I felt the same way as your the first guy. I didn't pay for it, and I felt completely ripped off. I wasted 3 hrs that I won't get back on this show. The Ladder Match and The Ultimate X Match were good. Some people will like the Kennedy Angle match, but I just wasn't into it.

The AJ/Abyss thing is absolutely ridiculous. How much are they paying Ric Flair? He looked completely foolish. Wolfe looked like a moron. There was an episode where he went back and forth between big fists between Hogan and Abyss. If that wasn't bad enough, The way they were arranged in the ring, Wolfe had to make a right angle around the hole in the ring to get to the other one to take another punch.

I know wrestling companies can't do everything the fans want. They aren't always going to put the belts on fan favorites, but TNA seems to have a disconnect from its fan base. From the Nasty Boys push, to the Rob Terry Push, to the Abyss-a-Mania, to the Falling Angel, and many others, TNA seems to be doing more to alienate the people who tune in every week. They want to push themselves as more Adult Centered with the cussing and stuff, yet to end a PPV they have a magical ring with powers help a "monster" put a guy through a ring. COME ON!!!

If Ed Wood, Jr booked PPVs, instead of making cheesy movies, Destination X 2010 would be his Plan 9 from Outer Space.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I suppose in that analogy that Ric Flair is Bela Lugosi.

Well, I must agree. The show kicked off in great fashion, the ladder match and the ultimate x match were great (as expected), but after that I regret I didn't FF the rest of the PPV. The WC match finish was so ridiculous I almost superkicked my pc's monitor in order to extract some revenge on TNA. Really, the blackhole slam Abyss delivered a couple of minutes before the chokeslam that "broke the ring" was five times more devastating. It was so pathetic from now on I will try to download only the X division matches -.-

Generation Me and the MCMG can be on into the best tag team rivalry since the Hardy Boyz, Dudleys and Christian and Edge days. Great chemistry, great inovative moves, great pace. Wasn't Shelley suposed to be injured? And that Jeremy guy can't stop fyling! If only they dropped those ridiculous pants to something less "last century", they can be great. I mean Jeff Hardy's great.

The tag team titles bout, the division x match and the angle anderson, though not as entertaining as the ladder and the ultimate x match, all told good stories.

It's a shame they were able to screw a show that could have been great with those two ridiculous WCW spots. (Don't get me started on "the band"'s reunion...)

Portugal wants the old TNA back now, or we'll riot!

Man, it would have been so cool if Ric Flair carried an actual mace to the ring. You know, the Medieval ball-headed club. It could be just like the old SNL NRA Theater skit: "I've got a mace!" Wrestlers really need to start using more ancient, museum quality weaponry.

I think TNA needs to go back to what they started with. Get rid of Hogan and all his cronies. They have only served to bring back things of the past and not necessarily good things. The six-sided ring, the young stable of wrestlers and the mixture ofveterans was what made TNA. This trip down memory lane is not good for TNA and makes it just a poor boys WWE but with the over abundance of blood and profanity!

"Waltman is such a knucklehead that he twice had trouble in this match finding a can of spray paint that was to be used as a prop. He uttered an expletive in frustration as he searched for it under the ring."

And that was with the four sided ring! Just imagine if it was the old six sided one!

Is anyone really surprised? I have tried to watch TNA and I just can't do it.

I did not watch the PPV. At $35 I am amazed that anyone watched it! Why would you buy a PPV, whether it's TNA or WWE, when it is usually nothing more than you see for free each week. To get my $35, you had better have a battle royal, a ladder match, and several matches involving high-fliers (three X-Division matches gets my attention).
As you described it, Kevin, the main event sounds horrendous. This whole Abyss-Hogan's ring angle has been a complete bore to me. Styles is completely miscast in his current role.
I'm probably in the minority, but I was happy to hear (although not surprised, either) about the NWO angle. Despite Hall's present-day shortcomings in the ring, I still enjoy the chemistry he and Nash have. I find them very entertaining.

