We couldn't have a match end because of a weapon being used in a cage match right? Yeah that couldn't happen. Only an IDIOT would call a match because of a weapons shot in a cage match.
No, I don't think it takes an idiot. It takes someone who makes assumptions. But, then again, TNA's show last night wasn't for people who analyze consistency of booking. It was for people who want to see the new direction for the company. It was for people to mark out and yell Holy Shit! It was for people who want to get excited about a new competition in wrestling. The show last night satisfied all those fan, leaving the IWC to ponder what could have been. All I know is that the show was far from perfect, but it was fucking awesome, and with all that room for improvement, I am far more excited for TNA Thursdays than I am for all the WWE shows combined.
Last night was not a wrestling show. It was a shock value show with a ****1/2 main event. That satisfied me.
Rating: D. For all the reasons listed above, not only was this stupid and overdone, but DAMN man, they managed to piss off the insanely hot audience inside of 15 minutes. Not fucking bad.
Yeah, and the heat of that audience definitely cooled thoughout the night. A studio full of internet fans chanting "Who needs Bret?", their hero, is definitely a sign of a pissed off crowd.
Now we get to the SHOCKING, COMPLETELY UNPLANNED debut of Jeff Hardy. It was so SHOCKING AND COMPLETELY UNPLANNED that he had his own music. Ill give them this: this was huge. Vince now looks like an idiot for plugging that DVD for a month and now Jeff is with the competition. Thats not good.
This could be their biggest acquisition if they can hold on to him. TNA is missing the kiddie audience. Getting Jeff brings them in. Refusing to dumb the show down for the kids gets them the respect of our age group (16-Sidious), and AJ and Angle get them the purist audience. Last night was TNA's first attempt at mass appeal, and I think they did well.
This is completely untrue and has no basis in fact.
Jeff is in the back and meets with Shannon Moore. The same Shannon Moore that has bounced back and forth between the two companies more than anyone else without actually doing anything of note.
I couldn't pick him out of a crowd of people I know even if you said, "Shannon Moore is the only one you won't know." I wouldn't care either.
Hogan, the booker/boss, isnt here yet. Thats just stupid.
Not really. It's like I said in the LD, making fans wait to see Hogan before they turn to WWE will force people to stick with TNA. It bumps up the first competitive quarter hour, which is good for business, and gives Hogan a chance to steal fans from WWE. It made it Hogan vs. Bret, and judging by the fact that this section is outdrawing the WWE section five to one as I write this, I would say Hogan won.
Nash talks about Hogan with a smoking hot Christy. Now why couldnt we see her earlier instead of Bubba? That would make too much sense I guess, because who wants to see a gorgeous Playboy centerfold who is a former wrestler in an incredibly revealing outfit when we can see a big name from radio that most of us have never listened to?
Bubba was there because Hogan wanted him to be. Hopefully, we get less Bubba in the future. Sometimes, you just have to placate the star. At least he didn't try to marry any of Dixie's kids. Does she have kids? If not, I would love to give her some.
Womens title: ODB vs. Tara
Were told none of the history here or that ODB won the tournament or anything like that. This is supposed to be a rebirth of TNA, yet were not told anything about WHY we should care. If youre trying to get the new audience, then go after the new audience. Dont just throw stuff out there, even the too hot to be human Tara with her kick ass theme song, and expect the people to just buy it. We need reasons to be interested in these characters. WWE has done a horrible job with their women of just telling us theyre interesting without explaining WHY theyre interesting. Thats just bad all around. Again, this is three minutes with the title changing hands. Oh and we get the stupid jump to the empty arena shot in case Taras ass shows. Alcohol drinking: fine. People looking stoned off their ass: fine. ODB slapping her vagina: fine. Two second of ass cleveage: GET IT OFF THE AIR NOW!!!
I think the Jeff Hardy segment ran long and they had to cut something. Thank God is was ODB. I love Tara, but ODB's dick has to be twice the size of mine, and that scares me quite a bit. But, yeah, worthless segment.
