I think the Shore gimmick is funny.

Earl Hebner is such a terrible ref, I think he only counted once when Foley asked him to. I don't think he even counted in the end, and just called it at the scripted finish.

Mickie James came off as a heel, in my opinion.

Why state that RVD was allowed to participate in the battle royal? It should've been treated as interference, nothing more.

Shore was a complete flop. I rather listen to Laycool wrestle with their mics. I rather watch the Usos wrestle the Dudebusters. Are they both singles wrestlers? Is she just a manager? Actually, nevermind, I don't really care. I can only speak for my self, but I have to wonder; how many wrestling fans actually watch that MTV show?

TNA shouldn't go on live. They have failed to deliver every time this year (they end up wasting too much time on talking segments).

Dixie Carter should stop appearing on TV altogether. Her expressions don't match the "fear" in her voice. The opening was the worst segment of the show. The Shore came close to beating it though.

Their ratings were very good (1.32), but will fans want to watch again when the show is that bad?

BFG will be known for surprises (Team 3D has a surprise, Abyss will reveal who THEY are, Sting/Nash will explain their angle, Bischoff will explain his agenda, and everything else). The show looks weak on the wrestling side though, in my opinion. It's storyline driven, and that can be recapped on paper.

When is Glacier and Mortis (RIP) going to resume their fued on Impact?

Hey Kev i have scoop for you The Animal Batista on his way back to WWE and the Raw GM could be Joey Styles .

That Flair/Foley match was one of the saddest things I have ever seen in professional wrestling.

The Flair-Foley match was painful. They're so slooooow, and incapable of any actual wrestling moves. (Flair's splash off the turnbuckle, the only "athletic" move of the match, even looked slow and contrived.) And while barbed wire and thumbtacks are in line with Foley's hardcore persona, it's hard to see Flair reduced to being a sideshow geek.

And we've said this before, but... even if the Senior Circuit helps goose the ratings a bit, it can't possibly help TNA in the long run. They need to build up their young wrestlers, not depend on guys who can't even move in the ring anymore.

Didn't it appear as if RVD barely touched Abyss when he flew over him and out of the ring in the battle royal? What seemed like a couple seconds later, Abyss must have flipped himself backward over the ropes to eliminate himself, realizing the spot had been totally botched. Pretty lame considering how Abyss had been booked to toss guys out of the ring right and left.

"Why they had to win a match to keep what was their anyway I have no idea. …"

Obviously, this storyline was an allusion to the paradox of the Ship of Theseus. I applaud the TNA creative staff for incorporating this complex challenge to our conception of identity and change into their show.*

*Sarcasm

I think they botched the Shore gimmick. Like it or not Jersey Shore is beating network television in the ratings. A gimmick based on it is actually keeping a finger on the pulse of pop culture, which wrestling has sorely been lacking for years. The problem is they should have been presented as lovable but dumb faces, instead of annoying jerks. Mistake, but could be fixed.

As for Impact, it was disjointed, although thought it came off good (aside from the weird Foley/Flair finish), but I thought Reaction was dynamite, as it continues to be. I think Reaction is really revolutionary. The style and realism is EXACTLY what pro wrestling needs to bring to Impact and its PPVs.

I thought Angle and Anderson's final segment was riveting. It didn't feel two scripted, it felt like two guys in a locker room getting into a pissing contest.

If mainstream wrestling wants to stop dying, they should look at Reaction.

Overall, I thought the show was captivating. Better than seeing such a bore like Mysterio back on Smackdown tonight. He is worse than LayCool on the mic. Anyway, a few problems with TNA last night. First, I agree with you Eck that watching Flair bleed makes me feel somewhat sad. The match was captivating, but also uncomfortable seeing Mick and Ric (hey, the new Rock and Sock) at such an advanced age for pro wrestling torture themselves so much. The Shore gimmick was awful, I don't want to see rip offs that are so blatant. Bischoff is part of they, and we will have an NWO type angle again. The worst part of RVD entering the battle royal was that it was explained that new entrants came out every 45 seconds. However, RVD entered minutes after the previous guy. Mike Tenay, while not a bad announcer, had several instances last night, where his voice inflection and tone suggested they were going to commercial and they didn't. It was annoying. You know with the WWE guys by their inflection. Tazz is the best color guy in wrestling, and him and Cole were the best wrestling announce team IMO. They had great chemistry. JBL started to develop this with Cole after a few months as well. Was that Hogan's girl or daughter in the hospital with him? Hardy was like Cena, he appealed to the kids and women. He was not their most popular guy, and most fans would probably say they like Kelly Kelly more than Mickie (not a wrestling observation, but a popularity one). Finally, I groaned at the Eric Young segment at first and almost FFwd thru the TIVO but I am glad I didn't. It was actually hysterical and has probably never been done. Did you notice the "tattoos" ran after the match due to his sweat? Priceless.

