TNA: In the Zone for 8/17/06

Archive

TNA: In the Zone for 8/17/06

Mother used to tell me that if I didn’t have anything nice to say, that I should keep my F’n mouth shut. She also used to say that the dog was a spy for the aliens that were trying to steal her LSD. Anyway, I intend to try to find some good things to say about this show.

We start out with ANOTHER LAX beat down on Daniels and Styles (right in front of the announce table). Don West tries to use the red phone to call in Batman for the save, but ADAM West answers, and says that he’s too busy being the Mayor on Family Guy to strap on the old Bat-Boots anymore. They get into the ring, which is set up for Jeff Jarrett’s victory party. A grand melee ensues.

Understand that I mean to use grand to describe the size, not the quality. The one key reason that this show is booked this way is time. TNA does not have time, in a one-hour show, to allow these talented, young men to do what it is that they do so well. It makes the whole thing look sloppy and rushed. Rhino comes out to save AJ and Daniels from LAX. This draws out Monte, followed by Runt, followed by Abyss, and then Samoa Joe. Jeff comes out, fires off confetti like he’s Johnny B. Badd, and sips champagne like he’s the Nature Boy. Of course, this draws out Sting, who wants a rematch.

This whole thing is being rushed. People are going to get hurt. Daniels looks like he’s going to bleed to death. Why isn’t Sting stalking Christian Cage, after the latter’s heel turn at the PPV? Y’know, I honestly enjoy the work of nearly all these guys, but this is being booked INSANELY. More on this as we go along.

(By the way, I do think that Cage’s heel turn was WAY too predictable)

Next we get some X-Division tag team action. The Paparazzis team up with Petey Williams to take on the trio of Sabin, Lethal, and Dutt. I gotta say that I love the Kev armbands that Shelley and Devine are wearing. The crowd is SOLIDLY behind Jay Lethal here. They love this kid from New Jersey, and so do I. His “full court press” style of wrestling makes me catch myself holding my breath while watching him. (See, I told you I’d find some good things to say about the show.) What I am missing here is some 1 on 1 X-Div stuff. It’s almost all tag stuff, except for the title matches. Anyway, Sabin hits a nice looking flying leg drop for the win. Only a couple of the spots in this match seemed contrived. All this, and we got the long trailer for the movie Crank! Great match.

Next we get our explanation of the Christian Cage heel turn, and it’s actually a pretty good one. I’m glad that he isn’t “switching sides” to join up with Jarrett. This is much better. If Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, and Abyss have proven anything, it’s that the fans in TNA will cheer a heel if they believe in him. This Captain Charisma is a heel that the fans can get behind. A good program against Rhino, and then maybe one against Ron Killings will allow the “bad” Cage to shine. Fans didn’t really buy into him as a goody-two-shoes anyway.

Next up we have a four-way match between Chris Harris, Chase Stevens, Kazarian, and BG James. I know that I usually complain about these matches, but there is a legitimate booking excuse at work here. The winner earns a #1 contender spot for his team. Pretty good. The match is fairly short, and Stevens uses AMW’s handcuffs to secure the win (and gains the approval of The Franchise). The real story here is the continuing implosion of AMW. This team has been around for a long time, and they have had this storyline on a slow simmer for a while. It seems that Harris is going to be the one to take a face role here. I say its time to cowboy up, and pull the trigger on this one (pun intended, as always)

We get to the final match of the night, and I only see half of it, because my DVR decides that I don’t deserve to see two of my favorites beat the shit out of each other. Damnit. Well, I read the results, and they were exactly as I would have predicted. Joe is just a badass. I really want to comment on Ron Killings here, though. He has been out of the hunt for TOO long. Tonight he came to the ring focused. He wasn’t playing around, and he wasn’t dancing. He took it to Joe like few others have (from what I was able to see, anyway).

So I have a problem. I really started off with bad feelings about the show, but it was pretty awesome in the end. I want a couple of guys to step up, and bring me more of the stuff they have been doing.

But because I’ve been begging to see him serious, instead of being treated like a clown, The Suntanned Superman, The Truth, Ron MF’n Killings is In The Zone. Even though he lost the match. There is no shame in losing to Joe. There is pain, yes, but no shame.

See ya next week

Dougie

Icarusfallz@yahoo.com