The finish to the main event has probably never been done before, which was probably why Russo and whoever else thought it was a good idea. Unfortunately, there's a reason it's never been done before. When I saw it, I was laughing for the same reasons you laugh when you watch an Ed Wood movie: it was so bad, it was good. Of course, had I actually bought the PPV instead of just finding it on YouTube before the video was removed by TNA, I probably wouldn't have felt like laughing. I mean, I remember the HIAC match between HHH and Mick Foley where Foley fell through the top of the cell--in this case as part of a planned spot--and onto a part of the ring that was rigged to collapse. That looked like it actually hurt. But here, the slam looked weak, too weak to break the ring. We've seen people hit the mat harder than that without it collapsing.

I'm not sure I feel the same about the situation with Nash and EY, though. It's kind of a stretch to believe that Nash would have his friends breaking in and beating up on him and Angle and Foley because he had this planned all along. (How could Nash have known it would result in them getting offered contracts? How could Nash have known that EY would react the way he did and that it would result in this tag match? Was the plan just "Hey, I'll let you guys into the Impact Zone so you can beat up people, and whatever happens happens, I guess"? If he wanted to turn on EY, wouldn't it save a lot of time and effort to just ambush him in the back one day, or make a tag match with any old team and turn on him in that one?) Baffling logic aside, this can go one of two ways. Either EY feuds with Nash and Nash puts him over (the old Kevin Nash didn't do this very often, but maybe he's willing to do it now), or they feud and EY gets crushed and comes out of it looking like a chump. If it's the former, great. If it's the latter, it'll suck.

Holy moly but there is a lot of anger over at pwtorch.com. Did those guys have some pools going where they lost a lot of money? As someone who did pay for the PPV last night, I pretty much enjoyed the whole of it. I was a little put off by the end of the championship match but Flair was on fire from his wheel chair and the action in the ring was very good otherwise. I was a little saddened at the way that Magnus and Young got buried. Hopefully they will start comebacks tonight.

C'mon, Eck. At least the New Kids sound better. Nash sounds good, but Hall & Waltman sound rehashed.

Let's take the best of both and get 3 Count back together.

Or not.

I know everybody's down on the TNA product right now, and that's understandable, but let's look on the bright side: Wrestlemania is only six days away!

Even though the means of achieving it was awful, the EY outline on the mat was hilarious for some reason.

What's worse than having to watch Hornswoggle-like segments on Raw? Having to watch them on pay-per-view. Well done, Hulk. It's sickening to see the TNA world champ, Ric Flair and Desmond Wolfe all having to do comedy crap just so that freakin' Hulk Hogan can celebrate at the end of the PPV. Wolfe didn't even get one shot in on either Abyss or the 60 year old $@#$#, and how many times in a row has Styles been laid out now? What the hell happened? It was, however, nice to see Styles do the Spiral Tap again.

The MCMG - GenMe match was nice. Matt Hardy, er, I mean Max Buck and Jeremy Buck looked fine, even if they lost.

One gripe I have with TNA in general is that their performers overdo the kick-out from finishers on PPV. I wouldn't mind if it happened on occasion for the most exciting of matches on the biggest of pay-per-views, but seems like every single PPV now we have someone kicking out of the Angle Slam, the Styles Clash, the 450 splash, the Black Hole slam, the Tower of London, etc.

Of all the people I watched the PPV with, I was probably the least entertained by the two angles you mentioned (the Band and the whole Flair/Abyss/AJ slapstick routine), but I still think you probably got an overly negative impression of the show by just reading the reactions of the usually pessimistic IWC. The X Division matches, especially the MCMGs match, were awesome. You also didn't mention the Knockouts match or the Anderson/Angle match. The Knockouts match was good and the Kennedy/Angle match was more drama and less wresting than what you'd expect from a Kurt Angle match, but it was still good. Beer Money vs. Morgan/Hernandez was kind of the same (more drama than you'd expect, but still a decent match). The Global Championship match was just a squash.

