RedJed

Either Matt Bentley or Sharkboy will be the sole survivor of the face X-Division team. Edit: Wait, won't Samoa Joe and/or Christopher Daniels be in this match? If so, I'll have better hopes about the outcome at least. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I highly doubt it. They NEED to go with Daniels/Joe at this ppv, as I've been dying to see that match in TNA and it just makes sense with the contender structure in TNA right now for the X title. The winner of Ultimate X gets the shot at Styles at this same ppv, so have a contenders match with Joe/Daniels with the winner taking on the champ at Turning Point. The Survival X match sounds interesting. Can't wait to see what they do with it. Six man main event makes sense given everything that has happened. Raven has got to play a part in that match somehow, someway.

Fuckin TNA - I figured they were gonna give Jarrett the belt back but was hoping for a moment of clarity from them when they see Rhino actually could carry the company quite alright until Brown gets the title from him (say, in January) in what could be a kick ass feud. Guess not. Instead I imagine we get a Raven/Jarrett feud after Genesis (probably at Turning Point) and that would build to Brown finally getting his shot at probably Final Resolution. Or else they could just not waste any time and have Brown/Jarrett at Turning Point. Anyway you slice it here, I feel like Raven, once again, is being left out in the cold one way or another. Jarrett NEEDS to put him over, period. Maybe the best idea at this point is just finally going with Brown v. Jarrett at Turning Point, Raven slowly gets back into the picture from now until then, hassling Jarrett left and right. Brown then wins the title at Turning Point with help from Raven, furthering the heat between Raven/Jarrett and then at Final Resolution you have Brown/Raven/Jarrett as the main event where Brown goes over again, more cleanly on Jarrett. The aftermath of that ppv would then lead to two hot programs in Jarrett/Raven and Rhino/Brown. Ideally from there you build those programs so long term that you can go with Raven/Brown as your next title program set for around late Spring/early summer. Both of those feuds could have enough heat at that point that they could last that long. The rest of the show(s) sounds solid though. Looks like Joe/Daniels at Genesis likely.

I dont know whats so hard in just having Eugene go heel ASAP, getting his ass kicked (even by Conway for all I care) and he returns and is the compete opposite as his old character. They got to at least attempt it before they give up on the guy, as he is a great worker when put in the right situation.

Week from tomorrow at 9pm ET I believe. Possibly 8pm.

I totally agree, although I fear Jarrett is going to get the belt back again, since the plan was never to give it to Rhino in the first place. I hope TNA brass consider the other option though, in putting Rhino over and keeping the belt off Jarrett now for a looooong time, as this is just too good of a potential opportunity to pass up with Rhino defending the belt against some random main event level talent like Abyss, etc, and then long term against Brown. Jarrett/Raven is inevitable as well, but would much rather have that match done without the belt at stake particularly. Wonder what happened to the X division trios match as was reported, hope thats still on in some capacity. Maybe they will also go with Styles/Joe for the title? Or else Daniels/Joe would even be fine, and Styles v. Hardy or something like that.

According to the Observer, the third show did take a very small dip down (basically just in the key demos they are looking for) but this number from last Sat most definately made up for it. Curious what the replay number was for Impact from last night, since it was still promoting BFG without seemingly doing any alterations on the content. TNA needs to be allowed to do an alternate second Impact broadcast to at least follow the ppv shows the day after, even if it's just having it be a "Best of" show or something.

Not sure how they are doing it, but three fights will be spaced into 2 shows - next Monday and Tues nights.

You just dont get it - the point is they were using a very real life situation (and a sensitive one at that) in a very tasteless angle. Bottom line. What do you even mean that "what WWE does on television is not real" - that isnt even the point here. So with that said, I guess Ross should just be happy as shit that he got demoted IN REAL LIFE, huh? I'm sorry, but if I had to have surgery to my colon, I sure wouldnt want SNL even parodying it. Its tasteless and low to do regardless of the sensitive nature of the situation.

