11/26 iMPACT

[dennish]

This was a very good show, the Abyss / Hardy match was great! These two never get boring and they continue to put on solid shows. The ending was crazy, but in a good way... Gayda, Kim and Jarrett? Thats going to be interesting to see what happens there and next week the House of Fun returns and can anyone say the Sandman returns is my guess. This was better then last weeks show, TNA continues to entertain.

[floydthebarber]

Didn't think it was as good as last week.

Monty Brown match was a waste of time.

3 Live Krew stuff was actually very good. Thought they might lose it (I love you man) but BG, Truth and even Konnan were solid on the mike and it was a good segment...even if the group as a whole is so-so

Styles/Sabin was solid

Christian Cage was VERY solid on the mike. You can see why he should be a Main Event contender. Makes JJ look like a joke! Cage/Brown should be good...but Cage will win! I liked how AMW got involved too...

I'm a big Raven fan...and I like how he and Larry Z are at each others throats...but it could be better. Not bad...but not good either.

Abyss/Hardy was so-so. I like Hardy, but he looked 'tired' in this match. Nevertheless, it serves its purpose to build to the Abyss/Sabu match.

Jeff Jarrett v. Kip James...BIG waste of time. What did this match do? And the run in at the end was more same old, same old. I hate Jeff Jarrett...he is clearly NOT the best wrestler TNA has......not even close!

Overall, I thought it was a sub par show. Had some good moments, but I think maybe the reason why they don't get great ratings is because they build up too well to the PPV's, and don't give fans enough good match-ups on iMPACT. JJ v. Kip James is not a Main Event...I don't care how long JJ's had the belt! I was entertained...but barely.

[faninthecrowd]

i concur. TNA is really starting to have some decent material, enough in my opinion to start making the WWE sweat a little. ¿how? some fans might start tuning into TNA more then to WWE programming. I am a devoted Wrestling fan, so in the past years Ive tuned into RAW/Smackdown, but again being the WRESTLING fan that i am, I'm gonna tune into wrestling which is starting to look like TNA. I'm sad it came to this.

i don't want to like to talk bad about the WWE, but their past work has been not very impressive, and frankly overall disappointing.

their last great shows were the tribute shows for Eddie Guerrero, which is sad because what it said to me was that they need to lose a great person/wrestler/friend in order to motivate the Company to have a good show.

i feel like a got off track. anyways...
...
TNA is starting to give some competition to the WWE, and it wont be long before we have some new ¿Sat/Monday night wars?... ;D

[Chewey]

My rant on TNA:

I'm not completely sold on TNA yet, though I have been keeping up with it lately and it has been more and more entertaining.

I actually thought Raven cut a pretty weak promo, but maybe it's only because I expect a lot more out of him. Christian is clearly the best wrestler/persona in the promotion, but I've got a feeling that it will be a while before he takes the strap from Jarrett.

I hate Monty Brown, and his Pounce is not a modern day finisher. Petey Williams is lucky that his opponents will sell his finisher that involves a lot of effort on their parts and almost none on his part. I forgot how much I enjoyed Team 3D, but boy did WWE criminally misuse them the last couple of years. Jarrett is a big waste of time, but the fact that he wrestles last only means that I stop watching iMPACT a little before it ends. How long will 4LK last? I don't care for any them in the ring, but they do generally produce some solid mic work. Still, I can't get myself to care that much about their little drama, and to see them walking around holding up four fingers does make my stomach churn just a little.

Now the part of my rant that not everyone may agree with me on. I have to side with Rick Scaia from Online Onslaught about how the fans at TNA shows act in general. Well, I won't go as far as he goes in saying that the fans seem more content to be the show than to watch the show, but it's my number one gripe with TNA. I find it annoying that almost every match gets a dueling chant for both competitors. Yes, this is a promotion that is more grounded on the actual wrestling than WWE, but the friction between the heel and face is a time-proven formula in professional wrestling, and when the fans cheer both sides (even in an Abyss-Jeff Hardy match - why would anyone cheer Abyss?), it makes it hard for me to care either way. I can deal with dueling chants on occasion, like with AJ Styles-Sabin, but please not every match. In WWE, even when every fan is at heart an Angle fan, they boo the heck out of him (okay, so lately that's not a great example, but that's Cena's fault and not Angle's.) The only guy that draws consistent heel heat is Jeff Jarrett, and maybe that's why he's always on top, because the fans won't boo anyone else.

I've got an idea. Following my Jarrett logic, if we all want to prove that we're "smart" fans at the TNA shows, let's save all of our boos for Christian Cage in order to give him lengthy and multiple title reigns!

