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

[MisterRob]

I have to really start asking what the hell is TNA's problem with Desmond Wolfe? No one can say the guy's not getting buried now, he lost to Brian f'ing Kendrick! Week after week they just keep making him lose and do nothing with his character, what an f'ing waste of talent. And instead you have Abyss, whose uninteresting and cheesy even now with the altering of his character's direction, getting pushed to the moon and having the show basically revolve around him. TNA really hasn't a clue.

Good to see the Pope finally back and I'm looking forward to him as a permanent fixture once again on the show; although I think it's a horrible idea to have his come back a match and quite likely a loss to Kurt Angle. This angle from Kurt is suppose to be benefitting others, right? It's suppose to be helping to build his opponents as he climbs the ladder to the top, right? I don't see how that's happening at all. Kaz didn't gain anything from losing to Kurt Angle and being knocked out of the top ten and their match certainly wasn't anything memorable. Desmond Wolfe was basically jobbed (a continuation of his burial) and gained absolutely nothing from it, it was really just a meaningless match to progress Angle further. I don't see Pope gaining anything from losing to Kurt Angle at the PPV either, and it hasn't been built into being anything that'll be memorable. I'm feeling like this angle of Kurt's isn't much of a success so far, especially not considering the potential it actually had to help younger stars.

AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe was fine, although Joe's still lost in the mix and this didn't change that. Styles angle with Flair/Kaz continues, but I can't find myself giving a crap at all about Kaz or Styles having a match with him. Even with Flair at his side Kaz can't get over or become anything people care about.

Motorcity Machine Guns vs. Ink Inc. was fine, but how did the booking of this match make MMG look anything but weak going into the PPV? Several times during the match it was implied Ink Inc. had the victory, and the only reason MMG really won was because of Brother Ray's distraction, and then they were overshadowed by the whole Dudleys/Ink Inc. angle. This was a piss poor way to build upto the PPV match to crown a new World tag team champions. When your title match gets less build and the teams look less impressive then some boring feud between the old Dudleyz and a bland team like Ink Inc, there's a problem. Shouldn't the feud around the tag team titles be the most important feud of the tag team division? Clearly this is Russo booking because titles seem to be just props and nothing else of much value.

Madison Rayne/Taylor Wilde was forgettable, especially with the arrival of the ECW group to overshadow and steal all attention away from the match going on. Good job TNA! I really hate groups of people coming through the crowd now, especially when they just sit there and then do nothing, it's been done so many times in the past during invasion-type angles its completely lost it's value. They need to come up with more creative ways to do this. But honestly, I am not looking forward to an ECW invasion at all. Why bother?

I don't even have a problem with TNA doing an invasion angle at the same time WWE is with NXT. That doesn't bother me at all, because the angles are so completely different in how they're being done and it proves why WWE's angle with NXT is successful compared to the very clear potential for ECW's angle being a complete flop. WWE has a different twist on the angle in the motivation behind why the NXT are doing it. They also, most importantly, are doing it with YOUNG talent. They're using it to build and get over younger stars, while TNA is using old veterans who are past their prime. Unless this angle leads to somehow implementing and pushing younger talent (and Abyss alone doesn't count as younger talent) then I don't see how this angle will have any long term merit for TNA as a whole, and that's the problem with it. If you're not developing something of value that can be an asset to the future of the company, then it's just a waste of time.

Sting's segment was also funny, unintentionally. That made it not work for me at all. But at least I've been right all along with what this angle's about. I really wish it was just over, to be honest.

At least TNA was consistent in developing their feuds and storylines from one week to the next, I'll give them some props for that. I don't like the build up to the PPV though, and it hasn't made me inclined at all to purchase the PPV. I give this week's Impact a rating of: C!

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Very noticeable increase in the ratings for TNA this week with a final .99 cable rating (1.3 million viewers) coming in for last Thursday's iMPACT! broadcast which is up from the previous weeks' averages of around .80 (where TNA has been going head-to-head with the NBA Finals).

While not in the realm of RAW or SmackDown!, a .99 (1.0) is an acceptable number if you ask me, all things considered, and the rise could be a result of how solid the booking has been over the last few weeks. Tonight's overnight and the week following Victory Road should give us a clearer picture regarding that.

In addition to the 1.0 rating, the second hour of the show jumped up to a 1.05 rating, and the three highest rated quarter-hours closed the show. Good news for TNA if ya ask me.

 

[Pone]

Not a big fan of the storylines but the in-ring action tonight has been AWESOME!!

TNA! TNA! TNA! TNA!

 

[The Main Event]

the whole show was damn good ... good stoylines and pretty good matches ..
TNA is Actuly get better and better each week ..
i really enjoy iMPACT! ...

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Thought it was a fantastic culmination episode of iMPACT! that also gave us quite a few solid wrestling matches – namely the three-way tag-match with Morgan/BMI v. MCMG/Hernandez, RVD v. Samoa Joe (fantastic match) and even the Williams/Buck match was well received and warranted.

Everything had a purpose tonight – everything furthered it's respective story. Minimal Hogan, no Bischoff, no OJ, no Terry, and we even got a MCMG match!

iMPACT! FTW!

 

[Kenny Powers]

Pretty good Impact tonight. If I was a betting man I would be solid money on Angelina Love, Motor City, and Mr. Anderson to win Sunday. Along with Angle and Morgan. Samoa Joe vs. RVD was a pretty good match for free TV. It was great to see Daffney back and to see Motor City have a match. Williams vs. Buck was a decent match, I wont be surprised to see Williams come out victorious again. Ric Flair and Jay Lethal had another great promo. There is really no way in hell Flair is winning this match Sunday. I don't think Angelina Love will be leaving TNA anytime soon either. The same can be said about Angle. It was too bad we didn't see more from Angle and Pope, but the promo last week was good enough. It looks like we will have 8 to 9 matches for the event. I'm excited about everyone of them except maybe the Team 3D/ Jesse Neal triple threat. Dixie is supposed to have a big surprise just having meet someone special. I hope the surprise relates to wrestling and not her meeting some Twilight douche. Can't wait for Victory Road.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

TNA iMPACT - July 8, 2010

Thumbs Up

AJ Styles vs. Kazarian - This was a really solid 6 minute match between these two. It started off with an impressive armdrag sequences and both wrestlers looked strong. Last night was the strongest I've seen Kazarian look in a very long time. I like the double countout ending as neither guy came off looking bad, but I think that it would have had even more impact if the match had lasted longer. Still, it was a good effort from them both. The post match "pep talk" with Flair saying that the two were going to team up at the ppv was a bit of a let down for me. Even though it's a mystery who they're going to face, you can almost guarantee that Styles and Kazarian are going to lose.

Rob Van Dam vs. Samoa Joe - This was a damn good match and easily the best of the night. I think that this is the first match that RVD has wrestled on TNA iMPACT! that delivered on being something of a dream match. Joe and RVD both looked really strong. The match did have something of a "throwaway" feel to it for me, however, becuase the TNA Ranking System pretty much guarantees that RVD isn't going to have any long lasting feuds. Still, it was a really good 11 minute match.

Motor City Machine Guns & Hernandez vs. Beer Money, Inc. & Matt Morgan - This was a pretty solid 6 man match, though nothing particularly memorable. I think 6 man matches need to be more than 6 minutes in order to really make an impact, but it was pretty decent overall. It was nice to see Beer Money get a win without having to resort to some sort of interference, which hasn't happened in a while. Given the amount of punishment Chris Sabin took during the match and the loss, it looks like the Guns are going to be walking out of the ppv as the champs. Otherwise, it'll just be a huge disappointment as fans have been ready for a long time to see Sabin and Shelly carry the straps.

