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Keller reported yesterday that Spike would have a stake in the advertising because they'd be selling based on the Saturday Night block and not just TNA to basically work the advertisers. So though the specifics haven't come out yet, I don't think this is exactly the same deal as FSN, where they just paid for the time and hoped to recoup on ads. We'll have to wait until we know more though...

I hope they do this as well. It's be a good place to build the mid-card feuds so that the PPV has more of an "event" feel. Mike, if my memory serves me correctly, didn't FSN add 2 replays of Impact halfway through the contract? I could be wrong, but I remember reading that TNA didn't have to pay extra for those. Why couldn't that happen here?

I was hoping for a start date in the release, but I excited it's official nonetheless. It's not the 2 hour monday slot they want, but it's much better than the FSN deal in that it's going to be consistently shown (no regular pre-emptions) across the country in a slot that the wrestling audience is familar with. Velocity got crappy rating because it was a nothing show, but it did have viewers who were into workrate, and thus like to be impressed by a TNA show without a lot of names. In addition to being promoted in the Saturday night line-up, initially TNA has a chance to impress those Velocity viewers, which, will tiny compared to Raw and SD! numbers, is about double what TNA was drawing on Friday afternoons. Anyone, I'm excited for the show and let the ratings projections begin....

Don't you think this is a little premature? They've announced a whopping four matches. You know they rest of the card will shake out. When they do these massive tapings, sometimes Tenay will announce a match that didn't get annouced to the live crowd (a la Joe/Sabin) and sometimes they'll get set up in vignettes (Waltman/Styles, Daniels/Williams). I'm sure Daniels will end up on the card, I'm sure we'll get somemore of the 3LK story and we'll get Waltman and Lynn since Waltman will probably blame Lynn for his loss to AJ. If the add those matches, in addition to the Hoyt/Abyss match that will surprise people, the Joe/AJ match, which could be a MOTYC with time, and the 8-man that should have a lot of heat, I don't see this as being a bad card, certainly not the worst TNA has offered. For starters, I'd say DX was worse, and FR (though it ended up being a good show) was panning before for the poor line-up. I don't see how any show with nearly 2 guaranteed **** matches (Joe/AJ and the possible Lynn/Waltman match) could be the worst of all time. In summary, I know you don't like the ME, and that's fine. I wasn't a fan of several MEs during the beginning of this era (the stupid 3 way to get the shot should have been a JJ/Monty rematch, JJ/Nash should have been the blow to the JJ/Monty feud and JJ/DDP should have been Monty/just about anybody other JJ). But at least wait until the full line-up is announced to pan it.

Meltzer says he has even more confirmation, and that an announcement is pending. Here's the info from today's update:

This week's Impact is already online, and they've added a Six Man Tag with Team Canada against Hoyt and the Naturals, a No DQ Street Fight between 3LK and Monty Brown and the Outlaw to round out the card. I still think that this is the strongest overall line-up TNA has had since Turning Point.

Astro beat me to the debunk, but it's good to see that the rumor was untrue and the PPV line-up won't change, b/c IMO this is the strongest line-up TNA's had in the monthly era.

I think that's a pretty good number of viewers for an online broadcast. Does anyone have an average FSN rating so we could see how much the loss of TV has hurt their visibility? I think it's been said that they expect 10% of the viewers to order the PPV, so if they stay in that range, they'll do at least 10,000 buys for No Surrender, which is the range they were in before the switch to monthly, but they'll be bringing in more because of the higher price and lower production costs of doing one a month versus 4. I think if they stay in that range, they can be ok until they have TV, but obviously they'd need more eyeballs eventually.

Credit: TNAWrestling.com To me, the big news is the DVDs. They have been missing out on a boatload of money and exposure by only selling their product online, and even as it stands, I'm sure the DVDs are their biggest revenue stream save the PPVs. And I might check out the LockDown DVD if the AMW/Naturals match is going to be an extra. Comcast Mid-Atlantic screwed me that week and didn't show Impact, so I have never seen the match.

I was thinking about that because I'll probably be back to using dial-up soon. Well, it's usually available for download on the TNA fan forums. There's a guy on there who's been offering it even when it was still on FSN. I'm sure it'll be up after it airs on Sunshine Network tonight.

