411's TNA Impact Report 07.02.09
Posted by Alexander Miezin on 07.02.2009
Jeff Jarrett and TNA Legends Champion AJ Styles challenge Kurt Angle and the newest Main Event Mafia Member Samoa Joe in a tag team match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship! Also,the #1 Contendership for the TNA World Tag Team Championship is up for grabs as Team 3D battles Scott Steiner and Booker T!
Welcome to 411's TNA Impact Report. Thank you to Steve Cook who took over duties last week while I was out of town. It's good to be back and on to the show!
We get a recap of last week's episode with Samoa Joe joining the Main Event Mafia. With them using Jenna's money to get Joe to join. The beatdown of Sting is aired as well. Sting booted from the Main Event Mafia.
Our announcers as usual at Don West and Mike Tenay at ringside for this bodacious episode of TNA Impact.
I'm not going to report the title of the Impact episodes because I feel it is irrelevant and takes away from the credibility of the show and company.
We open up Impact with the Main Event Mafia coming to the ring lead by TNA World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle. He is followed by Booker T., Samoa Joe, Sharmell, Jenna, Scott Steiner, and Kevin Nash. Angle says that Sting is at home licking his wounds at that the attack wasn't personal, but was strictly business. Angle tells Mick Foley that it's been a week and to come out and face "the boss" like a man. Foley's music hits and he comes to the ring with his security. Steiner is holding a lead pipe standing next to Angle. Angle says that Foley committed a sin by telling Team 3D that they can face Beer Money Inc. at Victory Road for the TNA World Tag Team Championships. Angle tells Foley that Foley booked Steiner and Booker T. to take on Beer Money Inc. in a #1 Contenders Match here tonight. Foley asks to be left alone because he's had a bad week. Foley wants to wrestle Angle at Victory Road. Steiner hits Rocco and Sal over the head with the pipe multiple times laying them out. Classic. Foley turns his back to the Main Event Mafia saying out of respect he wants them to leave enough of him to recover for Victory Road. Angle tells Foley to pick a "door" each involving a Mafia member destroying Foley. Foley chooses Door #1 which was Kurt Angle and he slugs him in the face. The Mafia beatdown on Foley begins with them stomping him down. The bell is sounding. Why? Jeff Jarrett's music hits and he comes to the ring with a guitar in hand! The Main Event Mafia all leave the ring before Jarrett can do anything. Jarrett clocks Foley over the head with the guitar then heads up the ramp! Angle pats Jarrett on the chest as he walks up the ramp, but Jarrett stops and stares him down at the Main Event Mafia laughs enjoying the guitar shot to Mick Foley. We head to a commercial break.
A 12 Rounds commercial airs during the course of the commercial break. Take that Dixie Carter.
Back from commercial break they recap what happened to Mick Foley moments ago. Foley refuses medical assistance backstage.
We go backstage with Jeremy Borash who is with Jarrett. Security throws Mick Foley out of the locker room.
An interview from earlier today done by Mike Tenay with Kevin Nash airs. He mentions the jump in 1996 from Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. Kevin Nash said he didn't make that much money in the WWF in 1995 and got half a million dollars for half the dates in WCW. Sounds like a good deal to me. Nash says it's a business and a job. He says he's here to make money. At least he's truthful. Tenay mentions Nash's title shot coming up against TNA Legends Champion AJ Styles. Nash tells Tenay that people will be talking about AJ twenty years from now and that he wants to defeat him. He says the belt adds $3,000 to $4,000 per autograph session. Kinda funny. We go to another commercial break. Ugh. Twenty minutes and still not one minute of wrestling.
Abyss is backstage with Lauren kicking garbage cans looking for Dr. Stevie. He looks angered. He picks Lauren up and puts her on a table and says he'll never harm her. Abyss tells her to understand that he is sick. He says he never asked her to stop being a woman, so why does she ask him to stop being a monster? Whoa. That's a line from Rocky II. Minus, the monster part.
