PWTORCH.COM
VIP SIGN-UP JUMP TO VIP
CONTACT US VISIT MMA TORCH




Select Next Article by Category





TAKE PWTORCH
WITH YOU!

PWTORCH IPHONE APP
Get our iPhone App (FREE!): Click Here
Or enter "PWTorch.com" on your Blackberry or other Smart Phone browser for mobile-version of PWTorch.


The Specialists
7/3 TNA Impact Hits & Misses: Beer Money, World X-Cup, Angle's Dates, Sting
Jul 4, 2008 - 2:19:03 PM


By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

IMPACT HITS

Beer Money: I am not sure how I feel about the name of Robert Roode and James Storm’s team. Part of me loves it, and part of me thinks it is very stupid. But, this Hit is for the team itself, while I try to reconcile how I feel about the name. After a bad promo from Hector Guerrero with LAX via satellite, Beer Money came out and Storm rightly pointed out that he couldn’t understand what Hector was talking about. Beer Money vs. Motor City Machine Guns was a fun, but too short match. I was surprised by the outcome, but I guess that Beer Money had to lose in order to set up them snapping on everyone in sight. I must admit that part of this Hit is for them whipping Don West, as he deserved it. I don’t understand where the rest of Team TNA was. If I’m Chris Sabin or Alex Shelley I am upset at my team. It was a memorable snap for Beer Money (I think I like the name a bit more every time I write it). As if they weren’t having a good enough night, Storm later introduced their cheesy Beer Money t-shirts. The fact that they were home made fit in perfectly with Storm’s cheap character. Storm and Roode are starting to develop good chemistry together. Their Main Event match vs. Kevin Nash & Samoa Joe was nothing special, but right now they are my favorite thing going in TNA. But, the fact that they lost twice and are the #1 contenders for the Tag Team Championships isn’t a good sign.

Booker T: Booker T had another fun little segment in his locker room with Jeremy Borash. He is playing his part well right now. I still am a bit worried about it going too far towards the King Booker gimmick, but it has been good so far. I like how he actually treats Borash well. It would be too easy for him to refuse to let Borash have some of the champagne for instance. The fact that he is treating Borash so well is a nice twist on a typical heel character, and I am curious to know whether or not there is something else more to his character. Either way, it has been fun so far.

IMPACT MISSES

Opening Segment: This was a poor episode of Impact. There was very little to like and it got off to a bad start. The show opened with AJ Styles and Karen Angle coming to the ring. Styles complained that Karen can’t do her job, because she is afraid. Remind me, what exactly is her job again? The show turned so trashy so quickly with Brother Ray’s rant about women. Rhino hasn’t been exciting in a long time, so I couldn’t get excited about him coming to Styles’ aid. His challenge to Team 3D and Kurt Angle was almost incomprehensible. What a surprise, the big six man tag match at the PPV will have a gimmick. Oh boy. And the fans get to choose. Rhino said the choice is between a Tables match, and a Full Metal Mayhem match (which I guess is TNA’s version of TLC), and later we found out that the fans can also vote for Falls Count Anywhere, although that wasn’t one of the original choices. This whole deal failed to get me excited about the PPV, or the rest of the show. The opening then featured the first of three blind dates for Kurt, but I will be talking about those...

Angle’s Dates: Now. Last week I was looking forward to the comedic possibilities of watching Kurt Angle going on blind dates. Unfortunately, the TNA writers apparently don’t know anything about comedy, as these three scenes were not funny period. Instead of trying to be clever, TNA went for the cheap joke route with a fat woman, a man in drag, and a woman with “ass problems” as Kurt said. They were not funny at all. And what was the pay off? A joke at Brother Devon’s expense that these are his types of women. That was a lot of wasted time.

