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

[MisterRob]

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?

I think you missed some logic with the Nexus angle, while comparing it to this week's ECW angle on Impact, that I feel the need to point out. The Nexus aren’t just random people who came out of the crowd and aren’t even with the company, they were shown for months on WWE television and clearly had been working with the WWE for months. Wade Barrett had won a WWE contract so him appearing on screen made perfect sense. It actually makes less sense if the whole invasion of Nexus into the main event match was real to say that the whole roster of RAW would rush out and attack these rogue wrestlers. That would be a danger to talent and officials and security wouldn’t have allowed that to happen in a real life situation because it would’ve escalated the situation that much worse for them. Also, realistically, most of the roster and officials backstage would be scramblers to figure out what was actually going on before rushing to do anything.

It also 'logically' doesn’t make sense for a program that’s happening live for them to send out their officials and security to get into a physical altercation with wrestlers who are basically working for the company. That’s not something they’d want to show on their television and it’s entirely feasible that a company would let the wrestlers lash out until the show went off the air before security took over. Look at the Bret Hart Survivor Series incident; they let him trash everything just like the Nexus did and didn’t stop him because it was real and instead they wanted to avoid physical confrontations that could’ve brought about lawsuits and all sorts of things, including things getting really out of hand.

It’s actually entirely unrealistic and ridiculous to think that in a real situation officials and security are going to rush down the ring on live television (or taped as TNA was), get in the ring, and get into a brawl with the ECW invaders. Even more unrealistic that TNA officials are going to allow their wrestlers to run down and get into a brawl with people and endanger themselves with something that wasn’t “suppose” to be planned.

Secondly, you’ve also seemingly missed the fact that the Nexus didn’t just come out of nowhere. The Nexus angle was developed for months on the Nxt show, and the pieces leading up to the invasion on RAW can clearly be seen through the entire first season of Next. That makes it far better thought out and built up then the ECW invasion where they just randomly had these guys sitting in the crowd for weeks. And also, even if the Nexus are “rookies” they’re still just as relevant and credible as the ECW wrestlers who haven’t been stars for ten years but have been on the same level as the Nexus in recent years (because each one of them have been nothing but the lowest level of the roster in recent memory). At least WWE is pushing younger talent with their angle instead of old talent who aren’t relevant anymore. They’re also not pretending their invading talent are stars when they’re clearly not, which TNA is doing.

But in truth the Nexus and ECW Invasion angles aren’t even comparable, so I don’t see why people are even attempting to do so. Hopefully this ECW thing is just leading up to a single PPV send off and isn’t an ongoing angle to any degree, otherwise it doesn’t look very promising.

 

[WarrenIronman]

I think you missed some logic with the Nexus angle, while comparing it to this week's ECW angle on Impact, that I feel the need to point out. The Nexus aren’t just random people who came out of the crowd and aren’t even with the company, they were shown for months on WWE television and clearly had been working with the WWE for months. Wade Barrett had won a WWE contract so him appearing on screen made perfect sense. It actually makes less sense if the whole invasion of Nexus into the main event match was real to say that the whole roster of RAW would rush out and attack these rogue wrestlers. That would be a danger to talent and officials and security wouldn’t have allowed that to happen in a real life situation because it would’ve escalated the situation that much worse for them. Also, realistically, most of the roster and officials backstage would be scramblers to figure out what was actually going on before rushing to do anything.

It also 'logically' doesn’t make sense for a program that’s happening live for them to send out their officials and security to get into a physical altercation with wrestlers who are basically working for the company. That’s not something they’d want to show on their television and it’s entirely feasible that a company would let the wrestlers lash out until the show went off the air before security took over. Look at the Bret Hart Survivor Series incident; they let him trash everything just like the Nexus did and didn’t stop him because it was real and instead they wanted to avoid physical confrontations that could’ve brought about lawsuits and all sorts of things, including things getting really out of hand.

It’s actually entirely unrealistic and ridiculous to think that in a real situation officials and security are going to rush down the ring on live television (or taped as TNA was), get in the ring, and get into a brawl with the ECW invaders. Even more unrealistic that TNA officials are going to allow their wrestlers to run down and get into a brawl with people and endanger themselves with something that wasn’t “suppose” to be planned.

Secondly, you’ve also seemingly missed the fact that the Nexus didn’t just come out of nowhere. The Nexus angle was developed for months on the Nxt show, and the pieces leading up to the invasion on RAW can clearly be seen through the entire first season of Next. That makes it far better thought out and built up then the ECW invasion where they just randomly had these guys sitting in the crowd for weeks. And also, even if the Nexus are “rookies” they’re still just as relevant and credible as the ECW wrestlers who haven’t been stars for ten years but have been on the same level as the Nexus in recent years (because each one of them have been nothing but the lowest level of the roster in recent memory). At least WWE is pushing younger talent with their angle instead of old talent who aren’t relevant anymore. They’re also not pretending their invading talent are stars when they’re clearly not, which TNA is doing.

But in truth the Nexus and ECW Invasion angles aren’t even comparable, so I don’t see why people are even attempting to do so. Hopefully this ECW thing is just leading up to a single PPV send off and isn’t an ongoing angle to any degree, otherwise it doesn’t look very promising.

I still don't get how this is an Invasion. They're friend RVD was getting attacked by Abyss, of course they're gonna help him. With the mangment comment down and also jonning helping their friend provides more facts that it's not much on an invasion. Another reason would be the lack of ECW stars there. There was like 7 or 8 people on that side. The last reason would be Taz not doing anything, he was part of ECW so he would help in a invasion. The last main reason is that Dixie invited them. Who even said this won't push younger talent? Who's to say they won't put younger talent over? Unlike the Nexus angle this was me wanting me to watch more. One reason being noone got fired after it.

 

[Unsold Bacon]

Last Thursday's edition of TNA Impact did a 1.09 cable rating with 1,436,00 viewers on Spike TV. Somewhat decent rating for iMPACT!

 

[Joe's Gonna Kill You]

The show started on a bit of a down note, as Rob Terry followed by a meaningless women's tag match (though one which did feature some great talent) didn't really set the right mood. But things rocketed up starting with Hernandez vs. Angle and never really let down. I really think I could watch Shelley and Sabin wrestle every week and be perfectly happy, and Joe-Hardy was awesome while it lasted. Anderson Vs Morgan was a decent match. I really enjoyed the closing segment and I thought Dreamer cut a pretty good promo. AJ is new champ cant complain about that. There was three good matches 1 decent match and a not so good Knockout match. For me the good outweighed the bad. Overall I would give this show an A

 

[Kenny Powers]

This week's Impact was another "Can't miss show" with the ECW invasion. I thought impact got off to a slow start with Styles vs. Rob Terry and the knockout tag match. I'm glad AJ won the title but I'm pretty sick of seeing AJ win using cheap 1980's heel tactics. The whole beautiful people segment was annoying and confusing, along with the Nash and Jarrett promo. They were both playing the impact zone fans and the impact zone had no idea who to cheer or who to boo. I guess no one really cares who is in charge of the company or who likes Hogan/Bischoff or who doesn't.

I guess Bischoff is really busy taking a 3 week vacation for the 4th of July holiday vacationing on a ranch in the Midwest. Yeah he is really promoting TNA there. Hogan has just had surgery, but that doesn't seem to stop him from going on his wrestling legends tour with Honky Tonk Man. How are these guys supposed to "change" the company when they aren't even there.

The rest of the matches tonight were good though. Hernandez vs. Angle, Morgan vs. Anderson, and the best of five Motor City vs. Beer Money street fight all had potential. Samoa Joe and Hardy probably had the match of the night. I'm just curious as to how these angles and feuds will progress if the ECW show in a few weeks features nothing but ECW guys?

