Front Line takes more steps back on TNA Impact
Last week I asked whether The Front Line still existed. After watching last night’s episode of Impact, I found out that it does. Now the question is: Should it?
I vote no. Just put The Front Line out of its misery and disband it. The original idea behind the formation of the group was to elevate some of the younger talent in TNA, but Front Line members such as Jay Lethal, Eric Young and Consequences Creed were better off before this story line began. Being in The Front Line certainly didn’t do much for Petey Williams’ career either.
The Front Line was supposed to be a group of young guys trying to seize the torch from the veterans trying to keep them down, but it’s become a bunch of random babyfaces with various levels of experience joining forces.
It has been established that the only way The Main Event Mafia will be brought down is if the group self-destructs, and that the young guys in TNA pose no threat whatsoever. When the babyfaces do gain an advantage on the MEM, it’s usually due to authority figures Jeff Jarrett and Mick Foley and Team 3-D, all veterans and former stars in WWE and/or WCW.
Last night’s show was a perfect example. The premise was that Jarrett suspended Kurt Angle for Angle’s attack on him and Foley last week, and he took Angle’s lost wages and used it to buy expensive suits for Lethal, Young and Creed. An irate Angle then vowed to take back what was his.
Creed and Lethal looked like a million bucks in their new duds, but then they were beaten up and humiliated by Angle, who did exactly what he said he would do. As Angle pounded on Creed and ripped up his clothes, he shouted “you’re nothing” at him. I couldn’t disagree.
Creed and Lethal wouldn’t have looked so pathetic if Angle had attacked them from behind, used a weapon or had help from other MEM members, but he took them out in one-on-one confrontations. At least Young was able to exchange punches with Angle before security broke it up.
Angle didn’t get the last laugh, though. Jarrett got the better of him in a street fight and literally threw him out of the building. The final scene was of Jarrett, Foley and Team 3-D standing tall in the ring.
It’s clear that this is a feud between two factions of established stars (including Samoa Joe and A.J. Styles, who were main-eventing pay-per-views prior to this story line). That’s fine. But it’s a shame that the guys who were supposed to benefit from the program are getting buried instead.
Other thoughts on last night’s show:
TNA must really have contempt for its audience. That’s the only explanation I can come up with for viewers having to sit through more than an hour of Mike Tenay and Don West bickering. The bright side is that West walked off for the second straight week, leaving the very capable Tenay to handle the commentary by himself. I also have to give credit to Tenay for his awesome facial expressions. …
After years of favoring the babyfaces, West suddenly is backing the heels. Why? I thought his beef was just with Tenay. Maybe West will end up giving up his announcing gig to become an authority figure (you can never have too many) like Mike Adamle did in WWE. Nah, Vince Russo would never rehash an angle from another company. …
After Jarrett announced that Angle had been suspended and barred from the building, Angle just walked into the building and spent the rest of the night beating up people. Makes about as much sense as outside interference in an empty arena match. …
Beer Money’s Off the Wagon Challenge doesn’t make much sense either. The idea that wrestlers would risk their careers for one chance to become tag team champions is a bit of a stretch. Wouldn’t it be wiser to just stay employed and try to earn a title shot? It’s especially absurd that LAX took the challenge last night. For starters, Hernandez and Homicide both have shots at singles titles that they can cash in at any time, and beyond that, they are one of the best teams in TNA, so they’ll get a shot at the tag titles at some point anyway. …
It takes a lot of trust – along with a lot of guts – on Homicide’s part to allow Hernandez to give him the Border toss over the top rope onto two opponents on the floor. …
I still can’t believe Samoa Joe is putting a machete to Scott Steiner’s throat. There’s only one way to settle a feud this intense – a machete-on-a-pole match. By the way, why did the cops arrest Styles for stealing Booker T.’s title belt but not Samoa Joe for threatening to slit Steiner’s throat? …
I’m not sure I understand why Foley owes Sting a debt of gratitude because Foley dropped an elbow on him 17 years ago. …
Kevin Nash did a nice job on the mic. He’s very good in his role as the guy trying to rationalize things when Sting has an issue with Angle or the MEM. …
Matt Morgan looked good in the ring and he also cut a decent promo. …
I got a chuckle out of Lethal, decked out in his suit, doing an impression of Ric Flair and cutting a wild-eyed, hyper promo before morphing back into his Randy Savage impersonator gimmick. …
Lauren’s acting during the Angle-Young scuffle was more brutal than the scuffle.
