Its reported on Kennedy's facebook page that he is heading to go snowboarding for the weekend. It could all be a swerve but thought it was an interesting tidbit about the speculation of him being the surprise for Sunday's pay per view.

This episode was a perfect example of what's wrong with TNA (and WWE, to a lesser extent). I turned on Impact and was treated to an excellent match between MCMG and Generation Me. This was immediately followed by a couple of talentless old hacks doing an incredibly unfunny and boring sketch. I'm sorry I missed the returning Angelina Love, but I couldn't continue to watch such utter rubbish.

I DVR'ed iMPACT, but after reading your review I think I'll pass on watching the show Kevin. Impact sounds like a chaotic mess, with all the things I want to see (storylines that make sense, good wrestling, clear babyfaces and heels) replaced with nonsense. Its distastefull to me to see Hogan and Scott Hall,X-Pac, and the Nasty Boys. Most of those guys dont deserve to be on a wrestling show any longer. I also dont want to watch anything that buries TNA, or reminds me of WCW at the end... and I dont want to watch AJ and Jarrett and everybody else suddenly switch from babyface to heel because Hogan has decided it. I've long suspected that Hogan is a wrestling genius because he knew how to book himself, but not other people, and hopefully I'm wrong about that, but I have a feeling that we'll see that to be true. I think it might be best if I skip TNA for a while. I have no interest in watching a mess of a show where I'll spend the whole show shaking my head at the nonsense going on.

I like AJ as a heel. I am not a TNA expert by any means, but there for a while in the early days of TNA, AJ was a heel. He tried to come across a cocky, arrogant heel. This was one of my first encounters with AJ and I thought it was some of his better work on promos. Hopefully, he will be able to pull it off.

I just don't buy Hernandez and Morgan as a tag team. I don't see them as a good combo. I like both guys, but not together. Although, I don't see any way they aren't the champs come Sunday. We haven't even see the Invasion since Hogan took over. Personally, I like Magnus and WIlliams.

Also, I think we will get to find out about this plan to push the young guys on Sunday. Kev, do you really think Beer Money can win? Will Nash, Hall, and Waltman do the job or will they get the first victory in the battle?

I've lost touch again with what's going on in the wrestling world over the last two months or so . While I was aware of the fact TNA was undergoing change , I didnt know what they were . I unfortunately missed the Jan. 4 episode .
In watching this show , I could only think of WCW . A good thing for me . But according to Kev , a bad thing . Guess I just don't "get it" , Kevin :)
Oh , and I see my less than favorite TNA personality Samoa Joe appears to have gotten even more rotund .

How long will we have to wait to see DX roll the tank up to the doors of a TNA show and end up at TNA HQ?

Does WCW......uh, I mean TNA......realize that the new storylines are too hard to follow? Who's heel? Whose face? Unfinished storylines, etc.? When's Dale Torborg coming back in the KISS gimmick? LOL....that would be next, right? LOL

THE GOOD NEWS is that Angelina Love is BACK!

If Bret can return anything can happen; couple that w/ Hogan being intent on giving old friends jobs, perhaps Randy Savage will be the surprise.

Tna is looking more like the old WCW with all these old stars coming back. I agree with ya Kevin these young guys are getting held back like the old WCW when Jericho, Malenko, Benoit, Mysterio and all the rest were being held back. Sid Vicious has on his myspace a picture with TNA in thre background and Scott Hall is trying to get Sid in the door at TNA, so I think he might be the big announcement that they are trying to build up on. Ken Anderson is set to debut in TNA at Impact. I am so glad to see Angelina Love back in TNA that it makes the Knockout division lots more better. This might be the end of Lacey Von Erich to as she has been making things really bad with her behavior backstage. I can see Flair putting together a heel group similiar to the 4 Horsemen. Styles of course will be the top wrestler in the group with a up n coming tag team that Flair can see as a soon to be top tag team like Generation Me or maybe Matt Morgan/Hernandez team. Tomko would fit in nicely as the big man of the group like Barry Windham/Lex Luger were in the Horsemen.

