Rasha's Official Impact Wrestling Running Diaries

[Rasha]

If you're a fan of ESPN's Bill Simmons then this will be familiar to you. I did a running diary of my viewing experience watching TNA iMPACT! this week. I hope you enjoy, and if the reception is favorable then I might do this on a regular basis.

9:01 - The unmasked Curry Man and Fortune make their way down to the ring. Remember when Mysterio unmasked (twice) and it was a huge deal (twice)? TNA didn't even mention it! What the hell? Fire Russo!

9:06 - God doesn't even know who Daniels is. Sounds like a good Nirvana song.

9:08 - When Flair said "it's called power, it's called glory..." Taz really should've dropped a quick "Paul Roma and Hercules are here?!" joke.

9:11 - Is it just me, or is this Daniels return totally smelling like a swerve job? He shows up and hits a little move last week, then "begs" to join Fortune at Lockdown, then gets a contract with littls fuss from Bischoff and Hogan. He's certainly better as a heel. Hmmm...

9:15 - I just no-sold Anderson's attempt at humor. Just saying "douchebag" isn't funny.

9:19 - "They're thinking like a wrestler. They're acting like a wrestler." I know it's been done before, but I'm getting interested in this "Network" angle. Top Three Guesses right now... 1) Heyman, 2) Goldberg, 3) DDP.

9:25 - What are Morgan and Hernandez even fighting about at this point? Haven't they blown this feud off twice already?

9:32 - The spoiler for tonight's show said Joe beat "Gunner." I wondered what the hell that meant for the TV Title. Glad to see they simply got the opponent wrong and it was actually Murphy. On the other hand, it means we haven't seen or heard from Gunner once since he WON THE TITLE. Ugh.

Also, when Tenay said this Joe/Pope feud "has reached the point of no return" I think he must have been referring to my interest level.

9:35 - For a guy that lives in the rafters and leaves notes for people, I expected Sting to have more psychotic handwriting.

9:40 - Angelina looks like she just watched all of the highlights of the Joe/Pope feud.

9:41 - They really should make Winter's mind-control part of her wrestling. She could get someone in a sleeper and start whispering in their ear, then let them go and they lay down and let her pin them. Why not?

9:43 - Nice to see Eric Young's fake title has had more screen time this month than the Television Title.

You have to admit... Orlando's "I'm totally into your whole 'Asshole' thing" line was awesome. Anderson's reaction was great.

9:49 - I always thought it was crackheads, not potheads, who attack you in dark places. RVD just proved my mom wrong.

10:02 - Sting and RVD did some nice work in their segment. They used their issues from last year, brought up Rob's little-known time in WCW, and looked like two big names getting ready for war. Nice.

10:04 - First Angelina and Velvet and now Madison and Tara are fighting. Sarita and Rosita might be Knockout Tag Champs until Lockdown 2012.

10:10 - It was short and sweet, but I really liked that quick backstage shot of Anderson knocking the Sting and RVD pictures off the wall and then stopping to stare at Hogan's. Less is more, baby!

10:11 - Brian Kendrick... COME ON DOWN!

10:12 - During Sabin's entrance, Tenay said the Motor City Machine Guns have declared "they're going to focus on competing in the X-Division." Interesting that they made a point of announcing that.

10:15 - Remember that "which ones of these things is not like the other" song? That's how I feel watching Robbie E and these five guys. He should be in the TV Title action... with a new gimmick.

10:18 - Now that they're officially broken up, can we get Max and Jeremy some new outfits? Even Marty Janetty thinks those pants are lame.

10:20 - "Henceforth... you shall be known as Darth Anderson."

10:21 - LMAO at Madison running away when there's a motorcycle available. They totally should have had her taking the bike and leaving Tara behind. It would have been funny and legitimately increased their heat.

