ODB should have finished her explanation with "At least that's the best reason Russo could come up with"

The Hogan-Bischoff stuff makes absolutely no sense. It isn't even close to the "power hungry guy that's letting it go to his head" angle he pulled off so well in WCW with nWo, it just makes it look like for whatever reason he & Hogan want TNA to fail. They need to scrap Immortal all together, I never thought fans could care less about a heel faction than M.E.M. but a faction with Matt Hardy & Bubba Ray as its' top stars? Yikes.

Although Mr. Eck nailed this in efficient and merciless fashion...I want to use this episode as an example in the running discussion that myself, Boomerang and a few others have been having.
Wrestling is story, over all, (refer to last week's dicussion). That being said...
Anderson has been built as having no friends and having to scratch his way to his title shot. He has toughed his way through battle royals, three-way matches and what-not to this end--he's been booked as fearless, independent, strong and tough. Okay, that's a story--some might like it, some may not--but it's a STORY...Now, all of a sudden, he is a cowardly heel who runs from Sting and beats up an aging relic who has no connection to TNA whatsoever?--(Also--Disco Inferno was a big part of WCW at the very tail end of the Liberace Sting years--he was more a part of the Brandon Lee Sting years--so even the backstory is inconsistent) This is why many of us criticize TNA---you need consistent storylines to have a wrestling show. How can you invest yourself in characters and stories that change 180 degrees at the drop of a dime or don't even seem to exist in the same space/time continuum as the first story? If you can, you might be in need of a prescription for ritalin.
Gunner/Young--let's leave off that Eric Young's character is annoying and unfunny, and just ask why Gunner, a prospect showing steady improvement is being paired in a feud with this dope? And Young stole the belt---why would Gunner have to regain it with a match?---Gunner's been built in previous story as tough and crazy---now he's stupid and not tough? (wouldn't someone tough just take the belt back from Young while he was wearing it while they confronted each other in the bathroom? Why in the hell would you have a match for it?--Young never won it.)
Chyna got rid of Karen so Angle can focus on Jarrett--that's what Angle himself said just a week or so ago---but now...she didn't? Karen is STILL a threat? And now the Jarretts and Angle are picking opponents for each other? Where is this explained? Was it the "Network" or Bischoff that granted them this sudden booking ability?
Eric Bischoff will not let Bobby Roode wrestle with an injury. Didn't he just threaten Anderson that he HAD to wrestle with an injury just this past December and January? I suppose this makes sense only in that the Anderson story, which was miraculously consistent from last November to just before the May 27th 2011 IMPACT aired, just abruptly changed also, for no good reason. It wasn't even a swerve. One week--Anderson is a tough as nails 'tweener. Next week he's a bully heel.
Kendrick has been played as the face of the X-Division. And the young man has delivered TERRIFIC promos--he's here to defend the X-Division, as we gather from his mic work. So the next part of the story is a match in which Abyss dominates and destroys him--much like "Immortal" wrestlers did to half of the X-Division last week? Why are we even bothering to mention this angle again?
Again--the book analogy--you can't pick up a book, read a page, throw the book down, pick up a new one and read a page out of that. It's not a story. And WHY would anyone in their right mind want to reference the Fingerpoke of Doom? Especially if you are the morons responsible for it in the first place? It's like a serial killer returning to the scene of the crime, or an egg-sucking dog that no amount of scolding will help. The thing is just helpless in the face of its dumb urges to do wrong over and over again. It whimpers and whines, and just when you turn your back, it's through the fence and sucking down another egg---embarrassed by its own behavior but unable to stop.
One note, that may interest Mr. Eck and everyone else----Kendrick referenced "materialistic reptilians"---look up a writer named David Icke---There's a whole insane conspiracy cult out there that believes our planet is run by "reptilian" shapeshifters who have designed everything from the capitalist system to world governments to enslave us to materialism. I don't know if Kendrick threw this in or what, but it was bizarre and interesting. It's just kind of weird thing to throw out there. I hope whoever came up with using it isn't a believer--although that would explain a lot about TNA's direction lately. I'm hoping it was just Kendrick and he was reinforcing his strange character with it, in which case I like him even better and I'm laughing---if not--I'm disturbed. Maybe this is Russo's problem. Maybe Russo IS a reptilian?