World X-Cup: Stop the pain already. The silver lining of this convoluted, horribly booked and ridiculously inconsequential dark cloud of a “tournament” is that it is supposed to provide us fans with a nice dose of X-Division action. That was clearly not the case this week. I still don’t care about any of these international wrestlers. I’m still not sure we’ve met all of Team Mexico or Team Japan. I’m fairly certain that half of Team International and Team Mexico haven’t wrestled yet. This week we didn’t get the type of fast past fun action we’ve gotten during the first round. Rey Bucanero vs. Alex Koslov was 2 minutes, and the only memorable moment was that botched looking spot when Bucanero dropped Koslov on the back of his head, which isn’t a good type of memorable. Then we are introduced (I use that term lightly) to Milano Collection AT. Without any type of introduction, how am I supposed to take him seriously when he comes to the ring with an invisible dog (those leashes haven’t been cool since 1988, and I don’t think they were technically cool back then either). His match vs. Curry Man was only 4 minutes. That’s better than 2 minutes, but not much. I don’t care about any of these teams, or who wins. The entire “tournament” process is pointless as we all know it is going to come down to the Ultimate X. So why have the other rounds since they mean nothing?

Rough Cut: TNA, please stop talking about WWE. This isn’t going to get Matt Morgan over. There is a reason why WWE doesn’t mention other wrestling promotions. They know that they are #1 and they don’t have to. Maybe if you start to think about yourself as being #1 you won’t have such an inferiority complex. Why should I think of you as anything but a second rate promotion, when you constantly bring up a first rate promotion? It isn’t helping anyone or the company itself. Plus, by making a big deal about how Morgan was scripted in WWE to have a stuttering gimmick, it is reminding the audience that your product is scripted too. You want Morgan to seem like a bad ass, but if he was scripted to be a stuttering idiot as you say, that means he is being scripted to be a bad ass. It doesn’t make him a bad ass, it reminds us that he is only a character.

Sting: I am convinced that Sting needs to retire. He has barely done anything in TNA this year. I know that he wanted a smaller role, and that is fine. But why should I care about him randomly showing up in the rafters if he hasn’t been on t.v. other than those horrible interviews a while back with Mike Tenay? I am finding it difficult to get into the whole Nash vs. Joe angle, and throwing Sting into the mix isn’t going to make me any more interested. Maybe TNA has something great in mind that will slowly be revealed over the next few weeks (I doubt it). At least for now I was left with the feeling that Kevin Nash and Sting are now both over shadowing the Champion and the challenger heading into the PPV.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and TNA Impact each week. Email him at jmezz-torch@sbcglobal.net.

For another view from the original Hitlist author, compare Jason Powell's views to mine by visiting prowrestling.NET's "Hitlist" section here.


Send feedback on this article to pwtorch@gmail.com and we'll regularly publish reader feedback in the "Torch Feedback" category on the Main Listing.

