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2.22.2008

Thursday Night Smash: A Few Changes

There has been a change in Tha O Show lineup. Tha TNA article will be handled by DJB, and "SmackDown!" will be handled by Christopher Casur, due to a scheduling conflict.

Watching "iMPACT!" last night made me think that TNA could be really good. They just need to cut out the stupid things they do. Some of the gimmicks are unnecessary. Rellik? Come on, that can’t be something TNA is proud of.

"iMPACT!" had some very good moments, but as I said, the stupid things kill it. For AJ Styles playing his character beautifully there is the unnecessary Abyss gimmick. That character has been played out for more than a year, so just let it go.

Before I get into it too heavily allow me this tangent. This goes hand-in-hand with Andrew Gray's theories on improving TNA. My feeling is that they should not be doing business the way they are. They are hoping to compete with WWE. They are doing so on a local level, very local, much like a mom and pop burger joint tries to compete with McDonalds.

They are a global entity but are running themselves like a local indy. TNA is apparently a big deal in the UK and that is great for them. They seem to be missing though that they aren't even competitive with WWE's major brands. They need to improve themselves, stop running it like a local company and go national. Do what Bischoff did with WCW, if you don't know what I mean go read Andrew's articles.

For every single shot of Karen Angle, there is Don West on commentary. By the way, if you read this article and don’t like seeing Karen Angle being called hot, I don’t know what to tell you. Should we post an article where someone talks about hot guys? Would that be more to your taste, I think there is a friend of Tha O Show who qualifies.

Seriously though, I saw today where Don West won an award in the Observer for being wrestling’s worst commentator. I hope TNA has a booker that reads the Observer and someone finally decides to the pull the plug on Mr. Home Shopping Extravaganza.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, AJ Styles is the best actor/character in wrestling right now bar none. I cannot think of a character that is more interesting or better portrayed than the Prince of Phenomenal. Not to mention the fact that it just shows how much AJ has improved on the mic since his debut in TNA.

I really like that TNA is strongly pushing the Knocked up Division. Allow me to take one moment to say that I’m really glad Roxxi ditched the makeup and gimmick she was wearing. Major improvement from where it was. I also don’t hate the pairing of ODB and Gail Kim. ODB though is at a 10, and I’d much rather her be at a 7. The energy is much too high for my taste, sorry Christopher.


I like the trio of Joe, Nash, and Christian. It’s a great trio and especially since they aren’t setting it up to be a long term thing. They’re pushing it as a short term deal to combat another short-term group. It allows for several feuds to branch off from this, giving it even more room to get bigger and better.

I don’t understand this pairing of Black Reign and Rellik, and I also don’t understand how Kaz is the anti-EY. I don’t get where they’re going with this but I would have popped for them shooting off EY’s pyro when he was creeping down the ramp.

Heel on me if you must, but I’m going to keep talking about how good AJ was tonight, how good was it you may ask? It was so good that I watched those segments on DVR again. Alligator Nuggets are phenomenal. That was one of the top 3 lines of the night. Karen Angle did a really good job pulling off her character as well.

It was nice to see some consistency not just having a “phantom” camera following them around and it was at least the maid of honor. Borash no doubt deserves credit for being the butt of most of the TNA jokes. Thank God Slick Johnson isn’t at the forefront of storylines anymore though.

What TNA needs to do is drop some of the filler and just go with wrestling. Instead of a goofy segment where they tease Sonjay being pissed at Lethal for getting with Val why not have them wrestle? I did enjoy the triple threat match, nice to see Devine still on TV.

What’s up with Maple Leaf Muscle? I like the pairing of he and Steiner and Raka Khan, it’s like Dr. Steroid and Mini-HGH. Petey does need a push. He can work, and he’s got the best finisher in wrestling. He needs another run with the X strap, and I think he and Lethal in an extended program could work.

The Booker T/Bobby Roode program is money. Obviously it’s not being rushed, but it isn’t moving along too slowly. It’s moving at a solid pace, and the payoff will be an actual payoff instead of a quick little blown load that never meant anything.

I popped for the promo Booker cut in the back. I really popped to hear him say, “It’s on like neck bone,” took me back to the days of Harlem Heat. Booker is getting back to where he was, no comedy, just a straight character, and I like that, its very non-WWE and actually, very non-TNA at the moment.