Hogan & Abyss Kept To A Minimum - This is the first episode of iMPACT! in a very long time in which Hogan and Abyss haven't been the center of attention and that was a huge plus in my opinion. Hogan was briefly shown in a backstage segment talking to Kevin Nash that lasted about 2 minutes and that was all we saw of him. Abyss only made an appearance after the Hardy/Anderson match and it worked well. I know this wasn't a match or a segment or anything, but not having Hogan & Abyss all over the show for once was something I really enjoyed.

Thumbs Down

Opening Segment - I though the opening segment of last night's iMPACT! fell kinda flat. Anderson was out there with Hardy explaining about the chairshot last week and all that, being all cutesy and saying asshole about every 10 seconds. The fans popped whenever he said it and I couldn't help but think how little it takes to keep some people entertained. I'm just over the asshole bit. Hardy mostly just stood in the ring laughing and grinning like a goon and, while Anderson was solid on the mic, I just didn't get into this all that much.

Angelina Love vs. Daffney - Pretty lame Knockout match. This was the first time we've seen Daffney in a while, so of course that means she's going to lose and she did. It was pretty much a 2 minute squash match. The post match promo with Angelina Love & Madison Rayne was truly yawn worthy. I don't know why TNA wanted to add a stipulation in which Angelina's career is put on the line against Madison's title at the ppv. Everyone knows that Angelina Love isn't going anywhere and TNA certainly can't afford to lose another decent worker in the Knockout Division. So if you need to take any piss breaks at the ppv, take one here as you know Angelina is walking out with the strap.

Douglas Williams vs. Jeremy Buck - I'm not a big fan of throwaway ladder matches and that's all this was. It lasted about 4.5 minutes and nothing remotely memorable or relevant happened. Buck did a few flips, hit a few high spots and that was pretty much it. Having Buck win the match doesn't make things look promising for Williams at the ppv and Kendrick didn't even appear on the show. He's up against Williams for the X-Division title at the ppv Sunday and they don't feature him at least cutting a lame promo or running interference in the match costing Williams the win on the go home show to Victory Road? Meh, just kinda lame.

Jay Lethal & Ric Flair - I know that some people like this and all, but I've never really gotten enthusiastic about it. I'm glad that Jay Lethal is finally getting a push and I know that Flair's work on the mic has been good, but I'm just not feeling this. And yes, the age thing does have a helluva lot to do with it. Guilty as charged because I just can't get into a feud in which the two combatants have an age gap of 36 years. It just does not interest me and I'm not the least bit ashamed to say it. If Flair beats Lethal, then Lethal is pretty much going to be a running joke for a while. If Lethal beats Flair, all he's succeeded in is beating up a broken down old man. No thanks.

Jeff Hardy vs. Mr. Anderson - Probably the second lamest match of the night after the Knockout match. It lasted about 3.5 minutes and resulted in Hardy scoring yet another win over Anderson. I honestly can't remember the last time Anderson won a match in TNA, so don't be surprised to see him walk out of Victory Road as TNA World Heavyweight Champion.

Overall Show - Thumbs Up - I thought this was a pretty good go home show overall. What I liked most about the show, however, is that other stuff was made the focus of the show instead of whatever Hulk Hogan was involved in and there were some pretty good matches. There's some stuff going on that I didn't particularly care for at all. I'm not going to order the ppv as I'm only just starting to see TNA making some progress. For me, the lack of Hogan and a few quality matches made the show watchable. I'm giving last night's iMPACT! a 7.5 out of 10.

 

[klunderbunker]

Impact
Date: July 8, 2010
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz
Episode Title: Friends Till The End?

We open up with a video of Anderson. Isn’t this like the third or fourth time in about 6 weeks? It focuses on the question of is Anderson really a good guy or did he hit Hardy with the chair last week on purpose?

He comes out with a chair as the arena looks different for some reason. The ring looks HUGE for some reason. He brings out Hardy who looks straight into a camera without it being on him. Some things never change. Anderson says he didn’t do it on purpose and Jeff isn’t sure if he believes him. Did you know Anderson is an asshole? I didn’t know if you knew that Anderson is an asshole. I just want to make it clear that Anderson is an asshole.

The Impact Zone is full of assholes. Wouldn’t that mean it’s empty? They have a match tonight and Anderson is going to bring the chair. It’s up to Hardy if he wants to use it. Instead of this being a serious promo like it should have been, Anderson kept cracking jokes.

AJ complains about Flair. Shocking.

Hardy says we’ll find out about Anderson later.

Kazarian vs. AJ Styles

As was said in the LD, this match already? AJ throws the rope down and storms the ring as AJ’s pyro goes off while the match has already started. It’s stuff like that which makes TNA look low level. They couldn’t stop it from going off when there’s no one there? RVD vs. Joe later which I’ve heard is really good. Flair comes out as of course this is all about impressive Flair instead of actual competition.

The fans seem to look towards Flair more here of course. AJ goes for the Clash and is reversed. This is looking a lot more like the AJ of old when he was the best in the world. That’s a damn good sign. Fans WAY behind AJ in this. It’s rare that I say this but this is a solid match. You can tell both guys are working hard out there which is the best thing you can ask for. Kaz hits kind of a springboard X-Factor onto the apron. The brawl on the floor causes a double countout which is fine.

They go at it even more after the match and Flair plays peacemaker. He dangles Foursome at them like it’s a damn carrot. At Victory Road it’s these two against a mystery team.

Rating: B. I liked this a lot. The ending makes sense to me as instead of having one guy lose they pushed both guys at the same time. I don’t like the Flair thing but the match itself was great. I’d rather see them at the PPV instead of a tag match but whatever. What Flair wants, Flair gets I guess.

Angelina Love is topless with her back to us.

Daffney vs. Angelina Love

Daffney looks great here. Something tells me this isn’t going to go long. This is all Love so far as you would expect. She hits a World’s Strongest Slam and then a second. Thanks for that. A Downward Spiral ends it in like 90 seconds. Love calls out Rayne and says she doesn’t have the balls to be here. I’d hope not. Rayne is here though, making Love look like an idiot. She makes it title vs. career because wrestlers can clearly have control over other wrestlers’ contracts with the company right. If Lacey or Skye interfere then the title changes.

Rating: N/A. Good to see Daffney back again, but I’m not sure what’s going to happen on Sunday. I want to see someone other than a big chested blonde as champion though. The match was nothing more than dominance once more time though. I would have gone with a handicap against the other BP but that’s just me.

D-Von is going to talk to Bubba tonight.

We recap the whole Neal vs. Dudleys thing which is going on way too long but it’s better than the Dudleys having random tags I guess.

D-Von and Ink Inc are in the ring. He asks for Bubba to come down so we can straighten this out. Yeah I’m sure this is going to go swimmingly. Ray won’t get in the ring and I really hope Gelgarin was right when he said this is going to be a big swerve. D-Von gets all preachy and says how hard Neal has had it. Is he Lucky Cannon or something?

Ray questions D-Von’s loyalty since Ray is the leader apparently. D-Von says he never picks sides. Other than when he sided with Bubba or the Alliance or WWF or anything like that. At Victory Road it’s Bubba vs. D-Von vs. Neal. Can they just do the tag that you know is coming?

Rob Van Dam vs. Samoa Joe

This is non-title. Joe thinks he should be #4 instead of #6. Taz says this should be a ratings draw. That’s a Russo line if I’ve ever heard one since it’s about the “real” stuff. Also, we’re getting the world champion on TV? I can’t believe it! They slug it out and Van Dam hits a SWEET spinkick to the face. That looked great. Muscle Buster doesn’t work so he just throws him off the corner to the floor. I love that Joe chant too.

The ECW guys are here and completely take the focus off the match. They’re beating the hell out of each other here and it’s a very physical and back and forth match. Tazz continues to deny knowing anything about the ECW guys. The ECW guys cheer RVD so that likely means nothing. Joe’s eyes are great looking here as he looks gone.

