TNA's riot: Compelling TV or over the top theatrics?

[My$terio_Fan]

Thoes who watched tonights episode of Impact would have seen the riot that broke out, involving pretty much the whole TNA roster. Mike Tenay even said "he has never seen anything so wild, not even with the NWO".

So, what did you guys think of the whole thing? Too over the top, too realistic? Were you on the edge of your seat?

Personally I give TNA credit for trying that. They had to know that it could end up looking alittle foolish. I honestly think Tenay & West commentary doesn't help things. But I guess there really trying to push the whole all out war theme with the Mafia/World Elite vs. everyone else.

Having the "cops" show up is alittle cheesy & "Attitude era"-ish, but I'm actually interested to see what's next from this. The execution might have been sloppy and over the top, but it does open some possible feuds/storylines.

 

[Dexter]

First off, I'm glad to see you complimenting this. After all the TNA threads you'd posted lately, I was starting to think maybe you had a bit of an axe to grind but I'm glad to be wrong about that.

To the point, I enjoyed it. Too much of something like that would definitely be a bad thing, but a little chaos now and then for a good reason is fun, and to their credit, they let it run JUST long enough. I was worried when it started 15 minutes before the end of the first hour that they'd let it run the whole second hour, but they gave us just enough.

Overall, a very good angle.

 

[INDYjon22]

I really enjoy when there are "riots" in wrestling. During the whole invasion angle those large fights were what kept me really watching. So I was pretty excited to watch one take place for the first time in a long time tonight. Lets just see how this angle plays out before I rank this "riot" with the invasion ones.

 

[Motor City Mayhem]

OK, as many people know, I'm not exactly pro-TNA, I actually dislike it, HOWEVER!, when I saw the commercials for this all out brawl, it made me want to watch it, and I did, and I was impressed. It made me tune in to watch it, and yess maybe the execution wasn't great, but to be fair its an all out brawl, there really isn't any "proper" way to execute a full roster brawl, now with that being said, the commentary kinda took some edge off, the cops showing up, although good to make it seem real, was cheesy, BUT like I said, it made me, A 100% TNA hater, watch TNA for maybe the 3rd time ever because I wanted to see this. So Nice Job TNA.

 

[RageBattle]

I enjoyed it, only think it was a little drawn out. Especially at the end of the show again. They handled having multiple fights break out pretty well on the cameras, although I thought the police arriving looked over the top.

They did finally put the Motor City Machine Guns to use too, and have Lashley get in the action without threatening his health for MMA.

 

[johnnyblaze3:16]

i too dont really like tna but ended up watching and it was decent but ill tell ya there production sux it looks like they were wrestling at my old high school

 

[mlola]

This "riot" was executed to a tee. I haven't seen anything like that in wrestling in general in a long time. I read in the spoilers that the brawl looked very good so I decided to tune in tonight. I was very pleased with the outcome. The uncertainty of what was happening had me on the edge of my seat and wanting to actually finish the show and tune in again next week. The cops at the end did look like it was the Attitude Era as mysterio_fan pointed out. But then again it is Russo. So yeah this fight was very well executed and the WWE should take notice when they wanna do something like this.

 

[yoshi_doce2006]

This had to come out of the mind of Vince Russo. Since he took over control of booking around the time of this taping schedule the product has intensified tremendously. Everything is better. Tonight's brawl was madness and I loved it. Best IMPACT ever.

 

[T2KFreeker]

Yuppers! Just maybe TNA is starting to hear the fans more. Take some risks and see where it lies. That's what I liked about the mid to late 90's where wrestling was concerned: all bets were off and everyone was just trying things. Good times and a good move on TNA's part.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I enjoyed it overall, a little cheesy in a few spots, but it was pulled off pretty well. The "cops" arriving was worthy of a little eye role, as was the whole I've never seen anything so wild, even during the days of the nWo.

I wasn't on the edge of my seat or anything, I didn't really care who came out on top, if anyone did, when it was all said and done. It was just a fun thing to watch. I think they should've closed out the show with it, however. Close out on a high spot because after that, everything else just seemed to sort of drag. The women's tag match didn't really interest me., the Styles/Morgan match was solid, though entirely predictable, and the Sting/Magnus main event just seemed kinda meh.

