Pleased or Displeased: June 2010

[It's Damn Real!]

As if you didn't know I like to post things in a series by now...

So here's the run-down:

Each month I'll post a new "Pleased or Displeased" thread regarding the overall state of TNA at the culmination of each months' PPV.

I'll give you a general consensus of the on-going feuds at the time, what are still going and what have ended, as well as any other important aspects of the on-goings that may have happened that month including releases, acquisitions, debuts, etc.

Please note, while this may appear by design to be an aftermath thread, I assure you it is not – I'm not asking you to post your own thoughts on the aftermath and what they mean to you personally. There's already a thread for that elsewhere. What I am asking you for is your thoughts on the direction of the company, it's future, it's past, and it's potential.

That said, here's the opener:

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TNA Wrestling as of June 14th, 2010​

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TNA World Heavyweight Championship
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Still TNA World Heavyweight Champion, Rob Van Dam retained his title against #1 contender Sting after Jeff Jarrett (who Sting put out of commission for a few weeks back at Sacrifice) interfered to give RVD the win. Sting, who's heel turn is still unexplained, told the world he planned to reveal his reasons once he won the title from RVD at Slammiversary. Thanks to Jeff Jarrett (who I thought wanted to know Sting's reasons more than anyone?), we never received that answer. Irony is a bitch and a half, eh?

Sting was named #1 contender to the TNA WHC by Bischoff and the "Championship Committee" a few weeks ago during the naming of the TNA Top-10 Contenders, and the feud escalated from that point forward hinging on Sting's heel turn and would-be explanation had he won the title as he said he would. Sting contends that "deception" is a foot in TNA and he is hellbent on exposing it.

A new #1 contender is expected to be named at iMPACT! this Thursday, though Sting is not likely entirely out of the picture yet.

RVD has held the TNA WHC since April 19th, 2010 when he beat then champion AJ Styles for it the day after their match at Lockdown.

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TNA X Division Championship
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Still TNA X Division Champion, Doug(las) Williams retained his title against #1 contender Brian Kendrick. Kendrick underwent a bit of a character reclamation a week prior on iMPACT! when he cut a promo that reinforced the sentiments he's received from Tenay & Taz over the last few weeks (and months, technically) about being a loner and a bit of a weirdo. The match was a clean victory for Williams.

Williams contended that he never truly lost the title when he was stripped of it prior to the Lockdown PPV back in April when he failed to show up to defend it due to difficulty getting a flight out of the then post-Volcanic eruption Europe/UK. A match was held between the #1 contender at the time, Kazarian as well as Shannon Moore and Homicide who won a battle royal to compete for the spot earlier in the night in which Kazarian eventually won.

Williams has now held the TNA XDC since May 16th at Sacrifice when he beat the former champion Kazarian for it.

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TNA Global Championship
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Still TNA Global Champion, Rob Terry did not compete at Slammiversary, though he is by all accounts still involved in a feud with the ever unpopular Orlando Jordan over the title. The two did compete at Sacrifice in a singles bout for the title which obvious Terry came out on top of, however there's been little follow-up since regarding the feud, or the title. Unlike the WHC, no contenders system is in place for the championship, so there is no foreseeable future for the belt, either. Rob Terry has held the title since January 27th, 2010 when he beat then champion Eric Young for it overseas.

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TNA World Tag Team Championships
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Still TNA World Tag Team Champions The Band (Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Eric Young – see Freebirds rules) also did not compete at Slammiversary. They've held the titles since May 13th, 2010 when they cashed in Kevin Nash's Feast or Fired (2009) briefcase to score a pinfall over Matt Morgan who had already been attacked by Samoa Joe just prior. Morgan was initially scheduled to compete for the titles with a mystery partner at Slammiversary, but was rescheduled (by Hogan) to face Hernandez – his former partner whom he injured months back – instead. No competitors took Morgan/Hernandez' place – including the supposed #1 contenders for the titles, the Motor City Machineguns who haven't been on the broadcast in weeks despite the announcement of a back-to-back DVD release featuring their best-of matches along with Beer Money, Inc.

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TNA Knockouts Championship
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Still TNA Knockouts Champion, Madison Rayne successfully defeated her title against re-new comer Roxxi who has returned to the company (and subsequently been released) now for the third or fourth time in her unfortunate career. Prior to the match, the stipulations behind it were changed to 'title v. career', which subsequently saw Roxxi lose her job again. No new #1 contender has been named (yet), though one is likely to emerge at iMPACT! this Thursday.

