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

[LSN80]

Impact Hits and Misses​

Impact Hits:​

Kurt Angle vs RVD: An excellent TV main event. I loved how TNA plugged the match throughout the show, giving it a special feel. The ring intro's were a nice touch, and the two men certainly lived up to the expectations set for them. The two have faced off before, but that was ten years ago, a distant memory for most, and this was an Impact first. The ten minute match had some believable near falls, great bell to bell action from both men, and the right man won, giving Angle needed momentum headed into Slammiversary.

AJ Styles and Daniels vs Bully Ray and Tommy Dreamer: The match itself was nothing special, but for a show that's been plugging "wrestling matters" every two minutes, they did the exact thing they needed to do. They opened the show with a wrestling match. It was good for a five minute brawl, and the finish was sick. Again, nothing special in terms of being a match, but it was good to see Impact Wrestling open with a wrestling match as opposed to another Immortal promo.

Jeff Jarrett vs Matt Morgan: A minor hit. They squeezed a good 4 minutes of action into the match, and Jarrett gets the tainted win in an essential "Pick Your Poison" match. Morgan only losng due to Steiner's interference kept him strong leading up to their likely confrontation at Slammiversary. It would have been nice for Jarrett to get a clean win heading into Slammiversary, but not against Matt Morgan. Good action while it lasted, and I wouldn't mind seeing a longer match from the two in the future, as they worked well together.

Mickie James vs Winter: There is so much not to like about this, but the short match actually showed some of the in-rng chemistry between the two that they showed in WWE when Winter was Katie Lea. This was a glorified squash for Mickie, but I liked Angelina attacking her after the match, in what hopefully leads to an Angelina/Mickie feud for the title. I hate the zombie/drugged/ Angelina, but she's a good talent. Hopefully this match was the start of Mickie being treated as more then just another Knockout.

Impact Misses:​

Anderson/Sting/Disco Inferno segment: The idea of the segment was decent, but the execution was poor. Too much "insider" wrestling talk for my liking, and for all the men from Sting's past they could hve gotten, they pulled in the over 50 Disco Inferno? He wasn't bad in his role, and Anderson is transitioning into a full-fledged heel nicely. But where is the hype for the title match at Slammiversary? Sting, the World Champion, was on the show for possibly two minutes. It boggles my mind how little emphasis they've put on the title since Sting has won it.

Hulk Hogan/Eric Bischoff/Mick Foley/X Division wrestlers segment: The good is that they're putting more emphasis on the X Division then they have at any time during the Hogan/Bischoff era. The bad is that Hogan and Bischoff spent the first 5 minutes swinging off each other's nuts before Foley came out. i like Foley playing the checks and balance for Hogan and Bischoff, but this segment took away too much time from what could have been given to any of the other matches on the show, and it accomplished little. Brian Kendrick needs to decide who he wants to be, as he transitioned in and out of his "guru" gimmick in the same promo. Rediculous.

Eric Young vs Gunner: On a show that supposedly refocused and actually rebranded themselves around the idea that wrestlng matters, they reference one of the worst and most infamous times in wrestling's history. Why anyone in creative thought re-enacting the "finger point of doom", thought to be the final nail in the coffin of the show of WCW, was a good idea is just mind boggling. Just terrible.

Abyss vs Bryan Kendrick: A short match that only furthered to display the X division wrestlers as inferior to the rest of the talent. Yes, it could lead to Abyss being booked as a monster champion, with the wrestler who finally beats him becoming a big deal, but the X division wrestlers couldn't look more weak then they do right now, and this match was evidence of that.

ODB/Velvet segment: A classy segment that emphasized exactly how women shouldbe portrayed. Actually, it was a tasteless and classless segment that accomplished little. I don't understand how ODB makes the correlation that her firing was a result of Velvet, and the **** references were needless, and appeal to the lowest common denominator. Velvet showed good fire in her response, but that wasn't enough to save this train wreck of a segment.

Overall Show: A disapointment. World champion Sting was on the show for all of two minutes, and the World Title itself wasn't plugged whatsoever. Other then Angle/Jarrett, the build towards Slammiversary was non-existant, there was too much talk that could have been given to actual matches, and they used the dreaded fingerpoint of doom. It wasn't aa terrible show, but they need to start emphasizing the World Title and it's holder ASAP, as well as the actual title match at Slammiversary.

 

[SpecialFNK]

I think there are people taking this "wrestling matters" too far. yes it matters, but you can not build an entire show of wrestling on a TV show. wrestling matters, but it's quality not quantity. it's not the time of matches, but what is done and how the matches are used.

I thought tonight's Impact was entertaining. you had 6 matches on this Impact.

I thought it was great to open Impact with a match.

I thought the Anderson segment was great. sure many people aren't going to go crazy for Disco Inferno, but you had to expect whoever was there was going to get beat down by Anderson at the end which would lead to Sting coming out for the save. since it was Anderson who brought this person from the past, you wouldn't expect him to bring out someone big. I also thought it was funny when Disco used the line.. why do you refer to yourself as an asshole when you're really a dick. lol. then the crowd was chanting dick dick dick.

I liked Abyss beating Kendrick. why would anyone expect much from this, it's Brian Kendrick. he is no match to Abyss. it's not TNA making these X division guys look weak, they do a good enough job of that themselves. Kendrick, Amazing Red, and the Buck brothers. if TNA wanted to make the X division look good, they would use some wrestlers who were actually more talented singles wrestlers.

even though the Eric Young/Gunner match was quick using the finger point, I think it fits with Eric Young. it's funny because with the segment from earlier EY said he would fall down and let Gunner pin him. instead he rolled up Gunner for the win. actually having EY lay there for the pin would have been terrible, but it was funny to see him trick Gunner.

I wasn't a fan of Velvet and OUB(One Ugly Bitch). Velvet isn't the reason OUB wasn't there any longer, she was the reason herself. seems OUB is jealous of Velvet, she wishes she could look hot like Velvet. Velvet is money!

I do agree that Hogan/Bischoff/Foley talked for too long.

I liked the part with Beer Money and Bischoff backstage. seems that Roode will not be able to be cleared to wrestle by the PPV. did Beer Money even have opponents yet? I'm just going to assume right now that maybe Storm will get to choose a partner, and that will be Chris Harris? I also thought it was funny when Bischoff used the line to Storm, sorry about your damn luck.

you had to figure both Jarrett and Angle would win their matches. Steiner interfered to allow Jarrett to get the win. this will also continue things between Steiner and Morgan.

I can't comment on the Angle/RVD match. just as the match started it started pouring rain heavy where I live knocking out my satellite signal and I missed the end.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Impact Wrestling - May 26, 2011

AJ Styles & Christohper Daniels vs. Bully Ray & Tommy Dreamer - Nice change of pace for TNA to open the show with a wrestling match, though the significance of this will most likely be blown out of proportion. The match was decent for what it was which, unfortunately, wasn't all that much. There was some good energy in the match but we've seen these 4 minute street fight/gimmick matches so many times on TNA that they're meaningless. For the most part, the layout of the match reminded me of a WWF Hardcore Championship match circa 1999. I like that they kept Styles & Ray apart from each other for the most part. Styles & Daniels get the win via spike piledriver on Dreamer. *1/4

Mr. Anderson & Disco Inferno - This segment just kind of bored me. I never have nor will I ever give two shits about Disco Inferno. The fact that Taz & Tenay were cracking wise about the guy before he even got into the ring didn't do anything to make me care about listening to him either. What the segment boils down to is Disco putting over Sting while Anderson, as a heel, doesn't hear what he wants. When Anderson finally starts beating up Disco, which anyone that's ever watched wrestling on a regular basis knew was gonna happen before anyone said a single word, I just thought it was kinda stupid. Anderson's been running around calling himself an asshole for months, proud of the fact that he's an asshole in fact. But he gets pissed when Disco calls him a dick? Some may have gotten something of a nostalgia kick out of this and it was surprising to see Disco, but meh. Thumbs Down

Eric Young & Gunner - This segment made me cringe a little because I just knew that I probably wasn't going to like what it lead up to. Young tells Gunner that he'll lay down for him in the ring tonight and talks about how great the infamous Fingerpoke of Doom was. I got this slight sinking feeling in my gut. I'd imagine it's what you might feel like if you know beforehand that you're about to get into horrible car accident but you're somehow powerless to do anything about it. Thumbs Down

