TNA At Ringside: The Destroyer Rules

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Welcome back to ringside everyone. Nothing special this week so lets get to it.

Impact! Recap

Check out my report or The NeelDown.

The WWE People

So since TNA has debuted on SpikeTV (which is all of 2 shows), we have seen 3 former WWE workers debut in the company. The first week it was Team 3-D and this past week it was Gail Kim. So is this a smart move by TNA to sign former WWE talent and put them in the main event right away? In these cases, I don’t mind it. Team 3-D brings a history of success with them. There would be no point in bringing them in and then burying them to benefit TNA workers that have been there from the start. Sure, that would be the loyal thing to do but since when has there been loyalty in the wrestling business? Also, TNA’s tag division isn’t the greatest thing since Hockey so bringing in Team 3-D and elevating to the tag team main event gets no beef from me.

The reason I don’t mind Gail Kim getting the main event push is because TNA only has one women’s manager and has no real women’s division. Gail Kim gives the Jarrett’s Stable (who I will call the “GoldDiggers because I am listening to the song by Kanye West) the look appeal and the wrestling appeal. I don’t know if you have seen the pictures or if you saw Impact but Gail Kim looks hott. She appeals to the old perverted men and the young horny teenagers. Let’s face it, as male wrestling fans we see a Bra & Panties match and say “Fuck psychology, her tits may pop out.” It’s sort of sad but true. Also, Gail Kim is no slouch in the ring. She can hold her own out there and in wrestling, that’s really all we ask of female workers.

With these two, I don’t mind TNA pushing them into the main event slot. Now if they happen to bring in a guy like Shannon Moore and they give him the X Division Title right away, then we have a problem. I’ll cross that bridge when and if it comes though.

I also read that Andrew “Test” Martin had a very good match with Samoa Joe. Cool, I’m glad for Test. I think he was miss-used in WWE and he was stuck with a bunch stupid gimmicks that were never going to get over or were dropped too quickly. The guy has had injury problems and if he could just stay healthy I see nothing wrong with TNA giving him a shot. Hell, pair him up with Hoyt so you have your basic “Which One Is It?” tag team.

The X Division

There is no denying that The X Division features TNA’s go to guys. TNA has done a pretty good job showcasing this so far in the early stages of the Impact run. In the first two episodes TNA has featured two three way dances featuring X Division stars. AJ Styles got a shot to showcase his talent in the first ever SpikeTV match. TNA has done a very good job promoting the X Division and some of its workers through video packages. On this weeks episode, Christopher Daniels takes on 3 X Division stars in 15 minutes. Now Daniels will most likely defeat the 3 workers in the 15 minute period so don’t expect Sabin, Joe, and Aries to be the three guys. No, I figure TNA will go with Siaki, Dutt, and Shark Boy as the 3 workers. Nobody really takes those guys seriously so Daniels is free to squash them with ease. TNA has done a very good job in promoting the X Division thus far. I hope they continue on this path and establish some of the X Division workers as main event workers.

Bound For A Bad Main Event

TNA is putting all their money into Bound For Glory, so you would think that they would deliver a huge card. While the card is stacked, 2 of the biggest matches look a bit familiar. I’ll rewind back to Against All Odds. The two biggest matches on the card were Kevin Nash vs. Jeff Jarrett and AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels. Not much has changed since then it would appear.

At AAO, Nash challenged Jarrett for the World Title. At BFG, Nash will challenge Jarrett for the World Title. At AAO, Daniels challenge Styles to a Iron Man Match for the X Title. At BFG, Daniels will challenge Styles to a Iron Man Match for the X Title. So what’s different this time?

In the case of Nash vs. Jarrett, there will be a special gust referee. His name is Tito Ortiz. What does Ortiz add to the match? More overbooking. We all know that every Jarrett title defense is more overbooked than a Sweet 16 Birthday so what makes us think this one will be different? Adding Ortiz goes to show that it wont be. Each man will have a problem with Ortiz and Ortiz will have a problem with him. This will lead to Ortiz throwing punches, Ortiz getting hit with something, somebody running in, something being used, ect… Nash had one of his best matches ever at AAO against Jarrett and maybe TNA is banking on this happening again but when you are banking on BFG to be your biggest draw and you are giving a man that could be injured by just entering the ring a title shot, things could go horribly wrong.