Cody Deaner with ODB vs. Amazing Red
Red's theme sounds like Monty Brown's old one. At least the beginning of it does. This one should be exciting. Red kicks Deaner in the shins multiple times and the knee. Red works on the arm and Deaner yells to ODB asking her what to do. Great. Red armdrags Deaner over twice and hits a headscissors. Deaner rolls to the floor. Red flies over the top rope with a twisting dive. We get a replay right after it happened. Red actually landed on his feet, too. Red rolls him up for two. Kick to the shin again. And again. Red gets caught running off the ropes by a clothesline. Deaner covers and gets a two count. This is embarrassing. Right hand to the guy of Red. A punch to the face follows. Scoop slam by Deaner is next with a fist dropped to the face for a two count. Wow, Deaner is on the offensive for more than one minute. Red reverses an Irish Whip and dropkicks him in the corner and hits a spinkick for two! Red goes to the top ropes, but Deaner shoves him off. Deaner goes to the top ropes with ODB yelling at him to get off. Deaner puts his hat on backwards and misses a diving headbutt. Red hits the Red Eye for the victory.
Winner: Amazing Red. Match Thoughts: *1/2. Good action, but as always very short which might not be a bad thing with Deaner in there.
Abyss is still backstage with security going after him apparently. They air a 'Cross the Line' video package of Booker T. saying "I will become."
Abyss is destroying the set backstage. TNA security comes up with weapons threatening to beat him down. Abyss and one of the guys have a stare down as we go to commercial.
Off-topic here, but does anyone notice on RAW the overuse of the words "Cross the line" and "impact"? I've been noticing it a lot lately. Odd.
We're back with Jeremy Borash backstage with Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett is getting his gear out of his locker. The Main Event Mafia walks in clapping their hands. They tell Jeff Jarrett to take a seat because they want to have a chat. Angle asks Joe to hold his title. Angle says that they can put their differences aside. Angle offers Jarrett a peace offering. Angle wants Jarrett's power. Angle ask Jarrett if he accepts. Jarrett tells Angle to screw his offer. He mentions that he was the one that brought Angle into TNA in the first place. Jarrett screams at Angle telling him that Kurt used TNA's wrestlers and abused his power. Jarrett tells Angle that Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle will be teaming up tonight against Jeff Jarrett and AJ Styles with the TNA World Heavyweight Championship on the line! Whoever pins Angle, wins the title. If Angle or Joe beat Jarrett or Styles, then Angle retains. Wow. Talk about making an impact. *crickets*
Somehow TNA has the graphic for the Main Event already made. Great professionalism. Don West goes over the TNA Live! schedule. I highly recommend going to see them live. It completely blows away their Impact stuff.
Lauren is with Jenna backstage asking Jenna about Sharmell. Jenna says that she is going to fight Sharmell. She says it's on at Victory road. Sojournor Bolt walks in and says she will make sure that Sharmell is ready for her match at Victory Road. Harsh words. Another commercial break.
So we've had maybe three minutes of wrestling in forty-five minutes? Solid ratio by TNA. All these backstage segments are making my head spin.
We go backstage AGAIN with Jeremy Borash in the Main Event Mafia's locker room to get Kurt Angle's reaction. Angle says Jarrett that he just signed his own death certificate. Angle says he always wondered what it would be like if him and Joe were a tag team. Weren't they TNA World Tag Team Champions in 2007? Epic memory! Booker T. tells Sharmell that she has to leave the locker room. They argue. Borash mentions Jon and Kate Plus 8.
Eric Young vs. Rhino with Jesse Neal
Eric Young comes out of the heel tunnel thus solidifying his heel turn. Rhino charges down the ramp and they battle in the ring. Rhino clotheslines Young for a two count. Boots to the stomach. Young clotheslines Rhino after tossing him into the turnbuckles. Young gets a two count. Eric Young throws punches and then chokes Rhino in the corner. Snapmare over into a chokehold. Rhino gets out, but Young pulls his hair and slams him down. He covers for a two count again. Young straddles Rhino's throat over the middle rope and chokes him. Young slaps Neal in the face then goes to the floor and tosses him into the guardrail! Young goes back in the ring to continue beating down Rhino. Right hands galore. Rhino fights back to his feet throwing right hands of his own. Rhino nails a couple of clotheslines and a shoulder tackle in the corner. Rhino catches Eric Young and gets a spine buster. Neal is on the apron arguing with the referee as Rhino is covering Young. Rhino gets knocked into Neal and Young rolls Rhino up, grabbing the ropes for the three count.
