ITT it's 2003: Kamala Live Blogs TNA

[Laz]

Shit, who was it here that pimped HOODSLAM like it was their job? I ended up checking it out and, while I'd never want that kind of promotion to get primetime TV, fell in love with the absurdity. Having the great Arnocorps play live every now and then certainly helped.

 

[King Kamala]

Was it Scroby?

To contradict my earlier point, while I don't think an R rated promotion would ever get a thimbleful of (positive) mainstream notoriety. I'd love to be proven wrong here but pro wrestling will never the cultural cache of Game of Thrones (dragons are serious business). However, I think now more than ever is a better time for an R rated wrestling promotion to succeed as a niche product IF it's not just edgelord-y bullshit and like the hypothetical promotion that @Laz described.


Thankfully, TNA never went R rated cause it definitely would have been edgelord shit.

 

[King Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1376543858369171468

Recent vintage TNA.

Congrats to RVD, who's a strong contender for guy who got pushed the most in TNA while trying the least.

Although his recent run, it did seem like he was kind of trying but he's an old dude now that doesn't have much left beyond the name (and hot twerking girlfriends)

 

[King Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1377682174304997376

Crazy how James Storm’s almost 20 year career is result of TNA wanting Mike Tenay and Don West to have a dry run as a broadcast team.

 

[King Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1380277408843063300

This is the kind of epic introduction that D Lo Brown deserves

 

[King Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1380286544146219012

dead lirl again.

 

[King Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1380290028241252352

dead lirl again x2

 

[Epic Springs]

I'm fairly certain Sandman did that at least once in ECW too.

 

[Valeyard]

I remember thinking Corino had pissed someone off big to get destroyed like that, but that makes sense.

That D-Lo reveal was INSANE. He was instantly given the response and push he deserved and people always wanted, and his TNA work is the best he's ever done. Good times.

 

[King Kamala]

Well. I've finally gone through with my threat and subscribed to Impact Plus.

 

[King Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1381729024905449473

@The Valeyard ’s match of the weekend

 

[Valeyard]

That is pretty cool. He'd know how to make monsters monster.

 

[King Kamala]

Turning on the Impact Plus live stream and it's a promo with Rhino from '06. Vince McMahon CALLED RHINO LAST WEEK CAUSE HE WANTED RHINO TO WRESTLE FOR HIM AGAIN BUT RHINO TOLD VINCE HE COULD KISS HIS ASS! VINCE WANTS TO RESTART ECW AND HE CAN'T DO IT WITHOUT RHINO! Rhino was the last ECW UNIFIED CHAMPION! HE HAS THE TITLES RIGHT HERE IN A VELVET BAG! HE'S NOT GOING TO SHOW THEM CAUSE HE DOESN'T WANT VINCE TO SIQ HIS LAWYERS ON HIM!

RHINO WANTS TO DO SOMETHING HE SHOULD"VE DONE FIVE YEARS AGO! YOU CAN'T RECREATE THE PAST! HIM, SHANE DOUGLAS AND RAVEN and (unintelligible name) are here in TNA AND THEY WERE THE HEART OF ECW! HE SETS THE "ECW TITLE" ON FIRE! HE WANTS TO CHALLENGE ANYONE WHO WRESTLES IN A FOUR OR SIX SIDED RING!

I mean, in retrospect, RHINO WASN'T WRONG!

 

[Baby Shoes]

He was probably still mad at that plant

 

[Valeyard]

When Rhino comes up I have to say his winning the NWA title was a great moment and that he and AJ had the best scaffold match ever.

 

[King Kamala]

That goofy ass promo aside, I feel like a strong argument could be made that Rhino's best work was in TNA. I'd need to watch more TNA to confirm that. Good thing I subscribed to Impact Plus.

 

[Epic Springs]

It's certainly the promotion where he had the most success. He held the NWA title for about a week and won it at their inceptual flagship PPV. I also enjoyed the brief feud with Raven in '05 along with the Christian Cage feud that culminated in the 8 MILE STREET FIGHT.

 

[Valeyard]

I'd need to go back and watch more of him in TNA but he was never the same after the neck surgery. My memories of him in TNA are of an out of shape Rhino having some great brawls with the usual suspects and the feelgood moment of him winning the title at the first Bound For Glory. Nothing bad or anything but nothing super great, or if it was great it was some multi-man match stuff.

 

[Laz]

Can confirm that the 8 Mile Street Fight was some great shit. BFG '06 is still probably the best show in the company's history.

 

[Epic Springs]

Picking Impact's best PPV seems like it shouldn't be that hard. I guess I'm gonna go out on a limb and nominate BFG '09. There were a quite a few "passing of the torch" moments and future storylines were set up. Of course, Hogan and Bischoff came in less than 3 months later so nothing was ever fleshed out but lolTNA.

(I also own this show on DVD as a friend bought one of those grab bags for me as a belated birthday gift when we attended an Impact taping in 2014).

 

[Laz]

That's my runner up. AJ/Sting ends just as it's heating up, unfortunately, because that was turning out to be an absolute beast of a show.

There are quite a few great shows peppered throughout 2005-2006 and 2011-2013, too.

 

[King Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1383596018155941890

Cc @BruiserBrody

 

[Valeyard]

My dad, who was a casual fan via me being a big fan, walked in during this. Commented on Duggan looking rough. Then he saw Spot and asked "What the hell is that?!" Next few weeks were "They're a lot of fun but that Moondoggy guy was disgusting." So a softspot.

 

[Valeyard]

Man AJ didn't give Kazarian or Richards ANY time to move their head based on this really bad footage. Stevie's lucky he didn't break his neck again.

 

[King Kamala]

It's amazing that nobody in TNA/Impact made him change his finisher since he nearly paralyzed AT LEAST three dudes with it. But hey it is TNA we're talking about. AJ probably could have shot somebody with his finisher and they would have been like "Well, that seems a little stiff..."

 

[Valeyard]

It's just unnecessarily dangerous. You have guys who spent their careers taking literally the exact opposite of that bump in that position. After Kazarian I was always nervous when he'd bust it out, more interested in where the guy's head was than the move itself. There's no way out; if you're fucked, you're fucked bad.

 

[King Kamala]

There's literally no way the guy taking the move can protect themselves and as great of a worker AJ is, he can't ensure a safe landing. Just so dumb.

 

[Laz]

Early on into TNA's lifespan, sure, but by the point of Stevie taking it? AJ had been busting it out on a near weekly basis (at LEAST) for several years. I agree that AJ should've given the guys time to tuck their head back properly instead of just going for it, and that the move was always pretty stupid, but let's not act like the blame was 100% on AJ when there was ample time to learn up on how to take his bumps.

 

[King Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1384212199644696587

Idk what to think about self aware Angle

 

[King Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1384641425891942400