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

[Brian in Austin]

Enjoyed the Cody Rhodes v. Ted Dibiase Jr. match along with the "Priceless friend" comment from Rhodes. His character has come full circle to what we see today with the clear mask and he's working that angle nicely. I never felt like Rhodes had this in him on his own and really thought Debiase Jr. would be further along by now.

 

[The 5th Horsemen]

TNA is doing what WCW did and that is live off of Shock value. It's always who is gonna turn up next or who is gonna turn heel. I mean I like some of the people in TNA, but it's like why should I get my hopes up when I know the people running it will screw things up?

 

[RJB1976]

Impact was a lot better because the return of Chris Harris and the debut of Chyna actually were logical to the storylines. Of course, Logic has been gone from WWE booking longer than the Cruiserwieght title.

 

[joesgoingtoeatu]

look, im a guy who likes both shows. I enjoyed Smackdown this week very much, Raw was 2nd and TNA was a close 3rd.

I cant believe anyone is excited over Mick Foley, Chyna, or Chris Harris what exactly were they booked to do.

Mick Foley has been in charge of TNA and now hes a network executive. Is this earth shatterong booking here ? Hes been in this role before Hogan and Bischoff took over, to me its the same exact thing, why should i be excited ?

Chyna appears !!! Great !!! Did she become a mute ? She cant talk ? She did 2 thing throw Jarrett out of the ring and choked Karen. Shes obviously not the same in-ring performer and if she doesnt talk, why am i suppose to care ?

Now Chris Harris was actually cool to me, but they completely ruined this as well. How can you set up a pay per view match and not let him talk either ? This was a waste, did nothing for the pay per view match.

Guys its the same problems with TNA, they have good action, good matches, underappreciated talent but the fact remains....THEY HAVE THE SHITTIEST BOOKERS EVER !!!! Until that changes, theyll be behind NXT lol (just kidding)..........

 

[abuduru1]

i consider myself a fan of both wwe and tna. I read the spoilers for impact so that kinda took the excitement away. Impact was okay but there couldve been alot more action going on. The main event was pretty solid despite the error. But I watched smackdown tonight and I liked it better than impact. I really do want impact to rise up and establish themselves as their own company and start building more of their own stars because not one homegrown tna talent is in the main event title picture right now. Impact has to set themselves up as being TRULY different from wwe. Then maybe I as well as others will respect them a little more. If they did that, they one day could be the competition wwe is hungry for

 

[trashboy]

I agree with the OP.. this week's Raw was pretty boring, TNA blew it away as far as I'm concerned.. doesn't matter if they're "Competition" with WWE or not, it just matters if I enjoy the shows... have yet to watch Smackdown, about to turn on the dvr for it, but if it's anything like it's been.. I'm sure SD will be just as boring.. but yet, I keep watching.. go figure

 

[Vincent Michaels]

Impact was a lot better because the return of Chris Harris and the debut of Chyna actually were logical to the storylines. Of course, Logic has been gone from WWE booking longer than the Cruiserwieght title.

I don't care about Chyna or Chris Harris. 2 more people added to TNA's already crowded roster to the point where even they're struggling to fit anybody who's anybody on the show. And as far as logic goes, I suppose it makes SO much sense that Kurt would bring back a woman that hasn't wrestled in a little under 10 years just because of her past with Jarrett in a fued that should have ended at LockDown. Everything in the WWE makes alot more sense than almost anything recently in TNA. Also, try to back up your opinion and honestly give some examples of WWE booking without logic recently or shut up about it.

 

[Brian in Austin]

Well the final match on Smackdown this week was pretty good and there was by far, more wrestling on Smackdown this week than there was on TNA. I have to agree with those who said that Chris Harris and Chyna not speaking did nothing for their appearances. It also did nothing to further the storylines. Again, poor execution on the part of TNA as they brought both Harris and Chyna in too late to get them involved in these feuds well enough for them to have a true impact. I have to wonder about the continuity of the upcoming matches and how they'll come off, but I suspect both Harris and Chyna will be carried thru their respective matches with Angle and Hardy carrying the load in each match.

So once again my guess is that the PPV, unless Storm and Harris turn on Roode, will be pretty lackluster.

 

[iwinulose]

chyna returning was cool and all but they are once again using washed up wwe talent so kinda evens out at least RAW and SD are doing their own thing. just my opinion of course but still at least they have ideas. chyna in the feud though, that may be good but still kinda a rip off.

 

[Jslim65]

Who cares. Tna or Impact blows. Oh we're all about wrestling. 2 bad half your wrestlers are in their 40s. Impact will never be more than it is right now. A 4th rate company when there really isn't a 2nd or 3rd. No offence 2 ROH. Never got the chance 2 see their product, but I'd much rather wacth ROH than Impact. Wish Spike would drop them and pick up ROH. Yea Raw can be boring some times, but i'd rather watch 2 hours of Cena "rapping" then 5 minutes of Impact. Oh lets have Hogan vs. Sting. A legend i loved as a kid that is now a hollow shell of his fromer self and a guy how we all know wishes he didnt make the mistake of coming back. Yea we all wanted 2 see it when it happen 15 years ago, not know. I hope Hogan stays out of the ring. For his own good. Sorry 4 rambling. But god TNA blows.