Joe counters a bunch of stuff into the choke and Van Dam is in trouble. He doesn’t have the legs though so he’s not dead yet. RVD goes Hart/Warrior and walks up the corner to backflip into a pin. That looked sick but it worked. It keeps Joe looking strong too though as he didn’t get beaten as much as he got caught.

Rating: B+. Very solid match here and the key thing here is like I said: it kept Joe looking solid. Joe showed he’s still got it and we get to see the world champion. This worked very well and while it’s not as great as the announcers make it out to be, it still was indeed very good.

Joe beats up the referee post match, continuing his tweener role.

Angle likes pressure.

Jeremy Buck vs. Douglas Williams

For absolutely no reason at all this is a ladder match. Considering he has an Ultimate X match on Sunday, the ladder makes no sense at all. Doug is afraid of heights apparently. This is another example of why TNA has sucked since Hogan has shown up. Everyone was high on Gen ME when they showed up and they stole the show at Destination X. Now they’re jobbers that show up once a month if they’re lucky.

This show is just dragging. It feels like I’ve been watching this for like 9 hours now. Buck gets his spots in and is standing toe to toe with Williams here. He hits the sunset flip powerbomb thing, kicks Williams in the head…and wins the match. WHAT THE HELL???

Rating: F+. For a regular match this was good. For a ladder match on the other hand this was just bad. The booking is idiotic too. I get that it’s going to be a problem for him to climb the X thing on Sunday. That makes sense. So instead here you have him rip Buck apart with submissions so he can do a long slow climb. TNA of course has him lose to make him look completely horrible going into the show after how much Kendrick has dominated him. This is just idiotic.

We get clips of the New York house show that I’ve heard mixed reviews on.

The MCMG do a funny thing running down Beer Money.

Motor City Machine Guns/Hernandez vs. Matt Morgan/Beer Money

This is the MCMG highlight reel to start which is fine. I have a bad feeling that Beer Money gets the belts again this weekend though, which would just be annoying. There isn’t much to say here. Hernandez gets the hot tag and Morgan runs from him. They go off and after the Guns go insane on Roode, he catches a cross body in a roll through for the pin. That just killed the momentum dead. I have a bad feeling about that match.

Rating: C+. This needed more time. That’s all there is to it. With six guys in there at once it was just too much to have time for everyone to get in. This could have been better with more time but that being said it wasn’t horrible. It did get both guys some development in their feuds though so I can’t complain much there.

Nash is in the office waiting on Bischoff. Hogan comes in and is mad at Nash for Hall and Waltman. We hear about the Nasty Boys as this is making limited sense and next to none to people that don’t know the inner workings or whatever we think we know of them.

Jay Lethal is in the ring. He talks about how this Sunday is so big to him and about his sick mom. He more or less dedicates his senior beatdown to his mom. And here’s Flair to make sure he gets one more segment than almost everyone else on the roster. He rambles about his robe being in the Smithsonian. No one knows him and his psychiatrist says so. He raves on and on but for some reason this one doesn’t bother me as much.

We run down the card to fill in time which is fine for a go home show.

Mr. Anderson vs. Jeff Hardy

Any bets on who wins here? Upon further review, his last singles match pin was on Valentine’s Day. Crowd is split here. This isn’t much at all and is mainly just punches and attempts at finishers. Anderson misses a Swanton and Jeff hits a Twist of Fate to end it in about 3 minutes.

Post match it’s Abyss time with that board he made last week. The referee takes it from him and down go the faces. RVD comes out for the save (despite both other guys being out already). He gets thrown but Anderson cracks Abyss with a chair after he tells Hardy to get out of the way. Van Daminator to Abyss puts him down and the three faces stand tall.

Rating: N/A. Well since Anderson looks completely worthless now I’d bet on him being a favorite in the main event on Sunday. This was WAY too short to mean anything and I have no idea what the point of this was supposed to be. It didn’t advance anything and it didn’t go anywhere. I don’t get it as usual.

Overall Rating: B. For a go home show, this worked and it worked very well. All of the feuds were well advanced and nothing was really bad other than the ladder match and the idiotic booking behind it. The main thing I liked about this though was the effort. The guys were out there working hard and it looked like a much better show because of it. This worked and it worked well. Good show.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Last Thursday's iMPACT! pulled in a 1.14 rating (1.5 million viewers) – despite going head-to-head with LeBron's "Fuck You, Cleveland" special on EPSN, and for the second-or-third-straight week topped a 1.0 for an overall average.

Best yet, the show peaked in the final quarter-hour with a 1.21 rating.

Things are on the up-and-up if you ask me.

 

[Joe's Gonna Kill You]

July 8th episode of Impact scored a 1.14 with an average audience of 1.5 million viewers. The quarter hour break down is 1.07 1.11 1.13 1.11 1.17 1.13 1.19 1.21. I think that this great news for Tna this a very good rating and the first time in awhile they scored a 1.0 with out it being rounded up to 1.0. Most people people expected the rating to go down this week as did I since it went up against Lebron James decision. Over last couple of Impact's the total amount of viewers as gone up, this is great news and it seems they are regaining part of they audience they lost by going head to head with Raw

 

[shattered dreams]

This is definitely good news. Not only are they building their audience back up but they have managed to turn around the problem where the audience shrinks over the course of the show instead of grows. I wonder how long it will take people to admit they having been doing a lot right on impact recently?

 

[mr.13013]

I don't know if anyone noticed this or mentioned it yet but during the Sarita vs. Taylor Wilde street fight Taz made a funny comment. As Sarita choked Taylor with a purse strap Taz said "That will get you fired in some companies." He was making reference to Daniel Bryan getting fired for choking a WWE ring announcer during the first NXT invasion. I thought this was very amusing and maybe Daniel Bryan or Bryan Danielson will think so too and make his way to TNA!

13013

 

[info62]

Might as well write a review here before the negative ones come flooding in.

I don't know about anybody else but I really enjoyed this episode. The first segemnt with Abyss was definitely... out there. It was kind of interesting though despite the crowd chant that made me roll my eyes. It did its point by making Abyss look like a psycho.

The Sarita/Taylor Wilde match was pretty awesome, it really looked like they really hated each other. I loved it and that's saying a lot, as I usually can't really get into women's matches.

One little complaint I had was Nash... he was in what, three segments tonight? I don't think the segment with Ms. Tesse-whatever was that critical to the programming, they could have axed that to give more time to one of the matches. Oh well.

I thought the Kendrick/Williams match was great (Nash burying Kendrick right afterwards was disappointing though), the MCMG/Beer Money match was great and I liked the ending which allowed BM to get the win with MCMG still looking strong. Morgan/Pope was... really really short. I do really like the idea of Morgan feuding with Anderson, I'm a fan of them both. And it will be interesting how Pope fits into the feud.

Brutus Magnus got a lil makeover. I like him for some reason, so I hope it works out for him. Joe is trying to help Terry get over with the crowd, I think. I'm trying to give Terry a chance since he has been improving.

It didn't make me happy to see Lethal losing his match with Hardy straight after defeating Flair. I hope TNA plans on continuing his push!

It was nice to see Velvet breaking away from Rayne. It's no secret that TBP have fallen since the Visa issue thing with Angelina.

And of course... the ECW dudes. It was nice to see that "they" were not the ECW guys. I'm very interested in finding out who "they" are, and seeing how Sting is connected to this. I think it has potential.

This week made me excited for the next episode. I was very happy with it. I think some of the people on this site are way too negative about every thing TNA does. Oh well. Here's hoping that next week is even better.

 

[rondiesel2005]

I am sure those of you watched TNA tonight and i want to talk about what happen the the last hour of TNA.... Is it just me or Jeff Hardy put in weight every week??? at the end of the show when the ECW guys came out, i was surprise that officials came out to even wrestle with ECW then ofc we see Dixie said she invited them, are we suppose to be surprise about that??? what do ya'll think?