10:27 - If you'd told me a few months ago that I'd be enjoying Bully Ray in a bigger singles role, I'd have laughed in your face. I don't mind admitting whem I'm wrong. This match with Daniels actually feels meaningful. Also, Ray definitely looks like he's dropped some weight and is in great shape.

10:33 - B-M-E! B-M-E!! I've missed that move! Now if Petey could just run out and hit someone with a Canadian Destroyer!

10:35 - I'll give TNA credit; they've managed to keep Immortal looking decent despite the Hardy debacle. They still need a true in-ring leader, but this trio of Ray, Abyss, and Matt isn't as terrible as it sounded on paper.

10:42 - The Angle-Jarrett feud isn't the worst ever, but it's never really found a rhythm. I'm just glad nobody's father's casket was involved (if you know what I'm referring to, you win cool points).

10:44 - It's a small thing, but Jarrett went up and over that cage as well as any young man would. Pretty impressive!

10:53 - If RVD was smart, he'd know he wasn't really Hogan's boy just by being put in this match. What good's a non-title match a week and a half before the PPV? And why would Hogan let his enemy Anderson be the special ref? Let's hope they don't actually have RVD still buying Hogan's bullshit next week.

10:59 - If Anderson actually just joined Immortal, then couldn't they have at least sent out the A-Team and not the flunkies?

11:00 - Nevermind. Nice touch! Somehow this is not what was in the spoilers, so I wonder when/how they taped this ending. Cool deal.

Well, overall I thought this was a decent show. It felt a little strange because some of the feuds like Pope/Joe and Morgan/Hernandez basically were given their "go-home" moment with yet another Impact left before Lockdown. I liked the progression of the World Title storyline and what they did with Anderson tonight. He spoke a lot less and accomplished a lot more.

Hope you enjoyed this diary, and please respond with your feedback.

 

[Cherry Cola]

HAHA fantastic review i did like anderson singing tho. Its weird they did not say shelly has a broken shoulder. Mickie has a broken shoulder to so they wrote it in an angle.

 

[wrestlemaniac]

wow...um...did I jest see a reference to a big boss man fued...haha, awesome. Against...um...I forgot who to be honest. Also, good review to the show. I missed most of it. might download it tomorrow

 

[Rasha]

I9:19 - "They're thinking like a wrestler. They're acting like a wrestler." I know it's been done before, but I'm getting interested in this "Network" angle. Top Three Guesses right now... 1) Heyman, 2) Goldberg, 3) DDP.

Had to come back an ammend this comment after thinking about it more; Mick Foley has to be a major candidate if an actual person gets revealed as part of "The Network." I'd put him at the top of the list, actually. It's not what I'd actually want to see because honestly I'm little sick of Foley at this point, but he's the safest bet.

 

[SpecialFNK]

11:00 - Nevermind. Nice touch! Somehow this is not what was in the spoilers, so I wonder when/how they taped this ending. Cool deal.

I saw different spoilers that didn't have the entire finish.
since the show has aired, it's not spoilers anymore right.
one spoiler I saw had Anderson on the shoulders of Immortal and Hogan clapping to end the show. another set of spoilers I saw had Anderson then mic check to the members of Immortal and then yell at Hogan.

personally I haven't watched yet since I wasn't home then and will watch it tomorrow. I assume they had the entire thing. when I read the spoilers I wondered if maybe they did all of it, but would edit it and not show it all on air so they could have still had Anderson be with Immortal going into Lockdown. if Anderson is not Immortal, then Immortal really has no connection in the main event. cant imagine Sting going Immortal. would/could RVD go Immortal? IMO doubtful. Hogan clearly wanted Anderson, why would RVD want to be 2nd, or 3rd choice behind Anderson and even Hardy.

 

[Derrtown]

The spoilers you read were from a classless hack whose site lacks more and more credibility every single week. Try finding a new source. As for this... its awesome. Wouldnt mind if this turned into a weekly thing.

 

[deforty]

Rasha I love the review want to see it every week, also wouldn't mind seeing one for Raw too.