Rating: N/A. Its another three minute match. Were thirty minutes into the show and weve had 4 minutes of intros, 4 of commercials, 2 of promos, 2 of a guy trying to climb a cage, 2 of Jeff doing nothing of note, other mindless stuff, and 6 of wrestling. In other words, its 20% wrestling. For a show called Total Nonstop Action, thats a bad sign.
But, when we were all caught up in the moment, TNA could do no wrong. In the quest for new fans, they kept us giddy despite the lack of wrestling. I honestly think last night was simply to make people think about what might happen next, confuse the fuck out of them so they tune in, and then, in the coming weeks, TNA can hook us with the amazing wrestling.
Flair is here. Shocking, yes. Important, nope. Well see why later. Actually we wont see why but whatever.
But, the shock value was the most important part of the show. Remember, last night was about the show, not the post game analysis. I'm sure TNA knew that the wrestling would be shit, but no one cared about the wrestling. They wanted to see Hogan, and who was going to bring with him.
Commercial #2
More talking to fans, this time with Christy, meaning that Bubba was, say it with me, COMPLETELY POINTLESS. Foley shows up, making him character with power #2 on the show.
Because a power struggle has never worked on any TV show, much less a wrestling show? Why the snideness (is that a word?) about powerful characters?
Bobby Lashley and his wife come out to talk. They talk for three minutes. What do they say? They want to leave. They came here and talked, to say they dont want to be here. To break that down even further, they came here to say they dont want to be here. Do you see why my head hurts already? Also, Kristal is really weak at insulting fans. She makes Vickie look good at it.
She drew heat. That's what heels do. Do you think that Lashley is leaving? Fuck no. They are turning him in an attempt to make him interesting, re: Batista.
Commercial #3
Hogan is still on his way.
Commercial #4
Hall and X-Pac cant get in. Hogan is still on his way.
Commercial #5
I can just see your face in your palm while you type this part.
The limos are here and one person gets out of one and gets into another. Who was it? What does it signify? Were never told, but why would we need to be told something like that? Its not like this is interesting or anything like that.
I'm glad you think that TNA should be tying up all the loose ends right away. Final Resolution tied up all the loose ends except one, AJ's attacker. I am now firmly convinced that AJ's attacker will be a nWo member, or even Hogan himself. That is the only reason to leave that one story open. Final Resolution was a reset show. They ended everything, and are starting something new this week. Remember, this wasn't a PPV. It was a weekly show. It's purpose is to ask the questions, not answer them. So, at the end of that show, we are left wondering about the limos, about Hogan's allegiances, his motives, Mick's role, the attacker, the role of the nWo, etc. This show was supposed to start the show anew, and to start it anew, you need week to week intrigue, and this show did a great job of establishing that.
Hall and X-Pac get in anyway, showing the brilliance of the TNA security. Points to the stoned/drunk Hall for his Prince Justice Brotherhood shirt.
I don't know how fucked up he was. He delivered his line and didn't trip and fall. It's just fun to call Hall drunk, so they did.
Commercial #6
In case you were wondering, two minutes later and Hall and X-Pac are STILL here.
Commercial #7
Let's see, Hogan is about to come on, people are watching, prime ad space, right? Gotta pay Hogan somehow.
Hogan FINALLY is here. Note, Raw is starting right about now. He says exactly what you would expect him to say: TNA will be #1, its a new beginning, everyone get ready, etc. Hall and X-Pac get in the ring and talk about how the band is back together, Hogan says its time to grow up. This kills me with laughter but whatever. Note: Bret Hart is in the ring on Raw at this time and is calling out Shawn Michaels in a much more interesting segment.
More interesting? HBK and Hart hugging and whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears is more interesting? Really? Really? Hart and HBK in the ring together was the biggest disappointment I have ever had in wrestling. HBK admitting he had a hand in the screwjob is news? The WWE completely wasted Hart. Hogan was used perfectly all night. The segment about getting the band back together was awesome. This is coming from someone who stayed loyal to WWE during the wars, and watched recorded Nitro episode as he had time during the week. That segment was awesome because it added intrigue, which was, say it with me, the point of the show.
