The show, as is usually does, opened with a very overblown video package about the goings on in TNA of the last few weeks. They tried to put over the Six Sides of Steel match as the most brutal match in TNA history, which we all know isn’t true. But then again, it isn’t any different than WWE promoting the hell out of their overblown main events.
Next came a very short backstage piece featuring Shane Douglas. Douglas asserted that he was going to leave his mark on TNA for a long time to come.
Then of course we had the stars of the X Division in tag team action. Kyoshi and Sheik Abdul Bashir took on Daniels and Suicide. The match itself was very well wrestled. It ended via chain shot by an interfering Shane Douglas and then the pin by Bashit. However, I do have some objections.
Christopher Daniels is a main event guy. Why bring him back if you’re just going to stick him with Suicide (or Kazarian if you prefer)? The series of matches that Daniels and A.J. Styles wrestled both together and against each other.
My second objection is this. TNA claims that they cross the line. The lyrics of the Impact theme song say, “while everybody’s doing the same thing. I’ll be doing my thing.” Guess what? TNA isn’t doing anything different. TNA really is, more and more each week, a reincarnation of WCW. Putting the British Invasion together with Bashir and Kyoshi is just another anti-American angle.
The upside is that Shane Douglas got to cut a promo after the match, and he can still cut a damn good promo.
Next was yet another crazy backstage Mick Foley vignette in the backstage. Foley talked about the importance of the Heavyweight Title and compared it to both the Super bowl and the World Series in an attempt to push his stupid “I’m only going to defend this belt once a year” gimmick.
Next: enter Kip James to beg Foley for a spot on the roster. How long has it been since we’ve seen Kip in any kind of role in TNA that isn’t idiotic? A long damn time. Kip is a very talented wrestler, but it seems that his time in the spotlight may be over. We’ll see what the bookers decide to do with him and how good or bad it will be.
Next came the same old Kevin Nash crap about, “I won’t wrestle this main event. I’m only in it for the money.” Again, not new, not original. It certainly didn’t cross the line.
Next was a Lethal Consequences/Motor City Machine Guns promo. Chris Sabin, as Jay Lethal pointed out, talks very slowly. It makes for a boring promo. I will say that Creed is getting better on the mic though. He’s still a walking cliché as far as I can tell, but he is getting better. Jay Lethal does an excellent job of spoofing Randy Savage, especially the paranoia that was a part of his life, in ring and out of it.
The match that followed the promo was Chris Sabin and Jay Lethal against Beer Money Inc. I was extremely interested to see how Beer Money would look coming off of what was, in my mind at least, their best wrestled match ever at Sacrifice. The answer is, they looked very good. This was another well wrestled match, on all sides.
Between this and the next match there was an incredibly long salute to Slammiversary video, an interview with A.J. Styles, Daniels, and James Storm about a Tag Team Title match that they took part in a few years back, a strange interview with Daffney, and Mike Tenee interviewing the MEM about Joe’s hit list. While none of this stuff was particularly bad, it was pretty much a waste of time.
Finally, we got to a match that put Taylor Wild up against Daffney. The match wasn’t bad, but it was obviously just another link in the Abyss/Dr. Stevie angle that’s currently running.
Raven cut a great promo after the match. Let’s face it, there’s very few Raven promos that aren’t great. Raven, more so not Jeff Hardy, is the face of the misfits. Raven is the modern day poet of the macabre. Raven is the modern day nihilist and barbarist of pro wrestling. Raven is one of the most underestimated, underutilized, under decorated wrestler in the last fifteen years of professional wrestling. Raven was in WWE and they pissed on him. He could have done incredible work with Triple H, with Shawn Michaels, with anybody. They were just scared that he would show up their big guys. Seeing Raven back in TNA is awesome.
Eric Young’s recent heel turn resulted this week in a segment between himself and Jeff Jarrett. While Eric Young definitely needs some work on the microphone, I’m not sure that what he said was wrong. This angle could be something special, but it’s going to take some great work from both guys involved.
Next up was Jesse Neil vs. Matt Morgan. While I think that Jesse’s story is incredible, I’m not at all sure he can hack it in the wrestling business. He’s trained by Rhino, so that’s a plus, but he’s got a hell of a long way to go. Matt Morgan actually looked pretty good in this match, but that might have something to do with the fact that he was facing a newcomer. You put Morgan in the ring with a veteran, and he looks like crap.
I’ll mention the ODB/Cody Deener vignette only to say that it was incredibly stupid, and a complete waste of time.
Follow up the stupid ODB/Deener vignette with more stupid Mick Foley prattle.
Next up was a promo from Sting. When you think of Sting and promos, it’s hard to get anything less than excellence. This promo was pretty good, but not one of his best. The promo turned sour when that idiot Matt Morgan interrupted Stinger. Matt Morgan cannot and will never be able to cut a promo. He in fact said “enihilate”…the word is “annihilate. There is one E in the word and it’s at the end. If you can’t sound like a main eventer, you’ll never be a main eventer. TNA continues to waste my time, their time, and Matt Morgan’s time by even keeping him under contract.
Scott Steiner cut a pretty good promo when asked how he feels about he and Booker facing Joe next week. The guy isn’t the smartest, and you can’t expect any kind of intelligence to come out during his promos, but he says what he means, and he does it well.
T
he main event Six Sides of Steel match between Samoa Joe and Kevin Nash was descent. But honestly, why would you put Kevin Nash in your main event? Also, is it me or is Joe putting on some unneeded pounds lately. Joe is also having some problems with injury. In fact, he was recently reinsured, possibly during this very match. And later the same week, he incurred a another more severe injury. This puts TNA in a bind for Slammiversary.
While I won’t say this was the worst Impact I’ve ever seen, it wasn’t very good either. They spent way too much time on interviews, promos, and video packages. The actual in ring competition is becoming more limited each week. I could be wrong, but I thought that the wrestling business was about wrestling.
Stay tuned for my New and Commentary for the entire week, coming up tomorrow or Sunday.
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