TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 20th November 2008

After missing a few episodes of iMPACT I was quite out of the loop of the latest TNA going on’s so I was looking forward to see where the Main Event Mafia vs. Originals storyline had go to.

Good Points

Main Event Mafia

They are running rough shot like all heel factions should. They are laying the beat on wrestlers in five on one attacks and trying to dictate to management on how the show should be run. They opened the show with a nice burial segment which ended with Rhino being put in the coffin and then ended the show dismayed after not getting there own way in the booking of the next PPV.

Push for Rhino

Rhino has been pushed to the front of the Originals cause after attacking the Main Event Mafia by himself and then ending the show by goring Angle after being informed that the two would face each other at the next PPV.

Bad Points

Cage of to WWE

Now it has been widely reported for some time that Christian was done with TNA and wanted back to WWE but addressing the situation live on iMPACT I thought was stupid. Instead of just leaving it as Main Event Mafia having a burial service for him they had to bring up that he was going to WWE. It would have made more sense to just say that they had laid a beating to him so bad next week that he would never return to TNA.

Originals are a shambles

To have a proper stable war you need two recognised stables something TNA doesn’t have at the moment. To book the faction that people are referring to as the Originals but are yet to be given a proper names as fighting each other and with some people on the fringes not sure if they are part of the faction is stupid. To be great heels Main Event Mafia need a good face stable to work off.

Overall

TNA have a good storyline going at the moment and one I have been calling out for, for some time but they are executing it so poorly it’s cringeworthy.

TNA Bound for Glory IV 2008 Review

Bound for Glory is TNA’s version of WrestleMania and has been hyped as such by TNA over the last few weeks so I was expecting the best event of the year.

Good Points

Jarrett back on top form

Jeff Jarrett made an awesome in ring return after nearly two years out of action against Angle. The match was well paced told a great story and although predictable at times Foley’s involvement as Special Enforcer added to a great match. Foley helped Jarrett to the win but it was stressed by the commentators that this was Foley’s only contractual obligation which is obviously just part of the storyline so it will be interesting to see where this goes.

Sting wins the gold

After being pushed to the side in recent months it was great to see Sting win the TNA heavyweight title. In recent weeks TNA have been circulating news that Kevin Nash is out of contract with TNA but that didn’t stop him from costing Samoa Joe the title which makes me think this news is just part of the storyline and now Nash and Sting are going to be the leaders of the established stars vs. the TNA originals.

Great Monsters Ball match

The four way tag team title match was great. Although the ending was weak there were some very memorable moments. We had Abyss going through the flaming tables and then unlike what normally happens when the fire dies on impact Abyss was left rolling around afterward still engulfed in flames, I think something went wrong there but it was memorable to watch. Then we had Hernandez going through a table covered in thumbtacks chest first instead of back first which is how wrestlers normally take that bump.

Bad Points

No Wrestlemania

I thought that the second half of the show was awesome but the first half was quite hard to sit through and no Wrestlemania by any means. When WWE do Wrestlemania it has a distinctly different feel to all other PPV’s whereas although this had some good moments felt no different to any other TNA PPV.

Main Event Booking

When you book a show with such a strong under main event match I think you are asking for trouble. With Jarrett’s return against Angle and with Foley as special enforcer it took the shine off which should have been a night we went home remembering Sting. When you have such a strong match which isn’t for the title you need to put it last or book that match so that it is for the Heavyweight Title.

Overall

Although I didn’t finish the show thinking I had seen the most special event of the year I did think it was a really good event. Lots of scope for storyline development and some memorable matches.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 4th September 2008

After an average episode of iMPACT last week I was hoping for something good this week but I am not sure if TNA would deliver.

Good Points

Old School / New School set in motion

After this week’s episode of iMPACT it looks like it’s going to be Sting, Angle and Booker representing the old school and Cage, AJ Styles and Jarrett representing the new school. We are still yet to see Jarrett but Angle is starting to reference him in promos and his music is constantly hitting to unnerve Sting, Angle and Booker T.

Abyss being positioned under the main event

Now we knew that Abyss wouldn’t be getting main event status in TNA but it looks like they are building a feud involving him and Matt Morgan against Team 3D which could be interesting. The only problem is that with all this talent used up in two storylines it is really highlighting the weakness of the rest of the roster.

Bad Points

Top guys not delivering on the mic

I am usually a fan of Angle and Booker promos but the fifteen minutes they were given on the mic to kick the show off just seemed to drag and put the audience in a sleeperhold. Added to this we have Sting’s promos which aren’t working as after being positioned as a heel by taking a strip off fan favourites Samoa Joe and AJ Styles the fans are still cheering him.