Velvet Sky & ODB - The Knockouts have become so one dimensional that it's not even funny. I'm about as far from a prude as most anyone can get but I'm just kinda tired of all the various little sexual innuendo & **** jokes. I'm not tired of them because they offend me or anything, they're just abysmally boring. We see a lot of that kinda stuff especially whenver Velvet is out there. I know it's an obvious route to go down but it's one that TNA's gone down so many times that it just doesn't have any sort of oomph to it. It just seems tired, cheesy and cliche`. ODB starts beating down Velvet after a bit so this segment moves along the feud between the two. Thumbs Down

Jeff Jarrett vs. Matt Morgan - Not really much to say about this match in general. It accomplished what it ultimately set out to do but it wasn't all that entertaining. Both got in some decent offense, though the booking of the match gave me the sense that Morgan could end it at just about any time. Jarrett does wind up getting the win a little past the 3 minute mark after Steiner interferes. Jarrett has a little momentum going into the next ppv and it looks like Steiner & Morgan have started things up again. 1/2*

Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, Mick Foley & The X Division - Typical promo segment regarding the power struggle storylines that just won't die in TNA. Bischoff comes out and basically goes down on Hogan before Hogan eventually comes out. He & Bischoff do the usual Immortal rules the world and I run TNA shit. Foley comes out, does his thing, yadda yadda. Eventually, here come the X Division guys consisting of Brian Kendrick, Generation Me & Amazing Red after Foley makes an Ultimate X match for Slammiversary. Kendrick starts in on his Jedi philosophical bullshit and challenges Abyss for the X Division Title. The match is made, everyone feels like a big man, segment ends. This is what the show would usually open with, they just moved it to the opening of the second hour. The X Division has generally gotten mentioned and more relevant over the past few weeks than it has in the past few years, though that's not exactly saying much since every member of Kendrick's little X Division Kliq last week were made to look like a bunch of scrubs. Thumbs Down

Mickie James vs. Winter - Pretty standard Knockout match. I don't really see what some think is so special about Winter. She's pretty hot and all but, at best, she's average inside the ring. She & Mickie go at it for a few minutes before Mickie hits her DDT finisher for the win a little past the 2 minute mark. Angelina Love, in her drugged state as usual, attacks Mickie from behind, so they'll probably feud for a bit. 1/4*

Abyss vs. Brian Kendrick - Pretty decent match for what it was. At only 4 minutes, there just wasn't enough time to sink your teeth into much. I like that Kendrick was aggressive with Abyss in the opening of the match and got in some pretty decent offense. While watching the match, however, you just got the sense that Kendrick was mostly just a minor nuisance to Abyss. Abyss does hit the Black Hole Slam for the clean win and retains the X Division Championship. *

Eric Young vs. Gunner - This wasn't as bad as the Fingerpoke of Doom. For one thing, the TNA Television Championship means less than nothing so there really isn't much of anything that can be done to devalue the title further. At the same time, what can you say about a "title match" that lasts all of about 15 seconds. Young lays down for Gunner and rolls Gunner up in a small package as Gunner is going for the pin. EY is the new TNA Television Champion. But yeah, no matter how you look at it, it's pretty shitty. N/A

Kurt Angle vs. Rob Van Dam - Pretty good main event match here, easily one of the better matches we've seen on TNA television this year. Both of them worked pretty well together and both got in a good amount of offense. Some good back & forth action at various points in the match with both of them hitting many of their signature moves or spots. Angle gets the wn via the Angle Slam at the 7.5 minute mark. It's nice to see a TNA tv main event match end with a clean win rather than the overbooked clusterfucks we're usually treated to. **1/4

Overall Show - Last night's episode of Impact Wrestling was pretty awful. It's pretty well obvious that the "Wrestling Matters" mantra is all smoke & mirrors at this point. Any changes within TNA at this time are strictly cosmetic. It was a nice little novelty to see the show open with a match. It was ok for what it was, but what it was was a lame, Attitude Era style 4 minute street fight match that we see all the time on the show. Jeff Jarrett vs. Matt Morgan was nothing to write home about. It was a match. Wasn't horrible, wasn't good, was just kinda there. Mickie James vs. Winter was your standard Knockout match. Abyss vs. Brian Kendrick was ok for a 4 minute X Division Championship match, though I never for one second saw Kendrick as being remotely a threat to Abyss' run. Eric Young vs. Gunner was a sick joke. Kurt Angle vs. Rob Van Dam was a fun match while it lasted and it's nice to see a simple clean ending to a TNA main event match on television. As usual, there were a couple of really long promo segments that ate up most of the show. Some people are taking the "Wrestling Matters" stuff a little too seriously as they think it's supposed to mean that the show is all wrestling. However, at the same time, you can't cut TNA any slack because it's their marketing slogan. You can't expect fans to be excited about watered down, half assed 3 minute gimmick matches & 4 minute title matches. The main event on SD! tonight was a competitive match that went 14.5-15 minutes in length, which is almost as long as the 6 matches on Impact Wrestling last night combined.

Grade: D-

 

[Superstar77]

I am back with my review & thoughts on 5-26-11 edition of Impact Wrestling.

AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels vs Bully Ray & Tommy Dreamer - Street Fight
Holy crap! They actually started the show with a match. Some pretty good action. AJ & Daniels hit a Piledriver Spike (haven't seen anyone do that in a long time) on Dreamer for the win. This short but good while it lasted though you would think they would have saved this for Slammiversary. I guess AJ will face Bully Ray in a singles match there.

Mr. Anderson / Disco Inferno / Sting Segment
I can't get over how much Mr. Anderson looks like Sting when he wears his old school attire. Anyway he brings out Disco Inferno who marked for big time. But I admit the segment wasn't as good as it could have been. I did like when Disco said to Anderson "Your not an asshole your just a dick." Then Anderson beats him down and Sting makes the save. Still better than an Immortal segment though.

Velvet Sky / ODB Segment
Another segment. Velvet comes to the ring and wants to know why ODB attacked her last week. ODB comes out and claims it's because Velvet got her fired because. She attacks Velvet who for some reason didn't even try to fight back. I guess this feud could be interesting but why do the keep having people accuse Velvet of "sleeping her way to the top"? It's dumb and as Velvet said like her or not she has earned her spot in Impact Wrestling.

The Pope Recap Segment
They recap a segment with The Pope from Xplosion. It also looks like he may be feuding with Devon. Just when I didn't think he can sink any lower. I don't see what The Pope gets out of feuding with Devon especially if he loses.

Jeff Jarrett vs Matt Morgan
I missed most of the match. The finish came with Scott Steiner hit Morgan with some type of Flatliner move and Jarrett got the pin.

Mickie James vs Winter
There was another Angelina & Winter segment I swear these just keep getting weirder and weirder. There really has to be a payoff to this soon.

As for the match was OK and I'm shocked it was a non-title match since Mickie is suppose to be a fighting champion. Mickie pins Winter after a DDT. Winter starts bleeding from the mouth which causes Angelina to attack Mickie. So it will be Mickie defending the Knockout title against Angelina at Slammiversary. OK to all of those people who complained about Mickie not having a feud she has one now. Happy?!

Abyss vs Brian Kendrick - X Division Title Match
Kendrick actually took this seriously and gave Abyss everything he had. Abyss wins after hitting Kendrick with a Black Hole Slam. This is another match I feel they should have saved for Slammiversary. At this point I don't see how the X division guys are suppose to make a comeback after this.

Eric Young vs Gunner - TV Title Match
Basically EY told Gunner in an earlier segment that he was going to lay down for him. When Gunner goes to cover EY and reverses and pins him to win the title. So Eric Young is the new TV champion and they basically made Gunner look like a dumbass for being outsmarted by and losing his title to EY.

Kurt Angle vs Rob Van Dam
They hyped this up as a dream match since these 2 have never faced each other in Impact Wrestling. With that said shouldn't have saved this for a PPV down the line? Anyway this was good and Angle won with an Angle Slam.

Oh yeah I almost forgot about the Beer Money / Eric Bischoff backstage segment. Since Robert I mean Bobby Roode is hurt, James Storm has to find another partner or they will be stripped of the tag titles. Which is weird because when Madison was KO champion she held it for 3 months without defending it and she wasn't stripped. But I guess because she was a heel and the company in Kayfabe is being run by heels.

