TNA blows..........

Sorry Brother,
I disagree anytime Ric will fall backwards and have a Temper Tantrum, be kicking his feet on the Mat like a 3 year old not getting the candy of his choice in the Grocery Store checkout Line and then get up with veins popping out of his forehead!!!!!! I really don't care for Ric going back on his word about the retiring. I was one of the Lucky ones I was able to be a Wrestlemania for Ric's Hall of Fame Speech and his Last Match. The move to TNA would have been ok if he wasn’t in the ring so much getting beat down and acting a fool. But that segment last night was funny. Here is a Link to it on youtube let the readers decide.

Thanks and keep up the awesome job,
Chris

I only recently (last night) realized I had Spike in HD so while flipping channels I saw TNA was on and decided to watch for the 2nd time (the first being the night Hogan debuted).

I didn't watch for more than 15-20 minutes but I don't get it. There's a tournament with the 'top 8' wrestlers and the 1st two matches barely go 3 minutes? I saw the Mr. Anderson/Jay Lethal? match... it was ugly with there being maybe a total of 10 moves and suddenly it was over. The Hardy match was even worse. Is it just me or has he gotten fat since he left the WWE? And I don't mean Earthquake fat, but fat for him. The entire match felt flat. I know he was selling an injury but still.

Maybe if I had stayed with it the show would have gotten better, but it never felt right.

Anyone else notice that the past 2 weeks, the TV title was not put on the line as AJ promised to do every week?

What did you think of Swagger appearing of Superstars yesterday?

RESPONSE FROM KE: Well, at least he won convincingly.

My first thoughts on the night was "Just say no to crack." It reminded me of the empty arena fight years ago between the Rock and Mankind......just this was worse. At least they did not use popcorn.
Ric Flair and EV2's promo was one of the best TNA promos I have seen in a long time. But why does Flair look like an epileptic every time someone talks down to him?
The four tournament matches were too short and too predictable. We all know its going to be Kurt Angle winning the title at Bound for Glory.
Is there a behind the scenes reason why RVD was stripped of the title?
I know it sounds really dumb, but the Knockout that attacked Angelina Love looked the Fisher Price biker guy from the 80s.
And what is going on with Ric Flair having green teeth? He can style and profile and not brush his teeth?
Abyss must have been really uncomfortable all night.

I really want to watch TNA, because I think they have some really good talent. But honestly every time I turn it on I get sick of it because its deja vu all over again, Thursday Night Thunder style. I feel bad for guys like Styles, they deserve better than a B-level, bush league company

Styles needed help to defeat Dreamer. Wow. With that kind of outcome, why didn't Rob "the 'Roid Fread" and Jay Lethal win their tournament matches?
I can see using Tommy Dreamer, Raven, Rhino, Stevie Richards, and Mick Foley in the EV 2.0 storyline, but why little Guido?
Its time for Sabu and Sandman to retire. If they want to bring back some ECW originals, bring back Shane Douglas, New Jack or even Lance Storm. Is he retired now?
And speaking of bringing back old ECW talent, why not Terry Funk and renew a rivalry with Ric Flair?

I have to agree with a lot of your thoughts on the show. It wasn't a good follow up to last weeks F'n Show. Watching Foley trying to deliver a serious promo over Flairs voice was hilarious. He looked so p***ed off ! Flair got a big smile out of Dixie when he called her good looking. Last week the Motor City Machine Guns looked awesome, this week they sounded like a couple of teenagers that were cutting their first promo. Are you sure about the heel-face status of Nash and Sting? I can't keep up with any of those guys and I watch every week. It appears that Sting and Nash are transitioning into face roles because they keep getting interrupted when they attempt to expose the shadiness going on with Hogan Bischoff and Jarrett. The fans weren't necessarily on-board with Jarrett when he talked about how much of a positive influence Hogan and Bischoff have been to TNA. I love the action in TNA, they have a long list of "match of the year" candidates but they are really lacking when it comes to planning and following through on angles.

hardy is slow, clearly not in the shape he was in his prime and has done nothing to improve his mic skills. that swanton was embarrassing, and the match with rob terry was atrocious.

i can't figure out why this guy should still be considered a main eventer.