The problem here is that Hogan, Hall, X-Pac and Nash who eventually come down and talk about the old days and the code and the gang etc. One problem: THEY NEVER SAY WHAT THEYRE TALKING ABOUT. Its nothing but vague references and mentions to incidents without saying what those were.
WWE owns that legacy, and direct mentions are probably some sort of problem. They did enough to let you know what they were talking about, and right now, you are nitpicking to show how awesome your contrarian view is.
This is fine for people like us that get what theyre talking about, but remember that this is the NEW ERA of TNA. Theyre supposed to be getting new fans.
Really? When has TNA's goal ever been anything other than stealing fans from the WWE?
What about people that started watching wrestling in 2000 or after? What about people that have only heard little references to the NWO on WWE television? What about fans that think they mean the WWE NWO? Thats the problem with these angles about the past: a TON of fans are going to be lost. Its great for people like us, but we make up a tiny fraction of the viewing audiences, even for a company like TNA.
Then why the big deal up above about the lack of wrestling and the like? If we're such a "tiny fraction of the viewing audience", then why not gear the show toward everyone else, who doesn't care about Rhyno hitting anyone with a barbed wire 2X4. They came to see Hogan, and they got them some Hogan.
Also, TNAs new era is being centered around an angle that happened over ten years ago. Anyone else see the problem there?
Thank you for telling us what the entire new era is centered around. Let's pack it up and go home boys, KB has figured it out. What if this is a two or three week angle to establish that the new era of Hogan will not be about the nWo? What if they lead up to a confrontation where Hogan banishes the nWo, Jarrett, Foley, and Steiner from the company to open it up for the young guys? I said in another thread, that if they bring in heel Hogan, he will be face Hogan soon and vice versa. This is a setup.
Bischoff comes out as another surprise, which is yet another guy that while awesome hasnt been on television other than a popup appearance here or there in over four years, confusing even more new fans. He rips up the format sheet and says that the rest of the card has been changed. Well ignore how completely and utterly stupid that is for now and move on to the fact that this is their clever way of changing the announced card and avoiding false advertising. Thats just cheap, plain and simple. They announced a bunch of cool matches at the opening of the show, but now theyre changing the whole thing. What if someone watched the show just for those matches?
You are the only one who watched
that show for the matches. I can't believe you're making these arguments. The show was about Hogan. One show, about Hogan, does not ruin the new era. One show centering on one angle does not establish the tone for the next year. One show creates intrigue and allows TNA, a company with all the loose ends tied up at Final Resolution, to shoot a million conspiracy theories around and run six or seven solid angles for a few months. We're all wondering what happens next. That was the point of that show, not to showcase the X division, not to show how great the Knockouts are, not about the brutality of Abyss, it was about Hogan, with a badass main event throw in to show what TNA's best have to offer. Fuck the cruisers and women. They might be nice attractions, but are so unimportant to the show that it's laughable.
FUCK THEM. Thats what so much of this show has been: fuck the new fans, we want the old ones and thats about it.
That's what TNA is all about. They have never pretended to be about getting new fans. "Cross the Line" is a slogan denoting that someone has been to one place and needs to cross over into something else. I don't think they mean "Cross the line from Grey's Anatomy and watch some rasslin'."
Sting is watching, which while intriguing, is even more pointless. Why in the world would you use Sting, a guy on the final legs of his career, in an angle with Hogan and Bischoff instead of having him put over young guys?
Seriously, I don't get the obsession with old guys pushing young guys. As soon as someone gets over and establishes themselves in the mainevent, the entire IWC starts asking why they aren't putting some spot monkey midcarder over. Sting is there because the storyline leads to Hogan getting rid of the old guys. In order to get rid of the old guys, you need some fucking old guys.
Of the six guys in that segment (Bischoff, Hogan, Hall, Nash, X-Pac, Sting), the youngest is X-Pac at 37. All others are over 50 and all but one are referencing an angle that has been over for at the bare minimum seven and a half years but in reality over ten. Yep, some new era if Ive ever seen one.
