I was at a TNA house show in Sedalia Mo Thursday night. Matt Morgan took on Jeff Hardy in a nontitle match for the main event which saw Morgan win. By the way I highly recommend the TNA shows they have an awesome personal feel to them.

Every week As I watched Impact a lot of thing doesn't make a lick on sense to me. Morgan sudden turns, Bubba and Neal shakin' hands, The Tara-Mickie James fight, the Hardy situation, but hey, all is fair in Vince Russo's mind

What happen to 'THEY'? They seem to have dissolved into Fourtune.

Last 2 weeks of Impact just haven't been so good to me, I was so excited also after Bound for Glory and Jeff Hardy turning heel. But what happen to that? What happen to 'THEY/Immortal', I expected a new group with Hogan and Hardy. Hogan hasn't even been on and Hardy is the champion and supposely the guy they are building this around and where is he? I've barley seen him. Imagine during the WWF attitude era if we hardly saw Stone Cold, how would that work? I expected Hardy to come out cutting promos and kicking ass all over the impact zone, considering he's the centerpiece he should be getting 30 minutes of airtime of the 2 hour show. And where is Hogan? He's suppose to be the mentor as Hardy is his apprentice sorta. And Abyss should be kicking major tail also but he's around loner and just as wacky as always. Anyways it's just back to normal with Bischoff playing the abusive manager as always and Immortal so far is just Fourtune. I didn't know Immortal and Fourtune were the same group, I understood they were on the same side but thought they were different groups.

Anyway, Jeff Jarrett has been pretty good, but show was a total bust to me till the last segment with Jarrett and Morgan.

Knockouts have gotten retarded. Beautiful People were in total control of TNA and suddenly they are aligning themself with Mickie James? When and how? And now they don't care about title belts anymore but just about being in dressing rooms.

I was getting into possibility Madison Rayne vs Mickie James but at Turning Point, it's Tara vs Mickie James. Why? Tara is just Madison's puppet. The whole thing reeks of WWE, there's no reason for that match.

Only thing that interests me about the Knockouts right now is Winter and Angelina Love. Winter, reminds me of a woman of sorcery from Conan the Barbarian or something, love her character.

People always knock on "The Shore" thing, that's kind of what it's there for, but seriously look at Cookie... tell me she isn't pretty hot.

I agree about the Hardy thing. His turn at heel seems to be failing but maybe it will get better.

Considering TNA's track record for unprotected chair shots and concussions, I am a bit appalled that they would use this to further a storyline. I can all but guarantee someone is going to take a headshot or 3 before this is all over.

I tuned in for about 5 min and caught that TBP skit involving Winter and the EV2 promo. What caught my attention was the crowd reax to RVD confronting the group. The crowd was dead. Absolutely dead.

I wanna like TNA, I really do. And all in all, this Impact probably qualified as above average. It wasn't bad at all, especially since they had to do some creative emergency booking because of Anderson's legit concussion. But in the end, they always find ways to screw things up and stunt their own momentum.

I liked Morgan getting the "push" and all the stuff about the severity of concussions, but I didn't really buy his delivery as much as I could have. What was worse, MUCH WORSE, was Jarrett getting the clean pin on Morgan. Un-freakin'-believable. In what universe am I supposed to believe that outcome. And what's worse is now you've made Morgan look incredibly weak, not only only overall, but particularly going into his WORLD TITLE match @ Turning Point, and his program w/ Hardy and Immortalortune. So he's now the company's "top" babyface. Umm not quite...

I did really like the Knockouts stuff. The brawl to open the show was big and different. I liked the match ok too, and I liked that there's a level of combustable elements in the Women's divison. What I did not like however, was Ric Flair.

Why, oh why, does TNA insist on forcing as much Ric Flair on us as possible. I would've sworn after his stuff w/ Foley and EV2.0 that they would have gradually started to lessen his role. Flair was all over the show, for some reason interjecting himself in the knockouts brawl, w/ Bischoff, w/ Morgan, w/ Fortune. I have great respect for Ric Flair, but good lord, it's over. No reason he should be taking that much airtime. Just further proof that Hardy is 4th or 5th on that totem pole behind "the elders" Hogan, Bischoff, Flair, Jarrett. And this means AJ Styles is like 6th. That TV title is turning into the European title. AKA...a joke.

Also, only one match in the first hour. It picked up in the ring in the second, but they need to even it out more, and stop relying on Reaction to finish their main event, cause that's annoying.