I am happy that Angelina is back but I like her better as a heel and the leader of the beautiful people it made them more entertaining. I love how it almost seems how every single story line has ended since Hulk appeared on TV I agree with you its horrible that the NWO & Nasty's are getting face time while the younger guys are just going out and wrestling but not given a chance to put themselves over like W/E where is EY & the guys when you need them. if Russo wants to do an angle now it should be TNA vs. WCW retreads and go from there.

in this one post you said "babyface" 6 times, heel 6 times, and tweener once. I am getting tired of seeing people turn every week in tna. just for fun, next week on tna, every person in the building should turn. it really wont make much of a difference. we don't know who really a face or heel anyways.

Wait, the Nasty Boys actually had a "prime"? That's news to me. Even back then I thought that they were horrible.

Generation Me looked like a blatant rip off of the Hardy Boyz.

Owh man, Scott Hall looks like he's been spending time at McDonald's grill flipping burgers. He's in no shape at all to wrestle.
TNA made themselves look like an idiot everytime they mention "WWE" in their programming while WWE couldn't care less about it.

God, it's 2010 and guys like Scott Hall, Hogan, nasty boys, Nash is still in the wrestling biz. I Wonder what's next? Would we again witness the horrible fingerpoke of doom?

"Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman (who was referred to as Syxx-Pac) are now known simply as The Band."

Cause when you're Band, you're Band! 4! Life!

RESONSE FROM KE: In Hall's case, it should be banned for life.

Am I the only one who thinks that Generation Me vs Motor City Machine Guns was not only a great start to the show, but was the best part of the show? Wow. That was amazing.
I wonder, though, if TNA should have had GMe debut with a couple of wins building up to a PPV showdown with the Guns.
Kevin, I think you are right on target with your show recap. The only point I question is whether Angelina Love has, indeed, been cast as a face. My take was that she was re-establishing her authority and confirming that she is the leader of the Beautiful People. Either way, her return is another boost to TNA.

I don't mind seeing The Nasty Boys in TNA. A fued with 3D could be interesting. My question is what the heck happened to Jesse Neal and Rino?

I am with you on the whole "The Sponge" needs to go. He adds nothing to the show.

So in 2 weeks all Ric Flair has done is wander out to watch 30 seconds of AJ's match against Angle and sit in on commentary and look bored to tears.

How do you screw up using Ric Flair? Let him cut a damn promo.

I suppose having Jay Lethal going against "past legends" like Jim Neidhart and Tatanka doesn't do well for trying to convince fans of the legitimacy of the Nasty Boys who were around years before Tatanka.

And no, I can't believe I just typed "the legitimacy of the Nasty Boys".

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that about Flair. He was only sitting in on a World Championship match!

Also, we NEED to see Lethal interact with Hogan. =D

Let's hope the Nasty Boys are one and done!

I can't remember the last time I cared that Sean Morley was in a match. I think putting him in a feud with Daniels will bring out the best in Morley and remind us of what he's capable of doing in the ring.

It looks to me as if Team 3D are faces again. I know you're not high on the presence of The Nasty Boys but they generated a ton of heat when they beat down Team 3D.

If Scott Hall gets to drink James Storm's beer then I think he will show up on Sunday.

I liked the intense look in Sean Waltman's eyes when he came down to the ring to confront Beer Money.

I notice the Hamada/Awesome Kong vs. The Beautiful People match was short. Hamada looks like she's nursing a knee injury.

Generation Me was very impressive. They remind me of London and Kendrick.

You lament that Lethal Consequences were on the wrong end of another beatdown. Well, I guess this means not everything in TNA is going to change.

The whole thing is kinda stale. Jeff Jarret's acting in the sketch with Hogan and Bischoff reminded me of Brick Tamland in Anchorman. Loud noises! I don't know what we're yelling about! The Lashley angle where he wants to leave TNA makes zero sense. I thought TNA was the "hot new" company. Bobby's wife is a hottie though. And Tomko is so out of shape he should look into wrestling with a shirt on.

