Hey guys Chris Wilson here, I know it, I'm a few days late but I'm finally back with my booking/segments and promos review for the July 22nd Impact. For those of you who are not familiar with my ratings scheme from my previous review here it is again. TNA's show format is a little different compared to the WWE's so there may be some obvious differences from my first review but all in all it will be good fun.I'm rating from 1 to 5, 1 being boring , 2 being lackluster, 3 being average, 4 entertaining, and 5 being must watch.
Impact starts off with a video package of Abyss's recent rampage over the weeks. This was a pretty cool looking video and a great way to remind people of imo a long overdue heel turn by him. Although I enjoyed the video package i'm going to give this segment a 3 out of 5. I would have given it a 4, and later on I'll tell you guys why I didn't.
Okay our first match of the night AJ Styles vs. Rob Terry(c) for the Global Championship. I love title matches guys, and when a show starts off with one it's even better. Styles and Kazarian come out together and I'm instantly intrigued. A recap of Styles pinning Terry at Victory Road quickly plays, So I go okay that must be the reason for the match. At first I thought to myself that a Styles vs Terry match would be weird, but once Rob Terry showcased his power game it was on. Then AJ began to display his althleticism as the match went on. Soon enough Terry catches Styles off a springboard with a military press. AJ counters a chokeslam with a right hand and hits an enzuigiri. AJ gets distracted and turns around into a huge spin kick. Terry goes for the cover but Kaz distracts the ref. Terry takes out Kaz, and that allows AJ to roll up Terry for a two count. Terry goes for a suplex, but Kaz trips the leg and AJ falls on him for the pin. The booking of this match gets a 3 out of 5.... Although I agree with Rob Terry dropping the Global Title(mainly because you see AJ more on TV) the match was too short. AJ deserves to have some gold on him but in the future TNA should try to build up such a match before putting it on at the beginning of the show.
What's going on with the Beautiful People??? IDK lets ask Madison Rayne....Madison Rayne and Sarita are in the back, Madison makes fun of Velvet, and Velvet and Lacey are standing right behind her. Velvet says if she's got something to say, say then she should say it to her face. Madison says she's not afraid to say anything. Madison is exicited because she's going to get her Knockout's Title back. Madison says she has a match to get ready for. Interesting BP segment I'm curious to see if things are headed for BREAKUP or ANOTHER REFORM. This backstage segment gets a 4 out of 5.
Next Dixie Carter is in the back arguing with some guys(who are road agents, and I think I saw Terry Taylor i'm not sure though), including Al Snow and D'Lo Brown. Dixie said Al punched a ref. Someone closes the door. Although I'm not digging the ECW angle, I'm giving this a 4 out of 5. Mainly because I believe TNA is breaking ground with some their segments....mainly making the backstage stuff seem more real.
Our next match is a Knockouts match... Taylor Wilde and Angelina Love vs. Madison Rayne and Sarita. Number one....EXECELLENT BOOKING, 4 of the best singles Knockouts in the ring at one time is always a good thing. If you have been watching TNA for the last two years, you'll know it's the case of two tag teams that switched partners. And not only that but Madison Rayne got her Knockouts Title back....the hard way. Earl Hebner has a mic. He says that the Board of Directors has instructed him that they have no proof that the person who attacked her was a member of the Beautiful People, so she must surrender the belt. Angelina hits Madison with a right and the match starts. These four ladies were very intense throughout the match..but in the end Angelina hits the Lights Out(my favorite womens finisher) on Madison Rayne as Angelina Love claims victory for herself and Taylor Wilde. The booking of this match gets a 4 out of 5
After the match our mystery biker shows up again.She comes up to ringside. Lacey and Velvet are on the entrance ramp. Sarita and Madison attack Angelina and Taylor. The mystery woman joins in on the action too. As they start to leave. Madison tells Lacey to come with them, and she doesn't know what to do. She leaves with Madison, and Velvet looks pissed. Angelina and Velvet make eye contact. oooh yes OG BP's meeting eyes at the end of this.....Who's the mystery biker?....and even further down the road will Velvet and Angelina reunite????How many good matches could we be treated to via a Taylor Wilde/Sarita feud?? Good post match segment way to inject some excitement in the Knockouts scene again... So many questions one answer 4 out of 5
Mike Tenay hypes up the next match as Dreamer, Raven, Rhino, Stevie and Foley are walking in the back. What is the next match you ask? Kurt Angle vs Hernandez...Kurt Angle (#8) vs Hernandez (#7) that is... They Tie up at the start, and Hernandez pushes Angle into the corner. Angle takes down Hernandez and locks in the front headlock. Hernandez drives Angle into the corner. European uppercuts by Kurt. Angle elevates Hernandez to the apron. This is followed by an explosive slingshot shoulderblock by the big man. Right hands by Kurt, but he runs right into a brick wall. Hernandez follows with a delayed over the shoulder backbreaker. Pin but only two. Right hands by Kurt. Clothesline in the corner connects. Hernandez lifts himself to the top. Angle follows him up but gets pushes down. Angle runs back up and gets the belly to belly suplex off the top. Pin but only two. Angle ducks a shot and hits a german. And another. Trifecta, but he's not done. Fourth one will finish it. Pin but Hernandez kicks out at two. Angle Slam countered. Inverted sitout side powerslam connects. Border Toss coming up, but Angle slides down the back and hits the Angle Slam but only gets a 2 count Angle goes to the top. Moonsault misses. Huge shoulder block connects. Delayed vertical suplex by Hernandez countered by Angle into the Ankle Lock. Hernandez taps and Angle wins! I liked this match Kurt Angle has been good with all of his opponents since he has declared his rise to the top of the top 10 rankings. Good Booking a 4 out of 5.