Finally on to Dixie Carter's extreme invitation and Dreamer's promo. I thought Dixie did a good job on the mic for her first time actually delivering a promo to an audience. Dreamer was probably a little too over emotional, but he did a good job as well. I feel ECW did have a good sendoff in 2005 and 2006, but when you bring the show on nationally and fire pretty much all of wrestlers that were responsible for ECW then it's just a slap in the face in my opinion. If WWE would of let go the ECW guys after One Night Stand that's understandable.

It's just hard not to be critical of the new WWE/ECW when you have characters like The Zombie, Macho Libre, and Big Dick Johnson on the show making a mockery of what little credibility ECW had. Then again you could argue the wrestlers were getting paid and ECW was kept alive so there should be no complaints. By that logic you could say it's like someone buying your bankrupt company and changing it from a successful pizza shop and turning it into a ****e house.

I don't think Dreamer got the short end of the stick in WWE with him winning the ECW title. He wasn't being used for a while but he had a job and went out as a champion. All I'm saying is that the ECW storyline benefited WWE in the long run and the ECW guys in the short run. It will probably be the same thing in TNA except for the fact it won't benefit anyone as much as in WWE.

Overall I think one night for the old ECW crew might be good considering that it is more of a tribute show then an invasion. The bad thing is it's 2010 and the 2005 ECW invasion angle in WWE was way hotter then a simple tribute show in TNA in 2010.

 

[DiscipleofWrestling]

I think you missed some logic with the Nexus angle, while comparing it to this week's ECW angle on Impact, that I feel the need to point out. The Nexus aren’t just random people who came out of the crowd and aren’t even with the company, they were shown for months on WWE television and clearly had been working with the WWE for months. Wade Barrett had won a WWE contract so him appearing on screen made perfect sense. It actually makes less sense if the whole invasion of Nexus into the main event match was real to say that the whole roster of RAW would rush out and attack these rogue wrestlers. That would be a danger to talent and officials and security wouldn’t have allowed that to happen in a real life situation because it would’ve escalated the situation that much worse for them. Also, realistically, most of the roster and officials backstage would be scramblers to figure out what was actually going on before rushing to do anything.

It also 'logically' doesn’t make sense for a program that’s happening live for them to send out their officials and security to get into a physical altercation with wrestlers who are basically working for the company. That’s not something they’d want to show on their television and it’s entirely feasible that a company would let the wrestlers lash out until the show went off the air before security took over. Look at the Bret Hart Survivor Series incident; they let him trash everything just like the Nexus did and didn’t stop him because it was real and instead they wanted to avoid physical confrontations that could’ve brought about lawsuits and all sorts of things, including things getting really out of hand.

It’s actually entirely unrealistic and ridiculous to think that in a real situation officials and security are going to rush down the ring on live television (or taped as TNA was), get in the ring, and get into a brawl with the ECW invaders. Even more unrealistic that TNA officials are going to allow their wrestlers to run down and get into a brawl with people and endanger themselves with something that wasn’t “suppose” to be planned.

Secondly, you’ve also seemingly missed the fact that the Nexus didn’t just come out of nowhere. The Nexus angle was developed for months on the Nxt show, and the pieces leading up to the invasion on RAW can clearly be seen through the entire first season of Next. That makes it far better thought out and built up then the ECW invasion where they just randomly had these guys sitting in the crowd for weeks. And also, even if the Nexus are “rookies” they’re still just as relevant and credible as the ECW wrestlers who haven’t been stars for ten years but have been on the same level as the Nexus in recent years (because each one of them have been nothing but the lowest level of the roster in recent memory). At least WWE is pushing younger talent with their angle instead of old talent who aren’t relevant anymore. They’re also not pretending their invading talent are stars when they’re clearly not, which TNA is doing.

But in truth the Nexus and ECW Invasion angles aren’t even comparable, so I don’t see why people are even attempting to do so. Hopefully this ECW thing is just leading up to a single PPV send off and isn’t an ongoing angle to any degree, otherwise it doesn’t look very promising.

Clearly? NXT was supposedly about determining who was going to get a WWE contract and receive a PPV title shot. They didn't enter as supposedly having WWE contracts. They had to win it, in which case Barrett was booked as the winner and thus the only man with the contract. Also, your argument loses "logic" if you consider the fact that whenever a non-contracted entity (a fan in most instances) enters the ring, they are usually swarmed upon in an instant. These wrestlers were in storyline sense supposed to be non-contracted wrestlers. Yet, in this world, non-talent can jump a guardrail, tear up a ring, and assault talent without security or law enforcement. That's logical. Right. This storyline was supposed to make the audience suspend belief and believe in this invasion. Yet, when it happened, they blew this one chance to make it more realistic. If the police and security would have entered a few minutes after their invasion and escorted them from the ring, I would have bought that. I could buy that the police were as inept as Barney Fife and didn't get notification until it was a little late in the game. But WWE didn't have any police or security actors in this story and thus, it lost a lot of reality.

The pieces were building on NXT to an audience of 1.0. That's one third of Raw's total net audience period. The Nexus storyline could have been so much more than it is right now. I blame a lot of factors for that: mostly bad writing and horrible pacing. The ECW storyline on TNA, like it or not, has been building for weeks on their TV show in front of the entire TNA audience. TNA doesn't have to worry about having a third of its audience know about Rhino, Richards, Dreamer, and Raven at ringside. They were there for weeks. I find it more interesting to watch something simmer and reach a boil than I do watching something come out as a surprise. (I know. The irony that TNA didn't rely on a surprise gimmick to sell TV or PPV this time.) Also, in a segment that was based on an attempt at realism, it made sense that the wrestlers, staff, and security would want to get the ring clear of these invaders who paid a ticket to see the show, not be part of it. And Dixie Carter's revelation, while poorly acted I admit, at least lended some credence to this whole situation.

The other day, I watched Jerry the King Lawler's "invasion" storyline starting on ECW. The entire locker room busted out to try to get Lawler out of the ring, except The Franchise obviously. But even then, I could buy that storyline despite the absence of police. The talent didn't want their show, in storyline, to be invaded by a non-contracted wrestler.

Now, am I saying that having 45 year old men "invade" a company is better for the business than having 20-30 somethings with a possible future invade? No. But the point I'm making is WWE wanted to cash in on the shock value of having 8 wrestlers who only a third of the audience knew of before hand invade and wreak havoc on his Monday Night show in a realistic fashion so more fans would tune in next week. All I'm saying is in terms of execution and realism, I bought the TNA invasion storyline more. WWE's invasion storyline has the most net potential in the end undoubtedly if booked right. But at least, the angle could have started with a couple superstars coming back from the locker room and chasing the invaders out or having a security/police angle, which if you noticed they did a week later.

We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.

 

[DiscipleofWrestling]

Ok, I just got done watching most of iMPACT, and I didn't quite like the show as much as I did last week. The Joe-Hardy match was only ok, but if they were given more time in the ring and an atmosphere like a PPV, I think they could really knock a good match out of the park. The street fight between Beer Money and Motor City Machine Guns was pretty good as well, but I thought the ladder match was a little bit better. The rest of the show was just ok, including Angle-Hernandez. It looks to me as if we might see The Beautiful People reemerge with Sky and Love getting back together. The original LayCool.

As for the Tommy Dreamer promo, part of me liked it and part of me wanted to say "Get a damn Kleenex already." I'm glad they made the point to say that this wasn't an invasion but rather just a one night only concept. I still could have done without Tommy's tears over the fate of the ECW brand. He cried all the way to the bank for several years. I can't feel too bad for him. I think the crowd spoke loudly though: they want Sabu.

