A much-improved episode of TNA Impact
Thursday night’s TNA Impact was easily the best episode of the program under the Hulk Hogan-Eric Bischoff regime. Except for one groan-inducing segment with Hogan and Abyss, it was an entertaining show.
There weren’t any great matches, but there was a lot of strong mic work. Bischoff was especially good. It seemed as if he was in every segment, but he plays his smarmy character so well that I never got tired of seeing him. The story was that he was running things like a tyrant while Hogan was “off taking care of business” for the majority of the program.
In addition, “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero, Kurt Angle and Mr. Anderson all delivered effective promos.
What also made the show good was the fact that all the story lines were easy to follow. Oh yeah, and The Nasty Boys and Bubba The Love Sponge were nowhere to be found.
Other thoughts on Thursday’s show:
There were two really good segments. One was the confrontation between Angle and Anderson. Angle cut an emotional promo in which he referenced his divorce and his arrest last year. He also revealed the story behind the dog tag that Anderson spit on and used to bust him open at the Against All Odds pay-per-view last Sunday. Angle said the tag belonged to a soldier he met at an Army base last year who told Angle that he believed in him. Angle said that when Anderson spit on the tag, he was spitting on the soldiers and the United States. It could have come off hokey, but Angle made it work. Anderson then came out on the ramp and mocked Angle, getting massive heel heat. The only thing I didn’t like about the segment is that Anderson challenged Angle to a fight and then beat him down pretty quickly. Main event babyfaces should never lose a fair fight – especially a tough guy such as Angle. It would have been better if Anderson had hit him with the microphone or something. The announcers tried to play up the fact that Angle’s forehead wound from Sunday made him vulnerable, but I don’t buy that one. ...
The other strong segment was the one involving Dinero, A.J. Styles and Ric Flair. Coming off his big win in the Eight-Card Stud Tournament Sunday to become the No. 1 contender for Styles’ TNA world title, Dinero opened the show with a charismatic promo. He referred to Flair as “Dick Flair,” copying “The Franchise” Shane Douglas’ old shtick in ECW. “The Nature Boy” did almost all the talking for his side, and that’s exactly how he should be used. The segment ended with Styles and Flair laying out Dinero. ...
Kevin Nash also cut a decent promo in which he discussed his former friends Scott Hall and Sean Waltman, but, unfortunately, he had the unenviable task of following the Angle promo. ...
The endings to the previous two episodes of Impact were predictable, but that wasn’t the case this week. When Hall and Waltman came to the ring to confront Nash and Eric Young, I was expecting Nash to turn on Young, but it didn’t happen. This likely is building to a tag team match pitting Hall and Waltman against Nash and Young. Hall doesn’t look good just taking a few bumps in pull-aparts, so I can only imagine what he’ll be like working an actual match. Waltman appears to be in good shape, so he’d probably be in for the bulk of the match. ...
Abyss’ acting during the scene in which Hogan was giving him a pep talk was excruciatingly bad. As for Hogan’s over-the-top promo, it would have been great – if this was 1988. ...
Hogan said that Abyss was going to be the “god of wrestling” and “10 times the man” he ever was. Oh, is that all. For a second there I thought he was going to set unrealistic expectations for the big man. ...
It was nice of Hogan to put over his WWE Hall of Fame ring as his most prized possession. I’m sure Vince McMahon appreciated the recognition. By the way, since Abyss is now wearing Hogan’s ring, does that mean they’re going steady? ...
I had to laugh when Bischoff referred to himself as “ATM Eric.” For those who didn’t get it, he got that nickname for his practice of signing wrestlers with varying degrees of talent to huge guaranteed contracts when he ran WCW during the Monday Night Wars. ...
After Samoa Joe was jumped by three masked men and thrown into a white van, Mike Tenay took the words right out of my mouth when he said, “What the hell did we just see?” ...
It was quite a shock to see Orlando Jordan defeat Samoa Joe. He now has pinfall victories over Joe and Dinero. Amazing. ...
Jordan, who is openly bisexual, was accompanied to the ring by a man and a woman, so it looks as if TNA is going where WWE wouldn’t go. When Jordan was in WWE several years ago, there was talk of him playing a bisexual character, but it never came to fruition. Since this is pretty much new ground for pro wrestling, I could see Jordan getting over in this role. Apparently TNA is willing to push the envelope only so far, however. It was reported that Jordan kissed both the man and the woman before his match against Samoa Joe, but that was edited out of the show. ...
