I think beer money not being on the show has somthing to do with hogan i suspect

must be because the get a better reaction

Kevin, aren't all wrestling fans,"cast members"? We all know its scripted yet the audience cheers for the face(most of the time) and jeers the heel(most of the time). Our reactions, genuine or not, are part of the show.

Spike TV needs to run a warning coming out of commercial break before any segment involving Samoa Joe taking his shirt off.

"Foley told Bischoff that he likes just about everyone in wrestling but him, even unpopular guys such as Buff Bagwell, Paul Heyman and Jim “Ultimate Warrior” Hellwig. One of those three guys would be a huge asset for TNA. The other two, though, probably have a lot better odds of ever getting anywhere near the Impact Zone. Can you guess who fits into what category? ..."

This will do nothing but establish further that I consistently have a firm grasp of the obvious, but: Heyman would be a godsend to TNA, while Bagwell and Hellwig are more likely to get hired instead of him.

The thing that confuses me about that is the way Hogan would even consider bringing Warrior in after he buried the guy on WWE's "Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior" DVD. Was he just being completely disingenuous? And even if he were, doesn't he learn from past mistakes? Doesn't he remember that bringing Warrior into WCW was a total disaster?

Apparently Hogan and Dixie are butting heads because there are some of the TNA originals that Hogan would like to bury (my guess is that one of them have a name that rhymes with "Spaniels") whereas Dixie wants to keep those guys on television and not job them out. Hogan is reported to like Tomko because he says at least Tomko "looks like a wrestler." The reason I'm bringing this up? Because if TNA did hire Paul Heyman, he wouldn't bury or push people based on their size. Heyman's worked with and pushed a lot of guys whom Hogan would consider undersized but who nevertheless put on awesome matches the likes of which we'll never see from Sean Morley, Orlando Jordan, and definitely not from the Nasty Boys.

(Pope seems to be getting a push and Styles is still on top, although they may be the exceptions to the rule. If there's any truth to this, it makes me worried about how Hogan will use Jeff Hardy, whether he recognizes Jeff belongs at the top of the card or whether he looks at Jeff and sees a curtain-jerker.)

As for the rest of the show, there was a lot of good but the ending was very lame. I agree that it should take more than a big boot to put Mick Foley down. I mean damn, hit him with a finisher at least. And the match itself was nothing special; it was basically just "sword-fighting" with a bunch of trash.

This was the first episode of Impact that I've had a chance to watch with the new ring. Between the four sided ring, and something about the lighting used, the entire show seemed to have taken a giant step backwards as far as production values. I kept expecting to see the high school gym scoreboard in the background. If this is the direction Hogan and Bischoff are going, I'm worried.
Taz had the line of the night with "that'll separate your yambags from your coxccyx!"

Next week on Impact, smoke rises from the ground and a voice is heard rambling on about the moonlight hitting the seas and how Hogan's plane will crash. And just as we all think Russo brought back Warrior, the Berserker will debut in TNA. Waltman and Hall beat down the Berserker, and Hogan promptly fires them. Then we will find out Angle was behind the Orlando Screwjob and is with the Band all along to drive a wedge between Hogan and his friends leading to: Ric Flair and AJ Styles beat down Hulk Hogan. Flair then challenges Sting to a tag team match.

At the next pay per view, Sting appears by himself and gets beaten up by Styles and Flair until.... Warrior runs the 10 feet from the entrance to the ring. shakes the ropes, does a gorilla press slam, and a warrior splash on Styles. He grabs a mic and cuts a promo endorsing right wing politics as the feed is cut.

After reading the review for said PPV that he didn't watch, Kevin Eck writes a blog post about how it was wrong for Warrior to squash the TNA World Champion, and even worse for him to endorse a right wing political position while on a wrestling PPV. This causes much debate among the internet community, and Kevin loses his blog because his boss wants someone that is less controversial. Bubba the Love Sponge replaces Kevin Eck.