"It’s beyond me why TNA has such a fascination with a wrestling company that has been out of business for a decade."

It makes perfect sense to me. A ton of their principle players--Hogan, Sting, Bischoff, Russo, Jarrett--were principle players in WCW. TNA is WCW 2.0.

It seems to me the TV taping schedule for Impact Wrestling may be convenient for the talent and also saves money, but I believe it also interferes with quality story telling. It makes it hard to catch lighting in a bottle and run with it when you're taping weeks worth of shows in a short time frame.

One week TNA sometimes seems to be full speed ahead, then the next week it's in total reverse. One week some stars seem strong, and the next they seem weak. One week you're given a strong push, the next week you're not even on the show. What's the point?

It does seem like Anderson is a full heel now. I don't get it. It seems they are dressing up Anderson like Sting to play off how The Miz impersonated the Rock. Except one was cool and funny, the other is clearly not. And what in the heck was Disco Inferno doing on the show? I mean really? Why in the world would Anderson fly him of all people out to appear on the show? Absolutely rediculous. It's also starting to seem like Anderson has some limitations to what seemed to be almost unlimited charismatic appeal. He was terrible in color commentary recently and now his attempt to host a talk show segment crashed and burned badly. And none of it may be his fault, but two months ago Anderson seemed like a hot commodity, now he's ice cold. Typical TNA.

And poor Velvet Sky. It's obvious that she can't hang in the ring with ODB, but they could altleast create the elusion that she can. ODB just mauled Velvet without her even putting up a fight. Atleast let it go back and forth before she succumbs to ODB, to show that there is some fight in Velvet. TNA has done a good job of creating a star in Velvet Sky, but if they want her to go over completely it's not a good idea to make her look so weak. Otherwise it's a buzz kill.

Brian Kendrick has a unique promo style, and he's entertained me the past few weeks.

And the TV Title is a complete joke now. I guess Eric Young is resigned to being TNA's version of Santino Marella, it's just not as funny. I just think about how good Young was in the World Elite days, and it exemplifies the state of Organized Chaos that is TNA.

Do they really believe it's cool and hip for guys in their 40's and 50's to be your champion? Or to push guys who have been recently fired by WWE to be portrayed as a big deal in your company? Do they really believe it's cool to re-hash angles that failed in WCW? How cool is it when your top young stars are portrayed as being on the level of former WWE jobbers?

TNA is being run by a bunch of old men with old ideas designed to keep themselves relevant and in power, and while they are having the time of their lives reliving their younger days, everyone else is a victim. If I was pushing 60 it would cool to me to have my very own wrestling show too, but who else would it be cool to? No one.

Since Hogan and Bischoff took power have Pay per view buy rates improved? Have ratings increased dramatically or at all? Has resigning Sting or signing RVD done anything to help in this regard either? I doubt it. Again, what's the point of all of this? It's clearly not to take TNA to another level. All it's done is keep old men in the same old spots they've had for the past 25 years. And if they run TNA into the ground after they've had their fill, why should they care? Answer is they won't. TNA has potential but some one has to grab hold of it while it still has a chance and do the right things with it. Otherwise it will fall just like WCW did.

"An angle involving “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero and Devon’s kids was started. My guess is that Devon’s sons end up turning on their father and joining Pope’s congregation."

I can see it now...Vince Russo turns to Dixie Carter and Steven Godfrey and says "how does this Kevin Eck guy always know what we're planning!?"

Kev, How long do you think it will be before Russo and Bischoof bring back the Shockmaster and the Demon?