 

[Kenny Powers]

There is definitely a lot of discussion about tonight's Impact whether it is good or bad. The good thing is that people are starting to talk more about TNA then just dismissing them as second rate as usual. Even though I can see that still happens. As a TNA fan I have no problem pointing out flaws for shows or even PPVs. Overall the ending was a little confusing but it left me interested to see what happens next. I know everyone will say its a ripoff and ECW is dead, but I am interested to see ECW get a real send off for once.

We haven't seen anything interesting from the ECW originals since 05/06. If TNA hires back the former ECW guys for one night it will be either good or bad depending on who is there. I'm not sure if "they" is who Abyss is referring too, but it probably is. "They" just turned on Abyss and the rest of the TNA originals. Since Dixie Carter is in charge of bringing the ECW guys in it adds even more intrigue. We still have many Impacts to go for them to explain this angle.

I enjoyed the action tonight with Motor City Machine Guns taking on Beer Money in another classic tag match. There were so many ladder spots I lost count. These 4 men could have any kind of match and it would be flawless. They are in a best of 5 match series and I'm looking forward to every one of them.

For the Knockouts we got to see Sarita and Taylor Wilde mop the floor with each other all over the Impact zone while Madison Rayne broke away from the beautiful people and became her own woman. I really don't understand why Williams and Kendrick had a non title I quit match, or why Rob Terry was involved in what could of been a classic match between Samoa Joe and Wolfe.

Dinero had a good win against Morgan with Anderson interfering in the end. I'm glad they didn't just forget the angle months ago of Anderson taking out the Pope. I'm not sure why Jay Lethal lost to Jeff Hardy after beating Ric Flair. I guess that is TNA's way of saying Lethal is up there, but not quite a main eventer yet. Abyss and his "girl" Janice is overkill, but at least he doesn't have that magical HOF ring.

This was a more enjoyable show for me tonight, nothing beyond spectacular. I will say that the Guns vs. Beer Money match was one the best matches I have seen on Impact in a while. The Invasion angle was good but still too early to tell. It wasn't anything groundbreaking since everyone pretty much knew it was going to happen. Take away the element of surprise and the fact that Nexus is running a similar angle around the same time then it would probably be more noteworthy then it is.

Its nothing worthy to argue about, which is better?: Nexus or ECW Invasion 2 since both angles will probably be over with in a few months or less.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

TNA iMPACT! - July 15, 2010

Thumbs Up

Motor City Machine Guns vs. Beer Money, Inc. - This was easily the match of the night and may very well be the best match featured on TNA iMPACT! this year. At 10 minutes, it was a little short but it was a damn fine 10 minutes. I like the best of 5 series idea as it makes each match have meaning and these are easily the two best teams in TNA. Having a ladder match as the first match in the series struck me as a bit odd, but it was a really good match. The ending with Beer Money stealing the win, with James Storm hitting Shelley with a beer bottle after he'd pulled down the contract, was a great touch and will definitely keep this thing hot. Overall, an excellent match.

The Beautuful People & Angelina Love - This was the longest overall promo segment of the night and I gave it a thumbs up because Velvet Sky, Madison Rayne and Angelina Love are all three pretty compotent and comfortable on the mic. I do think that the segment dragged on much longer than it needed to and all of these hotties seem about as threatening as a cloudy day. But all of them looked drop dead gorgeous during the whole thing, so it was great for the eyecandy and some decent mic work. It also cleared up any possible doubt that Lacey Von Erich is in TNA only for her looks. She stood in the ring the entire time like a big, dumb knot on a log. A mouthwateringly gorgeous knot on a log, but a knot on a log just the same. It was a decent segment overall.

Thumbs Down

The First Hour - The first 55-60 minutes of TNA iMPACT! last night was just flat. The opening segment with Abyss was pretty corny. He brings out a 2x4 with nails all in it that he calls Janice, uses it to beat on a side of beef, breaks the board and proceeds to bite some bits out of the meat. Just really over the top and corny. Not as corny as Abyss being a 350 pound 10 year old with a magic ring, but still corny. Abyss actually gave a pretty solid promo and they should have just left it at that, but all the stuff with Janice and the neurotic evil laugh just killed it. The street fight with Taylor Wilde & Sarita was just sloppy and uninteresting. I don't know why these two are pissed at each other, nor has TNA really given any explanation. The match consisted of primarily punches and slamming each other against stuff. These are the two best in-ring workers in the Knockout Division and I'd much rather see them in an actual match. Street fights between women just don't get me up. I kept hoping that Taylor Wilde's tits were gonna pop out of her top but, alas, my dreams of accidental nudity were quashed. The I Quit match between Brian Kendrick and Douglas Williams was extremely forgettable and didn't really make much sense. It was a non-title, I Quit match that saw Williams quitting around the 4 minute mark. Lastly, we had a triple threat match between Samoa Joe, Rob Terry & Desmond Wolfe that was also quite quick and forgettable. Joe spent 90% of the 4 minute match outside the ring while Terry was in the ring boring everyone to sleep. Joe hits the rear naked choke on Desmond Wolfe for the win. As I said, the first hour of iMPACT! last night was just flat and uninteresting with forgettable matches that were odd in and of themselves.

D'Angelo Dinero vs. Matt Morgan - There's not really much you can say about the match. They got in the ring, the bell rang, they did some offense and the match was over 90 seconds later with The Pope scoring a clean win. The aftermath with Anderson coming down to the ring and playing the whole "will he or won't he" thing with Dinero just felt lame to me. It probably sets up a match between Morgan & Anderson. While I'm on the subject of Anderson, how is it that he's the #3 contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship when he hasn't won a match in about 4 months? I guess as long as he keeps saying he's an asshole, the TNA Cast Members will keep voting for him.

Jeff Hardy vs. Jay Lethal - This was the main event match for iMPACT! and, like other iMPACT! main events, the match was entirely forgettable and fell far short of its potential. It lasted about 4 minutes and, while it was a decent 4 minutes, it just didn't have a main event feel. I don't know why TNA booked Lethal to lose cleanly to Jeff Hardy in this quick little match while hyping him as a strong force coming off his win against Ric Flair. Lethal needed this match much more than Jeff Hardy did, especially since Jeff Hardy has no chance of being involved in any sort of significant, long term feud or title run until his legal troubles are over.

ECW Invasion - I've heard from people that this came off much better than The Nexus angle and that's complete and utter bullshit. It's completely lacked the element of surprise of The Nexus and just gave me another "TNA's brought in another group of old guys to milk the nostalgia factor" feel about it. The way that they had virtually the entire TNA locker room hit the ring during the brawl, Jeff Jarrett trying to calm everyone down, Dixie Carter already coming out and addressing everyone, etc. felt like they crammed so much in. It seemed that TNA tried to cram a good 3 or 4 weeks of potential storyline into a single 10 minute segment, which makes me think that they're going to rush through this thing quickly. It didn't have the epic feel to it that's been hyped, not even by a long shot.

Overall Show - Thumbs Down - As I said, the first hour of the show fell flat. The matches in and of themselves were odd in the sense that some of them seemed to be matches that are meant to close out feuds and they were forgettable at that. Street fights, I Quit matches & Triple Threat matches that last 3-4 minutes a piece just don't work and the signifigance of the matches were completely flushed down the toilet. The only true bright spot on last night's show was the match between the MCMGs & Beer Money, Inc. It was a fantastic match and was the only truly stand out portion of the show. Also, as I said, the ECW Invasion already feels like it's being rushed as several weeks worth of potential segments were crammed into a single one last night. Last night's iMPACT! was not the epic that some fans and even some wrestling journalists have hyped it out to be, not by a long shot. Overall, I give last night's show a 6 out of 10. One killer match surrounded by a lot of meh.