 

[drk_knight]

do people really enjoy watching wwe?

i mean, yes the arguement of wwe being for kids has been talked for years now, but cmon, im assuming most people here are over the age of 14, are you really entertained by wwe? if so..why? id like to think you're smarter than that... they're catering to a younger audience, much like a kids show would, yet you're still watching and consider it the better show??

amazing, im pretty sure if i said i watched saturday morning cartoons at the age of 24, people would make fun of me, dont get me wrong, every once in a while spectacular spiderman has a good episode, but im a little too old for those kind of things, much like wwe

its funny people here still consider it the better show

Well it is the better show. WWE has every aspect a wrestling show should have. Storylines wrestleing(though they dont say it). People on the website are saying its for kids and everything but its only because WWE doesnt show what you want to see. If WWE does what the IWC wants them to do than they wouldnt come close to the amount of viewers they have now nor would they have a good future. Orton and Cena brings in money and they are entertaining like the rock and scsa.Tna on the other hand doesnt have a great future. What do they plan on doing? They have way too many old school wrestlers than are on the edge of retiring, Plus Hogans a asshole that would do anything for himself and if wwe asked him to come back he would no questions asked.

 

[MizFitAwesome]

Are you people serious?
1. Chyna looked awful overweight and old. She reminded me of the old bag that killed herself injecting corn oil in her wrinkles in 1000 Ways To Day.
2. I watched that whole boring Matt Hardy promo leading up to the return of Chris Harris, James Storm is acting like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Yippee
3. Oh no Tommy Dreamer is mad, why does he still even get air time?
4. A monkey with downs syndrome could figure out Foley was the Anonymous GM ... I mean Network exec.
Still more boring promos and WWE washouts. This roster would be the most talented roster in the industry, if it was 1999 not 2011...

 

[Kenny Powers]

I thought Raw was pretty flat as well besides the main event. Impact really didn't have any great matches either. Suicide vs. Sangriento, was alright and the battle royale.Chyna was a nice suprise and so was Foley as a network representative. I don't know why Sting and RVD's main event this Sunday got so little coverage, or why AJ Styles is fighting Dreamer again. Chris Harris back for some reason and there is a new name change for Impact. Not a great show, but better then usual. I just wonder if TNA will change for the better next week, or be the same as usual.

 

[rondiesel2005]

I thought Raw was pretty flat as well besides the main event. Impact really didn't have any great matches either. Suicide vs. Sangriento, was alright and the battle royale.Chyna was a nice suprise and so was Foley as a network representative. I don't know why Sting and RVD's main event this Sunday got so little coverage, or why AJ Styles is fighting Dreamer again. Chris Harris back for some reason and there is a new name change for Impact. Not a great show, but better then usual. I just wonder if TNA will change for the better next week, or be the same as usual.

I wonder the same thing about next week like if we going to get nothing but the same segments and bullshit especially with the roster they got now, they tried to put everybody on television

 

[X]

WWE's C Show (I guess you me Superstars) usually has more wrestling than Impact, Raw and Snackdown as it is not used to build storylines but just to get the lowercard on TV or Recap Raw, infact for me it is the second best WWE show on TV behind Tough Enough which is just sad.

Nah Smackdown usually has Superstars beat for in-ring time each week, occasionally RAW as well. My point though is that TNA continues to advertise itself as this big "wrestling" show, but they don't actually back up their word and deliver a reasonable amount of wrestling on their shows. Impact is 90% promo, 10% matches, and those matches usually barely go 3-4 minutes and generally flat out suck. Until TNA decides to actually stick to their word and deliver the kind of awesome wrestling action they originally built their company around, they're full of shit and flat out misrepresenting themselves to their own fans.

Well I will take a guess that Bryan gets jobbed out to the man who botches every week in 3 - 5 minutes. WWE does not like wrestling talent, just people who will make them money, Bryan will never be anything but a chump while in WWE.

I'm really, really getting tired of people saying Cara botches all the time. The man hasn't botched a single damned wrestling move yet. The only thing he's botched is his trampoline entrance. His debut match against Primo, that rough spot at the end that's being called a botch? Completely Primo's fault for not catching Cara. Which is why you haven't seen Primo on TV since. Cara is an excellent worker, and he had a great little match with Bryan on Smackdown this week.

Xfearbefore, You must be quite knowledgeable about wrestling looking at all your rep and your choice of avatar but how the fuck you defend WWE so strongly is beyond me. They were good once, unfortunately they are NOT now.

I defend them because their television shows and PPV events actually deliver matches worth watching more often than not. TNA doesn't come close in that department IMO. I can see three or four ***+ matches on WWE TV for free each week on the combo of RAW/Superstars/Smackdown, meanwhile MONTHS go by without there being a single match worth watching on Impact. Their PPVs tend to be marred by bad booking and bad wrestling, with one or two redeeming matches while on average when I watch a WWE PPV, I get atleast 3-4 matches that are atleast worth watching if not outright good/great. Booking is a toss up because both companies make silly decisions, but booking isn't that important to me because I watch wrestling just for that: the wrestling, the in-ring product. That's where the real storytelling is done, that's where every feud and angle is supposed to end up and that's what's going to sell tickets, PPVs, and make people watch your show. And in the "wrestling" department, the WWE blows TNA right out of the water currently, and they have done so on a consistent basis since the spring of 2010 in my eyes. I used to love TNA, as recently as the fall of 2009 when they had awesome main event programs with Styles wrestling his old rivals Daniels and Joe on PPV main events. Then Hogan and Bischoff came in, turned the booking upside down and into hyperdrive stupidity mode, and the in-ring product crumbled to shit. The saddest thing about it all too is that TNA has such a wide array of talented workers, and they just flat out either don't use them, use them incredibly wrongly, or they pair them up against opponents who can't carry a match for shit because they're well into their 40s and haven't wrestled a good match in years (Bully Ray, Tommy Dreamer, etc).

Bit of a long answer, but hey, you asked.