Not enough wrestling

Yes I know I say that your weekly show isn’t about wrestling but building storylines and entertainment you still have to have some wrestling as on a two hour wrestling show to go the first forty minutes with only one quick throwaway match is terrible. Wrestling matches need to be used on TV to build storylines you can’t just build matches with promos.

Overall

TNA should be at it’s hottest right now with Samoa Joe as champ and the return of Sting and Jarrett but instead these last couple of shows have been the least entertaining for me in some time.

TNA Hard Justice 2008 Review

If you have been reading my blog for some time now you will know that I haven’t enjoyed many TNA PPV’s. So I wasn’t expecting too much from this one but I was hoping there would be a few standout moments.

Good Points

Angle vs AJ Styles match of the year candidate

This was one of my favourite matches of the year so far. As you already know I’m a huge AJ Styles fan and have loved the storyline between him and Angle. However I haven’t been a fan of their recent bouts but this one really showcased both at their best. The only problem I have is with Angle’s history of neck problems I cringe hen I see some of the moves and some of the risks he takes especially where they do endings when a stretcher comes out because with Kurt’s history there is always a chance it could be real.

Great effort put in to the Knockouts Division

The six woman tag was brilliant one of the best women’s tag matches I have seen in some time. The promos and videos before hand were brilliant as they labelled The Beautiful People as the step sisters from the Cinderella story. I like videos like this which are made to feel more like short films than wrestling promos.

Bad Points

LAX lose titles to Beer Money

This had the potential to be a great feuds but I feel that the longevity in this was to keep LAX as champs for a bit longer to build them and make it mean more when Beer Money finally got the belts off them. I feel this results weakened LAX and didn’t enhance Beer Money.

More could have been done with Sting

To have Sting come out and attack AJ Styles was the wrong thing to do. AJ had just been built as a heel for going back and attacking Angle whilst on a stretcher and that heat was then ruined by Sting. For all the build up they did with Sting they should have done more with him. It started off well with him being filmed coming in to the arena but after that it soon went downhill.

Team 3D losing their way

Their feud with Cage and Rhino isn’t really helping develop either team at the moment. The inappropriateness of their characters behaviour round women doesn’t fit in the current climate and to top this off they are suppose to be pushed as believable heels but then have comedy moments like getting them to go in the rafters and say they are scared of heights. You can have comedy heels but they need to be built as such and not just try and change between comedy and bad ass heels.

Booker T killed off

After having him beaten to a pulp at Victory Road in his home town and to have him lose clean well at least clean for a weapons match is stupid. You now have Angle who can’t wrestle a full programme, AJ and Sting put in a feud together and the other main eventers like Christian Cage pushed so far down the card they aren’t seen as main eventers any more. The only thing I can think of is that this leaves the way clean for Jeff Jarrett to come back.

Overall

Well worth the watch for the two matches I have mentioned. As an event as a whole again it didn’t work for me. They need to try and stop having too many matches which are overhyped and instead have a double main event which is hyped and an undercard which isn’t hyped that much but develops the talent involved well and is a talking point after the event.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 24th July 2008

With some interesting storylines hotting up in TNA at the momen and with Kurt and Joe both having more TV time I was looking forward to shee what they were going o do this week on iMPACT.

Good Points

Great storyline build for Booker T and Samoa Joe

The show started and ended with these two in the ring which was great to see. The match in place for Hard Justice sounds great as we get ready for full metal mayhem inside the six sides of steel. Having Sting’s music hit and then for Samoa Joe to be laid out when the lights came back up has added intrigue to the feud although I believe this wasn’t Sting but a staged set up to make it look like Sting.

Push for Matt Morgan

Great to see Matt’s continuing push and put in a position where he can show off his size and ability. I have him down as a main eventer in 2009 so watch this space. I still believe if handled right he has potential.

New segment

Great new segment called Karen’s Angle, much like the rough cuts segment, very distinguishable as a shoot section of the show rather than a storyline section. Look forward to seeing next week’s part 2 of her interview with Kaz.

Bad Points

Giving away PPV style matches

This week we had a five table elimination match featuring the team of 3D and Angle vs. Christian, Rhino and AJ as well as a strap match between Beer Money and Motor City Machine Guns. Stipulation matches like this should be saved for PPV.

After Thoughts

Sometimes it is best not to feature something than to just throw something non noteworthy in. This was the case for the Sonjay Dutt / Lethal / Val storyline as they put in a few minutes of Sonjay in hospital which looked like a last minute idea to keep something from the storyline in the episode.

