You complain too much dude, seriously! Would you prefer they bring back storylines like Katie Vick to the world of pro wrestling?

RESPONSE FROM KE: So as long as it's not Katie Vick-level bad you're happy? Have higher standards.

To be in an invasion angle in an A-List storyline...the invaders have to be main-event-level preformers or it is a letdown? Well...I'm sure glad you have such a high opinion of the NXT guys.

WWE mark.

RESPONSE FROM KE: Who said I have such a high opinion of the NXT guys? Perhaps you should read what I wrote the night the NXT invasion began on Raw. Here's an excerpt:

"The key to a successful invasion angle is that the outsiders have to come across as legitimate threats to the established company’s top stars. I give WWE credit for attempting to get all eight rookies over with one big hotshot angle, but with the exception of Wade Barrett and perhaps Daniel Bryan, I’m not sure the fans will buy into the idea that these guys belong in the same ring with the veterans."

There's basically no payoff TNA can come up with for the Abyss angle that won't be a huge letdown, at least not that I can think of. Who is possibly out there that they can bring in that would have any kind of (no pun intended) impact? The whole angle just reeks of desperation. WWE has stolen the spotlight with the NXT angle, and TNA will do anything to get back some attention. I doubt it will work.

Kev, when it comes do invasion, how do the ECW guys not work simply because they're "niche"?

Last I checked, TNA was a niche product for a long time. Even today, TNA is arguably a niche company, which, up until the Hogan regime took over, had a largely dedicated, hardcore fan base. I think recent additions have watered down the niche-ness a bit, but it's not like TNA is a huge company (even if they want to be.)

If you're going to hate on the angle, at least do it because TNA brought in Raven and Stevie Richards, two guys who make an annual appearance in the company before leaving for a few months.

RESPONSE FROM KE: Like you said, TNA aspires to be a big company. A faction of ECW retreads in a major angle is not going to do it.

Disappointing episode of Impact after a strong episode last week. Again... just to much happening, too many angles, too many mind games, too many twists and turns, too many stories that fall apart. It just feels crammed and rushed into 2 hours of programming. And yes an ECW invasion would be very disappointing, just when it seems they are getting a grip from the WCW/NWO revival that people didn't like, just when it seems they are starting to build chemisty with all their new talent and figuring out what's what, are they gonna shake things up again with more new guys? AND WHERE THE --- is DAFFNEY?, she's healthy now...

The best scenario is that some of the course elements of wrestling that ECW was known for is more of a focus than ECW itself. That would mean that TNA adapts the ECW style more formally and to a greater degree, perhaps by introducing new guys under that credo. Abyss fits the mold perfectly for example if that is where it is heading. Others who need an edge of some sort, like Eric Young or Kazarian, might be shown joining the ECW fold. That would help separate the TNA brand from WWE these days.

The presence of RVD provides an opportunity to introduce a "main eventer" into the storyline. If it turns out that Paul Heyman is behind it, then there is a lot more to work with.

I also hope it is not just another retread of old ECW midcarders invading and that is all there is to it. I can't imagine even TNA being that short sighted at this point.

I don't think the problem is just that ECW was "niche," but also that it is old niche. What if TNA were to do an invasion angle with current Ring of Honor guys? I don't really even know much about the ROH roster, but I could definitely get into that. I could give a damn about ECW.

I agree with the comment about how weak Anderson was booked, he seems to be relegated to the jobber routine as of late. Being a huge fan of the old days and WcW i was elated to see some nostalgia and the 4 horsemen angle.Sent a chill down my spine seeing Beer Money raise the 4 fingers last TNA. There are some of us old faithful fans who miss the old days, but i think they could have came up with something better than fortune. not really fond of cherub faced Kazarian or A.j and his weak mic skills but it will have to do..

TNA's biggest problem is that instead of letting the wrestling drive the angles, the story is being shown (not told) outside of the ring. Rather than let the wrestlers WRESTLE, the powers that be seem to prefer using them as actors in what is increasingly becoming a prime-time soap opera. They start and drop threads seemingly out of no where for no logical reason, and when something does come out right (Mr. Anderson,) they do their best to mess it all up. There needs to be less acting and more (in ring) action.
Great blog, by the way. Keep up the excellent work.

I totally agree with you Kev on the "ECW invasion" angle. People, you do realize that was 14 years ago, right? Sandman and Raven could barely wrestle then. If you still want to see them now, then just realize you're the same as a Hogan mark - You're just wearing an "e c dub" shirt as opposed to the yellow and red.

