Total Nonstop Weekly – 4.30.09

Columns, Top Story

Welcome to another week of Russo-rific fun that Total Nonstop Weekly can bring. We have inanimate objects on poles, smack attacks, Scott Steiner on a POGO STICK, celebrities wrestling, and a lot more things. When the news is quiet, I go crazy. Let’s kick it off with the Rapid-Fire.

TNA Rapid-Fire
News from your favorite sources

Kurt Angle plays a werewolf in an upcoming movie project titled Dead of Night, according to Bloody Disgusting.

Angelina Love has been cleared to wrestle and will be competing at this weekend’s house shows.

Matt Morgan is off the cards this weekend due to an auto accident he was involved in the night before Lockdown. No word on what injuries he has, however.

If the economic crisis isn’t affecting you, maybe you should take a look at TNA’s Collectors Corner.

TNA on YouTube
Since I have more videos this week, they will be listed in this section with a caption

Eric Young v. Danny Bonaduce

Suicide v. Sheik Abdul Bashir

Rhino on Hermie’s Hotseat

“Black Machismo” Jay Lethal Signs New Multi-Year Deal

The news this week is that Jay Lethal signed a new multi-year contract with TNA Wrestling. While details of the contract are not yet available, this is a good sign for TNA because Jay Lethal is one of the Originals. It isn’t known if he plans on dropping the “Black Machismo” gimmick, but regardless of the gimmick, he performs quality matches and is a mainstay in TNA’s X Division. This has to be one of the better news entries for TNA since it was possible that if Lethal didn’t sign, chances are that he would have been WWE bound.

Kurt Angle Rumors

Because I don’t have much main news this week, I’m posting this rumor. Many within TNA are expecting Kurt Angle to go back to WWE when his TNA contract expires later this year. The WWE creative team are preparing for such a move, as mentioned by the Observer (subscribe here). I believe that Kurt might consider a WWE run if they will let him work a similar schedule as the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. With TNA being on the road more than when Kurt signed, the benefits of not being on the road as much have been negated. However, I’m not holding my breath. What do you readers think? Sound off in the comments your opinion on if Kurt will remain in TNA or jump back to the WWE.

iMPACT Throwdown

Beer Money d. Lethal Consequences (Storm pins Lethal; DWI; Beer Money advances in the Team 3-D Invitational) – I will admit. TNA’s tag team division is better than WWE’s tag team division because you have teams who know the importance of Tag Team wrestling. However, the importance should be with longer matches, but I guess you can only fit in so much time since wrestling isn’t the important part of iMPACT.

Sojourner Bolt d. Taylor Wilde (Backward Brass Knuckle shot, contract retrieval) – Where to begin? This was a ladder match…probably one of the shortest ladder matches in history. On top of that, Bolt doesn’t even know how to wear brass knuckles. This rivals Rhaka Khan’s wrestling skills and that is not a good thing. I don’t even understand why they made this match for a title contendership when Awesome Kong is due her rematch and ODB won Queen of the Cage. The Knockouts Division used to be the best thing about TNA, but last week made me wonder where the sanity is.

AJ Styles d. Kevin Nash (Referee is not dumb; Booker T interference; DQ) – The finish seemed fishy since some people claim that the referee wasn’t supposed to look when he did. However, I see it as this. The referee isn’t as dumb as everyone makes them out to be. I would love to see more of the referee catching the heels in the act, so it comes across as the referee is smart. However, this was probably a blip and we’ll never see it again.

Eric Young & The Artist Formerly Known As Trevor Murdoch, Now Known As Jethro Holiday d. No Limit (Young pins Yujiro; crucifix) – As much as I liked Murdoch, I Jethro Holiday seems a bit off.

Jeff Jarrett d. Scott Steiner (Stroke; pinfall) – The only thing good about this match was the following clip.

This Week on iMPACT

The Amazing Red returns to TNA, teaming up with Suicide to take on the Motor City Machine Guns in a Team 3-D Invitational Tournament. Also, Awesome Kong gets an opportunity to kill off Mi Pi Sexy, starting with Madison Rayne, in a Stretcher Match. Things take a turn to the redneck side as Cody Deaner takes on Abyss and finally, Samoa Joe teams up with AJ Styles to take on Kevin Nash and Booker T. We can also expect more matches for Sacrifice to be announced, including the participants to the Ultimate Sacrifice Title Match.

TNA Ratings News

Last week’s iMPACT dropped to a 1.2, down from a 1.3 the week prior. I forgot about the playoffs for basketball and hockey, but the ratings drop can be taken in stride as wrestling in general has experienced lower ratings the last week. This week, I’ll predict a 1.2 rating since TNA can hold their audience better than the WWE can.

This Week in Wrestling

ECW / RAW / Backlash / ROH / SmackDown / iMPACT / Superstars

This Week on the Pulse

Mark Allen discusses Backlash and Jeff Hardy’s contractual issues.
Vinny T talks about what makes a great match…a great match.
Andy Wheeler talks TNA, Backlash, and Bobby Lashley.

Keep checking Inside Pulse for news in the other zones.
Finally, check out the forums!

Until Next Time

Enjoy your weekend and keep checking Pulse Wrestling for all your late breaking news, show recaps, and commentary from the best writers on the internet! As always, I’ll see you next week.

Paul Marshall has been with Pulse Wrestling since September 2007. He currently does a weekly WWE Column titled "This Week In 'E". Follow him on Twitter here.