That blade job by Flair was definitely the clearest one I've ever seen. In fact, I rewound the spot a couple times just to look at it again and be sure I saw what I thought I'd seen.

All the talk is new stars in wrestling. How about new minds instead. I nominate you Eck.

Only a company trying to fail would not make a major creative overhaul within the last year.

Bischoff and Hogan have made TNA look more "minor-league" than anyone. Ever since Jan 4, TNA has become cheesier, slower paced, and even more absurdly booked. As Bischoff will tell us, he brought TNA the highest rating in company history then he'll ignore the plummet that followed (and impending bankruptcy).

I miss the days of 12 months ago with AJ Styles being a face title holder putting on 4 star matches every Thursday, when Jay Lethal was Black Machismo, when Desmond Wolfe was relevant, when Taz suddenly with little reasoning quit as Samoa Joe's "advisor" and became a color commentator. At least the last example's logic still implies!

I don't even think the phrase "go-away heat" sums up that Shore debut. I think they were getting a "boring" chant, but there was so much shouting during that segment I couldn't tell for sure...

The Eric Young/Orlando Jordan thing just needs to stop. Something about that vignette with them gave me a creepy pedophile vibe. Seems like just yesterday EY was the leader of World Elite and Orlando was fading away into wrestling obscurity where he belongs. The fact they're being put on the card with Ink Inc. for TNA's biggest PPV of the year makes no sense at all to me.

Long story short, this week's Impact made the decision to hold on to my $50 instead of blowing it on BFG a whole lot easier.

I found during the Foley/Flair match that as much as I wanted to turn the channel (which I often do during all parts of Impact), I simply couldn'tm mostly because this was one entertaining NWA style match from about 1982 or so. I kept waiting for Abdullah (Abby) the butcher to come out with a fork and stab flair in the head with it.....
It kept my attention, so in my eyes, it was successful. Anyone can bleed, but these guys make it more than just blood, they make it fun drama.....

Once again, TNA and Vince Russo, I really gotta hand it to you for successfully putting on an underwhelming live show.
In your arduous efforts to emphasize how bush league the company is, I think you've successfully hit a home run with the following highlights:

* An underwhelming debut for Mickie James (who couldn't even be bothered to remember who's the actual TNA Knockout champ). And by having that Jessica Hahn-wannabee Ms. Tessmacher introduce her, Mickie comes across as a heel by association. And why the hell is Tessmacher given decision-making powers? Isn't it bad enough that there's not a clear-cut authoritative boss when there's Dixie Carter, Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan making decisions and over-riding each other? Way to go and convolute things, TNA.

* A poor man's version of the Royal Rumble. Really, Vince Russo? You think by having guys come in every 45 seconds and having a $100,000 prize that people won't see it as a cheap attempt at copying the Royal Rumble? And with Mike Tenay saying over and over again that one's been eliminated yet, the viewer knew that Abyss was gonna dominate the battle royale.

* A match between two tag teams that almost no one gives a crap about. Ink Inc. vs Orlando Jordan and Eric Young = WHO CARES? Viewers would've been better served with a followup between the Motor City Machineguns and Generation Me, but they were wasted in the battle royale.

Keep up the great work, TNA and Mr. Russo.