As for this week's show, meh. A few things I liked, a lot of things I didn't. Battle royal was marginally entertaining and it was moderately amusing to see Chyna again. Chris Harris I thought looked awful, terribly bloated. And I really wish they'd let Sangriento (AKA Red) and Suicide (who's working Suicide these days? Daniels or Okada?) wrestle for more than 3 or 4 minutes at a time. The WWE cruiserweight division years back proved pretty clearly that you can't do shit with your high-flyer division if you don't let them have enough time to even start a match before going to the finish.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

TNA iMPACT! (or Impact Wrestling as I'm not clear on if it's just the show or the company that's renamed) - May 12, 2011

Opening Segment - Quick & painless way to start things off with the Jarretts doing some old school heel stuff by offering truces and all this. It did a good job of setting up the returns for the night and I'm glad that Angle didn't just bring out his "mistress" right away. Nothing overly special about it but it wasn't intended to be and it did it's job. Thumbs Up

Mickie James & Miss Tessmacher vs. Madison Rayne & Tara - This match lasted about 2, maybe 2.5 minutes and Madison spent half of it screaming at/arguing with Tara. Mickie & Tara had a pretty decent spot of chain wrestling at the beginning of the match, but nobody cared and it was the highlight of the match. Miss Tessmacher gets the win with a victory roll on Tara. Not really all that much here. 1/4*

Tommy Dreamer & AJ Styles - It pisses me off to see someone as good as Styles wasted on Tommy Dreamer, it really does. Dreamer ought to be doing something backstage, working as a road agent or something with Al Snow & D-Lo Brown. Dreamer's comments about Styles being "too young & innocent" to understand what he's going through almost made me wanna throw up as it was so damn stupid. Trying to make Dreamer look like this brooding tough guy with an insurmountable problem just doesn't work because Dreamer is just plain terrible. I have a feeling all this will amount to will be revealing that Dreamer's job is threatened and he's doing this for the sake of his family. You know, the whole pity factor card that Dreamer has played a lot in TNA already. There's going to be a match between them at Sacrifice and it really is a waste of a talent like AJ Styles. Thumbs Down

Beer Money, Matt Hardy & Chris Harris - James Storm handled most of the mic work for Beer Money and he did just fine in my view. Definitely channeled his inner Stone Cold a bit here. Matt Hardy just cannot talk on the mic. He either bores the crap out of you and sounds like a total idiot. It was mostly the latter in this one. Matt Hardy actually calling Storm an alcoholic and saying he works while under the influence, that he disgusts him, etc. Are you shittin' me?!?!?!?! Given what we know about Matt's brother Jeff and how many within TNA, including Matt himself, has either turned a blind eye or enabled Jeff's problems, he decides to down this road and expect to sound the least bit valid or credible in any way?!?! Just keep the guy off the mic. Chris Harris comes out and I thought the reaction was kinda lukewarm. I bet half the audience in the Impact Zone didn't know who the guy was. He's been away for 4 years after all and he doesn't look to be in great shape from what I could see of him. Introducing Harris fell flat because the match they had needed a hook to it, something to get some heat on Harris. They should've gotten into a brawl or something with Hardy & Harris coming out on top or Harris should've gotten on the mic or something. But none of that happened. He just kinda stood there like a goon. Thumbs Down

Sangriento vs. Suicide - Pretty decent 3.5 minute match here. It had a faster pace than their previous match but the outcome was just as obvious as it was last week. Some good energy in the match and some of the crowd is getting into Amazing Red in this new role. Even though he has a mask on, he does inject some degree of personality. It's minor and amounts to little more than Red sorta shaking his head around while the tassles of his mask flop around like a guy headbanging, but it's more than he had before. Red gets the win with the springboard cutter move. Decent for what it was. **

Immortal, Mick Foley & Chyna - Immortal comes out and demands to know who The Network has sent. Mick Foley's music hits and I was pretty underwhelmed. A week or so ago, I figured that Foley would be the guy because TNA was in the process of releasing & hyping a new Foley DVD. He hadn't been seen on TNA television in a long time, hadn't even been mentioned, and the timing of the DVD made it obvious that Foley was on his way back and that this was the most likely role for him. Foley gets in the ring and delivers a heated promo on Hogan, telling him about how "Wrestling matters" once again in TNA. He then says that TNA iMPACT! is now Impact Wrestling, though nobody seems to know whether the company or just the show is renamed and it doesn't seem like anyone in TNA really knows for sure yet either. Bischoff got into Foley's face only to get pie faced and shoved to the ground. Foley then introduced Chyna as Angle's "mistress" and she came out to a good nostalgic pop. It was nice to see her but she doesn't look anything like she used to. She no longer looks muscular, her tits are each the size of basketballs and her face has been completely restructured through surgery. She just looks like a relatively attractive middle age woman that's had tons of cosmetic surgery rather than the Amazon she was in her prime. Foley then makes a 25 man battle royal for the main event to determine who will be #1 contender for the TNA WHC. It was nice to see Foley but he hasn't been gone long enough for this to really have a huge impact on me. Besides, what it ultimately boils down to is Foley is once again one of the top names in the company and is a talker, though most of the top names in TNA right now are talkers as well. Also, this whole bit about "wrestling matters" sounds like another big, empty promise. I'd like to be proven wrong but only time will do that. Thumbs In The Middle

Samoa Joe vs. Crimson vs. Abyss - Here's the thing, no matter what wrestling company you might be or however big or small you might be, a 2.5 minute triple threat matches simply do not work. This was a lousy way to follow up the big reveal of Foley as The Network Adviser and his big speech on how wrestling will matter in TNA from this point forward. Why? Because the match was a TNA staple: a gimmick match lasting 3 minutes or less that means absolutely nothing. It seemed like most of the guys hit a few big moves and then it was just over with. Crimson hits the spear on Abyss to get the win. 1/4*

