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PWI says the replay got a .6, so that's a combined 1.3 for the week.

Well it's almost show time, and I didn't see one of these, so here goes. Here's the official preview: It's kind of interesting that they are hyping any of the matches this week. Usually they'll at least pimp the main event. But anyway, discuss the show here....

Leading up to the promo, the Truth had been talking about being held down by "them," and most people assumed it was a race angle, probably because Truth's first TNA feud was with Hermie Sadler, almost a total redux of the WCW rap vs crap angle. But when he finally talked to Steamboat, Truth said them was WWE management, who never gave him a shot to run with the ball, just like they never gave Steamboat a chance at the top belt after WM3. He asked Steamboat, who was some sort of figure head at that point, to give him the shot he never got himself and give him a World Title match. Steamboat was so impressed by Truth's appeal that he granted him a title match the next week, which saw Truth defeat Ken Shamrock for the title on the opening match of the show, probably the only time a World Title has changed has in the first hour of a TNA show. They sold it as the match being so important that it went on first to make sure the 60 minute time limit could fit within the TV time, but it was decent match that saw Apolo of all people interfere leading to Truth's victory. And although Truth had been played a heel since the beginning, that promo turned him semi-face until they started building to his match with Jarrett. The promo was one of Truth's finest's TNA moments, but I'd say he actually cut a better promo after the 2nd anniversary show, when he was trying to convince Russo why his title win the week before should not be overturned because he used Jarrett's outlawed guitar, saying that he knew it was a matter of time before Jarrett used it, so he used it first and asking Russo whether he'd stand up for himself if someone had hit him week after week. The storyline was better in the Steamboat promo, but in the Russo one, Truth took a bullshit storyline and made it work.

I have a feeling that what's they do. Since Monty's already booked, and Abyss, there's not much to do with Christian otherwise. And you know they want Rhino in the mix to play up the hometown angle. I'm just glad they got Christian on the show. They need to work Team 3D in there too...they need whatever draws they have to make this thing work.

Mike Johnson says this week's show did a .7 rating. Here's what he posted:

If any one has them, I'd love to see Savage/Flair and Hart/Piper from WM8. WM8 is one of the only ones I have never seen (the others being 1 & 2), but I've heard so much about those matches that I'm dying to see them.

Slam Sports did an article on this show. Among the newsworthy notes in it is that ticket sales have topped 2,000. TNA has got to be estatic about that, and drawing such a decent number will probably land Detroit the first non-Orlando PPV. Anyway, here's the article:

I agree that it is a big risk, but so was Sting for instance. When they worked with him before, he was all about himself, but nowadays all reports are that he's doing the team thing now. But knowing the history, I wouldn't hot shot any of that stuff I said. By the time you get to Goldberg/Christian, he will have either proven to want to help the product or be gone from the company. It'd almost be like the way they debuted Joe. They didn't throw him in with AJ and Daniels for a few months. Joe's first match was with Sonjay and his second was with Dutt. I think they could get by the first few months just with a "Goldberg's in TNA" angle. He'd be no where near the main event, but not in the undercard either. Almost in the current Abyss position of working a high-profile match that's not headlining every month. Maybe they could have him interrupt a King of the Mountain promo and spear Jarrett. Jarrett then eats a jackhammer on PPV, after maybe they go the injury route to spread out Goldberg's appearances (Jarrett and the goons take out GB and then brag about it, which they should have done with Sting). This could go on while Christian has extended feud with Monty and then Abyss. That's how you find out where Goldberg's minds at. Book him with Jarrett first, because you know Jarrett's not going to let him run totally roughshod over him. If he plays ball there (which would be a sight to see for sure), then you build to matches with Abyss, Monty, Christian and ultimately Joe (in that order would work great, IMHO).

