TNA Impact - March 26, 2009

[BruteSquad_BRODY 0]

?

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

That's... odd. How did this happen?

 

At any rate, from F4W:

 

Jim Cornette announced a Royal Rumble on TV, but in a cage. The last two will become team captains and pick three partners for the Lethal Lockdown match on 4/19 in Philadelphia. Jeff Jarrett then asked to be in the match.

 

Suicide b Kiyoshi to keep the X title

 

Angelina Love & Velvet Sky b Awesome Kong & Raisha Saeed. Love & Sky tried to cut Kong's hair, but she recovered without it happening

 

Sting challenged Mick Foley to a match at Lockdown and Foley accepted. Foley talked about how this will be bigger than the other PPV show in April.

 

Long Rumble ending with Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe winning. They did a singles match where Joe pinned Angle to win the match.

 

 

[Angles Broken Fricken Neck 0]

I fail to see how Foley vs Sting will be a bigger ppv than say i dunno, wrestlemania...

[Scroby 0]

I think Foley vs Sting could be a better main than Orton vs HHH or Edge vs Cena vs Big Show. But that's just me personally.

[luke-o 0]

^This.

 

Wrestlemania is big this year because the PPV is called Wresltemania. And that's about it.

 

But a Royal Rumble in a cage? How does that work? Those wacky bookers.

[Jingus 0]

I was wondering that too. Elimination by pinfall? Over the top rope of the cage? Reverse battle royal? Why do these things always have to be so complicated.

 

I know that Foley is always a good company man wherever he works, but c'mon, claiming that Lockdown will be bigger than Wrestlemania? Especially when no matter how well Sting and Foley do in that cage, they're still not gonna beat Shawn Michaels and Undertaker for the title of "best PPV match between two middle-aged men in the month of April". Taking shots at the other company when you're finishing in such a distant second place feels like desperation, or sour grapes, or maybe just plain ol' delusional hallucinations.

 

Who is booking the women's division, and how can I meet them in order to slap them with a dead fish in a rolled-up newspaper? STOP the stupid "Beautiful People cut hair off every female who's a better wrestler than them" gimmick already.

 

I do find it ironic that somehow the WWE still refuses to ever do a Wargames match, when even TNA is doing them every year (under a different name) and often not doing them badly.

[King Cucaracha 0]

From another set of spoilers

 

- Impact started with all TNA talent on the ramp as Jim Cornette announced a Lethal Lockdown main event for the Lockdown PPV in Philadelphia next month. He went on to make a 20-man Gauntlet match in a cage for the main event of tonight’s show (airing next week remember). The last two in the Gauntlet match will captain at team at teh PPV. Kurt Angle grabs a mic and says he’ll win tonight. Jeff Jarrett comes out and puts himself in the match. The segment ends in a brawl.

[theone 0]

I fail to see how Foley vs Sting will be a bigger ppv than say i dunno, wrestlemania...

.

 

It's two over-the-hill guys who can barely go anymore, I just don't see the attraction..

[The Buzz 0]

I'll say that to me the attraction would be greater if I hadn't seen Foley in that six man tag match, and if Sting hadn't been injured, which is obviously affecting his work.

[luke-o 0]

I know that Foley is always a good company man wherever he works, but c'mon, claiming that Lockdown will be bigger than Wrestlemania? Especially when no matter how well Sting and Foley do in that cage, they're still not gonna beat Shawn Michaels and Undertaker for the title of "best PPV match between two middle-aged men in the month of April".

 

I'm not sure dude. We've all seen Shawn and Taker before and although I've no doubt that they will be the best match on the show (in fairness, they've not a lot to compete against), Sting vs Foley seems fresh and more interesting.

 

I don't think they'll have a better match (in fact, they won't), but out of the two, this one is more appealing.

[Jingus 0]

I'm not sure dude. We've all seen Shawn and Taker before and although I've no doubt that they will be the best match on the show (in fairness, they've not a lot to compete against), Sting vs Foley seems fresh and more interesting.

 

I don't think they'll have a better match (in fact, they won't), but out of the two, this one is more appealing.