Battle Royal - I thought this was a pretty good battle royal. The Impact Zone crowd was actually, legitimately excited and there was just an energetic feel going on. The match had most of your typical battle royal stuff. You know, punches+kicks+occassionaly clotheslines+attempted elimintations. Matt Morgan looked pretty impressive, generally better than he's looked in quite a while. Morgan eliminated a lot of guys, including Hernandez, before he was eliminated by Scott Steiner. I dunno what the fuck Eric Young was doing out there. He manages to eliminate Gunner and, as he's "brain damaged", he thinks he won the TV Championship. Gunner chases him to the back as Young runs off with the title. The last two ultimately left were Mr. Anderson & Bully Ray. They battled for a bit before Anderson eventually eliminates him to become, yet again, #1 contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Anderson cuts a promo afterward and basically still whines about being screwed over and all this and that. I thought this was a fun match and probably the overall best main event on iMPACT! all year. It was a nice change to actually see a TNA match on television go 10 minutes or more. If I'm not mistaken, this was only the second match in 2011 thus far to do so. **1/2

Overall Show - I'm not surprised to see so many TNA fans all happy and giddy after this episode. After all, it happens everytime TNA does a show like this in which it revolves around hyping the nostalgia factor to pop a rating. With the exception of a 28 minute battle royal main event, there wasn't anything here that we haven't seen many times before, especially over the past 18 months or so. There were a lot of little promo segments scattered here and there along with a couple of big ones. The opening of the show was quick and to the point, doing it's job of hyping the night's debuts/returns. Matt Hardy looked & sounded like a complete idiot. I know some are going to say that TNA is just drawing more from real life in this instance but it's bullshit. So far as I know, James Storm isn't actually an alcoholic. It would've been "real life" if Storm had been the one to call Matt's brother an addict of some sort. The return of Chris Harris was completely flat. He didn't do anything except stand there looking, from what I could tell, bloated & out of shape. Of course, some are going gaga over it just for the sake of nostalgia and what he once was roughly half a decade ago. As for Mick Foley being The Network Advisor, I'm mixed. It's nice to see Foley again and I'm sure he'll do just fine here. But he hasn't been gone long enough for his return to have the big impact in my opinion. His big speech on "wrestling matters" and all this is something that I just take with a grain of salt. The same people are in charge of TNA and unless they're somehow able to make a complete, 100% turn around, it's just a lot of big talk with no substance to it. It's hard to get excited about Chyna. It's nice to see her sure but she was never that great even in her prime. Chyna had a unique look to her that's all but gone now. Now, she just looks like a woman going through middle age that undergoes one cosmetic surgery after another to keep herself looking good rather than the imposing physical female force she once was. Most of the wrestling content was your standard TNA fare: a 2 minute Knockout match, a 3.5 minute X Division match & a 2.5 minute gimmick match. The 2.5 minute match as a triple threat match that happened after the Foley segment where he gave his big speech on how important wrestling is. It just made me doubt Foley's proclamation a bit more. The battle royal was fun and I was surprised to see it last about 28 minutes. I thought the battle royal was fun and, as I said, it was nice to see a TNA match on tv go 10 minutes or more. Generally speaking, I thought most of the show was just par for the course. We've seen these types of shows a lot from TNA and nothing happened or was said to make me believe that anything great is going to come from this. TNA's dropped the ball far too many times and made too many wind bag statements and hollow promises for me to believe any sweeping changes are coming through. I'll have to see it to believe it.

Grade: D+

 

[Psykohurricane55]

This actually was my first time i watch IMPACT since the lead out show of Bound for glory last year. Sure i still found a way to catch some of their PPV on the internet but outside of that i didn'T watch TNA IMPACT at all since october. But since their was nothing else on T.V. and NXT wasn't playing because The score here in canada decided to aired a poker tournament instead, i decided to give it a try this week.

So here are my impression of this weeks IMPACT. The first thing i realise was that nothing had really change since the last time i watch, the matches were really shorts and they're was a lot of backstage segment in between matches, especially in the first hour, which is the section of the program you need to keep people entertain. During the first hour you had 2 matches, A decent Knockout matches that last less then 5 minutes and a x-division match between a really bad looking knockoff of Sin Cara and Suicide that also lasted less then 5 minutes. Outside of that it was all backstage segments and in ring promo segments which becomes really boring after a while.

Then the big reveals happens which because of all the talking segment they had during the first hour kinda fell flat because by that time they had so many talking segment that you just couldn'T care about any other reveal. By the way, did anybody care really that during the beer money/MAtt Hardy promo they reveal Chris''Don't call me Brendan Walker'' Harris was the big surprise partner for Matt.

Then they went into the big name change without really explaining why the network was changing the name. Again bad writing from the writing staff. Then after boring the fans to death in the first hour we go to a match that everybody wanted to see between Crimsom, Abyss & Samoa Joe. Again why was joe even involve in this, he's not on the PPV, i would have understood if they did a one on one match between Joe & Crimsom and have Abyss interfere but to have 2 feud in one match kinda a feel too much and doesn'T make sense at all.

Then The battle royal, o.k., that match was pretty good considering what it was but again, this match should have been booked next week because it took the focus off the main event match at sacrifice, the way it was booked,it made me think that somehow, Anderson will be involve in the result of the match and that's not a good feeling to have because the last thing you want to have when you're paying 35$ for a PPV is that the PPV ends on a screw job finish, if you don'T believe me, just ask everybody that bought Wrestlemania this year.

So all in all, it was a better show then the last time i watch it, they still have some problem in the booking department and they still seem to not see where they're priorities are and they still have too much talking in the first hour of the show but outside of that the matches were decent even if they were short and in the case of the x-division, pretty showed out important the division is to the company (suicide getting hit below the belt by ric Flair and the fact that not one single x-division wrestler was in the battle royal). So i'm giving this episode of IMPACT wrestling a 5 out of 10

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I really wanted to complaint about this episode of IMPACT Wrestling because it been a habit of mine since last year because of how horrible the product was but i got to say that last night's epiosde wasn'T that bad. Sure their was some segment that i could have live without especially in the second hour. but all and all it was a decent show.