What have you got against The Disco Inferno?

For the most part, I had the opposite reaction from Kevin about this episode. I loved the WCW nostalgia stuff, and Tommy Dreamer and some of the old ECW wrestlers are some of my favorite performers to watch. And, yes, I do actually think a cameo from Prince Iaukea would be pretty cool, now that you mention it, as long as it is just a single match or an interview and he's not given a permanent spot on the roster (Sometimes it is neat to "catch up" with even the wrestlers who we used to dislike). Over all, it was a good episode of Impact Wrestling for me.

I have to agree with Kevin when it comes to the Abyss-Brian Kendrick thing, though. They've been kind of building up Kendrick for weeks only for him to lose to a severely injured Abyss in a squash? If they were going to do that, the injury angle with Abyss probably shouldn't have happened. A healthy Abyss squashing Brian Kendrick is a little less annoying -- obviously a big guy like Abyss would have a huge advantage against someone of Kendrick's stature -- but Kendrick losing quickly to Abyss when Abyss was hurt before the match makes Kendrick look like a jobber.

I assume where they are headed with the Abyss angle is to have a legendary member of the X-Division who has since moved on to bigger and better matches on the card come back to win the title at Slammerversy and save the X-Division. AJ Styles would be a good candidate, or maybe Christopher Daniels. One way to get to that point is to have Abyss squash all of the top current X-Division guys (Making a dramatic return to the X-Division from a former champion necessary), but, like I said, the injury angle followed by the squash is a little much.

Heh, heh, heh - you used "WCW" and "intellectual property" in the same sentence!

Vince Russo and company can't come with a better storyline than involving family members turning on each other didn't we see this before with Pope family being paid off by Bishoff this is getting old and stale Devon sons going turn on him real creative Russo .

"It’s beyond me why TNA has such a fascination with a wrestling company that has been out of business for a decade."

its pretty obvious to me haha. white and blonde hair form voltron to crush tna creatively.

never in his wildest dreams did vince russo ever think he was going to get paired up with easy e and hogan again. he must have said holy s**t, well... alright!

dixie carter laides and gentlemen

My recollection on this is a bit hazy, so can I get some help here!
Didn't the WWE (or F) do a "fingerpoke" type deal once that involved Jeff Jarrett, Chyna, and the Intercontinental Title?
Or am I crazy, which might be a rhetorical question?

This "Wrestling Matters..." concept has been mostly nostalgaic with a bit of "nudge, nudge, wink, wink" -- like Anderson's crack about what a washed up wrestler does. Of course, he then immediately showed us by bringing out the Inferno. Maybe next week a Matt Stryker knock-off will teach us the distinction between an a-hole and a dick. (I was considering going Lanny Poffo there, but was afraid that might be insensitive.)

If this is what matters, they need to bring back Lethal and hire Nick Dinsmore, maybe call him Gene Mean.

Boy, do they have problems. Hogan and Bischoff clearly aren't bringing in the ratings and TNA would shed a bunch of salary and weight by dumping them. They wouldn't lose audience. Another one they need to get off TV is Mike Tenay. And another problem TNA has is that it is taped the same arena... giving the show the exact same feel each week. And get rid of the "wives" stuff... get them off TV period.. The one thing TNA is doing right is focusing that titles actually mean something.

Tna stinks. The end. I could go on and on and on detailing the vast, and many , many ways that they almost had it, then blew it. But why bother. Why bother even watch anymore. Can't wait for roh. Can. Not. Wait.
And David icke had bischoff hair,.may be a sign.

The most entertaining segments of this weeks impact were the Anderson and ODB segments. Anderson looks a lot like the old Sting, and I think this angle of him mocking Sting's old look (which looking back now, indeed was ridiculous) is brilliant. Anderson also made some comments that were below the belt and It's really made this fued seem like a big deal to me. I think you got something decent here, really the biggest star in the history of TNA in Sting VS TNA's breakout star in Mr Anderson.