People are spoiled in this instant gratification world. The MEM was deemed a failure after two weeks because they didn't immediately put the belt on AJ. TNA slowly builds wrestlers and angles. It allows people, the ones who aren't there to nitpick ever flying tiger space drop, to get emotionally invested in angles. TNA executed ending the MEM well, and I am going to assume that they know what they are doing in getting to this group of old guys. Give it a chance. Or, just shit on it before you know what's happening. Either way.
Commercial #8
Sting is still watching.
Womens Tag Titles: Sarita/Taylor Wilde vs. Kong/Hamada
Hamada is hot actually,
Too thick and manly for me, but whatever your tastes...
I never knew how hot Sarita was until last night.
Note: as the bell rings, were 80 minutes into this show and have had 6 minutes of wrestling. That comes out to 3/40 of the show, or .075 percent.
Because, you know, the best way to hook in an audience who came to see Hogan is with great wrestling. Because Hogan fans are synonymous with work rate marks....
They announce Angle vs. Styles for the PPV. Not happening either apparently but whatever.
Jesus Christ, this false advertising tangent your on show that you missed the point of the entire show. You are seriously the only person in the entire world, or the leader of a group of five who cares about that.
We hear that the Motor City Machine Guns have been attacked. After three minutes of wrestling we segue into this.
Which is more interesting than a girl's match, so good. Sorry that the bottom corner and 20 second mention destroyed your enjoyment of this catch as catch can classic. That little segment accomplished two things. One, it introduced us to a mystery. Remember, after Final Resolution, there were no stories in TNA, so they started one. God forbid. Secondly, it showed that Russo was booking the show, because that was some serious Crash TV.
Commercial #9
We come back for three more minutes with a good deal of botches and slipups before the pin and the meaningless title change as these belts simply arent needed, doubling the actual amount of wrestling that weve seen giving us 12 minutes of wrestling that weve seen in 90 minutes of programming, good for 12/90, or a whopping 13% of the airtime!
So, interrupting the botches and slip ups, including Taylor Wilde missing completely on a double drop kick, with a mystery was a bad idea. At this point in the show, I am wondering what is going to happen next. They got me. They also got millions more. Good thing you were above it enough to come on here and kill everyone's buzz.
Rating: C-. It was good but thats it. This was far from the masterpiece that everyone said that it was.
I never said it was a masterpiece. It was a girl's bullshit waste of time. If the BP or Kelly Kelly or McCool aren't involved, I couldn't care less about women's matches.
Why did the heels get a title shot? You dont need to know. How did the faces get the belts? Dont need to know that either. Why should I care about this match? See other two questions for answer. Seriously, I dont need a novel to tell me whats going on here, but give me SOMETHING.
Right. Hogan's here. TNA is completely resetting. Let's bog everyone down with stupid ass video packages about shit that won't even matter in a couple of weeks. You know, they should have stripped everyone of their belts and had tournaments for everything with Hogan as the special guest referee of every match. That way, Hogan can serve a purpose while we get the entire history of the company in one night. Something tells me that TNA would have needed six hours of TV time with eight hours of wrestling to make you happy.
The fans might be impressed, but if you dont know who these people are, youre likely not going to be enthralled by fairly sloppy wrestling to stay with it. These belts need to go. Damn Hamada really is hot.
Because, people were there for the wrestling....
More strip poker, the second segment of it, but Val Venis, aka the guy in the towel, shows up. Again, a cool thing for older fans, but a lot of people arent going to know him.
TNA is a show for the older fans. It is the edgy, groundbreaking, bloody show that fans of Attitude should eat up. It is not a kiddie show. They don't need to politely introduce themselves to everyone. If you got lost during this show, then one, you aren't the people TNA is targeting, or two, you went to catch yourself up. I don't see the need to serve everything up on a platter. If you need to know something, use some Google and figure it out. If not, figure it out as you go. If you don't like to learn, go watch Power Rangers.
Also, anyone find it odd that the first thing he does is take a shower? That just came off as odd to me.
They should have taken some more of Hogan's time to explain that, because, you know, no one was there to see Hogan.
Commercial #10
Mick Foley cant get in but he wants to talk to Hogan. Screw the fact that he owns stock in the company. Owning the company means nothing anymore. The Nasty Boys are here. They get thrown out but whatever.