Winner: Eric Young by pinfall. Match Thoughts: *. Eric Young works well as a heel. He must still remember his days on Team Canada. Neal and Rhino look to be on a collision path.
Lauren is backstage with Sharmell, again. Sharmell finds Matt Morgan, who is on a cell phone. Morgan makes Sharmell repeat herself. Morgan picks Sharmell up and spins her around after she informs him that Angle wants to see him. Another commercial break follows.
We go back to Jeremy Borash backstage asking Angle about letting Matt Morgan join. Morgan asks how much money he's going to make. Angle says that the Mafia is taking Matt Morgan into consideration. Angle wants to make sure his bases are covered. Angle wants Morgan to make sure that Christopher Daniels doesn't make it anywhere near the ring. Morgan says fine, but his patience is running short.
A promo for Sarita is shown. She looks like a new age Power Ranger.
The Beautiful People (Velvet Sky and TNA Knockouts Champion Angelina Love) with Madison Rayne vs. Awesome Kong with Raisha Saeed and Tara
This should be a great match. Tenay calls Kong and Tara a dream tag team. Hard to argue. Tara comes to the ring with a tarantula. Tara begins attacking Velvet Sky. Armdrags and submissions entertain me. Tara tags in Kong and Kong throws Sky into the corner asking for Love to be tagged in. Love tags in and her and Kong exchange punches. Kong gets the better of her. Kong throws Love into the corner and throws many, many punches. Sky and Love double team Tara who tagged in a couple seconds ago. I was unloading groceries. Tara and Love are both down in the center of the ring Kong gets tagged in and Sky tries punching her, but gets shoved off. Kong throws her into the corner again. Kong punches Love and she goes to the floor. Love attacks Kong from behind. All four are in the ring now. Tara throws Love out of the ring and into the ringpost. Implant Buster by Kong onto Sky follows to finish the match and get her team the victory.
Winners: Awesome Kong and Tara when Kong pinned Sky Match Thoughts: **. Was good for what I saw. I can't really rate it fully because I missed a minute of it unloading groceries.
After the match Kong stares at Tara, while Tara plays with her tarantula. Alright. Tara puts the spider on Velvet Sky as Madison Rayne and Angelina Love go running up the ramp as we go to commercial.
Lauren is backstage with TNA Knockouts Champion Angelina Love. Love freaks out about the spider. When asked about Velvet Sky, Love says it could've been "me" that had the spider put on her. She then runs away screaming.
A "Cross the Line" promo with Team 3D saying "We will become." is aired. Is that their new phrase?
TNA World Tag Team Champions Beer Money Inc. comes out to the Impact Zone next. They are set to announce the #1 Contenders Match.
#1 Contenders Match: Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon vs. Scott Steiner and Booker T. with Sharmell
The winners of this match with face Beer Money Inc. at Victory Road for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. Two former multiple time WCW Champions are set to face one of the greatest tag teams in wrestling history. This should be interesting. Many tag matches tonight as well. James Storm has his arm around Mike Tenay at the booth. Robert Roode asks Don West what kind of chapstick he uses to kiss his butt. Amazing. The bell sounds and Brother Ray starts in with Scott Steiner. They lockup. Steiner throws Ray into the corner and kicks away at the giant midsection. Chop by Steiner. Ray reverses an Irish Whip and throws punches of his own. Overhead belly-to-belly suplex by Scott Steiner follows with punches. Brother Ray blocks a punch and scoop slams him for two. Steiner misses an elbow and gets a bodydrop for a two count. Brother Ray tags in Brother Devon. Devon punches Steiner. Booker T. catches Devon in the back with a knee as he's running off the ropes. Steiner tags in Booker. Booker with punches to the stomach of Devon and kicks. Sound familiar? Devon catches a boot to the face. Steiner tags in and stomps at Devon who is being held by Booker t. Steiner's belly-to-belly overhead suplex gets a two count. Steiner tags in Booker who kicks Devon in the mid-section. Roundhouse to the face of Devon. Devon and Booker catch each other with clotheslines in the middle of the ring and they are both down. The crowd is REALLY HOT for this one. Devon hot tags in Brother Ray. Ray clotheslines Booker. Hip toss next. Buh-Buh Bomb by Brother Ray to Steiner. Booker T. catches Brother Ray with a Bookend for a two count! Man this match is fast. Seriously. Sheik Abdul Bashir and Kiyoshi come out. They brawl with Beer Money Inc. Team 3D hits the 3D on Booker T. Sharmell distracts Rudy Charles. Steiner in and he get's the "What's Up?!" Brother Ray tells Brother Devon to get the tables. The British Invasion comes out. Brutus Magnus catches Brother Ray with the Feast or Fired briefcase and pulls Booker T. on Ray for the three count!
