Tha iMPACT! Investigation

Coming off the highest-rated show in company history, I decided this week’s show deserved a closer look. Plus, one or two O-sters complain that Tha O Show doesn’t cover TNA anymore, and I aim to please. Just don’t expect this to be a weekly thing.

Last week's higher-than-ever rating for "iMPACT!" was likely due to the Sting-Angle Empty Arena Match. Last night, Mike Tenay said over 2 million people watched the match. What can we make of that? I think we can say that the Main Event Mafia storyline was a good idea, as I've said a bunch of times -- clearly, there's still interest in these former WWF/E and WCW Superstars, and in Angle and Sting in particular.

However, the MEM-Front Line storyline is still not working as it should. TNA should use the interest in the MEM members as a way to get those same fans interested in Front Line guys like Samoa Joe, A.J. Styles, MCMG, etc -- because, (as much as they'll try and do try), Angle, Nash, Steiner, Booker et al won't be around forever.

On tnawrestling.com this past week, in “A Message from President Dixie Carter,” along with a sexy picture of the President, we got this message:

I want to take this opportunity to personally thank all of you for making last Thursday's edition of TNA "iMPACT!" the most-watched broadcast in our company's history.

Last October, we invited wrestling fans around the world to "Cross The Line" and sample our product, whether it was watching "iMPACT!", ordering a Pay-Per-View, experiencing a live show or even visiting our website. We asked that if you enjoyed it, you would tell a friend about us. Well, you have responded and we are so grateful.

Since that time, TNA has also accomplished several major milestones including our debut in Hi-Def on SpikeTV, our first live television special from Las Vegas, our biggest event of the year with Bound For Glory and our hugely successful tour of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland.

In 2009, we will celebrate seven years in business. The little company who no one gave a chance has grown by leaps and bounds because of you, our fans. We will continue to work hard to earn your support. Several big things are already being planned including April's brutal, all-steel cage pay-per-view, Lockdown, in Philadelphia, new superstars, new programming, a reinvigorated focus on the X Division, expansion of our online digital world and so much more.

Once again, all thanks to you. You are loyal and passionate and we don't take this opportunity you have given us for granted.

Dixie Carter
President, TNA Wrestling

Clearly, TNA is excited about last week’s rating and the supposed growth of the company (you can add being available on iTunes to their list of recent growth strategies), and they obviously tried to capitalize on the interest in Sting-Angle by focusing most of last night's 2-hour program on that feud. The show started with Tenay and Don West alone in the iMPACT! Zone recapping last week’s main event; there were numerous backstage segments focusing on the MEM; and the top of each hour involved a MEM in-ring segment.

In the first of those in-ring segments, Nash showed once again that he can cut a hell of a promo – be it serious or comedic. However, pitting “the office” (i.e., Jarrett and Foley) against the MEM is a potentially dangerous reversal of the traditional heel-face roles. Plus, when you think about it, the Main Event Mafia are only in the “main event” because Jarrett (the “founder of TNA” as he’s called himself for over a month now) put them in that spot. Admittedly, Jarrett using his power to try to split up the MEM does make sense.

More nitpicking about the in-ring MEM segments: Jarrett should have cut his promos on the entrance ramp rather than in the ring. All I could think of while he was talking was: why don’t they just beat the shit out of him if they want him to stop antagonizing Sting and Angle? Thankfully, they did beat up Jarrett at the end of the show but it was only after Jarrett got Angle to sign the contract.

When Sting came down and cracked Angle with the baseball bat, the crowd popped huge - so they must be doing something right.

Quick Hits on the rest of the show:

-I can’t believe Cute Kip still has a job. Can someone find him a tag team partner and make them face Beer Money?

-Speaking of the champs, they had a lot to live up to after the awesome match with Petey Williams and Showtime Eric Young last week. Sure, the outcome of the match was predictable – after all, the Rock N Rave Infection haven’t been on TV in a long time. But I have to give Don West credit as he actually did a good job in trying to put the match over, essentially saying: what do Jimmy Rave and Lance Rock have to lose? They haven’t been on TV for awhile, so they might as well take a risk and go for the TNA tag team titles.

The crowd was into the match – I suspect it was at least in part due to knowing that it would be either Rave’s or Lance Rock’s (I can’t just put “Rock's”) last match. In other words, the crowd response was sort of a send-off tribute. It was a classic heel finish: Jackie distracted the ref while Lance Rock had Roode pinned, Storm hit Lance with the tag belt, and Roode made the cover. Perhaps Rave’s job is safe for now as it was his partner that took the pinfall. But that would go against internet reports, and we all know that everything on the internet is true.

-The Dr. Stevie Stuff is fucking stupid – but I have to admit, the Jonas Brothers joke actually made laugh (it was a small laugh). Why can’t Abyss just be the monster heel that he should be?

-Samoa Joe putting a knife to Scott Steiner’s throat was WAY too much. Sure, it looked like a dollar store plastic sword, but still, this is wrestling – you’re supposed to settle disputes in the ring, and not by, you know, murdering someone.

-After the Joe-Steiner “knife-to-the-throat” segment, and while Jarrett was cutting his promo backstage, my girlfriend asked me, “Why is there, like, no wrestling?”

Laughing, I said, “That’s TNA for you. I’m putting that on Tha O Show.”

-Randy Orton is so over right now that even TNA is trying to get some rub-alaz. In his Hardcore History gimmick, Foley mentioned that his best match was against Orton in 2004 at Backlash.

-I’m not sure what to make of Don West’s “shoot” promo. Am I missing something? It seemed to me like it came out of nowhere. Anyways, there are a couple of things to like about it:

1. There’s got to be some truth behind the emotion he showed, as I’m sure he’s aware of the criticism of his work.

2. Anything that might lead to West leaving the announce booth is OK with me.

-The Awesome Kong and Raisha Saeed vs. Sojournor Bolt and Rhaka Khan tag match was a cluster – but Kong’s powerbomb of Bolt on top of Khan was fucking stiff. You should check it out if you didn’t see it last night. Khan will be feeling that for weeks.

-The Rough Cut segment last night and other promos over the past few weeks have done a god job of making the Ultimate X match seem like a big deal. The X-Division ladder match last night, however, was lacklustre at best. Sabin and Lethal took some sick bumps onto the ladder, but those two spots were pretty much the only things of note. Oh ya, and the Suicide gimmick sucks.

-Overall, maybe this is the best we can expect from TNA. There’s not a lot of wrestling on “iMPACT!” but the wrestling they do have is certainly unique when compared to what WWE is offering. TNA has a far superior tag team division headed by champions who are super-over; there’s more interest in the Knockouts division than there is in the WWE Divas (Santino doesn’t count as a Diva); and the X-Division guys provide TNA with the types of matches that WWE does not offer. To top it off, the show is carried by a storyline that - based on the numbers - people are interested in. It was far from a perfect show, but like I said, maybe this is the most we can expect from TNA.

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