I can see 2 areas Russo could work in if he returns as an on-screen character. He said he wishes Hogan and Bischoff were gone from TNA (which I think was a work, not a shoot), so I could either be part of Abyss's "they" or side with Sting, Nash, and the Pope. I'd like to see him make an on-screen return, because of the same reasons you said.

The result of the Beer Money-Dreamer/Rhino match kind of makes sense, because it gives EV 2 a win over Fortune and Fortune had been winning almost every match. This shows that EV2 has a chance at beating Fortune at the PPV, which I don't think is going to happen.

The whole Beautiful People angle is getting really old. I really hope Mickie James comes in and joins Sky and Love. I have to admit, Ms. Tessmacher makes a cuter head of the Knockouts Division than Oklahoma did in WCW. For those of you who didn't watch WCW, Oklahoma was a knockoff of Jim Ross played by Ed Ferrara.

I'm waiting for the TNA dream match: Tommy Dreamer vs. Fortune and Dreamer will win, of course.

Does anyone wonder how great the team of Tommy Dreamer and John Cena would be? They would be the only team to hold every tag title in the world at the same time.

I have really been liking TNA lately. Sure, there's still things they do that make me roll my eyes or scratch my head in confusion, but for the most part, TNA has been MUCH more compelling than WWE as of late.

I also feel like even though the EV2.0 and "They/10-10-10" and Sting/Nash/Hogan/Bischoff angles all could be seen as having dragged on a bit too long, it is kind of cool to see these story lines "slow burn" and really have a chance to develop, as opposed to TNA's tendency in the past to start a story and then mysteriously drop it with no explanation (Joe getting kidnapped by ninjas comes to mind...).

I hope the pay-off to the "They/10-10-10" and Sting stories to be good ones. I don't expect anything earth-shattering, but I hope it at least makes sense and will be a catalyst for a new angle or real turning point in the story.

If a "mystery" angle goes on too long, doesn't it run the risk of building up expectations so much that they can never be fulfilled? "Lost" ran that risk - I happened to like the finale, but some fans were left dissapointed I think because it had been built up so long they expected the most amazing, surprising, shocking outcome ever. I think the WWE's "RAW GM" and Nexus' "real purpose" both run the same risk - it feels like both have been dragging on so long and have had so many red-herrings that unless it's someone completely shocking it'll be a let-down to a lot of fans.

Anyway, I digress. I am REALLY tempted to order Bound For Glory...

Kev you are always underwhelmed by anything TNA dose, so why should this Flair-Foley exchange be any different? I am in no way saying that this was some off the charts moment but what exactly does TNA have to do to gain any sort of compliment or recognition from the Baltimore Sun's sage? Next up on 10/10 who is "They". Well this leaves some very interesting options, it could be Hogan & Bischoff or some combination of either, but what if it ends up being Sting & Nash? That would lead to some real confusion, if "they" are the guys wearing the white hats then "They" had Abyss try to destroy everyone involved with Hogan & Bischoff. Most likely I think it is Hogan (maybe Bischoff too but maybe not) he was the one who had all of the earlier Abyss interaction and to me this would be perfect,turn Hogan heal add in Jarrett, blow off Bischoff and add in Russo. then the combo's and changes could be endless. What happens with Anderson,Hardyetc. Add in Angle (and of course have him win the belt at Bound for Glory with an assist from Abyss) then RVD and Angle could have an awesome program. Just a few thoughts, but Kev would it kill you to compliment TNA now and again. WWE gets every benefit of the doubt from you,the bias is well,biased. Yes it's your blog and your opinion but it seems to me that this continued anti-TNA goes against a lot of the things you say you like from the old days of territories,lots of that stuff was crap but at least it added some variety. Just the same thanks for providing the pulpit for us to comment and of course for you to do the same.

"For one thing, their promos were kind of all over the place (which is one of the drawbacks to not working off a script),"

i dont really think not working from a script was a drawback, naitch was the reason it veered off. he always does it, except this time it was a bit more noticable. i think he even goes off storyline in his matches, if that makes any sense. but i still think that was more natural than a wwe guy doing a scripted promo and not having the ability to improvise when something unexpected occured (as is the nature of perfoming infront of a live crowd).

I do not, under any circumstances, want to see Vince Russo on camera. We can debate all day long his competence as a writer, but he has no business on camera.

Although I seem to be in the minority regarding McMahons, who I also never want to see on camera, yet all the silly little fan boys and girls go nuts for them.

POPE: Riddle me this riddle me that... Who is the one with the big black bat...