Kevin, just let it go man. These IWC smarks want to argue just to argue. They only account for 5% of wrestling fans out there and think the opinions of the few should be that of the majority. And if you don't think like them, they hide behind their computers and hurl insults.

Flair is a trip. I cracked up when he attacked Lethal's brother for no good reason and then started woooing. That was funny!

Good lord Kev, there sure are a lot of TNA apologists. Just want to say thanks for the objective commentary. TNA (for all of their many faults) does have some things going for it which you've mentioned ad nauseum (Anderson, Angle, Lethal, etc.). I want TNA to succeed just to have an option from WWE and maybe give it a legit kick in the butt to improve. However, like you've pointed out there's still too many illogical cogs in the company to put on a consistently good show. Keep up the great work on the blog.

Abyss go crazy is TNA answer for Kane current storyline probably?

Tommy Dreamer, Raven, and Dr. Stevie are all wrestlers that I stopped caring about years ago. Their only chance of success is to bring back hardcore wrestling. Actually, nevermind, they have no chance.

This may be more of a nitpick, but why did Hogan wait so long to spit his ring out?

TNA's knockout division is such a sad shell of it's former self. Awesome Kong, Hamada, Tara, ODB, Alissa Flash, Sarita, Roxy, Taylor Wilde, Daphney all made the division special. Whose left now, the Beautiful People and Angelina Love?

At least TNA is going to put the tag team belts on a deserving team.

Did anyone else notice that great overhead camera shot looking down at Mr Anderson as he took flight off the top rope? I don't recall seeing that one before, but I'll be surprised if it doesn't get used more often.
Abyss definitely better as a heel, but I agree that the Abyss-Anderson matched fell short of expectations. I, too, could not believe they had Anderson crawling on his knees. Not too many present-day wrestlers can make outside-the-ring-brawls all that exciting.
Shelley and Sabin would likely not cut it in the world of standup comedy, but I still thought they were fairly entertaining. I just wish TNA would offer more of MCMG in the ring, where they outshine just about everyone else on the roster. I'd like to see them fued with RVD/Hardy.
I have no problems with an ECW angle as long as its not the main focus of the show. Richards and Dreamer can be entertaining, and I think Raven is still capable of putting on main event caliber matches.

This episode was pretty good:

Angle vs. Wolfe was TNA's TV match of the year so far. Yes, it demanded more time, but it was good nonetheless. The only bad thing was that Wolfe was far too preoccupied with Chelsea. That really hurt the match.

Douglas Williams/Brian Kendrick was good. Aside from Homicide, Amazing Red, and Okada (who hasn't appeared on TV yet), who is there left in the X-Division?

"They" will probably be Samoa Joe, Sting, Abyss, and someone as the mouthpiece. This will likely be distinct from whatever Dreamer and company are doing.

I'm guessing we'll either see Love beat Rayne for the title and she'll also take her place in the BP's, or Love will get the Roxxi treatment and Team Hogan can finally end the knockout division.

Pretty bland impact overall. Maybe the major surprise is a Heyman invasion and the Ecw retreads are just there for numbers.

Also Kev, we all know you're the most powerful man in sports entertainment today. Why don't you "accidentally" arrange to get Russo and Cornette in the same room at the same time. Hell, you can even get Joe's van guys to abduct him after.

Maybe this marks the return of the Sinister Minister James Mitchell.

I hope that the BFG promos gave us a clue re: the ECW invasion angle. Mick Foley was featured prominently.

Foley is the kind of Big Idea Guy who may have a smart, well crafted plan to use the ECW guys to elevate a few of the poorly used TNA talents.

Kevin, you referenced the Samoa Joe kidnapping debacle. I think Foley, Joe, Abyss, Team 3D, Rhino and TNA World Champ Rob Van Dam could be a tremendous stable. Toss in an ECW style X Division guy like Homicide and you've got something company wide and main event going.

It'd be an interesting path to NOT duplicate what WWE is about right now.

Time for TNA to get some new writers! Fake Sting, The Outsiders, ECW Invasion... this has all been done like 15 years ago. I think those guys are just watching old WCW/WWF tapes figuring most of the audience was were to young to remember.
TNA needs to get rid of Hogan, Bischoff and as much as I hate to say it Flair. Concentrate on guys like Samoa Joe, AJ Styles that they can build into main eventers instead of a bunch of long in tooth ex WCW/WWF guys.

