TNA Impact is Pre-Taped/Hung and Bung on 2/11

[bps21]

I'm thinking it's either Angle or Pope...but then I think that it should be Wolfe...but I can't see them running heel vs. heel...which should DQ Anderson too.

I'll pick

Pope over Wolfe
Morgan over Hernandez
Angle over Anderson
Abyss over Foley

Pope over Morgan presented like a flash pin upset.
Angle over Abyss

And then Angle barely beating Pope in a match that makes Pope look great and coming so close.

I just think Pope's got to go on a roll for a few months before he can get to the title picture...and if they do it right it will be great down the line.

 

[bps21]

Now that I look at my picks I can honestly see any of them going the opposite way. Should make for an interesting tournament. I love me some tournaments.

 

[LuckyLopez]

Yeah, I'm thinking Wolfe vs Angle with one of the Morgan/Hernandez or Abyss/Foley matches going to a draw leading to a bye for one of the finalists. But I could honestly see basically anyone advancing to the 2nd round and most anyone the finals.

And I'm kind of expecting some kind of sheenagins in the World Title match leading to an AJ vs Joe vs Angle Lockdown main event.

 

[bps21]

The only complaint I have about the tournament is that they've taken what are in my mind the 4 favorites (Wolfe/Pope/Angle/Anderson) and paired them up in round 1. I get why they did it. Foley and Abyss only got into the tournament because they have to face each other, and tag champions collide and all that...

But I would have liked to see them do it like maybe: Wolfe/Hernandez, Pope/Morgan, Angle/Abyss, Anderson/Foley and then had the Wolfe/Pope, Angle/Anderson matches be really unpredictable in a meaningful way. I feel like whoever wins the first round matches is going to the finals.

 

[Ed Wood Caulfield]

I like how the match-up graphics for every TNA pay-per-view are unique. They always use different pictures and different styles.

 

[Mattdotcom]

If you leave a door open, Scott Hall and Syxx-Pac will show up and drink all of your beer!!!!

 

[mellow]

If you leave a door open, Scott Hall and Syxx-Pac will show up and drink all of your beer!!!!

On the flip side, if you don't leave your door open Scott Hall will key your car.

 

[Mattdotcom]

hahaha

 

[bps21]

This was an enjoyable Impact.

The people who are meant to be stars are starting to pull away from the pack and I enjoy the more focused effort being placed on them as opposed to the old way of geting everyone on the show.

2 months ago a guy like Pope would have been trying to get air under the million storylines running at once, but today he's looking like a guy who can actually break out.

...

Still needs more Scott Steiner though.

 

[LuckyLopez]

Yeah, the show felt very together. Not over complicated with stories, not over crowded with segments. They ran a graphic or video for a match, followed it with an interview, and then the match. Bang, bang, bang. No fucking around and it made every thing feel stronger.

I said that a couple of weeks ago when they did OJ/Pope, but its weird. You can do a video, an interview, and the match but if you break them up across the show they have less impact than if you put them all in a row. Then that match/story dominates a segment and it all stands out. Russo and TNA usually try to interweave all the stories and the result is that everything just flies by. Crash TV, I guess.

 

[DCH]

Yeah, the show felt very together. Not over complicated with stories, not over crowded with segments. They ran a graphic or video for a match, followed it with an interview, and then the match. Bang, bang, bang. No fucking around and it made every thing feel stronger.

I said that a couple of weeks ago when they did OJ/Pope, but its weird. You can do a video, an interview, and the match but if you break them up across the show they have less impact than if you put them all in a row. Then that match/story dominates a segment and it all stands out. Russo and TNA usually try to interweave all the stories and the result is that everything just flies by. Crash TV, I guess.

The great thing about it is that you never know what's happening next, so you're stuck there watching their shit till the good segments come on.

 

[LuckyLopez]

To elaborate, and follow up on BPS's point, its a really interesting tournament field the more I think about it. Angle is a former World Champion who has been tied up in the Title picture forever. Wolfe has been just shy of the top shelf for months taking it Angle multiple times and beating the PPV challenge Samoa Joe. Morgan and Hernandez both flirted with the main event and got world title shots in 2009 and are riding momentum as tag champs. Anderson's the new arrival and name who could be thrust into the main event. Pope is getting a nice push and just pinned the champ. Abyss and Foley are the only ones with no real momentum but you still have two former World Champs.