ODB's segment was also very entertaining. I don't think it's hard to see why everybody jokes about Velvet Sky sleeping her way to the top. It's just basically the best and most common insult to any women. And while it's not true to that degree, it is true that these women are all there because of their sex appeal and not their wrestling talent. ODB actually felt that TNA suddenly started looking for all their knockouts to be barbie dolls, and that pretty much left her out in the cold. They stopped using her and that's why she quit. So, while it was exaggerated, this segment was actually very meaningful.

Anyway, too much has already been said and I disagree with most of it as usual. The whole doom and gloom of TNA, over exaggerated as always.

In the world of Mr Kevin Eck and so many others wrestling bloggers, Nostalgia is the biggest of crimes. Nostalgia is public enemy #1! It's a bad bad boy.

I'm not sure where this mindset comes from, it might be from the history of the Monday Night wars, where WWF thrived by creating new superstars and WCW sank by using the same old superstars. Thus now everyone thinks WWE/WWF knows how to do it right. Only problem is guys like HHH, The Rock, and Stone Cold aren't coming out no more. All we have in the WWE now is a bunch of guys who clearly aren't superstars being promoted as superstars and it just comes off as fake and annoying. Nothing is worse than that.

I think you are right on about TNA except one thing, the Eric Young segments are amusing. While I find Santino funny, he's not even close to EY.

@ Lorenzo Fernandez

I concede to a few of your points as one of the most vehement TNA bashers--(although I don't watch WWE at all anymore--TNA is all I watch and that's why I get upset when they do inexplicable things).
When some of us get on the bash Bischoff, Russo, etc. boat--we may get a little out of hand. However, some of it is frustrating.
As for Anderson as Sting---let me say that I am an Anderson mark. When he is at his best, I think he's one of the best things going. The PROBLEM is though--Anderson has been built for months as a tough, independent 'tweener who has had to fight for a rematch to a title he didn't get to hold for very long--and indeed even had to tough out unfavorable odds to get it in the first place. Then--with this episode he is all of a sudden a cowardly bully heel that runs from Sting and beats up Disco Inferno. There is no STORY there. That isn't even a swerve. It's just taking a character as something one week and the next making them completely something else. There is no reasonable way to defend this. It is stupid, non-cohesive and inexplicable. The segment itself may be funny to some people---but the segment has no connection to anything but itself--there is no context-no consistency.
And as for the nostalgia---some nostalgia does work, you're right. BIG BUT---referencing an embarrassing incident that was one of the things that ran WCW out of business is NOT nostalgia. It's more like encouraging a sane viewer to turn the channel. We've seen this show before--and it didn't go very well last time. It resulted in the annihilation of a multi-million dollar wrestling company.
Anyway, I respect your differing viewpoint--and I am a TNA audience member--I will watch them over WWE any day. BUT--I am also not a complacent consumer---I expect the potential inherent in the wrestling show to be capitalized on--I'm not going to applaud stupidity or just pretend it's okay because there is nothing else to watch. That's as inane as some of the things that TNA is doing, and it encourages the plunge down to the lowest common denominator, where you could show a blank screen for two hours and people will sit there and watch because they don't want to think and use their critical and logical abilities---and sorry, but if anyone thinks that they don't need to exercise those abilities in every part of life--including entertainment---I wish that person good luck, because he or she is going to need it.
Okay--good comment, man--I enjoy what you have to say.

AND @ Jeff a
Yes---you see? I think we're onto something--I think Bischoff may BE Icke---he has used some sort of interstellar vibratory device to slightly change his facial appearance by affecting the light waves around it--fooling our ocular nerves--but the hair gives it away. Kendrick's promo may have been a shoot. Keep watching the skies...

Amidst all the video's posted about each other and tweets etc... Do you think we could see Ultimate Warrior vs Hogan in TNA in the future?

