Hey, it's Brother Runt! He challenges Abyss to a "TEN THOUSAND THUMBTACK MATCH" -- NEXT WEEK -- and he runs away! That may be the fastest promo I've ever seen. Raven lurks nearby.
Shane Douglas introduces his Newly Franchised Naturals, who tonight take on the Paparazzi.
The Naturals vs. The Paparazzi: After a few minutes of adequate action, Stevens gets Devine up for the Doomsday Dropkick -- Shelly comes in and shoves Andy Douglas off the top, kicks Stevens in the leg, and Devine sits on him for the pin! HOLY CATS DEVINE GOT A PINFALL!?
Question: Is Johnny Devine's singlet not "hip" enough for hanging around with Shelley? Should Devine get pants instead?
Shane is back out (he never stays ringside for Nats' matches)! He has a great look on his face -- it's the exact same look that I'd imagine he'd have if someone walked into his house and started peeing on his rug. He tells the Nats that they "DON'T DESERVE A TITLE SHOT" and that they have to start all over again from the bottom! Wow, I've never seen a manager revoking a #1 contender shot like that.
Question: Is this the way the storyline was meant to go from the beginning? Or has TNA management lost faith in the Nats?
AMW promo -- Harris says they're like brothers who don't always see eye to eye. Storm seems reluctant to shake hands -- no, wait he's getting beers for them. Either they've kissed and made up, or they're just extending the breakup storyline.
Question: Okay, is that the way this storyline was supposed to go? Or have they lost faith in the Nats and consequently decided to not break up AMW, at least for the time being?
Christian Cage is next, here to talk -- here is Rhino to interrupt him. rhino's pissed about Cage turning on Sting. Christian points out that he -- Cage -- was there for Rhino all the time, when Rhino got his neck broken, when his wife threatened to leave him, etc. Sting sure wasn't there! Cage hands Rhino a chair and turns his back, inviting Rhino to "do what he needs to do." Rhino can't do it -- because Rhino doesn't NEED a chair to kick Cage's ass! You know, when Rhino tossed the chair aside, he should maybe have thrown it out of the ring, 'cause he ends up EATING it on a Gore attempt. More chair shots -- Rhino is busted open and left laying. When was the last Time we've seen Rhino blade?
Abyss vs. Cassidy Reilly: BIG German suplex WIPES OUT Reilly -- Black Hole Slam ends it. After the match, Abyss pours thumbtacks onto the mat and STARTS PUNCHING THEM. GOOD LORD. I guess he accepts Runt's challenge.
Tenay has a contract for the Title vs. Career match, signed by Sting (it reads: "Sting"). Jarrett comes out and takes the contract for review.
AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels vs. LAX: This is a BORDER BRAWL (no DQ) match for the titles. Styles and Daniels run down in their STREET CLOTHES -- for Daniels, this means black slacks and a button up shirt (I'm not sure how I feel about that).
Man, Styles and Daniels get a few flurries in, but this is almost ALL LAX. Both S & D get busted open again. Steel chair sees ample action. Finish comes with Daniels on the turnbuckle -- Homicide wants to put him through an in-ring table, but Daniels reverses -- he wants Angels Wings -- but Konnan slapjacks Daniels and Homicide hits a HUGE Diamond Cutter off the turnbuckle through the table and there's the pin! LAX are your new champions!
Fun, but too short and too chaotic to be "good." I would like to see another more straightforward match between these teams. This is my favorite Tag feud since AMW vs. The New Church.
Interesting item of note: At no time did anyone in this match hit their finisher.
Question: With the Nats seemingly off the table, who's LAX's first challenger going to be?
Overall, this show focused hard on 3 feuds (Runt/Abyss, Cage/Rhino, and S&D/LAX) and a couple of angles (most notably, the Nats dropping the ball). Very little of the ex-Team Canada guys (we did get a brief Eric Young appearance), one brief JJ appearance, no Steiner, no Brown, no Senshi, and no Joe.
I think it worked out pretty well -- it's a little awkward having storylines start-and-stopping week-to-week, but what can you do in an hour? This is better than trying to cram in everyone every week, I guess, although I'm starting to wonder if we'll ever see Senshi again.
Over to you!
--K
Last 5 movies seen: Miami Vice - Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus - Doubting Thomas - Brick - The Girl Can't Help It
Answer: Johnny Devine isn't hip enough to hang with my dead grandma. Yet he is a decent sidekick for the sidekick. Pants would be better though.
Answer: Not sure if it was supposed to be like that from the beginning but I like it better this way. From 0 to #1 contender in a few weeks was lame anyways. It's WWE tag team booking.
