[Official] TNA TV Shows Aftermath, Review & Ratings Thread

[Kenny Powers]

The ratings for last night's show is in and iMPACT! pulled a 1.14, which will be rounded to a 1.1 with around 1.5 million viewers. This is the lowest rating iMPACT! has pulled since Hogan's debut with the company nearly 2 months ago and was beaten this week by WWE NXT. Whether NXT can sustain the type of numbers it pulled with its debut episode remains to be seen. However, it is interesting to note that the ratings for iMPACT! for the past 3 weeks have been less than what NXT drew Tuesday.

A 1.1 isn't the type of number TNA is hoping for with iMPACT! moving to Monday nights in less than two weeks to compete head to head with Raw on a permanent basis.

Wow that does sound pretty shitty. I guess that is what happens when TNA centers their show around Abyss trying to be Hulk Hogan 2.0. It's too bad TNA didn't capitalize sooner on their move to Monday nights. Spike TV and TNA feel that a 1.1 or even a 1.0 on a Monday night would be successful for TNA.

OF course it would be better to achieve something higher, but I don't think 1.0-1.2 would be terrible for Monday nights. Hopefully the last taped Impact show will draw more viewers and set the tone for Monday nights. If not, TNA has an even longer road ahead of them.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I didn't think iMPACT! was much better overall this week than last week. It just tended to follow the same formula. The opening segment was great and was great primarily because of Ric Flair. Flair has done some of his best mic work in a very long time since coming to TNA. His line about not giving Abyss any of the women in the ring was great, genuinely funny. Bischoff coming out while all the talent for the tag match for Monday's iMPACT! was a nice touch. As with last week, however, I just generally lost interest more and more after the opening 15 minutes.

The stuff with Foley was an absolute waste. The boarding school skit or whatever the frig it is just isn't remotely funny or entertaining. It's not quite as bad as watching Foley try to work his way through a match these days, but it's still pretty shitty.

I'm not all that wild about the whole Jeff Jarrett thing where he does odd jobs and the "match" with Sean Morley in the bathroom was like a bad flashback with the WWF Hardcore Championship back when it was being defended under the 24/7 rule. I'm just kinda meh, about it although I do enjoy watching Bischoff with Jarrett infinitely more than seeing Bischoff with Foley. Jarrett's match with Tomko later was just more meh. The only thing I noticed about the match is that Tomko looks like he's really just let himself go. He looks like shit.

Everything with Abyss tonight was shit awful. The whole thing they're doing with him is just beyond corny. I'm going to say that it's almost, not quite, but almost as bad as Hornswoggle. In it's own way, it might be worse. Abyss was a genuine monster at once and his character was transformed into a 350 pound neurotic 10 year old.

The Beautiful People's assault on Angelina Love didn't really serve much of a purpose aside from having four extremely hot women parading around in skimpy clothing, particularly Velvet Sky. However, I do have to give some respect to Angelina Love as the welts she receieved from being hit with the leather strap could be seen a mile off. In the end, however, the Knockout division has really just kind of lost its way. It's a shell of what it once was.

Wrestling content for the show this week was marginally better than last week's and that was only because of the main event. As I said earlier, the tag match for Monday has really gotten a lot of hype. Flair bled heavily during his invovlement with the match and Hogan wound up getting the better of him.

It seems that more and more of these backstage segments with Hogan are little more than foils to stroke Hogan's ego. Hogan is very much the center of TNA right now as an on air character and that's both good and bad. Hogan still has his name, but the segments tonight made me even less interested, if that's possible, to watch him wrestle in a match. His pet goon Bubba was backstage as part of another self-serving backstage promo segment for Hogan in which Hogan gives us a boo-hoo speech about how wrestling is the only thing that he loved that hasn't left him. Bubba goes on about how Hogan can barely get out of a chair, had to help rub him down backstage last week before he was even able to go out there during the last segment of iMPACT! last week, etc. While it further hyped the main event, it also served as a reminder to not expect very much out of Hogan.

The other matches weren't much to write home about at all. Most of them were two or three minute, tops, throw away matches. The four way tag team match is little more than a platform to push along the break up of Morgan and Hernandez. They're an awful team, the titles need to be taken off them and they need to break up.

Big Rob Terry went over Doug Williams in about a minute. Two champs with two titles no one gives a crap about right now. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Destination X themed based upon the X Division? Even though the idea to have the ppv exclusively as an X Division show has been shot down, I'm surprised to see the X Division champ get booked so weak.

Anderson came out dressed as Kurt Angle with a bald cap, fake tan, the tags and all that. It was pretty funny overall and pushed the feud further along nicely.

Overall, there was a lot of filler on this show and by the time it was done, the only thing I was remotely interested in was the tag match for Monday. It was a little better than last week's show. However, TNA has done a shitty job hyping the permanent move to Monday nights and the first show in general. They're definitely counting on Hogan and Flair to draw in viewers for the show Monday.

 

[Kenny Powers]

I don't think TNA did a good job tonight of hyping the new Monday Night Wars. It was pretty much the Hulk Hogan show tonight. It was like watching an old Rocky where Mick and his buddies tell him you can't win Rock! You're nearly 60 years old! I don't think we will see much wrestling out of Hogan on the 8th though. I pray that the match is centered more on AJ and Abyss, and that Hogan turns heel because I can't take much more of this campy crap.

It was a shame that most of the matches were short and didn't do anything for anyone. I was excited about the 8 man tag, but when I blinked it was over with already. The same with the Rob Terry match. I don't know why TNA has been building the British Invasion so much over the last year. There isn't one interesting member of the entire group. But somehow they won the majority of the titles over the past year. Go figure.

The Foley skits were not needed. I'll admit they were kinda funny and reminded me of Foley's funny shenanigans from WWE back 10 years ago. I would rather see Foley in a cheesy skit instead of him wrestling Kevin Nash in the main event any day. Speaking of which, does anyone care about Nash and his little buddy calling out Hall Monday night?