Winners: Scott Steiner and Booker T. when Booker T. pinned Brother Ray. Match Thoughts: **3/4. Really good action. Crowd was hot. I didn't enjoy the finish every. Too much going on outside the ring.
We head to a commercial break after the tag match.
Great another "12 Rounds" commercial.
Holiday is in the ring and Lethal's music is playing, they are set for a singles match, but he's being attacked backstage by Abyss. Consequences Creed comes in to help, but he gets thrown into the fence nearby. Abyss comes out. Holiday punches Abyss. Abyss slugs at Holiday and hits him with the Black Hole Slam. Abyss wants Dr. Stevie to come out. He grabs the camera and wants the whole world to hear what he has to say. Abyss says he doesn't need Dr. Stevie anymore. No more therapy. No more calling in daily. No more shock treatment! Crowd cheers. Abyss tells Stevie that he will lift him up and snap Stevie across his shoulders like a twig. Dr. Stevie appears on the screen. Stevie has Lauren, who is crying, in his arms. Stevie says he's not the monster that Abyss is. Stevie says he's treated Abyss for ten years. He calls Lauren a piece of meat and says he owns Abyss. Dr. Stevie says that next week Abyss will come to his office for therapy and if he doesn't he won't be nice to Lauren. Abyss has his hands over his head in the ring. Abyss charges up the ramp. Decent segment. We go to another commercial.
Back from commercial break # 805. Main Event time!
TNA World Heavyweight Championship Match: Kurt Angle(c) and Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Jarrett and TNA Legends Champion AJ Styles
Twenty-five minutes remain. Interesting. Jarrett had his gold attire out of locker in the locker room, but he's wearing his baby blue attire. Consistent? I think not. Not trying to get that picky, but it was kind of obvious. I hope it's good and I predict it will be a great tag match. Cheerio Joe is in his cheerio pants attire as we head to commercial break right after the team of Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe enter the ring.
We finally come back from the commercial break with individual introductions inside the ring by Jeremy Borash. At least they are taking this match seriously. AJ Styles gets a huge ovation during his introduction, as does Jarrett. Samoa Joe gets a very mixed reaction to say the least. More boo's than anything and rightfully so. Angle is billed at 230 lbs. now instead of 240 lbs. He looks to be barely 200 lbs., if that. the crowd boos him. The belt is shown to the fans and the bell sounds. Jarrett and Angle start the match. Lockup with the crowd clapping. Jarrett puts Angle in a headlock. Jarrett attempts the Stroke, but it misses. Ankle Lock by Angle is reversed and they have a stand-off. Angle boots Jarrett in the guy. Uppercut by Angle. Jarrett hip tosses Angle. Jarrett clotheslines Angle. Jarrett tags in AJ Styles. Styles works over the left arm. Angle gets out of the arm ringer and tags in Joe. AJ bops Joe. Joe nails AJ with a legsweep to the mat. Joe clubs away. Styles runs off the ropes and hits a dropkick. Angle comes in and gets punches in the face by Styles and Jarrett. We go to commercial with Jarrett and Styles double teaming Joe.