The main event itself was fairly solid. It’s almost too much to give away on free TV, but it’s TNA and nobody watches anyway, so what does it matter? Hell do that to bring them in, but once you get them there, start charging them for it. Had the finish been clean then it would have definitely been too much for free TV.


9 comments: on "Thursday Night Smash: A Few Changes"

Anonymous said...

I'm really liking the idea of a Samoa Joe/Kurt Angle cage match at Lockdown for the title. If they run the match straight with no run-in's it could be a five star classic.

Would be intresting to see the Roode/Booker feud come to an end at Lockdown as well.

D.J.B. said...

TNA can REALLY do LockDown right this year, here's hoping they don't ruin it.

Booker and Roode and Samoa Joe/Angle could both be MoY candidates.

That may be the hardest part to digest, because TNA's talent puts WWE's to shame from the X-Division all the way to the heavyweights but they still can't shake all the ignorant stuff off of TV to get over the hump.

Anonymous said...

Kip James/BG James feud

OH MY GOD!!! OH MY GOD!!! OH MY GOD!!! KEVIN NASH VS KURT ANGLE NEXT WEEK!!! - Don West

Enough said.

Christopher Casúr said...

It's too bad Petey Williams wasn't at the ACC last night, a certain team there could've used all the "Maple Leaf Muscle" they could get.

SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!
SCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE!

On a serious note, though, if I could describe TNA in one word, it would be inconsistent. In more respects than just the storylines, as well. The way they run their company as a whole smacks of schizophrenia. Sometimes they market themselves like a small indy fed, other times they market themselves like a large indy fed, and sometimes they market themsevles as a national power. It shows that the people at the top aren't entirely sure of just how big the company is when they do things like that. Take a stand on how big you are and how much you have to improve to become a sports entertainment empire, and go from there. Change some personnel if needed (by the way, TNA...it is needed. Badly).

Anonymous said...

If they make Joe and Angle's match straight forward with no b.s. storyline crap or retarded last second run ins, it could be one of the most historical cage match since Flair and Race at the first Starrcade.

I'd love to see the Booker/Roode feud end at Lockdown in a bloody as hell bout.

If they promise that, it won't be to hard to choose between which ppv to get: Wrestlemania (another Cena/Triple H main event... why God... oh why!?!) or Lockdown?

Anonymous said...

Missed the show, does anyone have a link?

D.J.B. said...

Spike airs a replay every Saturday night at 11:00pm.

I'm hoping LockDown is something really good this year. I've enjoyed them before, but I've always waited on the DVD. This year may change my mind if everything that builds towards is done correctly.

TNA isn't far from it, but as Casur said, the inconsistency is killing them, or WILL kill them.

Anonymous said...

I thought the show was great, the AJ and Karen angles went a little long but other than that I can find little flaw.
DJB one second you're praising AJ and Karen (who was really selling it) and the next you're saying less filler more wrestling?
I like RELLIK, he's gonna be great for other guys to go over on. I thought his character started to really show something this week. Another good thing is that he can loose the match and still come out looking strong.
Anyone read the Heyman article over on the Sun? He mentions that TNA's greatest failing is lack of brand, but after watching this week I think I would disagree. If you look carefully you can see TNA pairing up 'their' guys with bigger name guys. I don't know why I didn't see it before now. I just hope they can handle it properly and actually create some brand recognition with their guys.
Interestingly enough their strongest area right now is the women's division, which I would say is entirely TNA (Jackie hasn't had enough presence in WWE recently to qualify as a former WWE star I believe).
I like saying Raka Khan, out loud rolling my R's. Petey needs his own freak now!

D.J.B. said...

Yeah I'll praise AJ and Karen for how good they were, but there should only be one or two things that center outside the ring. Have that and Samoa Joe in Cornette's office. Dont do the backstage interviews ala WWE.

Wrestle and have 3 or 4 segments of backstage stuff.

Rellik isn't going to be a factor in anything therefore I don't see keeping him around. We're reliving Kane through Abyss, we're reliving Goldust's early days with Black Reign, we're reliving Migraines with Jusas Messyass. So why add yet another character to this mold? There should be a 3 man quota on characters with mental issues.

He doesn't need to look strong, and TNA needs to keep its focus on X-Division and it's own World title, not on EY shitting himself because Rellik is a monster, only to have Kaz bury it by saying he's just a normal guy, just a wrestler.