For more BREAKING NEWS on WWE, TNA!
VISIT OUR AFFILIATE - PROWRESTLING.NET


For UFC & MMA NEWS & BLOGS:
VISIT OUR SISTER SITE - MMATORCH.COM

Upgrade to PWTORCH VIP: DETAILS & SIGN-UP INFO


MORE "The Specialists" ARTICLES
11/19 WWE Superstars Hits & Misses: Rosa Mendes, Eric Escobar, Lackluster Show
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE - TNA Impact 11/19: Forgotten history between A.J. and Angle, TNA's new cameras, Pope gets referee assist, Numbers - The Rock a horrible tag champ
HITS & MISSES - TNA IMPACT 11/12: Review of last week's show before tonight's Impact - Wolfe-Angle build-up, Lethal loses to Niedhart
11/17 WWE ECW Hits & Misses: Intensity, Hurricane vs. Burchill, Regal & Punk vs. Christian & Truth
11/16 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Miz vs. MVP, Piper - McMahon, Kingston's Moment, Survivor Series Hype, JeriShow vs. DX vs. Cena & Taker
ABSURDITY OF IT ALL - WWE Raw: Kofi's Boom Drop In The Garden, Triple H Fears Hornswoggle, Piper To Star In John Carpenter's "They Bald" Starring Hulk Hogan
ABSURDITY OF IT ALL - TNA Turning Point: Rewarding Main Events, Nash And "The Fingerpoke of Doom" Incident, Why Jay Lethal Should Be A TNA Cameraman
11/13 WWE Smackdown Hits & Misses: Punk vs. Truth, Lame DQ, Ziggler vs. Morrison, Jericho vs. Undertaker
PARKS BLOG: A Mind-Boggling, Legendary Loss for Jay Lethal on Impact
GARDNER'S KEY MOMENT OF THE WEEK: Where the Survivor Series build-up has fallen short
ABSURDITY OF IT ALL - WWE Smackdown: Chris Jericho vs. Undertaker For The First-Time Ever, Batista Wants To Snap His Friend's Neck, Jim Neidhart Squashes Evan Bourne
WILKENFELD'S TNA Turning Point 2009 PPV Preview
11/12 WWE Superstars Hits & Misses: Hardy vs. Smith, MVP vs. DiBiase
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE - TNA Impact 11/12: Jay Lethal's ridiculous Impact losing streak, More 1980s music quotes, What else does STF mean?, Numbers - top and bottom title averages
PARKS BLOG: WWE could learn something about character development from Food Network's WWE-themed show
11/10 WWE ECW Hits & Misses: Abraham Washington, Ryder's Fantasy, Christian vs. Regal
11/9 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Miz - Swagger, Guerrero vs. Hatton, VIP Lounge, Cena vs. Triple H vs. Michaels Hype
ABSURDITY OF IT ALL - WWE Raw: Trust Funds Babies vs. Ex-Cons, Two Things for C.M. Punk Fans To Look Out For, DX and Cena To Break Sensational Record
ABSURDITY OF IT ALL - TNA Impact: "Do Not Undermine Mother TNA, Comrades. TNAism Will Crush The Weak And Corrupt North!"
ABSURDITY OF IT ALL - Greed Is Good For PPV Business (Just Not For You), Jericho vs. Undertaker, Punk vs. Scott Armstrong, Batista vs. My Boredom

(c) 1999-2009 TDH Communications Inc. - All rights reserved.

Current Top Ten Staff Picks
Staff Picks
TORCH TALK DAILY with Eric Bischoff: In-depth look at why Vince McMahon is marketing the WWE product as PG family-friendly
WWE News: TOP STORY - "The Rock" Dwayne Johnson working with WWE on a TV project beyond guest-hosting Raw
WWE News: Linda McMahon reveals the McMahon Family's vast wealth in Senate campaign filing
WWE News: Raw TV ratings are in - Did Raw rebound from the 2009 year-low?
WWE News: WWE announces guest hosts for the next four weeks of Raw, including two new names
Hogan News: Watch VIDEO of the Hulkamania Press Conference breaking down into a staged fight (w/VIDEO)
TNA News: SPOILERS - first two matches announced for TNA's December PPV
MOJO MITCHELL'S WWE RAW 11/16: Stream of Piper In The Back, Hornswoggle Stabbed in the Back, An MSG Look Back, Mr. McMahon Backs Out, Kofi Kingston Backs Randy Orton Up
CALDWELL'S WWE RAW REPORT 11/16: Complete coverage of Roddy Piper hosting, DX vs. Cena & Taker vs. Jericho & Show
TNA News: Kurt Angle suffers back injury at Sunday's Turning Point PPV


TORCH QUICK-CLICK REFERENCE LIST
-CLICK TO FOLLOW PWTORCH ON TWITTER!
-CLICK FOR OUR FREE PWTORCH IPHONE APP

-CLICK FOR OUR FREE PODCAST (#1 in iTunes!)
-CLICK TO GET INFO ON BECOMING A VIP MEMBER
-CLICK TO VISIT MMATORCH.COM
-CLICK TO VISIT PROWRESTLING.NET

-CLICK TO EMAIL PWTORCH EDITORS




PWTORCH READER POLL

SMACKDOWN POLL: Who was the MVP of the 11/20 Smackdown if you saw the show?
The Undertaker
Kane
Chris Jericho
Big Show
Batista
Rey Mysterio
Matt Hardy
Tyson Kidd
John Morrison
Dolph Ziggler
C.M. Punk
R-Truth
Drew McIntyre
Finlay
Mickie James
Layla
Eric Escobar
Vince McMahon
Teddy Long
Vickie Guerrero
  