The best wrestlers still compete in WWE (Angle, Benoit, Mysterio, HBK, Benjamin), but you have to sit through a bunch of crap to get to it, while I can watch most of the action in TNA that doesn't involve Jeff Jarrett or Monty Brown.

And thank you production crew for finding some balance between the commentators and the ring music. I found it *very* annoying for a long time that I could never hear what the announcers were saying because they'd get drowned out by fan noise and especially ring entrance music. I felt like they were trying to create the illusion that the fans are so loud, but I do want to hear what Tenay has to say from time to time. I think they are slowly fixing that problem.

They've got potential. Just think where they can go when WWE lets Heyman go at the end of the year, and he begins booking for TNA.

Okay, I'm done.

Aaron

[tafkaga]

I thought the show was solid. Was pretty entertaining. I love the stuff between Raven and Zbysko, and I had forgotten how good Larry was.

The 4LK thing was entertaining to watch. Even though I dislike this team I'm enjoying this angle and expecting (looking forward to) the slow desintigration of this team.

For the first Impact I can remember, none of the matches interested me. They were entertaining but I t hought they just got in the way of the good promos and backstage segments. Abyss vs. Hardy did nothing for me since I despise Hardy. AJ vs. Sabin was ok, but my feelings about Sabin are only lukewarm. Jarrett vs. Kip James... I had to wonder what was the point. On top of that I've disliked Kip James since he was half of the Smoking Guns. The Jackie/Gail Kim thing was interesting...will be cool to see how it plays out.

I agree with you aaron about the TNA crowd. They are annoying, especially when they just randomly cheer both guys. The thing that I've noticed though lately is that this has seemingly stopped to a great degree. There are some TNA wrestlers that seem to be getting over as heels...especially AMW, Team Canada, and Monty Brown. Abyss is to some extent now that he's got James Mitchell in his corner. Overall I think they're making some progress in this area.

I disagree on two things you said, but these are only my opinions. Monty Brown I think has loads of potential. He's a little bit silly right now, but so was Rocky Maivia when he debuted for WWE. I think that Monty can work the mic pretty well if he'd just drop the "Welcome to the Serengeti" and a few things like that. As for his finisher, I don't think it's any more out of date than the People's Elbow, which is a glorified elbow drop. Certainly better than the god-awful Canadian Destroyer.

As for Jarrett, I understand why a lot of people hate him... but in all truth I think he deserves the top spot in the company right now. Jarrett is a good solid worker who has more heat than any other wrestler in TNA. He's the most over in the company because you know how the fans are going to react to him when he gets in the ring. If TNA is going to put someone in his place, they need to take special care to establish him as well as Jarrett is established. They don't want someone leading the company who the fans aren't sure whether they want to cheer/boo.... or who they only cheer/boo depending on whether they like him better than his opponent. This I think is the case of Rhino who may not be over enough right now to put the strap on.

Overall the show was pretty good, and it left me wanting more...something that the competition does not leave me with. And if indeed they could bring Heyman aboard and have him do some booking.... wow. The sky is the limit.

[hawk]

The show was great until the final fifteen or so minutes, and then it just completely, and totally fell apart.

The Gayda/Jeff/Gail thing makes NO SENSE whatsoever if they involve relationships of any kind, because TNA's fanbase is smart fans, and they all know she's married to frigging Charlie Haas.

...but if it gets Charlie in TNA, it might just be worth it. It was just a cluster of weirdness that didn't work at all at the end,

[Joe]

The show had some decent moments, but, as a whole, it was nothing to jump up and down about.

I enjoyed Styles vs. Sabin, and Abyss-Hardy was OK.

The majority of the promos and mic work sucked, however. I was one of the biggest D-X fans in the world, but it pained me to watch the 3LK segment. To watch Mr. Ass stumble around the ring with Jeff Jarrett was awful.

It confuses me more and more every week to read certain people post about the improvements of the sports entertainment angles on TNA and hear about what a good alternative it is to WWE. Raven is cutting the worst promos of his career, and he's still far better on the mic than anyone in TNA other than Christian.

I would love to see someone rise up from this federation and become a major star, so much so that I ignore AJ Styles' charisma deficiency and believe he can be that guy. That said, I am not so blind that at any point during Monty Brown's career I have ever thought of any comparison to the Rock. To defend the lame finisher that is the Pounce by citing the People's Elbow is insane. The Rock could draw 50,000 people to their feet by raising his eye-brow and gesturing at his elbow-pad. The day that Brown can draw 50 people back from the restroom to see the Pounce, let me know.

Overall, the show was there. That is about the best I can say, but I've seen worse from the Panda Energy folks.

[tafkaga]

Joe, the People's Elbow and the Pounce are equal in every respect. There is not one single thing that makes the People's Elbow a better move. The reason that the People's Elbow is more highly regarded is because The Rock was more over and more highly regarded. If Monty Brown were as over as the Rock, the Pounce would be over every bit as much as the People's Elbow, the Jackhammer, the Stone Cold Stunner, or Hogan's big legdrop. Ever heard the fans chanting "One more time" after he does it? The move itself is probably over as much as Monty Brown is.

Monty Brown could be so much better but his character needs some work and some direction. The Rock also had the benefit of working with some other big name talent with a lot of heat, and that helped get him over. He didn't become the charismatic Rock who could lift his eyebrow and bring people to their feet overnight. You by chance remember Rocky Maivia or was that before your time? Everyone said that he sucked...his matches were boring...nobody cared about him. But it's not because Duane Johnson sucked, it's because he had not found his niche in WWE. Same for Monty Brown. Am I saying Monty will ever be as big as the Rock? Not necessarily...but I think he could be a lot better than he currently is, and it is that latent potential in him that I cheer for... not his finisher or his "WELCOME to the SERENGETI!!"

[hawk]

...Comparing Monty Brown and THE ROCK is absurd in every possible distinction.

Rock didn't just magically become a great worker, or charismatic, or even over. Rock was a crap face for quite awhile, doing nothing but getting booed at every turn by the fans, which is one of the worst things one can ever have happen. Rock's first title reign was a joke, and the only reason he had any credibility as champion was due to the angle he was involved in.

Rock did not hit his peak as a champion, or a draw, or in overness until 2000, TWO YEARS after his initial title run.

Monty has been on the national spotlight for only a few weeks. Jumping the gun a little bit, don't you think?

[Chewey]

I'll admit that Monty Brown does somehow seem to have a lot of charisma.. I can't say that I understand why though. As to comparing him to Rocky Maivia, that might be true, but I would also argue that he reminds me of a freshly called-up Ahmed Johnson who was on fire when he came to the WWF, but obviously Ahmed and Rock took completely divergent career paths. We'll just have to see which one he turns out being.

Call me a cynical internet bastard, but I can't really accept the People's Elbow argument, because I hate that move too. The only time I liked it was when The Rock was a heel in the Nation of Domination, and the People's Elbow was meant to be a big snipe at the fans because the Rock would bounce off both ropes, hurdle over his opponent like he could barely clear it, come to a complete stop, and drop a delayed elbow after deliberately swinging his leg out and then across his body - and then he would sell it as one of his best moves because he was just that cocky. The whole point was that it was a silly move that everyone would laugh at him for taking seriously, and I was dismayed when the fans accepted it as a legitimate finisher later on.

Anyway, back from that tangent, Monty Brown is the closest thing to a homegrown singles star that TNA has right now (as talented as AJ Styles is in the ring, he's still sorely lacking of a personality to be considered a "singles star" in my mind), so as much as I dislike him, I don't see him going away. And there aren't too many guys like him that are getting fed down our throats (this being my personal opinion).

Tafkaga, as for Jarrett, I think we're in complete agreement even if we arrive at different conclusions. Jarrett is the only established singles heel, so there's currently more money in having a bunch of other guys chase him for the title than having a face hold the belt and basically not have any viable challengers other than Jarrett. Doesn't change the fact that I turn off the television when his match comes on at the end of the night, but it's why I think we should start a campaign to boo Christian Cage out of the building every night so that he can unseat Jarrett as the top heel and get him those lengthy and multiple title reigns. If the fans in the arena really want to show how "smart" they are, that would be how I would go about doing so.

Aaron

[tafkaga]

Good points. Especially about the Christian thing. I don't really cheer or boo Christian. I just want TNA to use him right. I think that right now Christian has just come aboard so there's going to be a "honeymoon" period where he's the #1 face and everything else pales in comparison to him. After he's been around a while the new will wear off so that maybe they could push him as a top heel. I think that would work great if the retarded Impact Zone fans would respond appropriately.

I also agree with you about the People's Elbow. I have never liked it. It's just a basic move flowered up new choreography. But I can't really dispute its credibility since so many people got behind it. Same as the Canadian Destroyer, which is a move I hate, but if it works for Petey Williams and wows the fans... more power to'em.