I thought it was great that Sting's bat looked and sounded plastic when he tossed it at hogan.

It's easy to harp on the negatives of the show (i'm looking at you, kevin nash and sting), but at least it was not a stale, overproduced, predictable snoozefest like smackdown, nor a sesame street-caliber romp on the merry-go-round like RAW. I know I am so critical because I want TNA to work so badly.

Kevin,
While I did fast forward through much of TNA last night, I did enjoy the video package they did with The Motor City Machine Guns. I think it showed the passion that they have for the belts and did a good job at getting them more over than they were after that awesome 5 match program with Beer Money. My question is, where do you think they go from there?

There was one thing that I was confused about. Is it a tournament for the top 8 contenders to face the number 1 contender or just the overall contenders? If that made sense at all.

My real question is what is going to happen to the Abbys? Did he just fall completely off the radar or because of what he did RVD, does he not get a title shot? I know he lost last week to RVD, but still figured he'd at least be in the top 8.

Well he didn't necessarily "need" help did? Abyss just decided to attack Dreamer is the way I see it, because "They" told him to. AJ said as much on Reaction.

I read something a while back about Judas Messias, Mitchell and Rellik, so "They" might be the monsters crew. Although I don't know why they would dislike EV2.0 more so than Fortune.

Am I the only one who thinks Jeff Hardy is not the same wrestler he used to be. He seems much slower and his promos get worse and worse. If they put the strap on him, there will be a problem.
What do you think of Kurt Angle joining fortune at Bound for Glory?
Why doesn't Douglass Williams defend the X division title anymore? And on that note, where is Homicide? I miss him and Suicide.
The guns promo was ok....but who are they going to face next?
I may be the only person happy to see the Legends/Global/TV title on AJ and hoping he does not lose it for awhile. The titles dont have as much meaning if they are playing Hot Potatoe with it.
Do you think RVD will wrestle again after this "injury" or will he disapear like he did after he lost the ECW title the Big Show?

RESPONSE FROM KE: Homicide was just released. Yes, I think RVD will be back.

Another example of TNA not pushing any homegrown talent. All four men left in the tournament are former WWE superstars. I like the whole EV 2-Fortune storyline, but I hope they don't bore us with another Foley-Flair match. We didn't want it in 06, and we don't wan't it now. I like the Fortune sign, what is it supposed to mean? Out of all people, why was Little Guido signed by TNA? They could sign him, but not Balls Mahoney or Brother Runt? Speaking of which, where was Team 3D during the show? I might have missed them, but I know they were both on Reaction.

Douglas Williams vs Kurt Angle

I'm glad that actually happened. It was good but could have used more grappling. I wouldn't mind watching them fight a few more times.

Okay, I thought Angle was going to work his way up the contenders list...surely winning this tournament would go against what he wanted to do/prove...

Dreamer in the main event of TNA is a joke! In his prime he was good but not main event level, let alone now...TNA has all the talent in the world...in the ring at least, booking/creative are awful. TNA's following up of one of the most exciting angles seen in wrestling recently was awful, their following up to MCMG's title win was awful, Fortune beating down Nash, Hogan, Sting and Jarrett was lost in the shuffle and the main event flopped. Jeff Hardy is far from his best as well, and only a few weeks ago the hottest wrestler going was Mr Anderson - what's gone wrong there...

YET, Samoe Joe is off TV at the moment and Daniels was fired?? Mind boggling!

I hate being so critical of TNA because I really want them to do well, but they bring it on themselves.

The best thing about TNA this week was Velvet Sky and Angelina Love joining forces again...yet even that was ruined by a needless beat down from Rayne and the stupid "mystery" woman gimmick...

How can a company with so much potential just get it so wrong so consistently?