I completely agree. I'm not even a TNA watcher, but, I know that if some old ECW farts (who I believe was apart of the ECW invasion years ago!) end up doing it again....

...Well, what would be the point?

Then again, TNA fans WANT stuff like this. They're completely different from WWE fans. Different mindset.

I generally agree with you. However. An ECW invasion would be better than all the WCW stuff. Sure WCW was a huge company with major stars. But people still cared about ECW even in 2005 before the first ECW ONS. The majority of people stopped caring about WCW in say, 2002. That said.. unless the outcome is Paul Heyman debuting.. TNA really needs to move on from all this past stuff.

Ay where was Rob Van Dam? TNA champion.. or did I miss him?

I weary of all these mystery "theys" who kidnap Samoa Joe, turn Sting heel/savior, talk to Abyss, and do things like the Monday night fiasco.

These phantom storylines pack as much excitement as learning that the new Horseman was Paul "Romeo" Roma.

Is there any consistency besides Love fighting one of the 3 BP or Wolfe jobbing to the stars?

If I ever meet Hogan or Bischoff I wouldn't ask them about their days in the WWE or WCW or even the entirety of what their doing in TNA. I would ask the ONE THING. And that would be why they destroyed the Knockouts division in less than six months.

i thiink the "they" is going to be icp all the talk off violent j hosting raw and been turned down would be a cool angle or foley and terry

"I don't think the problem is just that ECW was "niche," but also that it is old niche. What if TNA were to do an invasion angle with current Ring of Honor guys? I don't really even know much about the ROH roster, but I could definitely get into that. I could give a damn about ECW." What about Samoa Joe and Daniels teaming with Desmond Wolfe (since he's apparently on the outs with Flair) and Bryan Danielson? Just a dream for sure, but they'd certainly have that credibility you mentioned for sure.

MCMG gets used the way a crappy reliever is used in baseball during a rain delay.

Get ready, no still pouring, sit down, warm up, hold off, get loose again, more rain, alright finally it stops! Warm up and other team pinch hits. You get removed for a lefty. 100 pitches thrown (none in game). In wrestling they do every house show and get used one week for TV and not see or hear from them for 2 months.

Can you blame the pitcher for being rusty?

Douglas Williams/Brian Kendrick was good. Aside from Homicide, Amazing Red, and Okada (who hasn't appeared on TV yet), who is there left in the X-Division?

Generation Me and the Motor City Machine Guns are still a part of the X-Division. Samoa Joe and Hernandez could be brought back into it but I don't see it happening. Kazarian could be the Fortune representative in the X-Division and Kiyoshi when returns as Suicide will be in it.

It would be totally awesome if Sinister Minister James Mitchell returned as Abyss's manager

Perhaps the “they” that Abyss kept referring to are the mysterious guys in the van who kidnapped Samoa Joe. …

I wondered about that too, although if they wanted to introduce Joe's kidnappers they should have done it much sooner than this.

Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin tried hard but their attempts at humor while doing commentary on the Beer Money-Ink Inc. match mostly missed the mark.

Oh, I beg to differ. I thought they were great and also did a good job of coming across like jerks (which I assume is what they were going for). That might make it a heel vs. heel match, but I really don't care; any match between two teams as good as MCMG and Beer Money is gonna be awesome.

I was surprised by how weakly Anderson was booked. Not only did he lose clean to Abyss, but he basically ran away from him on two occasions. During the opening segment, Anderson made the save when Abyss was attacking Hogan and Rob Van Dam, but after his three chair shots had little effect on Abyss, Anderson just slipped out of the ring. Then during Abyss’ post-match assault on Anderson, Anderson was crawling up the ramp trying to get away from him. I know that TNA is trying to get Abyss over as an indestructible monster, but you have to protect the guy who very likely could be the company’s breakout star. Could you imagine John Cena or Steve Austin retreating like that? …

Okay, maybe having him crawl away was a mistake. But in the beginning with the chair shots? If you had hit a guy as hard as you possibly could with a blunt object three times and he was none the worse for wear, what do you think you would have done?

I like what they're doing with Abyss, because I'm sick to death of seeing wrestlers who were tough as nails when they were babyfaces turn into pathetic losers after becoming heels. Long before I ever got into wrestling, I absolutely hated stories where the bad guys weren't strong, where they were easily defeated. HATED stories like that. "The Empire Strikes Back" is not only my favourite Star Wars movie, but my favourite movie ever, because in the first and third parts of that trilogy it looks like Vader and Palpatine have an army full of idiots working for them but in "Empire" the stormtroopers actually *hit people they shoot at* and look deadly. And everything goes to hell, and it looks like the good guys can't win. Which makes it a whole lot cooler when they finally do.