I own WWE shares, but that doesn't mean I have access to Vince. Furthermore, this gets explained later in the night. Never, ever, has TNA said Mick Foley is the majority shareholder in the company. During the JJ promo, Hogan says the company has been restructured by Dixie, the acknowledged boss of the company, so there it is. Dixie said no, so everyone listened because she is the boss.
Matt Morgan/Hernandez vs. Raven/Stevie Richards
Rating: N/A. Its a minute and a half match as Morgan kicks Richards for the pin. Ill call it two minutes just to be nice and I rounded down on the womens tag title match. This was a #1 contenders match actually and its announced that Flair is with Styles. Not that we get to see that or anything because why would we want to see that?
Two minutes is far too much time for Richards to be on my television. So, earlier, not pushing the young stars is bad. Now, making them look dominant is bad. Yep, there's some proof that you are looking for something bad about the show. Like I said, it wasn't perfect, but you were against Hogan coming in from day one and have been waiting to unleash some venom, so here it was. Problem is, the show was awesome. You have every right to your opinions, but those of us that liked the show have every right to question them, and your motivation for this post is what I am questioning now.
And now we go to the Pope for no apparent reason. ORLANDO FREAKING JORDAN interrupts Slick 2.0 from his meaningless promo and yet no one cares again.
The Pope is over as hell, but since you don't like him, I guess it's meaningless.
Dangelo Dinero vs. Desmond Wolfe
In another three minute match, the character beats the wrestler, which is again stupid as Wolfes credibility takes a hit that isnt needed to push a character who doesnt have a character. I hate this show.
The wrestler dominated the match, and got rolled up by the slick guy from the streets. A guy who is incredibly athletic and realistic looking in the ring. It was a roll up cheap win, and in no way hurts Nigel's credibility. He came out looking like a beast who got cocky.
Rating: N/A. Can we get a freaking match go 7 minutes? Is it that hard? The Slammys did this and were called crap. TNA does it and its called genius. Yeah TNA fans arent biased at all.
Once again, five to one the TNA section is outdrawing the WWE section right now. TNA is usually at what, a third of the readership of the WWE section? So, umm, yeah, I would say it is more than traditional TNA fans who were excited by the broadcast. That, and the Slammy's are a throwaway show that creates zero excitement. This show created nothing but excitement from pillar to post. If you didn't get excited by it, I would blame you more than TNA, because everyone else seems to love it.
Commercial #11
Jeff Jarrett is here.
Commercial #12
Rhyno is attacked. JB is run off so that Bubba the Love Sponge can say that hes Bubba the Love Sponge.
We waste two minutes showing clips of Hogan and company from earlier in the night.
Jarrett is coming to the ring.
Commercial #13
Oh no, let's all flip to the crotch chopping midget now!
AJ is in the back and Bischoff shows up, saying the Genesis PPV match, the cant miss PPV main event, is TONIGHT on free TV instead of on PPV where they could, you know, make money on it. Thats not like the mega mistake they made with Goldberg and Hogan in 98 at all. Nope not at all.
Because AJ and Kurt have never been in the ring together before. You know, they could still put that match on the PPV and people who saw the free one would wonder what the fuck those guys have left to show and but the PPV.
Two hours in, 18 minutes of wrestling, good for 18/120, or 15%.
Two hours, no CM Punk botchfests...I'm still not changing the channel.
Jarrett comes to the ring to his sweet My World music. The fans are cheering the hell out of him and he cuts an emotional speech, clearly establishing himself as a big face. Hes authority figure #4 if youre paying attention. (Foley who owns a bunch of stock, Hogan who books, Bischoff who has the authority to tear up a run sheet and redo it, and Jarrett who owns part of the company) We see a shot of Dixie Carter in the crowd, giving us authority figure #5. Jarrett has the fans loving him and praising TNA to no end, acting just like a face boss character should. He says that hes wanted Hogan here for years.
Which must be why he attacked and bloodied him at a press conference in Japan.