Fresh? Yeah, because the last time they wrestled was seventeen years ago. They're basing the feud off stuff that none of today's fans will remember unless they've happened to read Have A Nice Day. I just don't see how these two guys can do much together in 2009. They've had a few good matches since the turn of the millenium, though they always needed the other guy to carry them at least a little bit. Foley hasn't had a good non-hardcore singles match since I don't know when, and Sting's good matches all involved more athletic guys who were decades younger. Foley doesn't have the physical ability to keep up in a Main Event Style Match like Sting had with Angle or Jarrett or Joe, which pretty much leaves one avenue left: weapons and/or blood. Sting flirted with hardcore stuff during the Abyss feud, so maybe he'll do it, but I still have a hard time imagining the match being very good. Especially not helping is the fact that it's at Lockdown, and the cage will greatly limit their options in terms of brawling spots. And finally, well, TNA has a pretty lousy track record with its PPV booking recently, relying more and more on screwjobs even in the uppercard matches; hopefully that won't be the case here, but the writers have kept getting worse about that shit.

 

I still wanna see the match, out of curiousity if nothing else. I just don't have much hope for it being anything special.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

"They're basing the feud off stuff that none of today's fans will remember "

 

Huh?

 

They're basing it off of Foley getting pissed at Sting for deciding that Foley was done in the match last night and waffling him with a chair. It was yesterday.

[cd213 0]

I find it funny that people complain when Foley or someone else puts over WWE, that said wrestlers shouldn't put over the competition, and when Foley puts over his own product as better people complain about that as well. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not being a TNA apologist here, in fact last night was the first time I watched any part of Impact since last month's PPV, mainly because I thought it sucked, and the MEM vs Frontline feud bores me right now. My point being, that either way TNA goes about it, putting over the competition or putting them down, people are complaining. What do you want them to do then? (and I know the same people aren't complaining both sides, but there are people complaining for both directions.)

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

I find it funny that people complain when Foley or someone else puts over WWE, that said wrestlers shouldn't put over the competition, and when Foley puts over his own product as better people complain about that as well. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not being a TNA apologist here, in fact last night was the first time I watched any part of Impact since last month's PPV, mainly because I thought it sucked, and the MEM vs Frontline feud bores me right now. My point being, that either way TNA goes about it, putting over the competition or putting them down, people are complaining. What do you want them to do then? (and I know the same people aren't complaining both sides, but there are people complaining for both directions.)

The spoilers that vanished said this:

 

- Next up, Sting called out Mick Foley. Foley accepts Sting’s challenge for a match at Lockdown and says its being talked about more than “the other” wrestling PPV in April. I guess he means WrestleMania, but even Backlash would be a push.

 

It would be a bit of a stretch at the best of times for anyone in TNA to say that their upcoming PPV match is being talked about more than that months WWE PPV. But to say something like that the month of Wrestlemania? That's just absurd, because no TNA PPV match is going to be talked about more than Wrestlemania. Which is why people ripped into it. If TNA want to brag, it's a good idea to keep it realistic.

[The Buzz 0]

From what I've heard and seen of both guys, they will do whatever they need to in the ring to get the match over. Flat out it won't be a technical masterpiece, but it has a fighting chance of being a helluva fight. Sting's knee and Foley's nagging injuries may get in the way, but it won't be from a lack of either man trying. To say this ppv will be more talked about than Wrestlemania is a stretch, but I do think Foley/Sting is a Wrestlemania caliber match even with both guys in the tail-end of their careers.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

I think he picked the right year to say it. Becuase, honestly...is anyone really excited for Mania 25?

[luke-o 0]

I'm not sure dude. We've all seen Shawn and Taker before and although I've no doubt that they will be the best match on the show (in fairness, they've not a lot to compete against), Sting vs Foley seems fresh and more interesting.

 

I don't think they'll have a better match (in fact, they won't), but out of the two, this one is more appealing.

Fresh? Yeah, because the last time they wrestled was seventeen years ago. They're basing the feud off stuff that none of today's fans will remember unless they've happened to read Have A Nice Day. I just don't see how these two guys can do much together in 2009. They've had a few good matches since the turn of the millenium, though they always needed the other guy to carry them at least a little bit. Foley hasn't had a good non-hardcore singles match since I don't know when, and Sting's good matches all involved more athletic guys who were decades younger. Foley doesn't have the physical ability to keep up in a Main Event Style Match like Sting had with Angle or Jarrett or Joe, which pretty much leaves one avenue left: weapons and/or blood. Sting flirted with hardcore stuff during the Abyss feud, so maybe he'll do it, but I still have a hard time imagining the match being very good. Especially not helping is the fact that it's at Lockdown, and the cage will greatly limit their options in terms of brawling spots. And finally, well, TNA has a pretty lousy track record with its PPV booking recently, relying more and more on screwjobs even in the uppercard matches; hopefully that won't be the case here, but the writers have kept getting worse about that shit.

 

I still wanna see the match, out of curiousity if nothing else. I just don't have much hope for it being anything special.

 

I did say "seems fresh".

 

And I also did say that HBK/Taker would have a better match. My point was, Foley/Sting seems better on paper than HBK/Taker.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

I think he picked the right year to say it. Because, honestly...is anyone really excited for Mania 25?

The right year to say it would be when TNA are equal to WWE. And more people are excited for this years Wrestlemania than Lockdown or any match on it. Hell, there are probably going to be more people at Wrestlemania than are excited for Lockdown or any match on it.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

I just think it's a nice jab at an underwhelming Mania. I don't subscribe to the theory that companies should act like they exist in a bubble unaware of things that everyone else knows.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

I just think it's a nice jab at an underwhelming Mania. I don't subscribe to the theory that companies should act like they exist in a bubble unaware of things that everyone else knows.

I don't think anybody has said that TNA should live in a bubble. What they have said, however, is that TNA should be careful as to how and when they take jabs at WWE. And knocking the biggest show of the year comes off as ridiculous, especially when TNA are so minor league in comparison. At least Eric Bischoff had the sense to wait until WCW and WWF were on comparatively equal footing before taking his shots.

[cabbageboy 0]

Foley and Sting could be a decent match but as good as UT/HBK at WM? I tend to doubt it. If anything it would be due to Sting not being on his game anymore. Foley will probably take a few bumps or have a bit in the tank, but Sting? Not so much.

[Eugenius 0]

While Foley/Sting might not be as good of a wrestling match as Taker/HBK, I think that, if last week's promos are any indication, the Foley/Sting storyline will be a lot more entertaining.

[garfieldsnose 0]

If you've seen any of the HBK/UT promos, then no, Foley/Sting won't be more entertaining.

And that's not even counting the angle to be shown tomorrow night.

Seriously, I said this Foley/Sting was a piece of shit match, and it is. The whole point of TNA should be to get over the younger talent and have them in main events in every PPV. Sting/Foley does not help out TNA at all. Obviously, they're going for the big 4 or 5 or even 6 PPV's per year, but they're relying on name recognition for this main event, which shouldn't be happening.

 

I'll be happy if they go out and have a good match. It'll be a clusterfuck, and if Foley wins the TNA title, that's just amazingly retarded.

[RedJed 0]

Just watching the show now, did anyone else notice this in the first segment - I swear Angle had talking points (for his promo at the start of the show) written on the inside of his left hand, or maybe I was just hoping it was, because it would be typical TNA unintentional comedy stuff.

 

Suicide v Kioshi was alright.

 

Was kind of strange seeing them starting a Kong vs. Beautiful People feud, but that's better than Kong doing recycled stuff with Taylor Wild or some shit.

 

Wow, and the first commercial during a break is 12 Rounds. Genius. I think they aired about 4-5 more commercials for the film during the rest of the show.

 

Foley/Sting promo was really good I thought, you can tell they both are taking the program seriously. It's good to see one of likely TNA's strongest builds to a match this year will probably be this one, much like Angle/Joe at Lockdown was last year.

 

Oh boy, the cage is getting a makeover at the ppv , a bit scared to see what they are going to come up with.

