TNA iMPACT results 4/12/10
3 CommentsAlright, it’s 8PM as I type this, so let’s cross the line!
Alright, it’s 8PM as I type this, so let’s cross the line!
Because I don’t feel like watching the show, here’s the results courtesy of PWInsider!
I know, I know. Last week I said I’d review iMPACT before RAW. Then I said at the end of this week’s RAW review that I’d review iMPACT in “a couple hours.” Here it is 12 hours later and I’m just now sitting down to review TNA’s show. Let’s get started!
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Welcome all to another edition of Random Randomness. Happy St. Patrick’s day to all those who celebrate it on Wednesday. Here in JTland the celebration has already started. But we’re not here to talk about that this is a wrestling website so lets talk about wrestling:
In recent years, the National Football League has garnered a reputation as the “No Fun League.” From banning excessive touchdown celebrations to cracking down on tailgating and drinking at games, the NFL has certainly earned that moniker. Total Nonstop Action wrestling earned themselves a similar name from the fans at their “Impact Zone” in Orlando, FL. A speech from TNA Director of Production Steve Small left some fans chanting “Totally No Fun” at a recent taping of TNA’s weekly television program, “TNA iMPACT!”
In his speech, Small referred to the TNA fans as “cast members” and advised them against cursing, “flipping birds” and throwing up gang signs. Small announced that anybody caught on camera making such gestures or holding up signs deemed offensive to the company will be moved elsewhere.
So, does Small’s speech make TNA just as bad as, or perhaps worse than, the NFL?
Referring to the fans as “cast members” – which earned a few screams of “pay us, then” and “where’s our checks?” – is certainly a little odd. At least the NFL hasn’t sunk to that level. While it stands to reason that the TNA fans are more a part of the show than NFL fans, they’re still there to have a good time and enjoy the show. The TNA fanbase have been an integral part of the show for the last 8 years, and to take away their ability to express themselves could hurt the product as a whole.
Apparently, the catalyst for this newfound censorship of the TNA audience was their live “iMPACT” broadcast on January 4, 2010 where fans chanted “bullshit” at the outcome of a match. The fans were audibly upset when TNA wrestler Homicide caused a hotly contested “Steel Asylum” match to end in a no contest when he used a weapon to try to take out his opponents. The audio was censored altogether on the program and only ended when popular wrestler Jeff Hardy emerged from the audience.
Will TNA’s censorship of it’s “cast members” in the audience result in a fan backlash against the product? I’m sure we’ll find out in time.
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Hello all. Hope everyone is doing well and is keeping warm in this nationwide arctic blast. It’s actually below 0 farenheit here as the time of this writing. Well lets get this party started: (more…)
Welcome everybody to a special Tuesday edition of ThinkSoJoE’s Thoughts. This column usually comes to you on Saturdays, but it’s a special occasion. Last night was the night – TNA finally tried to battle RAW with a head to head live show. Both shows had their high points – but in my opinion, WWE won the battle.
Eric Bischoff knows television. Eric Bischoff will tell you that’s his business. He’ll tell you that he was the one who put Nitro on three minutes earlier than RAW and he was the one who knew enough to beat RAW back from commercial breaks to get the viewers watching and hooked. It didn’t quite work out for TNA last night, and here’s why. TNA aired the first hour unopposed by WWE, and in the first 30 minutes had Jeff Hardy, Shannon Moore, and Ric Flair pop up on their program – but they also had a match that is unique to TNA and it’s X-Division end in a no-contest and fan chants of “This-Is-Bull-Shit.” Tara and ODB managed to change the word “bullshit” to “awesome” before Scott Hall and Sean Waltman showed up and TNA aired nearly 10 minutes in commercials. Credit to TNA where it’s due – they did what any of us would’ve done and had Hulk Hogan debut at 9:57 EST.
Many of us didn’t care and switched to RAW anyway, knowing full well that Bret Hart would kick off the show. Those who continued to watch TNA got to hear Hall, Waltman, Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Bischoff repeat themselves for 10 minutes. The moment TNA went to commercial – which would likely be the moment that fans changed the channel to see what was going on over on RAW, Bret Hart shook Shawn Michaels’ hand, and the duo hugged. This is the point for me when WWE won the battle – hands down.