Jarrett mopping the floor and getting beat by Morely was another waste of time. Jarrett is taking all of Bischoff's punishment like its a gift. Next week Bischoff could rape Jarrett's daughter and Jarrett would smile through that too. Anderson's promo was a little cheesy too, but that was really the only thing I liked on the show this week. The opening promo gave me hope, but the main event didn't deliver.

Abyss and Wolfe were nowhere to be found and AJ Styles got the victory as soon as TNA came back from commercial break. It was nice to see Angelina Love and TBP, until they didn't achieve anything. Velvet looked vicious beating Angelina with the strap. Then she cowers and screams when Angelina comes to the ring? I love Velvet for obvious reasons, but how can any one think of her as a threat when she screams before she is even hit?

I've seen worst shows then this actually. TNA did a good job hyping the main event which their focus was more on Flair and Hogan then AJ and Abyss. They didn't hype anything else though. Why not hype some other matches for a change? Unless TNA can pull something out of their ass by Monday, I don't think they will gain many viewers at all.

I was excited like a lot of people back in January. I'm just not excited this time around. I thought the first few weeks weren't bad, but they have been pretty shitty the last few weeks. I just hope Hogan gets his fill after being in the ring that way he can sit in the back and let the other wrestlers wrestle for a change. Against All Odds was great because of the long matches and young talent. Nasty Boys were the only exception, and Hogan was only on television for a minute.

TNA needs to stop the comedy and the promos. I don't think Raw was that great this week, but it was clearly better then Impact. I'm going to be watching Impact March 8th hoping for the best. The question is will anyone else be?

 

[shattered dreams]

This obsession by many of bashing everything Hogan does, even things he is somewhere inbetween barely and not at all involved with is reaching neo russo-nian hate levels. Did they maybe have one or two too many of those snippets of people trying to talk him out of it? Sure. But bottom line, the last time they went to mondays people tuned in just to see what Hogan was going to say. So are we really to believe that putting the focus on what happens when he gets in the ring with another legend is not going to interest people? With RVD getting leaked there is plenty to look forward to. They do not need to tell us the entire show before hand like we are a wwe audience afeared of unpredictability.

I agree the tag match reeked of premature ejaculation, it was over before it had a chance to get good even though it looked quite nice until it was time to get to it. While I miss seeing the knockouts actually wrestle I thought this hardcoreish beatdown segment was better than previous weeks and am looking forward to angelina using the belt on velvet in the near future .. Oops just reminded myself of the tag match ...

Anderson's look was hilarious. Just realized it is about time for Angle to start drinking milk again. I actually found the Foley segments funny. They never should have booked Morley in that Daniels match. He might have actually been moderately useful for a while but that match somehow buried both of them. This week had enough wrestling to appease me because they are putting a lot of work into making the storylines something the audience can care about. I do wish they would get to the point on this Jarrett-Bischoff story and this week seemed to be a step towards that.

 

[psykohurricane]

It's kind of funny to see how TNA is able to fuck up everything in the spend of 2 weeks. Since january 4th, i've got to admit, TNA was mildly interesting, they were getting good ratings and were the fans seem to adapt to all the changes. Plus they found a way to find the right balance between wrestling and non wrestling segment, that is until last week. I'm not going to review last weeks show because let'S face it, pretty much everybody that saw the disaster that was last week show as already review it and the fact that the ratings for that show went down pretty much speak for itself. I'm going to review last night's disaster of a show that pretty much was one big advertisement for this monday's show. The fact of the matter is that i get it and pretty much everybody that watch TNA last night got it, Hogan is WILL wrestles on Monday, and if you did know it just by watching that beginning of the show, you probably found out about it it with the multiple backstage segment about the very fact that nobody want Hogan to go throught with this match on monday. Out of a 2 hour show, you had at less half the show promoting that match with Hogan being all over IMPACt having all his friends trying to talk him out of it. The another thing that got a lot of time is those god awful Mick Foley Etiquette Lessons vignette that they keep showing. What else did they showed? Oh yeah, the Jeff Jarrett stuff from him cleaning the toilet to him getting beat up by Sean Morley to that god awful match he had with Tomko. Again i like Jarrett but again why have him being the center of the show and getting put in a feud with Bischoff. Is this feud leading somewhere. Is the big payoff of a jarrett vs bischoff match that interesting right now that you would waste part of your show promoting this feud between the 2? I don'T think so.

Oh yeah the was also a couple of wrestling matches that pretty much didn't make that much of a different because they look like they go just put there because somebody reminded them that they were producing a wrestling show and they had to have matches somewhere. Finally let's talk about the 2 non-wrestling segment on the show that didn'T involve, Jeff Jarrett, Hogan, Bischoff or Foley. First the Mr. Anderson stuff, while i did find it midly amusing what i said about Kurt Angle and that segment actually help that feud, it was funny hearing Anderson talk about Angle being the most injury prone wrestler in TNA, simply because the whole time i was talking i thought he was talking about himself. Finally the Beautiful People/Angelina Love Segment. First of all, what was Velvet Sky wearing under her top, i don't know but it looked like TNA was so scared that she would pop out of her top that she had to wear more then one bra under her top to make sure she wouldn't pop out. Then the whole beat down on angelina love backstage before having her get beat down yet again in the IMPACT Zone just in case the fan didn'T watch the screen. This feud is starting to get boring really quickly, get the payoff match over with already that we can move on to something better then this.

Again this week's IMPACt was boring and uneventful, it surely show that TNA is so focus on promoting next monday's impact that they forgot to actually make the fans watching last night show cares about the product. The way i see it, TNA should change their name from TNA: Total Non-stop Action to TNT: Total Non-Stop Talking because the last 2 weeks that's pretty much what the show was all about. I really hope for their survival that they don'T produce and shity program on monday like they did the last 2 weeks because while Raw wasn't that much better this week, it's still was more interesting then what TNA delivered this week and TNA need to keep the fan they were able to get an january 4th interested in the product if they want to be a success and if last week Ratings are any indication, that just not happening right now.