 

[sfury2005]

I saw different spoilers that didn't have the entire finish.
since the show has aired, it's not spoilers anymore right.
one spoiler I saw had Anderson on the shoulders of Immortal and Hogan clapping to end the show. another set of spoilers I saw had Anderson then mic check to the members of Immortal and then yell at Hogan.

personally I haven't watched yet since I wasn't home then and will watch it tomorrow. I assume they had the entire thing. when I read the spoilers I wondered if maybe they did all of it, but would edit it and not show it all on air so they could have still had Anderson be with Immortal going into Lockdown. if Anderson is not Immortal, then Immortal really has no connection in the main event. cant imagine Sting going Immortal. would/could RVD go Immortal? IMO doubtful. Hogan clearly wanted Anderson, why would RVD want to be 2nd, or 3rd choice behind Anderson and even Hardy.

I don't know how true it is but I did read somewhere that RVD was originally suppose to lead Immortal but he shot down that idea as he didn't want to be a heel. They then turned to Jeff Hardy who said ok and took the part as leader of Immortal.

 

[Rasha]

... also wouldn't mind seeing one for Raw too.

I don't watch RAW most weeks. I'll zip through it when I know something big's coming like The Rock's return, but that makes it hard to give any intelligent commentary.

Thanks for responding though and look forward to more TNA reviews in the weeks to come!

 

[Rasha]

Last week's diary debut got a positive response, so I thought I'd come back with another one this week.

9:01 - Remember the NWO's B-Team? Giant, Hennig, Stevie Ray, Brian Adams, Scott Norton, etc... that's about what Immortal feels like right now. In fact, I think they'd get their asses kicked.

9:02 - Gunner carrying the TV Title in his teeth, huh? They oughta' tack it to the back of his shoe like toilet paper at this point.

9:05 - Nice shot at Bischoff about riding Hogan's coattails. Not accurate at all, but it plays into the fan perception.

9:08 - Glad they let Bully Ray step out of the pack and assert himself as a focal point. He deserves it.

9:15 - That little segment about "The Network" makes me wonder if it isn't Bischoff himself. He announces the "Network's" decision and then leaves the room to "go handle it." Hmmmmm.

9:18 - I'd love to see British Invasion vs. Beer Money feuding after Lockdown. They need a good tag title feud again.

9:20 - Nice to see they didn't completely ignore the fact that Crimson was the one who took Abyss out. Continuity!

9:22 - Good Bully Ray/RVD segment. Would have liked to see RVD be pissed about being given an ultimatum, but still decent hype for a segment yet to come.

9:30 - I like how Hardy's ring work is trying to reflect his new gimmick. He's really focusing on Kaz's neck and it gives the match a good consistency.

9:35 - Man, I like that submission finisher from Hardy! I've talked a lot of shit about this guy the last few years, but he entertained me tonight. Bravo!

9:41 - Madison Rayne really has a good thing going right now. She's got Vicki Guerrero-like heel skills and can put on a decent match. Never thought she'd be this good as champ.

9:44 - They've done a solid job of building this Madison/Mickie match, but I'd still rather see Mickie and Tara fight again.

9:53 - They really should have done more for the Jarrett/Angle feud than lumping it in with Morgan/Hernandez and Joe/Pope. Angle's too good on the mic for the limited amount of talking he's done during this story.

9:59 - I will never understand why people hate on Samoa Joe. When he hits the ring he brings an intensity that few can match, and his mix of striking and submissions is fun to watch.

10:01 - One of my biggest pet peeves is when a guy acts like he's nursing an injury for five minutes and then pops up without even a limp. Yes Morgan, I'm talking about you.

10:03 - LOL @ Jarrett driving off without Karen.

10:05 - Hogan's going to need to stop only wearing this backbrace when he's planning to do something physical. It's a dead give-away.

10:08 - Sting is really showing his love of Tito Santana with this new attire.