Overall the show was decent and I was actually entertained by some of it.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

TNA Impact Wrestling - June 2, 2011

ODB & Velvet Sky - The show really started with a backstage brawl between ODB & Velvet Sky. ODB interrupts some sort of photo shoot with Velvet wearing only a large t-shirt over a bikini. The concept of the brawl segment in TNA doesn't really do much for me. They do it so frequently that it's just par for the course. The brawl is the typical equation: punch and/or slap + tossing each other into walls + occassionally slamming your head into said walls or tables. I just thought it was kinda boring and just was waiting to see Velvet's shirt ripped off so we could all see the bikini. We all knew it was gonna happen, so let's just get to the money. Although, it always kinda bugs me whenever women wrestlers that wear such skimpy attire or parade like lapdancers on speed get all "shy" when they get something ripped off. While it's always nice seeing Velvet in a bikini, it was actually pretty tame compared to some of her standard wrestling attire. ODB chokes Velvet out before Miss Tessmacher comes down to check on her. Overall, kinda meh. Thumbs Down

Mr. Anderson - Sting's music hits and out comes Anderson wearing the old school ring attire/face paint Sting used back in the day. Anderson gets on the mic and basically says that he's going to be facing one of Sting's most storied opponents tonight on the show. I didn't really get a good feeling about that. It just gave me a feeling that it's gonna be a lot of comedic nonsense later on. This little mini promo segment wasn't really good or bad, it was just there. N/A

Beer Money, Eric Bischoff & Alex Shelley - Bischoff comes out to the ring and calls Beer Money out to the ring. After they arrive, Bischoff reminds them about their obligation as tag champs, how their match against the British Invasion is booked for the ppv, how doctors haven't cleared Roode, etc. He basically tells them they should just surrender the titles then and there just to save everyone the trouble. Roode gets on the mic and does an ok job. One thing I've noticed, however, is that they like to swear a lot in TNA. Don't get me wrong, I'm far from squeemish when it comes to that. I've heard the worst of the worst in my day. However, like a lotta things in TNA, they just use the swear words so often that they just don't have any impact. Just par for the course. The MCMGs' music hits and out comes Alex Shelley. Shelley tells everyone that Sabin is out injured for the rest of the year, plays to the crowd a little when he talks about the best of five series The Guns & Beer Money had last year and offers to take Roode's place in the tag title match. The segment was well done, but I just think this is a waste of Shelley. Thumbs Up

Crimson vs. Matt Hardy - Pretty decent match overall here. It was about as good as I think could be expected from these two. Crimson still looks pretty green at times, kinda looked a little lost and Hardy was...well Hardy. The match was a little slow at times but both of them worked hard and did their best overall. The angle of Crimson's undefeated streak just hasn't interested me. It just comes across as so generic and uninspired as his "streak" hasn't been particularly impressive generally speaking. Crimson ultimately winds up hitting the Sky High for the win at the 6 minute mark. Samoa Joe hits the ring only to take a spear from Crimson. **

Mr. Anderson & Eric Young - When I saw these two via the Herveycam backstage, it pretty much confirmed that I had reason to not feel all that good about this Anderson taking on one of Sting's most storied opponents. Anderson convinces Young to dress up as The Great Muta and that the match will be something of an homage to both wrestlers. Of course, they make sure to work the "Wrestling Matters" mantra into the promo segment. Again, not good or bad, just kinda here with the promise of potential mediocrity to come. N/A

Winter & Angelina Love - Yeah, this continues to be the most nonsensical storyline in wrestling right now. I don't know who thought all this jargon about time travel, alternate dimensions or past lives or whatever was a good idea in TNA but they must be crack addicts. Angelina does her zombie stuff and just blah blah. Thumbs Down

Angelina Love vs. Miss Tessmacher - This match was about as much fun as watching a car rust. It only went about 3.5 minutes but it just dragged on and on and on. The only thing to get out of it is to watch Miss Tessmacher's stripper secretary character that she's got going on. During the match, Angelina often no sold Tessmacher's offense as per her zombiefied character requires. Also, Angelina looked to be booked as some sort of powerhouse with some of her offense against Miss Tessmacher that just doesn't jive with who Angelina is at all. Angelina's about 110 pounds, 30 pounds of which looks to be in her chest. She doesn't have the look or the necessary physical strength to pull some of those moves off smoothly and it showed. She did eventually get the win with what looked like to be some sort of sideways backstabber. It looked like shit whatever it was. 1/4*

Mr. Anderson vs. Eric Young - Yeah, this was pretty lousy. I figured it'd be bad, it wasn't quite as horrendous as I thought it'd be, but a turd by any other name still stinks. They do some comedy stuff in the early goings of the match before they sorta start wrestling. Young eventually hits a moonsault on Anderson before Gunner runs out to distract the ref. Anderson hits Young from behing before going for the Scorpion Death Drop. Young gets out, spits the green mist into Anderson's eyes and rolls up him in a small package for the three count at the 4 minute mark. Anderson & Gunner beat on Young, Sting comes for the same. Yeah, nothing really happened here except making Anderson look like a tool via TNA's answer to Santino Marella. 1/4*

Kazarian vs. Brian Kendrick - This match was easily the best shown on TNA television this year. It was an athletic, competitive wrestling match between a couple of good in-ring guys. I know, nobody was more surprised than I was. I like the fact that Kazarian & Kendrick wrestled rather than deliver a spotfest. There was some good back & forth action during the match and I was definitely surprised, pleasantly so, to see this sort of jewel on Impact Wrestling. The match ultimately ends in a time limit draw at the 10 minute mark. They ask for 5 more minutes and they get it but Abyss eventually comes down and mangles them both. I'm assuming this sets up a triple threat match at the ppv for the X Division Championship. Fun, entertaining match here, it's just a shame that Kendrick has been portrayed as a scrub more often than not & Kazarian has really cooled off and has been for quite a while. I didn't expect Kendrick to come out with a win here at all, I'm still not a huge fan of the guy by any stretch overall but he & Kazarian put on a very good match. ***

AJ Styles & Bully Ray - I had mixed feelings about this segment. I thought Ray did a good job on the mic as usual. I still find myself sort of chuckling at some of his comments as he just doesn't have the credibility as a singles wrestler to back them up. However, the man just flat out talks a good game and it's just downright fun to listen to. When Styles started talking, however, I thought it went downhill to some degree. The stuff about Ray's penis size & Ray going around ringside talking to some of the women around there about it lost me after that. It just struck me as juvenile, high school smack talk and took away some of the edge of the promo for me. In the end, Styles challenges Ray to a Last Man Standing match at Slammiversary. Thumbs In The Middle

Kurt Angle & Matt Morgan vs. Jeff Jarrett & Scott Steiner - I got a phone call from a guy at work while this was going on so I pretty much missed everything that happened. However, the match lasted less than the call, which was about 6 minutes so I probably didn't miss much. Still, can't really say much about it. N/A

Hulk Hogan & Eric Bischoff - I was really hoping to get through this episode without the standard power struggle promo out of these two but I guess I should have known better. Basically, they bash Foley and his involvement with The Network and all this and that. When it's all said and done, Hogan says that Foley has been fired by The Network. Yeah, I don't give a shit one way or the other. Thumbs Down

Overall Show - From an overall perspective, tonight's show was considerably above average I think. There were some definite low points as well as a few particularly bright spots here and there. The opening brawl with ODB & Velvet Sky kinda bored me. Yes, we got to see Velvet Sky in a bikini and that's nice but most of the stuff we see Velvet in is usually hotter than the bikini she had on anyhow. Alex Shelley subbing himself for the injured Robert Roode sounds ok but I still think it's a waste of the guy. I know he's a great tag team wrestler but I can't really think of a solid reason why he's not involved in the X Division storyline at this point. It might be part of Beer Money eventually breaking up but there are lots of ways that can creatively happen without wasting Shelley's time. The stuff with Hogan & Bischoff closing the show, I couldn't care less about. I'm long since over the power struggle bullshit and would LOVE it to come to an end. Wrestling content was better than usual, though there was still some shit to wade through. The Knockouts match bored me to tears almost, I missed the main event match and the Anderson vs. Eric Young match is the kind of stuff that makes me want to use "Wrestling Matters" to wipe my ass with. Mr. Anderson is the #1 contender to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship and he loses cleanly to Eric Young? Yeah, that really makes me wanna see him take on Sting at Slammiversary. Crimson vs. Matt Hardy was actually pretty solid considering that both guys are kinda limited. The match was slow at some points but they worked hard. Kazarian vs. Brian Kendrick was a great surprise in my view. An athletic, competitive 10 minute wrestling match that was actually relevant on TNA television has become as rare as Jerry Lawler telling a funny joke, so it was nice to see this little gem. Overall, it definitely wasn't a great show but it was definitely well above TNA's norm.