To steer this back on track, I forgotten to respond to this because I got caught up in the Christian mid-card thing: I think TNA debuting Goldberg on the 1st primetime show (a la the Duds on the first ever Spike) could be huge. And signing Goldberg would get Spike behind them more I think, since he's got the Spike show and everything. I'd say that with Goldberg and Sting in the fold, that extra 30 mins of TV time would not be too far behind, because the ratings will increase and Spike will take notice. They moved TNA to primetime because of two strong ratings (the .7 for the replay after the UFC special and the 1.1 the next week for Sting's debut). I know Goldberg has a bad rap and is not a workrate wonder, but the guy draws interest. At the height of the Monday Night Wars, I was strictly a WWF fan (not even the NWO drew me over to Nitro), but I watched the night he defeated Hogan for the title. And as long as Goldberg is willing to play ball, TNA has the table set for a lot of money feuds with him. Of course, you start him off with the Pounce vs Spear feud with Monty (or maybe even with Rhino first and then Monty), and then eventually you build to a heel Christian/face Goldberg title feud. Christian has got the fans on his side right now and I'm digging his face run, but we all know he's a natural heel. I think the heel turn is inevitable before it's all said and done. They've already been hinting at it with the trustworthy thing. He'll eventually reach a point where his trustworthy-ness is not questioned anymore, and then BAM!, he'll level Sting. Watch...it's gonna happen and it'll make great TV. Anyway, Christian and Goldberg had a nice little feud when in WWE, IIRC. You draw that out long enough, put the belt on Goldy and then have Joe unthrone him, making him more than just an internet darling, but the new unstoppable monster. Of course, that's all pending him being will to help the product, which all reports say he wants to do (and on TNA's willingness to admit that Joe has no business being a heel). I'm willing to give TNA and Goldberg the benefit of the doubt. If it ends up like the Hardy signing, then I'll be first to say it was a bad idea. But if he's interested, I think TNA almost has to take the shot, especially if Spike's willing to help pay. Unless they are getting Hogan, Austin or the Rock (which we all know they are not), Goldberg is the single biggest name they can grab to say to casual fans "hey...look over here!" Goldberg on Impact will spike the ratings just like Sting did. And there are very few guys who can still do that by themselves right now. I'd say that only those guys I mentioned can....which why this is different than TNA trying to position Hardy, DDP, Nash or Hall like that. None of those guys did much for the ratings and/or buyrates, but building a show around a Sting interview did. TNA needs that kind of drawing power to get to a point where Joe, Daniels, AJ, Monty and even Christian can legitimately draw on their own.

I agree with both of these points. TNA's audience is much difference than WWE's....TNA's audience accepted both Raven and Rhino as headliners, and neither ever was a prominent in WWE as Christian was. And in Christian's case, just about every TNA fans knows that he was talented and over enough to warrant a much higher position on the cards, so the "all I needed was opportunity" stuff rallied them behind him more. The whole midcarder thing is because people have gotten used to WWE being the only game in town for awhile. At the height of the WWF/WCW/ECW, each company polished people off the other's scrap head. Austin was a midcarder in WCW and became the biggest star of the era. So was Mick Foley. Raven was Johnny friggin' Polo before become ECW's biggest draw. The list goes on. Scott Hall had some memorable matches in WWF as Razor Ramon, but he was never put in the company's top angles like he was in the NWO. But now, TNA takes a Christian or a Rhino, pushes them because they're talented and gets them over, and it's frowned upon. It doesn't make any sense to me at all.

I really enjoyed today's show. TNA's gotten much better at making Impact seem like an event in and of itself, rather than just an infomercial for the PPV. That's important for the primetime move. I like that they're trying to give Truth the rub of hanging around with 3D and that they began hyping next week's main event tonight. Them delivering a title match on Impact is also a plus. I believe this will be the fourth since the Spike era started. I don't think they need to do it all the time, but every once in awhile, it wouldn't hurt. Helps with the event thing I was talking about. They've really dragged this Jackie/Jarrett thing out (makes me thing they're stalling for Raven to get healthy), but I gotta admit, tonight they made me want to know what was on the tape that caused the 360. Anyway, good show. Here's hoping Monty and Christian have a mic duel next week.

In 30 minutes, TNA's announced 3 matches for the PPV. That's probably the biggest thing they do better than WWE at this point.