Very true

So you're telling me Ross REQUESTED for a new position in the company? That's not true. Not sure where you got that info from but Ross was basically in a position where he had to listen to what and where they want him to go and do, period. And like I said, just because Ross perhaps did agree to the angle (and lets not just assume he did agree to it, although I would hope Vince came to him with it before it was done) doesnt mean it's anymore tasteful or right. Ross had consistently done whatever Vince wants him to do, from kissing his ass on live TV to getting burned by Kane, etc. Its kind of a null and void point, as I said before.

Ross is still fully employed with the company, just not in an on air capacity. He *knows* they were going to do this. But yeah, McMahon is an extremely classless individual. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Even if he is still employed fully with them though, for them to do this and then not have him return to Raw is just completely fucked up and its the same as if he wasnt employed by them anymore. It's like having an employee on a suspension of sorts and then while he's gone, the company just publicly buries him. Just unfair as hell. I sure hope he knew they were going to do this, to take it a step further I hope McMahon showed a little compassion and made sure he was ok with the angle before they went ahead with it. Then again though, Ross seems like the kind of guy that will pretty much put up with anything so that point is kind of null and void.

Eh - I dont see it as a really big deal. It probably will be a DQ schmoz finish anyway and generally, having that on a Raw versus a ppv is quite alright since I dont have to pay $35 to see it. From a business perspective, just like last week, it baffles me why they didnt announce this before they went off the air last night on the actual show. If you're going to do it, great - but then pimp the hell out of it as much as you can to generate more viewers to next weeks Raw!!

I thought the irony was deep as well with that Steph-Foley segment. Curious if that segment was scripted that way or if it was impov from both. Did anyone see any reports about how the fans actually reacted to that Jim Ross surgery segment in the arena? Judging by the response after it was done and they showed Vince in the ring, it sounded like it was definately Xpac heat.

Some of you are going crazy here on this. While its not cool to dig on a person like that at all when the situation was real, if they were using that to play into Austin beating Coach and Ross returning to Raw, then I can accept it, even though I thought it was not funny in the least bit. But at least it plays into the angle somewhat. I got to say though that to even do this angle in the first place shows a real lack of character with McMahon, but it's nothing new, nor surprising with him. And to whoever stated "we just dont get it" about that particular segment, I think you dont "get it" yourself. The company was making an extremely tasteless angle out of a very real situation. While the purpose is supposed to be the same as any other angle (generate heat for the heels against Ross and the firing) this was going a bit beyond the belt to say the least. I can accept the angle as long as Ross returns to Raw even though it was fucking stupid and not funny. If he doesnt, this was horribly disrespectful on so many levels and dare I say, if Ross is pretty much done with the company, this could be grounds for a slander lawsuit. But I would have to imagine this angle guarantees that Ross is coming back. This and the Mae Young hand angle are two different angles entirely. It's not like the Mae Young angle was based in reality like the one last night was.

The commerical is advertising it as three discs, I thought word was WWE cut it down to 2 discs recently (ie around 6 hours total). Apparently not which is good to hear, as Bret probably got every match on there that he wanted after all. Can't wait for this!

Ugh, will they fucking stop with thoughts of remaking EVERY horror franchise? I've heard rumblings as well of doing a Halloween remake, which is so fucked up on so many levels I could scream. I'm all for prequals or something, but direct remakes are getting REALLY old, especially on films that dont need it. So the latest rumor is a Myers v. Jason v. Freddy, eh?

The thing is, though, is that other than hotshotting the title on someone like Ron Killings or Abyss perhaps (however, both still need to be familarized to the new audience they are reaching) - there really wasnt any other options other than Jarrett retaining. And that sure as hell would have been a weak way to end that ppv anyway you slice it. Samoa Joe is first and foremost suited towards the X division. Give him that belt, build him up even further (he just debuted on Spike over the weekend, much more time has to be given to establish him to the newbies) and then maybe we can talk about giving him the world title. There seems to be a direct and straight forward direction with Monte Brown. While I would have loved to see him get the belt last night, again, hotshotting the booking plans that are already in tact is questionable at best. Same goes for Raven. I think there is a long term idea here with him and having him win the belt again out of nowhere last night would have ruined those plans. With that said, Rhino did seem the best choice overall when one really does give it some thought. He's already been given a nice push ever since he came in, he's a name that the folks from watching WWE will recongnize, and add the fact that he is the last ECW world champion and the guy does have credibility in that sense. Plus as I've said before, I feel Rhino/Brown could be a very nice world title program if they would believe in it. Pounce v. Gore!! Ideally anyone at this point other than Jarrett as champion is fine by me.