One thing i'm going to complaint about throught Abyss winning the X-division championship and the total destruction of amazing red in the match following. I know they want to highlight the x-division and they pick problably the only guys still wrestling in that division that actually can cut a promo, but was it really necessary to completly buried these guys. First you had Bischoff completly destroying the creability of these 4 guys especially Kendrick with the vanilla midget comment, then to make matters worst you give Abyss the title will i'm not a big fan of that move, i understand why it was done, then you have Amazing Red getting destroy by Samoa Joe to advance Joe's storyline with Crimsom. So technicly you use one guy that is supposed to be in a major storyline to advance another storyline were joe is going to job to the new Goldberg. Really great booking here.

Outside of that, nothing else was really bad, they promess wrestling and with got wrestling even if it wasn'T great wrestling at less it they had matches that lasted more theen 3 minutes for the most part anyway and outside of the complete burial of the x-division and the heel turn for Tommy dreamer (which i hate because that mean we are going to see more of Dreamer in a wrestling ring and that'S not a good thing), the rest was really good and i got my interest again in watching what they have going on. I might even tape it next week.

 

[Philly88]

I thought it was a really good episode alot better than the previous weeks. The only thing I dident like was Matt Hardy beating Gen Me single handed but that's not really much. Since the build up for Lockdown TNA has been sucking me in and each week I seem to get more excited for next weeks show. It seems like not having Hogan on the show usually means its a pretty good episode.

 

[RD_21]

I really wanted to complaint about this episode of IMPACT Wrestling because it been a habit of mine since last year because of how horrible the product was but i got to say that last night's epiosde wasn'T that bad. Sure their was some segment that i could have live without especially in the second hour. but all and all it was a decent show.

One thing i'm going to complaint about throught Abyss winning the X-division championship and the total destruction of amazing red in the match following. I know they want to highlight the x-division and they pick problably the only guys still wrestling in that division that actually can cut a promo, but was it really necessary to completly buried these guys. First you had Bischoff completly destroying the creability of these 4 guys especially Kendrick with the vanilla midget comment, then to make matters worst you give Abyss the title will i'm not a big fan of that move, i understand why it was done, then you have Amazing Red getting destroy by Samoa Joe to advance Joe's storyline with Crimsom. So technicly you use one guy that is supposed to be in a major storyline to advance another storyline were joe is going to job to the new Goldberg. Really great booking here.

Outside of that, nothing else was really bad, they promess wrestling and with got wrestling even if it wasn'T great wrestling at less it they had matches that lasted more theen 3 minutes for the most part anyway and outside of the complete burial of the x-division and the heel turn for Tommy dreamer (which i hate because that mean we are going to see more of Dreamer in a wrestling ring and that'S not a good thing), the rest was really good and i got my interest again in watching what they have going on. I might even tape it next week.

In my opinion you are missing the point on how booking work in a wrestling company that is not the E, but I won't point the finger too much as I may be wrong in the end but here's how I see it.

Usually the x-division guys are not even on the show (see why Lethal left or was not renewed or whatever it is). If they are putting them on the show it's not to bury them. Hogan, Bischoff and Russo usually book the same way, while you may thinkg they are burying them now, in the long run they will win. Just like Angle's been "buried" for almost a year now but come this PPV he will probably kick the shit out of Jarrett. The X-division guys will be made fun of, humiliated but they will win the feud against Bischoff and the others.

Of course Kendrick could have come out to screw Bischoff and Hardy against Gen Me and help his friend win, but that's how booking in the E work usually. In TNA ( and wCw for the matter) the heel will win until you are sick of it and then the face will finally get the feud win. Not saying it's good or bad, but I am pretty sure that the x division guy will win in the end (even more sure about it when you consider the rebranding).

 

[Psykohurricane55]

In my opinion you are missing the point on how booking work in a wrestling company that is not the E, but I won't point the finger too much as I may be wrong in the end but here's how I see it.

Usually the x-division guys are not even on the show (see why Lethal left or was not renewed or whatever it is). If they are putting them on the show it's not to bury them. Hogan, Bischoff and Russo usually book the same way, while you may thinkg they are burying them now, in the long run they will win. Just like Angle's been "buried" for almost a year now but come this PPV he will probably kick the shit out of Jarrett. The X-division guys will be made fun of, humiliated but they will win the feud against Bischoff and the others.

Of course Kendrick could have come out to screw Bischoff and Hardy against Gen Me and help his friend win, but that's how booking in the E work usually. In TNA ( and wCw for the matter) the heel will win until you are sick of it and then the face will finally get the feud win. Not saying it's good or bad, but I am pretty sure that the x division guy will win in the end (even more sure about it when you consider the rebranding).

I'm not saying it was a bad idea to do it the way they done it because i'm glad the x-division guys finally get a chance on t.v. but they're a right way and a wrong way to book this things and Bischoff interview at the beginning was the wrong way of doing it. By pretty buried them during is interview especially the Vanilla midget comment, the made them look like they didn't matter. So a new fan that watch this will not cared to watch these guys get there revenge since Bischoff clearly stated that these four guys didn't matters. The other problem you got with this storyline is the fact that one of the four guys involve in this was made to look like an jobber only to advance somebody else storyline. If the plan was to use Red as a jobber to advance the Joe/Crimsom feud, they could have found somebody else to take Red's place in the x-division storyline. How about Alex Shelly who is supposed to be cleared to wrestle or Suicide who even through he almost never cuts promos, still got an history with Immortal because of what happenned last week. They even could have use Amazing red under the disguise of this new mexican guy. The point is the execution of this storyline was badly started. I'm still interested to see where it'S going even through i already so something similar in TNA a could of years back involving Kevin Nash and the x-division which lead nowhere and didn'T help the x-division at all. But i'm still interested to see how badly the x-division guys will be hurt by this because knowing TNA's bookings style, you know that even through the main characters in this story or Kendrick/Red & Gen Me vs IMmortal that these 4 x-division guys will get murder only to be save by Fortune or somebody more famous that they are.

