Wow was tonights show a stinker. If you’re asking yourself what’s worse than a Garrett Bischoff centric show, well the answer is a Dixie Carter centric show with a splash of Hulk Hogan thrown in. The only highlight of the show was the excellent video package for the Roode-Storm match and really, really good promo by Storm. The rest was either filler of really bad stuff like Dixie on the mic and Mexican America and the repo show guy.
The Dixie Carter opening promo was so bad she can’t talk and her acting is below porn level. Sting was fine on the mic when he talked about how he wanted to step down because he wanted to he could not be the GM and wrestle because he could not reach the level of a guy like Bobby Roode if he was concentrating on two different things. I actually enjoyed Sting as the authority figure and think it sucks they are moving him away from that. It does make sense storyline wise, as he has let things get personal and thinks he cant be fair or whatever. What does not’t make a lick of sense is him pushing for Hogan to take over as the authority figure. Yeah yeah I know Sting is the most gullible and trusting face ever, but this is dumb even for him. The amazing thing is I do not believe the announcers or anyone bothered to mention how Hogan was the authority figure before and stole the company from Dixie. The whole thing was so awful and the fact that it dominated the show instead of the Storm-Roode feud is mind boggling.
The X Division Match was really good for the four minutes it got, and Aries was really over and the announcers put him over and how he was battling the odds going into the match. The problem is that they made Kash and Nese look like jobbers by having them getting a jobber entrance and then having Bully Ray take out all four X division guys like it was nothing. This was a WCW moment as we saw Sid and Scott Steiner interrupt many Cruiserweight match and destroy the little guys. They did give Aries a bit of an out as he teamed with Ray thee weeks ago and he acted like he thought Ray was on his side and was caught off guard. I understand they feel they need to give Bully his heat back after his one minute loss to Storm, but there are better ways to do it such as just giving him promo time. It does look like we will get a Aries-Ray feud which should be fun, but there are better ways to start a feud than burying the X division.
The Eric Young-ODB Vs Sarita and Rosita match was fucking terrible. Eric Young act is so awful and him being a knockouts champ really craps on a division that is one of the only true ratings draws for the company. This match was really wrestle crapish, poor Sarita deserves so much better. I can not believe they have scheduled the Young-ODB wedding for the go home show for Lockdown.
Speaking of embarrassing the Mex America-Repo games guy segments were pathetic and terribly acted. The repo games guy was no Brandon Jacobs. Good job by TNA having their wrestlers admit they do not have the money to get their car get released.
The Roode-Storm video package going over their histories and starts in TNA with good clips was tremendous. James Storm cut a promo that was even better. He really was over and got the fans involved, and was engaging in talking about how he wished football was year round and how families can not go on vacations because they have to spend so much money on gas. He did a guy job in hyping his match with Roode at Lockdown. The bit with Roodes lawyer was fine although the lawyer had a pretty bad fake British accent. The crowd loved him laying the lawyer out. Storm should be opening and closing shows every damn week hyping his match with Roode instead of having Dixie ad Hulk being the focal points.
The Angle-Bischoff three minute challenge was awful as Garrett had control of the match and botched a flapjack and hit a ugly diamoncutterish move. Angle shouldn’t be taking those moves from a greenhorn. The match could not even end without a silly run in wit thirty seconds left in the match. This Gunner-Garrett feud will never end will it? The Angle-Hardy feud feels very cold and got little hype after staling the show on Sunday.
The Mex America-Magnus-Joe tag title match was better than expected as Magnus did a good job sellng for the sloppy Mexican America. Joe and Magnus continue to impress and have great chemistry. I liked the hype video for The MCMG and look forward to their return and series of matches with Joe and Magnus.
The Storm Vs Daniels-Kaz handicap match was really short and while it made Storm look really strong it also made Daniels and Kaz look really weak . Daniels and Kaz after getting along for the past month bickered the entire match for some reason. This angle makes no sense. The angle really went from interesting to dull and nonsensical pretty quick. No idea where Styles was this week.
The Hogan-Sting-Dixie segment felt like it went on forever and did not have a resolution so yeah wait till next week for more of this crap storyline.
All in all, this was the worst Impact of the year with very little wrestling and really bad talking. The Roode-Storm video package was really good as was Storms promo, but the rest was terrible. The show being bad should not be a shocker with Pritchard not being backstage for Impact tapings due to health issues and Bischoff and Hogan running things.
To be fair, it was really Russo that killed the X division back in '06. Aries has done everything he can to revive it, but besides for his short feud with Shelley he didn't have anyone good to work with. I would move Daniels and Kaz back to the X division to give it some juice and give those guys something to do. The tag team division really has been dead since Sabin got hurt last year. Agree on Hogan and Bischoff killing the knockouts. My guess is their egos couldn't take it that the knockouts drew much better ratings than they did.
What concerns me is that they are going to put the X-Title on Bully to play up that he's "picking on the little guys". Only way this does any good is if Aries turns face and successfully defends against Ray.
And Dixie's on-air character is as stupid as the real thing. Why would she even be open to Hogan getting control when she spent all of last year getting it back??
There were a couple good things tonight, but overall, I thought the show fell far below the mark, especially as the 1st Impact in the cycle going into TNA's 2nd biggest show of the year. They spent a lot of time on stuff that looks like it won't play into anything on the PPV and on bad &/or unover acts and programs. It took them an hour to get to anything involving the PPV main event, which is a shame because it was easily the best stuff on the show.
There are few things that get me less excited about a show than a Dixie opening promo that goes through a commercial. There are few things that get me less excited about a final segment than the promise that it'll include Dixie and make no sense.
The 4-way was a fine start of a match. Bully laying out all 4 guys, 2 of whom got jobber entrances, made that division look bad.
