Note to TNA creative: Please don’t ruin Matt Morgan
I’ve written in the past that Matt Morgan and Robert Roode are the two guys in TNA with the most potential to become headliners for the company. Morgan is getting his opportunity now, but after watching Thursday’s episode of Impact, I’m worried that the TNA brain trust might botch his push.
Things seemed promising at the start of the show when Morgan, wielding an ax handle, confronted the entire Main Event Mafia. Morgan showed a lot of intensity and carried himself like a star, and the crowd at the Impact Zone was really behind him. Angle tried to talk his way out of a fight by saying that he was on Morgan’s side and was looking out for Morgan’s best interests. He then asked Morgan to be his partner in the main event – a tables match against Team 3D. Morgan acted like he wasn’t buying it, but then abruptly changed his mind and agreed to be Angle’s partner. He made nice with Angle, but he did so in a sarcastic manner, leading viewers to believe that Morgan saw through Angle and would double-cross him during the match. Morgan continued the sarcasm later in an interview with Lauren.
The problem is that Morgan and Angle actually did work together and tried to win the match. Morgan even followed Angle’s directive to go to the top rope in an attempt to finish off Brother Devon, even though Morgan didn’t want to do it. It ended up costing Morgan and Angle the match, which led to dissension between them again. The way this was booked, I have no idea whether I’m supposed to like Morgan or hate him. Was he really on to Angle’s games or not? And if he was, why did he cooperate with Angle against Team 3D?
What I do know is that the crowd was hot for Morgan at the beginning of the show and seemed ready to accept him as a top-tier babyface, but during the main event, half the crowd was cheering and the other half was chanting “Morgan sucks.”
I really hope the TNA creative team doesn’t do to Morgan what it did to Tomko last year. He was about to become a breakout babyface, but TNA pulled a nonsensical swerve and kept him as a heel. Tomko’s career never recovered.
Other thoughts on Thursday’s show:
The other big angle on the show saw A.J. Styles announce his retirement and give a tearful farewell speech, prompting Sting to come out and talk him out of it. Both guys were good here, especially Sting. ...
I didn’t care for Don West as an announcer for years, and then I finally start warming up to him and TNA replaces him with Taz. I have never really gotten Taz as a wrestler or a commentator. ....
I popped when Morgan used the “did I stutter?” line during his verbal confrontation with Angle. By the way, it struck me as odd that Angle just decided on the spot that he and Morgan would face Team 3D in a tables match. ...
It was announced that TNA is now going to have women’s tag team titles, which I think is a good idea. You have to assume that The Beautiful People will be crowned as the first champions. Then again, Cody Deaner told us that when you assume, you make an ass out of you and me. The first time I heard that was on an episode of the old sitcom “The Odd Couple” more than 30 years ago. ...
I hope Deaner doesn’t end up with the Knockouts title. TNA has done a good job of making its women’s division into something special, so why devalue it like that? It reminds me of when Vince Russo in WCW put the once-respected cruiserweight title on the likes of Madusa, Daffney and Ed “Oklahoma” Ferrara. WWE has done it, as well, as Harvey Wippleman once held the women’s title. Call me old school, but I believe having male genitalia should prohibit one from holding a women’s championship. That’s why I never approved of Chyna holding the women’s title. ...
The street fight between Beer Money and The British Invasion was entertaining. The Samoa Joe-Homicide match was good as well. ...
D’Angelo Dinero (formerly Elijah Burke in WWE) looked good in his Impact debut, but I don’t really get what his “Pope” character is supposed to be. ...
You knew it was just a matter of time before Mick Foley and Abyss had a story line together. This could be very interesting. ...
I was happy to see Angelina Love and Velvet Sky boot Madison Rayne out of The Beautiful People. Rayne just never fit in. I thought it was interesting that Mike Tenay, who almost always favors the babyfaces, said that it was Rayne’s “screw-up” that cost TBP their match at Sunday’s Hard Justice pay-per-view. ...
After Love scored a quick victory over Rayne, Taz said that she doesn’t get paid by the hour. No, that’s Ashley Massaro. ...
Taz kept referring to Brother Ray as “Bubba.” I foresee a “cease and desist” letter from Stamford, Conn., headed to the TNA office. ...