Daniels has gone from pay-per-view main-eventer to glorified jobber in record time. I know that Angle needed a convincing victory after losing to Anderson at Against All Odds, but Daniels tapping out in a one-minute match is ridiculous. It’s a shame because Daniels was doing some of his best work in his program with Styles. ...
When I saw that Daffney was wrestling TNA Knockouts champion Tara, I thought: “Well, Daffney’s going to get squashed, but at least she’s on TV.” I was pleasantly surprised when Daffney laid her out. Hopefully this is the beginning of a title program. ...
Why in the world was Desmond Wolfe included in the group of random heels that attacked Abyss? He’s gone from wrestling Angle on pay-per-views to being in a goon squad with Raven, Rhino, Tomko and Homicide. Wolfe in his dress clothes looked totally out of place with all the other guys wearing jeans and t-shirts. ...
Kazarian made his return, which I suppose means that Suicide has gone to parts unknown to hang out with Curry Man. I never cared that much for the Suicide character anyway. That last time we saw Kazarian – in 2008 – he quit the business after suffering some frustrating loses (basically the same story line that was done several months ago with Styles). I hope he gets the opportunity to cut a promo explaining why he decided to come back. ...
The eight-man X Division tag team contest which saw Kazarian, Generation Me and Amazing Red defeat The Motor City Machine Guns, Brian Kendrick and Doug Williams was a fun five-minute match. I still can’t figure out whether Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley are heels or babyfaces. ...
It was nice to see Beer Money back on TV. ...
So Big Rob Terry is now the Global champion and a babyface. I’m not sure that’s going to work, but you never know.
Comments
I acually yelled "hooray" when Beer Money came out to wrestle!
I hated that MCMG were booked on the losing side of the 8-man match but when Kaz came out I knew that was the way it was going to go.
What's up with Hogan's new beard style? It was very distracting. TNA must have read your blog last week about Abyss going back to Monster. A quivering Abyss was more than annoying.
The roster is so crowded guys like Daniels and MCMG must be really frustrated that when they do get airtime it is always doing the job. The 5 second mini scene between commercials with MCMG thinking that it might be "Petey" was entertaining for a TNA watching vet.
Posted by: Johnny Valentine was great | February 20, 2010 1:09 AM
I agree with most of what you say here, it was definitely the best episode of Impact in a while. I hate the Jordan once again got the win, but I see it as more a storyline loss for Joe than a true win for Jordon. To quazi-quote Taz from a few months ago, Joe lost because of Joe and nothing else.
Where I disagree is the Abyss-Hulk segment. I personally loved it, and I can't figure out why you didn't. You didn't like Abyss as the timid kid and Hogan passing on the ring and giving that pep talk pretty much got rid of that character aspect you dislike so much. But I suppose that might be reading to much into it, but that's how I read the change in character.... as long as Abyss doesn't start calling himself the "God of Wrestling" there is definite potential in this story line.
Posted by: Jesse | February 20, 2010 6:29 AM
God help me..I liked TNA's Impact..what is the name of heaven is going on?Kevin,maybe TNA is more serious about this than the WWE and has a plan.This weeks show had great promo's,good wrestling(except the Daniels match,which I still don't get) and storyline.I will watch next weeks show also and hope this trend continues.Thanks Kevin and as always God Bless.
Posted by: David Baugus | February 20, 2010 7:24 AM
Hard to believe that less than a year ago Christopher Daniels "returned" to face Kurt Angle and went toe to toe with Angle. My how things change.
Posted by: Charles Irwin | February 20, 2010 8:23 AM
Some of the things I hated about tonight's Impact: Eric Bischoff is obnoxious, nobody cares about him anymore, and he generates X-Pac heat from most TNA fans. Speaking of 'Pac, why are Hall, Nash, and him booked like fans give a damn about them like this is the year 1999? And what the heck is up with the bizarre Hogan/Abyss relationship? Why is the company's best wrestler Daniels losing matches in bunches? Also, Orlando Jordan's new bisexual gimmick is terrible, no wonder WWE dropped it. No way Jordan should be beating Samoa Joe in any fashion, he's a jobber.
I did like seeing Beer Money on the show and Angle-Anderson is a good feud. Daffney-Tara also has promise and I like the Styles/Flair pairing. Diniro is kind of growing on me too. But overall, TNA needs a lot of work and fast because the bright spots are getting clouded by the less favorable ones.
