Better Wrestling: I just don't see it, I'm sorry. Hogan and Flair did blade jobs on themselves. I don't gush over blood. It was mindless, pointless. Kazarian vs. Moore was okay. The Knockout Tag title match was on par with the Womens 6 man team. Both Abyss/Hogan vs. Styles/Flair matches were abysmal. Beer Money is heel for those keeping score. On the flipside you have Cena vs. McMahon in a gauntlet, which wasn't bad. You had Orton vs. Legacy, which was solid, Bourne vs. Regal a good quick match. I just don't see where Impact one that match.
How was the main event abysmal? I thought it was FAR better than what everyone was saying it was going to be. They just had a nasty bloody brawl, and that's all they should be doing at this age. Would you rather them get in the ring and actually try to WRESTLE? Not me. Bloody brawl works fine, I enjoyed the main event.
The X-Division triple threat match is what I mean when I said "better wrestling", that match alone was better than anything I saw on Raw in the ring.
The Angle/Kennedy promo was obnoxious. It's one of my pet peeves, don't bring the military guys in it. It reeks of cheap heat and cheap promos. Look, I have no problem with the military, but this serves no purpose and comes across as forced. Nothing wrong with Tribute to the Troops, but involving the troops is over the top.
I don't think so, I thought it was well done and the fans ate up every second of it. This angle with Anderson has gotten him over big time as a heel, and it's the perfect feud to elevate him to true main event status. That crowd FLIPPED OUT when the soldiers started beating on Anderson.
I look for the positive though. Rob Van Dam, solid, despite the fact that he got buried 20 seconds after his debut.
...Seriously? Buried? Since when was defeating STING in five seconds now considered being "buried"? Pretty sure that's about as massively as you can put someone over in 5 seconds time. He beat fucking STING..IN
FIVE SECONDS! No one has ever done that before.
And you can't just give away a drawing feud like Sting-RVD will be on free TV. This is always one of the things I constantly hear being brought up about how much WCW fucked up, because they kept giving away great matches on free TV.
Also, it got Sting over as a heel immediately, the fans began chanting "STING SUCKS!" loudly which I've NEVER heard in my entire life for Sting in any promotion. I think that segment did it's job perfectly.
I don't hold much stock in RVD getting the huge pop, as I discount much of the crowd reaction that comes from the friendly confines of the Impact Zone. It's like RVD getting a big pop in the ECW Arena, it means nothing.
That wasn't just a big pop, that was the biggest pop in TNA history, easily. I'd say getting the biggest pop in your promotion's history is pretty freakin' good.
Jeff Hardy is also a plus. You know my feelings towards Hardy, but this is the guy that TNA has to push as the face of the company. He's young, he's insanely over, and he has mainstream appeal, and a recent run on top of the WWE.
Which is why the show ended with the focus on Jeff Hardy making the save, and not Hulk Hogan. The ending of that show solidified (again) that Hogan and Bischoff are not the fucking dumbshit ******s so many smarks seem to think they are, and that they will not in fact be giving Hogan 37 TNA title reigns. Notice the show ended with the focus on all of the young talent, AJ Styles, Desmond Wolfe, the Pope, Abyss, etc. Not Hogan, not Flair, not Bischoff, not the Nasty Boys, the young talent.
I know people went ape shit for the Sting heel turn, I thought it was lame. Sting looked bad, not bad ass. His age isn't helping him.
Disagree with you there big time. Sting already got himself more over as a heel in one show than he could in either of his two previous failed heel turns entire run. It's something fresh and new.