Overall, decent show, especially when comparing it to other TNA televised efforts as of late. They accentuated their strengths (tag team and knockouts) and there was more wrestling on the show than in recent weeks. But the main event is a mess and the mid-card is treading water. When your top in-their-prime wrestlers are taking a backseat to performers on the backside of their careers, you have a problem.

P.S.: I noticed AJ Styles minus the Flair-feathered robe right away; love how you picked that up, haha

I kinda like the way TNA turned Matt Morgan. It's original, if nothing else. However, I have a big problem with Bischoff, Flair, and Jarrett being presented as uncaring about concussions. Heels or not, they are now the "guys in power", and to show them as unconcerned about the health of their performers is terrible.

"When Flair used to punctuate his promos with a loud “Woooo!” it was cool. That little “woo-woo-woo” thing that he does now, not so much. ..."

Three woos are better than one!

I know they are faces now but why would TBP care about Mickie James? There's no build up other than the good guys sticking together and bad guys sticking together (Why is Serita all buddy buddy with Madison and Tara?) Shouldn't just about everyone be after Madison and her title?

Angelina can go against Kong, TBP all by herself but she can't go against some creepy stalker? I know they are using some kind of supernatural angle, but as a face, it makes her look weak. I'm using the "Batman Rationale" where "criminals are a cowardly and supersticious lot." Plus the supersticious angle and the stalker angle have been done too many times.
The opener was too long, and I hated Ric Flair and the henchmen coming in. However, I am glad that the knockouts seem to get more attention nowadays.

Don't want to dump on you, Eck, but how can you not mention dragon gate's iPPV from last night?

You can't claim to be a pro wrestling fan or reporter if you don't follow the indies a little more. And no, MCW alone doesn't count.

Lorenzo - Cookie IS NOT hot. Now on to important things.
Kev, didn't you hear Taz' comment that LVE was training Ms. Tessmacher and that he wanted to be able to see that? As in "whatever could LVE teach?" I commented last week that Morgan needed to be a FACE and lo and behold, he is! Great move, poor execution (kind of like the 360 spin and then missing the lay up).

The last two months he's become just a roided up sissy, now he's probably a win away from a feud for the title. TNA AT IT'S FINEST!

It's great he's finally going to have his own spot on a TV show that heavily features the likes of Dreamer, Abyss, Gunner, Murphy, Jarrett and some annoying chick from a show I've never watched.

Morgan would have made the best "they" leader out of the whole company. His charasmatic skills are top notch, he could-should be a top heel and a top face in his career. (Would say lock, but I've lost faith with bookers throughout the industry)

Anyone else feel cheated when Matt Morgan was fine in an interview chair 1 minute after you last seeing him gasping for breath and bloody? Remember when MTV was actually Music Television? (That has to sound strange to anyone under 20).

REACTION IS A HORRIBLE IDEA and pointless. Would be cool if Cornette sacrificed the rest of his life and actually did it. Russo's been torturing us TNA fans for a long time. He deserves a death sentence.

Don't want to dump on you, Eck, but how can you not mention dragon gate's iPPV from last night?

You can't claim to be a pro wrestling fan or reporter if you don't follow the indies a little more. And no, MCW alone doesn't count.

Posted by: Paul Critic | October 30, 2010 5:12 PM

That is idiotic, to say the least. I've been watching pro wrestling for almost 20 years. The vast majority of that involved WWE and WCW, w/ a little ECW sprinkled in. Watching and keeping up w/ the indies is both time-consuming and more difficult than mainstream large promotions such as WWE or even TNA. To claim someone can't be a true wrestling fan or reporter if they don't "cover" obscure (at best) indies is ludicrous. I'm not denigrating Dragon Gate (I've seen a little and heard good things), but not everything can get covered as extensively as everyone would like. WWE and TNA are infinitely more popular and recognizable brands. And when he started to cover Dragon Gate, then there would be people bitching about not covering ROH, AAA, NWA Hollywood and Japan. Be happy he does what he does - he can't do everything.

So I take it the plan for Hardy's heel run will entirely be him doing taped vignettes and run ins at the end of shows? I suppose whatever keeps him from having to talk on a microphone in the ring is the best course. Although it seems kinda dumb to not have your champion on your weekly TV show that already as of late has features very little in ring action.

On the plus side when I DVR Impact now it only takes about 20 minutes to actually watch. Abyss spent so much time as a cartoon character I can't even take him seriously as a heel now. I really miss the Styles, Joe, Christian, Angle, and Sting era era of TNA, the story stuff was still pretty much garbage but you could always count on great matches.