As for Styles and Daniels, nothing has changed just yet. I don’t know how the long the Iron Man Match will be. Maybe they will go 30 minutes again or maybe they will up it to 60. Hell, maybe they will try something fun and give them 45 minutes or 90 minutes. We know that these two guys will deliver, they always do. It is just whether or not they will deliver the perfect 5 stars match or the usual 4-4 ¾ star match.

The E-Mail Bag

Hey Lambert. I got a C Cup for you. Because supposedly TNA will be working with NJPW soon, let’s make one of those 5 vs. 5 elimination style matches NJPW has sometimes. Not quite a Survivor Series match, but still. Team TNA could have (yes, there will be some supposed plot holes with TNA wrestlers teaming up. Same for the NJPW guys) AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Petey Williams, Sonjay Dutt, and Mikey Batts (you must always have one jobber on a team, as the opening team fallboy).
Team NJPW (actually, team CTU, the current heel junior heavyweight faction in NJPW) could be Jushin Lyger, Gedo, Jado, MINORU (Tanaka), and Hirooki Goto. Yes, Liger is a heel now. They are a bunch of singles gauntlet matches. A team wins when all the other teams’ wrestlers are eliminated. Great stuff most of the time. Good match to cover up the inefficiencies of a poor “worker”.

-Chuck Betress

I think Dutt is a good enough fall boy for TNA and then you could replace Batts with Sabin or Joe. I don’t know much about NJPW but I trust that they guys you have picked are good choices.

Well, where to begin. For starters, I enjoy reading the column every week, despite the fact that I’m not a huge TNA fan (mark?), but I get a pretty good recap/hype by reading your column, so kudos for that.

Quick correction to an e-mail: Ultimo Dragon won the WCW CRUISERWEIGHT Title to make it nine titles, not the WCW TV Title. He won the belt from Dean Malenko in late 1996 on Nitro (or may have been Clash Of The Champions). Wanted to re-clear that up, in case it mattered.

After watching the first episode of iMPACT! (why the small “i”?), I have to say that, despite all the IWC creaming themselves over the debut and the Spike deal and “OMG TEH GOT TEH DUDLEY BOYZZZZZZ!”, I’ve got to say that it did little to help the promotion. Here’s why.

1. Poor showcasing of AJ Styles. Here’s a guy they’re touting as their “franchise player”, aside from Triple J. Yet, in a squash, he defeats Rodrick “Didn’t Look Too” Strong, no build, no flash, no big deal. If they really wanted to showcase AJ and make him look as credible as they say he is, as well as make him look like a star on the level of Angle, Benoit, Guererro, etc., they should have really showcased him. By having him just squash an opponent, he looks like just another guy beating another jobber. Strong didn’t even get an entrance, which is the internation sign for “this guy is doing the j-o-b”. Way to drop the ball on your future bread and butter, TNA.

2. Monty Brown: see AJ Styles. And why in the hell was he using Led Zepplin’s “Immigrant Song”? Blasphemy.

3. Sorry, but everyone needs to get over the Canadian Destroyer. Yeah, it looks kinda cool, and the three-man Destroyer in the Gauntlet For Gold a few months ago was really awesome, it is still nothing more than a glorified sunset flip. But, in the same breathe, the Styles Clash looks just as weak…”Hey, I’m gonna fall on you!”

4. The “names” they did bring out for the show are either (A) Embarassing in the ring (Hardy), (B) Washed up (Nash), (C) Heavily publicized WWE rejects (Rhino….ACK, MY VASE!), or (D) partially own the company (Triple J). Given, they worked with what they have, but none of the “big name” competitors they have will make people turn over to TNA. The casual fan, who only knows WWE, will see people like Rhino, Team 3-D, and Jeff Hardy and go “hey, I remember them…must not have been too good if they’re not in the WWE anymore.” That is the casual, mark fan response to these names. If they’re not in the WWE, they’re not any good. Marks are like that.

TNA is relying too strongly on the IWC, the smarks, and work of mouth to build their promotion. They are alienating a huge audience in the meantime in the casual fans. There’s relatively no hype for their shows and their “showcased talent” isn’t really showcased at all. Casual fans want to see the big names…that’s why RAW’s highest rated segment this week went to Austin/McMahon(s). TNA’s big names aren’t names anymore, and, no matter how hard they push them, they won’t become big names again. By showcasing the future talents in real matches instead of squashes, they can CREATE names instead of trying to RECREATE the already dragged-through-the-mud-and-beaten-with-a-rusty-tire-iron names they have now.