Distraught over his lost blog, Kevin rants on his radio show. This impresses the executives of Sirius Satellite Radio, who promptly give him a program of his own. Soon after, a random illiterate trucker woman posts on Bubba's wrestling blog with an undecipherable posts that lacks any comprehension of the English language. The world then explodes, as in a Michael Bay movie.

You have all been treated to a day in the mind of Russo

So when are they forming The Band Hollywood and The Band Wolfpac?

Something i noticed on impact was Ken Anderson saying four sided ring and holding up four fingers. Do you think this is a tease for a new four horsemen group?? Of course they can't say four horsemen, but AJ Styles and Mr. Anderson would be a great team. Throw in Christopher Daniels and maybe Brian Kendrick.

Also why is Abyss dressed like a homeless person?? TNA loves swerves so Abyss should turn on Foley and be Bischoff's monster and be a monster heel again.

Of the 3 names I am going with Heyman as the good one as at least he was an entertaining creative force. Also I have to say although I think Hogan coming in was a so/so idea, I think Eric Bischoff is a cancer!!! This show goes from bad to worse and it does have such promise. I mean Reading elsewhere that Eric and Hulk were badmouthing Sting is ridiculous as out of every wrestler I have seen he is the only one never to sell his soul for a payday. The young talent in TNA is awesome and a wholre lot of the TNA roster deserves so much better. I just hope Dixie rights the wrong before it gets worse, or I guess I ( sadly) will not watch any pro wrestling promotions anymore.

How is Dinero defeating A.J. Styles a positive? It's not going to do anything for Dinero, despite your optimism. His victory will be forgotten just as quick as the Team 3D/Rhyno/Neal faction you referred to. What won't be forgotten though is that A.J. Styles, the champion, lost unncessarily to someone he's not feuding with. The only message I'm getting from that is that he's not deserving of being the number 1 guy in the company. You don't see the Undertaker losing to the likes of McIntyre or Ziggler in non-title matches.

I like the gradual CM Punk-type heel turn you're doing, Kevin.

Hoga-N-A wrestling stragety (sic) seems based on leveraging interactive apps (FB, twitter, call in radio) to foster rumours. Over the past few weeks, the chatter about TNA has involved Bubba's fat arse, Kong's disappointment in the Knockouts pay rate, Honky Tonk rumors, RVD rumors, Bollea's "State of TNA", and now Suicide/Brooks "rumors"... and of course the 6-sides v 4 sided ring. OH! And how can I forget that exciting new ramp?? Lets Twitter about that!!!

As far as Impact! goes, do I care about the "Breakup of the Band"? Of course knowing they are the best of friends away from the TV show ( thanks to FB, Twitter, BTW) doesnt really make for "electrifying" TV. Actually it comes across as rather idiotic.

Sure, i enjoy Pope v AJ.. Same with AJ v Joe. BUT they were there before Bollea. All Bollea has done is shake up personas (instead of having a turn naturally progress) and have people scratching their heads at his efforts, waiting for the train to wreck.

I look forward to reading your RAW review, where you'll omit various older veterans of the WWE burying the younger talent week after week, yet it is always a sticking point of your criticism of TNA. But after all, we all know how much you love midgets in the main event, and a re-hashed main event involving Cena, Batista and DX week after week. With a splash of midget thrown in of course.

TNA's using the title of the show they did was kind of dumb, I think. Where was Jeff Jarrett? He went from a storyline and in the main event of the show to not being on the show.....other than the replay of getting beat by Mr. Anderson. I just don't get what TNA is trying to do.

A man who can survive tables,thumb tacks,barb wire,a spear through a burning table,even a crazy fall from 16 feet couldn't survive a big boot.Completely idiotic,pointless booking.

Honestly, I thought the episode was one of the better show's recently. I wish Beer Money was in the Dudley's spot and the Nasty Boys were gone.

I think that the Eric Young comments are a work of some sort. Bischoff's comment of another name I won't remember makes me think Young will make him remember it. I wouldn't be surprised if Young is behind the Band showing up.

