Last week I wrote about how TNA was making what I felt was a tactical error. How did they proceed? Did they right their rudders? Let’s take a look…
TODAY’S ISSUE: Getting TNA back on track.
Thursday, 11 May 2006. Three days before the big Sacrifice pay-per-view. This show started with a whimper instead of a band. The extended opening interview segment seemed familiar, in a bad way (and that’s a shoot). Most weeks, WWE RAW starts with way too much talk, and no wrestling before the first commercial break. TNA can’t afford to mimic that bad habit. iMPACT! is only a 60-minute show, and they have too many irons in the fire to waste precious time with two old tag teams trash-talking. If there was ever a lazily booked insta-feud, it’s Team 3D versus The James Gang. These teams had no storyline interaction in TNA until this moment.
The Dudleys and the New Age Outlaws both mentioning ECW and WWE by name in their interview seemed kind of bush league, and made people think about what used to be, rather than what they have going on today. Not only that, but in general there was too much talking and not enough action this week.
Kevin Nash continued his burial of the X Division, and as I said last week, the only way this can be positive is if it leads to Nash getting destroyed by a bunch of X guys.
On a very positive note, Sting choosing Samoa Joe was a GREAT decision! It really helped to refocus this issue between Sting and Jarrett/Steiner. I was quite uncomfortable with the prospect of Luger, Bagwell or Rick Steiner wrestling on a TNA ppv. Samoa Joe is as close to home-grown as TNA has on their roster, and Sting just legitimized him in one moment by selecting him over all the bigger name has-beens he threatened Jarrett and Steiner with in the previous weeks. Good call, TNA.
On a storyline note, how exactly did it HURT Jarrett and Steiner when they continually “pushed” on Sting’s mystery partner issue? All it did was eliminate Sting’s possible partners from the running (by Sting’s own admission), but that was played as Sting somehow winning the battle of the mind games. I don’t really get it…
The iMPACT! main event was AMW and Bobby Roode vs. AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and Rhino in a typical “combine individual matches” ppv preview. I thought this would save what had been up to this point a fairly listless show, but the side issues between Gail and Jackie ruined it. I don’t care if Jackie gets Gail and the boys coffee or not. I tune in to TNA for solid wrestling action.
When iMPACT! went off the air, I was unimpressed, and I felt the magic of TNA might be slipping away.
At the Sacrifice pay-per-view, following a fantastic X Division “gauntlet” match, TNA allowed Nash to insult and embarrass the X Division once again. I certainly hope he gets repaid in spades for this nonsense. This was another poor decision from TNA’s booking committee, in what was rapidly becoming a downward trend.
However, I dig the idea of team captains Petey Williams and Chris Sabin battling this Thursday night for the World X Cup. That’s a good way to make fans tune in to Spike TV. I’ll give TNA credit for that one.
Also on the bright side, Bobby Roode got the chance to shine. He hit former NWA World Heavyweight Champion Rhino with his “Northern Lariat” clothesline finisher. Roode has the look, size, and intangibles to get over via a singles push, so hopefully this was the kick-start of such a push for the Canadian Enforcer.
TNA also correctly kept the returning Raven looking strong, and continued the slow build in his feud against Larry Zybysko.
As I mentioned in the Rasslin’ Roundtable, I ‘m not interested in New Age Outlaws at this point, and I certainly don’t care about their history with the former Dudleyz from six years ago. Who the Hell even remembered their one match in WWF?
TNA was on the money in the tag team match featuring Sting and Samoa Joe against Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner. Samoa Joe got the big push as he hit his unique Muscle-Buster finisher and pinned “King of the Mountain” Jarrett for the victory. This was absolutely the right way to close the door on all the “former WCW mystery partner” nonsense leading to the match. TNA’s Samoa Joe proved he’s in the same league with current heavyweight main-eventers and made a huge splash in doing so. Joe also got to keep his heel heat by refusing help from Sting during the match, then ignoring Sting’s post-match beat down from Jarrett and Steiner, leaving his partner in their clutches. Daniels, Lethal, James Gang, Rhino and Sabin were forced to rescue the Stinger because his own partner abandoned him.
Just as 87.5% of us predicted in the Roundtable, NWA World Heavyweight Champion Christian Cage retained his title against the Monster Abyss. Some of us are starting to sense the end of Captain Charisma’s run with the strap, as there seem to be so many options right now. I guarantee Samoa Joe will become NWA Champion before 2006 is over, and I figure he’ll take it from a transitional champion heel rather than from Christian himself. Just who that heel will be remains in question, but Jarrett himself makes a great choice. Imagine the fear in Jarrett’s eyes if he were to regain the strap through nefarious means, only for the new member of TNA Management to announce Samoa Joe as the number 1 contender. Considering Joe pinned Jarrett at Sacrifice, the storyline practically writes itself.
For more TNA coverage, check out Mark Neeley’s NeelDown iMPACT Zone, Douglas Smith’s TNA: In The Zone, Jeremy Lambert’s TNA At Ringside, and of course, PK’s Live Pay-Per-View Coverage.
Overall, I believe TNA took steps in the right direction at Sacrifice, and I look forward to the next chapter they write. Will James E. Cornette come in as an on-screen character? Will he have influence over the booking committee? Will he teach some of the boys to give solid promos? Stay tuned to TNA to find out, and remember InsidePulse’s Wrestling Zone keeps you up to date every day.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled reality.
p.s. – Decaffeinated coffee: how do they get the caffeine out, and where does it go?