 

[Renzino]

I thought this week's show was a bit better then last week's show.

It was nice to see Angelina Love and TBP, until they didn't achieve anything. Velvet looked vicious beating Angelina with the strap. Then she cowers and screams when Angelina comes to the ring? I love Velvet for obvious reasons, but how can any one think of her as a threat when she screams before she is even hit?

I agree you Kenny Powers on that.

Velvet showed a nice viciousness in the first segment when she beat Angelina with the belt and scared Lacey and Madison.

But the second segment killed that by having Velvet run away screaming before even being hit. Why? Velvet had the belt so why is she so scared of Angelina?

It just makes Velvet look weak and I hate that.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

The ratings for last night's edition of iMPACT! are out and, on the surface, they're the same as last week. The show drew a 1.14, which'll be rounded to a 1.1, with 1.5 million viewers. The first hour drew a strong 1.26 while the second one drew a 1.02. A trend with TNA, even since Hogan's debut, is that, in most cases, the second hour of the show loses viewers. The audience of the show last night decreased roughly 30% from the first hour to the second one.

The highest rated segment of the night was the first 15 minutes of the show, which drew a 1.31 and just went progressively downhill from there. The final segment, which featured the main event last night, drew a 0.93. Some within TNA have blamed the Olympics for the drop in ratings over the past few weeks, but there were no Olympics last night. The show started off strong and wound up finishing up the night with the lowest drawing segment that they've had in a long while. Incidentally, WWE NXT wound up outdrawing iMPACT! again this week by roughly a few hundred thousand viewers. Depending upon what surprises TNA throws out on Monday, ratings for the show could rise temporarily once again but, even with Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair on the roster, TNA has had trouble maintaining momentum.

 

[klunderbunker]

As for the drop in ratings, it's simple: people got bored watching nothing but talking. The show is 120 minutes long and we went 1/3 of that in a row with ZERO wrestling. If I want talking, I'll listen to the radio. Even a world title match wasn't enough to hold the viewers. In short, there was no reason to stick around last night. TNA has no one to blame but themselves for this one.

 

[BladeRunner]

I'd say that this impact (march 8th) brought back a lot of the excitement that was to be found around january.

Starting out with the Hogan/Flair drama was a smart move, and Sting coming out of nowhere to go apeshit, well I don't think many of us saw that one coming.

Next we had an excellent X division match. 3 way matches are kinda hard to pull off, but they really showed off what the X division is all about.

Of course you had an RVD match. And with Sting? AND it's a SQUASH? A squash on Sting is a powerful statement.

Sting also put his hands on Dixie Carter. So who knows what she's going to do to him.

The knockouts match was okay. I wanna see more Sarita and Hamada doing the crazy stuff they're so good at tho.

Then you got a nice Kurt Angle "USA USA" segment about how badass the armed forces are. In fact, they beat the hell out of Mr. Anderson to prove it, nice!

Meanwhile Sting's lost his marbles.

And finally really what I'd call an epic match between Hogan and Flair. Yeah they're old as shit. Don't care. Awesome match. Oh yeah and AJ and Abyss were in there, but I didn't pay much attention to them.

Overall lots of things going on all at once, could get a bit messy, and there were a few video errors here and there, but I really enjoyed this episode.

 

[Spjadoe05]

So day 1 of the "New Monday Night Wars" is over. How did TNA do?
In my opinion it was definitely different. The landscape is surely changing. The thing is i'm not too sure if I will like it. I'll just comment on some main points and ask a few questions.

They start the show off with the main event nice move and definitely a shocker.Sting turns heel!!! Now how far they will go with this idk but i think it was done (for this first show at least) very well.

I don't agree with this "friendly" version of Abyss. To me it's extremely corny and slightly boring. I want the monster back.

Why does Shannon Moore get a title shot?

Sting vs. RVD I understand why the match was so short and for my first comment i am nitpicking, but why the rolling thunder? Couldn't we see a 5 star? lol But seriously, how does it make sense for the referees to stand in Stings way as he tries to leave the ring?

I like the Beer Money/Double J segment and match as I think Beer Money work better as heels. It's good to see them back on tv.

Last the main event that they changed to start the show now restarts as a no DQ match with Hogan saying their will be a winner, Mike Tenay announcing that Spike has agreed to let the match go until it's conclusion, and Taz reiterating that Impact will stay on the air until a winner is decided. Then, in classic TNA fashion, all hell breaks loose ending with Jeff Hardy coming out and clearing house. But guess what? There is no winner. Spike even cut the show off before Jeff could jump off the rope for the swanton.

I am going to stick around and support TNA, but i'm just not sure they are ready for this "war" they are looking for.

Thoughts?

 

[Suneeboy]

Now that it's all sunk in for me, didn't Impact execute everything much better this evening? They didn't cram Bischoff and Hogan down our throats, and they gave attention to the wrestlers. Wow, what a great fucking show I just watched tonight. What happened on Raw? I don't know. I wanted to watch both tonight, but TNA hooked me in the first 10 minutes with Hogan/Flair and Sting turning heel. Jesus Christ. Hogan and Flair bleed like pigs don't they? Vintage Hogan and Flair. Still blading after all these years.

Every segment had a purpose, and I was just having a blast all night long. I switched to RAW during commercials, but they for the most part shared commercial breaks, so I couldn't catch RAW.

Let me see, what can I remember? Oh ok here we go.

Opening segment with Hogan, Flair, Styles, Abyss with Sting run in and heel turn. Great stuff. I didn't expect Sting to turn heel tonight. What is his motivation? Good stuff.

Triple Threat X Division title match. Bischoff puts the X Division over lovely before the match starts. Good choice keeping Kaz off of the PPV, the guy is good, but I don't really want to watch him ya' know? Good match. X Division is not dead ladies and gentlemen.