Overall

Great episode, lots of video segments lots of focus on the main storyline, can’t ask for anymore than that really.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 29th May 2008

After one of my favourite episodes of iMPACT for some time I was really looking forward to seeing this week’s offering from the TNA crew.

Good Points

Great set up for Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles

This is the match that myself and I think many of the TNA fans have been looking forward to for some time and we are going to be able to see it at Slammiversary. TNA are building this feud brilliantly with more debate on whether AJ had an affair with Kurt’s wife Karen and AJ getting the beat down two weeks in a row from Kurt, Team 3D and Booker T. This week he didn’t take the beating alone as Christian Cage tried to help him, let’s see next week if anybody else tries to come to his aid.

Push for 3D and Booker T

This little faction is getting a lot of TV and mic time. Even in the twilight of his career Brother Ray is still a great talker on the mic and is a good mouthpiece for the group. Just need to see these guys in more matches as they just seem to be doing a lot of talking and backstage stuff at the moment.

Something for Nash to do

TN have come up with a good little storyline for Nash. No one wants to see him wrestle any more but he still has a part to play. This week he acted as security for Jim Cornette so he could get the spot as Special Enforcer for King of the Mountain which I think is a good move for his career in TNA.

Bad Points

Very little TV time for Samoa Joe

If you missed five minutes of the first segment of iMPACT you missed Samoa Joe this week. They need to start using him more on weekly TV episodes and not just save him for PPV’s. Ok he may not be the best talker but he is a good wrestler and if you are going to put him as your champion you have to give him a fair chunk of TV time every week.

What’s happening with Tomko

One minute it looks like they are going to give him a big push the next he is on a losing streak. This week Tomko did the honours for Christian Cage in the King of the Mountain qualifiers. I think TNA need to start committing one way of the other with Tomko and not do this stop, start approach.

Will Eric hurry up and find Elvis

Now I find Eric Young amusing and there is a place for his out of ring comedy segments in the show. The problem is with Eric’s segments if they aren’t funny which this search for Elvis are then they start to look stupid and out of place. It’s ok doing the wacky stuff but you have to make sure the crowd will find them funny for them to work.

Overall

Not a patch on last week’s show but an entertaining two hours none the less. The build for Kurt vs. AJ has been brilliant and if nothing else this match will have me tuning in to Slammiversary.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 24th April 2008

After a hectic week last week on iMPACT I was looking forward to see what was going to happen this week and if it could be just as crazy.

Good Points

Improvements to Sacrifice

Thankfully TNA have seen sense and done what we expected them to and made the title match at Sacrifice a triple threat adding Kurt Angle to the Steiner, Samoa Joe match. They spent a good amount of time on iMPACT building all three guys and having Steiner interfere in the Angle vs. Samoa Joe match was the right move.

Knockouts are interesting again

After some dull weeks before Lockdown TNA are back on a roll with this division with good matches and adding an interesting stipulation to the Knockouts match at Sacrifice which is going to see on Knockout getting their head shaved. This is the first I have heard of something like this happening in a women’s match and after the Britney Spears head shaving incident I think this will get some media attention.

Karen Angle

Good to see her storyline continuing. They need to devote more time to it but what we did see with her and AJ was great. After Angle’s programme with Joe ends it will be good to have the Karen and AJ storyline simmering under to give him something different to do.

Bad Points

Use of Matt Morgan

The show kicked off with Matt Morgan to continue his push by beating on Kip James to open the show. Then he was nowhere to be seen. After his recent push they need to build him in to a good feud for Sacrifice.

Too much Cornette

I love Cornette and have done for years but I think he is overused. It seems every segment ends in a squabble that Cornette has to come out to settle. If Cornette only came out for the big moments it would make his character more important and add gravitas to what was happening.

Christian Cage back down the card

Cage’s slump down the card continues with him being booked in the tag division with Rhino. Now both guy are great but it just seems like these guys have been whacked together as they don’t know what to do with them which is never a good reason to put a storyline together.

Overall

If TNA come manage their talent a bit better they would have an awesome two hour weekly show. The storyline development rate is good and there is enough happening each show to keep the viewer entertained now if they put the right guys in the right positions they will be away.

TNA Lockdown Review

Sunday night was a night for TNA to make history after one of the biggest builds to a match in TNA history it was time for Samoa Joe to put his career on the line against Kurt Angle for the chance to become TNA Heavyweight champion. The card also featured a stack Lethal Lockdown match and an array of other matches in the only PPV of the year promoted by any wrestling company where all matches take place inside the six sides of steel.

Good Points

Push for Johnny Devine

After months of being Team 3D’s sidekick finally Johnny Devine was given a push on his own after a strong showing in the Xscape match. Although Lethal won I thought they built Johnny well as a new opponent for him and Consequences Creed didn’t have a bad outing either so wll done to TNA for freshening up the X-Division.