Answer: I think the story line was to break them up. Perhaps they realised that would only lead to more silly duelling chants during their breakup feud.
As for Daniels in slacks & shirt..he always seems to wear that. And while it gives him a unique look (I guess) I have trouble linking that to this evil dude who is the fallen angel, and has had minions do his every command. I don't have trouble linking it with a rather boring guy with bad fashion taste though.
I hope they continue with the LAX vs Styles/Daniels feud. I like it. A lot. Also, I think Styles/Daniels might be the only team awesome enough to keep people from really siding with LAX (who are awesome as well)
Originally posted by Karlos the JackalQuestion: Is Johnny Devine's singlet not "hip" enough for hanging around with Shelley? Should Devine get pants instead?
I wonder if he know wears a singlet to cover up a possible scar from where he was stabbed outside of a nightclub a couple years back. From what I remember reading, it was a pretty brutal shot to the gut he took.
I have to say that I like when, every so often, a minor title changes hands on TV. It keeps up the feeling that random title matches on TV could possibly end with a new champ, which you want.
Finally, the real Christian is back. The creepy, sneering asshole heel I love, as opposed to the creepy, sneering pandering babyface he was since he arrived in TNA. Plus the welcome return of the one man conchairto.
The Border Brawl was muy bueno. Great to see a title switch. Loved Christopher Daniels's street fight gear: dress shirt and dress pants. He looked like he was coming from a business meeting right into a Border Brawl. I get perverse entertainment seeing Daniels get the crap kicked out of him; I don't hate him or anything - quite the opposite - but few people get their bloody asses handed to them quite like Christopher Daniels can.
Two angles not involving Kevin Nash I really dug. That was one of the best episodes of TNA in a while.
Speaking of Nash, putting the X Division title on Senshi and not Nash or Sabin for Nash to win is a mistake. Most of the X Division guys are either teaming with or feuding with Nash and the rest are looking for the tag titles. Senshi has no angle and there is no interest in the X Division Title now. It's practically an invisible belt when compared to how it was showcased when Samoa Joe had it.
The best villain doesn't think he's a villain. That's why Christian is working so well now. He honestly believes he's doing the right thing for himself and his friend Rhino.
But I don't think he's a villain anyway. Rhino attacked HIM. Christian turned on Sting because Sting showed up and was taking away from the young guys, Rhino included. I mean screw the eight man tags in steel cages, what happened to Rhino's proper rematch/quest to regain the title? Christian's coming out of this looking justifiably paranoid and Rhino is looking like an idiot.
Paparazzis win! YES!
Eric Young's line about Larry had me cracking up.
Abyss punching the thumbtacks was the best "I'm crazy" gesture since Mankind pulling out his hair.
Border Brawl kicked ass.
This was the most fun Impact has been since Fox Sports (pre-Dusty taking over the booking committee)
I'd like to think that TNA finally realized that breaking up AMW is a terrible idea, because while together they might be "division killers," apart they're just two mid-sized mildly charismatic guys. And TNA has quite enough of those.
Tonight I wanna ruin my life, I wanna throw it all away, In a spectacular way
Originally posted by AngryJohnnyChristian turned on Sting because Sting showed up and was taking away from the young guys, Rhino included. I mean screw the eight man tags in steel cages, what happened to Rhino's proper rematch/quest to regain the title?
Rhino got a main event rematch at Turning Point last December.
I haven't been watching TNA, so forgive me if this has been explained, but what the hell is up w/ Larry Z's hair? Did he get hair replacement surgery? Is that a wig? Some sort of angle?
Originally posted by Spaceman SpiffI haven't been watching TNA, so forgive me if this has been explained, but what the hell is up w/ Larry Z's hair? Did he get hair replacement surgery? Is that a wig? Some sort of angle?
It seems that Larry is joining the hair club for men which necessitated him shaving his head, so at the PPV before last (I think), Raven won a hair vs. hair match with Larry.
Right now, that's a wig.
They gotta bring these back!!!: "talk to the hand because the man don't understand." - "The Crippler" Chris Benoit "...and that is the LAST WORD." - "The Big Nasty" Paul Wight and of course: "Don't hate the playa...HATE THE GAME~!" - WCW World Champion Booker T
sentonBOMB, I agree with you that it is cool to have a title change on TV, which gives incentive to tune in. Even Cena dropped the belt on Raw this year. But I would hardly call the NWA tag belts a minor title. With the quality teams in TNA, compared to the nonexistent tag divisions on SD! and Raw, I would say it is the most prestigious tag title in North America. With the oldest lineage.
