I loved the title to this
and "marked" when I saw you reference "Territorial Pissings" by Nirvana

I agree with you here Kev, the whole Bischoff/Hogan/Flair thing is so old, tiresome and repetative.

Honestly laughed out loud when Dreamer basically just spat water at Rhino. Surreal.

And Tenay and Tazz's constant bickering? Irritating.

Now, my main ponint is concerning the Styles/Richards match. I was nervous as soon as Styles put on the 'Styles Clash' as the build up to it was screwed up and just seemed badly put together. Now, I don't agree with you Kev when you say that you think it was planned. I really don't think it was.... at least, I really, REALLY hope it wasn't planned. It was so close to being a sickening accident, I think the instant exclamations from the announcers emphasised this.

RESPONSE FROM KE: If it wasn't planned, it sure was a coincidence that Styles said that he was going to break Richards' neck prior to the match.

I think the whole thing with Bischoff and his son is working up to a swerve where it's revealed that Jackson screwed Morgan on purpose and they'll reveal that they're related and that this was all yet another elaborate Bischoff ruse that doesn't actually accomplish anything.

And then we'll have another non-wrestler smirking in the ring during Immortal segments.

I hope this Immortal angle continues until every single on-air person in the company joins Immortal and the last Impact is just everyone standing in the ring smirking and telling the fans how smart Immortal is and how no one saw it coming and then TNA ends.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I was thinking about it being a swerve as well, but like you said, TNA is going overboard with the elaborate ruses. Plus, it sure will make Morgan's character look silly for trusting the referee who has already screwed him once.

I guess the only question left is when does TNA become proerty of WWE? 2011 or 2012.

I wish AJ would have shown some emotion when the belt that he had longer than anyone was dumped in the trash.

AMEN. A-Freakin'-Men. This company...ugh what is there left to say? Is anyone really, genuinely surprised? Hogan is...Hogan. It's like with many famous/successful people. If you treat them differently, they start to believe they are different. That they are...IMMORTAL. I'm 100% positive that Hogan thinks he is "money" and that he can do no wrong, and even that he not anyone else in TNA puts "butts in the seat." But how can anyone be surprised at how this is turning out? Right when they got there (Bisch and Hogan) they discarded the 6-sided ring, essentially abandoned the X-Division and have overseen the degradation of the Knockouts division. Because none of that - NONE of that - involves Hogan or what Hogan sees as his kind of WRESTLING BROTHER! People have been saying it before, are saying it now and will continue to say it until something changes. Russo-Hogan-Bischoff will be the death of TNA. At the very least, they will hold TNA back from breaking out as an independent and exciting alternative to WWE. Dixie is getting what she pays for.

As for Impact. Ugh. Well, I guess you could say it wasn't as bad as the post-BFG show. But that's not really saying much. That mixed tag match at the beginning of the show was an abomination and Jay Lethal is watching all the momentum and push he has accumulated over the last year be wasted in one crappy program.When JWoww (or whatever her name is) comes in for the inevitable PPV mixed tag match, I will be having flashbacks to Dennis Rodman, Karl Malone and Jay Leno.

That belt is ridiculous. It looks like the cheap toy version of a combination of the butterfly belt and a Transformers title. It makes the spinner belt look classy.

That Styles Clash was sick and I would expect that to be the last we see of it. There were some who thought Richards might have actually gotten hurt off of it, but I haven't read or seen anything of late, so I guess not. Regardless, after all the patting on the back TNA has done the past few weeks for keeping Anderson out and how "TNA truly cares" about its wrestlers (intimating that WWE does not), I agree with you Kev. That looked less like a botch and more like an intentional spot. Maybe with the EV2 angle coming to an end, Stevie felt pressure to deliver and thought he needed to "step it up" to save his job.

Team 3D segment was nice...up until the completely-out-of-nowhere-but-everybody-and-their-mother-saw-it-coming Russo Swerve. Classic Russo. And not in a good way.