Knockout Division isn't dead either. The Tag Titles were made for the Beautiful People. They looked fantastic again tonight. I'm glad they won. Daffney is great, I hope she wins the KO Title (probably not though).

Backstage segments, JJ and Beer Money, Angle and Anderson, it was all just dope man, I enjoyed every minute of it. RVD debuts versus Sting...again just dope. I was marking out like a fucking 10 year old all goddam night. This is the shit I've been waiting for for 10 years.

Then the finish. We all talked shit about Hogan and Flair getting in the ring. Those old sons of bitches delivered like the fucking mailman. They did their thing! Wow did they go all out there. Let the old guys get their shine, they put in the work and got the company to Monday night. Boy did they work their asses off. Hats off to Flair also I have a new respect for him. He looked worn out, but he gave it 100% tonight, and showed the young guys what it takes to be a fucking star.

Jeff Hardy capped it off nicely. Too bad his Swanton Bomb got cut out. Oh well, still awesome. I am fucking pumped for next week. Looks like I'm going to miss Stone Cold on RAW. Gotta see the fallout from tonight. Wish I could've seen my boy Joe though. That keeps it from getting an A+ in my book...really where would he have fit in though? Don't know...but still they hooked me like a fucking fish.

TNA Overall Score: A

 

[Schizophrenic]

I don't agree with this "friendly" version of Abyss. To me it's extremely corny and slightly boring. I want the monster back.

He's becoming the monster again. Watch

Why does Shannon Moore get a title shot?

Kaz got his tonight and like Eric said, "surprise"

Sting vs. RVD I understand why the match was so short and for my first comment i am nitpicking, but why the rolling thunder? Couldn't we see a 5 star? lol But seriously, how does it make sense for the referees to stand in Stings way as he tries to leave the ring
?

I agree with ya, I'd love to see the 5 star but let's face it RVD is in TNA!

Last the main event that they changed to start the show now restarts as a no DQ match with Hogan saying their will be a winner, Mike Tenay announcing that Spike has agreed to let the match go until it's conclusion, and Taz reiterating that Impact will stay on the air until a winner is decided. Then, in classic TNA fashion, all hell breaks loose ending with Jeff Hardy coming out and clearing house. But guess what? There is no winner. Spike even cut the show off before Jeff could jump off the rope for the swanton.

Clearly didn't watch the thing in whole. Abyss pinned AJ before the brawl started. He hit the Black Hole Slam and pinned The Champ (take that you damn Hogan haters) then the brawl broke loose. I also laughed when they cut off before the swanton but it's no big deal. WCW & WWF did that all the time in the 90's. I just watched a RAW from 98 before Mania and Hunter held Austin and Shawn got the chair ready and started to swing and it went to black.

 

[Baximus]

Actually, you weren't paying attention, friend. Abyss hit a Black Hole Slam on AJ Styles to win the match.

Then Desmond Wolfe came down to the ring to cause the havoc that ended the show.

Anyways, this was BY FAR the best effort by TNA since Hulk came into power. While I don't ever need to see Flair or Hogan wrestle again, this was a great show for one major reason:

EVERY segment advanced storylines, in multiple instances it advanced multiple storylines.


-Will RVD come back after Stinger after the beatdown?
-What is Sting's motivation?
-What is Jeff Hardy doing while helping clear house?
-How will the X Division move ahead with Easy E as the supporter?
-What about Jarrett/Foley? Are they a tag team that will challenge Beer Money when they defeat Morgan/Hernandez?
-Is Wolfe officially alligned with Flair and AJ now?


This was a great effort that seemed big time to me and i really think that the only downside was that Hulk and Flair are officially done wrestling. But this was an EXCITING show for once, far more than any other show I've seen recently.

 

[JJYanks121]

Agreed, I mean, it was certainly shooting the proverbial wad into one show, but even that show had definite "what are they thinking" moments. I actually laughed for 5 minutes straight though that Impact went off the air before Jeff hit the Swanton. Literally hit the floor. That's pretty embarassing stuff.

As for the rest of the show, it was same old, same old. I actually predicted Sting's turn on another site where they, like here, kept saying Hogan would turn. However, losing in 5 seconds? I don't care if he got to beat up the guy after, he already looks like a chump. Reason being? He's Hogan from Bash at the Beach, but since he's not Hogan, he's not dominant. Granted, he shouldn't be as he's kind of old, but then again, now that he's heel, does he wrestle? Where do you go? The problem is, it's a shock value thing that TNA marks will go nuts for, but there's not a ton you can do with him at this point.

You could also explain to me how you have a tournament at one PPV and not have the guy who won it to get a #1 contendership have that shot at the NEXT PPV. There's too much overlap and confusion going on. Plus, Eugene.....er, Abyss is getting a title shot. Really? I mean I get that Hogan is high on him, but it makes no sense. Pope should have gotten the shot first, THEN you move on to something else if you feel the match is a one off. Apparently though, every match is a one off because feuds don't seem to last in TNA. You get one match and it's done.

Beer Money turning heel? I think the whole show was just "let's just do the opposite of what we think people expect even if it makes no sense". These guys have now went heel to face to heel in a span of months. OK then.

Here's the thing. This episode was a lot better than 1/4. It really was. However, it's still pretty bush league and worse than that, all their wad was shot into one show. You can expect exactly what you got after 1/4 which is a lot of nothing for a while after this because after Sting's "explanation" next week, there's basically nothing they can do. Well, that's all for my report on WCW.........er TNA. Sorry, I always seem to get that wrong!

Just a quick edit here, but Bischoff's promo about the X division just makes me hate him SOOOOOOOO much. Since he got to TNA, the X division has been non existent and now he claims he came to TNA because of it? He needs to go away. Far, far away. I don't like hypocrites and I don't like bullshit artists. It sounds nice tonight, but after destination X, I would almost guarantee that the X division will get no TV time. I would like it to, but I just don't see it. It went away for 2 months already, you really think now it's magically going to come back? Remember, the "magic" was on the other show with Criss Angel.

