TNA Spoilers from Orlando

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Team 3-D b Lex Lovett & Buck Quartermain (this may have been a dark match or Xplosion match, or could be the TV opener for Saturday)

 

Matches and segments for sure on Saturday

 

The Naturals b Apolo & Homicide via DQ when Konnan interfered. Very quick match. Crowd loved Homicide to the point when the James Boys made the save, they were chanting for Homicide. I don't think TNA is happy right at this moment with the audience that saved and made the promotion, as you'll see more evidence of

 

Ron Killings b Bobby Roode in seconds

Roode wanted a rematch, and Killings pinned him in seconds again

Roode wanted a rematch, and then beat Killings. No, it doesn't make sense to me either

 

Alex Shelley & Austin Aries & Roderick Strong b A.J. Styles & Chris Sabin & Christopher Daniels. Shelley & Aries & Strong have been put together as a heel group with a push. Crowd loved this match and I was told it was a super match live. Shelley pinned Sabin with a shiranui

 

Next came the segment where Jeff Jarrett's group was to make fun of Sting. To say this died live would be an understatement. As soon as Jarrett came out, the "boring" chants were so loud you couldn't make out what he was saying. What we could figure out is Eric Young came out as the 1988 Sting, Chris Harris came out as the 1997 Sting, and then Monty Brown came out wearing a wig, golf shirt and baby carraige, as the 2006 Sting. The chants were so loud nobody knows much, but the chants got creative as this segment went 15:00 and "seemed" beyond awful (it may play a lot better if you can hear the dialogue). People were leaving in droves as it went on, with chants of "Wrap it up," "We Want Wrestling," "This is lame," and more.

 

For January 14th

 

Abyss b Jay Lethal

 

A.J. Styles was given the award as Mr. TNA for the third straight year. This segment backfired because of the loud chants of "Joe got screwed." Styles was visibly unhappy with the reaction. Shannon Moore stole the award to set up their angle.

 

Samoa Joe b Cassidy Riley with a choke

 

Eric Young & A-1 & Petey Williams b Chris Sabin & Sonjay Dutt & Matt Bentley when Shelley tripped Sabin leading to the Canadian Destroyer by Williams on him for the pin

 

Christian & Rhino b Chris Harris & James Storm in a non-title match when Christian pinned Harris. Crowd was dead for everything after the Sting segment. No Sting on television apparently.

[Jebus 0]

I officially hate the Orlando crowd...they're TOO smarky for my tastes now.

 

Geez...they used to be so supportive of the product.

 

Stop putting yourselves over!

Edited January 4, 2006 by Hitman Jebus

[DangerousDamon 0]

"Alex Shelley & Austin Aries & Roderick Strong b A.J. Styles & Chris Sabin & Christopher Daniels. Shelley & Aries & Strong have been put together as a heel group with a push. Crowd loved this match and I was told it was a super match live. Shelley pinned Sabin with a shiranui."

 

 

Marks out for Generation Next

[Astro101 0]

Shelly, Aries, and Strong in a heel group with a push??? That is a good thing. I can see them feuding with Bentley, Sabin, and Dutt. Should be really good if it happens.

 

The Orlando crowd just plain hates JJ and everything he does results in a boring chant. Yea, it's pretty funny that one second in, he gets these chants, but sometimes, I feel like they should just play along.

 

Booing AJ Styles? C'mon, yes Joe got screwed, but it's not like it's TNA's fault. Blame the fans who voted.

[Failed Bridge 0]

What a giant cluster-fuck of booking.

 

You make a stable of 3, while very talented, low mid-carders beat a team with two guys on it in the upper mid-card. Styles and Daniels should not have been involved in that match.

 

Ron Killings squashes Bobby Roode twice and then Roode beats him in the second rematch? Who the hell thought that was a good idea?

 

I've always thought the New Age Outlaws worked better as heels which is why I was surprised to see them make Konnan the heel in the end. Nobody tends to care about Konnan and his shoe throwing ways regardless if he's a face or heel, but they could have used him and Killings to bring back a heel NAO team and strengthen the tag division.

 

Hopefully TNA management was paying attention to the reaction Jarrett got. Its obvious this company isn't going anywhere with him as champ.

 

If I had any confidence in their creative staff I would say that a future rematch between Styles and Joe with a double-turn might be the way to go. I don't however and I know they'd fuck it up to the extreme.

 

Also, where the hell is Christian?

[Failed Bridge 0]

oh, I'm also sick of seeing Chris Saban job each and every week. He's an extremely talented guy that's just getting the shaft.

