Welcome back to ringside everyone. Loads of shit to get to in this column so I might as well start now.
News & Shit
TNA Saturday Rating: 0.7
Yippee, another 0.7 rating. This rating kind of sucks because this was the night before a PPV so the rating should have been at least a 0.8. Maybe this is why TNA isn’t going primetime?
Did you not read the last line?
So SpikeTV decided to move TNA to Thursday at 11 instead of Thursday at 9. Oddly enough, I don’t fully disagree with this move.
First off, it was wrong of SpikeTV to string TNA along and make them believe they were going to be on primetime in April. TNA has done everything SpikeTV has wanted them to do. SpikeTV wanted good ratings for that slot, TNA delivers a solid 0.7-0.8 average every week. SpikeTV wanted TNA to bring in big stars, TNA delivers with Christian, Sting, and others. So how does SpikeTV reward TNA? They give them a primetime slot and a good amount of press. Good for TNA right?
Apparently not. Now SpikeTV has decided that UFC is more important than TNA. Are they wrong to think that? Probably not. UFC has been taking off in the past year and The Ultimate Fighter always brings in some good ratings for SpikeTV. So now The Ultimate Fighter 3 will be on at 10 and TNA Impact will follow at 11. Good move? Personally, I think it is. TUF3 is a great lead in for TNA. As mentioned, TUF always delivers good ratings and with Shamrock and Ortiz as the coaches, I expect that trend to continue. With that trend continuing, hopefully people will stick around to see TNA at 11. If SpikeTV really wanted to help out TNA, they would plug Impact all throughout TUF. Good tag lines like “If you thought Ortiz and Shamrock don’t get along, you ain’t seen nothing yet.” You know, something corny like that.
Only time will tell if this is a good move by SpikeTV. TUF3 is scheduled to last about 12 weeks, if the ratings for TNA are good throughout those 12 weeks, I expect SpikeTV to bump them up to a primetime slot.
Not CM Punk leaves TNA…or does he?
Do I honestly care about this? Not really, but I’ll mention it anyway. Not CM Punk was never really established in TNA. Sure he had a feud with AJ Styles but AJ didn’t look even remotely into the feud. When Moore stole the Mr. TNA plaque from Styles, he didn’t give a damn. He just looked at Moore and said “Ok…” After his squabble with Styles, it was all downhill. Moore went on to do a bunch of nothing while Styles went on to feud for the X Division title.
I hope Not CM Punk is happy with the money and he has fun blowing Matt Hardy now that Ashley is injured.
Holla If Ya Hear Him
So Destination X came and went and it was your typical TNA PPV, which of course isn’t a bad thing. So here’s some quick results mixed with my expert opinions.
*Alex Shelley defeats Jay Lethal: Good match, wrong workers. This was a win/lose situation for TNA and the X Division. Here’s how you break down the X Division on each level:
Tier 1: AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels
Tier 2: Petey Williams, Chris Sabin, Sonjay Dutt (sort of)
Tier 3: Everyone Else
Do you see the problem there? Guys like Lethal, Shelley, Aries, Strong, ect… should be on the same level as Petey and Sabin. This match elevated one man (Alex Shelley) but in essence took Lethal down a notch. This match should have been Shelley vs. Dutt with Shelley picking up the win. Lethal should have replaced Dutt in the 4 Way Match and Lethal should have won. That way you elevated both Shelley and Lethal and nobody goes down a notch. Dutt would have still been over because he does The Sprinkler and Lethal could have pinned PUMA, meaning Sabin and Petey are not affected. Still, that shouldn’t take away from a good opener, which this was.
Lance Hoyt defeats Matt Bentley: Tell me why I should care about this match? TNA turns Matt Bentley heel to give him some sort of spark and then they ruin any momentum he had by jobbing him out to Lance Hoyt. That’s no knock on Hoyt, he’s an above average big man, but things seemed to be looking up for Bentley and now he’s right back where he started. The match itself wasn’t that great either. Everyone paid more attention to Young and Shelley (rightfully so) instead of the in ring action. So where do they go from here? Not very far. Bentley is no longer needed in the X Division and doesn’t deserve to be pushed over the names I mentioned before. Hoyt is too big for the X Division and just not good enough for the NWA World Title. Which means Hoyt is stuck in TNA’s Mid-Card aka Hell. The easy solution for Hoyt would be to give him a tag partner and then push them as a viable team. Will that happen? I doubt it.