 

[TheThirdHebner]

I have to admit, I don't really watch the current wrestling product, and have only ever caught snatches of TNA up until this point. My brother tried to talk me into watching on January 4th, but I'm not really a Hogan mark, so I didn't bother. The thought of actual "Monday Night Wars" wrestling, though, got me interested. I decided to give TNA a shot tonight. I have to say...

I thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked most everything I saw. Surprises were big, cool wrestling moments happened, and Hogan and Flair showed they can still entertain while in the ring, if not being proficient workers anymore. I've always loved RVD, and I'm excited to see a feud between him and Sting (who would have ever guessed this when RVD was lighting up the ECW arena, huh?). I like what I saw from AJ Styles, though I'm not sold on this Abyss guy. That finishing move of his looked powerful coming off that Irish Whip though. Flair took some crazy bumps for someone his age!

Scott Hall can still work a microphone with the best of them, although maybe he should cut down on the carbs a little bit, lol. The ending was electric though. Great emotion, and lots of big name players looking strong. And how about Sting looking WAY strong, laying out Hogan twice with no answer from Hogan, and even though he lost to RVD, it was in a way he lost almost no heat, since it came so quickly, but it also effectively got RVD over (as if he needed it). Man, what a show. If they can consistently put on television like they did tonight, they could be a real challenger for the WWE after enough time. That's a big if though. For now, I just enjoyed the show I watched very much.

A+ from me, TNA, and I'll be watching next week as well.

 

[Undar8d]

I started watching TNA in 2008, hated it so I haven't watched again. I watched most parts tonight, mostly RAW though and I'm pretty impressed. I hated the January 4th show TNA put on, but of course you can improve. Today provided one of my favourites, RVD coming back and some okay segments.

Of course, there's a lot of improvements to be done. The overall look of the show looks so cheap, that I don't know why it bothers me. Maybe because I watch RAW every Monday, but the look of TNA just reminds me of what I expect of a mediocre show. Also, just because some parts were "surprising" to many, doesn't mean it made any sense. Just one huge confusing mess, probably because I don't watch TNA on a weekly basis.

Overall, a vastly improved show from Jan 4th/10 from the parts I saw. I give it a B overall.

 

[Kenny Powers]

I think TNA won over some of the biggest critics tonight. The problem in January was TNA went from a hot start Monday night show to being taped on Thursdays. Also, TNA pretty much shot their wad early and had a lot of problems with their first live show, even though it was high in the ratings. I think tonight's show ran smoother and had an equal balance of wrestling and promos. I admit I wasn't a huge fan of TNA's shows over the past few weeks, but TNA came through tonight like I hoped they would.

It was interesting seeing the main event in the first 5 minutes because you didn't know what to expect. We knew Sting might get involved in the main event but I was shocked to see a heel turn. I mean yeah you could say you saw it coming since he was standing in the ring for a long time, but could many people say they saw it coming before hand?

If so then you should be reading fortunes instead of typing on a wrestling forum. It didn't ruin the show for me at all. I loved seeing Dixie Carter as an on air character for once instead of a plant in the audience too. It was awesome to see her actually book a match for once. It was also great to see Eric Bischoff come out and give the X Division exposure. They haven't got great exposure over the last few weeks, but they have received more now then in the past before Bischoff in my opinion.

Daniels vs. Kaz. vs. Williams was a nice match that wasn't too short or too long. It was nice to see all 3 competitors actually get some mic time for a change. People may moan about Daniels losing and Kaz being replaced by Shannon Moore, but it gives Daniels an opportunity to have a match against Kaz at the PPV. It also allows for Moore's debut.

It's good to see that TNA hasn't forgotten about the Knockouts tag titles. I'm not a huge fan of the titles, but it's nice to see Wilde and Sarita in the ring. It's a shame Kong is gone just because of a lousy raise. I loved seeing my girl Daffney get the upper hand on Tara. I didn't think Tara and Angelina made a great tag team to begin with. TBP are the champs and can have a feud with Sarita and Wilde. I just hope we can see Hamada soon. The after party with JB was fun. I love JB more than rainbows.

RVD made his HUGE debut against Sting. I know the match was short, but TNA doesn't need to have that match on free television. Also, RVD got a huge win while Sting maintained awesome heat for beating RVD to death with the bat, while Hogan was held back by security. I still don't know why TNA has so much "security" for wrestlers. Security comes out before a match even starts. It gets pretty annoying.

Next we get a Nash and Eric Fonzi Young promo against Hall and Pac. Hall was actually pretty funny saying he was the one that looked like Elvis. Nash replying alive or dead? If Hall and Pac lose they don't earn a contract. What if Hall doesn't show up? do they get a contract opportunity then? Maybe Hall will actually wrestle this time though. Third times a charm. I think we will either see a Nash or Young heel turn on this one. At least if Hall and Pac loses, people can stop bitching about Hogan ruining TNA. blah blah blah.

I liked the Angle and Anderson segment. I thought Angle was John Cena at first with all those soldiers. Cena may have went to Iraq, but he's no war hero. At least Angle won a gold medal representing America in the Olympics. It's real.. damn real. I laughed at the John Kerry line Anderson spouted calling the military guys high school dropouts. That is what happens when you let someone speak their mind instead of what's on a script.

I understand Bubba and Brooke talking Hogan out of wrestling, but wow does Bubba really fit his moniker "Sponge". He was attached to Hogan's hip throughout most of the show when Abyss wasn't next to him. The guy actually asked Hogan for a Bubba night on Impact. WTF? Hopefully this guy's ego deflates when he hears all the fire Bubba chants from the crowd. I think you would probably hear those chants across the country too. The sad thing is that the Orlando/Tampa area is Bubba's big fan base.