TAZ-UMMM Sting?

POPE: No. Miss tessmacher... And she would call it Pope.

Awesome! Just brilliant! Pope is getting better and better each week!

I just watched iMPACT, and I just felt it was a mess. I honestly think that TNA has better workers than WWE, but the show is just a mess to watch. I feel like the stories are nonsensical and all over the place. Foley & Flair was a lousy segment that I had trouble following (and I have a Master's Degree lol) and it looked silly watching them punch themselves. I have no idea how a hobbled Dreamer is even wrestling, he looks terrible, and the Pope, Bischoff, Sting, Nash, Jarrett, Joe storyline is so murky and "inside" that it will not draw a dime, and instead just bring everyone down. And if it ends with a heel turn by Hogan then wow was this payoff not worth 6 months of veiled accusations by Sting. I really feel that some guys on the roster like AJ and Joe and Angle deserve better than the nonsense they are a part of, and if I was AJ I would look to escape to the WWE as soon as I could.

Hard to believe Kendrick was wrestling in a World Heavyweight Championship match not long ago on Smackdown.

Give me a break. The Foley/Flair segment was just another I feel bad and embarrassed for these guys. You can add Foley to the list of guys who should just let it go.

The Foley-Flair segment was straight-up masochism without any pretense to being a sport or competition. Just think for a second how sick it was. Even a news organization who does stories about teens and self abuse, would never actually show it. This is the only show that could get away with this. I'm sorry, but I'm just not into that sort of thing, and don't think they should've aired it, or even done it in the first place. Please TNA, let's get back to the athletes, and away from the carnival show.

These storylines in TNA have gone on long enough. Those of you wondering, I heard that "They" are actually a bunch of AAA guys from mexico. Unless thats wrong, I'm already very disappointed, because I couldn't care less about anyone down there in AAA. TNA has so much potential, but I find it odd that Dixie brought in the same people who totally drove WCW into the ground and put them in charge of the company. She is either stupid or ignorant.

TNA should have wrapped up the Sting/Nash business a month ago, and EV2 has turned out to be a joke. TNA needs to really push the homegrown stars if they hope to last more than a couple more years.

The only thing good about this episode was the Abyss vs Angle cage match.

Overall it felt like an out of sink episode of Impact. Foley vs Flair was a joke to me, it only got slighly cool when Foley punched himself and went nuts, that's what Foley does at his best, but Flair? I don't know... I've never really seen the appeal of that dude. I honestly don't know how Foley did it to get that pumped up over Flair, I couldn't have.

Next weeks live episode seems to be shaping up pretty well on paper.

i suspect 'they' will involve a hogan/jarrett heel turn along with anderson who gets the world title. i see pope, nash, sting and joe forming a tweener stable with angle, hardy and rvd the top faces. not sure where fourtune fit in though. fingers crossed shelton benjamin comes in.

I've got to say I have really been upset with TNA lately after watching Joe getting beat clean by anderson I couldn't watch anymore of it so i turned it off and watched WEC which I think that MMA will take over in the next 5 years as far as popularity goes over wrestling

Somebody tell Foley that nobody cares about the work/shoot promo in 2010. You see in 1993 Flair was the booker and......NOBODY CARES! Please TNA I'm begging you to stop re-hashing angle's that were put to rest years ago. So much talent on the roster, so much potential to be great, and you put out EV2, Flair, Foley, another Bischoff/Hogan heel regime, it's just mind boggling.

that foley-flair segment was terrible and very hard to watch. i agree when u said seeing flair made u a little sad, but i felt the same for foley too. then foley hyping it up on reaction like it was the greatest promo ever made me feel even worse for him. it didnt come close to some of their promos on raw from a few years back. foley is becoming one of those guys jericho talked about when he feuded with flair for wm25

I disagree, Kev. I think Flair has been a parody of himself for years, with the "retirement" angle a slight side trip back into reality.

Mickfowl, you complain about Kevin's TNA "bias" every time you post. The dif is it's not your blog. Would you rather read a non-honest blog? It's not here.

And I disagree with you, Ray. I think that anything that gets Russo off the writing chores is an improvement, even if somebody else writes him in onscreen.

Couldn't agree more Nash.

I feel like 10-10-10 is going to be like Christmas morning. I cant remember the last time I was looking foward to a ppv this much.Could Hogan be turning heel again? No ones evan mentioned yet that The Ocean Center in Daytona is the same place Hogan turned NWO in WCW.I mean TNA is so much better than WWE,I cant be the only one who thinks that.