 

[Rasha]

I'm not saying it was a bad idea to do it the way they done it because i'm glad the x-division guys finally get a chance on t.v. but they're a right way and a wrong way to book this things and Bischoff interview at the beginning was the wrong way of doing it. By pretty buried them during is interview especially the Vanilla midget comment, the made them look like they didn't matter. So a new fan that watch this will not cared to watch these guys get there revenge since Bischoff clearly stated that these four guys didn't matters.

So wrestling fans take everything Eric Bischoff says as gospel now? I didn't get that memo.

When Vince McMahon said that Stone Cold needed to learn to be a company man, did fans suddenly start going, "yeah Stone Cold, straighten up!" I don't think so. Bischoff is playing the VILLAIN here and the whole point of him saying the X-Division guys don't matter is to rally fans behind them.

And even if the person watching is a "new fan" who doesn't know a damn thing about Bischoff, the X-Division, or the difference between an armbar and an arm drag, the natural human response is to get mad when you see a "little guy" getting picked on and abused. This isn't that complicated.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

TNA iMPACT Wrestling - May 19, 2011

Opening Segment - The opening of the show was mostly more of the usual. Immortal comes out with Eric Bischoff giving the whole Immortal rules the world kinda stuff, taking credit for the new look, etc. I was a little surprised to see the X Division guys come out and interrupt them. Kenrick was actually coherant on the mic and it was kinda fun seeing Bischoff get into it with them. Bischoff booked several matches then and there, including Kazarian vs. Abyss for the X Division Championship. However, once he announced that he was teaming with Matt Hardy against Generation Me, I just got this hollow pit right in the center of my stomach. Bischoff slapped Kenrick and started a brawl. Immortal gets the upper hand, then here comes Fortune to turn the tide, etc. This is the first show in the "Wrestling Matters" era in TNA so I would have preferred them to just start the show with a match. Just a decent, competitive 10 minute match to get things started. Thumbs Down

Mickie James, Tara & Miss Tessmacher vs. Madison Rayne, Sarita & Rosita - Pretty standard stuff for Knockouts here. Some decent action with the match mostly setting up the storyline of Madison Rayne being fearful of the newly independent Tara. Much of the match itself was overshadowed by Anarquia on commentary. Personally, I think the guy's terrible but he's obviously better than Hernandez on the mic. Tara doesn't really get her hands on Madison here but she picks up the win for her team at the 4 minute mark after hitting a sit-down powerbomb on Rosita. 1/2*

Kazarian vs. Abyss - Pretty good 5 minute match though it needed to be longer as it was for a supposedly prestigious championship. Abyss did his part as the big lumbering monster well and Kaz's more athletic style made for a good mesh while it lasted. Abyss controlled most of the first half before Kazarian gets in his shots in the second half. About the 3.5 minute mark, Abyss tries to hit a springboard splash of the second rope and misses. We've seen Big Show try the same move lots of times only he looked more agile than Abyss despite being about 100 pounds heavier. Abyss feigns a knee injury and catches Kaz off guard with a kick to the gut. He then pulls him into the Black Hole Slam for the win at. Abyss is the new TNA X Division Champion. Good match while it lasted but it doesn't exactly send a message regarding renewed investment in the X Division. **

Samoa Joe vs. Amazing Red - Nothing here but a 50 second squash match. Literally. Joe obliterates Red in less than a minute. TNA seems to be sending a message that the X Division doesn't matter. After all, they're using them as fodder tonight rather than as high flying, athletic guys that are on part with some of the best the world has to offer. Joe continues to beat Red down before Crimson comes out to make the save. This streak storyline they're doing with Red just isn't registering with me at all and basically, all it did was make Red look like he can't hang with the big boys. N/A

AJ Styles & Tommy Dreamer - It looks as though they're doing another injury angle with AJ Styles in this whole deal as he comes out wearing a neck brace. I don't know why they're wasting Styles on the likes of Tommy Dreamer. Apparently Dreamer is actually a legit heel now and is playing the role of this angry, bitter & grizzled veteran looking down his nose at the innocent AJ Styles. It could work if Tommy Dreamer was anywhere near the same league as someone like Styles and I just wish that TNA would stop trying to convince people otherwise. They get into it with Dreamer getting the upper hand after grabbing Styles by his injured neck. Daniels comes out and pulls Dreamer away, asking him what's happened to him and all this before they start fighting. Ray runs down and together he & Dreamer take out Styles & Daniels. The segment ends with Dreamer hitting styles with a piledriver. I guess TNA wants fans to look at Dreamer as being relevant even though he isn't. That can only explain why he's the buffer at this point between the AJ Styles/Bully Ray feud. Thumbs Down

Kurt Angle & Jeff Jarrett - The second hour actually began with commercials and this was the first in-ring segment. Angle comes out and does his bit, he thanks Chyna for her help with Karen Jarrett before challenging Jeff Jarrett to a match at Slammiversary for the #1 contender spot for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Jarrett heads out and spouts off for a bit before agreeing to the match if Angle will put the gold medal he won at the '96 Olympics on the line as well. Of course, Angle agrees and the match is set. The feud will end at the next ppv and it's all but written in the stars that Angle wins. If you've been into this feud then this was just fine. If you've just been wanting things to end between them, this was kind of disappointing. The additional stipulation of the gold medal means nothing to me and all but gives the ending of the match away. Thumbs Down