At least he was in small segments. Beer Money against Jarrett was kinda thrown in there, but I love seeing Beer Money take charge as a heel. They are getting exposure any way they know how so Bischoff will take notice of them. I got to say that the main event delivered. I was pretty skeptical about it, but I think Hogan and Flair did a nice job. They didn't focus the match or show solely on them, and they were barely in the ring. Flair and Hogan isn't AJ/Daniels, but those 2 can still work and get a reaction from the crowd which most people half their age in the main event can't do.

It was awesome to see Hardy back. I just hope that this isn't the last time we see him for a while. It would of been nice to see him come out earlier before the show cut off. Overall though the show was the best Impact Ever! Better then January 4th. I couldn't find one bad thing about it. No Nasty Boys, No Orlando Jordan or Val Venis sexual innuendo. No poor production shots or rushed matches and horrible steel asylum matches. Thank God that will never see the light of day again. 4 sides 4 Life.

I liked the new video and entrance song. It doesn't seem as low budget as the other one. Big props for AJ and Abyss going back to their old tights. Sting-Heel, Dixie Carter-on air boss, Sting-heel turn, X Division, Abyss/AJ, TBP tag champs, Daffney, Wolfe/Pope, RVD, Hogan-Flair, Bischoff, Beer Money-heel turn, Eric Fonzie Young winning a match, great main event=Ratings and Awesomeness!

I don't care what the ratings are, this show was great. Can't wait for next week!

 

[gordon_getgo]

A couple of thoughts from last night:

I thought the show was TOO chaotic. The pacing didn't let the storyline or characters breathe. Hopefully, they will find their stride.

Hulk and Flair have lost the art of cutting the promo. Their rambling mic work almost ventured into Ultimate Warrior-esque dribble. On the flip-side of that, Hall and Nash's in-ring work was dynamite, believable & funny.

Could there be a Four Horsemen type-stable forming with Flair, Sting, AJ & Desmond? Maybe they'll call it something else if WWE owns (via WCW) the Four Hoursmen trademark.

RVD introduction was fantastic. The kick was picture perfect.

 

[Melina]

I guess I have to ask what you guys look for in a Wrestling Show? I watched this on my DVR after watching Raw, which probably made it more tolerable.

Disclaimer: I am doing this review off of the top of my head, so some things may be out of order

I knew as soon as Hogan came out, that this was going to be a two part match/segment. The little action itself was bad, but Hogan cannot go at all, so that is to be expected. Sting coming out and turning heel was so obvious, how could you guys not see that coming (for those of you who did not)? Hogan in a pool of blood says they are going to finish it later. Okay makes sense to try and hold an audience for more of the show.

Dixie Carter Backstage with Sting: This was not too bad, but predictable. Tenay and Tazz acting like this is the most shocking turn in wrestling history, is just LOL funny. Tenay's commentary is almost, and I say almost, Michael Cole bad. Abyss screaming backstage was just pointless, and could have been left out.

X Division up next. The promo leading up to the match was hard to watch. Easy E saying he loves the X Division, especially with their lack of time since his debut, is again, LOL funny. Didn't he say "<expletive> cruiserweights" a long time ago? The match was nice, and I am glad Williams retained here. Shannon Moore coming from nowhere and getting a title shot is just stupid.

Pope backstage with Christy: I like Pope, and I liked the way this promo was going, and how Wolfe came in and attacked him.

Three way Knockout Tag Team Title Match: Why do these belts still exist? They had a perfect opportunity to never mention them again, and pretend like it never happened. Match itself was okay, and Daffney coming out to cost Tara was probably the best way for the BP to win.

Backstage segment with JB and BP post match was pretty funny

RVD vs Sting: Meh, all of this was really obvious. Too guys who have not wrestled in a long time are going to put on a short match. New guy gets momentum, and win, obviously. Stings beatdown afterward was decent, and he went totally psycho, attack security and Hogan while they were holding him back. If someone is carrying a baseball bat, and I can barely walk, I am probably not going to try and fight him, just saying.

Beer Money vs Jarrett: Beer Money turn number 10, they will probably be face this time next month. Won't they just make up their minds with them? This went the only way it could have, but they could have booked Jarrett way better here.

Angle promo with Army: This was pretty cool, and I like the fact that he tossed Anderson around to get beaten up. Those Army guys were brutal when putting Anderson back into the ring.

Backstage Promos with Hogan: These are getting old, people keep trying to talk Hogan out of wrestling, and he of course is going to continue on.

Eric Young/Nash and Band: Just stop this already, please. I cannot stand watching this. Hall and Pac look like crap (moreso Hall). The Young/Pac little match was actually not bad. Seriously, they have to have better things to do with air time, what happened to pushing the young guys>

Main Event: When Hogan got into ring, I had a hard time watching. Flair was not bad, and way better than Hogan. Match was terrible, but the point was not wrestling, more nostalgia, and hype, so it was not that important to be a clinic. Aftermath was interesting. Wolfe comes out to attack, and Pope makes the save. Jeff Hardy finally comes out, and they cut the show off before the Swanton?

Overall: Some of the segments were decent, but there were way too many. The only match that was worth anything was the X-Division Title Match; it was a very nice throwback to old school TNA. The rest was extremely predicable, and boring. I thought this was "Total Nonstop Action" Wrestling? I think there was more wrestling in the Orton/Legacy Match on Raw, than in this entire show. Overall I give this show a D+, not TNA's worst (last week), but far from its best.

 

[jmt225]

Well, the show last night gets an A from yours truly. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire two hours, and it had to be the best Impact! to ever air.

