TNA = WTF?

[Chris Casino]

Okay....It's been some time since I actually watched a TNA PPV. But I figured, hey Angle is on there and some of the matches might be okay.

I was Wroooooooooooooooooong.

Terribly wrong.

I used to love TNA, no really. But now? It's like watching WCW from 2000.

Out of all the matches tonight only one stood out - LAX (great team) against Style & Daniels in a cage match. That match rocked baby!

Aside from that is was almost painful to watch. If I had to pick THE worst match it would of course go to Jarret vs Sting. The so called main event.

First off...Sting's new look is Crap-Tacular. He looks likes he escaped from West Hollywood. Tell me...Would you be afraid of a man who has a pink scorpion on his tights? Would you cower in fear from a man who has a hot pink nerf pad lookin' thing covering his crotch? Well, okay THAT would scare me but not in the way wrestlers are supposed to be frightened.

Watching Sting vs Jarret was like watching two local indy guys opening the show. Botched spots. No match strategy. No excitement. Unintentional laughs (pink pads covering crotch & multi colored trenchcoat)

Shame on you TNA!

SHAME!

The last time I felt this violated....It involved heavy drinking, Aaron & a Chia Pet.

[nexusone]

I liked the ppv, aside from the main event and the cage-rhyno match... I'm a huge LAX fan and absolutely loved the cage match. Senshi vs Sabin has totally awesome. Those matches alone made me happy to order it. It was different and you saw some actual in ring work not present in WWE.

[Scott [NAPW Staff]]

Senshi and Sabin put on a HELL of a match!

[Stylin' Kyle Roberts [REBEL]]

I concur. Brion was violated by Aaron with a Chia Pet.

No, I caught the last half of it.

Zybysko should not be in a ring, and he should get the hell of my friend's TV.

Sabin/Senshi was pretty darn good, but not as awesome as that cage match was. God, I hate Konnan.

Sting's looking his age these days, and Kurt Angle kills the ref only to call things straight down the middle? Why?

I enjoyed what I saw, for the most part.

[Ryan Ro [NAPW]]

Because he's KURT EFFING ANGLE. Just read results, I'll torrent it when it goes up, sounds good enough.

I'm glad Sting went over. Now he can transition the belt to Joe or Angle, leading to the inevitable amazing Joe vs Angle title match series.

[Chris Casino]

Senshi vs Sabin was good....But why did he get another shot? Why couldn't we have seen a Senshi vs Jay Lethal bout?

Out of curiousity...During the four team match, where the hell did The James Gang & AMW dissapear too LOL One minute they're fighting it out then poof! They're gone.

The battle royal was okay but I hated to see Petey Williams tossed out in like a minute ~ D'oh!

["Perfection" Evan Cartwright]

Ummmm, Rasslin'?

You know you liked the Chia Pet, Brion.

[Ryan Ro [NAPW]]

You know, I really liked that PPV. Had some flaws but it was a well-presented, "big time" feeling event. Being out of the shitty Impact Zone helped out a LOT. I know it's not financially feasible to tour yet but I really hope they do more shows outside of the Impact Zone, where people like... PAY to come see it and are wrestling fans.

The X-Gauntlet was awesome. It was funny, it was action packed, it had some fun moments and was a great way to start the show. Austin Starr is so INTO his TNA character it's rad, although I didn't like how Tenay & West no-sold Aries' previous run in TNA. They acknowledged Senshi was Low-Ki in old TNA... anyways. Petey Williams was not in long enough but my God he was over. His cocky gum-chewing expression when he sets up for the Destroyer is unbelievable. That man should be X-Champion...Shelley's jealousy is great too. Shelly/Starr for Nash's affections? Lol.


What else? The four-way tag wasn't bad, nothing special. Team 3D is played out, but I'm strangely enjoying the James Gang. Naturals are bleh. AMW showed a lot of intensity in the prematch promo.

What else can I remember off the top of my head?

Monster's Ball was a mess but a fun mess. Joe didn't quite mesh, but it doesn't help that Raven is so out of shape. I like Runt's new look. Jake Roberts is so out of shape but it was fun to see him give Raven a DDT. Joe was OVER.

Eric Young is hired! Yay! Eric is also so over, and he's TNA homegrown. Nothing match but it wasn't supposed to be anything other than an Eric Young heat builder.

Christian/Rhyno was good... but seemed lacking something. They were going for a really big-time feel with it but as Bo pointed out, the crowd somehow wasn't feeling it. The Zamboni bit was great, a lot of the destruction was great and I think they told a good story. The finish with Christian just going apeshit with the chair on Rhyno buried under the debris was awesome. Something was missing though.

The X-Title match was great. I've never been a huge Sabin fan, he's always seemed bland... but he and Low-Ki worked a killer match. Just killer, and the crowd was DEEPLY into the near-falls at the end. So many great false finishes before Sabin finally put it away, and the crowd EXPLODED. Awesome, awesome moment. I don't know who Sabin feuds with now, but I hope it's not Petey. Petey deserves a great feud, but I'm so sick of Sabin/Petey. Low-Ki's run wasn't really that interesting so it's good for a change.


Tag title match was my second favorite, after the x-title. Just a great match. A bit too disjointed but man was it violent and intense. AJ's bodypress off the top was not only insane, but it was beautiful. Hernandez certainly was the odd man out as far as talent and presence, but he still did his part, and give him props for coming off the top at his size. I was impressed by that. Good finish with Konnan choking Daniels out (with a coat hanger, yeesh) and then a SICK Vertebreaker on AJ finishes it. I felt a little disappointed when LAX beatdown the faces after the match... Daniels and Styles really got punked out. Where do they go from here as LAX moves into a feud with AMW?


The main event was interesting. It wasn't the typical Jarrett match, which immediately makes it better. No three refs, four guitar shots and half the heels running in to finish it. Overall it was pretty clean. Angle was great in his role. I like Sting's new look, if ONLY because it's not boring like his crow look. He's out of shape though, getting that Flair flab... hopefully if he's going to be sticking around TNA he gets back into shape. The story was neat with JJ actually out-wrestling Sting, but Sting worked from there. JJ doing the ankle lock was unnecessary, but it did get him heat. I liked Sting's no-sell of the guitar shot, and holy did the crowd pop for it. New champion, and hopefully we get Sting transitioning the title to Joe or Angle in a couple months.


Overall, really solid event. Not a bad match and several GREAT matches. Thumbs up, the first good TNA show in some months. Hope they can keep the ball rolling.