Kev, I totally respect ur opinion bro and regularly read ur column but really what is worse here... the Foley Flaitr blood bath or Smackdown Kane vs Taker w hokey music and Bearer( who most of the "pg" ) kid crowd doesnt know? I agree the 100 yrs of age in the ring with tons of blood is sad for both of these wrestling legends to have to do to make a paycheck but it does beat the alternative doesnt it? a bunch of "entertainment" matches that equal BS ratings by WWE standards,. I used to buy EVERY PPV and havent bought 1 in a long time due to this, and I can see by the #s I am not alone. Can WWE turn the corner Kev cu I dont think so. TNA honestly for me is the way to go.

i have to agree with your statement about watching flair just being sad. in the promo last week, foley referenced the wwe flair being a shell of himself. however, i think that was a far more compelling character than the tna flair. a 60 year old man shouldnt be the playing same character he played when he was 30. i know it has to be very hard to pass on the paycheck, but theres no possible way he could get a better sendoff than the one wwe gave him. from shawn mouthing "i love you" then hitting sweet chin music, to the farewell on the next raw, i dont know how at least a part of flair cant regret staying retired.
i know i went on a bit of a rant, but watching him slice his own forehead open( youre right, that was an incredibly obvious blade job) just my me feel really bad. i actually changed the channel after that happened because it made me that sad.

Regarding WWE losing James and Hardy to TNA, I was under the impression that both wrestlers (for very different reasons, obviously) were let go by WWE, rather than absconding on their own. So WWE didn't really "lose" them. Your point is well-taken, though, and it's an interesting development. It seems at this point that TNA is much like WCW in the late '90s; on par with Vince talent-wise, but incompetently run. Let's hope things (continue to) improve at TNA. (Things do seem to be improving. Generally speaking.)

I didnt watch the esipode completely all the way thru cuz I was turning back forth between impact and the jersy shore. But I thought the 10/7 esipode was great very entertaining and very well written & scripted im more and more impressed by vince russo all the time. The shore segment didnt work becuz they were trying to hard to be heels thats not what TNA is about there are no heels or faces in faces in TNA just characters thats what makes it great. I think they are doing a really good job building interest for BFG. Abyss is doing phenomenal as playing a real life monster. the wolfpack has the potential to be entertaining but pope really sharpen his mic skills come with better punch lines and catch phrases to be more entertaining. but this is what pro wrestling should be about lots of drama and riveting story lines. people get bored of watching predicable fake fighting entertain us.The knockouts are head & shoulders above the wwe divas real sexy in skanky kinda of way its a real turn on. TNA has my full support the best wrestling show on TV today.

Time for TNA to fold....I've seen better wrestling shows on public access...
I'm not a weekly viewer but I DVR'd it being a "live" event with a bombshell announcement, thinking I'd catch up...

It's just a diluted mess....No one knows who to care about anymore

I really didn't need to see a 60+ yr old spill so much blood for something that doesn't advance a storyline...

If you knew someone tired of the WWE why would you point them to TNA?

Thank god for DVR!!!! I skiped over the whole shore segmant. I hope TNA drops the gimmick soon...

This train wreck of a show called Impact is the reason TNA will never make it .. I freely admit I am not a TNA fan and hardly ever watch Impact - I might stop on the show while flipping through the channels - but after this show I give TNA less than 6 months before it folds with Dixie Carter, Bischoff, and Hogan in charge either on or off camera .. this stuff didnt work with Nitro and its not going to work with TNA

Please, please, please someone tell Dixie Carter to stay off TV. Just because Daddy owns the company does not make her the least bit relevant or interesting. Stephanie McMahon all over again.

So you think Dixie signed all ownership of TNA to Bischoff in on elaborate plot by "They" who are Hogan, Sting, Nash, Jarrett, and Bischoff? Pope will be the unsuspecting victim and Russo will be the one to rally TNA against them? Is that what you're thinking when you said "hmmmm"?

If Fourtune is a superstar stable, when are they going to be booked as such? As for they, a sleeper would be Shane McMahon. He hasn't been heard from in a while. They need more Knockout matches. There is too much talent there to go to waste.

The reason that the shore bombed so badly is because the moment they come out, everything screamed WWE. The Shore is the sort of gimmick that is pretty much the norm in the WWE it fits right in with Deuce and Domino, Zak Ryder, Spirit Squad, Laycool etc. You will never ever get such a lame gimmick over in TNA, the crowd is absolutelyt brutal towards those overly gimmicky WWE style characters.

Ok Todd G, you do know that Laycool is just a ripoff of the Beautiful People right? And isn't Abyss pretty gimmicky, and don't forget Shark Boy! I miss him :(. Oh and Jay Lethal was one too forever as the Black Machismo and he was always really over!

That all said. The Shore thing.. sucked. Terrible waste of time.