Wait, so does this mean that Angle's just abandoned his quest to defeat the top ten? Why would he accept a spot in this tournament now, when he wouldn't accept a top ten spot just a few months ago?

Russo has always loved backstage politics angles. And, maybe, if every other TNA angle didn't revolve around backstage politics, the Sting and Nash one might be
interesting. But it's just more of the same. Save us, Paul E!

RESPONSE FROM KE: Angle addressed the issue during Reaction. He was basically trying his best to make sense of a story line that doesn't make sense.

I'm NOT a surgeon and I don't play one on TNA, but I think that it would take more than 117 stitches to go from someone neck to their ankle.

Not jokes ..just things that make you go...hmmmmm!!

I don't watch TNA, so forgive me if this is a stupid question...

Wasn't there a storyline recently where Kurt Angle was trying to win a series of matches to become the #1 contender for the championship belt? And that he couldn't fight for the belt until then?

... so now he's kinda close right? And that's all shot to hell with this tournament? Am I missing something?

I really, REALLY wish TNA would get its act together, because I am so fed up with WWE and I just feel like I have no where to turn.

Well, from what I just heard it looks like ratings are going bad again so I guess the ECW revival much like the NWO revival will be short lived.

I think TNA just needs to slow down, too many short segments. Slow down and let storylines sink in and mean something. They just seem too in a hurry to showcase everthing in 2 hours.

They seem too in a hurry to go Hollywood, when the TNA core fans are probably more traditional wrestling fans who want to see in ring craft. But I see a trend here, just like when Hogan first came, higher ratings at first and then ratings start falling into the danger zone after that. So bringing in classics like Hogan and ECW only works for an initial pop and then things go down hill.

It's becoming obvious now, not sure what else to say...Angelina Love needs to find a sandwhich or call a doctor.

Is it just me or does anyone else get the feeling the reason we haven't found out who "they" are is because TNA's writers haven't figured figured it out yet themselves? Is Russo still heading up their writing team?

Gotta trend for you: Whenever Bischoff walks out the curtain and talks in the ring,those episodes are always dull and end up ??? Don't even know how to describe it and nowhere near that good kind of way.

Him and Hogan as mouthpieces are a disgust to what's an awesome roster. Most wrestler's(if they make regular appearances) don't get their entrances shown on TV anymore, but Hogan gets his 5 minute entrance with a 10 min promo getting to exactly what you knew he'd say before it started, with 14 of the same hyperbole's each more cheesy than the one before. Top that off with an obviously "obedient Universal Studios tourist package" crowd with 20 diehards and the cheese just keeps getting moldier. Minor league? We're talking High School Homecoming.

Guys like Bischoff,Russo should have never been on camera in the first place. Thanks for the breaking the "illusion", spotlight hogs.

I like wrestling, I'm 29. Vince is PG, I DVR WWE and just watch Jericho,Swagger,Ziggler,Miz, and lately Cody Rhodes, the rest of it's not for me. TNA is rated R basically, more for my age bracket and with their unfinished storytelling strategy, Samoa Joe was freakin' kidnapped Russo!!

Russo, Hogan, Bischoff or whoever is doing all they can to make me feel like a jackass and TRYING to lose me as a customer. Bischoff talked about big names "draw money" and feul ratings. Look in the mirror, "Easy E", do you see a money raising performer or a car salesman? Look at this week's ratings of a show you were the first to appear. The answer is clear.

He probably thinks he's more impactful on the mic than Bobby Heenan was! Thank you Russo, Hogan, Bischoff for all the "lying-down" angles of the past that exposed the audience to backstage politics and now storylines are created over stuff that should have never been whispered in a wrestling ring ever. Yet it was screamed and the audience didn't forget that either, guys. 20 diehards a show, that's all you perform in front of. And tickets are free!

Sorry Kev, it flowed and I'm better now that I released it.

