TNABaddboi

This is the 2nd year they've done it, but i still don't understand why they're giving away a cage match 3 weeks away from an all-cage ppv. It just doesn't make sense to me. Oh yeah, and I can't believe they jobbed Shelley out so early. And to Shark Boy no less...

Saw this photo from the tapings on another board: Otherwise, its like a strong build to LockDown. I'm tempted to gripe about Jarrett's babyface return, but I've decided I'm going to give TNA the benefit of the doubt and see how it plays out. I'm not one of those people who thinks he can't get over as a face though. He was pretty over during his first title run, up until they booked heel Raven on a babyface title chase in the interest of "shades of grey~!" As long as he doesn't win the title next month, or even in the KotM, I'll be ok. I don't see why they'd give away a cage match on free tv during the build to an all-cage PPV for the second year in a row. I really think for LockDown to be as special as they want it to be, they have to almost never break out the cage otherwise. The PPV needs to be where you get your bloody cage match fix, period. It seems like the Lethal Lockdown build played out well, and so did 3D/LAX. LAX shocking Runt sounds like a really cool angle, if they play it up right (and don't cut to JB and Eric Young immediately afterwards). Tomko turning on Team Angle seems kinda predictable, but I bet they'll play it up as a big shocker. Anyway I'm looking forward to seeing how these shows come across on TV.

Preview: Discuss:

I believe he's referring to the period of time after TNA was no longer on FSN, but before they debuted on SpikeTV. I was referring to the summer of 2005. I still think those were some of the best shows TNA had put on. It actually started with the last two episodes on FSN, which were building up that year's Slammiversary. IIRC, those were the first shows that Scott D'Amore booked.

For the first time since they were streaming Impact online, TNA has put together back-to-back strong shows. It looks like they are following the WWE tradition of getting their act together in time for the big shows. This week, there were none of the random segments that don't make any sense like most weeks. Instead, everything built LOGICALLY to the PPV (how often can you say that about a Russo-booked show?). They managed to put heat on both teams for the main event, spotlight an undercard match and start cranking up the build to Harris-Storm. And Konnan and Bubba continued their battle of wits on the mic with another good promo (if only the matches were any good, they'd really be in business). At first, I cringed at the thought of an electrified cage match, but Konnan seemed to make it make sense. It's amazing that a man as stale as he was during the 3LK run can be the hottest promo man in the company now today. They finally took the next step in the Eric Young deal, though it's really going to suck if this is all a swerve that leads to a 2 on 1 beat down in the cage. Going back to tonight though, even Jackie and Kim seemed like a cage worthy feud after that brawl. The main event was strong and seemed like a big deal for TV. And though I know I'm going to hate the Abyss mama thing when it's done, they did a good job playing up the intrigue tonight. I also have to mention that AJ and Christian fighting for the spotlight was hilarious, especially when AJ did his pose in front of Christian and Christian pushed him down. Those two play so well off each other. All in all, it's amazing how different the show has felt since they decided to include wrestling. Athough there was alot happening, it didn't seem nearly as rushed as usual. Maybe because they really focused on three themes for the night (who's side Abyss was on, Angle and Christian picking people and everybody else wanting to settle their scores at LockDown), the stuff on this show was easier to digest than most Impacts. This show wasn't great, but it was pretty damn good IMO. I'm looking forward to the PPV now, which I wasn't before.

yeah, i thought that was a strong segment too. almost as good as the one from a few weeks ago when LAX went after Bubba's arm.

Preview: Discuss:

LAX is probably going to be taking a 3D at LockDown. Hopefully 3D won't have a long run though. In something totally unrelated, I really enjoyed the X-D match on this show. It wasn't that long, but it seemed like it was because they got more time than anything did until last week. The spots were creative, which is something Impact has been missing for awhile.

I don't know if I would have dragged the opening angle over two segments, but it still came across pretty well. So far it looks like we'll have Styles joining the Christian Coalition against Angle, Joe and Rhino.

