Thoughts on TNA Impact’s ‘The Whole F’n Show’
Since Thursday night’s TNA Impact, which was dubbed “The Whole F’n Show,” was presented like a pay-per-view (well, except for the commercials), that’s how I’m going to cover it.
This was a special episode that was indeed special. From an in-ring standpoint, the spectacular deciding match in the best-of-five series between TNA world tag team champions The Motor City Machine Guns and Beer Money alone made this a thumb’s up show, but viewers also were treated to an outstanding match between Kurt Angle and A.J. Styles and an entertaining brawl between TNA world champion Rob Van Dam and Abyss in the main event.
What put this program over the top as the best TV wrestling show of the year, however, was the big angle that followed the main event. Hulk Hogan called out Tommy Dreamer and a bunch of other EV 2.0 guys for what was supposed to be a final curtain call for the former ECW crew. It ended up turning into an intense, bloody beat-down, as Fortune (plus Matt Morgan and Douglas Williams) sneak-attacked and brutalized EV 2.0.
During the chaos, Ric Flair came out with a big smile on his face and suddenly began screaming at TNA president Dixie Carter that she had brought this on herself. Meanwhile, Abyss and RVD fought to the back, and the final shot was of Abyss standing over a blood-drenched RVD, with the inference that Abyss has attacked him with the board of nails. Mike Tenay said that Fortune must be the “They” who Abyss has been referring to.
I thought the angle was very well done and the EV 2.0 guys bleeding all over the place definitely added to it, although RVD looking as if he had just lost a battle with Leatherface (“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" guy,” not Hogan) may have been a bit much.
While I had initially hoped that the “ECW originals” were in TNA simply for a one-off nostalgia pay-per-view and not a major story line, I think this could be good. For one thing, it has been clearly established that the issue is between Fortune and EV 2.0, with the heel and babyface roles clearly defined. It’s not just another invasion-type angle in which the home company’s heels and babyfaces band together to fight outsiders. If done correctly, this program could really get Fortune over as something special.
Here is a match-by-match look at the show (match times are approximate):
TNA world champion Rob Van Dam defeated Abyss in a Stairway to Janice match (18:00): This was a good hardcore match that involved ladders, a table wrapped in barbed wire, broken glass and thumbtacks. “Janice,” Abyss’ board of nails, was suspended above the ring but wasn’t used – nor will it ever be, for obvious reasons. At about the 14-minute mark, RVD took a scary-looking bump when Abyss pushed him off a ladder and over the top rope, and he appeared to hit his face on a ladder on the floor. RVD recovered and hit a Van Terminator on Abyss, who had the barbed-wire table placed in front of his face. RVD followed up with the Five-Star Frog Splash for the win. Earlier in the match, Abyss had taken RVD’s Rolling Thunder with the barbed-wire table laying on top of him, as well as his usual bumps into thumbtacks and broken glass. On a side note, special guest referee Eric Bischoff did not turn heel as I expected, and in fact, he was no factor at all in the match.
TNA world tag team champions The Motor City Machine Guns defeated Beer Money in a two-out-of-three falls match to win the best-of-five series, 3-2 (21:00): Not only was this the best match of this fantastic series, but it’s on the short list of the best matches in the industry this year. It had fast-paced, non-stop action from bell to bell (literally, as there was no rest period between falls) and the crowd reaction was off the charts. Kudos to Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, Robert Roode and James Storm for their work rate, athleticism and innovation. I’m not going to even attempt to describe all the great spots in this match. Beer Money took the first fall after hitting the DWI on Shelley at about the eight-minute mark. The Guns evened things up two minutes later after landing their neckbreaker/frog splash combination on Roode. If I have one criticism of this match it would be that the second fall was too short, but I understand that time was a factor and everyone knew the Guns were going to win that fall anyway. The deciding fall went the longest (about 11 minutes), and this time the Guns had to hit their neckbreaker/frog splash finisher twice to finish off Storm and win the match.