Hey Kev,Do you honestly think that Paul Heyman can be a good addition to TNA?(sorry about my bad english)

It was reported that Bischoff and Hogan supposedly don't see EY as a star, or that they were down on him for some reason. However the same was said of The British Invasion and they recently picked up a couple singles titles. I think Doug Williams is awesome.

Did World Elite ever officially break up or what?

i thought the same thing about Tara but I rewatched the entire match and they had her logo blurred out on her top. Even when she was making her entrance.

You are far, far too kind about Styles/Dinero. First off, it wasn't even the main event, but the middle of the show. Secondly, it wasn't setting up a rematch down the road; Pope's seemingly not going to be challenging for the title at the PPV, so it's just like he picked up any old win, not pinned the champ. And thirdly, it's not like Pope had been pushed to the moon, making us believe that, yeah, he could pull an upset on the champ. Didn't he just loose to Orlando Jordan?

All of this just makes AJ Styles look bad. Lance Storm made a very interesting point on his blog last week: he's afraid that AJ's the victim of an anti-push. You know, where you take a guy and put him in a program that doesn't play to his skills, expecting him to fail, so that when he does you can say "well, we tried, kid just doesn't have it" and push the guy you really wanted to push. I hope that's not true, but after this week, where AJ is buried for no reason, I think Storm may be right.

Kev,
everyone seems to malign TNA for what they are doing, but I don't think it's a bad formula. Hogan still has charisma. Hall and Waltman are great at what they do. Nash's match with Foley was nothing short of horrific, but I figured it would be a 2 minute match.

There is a good young roster in there and if you mix that roster up properly with the vets, it would make the whole roster better. I just don't know about Vince Russo being a key to the success of that company. But TNA is well positioned to take advantage of WWE's stale product. I for one don't mind seeing "NWO" shananigans and am anxiously waiting to see what they do with Steve Borden.

So what if weve seen it before. It's like a great song, if you hear a song you really like, you put it back on. If you really like a movie, you watch it again. So why not this?

"Foley was about to KO Nash with a framed picture." Yep, in a ring littered with the standard weaponry of the no-DQ match, the master of no-limits wrestling somehow found himself brandishing a FLIMSY LITTLE PICTURE FRAME. Complete and utter nonsense.

Otherwise, the big problem with the Hogan/Bischoff TNA is that they spend so much airtime on their backstage melodramas that they have precious little in-ring action -- and not enough time to showcase their very talented roster. How can they hope to build any momentum or interest if their best athletes don't get consistent exposure?

I could see the value in bringing back the Over-the-Hill Gang (Nasty Boys, the Band, Flair, etc) as a way to spark interest and give a big rub to TNA's young stars. But if Hogan's plan is to depend on the old guys, it might work in the short run, but it's no way to build a strong, competitive organization.

Kevin - why bash the Impact crowd as being "cast members"? Just because they cheer and root for the TNA wrestlers and program? I'm 100% positive that WWE crowds (i mean cast members) cheer and root for the WWE product just as passionately as the TNA crowds and I'm 100% positive that the crowd signs are just as original!
Also, Eric Young is NOT a main event guy and he never will be, he would be buried even more at WWE! AT least TNA gave him a championship belt. Then again, if he dressed as a leprechaun at WWE and became HHH's gofer.......?
I am enjoying AJ's heel turn as he finally has some character. Before he was bland and generic now he is fun to watch!
Finally, Impact is only a 2 hour show aired one day a week, so you are not going to see all of the TNA roster every show. I'm pretty sure Beer Money has been on almost every Impact show so I don't understand your "where is Beer Money?" question. Team 3D has had to deal w/ the Nasty Boys so Rhino and Neal have been understandably put on hold.
Respectfully as always.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I could be wrong, but I don't think Beer Money has been on much since the Hogan/Bischoff regime took over.
I wasn't bashing the TNA crowd by calling them cast members. That was a reference to an incident that happened at the last round of TV tapings. Before the tapings began, one of the production crew basically told the crowd not to do anything to disrupt the show (i.e. boo hogan when they're supposed to cheer him) because they are cast members not paying customers (the tapings are free).