The four-way women’s match between Awesome Kong, Sarita, Traci Brooks and Christy Hemme was a bit of a cluster. The worst spot was when Sarita slipped off Brooks on a hurricanrana and Brooks flipped herself over anyway. ...
The pre-match promo with the babyface women was annoying. ...
I thought The Motor City Machine Guns infomercial parody only worked because Alex Shelley has such good comedic delivery. The phone number that they gave out was 1-696-696-6969. So clever, isn’t it?
Comments
Ha! I almost never laugh out loud while reading an article, but that Chyna comment certainly made me burst out laughing. Actually you had a few funny lines here.
Off subject, it reminded me of how surprised I was to see the "I'd rather be in Chyna" sign on RAW on Monday.
Posted by: Andy | August 21, 2009 10:26 PM
One can only hope that TBP gets the Knockout tag titles. More of Velvet Sky can never be a bad thing! I had been wondering about where Tomko was. I figure Japan. He was getting very good and then (poof!) where'd he go?
Posted by: Johnny Valentine was great | August 21, 2009 11:25 PM
I once saw a graphic picture from the movie "One Night in Chyna" on the internet, and I can tell you, it's not at all wrong to imply that Chyna has a penis. Jim Cornette was right: Sean Waltman shouldn't have played with the big boys.
Posted by: Stay Out of Chyna | August 22, 2009 12:22 AM
Abyss made me crack up: "You bought me groceries? I love groceries...". For the record, a few people have subtly referred to Brother Ray as Bubba this past year (AJ, Rhyno, Joe, to name a few). It seems to go under the radar, but this was the first time a commentator did it. That said, I'll take Taz over West ANY DAY. Good God, West being gone = no more talking over wrestlers' promos! No more "...and there you see..." and "...as you see...". That man explained what I was clearly seeing, instead of telling me things I didn't see, like history or opinion. And his voice would be raspy within the first 30 minutes, uber gross.
Posted by: Ultimate Toronto | August 22, 2009 1:15 AM
I think Eric Young and Hernandez can be main event stars. I am not sold on Robert Rude, he's last singles run was very boring. I think James Strom has more potential then Robert Rude and should get a singles push. Besides his program with the Wildcat has he had a singles push. I think TNA will ruin Abyss by making him a cheap mankind reject( if he is not already) ala Jay Lethal. The Sting and AJ Styles promo was great until AJ hugged Sting. Why does AJ always get booked to look like a punk. This man is one of the most exciting wrestlers in the world. Why can’t TNA push him right?
PS Sting said AJ like 25 times during that segment lol
Posted by: daniel ray smith | August 22, 2009 1:38 AM
Sometimes when you think TNA has it right,then they mess it up for themselves. I just don't get why TNA is making Morgan look like a fool after teaming up with Angle. They need to push the young talent.
You forgot to mention how TNA all of a sudden dropped the Taz/Samoa Joe story. Taz was helping Samoa Joe(as a heel) to be one of the best in TNA. Now Taz is a face commentator,that doesn't make any sense. Samoa Joe was already X-Division & TNA World Champion,why did he need Taz help to begin with anyway. They didn't even mention why Taz parted ways with Samoa Joe...oh well.
Deaner storyline kind of reminds of some storyline I saw this year on WWE *cough* Santina. I hope TNA don't ruin the Knockouts Division like WWE did with the DIvas.
By the way,Motorcity Machine Guns promo was awesome. Come on,the are offering their services with free Sham-Wow...you can't beat that.
Nice Chyna & Ashley references.
Posted by: Hendrix | August 22, 2009 2:01 AM
Um, Kev, evidently you didn't see Chyna's pictorial spread in Playboy.
RESPONSE FROM KE: You're right. I had zero interest in seeing that.
Posted by: Aaron Goldstein | August 22, 2009 2:08 AM
......."That''s why I never approved of Chyna holding the womens title ......"
Be nice Kevin . :)
Posted by: the artist formerly known as jack in hebron | August 22, 2009 7:58 AM
I think there was something wrong with Traci Brooks in that 4 way match.She looked liked she was gassed as soon as the match started.Probably from toting that rack around.Then she stayed on the floor as much as she could get away with.
Just what are the parameters to qualify for the "X division" in TNA?Obviously its not weight like the old cruiserweight division.Is it how fast you run the 440,how high you vertical leap.I guess its whatever they feel like at the moment,sorta like you can win the women's title even if you are a guy.