The worst segment of the night however was a tie. First the Immortal in the back making matches segment was garbage and embarrassing. Further proof of what I've been saying since BFG. The TNA HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION is 4th (at best) on the Immortal totem pole. Behind 3 non-wrestlers and maybe even JJ. Not good. Just awful. Also awful was the Bischoff-Morgan-ref segment. Why would Bischoff be angry? Why would Morgan defend him? Why would Morgan be able to simply walk into Bischoff's office without Eric having backup? Why would Bischoff give Morgan another chance at the title after he almost beat Hardy because of the screwy ref? None of it made sense and it hurt my head.It seemed like really slopping and lazy booking. Hated it, although I wouldn't mind Morgan continuing to get a push. I agree TNA actually has somehow managed to muster up a decent group of babyfaces to counter Immortalortune, but the question is - will Hogan, Bischoff and Russo do what they couldn't bring themselves to do in WCW? Let the good guys win, and win clean and win decisive? I have my doubts. The natural payoff for the entire angle would be for RVD - the man who never LOST his belt - to fight and claw his way back up to Hardy and finally regain his title. I just am not convinced these guys can do it though.

What do you think Eck? Will Hogan-Russo-Bischoff be able to execute this entire angle successfully to the end with a babyface winning in the end? Or will this truly be the NWO 13 years later? And can Hogan and his ego really let anyone other than him have top billing?

Pretty sure that Team 3D can have an entertaining program because of their mic work, but that better last just one match. They're more valuable as a tag team. Hopefully, TNA will put them back together after a good match (perhaps a hardcore match?).

@Sebastian - That would be the perfect series finale for TNA.

I understand what you're saying about Impact resembling an old episode of Nitro, but to me that's a good thing. Those were good episodes. 1997 was a good year for wrestling in general.

While the WWE has taken a step backwards and has gone with a timid kid-oriented product, TNA is channeling what WCW and even the WWF/WCW used to be in their best days. One can argue that it isn't innovative, but just to be able to present a product that is on par with what wrestling shows were 12-13 years ago is far better than the WWE, which I find nearly unwatchable, is doing these days.

The WWE has gone off a cliff. Maybe not financially, maybe not in terms of viewership, but just from my perspective as a fan, it's gone from must-see-tv to something I rarely watch. TNA has stepped up and presented the sort of things that I liked in WCW, ECW, and even the WWF/E in prior years.

On the shore thing, I actually don't think it's a bad midcard gimmick. It's certainly better than some of the midcarders they had in the past like pre-Stone Cold imitation Shark Boy, "wacky" Eric Young (Who is actually good when he is in a serious role), and so on and so forth.

Rhino turning on RVD was pretty good. I like to see some twists and turns in the storylines and shades of gray (i.e. RVD was actually right not to trust his friends, in a sense). I didn't see it coming. These days, one can see WWE turns coming a mile a way, weeks and months in advance -- there's no excitement or juice to it anymore.

The Jeff Jarrett-Kurt Angle stuff was also very good.

HOGAN WILL REGRET THE DAY HE GOT RID OF 6 SIDES! TNA ratings were signficantly higher before 4 sides, a million viewers per a side!

If I'm not mistaken, that Cobain quote is paraphrased from the film version of "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller, though I don't think it originated there.

I love Impact but it's getting to the point where the only surprise is if a swerve doesn't occur.

What happened to the days where a swerve was so rare that it actually shocked you for a good few minutes?

I know we must live with instant gratification wrestling but this is really taking it to a new low.

Everytime there's a mega heel faction inevitably it's self-indulgent and inevitably many quality performers are marginalised.

We're seeing in it WWE with the seemingly endless Nexus storyline dominating every show and we're getting the same in TNA, albeit worse given the egos of Hogan, Bischoff and co.

So many talented workers are either marginalised beyond belief or are simply not even getting on tv.
Guys like MCM, Lethal and EY are all being treated terribly, whilst even some involved in the huge storyline are being used terribly (guys like Beer Money, AJ, and Kaz) all so Hogan, Flair, Jarrett and Bischoff can feed their massive egos.

And this week we didn't even see The Beautiful People, Tara, Sarita or Madison Rayne, which is sad given that not only have the women's division been doing some good things of late, they're also often the highest rating segments.

My only hope in the short term is that with the return of Kurt Angle and the hopefully mega push of Morgan, we might actually see the odd quality match and the odd entertaining match.

BTW The most ridiculous thing on Impact was seeing Taylor Wilde chasing Cookie around the ring, and when i say chase, i mean barely above walking pace.

I caught a few minutes of Reaction and saw an Abyss comment along the lines of a belt that's been around for seven years. Apparently TNA forget they used the NWA for quite a while.

Also, as someone who only follows TNA through the net, I'm just shocked that Kaz is still on the roster.

Excellent Nirvana reference.