I thought starting the show off with the tag match was genius, and for me personally, the match/angle couldn't have gone any better. Sting is by far and away my favorite wrestler of all time, and while I'll always love Hogan, I will still always hold a bit of a grudge in my heart for him for the shit he pulled at Starrcade 1997, ruining what was to me the biggest wrestling match in history. So, I will always be down to see Sting beat the ever loving shit out of Hogan, especially with a baseball bat. When Sting turn heel, it was just glorious. Why would he align himself with Hogan and Abyss, anyway? Just because they're now "good guys"? No, they didn't deserve Sting's help. They deserved an ass whoopin' for what they did to Sting in the past, and that's exactly what they got. It was awesome.

After that, Sting putting his hands on Dixie Carter... woah, didn't see that one coming. Again, great booking. Nobody expects to ever see Sting do that kind of thing, so it makes for a pleasant little surprise.

Next up we see Kaz in the ring with a fucking mic in his hand, and here's where I start to think the show is about to go to shit, but thankfully... I was fully wrong. I cannot stand Kaz, but it was okay because 30 seconds into his shitty promo, Christopher Daniels, one of my favorite wrestlers in TNA, came down to save the day. He cut a nice little promo, and then Doug Williams came down. Instantly I thought Triple Threat match, and that's what Eric Bischoff gave us. And it turned out to be a pretty damn good match. I was hoping to see Daniels pick up the win, but alas... it wasn't meant to be. But still a perfectly enjoyable match, and hopefully these type of matches become a regular on TNA Impact! every week like they should.

Unfortunately, after the match Shannon Moore came down and it became all about him. He's a decent worker and all, but not on the same level as the X Division's best. Hopefully he doesn't win the title at the pay-per-view.

Now, next up was the Knockout Tag Title match, and I thought it was pretty dumb to follow up a Title Triple Threat match with another Title Triple Threat match. Regardless, the match was short and sweet, and the right team (IMO) won the match. The Beautiful People are by far and away the best thing about the Knockout Division, so the focus around the division, for the time being, needs to be around them.

Next we see Pope, he starts to deliver one of his awesome promos, but then gets interrupted by Desmond Wolfe. Very much looking forward to those two getting a big match, with a lot of time to work with.

And at the top of the hour, TNA books Sting vs. Mystery Opponent. PERFECT time to put this match. No way was anyone changing the channel to Raw during a time like that, especially when beforehand Taz basically gave away that Sting's opponent was Rob Van Dam. And man... what an awesome debut for RVD. It couldn't have gone any better. First of all, very glad they used his music from his radio show; that shit's fucking awesome. But the pop was tremendous, and I thought it was just perfect to have him sneak attack Sting and pick up the quick victory. I see a lot of people bitching about this, but it couldn't have been booked better if you ask me. RVD makes impactful debut, picks up big win, and Sting beats his ass afterwards for it, which sets up a future feud between the two.

When Sting first came to the ring, the crowd were all in his favor, by the end of it? They were chanting, "Sting sucks!" Something you never thought a crowd on any wrestling program chant. Absolutely great shit. The only flaw about it was that I wanted to see Sting hit that worthless fuck Bubba the Love Sponge with his bat, but I understand why that couldn't happen. He would have received a face pop as big as the one RVD got that night had he done it, lol.

Speaking of Bubba the Love Sponge, seeing his worthless fat ass was the low point of the show. I really wish TNA would just get rid of the douche. Also, Brooke Hogan is fucking terrible as well. Hopefully that was the last time we see her get any television time on TNA programming.

The Nash bit ran on too long I thought and bored me, but the Eric Young/Sean Waltman match was a nice, little exciting contest. Eric Young is FINALLY getting away from that goofy/sentimental shit and becoming an intense wrestler. Very nice to see. Maybe he'll finally get over with me, because I haven't been able to stand the guy since he was in that Canadian faction way back in the day.

The Angle/Anderson segment was fucking awesome. Angle came off great, Anderson as a douchebag. Classic good guy/bad guy stuff, in a new, creative way. Also, I'm a big fan of Kurt Angle, but it's nice watching Impact! without him being the complete focus surrounding the show.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Beer Money was a waste of time. I'm a big fan of both Jarrett and Foley, and right now their talents are going to waste, IMO. Hopefully TNA can fix that though. As far as Beer Money... I think they fucking suck, so I honestly don't ever care when they're on my TV.

And the main event... look, was it the best wrestling match? No, far from it, but I'll be damned if it wasn't fun as fuck to sit through. Seeing Hogan and Flair in there doing typical Hogan/Flair stuff... that shit is just fun. And then you throw in Abyss/AJ Styles, two guys who work superb together... this was just a very enjoyable match. And then of course the run-ins at the end... that was good stuff too. TNA managed to make a match about Hogan and Flair end up being truly about the new stars of TNA: AJ Styles, Abyss, Desmond Wolfe, The Pope, and Jeff Hardy. Great way to end the show, and should make everyone who was watching want to make them tune in again next week.

All in all, while some flaws, still a very good show, with the RVD/Sting segment being the best/most exciting thing I've seen in pro wrestling in quite sometime (bias there though since they're my #1 and #2 favorite wrestlers of all time). I didn't flip to Raw one time (can't say the same for the 1/4 show), and I'll definitely be tunning into Impact! next week.

 

[onemandynasty08]

I think TNA was very good last night....

I flipped between RAW and TNA last night a few times, just to see what RAW was putting up against TNA and everytime I either got a commercial or something pointless.

There seems to be a lot of critics regarding Sting's turn last night mostly dealing with his assault of RVD. One of the things that people don't see is that Sting beating Hogan and Abyss alone couldn't signify him as a heel simply because people still aren't too sure where Hogan stands right now. Hogan and Abyss could easily turn somewhere down the line, so thus Sting had to draw heat by touching a woman and beating up the beloved RVD.

Kaz tried his best to deliver a promo, all I'm going to say is he could be a work in progress. As far as Eric Bischoff and the X-Division is concerned, there seems to be alot of talk about his dislike of the cruiserweight division, and I'm not sure if I'm correct because I began to tune out of RAW slightly during his GM tenure, but wasn't the cruiserweight title on RAW for a slight part of his stint. maybe I'm wrong. Even if it wasn't I'm sure that he can have a change of heart. There are probably a lot of things that Bischoff thought wouldn't work back in WCW that he thinks can work now.