Posted by: Bill | August 22, 2009 12:03 PM
I thought it was another good episode of Impact. The Sting/AJ Styles interaction was a bit corny as I thought that Sting was a bit harsh on AJ and AJ was too soft in hugging Sting. He should have slapped Sting for calling him a loser.
I would also place Hernandez in with Matt Morgan and Roode. The problem is that TNA is botching both Morgan and Hernandez's push. Hernandez needs a manager like Konan to take him to the next level.
So the Samoa Joe/Taz thing is done. Goals accomplished since Joe won the X division title? Joe didn't need Taz to beat any of the X division talent.
Dixie on TNA next week. Maybe she will explain what happened to JJ. Probably not..
Posted by: Jay | August 22, 2009 12:31 PM
You nailed it on the spot with the Tyson Tomko comparison. Tna really dropped the ball with Tomko. Hopefully they've learned from that past mistake and not repeat it.
Posted by: Frank | August 22, 2009 1:35 PM
It's a shame they did that to him on Thursday. I'm kind of surprised since he seemed to have a good understanding of how to portray himself in your interview.
I'd be careful about posting on the internet that you want Morgan to do well. Russo needs to see Matt Morgan hate mail so he'll swerve you and push him through the roof just to spite you.
Posted by: James C | August 22, 2009 3:45 PM
Pro wrestling on TV has come a long way from main event matches (until TV time remaining) that featured Handsome Jimmy and Luscious Johnny Valiant v Chief Jay Strongbow and Lee Wong. Now the fan is treated to the likes of building up "friction" between Morgan and Angle for such a hummer of a finish.
A ho-hummer, that is.
Am I expected to tune in next week? Listen to the gossip on twitter? It left this half-a-century veteran wrestling fan with a "frankly, I dont give a damn" attitude.
TNA, remember... I can get my results from the net
Take that to your sponsors.
Samoa Joe went from "Joe's gonna kill you" thru his phase of "professional reassessment", now he is wallowing in mid-card status. Now they are going to do the same with the Phenomenal One?
What a waste of incredible talent.
I hope they dont do the same to Awesome Kong.
I liked the Pope's debut. Then they ruined it with that masked clown. Bring back Shark Boy in that role if you want to insult my intelligence. At least he was entertaining.
Posted by: Bring back the WWWF | August 22, 2009 3:47 PM
I loved Sting's promo on Styles, but hated that Styles finished it up with a hug.
Morgan not turning on Angle was the biggest surprise of the night, hands down.
I found it strange that we got a censor beep right after Taz said 'God almighty!' to Elijah's 4Up. It missed the phrase entirely.
Posted by: Jacob | August 22, 2009 5:20 PM
That's a great review of impact. I kind of wish I was able to catch it. I guess I'll have to wait until next week.
Though one thing I do want to mention is what you mentioned about men holding women's title. I agree it lowers it's credibility when a man ends up holding the title. Then again it's probably worse when a woman who can't wrestle at all ends up holding it for too many months long.
Posted by: WrestlingReader | August 22, 2009 5:52 PM
Are the JUMPING BOMB ANGELS still the WWE Women's tag team champions?
RESPONSE FROM KE: Either them or The Glamour Girls.
Posted by: Michael | August 22, 2009 7:49 PM
Commentating was poor this week. There were too many moments when neither Tenay or Taz said anything.
The Traci Brooks botch up reminds me of a Knockouts Battle Royal last year when someone kicked her from behind, she ran towards the ropes, stopped for like two seconds and then remembered to jump over the ropes.
Posted by: UK Impact | August 23, 2009 4:03 PM
Going to be interesting to see if the TNA women's tag team division surpasses the WWE men's tag team division.
Posted by: Jack Windham | August 23, 2009 7:46 PM
Mick Foley made a joke about Cody Deaner's "assume" line being old...it wasn't meant to be original.
Posted by: eRIC | August 24, 2009 2:36 PM
Matt Morgan is the blueprint of a talentless wrestler that gets pushed just because of his size just like Test(sorry), Batista, and many others. He has no talent at all and he's awful on the mic, that match him and Steiner had last week sucked so bad. If Matt Morgan is the future than i feel sorry for the next generation of fans
Posted by: davidr83 | October 25, 2009 4:51 AM