Comments
I truly do feel sorry for the frontline Members. I think Shane O Mac needs to move to TNA and join Frontline because Shane O Mac is booked stronger than most of the frontline members of TNA.Shane can probably take Kurt Anhle and Steiner out at the same time like he did with legacy :) just a thought
Posted by: Zane | March 6, 2009 7:27 AM
i def. feel the blahzay attitude of TNA. Do you think they really have any chance of becoming a superstar organization? Or are they just dying a slow, slow death?
Posted by: josh | March 6, 2009 7:40 AM
Kevin , since Vince Russo has a propensity of stealing or re-using ideas , here's a thought . Maybe he could take a page from a couple TV shows from several years back ( Dallas & Newhart ) in that one day, everyone will wake-up and none of this mess ever happened . It was only a dream . That way this trainwreck called TNA could start from scratch :)
RESPONSE FROM KE: He did that one, too, Remember when he and Bischoff took over in 2000 and they stripped everyone of their titles and started over?
Posted by: the artist formerly known as jack in hebron | March 6, 2009 8:24 AM
I realize it's the Russo Factor, but every time I watch TNA lately I can't help but be reminded of the final days of WCW. Who knows, maybe they're intentionally tanking the company so that Vince will buy them out too.
Also, I'm guessing that whatever marketing focus group came up with "Cross the Line" was paid a great deal of cash, because that's the only reason I can think of that we as the viewer are inundated with the slogan every 5 minutes. Instead of the 25-odd minutes of actual wrestling, how about showing more and spending less time on the Cross the Line vignettes, "music videos" to showcase the talent, and the other character videos. I don't mind the Rough Cuts, but the webography things tend to showcase the real person rather than the character. Kinda hard to see Robert Roode and James Storm as evil heels when their videos show them as pretty likable guys.
Posted by: Tim K | March 6, 2009 8:55 AM
So Shark Boy sent in a video for the ODB Contest. Aren't employees usually ineligible to participate in contests sponsored by their employer? Well, I suppose Shark Boy could just lose an Off The Wagon challenge match to Beer Money.
I must ask again are MCMG faces or heels? They cut these heel promos and yet in most of the matches in which they are booked they are the faces (i.e. Shelley vs. Kiyoshi). I didn't exactly see a lot of cheering when Suicide attacked Shelley and Sabin for the 146th time.
However, I am glad Suicide is in the mix for the X Division Championship and I actually hope he wins the belt. In which case we could conceivably have a X Division Championship between Homicide and Suicide. Perhaps down the road they could have a triple threat with Homicide, Suicide and Rellik (killer spelled backwards.) Imagine if Ron Killings were still in TNA.
Posted by: Aaron Goldstein | March 6, 2009 9:39 AM
Dripping with sarcasm, i think this may be your funniest blog yet. I don't know why i still watch this convoluted mess called tna. It must be the still-decent work rate. I was thinking the same thing about that border toss. Maybe they should have put homicide under the suicide gimmick. Think of the beautiful irony.
Kevin, do you think there is a good chance of TNA going out of business within ten years?
Posted by: Andy | March 6, 2009 10:40 AM
Hey now, if it weren't for that 1992 elbow, then I'd still think of the singer when I heard people talk about Sting!
Well no, not really... sorry, Mick.
Posted by: Mr. Sarcasm | March 6, 2009 11:17 AM
The only thing more annoying than Don West screaming at me for 2 hours, is a heel Don West screaming at me for an hour, then walking off, and acting like I'll be missing something without him.
Posted by: Major Mel Funkshun | March 6, 2009 11:55 AM
Kevin's response - " He did that one too " .....
Your right. He's unbelievable !