VOTE IN OR SEE RESULTS OF PREVIOUS POLLS

ARE YOU VIP? SIGN UP NOW FOR $7.50 A MONTH FOR INSTANT ACCESS TO AD-FREE, BENEFIT-PACKED VIP VERSION OF PWTORCH.COM (see screen capture)
PWTORCH VIP HOME PAGE

INFO ON SUBSCRIPTION TO AD-FREE VIP SITE

INCREDIBLE BENEFITS!
Over 50 full-length audio updates per month (iPod compatible)... New weekly award-winning Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter (text and printable pdf versions) with latest exclusive insider news, new Torch Talks, great columns, Keller's cover story, much more... Hundreds of full-length back issues of PWTorch Newsletter from late-'80s to today... Ad-free access to PWTorch.com's Main Listing... VIP Forum with interaction with other subscribers and Torch staff... Torch Talk Library with text and audio of hundreds of interview installments from last 20 years... Great layout... Deepest archives on pro wrestling history anywhere... Keller's PWTorch Today PDF Bulletins with email alerts... VIP Email reports on major PPVs and TV shows... Staff Roundtable Reviews (text and audio) followiing major events... The best staff of writers and world class reporting since 1987... We'd love for you to join us and experience the most entertaining, authoritative, experienced staff of professional reporters and commentators in the business...

SIGN ME UP NOW!

Compare the value of four or five months of PWTorch VIP content to the price of just one PPV. Can you cut 25 cents a day from your budget to make room for PWTorch VIP?

AND NEW FOR 2009!
Monthly "Vintage Audio Torch Talks." We are releasing for the first time ever audio versions of our text Torch Talk updates, the historical first series of insider interviews ever. Wade Keller's newsmaking in-depth interviews with wrestling's biggest names are now being made available exclusively to VIP members. But you must be a member each month, as these are not archived, so they are replaced with a new one each month! This debuted in January 2009 with a 68 minute interview with the late "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith. Who's next? Hulk Hogan? Eric Bischoff? The Rock? Goldberg? Jeff Hardy?

SIGN ME UP NOW!