Orland crowd with a "Where's your visa" chant at LAX....sometimes, they're not all bad.

Good promo by Christian...he hit all the right notes out of the gate and I'm glad they didn't draw out the announcement of the PPV main event. I'm really looking forward to round 2 of Christian and Monty. They had great chemistry last month. The limitations of the studio audience were apparent there though, as there was one jackass who could be heard booing everything Christian said, even though the rest of the crowd was popping for him. Jarrett's promo wasn't bad either, though I noticed he announced the 8 man, but didn't say who else was in it. Oh yeah...I like Penzer as the ring announcer much more than Borash. Hopefully they keep Borash in the back and let Dave keep announcing.

Had to see this coming, but I'd say it's a good development nonetheless: credit: PWInsider.com I wonder who he'll be facing. Or maybe they convinced him to go by promising him he'd only have to cut a promo. Either way, the show will be better off with Christian on it, especially now that he's champ. It should draw better too. Now if they can just get Sting to show up...

I have enjoyed Konnan in his new role too. He's definitely one of the few truly over heels in the entire company....and the LAX was the perfect set-up to play to his strong suit. Him as the mouthpiece getting over a tag team. But he's having to carry the load right now with Homicide hurt and Apolo on the outs with the company. Hopefully they get a regular stable of health guys and let Konnan bring them the heat.

I just saw a few minutes of this the other day (I watched it when it aired in 98 too), but one error that caught my attention was saying that Andre jobbed the belt to Hogan at WM3. I'm almost 100% positive that Hogan was champ going into that match (though I didn't become a regular fan until WM6).

By the same token, how many shows has Jarrett, PART OWNER, put before TNA? I'm no Jarrett apologist, but the guy's probably more dedicated to TNA than anyone on the roster (and rightfully so, since he's got more to lose than anyone who's last name isn't Carter). Just saying is all...

Here are early spoilers from WO: Discuss...

Here's more about this from Mike Johnson:

I don't believe they ever officially got rid of the Championship Committee. The gimmick is that Larry is the spokesperson for the committee, so they send him to do their dirty work and the workers make their pitches for title shots to him. He's not the final decision maker, like Dusty and Russo were presented as when they were Director of Authority. There is actually potential for the gimmick to be different than every other GM storyline in wrestling (well Bischoff and Vince could have had the same dynamic if VKM wasn't more interested in neutering Eric every week), but TNA doen't push it there, mostly because Larry's the only committee member still with the company (I'm pretty sure Piper and Terry Funk were the others). The overworked middle manager concept BostonStranger was talking about would be a perfect way for Larry's role to be different, but the problem is that TNA has only half-heartedly presented him that way. If you weren't watching when the championship committee was formed, you don't know that Larry's not the where the buck stops, storyline wise. That would get over his persona of washing his hands of things he doesn't deem pressing or doesn't have time for, like GenNext's request for title shots, more than presenting him as THE authority figure. For instance, if Larry was the D.O.A, like Russo or Dusty was, then he could just give them title matches to shut them up and if they get choked out by Joe, tell them they had their chance. But him telling them to get noticed makes more sense if he's telling them he's only got one vote on the committee, so they'll have to do something to impress the others. Because clearly he's noticed them. They're in his face every week. This could all be fixed if they just occassionally have the entire committee on the show....like at the press conferences, standing behind Larry. They could replace Terry and Roddy with Terry Taylor and Dory Funk (since for some reason he's putting over Christian nowadays) and be on their way. Make Terry the chair of the committee, just b/c he'd make a great "that's the last word" persona and have Larry working to keep the committee AND the wrestler's happy, all while trying to keep his sanity. Then, his whiny, Dr. Phil comments make sense and you could justify him being a face to Christian but a heel to Raven. The competing interests would make the flip-flops more understandable.

AJ pinned Daniels in the first 3 way to allow him to debut on Spike with X-title. Otherwise, yes, Joe has totally dominated the feud.

Another report:

More detailed results: Credit: PWInsider.com

They put this up today: