The Impact Crater 07.19.07
Posted by Ryan Byers on 07.20.2007
If they're trying to bury Joe before he leaves the company, this is certainly the right way to do it.
Welcome one and all to the Impact Crater. As always, I'm Ryan, and it's time to take or weekly trip down to Orlando, Florida to analyze one of the most hit-or-miss wrestling promotions in the history of the business. Let's go!
Quick & Dirty Results
Segment #1: Triple X def. Raven, Michael Shane, & Johnny Devine
Segment #2: Dudley Boys interview
Segment #3: Kip James def. Lance Hoyt
Segment #4: James Storm & Christian def. Rhino & Chris Harris
Angle Numero Uno: Deja Vu All Over Again
Long-time readers will know that I was incredibly frustrated by the original Kurt Angle/Samoa Joe feud that took place last fall. The company took what seemed to be its one sure fire, can't miss angle and turned it in to a massive flop, both creatively and business-wise. I was hopeful that they'd get it right this time around, because at least now they've actually managed to make it clear which man is the face and which man is the heel. However, after watching tonight's show, I'm beginning to think that's the only positive step that they've made. Here you have the two men that most TNA fans perceive as being the best wrestlers in the company and the two men that currently hold all of the championships in the company. Maybe I'm just old fashioned, but that right there should be enough for the basis of the feud. There's no need to add in a bunch of cheap comedy gimmicks like Angle's hour long quest for his clothing, which happened tonight. There's a simple formula that's worked ever since wrestling began: Man A wants title, Man B has title, Man A and Man B cut promos on each other until the title match takes place. People get in to it, and, more importantly, it makes money. I feel like I say this every two weeks, but why can TNA not grasp this concept? This week, like most weeks, they're far too concerned with doing something novel or something straight out of WWE's book that they fail to offer the alternative product that they claim to be.
And here's another problem with tonight's show: They basically sent the message in the final segment that Kurt Angle is clearly superior to Samoa Joe. They have a face to face confrontation, Joe gets the advantage with a cheap shot on Angle, and then Kurt kills him with both of his finishers the second that he has an opportunity to recover from said cheap shot. Maybe it's just me, but that sounds like a complete match right there. Why do we have to buy the pay per view? It's already obvious who the better man is. In fact, it's VERY obvious who the better man is, since the company ran the exact same angle with Kurt putting Joe through a table two weeks ago. In fact, in addition to being tougher, Kurt is also smarter since he managed to steal Joe's pin from him last week. So, who the hell is supposed to buy Joe as a credible contender at this point? TNA certainly is making it hard to do so.
Of course, if all of the rumors about Joe's contract coming up are true, maybe this does make sense . . .
Angle Numero Dos: The Dark Side of the Dudleys?
Well, Bubba Ray and D-Von certainly were showing some of their older, heelish tendencies again tonight. I don't know whether they're actually turning, though if they are I think it's a fine idea. They've been good guys since they came in to TNA, and the number one knock against them by fans (myself included) is that their characters are "stale" no matter how many good matches they're capable of putting on. My only question is what this means for the Steiner Brothers. Are they turning face as the Dudleys turn heel? Are we going to see a heel vs. heel feud in the tag team division? Are the Duds not going to officially turn until after the Steiner/Dudley match? These are all interesting questions, meaning that the company does have me somewhat intrigued in at least one storyline.
Also, I'm very surprised to see Scott Steiner back so soon. A ton of reports that I'd read said he would be out for the rest of the year at least. I hope that this is a matter of those reports being wrong as opposed to Steiner playing tough guy and coming back before he's 100%. I'd prefer that no more damage is done to the man than necessary.
Angle Numero Tres: Treading Water
The other two big feuds featured on this week's episode were Christian vs. Abyss and James Storm vs. Rhino. Though the four men in those feuds certainly interacted, it didn't feel like the stories were actually advanced in any big way. You know what? That's absolutely fine. There doesn't NEED to be some major occurrence every week in an angle. Sometimes it's fine to just do enough to remind everybody that the rivalry exists and move on. That way, when important events do happen in the angle, they feel more special. I don't know if this was TNA's motive in booking these feuds the way that they were booked this week, but, if so, I'm willing to give them a thumbs up.
And the Rest . . .
~ Good to see Triple X being put over very strong in the opener. They're a group of guys that has been directionless for far too long and could be a force in either the X Division or the main event scene.
~ For those not familiar with Ms. Roxxi Laveaux, I am. She's Nikki Roxx, a Boston area wrestler who competes for SHIMMER. She's actually pretty damn good when she's given time to wrestle, though we'll see whether that actually happens in the midst of this VKM feud.
~ Was that a tease for Abyss vs. Bobby Roode in the near future? I like the idea of getting Roode involved with top tier guys, but I think that he needs a feud that he can win after dropping matches to Jeff Jarrett and Eric Young.
Overall
Eh. This episode of Impact didn't leave me feeling very strongly one way or the other, which is why the column is so short this week. I didn't have any great stuff to gush about, and I didn't have any truly dreadful stuff to tear in to. Of course, the Angle/Joe feud is off to a shaky start, but I'm so used to a rivalry between those two men being poorly booked that I'm basically numb to the whole situation. This was a completely skippable show, though, if you are going to do a skippable show, it makes sense to do it as far away from your next pay per view as possible. That way the excitement for the event can slowly build over the weeks as opposed to suddenly dropping off in the middle of the march to the event. Hopefully things pick up a bit next week, otherwise the company is in a bit of trouble.
Reader Feedback
Jordan Y. writes in response to last week's Crater:
I like how you asked all those questions in the latest Crater. TNA has been doing a bad job of explaining anything that goes on in the company.
What I want to know is what happened with Bob Backlund book Shelly and Sabin took. What was the follow-up with that? I know they had a match, but did they ever explain the significance of the book? Or was it just some book? If you know the answer please tell me.
Anyway, keep up the good work.
Glad you enjoy the column, Jordan. TNA not explaining things has been one of my problems with the company since day one. Granted, they only have an hour of TV time right now, but I think they need to realize that fact and DROP the sorts of angles that they're unable to explain in the hour as opposed to doing them and doing them half-assed.
As far as the book is concerned, I don't think that was actually supposed to be a huge part of the plot. I believe that it was just Sabin and Shelley taunting Backlund. The book wasn't suppose to have any significance beyond that.
And that's it for July 19. I will be out of commission this weekend due to a wedding (no, not mine), so 411 young lion Daniel Wilcox will be handling the Sunday news. If you're so desperate for more of my writing that you can't wait until next Thursday, you can check out the MySpace or hope over to the movies zone, where I posted one of my rare DVD reviews this past week.