Until the debacle of an ending, the AJ Styles/Abyss match was pretty good. Styles pulled out the Spiral Tap and Abyss hit AJ with one of the biggest suplexes/tosses I've ever seen. Even the chokeslam through the ring looked good and got a huge reaction. It just sucks that they had to follow it up and end the show on the note of all that other nonsense.

"there's probabably some symbolism in there somewhere".
Good one Kevin .

Do you think A J Style's grandpa ever gets jealous ? You hang out with Ric Flair but not me?

Here we go again....everybody dog pile on TNA! wooooo! What's wrong with you guys? Then everybody wants to praise that @#%&*!...VK McMahon? its like this, the new powers that be couldn't roll in and pretend that there wasn't pre-existing storylines, scap em and start over. I for one believe that everything is going to pan out. I enjoyed the ppv. If anyone has a problem with Ric Flair....they are CRAZY! Flair is still the greatest on the mic, and my god look at the punishment he has allowed the younger guys to put him through. I feel that both he and Hogan are there to put others over in anyway possible. It just takes time, and besides RIC FLAIR has earned the right to do whatever the heck he wants to. He is basically AJ's manager, which I think is a great role for him now! And we get to hear great promos from him too....the fact that he let Abyss SLAM him through the RAMP was priceless, and he sold it like only Naitch can......woooooooooo!

Where's the coverage for the three x matches? You're taking too much away from them Kev...

I didn't watch the PPV, but from what I have read, i think Hogan needs to get out of the ring and stick to the back. Why is Abyss getting this push, isn't The Pope the #1 contender? I am worried at the next PPV, it'll be a three way with AJ, the Pope, and Abyss. with his magical ring...

Wow Kev, I love your blog and all but i think it's pretty lame that you slam a PPV that you didn't even watch. How do you decide on what to eat for lunch everyday, do you call up the guys at pwtorch and have them decide for you?

jt

RESPONSE FROM KE: I didn't slam the PPV because I didn't watch it. I merely said it was getting negative reviews, and not just on pwtorch. I can tell ytou, however, from reading multiple reports, the two matches that I highlighted sounded pretty bad. Even commenters who on the sites who liked the PPV criticized the Styles-Abyss finish and post-match. As for the nWo angle, I have zero interest in it, Hall has no business in the ring and Nash turning on Young was predictable.

I think TNA could only get me to watch Impact this week if the following was the narrative for its commercials for the week.....

(movie preview guy's voice)

Many questions will be answered on tonight's Impact......

First, why is Jeff Hardy, being introduced into a main event level feud in an industry plagued with bad press about drug and steroid abuse? Will we see a Jail House match at the next Pay per View?

And......Why does the "Band" hate a guy who is just named "Young".

Also on tonight's Impact we will get to the bottom of this long awaited question........Why is AJ Styles, who's personality is as dry as toast, trying to act like Ric Flair?

Plus, the biggest mystery of all.... Why is a mask wearing monster a Hulk-a-maniac?....
OH wait no ...

The biggest mystery that will be answered this Monday night..... How does a magic mood ring that was given to Hulk Hogan by the WWE give monsters special powers?

All this and more on the next episode of Impact!!!!!!!

(ok, me again)

Needless to say, I didn't watch the PPV. However, it sounds like the same type of chaos that would usually make me turn the station back to the USA network.

"As far as reunions go, for me this one with Nash, Hall and Waltman ranks right up there – or down there (down where?) – with The New Kids on the Block getting back together."

Well said Kevin - I think you should give yourself the comment of the week for that one!

@ Ken Raining- I am an idny wrestler and did once get a real mace used on me in a hardcore match lol

I don't get all the hate for this PPV. Yeah the finish to the main event was goofy, and the Band reunion was predictable and boring, but the ladder and Ultimate X matches more than saved the show, and Angle-Anderson was very good too.