Knockouts back on track

After being bored in recent months by the Knockouts division they did good at Lockdown. First we had a big win for Roxxi Laveaux in the Queen of the Cage match which establishes her as a worthy contender for the Women’s title. Then we had Awesome Kong in a match that she didn’t win as Gail Kim and ODB got the win over Kong and Saeed. They used Saeed well in this match to keep Kong strong even though she lost. To cap it all off Peyton Banks and Sharmell were used brilliantly to add to the match between Booker T and Robert Roode.

A good Lethal Lockdown match

After no build throughout the event and a stacked card for this one I thought TNA did a poor job of selling it but the guys in the cage forgot about all that and put on a great match ending with a big push for Rhino as he secured the victory for Team Cage.

The Reign of Joe

After months of Angle on top Lockdown marked the beginning of the era of Samoa Joe as he won the TNA Heavyweight title. TNA have done this brilliantly as if you are going to give someone the belt for it to mean something you have to build it well and get people interested an watching. Thanks to TNA booking Samoa Joe has been given an excellent platform to start his reign. The match in itself was very unique with it looking more like a UFC fight that a wrestling match. I’m not too sure how I feel about this as if I want to watch some MMA I will watch UFC I watch TNA to watch wrestling but it was good to see something so different and TNA trying something new to cash in on the popularity of MMA.

Bad Points

BG James vs. Kip James

After all the build TNA gave to this one and what this match could have been I was left feeling very disappointed by this one. Again it turned in to a Booker T / Robert Roode situation where the storyline is full of intensity but when they actually get in the ring the match is as intense as an old age pensioner’s will to win at bingo.

No Standouts

Yes there were some nice matches at Lockdown but it seemed like they were only interested in making the main event a standout which is a shame. Yes the main event should be the best match on the card but in a three hour show you need a couple more stand out matches to keep your energy and excitement up until the main event starts.

Again problems with production

After finally starting to get to grips with how to produce a good opening video it was back to square one at Lockdown. Tonight we were greeted by an over the top voice over and a selection of clips which were useless as it was hard to keep a track of who was who. This wasn’t the only downside to the production as after the opening video we had a return to early 90s WWF style of wrestling coverage with the commentators going in to the crowd to get their thoughts on the Samoa Joe / Angle match. Worse than all this though was again camera shot selections. To help the camera men out there were bi holes cut in to the six side of steel but the art of good production is doing this without the audience at home knowing you have done it. They kept picking shots which had cameramen zooming in and out of these gaping holes which were clear for everyone to see but if they had only picked shots when the cameramen had shots which didn’t show the hole and picked a new shot before they had zoomed out.

Overall

This won’t get down as the best wrestling pay per view ever as it wasn’t but it may go down as one of the most historical of all time.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 3rd April 2008

After WWE’s recent Wrestlemania extravaganza TNA needed to start pushing this week to get hold of those viewers who are excited for wrestling again and get some attention to their upcoming PPV Lockdown. So as always here are my good and bad points of this week’s show.

Good Points

Formula

Every week the formula of TNA shows gets better and better. This week the show started with a video recap of all the recent incidents in TNA. I believe that every weekly show should start with a video recap as weekly shows are about getting new viewers to your show so that they will buy the PPV so they need to know what is going on and your existing fan base needs to be reminded of recent events just in case they have forgotten something that happened or missed a recent episode.

Good booking of Lethal Lockdown feud

After my plea last week TNA have improved their booking of Lethal Lockdown and as per my suggestion they broke the feuds down in to singles and tag matches with AJ Styles & Tomko going up against Rhino & Cage whilst Sting headlined against James Storm. It was good to see James Storm getting a big push but they have to be careful not to do it at the expense of Tomko and Cage.

Use of Matt Morgan

This show was about pushing Matt Morgan which they did by featuring him in many segments throughout the show. All episode they had been building the fact that he was on Team Tomko’s side by letting them add Storm to their team for him to then turn on Storm in the main event as in his capacity as referee assisted Sting to the win and to rip off his Ref’s shirt to unveil his Team Cage T-Shirt. The storyline was telegraphed and you could see it happening a mile off but it was still good TV.

Bad Points

Superhero or Superidiot Eric Young

This is cringeworthy TV at best with the Eric Young segments. Now it’s bad enough that it takes up TV time but when they have him interrupting other people like Kurt Angle and ruining their segments. Now Eric is doing his best with this storyline but TNA need to find him something new and fast.