I was a little surprised the Guns retained the title, but I think it’s the right call. Beer Money has already had multiple reigns as tag team champs; this series was about validating the Guns, who had a long climb to the top, and once they got there, they had to constantly rally from behind to stay there. They trailed 2-0 in the series and were down one fall in this match before ultimately prevailing. On a side note, I was worried that this series was going to be marred by an angle involving referees Earl and Brian Hebner, but, thankfully, after ref bumps played a role in the outcome of the first two matches (as well as the Guns-Beer Money match at last month’s Victory Road pay-per-view that preceded the series), the referees did not get in the way – literally and figuratively – in the past three.
Kurt Angle defeated TNA TV champion A.J. Styles in a non-title match (8:00): A really good opener with some great near falls, but what else would you expect from a match between these two? Angle got the victory with the ankle lock. It’s just too bad they couldn’t have had a little more time. Since the story line is that Angle will retire if he loses a match before making his way to the top spot in TNA’s rankings, TNA had to make this a non-title match, which from a realistic standpoint doesn’t make any sense. How can the TV champion be wrestling on a TV special episode and the belt not be on the line?
Matt Morgan defeated Mr. Anderson and “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero in a three-way match (3:00): This mach was Exhibit A as to the fact that doing a pay-per-view-level card on two-hour commercial television does have its limitations. With another 10 to 12 minutes these guys probably could have had a really good match, but this was just too short. The story was that Anderson and Dinero worked together at first, but that didn’t last long, and Morgan ended up stealing the win. After Anderson hit the Mic Check on Dinero, Morgan broke up the pin and covered Dinero himself for the three count. Regardless of the circumstances, it was great to see Morgan back in the win column.
Angelina Love defeated TNA Knockouts champion Madison Rayne to win the title (4:00): All I could think about while watching this match was how far the Knockouts division has fallen since the days when Awesome Kong and Gail Kim used to have great title matches together. Love got the win thanks in part to the referee being preoccupied with Velvet Sky attacking Rayne’s masked bodyguard outside the ring. It looks as if we’re headed to a Beautiful People feud with originals Love and Sky on one side and Rayne and Lacey Von Erich on the other.
Jeff Hardy defeated Shannon Moore (7:00): While Moore is a good worker, it was a letdown that he turned out to be the mystery opponent for Hardy’s “open challenge to the wrestling world,” as TNA was clearly teasing that it was going to be someone from outside TNA. The action was solid, as Hardy gave his real-life buddy most of the match before he hit the Swanton Bomb for the victory.
Note: I’ll post my thoughts on TNA Reaction later today, and hopefully Smackdown as well.
Comments
Well "The Best TV wrestling show of the year" had lower ratings than last weeks Impact. While I agree the in ring action was great, I still could care less. Look at the Angle/ Styles match for example. It was a great match but I've seen it about 15 times in the past year and Styles who was just named PWI #1 wrestler is slowly slipping down the ladder in TNA. Hardy and Moore great match but Moore as the mystery was a disappointment. This just seem like a set up for Helms to come in and be alligned with Hardy and Moore (3 Count Version 2.0, anybody?) As far as the beat down of EV 2.0 goes, I still think it just a bunch of has beens taking time from from the real talent in TNA. Rumor has it RVD is taking time off and will drop the title. Wasn't he just off for over 2 years? TNA has done this before, they'll put on a great show, then the next 3 will be horrible. Why wasn't the PPV last week this kind of quality?
Posted by: Common Sense | August 14, 2010 9:10 AM
Hang on, if you're treating your coverage of this TNA show like a pay-per-view, shoudn't you have not watched it and just given your reaction to Internet reports?
Posted by: Matthew | August 14, 2010 10:15 AM
Is Hogan allied with Fortune? I wonder if this is so for a few reasons. It was promoed all show that Hogan was making a big announcement. When we got to the segment, all Hogan seemed to be saying was that EV 2.0 had "...raised the bar...and taken it to another level..." Not really a big announcement, but perhaps the "big announcement" was pre-empted by the attack from Fortune. Or maybe there really was no "big announcement". Perhaps it was just bait to lure EV 2.0 to the ring for a beatdown. After all, when the lights came back on, Hogan seemed to be nowhere around. Did he know the attack was coming? Did he set-up EV 2.0? Is Hogan conspiring with Ric Flair? And what about the rest of the TNA roster? Does their non-participation in the brawl imply that they approve of Fortune's actions?