I've got to give TNA credit here. I watched the show at about 4:10 (when traffic will most likely be highest) and didn't have any problems. It didn't even buffer once. So this move was a good one for TNA (the deal with Real) and will be a suitable solution until they get TV. I wonder if it would have worked as well had I been using dial up, but that's the only problem I can really see. And I thought it was a good show. The storylines are moving in a good direction. They did a good job making the left-field Daniels/Williams match make sense and I like the idea of building of Daniels as an international superstar and of building Williams up as the leader of Team Canada. And I'm stoked about the Styles/Waltman match. They did a good job of almost reprising Lynn's role as AJ "tough love" mentor with Waltman and having Lynn involved makes it even better. Even the Hoyt/Rude feud is clicking. I'm sure we'll be seeing a six man either on Impact or the PPV after the Naturals made the save for him. And of course, Raven's promo was gold and got me ready for his match with Abyss. I absolutely loved the fact that the Abyss/Siaki match wasn't a squash. We all knew Abyss was going over, but when they came out, I wasn't expecting them to go more than 1 minute, but I was surprised they went almost 5. It made Siaki look stronger, which they can use as they try to build a midcard around more than Hoyt and Rude, and made Abyss look like a real main eventer by winning a competitive match, which people who don't order the PPVs haven't really seen. This is shaping to be the best overall line-up TNA has put on PPV since probably Turning Point. So all in all, good format and good show TNA!

I'd say the only people more over were Styles and Raven (and maybe Monty before the stupid heel turn).

This is probably the second best thing TNA could announce right now (the first obviously would be the TV deal). This will be a great revenue stream for the company and will definitely help raise their profile. I'm so buying Against All Odds now. I want that Iron Man Match!!!!!

I think Killings and Konnan are going to end up as heels as well, because it seems like the crowd really wants this NAO reunion.

Here's the official TNA press release: Credit: TNAWrestling.com It's good that they finally acknowledged that Impact would be replacing Xplosion so that people who get that show but didn't watch because it was just recaps will tune in. Now, all they have to do is beef up the syndicated network. On the plus side, this week's line-up looks good.

Bill Banks said on the TNA fan forum that starting next week the shows will stream, so hopefully this works better than last week's plan. Here's his post:

After 3 Impacts with the new committee, I have to say thumbs up. The show just seems to be so much more of an event. I like the way they introduced the Mitchell/Abyss pair and set up next month's main event, which btw may be the freshest one on one title match that TNA has delivered since AJ/D'Lo. I hope these guys have a prolonged feud and not just the one and done Jarrett style defense. I don't know where else they are headed for the pay per view, other than subtly planting the seeds for a Jarrett/Hardy confrontation, which I also think is a good move. Nothing will get him over a face quicker than shutting up Jarrett. The show featured the usually 2 good decent length matches, plus a fun Shark Boy match and a Joe squash that served it's purpose. It was a headache to download (I ended up having to download it from a guy on the TNA fan forum), and I had to find the temptation to surf the web because I'm not used to watching wrestling on my computer, so the format clearly has some kinks to work out, but the show itself was a winner IMO. I hope the difficulties this week will illustrate to TNA why they should beef up the syndicated network as a temporary solution. I'm certain it will be cheaper than being on FSN and it would make life easier until Spike *hopefully.* If they get back on a couple of regional networks like the deal they have with Sunshine (at one time, Xplosion was on Sunshine, Comcast Sports South and a regional network in Buffalo I believe...that's a pretty good start to a syndicated network), they might be able to weather the dark period. The shows have to be good though, or people won't go through the trouble of searching for it or downloading it.

My favorite TNA time is probably from Jarrett's victory over the Truth for the title (Nov. 2002) to Styles successfully defending against Raven (Aug. 2003). The booking was great (Destiny, S.E.X), the matches were awesome (XXX vs Red, S.A.T's), (Red/Lynn vs XXX), and the AMW/New Church, AMW/XXX and Styles/D'Lo series. That period had Russo's prints all over it. I am not a Russo mark by any stretch of the imagination, but I do admire the way he finds something for everyone to do, not just the top guys. This was the only time TNA effectively used Shark Boy (remember the New Jack skits), and they even managed to make Sonny friggin' Siaki interesting during that period (I loved the Ace in the Hole character and his whole feud with D'Lo). I picked the Raven defense as the end because after that, Styles reign went on to barely defeat Dusty and lamely drop the belt back to Jarrett in preparation for Hogan's imaginary arrival. Overall, that period was TNA's best period, IMO. The guys were over and people were popping for more than highspots and namevalue. I'd love to see TNA reach that level again.

I think the Gowen thing is about Jarrett picking on "innocent" people, building up to Matt confronting him at the PPV. Don't know that for sure, but it seems to fit after his attack on the fan.

Credit: PWinsider.com Thoughts?....

Does anyone know if this Tuesday's taping will be the only one between now and the PPV? I'd imagine so if they are only showing the shows online. That could be a lengthy taping though if they have to tape four 1 hour episodes.