 

[MisterRob]

The Good

Beer Money vs. Motor City Machine Guns: This was really the only thing I actually enjoyed about Impact this week. The match was good and I definitely like this best of five series that’ll showcase some tag team wrestling around the titles finally. I’m looking forward to more of this. The only problem I have is the fact that every match is a gimmick match, it’s entirely unnecessary. These two teams could have great matches, each one unique and different, without gimmicks thrown in to overshadow the actual wrestling.

I also enjoyed Brutus Magnus returning and him on commentary. I didn’t enjoy the match (and I hated Joe giving Terry silent props when he should’ve turned and killed him), but I definitely enjoyed his commentary during the match and I’m actually looking forward to seeing him back in the mix and seeing where he goes. I for one think Magnus has always had potential and could go places. Hopefully Rob Terry is tossed out of the Global title scene soon and people like Magnus and Desmond Wolfe take over and raise the bar for that title scene because those two involved make me far more interested in it then anything the Global title has been involved with since it’s inception.


The Bad

Gimmick matches: Why does TNA feel the necessity to cram so many gimmick matches into every single Impact? They’ve completely lost meaning now because they do so many so much. Last night we saw a ladder match, an I Quit match, and a street fight all on the 2 hour Impact. And then when Mike Tenay was promoting matches for next week there’s another street fight between Beer Money and MCM and it had me rolling my eyes.

The First Hour: I have to agree with others that the first hour of Impact totally fell flat for me and I really was no interested. The opening segment with Abyss showing off his new friend Janice (and then hilariously breaking it by accident) actually had me turn the station for a while.

The street fight felt like it had no meaning because no one even knows why these two former friends and former tag team partners are viciously fighting one another, so it was hard to really get behind two random girls brawling pointlessly. Taylor Wilde and Sarita could be used in such better ways, ways that could showcase their actual ability in the ring, rather then just another example of some meaningless hardcore attitude TNA now has. Hardcore died a long time ago, let it be.

I really didn’t understand the rematch between Doug Williams and Brian Kendrick, having Williams, the X Division champion, look weak by quitting in the ring in 4 minutes, and then having Kevin Nash come out and squash Kendrick with one move. It really made the whole match seem meaningless and both wrestlers involved second rate. Anytime Jeff Jarrett is in the ring I always have the urge to turn the station, this time was no different, although Kevin Nash I always enjoy on the mic so I bore through the promo.

Beautiful People Segment: Others may have liked this but I really didn’t. I’m a fan of Velvet Sky and I enjoyed her in this segment because she has a great look and she can also talk quite well. She was the only saving grace of the segment though, and I really found it all boring and some parts just strange. Madison Rayne went from a lackey in the Beautiful People to suddenly trying to take over and now being on her own with Tara (the biker chick); I haven’t been impressed with Madison at all and I don’t see why she’s getting a push. She was totally overshadowed by Sky tonight in her ability to cut a promo, and I really have no interest seeing Angelina Love vs. Madison Rayne continue.

Also, while Sky and Madison were arguing over Beautiful People business I kept thinking to myself… why doesn’t Velvet Sky point out the fact that her and Angelina Love actually made the Beautiful People and Madison wasn’t even there from the start. The segment just came off totally poorly to me.

ECW Invasion: Anyone who claims this was done better then the Nexus angle is either a TNA mark or just out of their mind. Seriously. The Nexus angle was entirely unpredictable, it felt fresh and different, and it actually had a real feel to it. This angle was just one big brawl, something we’ve seen many times before in TNA. It wasn’t surprising, it wasn’t different, and it dragged on. The fact that it’s all made up of old talent and it’s been done before, even in TNA, does not make me interested in it in the least. I would rather them bring in new talent people have never seen before and push an angle like this, where you really don’t know the ‘why’ or even who they are until it slowly unfolds; at least that would be different and would make me interested. I’m not even intrigued by the ‘why’ here with this ECW invasion, although I do hope they have a good explanation and this actually goes some place in the next few weeks instead of falling flat like is usually the case with TNA.


Overall I give the show a C. There was a lot of wrestling it seemed on the show, which was a nice change, although most of the angles and even the matches seemed to fall flat to me tonight. The X Division and Knockouts Division still need serious work and help, but the tag team division finally seems to be going in the right direction, which is definitely good to see.

 

[Suneeboy]

My review is going to be negative, and that is probably a little unfair and unfortunate because I only watched the first hour of the show. I turned off the program once Desmond Wolfe came out to get treated like a zebra in a lion’s den with Joe and Terry just toying with him…what a crock of shit that was to watch.

TNA is already in the red with me, so my reviews and analysis of any programming will always come with a harsh and heavy hand, until TNA gives me something that I can actually enjoy. So if I don’t like it, I’m going to pour on the distaste without hesitation.

Opening Abyss Promo:
It was creepy, and not in a “Wow he’s so strange and deranged” kind of way…but in a “What the fuck is this bullshit?” type of way. He comes out and eats raw meat? I mean seriously, is that supposed to be entertaining? The promo was good, but the extra little antics were unnecessary, and took it too far into left field. D-

Taylor Wilde vs. Sarita:
One thing the WWE always does is give us a 15 second recap before each segment of why two people are feuding. Why the fuck do Sarita and Wilde hate each other, and why are they in a street fight? They didn’t even go in the ring to do any spots at all, it was just kicking and screaming and punching. Who’s the heel and who’s the face? Then Taz makes the terrible punch line of “You’d get fired in other places for doing that”, in reference to Wilde getting choked out. At this point in time, TNA and Taz especially are in no place to make remarks about the WWE and their policies. They need to focus on their shit product instead of trying to be funny. D-

Kendrick/Williams:
Just sloppy man. Do these guys practice and map out their spots before they do it? It seemed like they just told them 5 minutes before the match that they would have one, and they just came out and did whatever. These two have ZERO chemistry in the ring. I can’t believe how many random elbows they threw as counters to punches and kicks just to kill time. Kendrick was boring in the WWE, and he is even more boring in TNA. Where is Amazing Red, The Young Bucks, Consequences Creed, Kyoshi, and Homicide? Kendrick is just not fun to watch. He’s not believable, and he is too eratic in the ring. Was he wearing a pull up diaper or wrestling trunks? D-

Nash comes out:
Thank you for chokeslamming that cornball Kendrick. He was never shit, so I don’t want anyone to say Nash buried him there. He’s supposed to be buried, he’s 145 lbs in the ring with a 7 footer, who like him or not is a legend. Nash cuts a decent promo that at least calmed me down and made me not want to throw my television out of my window. Jarrett comes out and defends the Hogan regime for no apparent reason. Looks like they are building another angle that won’t have a payoff. C-

3 way Wolfe/Joe/Terry:

Ok we come from break and Wolfe is ALREADY in the ring. That means that he will job and again and be made to look like shit, when he is one of the best workers they have. He put on a GREAT match with Kurt Angle last year, and now he’s relegated to being everyone’s bitch. Man, TNA is tough to watch nowadays. It used to be so good. So Joe and Terry play around with Wolfe like a fucking chew toy and squash him in a few minutes. Chelsea is upset with Wolfe, for what I don’t know. Guess she’s going to leave him soon. Hopefully Wolfe will leave the company soon. F

I think I glanced back at the program to see a masked biker come in and beat up Angelina love. Now why the hell is someone riding a motorcycle into the iMPACT Zone? Where the fuck are they riding it…do you see how narrow the hallways are? Then she keeps the helmet on for the in-ring ambush and beat down? Give me a break TNA, seriously, this is shit. When the crowd in the Impact Zone does give a reaction to something you know its trash. They fucking chanted for Orlando Jordan before. F

My wife and I watched and were just completely turned off and disgusted. I read the results and saw that they are also going to run an invasion angle with over the hill ECW wrestlers who know one gives a shit about any more. Woopty Doo. Another trash angle that will probably not give the viewers any payoff. Just like we don’t know who kidnapped Joe, know why Sting is heel, who this biker chick is, who “They” are, and why Jarrett is defending Hogan. All things that don’t even matter anymore, because none of it even makes any sense…it’s too fucking random and moronic. If they ever do reveal the answers, it could be too little too late.

With that said this was officially the last Impact I will ever watch. I’ll continue to come to this board to read other people’s reviews to see if it is getting good again, but I’m not watching. I’m totally turned off by the product, and disappointed that my once FAVORITE promotion is now complete and total trash. If this is what we can expect more of, the show needs to be cancelled by Spike. I’m back to watching the WWE full time again, which has been VERY entertaining since Wrestlemania.

I hate to say it but I agree with everything Mark Madden has said about TNA, and in retrospect he knew what he was talking about all along. Hogan and Bischoff really fucked TNA up.

 

[Weems2k]

The segment that really bugged me was when Flair was going to announce who the first member Fortune was. They totally hyped that segment up the whole night, and it ends with Abyss coming out to wreak havok. Not really surprised it ended like that though considering it's Russo's booking style.

 

[klunderbunker]

Impact
Date: July 15, 2010
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Taz, Mike Tenay
Episode Title: They’re Here?

So this is the ECW show. Having spoilers come out already, we know that tonight the ECW nostalgia angle or whatever starts up. We’re four days removed from Victory Road which wasn’t nearly as good as people are saying. I have no idea where they go from here, which is a lie but whatever. The show is starting now so let’s get to it.

A recap of Victory Road starts us off. New rankings come out tonight. For the life of me I don’t get how they think Abyss standing tall like that is a good idea but whatever.

We start a best of 5 series between the Guns and Beer Money. Sarita vs. Wilde and Hardy vs. Lethal.

New rankings start us off.

10. Rob Terry
9. Pope
8. Kurt Angle
7. Hernandez
6. AJ Styles
5. Jay Lethal
4. Samoa Joe
3. Mr. Anderson
2. Jeff Hardy
1. Abyss

Well who didn’t see that top three coming?

Here’s Abyss with the board and a side of beef. Yeah that’s what it is: a large quantity of beef. Abyss has a plan for RVD and it’s beyond extreme. He names the board Janice and we’re told that he’s waiting on new orders. He uses the board to beat up the meat which has juice flying all over the camera. Apparently the board is a good cook.

We go to the back and Sarita and Wilde are fighting again in the back. Tenay makes sure to point out that the street fight later will be in the Impact Zone. Sarita shouts about being better than Wilde and I’m trying to figure out what I’m watching. Sarita hooks an armbar and we just go to a commercial.

Back from break and the street fight officially starts.

Taylor Wilde vs. Sarita

Taylor looks a bit shall we say bigger in the pectoral region. This is of course a massive brawl with no flow or structure or anything like that. This is nothing close to a match and it’s just not any good at all. It’s intense though so I’ll give them that. Sarita gets slapped in the boobs. Why not just say fuck it and call it softcore porn? Taylor chucks a chair at Sarita and down she goes.

Sarita goes into the crowd and steals a woman’s purse. She chokes Wilde with the strap of it and Taz points out you can get fired for doing that in some companies. HAHAHA yeah we get it Taz. Don’t be so subtle next time. That ends this whatever.

Rating: N/A. Well it was kind of hot to see girls with big boobs beat each other up but this has Russo written all over it: no structure, no point, and no explanation. It was ok, but it just felt there for the sake of a big fight.

RVD is walking to the ring and giving himself what sounds like a pep talk.

Back from break Miss Tessmacher is in Bischoff’s office and says she’s going to take over. Nash comes in (to a BIG pop oddly enough) and is looking for Eric. He’s not here and Nash hits on Tessmacher.

Brian Kendrick vs. Doug Williams

This is a non-title I Quit match which is the stipulation they should have done on Sunday but for the title. This is really just a normal match with the referee holding a mic. In a cool spot Williams does a slingshot and slams Kendrick’s face into the mat. Williams is beating the hell out of him, meaning Kendrick will wind up winning.

Williams slaps Kendrick with the gloves for no apparent reason. Kendrick hits like four dropkicks and then the Cobra Clutch ends it clean.

Rating: D+. You know, if you’re going to use a gimmick match, it should go a bit longer than 3 minutes. These are supposed to be special, not throwaway matches for the sake of throwaway matches. This was just a waste of time and sets up this.

Nash comes out and chokeslams Kendrick. He threatens to beat up young guys until he gets TV time. And here’s Jarrett coming out to yell at Nash. Have they ever worked together before? I don’t believe they have actually. Ah yeah they did back in the end of WCW. Why did I forget that? They were both old guys so of course they worked together. Jarrett says Nash is a glory hound and that it’s not about him anymore. Nash says he doesn’t believe Jarrett and leaves.

After the break Nash says he’ll have something going on at 10pm. It’s 9:43 at the moment.

Desmond Wolfe vs. Rob Terry vs. Samoa Joe

Sure why not. Any bets on how fast Wolfe jobs here? Magnus pops up on commentary for no apparent reason. Can anything make sense on this show? Wolfe gets knocked to the floor quickly and Terry gets caught in a leg bar. This is another trainwreck of a match of course. There’s no flow to the match at all as it’s just another big old mess. After a few minutes of people doing random moves to each other, Joe chokes Terry out. Joe and Terry like each other and Magnus does nothing at all.

Rating: D. Another insane clusterfuck of a match that does nothing at all for anyone. Beating Wolfe doesn’t mean a damn thing anymore and yet this gets more TV time of course. Terry could be something special and Joe is as popular as anyone in the company yet he’s in some random match like this one. Could have been worse though.

Beer Money vs. Motor City Machine Guns

This is the first match in a best of 5 series: a ladder match. It’s not for the titles or anything like that. The winner gets to pick the next stipulation. The Guns being introduced as champions is indeed a cool sounding thing though. I love double suicide dives. This is a total clusterfuck. I know it’s a ladder match but come on now.

It’s not particularly bad or anything, but this is an hour into the show (no Nash and it’s 10pm) and it’s yet another gimmick match. Sabin misses a rung for a run up the ladder so it slows things down a bit. Shelley gets a great shot with a ladder to Roode’s knee. Storm hits a Backstabber on Shelley as this is just a big mess. Again it’s not horrible but it feels like a ladder match for the sake of having a ladder match.

After more insanity we have a ref bump. Well what would a match be without that? Sabin gets up the ladder and gets the contract but Storm pops him with the beer bottle. The referee that was down (there were two and yet they managed to have a Dusty Finish) sees Storm with the contract and gives them the win. Yep, they jobbed the Guns four days after they won the belts. Well at least they managed to get one cool intro.

Rating: C+. I’m split here. The match is certainly entertaining and I’m not arguing that at all. However it felt like a massive mess of a match with more or less no psychology at all. This felt like having a ladder match for the sake of having a ladder match which is against the idea of gimmick matches in the first place. It’s definitely entertaining and a good match, but it could have been MUCH more which is what hurts it.

Matt Morgan vs. D’Angelo Dinero

We get our first wrestling match 70 minutes into the show and it’s just a match for the sake of having one I guess. Pope wins in less than two minutes with a Codebreaker. If that’s his new finisher he’s just taken a big step forward as the knees in the corner just don’t work at all. Morgan beats him up afterwards. No rating since I spent more time writing the rating for the previous match than was spent in this whole match. Pope winning is good though. Anderson stops Morgan from kicking Pope into the post and knocks him to the floor with punches. Pope won’t shake his hand but he nods at him. This could be interesting.