I can't give this show anything above a **1/2 out of ***** this week.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

TNA iMPACT! - July 22, 2010

Thumbs Up

Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe - This was the best match of the night and a good effort by both of them. I liked the ending most of all as it made both guys look strong. An occassional draw/no contest finish does work well for matches featuring big names. Overall, it was a pretty good match but it wasn't nearly as good as the Joe/RVD match a few weeks ago. There were times that it seemed slow and plodding, but it a good solid 10 minute match.

Closing Segment - I'm a little mixed on this to some degree, but I felt that both Dixie Carter and Tommy Dreamer did a really good job on the mic. Dreamer was pretty emotional and I admit that I kept thinking about the old Tom Hanks line from A League Of Their Own. You know the, "There's no crying in baseball!!!" line, only I substituted ECW for baseball. Anyhow, I liked it to some degree because I know how much Dreamer loved the original ECW. However, I do think that it's kind of low class to go along with ripping into Vince McMahon for his treatment of ECW. Not to say that Vince doesn't deserve criticism, but Tommy Dreamer was more than willing to go along with the decimation of the ECW legacy and destroying his own while collecting a fat paycheck. I don't blame Tommy Dreamer one bit for staying with WWE because it gave his family financial security. He was there for his family after all and that's what a man's supposed to do. But, Dreamer's comments would have made much more of an impact with me had he not been willing to feed off the WWE's tit for nearly a decade. Sorry Tommy, but you can't have it both ways, least not with me. Still, it was good work overall on the mic.

Thumbs Down

AJ Styles vs. Rob Terry - Pretty lame match to start off the show. Watching AJ in the ring last night, some of the stuff he was doing, put me in mind of Santino Marella for some reason. Styles was booked to look completely weak and downright impotent against Terry. The match lasted about 3 minutes with Styles getting yet another win due to outside interference. This was a match for the Global title and it felt like a complete throwaway match. I will say that I prefer Styles with the title rather than Terry, but the title is pretty much meaningless and I don't believe I've ever seen AJ Styles look weaker against an opponent, particularly an opponent that's so far beneath his level that his booking was a travesty.

Angelina Love & Taylor Wilde vs. Madison Rayne & Sarita - Basically, this is the same lame 2 minute fare that we've become accustomed to from the Knockouts. Before the match, due to some lame technicality that's part of the storyline that I didn't really care enough about to listen to, the TNA Knockout Championship had to be given up and returned to the previous champion yet again. It still boggles the mind how far the Knockout Division has fallen over such a short period of time. Lacey Von Erich played her role as the gorgeous but dumb knot on a log again. Apparently, she sided with Madison and her bodyguard Tara last night despite being half of the Knockout tag champs, the titles of which are also less than worthless at this point.

Kurt Angle vs. Hernandez - I suppose that the match in and of itself was actually pretty decent, but the whole thing had nothing more than a throwaway feel to it. Whenever the outcome of something is beyond blatantly obvious, so much so that there really is no real purpose to even having a match, I just can't become interested in it. We know Angle won't lose because Angle will "retire" if he does, which makes the storyline even more boring and predictable than it already is.

Kevin Nash & Jeff Jarrett - I don't really know what the point of this is and TNA hasn't really given me any reason to care yet. Listening to Kevin Nash, of all people, lecture someone on being a selfish prick and all this and that just made me roll my eyes and go take a piss break.

Mr. Anderson vs. Matt Morgan - Completely forgettable 3 minute match in which Matt Morgan gets his ass handed to him. On one hand, I was surprised to see Anderson get the win. Last night's the first time I've seen him win a match in about 4 months. I guess Matt Morgan is on his way to becoming a jobber. This was the guy that took Kurt Angle and AJ Styles to the limit last year and he's jobbing out to The Pope and Anderson in 2-3 minutes at a time. The match was unspectacular and just completely meh.

Motor City Machine Guns vs. Beer Money - This match didn't have nearly the same kind of feel and energy as their ladder match did last week. The match lasted around 6 minutes or so and was designated as a street fight. Six minutes isn't nearly enough time for a street fight if you want to make it feel significant. There were some cool spots in the match but, as I said, the best of 5 series feels far less substantial this week with a far less substantial match. Beer Money gets the win due to the beer bottle again, which means that the Guns are going to automatically win next week's match in order to keep the series going. These are two great teams and I like the direction that TNA seemed to be originally heading with this, but last night felt like a throwaway gimmick match and with the outcome of next week's match already secured, it may possibly be even less interesting.

Overall Show - Thumbs Down - Overall, I thought that iMPACT! last night was pretty much another ho hum show. The bright spots were the Samoa Joe/Jeff Hardy match and the closing segment for me. Everything else was pretty much just meh, including the Guns/Beer Money match that probably should have been the highlight of the show. The idea of an ECW tribute show doesn't really blow my skirt up, it's been done before of course and the feel was much hotter than this. The whole thing about one night to preserve ECW's legacy makes me feel that the whole thing will be a throwaway show. It feels like it's little more than yet another reason for the old fans of ECW to cling to nostalgia. But, whatever flops their mop. Also, I fail to see how a single night can restore the ECW legacy. It all sounds like typical TNA bluster to me, but maybe they'll be able to bring me around do it. Anyhow, I give last night's episode of iMPACT a 6 out of 10.

 

[MisterRob]

I give this week’s show an ECW “You fucked up” chant.

The show opens with a match for the Global championship, which many probably didn’t even remember existed. It was a good job to make Rob Terry look strong and not entirely meaningless in his loss of the title, but why in the world has the Global championship been given to AJ Styles? There’s so many other talents that could’ve used this push and been much better to redefine the Global title. I would’ve been fine with Brutus Magnus. My vote though would’ve been Desmond Wolfe. But instead we watch as AJ Styles is pulled out of the main event scene entirely now, possibly for a good long time, and shoved down the ranks of the roster to the mediocrity that is the Global title. I’m really starting to think TNA and the new era are trying to bury and sabotage AJ’s career. He was voted the best wrestler of 2010, in all of wrestling, and TNA doesn't even have him in the main event, as their top star, carrying the World championship. Unbelievable. I didn’t like anything about this whole match or angle. But at least Kazarian and AJ are now friends and supporting one another! Woohoo.

Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy made no sense. Since when does a normal match have a ten minute time limit? This seemed to come out of absolutely nowhere, and the counting down by JB just made the whole thing all the more forced and contrite. The fans boos proved it was bullshit booking, too. And I’m totally confused as to why these two, who have no previous history of feuding or disliking one another to any degree, and after only a simple ten minute match, can’t help themselves but to continue brawling and going at one another’s throats after the match. Why did Hardy, clearly a face, want a piece of Joe so bad after a competitive match where neither could beat the other fairly? Good job TNA.

I really have a problem with this whole storyline with Kurt Angle. When he first returned and announced what he was planning to do I was optimistic. I thought we could see some great matches, because he claimed he was going to go through every competitor and give them the best matches of their career, didn’t he? I also was hopeful this would be an interesting way to push younger talent and allow them to get some kind of a rub off Angle. Never did I realize that the whole angle was just younger, lesser stars jobbing out to Angle in meaningless matches to by time before he’s back at the top competing for the World championship. There’s been one PPV match and all the others have been forgettable television matches on Impact that really have no lasting meaning. None of them have done anything to make the young talent Angle’s gone over look any better afterwards then they did before. So, whose jobbing next?

The next match in the best of five series between the Motorcity Machine Guns vs. Beer Money happened. I really talked about my dislike for the gimmicks involved in this angle last week and I won’t go into it all over again. It’s still nice to see the tag team division pushed with two young, good tag teams and some attention being given around the Tag Team championships. I really don’t like how Beer Money won again though, and unless somehow Beer Money wins the series unexpectedly before even a fifth match this series is pretty predictable for the next two matches. I think I’ve lost any interest though based solely on knowing I have to see another meaningless gimmick match between them.