Another rehash of a old WWF feud that turned into a terrible WCW feud

Kev can you answer me 1 question why is it every week Velvet is getting picked on or beat up even when she wins a match someone new comes and picks on her its really not even funny anymore. As far as the the new program between Dvon 7 the Pope I really like it as long as Pope comes out on top and they actually give him some momentum and it eventually pays off into a title program. 1 last thing why can they not figure out what they are going to do with Joe is he now a heel again after just turning back face a few months ago.

Eck, we're all marks, but you are a mark for wrestling journalists and internet "smarts", and almost all of you have bad taste. Disco Inferno was always awesome and WWE is garbage these days. WWE is over half unwatchable, and TNA is over halfway watchable IMHO. Long live Ernest "the Cat" Miller.

@ Boomerang41144
My memory may be hazy too, but I don't remember a fingerpoke type deal with Jarrett and Chyna. She won the Intercontinental title in a "good housekeeping" match--following misogynistic remarks by Jarrett concerning female stereotypes.
They beat each other with kitchen utensils, eggs and cake batter, among other things. I suppose one could view it as embarrassment on another level--but not the non-wrestling of the fingerpoke, which was just Nash laying down when Hogan poked him in the chest.
Also, this is something carried over from our other discussion---but---I haven't yet worked up any indignation for Lethal's firing, because I'm not yet convinced it isn't a work. Lethal was fired and removed from the website fairly quickly, but has since been referenced. With the X-Division apparently having the limelight at Slammiversary and Immortal squashing the X-er's in the meantime, (which is its own topic), I wouldn't be surprised to see Lethal show up "uninvited" and repackaged as the X-Division savior. Bischoff, Russo and the other reptilians are known for this sort of non-sequiter blending of work and reality. If it becomes apparent after Slammiversary that Lethal really is gone---I'll have something to say about it.

Your praise for Jarrett/Morgan with a description of a very basic, textbook Booking 101 scenario, tells me everything I need to know about TNA.

Let me know when TNA gets back to basics and ceases all this "more advanced" crap that isn't working for anybody (except wrestling addicts).

Each week I find myself watching less and fast forwarding through more of Impact. My only real motivation to watch anymore is to see what kind of terrible decisions (booking and otherwise) TNA will make next.

@ (Not So)DumbSmark

I see the logic of and possibilities for your Jay Lethal scenario. Would TNA, though, have been able to exercise enough patience, if the firing is indeed a work, not to utilize, rather than just mention in tribute, Savage's passing? You know, "sincerest form of flattery" and all, especially given their current compulsions for (a) all things WRESTLING and (b) adjusting in midstream (to put it kindly).

On the other matter, my mind is still trying to remember when Jarrett just dropped untouched to lose a title. Maybe it was something they teased, and time has rewritten history in my recollection. (That seems to happen to my wife all the time!) Thanks.

RESPONSE FROM KE: Jarrett took a dive for Hulk Hogan at WCW's Bash at the Beach in 2000.

TNA booking is designed to do only one thing: entertain Bischoff and Hogan. Nothing and no one else matters. It's sad, really, when TNA could name KE the new head booker, he could pick 5 or 6 of us to be his assistants, and we could come up with a product that within one month would make logical sense, entertain fans, and increase ratings.

I hope that ROH becomes a legit alternative to TNA, which scares them into doing something drastic like cleaning house in the upper management and hiring people who can tell stories without letting their egos get in the way.