The Beautiful People are mad about at Madison about the biker chick I guess.

Madison comes out to formally protest the referee’s decision. She says TNA has a week to return the title. They accuse each other of being stupid and Velvet threatens Madison. Love comes out and curses a lot (another Russo trademark) and Velvet walks out on the BP. Madison and Love fight and here comes the biker chick again. Lacey is in the arena too so it’s not her and they write off Velvet because she just left. The biker chick and Madison beat up Love and leave her laying.

Jay Lethal vs. Jeff Hardy

Lethal is in Hogan colors here. After about a minute the ECW guys are here. This is a fairly decent match but there’s nothing special yet. Flair announcement is the big thing to close the show apparently. Next week it’s Beer Money vs. the Guns in a street fight. Lethal hits a springboard missile dropkick that was sweet looking. Also Angle vs. Hernandez next week. Hardy gets the Swanton for the clean ending in about four and a half minutes.

Rating: B-. Entertaining stuff here, but they need to work on having the big matches like these go longer than a few minutes. I get that Hardy is a bigger star than Lethal but losing in less than five minutes completely clean makes Lethal look a bit weak. That would be solved with more TV time, or simply by cutting the roster which we can’t do but whatever.

Flair, Kaz and AJ are here and he inducts them into Fourtune. Wolfe comes down to whine and here comes Abyss with the board. He calls out RVD and says he’s going to share the plans that THEY have. Abyss is supposed to get the title and they’re going to put the board above the ring and have a big violent match to get it.
D
He says the E word and RVD finally starts talking. RVD beats him up and the ECW guys stand up in the audience, but so does everyone else. Abyss gets a chokeslam and goes for the board and here’s FOLEY? He stands on the ramp and here come the ECW guys. They beat down the two security guys that come down. Here are the TNA wrestlers and they get beaten up. I have no idea who they are since they’re jobbers and not mentioned by name.

Wolfe and Kendrick come out and get beaten down too. Ok Raven beat Wolfe down by himself. Are you really surprised? Al Snow and Simon Diamond come out as does D’lo Brown, all of whom have worked backstage for years. The other TNA guys come out and it’s a big brawl that’s really nothing but punching and kicking. D-Von comes out and is with the ECW guys. Dixie is at ringside and here come cops.

Jarrett is on the ramp and doing nothing. Dixie grabs a mic and says she invited them…and that’s it. Yeah seriously, that’s it. It’s not as horrible as I was expecting, but it just was completely lackluster and was nothing but punching and kicking.

Overall Rating: C+. As much of a mess as this show was, it did manage to get me to want to watch next week. I’m really not sold on the ECW Invasion thing as it means more people on the show and another new direction for the company about five months after they restarted again. I’ll be very curious to know how the next rating is but I’d think about a 1.2. This wasn’t bad, but it certainly could have been better.

 

[gd]

I watched every second of this last night because something was supposed to happen and it did. How about that?

They give us the top 10 and it's good to know Rob Terry has moved into the top 10 despite doing nothing of note for the last two months. Makes perfect sense, doesn't it?

Abyss gives a cringe worthy promo where he beats a piece of meat with his girlfriend and uses a bunch of pronouns. One of the worst I've seen in some time, that's for sure.

Sartia and Wilde's match wasn't all that bad, now was it? The Knockout's Division isn't as bad as the Diva's, at least. Hopefully Sarita can be used more often, as she's actually quite good. What ever happened to Hamada?

A truly riveting piece of television with RVD talking to himselft whilst walking down a hallway. Maybe they should have the champ on TV for more than 15 seconds in the first 110 minutes of the show. Just a thought.

Nash nearly sexually assaults that secretary girl and something about Hogan and Bischoff and whatever.

Kedrick/Williams was decent enough. Nice suplexes and whatnot This has been going on a little too long though. I guess there isn't really anyone else for Williams to face though. Big Sexy comes out to crush Kendrick. Youth Movement! The annoying cunt known as Jarrett comes out to argue for awhile and extend his record of the most times calling someon a son of a bitch on televison. Please don't give us Nash/Jarrett. Please.

Nice to see Terry on TV. He's looking good. Wolfe getting the jobber entrance again is just funny at this point. Not a terrible match. They're actually showing Joe on TV, that's a plus. Good to see Magnus back as well, I guess. He was pretty funny, if nothing else. Nice beard as well.

Flair talks about spiraling up or something. Odd.

BM/MCMG was a really solid match. The beginning may have been a little all over the place, but it really picked up towards the end. 5 matches in a row between these two should be great. Hopefully the Guns will eventually walk away as the victors though. Not a huge fan of the ending, which was quite predictable after the ref bump, but whatever. Could be worse, I guess.

Pope/Morgan was quite short, but do we really what to see them wrestle? The whole Anderson thing is entertaining at least, but I think we've seen enough of him nearly turning back to the darkside only to prove he's a good guy. That's happened at least 23 times since his face turn.

I like Madison Rayne. She's really improved, on the mic anyways. I like it. Love is such a butterface it's incredible. Not sure about breaking up the BP right now or about another mystery attacker type person. Remeber the last time they did that with Tomko? A disaster. It's likely Velvet anyway.

Jeff Hardy going over Lethal at this point doens't make any sense. I don't get it. It was a really shit match as well. Quite disappointing.

Flair takes about 3 seconds to announce the members of Fortune before Abyss and his hot date come out. Another strange Abyss promo and some random fighting before the superb group of Dreamer, Richards, Rhino, and Raven come in to INVADE along with D-Lo Brown, Al Snow, etc. You can't see whatn's going on at all, but at least it's interesting. Dixie knows about this? Bah Gawd!

Not a terrible show but not great either. This angle could be decently entertaining, but the problem is it's going to focus on guys like Al freakin' Snow. That's never good.

 

[Joe's Gonna Kill You]

The July 15th edition of Impact scored a 1.1 rating with 1,436,000 viewers the total number of viewers is slightly down but this is still a good rating for Tna this makes it two weeks in a row that they drew a 1.1. The key now is to see if the Invasion angle has created enough interest that the ratings go up next week or will they remain the same. Overall I think that Tna should be happy with this rating

 

[DiscipleofWrestling]

I've really enjoyed iMPACT in the last few weeks. Thursday's edition was no different. I could have done without Rob Terry being in the ring with Desmond Wolfe and Samoa Joe as Wolfe could have really made Joe look good without having Terry in the ring. And while I enjoy the work of Doug Williams in the X-Division, I am a little bored with the Brian Kendrick feud. I like what Williams is doing as far as cutting down on the over the top nature of the X-Division and having solid wrestling matches instead. I doubt that the spot-fest X-Division matches won't return, but I'm enjoying this run by Williams.

I really enjoyed the Beer Money- Motor City Machine Guns Ladder Match from last night. I know some people thought it was just a wild spot fest without much psychology, but even if you want to classify it as that, it was a good example of it. The fact is I love watching these two teams go at it, and even though some say a Best of 5 series might be too much, I won't complain a damn bit as this is giving tag team wrestling valuable air time. As a side note, I'm glad to see both WWE and TNA bringing back some aspect of a tag team division.

The last segment was pretty well done. It accomplished several things. One, we now know A.J. and Kaz made Fourtune, which is pretty cool since it will help Kaz's career to be in this group, and A.J. will be seen as its leader. Secondly, Abyss and Rob Van Dam did a decent job selling their "extreme" match at Hard Justice. The promo and the aftermath were pretty decent.

