TNABaddboi

Mike Johnson said the .8 number was incorrect. Here's what he posted: I'm sure TNA feels a bit better about that number, though its not THAT big of a difference.

TNA got more bad news in the ratings this week. Meltz says they again lost half the UFC audience. Here's what he posted: Thoughts?

A good sign?: credit: PWInsider.com

I wouldn't be surprised if they did the 3D title win here. I'm willing to beat anything the match goes down on this show, and as they demonstrated with Jarrett in Canada, they are not afraid to switch titles at non-televised shows. I was trying to think of what Simon Diamond and the DitR could do. Simon's got to cut a Simon's got a problem promo though....that much I know.

I really liked that they started with the action (other than Mitchell's short promo) and then did the long talk segment with the names. If they are going to have a 10 minute promo, I think that's the best way for them to do it considering the audience they want to hook. Besides, casual fans just looking to see Sting and Steiner would be more likely to flip away if they saw them in the first 10 minutes and then the World Cup guys came out after the break. I think the way they set last night's show up was very effective in trying to maximize the lead-in and the name value. Its almost a reverse SNME strategy, which works here giving the lead-in situation. The UFC fans they are trying to hook are fans of action more than wrestling, but the fans who know who Sting and Steiner are at least not opposed to watching wrestling, so they may stick around through some X-Division action if you keep telling them they'll see Sting at the end of it. We'll see if that bears out in the ratings though.

Match 4: I figured Jarrett was eating a Gore at this show...I thought they may have done it in a impromptu match after Jarrett starts his near riot though in a wink to ECW tradition. Either way, imagine the heat this match is going to get!

I wonder if Nash's is going to be the new DoA? I've been trying to figure out why else they'd have Shelley interview him, and that's about the only logical thing I can think of. I'm oretty sure he's not going to announce his returning to the ring...

That segment wasn't as bad as it sounded in the spoilers....it wasn't great by any means, but it didn't tank. Maybe its the magic of having three days to edit your show. The World Cup match was a fun spotfest, though I didn't really care who won because they haven't explained why the world cup matters...and I'd love to see Joe and Lethal get 15-20 minutes on a PPV one day. They're TV matches have always been fun.

The long commercial break kind of took me out of it, but otherwise, that was a pretty good tv match. Christian showed great fire in his run in and promo. And at least some of the wit that got him over came back with the Shrek comment. The interference by Team Canada is beyond played though....

Sounded like the muted the crowd for Rhino's entrance, but as soon as he hit the ring, the chants were on-going. Weird...

New intro music....and that package SOOO made me mad I missed LockDown.

Yeah I meant besides that one. I was applauded them for having another one so soon.

Match # 3, from PWI: I gotta say that I like what they are doing with this show so far. They are getting the ECW regulars in the line-up in a way that vibes with the TNA universe so that it doesn't feel like a nostalga show. Lynn doesn't regularly wrestle for TNA anymore, but he has been on TV cheering on Team USA, which will surely cross paths with Team Canada in the World Cup. So it makes sense for the former Team USA captain to face the current Team Canada captain. And the match should rock. Once again, I'm so getting this DVD.

Going back to when they were taping 4 shows in one night during the internet era, the spoilers were almost always underwhelming. The spoilers would come out, be panned by just about everyone and then the shows would air and get positive reviews. Because they taped more than the usual 2 episodes, I'd wait to see what airs.

I'm pretty sure all the Hermie financed shows have been released on DVD. I'll definitely be buying this one as soon as its made available.

More info, from Mike Johnson: I don't know if its because I have found memories of the Mike Awesome/Spike Dudley matches or what, but I think Spike and Abyss could have a kick-ass match. That's a very fitting ECW tribute that doesn't stretch beyond the boundaries of the TNA universe. Any else think they might do the Duds title win in Philly? How cool would that be? It's not like they haven't established that titles can change hands on non-televised events...

TNA has officially announced this event. Here's the press release:

i'm pretty sure Jarrett and Sting's feud won't be blown off in a tag team match. I have a feeling Joe and Sting take the loss here so that Sting's got a reason to ask for the one-on-one match at Slammiversary (and Joe's got a reason to kill Steiner). I'm hoping they don't let either Jarrett or Steiner pin Joe, because neither needs that rub, so it would seem to look like Sting's going to take the pin somehow (which he hasn't done since coming in). It only makes sense to have the faces (and I use that term loosely until they explain Joe's turn) lose here, because if Sting keeps beating Jarrett in tag matches, why do they need a one-on-one match? I like your scenario of making Joe a monster heel by destroying Sting. But I'd hold off at least one month on it. I'd like to see Sting, being the veteran that he is, be leery of Joe, given his history of turning on partners. I'd even like to see Daniels warning him about Joe, playing up the concussion Joe gave him. Have Sting admit that he picked Joe to be his partner because he's a beast and he wanted to destroy Jarrett and Steiner. Then have Sting slowly begin to trust Joe, because he gets results and doesn't back down from the thugs in Jarrett's army, but don't have Joe working to earn Sting trust. Joe can continue responding like a vicious mechanary....he's only teaming with Sting because Jarrett and Steiner pissed him off by suggesting he couldn't hang with the big boys. Anywho, after Sting pins Jarrett at Slammiversary, Joe destroys him during the celebration, a la Daniels at Genesis. I'd have Joe puts Sting on the shelf and then do a slow build to Joe/Sting as your BFG II main event (Joe can take out Christian along the way, who's defending Sting's honor, say in July or August). Then, after Joe's World Champ, Sting gets his revenge match and go for the belt, and in the process, makes Joe the way Flair made him. Joe's turn would almost be like the Rock in 98....TNA can let the fans cheer the guy, but don't have him encourage it. Just let him do more of what got them behind the guy in the first place (Rock - being a smart ass, Joe - killing people) and he'll be a de facto face until he brutalizes Sting. Then during his "Why Joe Why?" promo, he can call the fans for stupidly cheering for him when he did nothing to deserve their admiration. I think Joe's heel turn will get over better if its on a pure face like Sting than it did on Daniels, because that was a poorly executed double turn. Fans were given not reason to care that Daniels got mauled because he'd been a giant pick to AJ for the past year. Anyway, I think Joe/Sting is a perfect match-up to headline BFG, they can play it up as the stage on which stars are made (hence the name...) and Joe gets the big rub.

More detailed report, from WO:

From Meltz:

Here's their official press release: Might this eventually be TNA's 2nd hour of airtime? I think it makes more sense to put Xplosion online (like they did with Impact before Spike) than do a recap show, but still, I think this is a good short term move for them. Thoughts?

It just really hit me that TNA is back on tonight (I wonder how many other people that'll happen to and how it'll affect the rating), so I figured I'd go ahead and start the discussion for the show. Here's the official preview: It's kinda interesting that all tonight's matches are six-man tags. I guess that the price for only having an hour....they try to get more faces on the show with tags and mult-man matches. Either way, it's an interesting line-up. It doesn't have the obvious draws of Joe/Daniels and Sting like last week, but I'm interested in seeing what Spike Dudley (I refuse to call him Runt) can do since I can't even remember the last time I saw him work. Also, it's good that Christian's making an appearance in the arena. At this rate, it seems like Sting's in the Impact Zone more than Christian. Who woulda thought that three months ago? Any, here's hoping for a good show. Thoughts?

Mike Johnson reported that unlike last week, TNA could not hold the UFC audience at all. Here's what he posted:

I haven't seen any yet....

More numbers, from Johnson: