This episode was really puzzling to say the least. It wasn't terrible by any means.. but it hasn't been as good as others in the past few weeks.. Thought there was slightly more wrestling than talking for once... I was hoping that they opened up with a match as opposed to a lengthy promo.

I could rant and rant but instead I'll leave you with this Mr. Eck., as I found this quite interesting: You gotta admit.. as cringe inducing as it was, Anarquia came off as a seasoned pro in comparison to Anderson at the booth last week...

It's funny how a lot of people wanted to believe things would change despite the fact the SAME people are still in charge i.e Vince Russo. So the people who are part of the problem are part of the solution? I don't think so. Not in this case.

I noticed this is the first time virtually every site who wrote a report had bad things to say. Usually somebody will say "not the best show but still fun overall" or some BS to that effect. It's ironic to me that TNA wants to be different in marketing from WWE but not in product. I just don't think Dixie Carter gets it. She's living in the 80s/90s in terms of talent and writers. Not matter how much the majority of fans reject this style, "they" stubbornly refuse to admit "they" are wrong. Real change requires changes from within first before we see a change outwardly. Seems simple, right? Wrestling matters? No, egos do.

I afraid some of this brainwashing about "wrestling matters" is working as I actually had to argue with a friend of mine who said that was the best show he had watched in a long time (?!). Maybe a sign of the times the standards are that there are no standards.

I was thinking the same thing about the bleeping of the word "midget".

Both companies can't bleep for their lives. Tna bleeps the word "midget" while WWE bleeps the "off" in "pissed off" (R-Truth segment)

I'm curious as to what you think of the lesbian date-rape angle.

"At least the new blue color scheme looks cool." - yeah, it's called Smackdown

Glad I missed this show if this is all that happened. I hope ODB is back full time as well. She has been one of my favorites. They need Steiner back on tv too.

Damnit...We've been fooled again. The month of solid shows before the go-home to Sacrifice has now been totally erased.
I agree with Mr. Eck on every point, with no gripes. In fact I wouldn't be as polite about the first of the "wrestling matters" shows--Even if we disregard the fact that Bobby Roode is not a man, apparently--and we should never, EVER underestimate this fact---the big point to me was, "wrestling matters", so Ric Flair is back mugging for the cameras?
I've watched wrestling for thirty years, almost on the dot. I enjoyed Flair in his heyday--I am not someone introduced to him in the twilight of his career, and I cheered and jeered for him in his prime--so that gives me leeway to say this---His legend is broken. He has completely destroyed any legitimacy he ever had and he is a pathetic joke. I truly despise the twin facts that he keeps being involved in storylines while looking like Pope John Paul's steroid-addicted older brother, and that he has no f%$king shame, NONE---more than I ever admired his ability, drive and accomplishments when he was a legitimate performer. He has soiled himself like a dog that rolls in its own crap, and he is insulting the fans and his own once great legacy.
"Impact Wrestling" has continued the behaviors of trotting out this wizened, coked-up prune, ruining what was once a funny character in Mr. Anderson, continuing the Immortal/everybody else feud far past the few weeks that it was necessary and done well---incredibly destroying interesting storylines AT THE SAME TIME as introducing them in some trick of the space/time continuum obviously only known to Bischoff and Russo, (so to make the X-Division a primary story--you have Samoa Joe destroy Amazing Red in approximately thirty seconds?---Gunner improves, so you pair him with Eric Young?), and every other moronic, insipid and ill-advised thing that "TNA" was guilty of on its worst nights and stretches.
And--"Impact Wrestling", again warping space and time around itself--managed to do it in one night. If you change the name and presentation that dramatically, and then deliver a show that is as bad as the worst ones you did before---I don't think that people are unreasonable if they do not give you an extended benefit of the doubt. ("I'm a changed man, baby--thanks for giving me another chance, I'll never hit..." SMACK!
Why do these people s%it on themselves just when they're starting to do better? It's like watching an alcoholic that when he sobers up and finds a new job and starts doing better is COMPELLED to go grab a bottle of vodka and rip it all down again in some fit of self-annihilation.
The only high points were Velvet---at least she's hot and she tries her best---and Kendrick---who after sounding intelligent and charismatic in the opening was slapped by Bischoff and then didn't figure into the rest of the show at all.
Flair, Russo, Bischoff, Hogan and, screw it, Vince McMahon too, should be sewn into sacks with starving dogs and dumped into the cesspool at a sewage treatment facility. And where the hell is Matt Morgan? Steiner wants more money so Morgan has to suffer too? Is it possible that Hogan, Bischoff and Russo still work for McMahon? Is this sabotage?