There were many other things that irked me this week with Impact, from the whole Knockouts Division mess and silly use of the championship to Kevin Nash and Jeff Jarrett. I can’t believe how much Jarrett is willing to exploit his own personal life for angles in wrestling, it’s actually rather disgusting to me and I don’t find it interesting in the least. The worst had to be the closing segment with the ECW Originals standing, doing nothing in the ring for fifteen minutes while Tommy Dreamer cried and proved he’s a complete hypocrite. It’s one thing to dislike everything that happened to the ECW name in the WWE and finally have a turn of heart that led him to leaving the company for whatever beliefs and values the guy holds, even after he worked for the WWE for almost a decade and continued to reap the rewards and earn the money from it all… but it’s another thing entirely to then go to a different company and use that, exploit that, for an attempt to make money and get an angle over. ECW’s dead, and as much as people seem against the WWE’s use of it, they actually did a hell of a job with their first One Night Stand PPV honoring it. This whole crap in TNA is far too many years too late and I just don’t give a shit because they’re all coming across as hypocrites since they all (except Rhino) were there at One Night Stand and made money off the WWE using the ECW name as they did. Each and every one of them!

I usually try to point out some good things about Impact now, but I really didn’t like anything on this show and it was definitely a drop from previous Impacts. Maybe next week.

And how about that horrendous promo by the TNA World champion?

 

[ABMorales787]

Pro & Cons of TNA iMPACT! 7/22/2010

Pro's:

+ AJ Styles beats Rob Terry for the Global title. Some say it lowers AJ Styles. Scratch that, everybody says it. I see it as "he elevates the belt". He needs something to claim as important and the belt needed relevance. They put two and two together. Great move. The match itself was fun. Rob has probably never had a better match. AJ two stepping around the ring is odd, but it does give him a cocky vibe. Some people complain about AJ not really doing much and winning with Kaz's help. I don't see the complaint. He's a heel. They do that.

+ Fortune has gold. They aren't even a full group yet. A step in the right direction. Will Kaz one the X Division belt in the near future?

+ Multiple Knockout's feuds. It's been a whole since the division has had this kind of depth. I know the title itself isn't getting much respect, but at least they are using the division.

+ BM/MCMG Series 2. If there was ever a time that damn entrance ramp did any good it was here. Great showing by these two teams. It was not as good as last weeks, but it's good.

+ Dreamer. Wow. What did he do? Beg, plead and kneel backstage? Damn. It's hard to say that it wasn't a shoot. It's hard to fake crying for a guy like him. Guess he really was pissed at WWECW. And I guess this is his way of getting back at them for it.

Con's:

- The Knockout's title was stripped. Again. The only thing in this division that should be stripping is The Beautiful People. Not the belts. Yet again the Knockout's title is changed via a non-match situation. Wazzup wid dat?

- The fans. "USA" chants during the Angle/Hernandez? What part of "...from Houston, Texas... Hernandez!" don't these people understand? The same moronic thing was happening during Angle's match with Kaz.

- What the hell is it with knocking out Brian Hebner? That's like the 6th time in two months. I hope this leads nowhere. It be stupid to see a ref in an angle. He already saw how it fucked Shane, "The Glamor Boy" from having a good career in TNA.

- Nothing on Hard Justice as of yet. Are the matches gonna be all ECW? Will TNA guys get involved?

- RVD. Says a million words. But only tells you nothing. I can see now why he was "held back" in 2002-2003.

Questions And Peeves:

* Why was Bubba wearing an LAX shirt?

* Dixie has a theme song. Good Lord, I'm scared.

Verdict:

It was a slight improvement over last week where it was overbooked with gimmicks. However nothing has been furthered other than the ECW reunion. Not too good with your flagship PPV around the corner.

I rate it 6 slabs of random beef out of 10. Good, but little direction.
​

 

[klunderbunker]

Impact
Date: July 22, 2010
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz
Episode Title: Extreme Invitation

Well it’s the fallout from the ECW Invasion last week as I wonder if this is going to work or not. Last week’s show wasn’t all that bad. As the show hasn’t started yet, we have the previews of Joe vs. Hardy and Angle vs. Hernandez. Great to see that kick-ass TNA marketing team at work again. Show’s starting now so let’s get to it.

Abyss wants Jeff Hardy and did it for THEM. This segues into the big “riot” which was absolutely nothing special. Is I INVITED THEM supposed to be a big line now or something?

Global Championship: AJ Styles vs. Rob Terry

That robe is freaking idiotic looking. Also, AJ and Kaz get into this group when they win a match over guys that have never teamed together? Pretty obvious that Terry loses here. AJ dances over hitting a kick to the leg and hides from Terry while trying to have Kaz hold him back. This is already irritating.

Hogan and Bischoff aren’t here AGAIN. Terry kicks AJ in the face in one of his three moves. Styles tries to steal the title with a rollup and Kaz holds his foot down so AJ wins the title. This might have gone three minutes.

Rating: N/A. AJ looked weak as hell here. His offense was comprised of a kick to the leg and the two rollups. That’s it. Other than that it was ALL Terry. I’m glad he’s champion here now but this was just bad on a lot of levels.

Sarita talks to Madison Rayne and the Beautiful People come in and don’t like the insults to Velvet. They think Sarita is the biker chick, despite her being about 6 inches shorter.

We see the agents getting yelled at by Dixie while they say they didn’t know what was going on. Can you stop the behind the scenes stuff please?

Angelina Love/Taylor Wilde vs. Madison Rayne/Sarita

Oh sorry thought the Knockouts tag champions might actually defend their titles. What was I thinking? Love is told to turn in the title since she cheated so she hands it and then jumps Rayne. Was that title change #4 in a row sans pin or submission? By the way, THIS is how you get multiple feuds on TV in the limited time you have. You have two feuds here being addressed at once which saves a lot of time.

Love hits her finisher to beat Rayne clean. The biker chick comes out with her DARK HELMET OF DEATH, proving it’s not Sarita. Velvet and Lacey come down the aisle, proving that the biker chick wasn’t one of them. Madison gets the belt and she and Sarita leave with the biker girl. Lacey leaves with them too as Velvet yells at her to come back.

Rating: N/A. Again just a big mess of a brawl before they had actual wrestling for a little bit which was mainly Love hitting her finisher. This was more about the ending angle than anything else which is fine. I’d have liked to see this go longer than like 2 minutes though but whatever.

The ECW guys are here. The lawsuit stuff over that could be interesting if it happens.

Hernandez vs. Kurt Angle

Angle continues his climb up the rankings and will quit if he loses. Taz makes an interesting question: what benefit do the guys Angle fights get? The problem becomes clear here as there’s no way Angle is going to lose. He hits the run up the ropes for the belly to belly which is always solid. The Rolling Germans begin and this is all Kurt so far.

Hernandez comes back with a modified Dominator which is a great power move that someone needs to use for a finisher. Mark Henry would be good for something like that. Angle gets out of the Border Toss and Angle Slam gets two. Tenay says there’s a select group of people that get out of the Slam. That group would be everyone. Ankle Lock and leg wrap gets the tap out. Longest match of the night so far at 6.5 minutes.

Rating: C+. Angle gets more and more formula based every time he wrestles. Running belly to belly, Germans, opponent makes a short comeback and the Angle Slam gets a long two, then another short comeback and the ankle lock and leg wrap ends it. It’s not bad or anything but a bit of variety would be nice.

Nash comes out as Angle leaves and calls out Jarrett. After a break here’s the King of the Mountain with his bitching theme music. Nash says that Sting is cool but Jarrett wasn’t. They argue about who has screwed this company over or whatever and we talk about Hall and Waltman of course. Nash talks about Jarrett’s kids and this is already stupid. LEAVE REAL LIFE STUFF OUT OF WRESTLING.