Lighting and Camera angle of backstage segments

This is something TNA need to improve on. Their backstage segments went from being overly bright to overly dark and back again throughout the show. The camera angles are also very interesting as throughout backstage segments the cameramen seem to want to be consistently changing angles with no direction or purpose. Changing the lighting or a camera angle for a reason is good production but this currently seems to be inconsistent at best.

Overall

A great show more of the same please TNA creative team just remember to work on production and try and keep us guessing.

TNA Impact Review - Thursday 13th March 2008

After a disappointing Destination X TNA had their first iMPACT since the PPV and the first on the road to Lockdown on April 13th. I was interested to see if TNA would get my enthusiasm back for the product and get me excited about Lockdown.

Good Points

Solid Opening

Now as most you know only a fraction of the viewers who watch a weekly wrestling TV show will stump up the money to buy a PPV. Now because of this a lot of fans who tuned in to your product the week before the PPV may not know what happened so to make sense for your TV viewers you have to use your first show back to really convey to the fans what happened and how these happenings have affected the storylines and feuds. So TNA were sensible to use Jim Cornette in the ring to let the fans know what was happening. This lead to him announcing a Lethal Lockdown match for the next PPV and that Christian Cage and Tomko would be captains. This is one heck of a push for Tomko which I did expect but makes the booking team stupid for having him lose the six man match for his team at Destination X.

Karen Angle back

Was great to see Karen Angle back and prove why she is such an important part of the entertainment side of TNA shows. Again she had the most entertaining segment when she confronted Kurt in the ring. She is really helping not only build herself but Kurt’s character to.

Team 3D win promo of the night

Like I said wrestling fans have short memories when it comes to bad matches and Team 3D gave a hilarious backstage segment which seems to have washed away that terrible match at Destination X. Hopefully they can push on from here and leave that disaster behind them.

Bad Points

TNA Knockouts turning in to WWE Divas

Just when the Knockouts division is starting to get some credibility they ruin it by having a stupid segment with Roxy getting a makeover. After one of the worst Knockouts matches since the division started at Destination X followed by this stupid segment TNA really need to be careful no to lose its credibility and its uniqueness.

LAX first they push them now they don’t

After a great PPV win LAX were booked to lose against up and coming tag team the Rock and Rave Infection. TNA had been sensible with LAX with giving them some time away from the main tag team feuds after being pushed hard for some time and now just when you think they have got it right they go and do this.

Where are Booker T, Robert Roode and Sharmell?

After being the semi main event at Destination X and with the return of Sharmell whipping everyone why aren’t they on TV the next week. You had a made storyline there as we wait to see if TNA will take any action over Sharmell’s whipping spree but no they are nowhere to be seen.

Pushing Lethal Lockdown over Angle vs. Samoa Joe

At a PPV your main event should be the heavyweight world title match. There are a few exceptions to this rule like Wrestlemania 18 when Rock vs. Hogan should have been the last match. The main event should be pushed ahead of everything else but this week it was segments to do with the Lethal Lockdown match which kicked off the show and ended the show.

Worst mess of an ending to a TV show.

This one are where TNA need to improve on big time. This week you had a clear ending which should have been 3D interfering to beat on Cage and Nash in their match against Tomko and AJ Styles. This would let us know that 3D were to be Tomko and AJ Styles partners for Lethal Lockdown and that should have been the end shot. Instead we went off air with 3D beating on a reality TV star who was in the audience. The only way this would make one scrap of sense is if this reality TV star is going to be Cage and Nash’s side which I can only hope isn’t the case.

TNA Destination X Review

Last Sunday saw TNA putting on their monthly offering but this time not from the Impact zone but from the Scope in Norfolk Virginia. I can’t wait until all TNA PPV’s are done from arenas which aren’t the Impact zone as I think it makes the PPV’s that much more special. Having a PPV from the same venue as your produce TV just gives the show a TV feel and not something special or worth paying money for.

Now going in to this I didn’t think much of the card but it is normally the events where I don’t expect much of the card that I go home enjoying the most so I went in with some hope. So with some hope inside of me this is what I thought of how it all went down.

Opening Video

I thought this was a lot better than TNA’s previous efforts with a simple but effective video. With some of the crazy videos they have put together with random footage and even more random ideas this video looked brilliant. Speaking of videos though they need to improve their videos that they put together to promo individual matches. On these videos they need to cut back on the amount of voiceovers they use and let the footage and the audio from commentators to tell the stories.

Highspots

Highspots have a place on a pay per view card and I think a match with some nice highspots is a good way to kick off a card and TNA did this with the three way tag match. The match was well executed and it was good to see LAX getting the win to re-establish themselves in the tag team scene. However with highspot matches you have to be careful not to over do them and put them back to back which is what we had with Destination X as the three way tag team match followed by the X-Division title match. The matches were that similar that they both featured a release powerbomb which isn’t the most commonly used move.