Realistically Abyss and Foley seem like they have no chance and it seems unlikely Morgan or Hernandez will come out on top, but its 8 men who could all conceivably fit here without needing much rationalization. That's a nice job for a tournament.

 

[bps21]

That's what interests me most. They have 6 guys riding momentum our of the 8, and of the other 2 one is a legend and the other is a guy that you figure they're going to push eventually...you just don't know when they're going to start.

I could buy Abyss coming out of the tournament since they have 2 months afterwards to build up the challenger part. I think Foley is the one real no way guy since he's not wrestling 3 matches in one night. The other 7 guys, yeah OK.

The more I think about it the more I'm hoping for Angle vs. Pope or Wolfe in the final. 3 Angle matches (let's say it's against Anderson, Abyss and then Wolfe or Pope) is a good tournament. Same for 3 Wolfe matches (who of the whole field could really have the most interesting matches going against different styles IMO) and if Pope makes the finals it means they're getting serious about his push...which is a good thing.

Then there's Morgan and Hernandez. They're big. That means they could win at any time. Both were closer to the top in October than they are now...but they haven't been buried since then...just directionless. I don't see either making the finals...but that's only because the two guys on their side are closer to the top IMO.

So...if I were to rank the odds of guys winning it would probably be something like this:

1. Angle
2. Pope
3. Anderson
4. Wolfe
5. Morgan
6. Hernandez
7. Abyss
8. Foley

Pope's only second because I think AJ will still hold the title at Lockdown...and that means a face should probably win here. Abyss should probably be higher since he's involved in the Bischoff storyline and you don't know how far they're going to go with it I guess...I just don't see it because he has no momentum.

I'd be happy with Angle, Wolfe or Pope. If they decided to keep pushing Anderson...I don't care for him that much...but at least they'll have a contender who's done nothing but win.

Either Morgan or Hernandez (or Abyss really) would actually be real interesting because AJ's so small...but the idea of them pushing their World Champion as so small (which they would have to do in the buildup) when he's a heel is stupid. If this was face AJ...then great. But it's not.

I have less than no interest in Foley vs. AJ.

 

[LuckyLopez]

While I can see most any of those guys challenging at, say, Destination X, the way they're dropping all these "Road to Lockdown" lines and setting the challenge 2 months in advance makes me think that really only Angle or Foley would be a big enough guy to put in the main event.

I feel like the natural final is Wolfe/Angle which the announcer can get all excited about and talk about how close Wolfe has been to beating Angle. And with Hernandez/Morgan and Foley/Abyss both being friend vs friend matches I'm expecting to see one of them end in a draw giving someone a bye. If Morgan/Hernandez draw than Wolfe moves on to the finals and we get the typical heel sneaks through and is fresher story. If Abyss/Foley draw then it might preserve Angle's health a little and give Wolfe an excuse when/if he loses.

But with Bischoff now the special referee my guess is still that Joe/AJ goes screwy and we get a 3 way at Lockdown. Which could actually open up most anyone to win but Angle vs AJ vs Joe seems like the big main event that a big pushed "major" PPV would have. But you could probably do AJ vs Joe vs Wolfe or AJ vs Joe vs Pope or AJ vs Joe vs Anderson and it would work fine, since realistically this won't be drawing much more than usual regardless of how they build it.

Part of wouldn't hate an overbooked situation where Joe gets screwed, Angle wins the tourney, Wolfe complains that Angle got a bye, and we get a 4 way. Even though all that Russo style booking annoys another part of me.

On the flip side when tossing around ideas with a friend after Impact I realized that the Band might just be hanging around long enough for Lethal Lockdown, and if so Angle fits as a logical guy on the face side of things. So maybe he's there. In which case I don't what the main event is unless TNA just surprises me and goes with one of the first time main eventers in Wolfe, Pope, Morgan, Hernandez, or even Anderson.

So who knows? That's what I'm digging about Against All Odds at the moment. I can't see where its all going.

 

[Mattdotcom]

Has Beer Money been on TV since they beat The Outsiders at the PPV?

 

[bps21]

No. They're the current web match.

 

[luke-o]

Which is a damn shame.

 

[bps21]

Well on one hand they're having that tournament which takes up most of the ppv (now that I think about it...was Roode in a qualifier?) so giving TV time to stuff not building to the ppv is questionable on it's own. Especially when they have to fit in the KO's for ratings. And someone thought enough to put the X title in the ring a couple times.