Posted by: Corey L | February 20, 2010 9:23 AM
Still too many loose ends.... and dont get started abt the continuity.... if they dont address these basic things... i dont think i'd bother spending much time even reading these re-caps and reviews and results...
And on a side note... Wat in blue hell are Hogan-Bischoff thinking trying to take on WWE on the Road to WM?? Isnt it a guran-DAAMMM-teed road to failure for TNA????? I'd lov to hear ur 2 cents on that.. :)
Posted by: Saaron | February 20, 2010 9:41 AM
I think the signifigance of the ring is that we can now call Abyss "Frodo". Or, we can call him "The Hobbit" Abyss.
Posted by: Cliff | February 20, 2010 10:42 AM
I think that Suicide is still going to be used and played by the dude who plays Kiyoshi.
With Abyss's bad acting, he really could be the next John Cena.
Posted by: Andy | February 20, 2010 12:18 PM
Kevin,
Glad to hear you think this episode was good. Your abundant criticism of TNA and complacency regarding WWE programming was starting to concern me.
I thought it was the best wrestling show I've seen on TV in a while. It smoked both WWE shows this week.
I'm anxious to see how WWE responds to the TNA Monday night challenge. I hope TNA puts the pressure on WWE to get off their laurels somewhat.
Posted by: AMC | February 20, 2010 12:28 PM
Didnt Ho'-gan say that he learned in Australia that he has no business in the ring anymore?
I hope the man who brought Santa with Muscles and Pastamania to the world is true to his word.
Posted by: Bring Back the WWWF | February 20, 2010 12:52 PM
Daniels tapping out to Angle in a minute is disheartening. Remember when he returned to TNA last April? He pinned Angle (until Jeff Jarrett reversed the decision.)
So in the space of ten months, Daniels went from taking Angle to the limit to Angle turning Daniels into a limited figure.
Posted by: Aaron Goldstein | February 20, 2010 1:15 PM
wwe storyline is so predictable TNA is great for bashing WWE but WWE dont have the guts to bash TNA. TNA is getting there
Posted by: DJ | February 20, 2010 4:32 PM
the angle promo was great, it was intense and engrossing, until he said spitting on the dogtag was like spitting on the soldiers. i think soldiers have more to worry about than the actions of mr. anderson. the promo would have been amazing if they had cut that part out, the story behind the dogtag and the inscription was more than enough to show how important it was to angle. the cheesy, cliched, "if u dont support me, u dont support the troops" ending almost ruined what was otherwise a phenomenal promo.
Posted by: nash | February 20, 2010 4:51 PM
Kev, I read on TNA.com that Hogan will be taking part in, and i quote "the largest gathering of fu-man-chu mustache wearing men". Wow.......
Posted by: Ace | February 20, 2010 5:14 PM
I think overall things are continuing to head in the right direction aside from the quibbles I'd have with certain people being used certain ways, too-short matches, etc.
The Hogan/Abyss promo started out well but then it just went way, way over the top by the end of it.
Posted by: James V. | February 20, 2010 6:42 PM
By the way, since Abyss is now wearing Hogan’s ring, does that mean they’re going steady? ...
Congratulations, Kevin, you are a middle-aged man making gay jokes. Paul Levesque will be suing you for gimmick infringement in the very near future.
Posted by: Jon | February 20, 2010 7:08 PM
"Main event babyfaces should never lose a fair fight – especially a tough guy such as Angle."
I have to disagree here. To create the illusion of reality you need to believe that anybody can win a fair fight, face or heel. That's part of the reason why I said I didn't always like the face/heel thing, because it has often meant that when a wrestler turns heel he suddenly becomes weak and unable to win a fair fight outside of the ring. In reality, this would not be the case. CM Punk turning heel would not make him any less brave or less skilled, ditto with Batista, ditto with Jericho, and I feel it's a bit insulting to my intelligence to expect me to believe that because they're not nice guys any more they aren't as formidable as they used to be.