SoCal Val

The match between Jay Lethal and Petey Williams was instantly forgettable but the match did great things to develop SoCal Val’s character as Jay Lethal’s girlfriend. Being a face character and the partner of a face character she is expected to behave and act in a certain way. What they did at Destination X was interesting though as when Jay Lethal was pushed off the top rope by Scott Steiner and was about to be pinned Val took it upon herself to pull the referee to stop him from making the count. I know good guy wrestlers have done acts like this before but I thought it was interesting for a face female valet to do this.

Eric Young the Superhero

As expected Eric Young made his metamorphosis in to a superhero during his bout tagging with Kaz against Rellik and Black Reign. Now it is good in wrestling for the fans to be able to predict some of the things that are going to happen as people will tune in to see if they were right but I think Eric Young has been poorly handled in this one. Eric Young has been on a huge push over the last year in TNA I thought it would have made more sense in the long run to use this match for Eric young to finally show some courage and stand up against the monsters not to be put in a stupid costume and to then hit the ring with limited or little effect. Now if he turned in to a super hero with a good costume and hit the ring and made a huge impact then it would have at least given him something big to build on.

Fish Market Madness

Ok I like a bit of comedy in a wrestling show but you have to be careful that comedy doesn’t turn to look stupid and cringe worthy which is what happened in this match. I don’t think Team 3D, Curry Man or Fish Boy came out of the match with any credibility left. The great thing with wrestling is that moments like these are soon forgotten in the minds of wrestling fans so this match won’t have any long lasting affects on the combatants.

Knockouts not a knockout this month

Now you know I usually rave about the women’s division but I didn’t think it was up to it’s usual high standard at Destination X. It may just be that my expectations have got too high now with the Knockouts division but I hope they continue to try and raise the bar and not have too many outings like this one.

Robert Roode / Booker T

For a match with so much build and storyline for it only to go ten minutes and for those to be the least intense ten minutes of a strap match I have ever seen is very poor. It wasn’t until after the match that the intensity happened and that was thanks to Traci Brooks selling the lashes she received and then by Sharmell making her comeback b strapping everyone insight from security to James Cornette. Roode and Booker need to take a leaf out of the books of these two women when it comes to intensity.

Rhino vs Cowboy James Storm – Who came up with the idea for Elevation X?

I was not looking forward to this match on the card and it lived up to my low expectations. Normally the thing you can look forward to in these type of matches his a big bump at the end and after some time spent balancing above the ring James Storm finally climbed down as low as he could before he was finally pushed off by Rhino for an unexciting bump.

Does a six man work as a main event?

I for one am not a fan of having tag matches or six ways which aren’t for titles as main events. These type of matches have been used as main events for many TNA events and I don’t think many of them have worked. To get people to buy a PPV you need a strong main event which has a clear storyline and one person people want to see win and one they want to see lose. Now you knew Samoa Joe was going to get the win as they needed to push him for his title shot but to give him a great push they needed to have him pin Kurt Angle to put the thought in the fans mind that he can beat Angle. It made no sense for him to beat Tomko especially with what they could be planning to do with Tomko as this ending just made him look like the weakest link and not a possible future headline star.

Overall

There were no standout moments or standout matches that will live long in the memory. The show was well produced from a TV point of view but now they have that looking good they need to work on the content.

TNA Impact Review - Thursday 21st February 2008

TNA proved to this week on Impact that consistency is not their strong point when it comes to booking and creative direction of their shows.

Last week I praised TNA for the unpredictable nature of their show but this week unpredictability proved to be their downfall. Unpredictability only works when it makes sense in the storyline and for the individual characters. When we have swerves and character turns they only work and make sense if there is some build up to it. 

This week Impact kicked off with Kip James turning on BJ James and Bob Armstrong and costing them their chance of winning the tag titles from Styles and Tomko. There was no build up to this and no back story to it, the only thing TNA could do to make sense of it was to give Kip James promo time after the match but this incoherent ramble of a promo did nothing to build this storyline or to explain his actions to the fans.

This aside TNA are starting to push the right talent and about time to. AJ Styles has got a good storyline which may eventually lead to an AJ / Angle feud which would be awesome and would free up Tomko to work with Christian. Booker T was booked in the main event against Angle which may have made no sense but it is good to see Booker being booked in the main event even if it is only on Impact and they used it well to build up his PPV match with Robert Roode. Then finally we had the continuing push of Black Machismo Jay Lethal who again got a good amount of TV time for an in ring segment developing his relationship with Val and building up his character.