Grade: C-

 

[MB1025]

I see a lot of people who reviewed Impact Wrestling and talk about Eric Young beating Mr. Anderson. Now I understand everyone will have a a different view on what is good and what is not booking wise, but can we all use our brains please. Even with Eric Young pulling the upset no one can honestly sit here and be like "I am supposed to now believe Mr. Anderson can beat Sting"? I mean really? I see many members on this board use NFL or any other sport as examples when booking TNA.

Well there are upsets in sports, but that doesn't mean I don't want to see the best play against each other. Now I know some one will say wrestling is scripted and they can avoid this. Well is it not OK to have surprise upsets go on that makes people go "Hey Eric Young just beat Anderson" didn't see that coming.

It doesn't make me think any less of Anderson because I know what he can do and has done.

 

[hotaceline1]

Hi Everyone
I'm new to This forum
it is great to join this Forum, hope i'm welcome in

 

[Zeven_Zion]

^ Welcome, and may God have mercy on yer soul

Good show. Perhaps not as good as last week, but it was a go-home show so you'd expect them to hype the PPV, and they did.

I can't remember what happened by parts so here's what I liked and disliked.

1. When Hogan and Bischoff take the mic - time freezes. Seriously, I love ya, but shut the fuck up eh?

2. Less clumsy chicks. One match is really all we need from you.

3. I don't get what the Mexican America hate is all about. They're not great by any means, but they're not bad either. HWH (Homicide with Hair, I can't spell his stupid name) is freaking annoying on the mic and that's the point. I guess we need to see something different and special from them to really buy them as a credible unit. They're pretty generic when it comes to in-ring stuff.

4. Why is Magnus not in the Main Event? Seriously. This guy is young, he's not tiny looking, he's charismatic, great in the ring and pretty darn good on the mic. It seemed like he was venting on commentary. Can't blame him. I liked the part about not being able to find Hogan and Bischoff, Taz saying they're easy to find, and Magnus saying "they're in the ring most of the time". Burn. I love the fact that some wrestlers are allowed to shoot a little bit. Imagine of Magnus spoke some trash about McMahon like that on RAW. He'd be future endeavored before you can say "crumpets".

5. Beer Guns worked pretty well and I liked how they booked the match. The post-match reactions of Roode, Storm and Shelley contributed to the "Oh shit, they're gonna lose to B.I, they can't work together well against bonafide tag-teams".

6. I guess it's true. Hulk IS gonna turn face soon. Can't wait.


... to see Hulkamania flop. I'm a Hulkamaniac, but I'm pretty sure that it's just me and some 40 years old half-dead hobos living in a dark alley between a trash can and a pile of dog shit.

7. Gunner pinned Sting. Great move and I'm loving Gunner more and more every week. Some more matches and showcasing this bucko and he's ready for some serious ass whipping. I wanna hear him cut a promo, like I said before. If you're groomed to be in the Main Event (if the scums sheets are to be believed), you gotta cut promos, you know. It's sort of how it goes.

8. EY is hilarious. The spot with him faking the green mist and Anderson ducking had me laughing for quite some time. If EY can find just the right balance between being a goof and being a serious competitor, we might have something cool on our hands.

Overall, great show, enjoyed it thoroughly. Slammiversary should be bangin'.

P.S ::: Where the hell is Rasha's Running Diary? I need my dose dammit! C'mon. I'll sell you a baby.

 

[Superstar77]

I would have done a review for last week's show but I wasn't in the mood but here is my review / thoughts on the 6-9-11 edition of Impact Wrestling.

Opening Segment
Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff come out to cut a promo as usual. Hogan says that Mick Foley has been fired and that the Network trusts him now. If that's the case why did they hire Foley in the 1st place? Anyway Sting comes out than Mr. Anderson. Sting tells Hogan to do the right thing and cut out the cancer referring to Bischoff. This wasn't a bad segment but the canned heat during it was ridiculous.

Mickie James & Tara vs Angelina Love & Winter
I'm going to just say it I hate what they have done to Angelina. The make-up they are using for this zombie like gimmick just makes her look bad. I just don't get where they are going with this storyline with Winter. I still think if they wanted her heel again they could just had her turn on Velvet and go back to the heel Angelina we know and love but I guess that wasn't meant to be.

As for the match was OK the finish came when Angelina pinned Mickie with her new finisher after Madison interfered taking out Tara.

Samoa Joe / Crimson Bar Fight
They showed footage of a bar fight between Joe and Crimson which they claim was sent to them. It's obviously a work though.

James Storm & Alex Shelley vs Mexican America
Storm & Shelley actually worked well here. The British Invasion was on commentary and Magnus was actually better than both Mike Tenay and Taz which is sad actually. The finish came from a miscommunication when Shelley accidentially superkicked Storm leading to the pin for MA. Not a good way for Gun Money (that's what I'm calling them) to go into Slammiversary.

Plus they should really just scrap the KO tag titles. Rosita & Sarita have no challengers so there is really no point of keeping those belts around. Just get rid of them and put Sarita and Rosita back in singles competition.

Kurt Angle & Jeff Jarrett In Ring Segment
I'm going to say is that this feud has to end at Slammiversary because it has gone on for far too long. With that said it both men cut a good promo.

Bully Ray vs Rob Van Dam
Bully Ray comes out and challenges anyone to match. Out comes RVD. This should gotten a little more time but was good for what it was. RVD got the win after the Five Star Frog Splash. I'm surprised Ray didn't go over though.

Velvet Sky Backstage Promo
Nice promo by Velvet and she made some good points about ODB's character. The ointment line was funny.

Abyss / Kazarian / Brian Kendrick Backstage Segment
Kazarian & Kendrick find Abyss backstage. He renames the X division title the Xtreme title and says if they want the title they have to beat him at Slammiversary. So it's going to be Abyss vs Kazarian vs Kendrick at Slammiversary.

Velvet Sky vs ODB
OK if ODB doesn't have a contract then why is she wrestling? They should have had this take place at Slammiversary and if ODB beat Velvet she gets her job back. Anyway this was a nice brawl style match Velvet really showed some fire out there. ODB chokes Velvet in front of the referee who didn't even bother to make her stop. The finish came when Velvet hit a DDT out of no where for the win.

Good to see Velvet pick up another win. But the problem is like all of the wins it was made to look like a fluke. If they are serious about pushing her they need to book her to look stronger in victory. No more fluke wins!

Sting & Eric Young vs Mr. Anderson & Gunner
I'm going to say this Eric Young's antics just isn't funny to me anymore. It's not even amusing it's to the point where he's just being stupid for the sake of being stupid. I'll be honest I didn't see much of the match I did see the ending which was Gunner pinning Sting. So the guy who got outsmarted by and lost his TV title to the guy with the brain damage gimmick pinned the world champion.

Overall I thought Impact was alright and they did do a decent job of hyping Slammiversary. I did find it strange how all the champions lost their matches going into the PPV though.

 

[He's Phenomenal]

Another top episode of iMPACT! Wrestling. It seems like the show is getting better and 'more professional' with each passing week.

TNA accomplished something (with me) which hasn't been done in a long long time. I actually care about a female wrestler. I haven't marked out for a female wrestler since Chyna's DX days and I even surprised myself with how I reacted to Velvet Skys win over ODB. Judging by how the match was going I was expecting ODB to win so when she hit that DDT and scored the pin I had a little mark out moment. I'm just hoping Angelina wins the Title now so Velvet can take it off her.

I was a little disappointed with the RVD/Bully Ray match as I've been wanting to see a match between these two for a while and that match just wasn't long enough IMO. But there's no stopping TNA going back to that after Slammiversary.

The ending with Sting and Anderson was awesome and I love that side of Sting. He was almost a bit psychotic in that last scene and it was great to see. Anderson has really got to him.

The Beer Guns angle and chemistry was done really well too, aswell as the Crimson/Joe bar brawl. But the highlight for me was definately Gunner pinning the World Champion. This guy just gets better and better and TNA have a potentially huge star on their hands with Gunner. I find myself getting more and more behind him every week. And I certainly see him being in the main event before to long. Hope his push continues because he's shown he's worthy of a push.

Another great episode TNA and I look forward to seeing what you come up with for Slammiversary and next weeks iMPACT!

 

[Cena's #1 In My Heart]

Thought this weeks Impact Wrestling was great from start to finish...

I enjoyed the opening, I'm enjoying getting to see a little more of Gunner and I'm sinking my teeth into him. Wonder where they'll go from here as I really don't think he should get the World Title anytime soon... but he does deserve some good looking on Impact.