That is also part of the reason I like Randy Orton, because despite being a heel he has repeatedly stood up to his enemies and has repeatedly beaten them in fair fights. Sometimes he's shown flashes of heel-type cowardice, and there was also the way he quit at Breaking Point, but those are the exceptions. I have always been able to buy the idea that Orton's a tough and dangerous guy, and that whoever faces him--whether it's been Cena, Trips, Kingston, or whoever--is in for a rough time. That a victory against Orton is anything but guaranteed, because even if Orton doesn't cheat to win Orton can still defeat them cleanly. To me, this makes the feud MORE entertaining, and made Cena's victory over Orton for the title that much more impressive and that much sweeter when it finally happened.
The altercation between Angle and Anderson hinted that Anderson could be similar to Orton in that respect: the kind of heel who is an a-hole, but who isn't weak and/or cowardly just because he's an a-hole. That's the way it is in real life as well; not all a-holes are weak or cowardly. Doesn't mean that Anderson's tougher than Kurt. Doesn't mean that Kurt isn't able to beat him in a fair fight. And it doesn't mean that Kurt won't eventually win the feud. All it means is that things are the same outside the ring as they are inside the ring: both men have a chance of winning. Your mileage may vary, but personally I think that makes it an awful lot more interesting.
"Daniels has gone from pay-per-view main-eventer to glorified jobber in record time. I know that Angle needed a convincing victory after losing to Anderson at Against All Odds, but Daniels tapping out in a one-minute match is ridiculous. It’s a shame because Daniels was doing some of his best work in his program with Styles"
This is something I agree with, and something that pisses me off about the Hogan regime. I've become a big fan of Daniels, and he deserves better than this.
Posted by: Rob Brown | February 20, 2010 10:14 PM
That Hogan/Abyss segment seemed to have promise early, but then it deteriorated with a vengeance.
Hogan's self-motivating speech to Abyss, as Hulk was implicitly putting over The WWE Hall of Politics and Employees, was like Tony Robbins meets The Ultimate Warrior as Hogan began talking about the 'universe and the heavens and the earth...'
Weird.
Many are wondering why Hogan is choosing Abyss for such a strong rub as maybe a guy like Eric Young would have benefited more from it, but it's already obvious to me why Hogan is choosing Abyss: Because the end game will be a Hogan/Abyss match and he wants you to care about The Monster.
Posted by: Bignasty247 | February 21, 2010 1:06 AM
You should've mentioned the line of the the night "Total Nonstop Anderson" ... Anderson.
Posted by: daizan | February 21, 2010 5:56 AM
Kevin, do you know anything about the "new management" minimizing the Knockout Division? I read on different blogs that they want to take the women in a new direction with less wrestling and more backstage antics. I thing this is a terrible idea if true because the Knockout Division was one of TNA's strongest aspects and to diminish it to 2 minute matches would be disastrous. Truthfully that's one of the main reasons I watch TNA. Clarify for me please!
RESPONSE FROM KE: I read the same thing, and judging by what I've seen on TV, that is the case. Funny, because the women usually had the highest-rated segments (unlike WWE, where the divas matches usually lost viewers). I've missed seeing ODB, Kong, Hamada, Sarita/Wilde, etc. But, hey, we have to make time for The Nasty Boys to get TV time.
Posted by: Frank King | February 21, 2010 8:24 AM
By the way, since Abyss is now wearing Hogan’s ring, does that mean they’re going steady? ...
Congratulations, Kevin, you are a middle-aged man making gay jokes. Paul Levesque will be suing you for gimmick infringement in the very near future.
Posted by: Jon
Wow Jon, You are kissing this middle aged man's ass to get comment of the week.
Posted by: Karlos | February 21, 2010 7:41 PM
Speaking of the Knockouts, I was glad to see Awesome Kong is still shown during the opening clip. Does this mean she is still with the company, or is production just slow to update?
Posted by: Average Joe | February 22, 2010 5:50 AM
@ Frank King:
Actually, I'd like to see the Knockouts break off and maybe get their own 1-hour show: "TNA Knockouts". That would give them more air time and it would also free up some iMPACT air time for the guys who aren't getting enough.
Overall, TNA is impressing me way more than any WWE show right now.
The storylines are entertaining and the wrestling is strong.
Orlando Jordan needs to just go away. I find him to be really annoying.
Any of this week's promos were better than that stupid Jerry Springer bit on RAW. What was the point of that? The ending was totally predictable and it was just plain boring.
Can't wait to see where some of these storylines lead.
Posted by: Chris Monty | February 22, 2010 11:44 AM
Um, Mr. Andeson did hit Kurt Angle with the mic, Kev.
Posted by: Josh | March 1, 2010 3:51 PM