I like TNA, but I laughed out loud when Bischoff's "punishment" for Foley was a match with Nash. Having that match be the main event was just wrong - both guys have obvious physical limitations...

Poor Tara. First she had the butt crack exposed on Jan.4, and now the nip slip...

Samoa Joe never really worked as a heel, and the live crowds were always behind him. He's tried out different personalities, and none seem to work well enough to get him to the next level. Looks like we are back to screaming promo Joe...

I've always liked AJ better as a heel (mostly because his face promos are so bad). He needs to develop better as a character though, and not just be mini-Flair.

Abyss needs to stop talking. He's become a cartoon, something I would expect to see on WWE (Festus, anyone?)

Ken Anderson is doing great. Hopefully he won't get hurt anytime soon...

I only saw the second half of the show, but outside of the Styles/Dinero match, it was a dud. The censoring of Tara's chest, for something that appeared to me as barely noticeable, was far too distracting and took away from a decent Knockouts match. The "main event" was terrible.

The gunshot wound to the chest that is Hogan just keeps festering and decomposing.

Slightly off-topic, but up here in the Great Northeast, we're seeing TV ads for TNA live shows in Plattsburgh and Massena, New York. For those unfamiliar with the geography, these are tiny isolated markets. No way would WWE be bothering with anything smaller than (or north of) Albany. What can TNA possibly gain from this? They can't be making any money, and they're certainly not building market share in any meaningful way.

Also, the TNA logo on these ads is an outline of a six-sided ring. Heh. Somebody in the Hogan/Bischoff management team is awfully damn sloppy.

The difference with TNA's old guys not putting people over and WWE's old guys not putting people over is that WWE's old guys can still work.

Yes, some of the WWE elder members have move sets we have all seen over and over. However they do it well and are still able to 100-200 days a year . They draw business and sell merchandise. I'd take a 30 min match with HBK, HHH, Taker, Kane, Mark Henry, or Jericho over a Hogan, Nash, Hall, Sting, Waltman or Nasty Boys match any day. The WWE guys still look and act like athletes in the ring. Even Mysterio who sells a lot of merchandise has been around a while so its not really about age. With the exception of Angle, I dont think any of TNA older guys could even pull off a 30 min match.

That is why I don't understand Hogan's logic that Tomko "looks like a wrestler" when he really wants to put over his old buddies who look nothing like that. Not that all wrestlers need to be 6`8'' 300lbs, but a 6' and slobbinly 300lbs old guy is not a way to sell tickets and T-shirts. Much less ratings or PPV buys.

How about when Tenay said Neal served on the USS Cole? Taz said something like "that's a 'vintage' ship!"

Hogan's big book of how to bury people:
1. Take two of your company's best young singles wrestlers and make them the tag champs.
2. Put them in a match on free to air against one of the alltime great tag teams when you know a match like that should be built up over a weeks if not months for a PPV.
3. Have your fat, out of shape, over the hill, pretty much were never any good anyway cronies interfere so the young guys can't get a clean win.
4. Put said cronies in a match against the the legends at the next PPV while the young guys will probably end up doing the job in the tournament thing they've got going.
TNA's circling the drain here people.

"I didn’t know the nip-up was part of her repertoire. ..." Did no one catch that , or is my mind in the gutter.

Surely i'm not the only to suspect that Hogan is really a double agent for the WWE and that Vince Mcmahon pays him millions to destroy his competition. Firstly WcW and now TNA/ I mean hogan is supposed to be a smart business man but everything he has touched in the wrestling world after leaving WWE has turned to crap. TNA will be no different. Hell i wouldn't even be surprised if Vince Mcmahon is a major shareholder in Panda Energy International(the major shareholder of TNA)

Aside from that the fact they pulled out of an australian tour to produce the crap they have so far this year. I'm glad they didn't come and i saved my money.
I am a wrestling tragic and will prob keep watching with the faint hope that they prove us wrong. But i see even the new WWE NEXT program (replacing ecw) beating TNA in the ratings.

