A minimal Impact

Well tonight is the culmination of a big weekend of wrestling. The future of the industry will no doubt be shaped by what has gone on by both the WWE returning to USA and TNA finally getting a non-PPV showcase for its talent (I dont count the Fox Sports deal because they stuck the damn show on in the middle of the afternoon when most of us who would have watched it were at work). Whether or not there will be any real competiton for WWE will be determined over the next few years.

So with the WWE returning home and pulling out all the stops (the only superstar NOT invited back seems to be Doink The Clown though I think Dink will be there) it seems like the show tonight will at least be entertaining and if Angle/Michaels and Hardy/Edge do even half as good as they did at their last matches then this will be a pretty damn good show indeed. So that just leaves TNA to make its mark on Spike TV. Granted they were only replacing Velocity so the legacy is not too strong, but in my opinion this was an important show for TNA and it didn't come close to doing what it needed to do.

This was basic cable TV exposure for a company that people could only see on the net or on PPV. You didnt have to buy a PPV or even order a sports channel package. You just had to remember to watch the show. So what do they go out and do? Present a show with a big "Mehhhh" They didn't throw in any special effort and this was a time where they needed to really go all out.

What I would have done was start the show with a prime time 2 hour exposure..have some big matches...show off the full roster of talent and set up the next PPV. You have to make a big impression and show off why this company is a viable alternative to WWE. They didn't do that to me and if I was a new fan just flipping channels, I wasn't given a reason to stick around.

Now I did like a few things I saw and I will be tuning in again next week and subsequent weeks. It's likely I will be a regular TNA viewer, but they need to do a zippier show to start getting me ordering their PPVs.

Here's what did work for me...

1. The return of the Dudleyz or whatever the hell they're calling themselves this week. They're a great tag team and know just how to get a crowd jumping. It was a mistake by WWE to let them go and their loss is undoubtably TNA's gain. The run in was strong and sets up what should be a good fued for the belts between them and Americas Most Wanted.

2. Scott D'Amore. I'm sure Evil will correct me if I spelled that name wrong, but I do love this guy. I remember him from the few episodes of TNA I saw on FSNY and he makes a great impression. You gotta have a fun heel like him to juice up the company and he's got a great look, good mike skills and real talent at getting a reaction. I can easily get into seeing this character wreak havoc plus I have been told by regular TNA viewers that he's a hell of a booker.

3. Jeff Hardy. Not a great match. But good God did I miss him. I'm a big Matt Hardy fan. I'm an even bigger Jeff Hardy fan. I love seeing him fly around the ring. Seeing him is enough to get me marking out.

4. The X-Division in general. I love the idea of seeing these guys fly around the ring doing high impact moves and doing everything Vince is not letting the cruiserweights do. I've heard nothing but good things and I want to see this division in action.


What didn't work for me...

1. The end. Ooooooh a Jeff Jarrett/Kevin Nash feud...And this company wants to be taken seriously? They want me to shell out my money to order a PPV headlined by two guys whose prime was 10 years ago ("Some of these guys never had a prime."). I mean wow...all we gotta do is bring out Scott Steiner and humiliate Ric Flair on a weekly basis and it's WCW all over again. I know people say that the XDivision will ultimately take the main event spot from the heavyweight division but in your first show on a new network they let the lasting image be Nash/Jarrett. Not even HHH on his worst 20 minute "I am the best" promo day can screw a company's booking the way Jarrett has with TNA.

2. AJ Styles. All I have heard over and over again is how awesome he is. How incredible he is. How visionary he is. How "phenominal" he is. Well that may well be true. In fact I'm sure it is. HOWEVER...they sure didn't show it off in their big exposure night. They buried him at the top of the show and didn't even let him have a good match. They should be showcasing this guy. He should be the #1 superstar in the company. Now I'm sure they do push him and I know the PPVs are often showcases for his talent...but you need to hook viewers with his talent, not shove it to the side on a big debut night. Let him have a PPV caliber match. Have people calling each other and buzzing on the net "Holy shit! You see what AJ did? I better tune in next week or I might miss something." They need to do a better job in future weeks to excite a new fanbase about this talent.

3. Monty Brown. See above. Sighhh...blink and you miss it. Weird promo. Squash match. Plus I am not sold on that finisher. The Pounce is supposed to level opponents and it doesn't even look as effective as The Clothesline From Hell. They did not push a guy with anything to make him appear like a presence in the ring. Very disappointing. I couldn't even tell if I was supposed to be rooting for him or not.

4. The pace of the show. Jesus, take a friggin breath. Too fast paced. I'm not saying you need to spend 25 minutes doing boring promos or stupid Diva search segments, but pause for a second and let viewers get up to speed. They're cramming too much in. This show really needs to be two hours to properly show off the roster. Otherwise you have no chance to get into the pace of a match. A great match isnt all high spots. You have to build to them and let the pace evolve. This show moved too briskly to allow anyone a chance to care.

5. The announcers. Don West and some guy whose name I can't remember. When the only thing you can say about an announcing team is 'Well they're better than Tony Schiavonne" then you have a problem. Shane Douglas in one interview showed more personality than either of these two. Going with these two schmucks when Joey Styles was available (a situation which obviously has changed) showed poor long term thinking this past spring.

6. That stupid ring. I hate that six sided ring. It's dumb. It serves no purpose except to look weird. I always thought TNA had a the look of AAA baseball compared to the big leagues of WWE and that ring is the main reason.

Well I'm done complaining now. I liked some of what I saw and I'm ready to like more...but they have to make these shows better or else this is never going to work and there won't be any competition to WWE.


Oh and one more thing...I was promised Gail Kim! WHERE THE HELL WAS GAIL KIM???? (full disclosure, I did flip over to SNL and might have missed her).


That is all...