Posted by: the artist formerly known as jack in hebron | March 6, 2009 12:00 PM
I can not stand to watch TNA for so many reasons, which include the pace of the show, the broadcasters, their angles, and even certain members of their roster (:cough, cough: Kevin Nash).Were it not for all of this stuff, I would watch it. The wrestling is good. A reader of the blog wrote last week that ECW can get more wrestling done in an hour than TNA gets done in two. I couldn't agree more and I think that's what TNA needs to do: focus on wrestling. I love watching WWE and they have fantastic matches in that promotion, but if TNA focused on their wrestling and highlighted guys in the X-Division and certain heavyweights more, TNA could compete better (they'll never exceed WWE. WWE just has too many resources). If the stupid crap went away and TNA was JUST wrestling like they claim to be, then I would Cross the Line".
Posted by: Cliff | March 6, 2009 12:21 PM
I think the Main event mafia is a total
rip off of the NWo. it's the same thing
they did like beat eveybody and take and take over the show. I'am fan of kurt angle but he's not the same since
leaving wwe. kevin do you think we'll see him in wwe again
RESPONSE FROM KE: It certainly wouldn't surprise me.
Posted by: steve | March 6, 2009 1:46 PM
At what point in his career did Russo have a positive influence on a wrestling promotion? How does he still have a job?
TNA does not have the talent depth that WWE has. Whether or not they want to admit it, they do directly compete with WWE. With as ludicrous as some of the WWE stuff has been, the best way for TNA to compete is to tell better stories. The best thing that they could do would be to fire Russo and hire someone with a daytime soap opera background who happens to be a wrestling fan. Someone who understands continuity, who understands that fans don't forget when characters interact (even when the writers do), someone who can think more than two weeks into the future. It will never happen, of course, because it makes too much sense. Oh, well.
RESPONSE FROM KE: To answer your question, Russo played a large role during the Attitude era days when WWE went through the roof.
Posted by: mstrchef13 | March 6, 2009 2:08 PM
As an old time "Foley Is God" kind of guy, Mick Foley is not doing himself any justice in his current authority figure role in TNA. He mostly just stands around and watches other people including Jeff Jarrett even take care of business.
The only person that seems to be getting any kind of boost to their careers these days in TNA is Sting. Even Angle, as good as he is as the ultimate egotistical heel, is just treading water. Nash is doing OK as well on the mike.
There are plenty of old beaten up guys around though who seem to barely be able to function in a ring anymore. I guess that's the main thing they have going currently that might lure a viewer into a pay per view. Its really hurting the younger talent that should be the future of the of TNA though
Posted by: AMC | March 6, 2009 3:01 PM
I have not seen the TNA show very much, but it never looks as though there are many fans in the audience.....whereas, the McMahon shows are always in prettymuch filled civic centers or arenas.
Is it that TNA is not capable of filling a civic center or is it that they do not have the production company to film from a civic center?
RESPONSE FROM KE: The Impact Zone in Orlando is small and definitely cheaper than going to a different city every week. As far as attendance, no, they would not come close to filling an arena. One smart thing that TNA has done has been to not try to grow the company too much too soon.
Posted by: bking | March 6, 2009 3:05 PM
Yeah but how about that ring entrance by the Beautiful People?
RESPONSE FROM KE: Always a highlight.
Posted by: CK | March 6, 2009 3:09 PM
Kevin, was there not an incident during WCW's dying days in which Tank Abbot put a knife to someone's throat? I can't help but wonder if that is the inspiration for what Joe does.
RESPONSE FROM KE: Yes, that did happen. It was Tank going into business for himself. he was supposed to pull some type of foreign object on a guy named Big Al, but Tank pulled a knife instead. Tony Schiavone tried to save the day by saying that Tank had scissors and was trying to cut off Big Al's beard.Of course Mark Madden shouted, "He's got a knife!"
Posted by: Christopher | March 6, 2009 3:38 PM
To further "bking"s comment about the number of people in attendence- I used to like watching wrestling when I was a kid when Georgia Wrestling , WCW ,etc . was literally taped in a small television studio . Gone are those days , and those were the days :(
Posted by: the artist formerly known as jack in hebron | March 6, 2009 5:41 PM
"Nah, Vince Russo would never rehash an angle from another company..."