I read online that Brother Ray and Taz want to bring in Paul Heyman and Tommy Dreamer to do a ECW-Wolfpac feud. That would be nice, put all 3 members of Team 3D, Rhino, Raven, Taz, RVD, and anyone else they bring in fight for the ECW side and we'd finally get to see the ECW-WCW war that should have happened when WWE bought both companies.

RESPONSE FROM KE: Personally, I don't really care to see an ECW vs. WCW feud. Both companies are dead and have been for a decade. Let them rest in peace.

I hate to be insulting, but to put it bluntly: If Dixie Carter was able to watch that and think it was an okay or good show then she is a complete moron. I suspect that she knows nothing and is just using her family's money to buy her way into success, and the fact that she allows Vince Russo free reign over this show is evidence that she has no idea about the product she is trying to be in charge of. Like me being in charge of General Motors. I'm a teacher, I know zero about making cars. My friends and I ordered the show last night, we REALLY want to like TNA, but its impossible sometimes. I liked the 2 X matches (which have nothing to do with booking) and I laughed at the blantantly moronic finish. The best comparison my friend could come up with is TNA is becoming 1995 WCW, with Hogan and his "Dungeon of Doom". It is now clear that Hogan is no wrestling genius, he only knows how to get himself over and book himself, and Dixie should again clean house and focus on young stars, tag teams, the women, and the X-Division. Ways they're different from WWE.

One gripe I have with TNA in general is that their performers overdo the kick-out from finishers on PPV. I wouldn't mind if it happened on occasion for the most exciting of matches on the biggest of pay-per-views, but seems like every single PPV now we have someone kicking out of the Angle Slam, the Styles Clash, the 450 splash, the Black Hole slam, the Tower of London, etc.....

Really? Did you watch the Taker Michaels match last year? They kicked out of each other's finishers about 7 times. Crack on TNA for stuff WWE does all the time. WWE apologists unite!!

Bring back the six sided ring. That tiny little four sider is embarrassing.

Eck,

Can you make this picture your new banner?

http://www2.tnawrestling.com/tnaphotos/albums/pay-per-view-photos/2010-ppvs/destinationx/img_3799.jpg

RESPONSE FROM KE: That's hilarious and disturbing at the same time.

I was hoping that at the very least they'd throw us a swerve and have Eric Young turn on Nash. I should have known better.

@ Andrew

You cannot seriously be comparing Taker and HBK's Wrestlemania match to "matches that have too many kick-outs," can you (be it TNA or WWE)? If nothing else, those two performers can fall back on the fact that they are legends and have been wresling for decades now, so why can't they kick out of each other's finishers a dozen times on the grandest stage of them all? From a logical standpoint, they have seen it, done it, and lived through it all, so they should know how to withstand a Sweet Chin Music or a Tombstone Piledriver. They have what younger wrestlers don't - experience - and it is with that "experience" that their kickouts don't become ridiculous. And if that is an unbelievable thing to grasp in real-life, at least it is an acceptable form of suspension of disbelief in the story of the match.

It seems no matter what TNA does everyone will focus on the bad. Sure, the ending was rubbish (to put it politely) but the PPV exceeded my expectations considering how poorly it was put together and promoted.

The Ladder Match was good with all 4 wrestlers looking impressive. Brian Kendrick hadn't done much in TNA until this PPV but he established himself as a great asset for the X Division.

The Ultimate X was definitely the best match although I expected that with the MCMG and Gen Me involved. I expected them to climb up the steel towers at some point but that didn't matter in the end because more than enough happened on the ground.

The X Division Title Match was not a typical X Division match because of who the champion is but I actually like him and the angle of him not respecting what the X Division is about will be a useful way to promote it over the next month (I expect Kaz to get the title then).

The Knockouts match was decent although it seems its main aim was to set up a match at Lockdown. That should be good.