I didn't care about Sean Morley when he was Val Venis and I don't care about him now. I saw Lacey Von Erich do the hand movement that Maryse always does. Am I the only one? I think it would have been better if Angelina Love fought the person to replace her.

Generation Me looked real good but they didn't give the audience much time to react to some of their high impact moves and their name sucks.

Mick Foley is gone? Who cares? Could "The Band" go missing with him? Beer Money is gonna get buried at Genesis and that sucks.

Nasty Boys? That is Hogan's plan to compete with the WWE? Really?

So far TNA's first shot at WWE missed by a wide margin. The war isn't getting new viewers it is keeping new viewers and TNA isn't going to do that with the crap they are showing on tv.

Kevin, I couldn't disagree with you more about Bischoff.

I can't see why so many minutes of TNA, which has a crowded roster, were dedicated to Bischoff running his mouth. Why should I care about Eric Bischoff? Unlike Hogan and Jarrett-- unlike anyone who's been a wrestler-- Bischoff doesn't have credibility for me. He is like Bubba the Love Sponge... a boring, self-glorifying character stealing time away from the show's real stars.

Moving on to someone who's at least a has-been wrestler rather than a has-been executive-- and sorry for being so negative, but I'm very worried about TNA-- who wants to see Scott Hall in action? Does anyone? I don't! If the theme of Genesis is not a massive housecleaning-- Nasty Boys, Waltman, Hall et al. kicked to the curb by new talent/Hogan, proving to us all that Hogan really isn't just about reliving old times-- then I will lose a LOT of interest in TNA, even if they bring in Kennedy.

And a big promo & hi-profile feud for Morley? What??? No! Wolfe deserved that, Morley, Orlando etc do not! For christ's sake, why is TNA doing this?

Hogan = compelling, Flair = intriguing, Hardy = awesome, all these other sad sacks = BUZZKILL

I want TNA to succeed! I want all the awesome wrestlers, male and female, that TNA has introduced to me to continue to shine and improve! I want to see promos, angles & matches between awesome wrestlers (& maybe their managers/valets), not jowly old white men in jackets bellowing at each other.

The more TNA resembles a frickin' US Senate debate, the less interested I am!

I'd say for anyone that was unimpressed with TNA's show last week, this one probably cliched a belief that TNA is headed for closure.

I think you're right Kev, and Team 3-D are supposed to be heals, but the TNA crowd gave every insult thrown The Nasty Boys way pop. These guys should be wrestling high school gyms and no where else. It is not a good sign for those that fear Hogan is going to drive this company in the ground. Has Hogan had any REAL interaction with anyone on the title card? Angle, Styles? Almost all of his time is spent with Jarrett & "The Band".

Sting in the rafters is dad as well. One of the big misconceptions that TNA seems to have is that Sting was a huge figure in The Monday Night Wars. Sting, aside from his feud with Hogan, was primarily relegated to mid card status during that period, much like Flair was. Sting's "hey day" was really the time before WCW got big, and as much as fans appreciate him, he's never been the star that TNA seems to think he is.

"TNA didn’t waste any time putting Tomko and Styles in the ring together, as the reveal and their grudge match all took place on the __shame__ show."

Caught a typo, Kevin.

Regarding the Nasty Boys, I think Brother Ray said it all: who the hell are they and where the hell have they been?
The blonde guy looks like he can barely walk, and the other one isn't much better off.

Speaking of being able to barely walk, Hall looked like he could barely move at all. And I thought Undertaker was in bad shape. Why is TNA bringing in all these has-beens who can't wrestle anymore? The Hogan thing is shaping out just like the critics said it would.

"There has been speculation that it could be Ken “Mr. Kennedy” Anderson, but, in my opinion, he’s not that big of a star."

I agree. If it is indeed Kennedy, TNA could have had him debut at the Jan 4 Impact! and have Hardy debut at Genesis...

