Welcome back to ringside folks
First off, I actually recieved some e-mail last week, which means I know that somebody is reading this. Anyway a couple of the e-mails talked about things that happened on last weeks Impact. Please note that this column is typed, submitted, and posted Friday morning before Impact airs. At Ringside recaps last week and previews this week. Just thought I would point that out to people before I continue to get e-mail bitching at me for failing to mention something that happened on this weeks Impact
Ok, now that that is over with, lets get to the (to steal something from my personal favorite column here at IP, Deconstructing The Moveset by Rob Blatt) meat and potatoes:
2/18 Impact! Recap
*Ron Killings defeated Michael Shane: Kazarian was at ringside marking the last time we may see him in TNA. Why is Killings wrestling X Division wrestlers?
*Daniels Interview: Daniels is good on the mic. It would be nice to see him in the Ultimate X match but rumor has it, he wont be. More on that later
*The Naturals defeated Buck Quartermain & Lex Lovett: Candido has formed an alliance with the Naturals, which will hopefully pay off
*Dustin/Abyss/Traci Segment: Dustin Rhodes handed Traci a contract, then Abyss handed Traci a contract. Then Abyss did his pose, which I mark for
*Phi Delta Slam defeated Mikey Batts & Romeo: What happened to Jerrelle Clark? Your basic squash
*Dusty Makes Destination X Main Event: Dusty announced Jarrett will face DDP in the main event. They brawl until the New Age Outlaw (Billy Gunn) come down followed by Nash followed by DAVID ARQUETTE! just kidding on Arquette. Faces clean house
*Chris Candido defeated Chris Sabin and Shark Boy in a triple threat match: Now why is Candido wrestling X Division wrestlers? He’s past his prime which by TNA booking, means he should be in the main event
*Monty Brown drew Lance Hoyt: No Contest due to debut of Tryton. Tryton, you know, the guy that TNA has aired promos about for what seems like forever now
Ok, so last week I talked about the X Division and a bit about the main event scene. So this week I’ll talk about the tag division. Despite what many think, TNAs tag division is good. Is it great? No. Is it better than Raw and Smackdown? Yes. Here’s a list of tag teams that are on Raw on a week to week basis:
-Regal & Tajiri
-La Resistance
Smackdown:
-The Bashams
-Reigns & Jindrak
Now there are a couple of teams not mentioned like the current Smackdown tag champs Eddie & Rey, but they were just thrown together when RVD got hurt. So there’s about 2 or 3 teams on a weekly basis you see on the WWE Shows now TNA:
-America’s Most Wanted
-The Naturals
-3LK Combo
-Team Canada
-Kash & Hoyt
While that’s not a great list, it’s much better than the two WWE lists. Also the quality of the tag matches are very good. AMW vs Canada at Final Resolution was good. AMW vs XXX at Turning Point was awesome. So TNA has a very good advantage over the WWE in the tag team ranks.
Now last week I got on TNA for over-killing the Ultimate X match like the WWE used to over-kill the ladder match. Well on Impact they announced the rules to the Ultimate X match and it’s a nice change. It’s a 4 man Ultimate X match, one man gets eliminated by pinfall/submission, another man gets eliminated by pinfall/submission, the final two battle it out Ultimate X style. That adds a new twist to the match as you must defeat all of your opponents in order to win. Now on Impact there have been something called “X Division Shootout” matches. That’s cool and all, but why are Ron Killings and Chris Candido winning these matches? I like Killings and it’s nice to see Candido come back but they are not X Division wrestlers. They aren’t going to drop from the cables and hurricanrana the opponent. If and this is a huge IF they are in the Ulimate X match, it will be horrible. Again, that’s a big if because the rumor is Styles/Petey/Sabin/Skipper which should make for an awesome match.
Last week I recieved an e-mail saying how Jarrett is a good champion and all and how he brings out the best in people and yada yada. I really have no problem with Jarrett being champ. The problem I have is who he is facing. At Victory Road he faced Jeff Hardy. At Turning Point he lost to Randy Savage in a 6 man tag. At Final Resolution he faced Monty Brown. At Against All Odds he faced Kevin Nash. At Destination X he is slated to fave Diamond Dallas Page. Hardy is a passion losing druggy. Savage was gone a day later. Brown had wrestled earlier that night. Nash is way past his prime. Page is way past his prime. I will admit, the Jarrett vs Nash match was very good and Nash busted his ass but taking the title of Jarrett and putting on Nash would have been just as bad. Here’s an idea for TNA, they can rip off WCW even more with this one. Six Sides Of Steel Triple Cage Match with David Arquette as the special guest ref. That is buyrate gold. What I would like to see is Jarrett face the new faces. The guys that weren’t WCW/WWE raised. And here’s another idea, have Jarrett lose the title to one of those new guys. Just a thought.
Finally a quick note on “New Age Outlaw” a.k.a. Billy Gunn. TNA is once again living the past with this. The New Age Outlaws gimmick was used in 1999, let it stay there.
That’s all for this week as always you can drop me a line at AMPLine4Life@aol.com and join me next time, At Ringside