Angle vs Anderson wasn't very technical but told a good story and again, seems to be setting up a rematch at Lockdown. Anderson continues to impress me on the mic.....

They wisely kept the Global Championship match short due to Rob Terry's lack of ability. I don't get why they are pushing him at the moment but he is getting better to be fair. He shouldn't hold the Global Championship though, there are too many talented wrestlers on the roster who it would be more worthwhile giving it too, Desmond Wolfe comes to mind but there are others.

Sure, Nash turning on Young was predictable but I am actually glad they didn't do a swerve and have it the other way around which wouldn't have really gone anywhere IMO. If they are going to have Hall in TNA then an NWO reunion is the best way to do it (or at least the better of two evils). On a positive note, Waltman looked good and showed he can still put on a show, just needs to remember where he put his spraypaint....

The tag team match wasn't great in terms of the actual wrestling but it told a good story and I'm glad they kept the belts on Morgan and Hernandez. It makes their feud much more interesting. Hopefully Beer Money won't be forgotten again.

Finally the championship match. The match wasn't bad. It's just a shame Hogan had to try and steal the spotlight. The chokeslam was too weak to have broke the ring but I could have forgiven that if there wasn't all the silly stuff afterwards.

So no, it wasn't a great PPV but there quite a lot of positives to take out of it. One of the biggest crticisms of TNA recently is that none of the feuds make sense and matches are jus thrown together but it does seems they are addressing that problem. Lockdown is already shaping up nicely IMO. There was some entertaining matches and good storytelling (except at the end).

I really don't need to see Wade Keller give his two cents, mostly because they're worth less than that.

This PPV wasn't terrible, in fact barring the post match carp of the main event, was not bad.

Do we need to see the Band again? No, but that was over fairly quickly. It wasn't some horror show dragged out over a long period of time.

As for those people complaining about a PPV they didn't even pay for, that's pathetic.

Based on the photo posted by Elevation, I'd say Scott Hall should form a tag team with Jim Neidhart.

...And they should both wrestle in muumuus.

"Really? Did you watch the Taker Michaels match last year? They kicked out of each other's finishers about 7 times. Crack on TNA for stuff WWE does all the time. WWE apologists unite!!"

I didn't, actually, but that's irrelevant. I don't see people constantly kicking out of finishers in every WWE PPV. If you had bothered reading my comment properly instead of being more focused on calling me a WWE apologist, you'd have realized that my main problem is with it being done constantly, rather than just being saved for the "most exciting of matches on the biggest of pay-per-view events." Based on the hype the match got, I think Michaels-Taker at Wrestlemania fulfills both of those conditions.

Shouldn't of Taz remarked what it was like going through a ring?? He has experience with that. He didn't have a stupid ring on either, just a giant Bam Bam on his back.

For me what makes the magical ring more rediculous is that the Eric Young outline was on the mat for every match apart from the main event which gives away they've changed it for a reason

Apart from the main event I thought it was a pretty good event

The ladder match and Ultimate X matches were good, high energy, but still too much of spot fests.

Beyond the tired angle everyone saw coming, however, Hall and Waltman were a fiasco. Didn't anyone at TNA look at them or their movements in the ring (getting ready for the match in particular) to see they are in no condition to wrestle?

- Early in the match after a near fall, Hall had to use a hand on the ref's shoulder to return to his feet.
- Waltman nearly killed himself flying, more like falling, over the ropes when he dove (fell) at Young on the outside.
- Hall needed help getting EY up for the RE.
- Waltman couldn't find the paint, screaming "where the F is it". EY had to point to where it was. Later Waltman again couldn't find the black paint and yelled "why the F do they have to hide it?". Nash also appeared to be searching for it, but likely did that to cover for Waltman.

The crowd got it, chanting "that was awesome, 20 years ago". They were commenting on the angle, but I think they would have been more positive about even that tired, expected "swerve" if the execution in the match had been even decent.