This new coat of paint doesn't change the fact that this is still a run down lemon of a show.

What would be the perfect wrestling show for some people? No entertainment, just 2 hours of in-ring stunts?

I did noticed a difference, I thought there was more fast paced action and clean falls. Abyss vs Kazarian good match with clean fall, Samoa Joe taking care of business like he should against a tiny guy like Red. The show had a more "go for" attitude. Yet when I read reviews I was a bit surprise to see that it was considered negative and just more of the same.

Of course it still had it's silly promos. I mean when you look at the most sucessful era's and big companies like WWF and WCW, what did they do but provide entertainment with stories like the NWO and characters like Stone cold and The Undertaker? What in the history of this business has ever made you think that wrestling is anything other than entertainment?

Even the mighty WWE just had it's signature event Wrestlemania last month and all you hear afterwards is "This was the worst Wrestlemania ever".

There's just no pleasing people. Wrestling will forever be stuck as an entertainment business that will have the blue collar critics who think wrestling is actually about athletics or some higher degree of in-ring artistry. I don't know, but it's stuck in this weird medium. Because it does require some athletic ability, people have the excuse to not consider it Hollywood. It's this wierd mixture that makes for the great debate.

I mean even Stone Cold, actually thinks he's a blue collar tough guy,(in his head he thinks he is) when in reality there is nothing more Hollywood than what he did for wrestling. The guy even had the voice and everything.

Still p***ed off...

@ Horseman 420
Very sharp---I was so angered by other things that I didn't notice the color scheme in that context. They're on Thursday, and Smackdown Fridays. I guess the plan is that they'll somehow confuse casual wrestling fans into watching the show? That's sure a better idea than providing actual good wrestling. Anyway...good eye.

@ Joey S.
Your friend reminds me of a lot of folks these days...not just in wrestling. LCD, man. LCD. Hitler and his cronies used to say that if you tell a lie for long enough that it becomes the truth. So many marketers and corporate a#$wipes have used the concept since that you don't have to tell the lie over and over now. If you tell it once while you surround yourself with fireworks and shiny things---people eat it right up. Damned sad.

A few things I didn't mention.Anarquia's got some talent. Maybe I over did it by calling him the Mexican Stone Cold, but it looks like the dude has some talent. Sure he needs to cut down on the cliche lines a bit but he's funny and has charisma. If TNA makes him get serious and look strong by standing up to guys with that voice and his East LA gangster looks, he could be something. He just has a no bulls*** kinda look, like I could see him smashing things up and not taking sh*t from nobody. I see some possible talent in that guy. Hope he gets a push.

And of course I'm so glad to see ODB, it seems this time she's really back. Her blonde hair is better though, not really digging her new due, it looks like she's got oil on her head or something. Didn't really like how they brought her back either. I mean it's ODB, they could of sold it way more, it's a big deal and they made it seem like nothing.

@ Mr. Fernandez

I doubt it's possile to catalog the characteristics of a good 'rasslin' show, due to the cloud of uncertainty that has always hung over the product as to what it actually is.
Not only is this a hybrid of sport and (for lack of a better term) soap opera; not only is there the long and nebulous tradition of kayfabe (I hope I spelled that correctly); it all happens in this extra layer of suspended disbelief in which we, the fans, are encouraged, indeed required to expect any and everything, yet ultimately be surprised and say, "Tell me I didn't see what I just saw."