There really wasn't room since they're between storylines.

 

[Mattdotcom]

Good point. I vaguely recall seeing Roode in some kind of qualifying match (was it against Lashley?) back in December(?), but it wasn't for the Playing Card Themed Tournament.

 

[bps21]

That's right. He had a good showing in that tournament.

Now he's stuck waiting with Storm. Considering the Tag Champs are in the singles tournament...I guess it could be worse. I don't mind when acts get time off TV to give them (and fans) a break when they'd just be middling it anyway.

I think it would benefit some guys to get some TV time away...though not really Beer Money. Homicide seems to be getting the same treatment. But then...he should have learned to climb.

 

[Mattdotcom]

I think this is the first time I've successfully remembered some incongruous little TNA detail, and considering I can't remember the name of last month's PPV, that's saying something.

 

[FroGG_NeaL]

Well on one hand they're having that tournament which takes up most of the ppv (now that I think about it...was Roode in a qualifier?) so giving TV time to stuff not building to the ppv is questionable on it's own. Especially when they have to fit in the KO's for ratings. And someone thought enough to put the X title in the ring a couple times.

There really wasn't room since they're between storylines.

I hope all of this is the reason, but I'm afraid the tag division is gonna go to shit, considering Bischoff hates tag divisions.

 

[King Cucaracha]

I was thinking about throwing down the $15 and watching the PPV on that Video Vault deal Sunday. But Bischoff as the referee for Joe/AJ means I'm officially saving my money. There's no way in hell I'm staying up until 4am, with the very real potential for yet another Montreal finish, especially between two people I'd actually like to see have a wrestling match.

 

[Mattdotcom]

Well, the Montreal rehash did get people TALKING, brother. I heard it from a second hand report of Bubba The Love Sponge's radio show, so it must be true.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Strikeforce: Bobby Lashley tells Heavy.com that he is done with Pro Wrestling, and will focus strictly on MMA

 

[LuckyLopez]

Beer Money being absent sucks but I'm not too worried about them. Beating the Outsiders on PPV seems as good enough of a sign of their jobs being safe as we can get and obviously the tournament took precedence this run.

Its guys like Homicide who have been totally absent sine Jan 4th or Daniels who hasn't done much but lose that I'm worried about. But I guess we should get an indication of where they stand soon if the Destination X rumors are true.

TNA's still got pacing issues with the size of its roster and they need to figure out how to deal with it. Because short of adding another hour to the week I'm not sure how you incorporate the roster without going back to Russo's Crash TV style where nothing sticks.

 

[King Cucaracha]

Okay I'm watching Impact on YouTube since for the first time in forever, I've found a channel that both has it, and has it in watchable quality. So here's a stream of consciousness.

Hogan's promo is Hogan at his best. Just a big, steaming pile of the most entertaining bullshit imaginable. Random buzzwords aplenty. Crackalackin'... swagger back. Apparantly the Impact Zone is under full lockdown (which hopefully includes full and thorough social cleansing of the audience before they're released back into normal society), so "anyone who needs to go to the bathroom better hold it". Which I assume means that there are NO BATHROOMS INSIDE THE IMPACT ZONE. AT ALL. Maybe that explains why Booker T's locker room smelled like piss back in 2007. Scott Hall and Syxx Pac are "McGullicuty". Apparantly, they locked out and aren't allowed in. Yeah. Okay. Twenty minutes before they're inside? Twenty-five? Did somebody just introduce Hogan to the word "swagger" a few days ago?

Oh look, here's Eric Young in a leather jacket. So, the Impact Zone has no bathrooms, but an endless coat-rail lined with various sizes of leather jacket. Tommorrow I think I'll put on my leather jacket and swagger into the pub, see what's crackalackin', feel cool again like The Hulkster said he was. God Eric is boring. The idea that Hulk Hogan has any idea who Eric Young is makes me laugh, a lot. Hogan is incredible. The smartest man in wrestling, he says EXACTLY what people want to hear whether it's bullshit or not, all the time. And people buy it. Amazing.

Okay I'm bored now, shut up Eric. You and Nash have been "friends" for about a month and even then I didn't buy it. Is Eric the babyface here? Is Hogan the babyface? Nash? Hall and Syxx-Pac are heels, I know that much. Everybody else, I have no idea.