[floydthebarber]

The Pounce is a pretty lame finisher. In reality, he's just running into the guy like a LB would stand up a HB in a football game. That's it. And the comparisons to the People's Elbow are a bit off...like the leg drop, the elbow was a 'show' move...where the routine was just as important as the move itself. Yeah, people sold the elbow as being devestating...but who can argue with The Rock? Monty is not the Rock. I think the comparison to Ahmed Johnson are fair...he's like Ahmed at the beginning. Now...he could go on to big things, or he could follow Ahmed's path. The jury is still out on him.

I think they should stick with Monty and continue to try and grow him, and a decent feud with Christian will help if done right. Monty will not go over Christian, but if he can stay around the Main Event, he'll have a shot at getting bigger and better. I like him...he's just not NWA Title material right now.

*Edit* Like last night, I thought the 'pounce' that he landed was 'weak' and if its going to be that kind of KO finisher, its got to be devestating. Last night, it just looked like he ran into the guy. Now the Gore...when done right, is a nice looking move...but even Rhino sometimes doesn't connect it as well (the other guy doesn't sell, or they mis-time it). JMO

[tafkaga]

Good news about Impact 11/26 if you're a TNA fan.... the rating climbed back up to a .8 ! That's good news considering the past two weeks have been down and they're just about back up to the .9 that they were holding at steadily.

[Wad]

faninthecrowd said:

TNA is really starting to have some decent material, enough in my opinion to start making the WWE sweat a little. ¿how? some fans might start tuning into TNA more then to WWE programming.

If I were WWE, I wouldn't sweat now.

Ratings are not the be all and end all of a company's overall financial health.

If I were an important decision maker in WWE, all I would have to do is dangle a contract in front of TNA's important homegrowns and poach them. They wouldn't necessarily be stars in the WWE, but acquiring these guys would hurt TNA more than they would help WWE.

That would be the point. WWE did this about 20 years ago to AWA, and then it was left to its own devices and ultimate demise.

You may see a TV rating, and one day, TNA on a good day might beat WWE on a bad day. But, WWE has so many more revenue streams and has much stronger market power than TNA.

i don't want to like to talk bad about the WWE, but their past work has been not very impressive, and frankly overall disappointing.

I agree with you here. TNA is providing something different and is keeping interesting. TNA's product is more interesting, but I don't know how healthy TNA is as a business.

[Wad]

aaron168 said:

I have to side with Rick Scaia from Online Onslaught about how the fans at TNA shows act in general. Well, I won't go as far as he goes in saying that the fans seem more content to be the show than to watch the show, but it's my number one gripe with TNA.

This is exactly what irritates me about WWE shows in Southern California. This is how fans behave here.

The WWE shows I have been to here have been uneventful in the past few years, mainly because SoCal fans are hangers-on. Because of this, the WWE only puts on stuff they know the fans will react to, just as it had planned.

Remember WrestleMania 20 and the Goldberg/Brock Lesnar match? The only thing that made that match interesting was how the New York fans just totally crapped on the contest. The fans were one step ahead of the WWE and turned against both competitors involved. That would never happen at a show in L.A. or Anaheim.

[tafkaga]

What Wad says is very true. There is so much criteria for competition between the two other than TV ratings. TNA can keep on putting on great shows and the ratings my climb a little... but the thing that really stands out in my mind is that every show is filmed in the tiny Impact Zone. What would happen if they moved to a larger venue? Would it draw moderately well? I know they couldn't expect 20,000 or anything like that... but just how many tickets could TNA sell outside of their own stomping ground?

I say this as a TNA fan...but in truth TNA may not be a minor league company in terms of roster, production value, and quality shows... but in a lot of other important areas they are still very much a minor league company compared to WWE. I don't hold this against them because every company has to start somewhere. TNA has a lot of growing to do before it's ever going to be a match for WWE. I don't necessarily think that Vince could destroy TNA in one fell swoop, but I think it's best that TNA avoids going head to head with WWE right now. Don't wake that sleeping giant up, because although WWE may not be able to beat TNA right now with better wrestling or better quality shows, they still have a much deeper wallet.

The reason WCW became the giant that it did overnight was not because of quality shows, it was because they had as much (more actually) money than Vince had. They could afford to hire literally EVERYONE that Vince let slip through his fingers. Without the money, they would not have been able to sign all the talent that they did, and would have been easily crushed by WWF. TNA does not have anywhere NEAR the resources that WCW had... that's why I really don't think a head to head Monday night battle is a good idea right now. And I also don't think WWE is sweating right now.