Or how about "Rocky", where Rocky Balboa doesn't think he can beat Apollo Creed, and he makes it his goal just to LAST 12 rounds against the guy even if the result is losing on points? Let me tell ya, if Rocky had been written as an unstoppable fighting machine and Creed acted like a cowardly heel wrestler would act and always tried to weasel out of facing him due to fear of getting hurt, the movie would've been a lot worse.

Basically, here's what I believe: in any type of fiction, whether we're talking novels, comic books, movies, plays, video games, pro wrestling, whatever...the good guy should always either be an underdog or he should be evenly matched with the bad guy. If that's not the case, the good guy looks like a bully picking on somebody who's weaker than him.

The feud that first got me into wrestling, HBK vs. Sid, was like that. When I was channel-surfing and came across Raw, here's what I saw: I saw a big, tall guy whom I was told had beaten Michaels and taken his championship. I saw this guy act totally confident in his ability to beat HBK and show no fear of him whatsoever, and since I was new to pro wrestling I really, honestly thought that there was no chance at all of this smaller guy beating this behemoth in their rematch. And when I saw the result of the match, I marked out for the very first time.

Compare that to Cena vs. Batista. Cena was not the underdog, and even though he said that he wasn't sure he could beat Batista before challenging 'Teest for the title we all knew it was a crock, because Cena had the edge over Batista in pretty much every way. He always got the better of Batista whenever the two came to blows. Batista was reluctant to face him, whereas Cena never acted the least bit scared of Batista and sometimes seemed on the verge of laughing at him. Plus, since faces never tap out in WWE and heels almost always do, as soon as Cena locked in the STF everybody knew that he'd won and that Batista wouldn't tough it out and drag himself to the ropes. (Compare that to ROH, where babyface Colt Cabana and tweener/babyface Davey Richards have both tapped out to submission holds, and none of the fans think any less of them for it. But I digress.)

I know that the stuff in the Cena/Batista feud is the standard formula for a face vs. heel feud. But in my opinion? It's a tired formula, and we need a new one that doesn't result in a guy like Batista--a man who went toe to toe with the ****ing UNDERTAKER and beat him clean--looking like a complete wimp.

TV Tropes has a page on "Redemption Promotion", which says this:

When a long running series has a Harmless Villain, a villain who can't go two steps without screwing up their whole plans and being completely humiliated by the heroes, occasionally the character might have a change of heart, be zapped by some strange device, or simply be tired of losing. In any case, he might turn good, or otherwise join the heroes. Upon doing this, a revelation will be made: when fighting for the side of good, suddenly the idiot who couldn't even get a clear cut plan together is taking care of business left and right!

The opposite is also true; sometimes when a good guy turns bad, they will go from being a total badass to a pitiful loser. There is absolutely no logical reason for this. It's stupid. It shouldn't happen. Ever.

While the site could have listed countless examples of this trope in pro wrestling, it only lists two. But these two do a good job of illustrating the problem:

* Christian Cage is probably the ultimate example of this trope. After turning his back on the fans he simply got more and more pathetic, and boring to the point in 2003 it seemed like he couldn't win a match clean if his life depended on it, even against 150 pound Spike Dudley. After returning to ECW many new fans were shocked to see he could actually escape from an arm bar and with the crowds behind him tag teams have to cheat to beat Christian in two on one matches.
* As a face, Edge (Christian's Kayfabe brother) did some pretty impressive stuff, including facing Kane with a broken arm and winning. As a heel, his gimmick is that he's a sneaky cowardly bastard who wins most of his matches by being "the ultimate opportunist".

The point of this long rant is that I'm so tired and frustrated of seeing this crap over and over and over that I'm overjoyed to see somebody turning heel while staying as strong as ever. Abyss no-sold chair shots when he was a face; why should they hurt him now that he's a heel? Abyss was able to beat main eventers clean when he was a face; why should he now be unable to do so when he's a heel? Nothing about Abyss' circumstances has changed except for who his friends are. He should be just as difficult to beat as he was before.

As for Anderson, he can get a clean win against Abyss sometime in the future with the odds stacked against him and Abyss looking as invincible as ever, and then BOOM! Anderson looks like a world champion again. After that you'll have two guys, one face, one heel, each holding a clean victory over the other, with an inevitable rematch comign up. Neither one's afraid of the other. Both hate the other, but nevertheless respect him as a competitor. In my book, that creates a hell of a lot of suspense and anticipation and makes for good television.

