RedJed

Well, that Ultimate X was pretty solid, and honestly, I still wouldn't be surprised to see them do an Ultimate X inside a cage (or perhaps a ladder match inside the cage match or something like that) with all of these guys, as there is defiantely rematch potential there in that brigade of workers. Daniels is making the most out of the Suicide gimmick, fortunately.

It's not that it has to have a blowoff, but the match itself should still be solid enough to where you WANT to see another match, for one thing. The action, as well as the finishes, should build it just as much as the story should. When they aren't in sync, or in the least if one or the other (the action or the storyline itself) isn't strong, it's ultimately a slap in the face of the people who purchase ppvs. Feels like a rip off.

I was wondering how long it would take the crowd to chant Fallen Angel...not long apparently.

I dunno guys, I'm not seeing the greatness in the booking of that, again, since this is a ppv and it's just building to the next one so obviously. It was somethign that would have been best served for Impact, much like the Samoa Joe/Steiner stuff.

The dislogic in all of that though is that he still could have restarted the match again when they tried to walk out and said if they don't get back in the ring, they would lose the titles. Fucking just unbelievably ridiculous booking. Most hilarious thing of the night is the big deal they are playing up with Don West "supporting" Beer Money. It's like who gives a fuck.

DQ finish and then the countout finish. More build to Lockdown clearly. Wow.......again, fucking WTF. Tenay is grasping straws too much on the show for Don West doing heelish tactics. OMG you handed them the belts, Don! Tenay comes off more like the whiney heel out of the two.

So whats the injury deal with Storm? He didn't work the rest of the weekend shows, IIRC.

Are we all supposed to rally behind Joe when he's apparently suggested that he killed a man and looks like he just went muddin in his pajamas? Wow, seriously....... just wow.

Ok Styles/Booker was definately the high point of the ppv so far by default. Nice to see a clean win with no bullshit, but the match still didn't really build all that well. Seemed very through the motions a bit, typical with Booker matches.

Yeah, last months show and, at least so far, at this point this show as well would be acceptable (but still really hard to sit through) to be a live Spike Clash-esque type of deal instead of a ppv, since I have seen more build to the next ppv than anything at this point. And dumb television style segments designed to try to get a strong quarter hour rating or something by people randomly flipping channels, seeing the car crash style formula and stick around for a bit to see where it leads. But this is pay per view, an entirely different business model. Or even if these second tier ppvs were only $15, kind of like the In Your House ppvs used to be, or something. I just feel like I am being insulted by the company that I was one of the few who actually paid for this show or something. Just so bad so far.

What a mess that Knockouts match was. Kong must either still be a bit rehabbing her back injury, or Sojo Bolt just doesn't have it, or maybe a little bit of both. Really bad shit, even by the low standards of either a typical TNA or WWE women's match. Can this ppv get any worse, knock on wood perhaps. Scared to see what's next. EDIT - Wow, nevermind. Just saw Joe/Steiner. Are you fucking kidding me? And how can Joe (or anyone in the company who legitimately want to push the guy, which maybe is an oxymoron statement) agree to being repackaged to look like a fucking tool like that? I get the story they were trying to tell in that Joe was just out of control, which I guess sets up a rematch in the cage as as been leaked, but WTF all the same. I gotta say though, sick flying elbow by Joe to the outside on Steiner. That really was the only positive about that entire "match." Pretty stupid to just stop the angle there when they left the building. Maybe they will go back to it later in the show, but I doubt it.

lol yep that about explains it, and there really is no drug or chemical that could be taken to make that segment entertaining, may I add. It was just the shittiest of the shit segments TNA has ever done, easily.

Jesus christ, this dating game ODB nonsense is HORRIBLE. Again, this needs to be on ppv? If it was so bad it was good in a way, that would be one thing, but this is just plain BAD. There is no way this should have ever been shown on ppv, or even Impact. Seemed like beyond amateur hour, they need to stop using Borash like a game show host, too. He's beyond annoying and unentertaining.

I would assume that is the tease to some sort of weapons cage match at Lockdown by what they left in the ring. That match was very standard and mundane in terms of typical TNA hardcore style matches, but then again Abyss and Morgan just don't gel at all, their match last month too was pretty bad. The finish in the tacks match was what was to be expected, but the rest of the match was the shits to sit through.

Just about 15 minutes behind on the ppv feed (since I'm DVRing the show and got back home late after it started) but holy shit, so far this has just been on the levels of the last ppv in terms of WTF factor to it. The opener was, eh ok, but then we get another Magnus squash on ppv? They apparently didn't learn the first time (ie last ppv) when the crowd shit all over it. Then the Bashir angle.......why did they feel that needed to be saved for ppv? That was just horrible, and then the out of tune war vet they brought to sing God Bless America? Just totally lame stuff there. That angle essentially means nothing since it's just the most cliche shit ever. Now I wish I would have skipped ordering this and just have tried to find a feed so far at least.