 

[bigp523]

I loved the brawl, hated the ending. But as a buddy of mine pointed out, it was the only "realistic" way to end it. How many people would have believed it if the two sides just stopped fighting and walked to the back like it was nothing. While the cops may have been cheesy, it made the ending believeable, and made it make sense.

What I didn't like was how the guys just kept walking don the ramp, one side after another, like it was nothing. First sting walked down, the joe, then lashley. It might have been more reaistic if they had been running, like they knew they needed to help each other, and they didnt come out as one team, then the other, etc.

Overall I think this was one of the better TNA shows in a while. I feel like this is Russo trying to stick it to McMahon, kindof thinking that this is how the invasion should have been done, with the MEM being like both the NWO, as well as the alliance.

 

[Nate DaMac]

I wouldn't call it compelling television, but I really don't expect a wrestling program to be compelling per se. A bit over the top? Maybe, but I found it to be quite entertaining. It had it's flaws, but all in all, it was a good program. Tenay just isn't very good anymore. I get how they want to put it over as the most insane thing to ever take place in wrestling, but bring it down a bit man. Don't have a stroke.

 

[Suneeboy]

The brawl was great. I was on the edge of my seat, and I was dying laughing the whole time. Yes it was TOO over the top, but that's what I like. The cops coming at the end was not cheesy, it was the only way the brawl would stop, and it was perfect! Those guys want to kill each other, and security lost control. How else could it have ended?

The brawl itself consisted of like 6 or 7 sub feuds, and they all intesified in that brawl, which had to be like 10 minutes right? There is so much depth in TNA right now. I thought my head was going to explode because I haven't seen anything like that in a long time. I forgot how good it feels to watch wrestling and be GENUINELY entertained.

Unlike others I thought Tenay and West did an awesome job. It was complete mayhem and it was no way to call it but to scream uncontrollably and be in complete shock. Did you also see how berserk the crowd was going? It played out perfectly. It will forever be known as "The Brawl" and "The Riot".

 

[evilmonkey]

Im not a big fan of TNA but after watching impact thursday now im a little bit more intrigued. Yes the brawl was over the top but it was exciting and it actually kept my attention. Now if TNA keeps doing new things and improving, it shouldn't be long until Vince drops the PG and starts to compete again.

 

[angry_panda]

I love it, that was awesome, I thought although the police were cheesy, Hernandez coming down with the chain at the end was even worse, what a crap weapon, still loved it though.

The one thing that really annoyed me, and it happens every week, because TNA love these mass beat downs. That's the fecking ring bell, they keep hammering it away like its meant to tell everyone that something is happening in the ring. The wrestlers obviously aren't gonna change what they are doing because of it, all it does is annoy people, so why even bother??????

The MEM storyline (and inevitably TNA) was starting to go stale, but this I love.

 

[evilmonkey]

The MEM storyline (and inevitably TNA) was starting to go stale, but this I love.

this is why i stopped watching TNA because the main event mafia was starting to really die out and the addition of Joe didn't help. Now that they partnered up with world elite, its them vs basically all of TNA. If TNA (hopefully) books this right it can help them alot because this is a huge storyline.

 

[gd]

When the wrestlers started to come out one after another I initially thought that is was pretty ridiculous. However, the longer it went on and the more time I had to think about it the more I liked it. The riot was certainly something new and different from anything we've seen in wrestling for a long time.

When they came back from commercial the scene was just incredible. Nearly the whole impact zone was filled with people either fighting or trying to break up the fight, and I realized this was one of the most exciting things I've seen in awhile. The police coming was a little over the top and uneccesarry, but overall I really like the idea of the riot. Aside from being entertaining, it really helped build toward the PPV.

WWE has 6 hours of TV time a week compared to just 2 for TNA to build up to PPVs of similar lenghts, and at the moment TNA is arguably doing a better job of building up their PPVs. There isn't time on Impact to feature everyone in matches, so why not put them all in a big brawl. Just from the riot, we got build up for a lot of the Victory Road card :

Sting v. Angle v. ?