It seems like it was only a few weeks ago when I was thinking to myself "Wow, those new WWE tag-titles are hideous...those have to be the ugliest belts in wrestling." Then I watched this week's Impact. I guess I kind of see their train of thought for getting Hardy over as their "chosen" champion by giving him a custom belt a'la Steve Austin, The Rock, John Cena, etc. However, I think the execution of the whole thing really fell flat. The presentation of the belt was so anti-climactic, it was almost laughable...then the house lights came up and we saw the purple Transformer belt. At that point, it officially became laughable. To top it off, you've got Hogan sporting the NWO "I'm a heel" beard dropping the old belt in the trashcan. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, we had to endure another week of Shore being forced down everyone's throat. The only real change this week was that they were met with indifference rather than "go away heat." Hopefully that will sink in with the bookers in the back. Even if it doesn't, TNA is starting to get to the point where I just can't watch anymore. Then again, I guess it is human nature to slow down and look at the car wreck when you're driving by, isn't it?

Hey Kev,

I just wanted you to know that Hogan doesn't come out to the nWo theme. Its actually TNA's watered down "WWE don't sue us version". Also with two turns this past episode(Rhino, Brother Ray), do think that TNA should slow down all the turns that's been taking place recently?

RESPONSE FROM KE: I know it's not the exact nWo theme, but it's pretty darn close.

More negative comments. Negative negative negative. Here if theres nothing good about it to say. If you dont enjoy watching it or reviewing it. Why watch it? Eck why dont you just stop reviewing wrestling? When i read smart a** reviews by guys like you and the rest of the pwi iwc crowd it makes me sick. Seriously its like your you guys live to look soooo smart with your critiques and zingers. Why dont you do something else with your life and spare us with your rudimentary english lit skills.

RESPONSE FROM KE: "Nothing good about it to say?" Are you serious? It's you that is being negative, because you obviously ignored all my positive comments. I call it as I see it -- it's called being objective. Tell me that the following comments are "negative negative negative":

TNA has so many guys that appear to have breakout star potential

Bischoff is a great performer

“The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero was the star of the show

[Dinero] also showed a lot of intensity throughout the night in his confrontations with Bischoff and Abyss. It felt like a real assault when Dinero was beating up Bischoff backstage. Bischoff played his role well as the guy with a big mouth who becomes a whimpering coward when confronted one-on-one.

Morgan looked like a star in the handicap match. I’d love to see TNA pull the trigger and go all the way with him

I think a Team 3D feud could be good, and the promos should be amazing. Brother Ray is a tremendous heel.

I’m glad to see that Rhino is not going to be joining Sabu and Raven on the future-endeavored list

TNA has put together a strong core of babyfaces to oppose Immortal and Fortune.

If Jeff Hardy is only for Jeff Hardy, why is he with Fortune, where its "one for all, and all for one."? Hey Hulk...The Insane Clown Posse called, and they want their belt back!

Okay, I don't watch TNA much and right now, I have no reason to watch it. Seeing an nWo style storyline all over again?? I think not. Seeing Hogan and Bischoff do the same thing, say the same thing and basically recreate late 90's WCW?? I think not. I'll admit, TNA has got some amazing home grown talent such Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Jay Lethal and Beer Money Inc. But watching them struggle in the mid-card is upsetting when they should be at the top replacing the same crap from Hogan, Bischoff and Co. TNA need to focus on some of the home grown talent or other wrestlers who actually deserve to be the in the main event. At the moment, I really do think that when I watch iMPACT, it's WCW Nitro 2.0 and it should stop. TNA needs some fresh writing staff who can come up with something original and not regurgitate the same storyline from WCW. That's my opinion anyway. Also, I've just checked out the "TNA Immortal Championship" and I have some things to say about it... 1) It does look like the WWE Divas Championship. 2) The design is rubbish. 3) It looks like a belt from the late 70's or early 80's.

By the way, who gets custody of Brother Runt? ...

The indies?

That’s a lot more impressive than the Front Line that went against The Main Event Mafia. ...

Maybe because so many of them were in the MEM.

And I'm assuming you know that Cookie IS a wrester, known in the indies as Becky Bayless. Actually, I may have read that in one of your earlier columns.

And I would be remiss if I didn't welcome back Tonatore...now known as Jeremy W. :-(

When is the ICW going to drop TNA and give ROH its due?
Serious. I am more interested in following John Rambo's fed up in Hagerstown than the Thurs Night A**hats.