To make this clear: Jeff Jarrett has been here since the beginning, hes fought to build this company, he loves TNA, and the fans are into him. Jeff Jarrett is a face character here, plain and simple.
TNA has openly acknowledged that JJ stole Angle's wife, by the way, so not too face of him.
So what do they do? They have Hogan show up to completely steal the spotlight and make HIMSELF the face. He runs down Jarrett but talks like a face anyway. See, this is the problem: Hogan has done NOTHING in TNA.
Oh my God! Not a tweener! Not intrigue and mystery! Why would we want that? I mean, TNA should totally tell us who to cheer for so we can get on with the crotch chopping midget. Thanks TNA for trying a different direction.
Hes been there two hours but hes making himself the savior of the company and throwing aside guys like Jarrett who have the authority and the history here and is clearly still loved by the fans. As NSL and I have both said, we were worried about this happening: Hogan shoving aside characters that are both established and over in favor of himself.
How did he do that? He told Jarrett to get in line. We now have the founder of the company, fighting for the company he loves. That sounds like an awesome angle with a lot of great story potential to me.
The expression of if it aint broke dont fix it could never work better.
Then why bring Hogan in?
Jarrett is a clearly over character that is popular and has the reasons to be. He made TNA and deserves a big part of the spotlight and a lot of the credit.
Two years ago we were clamoring for JJ to leave the spotlight and let someone else shine. He did the right thing and pushed a young up and coming talent named Sting. Please, with this JJ is the heart and soul of TNA. That spot belongs to AJ, and I think he got some pretty good rub from guys who combine for, what, 36 World Titles?
Yes, for a long time he hogged the spotlight and the company itself, mainly the title, but since then hes been barely on TV and has been a minor character for the most part, never being involved in the main event and having good solid matches with guys like Angle. Hes stayed out of the way and has been nothing but a positive for TNA. Now, is Hogan a bigger deal? Absolutely. Should Hogan be pushed above Jarrett? Absolutely. Should Hogan crush Jarrett on the way there? Not in a million years.
And after one promo, where Hogan established a JJ vs. Hogan storyline, how is he crushing him? You can assume all you want that Hogan is going to keep him down, but I don't see that happening. I see a long and drawn out Hogan vs. Jarrett angle, possibly, with factions. I like where that is going. You keep AJ in the World Title picture, and you keep the old guys in a stable war, calling up young guys to help. Everyone gets rub.
That is complete and utter bullshit but he can get away with it anyway which is just garbage. I dont like Jarrett at all really but this isnt right at all. You cant crush say Dixie Carter, who has been on TV all of an hour since she got there, but you can crush Jarrett who gets in front of the camera and built this company up? Im sorry, but thats just unacceptable to me. Hogan said Dixie saved the company from Jarrett. Id say thats bullshit, but heres the thing: without Jarrett, there is no TNA, period and end of story. Also, people are going to care about Jarrett A LOT more than Carter, but hey, Hogan cant be wrong right?
You forgot to call him Hitler and ask "What about the children?" You should let this play out, because the possible upside of letting those two run with this is quite exciting.
Daniels tries to say something but JB interrupts to stop Foley from coming in, which he fails at. Even more reason for Bubba to take his job I guess.
OMG! A storyline! How dare you do that on a wrestling show.
Commercial #14
Jeff is painting and he and Moore say that Hogan wants to talk to him. Thanks for that.
Beer Money has been attacked too.
More intrigue. I want to know who is running around TNA attacking people.
Samoa Joe vs. Abyss
Joe is a face now?
The TNA fans will never let Joe stay a heel. They just love the guy.
Sting is still here by the way. Hes not doing anything, but hes still here damn it! Abyss loses to the choke in five minutes. Yeah hes a MONSTER damn it. Another five minutes.
I used to love Abyss' angle with Lauren, when he was fighting for her. He was a monster showing a human side. Now, he's a fat guy in a mask who may or may not wet himself at night.
Rating: C. Average. Thats what this was to a T, or A in this case. This could have been on any house show and it would have been the exact same thing. There was nothing special at all here for me and I dont know of anyone that would think otherwise. Its ok, but thats just it: its just ok.
