This is what I had feared. “iMPACT!” has been barely watch-able as of late, but I’ve been holding on to the fact that they do PPVs better than any wrestling organization ever has.Unfortunately Vince Russo’s booking style has leaked into the Pay Per Views in a horrid way.
Bad decision making, short matches and moments that make you ask yourself, “What the fuck is going on?” I thought these guys were supposed to be the 'alternative to WWE'... not 'Diet WWE'.
What is going on with Team 3D? Did Russo get wind that McMahon wants them back or something? They’ve been chasing the tag titles for over a year and are no closer now than when they debuted.
Last night they were in a gimmick “Little Italy Street Fight” match with LAX. Here’s the kicker: it was a NON TITLE match. Ok, well… Non title match, with VERY deserving opponents means challengers win right?
NO! LAX beat Team 3D, with a clean pin. Hernandez with the Border Toss on Devon, 1-2-3. What?? Ok, fine. If you wanted LAX to go over, why the HELL was this a NON TITLE MATCH on a damn PPV?
Then we got a bonus match. Cool.
Austin Starr versus Senshi. Problem is, Bob Backlund stole the show. After a confusing roll up where Starr thought he won but Senshi was declared the winner after just 8 minutes of action, Backlund slapped the chicken wing on Starr and made him his personal shower toy.
Next we were treated to Christy Hemme’s first match. Yes it was against a mystery opponent with a mystery stip. The internet was buzzing that it might be Chyna showing up to stalk Hemme, but no. We were treated to something infinitely more entertaining: A tuxedo match with Hemme against the Fat Oily DX guy. Ugh. She ripped his pants off after two minutes and we were done. Then Kip James walked out, ripped off Hemme’s top and she ran to the back. Are you glad you didn’t order the show?
Next we had the pointless match of a curtain jerker and a guy who isn’t even part of the roster, with both men being backed up by Major League Baseball players.
Oh No.
Lance Hoyt & David Eckstein defeated Dale Torborg and AJ Perzinski. This was 5 minutes and 30 seconds of my life that I’ll never get back.
As the show continued we were treated to another gimmick match. Cool.
A few months ago, a friend told me that Rhino had heat with Russo. It sure seems that way because Rhino hasn’t won a match in forever. He lost last night to AJ Styles in a match that seemed to have 1000 stipulations. They were attached with a chain, had to find a key on a pole, – get a nightstick, kiss a midget… you know, the usual Motor City Chain Match.
Jerry Lynn and Chris Sabin had a pretty good match, but again too short. Just over 13 minutes for an X-Division championship isn’t nearly enough. Plus, one of the things I used to love about the X-Division was it’s ECW like quality, where virtually every match had a clean win. Especially the title matches. Didn’t matter if it was a heel or face going over. That has changed. Sabin won tonight, with a roll up after an attempted Cradle Piledriver, but he had to hold onto the ropes. Bah.
Robert Roode then came out while I was getting some chips and beer. He said something about Eric Young being his property now…Here’s an idea, how about letting Roode WRESTLE and have him get over THAT way?
Gail Kim and Petey Williams lost to Jackie (or Miss Tennessee) and James Storm. Miss T pinned the Toronto native with help from the Cowboy. At the end they beat the shit out of Petey before Pirate Chris Harris made the save.
Now it’s time for another heavily stipped match. This time, we’ll call it a Prison Yard Brawl – and it’s between the last two guys to hold the NWA title. The object – lock your opponent in a cage. Sting won. The crowd popped on a big powerbomb Abyss took through a barbed wire table. What else is new? Abyss takes everything in site. This guy deserves a lot more than he has gotten.
The one thing that saved this show was the main event. Kurt Angle and Christian worked so hard, I ignored the fact that Russo tried to clusterfuck it with run ins and enforcers and interference.
Angle took 3 Unprettiers! He also had a few SICK high spots, and managed to get the old grapevine ankle lock. Unfortunately for him, the ref had taken a bump. Scott Steiner had run down and left a pipe in the ring. Cage used it to knock Angle senseless and retain his undefeated streak and his title. Cage has been undefeated in TNA for 13 months, while Angle has two losses in the last three.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on tha show…
8 comments: on "Against All Odds Stunk Of Russo"
wow
what can you say other than the hiring of Vince Russo meant this company took 3 steps back at a time when they needed to be forward moving.
Could some blame go to Jeff Jarrett and Dutch Mantel who are also on booking team?
I never thought it would come to the point where I would say this, and I know this doesn't really have anything to do with it, but...
I actually miss Jeff Jarrett. The days where he was champ(even when Russo was writing) were way better than the crap being put out now.
TNA should sign Paul Birchill and team he and Harris up. Keep Harris with the patch and have Birchill playing up the Jack Sparrow gimmick, and not realize that it's actually from an "injury" and have them be the Pirates of the Impactzonebean.
I swear I haven't been drinking.
On a serious note, while he did do some good shit at one point, Vinny Ru has earned the title of King Clusterf*ck. Why would he have the ref take multiple bumps, Steiner come down and do nothing but drop a pipe, have Joe toss the referee about and have A.J. show up for 13 seconds? And I couldn't agree more about Team3D, what in the hell are they doing with them? LAX is a good team, but damn. And even though it's unfortunate and sad, it's good they included Konnan, but exactly how imposing is a man in a wheelchair? I wounder if at Lockdown they'll have a Stl Arch cage match as the main event? I've got it, A.J. vs. Rhyno in a gateway to the west match. Stipulations include, grabbing a key again, doing a line dance, playing musical chairs, putting the key back, playing musical chairs backward, jumping rope 37 times, without being interupted by your opponent, run a lap around the outside of the building, climb a ladder, descend the other side, repeat steps 1-9, and then to win, you do 5 jumping jacks before your opponent. Now dammit, I dont care what you say thats money right there.
You forgot the mid-match spelling bee.
Obviously the show was overbooked before it began, and Russo through in more than enough extras to overbook it even more.
Yesterday on TNAwrestling.com before the PPV, there was a message thanking the fans for making last Thursday's Impact the highest rated impact ever.
Point being? More people tuning in makes Russo look like gold.
I don't know about you, but I am with Lance Storm. I am boycotting TNA until either Russo is gone or there is some type of change in his booking. Why boycott TNA and not WWE?
Storm said it best: "WWE is thriving; they make money, lots of money (grossing $380 million per year). There is little to no chance they are going to go out of business any time soon. There is more chance of WWE shutting down because Vince losses interest than due to financial concerns. TNA on the other hand is losing money, LOTS of money ($10 million per year). Without it’s financial backers TNA cannot exist. At some point in time people investing money in a business expect a return on that investment. If that point in time comes before TNA is able to turn business around and actually make money or at least break even, so it can survive without money backers, it’s game over, no more TNA."
The mid-match spelling bee would indeed generate much more money. Good idea, WHAT WAS I THINKING?
I love this site, but will somebody ANYBODY please change that damn picture. Looking at Vince Russo shirtless is almost as bad as seeing Mae Young topless at the Royal Rumble 6 or 7 years ago. Not that bad but you get the drift.
It takes a real man to fess up to his mistakes and I'm fessing up to one now. I thought Vince Russo was a genius, back in the day. Now I think he has just lost his goddamned mind. And the worse part is that the careers of the great, the descent, and the crappy wrestlers of TNA are gonna have to suffer. Dumb gimmick matches, bad booking, and out-of-date crash TV is worse than a Paris Hilton talk show idea(just the idea).
Zyrone Simmons
ass cheese!
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