The Storm/Roode video package was great as was Storm's promo. I, however, wasn't fond of the guy who played the lawyer.
A 3 minute challenge as the follow up to a 5 minute challenge is odd. I don't know what frustrates me more, that Angle can't put away Garett in <3 minutes, or that they did 3 Garett/Angle TV matches before they did one Angle vs. Sabin or Shelley match in any form, which they've had 5+ years to do, or an Angle/Aries match. I'd rather see Angle wrestle any of those guys than see him have 2 singles matches and a tag with Garett. Them doing more tonight to set up a Garett match for the PPV than setting up an AJ match (where'd he go?) was also annoying.
The Machine Guns video was well done, but it's too bad that after all these years, the graphics department still doesn't know Motor City Machine Guns is 4 words no matter what dictionary you use. Anyway, I'm glad that made a show that more than a few thousand people saw and look forward to the Guns returning. I hope it's hyped in the following weeks too.
Despite Joe & Magnus' best efforts, the tag title match was pretty meh. Mexican America are still bad and were on this show too much.
I'm glad they put Storm over strong tonight, but I would've preferred they did so w/o making Daniels & Kazarian lose a short handicap match. Having Storm just beat one of them in equal time, or if he had to win a handicap match, done it at the expense of a lower level and less important team like Mexican America would have been good alternatives.
Originally posted by ScottyflamingoWhat concerns me is that they are going to put the X-Title on Bully to play up that he's "picking on the little guys". Only way this does any good is if Aries turns face and successfully defends against Ray.
IIRC they made a weight limit for the X division last summer of 230 pounds so I don't see that happening. I could however see Bully causing him to drop the title to Zema Ion. Aries is already moving toward face land or already there. He was acting like a face at Victory Road and the announcers put him over in a faceish way.
Did Hernandez look much smaller than the Repo Games guy? Mexican America is just awful. Bad concept, just weak all around. They will never capture the attention that LAX had.
Originally posted by LakeEffectDid Hernandez look much smaller than the Repo Games guy? Mexican America is just awful. Bad concept, just weak all around. They will never capture the attention that LAX had.
Agreed. Breaking up the Latin American Xchange was really fucking dumb. Hernandez sucked as a singles wrestler and my goodness is Anarqua terrible. He is an even worse talker than Dixie is, and he can't wrestle either. Hernandez has become sloppy as fuck and is dangerous to work with. I heard that Hernandez's contract is up soon, and I hope TNA let him and Anarquia go. Bring in new tag teams and bring back tag teams back to revelance. TNA doesn't have the guys to put strong tag teams together.
The show being bad should not be a shocker with Pritchard not being backstage for Impact tapings due to health issues and Bischoff and Hogan running things.
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Wait what happened to Bruce? I tend to agree with TripleG on the tag team because they really don't hve guys that can be tossed in a tag team. I did read that a tag team from pro wrestling noah wrestle in a dark match I believe it was Mikey Nichols and Shane Haste. I hope they get signed.
According to JBL (who is Pritchard's good friend) Bruce had two "minor" Heart attacks. JBL says Pritchard is doing well now. I hope he has a. Speedy recovery, but I hope he does not rush back to work. As far as TNA not having the guys to have a. Strong tag team division, I disagree. You can team Kid Kash up with Douglas Williams and you have a. Solid veteran tag team right there. If you bring back Steiner you can team him with say Gunner. I would keep Daniels and Kaz together. Yes to hiring the Pro Wrestling Noah guys and there you have another good tag team to go along with The MCMG and Joe and Magnus as well. I would also bring back Homicide and team him with Hernandez.
OK, the Roode/Storm build up was awesome. Great stuff. Loved the video package, I loved Storm's promo, I loved Roode hiding from Storm, & Storm being made ot look strong by winning a Handicap Match. That's all fine with me.
Everything else on this show can go to hell.
- Pointless Four Way X Title Match. The only good that can come out of that is the potential of an Aries/Ray feud. - Pointless out of nowhere Tag Title Match that used a Repo Games guy to hype it. Fuck off. - Garrett Bischoff Vs. Kurt Angle was just pointless. - Don't give a shit about the KO Tag Titles or anything they do with them. - And the big one was the main angle of the show over Hogan accepting the GM Role...
OK, number one, I don't give a shit who runs the show. It doesn't matter and its a pointless (there's that word again) thing to build stories around. Second, it makes zero sense for Dixie to hire Hogan back in any kind of authority role after all the shit that went down from BFG10 to BFG11. I mean come on!
So overall, Impact was a big fat nothing minus the Roode Vs. Storm build up which was fantastic
Originally posted by Matt TrackerDidn't Bully Ray start his weight loss so he could get into the X Division and beat up the little guys?
The real question: Didn't he do this angle already?
Yes back in 2008 when Team 3D were feuding with The MCMG and Jay Lethal and were looking to destroy the X division. I am still looking forward to the Aries-Ray feud and hope it elevates Aries.
Originally posted by Matt TrackerDidn't Bully Ray start his weight loss so he could get into the X Division and beat up the little guys?
The real question: Didn't he do this angle already?
Yes back in 2008 when Team 3D were feuding with The MCMG and Jay Lethal and were looking to destroy the X division. I am still looking forward to the Aries-Ray feud and hope it elevates Aries.
He COULD taunt them with the old "not about weight limits, but NO limits" line and how big guys will always beat little guys. Then Aries agrees to drop the weight limit and defend it...and kicks his ass. That's the only way this helps anyone. If he helps Ion win the belt, then it makes Ion look like crap for needing help.
So I was going through some old tapes and found one I had bought awhile back that was full of Japanese Garbage wrestling (I wanna say it was IWA or Big Japan). It had a lot of crazy shit like matches with cactuses (not Jack), and barbed wire.