UPCOMING EVENTS LISTING

Articles Grouped by Category
Torch Today
WWE RAW 11/16: Place Your Bets on tonight's Raw - Week 12 featuring Roddy Piper
WWE RAW 11/2: "Place your Bets" Scoreboard after Week 11 - Review the previous scores before tonight's Raw PYB contest
TORCH MONTHLY AWARDS: List of the 2009 Torch Monthly Award winners through October
WWE News
WWE News: What's on Smackdown tonight - Taker & Kane vs. Big Show & Jericho
WWE News: Jim Ross comments on possible WrestleMania 26 return, current WWE contract status
TORCH TALK DAILY with Eric Bischoff: In-depth look at why Vince McMahon is marketing the WWE product as PG family-friendly
TNA News
TNA News: TNA Impact ratings break down - Inside the numbers on TNA's recent ratings trends
TNA News: Impact rating is in - how did post Turning Point episode fare?
TNA News: Details on Chris Sabin re-injuring his neck at this week's Impact tapings
ROH News
ROH News: ROH Title match signed for Final Battle; Air dates for McGuinness and Danielson's Farewell speeches
ROH News: Ring of Honor announces details on Austin Aries's next ROH Title defense
ROH News: Tonight is Bryan Danielson's final ROH match - details on tonight's special ROH TV episode (w/VIDEO)
Other News
PWG News: First round matches for tonight's Battle of Los Angeles tournament - Aries vs. Kendrick; Cabana, Shelley, Strong in action
Hogan News: Hulkamania Tour secures TV deal in Australia, Notes on Hogan & Flair arriving at the airport to begin the tour
Austin News: Steve Austin to appear in new season of NBC's "Chuck" show
PPV Reports
CALDWELL'S TNA TURNING POINT PPV REPORT 11/15: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of A.J. Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Daniels
RADICAN'S DGUSA "Untouchable" PPV review - Doi vs. Danielson, Shingo vs. Richards
10/25 WWE Bragging Rights Results: KELLER'S detailed match-by-match PPV report - Cena vs. Orton Iron Man match
TV Reports
PARKS' WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 11/20: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of the show, including Jericho & Show vs. Undertaker & Kane
CALDWELL'S WWE SUPERSTARS TV REPORT 11/19: Complete coverage of Henry vs. Rhodes on WGN
PARKS' TNA IMPACT REPORT 11/19: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of the post-Turning Point show
Arena Reports
11/14 TNA in Scranton, Pa.: Second Report - Styles vs. Joe vs. Daniels, Chris Sabin vs. Suicide, Amazing Red vs. Homicide
11/14 WWE in Dublin: The Undertaker very limited in the ring vs. C.M. Punk, Rey vs. Dolph, Very interesting John Morrison vs. Matt Hardy match, No Jericho
11/14 TNA in Scranton, Pa.: Home of "The Office" delivers Styles vs. Joe vs. Daniels and Amazing Red vs. Homicide PPV warm-up matches
MMA / UFC Coverage
MMA News: Update on Brock Lesnar's health - how long Lesnar had been dealing with health problems, expected return to UFC
MMA News: Brock Lesnar health update - UFC president much more optimistic than this weekend
MMA News: Brock Lesnar released from the hospital tonight; Lesnar's UFC future in doubt
KELLER'S TAKE
KELLER BLOG: WrestleMania goes up to $55, all other PPVs $45 - let the pirate feed frenzy begin
KELLER BLOG: Dixie Carter asks wrestlers to step it up, but what does that mean? Shouldn't their goal to be winning matches and nothing else?
KELLER FLASHBACK: Review of Hulk Hogan's first autobiography - Hogan's political maneuvers evident in who he protects and buries
MITCHELL'S TAKE
MITCHELL FLASHBACK (Dec. 1994): C.M. Punk's character is the latest Vince McMahon creation responding to criticism of his WWE product
MOJO MITCHELL'S WWE RAW 11/16: Stream of Piper In The Back, Hornswoggle Stabbed in the Back, An MSG Look Back, Mr. McMahon Backs Out, Kofi Kingston Backs Randy Orton Up
MOJO MITCHELL'S RAW 11/2: Stream of My Fourth Grade Hero and The Mid-Card Kicks Main Event Ass
MCNEILL'S TAKE
The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down: McNEILL previews TNA Turning Point 2009!
McNEILL BLOG: The Big Questions About Hulk Hogan in TNA
Fight For Your Right to Bragging: McNEILL Previews WWE Bragging Rights!
CALDWELL'S TAKE
CALDWELL'S PPV/DVD REVIEW: Dragon Gate USA's "Open the Historic Gate" debut event - Review of whether following DGUSA is worth your time and money
CALDWELL'S TUESDAY CHAT w/GREG PARKS: Raw, Smackdown, TNA PPV discussion - MSG crowd, Survivor Series hype, Kofi breaks out, CSI:Miami vs. 30 Rock
