TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 17th July 2008

After a terrible Victory Road I was interested to see how TNA were going to turn things round. TNA are erratic at the moment they aren’t consistently good and they aren’t consistently bad so here’ hoping this was going to be a good week.

Good Points

Great Booker T / Samoa Joe Promos

After a duff main event at Victory Road these guys really pulled out all the stops tonight. Great in ring and backstage promos throughout with a brilliant ending. Again no in ring action for Joe but he made up for it on the mic.

Unpredictability

I know it’s my favourite word but TNA had it in spades tonight as first three men get out a limo with Sting masks who we later find out to be Kurt Angle and Team 3-D then we have Beer Money going around beating on anyone fans, production crew and visitors to Universal. All really good stuff very reminiscent of NWO days.

Push for Matt Morgan

There was a great push for Morgan as he beat both members of the Rock and Rave Infection. Next they just need to give a one on one feud for a PPV and see from there.

Bad Points

No Sting

After his actions at Victory Road I personally would have started the show with him but to not have him on the show at all is criminal. I know TNA have to use him sparingly but it just seems to be the case that TNA are doing that with too many guys at the moment like Abyss, Angle, Joe etc.

Lack of consistency

After not doing much for a while Eric Young was thrust back on to our screens and after not being on the PPV Consequences Creed was in the main event on iMPACT. Yes you can’t highlight all your roster at the same time but when your not highlighting someone you need to keep them around and involved so when you want to push them back in to the spotlight the crowds aren’t scratching their heads to think of the last time they did something.

Overall

On millions time better than the PPV and it was free. The backstage, segments, promos and in ring mic time really stole the show tonight which it should on a TV show. After feeling gloomy about TNA I finally see light again but saying that next week I could be back in gloom again.

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 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 28th February 2008

The show got off to a great start with a backstage segment featuring the continuing breakdown of Karen and Kurt Angle’s marriage. Kurt is really doing well at trying to make himself the top heel in the promotion which is hard for him considering how many fans he has. The first in ring segment was the right storyline to push next which was the Booker T / Robert Roode feud. Unfortunately though after Booker T called Robert out it was Payton banks that made her way down to ringside to slap Booker with Traci Brooks making the save. It was a good idea to build the Booker T can’t hit a woman like Robert Roode side of the storyline but it was poorly executed with the segment leaving the focus on the girls and no Booker & Roode.

I’m loving the 3D weight loss storyline at the moment. At first I was annoyed with their invasion in to the X-Division but now that they are away from the title and playing comedy heels instead of angry heels it works a lot better. Their out of ring segments which follow them trying to lose weight backstage and during the week are hilarious.

The two storylines which I’m not in to at the moment are the Eric Young monsters angle and the James Storm / Rhino feud. I think the Eric young being scared of Rellik and Black Reign storyline could get interesting if he decides to take on a superhero alter-ego but if not done right could look very bad. With the James Storm / Rhino storyline I am not buying James Storm’s work. What should be an intense feud has got too much comedy in it with Storm’s fear of heights and his drinking championship matches whereas Rhino is playing this feud with the intensity its back story deserves.

After the poor start to the continuation to the Booker T / Robert Roode feud it ended well on the night with Robert Roode finally making getting inside the venue. At first this didn’t make any sense as he had been running from Booker T for the last couple of weeks as a villain should so to actually come to the venue made no sense for me. The ending was superb though with Robert Roode handcuffing Booker T and laying a beat down in the ring on him until security broke it up. The only problem with this intense finish is that thy need to continue at this same level of intensity up until their PPV match or this night will be lost.

The main event wasn’t much to write home about. What Nash is doing in a main event I will never know but at least it was a non title bout with Kurt. So overall a solid outing with nothing spectacular for TNA this week.