You know, I have zero experience writing for the wrestling business, but I believe even I could come up with coherent storylines that make logical progression, have some fun surprises, and still deliver a reasonable payoff. Who in their right mind can watch Impact and say, "Now that's a well-told story." Sheesh! There is a way to use older stars to enhance and even complement the TNA faves (who seem to be more irrelevant than ever). Really, who thought Chris Daniels, Consequences Creed, and Eric Young are expendable, and the 50-somethings are keepers?!? Desmond Wolfe is wasted, and I think AJ is headed down that path. Poor writing took Joe from a monster to a whatever he is now. Ugh.

Would it surprise anyone if Jason Hervey became the next TNA Champion??

I try to be a huge TNA mark, but........

YIKES!!!

Hogan has stated they want "cool heels" being the face of the company. If this is the case, they have the wrong guys here. RVD, Beer Money, and Morgan would be a better heel faction going forward.

Way too much talking and not enough action has been the emphasis lately.

You said that Bischoff is a "great performer". Sorry, I disagree. Bischoff and his blabbering are starting to get "change the channel" type heat, and now that the NFL has games on Thursday night for the rest of the season on NFL network, that's bad heat to have.

What garbage....I used to watch Nitro before Raw just to see how they were going to embarrass themselves. Now after I watch Superstars, I'm starting to watch Impact to see how they are going to emabarrass themsleves....

Four guys coming out and demanding a shot at the champ....

Horrible characters and a**-kisssing....

45 minutes into the show with almost no wrestling......

Wow, this is what Hogan meant when he said they were "gonna get real", yeah REAL DUMB... ..gonna go "shoot style"....yep, SHOOT themseleves in the foot

It's not 1997, Kev......it's WCW 2000, soon to be WCW 2001

So Kev,

I think you should start a weekly segment when you predict all of the "swerves" that will take place on upcoming TNA shows.

Without even really trying I think we can hit on over 95% going off of the "what would make TNA the least amount of money" method.

Also, as Hogan drives this company into the dirt deeper than Kane buried The Undertaker, would he fire himself based on his whole "not making money" rant?

"And I would be remiss if I didn't welcome back Tonatore...now known as Jeremy W. :-("

Posted by: Anonymous | November 14, 2010 5:32 AM

I have no idea who Tonatore is. Unlike some who like to hide behind being "Anonymous" I put my real name on posts for a reason. Sorry if you don't agree with me, I'm not a troll, it is only my opinion.

"RVD executed the most amazing monkey flips I have ever seen during his match against Kazarian."

Give credit to Kazarian...because not many wrestlers (the only other one I can think of is AJ Styles) can go as high as he did like that..he's got an amazing athletic ability!

I may be in the minority but I like Robbie E's fist pumps. I can imagine this catching on for the long term.

Taylor Wilde has a belt? There are like 6-8 women in the women's division. Insane that 3 of them have belts.

Other than the Pope, I found the rest of the show a bit slow and boring. Morgan is a breakout star.

Speaking of which, whatever happenned to Hernandez? Hopefully he wasn't let go.

If the league is called Total Nonstop Action wouldn't a good way to differentiate themselves be to actually deliver nonstop action?

my girlfriend had the best line of the night about the new belt..."why would all these grown men fight over a belt that looks like it came straight from hot-topics"

One question, if this is really wcw 1997, where are all the lucadors stealing the show? I know Eddie is gone by why not throw some LWO in. It's not like they haven't regurgitated everything else?

WCW 1997 was great. I was in grade 9 and a bunch of my friends had just got back into wrestling. I enjoyed it but now 13 years later I can see where a lot of things went wrong.

The old guys in TNA need to take a lesson from Chris Jericho. Give the young guys a chance to shine, step aside gracefully and show them how to get better.

All these long ass talk segments remind me of when wcw was going down hill but this isn't necessarily new. I remember a segment years ago when Nash, Hall and Jarrett created the 'kings of wrestling' stable and Nash went on a long winding scrawl of a narrative that managed to make the cool history they had ridiculously boring.

Bischoff should get a new 3 minute warning team if only so these long segments can be shut down. One of the worst things about the wrestling shows these days is the lack of wrestling. Storyline is great, in small doses.

Gotta say...for my money, Jeff Jarrett and Kurt Angle are the stars of Impact for now. Jeff Jarrett is really selling me on the heel image and Angle seriously looks like he really despises Jarrett. With their real-life heat and friction, I, too, cannot wait until their program begins. For me, I don't care what happens with Jeff Hardy...Jarrett/Angle will be the highlight and main event. I'm really glad to finally see Jeff Jarrett filling out his role - and it working.