Booker and Steiner v. Team 3D

British Invasion v. Beer Money

Mick Foley v. Kevin Nash

Daniels, Sabin, Shelley, Young, Bashir, and Kyoshi in the Steel Asylum

 

[presto]

The riot came out on tv great...even though I dislike the "cheeze" appeal of the pre-planned security camera shot, Hernandez reminding me of the late "Hercules Hernandez" with the chain, and how the cops showed up and did not arrest anyone.

However, it appeared way too early. It should have ended the show. By ending it at 10 PM, it made the second hour appear as if it was a deflated letdown. Especially the last commercial break and when we went back to Sting / Magnus, 30 seconds later the pinfall. It was why go to commercial?

 

[GameOver]

Yeah i kinda enjoyed the show as awhole as much as i hate to admit it

That brawl dragged on too long. But the opening promo cut by MEM/WE wasn't crap
Seemed like the whole show was a throwback to the Attitude/Gang warfare era.

The whole thing about the same people wrestling later in the evening with no apparent inujries was a bit lame, they coulda atleast sold some fatigue.

And the cops overacted, lol that one swinging the baton was funny.
but noone was ejected from the arena?

I agree it shoulda been the last thing on the show not the start, cause there rest of the show was an anti-climax.

 

[BFB5304]

I personally liked the angle, I think I mean I didn't dislike it. What I hated however was the commentary. I know everyone complains about Tenay and West as they should. They made the brawl sound very cheesy, everything they say is sooo.... Forced. Can we PLEASE get Taz on a mic? Hernandez with the chain at the end though, I marked out.

 

[Miko]

I liked it actually, it was pretty good. It also put the focus on the younger guys more if you noticed, all of the older guys went backstage while we got Daniels and crew attacking some other blokes in the ring.

I loved the way it just came out of nowhere, with World Elite interfering and the Guns making the save, then Kevin Nash just thinks "fuck this, lets beat up some midgets" and then some other guys run out and everyone starts killing each other. I was happy when Lashley came out and attacked Joe, looks like they are building a fued between the pair, frankly I hope Lashley runs straight through the fat bastard.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

I guess I'm one of the forum members who didn't actually like the "riot".

First and foremost, I felt it was TNA's way of blatantly (as if this storyline wasn't blatant to begin with) try and cover one of the most memorable night's in Nitro history, when the n.W.o attacked W.C.W throughout the night, and a huge riot/brawl broke-out like a week or so before a Pay per view that included Mysterio going head first into a trailer, Arn Anderson's "career ending injury" segment. It took about roughly 20 minutes or so, just to clear everything up - send people to the hospital, pack them into ambulances, etc.

To me, this was honestly boring. Mainly because when you have too many individuals brawling, you lose track of everyone and everything, and just see it as what it is.. an overall clusterfuck. Naturally, individuals paired off with whom they'll likely be feuding with heading into Hard Justice.

So, in the end - I didn't see it as anything interesting or even remotely entertaining. I seen it as TNA's way of not putting more matches on the card for the night, instead wasting a quarter of the show's time by making it seem like everything just finally "blew up".. for.. the.. thousandth.. time.

 

[mrarmageddon]

I was marking out like crazy, the whole pushing the envelope of what can be on a wrestling show has been upped since Russo took over booking.

As someone pointed out WWE had no brawls during the Invasion or nWo return that were as good as that one. Really looking forward to a Lashley v Joe showdown.

Oh and you gotta love fake wrestling show cops, always makes me smile as it reminds me of stuff like when Goldberg got arrested on Nitro for stalking Miss Elizabeth etc. Those were the days

 

[Deexter Jorgan]

The thing i find about this that is wrong is the fact that their are way too many stables at the moment, too many heels on one show, it is reminiscent of the NWO days and really isn't working i would rather have had World elite debute later but this whole world elite MEM situation is making things a little unsettling, think about it TNA has no titles at this point in time so they use another companies without even informing them of the change itself.

Back to the brawl I found it amusing but boring, it lasted too long, you could see it was faked when bubba was smaking the crap out of booker and it just seemed worked instead of a real all out brawl.

TNA is at a position where its lacking direction, with more firings coming i hope to see a new creative team established and maybe more order in the TNA brand.