10:11 - Honestly, I'd be fine with it if RVD turned heel at this point. Like ECW, TNA's a company where you can be a great wrestler but still carry heel heat. RVD could at least be better than Hardy was as the top dog in Immortal.

10:14 - I have no problem with the Sting/Hogan rivalary still being used. I just worry that there will never be much of a payoff as Hogan will only be a sponsor for whatever wrestlers he throws at Sting. They have to let those guys take what Hogan gives them and run with it to become the focal point of the feud.

10:17 - Abyss' new theme music... bleh. It's very generic. I liked his old theme more with that distinct intro and the sort of "dark carnival" vibe it had.

10:23 - Having Immortal sweep this series 2-0 was clever. You always expect these things to go to the last round, meaning I was sure Storm would beat Abyss somehow. Great way to throw a curveball to seasoned fans.

10:29 - Bischoff just got Scorpion Death-Dropped about ten minutes ago and now he's talking on the phone without even a hair out of place? Booo!

10:31 - Angelina is trying to bring back "zombie hot."

10:33 - How long until they go shock value with some lesbian-ish scene in the Winter/Angelina story? Seems like a sure thing at this point.

10:43 - Taz giving Terry credit for continuing the attack on Anderson's knee. Unfortunately, it was the wrong knee. *shakes head*

10:46 - Way to totally nerf half the stable. Anderson barely had to try to beat three guys.

10:48 - "You can't wrestle" chant from the crowd. This one really could go either way.

10:53 - Not a bad moment with Sting making the save, but they could have written that a little differently and helped hype two matches. First Bully Ray looks like he's going to hit the move off the stage, but gets stopped by Daniels. Daniels fights Bull Ray down the ramp and out of the way, which leads to Hogan coming out and going after the defenseless Anderson. You could have done all of the same stuff with Abyss and Sting while giving Daniels a little spotlight moment.

11:00 - I don't really like these Reaction-style backstage promos to close the show. Sting standing over Anderson with the bat would have been a much better image for the closing credits.

That said, not a bad go-home show for the PPV. I wish they'd established some sort of stipulation for the Fortune/Immortal match but otherwise I think Lockdown will be solid. Very curious to see what happens in the Main Event.

 

[mral82]

It was so-so like usual. Jeff leaving Karen was hilarity while Kurt was saying something like "You married a winner" and repeated that. Plus Fortune vs Immortal does have a stip a Lockdown called Lethal Lockdown.

 

[Rasha]

Plus Fortune vs Immortal does have a stip a Lockdown called Lethal Lockdown.

Sorry, I wasn't clear enough. When I said "stip" I meant that something of consequence would actually be on the line in the match, such as Fortune's Tag and X-Division Titles or something. I find it hard to believe that Bischoff and Hogan would have three titles belts staring back at them in this match and not find a way to give themselves a shot at taking those belts from Fortune.

 

[Derrtown]

Thats a good point and with 4 top tier members, Immortal would have been smart to have Fourtune/Fortune put them all on the line.

 

[Rasha]

It's the post-Lockdown edition of iMPACT! Time to see what storylines have ended, been continued, and begun. Will "The Network's" representative be revealed? Will a clear challenger emerge for Sting's World Title? Will the rumored revamping of the X-Division become clearer? Will Gunner now be wearing the TV Title as an ankle bracelet? These are the questions. Let's get the answers!

9:01 - Lockdown recap looked pretty solid to me. Personally, I was watching "Celebrity Apprentice" that night. Jeff Hardy has nothing on Gary Busey.

9:03 - AJ's rafter-drop entrance seemed a bit gratuitous to me. He was gone for just a couple weeks. Let's save those for something special.

9:06 - I think Bully Ray has threatened to sleep with more people's wives than any heel in history.

9:08 - Now THIS is how you start a show! Not with a long Immortal entrance and a Bischoff/Hogan promo. ACTION!

9:09 - Wait... GUNNER?!?! No, it can't be!