It was good to see that the Dudley Boys have moved on to other feuds away from the X-Division championship as I for one can’t wait to see the return of the high flying X-Division style of matches we have come accustom to.

TNA  are trying to make their shows feel different to WWE shows with the handycam style footage of happenings that go on outside the venue like this week it was Karen Angle and AJ Styles on their supposed honeymoon. I’m not too sure if I like this as I am so use to the WWE style of filming outside happenings but I do like to see companies trying to be different and original.

All in all a good show and we now have some more confirmed matches for Destination X with Petey Williams winning a shot at the X-Division title and the Booker T vs. Robert Roode match. This is one area that TNA has to improve on as it needs to get it’s PPV matches and feuds announced and set in stone as early as possible to build a great PPV that people are interested in.

Ticket information for TNA’s First Ever UK tour

America’s fastest growing wrestling promotion TNA will present its hugely anticipated, first ever, UK tour in June of this year. Featuring the top stars from their hit show on Bravo TV, the “UK Impact Tour” will make three stops around the country.

* On Friday June 13th the TNA crew will make their first stop in the North of England when they storm the Liverpool Olympia with their debut UK show. Doors will open at 6pm with a 7pm bell time.

* On Saturday June 14th the boys and girls of Total Non Stop Action Wrestling will be in the Midlands as they tear the house down at the Coventry Skydome for the largest of the three events. Once again doors open at 6pm with a 7pm bell time. Plans are also in place to hold a special TNA Fanfest event during the day in Coventry city centre with more details to follow shortly.

* The whirlwind tour will conclude on Sunday June 15th for TNA’s fans in the South of the country with a special matinee performance at the Brentwood International Centre in Essex. Doors will open at 4pm with a 5pm bell time.

The full list of stars appearing for this tour, along with the matches taking place will be announced exclusively in the Daily Star newspapers, Fighting Talk columns every Friday over the coming months.

Ticket information

Tickets are priced at £65 Gold Ringside, £50 Silver Ringside, £35 Bronze Ringside and then at £25, £20 and £15 for all other seats.

Tickets go on sale on Monday March 10th and are available on line at www.tnawrestling.com or by calling the individual venue box offices on the numbers below:

Liverpool Olympia Box Office: 0151 263 6633

Coventry Skydome Box Office: 02476 630 693

Brentwood International Centre Box Office: 01277 262 616

To keep up to date with all the most recent happenings in TNA and to find out the latest UK tour news, check out the official TNA website at www.tnawrestling.com

Don’t forget that you can watch the latest episodes of TNA “Impact” every Saturday night at 9pm on Bravo.

TNA - Against All Odds 2008

Last weekend TNA (Total Nonstop Action) presented their annual Against All odds on PPV across America. Us unfortunate souls in the UK had to wait until Wednesday for our first chance to see the show on Bravo with an hours worth of adverts thrown in to boot. One thing I will say though is Bravo are getting better at the positioning of their advert breaks so not to annoy wrestling fans too much.

When Bravo first started airing TNA events they would cut in to matches with adverts as regardless of what was happening they would go to adverts every fifteen minutes or so like they would for their standard programming but now they will wait until the match is finished to go to their break. It means now you can have two advert breaks in the space of ten minutes but it beats advert breaks happening during the matches.

Now to the show itself, looking at the card I didn’t think it was as strong as other cards that TNA have put out over the last twelve months but after viewing the event I thought it was one of the strongest outings to date. Instead of going through match by match giving my critiques I am going to now take you through what in my opinion the high points and low points of the event were.

High Points

The TNA Knockouts Division

TNA’s answer to the WWE Divas are a breath of fresh air. Ok the first women’s match on the card Traci Brooks vs. Payton Banks wasn’t the best but it was more than made up for by the Amazing Kong vs. O.D.B match for the Women’s title. What is great about the TNA Knockouts division is that the girls have interesting characters and are given TV time to get interesting storylines across and are putting on some really good matches. In the WWE the girls are very generic and seem to be used just to appease the male audience with the very occasional decent match which since Trish and Lita departed have become even fewer and far between. Women’s wrestling is on the up around the world with all female promotions like Shimmer and Chickfight showcasing some great female wrestlers and TNA are cashing in.

Timing

One very important thing in TNA wrestling events which I feel has been missing is timing. Over my years of watching TNA I have seen a share of good and bad matches but I feel many have suffered from poor timing especially match endings. I have watched many matches thinking it can’t be over yet or I wasn’t expecting that. A good 5 minute, 10 minute or 30 minute match can be ruined by a bad ending. In many cases it has been matches going home to early or just not spending time to build a finish which the crowd are in to and will react to. A poor finish can really affect the standing of the wrestler doing the job and hurt his character going forward. At Against All Odds I thought this was much improved and I really enjoyed the endings to most of the matches on the card.