Angle talks to Dixie who doesn’t need to be a TV character. They say something about ECW or whatever.

Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy

Ten minute time limit here as we’re told this doesn’t come along every week. I do wonder what they’re going to do once they run out of FIRST TIME EVER matches. Hardy hits the floor as soon as the bell rings to slap hands with fans. And Eric is on the phone. Joe jumps him as Eric says they’ll be at TV next week. Well always good when your big names are actually on television.

Bischoff says nothing of note and the first two minutes of this match are all him talking. He more or less gives a promotional speech talking about how they support Dixie and so does Hulk. Thankfully they talk about the match. I’m glad they aren’t doing the WCW thing and talking nonstop about angles as it’s just disrespectful to the wrestlers.

Joe is completely dominating here as we get to hear a bit from Taz about his association with Joe from a few years ago. I’m glad they went with the face route for Taz as he was too popular to be a heel. Joe flips off the referee which is censored out. Yeah the ECW guys are going to get to be so EXTREME here. Joe hits a big boot (WHAT IS WITH SO MANY PEOPLE USING THAT LATELY???) and back splash for two.

The fat man puts on an STF and then a crossface. This has been ALL Joe. The crossface is over Hardy’s forehead though which is a weird look. He signals for the Musclebuster which is either a great name or not that good. Twist of Fate misses and Joe almost gets the choke. Whisper in the Wind hits and we’re clearly going to the time limit here. They slug it out to get to the draw.

Rating: C. This was about 95% Joe as I don’t think Hardy was ever in control. The draw was the way to go though as you can’t have these two lose so the ending is the best possible outcome. This was a good little match, but I wonder what we have to fill in the show with no more announced matches and 53 minutes left. Decent match.

Dixie tells Jarrett to tell the boys that there’s a good thing coming. She’s the President and can’t tell them herself?

Anderson vs. Morgan next.

Oh I forgot about the Beer Money vs. MCMG match. That’s tonight too.

Matt Morgan vs. Mr. Anderson

I’m shocked: a match that actually follows continuity with storylines. Tazz makes vintage jokes because we can poke fun at WWE and they don’t fight back so WE WIN! There’s something missing from this match and I’m not sure what it is. After getting destroyed the whole time, Morgan misses a discus lariat and takes the Mic Check for the pin. He busts Anderson open with the mic afterwards.

Rating: D+. And it’s ANOTHER three and a half minute match where nothing of note happens and one guy gets beaten down but….wait….upon further review, that is Anderson’s first clean pinfall in a singles match since VALENTINE’S DAY. He didn’t win a match in over FIVE months. Insane moment aside, this was a pretty meh match with nothing at all of note going on in it.

Beer Money vs. Motor City Machine Guns

This one is a street fight so the heels are in jeans. It’s match #2 in their series which is best of five. This is a big mess and we start on the floor as we should. Shelley hits a SICK ramp long running dropkick to Storm that even made my jaw hang open a bit. Chair shots take over for the challengers (is this series for the titles or just pride?) which lasts a little while.

FINALLY we hear that this is for the belts. Why do I have a bad feeling the Guns will wind up losing them? A springboard Van Daminator gets two on Roode. We hear a great bit bump but we don’t see it at all so I have no idea what it is. Spinebuster gets two on Sabin. Down goes the referee of course. The Guns hit a double team move but there’s no referee. Beer Bottle to the head and the referee revives in time to end it as the Guns lose AGAIN.

Rating: B-. Fun brawl here with some solid spots. I don’t like the Guns losing again at all as they haven’t won since they got the belts at the PPV. The running dropkick was a great looking spot even though there wasn’t much to it. Sometimes that’s a good thing though, like here. Just don’t like the booking at all.

Team 3D argues about the ECW guys with Bubba being on TNA’s side, saying they have nothing left to prove with the ECW guys which is absolutely true.

RVD is happy to be here and doesn’t know what to think about everything that’s going on. He and Christy have some weird chemistry.

We recap the ECW guys invading and the big ordeal last week. Dixie is coming to the ring.

She comes out to some bad woman singing and praises the fans. She says all the fans have been asking her for the hardcore wrestling which I’ve never heard of but whatever. Here are the ECW guys as we get the fans to chant for another company. She talks about how great ECW was (seriously does she know a damn thing about wrestling?) and says how these guys were like Hulk Hogan to ECW in the 90s.

This is freaking idiotic. Foley says the last time he was in the Impact Zone he was fired. Wasn’t he there last week and like, not fired? Dreamer is called a great ambassador for wrestling and how he was always asked to come to TNA. He says Joe is like Taz used to be. So Joe is going to start talking about pigeons later on?

Dreamer talks about them bringing back ECW and how he hated it. He hated what ECW became and how this isn’t an invasion or them taking over. This is about people losing their jobs…despite none of these guys other than Dreamer having a damn thing to do with WWECW. Dreamer wants one more night and says this will have NOTHING to do with TNA. Dixie says you can have your one night and Dreamer says WE’RE GOING EXTREME to end it.

Overall Rating: D+. This didn’t do it for me. The wrestling was decent but FAR too short overall. The ending was also awful as instead of getting me interested in the angle or feeling sorry for the ECW guys it made me realize how absurd the idea of this angle is. I’m supposed to feel sorry for Balls Mahoney for losing a job that he never would have gotten without ECW in the first place? I’m supposed to feel sorry for Dreamer for getting a career rebirth?

I’m supposed to feel sorry for what WWECW did to the memory of guys that were never in it? I can get how some people are going to like it but any non-old school ECW fans aren’t likely to go for this. The lack of wrestling in the last 30 minutes did little to make me feel better about the lack of TV time for talent. Not a horrible show, but there were a good deal of issues here.-

 

[Joe's Gonna Kill You]

According to gerweck.net Impact on 7/22 did a 1.1 rating with an average audience of 1.4 million viewers the quarter hour breakdown is 0.97 1.03 1.11 1.11 1.11 1.04 1.04 1.09 Another good rating for Tna that is three weeks in a row now with a 1.1. This is another good rating and seems they have regained the audience they lost from the Monday Night Wars.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

With the news that Xplosion is likely to be added to North American television in the coming months (along with the return of ReAction), and considering TNA tends to post various "web matches" from the program freely on YouTube, the time has come for an official Xplosion Aftermath thread where we can discuss the goings-on of the program in the same vein we do iMPACT! each week.

Xplosion currently airs exclusively in Europe, however it's programming is made widely available online, so instead of having to explain why various things are happening on iMPACT! (like Sarita v. Taylor Wilde, or Magnus' return, etc.), this thread will also help to update the users who don't follow the show regularly, as well as provide an outlet to it's viewers to discuss the program as well.

Please note, while I'm not against any of you posting the program in it's entirety as it's generally uploaded to YouTube anyway, simply posting the videos of Xplosion will constitute as a SPAM post, and you will be infracted or warned for doing so, though your post may remain in the thread for discussion purposes. Please follow the forum rules when posting here.

 

[ABMorales787]

This Episode Aired on July 14, 2010

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Card:

* Sarita vs Taylor Wilde

* Global Heavyweight Championship:
Rob Terry (c) vs Magnus

Summary:

I'm making this the first episode I post due to it having heavy influence on the following episodes of iMPACT!. A few weeks ago Magnus returned from a short hiatus and has now returned with a hybrid narcissist/scientific wrestler gimmick. After a few wins he sets his sights on Rob Terry and his Global title. Meanwhile Sarita fights Taylor Wilde which leads to the brawls seen backstage on iMPACT!. On a previous episode, the former duo was in a losing effort and Sarita betrayed her partner and began to claim Taylor was holding her back. Leading to this and then followed by the wild brawls on iMPACT! and currently the random Street Fight.