Overall I think this was a good show, but this was one of the few TNA PPVs that I can remember that was saved by the ME. It almost reminded me of the Attitude era WWE PPVs where the top two matches were what brought the crowd back and saved the show. Here are my thoughts: The opener started slow, but grew into the spotfest I was expected and was just long enough not to overstay its welcome. I just knew that Skipper or Red was going to win, so I was definitely surprised, in a good way, to see Sharkie pick up the win. I think TNA needs to capitalize on his popularity, give him a partner, and put them in the tag title mix. I didn't get into Shocker and Shelley. Shocker just doesn't do it for me. I don't get why the guy gets such a push. I've only seen Shelley's TNA work so far, so he hasn't impressed me either yet, but I think he will when given the opportunity. Shocker though, I've given up on. Truth/Outlaw was a decent hw bout, which TNA doesn't feature alot of, that had some decent backstory, but the ending was sloppy. The crowd clearly wants the Outlaws back together, and I wouldn't be surprised if TNA didn't give that too them tomorrow, but it's going to be interesting how they play the split, because if they feud them with the remainder of the Kru, the crowd's not going to boo anybody. I'm glad they tried to keep the Naturals strong because I thought they change the title here to have a moment on the big show (little did I know what was coming, but I digress). Jimmy Hart as the mentor was a nice twist and should be enough to keep them babyfaces. I gotta say I was expected Shane to form a new Triple Threat, but when I saw him doing interviews, I figured they had something else planned. Joe was impressive. That was the first time I've ever seen him, so I guess I'm the kinda fan TNA has to introduce him to, but for one, I'm sold. His high impact moves were great and I think he can be built into a solid main eventer for the company. Hoyt and Rude was way better than it had any right to be and I gotta tell you, I still can't believe how over Hoyt is. Did a miss a killer promo or something? Fans actually had Hoytamania shirts. That's unbelievable. But anyway, he did a good job playing face in peril and having him against Team Canada will probably help his heat. The screwy finish means we'll probably have some sort of gimmick match (I'm guess a flag match) at the next PPV, which is good because TNA needs to establish a mid card (a secondary title would fit perfectly in this feud IMO) and since they don't have TV, carrying a feud over is probably a good thing. I was watching the replay since I was out with my father until about nine last night and didn't get much sleep the night before, so I was fighting sleep the whole show, but the AMW/3LK ended my battle. I fell asleep halfway through the match and woked up at 3 am, so I'm glad I'd recorded it. Before I finished the tape, I was down on the show overall. It seemed like an extended version of Impact more than TNA (2nd?) biggest show of the year. But luckily, the two main matches delivered for me. Daniels really showed why he's TNA's MVP not named AJ Styles and I'm sure at this time next year, he'll be competing in main events. TNA finally gets it with him. I also like that for perhaps the first time in TNA history, we have a dominant heel champion who doesn't ALWAYS cheat to win. They are doing everything right with Daniels that they did wrong with Petey in my book. He was clearly heel of the night for that vicious Angel's Wings on Trinity. That was the spot that woke me up from my nap, though I dosed back off before the match ended. lol. I liked that they made it an elimination match so that the match was able to move beyond Shane and Sabin to being about the title. Shane and Sabin still have unfinished business though, so I can see them having a match at the next show as well. They'll probably feed Shark Boy to Daniels based on his win, but I see that more as an Impact main event than a PPV match. The difference is that Daniels will give enough to Sharkie to make it a worthwhile match, unlike when JJ squashed him a few months ago. I really enjoyed the KotM match. They missed a couple of spots with shoddy camera work and didn't play up the times when more than one guy was in the penalty box, but otherwise, no complaints. The match seemed like a big deal, did a good job of unbitching Monty Brown and had moments where it seemed like him, Abyss, Styles and then finally Raven would win. Raven's win was kinda out of left field, but it made for an awesome moment and isn't as unexpected as everyone thinks. Think about it...there's the huge popularity of ECW right now (notice that Raven went back to his ECW look last nite?) and secondly, since Styles seemingly is going to want revenge on Waltman, we'll probably see Jarrett say that he deserves the shot since he couldn't defend his KotM title and we'll finally see Jarrett/Raven II next month. It makes a lot of sense considering TNA's current state. That's probably the one match that their fanbase has been waiting to see and they can sell almost strictly based on the backstory. They can play up Jarrett's backstage stroke vs. Raven's destiny and them battling over who's really the King of the Mountain. Plus, after the reaction Raven got witth the belt, I doubt TNA is gonna be able to keep him as heel, but they need to be careful in that they don't turn him into a p***y when they turn him face like they did before. The people like the bad ass Raven and that's what he needs to be. What better way than to cement Raven as a face them have him conquer the fans number one nemesis? It will probably be some sort of gimmick match, I'd say either HoF, or considering the name of the event, I Quit. Styles/Waltman will probably be on the undercard, and as long as they don't book Abyss/Brown again, I'll be happy. Either way, TNA has certainly given themselves some strong possibilities to survive the dark months. So overall, I'd say this show was good, better than Victory Road, but not as good as Turning Point or Final Resolution (those are the only TNA PPVs I've seen so far).