Rayne has now held the TNA KOC since winning it on April 18th, 2010 at Lockdown when she and Velvet Sky defeated then incumbent champion Angelina Love and Tara in a tag team match for both the TNA Knockout Championship, as well as the TNA Knockout Tag Team Championships, which The Beautiful People also won (see Freebirds rules). She defeated (and also retired [kayfabe]) Tara at Sacrifice a month ago in that time.

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TNA Knockout Tag Team Championships
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As noted just prior, in a match at Lockdown, The Beautiful People (Velvet Sky, Madison Rayne and Lacey Von Erich) defeated incumbent Knockouts Champion Angelina Love and Tara in a tag-team cage match in which all three titles were on the line. No current feud is going on for the titles which are little more than props to accompany the already illustrious eye candy in the Beautiful People as it is. No #1 contenders have been named, and The Beautiful People have held the titles since March 8th, 2010.

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Midcard & Ancillary Feuds
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Kurt Angle v. the TNA Top-10

When Angle returned from a month-long hiatus following his victory over Mr. Anderson at Lockdown, he removed himself from the then established TNA Top-10 Contenders ranking in which he ranked at #2 stating that he was going to reinvent himself by taking on each and every one of the contenders (who all moved up a rank as a result of Angle's decline to accept his spot) on his way to the TNA WHC.

Angle defeated the #10 seed Kazarian at Slammiversary in the opening bout when Kaz tapped out to the ankle lock, and in the process Angle became the #10 seed in the Top-10 ranking. Next in line if they are going by the original seeds would be Samoa Joe.

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Brother Ray v. Jesse Neal & Ink Inc.

In a feud that's built over weeks of what Brother Ray felt was disrespect on the part of Jesse Neal, these two came together for their first one-on-one confrontation in TNA. Neal ended up picking up the victory after the interference play run by a debuting Tommy Dreamer who came down through the crowd and into the pit staring mercilessly at Ray who was propped on the 2nd rope at the time, enabling Neal to eventually hit his spear finisher to gain the pin-fall victory.

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Hernandez v. Matt Morgan

Following Matt Morgan's run as a singles tag-team champion (if you count his ego as the other title holder), Hogan announced to him that his partner for his then match against TNA World Tag Team Chamipions The Band was non other than the very man he injured a few months prior in Hernandez. After a dominating scuffle in the ring that saw Hernandez come out on top, Hogan made the announcement that Morgan wouldn't be getting a tag-team title shot at Slammiversary, but instead would face Hernandez whom he won the match with via DQ when Hernandez refused to stop choking Morgan with his own ripped t-shirt.

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Abyss v. Desmond Wolfe

Another feud built over months saw Desmond Wolfe lose (again) to Abyss in a Monsters Ball match at Slammiversary. A month prior Wolfe also lost a match that saw him lose the rights to his valet/girlfriend Chelsea who had to offer her "services" to Abyss for 30 days. In a classic swerve, though accompanying Wolfe to the ring prior to the match, Wolfe asks Chelsea for her purse (which he thinks has a brick still in it) to use against Abyss, but Chelsea betrays Wolfe and throws the brick to Abyss who uses it on Wolfe to gain the pin-fall victory.

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AJ Styles v. Jay Lethal

As a means to rectify a situation to gain the good graces of his mentor Ric Flair again, AJ Styles went one-on-one with Jay Lethal at Slammiversary in a grudge match that Styles intended to win as a means to prove his value to a dejected Flair who was at odds with him a week prior on iMPACT! Flair has been visibly upset with AJ over what he felt was AJ not having his head on straight in his matches while Flair has also seemed to have taken up a new protégé in Kazarian in the process – furthering Styles' jealousy & rage. Following a blunder in which AJ slipped on the ropes falling face-first to the mat, Lethal picked up the victory which put AJ at even greater odds with a very upset Flair who was tearing into him. Kazarian made his way to the ring to calm Flair down and told him that AJ needed to regroup. AJ, still stunned, sat on the mat in disbelief while Flair and Kazarian walked to the back without him.

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Jeff Hardy & Mr. Anderson v. Beer Money, Inc.

