LuckyLopez

Because its the easiest to do without rewriting the rulebooks, disrupting things greatly, extending the game, and causing lots of debate and controversy. Its a small fix because its the easiest to do. They don't have to worry about those question of how to handle baserunners, how many bases would have advanced, what can and can't be reviewed, and everything else that would come up. They can just introduce this mid season and have it right immediately. Because a HR being reversed into a foul doesn't cause any extra questions that need to be answered. If it works maybe this offseason they look into those more complicated cases that impact a game more often. Or maybe they decide that its just too big a project to undertake and would cause more trouble than its worth. Either way, they stopped HR calls that get blown from affecting a game. So that's an improvement.

I think the idea was that Joe was wrong because he disrespected Sting and lacked compassion for Sharmell. So not so much wrong as an asshole. But yeah, it was iffy. No referee declaring the match done meant Joe was in his rights to keep wrestling and leaving would risk a CO. But if the ref declares the match done then Joe has no valid reason to keep beating on Booker. I do think they're trying to do shades of grey here and that's why they booked that screwy situation so Joe isn't QUITE a heel in that situation. The same with AJ attacking Angle. That's more of a heel act since its after the match, but then again Angle's laid how many beatings on AJ over the last few months? Both cases are the young guys being understandably angry and letting their anger get the best of them. That's easily forgivable, Sting just doesn't seem to be forgiving. And in fairness he DID try to get Joe to stop without attacking him. So yeah, I think they are keeping everyone in shades of grey. Even Booker and Angle since revealing that Karen DID cheat on him or having AJ do something really nasty or boast about breaking up their family could turn him in theory. And Booker, while resorting to heel actions, never did get a "fair shake" at the title. I don't think they're terribly strong face cases which is why Joe and AJ as the faces makes so much more sense. But I think they're trying to leave the door open either way with everyone.

I'm a Jarrett fan so I don't think pushing him ever made them look 2nd rate. But maybe I'm in the minority. The problem is that he was the top of that company for too damn long and TNA never let AJ, Joe, Killings, or anyone else grow into main eventers. But Jarrett's been gone for 2 years almost and I have no problem seeing him back. I am however hesitant to see how he gets booked, but he IS the guy who was TNA for years so his return SHOULD be a big deal to TNA. Part of me thinks it shouldn't be a problem this time. I really do think that JJ's booking had less to do with his ego and more to do with a theory that TNA had to have an "established main eventer" on top. When Killings was hot. When AJ was hot. When Raven was hot. It always seemed to come back to the idea that JJ was a former WCW Champion so TNA and JJ thought he made a better face for the company. I don't agree with the thinking but I think its what it was. If Sting, Nash, Hogan, Savage, or any of the like had ever proven reliable I think he would have gladly dropped the belt to them. And when Sting did sign full time he went right into a program designed to end with Sting taking the belt from him. These days TNA has more name power with Booker and Angle. Christian, Joe, and AJ also might be "established" now depending on what TNA thinks of itself. But Jarrett doesn't NEED to be the face of TNA anymore by any logic. Sting, Booker, and Angle all have the same "established main eventer in WCW/WWE" thing that switching the belt to Jarrett prior to the Spike debut seemed to be based on. And to Jarrett's credit the last match he had in TNA was used to put over Bobby Roode of all people. So I do tend to think Jarrett wants to help his company. I just think he thought he had to carry the company for a long time. But in the last 2 years Christian, Sting, Angle, and Booker plus the elevations of Joe and AJ might have changed that. Or maybe he's just got a massive ego like so many wrestlers and he'll win the belt from Joe at BFG and I'll be sick of him within months. EDIT: And yeah, I don't see anything wrong with the basic idea of the New Blood vs Millionaires' Club story. It was just poor execution in WCW. When it started in WCW it had people interested. But most of the "New Blood" people wanted pushed was already gone to WWE and things just got all muddled with the old guys people were sick of being faces. And lets remember that weeks into that story Russo gave the title to Arquette. That whole story had potential, I think, but was just shot in the foot a dozen times. I think he did a much better job with it with the SEX story, although that too had its flaws.