Exactly - I was having the same problems. I think running, as far as I figured out, is MAYBE tapping the left analog stick twice but I'm not sure because half the time I do that it works, and the other half of the time it doesn't.

It was said that in the Espn article that they did test groups who wanted a more arcade like game. The article provided a great laugh because THQ feels the need to cater to people who do not buy their games. The controls for this game are not simplistic and in some ways a bit more difficult than Smackdown. Smackdown is a very easy pick up and play kind of game. I can picture a 7 year old being frustrated by the controls in this game. Another thing that the article pointed out was that they wanted to cater to the older wrestling fans who would buy a legends game. If someone is going to buy a game because it has Jake the Snake, Rick Rude and Mr Perfect they are most likely going to be above the age of 21. Why do the feel the need to "dumb down" the controls? I kind of wished that they had an option for which controls you want to use. Another point from that Article was that THQ wants to cater to videogame fans who do not buy Smackdown because it is too much of a simulation. I always thought that wrestling videogame fans did not buy Smackdown because it was too arcadey and not No Mercy/WrestleMania 2000. THQ sure does love to shoot themselves in the foot. It's a wonder why their company is being flushed down the toilet. Wow, yeah a very weird thought approach. I can get the logic if they figure Raw v. SD purchasers are more than likely going to get this too, so why not cater to newbies too, but it's a fine line. They don't want to alienate people that normally purchase the Raw v. SD games by, like you said, dumbing down things in terms of what you can do with the wrestlers, but yet still make it more difficult and confusing in the process in learning how to do this dumbed down style. And on that note, I totally agree that the controls here are way more difficult to grasp than the normal controls on any year of Raw v. SD is. I still don't know how the fuck to even irish whip someone, climb the turkbuckles, do running strikes, etc. Granted I've only played through the Hogan/Andre and Rock/Austin matches twice each match (basically played each of the four for one match), but still, by this point I should be able to know what each button does without having to memorize tutorials. And I still feel frustrated. I do think the ideas they put in this game, though, are tremendous for some of us real oldschool long term wrestling fans, just the detail used to the different arenas, ringside appearance, and pay per view authentication, just small details like that. I'm a sucker for nostalgia and this has alot of it, just from playing the demo. I marked out for the Mania III look all around, especially the ringcarts and even down to the graphics they used back for when they would have wrestler's names shown when they come to the ring. And recreating or reliving certain matches in history, I think that's a great little thing there that they have done well with here and really looking forward to more of that when this comes out.

Did anyone see Last House on the Left? I've read some extremely scathing reviews of it, not that it surprises me since it's horror, but after enjoying the hell out of Friday the 13th, and considering Wes Craven had a hand in this one as well (and was the director of the original), I had high hopes. Heading to see it later today.

Why did they feel the need to have to change up the control schemes so much? Couldn't they at least have made an alternate controls that are the same as Raw v. SD or something? That's what annoys me about the game, its hard to get used to them.

The show looks solid on paper, like ten million times better than last month's shitty lineup and shitty output of a ppv, but yeah, the build for it has been hit or miss, depending on the match. I thought the Sting/Angle build was going good for the most part, but kind of fizzled lately more towards Foley and Jarrett more being the focus (and specifically, their interactions with Angle). The match itself should be good, I would imagine, except a possibility of a shmoz finish. I still think Sting is going to retain though, and I really don't see Foley turning, so maybe, and hopefully, we'll just get a babyface v babyface respect match at Lockdown with the two (Foley & Sting). The Ultimate X sounds great though, with Daniels finally working again. I wonder if they will rematch these guys next month in an Ultimate X in a cage? They have hinted at doing that match in some vignettes. Thinking they have kind of booked themselves into a corner with the tag match, meaning the Duds almost have to win the belts, or else its some stupid DQ finish.

It was just a subtle turn for them, going more heelish basically. More than they are seperating from Frontline. They weren't necessarily with the MEM, though, in terms of joining their faction or anything.

Any word how much the Blu-Ray version of Mania 24 is?

I'm not trying to start a war here, but what kind of shit is this when people are making light of his death here? I dont care what wrestler is was and how much of a jaybrone this wrestler may have been, he still deserves to be treated like a f'n human, particularly upon hearing of his death. It would be one thing if this guy pulled a Benoit or something, but what the fuck guys. Have a little respect. And kudos to whoever changed the title of the thread, that shit before was just wrong. Making light of a death like that is fucked up.

Having a feeling the cause of death isn't going to turn out being anything but the expected. Honestly I almost had a feeling as of a few years ago that this would happen sooner or later with him, if it is in fact an overdose or something to do with an enlarged heart from the long periods of time he was on the juice. All the same, it's still quite the tragic news to hear it happened.

So the shows so far have still been written by the old squad who did the half season (which was REALLY all over the place) last fall into the winter? That's good to know because I was under the assumption that this new half season was, from the start, with the old writer intact, which confused me why it got so bad. Now this at least makes sense.