Following Mr. Anderson's face-turn a few weeks ago on iMPACT!, a series of events have occurred since as a means of Ken trying to befriend Jeff Hardy, despite maintaining his "assholeiness" (see Tweener). The feud culminated a week prior in a run-in save by Hardy in which Hardy extended his hand in friendship to Anderson who had attempted the very same a few weeks prior to his dismay when Hardy rejected it. Since that point, Beer Money, Inc. cut a promo against the two which led to a small brawl/scuffle heading into the PPV, as well as two singles matches on iMPACT! the week prior to Slammiversary. Beer Money, Inc. contend that they define what tag-team wrestling represents and that Hardy and Anderson know nothing about it only to lose the match after arguing over a spot in the match which Anderson took advantage of to gain the pin-fall victory.

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Other News of Note
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• Dixie Carter at the forefront of controversy after tweeting a series of messages proclaiming major changes coming to TNA.

• Rosie Lottalove debut on iMPACT! is seemingly leading to a feud with The Beautiful People.

• Rumors swirling of an ECW-invasion style angle on the horizon.

• Daffney & Angelina Love returning from injury soon.

• "Pope" D'Angelo Dinero still out with a shoulder injury.

 

[shattered dreams]

I voted pleased. I have been a TNA fan for a while now. When they first brought in hogan etc. I would have still voted pleased but a few months into it I would have switched to somewhere inbetween. Since that low point I think they have been doing a lot of things right and getting almost no credit for it. The product was a jumbled mess that lacked direction and had many curious choices on which talent to use and how to use them. Since then they have straightened out or are in the process of doing so for many of the stories and characters. They have also switched the amount of impact segments to help the product flow better. IMO they are starting to settle into a formula that is their own. Relying on their promos early in impacts and bringing strong wrestling on PPVs. No wrestling company is ever going to be perfect and I have been enjoying TNA quite a bit recently.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

For me, I'm somewhere just below pleased but for the purposes of this thread I'd have to vote in-between.

I'm more than content and entertained by probably 80% of the show – most notably the entire Flair/AJ/Kaz/Lethal feud, Hernandez/Morgan, RVD/Sting, etc. Hell, I even like what they did with Dreamer's debut.

The only real issues I have with the program right now are the failure to culminate feuds with the Global championship as well as both the Women's and the men's tag-team championships. Not much going on there, so it's been a little annoying to go weeks without seeing much action happen in either realm.

I know a lot of people really hate TNA right now, but I can't help but still be entertained. Call me a mark or a smark or whatever it is you need to to justify it, but I am still entertained by what they're producing, even if I don't agree that it's being produced to it's potential.

 

[Lazerball]

TNa really has no clue wat they are doin with who they have, and i am displeased, they bury the heels almost every single week, look at the ppv last nite, wat heels actually won,Madison won, and Douglas Williams, and thats it, and look at the ppv before that, pretty much the same, heels get buried over and over, and it makes no sense, they start to lose credibilty, poor Beer money and Wolfe, losing over and over, and all three are homegrown TNA guys, they have never been in WWE, but the guys they lose to are has beens from WWE, well cept for abyss, but hes awful, and awful fat now. RVD does not carry that title well, and really has done nothing for it, the guy cuts a promo after winning it about smokin dope and shit, come on wat is that. the X title gets lil to no time every week, cause we gotta watch the Band limp down to the ring. Global title, wats that, whos got it, whys it matter, oh yea, it doesnt matter, cause they dont do anything with it cept let the worst gimick in the history of TNA go for it, if ur a lil slow i mean OJ. TNA is goin no where, and its sad cause they have some of the best workers around,imagain wat it could be, would be spectacular, but sadly its not.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I voted for Displeased as there's just not very much going on in TNA that interests me.

The Knockout and Tag Team Divisions are pretty much garbage overall at this point.

The X-Division, while there has been some slight improvement, still has a long way to go before it even remotely approaches what it used to be.

Rob Terry is as awful today as he's ever been. The Global Championship is pretty much meaningless at this point. Personally, I find it a bit hypocritical to see people warming up to Rob Terry. If he wrestled in WWE, he'd be criticized for receiving the push he's gotten in TNA. His feud with Orlando Jordan has been completely uninteresting. TNA really could have pushed the envelope with Jordan but they dropped the ball. So now, he's just a weird character running round in bright pink ring attire.

I'm glad to see that Kurt Angle has returned, but I'm not all that wild about him going through all the Top 10 Contenders in order to earn himself a world title shot. Why? Because it's about as stale and predictable as can be. While anything in wrestling can be more or less predictable, most things I should say, it's hard for me to get excited about something that's this transparent. It's all but written in the stars that he'll ultimately wind up being the #1 contender and, more than likely, will be the one to take the title from RVD. While I do like Angle and respect what he can do, I'm as tired of seeing him in the TNA Championship scene as much as I'm tired of seeing Triple H in the WWE Championship scene.