9:11 - I really loved that opening. Perfect kickoff to a Styles/Ray feud and a nice setup for what I'd assume will be a Gunner/Daniels match later tonight. AJ looked like TNA's franchise player just now.

9:12 - I just imagined someone backstage yelling, "This show's going too well. Get Murphy and Terry out there fast! And give them mics!!"

9:13 - "We're going to take those shiny belts you have around your waist, and we're going to take them off you." It's sad when a guy who grew up speaking English sounds like a foreigner.

9:21 - Murphy actually has a decent look. Too bad that's all he has.

9:23 - Storm could totally go singles if he wanted. At some point (and it may be now), keeping this team together is holding both guys back.

9:24 - "Hey honey, how about a romantic carriage ride around this industrial parking lot?"

9:30 - Could we please let Hogan borrow Simon Dean's Segway for his ring entrances? We need to speed this up.

9:32 - When Hogan drops those wicked lines like, "few fries short of a Happy Meal," you just feel the evil coursing through veins.

9:34 - I'm liking these recent shoot-style promos from RVD. It gives him a little edge that he really needs.

9:35 - Hogan just called RVD a "mid-card player." I swear, this entire argument was lifted from the WZ Forums!

9:36 - Sting's wardrobe tonight is brought to us courtesy of the Michael Jackson "Dangerous" line.

9:39 - Matt Hardy's been called a "big problem" many times, but this is the first time it's been a compliment.

9:40 - Hogan's rambling is really getting bad. His old WCW promos weren't nearly this disorganizaed. He starts a thought, goes back to an old one, restarts the thought, throws in an unnecessary "dude" or "brother," then make his statement. Yikes.

9:45 - LMAO @ Eric's "Mongo and Sid" line!

And it's funny; when I first saw the horse & carriage I thought of that Seinfeld episode where Kramer was driving a carriage around Central Park and he fed the horses beans, causing them to fart in the faces of his passengers. Nice to see the TNA writers remembered that episode so well, too. At least they're not copying a WWE storyline this time.

9:47 - I wish when they cut to Hector and Willie at the Spanish announce table they were standing and cheering during the Mexican-America entrance.

9:48 - El Anarchia sounds like an Italian doing a bad Hispanic accent. Just my opinion.

9:49 - If "perdedor" (thanks Beck) is Spanish for "loser," shouldn't Sarita and Rosita be making a "P" sign at their opponents?

9:56 - What's the point of a Madison/Tara feud right now? You've still got the Beautiful People in turmoil and Mickie is the new champ. Meanwhile, half the male roster can't even get on TV. They need to scale back the use of the Knockouts a little.

10:01 - We open the second hour of iMPACT! with Jeff Jarrett leading one of those white horses down to the ring. Oh wait... that's Karen.

10:05 - Did Angle cause that shit to fall from the ceiling, or was that just God telling us what he thought of this storyline?

10:07 - No idea who Angle's "mistress" might be. Maybe a new role for Tessmacher?

10:09 - What the hell is Hogan even talking about? Anderson's the only person in wrestling he hates? Remember that guy with the colorful robes and facepaint? You were just in the ring with him like twenty minutes ago, Hulk!

10:20 - Why wouldn't you make RVD/Abyss a No-DQ match? The entire point of this match is for Abyss to punish RVD and make him unable to compete against Sting at the next PPV. Why have a referee getting in the way? If Hogan wants to brag about his power he should use it.

10:23 - Man, I hope they push Crimson. If he's got anything on the mic, this guy could be great.

10:28 - Matt Hardy is drawing power from Jeff's crappy custom belt. I hope he cleaned the puke off first.

10:32 - Steiner and Morgan? Good physical matchup, but this one's going to be hell on the mics.

10:37 - So Steiner just finishes a whole story where he was being disrespected by Shannon Moore, only to turn around and act even worse to Morgan? Just doesn't make sense to me. Why not use Joe or Pope here, or maybe give Gunner a chance? Neither Matt or Scott will gain anything by this angle.