Back with Samoa Joe in control of Styles targeting the leg. Joe tags in Angle. During the commercial, Joe caught Styles and slammed him. Angle hit an belly-to-belly release suplex. Back to the match. Styles catches Angle with a boot to the back of the head on Angle. Both men are down. Joe runs in and knocks Jarrett off the apron. Angle tags in Joe. Joe chops Styles. Headbutt by Joe to Styles' head. Elbow by Styles. Springboard moonsault into an inverted DDT and regular DDT to Joe and Angle! Joe cuts Styles off and slaps on the rear naked choke. AJ rolls out and hits the Pele! Both men are down again! AJ tags in Jarrett. Joe tags in Angle. Jarrett hits Angle with a flurry. Double arm DDT (Pedigree) by Jarrett onto Angle. Joe breaks up a two count. Jarrett reverses an Angle Slam and gets a two count with Joe breaking it up again. Jarrett puts Angle on the top rope. Joe grabs Jarrett for the Muscle Buster, but Jarrett rolls over and Styles hits a flying forearm on the ref after Joe ducked! Jarrett hits the Stroke on Kurt Angle from the top ropes. The ref is down. Jarrett gets the guitar. He winds it up. Slick Johnson grabs the guitar. Angle slaps on the Anklelock. It is applied in the middle of the ring. Joe pulls AJ off the apron. Jarrett gets to his feet and Angle slaps the Anklelock back on! Angle lays down on it in the middle of the ring. Jarrett is lasting awhile in the hold. It's been about a minute and a half now. Jarrett looks to be fading. Referee checks the arm and it drops. the referee calls for the bell. Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe have won!
Winners: Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship when Jeff Jarrett was declared unconscious in the Anklelock. Match Thoughts: ***1/4. I really enjoyed this one. It was a bit chaotic towards the end, but it was good.
The Main Event Mafia comes to the ring to celebrate the victory. Hugs and handshakes all around. Joe has some choice words for Jarrett. AJ runs in the ring with his TNA Legends Championship and swings it around clearing the ring. Joe and Styles get into a scuffle on the ground. The Mafia begin attacking Styles. Steiner hits a belly-to-belly suplex on Styles. Morgan is shown backstage beating up Christopher Daniels. Nash is ready to hit AJ with the Legends title. Lights go out! Sting's music hits! He's in the ring with the bat! Sting clears the ring with bat shots for everyone in the Main Event Mafia! Sting has possession of the TNA World Heavyweight Championship! The lights go out, then back on and Sting is gone with the title as the show comes to an end. Great ending.
Final Thoughts: Absolutely atrocious first hour and a half. I mean brutally bad. Way too many commercial breaks and backstage segments. There must have been a total of ten minutes of wrestling in the first hour itself. It picked up and had a great main event though which salvaged the show a bit. Great ending with Sting getting his revenge on the Main Event Mafia and gaining possession of the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Should be interesting to see what happens next week.
I'm gonna start booking TNA. If these guys can get away with it, I really can't be that bad at it
Posted By: Guest#1063 (Guest) on July 02, 2009 at 11:22 PM
Lot of the matches seem too short
Posted By: Cesarmania (Guest) on July 02, 2009 at 11:23 PM
While not a great show it was entertaining...
Couple points:
Where is the X Division?
The MCMG's?
Did we really need Cody Deaner?
The Main Event was good but the commercials ruined it.
The 3D match was a cluster that didn't need to be
Daniels vs. Morgan - Epic YES
Tara and her spider - Epic NO
They have Kong and Victara - PUT THEM IN THE RING TOGETHER AND TAKE THE HOOD OF MELISSA - you would have the greatest woman's division ever.
Abyss - eh
Give this one a 5 out of 10
Posted By: Guest#3197 (Guest) on July 02, 2009 at 11:29 PM
I decided to give TNA another chance after not watching for 6 months. After 45 minutes of promos and backstage skits I became ill!!! I waited for some actual wresting and became more ill.
It's sad that a promotion that has so much talent and can actually compete with the WWE won't let their wrestlers wrestle!!!!
Please give me a reason to care about your product!!!! Backstage skits and in ring promos and 5 minute matches won't do it!!! You have the talent - show me more in ring action!!!!