@ Boomerang 41144
I didn't connect at all that you might have been thinking of the Bash at the Beach bullcrap until Mr. Eck mentioned it. That actually ties in with the loose theory I have on Lethal. It's still not clear, almost 11 years later, what part of that particular fingerpoke was a work and what was a shoot.
Hogan and Bischoff claimed that Jarrett laying down was a work--but that Russo coming out afterwards and "firing" Hogan was a shoot--but when they "sued" Russo and took him to court for the "on-air firing" and damage to Hogan's career, the judge in the case threw the case out saying that it was illegitimate, and a part of a wrestling storyline.
Of course, now Russo, Bischoff, Hogan and Jarrett are back together again--which makes the whole thing more suspicious. This incident is why I wouldn't be surprised to see Lethal come back. I'm not strongly endorsing the theory, just saying that I wouldn't put it past 4-1 odds--given past works like Bash at the Beach--(seriously---you actually file a real court case to attempt to get an angle over?) It's still not completely clear what happened with Jeff Hardy, either, given this context---was he removed just because of the impending court case and the "drugged-out" thing was a shoot? Who can tell? It's like the boy who cried wolf.
It is entirely possible that Lethal is plain gone, which would be plain wrong. I doubt he'd go to WWE, as they are already overfull--and Vince is not going to give any legitimacy to TNA by signing one of their stars. The sad fact is that Lethal will face what a lot of young talents are--that there simply aren't enough big stages to go to. It's either WWE, TNA, or low-paying indies that you really can't make a living wage on. ROH may change that---but they also have quite a bit of talent right now.
Bischoff and McMahon are killing wrestling in any case. If you can, find a shoot interview with RVD on McMahon---he details that when RVD's idea for "One Night Stand" was a success--RVD suggested to Vince that they should open ECW back up. Vince asked why. RVD pointed out that fans still chanted the name, to which Vince replied "they chant that name because I taught them to chant that name". Subsequent to this Vince did indeed open up "ECW" again, under his own terms, and under his own presentation, and in RVD's opinion, purposely de-legitmized the name and killed it so that he could re-write wrestling history once again. Seriously, Bash at the Beach, Lethal's firing, "ECW" and Vince--how f**king sick are these people?

i actually like TNA converting to a more WCW mid to late 90's style.

i Think tna is wcw because if look at the fact that they got old wcw wrestlers hogan,sting,aj stlyes aka air raid,kevin nash,scoot steiner and others and why in the hell they got eric biscoff in tna what is he doin' but making an ass of the business again,hogan is washed up needs to stop,sting is old and when is sting gonna lose a match.my opinion that they need to take all these old wcw,wwe has beens out and bring some new wrestlers we never seen in tna like great muto or hayabusa maybe bring charlie hass and shelton there to help the tag team division and bring the six sided ring back you know it's about being different ..... i remember when tna back in 2002 in the asylum having some good matches when they had fresh faces and some old faces/legends like ken shamrock,d-lo brown,vampiro,sabu now there over rated with terrrible storylines and sting wins too much to not be like an vader or goldberg or bam bam bigelow.................. tna bring paul heyman or bring back dusty rhodes on the creative side u need help in A.S.A.P wwe is kicking your ass in rating and UfC is kicking both of their asses but I got my money on wwe because wwe is the best and always will be if u remmember back in 97 wcw was the best thing with nwo and the crusiseweights but around late 98 they started going down because the nwo was gettin' old,wcw tried bringin warrior for one matches that sucked,talent started leaving then vince russo came and the last bullent was when at Bash at the beach 2000 when jeff jarett just laid down for hogan and hogan went off on him and jeff jarrett got mad at wcw and he started tna ............well if u watch the first show tna had hey looked like wcw with wcw stars scott hall,jeff jarett,raven,and others with the old nwa championship match when ken shamrock won the title that was cool but when years progress they started sigining old wcw.wwe and ecw has beens ecw RvD,Dudley,tommy dreamer,pope,sabu,orlando jordan aww!!!! wwe kurt angle,jeff hardy and wcw scott steiner,kevin nash,booker T and they even had before lex luger,macho man,syxx,ddp and tna is tryna get goldberg but he don't wanna wrestle no more and they tried tryna get the rock and chris jericho but u see what happen even got 65% of their roster is former ROH wrestlers low,samao joe,daniels and others and i think they gonna get cm punk real soon