Fro

I enjoyed this show... it was like watching a well-booked Nitro except it moved at "Crash TV" pace. I quit expecting to see great 30-minute matches from this show a long time ago. Nash and Hall acted like they actually enjoyed being there this week which helped. Crowd was way into DDP and Savage being there. Okay, Johnny B. Badd looked pretty bad, I admit that, but Raven was able to pull something out of him. Big and hot crowd this week at the tapings... they're doing something right. It's been so long since those NWO bits were done well that it felt fresh... heck, it's been 8 years since the lawn dart. I'm also really impressed at how well TNA builds up their feuds for the PPV, comparing it to the mess that's WWE, and most guys seem to have some sort of feud or reason for being there. I don't see how it's going to kill their show to have an actual interesting main event angle (which could put over AJ and Hardy pretty big). Should be a better match than Hardy v.s. Jarrett as well. And Hall/Jarrett/Nash only took out Garza, Siaki, Dutt, and Shark Boy, which is four X-Division guys last time I checked. I believe one of Kash/Kazarian/Shane may have gotten one of the four too during that segment.

Nash's promo was kind of amusing. They still need to work on beefing up the wrestling, but the angles are all pretty interesting and they're giving people mic time. Although it's just with the Orlando crowd, you can tell some guys are finally starting to get over as "stars" like Petey Williams. Styles was already a star but seems to be moving up into their big draw.

It gets replayed about ten times (2x the original night and the next morning, if not more), so I don't see how you could miss the show. Anyway, the only thing really great is Ultimate X (which Arnold seemed to be legit marking for)... Best Damn Sports show didn't give anything else enough time (although everything was pretty watchable). I'm guessing tonight is going to be a much better show. Some of the segments with Tom Arnold and all those guys were kinda lame, but it's lightyears beyond WWE "humor". It was a darn good show.

http://www.1wrestling.com/news/newsline.asp?news=20356 1wrestling is reporting that HULK HOGAN is now backstage at the show. Looks like TNA is gonna blow their wad tonight

Hector Garza just won the 20-man X Division gauntlet. Last two men were Kazarian and he. Everyone is saying it was an amazing match, easily over 4 stars.

Meltzer basically just confirmed all these guys are on the show. Pretty safe to assume Snuka will be part of the Piper segment.

Right, it was a real match under WWE-style rules and they figured Angle would mop the floor with the guy (which he did). Then Angle's head got a bit too big and he decided to take on Puder (who owned him by using a different style than Angle was used to wrestling).

What a bunch of knuckleheads... a domestic plane flight is chump change and I'm sure they'd get as many buys from smark fans to see Liger as they will for Nash and Hall. http://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.asp?id=6192&p=1

I would bet Alexis Laree and Jillian Hall are called up very soon too.

That's not the gimmick in OVW, so I sure don't trust this press release. It's pretty much that they're funded by Saudis to "impose their values" on OVW. Hassan (Mark Magnus) has good mic skills but is still really green in the ring.

This is a great 2fer: The tag and world title matches on Final Four are great and obviously Canadian Stampede is one of the best PPV's of all time. Since they're both under 2 hours, they'll easily fit on a DVD together.

Just watched the TV with Candido's OVW debut last night. Cornette put Candido over huge but the crowd was like "who is this guy?" except for a few people who started some ECW chants. Candido looked okay and looked to be in decent shape but he looked a bit flabby and like he was 40 years old (probably partially due to not taking roids, obviously). Nova was clearly a couple levels above Candido as far as charisma and work. He'll be a good guy for Cornette to have around, anyway.

Foley says hi

There's a big difference between what matches you run on a 3 pm on Friday slot and a 8/9 pm (with multiple replays) time slot. I'd imagine if it replaces the TBDSSP they're going to get a 1.0 rating at least, not counting the million replays of the show. This will be great exposure for the product.

Bull... they've just never worked a singles match together with PPV effort. They click together amazingly in their first match on Raw but the match is very short. The "Showdown in the Desert" match was an attempt to have a good, but not MOTYC quality match and it was successful.

This was a surprisingly good show, again, there wasn't anything that was blowaway good, but they've built a nice sense of direction. Dutt/Sabin v.s. Kazarian/Shane was a really fun match, and Rude and Young are getting a lot better. Again, Hardy looked like he was trying this week. Hot crowd didn't hurt either.

It was a ripoff of Abyss's Black Hole Slam, although it was executed about 10x crappier... at least that's a good finisher for him to use.

Here's what I'm guessing as far as feuds go (it's likely they'll throw some of these guys together in a Survivor Series Elimination Match): HHH v.s. Jericho Orton v.s. Batista Benoit v.s. Edge Benjamin v.s. Christian Rhyno v.s. Snitsky OR HHH v.s. Flair Orton v.s. Batista Benoit/Jericho v.s. Edge/Christian Benjamin v.s. Snitsky

HHH opponent: With HBK hurt, Benoit's going to get the shot anyway, so WWE ought to know the fans like him. Edge has no chance with him heeling it up. Jericho opponent: Benjamin (fresh and best matchup out of the major possibilities). Orton/Flair Stip: Steel Cage (Orton has no submission move so a submission match will suck, Falls Count Anywhere would be lame, a Cage match would hid Flair's weaknesses) Diva Battle Royal: Schoolgirls Diva Search Match: Lingerie Pillowfight Snitsky v.s. Kane: Chair, because chain and pipe shots look weak. Eugene v.s. Bischoff: Head shaved bald, because that frees us from stupid skits or Bisch wearing a dress. Tag Match Prediction: Christian replaces HBK and makes up with Edge, wins tag titles.

Not to mention Carlito might actually, um, draw some people? Should be a rabid crowd though... hopefully they riot.

They're sending over the video packages now from Stamford, new matches tonight: Luther Reigns v.s. Eddy Carlito v.s Rey for US Title This is in addition to Holly v.s. Bradshaw, obviously.

That's a great stip for the main event... really shores up the card because a ladder match plays to Hardy's strengths, which is bumping like crazy. Jarrett's been in a good ladder match with Benoit so it should be good. Card is shaping up surprisingly well.

How come nobody has mentioned Al Wilson yet?

Heidenreich is seriously about the worst wrestler I've ever seen, so I doubt it. Going to be a terrible match.

The OVW angle hasn't really materialized yet, but Cornette doesn't have them speaking Arabic and wearing turbans, etc. They're all in suits, kinda like the Nation of Islam. They've only done some very brief appearances (kinda pseudo-shoot where they barge in and Magnus yells at Cornette, then a bunch of security and wrestlers immediately come in and start beating them up and they cut to a break about 5 seconds later). It's been an incredible angle, so I fully expect WWE to screw this up.