Posted By: Guest#6003 (Guest) on July 02, 2009 at 11:29 PM
so you DID finish it! haha
Posted By: Gambit_9166 (Guest) on July 02, 2009 at 11:40 PM
That main event was poorly booked. How obvious was that ref bump just before it happened? And why would they have had Jarrett get the guitar while the ref was down? He already had the upper hand. And why the hell would they have AJ just stand on the mat while Angle had the Ankle lock applied to Jarrett? No logic what-so-ever.
Posted By: Dubhagan (Registered) on July 02, 2009 at 11:55 PM
The show actually wasn't as bad as you implied, but the commercial/promos every five minutes do bury the show a lot.
Posted By: Shane Douglas (Guest) on July 02, 2009 at 11:57 PM
Great write-up, Alex.
Posted By: ...Kennedy (Guest) on July 02, 2009 at 11:58 PM
LAME episode. Except for the main event
Posted By: Guest#5937 (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 12:03 AM
TNA: We Are Commercials
Posted By: Vince Russo (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 12:30 AM
Why in the fuck would they Release a workhorse like Petey Williams but give a fuck tard like Cody Deaner a shot.... That is complete utter bull shit and I am just gonna go fuck my girl for this. Seriously if they didn't have anything for williams just give him the hick retard Role and hit on ODBig titties.
Posted By: butt hurt (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 12:32 AM
Where was Daffney?
Posted By: Trashy (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 12:48 AM
And where was Raven!?
Posted By: Maude (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 02:03 AM
woaw...back to brooding WCW vs NWO sting.
Bet the face paint is coming back on.
Gentle moved pinky finger over the line.
Posted By: christy (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 02:08 AM
i'm lost here so Sting isn't in the MAfia anymore ?
Fuck who ever has been watching this and booking this crap is fucked ! Sting has literally flip flopped from face to heel and back to face at least 6 times in the last 4yrs !!!!!!!!!
WOW talk about career cluster fuck ! I guess when you on your way out it doesn't matter ..well at least to money version of Sting !
Posted By: Guest#4395 (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 02:46 AM
Deaner seems like a good worker. Melissa, Kong, Victoria, The Beautiful People and Sarah Stock in one organization is the best you'll EVER get.
...but fukin' Jarrett pinning Angle 3 (THREE) times in the main event? what?
Posted By: tully (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 08:06 AM
Have JD review it and give two extra stars to each match, unless they are good, then take away two stars.
Posted By: AG Awesome (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 09:15 AM
Where was Daffney??? Where was Raven???? Blahblahfuckinblah.
Ever hear of actually getting a night off?
Posted By: Guest#5750 (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 09:22 AM
The impact of Jessie Neal and Cody Deaner = weekly jobbers. Same thing goes for Kip and Lethal Consequences.
I have no problem seeing them getting their asses kicked to further someone else moving up the ladder. Old school style.
Posted By: Guest#2318 (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 09:26 AM
This is my first time in a really long while actually watching this show...and I must say that I enjoyed it...I didn't come in until the awesome kong match but I must say overall from what I saw it was pretty ok. I will say t his though..the problem I have always noticed in TNA has never been in ring ability but more no one knowing what to do with a genuinely talented roster and they seem a little afraid to realy be their onwn entity. They have modern talent and 94-98 wcw booking. I think the group they got could rock some bigger venues for TV on a regular basis just to see what happens.
Posted By: THE GET SOME KID (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 10:08 AM
Mike Judas wants some of abyss baby! NWA Charlotte makes a much better security team than the two fat guys. Hopefully Judas, Kemo, and Shatter get more air time. They are pretty good.
Posted By: ryan (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 10:47 AM
Cody Deaner and Jesse Neal should form a tag team, seriously LOL. And all the while Rhino and ODB shake their heads in embarrassment.
OKAAAAAAAAY who cares about Sharmell/Jenna?? Now they get a match at Victory Road even before the Guns may (or may not) have one lined up. And Sojo Bolt's presence makes ZERO sense lmao. How is she gonna 'teach' Sharmell anything, after that AWFUL match she had against Kong at Destination-X?
I like Tara having a pet spider, it's a good prop for her character. Looking forward to Sarita/Sarah Stock's debut. She's amazingly talented and hot as hell.
Posted By: Code Red (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 11:24 AM
I'm trying to figure out the business model for TNA. What are they selling? What are they building up to? Part of the problem the WWE has is that in the past they'd use their weekly shows to build up to their must-see PPVs that cost $40. But lately Vince has been more worried about ratings, leading to the PPVs becoming an afterthought.
But what is TNA doing? They're not doing anything to improve their weekly ratings. Their PPVs sell poorly, and it's not like they use their weekly show to build up the hype. It just seems to be a series of storylines that they can't wait to tell - but they don't know where they're going or how they'll get there, they just know that people have to watch to see what happens next!
It's really bizarre. If Mick Foley or one of the other TNA honchos reads this I'd love to hear what the purpose of their show is. It feels like the dying WCW all over again - not so much the veteran guys dominating everything (although that's a part of it), but the complete lack of direction. Who am I supposed to cheer this week? What is the point of these guys wrestling each other?
I'm better off watching subbed episodes of "Bleach" for better continuity, better storytelling, and cooler fights.
Posted By: GaryML (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 11:43 AM
why does rocco and sal still wear mem t shirts when they are foley security guys??
sting and sucide both can disappear when lights go off?? so sucide is sting.....
and where was cupe kip.he is the best part of tna.he will be the guy who will retire sting,become mem god father,beat kurt for the title and marry dixie carter.
Posted By: deepak (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 12:36 PM
I decided to watch a full episode of TNA for the first time in a couple of years ,and I have very little desire to watch another one.
Fisrt off Kurt Angle looks like Randy Couture's older brother. That's not good when you consider Randy is like 48. I see the Dudleys are still doing the same match they did 8 years ago; lame.
Jeff Jarrett is a worse babyface than Triple H. Your never going to get over by bragging about founding TNA Jarrett you twit. Samoa dough is horrible as a lacky to the mafia. Way to lose your balls Jo(k)e.
Sting did a beatdown of the NW.. er Mafia to take me back to 1997 and make me thankful for not wasting time on a regular basis to watch this stuff.
Posted By: jcmmnx (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 12:38 PM
"Off-topic here, but does anyone notice on RAW the overuse of the words "Cross the line" and "impact"? I've been noticing it a lot lately. Odd."
I wonder if in some sick and twisted way Vince is trying to reverse-brand those as "his" terms. That way if the casual WWE fan tunes in to TNA they think Jarrett and Co. are ripping off WWE.
Posted By: neverAcquiesce (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 02:10 PM
More Sting and the MEM. Yeah!!! Sarcasm.
Posted By: iomis2001 (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 09:43 PM
Did anyone else feel like Impact's parents gave it a video package maker for Christmas and this show was the result of that first day trying it out before it got old?
I'm just sayin'.
Posted By: The Glide (Guest) on July 03, 2009 at 11:03 PM
I'm just waiting for the double swerve with Joe, it's inevitable. Joe joins MEM and then destroys it from the inside.
I still loves me some BEER!
Posted By: Mac (Guest) on July 04, 2009 at 09:41 AM
"Was good for what I saw. I can't really rate it fully because I missed a minute of it unloading groceries."
WTF? Seriously?
As for all the people moaning about no MCMG's or Daffney etc, not everyone gets on every show. Last month for instance Beer Money and Team 3D appeared every other week.
"i'm lost here so Sting isn't in the MAfia anymore ?
Fuck who ever has been watching this and booking this crap is fucked ! Sting has literally flip flopped from face to heel and back to face at least 6 times in the last 4yrs !!!!!!!!!"
Good point!!!! After watching TNA last week I was shocked that after being attacked by the MEM Sting wasn't still in the stable! It's craaaaaazy booking!!! ...........
In case you can't tell I'm joking. Sting has always been a face in the heel stable. If you had been watching TNA over the last few months or even last weeks episode it would make sense.
Where do 411 find these moronic commenters?