Posted by: Roger | August 14, 2010 10:31 AM
This was indeed the best wrestling show that was put on all year.. I find it mind blowing that this was way better than most of their PPVs. It's a great concept to have a pretty much all wrestling show and is something that should definately be done every once in awhile.
They sort of false advertised a bit... They sold it as "No Talk, All Action"... Mr. Anderson's bit is a part of his ring enterance, so that can be forgiven. But Shannon Moore came out and gave a short monologue. Lame.
The Knockouts match wasn't too terrible, but it has fallen a long way... wouldn't you agree that they are at least trying to put them back in the spotlight... for a minute there, they were pretty non-existent (like the x-division race is now) though all you really get to see nowadays are the Beautiful People. That's gotta change if they want to get their cred back.
Machine Guns and Beer Money- I went in knowing that it was going to be a spectacular match. I didn't know I was going to be so blown away. I was literally on the edge of my seat the whole time. Best match I've seen in a long time.
When Hogan brought out the EV2 guys, two things went through my mind: a) This is a big annoucement sending them off? b) I thought they were done?
You know there was bound to be an angle with them if Hogan's bringing them out... but I was very happy with the outcome and the way they used Fortune in the angle. It for sure gave them the shot in the arm they needed, cause I was for sure that faction was going to flop... I'm excited for TNA now to see where they are going next with this. Hopefully they stay focused, pace theirselves and don't drop the ball.
Posted by: JB | August 14, 2010 10:57 AM
Could the titles change hands via dq on the final fall of a 2/3 falls match? Either way, there seems to be some inconsistency there n
Posted by: Andrew | August 14, 2010 12:48 PM
I completely agree with you with the Angle-Styles match being so short. Title should have been on the line, with the win going to Angle via outside interference by Kazarian, or any babyface to set up a fued w/ Style and whomever.
Altogether, this was a pretty solid and entertaining card; I loved the transition from Impact to Reaction.
Let's hope they can keep up the good work. I'd love to see the organization get bigger.
Only downside, I think the roster is too deep and they need a third hour à la Nitro.
Posted by: Josh | August 14, 2010 1:31 PM
This was a great show that featured one of the best tag team matches ever.
However, I was kind of disappointed with the last 30 mins. I found it annoying that Abyss would bring out tacks, glass, and a barbed wire board, only to see it backfire on him. RVD should've taken at least one bump onto the tacks and glass. I've always hated Janice, and after Abyss had to pretent like it was stuck in the turnbuckle, I think we all can see why.
Hogan's special announcement, hmm... what did he announce exactly?
I disagree with you about the bloody brawl. The blood didn't do anything for me. In fact, I think it's sad that someone would bleed just for 5 secs on camera. Blood has it's place in an intense rivalry, but it was unnecessary here.
So, did Abyss attack RVD with a can of red paint or something?
Posted by: Phillip Reynolds | August 14, 2010 2:18 PM
@ Common Sense - I agree with you, consistency is TNA's biggest flaw right now. They follow up awesome shows like this with horrible, WCW 2000-era stuff. Hopefully the Fortune angle isn't screwed up...
Posted by: Steve G. | August 14, 2010 3:58 PM
Ugh...get the EV2.0 guys out of here already. They had their one night for "closure" so just leave it at that. I don't really want/need to see Tommy Dreamer cutting teary-eyed promos week in and week out, but it looks like that's where we may be headed. Not to mention if Fortune is supposed to be coming across as an upper-echelon "elite" faction, why not have them feud with someone on a comparable level?
Posted by: Jeff | August 14, 2010 4:55 PM
When the Angle-Styles match was a non-title match, "I thought here we go again another stupid way to begin a TNA show."
The Beautiful People are now turning into TNA's version the NWO. Now they are splitting up into two factions. On the positive note, I'd rather watch LVE wrestle than Scott Hall.