At this stage it certainly SEEMS like Joe and AJ are both going to turn heel with Jarrett. Both have been vicious and heel like and that's seemingly why Sting has attacked them when they were crossing the line. If they are conspiring with Jarrett it would seem to be a heel move. Of course if they are conspiring with JJ it was to counter balance Booker and Angle seemingly conspiring with Sting. So I don't know. Seems like Russo's shades of grey and potential swerves. At this stage Joe and AJ seem to be acting so heelish that I'm expecting to find out that JJ has been the one helping Angle and Booker and just using Sting's bats, and AJ and Joe found out so were screwing with people. So we get face Joe/AJ/Sting vs heel JJ/Angle/Booker. Just because it would be all screwy. But logic would seem to suggest Joe and AJ headed heel with JJ. And I guess Booker and Angle face? I dunno. The Angle injury thing did bother me until the match. In the end that match didn't pose much threat or need him to be at 100%. It was stupid and arrogant for him to do it but I guess you chalk it up to Angle being arrogant, especially given his clear advantage in that match. But yeah, I didn't love that. On the other hand all those complaints in the spoiler thread about them booking it the Impact after the Last Man Standing match strike me as silly. That is not a match I would pay money for and I'm more then satisfied with the match I did pay money for.

I'm pretty sure someone already said this but Dunn did NOT clear waivers. I don't get why baseball fans have such a hard time understanding the concept of waivers. Every team gets a shot going in reverse order of the standings starting with the league he's in. So he cleared past about only half a dozen teams before the D-Backs claimed him on waivers, and then worked out a deal with Cinci. That's how it works. And almost every team who passed on Dunn had no use for him as they are well out of contention. Byrd I can't find whether he cleared waivers or not but he at least cleared past almost all of the AL including Chicago and New York who theoretically could have blocked for him. But he's not exactly a big name or a terribly talented pitchers. He's a 37 year old mediocre arm putting up below average numbers who MIGHT be of use as a 5th starter. Not exactly a "big name." Dunn was a big name and he is a clear example of the deadline change. 20+ teams didn't get a shot at him before the D-Backs. And that left Cinci with no real leverage to make a deal. PTBNL could be someone of value and are probably not named yet because of the deadline/waiver issues, because they can't get back anyone off of the 40 Man of Arizona unless THEY clear waivers. But that again limits what the Reds can get for him. The deadline is the end of the nice and easy trading. Manny would have probably never made it to LA and Bay almost certainly wouldn't have made it to Boston in return after the deadline. That's how it works and that's why the deadline is a big deal. As Cheech said your Street example is EXACTLY why the deadline matters. ONE team gets a shot at him and if Oakland isn't happy with what they're willing to give then they hang on. There is no opportunity to negotiate with a 2nd team. There is no leverage. It really floors me how complicated fans seem to find this stuff. It reminds me of as kid the old joke about how complicated the Infield Fly Rule was and then when I got older realizing that anyone who doesn't understand it is either kind of dumb or just never bothered to try. And if Byrd and Dunn somehow make up a more impressive list than Teix, Nady, Pudge, Griffey, whichever of Manny/Bay counts in your mind, and the earlier trades of CC and Harden I don't know what to say. Paul Byrd.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure WWE did something similar last year with their game by showing footage of matches that were going to actually happen but in game form. Its a bit silly but its a reasonable way to expose your audience to the graphics and remind them of the game, I guess. The game has the potential to be a big deal for TNA. And I agree that TNA just seems to struggle at booking faces. For almost its entire run the company has been booked around the idea of a big and powerful heel, often with a dirty authority behind him, and with a group of wrestlers helping him keep the belt. Jarrett, Russo and SEX, Jarrett again, Christian, Angle. I think its reasonable to argue that they just haven't quite figured out how to book a true face at the top of the card largely because they never seem to want one. Killings is really the only face champion who has worked and he started as a heel and just became a face because of his popularity. And in the end Killings' face character wasn't terribly liked or interesting. I mean, I don't think Joe's run has been nearly what its being labeled as. Certainly not worthy of being compared to Rey. But I do think its been a real disappointment. Part of that was the odd booking of Booker in Houston that seemed to back them in a corner of needing to satisfy the fans that would be cheering for the heel. I think part of it is just TNA's BFG obsession with Sting and the supposed uncertainty they have with what they're actually going to do with the guy. But Joe's run definitely hasn't been what I hoped it would be. That being said I really don't think he looks like a paper champ and all and he did stand tall over Booker both times they fought. But the contrived booking of these finishes has made it quite awkward when this run should have really been about establishing Joe. Instead they went for the Russo storytelling. Which in no way seems like a lack of faith in Joe, just a misguided booking approach.

To the right of the stage, right by the backstage area and more or less under one of the screens. So I probably had a better view of it than most and might have picked up on it before others did. Like I said, after the Creed/Petey match I noticed Daivari's promo on screen and it seemed odd. But TNA might have put the full promo including what seemed like him abusing Creed's downed body on the screen (which and I assume most had no way of seeing). But it was basically a matter of discovering they were doing that as they really were flipping RIGHT back to the Hard Justice logo whenever the action got back in the ring. I was able to watch the screen out of the corner of my eye and sometimes they would make me dizzy with how they flipped back and forth in the Street Fight. I've always been under the impression that the unaired backstage skits during Impact tapings is either because (a) they don't want to let them get spoiled or (b) they don't have them filmed yet. Neither seemed to be an issue at a PPV so I just didn't see why they would air some and not others. I plan to watch the PPV so I'm gonna keep an eye out for anything I missed. But I didn't notice anything reading recaps.

Yeah, the logo was flashing whenever there wasn't anything else. But they used it quite a bit. The entrances, backstage stuff, those match build videos that air on the PPV, and whenever the action slipped out of the ring. But whenever none of that was happening it was just that flashing logo, yeah. They also used it a few random times like when Daivari came out. For some reason they cut to the live feed to show his intense stare. Although maybe I just missed more usage of it during that match since I wasn't really aware of it being used during matches until I caught sight of that. Like I said, there were a few blocks of times where I wondered if there was a backstage promo airing we weren't getting. But since they showed us a bunch of other ones I just figured there must be something else like the announcers hyping the next match or the "tale of the tape" that they do. Since it just seemed odd that they'd show us SOME videos/promos but not all. But not having watched the TV version yet I can't account for missing segments.

Not to be confrontational but that doesn't hold up true at all. The screens did show a number of backstage promos including Joe/Nash, Lauren look for Sting, and the Dudleyz looking for Sting. I'm pretty sure there were a few others, but none that I recall. There could have been some that didn't air for us as there were some dead spots where nothing seemed to be happened, but I mostly presumed they were filming the announcers at that point. But they definitely showed more than a single backstage promo. They also put the live feed on the screen whenever the action left the ring. Which I was relieved to see since most of the street fight wasn't in any way visible to me. Agreed on the empty arena though, although I think you might be under with your estimate. They seemed to fill out the half of the arena they did use, but that empty rest stood out. I've never been good at estimates of crowd size but I'd guess closer to 3000 than 2000. Still, not terribly strong. As a source of amusement though, I went to the Trenton Thunder game before Hard Justice and they announced the crowd as 5000+. And TNA definitely had more people. Somehow I think its more likely that the Thunder lied to me than TNA had 6000+.

I just got home from the show and had an awesome time. Lethal/Dutt stunk and I actually used the first half of it as a piss break, but I returned to people telling me I missed nothing of note and "boring" chants. Angle/AJ was just awesome and I think might have actually drained us for the main event. But I also think we were all waiting for the match to pick up. I know I wasn't watching the clock. I actually thought the match was fairly decent but the end came out of nowhere and I think we really expected a 2nd Act for that match. The end definitely didn't go over well and the crowd was just kind of dumbfounded by it. But again, I think we might have been a bit burnt out. That being said I didn't think we were dead. Just waiting for something that never came. I didn't notice turning on either guy, really, although both guys had their fans and detractors in the crowd. The street fight also added to the burn out as it really was a fun ECW type match. The X Title match and Women's match were both a lot of fun that the crowd was really into. And yeah, it became clear early on that this was a very NY ECW type crowd when Petey couldn't buy a boo and Creed was rode hard for the mistakes and got responses from the good. I also happened to be seated behind Velvet Sky and for half the match she was kind enough to hop in the ropes and give us a show we appreciated. As a silly aside we were actually seated on the side of the stage right by what many of the TNA folk like JB were using as an entrance backstage. Russo was routinely wandering out to watch the show and interacted just a little with fans. My section seemed especially motivated to boo him believing he was right there behind the curtain hear it. Crowd seemed great from my perspective but the ENTIRE side of the arena behind the camera was empty and darkened. So seemed like a rough draw. Then again it was Trenton and a lot of those fans seemed to be NYers like me with a long drive there and back (I even encountered quite a few at the rest stop on the Turnpike). So maybe something a little less than an hour and a half from the city would do better. Of course a lot of the crowd also seemed to be Philly folks, who also fit into the "ECW" feel of the crowd. Trenton is probably closer to Philly than NY but not too close to either. Either might be a better market.

Yeah, he did Angle's theme. And I don't know. I don't see the problem with his appearance at all. Like I said, he played a very clear role at Hard Justice. You were told who he was. Karen's boyfriend. Would calling him "Marc" have made that different? He was a prop in a stupid story which bothered me a lot more. Then he was introduced on the very next show as the heels celebrated their master plan. Suwama might have been different but again, I doubt Russo had ANY intention of screwing with people. I expect that the most logical answer is the right one. He was traveling with the Steiners and he and Scott were waiting until after the show to go. Scott decided to include mention of their match the next day in his pre-match promo and they put him on screen. Reading it as Russo and TNA trying to screw with you or expecting you to know too much just seems like a real over reaction. They just shoved a guy on camera because they could and it might give someone a kick. TNA likes star fucking, at any level, and the love giving that sense that TNA exists as part of something greater just like WWE does. Hence Ice T, Grandmaster Caz, and Filthee performing tomorrow and an American Idol guy appearing 2 months ago. EDIT: A habit which in and of itself strikes me as a bit pathetic but seems like one McMahon, Bischoff, Heyman, and every other wrestling promoter shared. But I'm much more bothered when it results in things like "BaseBrawl" than when it means I have to go on line to see who that Japanese guy who was backstage with Steiner was.

Agreed. As you said, the premise was fairly interesting and not TOO predictable but the movie just plays out like any other generic b-horror. Tragic story from the past, supernatural-like mind fucks, pretty people die. Ends up just being a movie I kept watching to see if it played out like I thought it might in the end. Rogue was better than expected. I'm not sure it was really notable. Pretty much a standard monster movie like it looks. But the characters are much more relatable than most movies like this and you actually might care whether they live or die (at least I did). Which is much more than I expected. Still, a lot of cliches and a buy the numbers movie but one with surprisingly solid/good character work/acting. This list inspired me to check out How to Rob A Bank and it was actually a pretty amusing film. Its a fun premise with no wasted time (the film begins in the middle of the heist and doesn't waste any time catching you up). Its not great but its basically all driven by characters, dialogue, and revelations. All of which are pretty amusing. It wasn't anything special but it was fun. My only real complaint was that it didn't really seem to resolve itself naturally. The film is about how the hell everyone is going to resolve this mess and then... it just sort of happens. So it wasn't much for a story. But Erika Christensen never looked better.

I'm expecting that too but it could just be a silly in joke for the company to name them Prince Justice with no real intention of including Abyss. Just something they laugh about and think its cute. But I am preparing myself for that. I'm also kind of preparing myself for a Kong/Abyss BFG match that I don't really want. I happen to have that show, Hard Justice 2007, available. The guy with Karen was supposed to be her new boyfriend to get under Angle's skin during the Angle/Joe match. They introduced him during the show and Karen didn't give us a name but just made a big show about hoe he was her new man. Of course it was a ruse and he and Karen helped Angle win and then on the next Impact I believe he came out with Karen and Kurt to celebrate and was introduced. He was Trademarc, the rapper who did Angle's entrance music and who happens to be John Cena's cousin and the guy who carried the bulk of the rapping on his records. The Japanese guy was Suwama. Scott told the Dudleyz that they were just a warm up because after the show he was heading to Japan to have a match with his tag partner in Japan. The guy barked and they all did some posing. He never gave a name but he did give something of an intro and really, the guy wasn't relevant. He was just there with the Steiners and never showed up again. So I don't think its really a big deal if they don't tell us who he is. He's just there and TNA put him on camera. The woman could be a future story player. Not revealing her identity may have a purpose. Maybe they're screwing up not telling us and establishing her. Maybe she's just Kim's sister who happened to be in Orlando that week for the 2 tapings and they made a point to show her reactions. In which case it might be nice for Tenay and West to tell us but its also pretty meaningless so who cares?

Yeah, its not a case of Harris being nothing in singles. That Harris isn't the guy who was around a year ago in the Texas Death Match and King of The Mountain. Something happened and Harris just seemed to lose all motivation in a year and is a completely different wrestler. But there was a reason people other than TNA thought he was going to be the breakout star and that he got a main event push in TNA going years back. The Chris Harris who was in TNA for 5 years just isn't the same guy we saw the last year or so. Hell, "Braden Walker" isn't even the same guy we saw at the end of his TNA run when he was starting to look chunky and unmotivated. He just got worse in the time away. According to him he lost motivation when TNA wasn't pushing him. Getting a WWE contract clearly didn't give him that back. Maybe getting fired will.

Yeah, I think X-Men is fine with the right mind behind it. That team is so rich in characters and stories that even removing so many iconic ones doesn't kill it. And without bringing anyone back from the dead they still have Wolverine, Storm, Beast, Iceman, Kitty Pryde, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Angel there, plus a "powerless" Rogue who probably isn't powerless if they don't want her to be considering the Magneto hint in the film. Even if you cut out Wolvie, Storm, Nightcrawler, Rogue, and Beast because of the actors you still have a solid core with plenty of characters to add (plus a Gambit introduction in Wolverine, although depending on the timeline of that film he may be out of the mix). But I think it makes some sense for them to just sort of splinter the franchise off. Wolverine (and presumably Magneto) have the X-Men tags. You need not do "X-Men 4" when you could just spread the world out like it did in the comics. A movie based on Beast, Iceman, and Angel trying to put together the pieces of the Jean, Cyclops, and Xavier story from X3 title "Uncanny X-Men"? A side story of Rogue and Gambit? A Kitty, Colossus, and Nightcrawler led "New X-Men"? I don't know. I'm sure some or all of those ideas suck to some but the point is that even playing off the classic X-Men stories there's still a lot of side stories they could do. And that's saying nothing for what they could just write on their own.

And actually, the "comedic" third of the movie is when a lot of the rules of the movie are established. Yeah, I was surprised by it when it started up but it ended up working and helped really make clear what was going on and how everything worked for the final act. And the break from the intense horror stuff kept the movie from burning out on it but still had enough of it to not seem like you were no longer watching the same film. Like I said, it was surprising that it worked as well as it did, but I think it ended up being a cool little film. But I'm a horror buff and appreciate B-horrors that stand out in some way.

Yeah, they really do. I didn't realize it was 3 directors until after I saw it and it just played as 3 acts. Some different tones but logical changes with the settings and characters that made up each one. And the different tones worked well to balance each other. Its not 90 minutes of the same stuff. There's a flow. All and all it was a pretty decent film.

I'm pretty sure people went to see Titanic a bunch of times because many thought it was a great love story, many who didn't like the love story thought there was some great storytelling otherwise, and basically everyone agreed that it was a visually stunning film that could only be truly appreciated on a big screen. It seems pretty disingenuous to suggest that Titanic wasn't seen as a great film that had to be seen again. And TDK has seen many of the same motivation for repeat viewings with people going to see it a 2nd time at an IMax screen to greater appreciate the look of the film.

Yeah, it seems like when TNA went to an hour they figured that they had to squeeze the 120 minutes of programming from the weekly PPVs into 42 minutes or so of TV. And they probably figured that scripting it out for the announcers to cover made sense to make sure they hit all the talking points. I'm not even sure I buy that they have a real script, but a detailed outline of talking points they're supposed to cover? That seems obvious. And neither guy has ever gotten good at making it natural. And it didn't seem like they broke the habit much if at all when they went to the "2 hours" they have now. PPV has less stories and more time to breath so they look like they have the freedom to just announce with maybe a few talking points to work in. But not 3-4 things they NEED to cover in a 4 minute match that forces them to squeeze it in. 2-3 things in an 8 minute match is much easier. But I don't think Tenay and West are innocent. They've long been blamed for never letting anything breath. I think JR has declined over the years especially when he's with Lawler but one thing he never forgot how to do was to know when top shut up and let the action tell the story. Especially during promos when you have people talking. Tenay and West feel the need to narrate, even when someone else is talking. Which is crazy but they seem locked into it. Its the difference of: "Can you believe that, Don?" and "Can you believe that, Don? Sting is going to give him a title shot! And he accepts! We're going to see a title match! Tonight on Impact! On Spike TV!" Its just unnecessary and clutters the broadcast. Maybe that's an edict from the TNA people like WWE's infamous "storytelling" messages to the announcers. But whoever's call it is it hurts the product. And the truth is I just think that like most long term crews they're too comfortable with each other. They fall into habits good and bad. I think whenever they add a 3rd man to the booth it changes drastically. Trigg has been good in his appearances (especially since he's played a heel announcer that's been absent from TNA since year 1). But even someone who sucks like Hermie Sadler just seems to pull West and Tenay out of their rhythm and make them think instead of just go on routine. Which is why TNA fans have been calling for a 3rd announcer (a heel) for years and why I'm still amazed that even with a guy like Trigg there who they seem to like in the role TNA has never given it a real shot. I don't agree with a lot of the complaints about TNA but I've yet to meet one person who didn't agree on the announcers. And TNA seems deaf to the problems for whatever reason.

They haven't adopted the necessary breathing time most of the time but I think if you watch a 1 hour Impact and a recent 2 hour Impact you'll notice more time taken for entrances and post match celebrations. Just letting angles and events sink in a little more. They still rush a bit and the announcers still hamper things badly by never letting you react naturally. But I believe I've noticed a real change in the production's general pacing, although it might be too subtle to pick up on casually.

Personally I don't put Petey in that same category just because its less of a parody and more of a protege thing. But with Steiner absent it does kind of mix with the rest. And yeah, the X Division has been too comedy based for awhile and I think its the big reason the division is down. You can include Jimmy Rave in on that. Curry Man works and I think Sharkboy works with him, but I'd love to see Lethal dump the Macho Man voice and Creed just tone down his appearance a little. He really doesn't do an Apollo Creed character, just an energetic guy, so simply ditching the USA tights could go a long way without taking anything from him. And for awhile there I was hoping to see Kaz get the X title just because (a) it would give him some direction and take him out of this underdog thing he's been doing for awhile and (b) it would have given the X division a straight wrestler as its champion to maybe make it look less like a comedy division.

Like I said, if its kosher and normal for the board and these threads no biggie. Getting spoiled is sort of the risk you take scouring around the internet and messageboards. And in terms of spoilers those are pretty minor. I just thought I'd mention it since it is stuff I'd normally try to stay clean on. But I'm kind of hardcore about going into some shows clean as I even don't like that the subtitles on the spoiler threads reveal what match is the main event or what story won't be resolved this week. And I can't reasonably call those "spoilers." So I think its safe to say there's a good chance I'm just a bit too sensitive to spoilers in this regard.

I'm kind of new here (or at least new in posting) so I don't want to step on any toes. But don't the last few posts have quite a few spoilers in them that I presume are taken from the Impact spoilers? I don't mean Tomko leaving or Nash walking out, but rather match ends and PPV bookings that potentially negate 2 weeks of story telling. If that's just what's accepted in these threads and I'm being too sensitive, fine. I can avoid this thread as well as the spoiler threads. I just thought I'd say something. EDIT: And both "spoilers" seem reasonably minor and ones that probably could have been seen coming based on other things. But still.

His wife gave birth to a child the day before, didn't she? Valid excuse to call in, I'd think, especially when the World Title match is clearly the 2nd story of the brand, not to mention theoretically lower than Cena/Batista on Summerslam. And when Khali/HHH appears to be nothing more than a 1 off match to take advantage of Khali's value and any story to it basically tells itself with Khali's size.

March-April was pretty highly praised with the buildup to Lockdown for Angle/Joe, Team Cage vs Team Tomko, and the ODB/Kim vs Kong/Saied stuff. And the Kong Fan Challenge and World X Cup run after that which got a lot of good reviews, even if some seemed to hate the Taylor stuff. I also think there's some other stuff that stand out like the Beautiful People, MCMG's return to winning, LAX's return to winning, Beer Money, Booker being awesome, AJ's push out of the goof character, and Bubba getting entertaining again. But July has dragged hard and some seem to REALLY hate the top shelf programs. As always TNA has gotten "mixed" reviews at best. But the March-May run was the first time in awhile it seemed the TNA hating was down.