Review:

One thing I've come to love about this show is that there is build up to the matches. It's a 30 minute show with 1 to 3 matches in the card but they don't miss out on the hype. This show showcases that well as all of the 4 wrestlers get a large amount of backstage promo time as they talk about their respective opponents. Rob shows personality which is very good due to him not being able to showcase in on iMPACT!. Magnus tells us that "when" he wins the Global title he'll be getting the celebration that England was supposed to get for winning the World Cup. That was exaggerated beyond comprehension but sounded great.He also dropped the "Brutus" part of his name. Why,I don't know, but he did. Sarita says she was held back by Taylor and Taylor just says shes mad. She has a very tight outfit and I was too busy trying to yank out her rather small top to really pay attention to what she said. Rob has a very nice car and speaks on being the muscle of the BI and how he was never respected by them. He says he's his own man now. Good stuff. Not blockbuster material, but he comes off looking very natural and relaxed.

Match-wise there isn't much to it. One thing I don't like about Sarita playing heel is that she doesn't do as many acrobatics as she did in CMLL. I miss those. A standard Knockout match. Better than the Street Fight though. Rob/Magnus is almost as good as AJ/Terry. Rob's learning. He is defiantly not as terrible as he was last year. Or half a year ago when he won the belt. The Freakbuster doesn't fit him. I would prefer a Batista-esque Spinebuster. The Freakbuster is about as terrible as Otunga's Verdict(And identical) and Barrett's Wasteland (It's a damn Scoop Slam!). It was still an OK showing given Terry's limits. One thing I notice is how he always seems to walk out of a match limping. I'd buy it if he was 6 feet and 230 pounds, but he's not.

A great show. This is probably their best so far due to having a championship on the line. I really enjoy these backstage skits they do.

[EDIT] Great skit with the little kid and Jeff Hardy. Heartwarming moment. Why didn't I see this in the first showing?
​

 

[Joe's Gonna Kill You]

I also thought this was one of the better Xplosion Episodes that I have watched, probably the best show far. I like the format of the show. You have each opponent cut a promo to build the matches which I like. The first match between Sarita and Wilde was one of the better Knockout Matches. The Global Championship Match was good I thought and it seems that Terry is getting better in the ring. Overall I thought this show was enjoyable. The backstage skits were good, The Sarita and Wilde match was good and Finally the Global Match was also good. Very Good show and I would give it a B+

 

[ABMorales787]

The Following Episode of TNA Xplosion First Aired On June 25, 2010

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Card:

* Daffney vs Taylor Wilde

* Magnus vs Suicide

Summary:

This is the 300th episode of TNA Xplosion. It is also its first episode under its new re-branding. The matches are no longer just random dark matches. They feature actual storylines. This episode features the returns of Magnus (minus the Brutus) and Suicide (played by Kiyoshi). This is the frist upload of the show which is why it features the "TNA Rewinds" portion as opposed to the following episodes. We get to see the sick slam Abyss gives Anderson on the glass. Good. This is also the debut of JB as a commentator and SoCal Val as announcer I believe.

Review:

The show features the now typical backstage promos for the workers. I love these. Taylor says that her match was supposed to be a tag team match, but since ODB was released from the company, apparently nobody wanted to be Daffneys partner. Sarita isn't pleased. Daffney is by a BBQ and burns herself (?). HOLY SHIT! Ole Anderson is on voice-over for Suicide! Not really but the fact that Kiyoshi is wearing the suit is very obvious. The voice and mannerisms are impossible to hide.Rob Terry says he's issuing an open challenge to defend the Global title. JB says the belt is a regular fixture of Xplosion. I wonder if AJ will be pulling double duty, not show on Xplosion or on iMPACT! now that he's champion. I'm pulling for A.

Wrestling-wise it was OK. A good showing from the Knockouts which is very missed on the televised portion of TNA. Daffney isn't as good in the ring as Taylor and it shows a bit here. But its still a good match. Next we get the 2 returning guys in Magnus and Sucide. The match was pretty good. Suidice pulled most of his typical moveset out, but you could still tell it's Kiyoshi under there. There's no hiding that damn chop and the stereotypical japanese mannerisms. It was an OK match, but dull next to Taylor/Daffney.

After the match we get Magnus challenging Terry for his belt, but Terry declines due to Homicide apparently rushing to Eric Bischoff to accept the challenge. Big staredown and brawl ends it.

Verdict:

I give this "first" episode of Xplosion a solid 8 goatees out of 10. Nice. Great stuff for a "new" show.
​

 

[Joe's Gonna Kill You]

I also thought that this was pretty good for the debut Episode of the product. Daffney and Wilde put on a pretty good knockout match and this has been missing from most of the recent Impact matches. I enjoyed the backstage promos from the wrestlers are good. The Tna rewind was good but I'm glad that with the most recent episodes of Xplosion have had gotten rid of the Rewind because it gives more time for the matches and the promos. The Magnus vs Suicide was good. In the debut episode of the rebranded Xplosion we got two pretty good matches. Overall this was a pretty good I would give it a B

 

[ABMorales787]

This Episode of TNA Xplosion First Aired On July 2nd, 2010

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Card:

* Sarita vs Daffney

* TNA Global Heavyweight Championship
Rob Terry (c) vs Homicide

Summary:

The stories intensify here as last week Sarita showed frustration over her being left out and gets her chance to wrestle here. Daffney guns for revenge after an "uncharacteristic" Sarita screwed her out of her match. Furthermore, The Notorious 187, Homicide faces Rob Terry for the Global title. Just so you know, I have no clue what "187" stands for. Our area code is 787.

Review:

The backstage promos truly are a thing of beauty and if you want one reason to watch this show that would be it. I never knew Rob had a personality until I saw this show. Sarita wants in the ring badly. I want in her./crudejoke] Daffney isn't happy about last week and tells Sarita that she's not all there. And the sky is blue so you know. Homicide is as always, Homicide. he's not a generic "latino". He acts like a real one. Packed with that damn "praaa" he's a genuine Puertorican. Note that I hate the "praaa" line. I hate Arcangel (the rapper who coined it). But I love Homicide.

As for the matches, Sarita/Daffney felt more like a re-watch of last weeks match. Except in the end where Sarita's heel turn rears its rather nice looking head. JB, Sarita is Canadian like Taylor. Not Mexican. Not much on the Homicide/Terry match either. It was an extended squash with the sole reason of putting over Rob and giving him much needed practice time. He dishes out new moves here so I'm assuming the job is getting done. Homicide yelling "put me down" is hysterical. After the match we get Magnus attacking Rob and standing with the belt in hand. Maggie is getting heat. Good job.

Verdict:

I don't know if it's the fact that I watched this episode back to back with the first one, but it felt like the previous one all over again. Anyway I rate it a 7 "praaa's" out of 10. Good, but not much changed from last week.



NOTE:

The TNA Rewind sections of the show are cut off by the uploader to conserve time. It is noticeable during the streams. Following episodes improve on this.
​

 

[Joe's Gonna Kill You]

The backstage promos are awesome and I really like the format of the show with the two promos that build to the two matches. Sarita vs Daffeny felt like I was watching the same match from last week, it was a decent match. I have been very impressed with Rob Terry and that he has somewhat of a personality. Terry was made to look strong in squashing Homicide. After the match Magnus comes out and attacks Terry and he is getting some decent heat. Overall the show was not as good as the pervious posted episode of Xplosion but it was not bad either we got a decent Knockout match a squash match and the backstage promos that I really like. I would give this show a C+

 

[Pepe Silvia]

Regarding the Daffney/Sarita match, I don't know what the fuck you guys were watching. Those two matches were NOTHING alike. The match with Wilde was the face showing technical, mat techniques, as Sarita was showing physical, heel-like tactics throughout her entire match. The storytelling of the latter contest was utterly brilliant; it was subtle enough that I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't known about the heel turn prior to watching this match, but watching Sarita try to destroy Daffney's legs, and Daffney trying to just retreat and survive was something close to a role reversal. People started CHEERING for Daffney.