Post match, Angle celebrates his win, but here comes Kevin Nash. Angle shakes hands with Nash as he walks back up the ramp. Taz makes mention of mutual respect from the past of the Main Event Mafia. Nash says he's seen Jarrett in the back and would like to talk to him. We're heading to commercial. Out comes Jeff Jarrett. Nash says he's had a week to think about what went down, and something didn't feel right. Jarrett is amazing and really good at what he does, he almost had Nash convinced that it was Sting's fault. Nash isn't sure if it was Sting's fault or Jarrett's. Nash says he can deal with it, but there's a group of young guys who look up to Jeff and they are the victims. Jarrett says he has no idea what he's talking about. He's not buying it, and he's sure these people aren't buying. It was Kevin Nash that screwed Hulk and Eric when he did what he did to get Hall and Waltman jobs. He used his deceit to screw this company. Jeff knows him though, and these people know him. Nash says he's come to his conclusion, he gets it and can live with it. Those three young daughters of Jeff's though, when they grow up and they get it, and they realize that their father is nothing but a selfish prick, and tells Jarrett to juggle that in his sleep. Nash leaves the ring. Ummmm does this have anything to do with the ECW guys coming??? lol what is Nash talking about??? Honestly I didn't care and this kind of took away from the two good matches that were booked before this segment. a 2 out of 5.
Next up Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy, FIRST TIME EVER!!!, i like that. This one's got a ten minute time limit. Jeff rolls to the outside and high fives the fans. Eric Bischoff is joining commentary via telephone(I found this a little weird judging the caliber of match being put on) This match went back and forth between these two. Joe seems to take the advantage as the match wears into crunch time. Joe flexes to the crowd. Both guys trade shots now. Samoan Drop countered into a Twist of Fate attempt, but Joe counters that into the Coquina Clutch. Hardy rams Joe into the corner. Whisper in the Wind connects. 30 seconds are left in the match. Both guys are trading shots now. 10 seconds, The bell rings and the match is declared a time limit draw. Great booking!!! once again I'm liking the booking people to face each other for the first time its a big breathe of fresh of air. All you IWC complaining about TNA giving these matches away, SIT DOWN, SHUT UP, and WATCH THIS ONE. I give the booking of this match a 5 out 5.....Maybe a future feud to come....fingers crossed!!! Joe is pissed. Hardy takes off his shirt and goes straight after Joe. The ref pulls Hardy off.
After the match Jarrett and Dixie are in the back. Dixie says everyone was disappointed last week. Dixie needs everyone to stop thinking that this isn't a good thing. Jarrett says he's got it. This segment didn't really interest me but I'm going to give it a 3 out of 5.... Lets find out what Dixie means....
The next match features Matt Morgan vs. The #3 Contender Mr. Anderson. Again this is good booking. Mr. Anderson is doing some of the best work in his career so far in TNA.Anderson goes for a roll up, but Morgan kicks out quick. Another roll up and another quick kick out. Headlock by Anderson. Morgan pushes Anderson into the corner and goes on the attack. Elbows in the corner by Morgan. Taz lets out a "vintage". Clothesline in the corner and a sidewalk slam follows. Pin but only two. Anderson fights back with the rights. Knee by Morgan to the gut. Anderson ducks a clothesline but gets caught on the crossbody attempt. Fallaway slam connects. Pin but only two. Morgan's now taunting Anderson. Short arm clothesline by Morgan. And another. Anderson counters a discuss clothesline with the Mic Check. Pins him and wins.
I give the booking of this match a 4 out of 5. After the match Anderson turns around and Morgan clocks him with the mic. He then drops it on Anderson and poses on top of him.