"Why they had to win a match to keep what was their anyway I have no idea. …"

This reminds me of the whole Harlem Heat gimmick from WCW back in 2000. At least The Beautiful People gimmick has 4 girls who can wrestle and the one who couldn't wasn't even in the match.

I would not be surprised if Vince Russo is a part of "they" or sides with Sting, Nash, and Pope. I'd like to see him back on TV again and it would be a interesting swerve if he's a face.

Yea well if the TNA fans believed in magical hall of fame rings they will believe anything..and I said at the time the shore appeared on tna that was 100% Russo im glad im not the only one

Just when you think TNA might become a good alternative to WWE, they have one of their worst show ever. I love Mick Foley, but I was embarrassed for him for taking part in that awful match with Flair. Foley's a very smart guy. I don't get how he thinks this is good for him or anyone else.

And did they prepare Micky James at all? That was an amazingly lame comeback to TNA. The only reason to watch her vs Madison Rayne is to see who's got the better implants - now that they've got the same hair and have pretty much the same personality.

The show came off having the feel of a poorly run amateurish indy show.

Flair has said a million times that he is having fun and is healthy enough t continue to wrestle. If that makes you sad, turn the channel. Since his retirement he wrestled the tag match this year with AJ vs Hogan and Abyss, one singles match against Abyss, one singles match against, Jay Lethal, one singles match against Foley, one house show against Angle and 3 matches in Australia with the tour against Hogan. He has wrestled 8 matches in over 2 years. The matches in TNA have probably lasted a combined 60 minutes. Get over it.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I don't think turning the channel is what TNA really wants, do you?

TNA is 10X better than the WWF errr E any day

Dixie Carter needs to stay off TV. She does not add to the overall product. and the opening segment, WTF was that?! Seriously?

TNA used to be awesome. The six sided ring. The X division. And then Hogan came in and turned a great company into WCW. Since Hogan came, the promotion has been crappy. We have seen more and more ex WCW and WWE castaways who cant wrestle in... matches and less of TNA mainstays like Hernandez, Suicide, ect. And then getting rid of Daniels, Lashley, the MEM, Homicide, ect for bad wrestlers like Orlando Jordan, Kendrick, Tazz, and Sabu. The ECW gimmick was nice back in 98 but 12 years later, its grown old like Ric Flair constantly blading himself. A wrestling charracter based on the Jersey Shore. Wow. We are going back to the crappy gimmicks like Three Count and the FBI. Taz has to be the worst commentator I have ever heard. If he says Luke Skywalker comparisons to Brian Kendrick one more time.......But honestly, I think its time for this TNA fan to walk away from WCW 2.0. I keep hoping to see gold around the waist of Robert Roode, maybe a singles push for Rhino, maybe a singles push for Morgan. Nope. Hogan, you wrote in your book you wanted to kill yourself......hmmmmm......you kill wrestling franchises instead. Be proud of yourself. You are killing TNA.

Flair should stop blading though, lol if the writer though the blade job Thursday night was obvious how about at Bound For Glory after he and Foley get into it again and Foley rams Flairs head into the steel guard rail.

I have to say, I did not think the TNA show was bad this week. I am a die-hard Ric Flair fan and always have been. I did not think the Foley/Flair match was bad...I actually thought they put more into it than I have seen in a Foley or Flair match lately. I will agree; however, that I would much prefer to see Ric Flair as a dynamic heel manager that he could be at this point in his career and maybe making ring appearances very rarely. It is smart though that if he is going to make ring appearances, it needs to be against other slow legends. We all know he can't hold his own against the younger crowd and booking him that way doesn't help his primary character - the heel manager.

I don't think it was better than RAW this past week but I don't think the show was a flop either.

Hogan's 1996 heel turn can never be duplicated. The turn was a phenomenal success because it was shocking yet believable: the fans hadn't seen it coming, yet it wasn't part of some nonsensical swerve. Above all, Hogan had been the top babyface in the entire business for so long that his switching sides really meant something. In Russo's "shades of gray" world where you can't always tell who is a heel and who isn't, and where the swerve is an end in itself rather than a means to an end, there will never be another Bash at the Beach, 1996.

Why do you even bother? I mean seriously. You are such a WWE mark and a TNA hater it's like a WWE employee does this column. Thanks for the unbiased journalism.