Dean! Have you been shooting dope into your scrotum? You can tell me! I'm hip!
Good show, building off a pretty good show last week..
But I wonder, during the Christian promo, how many of you were like me and wondered if Tenay could and would call the move the "Conchairto?"
And I've never seen a Number One Contender giving up their spot by choice, or well, by Manager's Choice, has a nice feel to it, something I've never seen before.
I dont remember seeing Jarrett for but about 15 seconds when he grabbed the contract from Tenay...best Jarrett appearance ever, short and then he was off TV the rest of the night.
That was the bloodiest episodes of iMPACT I've ever seen.
Christian's promo was AWESOME. It was great to see a heel pull off a face promo but still be a heel. I was cheering all throughout it. Man, Rhino ate those chairshots like a champ, though.
During the end of the Daniels/StylesLAX title match, it almost seemed as though Konnan didn't know what he was doing when he jumped up onto the ring apron before hitting Daniels with the slapjack. It seemed a little awkward, but maybe that's just me.
Oh yeah, and Daniels in his street clothes is...I can't describe it. Creepy. Kinda gross. Its one of these moments I wish there was a Fashion Report for this show.
Here, look at the monkey! Look at the silly monkey!
Originally posted by AngryJohnnyChristian turned on Sting because Sting showed up and was taking away from the young guys, Rhino included. I mean screw the eight man tags in steel cages, what happened to Rhino's proper rematch/quest to regain the title?
Rhino got a main event rematch at Turning Point last December.
(edited by Nenz on 25.8.06 1722)
With another screw job ending. There was no real blowoff. Just Rhino getting lowgrade amnesia and ending up messing with Samoa Joe/Monty Brown.
LAX made the show for me. I would assume AMW moves to fight LAX after that promo.
I'm not digging Runt v. Abyss because it requires me to suspend the disbelief too much. Dig the new Mohawk though. I worry about Abyss because a loss here knocks him down the ladder a lot, and where would Runt go after a win? He should be considered an X Division guy based on size and fearlessness, but I've never seen him throw a move that says "X Division." And I dont want him in the Division if his profile would eclipse the more deserving Dutt.
The Sting promo suggests he's coming in as Steve Borden, ditching the face paint to fight, once and for all, as himself.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
Is this the first time that someone has gotten a substantial push in both ROH & TNA at the same time, with Homocide winning the tag titles in TNA, and being the savior of ROH while feuding with Cornette? It seemed to me that nobody else has really had both going at the same time (eg, Alex Shelley has had two strong pushes in TNA, but neither were during his two big ROH pushes, as Gen Next or as Embassy feuding with Gen Next, IIRC).
Joe, AJ Styles, Amazing Red, and Christopher Daniels all spring to mind as guys who were getting big pushes in TNA and ROH when they competed in both. It's currently like that for Joe, who's been a top guy in TNA since he came in, and is still a title contender in ROH.
Don't know if it's Jim Cornette -- although if not, the timing's awfully coincidental -- but the shows lately have been much improved.
Christian's promo with Rhino was indeed excellent, & Rhino's side was very good too. That whole segment was about the best "serious" stuff I've seen on TNA. (And I didn't think they'd call it as a Conchairto.) Runt is doing the best "are you nuts?" I've seen in a long time, & Raven lurking always piques my interest. Abyss punching the thumbtacks made me wince big time -- don't *do* that!
They're still taping 2 shows at a sitting, aren't they? I assume that's the main reason for not everybody being on every week. If you were in the audience, would you really want *two* Scott Steiner segments in one taping? (I should be fair to Scott -- I'm not hating him nearly as much as I have in the past. :-) )
Seems to me that Christopher Daniels has been doing the black or white dress shirt & black slacks look for street chothes for a long time. I don't hate it for his character, & the white shirt shows off blood so much better than black.
Question: I know that in plotline, Bubba & D'von are off regrouping or becoming extra evil or whatever. Do we know if there's a real world reason for them being off TV, or are they just on vacation?
Originally posted by emmaThey're still taping 2 shows at a sitting, aren't they? I assume that's the main reason for not everybody being on every week. If you were in the audience, would you really want *two* Scott Steiner segments in one taping? (I should be fair to Scott -- I'm not hating him nearly as much as I have in the past. :-) )
They did three last time (and are doing three on 9/4) as a budgetary move, or so said Da Meltz.
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I feel bad for Dolph. The second biggest PPV of the year and he is an a midcard mixed tag match. The telegraphing of Orton/Bryan continues. The question is what is going to happen to Cena?