Tell me Piper didn't just smack Snuka in the head with some fruit. Tell me Undertaker didn't just fling Mick Foley off that big old cage. Tell me Owen Hart didn't just fall out of the rafters. Tell Monsoon the shoulder isn't a part of the sternum. Tell me why Vince isn't sporting the pompadour look any more -- he just doesn't quite have the same presence without it, in my view -- but I digress, sorry.

Our beloved sport has this counter-intuitive essence that defies a pattern but can make you stop and rewind (in your own mind, back in the day) on occasion. Those memorable moments (good and bad, happy and sad), usually involving a "character" who has struck a nerve some kind of way, are why a real fan can't swear off forever.

So, keep the faith, TNA fan.
Tell me a bloody Nature Boy didn't lose a Last Man Standing Match a while back with a timely (untimely?) Flair Flop. Tell me Bubba Dudley didn't eliminate every fragile, "damaged-goods" guy (Steiner, Angle, Dreamer) while Matt Morgan got guys who fly around like Curt Hennig wannabes in Mick's Battle Royal.

Now that "Rasslin', in large part because no one gets hurt, and the show goes on, even for a casual TNA fan like me.

Fire away, (Not So) DumbSmark

Every time I see Bischoff I cringe. He to be a fine "character" but now he is a "caricature" instead. I hated the beginning and I hated the ending. The middle with Velvet was good though that was just as contrived. I have always liked ODB as a performer but an ODB/Velvet program does nothing for me. She should go right to the top vs. Micky James, deserved or not. The Knockouts talent is still pretty good but with weak angles it won't succeed. Oh for the days of Roxie, Alyssa Flash, and a healthy looking Angelina.

It's amazing how TNA captures current events in a wrestling environment.

Take how the logo, colors and name of the show was changed to Impact Wrestling, even though nothing was changed internally. It sorta reminds me of how banks took toxic mortgages, repackaged them and shined them up real nice, then sold them as a new investment deal.

We all know how that worked out, don't we?

After coming off so stong a few weeks ago, Bobby Roode looked like a scared rookie in Ric Flairs presence. I thought for sure he was going to cut another strong promo on Flair, but he came off looking weak, and got his butt kicked on top of it. Same goes for AJ Styles. Tommy Dreamer pile drives him through a table, yet he shows him sympathy? AJ Styles should not be fiddle farting around with the likes of Tommy Dreamer, he should be in the main event picture as often as possible. WWE has no one like AJ Styles, yet TNA treats him like he's just another guy. Amazing.......

And it's obvious that The X-Division has always been the crusierweight's division, just give it to them once and for all and stop this "not about weight limits" nonsense. Abyss is not X-Division material. X-Division is about high flying, high speed action and Abyss can do none of that. Let Abyss compete for the TV Title, at least that would add more prestige to it than Gunner can provide. And I like Gunner, he's a good prospect, but the TV Tilte needs to be legitimized, and Gunner can't do that.

And I guess it should be no surprise that Angle and Jarrett are fighting to be the number one contender to the world title. I mean both are pushing 50, so that automatically qualifies them right there. TNA World Tilte qualifications should read: "Anyone under 40 or not recently fired from WWE need not apply".