Devon, everyone was all down on him and such.. probably because they just don't care to even give an older wrestler like that a shot. But just as Bully Ray.. he did a great job.. I thought he looked great in the ring, and it just proves there is no substitute for experience. I'm happy their getting Pope involved again and it should be interesting to see where that goes.

On the knockouts side of things we got ODB and Jacqueline back in the fray.. saying they are here to clean up the knockouts division. Sounds good to me.. I love me some ODB.

Joe once again proved to me that he is excellent in the ring.. I'm not sure if they planned on having Joe dominant the match like that or if he just decided he wanted to.. but he was one step ahead of RVD the whole match. I really hope Joe starts getting some wins and looks better.

The X-Divison three way thing was great... I defiantly want to see more action like this... Destination X should be interesting. Austin Aries should get a contract, but I don't think he should win the whole thing.. it should be used to get over a young new X-Divison star.

Eric Young proves to be ever so entertaining for me. It seems like TNA listens to the fans.. you call the TV Title a joke.. so they literally make it a joke. From a prestige stand point.. can't go anywhere from up from here.

Sting and Hogan... man.. I loved seeing two huge egos in their twilight clash. Not being sarcastic.. I really did like that... so much history between them and being able to watch it unfold is just something.

Not sure what to make of Jarrett/Angle backstage brawl... I don't think it's the end.. but hopefully it'll be the end of Jarrett.. sick of seeing him on TV for 25 minutes a show... especially when none of Fortune got TV time.

Nothing to complain about for me, other than not seeing Fortune. Good matches... Good Backstage segments... works for me.

Hopefully Impact keeps this fire that they had tonight.

 

[xXBigEXx]

Yea I really liked Impact. Sometimes it's not as often as we would like but they get a great show together. This was one of those shows.

X Division match with Austin Aries was awesome. I started watching TNA with the Main Event Mafia so I never caught this guy's work but he impressed me. You can say TNA is fuckin with us with the X Division. We'll see how that division looks after Destination X. But they're either trying to get it over by making it look unimportant at first and then pushing it over the top with their own PPV or they'll leave it be. Time will tell.

Eric Young, he is Santino of TNA. We both know they can actually wrestle but both are taking to comedic side of their character. And EY has the TV title lol. Just pure entertainment which is fine with me.

ODB was always one my favorites admittedly for not only her big boob and tattoos but also her character and what she brought to the ring. Her going after Velvet is good for both involved. While I like what I'm seeing my only thing is that they must think we're stupid by not noticing Velvet is now unfocused on Angelina and getting her bff back to reality. But whatever lol.

Sting Hogan was just awesome. You can question their in ring potential but they work the mic better than most in this business. Hogan's look on his face was just classic with that paint on it. Sting just sold me on challenging Hogan to bring back Hulkimania or if he really wants to be remembered for his old tricks. I like what I see so far and they're on to somethin here if done right.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Impact Wrestling: 6/16/11​

Mr. Anderson & Gunner

Anderson comes out to gloat about his win over Sting at Slammiversary. He’s in a festive mood, because there’s a table of snacks, an arcade style basketball hoop, and a pinball machine in the ring. This is supposed to be party, but Anderson didn’t invite anybody. The asshole doesn’t want any friends, but Gunner decides to crash the celebration. Gunner wants credit for his pinfall victory over Sting, and he think he deserves a World Championship shot. Mr. Anderson doesn’t agree, so he decides to throw a pitcher of beer in Gunner’s face. Gunner snaps, and he slams Anderson through the table of snacks.

I thought this opening segment was okay. Anderson’s self-absorbed celebration made him look like a real jerk. It looks like Impact Wrestling finally gave up on the efforts to transform Anderson into this popular antihero face/tweener character, and I don’t have a problem with this. Anderson always sounded so whiny, as he complained about being screwed, and this type of character never seemed to click with the live audience. I can’t stand Anderson, but he does seem to flow a lot better with a true heel character, and Anderson did receive his fair share of boos on this episode. As far as Gunner goes, I don’t know what Impact Wrestling sees in this guy. I don’t think Gunner is horrible, but he isn’t anything special either. I don’t see any superstar potential when I look at Gunner. I just see a guy who’s destined to be in the mid card scene. This could change over time, but I just can’t see Gunner as a huge star.

Devon VS Hernandez

Nothing special happened here. This match was pretty short, and Pope’s appearance at ringside caused a distraction. Devon didn’t want Pope anywhere near his family, and this distraction allowed Hernandez to sneak in a quick rollup pinfall attempt. Devon managed to kick out, but the rest of Mexican America quickly hit the ring after this, and this one ended in a DQ. As far as the stuff between Pope and Devon goes, I can’t say I care about this storyline. Pope has bounced back and forth, when it comes to heel and face characters, and It seems like he’s headed for another meaningless feud that will take him nowhere.

Kurt Angle

Angle arrives at the Impact Zone with his kids. He comes to the ring in a happy mood. Angle talks about his intentions to join the 2012 Olympic wrestling team. Jarrett decides to ruin Angle’s happy moment. Jarrett wants to challenge Angle to a fight, but Kurt wants to put the past behind him. Angle eventually gives in to Jarrett. He agrees to face Jarrett, but Jeff must sign a legal document agreeing to move to Mexico without Kurt’s children if he loses. Jarrett agrees, and these two rivals will face off once again.

Yeah, I wasn’t too crazy about this. Jarrett VS Angle should’ve ended for good at Slammiversary. Seriously, what else can these two do to each other? Jarrett and Angle have tortured each other enough. They really don’t need to face off again.

Kid Kash VS Austin Aries VS Jimmy Rave - Destination-X Tournament Match

Very exciting match here. This one was filled with action, and this match had a nice quick pace. The crowd was hot for Aries, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he won the contract at Destination-X. This should be a fun tournament, and I look forward to seeing more matches like this. Match Rating: 7/10

Miss Tessmacher & Velvet Sky VS Rosita & Sarita- Knockouts Tag Team Championships

Well, at least this match featured some great eye candy……This wasn’t anything to remember. As usual, the Knockout Tag Titles meant nothing here. Tessmacher and Velvet were closing in on a victory, but ODB caused the distraction, as she taunted Velvet from the crowd. It looks like ODB VS Velvet is going to continue, and I can’t say I’m too excited about this feud. ODB’s return has done nothing for me, because she’s not one of those wrestlers who I desperately want to see return. ODB’s gimmick is something different, and she does stand out, but I don‘t see that wow factor, when I look at her. And there are times where I think she tries way too hard. We get it. You're not a pretty barbie doll. Her look goes well with her character, but she can go over the top with her antics. The match was pretty underwhelming. For the most part, both teams did work well together, but this match just felt so basic and dull. Sarita and Rosita will continue their forgettable reign as Knockouts Tag Team Champions, and Velvet will continue her sub par feud with ODB. Match Rating: 3/10

Jackie Returns

After the match, ODB continues taunting Velvet. Jackie sneaks in the ring. She attacks Velvet from behind. Both women beat down Velvet. Security tries to help, but ODB and Jackie manage to fight them off.

As a kid, I had a huge crush on Jackie, but I wasn’t too excited to see her return. Jackie hasn’t done anything worth remembering in years, and die hard wrestling fans will probably be the only ones who notice or care about her return. This storyline involving released Knockouts is still in the early stages, so it’s kind of hard to judge it as of right now. These women are obliviously pissed, and they want revenge, because they were pushed aside for younger and more attractive women. This storyline has an intriguing premise, and it’ll be interesting to see how this one develops over the coming weeks.

Sting & Hulk Hogan

Sting decides to confront Hogan in his office. Hogan agrees to give Sting his World Heavyweight Championship rematch, but Sting isn’t pleased. He takes some personal jabs at Hogan, he mentions their history in WCW, and eventually, Sting snaps. He forces Hogan down in his chair, and he smears red face paint all over him. Sting walks away, while Hogan has this confused and petrified look on his face.

I actually enjoyed this segment. It was personal, and both men did a great job of showing some real anger, especially Sting. Sting looked a like a mad man. His sinister laugh did sound kind of corny, but overall, Sting was very convincing during this segment. I enjoyed this segment, but I’m not too sure about the conspiracy stuff just yet. 10/10/10 was the last big Impact Wrestling conspiracy, and the big surprise at Bound For Glory was a letdown for me. I hope this storyline won’t go the same route.