If I were booking TNA, I would have paired up Bentley and Hoyt to recreate the team of Michaels and Nash from the mid 90’s. And before you get on my case saying “You’re the one always bitching that TNA shouldn’t recreate the past.” Yeah, that’s true, but TNA is recreating the past with the past. This would be recreating the past with two guys who are young and have some talent. Understand kids?
Team Canada defeats The Naturals: So The Naturals continue to get buried. It’s hard to believe that this team was once the Tag Team Champions. Nothing against The Naturals, they have talent and have the look, but they just aren’t getting the push anymore. TNA is down to three teams at this point: Team Canada, AMW, and Team 3D. Sure there are teams out there like The James Gang, LAX, and The Naturals; but those teams aren’t in the same league as the top teams. Personally, I think that sucks. Canada, 3D, and AMW are getting stale. Team 3D has only been in TNA since October and they’ve feuded with the same two teams throughout their entire run. TNA just needs to put the belts on Team 3D and then move them into a feud with someone that’s not Team Canada or AMW.
The James Gang defeats LAX: Yeah, I went to get some popcorn during this match. I had no desire to see Homicide be forced to sell to a weak ass punch from Bob Armstrong. I honestly can’t believe Homicide hasn’t gotten fed up with this shit already. He’s been feuding with OAO since he came to TNA and now he’s forced to sell to Bob Armstrong. I’m honestly just waiting for Homicide to start stiffing the f*ck out of Kip, BG, and anyone else they throw with those two. According to CM Punk and Samoa Joe, Homicide is a legit fighter and somebody you don’t want to f*ck with.
Chris Sabin defeats Sonjay Dutt, Petey Williams, and PUMA: Now this match is being called the best TNA under card (aka throw together) match ever to be seen on a TNA PPV. I agree with people who say that because it was an awesome match, but it served no purpose. We all knew PUMA was going to be the guy to job to the winner, which was no secret. The problem is, nobody deserved to win this match. Chris Sabin, Petey Williams, and Sonjay Dutt are over no matter what. Everyone loves Sabin because he’s a great athlete and we should all Hail Sabin, Petey will always get love as long as he hits the Canadian Destroyer, and Sonjay Dutt is over due to his hard work and The Sprinkler. As I mentioned earlier, Jay Lethal should have been in this match and he should have won. He could have still defeated PUMA but it makes Lethal look legit because he won a match that feature Williams and Sabin. Instead, Sabin picks up a meaningless and unneeded win. Again, very good match and I recommend everyone check it out but the result served no purpose.
Team Jarrett defeats Team Former WWE: This match was just a way to throw 8 workers onto the card. The problem was that the match wasn’t that great and we got more unneeded results. Wow, Jeff Jarrett picked up the win for his team, good for him. But did he really need to pick up the win? Lets say Abyss pins Killings to pick up the win, does that mean Jeff Jarrett is no longer important? Hell, lets say Brother Ray pins Chris Harris, I guess that means Jeff Jarrett is out of the World Title Picture. Listen, Jeff Jarrett is never out of the World Title Picture. When he took a month or so off last year, he was still in the World Title Picture. Nobody is going to forget about Jeff Jarrett, whether he wins or loses. I know this comparison gets made a lot but with good reason. Jarrett is a lot like Triple H. Triple H went to the mid card for awhile when he returned last year, but we all knew he wasn’t in the mid card. He was just buying his time and shutting the IWC up for a few months. Everyone knew that it was just a matter of time before he was going to win back the World Title. Jeff Jarrett is the exact same way. Hell, you could move Jarrett into a feud with Lance Hoyt and nobody would buy that Jarrett was really feuding with Lance Hoyt. Jarrett would just be shutting up the IWC for a few months before he ended back up in the World Title Picture. Giving Jarrett this win might have been a worse booking decision than giving Sabin the win in the International X Showcase.
As for the other guys, they were just there. Team 3D is going to continue their feud with AMW and Rhino, Abyss, and Killings were just filler wrestlers. This match was nothing more than a “Jarrett Strokes His Own Ego” Match. And with that, I want to know…WASS UP?
Christopher Daniels defeats Samoa Joe and AJ Styles: This match was just…there. You won’t here me say that about any AJ, Daniels, or Joe match, much less all of them in one match, but that’s all this match was. Sure there were some nice spots and some good action, but the ending really killed this match. When I saw Daniels scale the wires and grab the belt I thought, “Something had to go wrong.” And I was right. Samoa Joe apparently lost vision momentarily and thus the match had the quick ending. That really sucks for Samoa Joe and it sucks even more for the TNA fans. I was expecting a MOTYC and, while it was a good match, it was no MOTY.