Posted by: The Nature Boy | August 14, 2010 5:29 PM
The Guns/ Beer Money match was marred a bit for me by poor psychology. Storm and Roode had Shelley beat after the first fall, but stopped to do their dumb "Beer... Money!" thing, and Shelley made the tag. While they did comment on it a bit, Taz and Tenay should have really sold that as a huge mistake, which ended up costing them the match and the titles. That being said, yeah, it was impressive. I love how creative both teams were; they really showed how unique tag team wrestling can be.
I really hope this becomes the new formula for TNA: more matches, less talking. Just send your talented roster out there to do what they do best.
Posted by: Ken Raining | August 14, 2010 5:51 PM
If only this episode aired at the begining of "The Monday Night Wars 2", we'd have some serious competition.
The show was incredible; best tag team match ever, gripping main event, good match between Hardy and Moore and fantastic match between Angle and Styles - a match which I think can never get old or be done too many times, but just to mix it up they changed the formula that has worked so well for these two together in the past. I hope there are more Impacts like this in the future.
The 3 way dance match wasn't great, but for the time given was okay, and it got Morgan a win (which is always good) whilst allowing Anderson and Pope to feud/be in a storyline alone.
I was really excited about the Rayne vs Love match - Rayne has been incredible lately and I really think she should've won: the title profits her more than Love right now. The match was runied by this idiotic "mystery" women gimmick which I'm so fed up of - it should have atleast allowed Rayne to win with Love then having an escuse...the sooner this storyline is over the better. Hopefully TNA soon gets some more women wrestlers from Shimmer because their knockout division is looking pretty thin.
I really think Tna has turned over a new leaf recently, really improved over the last month or so to be consitently offering good/great Impacts with great matches and interesting storylines - peaking on this Impact. I think people need to forget the horror of the Tna booking past and now see it for what it is, I can't believe there is so much blind hate for a company which is cutting edge, fresh and different from monotonous vanilla WWE and constantly offers exciting and great matches.
Cheers for the blog/your opinions Kev, it's hard to find an educated view on wrestling.
Posted by: stan@UK | August 14, 2010 6:48 PM
Ah, TNA. The only company with PPV quality on free tv and bingo hall quality on PPV.
Posted by: David | August 14, 2010 11:20 PM
One of the best Impact episodes ever, and the ratings are still poor. TNA needs to advertise more when they're giving away a PPV for free. It doesn't make sense why they don't promote their product better
The Motor City Machine Guns and Beer Money had a match of the year contender.
RESPONSE FROM KE: I couldn't agree more. That show doing a 1.2 rating (rounded up from 1.15) and actually having fewer viewers than the previous week's show is both mind-boggling and disheartening.
Posted by: Another Wrestling Mark | August 15, 2010 5:07 PM
The ending to this was amazing. Especially when "Uncle Scotty" Raven took the beer bottle shot from Storm. Do you think there is going to be a program between fortune and EV2? Could that be the reason behind Beer Money not winning the tag belts? And if there is a program between the two factions, nothing sounds more boring than a Stevie Richards vs Matt Morgan match or even a Tommy Dreamer vs Douglass Williams. But I do want to see more of Rhino and less of Tommy Dreamer.....unless he is not doing a weepy promo.
With Kurt Angle plowing through the ranking system, is it just me or do you think that Kurt will be the next TNA champion at Bound for Glory?
What exactly was Hogan's HUGE announcement?
Posted by: Peter | August 17, 2010 12:01 PM
TNA creative deserves all the criticism they receive but there's absolutely no doubt that their roster contains some of the best workers in the world and it's remarkable that they regularly have the best two or three matches in any given week of tv.
Beer Money and MCMG's are clearly the best two tag teams in the mainstream industry whilst Angle and Styles are easily in the best five workers in America.
That's not to mention guys like Anderson and Pope who are right up there in terms of entertainment.
As a TNA fan i really hope they can get themselves organised beyond the curtain because they've got all the tools to make one hell of a product.
Posted by: John | August 17, 2010 6:37 PM