Can someone please tell me what Eric said about Nancy Pelosi on Reaction? I am really interested in partisan politics but please, please don't make me watch Reaction just for that line.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I don't recall the exact wording but it was a line about something being so obvious like the fact that Nancy Pelosi isn't a good leader

Hey Kevin, I saw there have been whispers and reports on the internet that TNA only came up with the Anderson concussion storyline after sending him out to wrestle on house shows before the Impact taping and him coming back complaining of headaches and nausea. Is this true? And if it is, it would drastically change my outlook and opinion of the storyline and TNA's image (of at least pretending to care about concussions beyond that storyline). In addition, doesn't this mean TNA should seriously consider banning unprotected chair shots (which caused Anderson's concussion in the first place) as WWE has done? What are your thoughts on this and unprotected chair shots in general?

RESPONSE FROM KE: I believe unprotected chair shots should be banned.

When talking about Hardy’s chair shot on Anderson, Bischoff said that “accidents happen” and Hardy wasn’t intentionally trying to hurt him. That was one of those worked-shoot lines that are really annoying. He’s basically saying that the chair shot was scripted and Hardy didn’t really mean to bust him open.

I think you misinterpreted this, Kevin. I think Bischoff was in character and was being facecious here, i.e., he was trying to pretend like Jeff wasn't really trying to take Anderson out when everyone knows he was. It was said to cover up the fact that it was a mistake that Jeff actually hit Anderson in the head and gave him a legit concussion. This way it seems like the injury was actually part of the planned storyline.

Thanks Kevin Eck!

I don't think Nancy Pelosi can be described as a baby face with a 60% disapproval rating (according to a Rasmussen poll taken a week ago.)

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/congressional_favorability_ratings

RESPONSE FROM KE: I'm not saying she is a "babyface," but if we're supposed to hate Bischoff because he's a smarmy heel, doesn't that mean that whatever comes out of his mouth is a lie?

Instead of Bischoff talking politics on TNA Reaction, he should answer the question why Desmond Wolfe and Pope aren't getting the pushes that they should be getting. Pope was made to look like a total chump for three weeks in a row and Wolfe hasn't been on TV for who knows how long.

For some reason, I'm hoping for both of these wrestlers get released to they can stop being made to look like fools every week.

Why does Flair only "woo woo woo" after chugging squirt from a zima bottle?
I want to see Morgan as a top star in that promotion, but it never will happen. I really want to see Hardy lose to a babyface and then the babyface (Morgan, rvd, or Anderson) joins fortune.
I am not seeing this immortal/ fortune faction.....just fortune with Jeff Jarrett. It looks like Abyss is a goon for hire than a member of Immortal.

My impression of TNA Reaction is that the wrestlers and other on screen personalities aren't necessarily in character. But even if Bischoff was in character where is it written that everything a heel says has to be a lie?

The long and the short of it is that you don't like your girl Nancy being criticized. But fear not, Kev. In a few hours, Ms. Pelosi won't be Speaker of the House anymore and she will thus be safe from the injurious words of one Eric Bischoff.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I know you love baiting me into political discussions, but it really has nothing to do with specific parties. If viewers are programmed to hate Bischoff (the talent is in character for Reaction), then TNA should probably not put them in a position to agree with him on ANYTHING.

I thought the whole idea of TNA Reaction was to be less scripted and more spontaneous.

Do you honestly think Bischoff is going to lose his heel heat and get a big face pop in the Impact Zone because he criticized Nancy Pelosi? Wrestling fans don't like Bischoff even when he is a face.

As for baiting you into a political discussion you are bestowing a power upon me that I do not possess. You are free to ignore my commentary. No one is forcing you to respond to my comments. But you can't ignore me because you don't know how to deal with someone who doesn't take what you write at face value.

I gotta say...I'm loving Jeff Jarrett more now than I ever did. I mean, I was getting sick of seeing him for some time now as we were sure to hear the "as the founder of TNA..." line and it just made me roll my eyes every time. Now, when I hear it, there is reason for it. I love his uncaring attitude he portrays too. I think this attitude for Jarrett is the best in his career and he is playing it well...kudos to Jarrett.

I thought Impact was pretty good. I think they did overdo the interjections by Flair and Bischoff but I understand that they wanted to portray that the new regime is in total control...plus, obviously Hogan wasn't there so we got double Flair. I'd rather have double Flair than any Hogan.

I do love the emphasis that is being placed back on the knockouts. I thought it was a great opening even though it was a little long. It kept my interest. I thought the back and forth with Flair was hilarious. It was funny that Flair kept referring to Mickie James as "nut job" until he finally remembered what her name was. That was priceless!

Nice job Kev...thanks for the insight.