[Jebus 0]

oh, I'm also sick of seeing Chris Saban job each and every week. He's an extremely talented guy that's just getting the shaft.

 

At least the jobs are for building a mini-feud with Alex Shelley...can't complain about that!

[claydude14 0]

So the crowd shit on people dressing up as Stings but loved when Christian got dressed as Jarrett? I hate the Orlando crowd. I also hate when wrestlers imitate one another like this, it's pretty played out; plus Christian just did it two weeks ago.

[Fro 0]

This looks like a real good couple shows besides the crowd's antics and the Sting skit.

 

Putting together Generation Next is the best thing they could have done.

 

Here's the last match, BTW:

 

Christian & Rhino b Chris Harris & James Storm in a non-title match when Christian pinned Harris. Crowd was dead for everything after the Sting segment. No Sting on television apparently.

[Guest Leelee]

Wow... the January 14th show is can't miss TV! Such competitive matches! And annoying smarks trying to force me to think Joe is the greatest wrestler ever!

 

The Sting thing... good god... the first thing that pops in these bookers minds is to copy the biggest Wrestlecrap Sting was involved in? Oy.

 

The Killings-Roode thing is... different, at least. Have to see how it plays out on TV.

 

Only positive is that they're hopefully doing something the Aries, Strong, Shelley types... although, it does seem weird that AJ and Daniels were in that match.

[Astro101 0]

So the crowd shit on people dressing up as Stings but loved when Christian got dressed as Jarrett? I hate the Orlando crowd. I also hate when wrestlers imitate one another like this, it's pretty played out; plus Christian just did it two weeks ago.

 

They were just pissed because of Jarrett. I'm sure if it was a matter of just Brown and AMW, etc, without Jarrett, the chants wouldn't have been so bad.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Also, where the hell is Christian?

More spoilers added. He's teaming with Rhino against AMW.

[Fro 0]

Better spoilers from Popups Insider, including the backstage segments

 

Impact:

 

*Team 3D defeated Buck Quartermaine & Lex Lovett. Team 3D cut a promo about wanting to win the NWA Tag Team titles.

 

*Backstage, Shane Douglas interviewed Jeff Jarrett, Scott D'Amore and their entire stable about the Sting Tribute. D'Amore talked about the Jackie Gayda situation, saying he had an envelope from Jackie to give to Jarrett.

 

*Homicide & Apollo vs. The Naturals - Konnan attacked the referee and the Naturals. Kip and BG James hit the ring for the save. They didn't announce an official result.

 

*Shane Douglas was in Larry Zbyszko's office with Jackie Gayda. Alex Shelley & Roderick Strong & Austin Aries invaded the office complaining they haven't been getting opportunities and the X-Division was based around three people. Jerry Lynn came out and told them that if they won matches, they'd be getting marquee matches.

 

*Ron Killings pinned Bobby Rude with a rollup in about 5 seconds. Scott D'Amore challenged Killings to a rematch and he won again in about a minute. They did a second rematch, with Rude winning after the Northern Lariat.

 

*Shane Douglas interviewed X-Division champion Samoa Joe. Joe didn't talk at first but then cut a promo on AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels.

 

*Austin Aries & Alex Shelley & Roderick Strong defeated AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels & Chris Sabin when Shelley pinned Sabin in an "amazing match".

 

*NWA champion Jeff Jarrett came out and the heels held a Sting Tribute that was very entertaining. They did "Sting Through the Years." Eric Young was dressed as "Surfer Sting." Chris Harris was "the Crow Sting". James Storm came out in a chicken suit. Monty Brown came out as the "new" Sting in goth pushing a stroller to the ring. Christian Cage came out, followed by Team 3D, which led to a huge brawl. Abyss and Rhino hit the ring with everyone brawling as the show went off the air. A fun segment.

 

Impact:

 

*Abyss pinned Jay Lethal in a quick match with the Black Hole Slam.

 

*Mike Tenay announced AJ Styles won "Mr. TNA for 2005". They discussed his match with New Japan's Tanahashi at the PPV. Shannon Moore came out from the crowd, threw powder in Styles' eyes and stole the plaque. During the segment, the crowd was very, very vocal that Samoa Joe should have won.

 

*Backstage, Shane Douglas interviewed Kip and BG James about Konnan's crew.

 

*TNA X-Division champion Samoa Joe defeated Cassidy Riley with a Muscle Buster. As the match progressed, Styles chased Moore into the ring, leading to Joe and AJ going at it. After the match, Joe was going to give Cassidy a musclebuster on a chair, but Christopher Daniels (who was commentating) hit the ring and struck Joe with the chair.