@ Boomerang41144

Fire away? Actually, I don't disagree with the core of your well-presented argument. What wrestling can be defined as is sometimes in flux. However, there are a few things which are archetypical that we can trace as foundations back into the 50's, when T.V. helped to launch wrestling as a here-to-stay part of our culture.
I think we can define those loosely as: a catharsis for social tensions--(let's just leave it generally as good vs. bad), a development of characters which fans respond well to, to fit the good vs. bad roles, a commitment on the part of the wrestlers to perform martyr-like stunts which accentuate the conflict and which draw adulation from the crowd with the acquiesence to put bodies on the line for our over-the-top entertainment-(that's definitely the sports part)---
And sometimes not recognized as much--good writing which consistently builds the conflicts and characters and makes us suspend our disbelief---and which gives us what we want to see, and sometimes what we need to see, to release our social tensions.
In the modern age, we could definitely add promo and mic work which is snappy and entertaining and adds to the in-ring conflict--although that's really always been there since Gorgeous George.
That being said---if this is what wrestling is, it's exactly what TNA and WWE are not doing. Vince is concerned with selling wrestling as a product which convinces younger fans to buy subsidiary products, like dolls and t-shirts. TNA is concerned with...well, it's hard to say what they're concerned with--perhaps keeping past-their-prime stars in fresh supplies of ego-fulfillment.
As Mr. Eck pointed out also---if you start a story that the X-Division is being underused and disrespected--(good idea on the surface---the working man vs. the corporate machine/the underdog vs. the complacent perennial bully/etc. etc.)--and on the same night you bury the X-Division through booking and in-ring storytelling--where is the consistency to make a good story?
Do we read books by picking one up off of a shelf, reading a page, then putting it down and starting a page from a new one? It might work for William Burroughs--but not for the rest of us--(and actually Burroughs' "Nova Express" wasn't meant to extoll doing that--but to satirically point out that much of our culture is going that way--banality with no cohesive narrative or sense of past, present and future--only the eternal NOW--which is great if you want people to buy things NOW).
If Anderson for example was going over as a funny, insulting a@@hole---then why make him all serious and whiny and a rip-off of Stone Cold? That isn't building a character--it's the same thing--read one page-throw out the book--read another page, throw out the book, read another page...
One thing TNA, or "Impact", does have going for it is that the matches are consistently physical--this is somewhat different from WWE, where folks like Orton and Cena--while sometimes doing some limited, controlled stunts--are obviously worried, (or WWE is worried), about injuries to marketable bread and butter----Traditionally--injuries only make the wrestler more desirable--look "what he's done for us", a la Mick Foley, Jeff Hardy--or "Superfly" Snuka---(or Savage we might add...)--RVD specifically trains himself to be able to withstand the things he does--and those things are what makes him a pro-wrestler---over-the-top physical exagerrations of conflict. Those worried about injuries should find a different vocation--it's wrestling--it's what it is.
There is also the fact that wrestling stars change. When done well, they change as new talents are given story direction and a chance to show us their skills--and we react and they move to a top spot---(see DDP's hearfelt gratitude to Savage in the recent Ring Posts--Savage was a class act who knew that wrestling needs established guys to be willing to put over new guys)--indeed that seems to be part of the "sport" side as well. It's a competetion of who can entertain the fans more, whether it's as a heel, a face, or whatever.
Ric Flair shoving himself all over the camera is time that could be spent on developing the future. The man is sixty years old. Matt Morgan is half of that--and fans want to see him.
Wrestling should be a pyramid, in the words of Ricky Morton. You build, the faces at one side of the foundation, the heels at the other. As the CONSISTENT story progresses, each layer going up filters folks out depending on how the fans react. At the top, you have your top face and top heel, and everyone else spread out where they belong--in a consistently built series of stories.
The conflicts are resolved, and you start building another pyramid. If you try to arbitrarily start at the top for whatever reason--you have something that will fall under its own weight--which actually goes more for WWE than TNA--Vince loves to decide himself who the cap of the pyramid will be, before there is any foundation--because the caps fill his pockets with merchandising money from the parents of vulnerable children.
What you don't do is change everything week to week, day to day, hour to hour. You make a plan and you stick with it---if you do it well and keep the fans in the upper most part of your head, then you have the type of stories that brought us Sting vs. the Four Horseman---Stone Cold vs. the Chairman---Chris Jericho vs. everybody else(in the awesome WCW "conspiracy victim" story--that was set up from him reading his 1004 moves to every other snarky thing he did)---Once the pyramid has been ascended--there may be room for swerves and turns, as you start a new one---but to just do them for the sake of doing them is why Russo is an idiot. The swerve only means something if it has a story behind it which makes sense--a story which has enough history to be turned on its head to matter.
Anyway, this is long---but this is my defense as to why I'm frankly disgusted that "Impact Wrestling" featured the same non-linear crap that "TNA iMPACT" did. Superficiality doesn't change the substance. It doesn't change the fact that A.J. Styles is on the mid-card while Sting-who is over 50 years old and can't even perform in the ring very well is champion--(superficiality again---Borden is giving people the IMAGE of Sting--and don't get me wrong--his promo skills are still top-notch--but he can't do the physical part--wrestling is doing everything we've covered--not just one or two---does it make SENSE that he would defeat RVD in a clean match? The point is to suspend disbelief because of the quality of the story---not PRETEND to suspend disbelief because there's nothing else to watch...and feel you have to take what you can get.)
Yeah, I always I have a lot to say--but I've noticed that some other people are starting to as well--and I enjoy reading all of them, regardless of length or lack thereof. We are the basis of wrestling--and unless we talk about what we like, dislike, and what we won't stand for--we will have to remain content to have someone call something "Wrestling", when we know it isn't or shouldn't be. If we start using our voices, we turn from consumers into an actual audience--and an actual audience has the unity and ability to change the performance by "not going" to those performances which are sub-standard. Then, the magical happens--those putting on the performances have to change. It's called democracy, and it's more than a political system.
Okay--always enjoy your posts---you are as sharp as a razor and I look forward to your future comments.