Generation Me vs. Matt Hardy & Eric Bischoff - There was some good action in the match generally speaking. GenMe hit some tag moves on Hardy early on in the match and controlled much of the first few minutes. Hardy eventually makes a comeback takes control. Again, the tag team moves of GenMe come into play and they launch a pretty fun offense on Matt before Hardy gets the upper hand by countering an attempted neckbreaker with a cutter. Jeremy Buck goes for a 450 splash but Hardy gets the knees up before tossing him outside. Hardy locks in the Ice Pick submission hold and has Buck out before making the tag to Bischoff. Bischoff gets the 3 count at the 6.5 minute match. The match was pretty good but this just makes it hard to take GenMe seriously. For the first 6 minutes of the match, it was essentially a handicap match and Hardy wound up beating GenMe cleanly before allowing Bischoff to get the win. *1/4

Velvet Sky vs. Winter & Angelina Love - Generally speaking, more standard stuff here. I thought the match was pretty boring overall and this storyline just...uuuggghhh... The match just seemed to drag and it would've been better if they'd just gotten this over with in half the time. Winter & Angelina spend much fo the match beating on Velvet before Velvet is able to score a surprise roll up on Angelina for the win at the 4 minute mark. ODB makes a surprise return and attacks Velvet from behind as the announcers selled confusion. 1/4*

Overall Show - I can't comment on the rest of the show as my satellite lost its signal. So I missed the last 20 minutes of the show. As for what I did see, it was just business as usual for TNA. The whole thing about "Wrestling Matters" came across as lip service and a marketing slogan. They made sure to have lots of guys say the "Wrestling Matters" and "Impact Wrestling" stuff many times tonight during promos. If the goal tonight was to make the X Division look irrelevant and weak, then mission was most definitely accomplished. Wrestling content on the show was generally the same as usual with about 5 short matches on the card. The X-Division Championship match was the best match on the card, though at only 5 minutes you don't get a feeling that the title means much. The longest match at 6.5 minutes was the tag match between GenMe against Hardy & Bischoff. Hardy defeated GenMe single handedly and allowed Bischoff to get the pin. Samoa Joe destroyed Amazing Red in about 45 seconds and we had the usual stuff from the Knockouts. Overall, last night was more if the iMPACT! of old just with a slightly altered name and more blue added into the color scheme.

Grade: D-

 

[Kitten Cutter]

The Random Thoughts of Kitten Cutter

Hello all!

I took a week off to recover from a hospital visit. So now that I’m jacked full of penicillin, I’m set to go!

So, while I was gone TNA brought back Mick Foley (sarcastic shock), brought in Chyna (real shock) and had a pay-per-view come and go. Oh, and they changed their name to Impact Wrestling?! Um, OK.

According to the spoilers, once again…nothing happened. Can the proposed changes start off with, “When you hold a PPV…have a point?!”

Anyway, here we go!

- And we start off with Eric Bischoff's contractually obligated first promo! Some things won't change!

- So is Impact the name of the company AND the show?

- Did Bully Ray lose a contact or is he trying to scare midget cameramen?

- Bully Ray is having way too much fun with this!

- Did TNA go to Smackdown colors? Nahh....

- No Rob Terry or Murphy with the Immortals. Addition by subtraction.

- So the first official Impact Wrestling show is being run by Eric Bischoff and Ric Flair? Some thing won't change.

- And we have the X-division wrestlers being represented by Brian Kendrick. I guess he's not crazy zen boy anymore.

- Why couldn't the WCW crusierweights do this while being led by Chris Jericho? Wouldn't that have been an awesome feud?

- Why is Matt Hardy so against the X-division with Bischoff? Isn't he their size?

- Eric Bischoff is wrestling tonight? I got a bad feeling...

- I gotta admit, this opening promo is better than usual, even if it is the X-division is getting the shit kicked out of it.

- Fourtune arrives for the save, and this makes sense for them to help.

- What does Ric Flair have against fat boys? Especially when he's not in the best of shape anymore...

- Well, Taco Bell is closing up so we have Mexican America in the house! Looks like six-man tag action with Madison Rayne joining Sarita and Rosita.

- Facing them is Mickie James, Miss Teshmacher and the newly freed Tara.

- The over\under on the Mickie James\Tara alliance is 4 months. Place your bets now.

- Taco Bell is offically closed since Hernandez and El Anorexia are here.

- Who wrestles with a flower in their hair?

- Sarita is pretty underrated as a wrestler.

- What a weird elbow from Miss Teshmacher.

- Why does Earl Hebner always get to ref the Knockouts matches? Why is he so lucky?!

- Sky High powerbomb to Rosita for the win. Madison Rayne threw her to the wolves.

- That match was better than I would expect.

- Something's up with the Sting boots. $10 says it ain't Sting.

- Abyss winning the X-division title would basically mean the division is due a LOT of squashes for a long time, and one lucky X-division guy will win it back in 6 months.

- New tights for Kazarian. You see, another change for Impact! Now he and A.J. Styles match, except for the face, hair, tattoo and finisher.

- The story of the match isn't much different: Kaz using his agility to offset the clumsy Abyss's power.

- Kaz is showing he can hang with the big boys.

- Abyss using ring psychology? Is the world really ending?

- Oh no. Black Hole Slam for the 3 count. New X-champion: Abyss. And 40 cruiserweights just ripped up their invites to go train with Impact Wrestling.

- Oh yeah, Eric Young stole Gunner's TV title last week. I forgot.

- And for our bi-weekly heel turn, here's Samoa Joe!

- Maybe we'll finally see Joe motivated.

- Tough break, Red. You'll always have Sancho Villa.

- At least they're showing continuity with Crimson saving his "brother."