10:38 - Hmmm, guess Tessmacher's not Angle's girl. Ah well, welcome back!

10:40 - I hope we see more of a Sting/Fortune alliance going forward. Great way to transition those guys into the Main Event.

10:50 - Not a bad match for Sting and Hardy. Good plot to it with the pipe-shit before as Immortal tried to take the champ out. Simple but consistent and effective storytelling.

10:52 - The Anderson/Stone Cold comparisons have been made before. I guess this is what it would be like if Austin's character hadn't been a crowd favorite. It's going to be tough for Anderson to walk the line, but if he can pull it off it could be pretty good.

10:55 - "Double-fisted kangaroo?" Can we give Hogan some tapioca pudding and just put him to bed for the night?

11:00 - So the show's over, and we didn't get that Gunner/Daniels match? They teased it in the show-opener. I'd have much rather seen that than either the Beer Money title defense or even the RVD/Abyss match. Ah well.

Overall a pretty decent show. They did a great job with the AJ/Ray opening and I kind of wish they'd come back to that sometime toward the end of the show. Also, no sign of the X-Division at all. But minus those things I thought it went well.

Well, that's it for another iMPACT! and another diary. I hope you guys are enjoying these. They're getting plenty of views and I just hope that means they're actually being read. Please give me any feedback you have, good or bad!

 

[deforty]

I was laughing at eric too with the horses. I actually thought of the 4 horesman. And yes I made that exact same reference about Gary Busey on another post. Great review.

 

[RendarSelin]

10:05 - Did Angle cause that shit to fall from the ceiling, or was that just God telling us what he thought of this storyline?

Fuckin priceless quote right there! I think even the most hardcore TNA fans are getting tired of the Jarrett/Angle feud. Long, drawn out feuds can have a good place...but this one is starting to get very old very fast.

Love these running diaries you're producing on a weekly basis. Keep it up dude!

 

[UnBEARaBULLfan]

I wonder if Kurt botched that angleslam I think he was supposed to slam him into the shit, and accidentaly did it on the throne, Jeff looked like he was in alot of pain.

Looking forward to next weeks diary.

 

[hardcore4life_is-KoOl]

i wasn,t a big fan of this Impact other than the awesome opening btw funny stuff but i thought you,d mention when hogan made a drug refrence talking about rvd & sting lol the thing i hated about that is they were trying so hard to be real. i like this running diary idea

 

[Kosugi19]

10:23 - Man, I hope they push Crimson. If he's got anything on the mic, this guy could be great.

Man all the new WWE talent cant touch Crimson! If this guy was in WWE I believe they would be building him as the future face of the company. He is only 25-26 and will be getting better. He seems like a Randy Orton type but with a better look. I hope he is in WWE very soon.

 

[MoeIsBetter]

Really enjoyed tonights show for a couple reasons:

1. Hardy/Sting was a good match for a couple reasons. We got to see Sting wrestle more than 2 minutes; and Sting really out Matt Hardy over as a possible main eventer without dropping the title to him. Good solid match.

2. Love the push of Crimson. Feuding against a big seasoned vet like Abyss is smart. Their match will be slower paced and can really break Crimson in very well. Great feud to start off his singles career.

3. Where you don't like Matt Morgan/Steiner, I love it. Until Sting drops the title and starts his feud with Hogan, the ME is to crowded. Beating Hernandez shouldn't put him into the ME either. Having a good feud with Scott Steiner (former MEM) does that for him and by then well have a new heavyweight champ/new storylines.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

So, right before the first Jeff/Karen segment when they were riding around backstage, I went to the bathroom. When I returned I sat down to check my Twitter without looking up. But when I heard Karen's voice ranting about some sort of crown I looked up...and saw a horse. Funniest thing that's ever happened on TNA, and it wasn't even done on purpose. If I had been paying attention, it wouldn't have even been that humorous (except that the camera people obviously wanted to look at a horse over the Jarrets).

Hogan's ramblings need to end. That promo was cut for all the marks, by a mark. A casual fan tuning in would have seen Hogan, turned up the volume to see what the most recognizable face in wrestling was saying, and turned it off because it made no sense to them. If you're cutting a promo in ANY wrestling promotion, don't break kayfabe, and especially not to insult your opponent. THe second you start talking about certain people being mid-card players, draws, and backstage politics you're going to lose every fan that's just there to see a good wrestling show. I agree with you, it's like Hogan let the WZ forums write that promo...

Also, I thought AJ and Ray were the stars of that show. They opened it up, got physical, teased AJ giving the final blow, and dragged it out until the next PPV. It was well done, just brutal enough to quench our thrist for this week, and gave a lot of cred to both men. Bully Ray has really proved me wrong. I used to think he was an over-rated jackass with zero talent. Now I've come to realize he's just a jack-ass...but he DOES have talent. He's a great heel and he plays his character really well. Maybe it's because I could actually see him being like that in real life... He comes across as a bully, and the character is really coming off well. Props to him for that. Maybe Devon was holding him back...

 

[MarcusFenixX]

10:55 - "Double-fisted kangaroo?" Can we give Hogan some tapioca pudding and just put him to bed for the night?

haha love it dude, ya tht one definately jus kinda made me sit up n scratch my head. definately enjoying there diarys a lot, keep em up man.

n idk if a lot of ppl agree but i know matt hardy gets a lot of shit, A LOT of shit, but since coming to tna, trying to reinvent himself hes really captured my interest (in a good way!) i know *SUPRISED FACE* lol really enjoying his matches. glad hes not getting world title matchs but still getting to go with the big guys like sting.

+ya were yet to hear to much from crimson on the mic but if hes half as good on the mic as his presence n ring skills r, hes gotta hell of a future i hope.

 

[Rasha]

Bully Ray has really proved me wrong. I used to think he was an over-rated jackass with zero talent. Now I've come to realize he's just a jack-ass...but he DOES have talent. He's a great heel and he plays his character really well. Maybe it's because I could actually see him being like that in real life... He comes across as a bully, and the character is really coming off well. Props to him for that. Maybe Devon was holding him back...

I think most of us are eating crow when it comes to Ray's recent work. I remembered how bad his singles push went in the WWE and just assumed it'd be even worse now. But something about it is really clicking and he's stepped up in a huge way for himself and for TNA. The need for a major heel presence was enormous after Jeff Hardy's meltdown and Ray's ascension helped avoid TNA having to turn Anderson or maybe RVD in a way that wouldn't have worked as well.

I wouldn't Devon held Ray back, but more just the legacy of The Dudley Boyz/Team 3D as a whole. It's so easy for these guys to get stuck in their same old routines, especially when fans still cheer out of nostalgia. It's easy booking to say, "Okay guys, go out there and hit your signature tag team moves and the crowd will be happy for a few minutes." It's costs you nothing and it's a big reason why you keep veterans around in the first place. But as we've seen, Ray has another gear in him and it's really awesome to see it in use.

BTW... thanks to all of you for responding! Knowing you guys are following and enjoying these diaries keeps me wanting to do more.

 

[manstis1804]

9:32 - When Hogan drops those wicked lines like, "few fries short of a Happy Meal," you just feel the evil coursing through veins

Hogan's been studying Todd Pettingill tapes from 1994 I guess.

 

[Kharma Bites]

This was probably the best impact i have seen, had a bit of everything and seemed to hit the balance between promo and action for me.

If impact was more like this every week but with less hogan saying brother the ratings would go up i would of thought. fairplay to abyss that looked mega painful and hopefully hes not gone to long

and for gods sake get crimson on more often, if he doesnt turn out to be "the next big thing" then TNA really missed the ball with him as hes got that special presence about him