The Beautiful people have that love/hate type of thing. Sometimes you want someone to sling them around the ring, but they make good heels.

Jeff Hardy debuting at the end was great, I think them cutting off the action gives you that "tune in next week to find out what happens" feeling. It was funny to see RAW hesitating to go off after they had clearly put up the closing logo. It seemed as if they wanted to stay on as long as possible to get people not to turn over being that TNA was still on.

That's all I can think of now, but I say good show for TNA on their first Monday. Just kinda sucks that WWE can see what TNA has in store for next week to determine if they have to do anything worth anything. WWE is going to have the upper hand on the non-live weeks.

 

[psykohurricane]

I'm not going to review the whole broadcast right now because let's face it, i didn't watch the whole broadcast since i was watching Raw and i only turn to IMPACT during the commercial break but from what i saw, it was a hit and miss affair last night.

The first thing am going to review is the opening segment, First of all, i really don'T want to see either Hogan or Flair wrestles ever again, Flair almost killed himself by taking that back body drop from abyss, if it wasn'T for abyss overthrowing Flair so that he could land on his side, Flair would have landed on his head. Hogan wasn'T able to take one solid bump the whole time he was in the ring. Having said that, even if i saw Sting's turn a mile away as soon as he came to the ring, it was still a nice segment and having him treaten Dixie Carter was pure gold. Then i didn'T see the whole x-division match but it look like something i might enjoy when i watch the replay on thursday, but i did see the triple threat match for the knockout tag team championship, and what a predictable affair this was. If you didn'T see a mile away that the beautiful people were going to win the belt then you are much be blind. The match was pretty on part with the diva'S match that the WWE did at the beginning of Raw.

Another i saw was the return of RVD to pro wrestling. I understood why they did this but they could have easily did this with somebody else. RVD wins in 20 seconds with a move that he never wins with then get beat up by Sting just so that Hogan come to save him. This segment pretty much overshadowed RVD who at that point in time was getting the biggest pop of the night.

I didn't watch the rest of the show and i'm waiting to see the replay on Thursday to talk about it further but from what i read, the worst portion of the show was the last hour but i did see the ending of the show this morning and again way to kill any momemtum Jeff Hardy could have had. The end the show before Hardy finish saving hogan. Why? This was a stupid move, you don'T think that people will tune in the see if Jeff was able to save the face or if he miss the swanton and get beat up by the heel.

Like i said i will give a better review of the show on friday but from what i saw, they had some good things and some bad things on the show which in the words of Eric Bischoff means that they had something for everybody.

 

[gd]

I did some flipping back and forth last night, but for the most part I found myself watching TNA.

I missed the beginning and tuned in during the Kaz promo, which wasn't that bad actually. The whole segment put the X Division over and gave us a hell of a match for free TV. Shannon Moore has nice hair, not really a big name though.

KO's Tag Title match was alright. Obviously the BP should have won though. If their title reign is half as good as Angelina's singles run was, it should be quite entertaining. LOL at JB celebrating in the back. I love him.

The RVD arrival was a great moment. Even though I knew who was coming, I couldn't help but get excited. All of the complaints about him being "buried by Sting" and all that are quite stupid. It was a fantastic segment and the way Sting basically just destroyed everyone was freaking badass. I'm real excited for this new character.

I actually like how the Nash v. Hall and Waltman thing has gone. Hall is still the coolest wrestler ever. Great promo from him and great crotch chops from Waltman. Big match for EY as well. He needed something like that.

The Angle/Anderson feud gets better and better each and every week. With the soldiers lining the ring, the whole thing just seemed so intense. Great buildup for this match thus far.

Beer Money v. Jarrett was pretty stupid. I assume they are trying to get BM over as heels for the tag title match, but why weren't Morgan or Hernandez anywhere to be seen? And what was the point of Foley?

I almost threw up when I saw Brooke on my TV. Channel changed.

By this point, I was more interested in Vince/Cena, but I did catch parts of the tag match. Hogan and Flair looked quite pathetic in there. Hopefully we don't see much more of them in the ring. The Hardy return was definetly awesome though. I'm not sure if he's actually going to be sticking around, but if he does, that's HUGE for TNA.

Overall, very solid show from TNA here. However, just like 1/4, it may be the excitement of the moment and all the surprises that have caused all the excitement. Hopefully they're able toe keep this up for awhile and string a few good shows together. That would be promising.

 

[robroy1977]

According to Pwinsider.com, Impact only did a 1.0 last night! That is a terrible rating with all the hype of the Hogan and Flair match. Also to signing of RVD was all over the internet. It might me too jammed packed for TNA to survive on Mondays. They better draw fans quick, or they are gonna be drawing sub 1.0's when Monday Night Football is back on.

 

[BladeRunner]

According to Pwinsider.com, Impact only did a 1.0 last night! That is a terrible rating with all the hype of the Hogan and Flair match. Also to signing of RVD was all over the internet. It might me too jammed packed for TNA to survive on Mondays. They better draw fans quick, or they are gonna be drawing sub 1.0's when Monday Night Football is back on.

Hmm it's not a terrible rating it's just an average rating. They generally get around 1's, sometimes 1.5's but rarely.

It seems from what I've seen, that the core audience is always there. And that would be the 1.0's. No matter if it's live, on thursdays, or on monday's it always gets it's core audience. Anything past that 1.0 mark is the people they're trying to bring in. Which they haven't really gained as much as they've hoped for when Hogan came aboard.


It depends on how you look at it, but I think not losing your core audience to RAW even though it's pretty close to wrestlemania, isn't exactly a bad thing.

It's just that trying to get those extra people to watch, to get it past that 1.0, has been TNA's biggest difficulty.