I agree that EV2 lacks the star power for a realistic feud. It would appear that a combination of Hardy, Sting, Jarrett and Joe will be added to that faction to increase interest. Also 3D would also help the group. Flair did explain why he hated EV2 in between all the ranting. Just when that all made sense, they attacked Sting. Now they need to explain that since Sting was against Dixie and Hogan the same as Flair

Also, unmask the masked motorcycle rider already. I wished they would bring back Kong. Everyone knew that Velvet was Angelina's protection but I was secretly hoping for a swerve with Kong.

Kinda makes you maudlin for the days of RelliK** and Black Rain, dont it?

** KilleR, spelled backwards

It's sad when, aside from Angle/Williams, Angelina/Madison was the best match of the night. Anderson's proved why WWE dropped him. He sucks.....sucks. Stiff as a board. I thought Lethal was in there with The Great Khali. And I really fear he's(Anderson) gonna end up with the strap when all is said and done at BFG. Nothing makes TNA look more minor league, then to make a WWE reject their top guy. Again, this is all ass-umption on my part. Angle could win, but then again, why do anything with Angle that makes sense? And the most positively-received angle of the show was the apparant reunion of Angelina and Velvet. Bravo, TNA. Really setting the bar high, and trying new things. When do the MEM get back together?

I thougt that Angle winning out over the top ten would have led to him and RVD at Bound for Glory. As it stands right now if (when) he beats Hardy at the next PPV he'll face either The Pope or Anderson. Seen it! The only thing I can think of that would be really good for BFG is go the Wrestle Mania 10 route and have what would be the finals at BFG but then the winner has to fight the returning RVD who will have to face Abyss in a return match so he'll also have to wresle twice in the same night.

To Randy. I was thinking the same thing about Styles defending the TV title.

Fourtunes new hand symbol is stupid. What is it suppouse to mean?

Mattyd, Anderson is far from a "WWE reject." The E had a pretty big push planned for him right before he failed a drug test. Did he get fired? Yes. But I think you are marginalizing him a little too much by referring to him as a reject. It is not like Trevor Murdoch is wrestling for the TNA title. Anderson was a popular wrestler in his WWE days and he is popular now.

I'm happy to call garbage garbage when either professional wrestling organization does it. I thought Impact was almost pure garbage. I can't understand for the life of me why TNA insists on putting on a killer show like they did with the Whole F'N Show and then put out crap like this past week. I was sold on the EV2.0 angle but now, I'm not interested again.

Another thing that really bugs me...why build up wrestlers like Fortune to make us believe they are unstoppable and are going to mop the floor with EV 2.0's blood and then book them to lose every match they were in except AJ Styles who won on a technicality? I just can't believe Matt Morgan and Douglas Williams are forces to be reckoned with when they lose their matches consistently.

Same with Abyss! Abyss is beat to a pulp every time he gets in the ring...he loses more than he wins...he still makes cartoonish faces that are not serious and makes stupid high-pitched screaming noises that only makes him look more like a cartoon...and I am supposed to believe he is an unstoppable maniac!? Please! And Jarrett, Hogan, Sting, Nash...I admit, I was a little interested in what was about to happen and the potential storylines that could come from this. The lights go out....yeah, I'm a little more intrigued. Oh crap! Fortune is in the ring...does Hogan have something to do with them? Is Nash and Sting aligned? Will this play into Sting's act of months ago? NO! Fortune attacks them all!??? Why? Too confusing!

Gosh...I am pulling so hard for TNA to get this right and I'm so frustrated! WWE gives us garbage and TNA has a wide-open door to steal fans! I do believe TNA could be a force if they would dump this stupid booking and writing.

I think nearly everyone who reads your blog, Kevin, is a savvy wrestling fan and probably have been for years so they know what wrestling is supposed to be. I get the impression most of your readers and commenters are so frustrated with both organizations not even attempting to appeal to the true wrestling fan. We may just be people without a country anymore...just don't see wrestling moving away from this cartoonish booking and writing any time soon. Gosh, I long for 1980's NWA!! I watch old tapes and DVDs of this when I get depressed about wrestling...makes me feel better. Sad...