To be honest, I am amazed why WWE didnt promote either of those matches set for Raw last week on the show. Cena v. Angle w/ Foley as ref theoretically should draw some interest to the masses.

Good points why the Rhino title change really IS, all things considering, not a bad move for TNA for the time being, BPS. I was going to pretty much say alot of what you said here, but you beat me to it. One thing I do want to mention though is that, as I think we all know, the intention long term is to build to Monte Brown winning the world title. Personally, I'd much rather see Rhino/Brown for the title switch over Brown/Jarrett. So with that said, I think Rhino should hold the belt until Brown beats him for it in perhaps 2/3 months time. There is really no need for it to be transitioned back to Jarrett at this point, as its more torturous than anything. He got the belt back for the Spike debut, case closed. As far as the show itself, I am baffled by statements like "dissapointment on any level" etc - while this wasnt the best TNA ppv to date (and going into it, I wasnt expecting that, I think that is part of the problem with people being dissapointed - so many high expectations) I still think it definately had its strong points, and sure, here and there some filler that wasnt needed. But did the bad really outweigh the good? Not by my opinion. The opener 4 way match was tremendous and one of the best matches of the night, if not THE best. Styles-Daniels was surely up there too as was the Monsters Ball match. *** 3/4, would have gotten **** easy with a little bit more time. Joe and Liger, what can you say. The intros made the match right there seem like it was going to be a classic for the ages. Unfortunately you can't have any sort of classic with a little over 10 minutes given for one thing. The guys didnt seem to mesh as well as I would have thought and generally I think everyone's expectations here were so high, which hurt the overall bottom line too. Liger, at least in this match, wasnt as impressive as he was before in other matches I've seen him from in the past. *** The six man tag with Diamond and Co. at least had a purpose but I still felt it was generally un-needed. All of the guys really worked hard though including a bowling ball type dive by David Young of all people. Some actually good stuff here if you take away the bias that all of them are virtual jobbers. Seems like the Diamonds are going to be getting a push with the win. ** 3/4 Brown-Hoyt was about what I expected - nothing exciting but a surefire way to put over Brown. ** 3LK v. Team Canada was a match that didnt really need to be on the card overall, but you had the Kip James stuff there that served its purpose. Seen this match so many times they all seem the same between these teams. * 1/2 Don't know what to think of the Ultimate X match. It was going just great and then the problems with the X staying up just fucked up the match entirely and made it basically an incomplete match. Dont agree with the booking if that was meant to be a scripted screwjob ending just to build to a rematch at another date (Spike special?) as this should have been settled on ppv, period. Cant really give a suitable match rating due to the mess at the end. AMW and Naturals was fun stuff, although the crowd was kind of dead, which surprised me. Definately not the best match these teams have had together, but more than good enough considering the change in roles for the teams as every other match they did other than the Spike show match was the Naturals as the heels and AMW as faces *** Monsters Ball was probably one of the better garbage style matches I've seen in a long time, most definately in many months in TNA. That Hardy dive was just plain nuts - either I was really stoned or that seemed like a crazy distance to do that move, much less hit it flawlessly. Rhino going over was the only finish due to the title switch later. *** 3/4 Ironman 2 was another excellent match between the two, but to be honest the first 15 minutes was pretty blah. The rest of the match made up for it, as especially the last 7-8 minutes were just amazing stuff. The unintentional bump Styles took on the stairs looked painful. The finish was well done, yet the crowd didnt really feel it, kind of caught them off guard. I think everyone was expecting another overtime deal. Good use of playing up that both guys were just worn out near the end there. Good drama. **** Gauntlet match was pretty much nothing to crow about, but I did like the interaction they did with Joe/Abyss and others. Brown's elimination - something was screwed up there and generally you dont make an upcoming champion look that shitty in theory. ** 1/2 Main event didnt have much time to even get off the ground but it put over Rhino strong. Again, much like Styles-Daniels, I dont think the crowd expected the finish at all and it completely caught them off guard. Angle at the end was alright and unexpected with the Duds showing up. I would assume this was going to be the same stuff they would have done with Nash there, other than just having Nash job to Jarrett and then Jarrett and Co. would try to put Nash in the casket. Show probably gets about a B or so. I agree that this ppv in theory should have been a homerun, no question about it. So I can see in that respect why some are letdown.