RVD VS Samoa Joe- Bound For Glory Series Match

This match was very solid. It was physical, and there was some nice back and forth action in this one. Joe taking an early loss in the BFG series doesn’t surprise me too much. He’s had a low spot on the totem pole for quite some time now, and he hasn’t done anything memorable in months. I don’t think RVD will be the one to come out on top in the BFG series, but I do expect him to go far in this tournament. Match Rating: 7/10

Gunner/With Eric Bischoff VS Mr. Anderson

Anderson’s cockiness cost him in this match, as he called for his mic towards the end of this one. Gunner took advantage of this bonehead move, and he managed to gain the victory. This match was decent, but I still had a hard time getting into this one. Everything just felt so plain and ordinary, and the rhythm just wasn’t there. Gunner picking up the win was kind of surprise for me, because I thought the new World Heavyweight Champion would walk away with the victory, but Impact Wrestling is really high on Gunner. He’s had two BIG pinfall victories over the past couple of weeks, and his huge momentum swing hasn’t slowed down yet. Match Rating: 5/10

Jeff Jarrett VS Kurt Angle- Parking Lot Showdown

I don’t know how to feel about this. Overall, I thought this parking lot brawl was done well. Jarrett and Angle were surrounded by cars and the wrestlers who were there took sides, as they cheered both men on. The fight was pretty violent, and the atmosphere was great, but did we really need to see another Jarrett VS Angle showdown? The match at Slammiversary should’ve been the final chapter, and I don’t think ANOTHER confrontation was necessary. Also, I’m having a hard time buying into the “Jarrett must stay in Mexico” stuff. Jeff did look defeated and distraught, as he told Bully Ray “adios.” But I still can’t believe Jarrett will stay in Mexico for long. Sure, JJ will probably disappear for a while, and there’s a good chance he’ll miss some TV time, but he will be back, and there’s a good chance he’ll find a way to stick it to Angle…again.

Overall Show Rating 6/10: This edition of Impact Wrestling had it’s moments, but this show didn't excite me too much. The wrestling on tonight’s wasn’t all that great, but there were a few matches that stood out. I’m still not sold on Gunner. He’s does have some intensity, and he does look like a guy who you wouldn’t want to get into a fight with, but I think this guy is made for the mid card. I just don’t see main event potential in Gunner. With more time and grooming, he could become a worthy top man, but as of right now, I don’t see what all of the fuss is about.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Don't really have time for an in depth review right now. I will say that, overall, I enjoyed Impact Wrestling more than any other show this year. That's not exactly saying much but, generally speaking, I was entertained most of the time rather than just wishing for the show to end.

The opening was ok generally but I'm just not buying into Gunner. He's spent his tenure in TNA as a generic lackey and he's suddenly a contender for the TNA WHC? Just because he pinned Sting in a tag team match? This is the same guy that jobbed out to Eric Young and dropped the TV title a few weeks back. There's no reason whatsoever for people to get behind this guy at this time.

The Bound For Glory series is something I'm not sure about. On the surface, it sounds intriguing and the point system does give it more of a sports feel. However, this could easily turn into some clusterfuck of an idea that's far better on paper than in practice.

There were a few duds on the show like Devon vs. Hernandez & the Knockout tag title match. The X Division 3 way dance was a fun, energetic 5 minute match. This was my first look at Austin Aries and I like what I saw. The first BFG series match between RVD & Samoa Joe was another good, physical match and is the best we've seen out of either of them in a long while, Joe especially. They got the BFG series off to a good start if nothing else. The match between Gunner & Anderson was ok, nothing special, and I'm still just not buying into Gunner. I also find it ironic that Anderson never looks weaker in TNA than when he's carrying the World Championship. The street fight with Jarrett & Angle seemed kinda generic to me. I've seen so many 5 minute street fights in TNA that they just don't interest me. Although, having the locker room in the parking lot cheering them on was a nice change of atmoshpere.

Overall, I'd give last night's show a B-. It was very refreshing to see something relevant going on in TNA that revolves around the in-ring product rather than the tired, drawn out bullshit with Immortal and the TNA faction wars.

 

[marker]

I really liked the last Impact. To be fair, I was little drunk watching it, so maybe it was because of it, or maybe, the last show was just really good. The show draw 1.25 rating, so I guess the show was better than unusual .

To keep it short, I just wanted to say I mostly enjoyed the fact that Gunner is getting some serious push. I think he has a ton of potential and he might be soon a serious player in TNA.

 

[t619]

I Thought Impact was horrible.

Pros
------------------------------
Triple Threat Match (really liked Rave)
Joe v Rvd (Great Match. becoming more of a joe fan by the week. loved when he walked away from rvd when rvd went for the move from the turnbuckle)
Eric Young (The guy is just gold. Good to see Jason Hervey aswell.)
Pope back on impact

Cons
------------------
Mr Anderson (Boring as anything in the ring and looks like his put on some weight)
Gunner (Why is he in the mainevent)
Kurt Angle (There is just to much of kurt)
Where was Fortune?
Where was Matt Hardy?

 

[Kenny Powers]

Impact was a pretty good show from top to bottom last night. I have to say it is one of the better Impacts I have seen in a while. I am actually excited about Destination X and actually want to pay or watch the PPV next month. There were some things I didn't care too much about, such as the Rocky V main event of Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett part 10 in the parking lot. So now Jarrett is going to Mexico?

I'm just glad this feud is over with. I hope I'm not speaking too soon when I say that. I will have to hand it to Gunner and TNA for having him not only interrupt Anderson's victory celebration, but also to beat him in a match. Now if it was up to me, I would put someone like Bobby Roode or AJ Styles in Gunner's role. I'm not a fan of the guy and still think he is bland as a door knob, but at least they are doing something new with a young talent.

Devon vs. Hernandez was something I could care less about. Why would Devon bring his family to ringside every week when they are targets to every wrestler that wrestles him? We might see a Pope vs. Devon feud. Can't wait for that (sarcasm).

RVD vs. Joe was a decent encounter. It wasn't great by any means, but at least it was a decent wrestling match. These two could do much better though.

The knockouts match was business as usual. At least we got to see Miss Tessmacher and Velvet touch asses. I am interested to see what Jackie Moore will do with TNA now, as long as she doesn't talk. At least TNA is bulking up the knockouts.

I really enjoyed the X division match up with Austin Aries, Kid Kash, and Jimmy Rave. It felt like old times again seeing these X division stars. I don't know how long Aries will be with the company or even if any of the former X division stars will stick around after the PPV. I'm just glad we get one night of old school X division. I was afraid it would only be a PPV for the current X division. Yeesh.

I don't know how well the Bound For Glory series will translate between now and the PPV. I don't think the majority of Impact fans will be sitting at home and writing down the points for each wrestler unless they are reviewing the show. Sounds like a bad combination of the Top 10 rankings last year and the awful NXT point system.

Eric Young pinned Jason Hervey. I guess its now official that the TV title means even less than the WWF Hardcore Title. The Sting segment was powerful but really uncomfortable. I thought he was raping Hogan for a minute there.

Overall a much better show then we are used to. I look forward to seeing the former X division guys show up in the upcoming weeks. I just wonder when will Sting get his title shot? July 16? and will Kurt get his title shot at Destination X?

 

[Chess]

Damn some of these people with massive rep claerly do not have much idea about what makes a good wrestling show or have way too high standards. (Mitch Hennessey)

If someone can point me in the direction of any episode of WWE or TNA/IW that has been better than this episode this year then I would be happy to see it. For me this was easily the best episode of TNA I have seen since Hogan joined, not perfect but still great.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Damn some of these people with massive rep claerly do not have much idea about what makes a good wrestling show or have way too high standards. (Mitch Hennessey)

If someone can point me in the direction of any episode of WWE or TNA/IW that has been better than this episode this year then I would be happy to see it. For me this was easily the best episode of TNA I have seen since Hogan joined, not perfect but still great.

I didn't hate this episode of Impact Wrestling, but I wasn't too crazy about some stuff on this show....

I can't get behind Gunner. I just can't. TNA is giving him a nice push, but I don't see anything special in Gunner as of right now. He can show flashes of intensity sometimes, but overall, this guy can be pretty dull when it comes to personality, and his in-ring work isn't all that spectacular. Gunner could improve with more time and work, but I'm not sold on him now.

Also, while I did enjoy the Hogan/Sting segment, I'm not too crazy about where all of this might be going. There is a possibility of Sting and Hogan wrestling each other (again), and this is one "dream match" I wouldn't want to see. Both of these men are up their in age, Sting is not what he used to be in the ring, and Hogan's back has been through hell, so I don't think these two could have a memorable match. In fact, I think the match would be awful.

