I, for one, never liked Martel even going back to his Strike Force days. I always liked watching Santana, and it always killed me that he was in a fcae team with Martel. I was so glad when they finally broke up, and then Martel had to go and don that god-awful model gimmick and make me like him even less.

I hated hearing the beautiful people use the phrase "mark". They need to keep wrestle lingo out of the shows. Plus Mark is my first name and its used as a derogatory way in rap music and wrestling. Why not call them "phils" or "steves" or even "kevins", no it's gotta be "mark".

I thought the Taylor Wilde/Kong match was the best of the night and the most shocking. But I see Kong winning the belt back Sunday.
The main event match was centered around Styles and Angle. But it is nice to see the Knockouts get more air time than the Diva's do in WWE.
I was kinda shocked that Booker T mentioned Rick Martel. I kinda even forgotten about him. I remember him and Tito Santana being tag team partners for awhile, I think they were champions at one point but not really sure.
No Kevin Nash was not even on Impact this week, not really sure why either.
It was nice to see Sting back and he even challenged the winner in the next PPV.
Other than that it wasn't much of a show. The parking lot brawl didn't do much for me. James Storm supposedly dressed as Hernandez never fooled me for a second.
I can't get into the World X Cup

I don't think it made sense to have Booker talk about who he had beaten. Besides the mentioning of Martel why mention guys like Austin and Jericho who are known for their exploits outside of TNA, especially when those exploits include WWE. It makes TNA look inferior, especially since Booker ignored Joe beating Angle and being the first champ to win King of the Mountain.

Initially, when the World X Cup began it was a very big thing for the company. The first two were always the best since they had talents that performed on a high level every time. Hector Garza was hands down the best person to watch when TNA started the X Cup. But now, everything isn't as good. The matches while filled with things that make you go "Wow that was a cool move" have no real lasting effect, so as a result you don't care as much about the tournament because once the match it over you're not going to remember a thing they did in the match. That's just me but I think if they gave the wrestlers the good amount of time they have for a tournament match then people will give a damn about it. Also, they could run the battle royal with international stars to lay out the teams or something. Just seems a bit bland now and there's nothing worth remembering or caring about.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I agree with you. All the great spots don't mean anything unless there is some context or reason to care about what ther are fighting for. TNA hasn't made the X Cup seem important this year.

During the “Rough Cuts” segment, Kurt Angle said that Matt Morgan has the talent to be “an attraction,” not just a “main-eventer.” He said the difference is that an attraction is so over that he doesn’t need the title. If you read between the lines, Angle basically is saying that he’s the real star regardless of who has the title. I agree with him, but I don’t think it’s wise to say it within the context of the show. …

But this would not just be true for Kurt, but it would likewise be true for Sting.

Plus Mark is my first name and its used as a derogatory way in rap music and wrestling. Why not call them "phils" or "steves" or even "kevins", no it's gotta be "mark".

I think it doesn't originate from your first name, but rather it's from mark as in "target". Since wrestling lingo is original carny lingo, I think that mark comes from that. A mark = an easy target to be fooled.

They forecast the new girl winning the belt from a mile away. The second she beat Cheerleader Melissa everybody knew what was going to happen.

Also- why does it seem like everyone in TNA has the exact same entrance music?

I know WWE's girls aren't all angels, but does TNA go out of their way to find female wrestlers who look like skanks?

Kevin, great column as always.

I have to disagree with Mr. E. Maybe I remember a little further back into the AWA Title days, but Martel was a good worker. True he was a sugary sweet, doughy headed baby face champ in the AWA, but he was certainly more accomplished as a wrestler than say Greg Gagne.

I choose to ignore Strike Force, but Girls in Cars was a fantastic theme song.

As far as his model gimmick, that worked on so many levels and was great only because Rick Martel on the mic and in the ring made it so. Just think of all the great gimmicks that haven't panned out, Disco Inferno for one. If that guy had Rick Martel's abilities I think that gimmick would have been fantastic.

