I wish Global Impact had been an hour so we could have seen some of the matches! I really enjoyed that Angle match, largely because I haven't followed that title he was defending and had no idea how that match was going to play out. And the fact that the match was very watchable speaks volumes for both of the competitors. It really came off well!

Impact was junk but at least I know what the bottom of the deep blue sea looks like. What a joke. And Kaz mixing it up with Dustin Rhodes or whatever he is these days...dumb. Overall unwatchable save for the triple threat elimination match. They are darn lucky the New Japan element had me sticking around or I would have tuned out and fast.

TNA is confused (and eventually confuse us too), being in the middle of agreat dilema. At first, it used to be some sort of ROH but a bit more massive. from then, they change into a more "WWE" style, with storylines at things like that. But later, they realized that nobody cares about their storylines, so they add some vicious matches to the formula (look at the poor abyss who is involved in hardcore matches since the very beginning and nobody cares at all about him...)
It is sad and confusing.
I never was a guy who payed too much attention to the storylines, but after sending Somoa Joe's character to the graveyard (along with Angle and maybe Styles), now I realize how healthy or not can be a Storyline to the business.

oh kevin, as a tna (wcw) supporter, everytime i read your comments about their broadcasts i find myself having to side with you. c'mon shark boy ??? instead of more shark boy how 'bout more ms. brooks ? i would rather watch old you-tube matches (which i do) than watch vince mcmahon however.

It's just like the late heyday of WCW. You knew they had the talent to turn their storylines around, and every so often they would show glimpses of achievement. Then Buff Bagwell's mom would challenge Rick Steiner to a match and I'd throw up in my mouth. Stupid TNA.

man, maybe I am crazy but I couldn't stop laughing at the shark boy skits. it's weird you find garbage like odb funny but not the shark boy gimmick.

It really is a horrible promotion run by egomaniacs. The worse it gets - the more watch. The new kids today have never seen wrestling. They think TNA is wrestling.

Okay-I am so tired of everyone ragging on TNA for using comedy. These are the same people that rag on WWE all the time for adding personality to their characters and using comedy. Hey, I know, why don't we just go back the black and white days of cigar filled arenas and watch snooze fests of out of shape middle aged men in underwear apply sleeper holds? That'd be much more entertaining than...you know, actually being entertained, right? Dear God, get a sense of humor. It's pro wrestling, not the olympic games.

I have been in television for 22 years now, and if you didn't understand the Sharkboy skits, then I apologize on behalf of your education, and your parents.

Just because you are too dimwitted to understand comedy, does not mean that it must be condemned.

To compare brilliantly funny Sharkboy skits to angles like "Katie Vick" and the like from the incredulously disrespectful WWE is disgustingly off base.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: You're "in television" and you think the Shark Boy skits were brilliant? I guess that explains why much of the programming on television stinks.

The was nothing wrong with Impact, if anything there's something wrong with you. TNA is in that crossroads of having to appeal to kids, to so called know it alls (idiots who think ROH is worth a dime), WWE fans and casual fans. And it continues to show why that worthless piece of garbage Samoa Joe isn't in the leauge of a legend like Kevin Nash.

As the author states, using comedy is good, but it has to be funny. I guess if you've got the emotional maturity level of a five year old like Vinny Russo, then you'd find that material funny... To use a Seinfeld reference, the episode where George says a funny line, gets a laugh, and then leaves before he overstays his welcome should be the ideal for TNA. A joke can be funny, but don't beat it into the ground.

I did find the fact that many of the Japanese fans were confused by Abyss was humorous - when I first saw him, my first thought was "Wow, a really bad Kane impersonator". Nice to see the fans in the Far East had the same thought.

It's like Eric Bischoff has stated - the reason WCW did so well against WWE was because they offered a product at first that McMahon and co. were not delivering. Doing what the other guys are doing and doing it badly is not going to give them the ratings and attendance they want.

Let me say this wrestling is what Ring of Honor brings. A few skits that lead into a wrestling match, but the skits do not and I repeat DO NOT insult the intelligence of people with common sense. Mark Henry and Mae Young was funny-dumb, Howard Finkel as Chris Jericho's lackey was funny-dumb, Sharkboy skit was extremly funny-dumb, but at what expense? Understand that in wrestling junk like what TNA pulled caused Chris Harris, Senshi, and very shortly Samoa Joe to leave the company. People came to see entertaining wrestling, not a entertaining television show. You can entertain with wrestling more than having a grown man dressed like a shark, and have him wear bandages like he's Sabu. The original entertaining of wrestling should be a class, to show how The Rock and Stone Cold made wrestling entertaining, or how Taz the original Taz made ECW look like they took no prisoners against anyone or their mother. TNA had the concept going perfect in the beginning but now its like they told the best talent in the world to go play instead of putting on an entertaining story telling wrestling match that automatically creates skits. TNA like WCW will be the cause of there own death if this continues, and I hope not, because WWE bores me so badly that they should ban Smackdown! from cable television, I'd rather watch the NWA showcase, as boring as that was, than to watch Smackdown! A future warning for TNA, stop the crap, or thats what you'll become in the end.

It was the largest viewing audience for Impact ever. So while wrestling fans don't really care for it, more people are watching.

TNA is in that crossroads of having to appeal to kids, to so called know it alls (idiots who think ROH is worth a dime),

Nice post Mr. Russo!!!!

Other then the triple threat, the only good part of the TNA episode was Senshi vs. Kaz, and the stupid announcers wouldn't even talk about what was happening. They kept talking about the Shark Boy/ AJ Styles crap and completely ignored a very entertaining match.

I'll be honest, I watched Impact (mainly to watch Global Impact after it), and I thought with the exception of the Triple Threat Main Event, that it was garbage. Kevin, I agree with you on plenty of points. The Shark Boy skits reminded me of the Craptacular "Dr. Heinie" and "Mae Young Gives Birth" segments that have appeared on RAW. Now, there is a place for Comedy in wrestling, and that's why I like characters like Santino Marella. What TNA is doing with Shark Boy is a shame though, because if you read the spoilers for what's going to air this week, you're going to shake your head.

The problem with TNA Wrestling is that Vince Russo and Dirty Dutch Mantell aren't the great "writers" that they think they are. Russo was only a success in WWE because he had to answer to Vince McMahon, unlike TNA and WCW, where he basically did what he wanted to.

Then again, TNA really hasn't been 100% about putting on a good wrestling product. After all, this is the promotion that had a Midget masturbating in a Garbage Can on one of their first ever shows.

All TNA is filled with WWE copy cats
like abyss trying to be like Kane and Jay lethal trying to be like Randy savage and that idiot shark boy tryin to be like "stone Cold " i mean please give me a break.....