I'm digging AJ's new music.

It looks like TNA's finally ready to be serious about touring. They've announced a Springfield, MO house show for LockDown weekend. Here's the press release:

I think they blew it with 3D when they didn't put them over AMW. They didn't even really have AMW go over decisively at the end. They just kinda had 3D decide revenge on Team Canada was more important then the titles they'd be chasing for months, making anyone who invested in their title chase feel pretty stupid. 3D has been treading water ever since, and now are trying to leech of LAX's heat instead of vice versa.

The Electrified Cage match was announced at the tapings to be taking place at Lockdown. Is selling PPVs on the fear of death TNA's new strategy?

Hasn't Lethal Lockdown typically been an eight man? It's interesting that their changing it this year. If they put all the top guys in the main event, does that make the second biggest match on the show Harris/Storm? That'd be surprising to me if they put them in that position, though I wouldn't necessarily complain. It looks like there are only two matches on the first show, so maybe, they'll get some time to breathe.

Is it just me or is there no main event anywhere in this preview? I guess they're going with the patented opening promo leads to big tag match playbook from 1998. Also, why are the VKM, Hoyt and Serotonin taking up precious TV time when neither has either a match on the PPV or angle that could lead to a match like Senshi and Starr had last month. God I hope the build for LockDown is better than this month's build. Sigh...

I'm pretty sure they just gave away a main event they hadn't run the angle to set up yet with that commercial. And I can't believe they're running 3 three six man tags in one hour. Wow.

More from Mike Johnson:

More on the titles, from the Torch:

Preview: Discuss...

I really don't think Joe's winning the title at this PPV. Nothing in the build suggests this is the "changing of the guard" moment Joe's win should be. If anything, it looks like they are setting up that not even Joe is invincible to the numbers game to build his quest they've just remembered to talk about again. I think he's more likely to win at LockDown if they go that route, or even at Slammiversary. But I don't see him winning at this show. As for the show, it just seemed better than the last few weeks. Two 10 minute matches make me a happy camper, even if they both have screwy finishes. I guess I have Jarrett to thank for that, but a smart decision is a smart decision. It was nice to see the X-D featured in something other than a Kevin Nash skit, but those guys looked like they got so used to the handcuffs being on that they didn't know what to do with ten minutes of time to work their spots in. It looks like Backlund's going to make Senshi his protege, which I've got no problem with, because it gives Senshi TV time and it could make for some funny moments with him playing straight man to Backlund like he did to Nash. I'd say overall they're doing a decent enough job with the Steiner/Angle feud, but I don't get why Angle would try to attack Cornette if just last week he said he was out to save the company from people like Steiner. It seems like LAX has been beating down Team 3D every week since Christmas, and yet, for me anyway, the feud is just not clicking. Russo needs to watch some tapes of Impact from the summer to see what got LAX over in the first place. Konnan's still awesome on the mic, though. I marked out for "get the tables" in Spanish. Joe was carrying Tomko to a decent TV main event, when the finish caused me to totally suspend my disbelief. The referee attempted to break up a perfectly legal move just so he could be "distracted" when Christian hit the ring. They would have been better off doing a ref bump a few minutes before that and having Slick Johnson come down and count the pin. That said though, compared to what we've been getting, this show was much better IMO.

Ok, now that I've seen, that was stupid. Not necessarily Tomko going over Joe because of Christian's interference (I mentioned in the spoiler thread why I was ok with that), but WTF was the ref doing breaking up the muscle buster? Last time I checked, that was a perfectly legal move!

The LAST thing Abyss needs is a red mask/costume. He already looks like a Kane ripoff to people who aren't familiar with him.

The show's half over and the World title match at the PPV has been mentioned exactly one time. It wouldn't surprise me if they put Angle-Steiner on last.

Looks like Steiner's slimming down. Did TNA institute a wellness policy when we weren't looking?

That might have been the longest match on Impact since this time last year. And it gives me an excuse for to get in my weekly "let Senshi revive the X-Division!"