The feud between Abyss and Desmond Wolfe has been awful. It's awful because Abyss is shit, has been for a long while now and because Desmond Wolfe is a far too talented wrestler to be wasted as he has for the past 6 months or so.

AJ Styles has been transformed from a world class pro wrestler with a strong face run as TNA World Heavyweight Champion into a weak, whining little bitch of a heel that can't win a match without help.

I like that they're pushing Jay Lethal, but I'm still not able to get behind him all that much just yet because TNA hasn't done anything to establish his own identity. I know he can imitate certain wrestling legends well and that's all well and good. But I don't wanna see a man running around, dressing like, moving like and talking like Ric Flair or Randy Savage. I wanna see what Jay Lethal is about.

Ken Anderson's face turn has been ok. I prefer him as a heel but he can get over in TNA either way. He's dynamic on the mic, really has been since his debut in the WWE, and has the charisma to be a main eventer in TNA. The "Asshole" thing was funny at first, but it's being driven into the ground. Just wears old on me when I hear him say "Asshole" about 10 different times per promo.

There's very little that's gone on in TNA during the past month that's thrilled me or even kept me entertained. I will say, however, that it looks as though they've spent the past few weeks focusing on developing their product in the long run instead of trying to pull off stunts or surprises for shock value. Hulk Hogan also isn't featured in every other segment on iMPACT, which is a good thing. I think that TNA has taken some steps in the right direction over the past few weeks, they've still got a lot of work to do.

 

[Schizophrenic]

I'm pleased. I can't quite putmy finger on it but I have to say that from start to finish Ienjoy TNA and what they are providing. As is my finace who barely watches WWE anymore unless McIntyre, Hardy or Truth is on. She will never miss an episode of Impact or a PPV and neither will I. Time doesn't seem to fly but insted goes by at an steady pace where I will say to myself constantly "wow, I still have another hour of it to go?" As opposed to RAW where time seems to go by slowly or very fast anymore. June hasn't been any different.

 

[Kenny Powers]

I'm displeased since TNA has been hit or miss recently. There have been major announcements and a new ranking system that hasn't lived up to its potential. The knockouts division is a joke with the majority of the knockouts either fired or leaving TNA. The Global championship is even worse with Rob Terry and Orlando Jordan.

Wolfe has been jobbing to the Muppet Abyss constantly over everything from magical rings to cheap women. The tag division is pretty much non existent with The Band as the champions. Beer Money have been wasted and the two biggest stars in the company are being pushed as a team instead of as singles star. I.E Hardy and Anderson.

I am intrigued by Flair and Lethal's confrontations. Sting has even been great in his role as a heel but annoying as well since TNA loves to give more questions then answers. There hasn't been anything major in TNA to talk about debut wise besides Rosie and Tommy Dreamer. Dixie's big announcement hasn't arrived yet but may be about the PPV's being on Spike TV which could hurt TNA more then help them.

I have enjoyed Impact a lot more the last 2 weeks then I have a month ago. There just isn't anything new or exciting going on in TNA now. Angle is wrestling the young guys on the roster working his way up. RVD is a laid back champion that really doesn't care what is going on in TNA. The rankings system is pretty much a list of random wrestlers selected 1-10.

I'm displeased by TNA at the moment, but I hope things start to pick up by next month.

 

[Miss DFW]

I voted 'displeased'. As a TNA fan since 2005, this had to be the worst Slammiversary I can recall. I like the new people that have came in for the most part, Realy not happy with the releases/let goes they have had. I'm not even going to get into the booking mess now. Since Jan it seems TNA is going 2 ft forward and 10ft backwards.

 

[BWEEZY2009]

First of all I can't rep you because I guess I give it to much to you.. They need to take that off because this is very well done thread.

I'm going to have to vote for displeased.

The only thing really going for me is Kurt Angle vs the Top Ten simply because I know the matches have the potential to deliver.

Hopefully they continue to book Hernandez/Morgan and don't just drop it to the point it becomes a foot note.

Global: Drop the belt all together.. Half the viewers don't even know why its called the Global title and continue to get lost in the meaning behind it. Grab one of the big trashcans and drop this and the knock out tag titles both in it, because both have about 0 credibility right now.

Sting: Welp TNA thought after he squashed Jarrett for the 18th time that he'd get over as the biggest heel on the show but what do you no.. nope. This title continues to go to Desmond Wolfe who continues to fall in between the major storylines and is stuck with the staler than ever Abyss

Abyss: I was tempted to do a thread on if people would even be interested if he'd turn heel right now. I don't know which I'd dislike more... I don't even know how I would book Abyss anymore after the ring storyline. It's almost like the WWE knows Nick Dinsmore is a good athlete and has potential as a professional wrestler.. but the Eugene gimmick is just stuck in the fans minds to the point where you can't take any angles of his serious.

Anderson: Please blast him to the moon... Heel/Face/Tweener I don't care, he is so over.

Samoa Joe: IMO they kicked his gimmick off the table.

X-Title: I actually do enjoy Douglas Williams "finest" promos on the spot monkeys. It comes off believable and hope they decide to realize the X Division is part of the reason their viewers tune in every week.

Hogan getting more time... whaaat? I read that Spike TV and higher ups want to continue to put more Hogan on TV. I don't know if the casual viewer is tuning in to see hogan, but I could almost bet over 50% of the members on this site are either changing the channel or forcing themselves to watch his promos right now.

 

[TSG]

Displeased.

I don't care who it is, how it is, or what it is, but TNA needs H-E-L-P HELP. The Knockouts Division is going downhill each and every day, the X-Division is a shell of it's former self, Hogan and Flair are replacing TNA Originals on the card, or releasing them all together, in favore of former WWE talent, old luminaries who no longer need the spotlight, or people that either can't wrestle or nobody cares about (Rob Terry, Orlando Jordan). The tag team division is the only thing let with a semblance of crebibility and it is being destroyed by The Band holding titles that could easily belong to Generation Me, Beer Money, or The Motor City Machine Guns. Guys who have no business being on TV (Ink Inc, Orlando Jordan, Rob Terry,) are being featured on television every week while people with actual talent (Raven) are only on television only once every four weeks or so.

TNA creative have no ideas how to book a fued or even a television show. It's all about creating surprises every week, and doing stuff that makes no sense and has no sense of creativity. Hogan and Flair have been ignoring everything TNA has built, even using the storylines to ridicule the founder of the company, Jeff Jarrett, for months on end. They have put former credible stars like Abyss into stupid, nonsensical fueds, and have went against the psychology that built TNA in the first place.

So, in a whole, I'm displeased. Most people are, I've heard regular common wrestling fans refer to TNA as an "Old Folks Home", others say that can't sit through an episode of iMPACT! without falling asleep. I don't want to bash the company, I was one of their biggest supporters and defenders that I know for years. But TNA is going downhill quickly, and so far, I give them an F+ grading.

 

[snoopy]

I'm pleased now that I'm seeing positive changes being made. and I got a feeling something huge is on the way. tna fans just got to be patient!

 

[realdealasshole]

I put below pleased. But honestly, that's a bit unfair. I've just grown frustrated cuz it could be a million times better than what it is. But that's going to improve soon. Knowing where they're going heading to Victory Road, I'm pumped for what's in store.
with that said, here's what i'm upset with, and it's simply bad booking which can hopefully be fixed:
-Who the heck even cares about the global title anymore? I say that because I haven't heard a darn thing about the champ and no one on the show seems to even care to take it from him. Seriously, I watch TNA every week and sometimes I forget that title even exists.
-Can we actually have some real tension in the X division title matches? I'm sick of seeing matches just thrown together and expecting that putting the champion on commentary while his opponent fights is going to make me think it's a match worth watching. Will they still wrestle good? I'm sure. But that doesn't mean i'm interested in the outcome whatsoever. And that takes away from the match and also makes me not want to buy the PPV.
-Turn Bischoff heel already!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When I found out Bischoff was coming to TNA I was pumped because I thought it'd make the top face more loveable because he'd be facing serious adversity. And that's what takes away from Van Dam's reign. Yeah, he's a good wrestler with a well known name, but he's got ZERO competition. Nobody honestly thought Sting would beat him. If he also has to put up with crap from the boss that would make him someone worth caring about rather than just being someone who is a well known guy holding the title.
-Gimme someone to hate! As I said, I liked what they did with Sting. Him beating down anyone who moves really made me hate him. But what now? Gimme some established heels who don't lose week after week.

Of course, there's plenty more that upsets me.