TNA’s show continued to put on good wrestling matches in between the myriad of talk segments, including an awesome match for the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championships in which Hamada and Awesome Kong defeated Taylor Wilde and Sarita for the titles, and a short but good match between Pope D’Angelo Dinero and Desmond Wolfe. RAW had an excellent tag title match pitting DX against JeriShow, and the WWE Champion Sheamus in action against “Little Evan Bourne.”
WWE’s main match of the night pit Randy Orton against recent rival Kofi Kingston, but anybody who didn’t tune in to iMPACT for the TNA Championship match featuring the Champion, The Phenomenal AJ Styles, defending his title against Kurt Angle missed an early Match of the Year candidate. Throughout this match, fan chants ranged from the usual “Let’s Go AJ/Let’s Go Angle” to “This Is Epic” and the hilarious considering Earl Hebner was the referee “Who needs Bret?” Styles won this match, which was so amazing that Ric Flair watched from the top of the aisle and Hulk Hogan came out to commend the duo after the match. iMPACT ended with an old school nWo beat down as Hall, Nash, and Waltman beat down Mick Foley, much to the apparent surprise of Hulk Hogan.
As soon as the show went off the air, the Chairman made his way to the ring. With the knowledge that Bret Hart was on the show, fans probably knew, no matter which show they watched, that a confrontation was eminent. Indeed, Hart confronted McMahon, the duo seemingly made up, and McMahon kicked Hart square in the grapefruits to end the show.
I haven’t seen the ratings. Given that they were the number 3 Trending Topic on Twitter for most of the night, TNA likely popped a higher rating than normal. Going head to head with WWE on a historic night for the company, however, probably didn’t allow them to maintain it. Time will tell if last night was good or bad for TNA, but for the first time in nearly nine years, it was just awesome to be a wrestling fan on Monday nights.
Before I take off, I’d like to take a moment to thank chjpacheco for his iMPACT coverage and Legend Killer for stepping in to cover RAW so that I could sit back and be a fan rather than a critic on this spectacular night.
Sorry I’m late! (more…)
I hate this. I didn’t get into writing about wrestling with the intent of having to write tribute articles – not for guys whose matches I was just reviewing 6 months ago, at least. When Captain Lou died, yes, it was a sad day for me as a fan, but Lou Albano was 76 years old. Eddie “Umaga” Fatu passed away yesterday at the young age of 36, with reports coming in that he died of a heart attack.
It was pointed out that WWE’s obituary, or whatever you want to call it, on WWE.com makes sure to note that Umaga was released from his WWE contract on June 11, 2009. The person who mentioned it was pondering why WWE would point that out. The reason is simple – WWE doesn’t want to have more heat on them about drug use if Fatu’s death turns out to be drug related. WWE let Fatu go because he violated the wellness policy a second time and refused rehab. The company can’t afford bad publicity right now, not with Linda McMahon running for the US Senate.
ECW is set to be re-branded and re-formatted in the very near future. The rumor going around is that the veteran ECW wrestlers will be moved to SmackDown and RAW, while whatever ECW becomes will be a showcase for new talent.
Speaking of which, I went back over the last few days and watched the first three episodes of ECW on SciFi. Not quite the original ECW, but not nearly what it’s become. Anybody else find it funny that Mike Knox made his during a segment set to “Buttons” by the Pussycat Dolls?
I hope TNA can sign RVD. TNA’s guys can work circles around half of the WWE roster, and RVD can work circles around all of them. With the Hogan deal, maybe we’ll see The Whole F’N Show become Mr. Thursday Night again.
Jeff Hardy’s court date has been postponed once again, this time until January. This means we’re certainly not going to see the Charismatic Enigma any time before the end of the year in any wrestling organization.
That’s all I’ve really got for the moment. JT will be here tomorrow with another edition of Random Randomness!
Hello and welcome to another edition of Random Randomness, I amyour host JT and tonight I’ll be giving my opinions on this week in wrestling, well sort of. Well let’s get this going: (more…)