Didn't Lashley win a #1 contender's tournament on Thanksgiving or Christmas or something like that? What happened to that?

I fear Vince will own TNA in about 6 months. I agree totally with you Kev that guys like The Nasty Boys, The Band, Sean Morley and Ric Flair need to go away and never enter a wrestling ring ever again. If they continue with pushing all these grandads at the expense of the young guys, Vince will get his hands on the company very cheaply indeed.

Terrible followup show to the mediocre but watchable Jan 4th edition. The Nasty Boys, Eric Bischoff, Bubba the Love Sponge, Sean Morley is not the change this company needed. When they appear, I automatically change the channel and I know most wrestling fans do too. Although WWE is incredibly stale (minus Bret and Kofi), TNA is just awful.

One thing I did like was the potential pairing of AJ Styles/Ric Flair. Now that has real promise. I also love the addition of the Young Bucks, but they will probably be squashed by the horrific, elderly Nash/Hall duo.

I thought the Bischoff/Styles office interview was AJ's best mic work, thank you Eric. But "boo" for the 3 Nasty Boy skits and the Val Venis is now a "producer" promo. My buddy thinks the suprise could be, EDGE! He said in an interview with "Bubba" recently that he's not under contract with WWE, just on injury pay.

This week's "Spin the Wheel, Make a Feud" episode included:
Gen me v MCMGs
Nasty Boys v 3D
Daniels v Venis
Tomko v Styles
Beer Money v the Blubber Band

Did I miss any?

Oh yeah:
Love v Sky

Hey TNA! How about a Samoa Joe v Scott Hall feud?

And hey Kev! When you going to cover them AWA Classics on ESPN2? Great bout between Col. DeBeers and that up and coming superstar, Tony "Earthquake" Ferris.

Was Saggs reference to "filling" 3D's gear bag just a little too inside for a national TV audience ? I guess they aren't called the "Nasty" Boys for nothin'.
BTW, aren't they a little past the "boy" stage. I guess "The Nasty Middle Aged Dudes" just doesn't conjure the same image. Go figure...

I have never really watched TNA except for Jan 4 ( which I DVR'd to watch Raw live) ... and once again I just dont get it .. if I wanted to watch Monday Night Nitro over again I would bring out my DVDs ... TNA is nothing more than a cheap knockoff of WCW .. I really wish there was something more than just the WWE but there is just nothing out there close to it .. where are the good ole days of Mid South Wrestling and World Class Wrestling.. heck even Memphis Wrestling was and is better than TNA ever will be

Do you think you'd enjoy TNA more if you viewed the wrestlers independently of babyface/heel roles? It seems to be an on-going hang-up, and every time I read a "dont know if he's face or heel" remark, my response is always "who cares?" For example, Team 3D and Nasty Boys will have a *fun* street fight between two teams that have more similarities than differences. Both teams will do the same things anyway, so why would TNA even need to make sure that one is the fan favorite?

Clearly WWE has a more defined breakdown on babyfaces and heels right now with what they can (and cannot) do. But TNA seems like they intentionally break the rules that WWE made and encourage the crowd to cheer for whomever they want in any given match.

Segregating the roster strictly as babyfaces and heels seems counter-productive to enjoying TNA right now.

RESPONSE FROM KE: Well, let's see. Babyfaces vs. heels, good guys vs. bad guys, whatever you want to call it has always and will always work in wrestling, movies, TV shows, books, etc. It's a formula with a pretty good track record.

