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UNDER THE MICROSCOPE - TNA Impact 7/2: Paging Dr. Wayne Cowan, look at all those tag team titles, cool stats for wresters in debut matches in WWE vs. TNA
Jul 3, 2009 - 2:22:27 AM |
By Curtis Shanks, Torch specialist
Welcome to the TNA Impact edition of Under the Microscope. We're here to review all those little observations and tidbits you may have missed. This is not a detailed recap of the show, but a review for those of you that saw the show but didn't actually "watch" it.
After last week's show, we know that Samoa Joe is hard up for some cash, the X-Division is M.I.A., and Sting "sleeps with the fishes." But what else is there to notice? Let's see what we can spot. Cue the opening pyro.
Kurt Angle shows he is a game-show fan right off the bat tonight. Angle made a deal with Mick Foley last week for a World Title match, but Foley "tweaked" the stipulations. Angle gives Foley and option of "which door to choose" for a beat-down, and manages to ask "What am I? Monty Hall?" Aside from the fact that he displayed some bad grammar, Angle does get points for remembering one of the classic game show hosts in TV history.
Monty Hall hosted numerous game shows, but is best known as the former host of Let's Make A Deal. Hall spent almost 25 years as the host of the show which asked competitors, "Door number one, door number two, or door number three?" Hall was rewarded for his years in the television industry with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1973. Quite the accomplishment, as that prize is definitely not a "zonk."
Money is the main motivator for Kevin Nash, and it is evident in his interview with Mike Tenay this week. Nash references the Outsiders jumping from WWF to WCW, and proceeds to give some monetary figures to back-up his decisions. Nash references a Summerslam match he had with Scott Hall before the jump and the large difference in pay for the two involved. "I got 85 grand and you only got 45 grand. And we were in the same match. Man, you got screwed." The match Nash must be referring to was Summerslam 1994. Scott Hall (then known as Razor Ramon) defeated Kevin Nash (then known as Diesel) to win the Intercontinental Title. I don't know if getting screwed is the right response to that payoff. A $45,000 check for 14 minutes of work seems pretty decent to me.
Our main event for this week's show is set, as Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe will take on Jeff Jarrett and A.J. Styles in another multi-person World Title match. Angle hypes the match, saying "every time I battled Samoa Joe, I always wondered what It'd be like if he and I were a team." This is the first time the two have ever been on the same page, but they have tagged together before.
Victory Road 2007 saw a main event of Angle and Joe squaring off against Team 3D. At the time, Angle was the World Champ, Joe was the X champ, and 3D were the tag champs. Every title was on the line in the match, but the only title change we could see would be the winner taking the title of the man he defeated. Joe pinned Brother Ray to win sole possession of the tag belts, and was allowed to choose his tag team partner. Joe never picked a partner to share his tag title reign with, as he lost the tag belts to Kurt Angle (who later held them with Sting) at the next PPV.
Speaking of the Victory Road PPV, our next TNA PPV will in fact be Victory Road. It's not presented as one of the major PPVs on the schedule, but there is some history associated with the show. The first Victory Road was presented in November 2004, the first three-hour PPV in the company's history. Judging from past Victory Road PPVs, Kurt Angle's title should be safe later this month. We have seen eleven total title matches at Victory Road PPVs, but only two title changes. Both of those instances were tag title changes - 2004 and 2007.
Eric Young is tired of being the whipping-boy and a laughing stock, but is still stuck in mid-card purgatory. Young's job tonight is to face Rhino, the man he walked out on during the Slammiversary pre-show. We've seen Rhino training Jesse Neal lately, but it's been a while since we've seen him in the ring on Impact. Rhino's last television match was March 26, when he participated in the 20-man gauntlet match to close out the show. That match was to name captains for the Lethal Lockdown match, as Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle were declared the winners after 43 minutes of action. With Neal getting squashed during his first match, maybe Rhino is to blame as the ring-rust could be showing through his training.
Whether Impact is in the middle of a great segment, or a horrible one, you can always enjoy the show by simply listening to Don West (six months ago, I would have laughed if you told me I would one day type that sentence). West throws out some references this week as he is discussing the Dr. Stevie fiasco. He talks about other doctors who have gone to Harvard, mentioning Dr. House, Dr. Becker, and Dr. Wayne Cowan. Regular TV viewers should be familiar with Dr. House and Dr. Becker (Ted Danson), but who is that third guy?
Wayne Cowan is the real name of former wrestler Dutch Mantel. Mantel wrestled throughout the NWA during the '70s and '80s, winning numerous regional and national titles. He later joined the announcing world, starting in Smoky Mountain Wrestling and ending up in WCW. After his announcing days, he joined the WWF in a manager role. Known as Uncle Zeb, he was aligned with Jacob and Eli Blue (Ron and Don Harris) and Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw (JBL). Mantel is still involved in the wrestling business, as he is currently a member of the TNA creative staff along with Vince Russo. See, bad segment still equals interest when you involve Don West.
The tag team division hype is still going strong, as we get a number one contenders match for the tag titles this week. Team 3D face off against Scott Steiner and Booker T with Beer Money sitting in on commentary. There are plenty of tag title runs amongst those six individuals, but not too many for the Microscope to count. We hear all the time that Ray and Devon are 22-time tag champs. If we were to add in the other wrestlers, we get a grand total of 84 combined tag title runs. Booker T has 14, Scott Steiner has eleven (counting two IWGP titles), James Storm has ten (all in TNA), and Robert Roode has five.
There's potential for even greater numbers, as TNA could add Mick Foley (eleven), Kevin Nash (eleven), and Kip James (ten) into the fray. A total of 84 tag titles between six wrestlers is pretty impressive, considering WWE can't come close to that with their current roster. The best six-man crew WWE could assemble would be Edge (13), Kane (ten), Christian (nine), Matt Hardy and Rey Mysterio (eight each), and either Jeff Hardy or Undertaker (seven each). That six-man crew only gives us a total of 55 tag team titles.
Numbers crunched harder than an unprotected chair shot to the head: this week's ECW has been widely discussed, as it resembled developmental on TV more closely than a WWE produced program. Four different wrestlers made their on-screen debuts, three of whom have already had a match. This led me to wonder, how did the current TNA and WWE roster members fare in their debut match? When looking at a wrestler's debut match, we'll look at their debut for their current promotion. For wrestlers who have had more than one stint with a company (Jericho, Goldust, Sting, etc.), we'll consider their debut match their first match upon their rehiring. We'll also just consider the debuts of current characters (the debut of Kane rather than Isaac Yankem or the debut of Suicide rather than Kaz).
WWE has been far more likely to put their wrestlers over in a debut match. The current WWE roster sits at 55-22-3 in their debut TV/PPV matches. TNA wrestlers don't even have a winning record for their debuts, as their current roster is a less-imposing 28-30. Shelton Benjamin and Edge are the WWE talents that first-timers see most often, as they have each faced three current roster members during a debut match. Chris Sabin takes the cake though, as he has faced seven different wrestlers making a debut/return in TNA.
TNA is more inclined to debut a wrestler on a monthly PPV, as 18 current roster members made their debuts in that fashion. WWE has a much larger roster, but only six talents who have made a match debut on a PPV. WWE is more likely to showcase a debuting talent in a one-on-one match, however. Of their current roster members, 67.5 percent have debuted in that style of match. Only 43.1 percent have debut in a one-on-one match when looking at TNA's current roster.
Curtis Shanks is a self-described wrestling nerd. Who else understands what Matt Striker is talking about all the time. Feedback is welcome, as comments, suggestions and questions can be sent to Curtis at curtisshanks.torch@gmail.com or in the comments section below.
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