Hmmmmm....the next big thing for Immortal. Someone told me its Batista....but I dont buy that. Its probably either Matt Hardy or Paul Burchill. Or....OR Ed Leslie, brother!
It really is horrible writing and booking. NWO 2010 and the new EMO belt for Jeff Hardy is just plain an insult to the fans! Hogan is doing what he does best.....killing of promotions with his ego. He brings NOTHING to the table. To quote Jim Cornette "Hogan may be a household name but so is garbage.....and that stinks after awhile."
And how dumb is Raven? You agree to come back to do a ecw reunion show and all you do afterwards is get your bum kicked in and bleed. Why would you come back for that?
The shore gimmick is lame, stupid, and well, just plain dumb. But so was Billy and Chuck, Super Hero in Training, Issac Yankum, the demon, and Tugboat so its just wrestling.
Wayne Arnold is getting in Brother Ray's face. Nice. What's in store next week. A tag match between Brother Devon and Jason Hervey against Brother Ray and the kid that played Paul Phiffer. (And its not Lady Gaga or Marilyn Manson.)
So when is Jeff Hardy going to wrestle on Impact?

Kev, I actually have to disagree with you for once. And on a weird subject too...

I like Robbie E. I actually really like him. I desperately need an alternative to balance out the drivel I keep watching for some reason from WWE, and considering we are subjected to Nitro circa 2000 MOST of the time, The Shore is at least a "take" (rip-off) of something modern. Granted it really does seem that TNA writers are COMPLETELY devoid of any imagination, but the performer is doing a great job, and It certainly doesn't (or shouldn't) hurt that Jersey Shore was and still kinda is a cultural phenomenon. Robbie's real name is Robert Strauss and he has wrestled as Rob Eckos and Robbie Moxie. The guy is
money I think. He has a natural heel look, seems to enjoy what he does, has a sick natural (?) body, and is GREAT in ring. If they put Eric Young as Robbie it would be a joke, but this guy is pulling of the character. Cookie is there to serve a purpose, and like someone said earlier she was a wrestler in the independents.

If anything let's just appreciate The Shore for what it's not - old washed up has beens who are simply hiding and mangling a great roster.

Hogan would have never drawn a penny if the writing was as bad then as it is today. Hulk and Bischoff's insistance to be the major players on TV is what makes the rest of the guys "undrawable".

Kevin you nailed it with your opening comments. I don't comment often on boards, but I just wanted to say that I was feeling the same way that you were Thursday night and for quite some time to be honest.

Bischoff, Hogan & Russo really can't create anything different? Really?!?!?! It is almost an exact recreation of the NWO. How sad that this is our alternative. I actually had hope when these guys came in, but now I can see that nothing is going to change. Especially since the ratings, some how, keep going up.

Oh and when you said, "I felt bad for Lethal for having to be involved in such garbage. I also felt bad for Robbie E. and Cookie for being saddled with such lame gimmicks." I wish you would mention that Lethal had one of the funniest and most entertaining gimmicks in a long time when he was "Black Machismo". His work was classic and if he still had that gimmick this program w/ Robbie E. would be so much more entertaining.

Keep up the good work, I love reading your posts.

@Jeremy W:

Sorry. I cringed when I saw my post listed as "Anonymous." Computer hiccup.

It's not that I don't agree with your opinion. It's that you write posts almost as long as Kev's while doing not much more than agreeing with him. If you must be so verbose, you should at least have a differing point of view. Otherwise, get your own blog. And that's my opinion. Nothing personal.

@Jay:

Last I heard - I follow him on Twitter - he was working in Mexico.

@Marko50:

No problems, man. I get it. I do tend to...go on. Sometimes I just get so caught up I tend to write more than most. Didn't take it personally, but I also would say, nobody is making anyone read it. I do tend to agree w/ Eck, but sometimes I don't. Again, read it or don't, no one is forcing anyone to read any of the comments, much less mine, and there is no minimum or maximum that I'm aware of. I'll work on it though.

@Jeremy W:

It's true that no one is forced to read anything which anyone else posts. However, for those of us who try to avoid repeating a thought which another poster may have already covered, an uberlong post is not something we really want to take the time to deal with. With that being said, if a busy man like Kevin has enough time to read and approve people's mammoth comments, then so do I.