 

*Shane Douglas interviewed Jackie Gayda. She said that she wouldn't talk about her issue with Jeff Jarrett as it was between them. Scott D'Amore arrived and tried to work something out with Gayda. Shannon Moore ran into the interview, where he was attacked by AJ Styles and they brawled, so nothing got resolved.

 

*A-1 & Petey Williams & Eric Young defeated Matt Bentley & Chris Sabin & Sonjay Dutt. Alex Shelley tripped Sabin, allowing Williams to hit the Canadian Destroyer.

 

*Christian Cage & Rhino defeated NWA Tag Team champions America's Most Wanted in a non-title match. 3D and Gail Kim all interfered. Abyss hit the ring after the match and gave Rhino a Black Holy Slam. Jeff Jarrett and Monty Brown hit the ring and gave Christian a Pounce followed by a guitar shot. The lights went out and Sting's voice was heard, saying he would take care of things at Final Resolution.

 

Xplosion:

 

*The Naturals defeated Bobby Rude & A-1.

 

*Ron Killings & Lance Hoyt & Matt Bentley defeated The Diamonds in the Rough. After the match, Konnan came out and shook hands with Ron Killings.

[Guest Nathan]

The six man is the only thing that looks any good.

 

Glad to see they're letting Joe cut a promo... he's great on the stick.

[RedJed 0]

Shows look ok, thank god they didnt spring a hotshot Sting run-in, as that probably would have been borderline insane since they have come this far without him actually appearing, and might as well save that for the ppv.

 

Not sure why people are bitchin about Gen Next going over the team w/ Daniels, Styles, Sabin. The point is to put them over strong immediately to start off with a sizable push. It doesnt hurt Styles and Daniels at all since they arent jobbing. Would you rather see them beating Diamonds in the Rough or what?!!

 

BTW, Sabin might seem to be getting the shaft as of late but apparently his work has been noticed and he's in line for a big push, seperating him from the "other" X guys in terms of their pushes (or lack thereof) relatively soon, according to Meltzer.

[Fro 0]

Not sure why people are bitchin about Gen Next going over the team w/ Daniels, Styles, Sabin. The point is to put them over strong immediately to start off with a sizable push. It doesnt hurt Styles and Daniels at all since they arent jobbing. Would you rather see them beating Diamonds in the Rough or what?!!

 

Weren't a lot of the same people bitching about them not doing anything with Strong/Shelley/Aries? Somebody's gotta job to put those guys over!

[haws bah gawd 0]

How many times is TNA going to have Rhyno vs Abyss? Its getting really old.

[Failed Bridge 0]

Shark Boy should job to a different cruiserweight each and every week. It gives them somebody to job out to those cruisers and I just plain hate Shark Boy so it would piss him off and thus make me laugh as well.

[razazteca 0]

So will Jeff Jarrett be involved in every single main event angle just to piss off the audience?

[Magus 0]

I agree that the Orlando crowd is a seething mass of mutant smarks, but they've been saturated by nonstop JJ all this time. They're only reacting in the same way most of the television audience would react.

[edotherocket 0]

Is there any word from Meltzer or anyone else as to where they are going with booking the World title? Will it stay on Jarrett all year? Be traded back and forth with Sting? No plans yet?

 

Gen Next in TNA will be sweet.

 

Isn't Homicide injured?

[Astro101 0]

I think I've read reports that Homicide will be put in tag matches to protect his injury.

[benoit4hor 0]

And annoying smarks trying to force me to think Joe is the greatest wrestler ever!

 

We get it already, you don't like Joe because he's fat.

[Zack Malibu 0]

Is there any word from Meltzer or anyone else as to where they are going with booking the World title? Will it stay on Jarrett all year? Be traded back and forth with Sting? No plans yet?

 

Gen Next in TNA will be sweet.

 

Isn't Homicide injured?

 

According to WON, Homicide hurt his shoulder on a dive where Steve Corino failed to catch him, and then it was worsened when Corino worked on the shoulder during a match/brawl they had. He needs surgery, but doesn't have insurance, and can't afford to take the time off to let it heal. If he opted to get surgery he'd a)lose his paychecks, which he'd need to pay for the operation, and b)lose his spot in TNA, since his job is to be the workhorse of the group.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

More live toughts from Impact courtesy of PWInsider:

 

My wrestling year began on Tuesday night with the first TNA Impact and Xplosion tapings. You can check the full results at this link. Here are some thoughts and observations about the tapings that gave us the final pieces of the puzzle for the Final Resolution pay per view on January 15th.