Paul Heyman is a wrestling genius. Warrior Warrior and Bagwell are wrestlers who are not good......hmmmm....that means they will be on impact next week along with Barry Horowitz and Reese.
Where is Raven? And was JB fired?
In what planet did Hogan become a wresting "genius"? You are the head of the NWO in a storyline and you wrestle Zeus and then you are a genius. When is he going to make the Nanny 2. Oh yeah, thats Hogan Knows Best.
They really want to go to monday nights and win? Big HINT, stay away from the old stars, push the talented ones who were there in DECEMBER.
Eck, I completely agree, Tazz is not that great at all. Bring back Don West.
Where is beer money and the X division in all of this?

mat is spot on. WWE's older members have been continuously wrestling and have maintained their bodies well throught the last decade. Few have taken extrememly long breaks and have stayed in the biz. Jericho I knw did but he has always maintained his athleticism. Many TNA elders on the other hand have been out of wrestling and it appears have shown up out of shape and have lost any edge they had.
I appreciate how Vince has not allowed out of shape wrestlers to jump into the ring, no matter how popular they are.

As a person who really wants TNA to succeed..God I hope Dixie steps in and "Help's" Hogan with booking.It is a disgrace that Daniels,Beer Money and Abyss are either being just buried or not shown.Daniels is one of the reasons that I first started watching the product..what else does he have to do..from headliner to losing to Morley..really?The Pope gets a win over AJ clean and then Joe steals his heat..Really?Hall and Waltman beat up on Nash..wow didn't see that coming..wink,wink.The only good thing to come out of this is maybe EY gets a push with Nash against Hall and Waltman. On a p[ostive note love the whole Angle/Hogan thing..still love AJ's ring work and Team 3D is so way over that Hogan/Eric can't bury them..would give the show a c plus or b minus..just because the ring work is just better than most of the WWE programing..Would have got an "A" if Tara chest wasn't blurred.Thanks Kevin,as always,God Bless.

I am going to attempt to pre order "TheRise and Fall of TNA."It should be available on WWE shop.com by spring of 2011.It is painfully obvious that they are running it into the ground the same as WCW at the end.I loved WCW before Hogan ever came in.In alot of ways TNA reminded me of WCW back then.Now they are turning the reins over to a guy that is his own worst enemy.Hogan is a huge name,so is Stone Cold but can you think of him actually running WWE.No, great guest host or talent but Vince is great at running the organization.Bischoff got lucky with Ted Turners checkbook.Here is the only way TNA works.Monday live show get rid of Nastys,bring in Chris Harris,Spike Dudley,Konan and a few others.Turn Thursday nights over to Jeff Hardy for a hardcore/X division showcase.Dudleys,Rhino,Sandman,Jesse Neil,Sabu,Tommy Dreamer and yes Paul Heyman.That is your original hardcore.ECW fans deserve this.X division should be psychosis,Elix skipper,Senshi,Sajay Dutt,Kaz-Suicide,Jay Lethal,Daniels,MCM.The X division should be treated with the respect of being given the six sided ring back.

I though tTNA was decent this week the reason I think the rating dropped is because last week rating was watchable I think deep down everyone wants this to be a train wreck and last week episode was not 1 so you just got your normal wiatchers or maybe some of the people are upset over your boys comments a couple of weeks back and him being on the show the following week angered people so they tuned out.

I don't know when they're going to recognize this on TV, but during the UK tour, Rob Terry won the Global title from Eric Young and was kicked out of the British Invasion. It'd be interesting to see if they mention it this week on Impact, because it happened after this week's show was taped. Just another example of Hogan and Bischoff burying EY.