 

[Soapguy]

I actually really enjoyed both matches. I really wish Daffney would get some type of a push soon, she's getting towards that age were female wrestlers normally retire. I hope she wins the title (or at least is involved in a major storyline) before it happens. I hear Hamada's suppose to come back soon. I'm excited.

 

[Kenny Powers]

I thought the overall show was pretty good tonight with accomplishing what he needed to do for the Hardcore PPV and for the upcoming live 3 hour PPV event on Spike in two weeks. It was good seeing Hogan and Bischoff actual make an appearance on Impact since they are the authority figures after all. I cringed seeing Hogan go down to the ring talking about how he digs this whole hardcore thing brother. He gave his seal of approval to the hardcore originals telling them that they are to the 90's what he was to the 80s.

Then Hogan pretty much dismissed the hardcore guys again though saying that he had no idea about hardcore wrestling because he was busy doing bigger things wearing the black beard in WCW. What a great way to let the air out of their sails by making yourself seem more important again Hulk.

I'm glad to see the beautiful people have stopped bickering for now. I could care less about another Angelina Love vs. Madison Rayne match for the belt. Maybe if the belt changes hands the champion will be pinned this time. Love vs. Sarita was a pretty standard knockout match. Sarita had some nice tights though.

Ink Inc. vs. Orlando Jordan & Eric Young wasn't as bad as I thought it could be. I actually got a kick out of Eric Young's new/old neurotic character. Young comes off better as a goon then as a heel. It cracked me up to see Young bring in the cross dressing mannequin as a tag partner. Jordan and Young might actually be a funny tag team like Booker T and Goldust. Then again, if they don't team again I won't lose any sleep.

Flair has finally aligned the Fortune group tonight. All of the members looked strong on the mic. Even though they have renamed the Global title 3 times now, I'm glad it was changed to the television title. I would rather see AJ Styles defending the television title every week on Impact, then see the Global title defended once every other month overseas. Kurt Angle came down to challenge AJ for his rankings match which should be good if it is given enough time on television. I cracked up not only with Flair's line about the full sweater women, but Kaz's line about not being like 7 rookies and being apart of the TNA galaxy. I believe Hogan feels he is the center of that galaxy.

I didn't like the fact that Kaz was jobbed out so quickly to Rob Terry. I understand Rob has a rematch next week against AJ, but can't one member of Fortune win a match tonight?

Beer Money vs. Motor City Machine Guns in the steel cage was another classic. These guys had some great action in the ring. Its great to see tag team wrestling at its best. Even with the blood and violence, the kids watching the show in the audience were overjoyed. It just proves that although television doesn't need to be bloody or violent all the time, it also doesn't need to be treated as a Sesame street show to patronize kids.

I have seen house shows that look just like the Impact zone where children were having a blast. It proves that kids and parents don't find TNA too extreme to watch. A little blood is nothing these kids haven't seen before.

I am happy to see Morgan and Anderson in a feud together. Morgan had some great lines on the mic, and Anderson had a few good ones too. The only thing is that Anderson can be a little too cute and annoying at times. He overdoes it. I'm still excited to see this match and hope it pays off for both men.

I didn't think Jeff Hardy needed to stick his nose in it. I'm not sure about the security guards getting a match between Hardy and Anderson. I guess this a tryout match for these independent wrestlers, but can't we have someone like Wolfe, Joe, Lethal, or Pope involved in something? I just think its unfair to book these guys when Jay Lethal and Pope haven't been seen on television for weeks.

Now for the main event. Abyss vs. Tommy Dreamer wasn't anything to write home about. I really don't see what was so extreme about trash can lids and chairs considering that even in WWE/ECW you would see that at one time. Anyway, the match gave Abyss some credibility with him taking out the hardcore original. It was also great to see Raven come out and give the DDT to Dreamer.

We are going to see a 3 hour Impact in two weeks with PPV type matches which covers the TNA talent. Check

The Hardcore stable is named. Kinda cheesy but at least its not breaking the law. Most of the hardcore wrestlers are named or are being named, and Raven vs. Dreamer is already in effect. Check

Motor City Machine Guns vs. Beer Money in an Ultimate X match. Check

Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles. Check

Global title is now Television title. Check

Morgan vs. Mr. Anderson. Check

Eric Young has a new Mannequin fetish. Check

Besides Desmond Wolfe, two big names have been missing in action- Jay Lethal and Pope. Were they kidnapped too? Just like Samoa Joe. I don't know how TNA can hype Jay Lethal and The Pope when they don't appear on television every week.
Have to say though the show was pretty good compared to the last few weeks. Considering that TNA is putting on a free PPV show with TNA talent in two weeks, I don't think there is any reason to complain about a one night ECW reunion show anymore.

 

[DiscipleofWrestling]

Just a few thoughts on tonight's TNA show...

The opening segment was pretty good up until Hogan came out. Again, Hogan upstaged the EV 2.0 group by coming out and hogging the spotlight. His presence in the ring wasn't necessary at all as Abyss and Dixie Carter were the only two needed to pull the segment off. I'm glad Tommy held back the tears tonight though. I have a funny feeling D-Von's going to eat some fire at the Hardcore Justice PPV.

The Knockouts match was decent. Nothing more, nothing less.

The less said about Eric Young's tag match with whatever Orlando Jordan is and a mannequin, the better. It still was better than seeing Santino's Bunch though.

Ric Flair and Fourtune's promo was good. It did a good enough job of putting over each of the member's missions. It sort of reminded me as an impersonation of the old Four Horsemen promos. Who's the AA of the group though? James Storm? Robert Roode? Beer Money definitely fits in well with this new group either way you see it. I liked A.J.'s mini promo about changing the title. The changing of the Legends Title to the Global Title did nothing for the TNA brand. Isn't the world title a "global" title? So, this makes a bunch more sense to have a TV title than keeping the Global Title which was a throwaway championship. Maybe Styles might be able to resuscitate the damn thing to something meaningful. Angle vs. Styles could happen a million times, and I won't complain. I think it's pretty easy to see TNA's going for Van Dam vs. Angle at Bound for Glory.

The Best of 5 Series Steel Cage Match was another solid contest between the Guns and Beer Money. I've really enjoyed these matches between the two as it can only do wonders for both teams. If you haven't seen it, check this match out!!!

Morgan did a pretty decent job on the mic, but it really doesn't do much in terms of making Morgan look intimidating. Where did they get these security guards from? A MLB game? If that's the case, they should have done what they're used to and taser Hardy and Anderson upon first offense.

I just don't get Rob Terry. I don't get the appeal of him. I feel bored when I watch him wrestle. And I don't understand why he's even on the roster.

The handicap match was surprisingly ok. I didn't know how it would turn out given that it seemed so random to have two "security guys" wrestle main-event talent. But I thought they did a decent job, and it was an enjoyable match.

Abyss has actually turned around in my eyes. I'm not saying I turn on TV to see him wrestle. But I don't shake my head in bewilderment and shame by seeing him come out with a Hulk Hogan Disciple gimmick. Also, I'm intrigued to finally find out who they are since everyone seemed to thing the ECW group was they.

I enjoyed the Abyss-Dreamer match and have to commend Dreamer for his performance despite his injury. Raven's interference sets up a pretty interesting match for Hardcore Justice between the two longtime rivals. I could have done without Raven licking Dreamer though.