J##us--I'm sorry, but I have to...
@ Draven
Yes sir, welcome to corporate Amerika, where nothing is real and there's no creme in the Twinkie---and "business" is a uniform method of social deconstruction. Bischoff, Hogan and the gang are playing right out of the same book that Bank of America, McDonald's and Philip Morris does. The corporate mindset has invaded our sports entertainment--and the results are as predictable as everywhere else.
This mindset has germinated for a long time. Remember the settlers tricking the Natives into selling Manhattan island for a bunch of shiny beads? (Although the real reason is that the Natives didn't speak the language and thought that the settlers were just giving them some nice gifts---Yucatan in the native language down Mexico way meant basically "what the hell are you talking about?"--and the peninsula has kept the name since---and "kangaroo" in Aboriginal means the same---but I digress.)
The real point is that wrestling is NOT a "proper" sport. It is delicate balance of theater and physical achievement---and packaging it the way that most "products" these day are---is going to spell it's effective end---it'll be as stupid and as forgettable as all of the other disposable entertainment out there.

Everyone, I need help in getting some answers. I am being told by some people that:
1) TNA (Impact) is owned by Vince McMahon.

2) TNA is getting Shelton Benjamin and MVP.

3) Jay Lethal is going to WWE.

Someone please give me the truth to these rumors.

@ Peter
Here goes:
1.) Though it may painfully seem like it often times---TNA is not owned by Vince McMahon. Wrestling has its conspiracy theories just like any other sub-section of life. My favorite is that Kevin Sullivan killed Benoit and Nancy and covered it up using his Satanic powers.
2.)MVP is wrestling for IWGP. Whether he is planning on a stateside company return---no one knows----Benjamin however is with Charlie Haas right now in ROH. With ROH looking to go syndicated, I'd be surprised if he left, as ROH is going to be wanting to keep as many big players as they can going into syndication.
3.) No word is available about any possible move by Lethal to WWE. You may want to keep in mind, because I am, that Bischoff, Hogan, Jarrett and Russo are known for complicated worked shoots--and since the X-Division is getting a "push", (which apparently means that they all get squashed by Abyss)--and Lethal has been referenced since his release---he could be the X-Division savior come Slammiversary time. I wouldn't go spreading it as a rumor--but it's a probability that wouldn't get very high odds against by any respectable bookie.

Thank you Dumbsmark. I keep being told by someone in the neighborhood I work in that Vince owns TNA. But the more I think about it, if Vince did in fact own it, Sting would not be there.
The thing about the X division reminds me of the latter years of WCW. Actually devaluing titles is another "gentle" reminder of what killed off the promotion.