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HITS & MISSES - TNA IMPACT 10/22: Nigel McGuinness's debut, DQ finish in a cage match?!, Samoa Joe and Daniels haven't earned title shots Oct 24, 2009 - 1:45:04 PM
Bound For Glory was billed as TNA's biggest PPV of the year, and some matches fit that bill, but others didn't. Now we're moving onwards to new angles and new matches to book for the next PPV, Turning Point. Here's what worked and what didn't this week.
IMPACT HITS
Two Words - Desmond Wolfe: I was in Houston for WrestleMania this year, and as part of my trip there, I got to see my first ROH show. On that show the wrestler formerly known as Nigel McGuinness was booked to drop his ROH World Title to Jerry Lynn. I was immediately sold on Nigel just from that one night, and I could see big things for him. Then the announcement came that he was going to WWE, only to have things fall out there and get picked up by TNA instead. Then this week we have Desmond Wolfe debut with fire in his eyes, passion in his speaking, and gets pushed into an immediate feud with one of the top dogs in TNA in Kurt Angle. Wrestling fans, I'm hyped. Drool. WWE's loss is definitely TNA's gain here. I'm looking forward to some great matches between Wolfe and Angle, and hopefully a nice push for Wolfe at the same time. Both of the two segments when Wolfe left Angle lying out cold shows that TNA has some big things planned for Wolfe.
Motor City Machine Guns vs. Lethal Consequences - Ultimate X Tag Match: The one biggest thing that I like seeing is when new angles come out that haven't been seen on TV enough to where we can actually look forward to seeing how the matches turn out. And anyone who watched the Global Impact special from a few weeks back saw just how good MCMG can be when they're allowed to do what they do best, and that's wrestle. The comedy act for them is nice, but only in small doses. Now we get to look forward to MCMG being in the title hunt against the new champs in The British Invasion. Sure, the Ultimate X match was yet another example of a spot fest match thrown out there for nothing more than the purpose of a spot fest match, but at least seeing MCMG now in the tag team title picture is fresh. Will MCMG get that last push over the hump that they've deserved for months? Only time will tell.
IMPACT MISSES
Scott Steiner Channels Ravishing Rick Rude: With the break-up of their tag team, and quite possibly the remainder of the Main Event Mafia, Scott Steiner needed a new angle to get into. And I don't mind the feud with Bobby Lashley so much, but when I saw Steiner flexing and gyrating for Bobby Lashley's wife at ringside, the first thing that came into my mind was the old feud from the '80s where Ravishing Rick Rude got into the exact same feud with Jake "The Snake" Roberts in the exact same way. Goes to show you what was once old becomes new again, especially when your head booker is Vince Russo.
Heel Rhino Cuts Face Promo: Rhino has been booked to be the heel against Team 3D lately, right? Then why did his promo against Team 3D sound almost like a face would deliver it? Rhino's promo was accurate, passionate, and made a lot of sense. It sounded more like the type of a promo from a man who just loves his sport and wants to be the best that he can be.
Styles's Challengers Don't Deserve It: This week we announced that A.J. Styles next title defense at Turning Point would be in a three-way match against Daniels and Samoa Joe in an attempt to resurrect the glory of their PPV match from years ago. Only problem is that neither Daniels nor Joe have done anything in recent past to show that they're worthy of a World Title shot. Samoa Joe has recently lost to Bobby Lashley and Amazing Red, while Daniels lost the Ultimate X match at Bound For Glory and has only gotten a clean win over D'Angelo Dinero in recent weeks. Neither man has gotten any type of push significant enough to show that they belong in the World Title hunt, the only thing we have to hang our hats on is the history that these three men have. Will it be enough to have a great title match at Turning Point? That's what TNA fans want to know.
DQ Finish In A Cage Match: What? Since when does any cage match (or Six Sides Of Steel in TNA) EVER end in a DQ finish? I don't care what the angle was for pulling this out, a steel cage match DOES NOT end in a DQ. Just flat out unacceptable in my book.
Chris Reed is a PWTorch Specialist covering TNA Impact with a weekly Hits & Misses column.
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