Overall, I give this show a *** out of *****. It was definitely better than last week's show, but I wouldn't necessarily call it anything noteworthy, except perhaps for the Guns/Beer Money match. Check that out if you haven't seen it.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

TNA iMPACT - July 29, 2010

Thumbs Up

Motor City Machine Guns vs. Beer Money, Inc. - This was not only the best match of the night, though it didn't exactly have much competition, but was the only real highlight of the show. Great steel cage match between these two with action all over the place. A couple of particularly breathtaking spots treated the crowd to what had to be the only legitimately thrilling part of last night. It was a little short at 8 minutes and it was obvious that the Guns were going to get a victory, but it was still a damn fun match to watch and an improvement over last week.

Matt Morgan & Mr. Anderson - I'm giving this a moderate thumbs up because these two worked well together last night. Morgan was quite solid on the mic and Anderson played his part well. I can't say that I'm exactly thrilled to see these two in a feud, but the segment with these two pretty much did what it was supposed to do.

Thumbs Down

Opening Segment - This segment ran much longer than it needed to and I think really confirmed that the spirit of ECW truly is dead. Dreamer did his thing for a bit before Devon comes out, calls out Brother Ray and all. Ray & Devon make up, the fans cheer, all is right with the world and all this. I have no earthly idea why Hulk Hogan had to come out in this segment. He wasn't needed, nor did he remotely add anything to it. The reason I said the spirit of ECW is truly dead is due in large part to Hogan's presence. There was so much mutual ******io going on between Hogan and the EV2.0 that it just felt beyond lame. After all, wasn't Hulk Hogan pretty much everything that the original ECW was against in the first place?

Angelina Love vs. Sarita - The match in and of itself between these two was somewhat decent I suppose, but I just can't be made to care about the Knockouts right now. The fact that this match was a #1 contender's match meant absolutely nothing since the Knockout title changes hands every other week, and usually without an actual match having to happen. Sarita is good inside the ring and watching her water down her in-ring ability to only slightly above Lacey Von Erich was painful.

Orlando Jordan & Eric Young - I felt my gut tighten when I saw these two backstage. Something just told me that this was going to be awful. It looks as though TNA is going to change Young back into a goofy comedy character, one with brain damage this time.

Ink Inc. vs. Orlando Jordan & Eric Young - I really don't know what to say about this. It was so bad that I can still taste the bile backing up in my throat. Eric Young coming out with a..mannequin with Orlando Jordan...It was just bad, just plain bad. It's beyond Hornswoggle or even the Santino Bunch segment on Raw a few weeks back and the TNA fans were cheering this shit. I don't see how anyone can lay into any WWE fan that's ever cheered for Hornswoggle, not now.

Fortune - I don't know if it's because Fortune got off to a weak start or what, but this just hasn't been able to interest me. Kazarian and Styles both still seem like a couple of weak tools and Flair...I dunno. He just loses me now whenever he starts goin' on about the 18-28 year old women he wants to meet him at the hotel and all this and that. At 61 years of age, it just makes it feel like he's parodying himself almost. The Global title is now the TNA Television Championship for some reason, but I'm hoping that this will be a fresh start for the title.

Rob Terry vs. Kazarian - So, Kazarian gets squashed in about 20 seconds. He's a member of this "elite" faction and he loses a match to Rob Terry in 20 seconds. I have no idea what TNA is doing with Kazarian, but putting him with Fortune and then booking him like this only winds up making the entire group look like a buncha tools. Terrible.

Jeff Hardy & Mr. Anderson vs. Matt Morgan & TNA Security - A shit tag team match featuring...well I don't know who these two are quite frankly. I know they were supposedly TNA security guards that've been around wrestling for 10 years, or so the storyline goes. There really wasn't anything to say. They scored a few moves on Anderson & Hardy, Morgan never even got into the match and the first minute or so of the match involved Morgan and the security guys tagging each other in and out of the ring. Lame, forgettable, piss break, etc.

Tommy Dreamer vs. Abyss - If this is what we can expect to see at Hardcore Justice from most of the ECW originals, then it's definitely not worth paying to see. Dreamer & Abyss were so slow and plodding during the match at times that I thought they were moving in slow motion. So, this is a hardcore match in TNA featuring an ECW original helping promote a TNA ppv with an ECW theme but there was no blood in the match. A few hits with a kendo stick, a few trash cans, a tiny cookie sheet and that was most of the match. This was weak and disappointing on just about every level.

Overall Show - Thumbs Down - This was easily the weakest iMPACT! that TNA has put on in a while. Aside from the Guns & Beer Money, every match was extremely weak and forgettable. We saw the return of Eric Young as a comedy character, Kazarian squashed, a pointless women's match, Ric Flair parodying himself for the most part, Hulk Hogan and an extremely watered down hardcore match. Surprisingly, there wasn't as much build for Hardcore Justice as I figured there'd be. I'm not exactly complaining about that as I have no interest in seeing it, but I don't get it. TNA is putting on an ECW themed ppv in a little more than a weak and there's relatively little build for it on last night's show. No matches were hyped, not even the RVD/Jerry Lynn match. Hell, it didn't even get mentioned. Last night's iMPACT! was just awful and, aside from one match, was a waste of time. I give it a 3 out of 10.

 

[MisterRob]

Let’s start with the good. Motor City Machine Guns vs. Beer Money was the only remotely good thing on this entire Impact show this week; despite now being entirely predictable in the best of 5 series and being another gimmick match. I really wish TNA would stop using so many gimmick matches EVERY SINGLE WEEK. It’s classic Russo; oh how I hate you.

I find TNA fans very hypocritical. They praise TNA to the moon while slamming WWE at every chance they get, claiming WWE is boring and everything else they can toss out there as insults, and yet they watch and surely enjoyed an Impact like tonight where the opening segment was so long, so drawn out, so boring I actually turned off Impact for a while, or they have an Orland Jordan/Eric Young team that was ten times more horrible to watch then anything WWE has done with the Santino Bunch or Hornswoggle.

Hulk Hogan comes out to steal the spotlight like usual in the opening segment. I don’t know about anyone else but Hogan puts me to fucking sleep. My god. And all the ass kissing that was thrown around, including towards Dixie Carter sitting in the crowd, just made me extremely nauseas watching.

We witness Fourtune finally together as a stable. Ric Flair rattles on in a promo straight out of the 80’s that feels as old as he is and thankfully Robert Roode was the only thing that saved the segment when he got on the mic. So Fourtune is hyped up here, but in the same night we have one of it’s members, Kazarian, job in a minute or so to Rob Terry. A squash against a steroid junky who can't even wrestle and we're suppose to take Fourtune seriously? Rob Terry botches the finish completely and then right after the pin fall Kazarian totally no sells the finish. Great job here! I laughed out loud when I saw Kazarian go from being prone on the mat and looking like he was dead so Terry could pin him to jumping up and darting away as if he wasn’t hurt in the least. Now that’s selling…

The whole Mr. Anderson and Morgan thing last night was fine, but then when you add in these random security guards nothing at all made any sense. Where the hell did these two come from? Why the hell were they doing what they were doing? And how were they wrestling? I hate stupid Russo booking, and I see absolutely no reason to even involve two guys who don’t need to be there when you’re leaving off key talent from the show like Desmond Wolfe, the Pope, etc.

I don’t know how anyone can purchase the PPV after watching Tommy Dreamer job to Abyss. If that match was suppose to get people interested and hype up the PPV for buys then TNA, once again, did a god awful job of doing it. And I swear Raven coming out to ddt Dreamer and end the show got no reaction from even the Impact crowd (that’s saying something), which just proves either no one knows anything about old school ECW or they just don’t care anymore.

I give this week’s Impact show an F. There was just so much wrong with it, so much bad about it, and we even got a boring Eric Bischoff segment instead of having some key talent left off the show given some time. Impact had been slowly getting better, now it’s sliding right back down.