Another timing issue has been the TNA trademark of making sure every match lasts 8 – 12 minutes with the main event going 20 minutes. Over the years their events have become like clockwork to the point where you have known when a match was going to end before the end happened. In recent events though I have seen slight improvements to this with varied match timings which kept me as a viewer more interested in the event as the viewer wants to be kept on the edge of their seat not knowing when a match is going to end.

Pushing Non Ex-WWE talent

Whenever there is a promotion trying to raise up and take on the WWE their will always be fans who criticise their use of Ex-WWE stars and the way in which they stop young up and coming talent from making a name for themselves. Now I will talk more about this in the low points but here I want to talk about what TNA is doing right.

Christian Cage and Kurt Angle may have been main eventing but it was Black Machismo Jay Lethal who received the biggest push of the night after being put on as the last match before the main event he was pushed strong as almost single handily he beat the team of 3D and Johnny Devine recapturing the TNA X-Division Title in the process. As well as Jay Lethal we had Robert Roode who was in the official semi-main event working against Booker T. To be put in what looks to be an ongoing storyline with a former WWE and WCW champion and the latest addition to the TNA roster is a huge vote of confidence by the TNA board.

Karen Angle

Since Karen Angle (Kurt Angle’s wife) was added to the TNA active roster the entertainment side of the show and the backstage segments have improved ten-fold. Kurt Angle is a great promo guy but it is Karen who has made the backstage and locker room segments entertaining and Kurt’s character work has improved with her addition to the show.

Low Points

Production

The one thing that needs to improve is the camera work and the vision mixing of the show. Wrestling is one of the hardest forms of entertainment to film and produce but the WWE and WCW back in its prime showed how it should be done. Whoever is doing the vision mixing for TNA needs to stop changing cameras every two seconds and needs to stop choosing shots before they are ready. As a viewer we want to escape into the world that is that wrestling show. When a camera is at a wrong angle or moving and zooming whilst they are live it bring us out of that world we are trying to escape into. Another thing the production team need to work on is there crowd shots. Yes if the crowd is reacting get them on camera but if you have a shot of a crowd where half the people in the front row are reacting and half of them out it can spoil the moment.

Video segments, promos and vignettes are another side of production that need to be improved upon. The opening video of the show should be more about setting the theme for the nights show not about promoting specific matches. TNA opening video packages seem to be cluttered and don’t give you a strong idea of a theme for the show to come. Promo videos before each match are an important part of the show for those that are watching on PPV to build their anticipation for the match. The problem I have with TNA promo videos is that they seem to be more about creating an awesome highlight package instead of a video which shows you the history leading up to the match and gets you emotionally involved in the match which is to follow.

Use of Booker T

Booker T is the Chris Jericho of TNA after having a lot invested in to him when he came in he was moved out of the main event picture as quickly as possible. Now the Ex-WWE stars should be used to build TNA stars but it needs to be done in a way that makes sense. It should be guys like Christian Cage that are used to leave Booker T to have a run with Angle whilst he still has that impact so that he is kept strong so he is then in a good position to build TNA stars.

Barbed Wire Massacre

Ok Wrestlemania II made history for being broadcast from multiple arenas but to have one match on a card taped from another arena I think takes away from the show and gets you out of the live environment. Whilst Against All Odds came live from South Carolina Barbed wire Massacre came from the Impact Zone in Florida. The match itself was one of the worst of the night. Judas Mesias still has a lot to prove and I for one am getting bored of Abyss getting booked in random hardcore matches every month. It seems that TNA hype these matches up as near death experiences for the wrestlers which turn out to be terrible matches with a couple of spots. TNA needs to stop booking hardcore matches as spot fests but to book them as solid matches with psychology and spots which make sense.

Use of Samoa Joe

After spending months building Samoa Joe as the top TNA made wrestler to have him in a non wrestling role on a PPV makes no sense and is a waste of talent. To have Samoa Joe not wrestling and to have three out of four of the competitors in the two main events be Ex-WWE stars I think shows very short term thinking.

Conclusion

The most important thing that TNA needed to improve on they have and that’s there timing. No promotion is ever going to have a perfect show, the moment promotions and critics think a show is perfect then they will stop trying to improve or stop expecting better. You will never be able to please every wrestling fan but if you can make that fan care enough to like or dislike part of your show then you are doing a great job.

I for one am enjoying watching the development of TNA and am looking forward to this weeks Impact.