And finally, TNA’s downfall will be the actual matches. On RAW, Angle/HBK seemed like a special occassion. It seemed like a legitimately good match, and it was. On iMPACT!, they went “flippy flippy flippy SQUASH” a lot. Once again, back to the casual fans, going “flippy flippy flippy” may be exciting, but it’s like a bottle rocket…”oooh, ahhh, what else is on?” They are not telling a story in the ring by jumping around for 15 minutes. TNA is notorious for making everything a spotfest (Monster’s Ball is going to be a prime example) and relying on a match or two to be the saving grace (which never came on iMPACT!). None of their matches have that special feeling of a truely great encounter, the exception being the upcoming Styles/Daniels Ironman. But, then again, the match is only for the smarks…

All in all, TNA has the potential to become something…whether that something is a credible wrestling promotion or a sports entertainment joke is yet to be seen.

Oh, as far as the C Cup, if we’re going for workrate, I’d say bring in Colt Cabana to take on Austin Aeris in an ROH spotlight. But, for name value, a Raven vs. Sting match would draw if properly built. Whether Sting still wants to work with TNA (or wrestle anymore at all) remains to be seen, but if has potential.

Thanks for reading and keep up the good work.

~Ramsey

I’ve addressed most of this and because I hate repeating myself, I won’t address this again. I will give you quick thoughts however because I respect the fact that you took the time out to type a good e-mail.

1. AJ was showcased enough. He pulled out the big moves and looked like something special. They showed what AJ could do against a weaker opponent and made people crave for what he could do against somebody on his level. That’s not a knock on Strong as he has had good matches in ROH, he was just a job boy in TNA though.

2. Monty Brown was made to look dominant and he was.

3. The Canadian Destroyer Rules f*ck what anyone says.

4. I agree with most of your points but TNA is trying to draw people in by showing them workers that they know. That’s not a bad thing as long as it doesn’t continue for a long amount of time.

TNA doesn’t have the time to give us a Iron Man Match on TV. WWE had 3 hours at homecoming, that’s plenty of time to do whatever the hell they wanted to do. What they did with it was used a bunch of washed up storylines. I think Scott Keith nailed it on the head when he said the following about WWE Homecoming: “I think that what it felt like to me was the LAST episode of a long-running series, not the first one of a new series. Whereas TNA introduced their big stars to the audience with the first Impact, WWE basically threw Carlito and Masters out there with no explanation or build of their characters. I mean, sure, it’s not terribly likely that people don’t know who they are and haven’t been watching, but there MIGHT be new viewers (and in fact, that was kind of the point, right?) so why not take five seconds and explain who these guys are?”

I would also love to see Colt Cabana in TNA and or Sting return as I have always marked for him.

Jeremy,

About the C Cup: now that Brock Lesnar’s legal situation is apparently clear, how about Brock vs. Samoa Joe at Bound for Glory? Both guys have unique mat skills with enough high impact spots to keep the crowd engaged and built a tight little power/submission match. And something about the extreme contrast in their body types appeals to me. Like Joe doesn’t look like he could stand up to Brock’s power what with Lesnar’s physique, but he surprises him by keeping him grounded and immobile and taking his strength away. Lesnar has to respond by just murdering him with every power move he can muster and maybe breaking out something aerial–the Shooting Star Press, perhaps? Bet the gloves would be off considering TNA wants to expand the audience and wouldn’t care quite as much as WWE about Brock killing himself. I’m not a TNA follower, but I’ve seen some of their stuff on On Demand cable and I like the prospect of them giving WWE some competition. Though I think Lesnar is an arrogant, ambitious and deluded soul, I would pay to see him show up at BFG. Just a thought. Good column.

-Jake Imm

I wouldn’t mind Lesnar in TNA as long as he can still go. I don’t want a washed up 28 year old who was once one of the best in the ring. Plus, it would piss WWE off.

The C Cup

AJ vs. Daniels: What match would you like to see Daniels and AJ compete in and why?

The End

I’m out as my NHL2K6 Video Game is calling me. Drop me a line at AMPLine4Life@aol.com and join me next time At Ringside.