Once again though, not enough to dampen the hot crowd.
23/140 now, or 16%.
Kristal wants to talk to Hogan. Bischoff still has his spot as Authority figure #3.
I liked this segment. So often, a woman with an attitude is looked at as empowered instead of being a bitch. Bischoff made her look bitchy. For selfish, personal reasons, I liked this segment.
Commercial #15
Jeff and Shannon are mobbed by 3 fourteen year old girls. I guess theyll be the new Rock N Roll Express or something.
Awesome. As long as Moore is Morton.
The Nastys trash Team 3Ds locker room. Nastys segments: 3, AJ segments: 1. That should tell you a lot.
But, AJ's second segment was a 22 minute match of the year candidate. Why let facts (in retrospect) get in the way of a good rant?
TNA World Title: AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle
This match was awesome and went 22 minutes. Thats all you need to know. Oh and commercial #16 is in there. Oh and Flair comes out. Doesnt say anything, but hes there and will get a huge check for doing nothing at all. To be fair though, he truly was a big shock and is still a major draw. Keep in mind though, less than a year ago, people were BEGGING for him to be thrown off the air, and thats when he was interacting with a young guy in Orton.
Flair was last regularly interacting with an unprove, young guy, like four years ago. Are you telling me that Flair, from North Carolina, being the mouthpiece for AJ, from Georgia, is a bad thing for a company based in the south? You're from Kentucky. This should make you erect.
And that match was fucking badass, and if you haven't seen it, you should. It was a better in ring product than Taker vs. HBK, by a fucking longshot.
Rating: A-. Great match, dont need to explain why.
The not-NWO have been beating people up and do the same to Foley. So in other words, theyre doing the same thing that they did in 1996 but Hall is fat now, Hogan doesnt wrestle (ok so thats the same as it was 14 years ago), Nash only talks, and X-Pac hasnt been seen on TV in forever. Our show ends with Hogan being confused.
Let me rephrase this in a down the middle edit. The show ends with Foley madly dashing around backstage, looking to confront Hogan. He obviously wants to know what his role will be in the new company. After a brief run in with a topless Madison Rayne and a towel wearing Val Venis, he finds Hogan's office. Instead of Hogan, however, he find Bischoff. He eventually gets beaten down by the nWo, a faction who can't use that name for copyright purposes, but is clearly who you think they are. Hogan comes in and looks neither please, nor displeased.
Now, in all actuality, it made me unable to wait ten days until the next Impact!, because I want to know the direction of the six new storylines they started during the night.
A-. There could have been better matches, but, I didn't care about any of the wrestling.
This show was just not that good.
The show was 180 minutes of epic win mixed with commercials and two girl fights.
It was a GREAT first hour and then the show just falls apart. Lets see. We finish up with SIXTEEN COMMERCIALS totaling over half an hour which well call 30 minutes to be VERY nice
In the average 30 minute TV program, there are three breaks, and 8 minutes of commercials. That, over three hours, comes out to 18 breaks and 48 minutes of commercials. Fuck you TNA for giving us more TV and less ad time that Spike would have on it's own. You bastards.
plus 45 minutes of in ring wrestling. That leaves us with an hour and 45 minutes of intros, promos and just random talking. Yes, Impact put on a three hour show, with over HALF being promos or talking. Think about that.
For the last time, with no current storylines, they had to establish some.
There is one match that goes over seven minutes, which is the awesome main event. Hogan crushes Jarrett, who was still over, and we get nearly 40 minutes dedicated to Hall, Nash, and X-Pac. The Nasty Boys have 3 segments and Bubba does nothing at all other than say his name. Yes, this is the NEW TNA!
Yes, this is a completely biased rant by someone who has been waiting months to shit on Hogan.
Now look, I loved this show last night on a first viewing,
Which is the number of times 99% of the audience watches the show, proving that they achieved their purpose in reintroducing the product to the people, and enthralling WWE and new viewers to watch their show. Shame on you TNA for achieving your goal.
but this is like a Slyfox post: it looks great at first, but one you actually break it down and look at it, theres nothing substantial there.
If only I had room in my sig.....