Now the question is, where do these men go from here? Well according to some sources, it seems as if each man is moving on and I think that’s the wrong move. I know I said too much of a good thing can turn out bad but after this match, I want these guys to have one more chance to wow me. And if you think about it, it all makes sense. AJ Styles won at Unbreakable, Samoa Joe won at Against All Odds, and Christopher Daniels won at Destination X. Each man has one victory in this feud, why not give them a rubber match? Sure the outcome would be a bit predictable (Daniels over Styles most likely) but after the sour taste that Ultimate X left in my mouth, I don’t care how predictable the outcome is, I want these guys to have another shot. It’s also reported that all 3 of these guys went back to the hotel and critiqued this match. Why waste your time critiquing the match if it’s your last one with each other? Sure you want to learn your mistake but you can do that on your own time, not with the 2 guys you were in the match with. A cage match would be a great way to blow off this feud and if nothing goes wrong, we know what to expect from these 3.
Christian Cage defeats Monty Brown: Yeah, we all saw this one coming. As I have stated before, Monty Brown is facing the wrong guy at the wrong time. Does Monty Brown deserve the title? Sure, he’s a decent worker who seems to love the sport. Sadly, he gets his title shot against the man that jumped ship and the man that just won the belt the month before. So where does Monty Brown go from here? It’s tough to say really. He didn’t help out Team Jarrett in the aftermath and he didn’t save Christian. It seems like Monty Brown will be heading back to the TNA mid card. Monty Brown is the sole reason why TNA needs a mid card title. I’ve mentioned this before and I think putting the TV Title on Monty would be one of the smartest moves TNA has ever made. He could defend the belt on every Impact episode, he can squash jobbers in those matches, and when the PPV rolls around, you could get that sense that “Wow, he’s beat a bunch of nobodies but can he beat Ron Killings?”
Christian Cage is in the same position as before. He’s still the champ and he’s not going to lose the belt anytime soon. It also seems as if Christian will be moving into a feud with Abyss, which is another “Wrong person, wrong time” feuds. Abyss is another man that deserves the belt but won’t get it. He is an above average big man, he takes any bump, and he has the perfect manager for him. I wish TNA would give Abyss a title run before the year is over. I don’t care if it’s only a 2 months reign, just give the man the belt for all his hard work and all the shit he’s gone through in his TNA career.
The Aftermath: So Scott Steiner was TNA’s big surprise at Destination X. As I mentioned in a previous column, I don’t like this move. Steiner has very little name value, is boring on the mic, and can only pull off one move. Now, there is a good thing to signing Scott Steiner, is short term. It’s not like TNA signed Steiner to a one year deal or anything long like that. Steiner is only going to be in TNA for a few months and if he can bring in some ratings, then it all works out. Now if Steiner flops and brings in no ratings, TNA just needs to cut their losses and move on without him.
What caught me off guard is the fact that the Impact Zone crowd chanted the name of “Goldberg” while Steiner was attacking Sting. This of course leads me to believe that the Impact Zone has no f*cking clue what they want or that they want it all.
Shoot Promo 101
So on YouTube there’s a great promo cut by Jim Cornette on the state of Hardcore Wrestling:
See kids, if you want to cut a good shoot promo, take lessons from Jim Cornette. This kid right here, didn’t get that memo:
If you know this kid, punch him in his f*cking gut for me. If you’re a fan of CZW or Hardcore Wrestling in general, this kid just ruined your life.
YouTube Match Of The Week
So since TNA won’t showcase Homicide, I will.
Match: Homicide vs. Low Ki
Event: 3PW
Rating: ***1/2
Plugs
Gloomchen, Double M, and Hevia fill in for Eric. I know Eric leaves some big shoes to fill but 3 people? Whatever, it’s still a good read.
Neeley & Jed get a lot of damn e-mail. First off, congrats to Jed and take care. Second, look for me to be one of those “guest columnists” Neeley was talking about. Finally, admit it Neeley, Jarrett wasn’t doing THAT good of a job selling to Sting.
Gordi talks NCAA Tournament in wrestling terms.
Vinny doesn’t like the WWE Creative team because…they’re not creative.
And finally, a special plug this week:
Between The Ropes radio was good this week, why? Because yours truly called in. I listen to these guys every week and I decided to call in this week. If you care to just listen to me, skip to about 1 hour 45 minutes into the show. I was the last call of the night.
The End
So that’s all for this week. I don’t know what next week will bring but I’ll be there. Drop me a line at AMPLine4Life@aol.com and join me next time At Ringside.