IT'S HALL AND SYXX PAC! Oh, thank goodness they found a way in! I was getting worried there for about 20 seconds... or however long ago Hogan announced they weren't allowed in.

 

[King Cucaracha]

Is there anyone in wrestling with a greater disparity between quality of theme music and quality of character/wrestling ability/credibility than Orlando Jordan? That's a catchy theme he's got, by TNA standards.

You know, sometimes while I'm walking down the street on a quiet night and there's nobody around, I get the urge to do the Scott Hall/Pope walk with the one hand out in front and one behind. Is that strange? Am I pimpin' and just don't know it? Hmm.

So, TNA are going to have a rankings system. Great. Remember when the X Division had a rankings system determined by the elimination order of some random battle royal. How'd that work out. With the lack of continuity in this writing, the rankings system is bound to be a disaster, I'm sorry. At the risk of sounding racist, we've got two black guys, with similar hair, wearing similar tights. That's the kind of minor thing that bothers me. Did Orlando not have an all-red pair of tights to differentiate? Anyway, Pope eventually wins and I still don't know what Orlando did to actually step out of obscurity and get a contract with a major wrestling promotion in 2010.

Why does Bischoff hate Jarrett so much? Weren't they alligned in WCW? Didn't Bischoff stack the deck numerous times to help him win the WCW Title? Now he's mocking him, calling him a "world class athlete" in condescending tones? Apparantly thinking he's not a star, that he's "not ready"? We're bringing up everybody else's history from WCW, but not Bischoff and Jarrett's? Don't get this. Don't care. Next.

Matt Morgan beats Suicide. Squash. Fine. These Hogan plants in the front row really like Morgan, huh.

And now the Foley/Bischoff saga. He's fired, he's not fired, he won't work for Bischoff, he will, Borash is fired, Abyss isn't, Borash isn't fired but is nowhere to be seen... who the fuck could care? Is this better or worse than Jericho being fired from Raw every week? Why do wrestling fans not care about stips anymore? Abyss is going to get unmasked if "schenanigans" happen at the PPV. Hopefully this leads to an angle where Abyss is unmasked one week, then shows up with a mask on the next week, only to be unmasked again the week after, and so on, you get the joke here.

 

[King Cucaracha]

Anderson gets Christy's name wrong... didn't they do a promo the other week where they were old friends from WWE? Anyway, Anderson is complete go-away heat. Hitting mute, watching Angle stare at him is much more entertaining than his promo could possibly be. OH LOOK HIS MICROPHONE FELL FROM THE CEILING, HAR HAR HAR. Complete one trick pony. Fuck this guy.

Eric Young and his cool leather jacket is back! Angle and Young are inexplicably friends now. Young inexplicably decides he's not going to fight Hall and Syxx Pac after all, because Angle told him to. Whatever.

Red versus Doug... enjoyed. Not much to say. It was good.

Here's all you need to know about the Knockouts match. Velvet's ass. Taz is excited. Angelina's ass. Velvet points at her ass. Velvet runs away. Velvet ends up running towards some steps leading to the ramp and freezes, apparantly unable to grasp the concept of CLIMBING STEPS, leaving her TRAPPED. "YOU CAN'T WRESTLE" chant breaks out. Something that kinda resembles "wrestling" occurs. Occassional Velvet ass shots. Somebody shouts "tag in Lacey", I despair for humanity, then remember this is the Impact Zone, thus no humanity. "PIPE DOWN NERDS" sign from Bubba's Army directed at the Crucial Crew. Again, no humanity. Commercial break, this is going way too long. Lacey does a backflip, the first non-useless thing she's ever done. Breaks down. BIG PINK DILDO. Three count.

 

[vivisectvi]

Why does Bischoff hate Jarrett so much? Weren't they alligned in WCW? Didn't Bischoff stack the deck numerous times to help him win the WCW Title? Now he's mocking him, calling him a "world class athlete" in condescending tones? Apparantly thinking he's not a star, that he's "not ready"? We're bringing up everybody else's history from WCW, but not Bischoff and Jarrett's? Don't get this. Don't care. Next.

I don't think that would matter now. I think they're going for a "real live" vibe from this, and this is what Eric "really" thinks of Jeff and that anything that they had to do with eachother prior (for the three people who remember that) was "kayfabe, bruther." *shrug*