CALDWELL'S BLOG: Hitting the hot topics - Raw tonight, Turning Point vs. Survivor Series, Jesse Ventura, Brock Lesnar, Shane McMahon
RADICAN'S TAKE
RADICAN: A list of things wresters and TNA fans can support for Dixie Carter
RADICAN'S SHIMMER Vol. 23 Review - Busic-Melissa, Kong-Martinez, MsChif-Deeb
RADICAN: Daddy's little girl V 2.0 debuts on Impact
The Specialists
11/19 WWE Superstars Hits & Misses: Rosa Mendes, Eric Escobar, Lackluster Show
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE - TNA Impact 11/19: Forgotten history between A.J. and Angle, TNA's new cameras, Pope gets referee assist, Numbers - The Rock a horrible tag champ
HITS & MISSES - TNA IMPACT 11/12: Review of last week's show before tonight's Impact - Wolfe-Angle build-up, Lethal loses to Niedhart
Guest Editorials
GUEST EDITORIAL: Disgruntled TNA fan says he's done with the promotion after today's Impact taping (Contains SPOILERS)
GUEST EDITORIAL: The ultimate irony - Hulk Hogan appears on TNA Impact and pre-taped TV sitcom promoting WWE on the same night
GUEST BOOK REVIEW: Hulk Hogan provides strong defense of his public image in new autobiography
Torch Feedback
ECW TV Reax #1: "C.M. Punk scoring the pin in the main event made Smackdown seem more important than ECW"
WWE Raw Reax #3: "While WWE delivered an above-quality show, they still haven't given viewers a reason to order Survivor Series"
WWE Raw Reax #2: "This was NOT one of the best Raws of 2009, but one of the worst..."
Ask the Editor
Ask the Editor: Wouldn't incorporating MMA-style holds into pro wrestling matches just be trying to be something it's not?
ASK THE EDITOR: Have the Michaels-Batista promos crossed a line with use of insider terms, references to "jobs"?
ASK THE EDITOR: Why do wrestlers in WWE refer to wrestling as "the business" and not "the sport"?
DVDs - VGames - Books
CALDWELL'S PPV/DVD REVIEW: Dragon Gate USA's "Open the Historic Gate" debut event - Review of whether following DGUSA is worth your time and money
RADICAN'S ROH DVD REVIEW SERIES: Death Before Dishonor VII: N2 - Storm-Hero, Ryan-Cabana
RADICAN'S SHIMMER Vol. 23 Review - Busic-Melissa, Kong-Martinez, MsChif-Deeb
Torch Flashbacks
PARKS'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 1 YR. AGO (11-21-08): Final Survivor Series build-up to Undertaker vs. Big Show casket match, Jeff Hardy vs. Triple H, Morrison & Miz
KELLER'S WWE SURVIVOR SERIES PPV REPORT 10 YRS. AGO (11-14-99): Big Show vs. Triple H vs. The Rock, Edge & Christian & Hardys team, Chris Jericho vs. Chyna
KELLER'S WWF SURVIVOR SERIES PPV REPORT 15 YRS. AGO (11-23-94): Bret Hart vs. Bob Backlund, Undertaker vs. Yokozuna, Team Hall & Waltman vs. Team Michaels & Nash
VIP Exclusive Features
11/20 Wade Keller Hotline - Guest Bruce Mitchell: Survivor Series Match by Match Preview & Predictions (20 min.)
11/20 Bruce Mitchell Audio Show: Listener Questions - How Vince McMahon was perceived before he took over, Outlaw Promotions stories, Sting Flips off Bruce, Albano Craziness (45 min.)
PWTorch Newsletter #1117/1118 (31 pages!): Raw at MSG, TNA Victory Road PPV Roundtable, Mitchell on Russo-Hogan, Keller on Dixie Speech, more
Torch Trivia
TORCH TRIVIA 2/28: Which wrestler backed out of a WWA PPV in February 2002?
TORCH TRIVIA 2/27: Who said this quote about Hulk Hogan's athleticism 11 years ago?
TORCH TRIVIA 2/25: What said this quote about WWE's mid-1990s drug testing policy?
Torch Instant Polls
SMACKDOWN POLL: Who was the MVP of the 11/20 Smackdown if you saw the show?
TNA IMPACT POLL: Who was the MVP of the 11/19 Impact if you saw the show?
ECW MVP POLL: Who was the MVP of the 11/17 ECW TV if you saw the show?
PWTorch Free Podcast
11/4 Nostalgia Audio with Brian Hoops: Format change to the show, new guest host, upcoming shows
FREE FOR ALL: 10/27 Bruce Mitchell Audio Special: Hogan-Bischoff-TNA story from all angles including Monday Night War II possibilities (32 min.)
6/23 Nostalgia Audio with Brian Hoops: Former WCW rapmaster PN News joins Brian Hoops to preview upcoming Midwest shows (10 min.)
Annual Obituaries
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 1999 - Muchnick, Rick Rude, Owen Hart, Renegade...
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 2000 - Solie, Albright, Duncum, Tsuruta, Blue Demon, Al Costello
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 2001: Johnny Valentine, Terry Gordy, Chris Adams, Bertha Faye, Helen Hart