Posted By: Tim (Guest) on July 05, 2009 at 05:49 PM
This week's episode was bland. The MEM/Foley/Jarrett promo was good. The Abyss and Lauren stuff was just odd. The Cody Deaner vs Amazing Red match was bad. Amazing Red did excellent work for his part, but how does anybody put Cody Deaner over? Does ODB even realize that she went from being a female wrestler to being the manager of the worst male wrestler on the TNA roster? After this week's attacks on TNA security and Jay Lethal Abyss appears to be turning heel. Does Anyone care about the upcoming Sharmell vs Jenna match? Given more time the Eric Young vs Rhino match could have been good. Morgan still having to prove himself to the MEM is a nice touch. The Awesome Kong and Tara vs the Beautiful People match was better than the Eric Young vs Rhino match. Velvet Sky seems more bold in the ring. Awesome Kong and Tara made a decent tag team. Why doesn't TNA let Tara talk much. She has excellent mic skills. The Team 3D vs Steiner and Booker T match was good but Miezin is right the ending was terrible. There was too much interference. The main event was good but I am not a fan of tag team matchs for singles belts. The tag team aspect was interesting, though, because both teams were made up of one veteran wrestler and one young talent. Angle and Jarrett usual do bring the best out of each other in the ring. Samoa Joe and A.J. Styles also delivered. The after match antics were fun. But Sting stealing the Heavyweight belt makes you wonder whether he is a face or a heel. When was the last episode of Impact without a single X division match?
Posted By: Sting/Flair fan (Guest) on July 05, 2009 at 06:04 PM
Folks, read up, because I'm going to give you the actual real reason TNA sucks. I realize the booking is awful, and some "stars" are getting TV time while guys that should be (like the Guns) aren't. But here's the real issue.
Last week, after the big Raw/ECW/Smackdown trade, I wrote to Larry and told him Vince should just kill ECW (this was before I watched Tuedsay and realized WHY the WWE raped ECW of all it's talent, because basically ECW is developmental on TV, and I didn't realize that). I suggested moves to Smackdown and Raw, and actually suggested ECW be turned into a divas promotion (with a new name, of course).
With my suggestions and trimming the fat (and there wasn't a lot, maybe six wrestlers who are not doing anything, like Ortiz, or Jesse). Raw had like 28 superstars and ECW 26. That was with no divas, and not counting announcers.
I felt like that was a lot, but I thought "they could probably pull it off, especially if they limit interbrand appearances to special events like Wrestlemania and Summerslam, and maybe have brand specific PPVs"
Raw right now has 22 male wrestlers. I'm not counting announcers or Vince or Hacksaw Jim Duggan (but I am counting Hornswaggle). 22.
Guess how many male wrestlers are on the TNA roster right now? THIRTY SEVEN. That's just too damn much for one show.
One issue would be that TNA also needs to trim some fat. Hey, I hate to see anyone lose their job. But Kip, BG, Jesse Neal, Cody Deaner and honestly, as much as I like him, Shark Boy are doing nothing for this promotion. Everyone is in agreement that Cody Deaner is one of the worst wrestlers EVER.
Trim up some money, even relase a few knockouts (I don't care if Kurt is banging her, Khan and Bolt). Then maybe TNA would be better off with my idea of a knockouts show (hour long maybe to start).
Knock it down to 32, give the Knockouts their own show, and we may actually have time to get some wrestling each week, instead of Russo doing so much Crash TV just to get everyone on. Especially since TNA is focused a lot on tag teams (whereas the WWE is not) such as the Dudleys, Lethal Consequences, the Guns, the Britsh Invasion, LAX, Beer Money-see, that gives time to four guys at once. It allows for more WRESTLING and less BULLSHIT.
There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. And right now, TNA is too much of a bad thing.
Russo has his good side, he can put up some decent storylines. The problem is when you try to do TOO MUCH, and that's what TNA is doing. They are throwing everything at the wall and like 10 percent of it is sticking, the rest is just stinking up the place.
Posted By: Brian (Guest) on July 06, 2009 at 02:54 PM
Winner: Amazing Red.
Match Thoughts: *1/2. Good action, but as always very short which might not be a bad thing with Deaner in there.
Cody Deaner aka Cody Steele is an incredible worker from the Ontario area.And as usual,TNA fucks the pooch again.
Deaner could out wrestle 99% of the TNA roster and they waste him in this goofy gimmick.Good job.
Posted By: Guest#5716 (Guest) on July 06, 2009 at 03:48 PM