When Bubba Ray is calling you fat (Nasty Boys), wow its time for 1-800-Jenny

(sigh) I really don't like Morley, never have, but loved Daniels bustin' loose on him. Hated seeing Waltman, Nash, and Hall beating up TNA mainstays. Get Hall out! Liked Bischoff, because he's just so good at making me hate him. Hogan looked stiff in the knees big time when he got up to confront Jarrett. I'd like to see Jarrett get his heel heat back. Tomko? Meh. Styles, Angle? Fun stuff! Sting in the rafters is old already. Loved Generation me, though I'm sad the Guns had to job to them. That seems to be happening a lot (too much). I cannot express the disgust I have for the Nasty Boys and 3D taking a beatdown to them. Ugh. Flair (I admit to being a huge fan of his) really was flat and disinterested in his appearance. We need his swaggering Nature Boy back or (yawn). Morgan needs to lay the smack down on all of the old guys, just for fun. OK, enough ranting. Loved Epics afterward, though!

How about Macho Man as the surprise!!!!!

First of all, love the blog. I don't watch like I used to so I use yor blog to keep current with what all is going on.

Second, from what I am gathering, it appears that TNA is really confusing the viewers with who is a face and who is a heel. It almost seems as though even TNA Management isn't sure who should be in what roll or, in the alternative, they want the characers/superstars/athletes... to alosmt have a more realistic feel to them. That this, they like some people, don't like others regardless of whether they are keyfabe heels or faces. Now I might be giving TNA too much credit, but that might be one way to look at the constant changes.

Tomko gets released from WWE developmental and enters a program with the TNA worl champion.

Jeff Hardy quits WWE after a hugely successful world title run and enters TNA to apparently feud with Homicide.

Nothing against homicide, but does this seem a bit funny to anyone else?

The big surprise has to be Glacier or Norman Smiley!

The whole Hulk thing may take awhile to really figure out and I hope that TNA fans will stick with it...may be good.I love Sting in the rafters again.I am really hoping that TNA doesn't bury Beer Money..they are just too talented.PLEASE don't let this "BIG" surprise be Goldberb..a total waste.The one thing TNA is doing right is making AJ a strong champ,not one that backed in or was handed the belt..2 strong victories under his belt in 2 weeks is putting to rest his prior months as coming off soft.The one thing TNA could do to make thier product better is to switch locations every week..The Impact zone looks like a night club..it's too lighted and just doesn't look or feel like a wrestling venue.Once again thanks Kevin and may God Bless.

It is a friggin mess already!

Still more interesting than WWE though.

You know, after watching Bound for Glory back in October, I thought, "Hey, maybe I'll start watching TNA now. Maybe it's turning itself around." Then, after reading numerous posts on TNA over the last month, I'm back to my old stance: TNA sucks. I don't care how great guys like Angle and Styles are. If the angles don't click and you start bringing in people that don't deserve to be there or that no one wants to see, then you're wrestling means squat. I'd rather watch Sheamus be WWE Champion than watch Val Venis try to be relevant again.

In regards to enjoying TNA without heels & babyfaces, I wasn't questioning the formula in the least. That's a very enjoyable formula, and the reason I watch RAW and only read about TNA (except for TV specials).

Also, TNA does have lines drawn at times, AJ's turn at Genesis for example, but I don't think TNA adheres as strictly to the formula as WWE does. I admit I went off topic in making my point, but my intent was a genuine suggestion that TNA may be more enjoyable if you thought less in those good/bad terms.

But again, this suggestion is from someone who doesn't watch TNA weekly, so take it for what it's worth.

I really have to think guys like the Nasty Boys are the exaggerated scapegoats basically for the MEM who I think impeded a lot of the TNA Originals. It's tapping into a sentiment that many have had for TNA and my guess is that they're using guys they can just cut and say "once they're gone, then it's all about the TNA guys like it should be."

Case and point is about Samoa Joe. Before guys like Angle crossed the line, he was being built as the man. He's been booked like a chump for how long since now? His shoulders have probably put a groove on the mat they've been on there so much.

Anyway, I think most of the "new" talent is temporary and a way to distract from the real problems that did exist in TNA for a long time. I just hope they're serious about addressing those problems once the dead weigh is gone.

I like Morley. Seems like a really good person. Very loyal employee for years. Quite underrated as an overall performer.

However, he doesn't really bring much excitement to the company.

Kind of like the same way I feel about Kane in WWE.