Styles v. Sabin v. Williams was another excellent Ultimate X match..... I certainly dont think they should do away with the concept, but if they keep it to only doing it maybe twice a year, that will help. If the guys are creative, which most are that would be in the match, it works. Last night was a bad example of it all, rehash of the first Ultimate X when that happened. Still dont know if that was the real finish, as if it was, and it leads to a rematch at the Spike special, I guess I can see why they did it, but regardless it did certainly make them look bush league or at very best, made the match look unattractive to the masses.

The last I heard of this was that Hart was never under contract anyway, so he was technically free to do whatever he wanted. TNA then tried to sign him under contract but he didnt want to be tied up by it, so from there he was taken off as a on screen character for the time being. He still will help them round up people from Universal to the TNA shows and help backstage as well. Also, the company that puts out his energy drink is a sponsor of TNA in a major way so it doesnt sound like he'll be gone anytime soon.

Quick thought on the Rhino title win, which I didnt see coming at all and thats a good thing........ Building the main event scene around long term two decent programs in Raven/Jarrett (is Gail Kim the chick in question?) for the next main contender to the title after Monte Brown and possibly Rhino/Brown for the NWA title (then from there, building around a Raven/Brown feud for the title)sounds like a solid plan of action potentially TNA should think of here considering how they booked things tonite. Rhino was booked so strong they can't just give the belt back to Jarrett at the Spike special or even the next ppv and I hope they realize that. Anyway you slice it, just the fact that Jarrett jobbed out the belt tonite is a good thing. And Jeff Hardy is fucking nuts, I havent seen a dive like that in quite some time.

Whew that was a fantastic fucking match there!! Even better than I expected with high expectations. Best stuff from each I've seen from them in TNA ever.

That is news to me that Waltman and Hall signed WWE legends deals. TNA is still in talks with Waltman even as early as last week about returning at some point actually. Like most, I can't lie when I say this news only generates MORE interest in the card for me. That match was the only glaring mistake I felt TNA made with the card for the most part. Maybe its the wrestling gods telling them something?! Its been mentioned already, but I think if he's not in that bad of shape (which I've heard he is) they should sign up Hall for a one time shot against Jarrett. It would play into the situation a little bit. Waltman - again that would play into Nash a little bit since they are friends, but I really have no desire to see Waltman-Jarrett and quite honestly if he is ever to return, he should earn a spot like that on a ppv. The other option would be talking Ortiz to actually work a short 10 minute match with Jarrett instead of being the ref. Honestly, I'm probably in the minority but I would dig seeing this. Just have it end in a DQ or something and then if it did actually click with the two, do a rematch down the road. If it doesn't, well you can always still bring Ortiz back in at a later date for more reffing duties or whatever. No way no how should they do Raven or Brown in Nash's spot though. Its too rushed and either of those matches w/ Jarrett can draw if booked properly with at least some sort of build to them.

New match to report.....Naturals will take on AMW in a rematch from the upcoming Impact match tonight. Was a note in the Observer about this (they will probably announce a rematch even on Impact tonite) and it was also confirmed from this "Road to Glory" special they are doing on Dish Network tonight, essentially a pre-show hyping up the lineup and then having a few "Best of" matches on the show itself too (Monsters Ball, Ironman Match 1, etc).