Correction, he would never steal another idea that he can't take credit for coming up with. I'm not trying to defend him, he'd actually be a much better booker if he stole OTHER people's ideas rather than rehashing his own. On the other hand, I don't think I want to see Jeff Jarrett's car go up in flames seconds after he gets into it. Maybe if TNA would just hurry up and learn what the rest of the wrestling world already knows and fire Russo I wouldn't be in this conundrum.
RESPONSE FROM KE: He does seem to like rehashing the nWo, which obviously was not his original idea.
Posted by: Mr. E | March 6, 2009 6:19 PM
off topic, but if you're TNA, and the WWE had a 6-week break between ppvs, wouldn't you do everything you possibly could to fit TWO of yours in that space?
Posted by: Kyle | March 6, 2009 6:43 PM
You know it's a pretty blah episode when the only thing that stood out is West's backing of the heels out of nowhere. TNA is the ultimate 2 steps forward 2 steps backwards promotion. Far too often a solid to good episode like a week ago is followed by a turd sandwich of an episode like last night.
Posted by: Joe Barber | March 6, 2009 6:59 PM
Kevin , who was worse in the last days of WCW , Russo or Kevin Sullivan ? I really enjoyed following Sullivan's career in the ring from begining to end . Or maybe I followed "Woman" and K.Sullivan just happened to be there .
I've heard it both ways re: Sullivan's bookings.
Thanks in advance if you have the time to respond.
RESPONSE FROM KE: In the final days of WCW they were both pretty bad.
Posted by: the artist formerly known as jack in hebron | March 6, 2009 7:25 PM
Don West and Mike Tenay sound like they are reading from queue cards whenever they go into their little spats. It's so easy to notice because they usually flow so well. I have to say it again, STING should be the Godfather of MEM, he's the perfect fit for that roll. I feel like I can't breath when I see that Suicide mask
Posted by: jt | March 6, 2009 10:56 PM
Kevin,
Maybe my wrestling memory is suffering from brain cramps, but why didn't Sting make the jump to WWF when WCW imploded? Was he just burned out on the business?
RESPONSE FROM KE: He, along with guys such as Goldberg, Flair, Nash, Steiner had big contracts with AOL and were making more money to sit at home than they would have gotten in WWE. When his contract expired, Sting had talks with WWE but he apparently did not want to go back on the road fulltime.
Posted by: Sean | March 7, 2009 8:21 AM
Come on Eck, we see wrestlers put their careers on the line for title shots all the time. How about in 2003 (IN THE WWE) when Goldberg put his career on the line for a shot at Triple H and the World title?? The TNA World tag team titles are the equivalent to the world title in tag team wrestling so it's not unrealistic for LAX to risk their careers to get a shot. Wrestlers are supposed to be egomaniacs who always think they can win so they aren't supposed to weigh the consequences of losing. It's just like when any wrestler agrees to a retirement/loser-leaves-town match...why risk your career to just get a win over somebody? I think you're reading too much into it.
Also, TNA needs teams to face Beer Money in the Off the Wagon challenge. They need for a team to survive sometimes or it won't seem realistic. LAX didn't lose so they didn't lose ther Feast or Fired challenges.
RESPONSE FROM KE: I don't see the tag title as being equal to the world singles title.
Posted by: B-Real | March 7, 2009 10:56 AM
My favorite part of the show was when the Gov. kicked off her shoes and climbed into the ring barefooted. And the Beautiful Peoples entrance. WOOOOOO
Posted by: Ric in Baltimore | March 7, 2009 1:27 PM
i may be wrong, but didn't kevin sullivan make a return to WCW in 2000 as a wrestler? i may be wrong, but i recall the varsity club returning as jim duggan's partners in a tag-match
RESPONSE FROM KE: I'm not saying it didn't happen but I don't remember it.
Posted by: paul19 | March 7, 2009 3:57 PM
ok i just was wondering. i kind of recall watching a video over the summer on youtube of jim duggan having mystery partners or backup and it happened to be the varsity club. (rick steiner, mike rotunda, and kevin sullivan) i forget who duggan was facing but it was a group of younger guys, kind of like tna has now
Posted by: paul19 | March 8, 2009 12:39 AM