I also could care less about the Devon/Pope stuff. It just feels like a lackluster storyline, and I doubt this will help Pope skyrocket back into the main event scene, because being involved in a storyline with Devon isn't a big deal at all.

As far as other shows that were better than this edition Impact Wrestling, I can't remember every Raw, Smackdown, or Impact in their entirety. I can remember certain matches or promos, but I don't have any clear memories of entire shows. If I watch the entire show again, then I can remember what I saw, but I'm not going to go back and watch a bunch of older wrestling shows from this year.

 

[Superstar77]

My Review / Thoughts for Impact Wrestling 6-16-11

Opening Segment
Mr. Anderson comes out to celebrate his world title win. He has a party set up in the ring. Anderson cuts a promo about not needing anyone. Then Gunner comes out and they get into it then Anderson spits beer in face and Gunner puts him through a table. Which sets up a match for later.

Devon Vs Hernandez with Mexican America
The match isn't long and Devon wins by DQ when Mexican America interferes. The Pope comes out to make the save for Devon. Looks like they will be feuding it also seems that Devon can't have a feud without involving his family these days.

Mr. Anderson / Eric Bischoff Backstage Segment
Anderson is goes to Bischoff's office and demands a match with Gunner and gets it.

Kurt Angle / Jeff Jarrett Segment
Kurt Angle comes to ring to talk about his win over Jeff Jarrett at Slammiversary and says he's going to compete in the 2012 Olympics. Jeff Jarrett comes out and challenges Angle to another match. Kurt accepts on the condition Jarrett agrees to move to Mexico if he loses. So another Angle vs Jarrett match. Impact Wrestling really doesn't know when to end a feud.

Matt Morgan / Eric Young Backstage Segment
Seriously at this point EY's antics just aren't funny. Why did they give him the TV title anyway?

Austin Aries vs Jimmy Rave vs Kid Kash
All three these guys use to be in TNA at one time. I had missed most of the match but I saw Austin Aries get the win.

Rosita & Sarita vs Miss Tessmacher & Velvet Sky - Knockout Tag Title Match
It's been a while since the KO tag titles have been defended which proves they are unnecessary. Also Hernandez and Anarcia was banned from ringside. Velvet & Tessmacher actually worked well together and Velvet hit a move I haven't seen her do since her indy days a side headlock into a neckbreaker. The finish came when Rosita pinned Tessmacher because Velvet was distracted by ODB. After the match Tessmacher has words with Velvet and leaves then Velvet (as usual) gets attacked by ODB and the returning Jacqueline.

If ODB and now Jacqueline isn't under contract why are they allowed to attack Velvet and security and not get escorted out of the building? Also this story about Velvet supposely getting ODB and I guess now Jacqueline fired is BS. That's all I can say about it. Also there was another backstage segment with them walking around and they attack Velvet again. Seriously Velvet is looking more like a punching bag than a contender.

Rob Van Dam vs Samoa Joe
This was a match in Bound For Glory series. Another good match with RVD picking up the win. Though I don't know what to think about Joe losing all of his matches lately.

Mr. Anderson vs Gunner
This was actually good and Gunner pins Mr. Anderson. It's weird he pinned Sting last week and now Anderson while he's the world champion. I admit Gunner has some talent but I don't think he should be beating the world champion two weeks in a row. I think they are pushing the guy a little fast without much build up. Especially after he lost the TV title to Eric Young.

Kurt Angle vs Jeff Jarrett - Parking Lot Brawl
This was the main event of the show. The Pope saying he doesn't care who wins he just wants to see a fight was funny. Kurt wins and looks like Jarrett is going to Mexico. I wonder where this is going but hopefully this is the end of the Kurt Angle / Jeff Jarrett feud.

Overall Impact was a solid show this week.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

TNA iMPACT Wrestling - June 23, 2011

Opening Segment - I'm not really digging Sting's new character. Aside from the fact that it's a blatant, transparent rip off of Heath Slater's portrayal of The Joker in The Dark Knight, Sting's even got smiley lines painted at the corners of his mouth, it completely flies in the face of everything Sting's done for more than a year. Sting's always been a voice of reason in TNA and he's gone from that to complete nutjob within the span of a week or so? Yeah, not buying into it. Seeing Bischoff get beaten up again doesn't have the same zing about it that it used to. The segment did propel along the storyline with Hogan, Bischoff & Sting but I can't say I'm overly interested in it at this point. Thumbs Down

Scott Steiner vs. Bully Ray - While far from spectacular, it was better than I thought it'd be. Steiner his his usual offense and Bully Ray did a good job of taking it. Since he's gotten himself into much better shape, Ray looks better taking moves like all of Steiner's suplexes. I can't say that the ref bump did much for me, it's something TNA does far too often and I would've liked it more to see Ray actually get a clean win over Steiner. Ray just seems to be well above Steiner at this point that he doesn't have to cheat to get the win. Ray punches Steiner in the throat with the chain he wears and gets the pin about the 6 minute mark. Decent match for what it was and gives Ray momentum in the BFG series. **

Velvet Sky & Miss Tessmacher vs. ODB & Miss Jackie - Meh, kind of a train wreck of a match. Both teams brawled a little before the actual match started. Once it did, it was mostly just the same old same old. I'm just not into ODB's schtick anymore. Her participation in the match was limited to mostly the usual bitch or **** insults at the other team while slapping her breasts or her crotch. The heels worked Tessmacher over for a bit before Velvet gets the hot tag after Tessmacher hit a nice spear on ODB. Velvet comes in, does her thing, only for Jackie to kick her in the crotch for the win. 1/2*

Crimson & Matt Morgan vs. Beer Money - Pretty good tag match here, much better than I was expecting really though I knew the outcome once I knew Crimson was involved. There was some good, fun action in the match and it did a decent job of pushing along the inevitable break up of Beer Money, although the tag titles have never been more irrelevant in TNA than they have over the past several months. They also did the thing with Roode coming back to compete before he's physically ready. It's cliche` but it works. Crimson & Morgan get the win after Morgan hits Roode with the Carbon Footprint around the 6.5 minute mark. Since Morgan gets the win, he gets 7 points in the BFG series and is currently in the lead with 14 points total. **1/2

AJ Styles, Samoa Joe & Chrisopher Daniels - I'm kinda mixed on this. On one hand, the promo segment did a good job of further hyping the X Division and the Destination X ppv. It also did a good high of highlighting these 3 and they're triple threat matches in the past are among the most storied matches in TNA history. At the same time, the segment felt kind of long and dragged out to me. I have a feeling that Styles & Joe, at least, are only going back to the X Division for one night so it's hard for me to get overly excited at this point. At any rate, the match should be great if nothing else. Thumbs In The Middle

Dakota Darsow vs. Zima Ion vs. Frederico Palacios - While there was a lot of energy in this match, it was little more than spotfest featuring 3 guys that I've never seen or heard of before this particular match. I know that Darsow is the son of Barry Darsow, better known as Smash of the tag team Demolition. They seemed to kinda work in rotation with two guys hitting spots while the other played the punching bag. Darsow used some power moves, Ion is the personification of a spot monkey and Palacios's offense seemed mostly limited to roll up attempts in between getting beaten up. Ion winds up getting the win a little past the 4.5 minute mark after hitting a nice looking 450 splash on Darsow for the win. *1/2

RVD & Jerry Lynn - RVD is shown backstage talking about how important the BFG series and how he was the X Division before there was any such thing as the X Division. Jerry Lynn suddenly pops up and says "You mean We were X Division". I'm sure some people thought it was a cool moment and all but it irks me the way TNA often treats returning stars, even if it's brief, as if their presence means nothing. Lynn was one of the X Division pioneers, he's respected on the indy circuit like no one else. At any rate, however, I have a feeling it'll wind up RVD vs. Jerry Lynn at BFG. Thumbs Down

Mickie James vs. Winter - A lame 3.5 minute street fight featuring a couple of Knockouts. Yeah, it's pretty much what you'd expect. They brawl to the ring, the match starts, they brawl a little bit more for a while, Earl Hebner's senility kicks in and he gets conveniently distracted by something shiny, Angelina Love hits the ring & lays out Mickie so Winter gets the win. 1/4*