Who doesn't enjoy the "sweet smell of arrogance"?

I think people appreciate Rick Matel less as time has faded. He was the AWA World Champion for a year and a half (July 1984 to December 1985) back when that promotion was considered to be at least the third major wrestling company. He put on some great matches during that period including some classic title vs. title contests against Ric Flair during the AWA/NWA Pro Wrestling USA tour.

Rick Martel and Tito Santana were very good as Strike Force and had an nice feud against the Hart Foundation. They were easily one of the better tag teams of the late 1980s. The Model was a funny gimmick but really illustrates the big problem the WWF had in those days as far as what to do with so many former champions like Martel, "Rugged" Ronnie Garvin, and "Mister Perfect" Curt Hennig.

Back to the IC Belt chatter if allowed:

Regarding the 6/2/87 night in Buffalo when Steamboat lost the title, that card was advertised there hard saying how Hogan would be in the main event, the TV cameras would be there and the card would be so great the opening bout would be Jim Duggan vs. Nikolai Volkoff (obviously several jobber matches that weren't publicized took place in the middle since they were filming Superstars).

Unfortunately, Duggan and the Iron Shiek were arrested together for drugs right before that so Duggan was replaced (I'm not sure - it's not in my notes - but it might have been by a pro-USA Ken Patera).

Also that evening was the first day as a WWE employee for one Shawn Michaels. Although he did not get in a match, he and Marty got into it with Jimmy Jack Funk after the show at a local hotel which led to their firing a short time afterwards.

If only one positive came out of last nights show it was the chance to see A.J. Styles wrestle again . Regardless of the outcome of his matches , I always find him entertaining to watch . He's becoming a favorite of mine .
The parking lot brawl didn't do much for me , heck that's a nightly occurance up there in Dundalk at just about any Mickey D's isn't it KE ?
I'm envious of Jeremy Borash for getting a chance to spot Velvet Sky while doing squats . It seems that if I ever spot someone they weigh 300 lbs. or smell , oh wait , thats Samoa Joe .
Speaking of Samoa Joe , I'm thinking of going on a self - imposed boycott of watching TNA until :
1). Samoa Joe loses title
2). Samoa Joe loses weight
3). Samoa Joe loses that necklace back to Kevin .

Big Whiskey : AWA , now those were the days . Never could take Greg Gagne too seriously . AWA couldn't be all that bad if it had a champion named Nick Bockwinkle .

Karen Angle and Velvet Skye are certainly not "skanks".

Kev , I know you were just joking about possibly missing some of TNA program because of flipping back and forth to a baseball game . Surely, you would not have missed anything if it was WWE .
I know I'm guilty lately of changing the channel myself , and I'm supposed to be a TNA supporter . We all think that you are suffering through those 2 hrs. so that you can give us a summary of this crap :)
To add insult to injury it was an O's / Jay's game . At least I switch to reruns of the Beverly Hillbillies .

I know most of you won't agree with this, but at this very moment, what I really dig about TNA is - god forbid - Kip James! He exudes the exact type of confidence and pomp necessary for an egotistic heel, and in these terms, I feel he's the most functional package on Impact right now. Apart from Kevin Nash, perhaps, the rest of the cast is a mess: They've failed with Tomko, they've been bungling up AJ Styles, and they're failing with Joe...

Anyhow, the "it" factor necessary for a good heel (or a character anyhow!) just pours from every pore he has (and with him wearing those annoyingly small pants, that's a lot) and calling him the "Megastar" - per his history in WWE - perfectly accentuates his positives.

To be honest, apart from Santino Marella maybe, I don't think there's anyone else with such a perfectly annoying aura in both WWE or TNA.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I do agree with you about Kip James. I wrote a while back that he was playing the character very well.

Samson - Kip James is just another example of TNA not recognizing and using the talent they have.