 

Interesting idea to stretch out that cage gauntlet match for basically an entire hour on TV. My first thought was, umm how the fuck do they actually eliminate someone from the match? I'm sure giving this match so much time has alot to do to try to "strike the iron while it's hot" thought process of them trying to hook more viewers from the heels of the main event last week, which was apparently TNA's best quarter hour ever. So they want to hook them earlier than usual, and then keep them to the end. For what it's worth, it was probably the best gauntlet match ever that TNA has done in terms of match quality as well. So it would be a well deserved ratings bump, in that case.

[Scroby 0]

Wow, and the first commercial during a break is 12 Rounds. Genius. I think they aired about 4-5 more commercials for the film during the rest of the show.

TNA really has no say over what advertisements air during the commercials. I believe Spike does, but most of the time, if I'm not mistaken, companies pay providers to air their commercials. I could be very wrong, but I believe that's how it works.

[King Cucaracha 0]

So, having just seen the ending to Ultimate X on Impact, are we supposed to have a suspiscion that Suicide is actually Daniels under a mask?

 

Or is it just coincidence that they had Daniels do the exact same finish as 2 years ago, even after they used the original a couple of weeks ago in the build-up videos to Destination X?

[johnson316cane 0]

Seriously, someone point Samoa Joe to a gym. If he keeps this up, he's going to look like Yokozuna.

[RedJed 0]

Wow, and the first commercial during a break is 12 Rounds. Genius. I think they aired about 4-5 more commercials for the film during the rest of the show.

TNA really has no say over what advertisements air during the commercials. I believe Spike does, but most of the time, if I'm not mistaken, companies pay providers to air their commercials. I could be very wrong, but I believe that's how it works.

 

Yeah, I know that Spike sells the ads to whoever, but I just find it really ironic in how they were placed.

[cabbageboy 0]

That gauntlet match over the last half of the show was a dubious idea. It's meant to be a Rumble style match but since there's a cage everyone has to be pinned in order to be eliminated. So everyone on the roster aside from Joe ended up doing a job during the course of one show, sometimes after taking one move of offense.

[LuckyLopez 0]

I really thought there were only a handful of guys who looked arguably bad taking a loss. 2 of them were No Limit who don't really matter for TNA. Homicide and Morgan were the unfortunate ones but I don't think they necessarily looked "bad." Just early eliminations who you can't point to them being in a war or lasting a long time. Eric Young and Hernandez got the double team from Steiner and Angle for quick eliminations but I didn't TOTALLY mind it with Hernandez. He threw the two of them around for 90 seconds before Angle caught him. My bigger issue there is the general idea that an Angle Slam is good enough to keep down a fresh man after no other offense.

 

But I guess its perception. I was watching with someone who freaked out when Booker pinned AJ after one move but I and others couldn't understand how he was reacting that way. AJ had been in the match for 40 minutes. He had been through hell before Booker got in the ring. Booker merely took advantage and got the pin. It was 1 move for Booker but 40 minutes of wrestling for AJ. But he still couldn't get past "one move" and maybe he's not alone in that mind set. Personally it doesn't strike me as a knock that guys like AJ, Rhino, and Angle got pinned after extended matches. Or that Angle managed to clean house on Lethal Consequences and the Guns after they had taken it to each other. I don't know. Its wrestling, you lose matches and this was a match where 19 out of 20 people were going to get pinned. No great shame in it. But I guess I can understand that some people just see a loss as a loss since there's certainly the "_____ is jobbing" reaction that occurs all over the web for any company when a favorite takes a couple of losses without clear purpose.

 

I didn't love the way the Gauntlet ended. I didn't hate it but its not like I was into Jarrett as the big hero to do what Hernandez couldn't. And the weird way they did the Jarrett/Joe thing just screwed up pacing. Jarrett coming out at 20, West screaming like an idiot about how it was unfair for him to get a 2nd chance even though he never entered the match in the first place, and then Joe coming out well after his clock while West continued to yell nonsense and Tenay actually had to say "He's only 21 if you count Jarrett twice." It was just kind of a mess. And between the underwhelming nature of Jarrett as the hero and the underwhelming image of Joe at the moment I couldn't help but realize that I would have been more excited with quite a few guys winning that match including the 19th entrant.