Now, all this ballyhoo over the ECW Invasion. Was it as good as people had made it out to be? Yes and no. I personally liked it better than the Nexus invasion. First off, security and the "boys in the back" tried to stop this invasion. That was the MAJOR plot hole in the events of last month with regards to Nexus. Were the boys in the back really that inept not to do something? And I have a hard time believing that security in the arena could be that inept either. I know someone out there is saying "it's all part of the show," but it was WWE's attempt to be "real." And if you are going to attempt to be real, you have to cover all the plot holes. Secondly, there is an advantage to having established wrestlers being the invading force compared to having, to paraphrase Classy Freddie Blassie, eight "pencil necked geeks" jump a barricade and invade. People know these wrestlers, and as such, they've already drawn a connection to them. Third, this goes towards something that was already established instead of just shock value. The ECW guys have been sitting in the audience for a long time, biding their time until this moment. The Nexus thing was so out of the dark that when it happened, it caused a hooplah and has somewhat become monotonous afterward. (Other things have killed that storyline for me, but I'll save that for later.) Also, one has to wonder: IS this the they Abyss has been talking about, or is there yet another group waiting in the wings to take TNA over?

The negative thoughts I have for this invasion storyline are that the ECW company has been out of business for almost ten years now, and while this is all well and good for longtime ECW fans, this probably means diddlysquat for any other fans of the TNA company. Secondly, if this doesn't bring Paul Heyman into the fold, will this storyline become as big a failure as trying to revitalize ECW under the WWE banner? And finally, will this take a backseat once Hogan and Bischoff return to the iMPACT tapings in a few weeks? Because I don't know why, but ECW and Hulk Hogan mix about as well as oil and water.

Overall, I really enjoyed this episode of iMPACT, and it did a good job of putting more questions in my head than answers. My only concern is what TNA is going to be doing with this ECW storyline to really capture an appropriate increase in ratings.

 

[ABMorales787]

The Pro's and Con's For Me on the 7/15/10 Edition of TNA iMPACT!


Pros:

+ More matches. Most iMPACT! episodes have like 3 or 4 none which lasted more than 5 minutes.

+ Sarita/Taylor segment/match. I got a... from watching... never mind. This is the first storyline in the Knockout's division not to feature the Beautiful People since Tara/ODB which ended in January. It brings depth to the division as it seems the focus slowly falls away from the Beautiful People and begins to disperse into multiple angles.

+ Rob Terry/Global title. For God's sake, how do you keep your mid-card champion off the international program and only showcase him on a limited market one? Glad to see him and the title back.

+ Abyss and his tribute to "Cooking With Scorpion". Nobody else liked the opening segment with him, Janice and Rocky's punching bag. I did. He's a psycho now. Why not have him beat up raw meat and then chew it. As if it weren't inspired by the Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance skit, "Cooking With Scorpion", he later chops... a watermelon. At least he's being consistent and explains why he does what he does. Can't say that about Sting though.

+ Desmond Wolfe. He may be jobbing, but the guy sure knows how to cling to the spotlight. Him demanding a spot in Fortune has me amped. Will he get his wish? Will he turn face? Will Joe kill him before he makes it anywhere?

+ The BP breaking up? If they all go the singles route, then great. The Knockout division could use this.

Cons:

- 60 minutes of gimmicks. The entire first hour of iMPACT! was cluttered with gimmick matches. A Street Fight, an "I Quit" Match, a Ladder Match to determine yet another gimmick match, damn. I though Hard Justice was supposed to be the gimmick PPV. It really showed Russo had too much work. (Eric Bischoff was off).

- Details. This one is a major. Small detail inserted here and there would really have given the show a much better flow. For instance, before the senseless Street Fight began, they should've had Taylor doing an interview and at least give us some depth to their angle. It would've only taken an extra 30 seconds. Details, Russo. When you draw eyes, eyebrows make them look more distinguished.

- Jay/Jeff & Pope/Morgan. Could've used more time. Great matches though, but they were waaaaaay too short. Maybe editing the Street Fight would've given more time for these guys.

- Kendrick/Williams. Just end it. Somehow, Kendrick screwed up an Ultimate X match. A high flyer. And people complain about Homicide. These two have nowhere else to go. Stop it. Give Doug someone who can work a good match. Amazing Red, Homicide, Suicide/Kiyoshi (believe it!), or even jay Lethal. Just not Kendrick.

- The ECW angle. An abrupt ending really made this thing look poopy. Last I checked, Al Snow was an ECW guy. Nobody knows he's a road agent. Having the camera zoom in on his "what?" reaction wasn't too smart. Made everything look that much confusing. It seemed way too rushed. Compare it to the World Elite/Main Event Mafia riot. Which one looked better and why? More time.

- Editing. Camera angles during the invasion needed work, the Street Fight was way too long, the BP need to bleach their mouths. I can help with that last one.


Verdict:

There have been worse iMPACT!'s. much worse. But there have been much better one's too. Like the past 9 or 10 of them to be precise. I feel like Eric leaving to spend July 4 with his family hurt iMPACT! hard. Russo went ape shit once he had to do extra work.

Rating:

6 Koins out of 10. Passable, but could've been better.

 

[goodlay]

iMPACT was fine this week, it wasn't amazing, but it served its purpose. It wasn't up to the standard of the great shows TNA has been doing as of late, but it was still passable.

The Abyss promo was just fucking creepy, so I guess it was fine. The only thing I didn't like was Abyss eating raw meat and beating it with his "girl". That just seemed random and stupid.

I don't really get the whole Sarita/Wilde thing. Why are they fighting? I guess the match was fine for a Street Fight, and it was definitely unique. You won't see that in WWE I suppose. I loled when Sarita was choking out Wilde and Taz said "You know...you can get fired for doing that in some companies"

I don't really know where this whole Nash/Jarrett thing is going, but it seems interesting to say the least.

Kendrick/Williams was fine, but was an I Quit match really necessary? I like this feud though, but they need more X Division guys to be showcased other than just Kendrick/Williams.

Terry/Joe/Wolfe was fine, and it was obvious Wolfe wasn't going to win when he got the jobber entrance. Why is Terry in the top 10? That was the first time we'd seen Terry on iMPACT since his short program with OJ. Why not put a guy like Wolfe or Morgan at 10? Also, fuck Wolfe consistently jobbing. This was a decent match though.

MCMG/Beer Money - This was fucking awesome. These teams are just great and have amazing chemistry with each other. I like the dusty finish to get Beer Money over as cheating bastards, but MCMG better win this best of 5, or TNA is stupid.

Morgan/Pope - While it was short, it was fine and it served its purpose. Pope needed a clean win over a legitimate guy like Morgan after losing to Angle at VR. Anderson continues to fake a heel turn and shows his intentions are legit. It makes sense, cause it seems like a stable war is incoming with Fortune, ECW Guys, "Them" and then a stable endorsed by Hogan/Bischoff with guys like Hardy/Pope/Anderson/Angle.

Knockout segment - Well the girls looked great.....other than that it was a scream fest between BP and Angelina. It looks like Tara has aligned herself with Madison, but Madison ended her career. TNA better have a good reason for this alignment.

Lethal/Hardy - This was fun, but it was too short for a main event. That was the first loss for Lethal in what seems like forever. I like Hardy going over, because it shows that Lethal isn't unstoppable right now.

Fortune comes out - AJ and Kaz are the first two members. I like that, but I wasn't expecting AJ to be in the group, as I thought they were planning a face turn for him. But I like AJ as the franchise player and Kaz as the emerging star. Im interested to see who fills out Fortune.

RVD/Abyss - Short little promo here, dunno if I can dig hanging "Janice" from the top of the iMPACT zone at Hard Justice though. Seems like a weird ass stipulation to me. They should have a great hardcore match at Hard Justice though.

ECW Invasion - Oh the controversy behind this angle. Regardless of the countless discussion/arguing behind this angle/segment, I thought it was fine. It was interesting, it raised questions, and it makes me want to watch even more next week. I liked the cliffhanger too. Interested to see where this one goes.

Overall the show was fine, but lately it's just been so much better, that I was expecting more out of this show. I'd give it a C+