"They" is going to be TNA creative, and it's going to launch a cutting edge angle where all the wrestlers *learn* that they have writers, and that most of what they do has been televised. Most of them will be upset, so it start a wrestler/viewer feud. It will be a cunning thinkpiece, designed to make you consider "what would you do if you learned your every move was seen by hundreds of viewers all the time?" and it ideally builds sympathy for the entire TNA roster at once, so viewers will care.

If it doesn't put TNA into the 1.5-range by week 3 though, they'll abandon it immediately with no further mention. No harm, no foul.

The best hope for "they" is Paul Heyman, and he gets total creative control. Otherwise, my guess is Sid Viscious.

I think you all misheard, Abyss didn't say "they made me do it", he said "Jay made me do it".

That's right, LENO IS BACK!!!!

I was kidding, but sadly, with Hogan and Russo involved...who knows, stranger things have happened (Arquette).

Ok first Tna is awesome wwe is lame anymore tierd of one show. Lots of wrestlers out there not enough programs for them. Wwe is not been very good latley Tna has u guys who say its lame must not be wrestling fans at all.I want the monday nite wars back i want a WCW back i enjoyed that . Get off the WWE bandwagon and be a fan of wrestling.

They:
Foley, Awesome Kong and others. (Possibly ECW not sure)
Ever since Awesome KOng
went I wondered if she would return in some invasion angle.
When Foley hit Bubba also on the way out the door I wondered if this was going to be a future angle.

Abyss was always buddies with Foley and since Kong tweeted her return to Natonal wrestling soon she would make the perfect female power, and she once said she met Hogan and he said he had big plans for her in TNA so who knows.

Knowing Hogan he would probably try and do some type of NWO story using a new crew.

I think what's most terrifying about Mr. Sarcasm's suggestion is that it wouldn't be the worst thing TNA has ever done.

Kev, Just a note on the ECW crew Stevie can still wrestle, I remember when he was i the WWE version of ECW he got a lot of support till creative dropped the ball with him. As for Tommy and Raven well it's time for them to hang it up.

The following will be arriving at TNA:

The Hardcore Legend Mick Foley.
The Macho Man Randy Savage.
The total package Lex Luger
Dave the animal batista
HBK Shaun Michaels

Dreaming..... If only!!

I really hope it's Matt Morgan since he's already referred to as more than one person. Of course, that would require TNA remembering from week to week what gimmicks everyone is using. They've proven that's an impossible task.

That said, it'll be ECW guys that no one cares about outside of Philly.

"They" is going to be TNA creative, and it's going to launch a cutting edge angle where all the wrestlers *learn* that they have writers, and that most of what they do has been televised. Most of them will be upset, so it start a wrestler/viewer feud. It will be a cunning thinkpiece, designed to make you consider "what would you do if you learned your every move was seen by hundreds of viewers all the time?" and it ideally builds sympathy for the entire TNA roster at once, so viewers will care.

If it doesn't put TNA into the 1.5-range by week 3 though, they'll abandon it immediately with no further mention. No harm, no foul.

Posted by: Mr. Sarcasm | June 27, 2010 6:00 PM

If Kurt Vonnegut were writing Impact, that would be awesome. That should be TNA the Movie...coming to IMAX theaters

"They" are the NXT rookies. Not only are they invading the WWE, they also are going to try to save TNA from itself. Imagine if Vince bought TNA from Dixie and we see him on Impact walking down the with TBP. Then Shane, Abyss, and The Nexus walk down and beat Vince, with Shane saying he is the new CEO of TNA.

Hey, it's never happened before.

"they" are most likely czw or xpw's guys
and mitchel.
there you have it because abyss competed in both of those companies and back not even a year ago at xpw x they said they were bought by someone.

they are shane macmahon the same when he bought wcw
MAJOR SPOILER

Ok some of you guys are just pathetic. How much are you going to mark out for wwe in some cases or just give the generic hogan comments? TNA has been great since hogan arrived, yes there have been some over used plots etc but why is it Vince can shove the same thing down peoples throats with super cena or anyone he wants for years at a time and most of you are ok with it, but tna finds a way to actually make crap interesting with what it has and everyone wants to talk s***? Come on guys get real watch real wrestling like tna or go the hell back to wwe and cheer for that fake john cena given the choice ill take tna any day.