- I think they're building up Joe to give Crimson a big win. Smart for Crimson, bad for Joe.

- So Tommy Dreamer got a pay-per-view over A.J. Styles? That really happened? Ladies and gentlemen, your 2011 TNA...er, Impact booking!

- How long has it been since Tommy Dreamer was an actual heel?

- Can A.J. stick around for longer than two months please? Maybe stop getting injured or being part of injury angles?

- I'm not impressed. Not at all.

- If Dreamer was going to go heel, why not let EV2 be the heels last year?

- I haven't seen an actual old-school piledriver in a long time.

- Yep. Someone's coming as Sting. Probably the man called Anderson.

- And Kurt Angle is here to hopefully end this asinine feud and start anew!

- Angle got the win. Hooray. No more Chyna, though?

- They're having ONE MORE MATCH?! REALLY?! WHY??????!!!!!!!

- Hmph. Well, at least this last match will have a point.

- Didn't Chris Benoit steal Kurt Angle's medal and keep it in his balls once?

- What the hell? I HATE YOU KAREN JARRETT!

- That's it. Fast forward!

- Wait, Velvet Sky is here!

- OK, the wheelchair thing was pretty funny. I'm surprised Karen could manuver the chair so well to keep it straight.

- So far, I'm enjoying the show.

- OK, so Generation ME is back together again without a real resolution. This seemed to happen a LOT in TNA. I hope that changes.

- PLEASE don't have Eric Bischoff pin one of these guys [Generation ME].

- This is our fourth match so far and only one dud (the Samoa Joe squash). Not bad, not bad.

- You know, this is one time I do want to see Jeff Hardy back, just for the novelty of the Hardy Boyz back together.

- Wow, I totally thought Matt Hardy told Jeremy "I'm going to set you up for the Side Effect."

- I wish Jackson James would slip and say, "Stay on the ring apron, Daddy!"

- Eric Bischoff's problem with the X-division? Bischoff likes big dicks in his ass.

- So, basically Matt Hardy beat Generation ME with an assist from Eric Bischoff.

- On one hand, the X-division are being pushed by being shown and talked about. On the other hand, they are losing badly so far.

- Oh, come on, don't tease lesbian action, Impact Wrestling!

- Our 5th match is a handicap between the Lesbos and the Loser.

- Then again, Velvet Sky has been pulling off a few wins lately, so I can't knock her for awhile.

- I guess Winter's brainwash juice numbs your pain.

- I will say this: Velvet Sky is over with the crowd. I still say she acts too bitchy to be a babyface.

- Goddamn she is hot, though.

- Then again, so is Winter, except for that Kathy Bates in Misery attitude.

- Velvet Sky sneaks in the inside cradle for the win. And she's immediately beat up by ODB. Wow.

- From one feud to another for Velvet Sky. Interesting.

- So now it's Bobby Roode and not Robert Roode?

- Eric Young, geez.

- Thank you, Gunner. I'm one of the few people who doesn't like Eric Young.

- This is a weird promo for Ric Flair and Robert Roode. It's good though.

- Wow. Could there be a heel turn in the future for Roode to join Flair maybe when he turns psycho?

- Um...where's Fourtune? Oh, wait...Abyss beat the hell out of Kaz and Bubba Ray and Dreamer took out Daniels and Styles. And James Storm is still getting drunk.

- All right, we get to hear from Sting after a successful title defense.

- Does anyone miss Jeff Hardy's Immortal Title? Anyone? Why do I hear crickets?

- So is Sting the Impact World Heavyweight Champion?

- I do like when champions give respect to their challengers.

- Wow, look at Mr. Anderson! I guess that means he's a full heel again.

- Mr. Anderson looks just like Sting from the 90's with the jacket on.

- Last thing: And that's it? That's how we end Impact? That felt abrupt!

Overall: A good show to start off the Impact Wrestling era, but odd that there wasn't a bigger main event or anything. Creating new feuds was the name of the game tonight, and while I'm not a fan of feuds resolving without a sense of permanency, it's good to see Velvet Sky, Winter, Angelina Love, Abyss, the X-division and Samoa Joe move on. Now, if only Jarrett and Angle could cut the cord between them...

 

[Dogfingers]

This show was dreadful. Utterly awful in just about every respect.

Positives:
* I like the new look
* ODB and Madison Rayne were funny
* Kazarian and Abyss had a good match

Negatives:
* The show started with the usual boring immortal promo with Bischoff spending 5 minutes telling us how Hulk Hogan wasn't here

* Matt Hardy utterly destroyed Gen Me single handedly, what a way to make the faces look like idiots. Matt at one point went for the hot tag to Eric Bischoff. Madness

*The editing was horrible. Bischoff was on the phone to Hulk Hogan in one segment, the very next segment featured Jeff Jarrett saying 'I've just got off the phone with Bischoff'. WHaaaaaa? Does Impact take place in some time defying dimension?

*Beatdown count:
1) Every one beat each other down in the opening segment
2) Gunner beat Eric Young down
3) Immotal beat Robert Roode down after his disappointing promo with Flair
4) Bully Ray and Dreamer beat down AJ Styles
5) ODB beat Velvet Skye down after her match, god knows why.
6) Mr Kennedy Beat Sting down
7) Crimson beat Samoa Joe down after Joe beat Amazing Red in about a minute...wrestling matters.

None of this was done effectively and ended up amounting to nothing.

*The Angelina/Winter storyine is the most embarassing narrative I've seen in pro-wrestling in a long time

* I was watching it with a mate and during the Joe and Amazing Red beat down, Crimson made the save. He asked why. I said becuase they are brothers. Way to go to educate your audience TNA.

I honestly don't know why people were excited about this show. Despite the 'wrestling matters' tagline it's still the same bunch of fuckwits running the show.