Our final match involves TNA World Tag Team Champions The Motor City Machine Guns vs Beer Money Inc.(Best of 5 Series/Beer Money leads 1-0) I have actually been waiting to see this, and even better off it's a street fight. Later in the match Beer Money goes for a double superplex, but Sabin runs in and knocks Storm to the outside. MADE IN DETROIT and the Pin but there's no ref. Storm nails Shelley with the beer bottle. Superkick to Sabin! Storm revives the ref as Roode pins Shelley for the win. I liked the match and the fact that the Guns pulled off some sick moves.....4 out of 5
Team 3D are in the back (Ray has a LAX shirt on). Devon asks where was Ray at the end of the show last week. He wants to know if Ray has their back. Ray asks why would he want to have their back? What do they have left to prove. They've done more than they've ever had. Now although Team 3D are former ECW guys they have been at odds lately..I just don't get what TNA is doing with them at the moment....3 out of 5
Our next backstage interview has Christy Hemme is in the back with RVD. Christy asks him how it felt last week to be with ECW. Rob says it was awesome. It was like being home. He's so proud of that part of his career. To have that here as he's world champion, he's very happy. He says he's very excited to hear what Dixie's news is, but he doesn't know. He's hoping it's got something to do with what he's thinking. He doesn't know what Dixie's gonna say and he doesn't want to miss out on it. He's got the belt, and Abyss wants it. He has to have eyes in the back of his head....3 out 5 To much talking about ECW hey Rob you're the TNA World Champion try talking more about that.
Finally at the end of the show Dixie Carter comes out and addresses the fans and soon enough invites Tommy Dreamer, Rhino, Stevie Richards, Raven and Mick Foley to the ring. Dixie says she invited them to come and tell the fans what they mean to them. Foley thanks Dixie for giving him another chance to make a last impression, and he congratulates Dixie on cutting her first promo and Dixie says she's just being real. Tommy Dreamer gets on the mic and says this isn't about an ECW Invasion its about the men and women who lost their jobs(but it sure didn't seem that way last week) For one night, give them one night to show them the world what they had and their legacy can live forever. He begs of her. Do you guys want one night? The crowd's going nuts. Dixie says you can't come out here and get emotional like that. She asks the fans if they want to do this. They agree. She has one stipulation. They plan it all. It has to be real and what they want. Nothing that has to do with TNA. Tommy Dreamer says "Impact Zone, we're going extreme". Dreamer hugs Dixie Carter and Impact ends. Tommy Dreamer did a good job, but this ECW thing has lost it's flavor...I felt that emotion in 05 when the WWE brought them back...NOT NOW...This promo gets a 3 out of 5
All in all a good show Great matches being booked ONE PROBLEM. This ECW thing is overshadowing the great matches in the ring. Where the hell was Abyss why show a video package about him and he not even appear. I have a bad feeling about this ECW thing.
3 comments:
I have so much respect for Tommy Dreamer and his compatriots, and that's why it really kind of hurts to see them acting as dead weight on a young, pretty exciting, up and coming company instead of doing something (like doing some writing or... something) that could help it. Instead of endlessly rehashing the great memories that we have of 1990s ECW with the same guys--most of whom can't even really bump around very well anymore--I'd love to see TNA get an injection of the original ECW's wild, loose, outlaw energy and just start blowing up.
I tend to agree with most of your assessments. Joe and Jeff told a really good story in the ring, proving that you don't need fancy promotional video packages and promos scripted like a Hollywood blockbuster to get a good story across, just the instructions, "Get out there and wrestle to a time limit draw; make it close." I could have watched those two guys for thirty minutes, at that pace, and still wanted more. Same for Angle and Hernandez. The KOs were good, too, more for the arguments between Madison and Vel Vel (a surprisingly good actress) and the super smoky eye contact between Vel Vel and Angelina at the end, one of those little, spontaneous touches that I think adds so much. Lacey is doing a lot for the storyline, too--something I thought I'd never say--in her Little Girl Lost role.
I love how you describe the matches, especially the Angle/Hernandez match - you made it sound far more interesting than it actually was.
I've got to say, unlike you I'm hugely optimistic about the ECW event. I thought the invasion was going to be a terrible idea, but a one-off show could be good for TNA...if old ECW fans tune in to check it out, they'll probably check out iMPACT the following week if the show is any good, so as long as they follow up strongly they could get back the ratings they've lost since Hogan came in - they're getting pretty close as it is.
Of course, they're still paying out a fuckton more money thanks to Hogan, RVD, Hardy etc., but there's not a lot they can do about that right now.
A TNA PPV which Russo, Bischoff and Hogan have absolutely nothing to do with sounds great to me, the ECW style format is just the icing on the cake. Delicious, delicious icing.
I'm not totally against the ECW thing, I'm just kind of on the fence about it...We will see how the PPV goes as to if I'm on board with liking it. TNA is doing better and the storylines overshadowing the wrestling isn't all bad. I'm curious to see what happens this week.
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