Sting vs. Abyss - Pretty lame match really. Outside of a no holds barred type of setting, Sting against Abyss isn't going to be much to write home about. Sting controlled most of the match and beat up Abyss, though Abyss did rally himself and hit some power moves. In the middle of the match, he actually starts to read his copy of The Art of War. Wow....yeah that's pretty damn stupid but not as stupid as the glove wrapped in barbed wire that Abyss picked up to use. Sting recovers, gets the glove, hits Abyss and Abyss bleeds all over the place calling for the DQ. 1/2*

Overall Show - I thought last night's show was fairly decent, though not nearly as strong as last week's. The promo segment with Sting & Bischoff didn't do anything for me. Sting going from the rational veteran to crazed comic book psychopath within the span of a week doesn't work for me and beating up Bischoff is old hat. The other major promo segment featured AJ Styles, Samoa Joe & Christopher Daniels. It did a good job of hyping the ppv, the X Division and the interwoven past of the 3 wrestlers even though it did run longer than needed. Wrestling content on the show was overall much weaker I thought than last week's. Bully Ray vs. Steiner was decent for what it was and was better than I thought it'd be. Crimson & Matt Morgan vs. Beer Money was a good 6.5 minute tag match with some good action & energy. The Knockout matches were the usual lame filler, the X Division match was a nonstop spotfest with zero storytelling featuring 3 completely unknowns that just didn't have the flow or all around feel of last week's X Division match and the main event between Sting & Abyss was just bad with a couple of downright stupid moments. Once again though, I like that TNA's focus right now has drifted from the faction wars storyline and is revolving around the build up of the X Division for Destination X and the Bound For Glory Series. This might be a temporary lull in the storm before everything winds up going back to the way it was, but it's still enjoyable for now.

Grade: C

 

[Weems2k]

TNA iMPACT Wrestling - June 23, 2011

Opening Segment - I'm not really digging Sting's new character. Aside from the fact that it's a blatant, transparent rip off of Heath Slater's portrayal of The Joker in The Dark Knight, Sting's even got smiley lines painted at the corners of his mouth, it completely flies in the face of everything Sting's done for more than a year. Sting's always been a voice of reason in TNA and he's gone from that to complete nutjob within the span of a week or so? Yeah, not buying into it. Seeing Bischoff get beaten up again doesn't have the same zing about it that it used to. The segment did propel along the storyline with Hogan, Bischoff & Sting but I can't say I'm overly interested in it at this point. Thumbs Down

Scott Steiner vs. Bully Ray - While far from spectacular, it was better than I thought it'd be. Steiner his his usual offense and Bully Ray did a good job of taking it. Since he's gotten himself into much better shape, Ray looks better taking moves like all of Steiner's suplexes. I can't say that the ref bump did much for me, it's something TNA does far too often and I would've liked it more to see Ray actually get a clean win over Steiner. Ray just seems to be well above Steiner at this point that he doesn't have to cheat to get the win. Ray punches Steiner in the throat with the chain he wears and gets the pin about the 6 minute mark. Decent match for what it was and gives Ray momentum in the BFG series. **

Velvet Sky & Miss Tessmacher vs. ODB & Miss Jackie - Meh, kind of a train wreck of a match. Both teams brawled a little before the actual match started. Once it did, it was mostly just the same old same old. I'm just not into ODB's schtick anymore. Her participation in the match was limited to mostly the usual bitch or **** insults at the other team while slapping her breasts or her crotch. The heels worked Tessmacher over for a bit before Velvet gets the hot tag after Tessmacher hit a nice spear on ODB. Velvet comes in, does her thing, only for Jackie to kick her in the crotch for the win. 1/2*

Crimson & Matt Morgan vs. Beer Money - Pretty good tag match here, much better than I was expecting really though I knew the outcome once I knew Crimson was involved. There was some good, fun action in the match and it did a decent job of pushing along the inevitable break up of Beer Money, although the tag titles have never been more irrelevant in TNA than they have over the past several months. They also did the thing with Roode coming back to compete before he's physically ready. It's cliche` but it works. Crimson & Morgan get the win after Morgan hits Roode with the Carbon Footprint around the 6.5 minute mark. Since Morgan gets the win, he gets 7 points in the BFG series and is currently in the lead with 14 points total. **1/2

AJ Styles, Samoa Joe & Chrisopher Daniels - I'm kinda mixed on this. On one hand, the promo segment did a good job of further hyping the X Division and the Destination X ppv. It also did a good high of highlighting these 3 and they're triple threat matches in the past are among the most storied matches in TNA history. At the same time, the segment felt kind of long and dragged out to me. I have a feeling that Styles & Joe, at least, are only going back to the X Division for one night so it's hard for me to get overly excited at this point. At any rate, the match should be great if nothing else. Thumbs In The Middle

Dakota Darsow vs. Zima Ion vs. Frederico Palacios - While there was a lot of energy in this match, it was little more than spotfest featuring 3 guys that I've never seen or heard of before this particular match. I know that Darsow is the son of Barry Darsow, better known as Smash of the tag team Demolition. They seemed to kinda work in rotation with two guys hitting spots while the other played the punching bag. Darsow used some power moves, Ion is the personification of a spot monkey and Palacios's offense seemed mostly limited to roll up attempts in between getting beaten up. Ion winds up getting the win a little past the 4.5 minute mark after hitting a nice looking 450 splash on Darsow for the win. *1/2

RVD & Jerry Lynn - RVD is shown backstage talking about how important the BFG series and how he was the X Division before there was any such thing as the X Division. Jerry Lynn suddenly pops up and says "You mean We were X Division". I'm sure some people thought it was a cool moment and all but it irks me the way TNA often treats returning stars, even if it's brief, as if their presence means nothing. Lynn was one of the X Division pioneers, he's respected on the indy circuit like no one else. At any rate, however, I have a feeling it'll wind up RVD vs. Jerry Lynn at BFG. Thumbs Down

Mickie James vs. Winter - A lame 3.5 minute street fight featuring a couple of Knockouts. Yeah, it's pretty much what you'd expect. They brawl to the ring, the match starts, they brawl a little bit more for a while, Earl Hebner's senility kicks in and he gets conveniently distracted by something shiny, Angelina Love hits the ring & lays out Mickie so Winter gets the win. 1/4*

Sting vs. Abyss - Pretty lame match really. Outside of a no holds barred type of setting, Sting against Abyss isn't going to be much to write home about. Sting controlled most of the match and beat up Abyss, though Abyss did rally himself and hit some power moves. In the middle of the match, he actually starts to read his copy of The Art of War. Wow....yeah that's pretty damn stupid but not as stupid as the glove wrapped in barbed wire that Abyss picked up to use. Sting recovers, gets the glove, hits Abyss and Abyss bleeds all over the place calling for the DQ. 1/2*

Overall Show - I thought last night's show was fairly decent, though not nearly as strong as last week's. The promo segment with Sting & Bischoff didn't do anything for me. Sting going from the rational veteran to crazed comic book psychopath within the span of a week doesn't work for me and beating up Bischoff is old hat. The other major promo segment featured AJ Styles, Samoa Joe & Christopher Daniels. It did a good job of hyping the ppv, the X Division and the interwoven past of the 3 wrestlers even though it did run longer than needed. Wrestling content on the show was overall much weaker I thought than last week's. Bully Ray vs. Steiner was decent for what it was and was better than I thought it'd be. Crimson & Matt Morgan vs. Beer Money was a good 6.5 minute tag match with some good action & energy. The Knockout matches were the usual lame filler, the X Division match was a nonstop spotfest with zero storytelling featuring 3 completely unknowns that just didn't have the flow or all around feel of last week's X Division match and the main event between Sting & Abyss was just bad with a couple of downright stupid moments. Once again though, I like that TNA's focus right now has drifted from the faction wars storyline and is revolving around the build up of the X Division for Destination X and the Bound For Glory Series. This might be a temporary lull in the storm before everything winds up going back to the way it was, but it's still enjoyable for now.

Grade: C

Who's Heath Slater? Or did you mean Christian Slater? By the way, it was Heath Ledger that played the Joker in Dark Knight before whacking himself.

 

[nWo365]

This weeks Impact was great! I love the new Stinger! He's is jilarious and extremly entertaining. Not only that i loved seeing Miss teshmacher and Velet Sky!

 

[blockanWo]

This X Division tournament has been the greatest thing in recent memory. I hope a lot of the guys get some sort of contract. Low Ki and Austin Aries, Jimmy Yang put on a great match. Cant wait for Destination X.

 

[MB1025]

Impact Wrestling did a 1.27 (1.3) with 1.8 million viewers.