I agree that the FSN run showed that they need more than just 4 hours a month to properly build up a whole show and I agree with Red that this is the solution. If they can't get FSN to come down on the price or agree to a less long-term deal, then they do need to be up the syndicated network again and run the shows there even when the Spike show starts. They can't make the mistake of making it a B-Show like they did with Xplosion though, because no one will watch. They need to make it like Raw and Smackdown when SD first came around or Nitro and Thunder where the storylines progress from show to show. People will go find the syndicated show if they find go things, even if they have to have it online, so I'd suggest TNA do a kick-ass match per show on that show (kinda like when they set the Impacts up with one long match like the X Division 4 way) that people will want to see, and run angles and feature the bigger players/matches on Spike, because of the wider audience.

This is from TNAWrestling.com: Waltman has shown some fire since LockDown, with the HJ match and the Impact tag a few weeks ago, so I'm not as down on this I would be otherwise, but still, I don't know about it. I know TNA is going for a little bit of namevalue in the main event, and someone else to give Styles (or Monty) the rub, but I think I would have been more excited about someone else. I am glad they announced it before hand though, because Waltman as the suprise during the PPV would have been a big disappointment. Thoughts?....

I didn't see the first KotM match (I was order every other weekly PPV by that point, and I choose Deadly Draw and the first show after Impact started), so I'm pumped about this because I think the match will rock. We know the wildcard is Waltman, but I think the only possible winners can be Styles or Monty. I don't think TNA will give AJ another 1 month reign and risk his credibility, so I'm going with AJ. Raven will either attack Waltman to try to get in the match or attack AJ post match to set up the next month's PPV. I'm betting on the latter because they don't have TV, so they almost have to do something for those who won't get to see the taping they're doing next week. And I think the top matches for the next PPV are AJ/Raven, JJ/Monty, AMW/Hardyz and 3LK/NAO. I gotta go with BPS on this. Daniels has been gold since winning the belt and I think they are going to let him take over Shane's spot as longest reigning champ to really put some heat on whoever takes the belt from him. I think this match is a toss-up. I like the Naturals, but I think TNA may want to change a title on the big show (kinda like VR) and if they decide that, this is that match. Either way, the winner won't have the belts long, because I'm sure we'll see reigns by heel AMW, the Hardyz and the Outlaws. I think we'll either see botched BG interference leading to an AMW win, or an AMW loss with them going ballastic after the match for the heel turn. In the latter case, which I think is more likely, I think we'll see something along the lines of Y2J/HBK from WM19 where they'll offer to shake hands with 3LK and then totally dick them to huge heat. I think TNA picked the right opponent for the turn because 3LK is so over. I think this match happens later in the show than the tag match so that BG's botched interference can cause some doubt. I think what we'll see here is Truth going over Outlaw, but Outlaw getting his heat back by working over Truth. BG will run out, but instead of going for the save, I think we'll see him turn on Truth and then the camera will later find Konnan locker room barricaded or something. I don't think they'll be able to keep the Outlaws heel long though. I agree with BPS that this match is important for both. I think if TNA plans to work an extended feud between these to elevate them, which I think they need, Roode has to go over by some cheap method. If they plan to move them onto other things, Hoyt will go over. I think we'll see Roode and the hockey stick ekk this one out. I think Joe wins a back and forth contest convincingly. They are going to want to debut Joe in a big way, but they don't wanna completely squash Dutt because he has a future with the company. TNA has a thing for Shocker, so I'm sure he'll win, but if I had the book, I'd put Shelley over him to capitalize on whatever notoriety he has from those dayum commercials. This match will definitely open the show and pop the crowd with alot of spots. I'm sure that either Skipper or Red will take the win, but TNA clearly wanted to get Shark Boy on the show to take advantage of his press from the lawsuit. I think this will be Sharkie's first PPV appearance since Victory Road. Good move I saw. One of these days, they might even let him win a match, though I don't think this will be that day. I think they'll put Red over strong like they did with Hector Garza when he first returned last fall. Overall I think this line-up in an indication of the new direction of TNA. They smartly put together a more workrate orientated line-up than storyline drive because of the lack of TV. It'll be interesting to see if this works though. If the guys are off, the show will fall flat. If they're on, we could have the best overall PPV for the company since LockDown. I think if they had to go dark, they picked the right time, as the loyal fans will probably order strictly because this is the Anniversary show, and the workrate fans will tune in for Joe's debut and Daniels' match. Either way, should be interesting. I'll be watching for the first time since TP, thought I did get the Final Resolution DVD.