 

The Team 3D promo after their match with Buck Quartermain and Lex Lovett did a great job to show how important winning the NWA Tag titles is to them. While the match was not ‘officially’ announced until these tapings, I think a lot of people expected to see Team 3D get their shot at the title at the pay per view. It was interesting to hear the crowd reaction to the promo when Team 3D mentioned their prior World Title reigns.

 

During the Jeff Jarrett/Team Canada/America’s Most Wanted interview in the back where they talked about the Sting tribute, you should definitely watch the way that Eric Young reacts during the segment. It was also the next step in the Jackie Gayda/Jeff Jarrett angle. While I was definitely critical of the segment that aired on New Year’s Eve, they did start to build on the angle this week. It was interesting to see how the angle has expanded beyond only Jeff Jarrett and Jackie Gayda. It will be interesting to see where the angle goes and how it affects some of the alliances in the company based on the second taping.

 

I was wondering how they were going to use Homicide based on what has been said about Homicide’s shoulder. I was a little surprised at how short the match was. While I was not surprised at the interference by I thought it would have been Kip and BG James, but they did get involved after the match ended. Homicide definitely got a great reaction from the crowd, and I would assume that it is from his reputation in other companies. The interesting thing about Homicide will be to see how his heel run is perceived by fans in Florida who might only know his work as a face in his other Florida work.

 

I really enjoyed the segment when Roderick Strong, Alex Shelley, and Austin Aries confronted Larry Zbyszko in the back. Since Aries was a ‘face’ prior to this taping, this segment did a great job to explain why he would team with Roderick and Alex. While he is not wrestling at this time, it was good to see Jerry Lynn, one of the X Division pioneers, be the one to tell Alex, Austin, and Roderick to win some matches and they will get on the pay per view.

 

While I was a bit shocked at the ‘first fall’ of the Ron Killings/Bobby Roode match, and a little more shocked at the ‘second fall’ for how quick Killings was able to defeat Roode, I was surprised that they did a ‘third fall’ during the show. But with Bobby getting some revenge with the victory in the third fall, it could be interesting to see if they add this match to the pay per view or extend this feud to a future Impact. While I was watching the match unfold, my first thought after the rollup victory in the ‘first fall’ was ‘Chris Benoit/Orlando Jordan’. The second fall made me think ‘Maven/Shelton Benjamin from last January’. The ‘third fall’ separated this match from the other two and made me want to see more from these two guys.

 

Ron Killings was over as part of the 3 (or 4) Live Kru and he continues to be popular with the crowd in Orlando so it looks like the split of the group will not hurt anyone.

 

During the Samoa Joe interview, they did a lot to build on the tension between Joe and Shane from the previous interview attempts. I didn’t expect to see Joe cut a promo, but it was well done and it personalized the feud for their match by mentioning Daniels’s injury and how he couldn’t hold his son. While this match did not need anything other than the fact that Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe would be in a match, it did a lot to get people who might have been on the fence about how good this match should be at Final Resolution to want to see this match.

 

The six man tag match of Austin Aries/Roderick Strong/Alex Shelley versus A.J. Styles/Christopher Daniels/Chris Sabin might have been the best non-pay per view match that I have seen at a TNA show. It was great to see all six men get in offense and it is definitely a match that needs to be seen by any fan of the X Division. I know it is weird to say about a match that was taped on January 3rd and will air on January 7th, but this is definitely a match of the year candidate. TNA had a lot of great X Division matches in 2005, and they did a great job to start off 2006 with such a lofty standard to match.

 

When I heard about the Sting Tribute, I did not know what to expect and did not have high expectations about the segment. Prior to talking to some people before the show, I didn’t expect the ‘tribute’ to like the ‘Team 3D Funeral’. For some reason I didn’t put 2 and 2 together. While it was not as good as the ‘Team 3D Funeral’, it was still a good segment. Eric Young as the ‘Surfer Sting’ was great and along with Alex Shelley, his gestures and mannerisms are the best in TNA. Chris Harris looked so much like the ‘Crow Sting’ that the resemblance was scary. James Storm came to the ring dressed in a chicken suit along with cowboy boots and got some interesting comments from the crowd. Monty Brown as ‘New Sting’ was interesting considering he came out in golf attire. I know that my preference is to see more wrestling than talking on the shows; this segment did a lot to build interest in the main event at the pay per view and exceeded my expectations.

 

I think the ‘Mr. TNA’ segment with A.J. did a good job to build his match with Tanahashi. I assume they are going to air footage of Tanahashi similar to the video package that they did for Jushin Liger before the Bound for Glory match against Joe.

 

When Shannon Moore was being chased around the ring by A.J. Styles during the Samoa Joe/Cassidy Riley match, I know that I was humming the theme song from ‘Benny Hill’ Moore entered into the ring.

 

I thought it was interesting to see Joe go after A.J. when he got into the ring. While I didn’t expect the feud to end with their match at Turning Point, it lays the early ground work for their rematch.

 

Since Christopher Daniels was at the announce position during Joe’s match, I was not surprised to see him get involved when Joe tried to give Cassidy the Muscle Buster on the chair.

 

The Team Canada versus Chris Sabin/Sonjay Dutt/Matt Bentley six man match was also a good match and I thought that they might try to set something up with Sabin, Dutt, and Bentley against Strong, Aries, and Shelley. With Alex Shelley coming to ringside during the match and costing Sabin, Dutt, and Bentley the match, maybe we will see that match at Final Resolution.

 

I am not a big fan of matches with too much interference, but with the interference in the Americas Most Wanted versus Rhino and Christian Cage match, it was still a good and entertaining match. In addition to building the main event tag match at Final Resolution, they also built on two more matches with Abyss giving Rhino the Black Hole Slam; and the Team 3D and America’s Most Wanted match.

 

After the last tapings, my opinions of Final Resolution might have been lowered, I am definitely looking forward to the pay per view now and there are some potential matches that I might not normally be as interested in that have me interested.

 

With the reports that Sting was backstage at the show, I thought he might have appeared at the end to help out Christian. Even though he did not appear, the comments he made did enough as the build for the pay per view since some people might have figured that they can see him on free television, they don’t need to buy the pay per view.

 

It was also mentioned in reports that Norman Smiley was there on Tuesday. Some of us were trying to figure out who Norman could face if he was going to wrestle. We were hoping that he would have faced Joe only to see Norman try the ‘Big Wiggle’ and see how Joe would have reacted to it.

 

There are a number of vocal fans in Orlando who will hate anything that Jeff Jarrett does and they do not hold back when Jarrett is on the mic. I know that there are many times when I cannot hear what is being said in the ring when I am about six feet from the ring. I know that there are other people around me who are unable to hear the promos in the ring or from the back because of the crowd. It gets frustrating at time because the promos are setting up something for later in the show or something for the next episode of Impact that is being taped that night. As a result, something that happens later in the show might not make sense at the taping, but it does after you watch Impact on television. While the fans are entitled to say what they want, they might want to try to listen to what is said instead of simply starting ‘boring chants’ for Jarrett the second he walks out with the mic before saying anything. While not every fan in Orlando is like that, because the chants are so loud it makes it sound like everyone is reacting that way to Jarrett. The same thing happened during the ‘Mr. TNA’ segment with A.J. Styles. While A.J. is still one of the most popular wrestlers in Orlando, there are a lot of people who are fans of Joe and appeared to feel that Joe deserved the award.

 

With the same base of fans at the shows each week, the biases of the crowd are obvious. I know that there are people on message boards that think that TNA ‘has’ to leave Orlando because of the crowd but I think that is just as wrong as some people who think that the vocal members of the Orlando crowd voice the opinions of the entire crowd. I know that I disagree with a lot of the things that are chanted and done by the crowd, but they are entitled to do what they want as long as it is something that violates any TNA or Universal Studios policy.

[gWIL 0]

I'm actually excited about both shows.

[Dangerous A 0]

I think TNA's inept booking for programs on top are just not connecting with people moreso than the Orlando crowd being Smarky Smark and the Funky Bunch.

 

If what TNA was doing was connecting in any way, the crowd would at least hear what Jarrett has to say at first before the boring shit. Since Jeff has failed to connect with the fans or have any of the top babyfaces connect, the crowd is responding negatively.

[Guest hasbeen]

They should have someone the fans respect, or seemingly respect-Joe, Christian, Dudleys, whoever, come out before the show and tell it like it is-they're hurting the product. The back-and-forth "let's go Rhino/let's go Sabu" (or whoever), totally drowning out Jarrett-and not letting the fans at home focus on the storyline, applauding the heels and faces-viewers want a clear heel and a clear face..all of that doesn't help the average viewer at home get into it. If they're as smart as they think they are, they should not they're causing more problems than helping with all that nonsense. As far as chanting for Joe for the Mr TNA or whatever, that was very disrespectful to someone who's carried the promotion. Not very "smart."

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

That award had to be fixed.

[Guest Coffey]

That's what I thought. It seems like a lot of people did think AJ deserved it though because "Joe's only been doing it for six months and AJ did it for twelve."

 

Of course, I'd argue Daniels over AJ too.