OAO 6/18 Impact Thread

[TNABaddboi 0]

I actually got to watch this show as it aired, and didn't read any spoilers in advance for the first time. I enjoyed the show, but I wasn't blown away. Here are my thoughts on this week's edition:

 

I like the 6 way, but Miyamoto came off as a cheap imitation of Tajiri, especially with the midst. They need to be careful of things like that. They really need to begin developing characters for the X guys because watching the same combinations of guys do the same spots every week is going to get old REALLY fast.

 

The Abyss match was just a squash. It was the same thing as his match with Shark Boy on the first show. At least they had Goldi with him to continue his god-awful feud with Watts at little. I hate the feud, but I'd hate it more if they just dropped it.

 

Shark Boy playing with Popeye was hilarious. It added a nice comedy flare to the show.

 

The Naturals match versus Sabu/Dutt was very entertaining. Everyone, including AMW, did a good job here. I actually am intrigued by Sabu and Dutt as a team and I think they remain a team after the Raven feud because of how thin the tag division is. BTW, I have heard a TNA crowd pop for a hot tag like that in a really long time. I would have like to have seen Raven here somewhere, even if just in an insert watching the match. TNA really needs to consider taking their show on the room, even if just to other parts of TN or FL, because fresh crowds would do wonders for the product.

 

The AJ Styles match was a decent TV match, but I think they should have made it a title match to make the show seem more important, since Styles was going over anyway. The post-match segment was done really well. Kash is such a great heel that he's already the most over with the new crowd. And I liked that D'Lo was on the show, even though he wasn't wrestling. I popped for him making the save.

 

I liked the video on the Trinity/Desire feud. The match will suck, but at least people will have a reason to care.

 

The ME was once again kinda there, and that's the biggest problem I've had with Impact the last few weeks. The ME has felt like a let down, when it should feel like the most important match on the show. And while I'm a huge mark for the Truth, TNA has given me absolutely no reason to care whether he wins the belt. It's all about Russo and Jarrett. I can't believe they let Russo get the last word before the match. Truth should have cut that promo.

[Guest MikeSC]

Well, I'm not welcome here --- but hell, I'll do it anyway.

I like the 6 way, but Miyamoto came off as a cheap imitation of Tajiri, especially with the midst.  They need to be careful of things like that.  They really need to begin developing characters for the X guys because watching the same combinations of guys do the same spots every week is going to get old REALLY fast.

The match was pretty much what I expected --- a spotfest. Skipper does less than nothing for me and this match seemed, well, pointless. I don't see Garza going for the X Title anytime soon, so putting him over here seemed to be a, well, odd choice. You know, a one-on-one match involving Sabin would work SO much better here.

The Abyss match was just a squash.  It was the same thing as his match with Shark Boy on the first show.  At least they had Goldi with him to continue his god-awful feud with Watts at little.  I hate the feud, but I'd hate it more if they just dropped it.

I don't get why D-Ray 3000 is even on TV. He seems, well, useless. Nothing he does seems even REMOTELY impressive. Heck, find some kid in a small promotion and let Abyss squash him.

 

As for Goldi --- there is a time to simply write off a bad storyline, rather than take it to a conclusion. This is one of those times.

Shark Boy playing with Popeye was hilarious.  It added a nice comedy flare to the show.

Shark Boy, seriously, should be in the running for the X Title. He has more charisma than a huge chunk of the roster (who could be even a fraction as over as he is, considering that he is a jobber?). I am honestly stunned that WWE hasn't made a play for him. He's a solid worker --- not great, but definitely capable --- and the fans EAT HIM UP.

The Naturals match versus Sabu/Dutt was very entertaining.  Everyone, including AMW, did a good job here.  I actually am intrigued by Sabu and Dutt as a team and I think they remain a team after the Raven feud because of how thin the tag division is.  BTW, I have heard a TNA crowd pop for a hot tag like that in a really long time.  I would have like to have seen Raven here somewhere, even if just in an insert watching the match.  TNA really needs to consider taking their show on the room, even if just to other parts of TN or FL, because fresh crowds would do wonders for the product. 

OK, first things first:

 

I LOATHE Sabu. I haven't been entertained by anything he's been attached to since about 1996. Sonjay Dutt, thus far, has done NOTHING to impress me.

 

That being said, this was a decent match. Naturals have real potential to be pretty good.

 

I'm sorry, but AMW is played out. They are face Dudley Boys --- able to get pops for their matches, but Jesus Christ, I am beyond sick of seeing them. Develop new teams.

 

Center the tag division around the Naturals for a little while until you find new face teams.

The AJ Styles match was a decent TV match, but I think they should have made it a title match to make the show seem more important, since Styles was going over anyway.  The post-match segment was done really well.  Kash is such a great heel that he's already the most over with the new crowd.  And I liked that D'Lo was on the show, even though he wasn't wrestling.  I popped for him making the save.

Kash, as I've said more than once, should be up for the World Title. He is the best heel they have --- and has been for a long while now. AJ's match was decent, but sadly, not any better than his usual fare. It was solid --- but, as with Benoit and Guerrero, solid doesn't always cut it.

The ME was once again kinda there, and that's the biggest problem I've had with Impact the last few weeks.  The ME has felt like a let down, when it should feel like the most important match on the show.  And while I'm a huge mark for the Truth, TNA has given me absolutely no reason to care whether he wins the belt.  It's all about Russo and Jarrett.  I can't believe they let Russo get the last word before the match.  Truth should have cut that promo.

I'll say it --- JJ doesn't know to pace a show that doesn't feature HIM as the star. If he's not in the ME, the ME seems to be just thrown on at the last minute. It's a major problem for the company, as Killings, in my opinion, was not helped AT ALL by the win.

 

Overall, an OK to good show. Nothing was horrible, but nothing was amazing, either.

-=Mike

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

I thought the Shark Boy stuff was gold. Especially him trying to eat the plastic burgers.

[Guest JacK]

Didn't Garza beat Kazarian clean in the first week also? Or was that a different AAA guy.

Multi-man spotfests are an okay way to open the show, I enjoy them. Though they're probably better used for introducing new people than having the established guys in them. Still, the Sabin's, and the rest gotta do something.

[Astro101 0]

I liked Sharkboy being incorporated into some sort of promotional video for Universal Studios. That said, he should wrestle-fans love him without him having to say one word.

[Guest JacK]

Yeah, ya can't hate Shark Boy. How can you not cheer a guy like that? I'm quite amazed they never pushed him in the X-Division seriously, considering how everyone loves him and all. I thought he always got pretty decent reactions.

[Guest Real F'n Show]

I agree with you that Miomoto came off as a Tajiri rip-off. I've heard the guy is a pretty good worker over in Japan though. Anyone have info on him?

 

It was kind of pointless to have Garza pin Miomoto too, considering he had just debuted, and he's actaully in a match at the 2-Year Anniversary show, while the other 4 are not.

[Steviekick 0]

I was completely unimpressed with Miomoto. I was also seeing a Muta rip off as well, especially with Tenay's lengthy comparison which killed the match for me.

[HandofFate 0]

I just watched the show on tape and I thought that it was a good show over all. I am gonna go through the segments however they come to mind.

 

I really liked the Sabu/Sonjay vs The Naturals tag match. The crowd was ALL for Sabu to come in and unless my eyes deceived me, he didn't blow a spot at all. I also like the tag team of Sabu and Sonjay. They could be a great addition to the tag division once the feud with Raven is over. I only saw one match with The Naturals before this match. They were ok in that first one, but this one made me more interested in them as a team. Now if they can really develop these two guys, they could really be good for the tag division.

 

The 6-man was a good way to hype the crowd up for the opening of the show. If they are trying to be a cousin of WCW, at least they are taking one of the good things that WCW had with the cruiser/X Division matches. If you think about it, it is good that there wasn't anything special about this match. If they would have made it into a #1 contender's match, it would make me think that the Kid Kash/AJ Styles feud is about over since they already have the next guy in place for the champ. If Tenay would have just said something like "the winner of this match moves up in rank in the X-Division", THEN it would have made the match a little more important. I guess they don't let Tenay ad-lib. Sabin looked very good out there. That Japanese guy just kinda seemed to be in there. He didn't really do anything special and didn't really make an Impact! hehe Kazarian, Shane and Skipper were their usual decent selves. I don't remember Garza from WCW, but he seems like he has some experience and tends not to blow spots, which can only be good in a spotfest.

 

The Abyss squash was a squash. I was SOOO wanting him to bust out the Torture Rack Backbreaker, but I guess that is reserved for the PPV OR an actual feud match, hopefully NOT with Erik Watts. I was able to tolerate Goldi as Abyss's manager. Hopefully they don't bring the psycho version of her to Impact.

 

Shark Boy and Popeye was good. I wonder if they will keep using these two with promotional stuff for Universal Studios.

 

AJ vs Mr Aguila was pretty good. I was about to get excited thinkin that they might actually let AJ use the Spiral Tap for the finisher, but alas, it seems like it is reserved like the Torture Rack Backbreaker. Mr Aguila didn't seem to blow any spots, so that's a good thing. He seemed like an actual decent wrestler. That move The Cliffhanger (not sure if that's what Tenay called it) seemed like a nice move for AJ to add to his moveset. The way they were talking about it, it seemed like he might have started to use it as a finisher, that is if Aguila wouldn't have gotten out of the pin for it. I have seen better AJ Styles matches, but this was a decent one. One to make you want to see more of it. One thing that I do want to know...what happened to the white trunks and jacket for AJ? They look a lot better on him then the red. He is even wearing it on his t-shirt.

 

Truth vs Eric Young seemed decent. Would have liked for Young to do more heel tactics, but it's alright. I saw more heel heat last night at a VERY small independent wrestling show than that, but I guess they aren't letting them get big heel heat for right now, unless you are in a title feud. The segment after the match with JJ did leave something to be desired for. Yea, it was going good when he went after Dusty Rhodes, but c'mon...at least let Truth get in a punch or two. If you want to make it believeable that Truth has somewhat of a chance, let him get a little momentum before knocking him into the crowd.

 

 

Overall, Very Good show for me. Now they just have to keep at it. Hopefully FSN will start to notice that they are getting good ratings for the show and will help promote it on the network.

[starvenger 0]

Truth vs Eric Young seemed decent. Would have liked for Young to do more heel tactics, but it's alright. I saw more heel heat last night at a VERY small independent wrestling show than that, but I guess they aren't letting them get big heel heat for right now, unless you are in a title feud. The segment after the match with JJ did leave something to be desired for. Yea, it was going good when he went after Dusty Rhodes, but c'mon...at least let Truth get in a punch or two. If you want to make it believeable that Truth has somewhat of a chance, let him get a little momentum before knocking him into the crowd.

- Seeing as Impact is my introduction to TNA, I gotta say that Killings still sucks. But hey, he can spin, do the splits, and "be charismatic". Yippie. Doesn't make up for a shitty version of an axe kick.

 

- On the positve side, the X Division is pretty good. I just wish that they'd actually USE the full 10 minutes instead of rushing everything into 5, especially for 6 man matches.

 

- Abyss I don't really care for, but at least he's being booked properly.

 

- I like AJ Styles, but as the match with Aguila showed, when not done properly, the sunset flip-to-Styles Clash looks VERY contrived. The 'rana counter-to-Styles Clash looked great though.