Torch Feedback Thursday Night TV Reax #1: "Impact struck me not as a Super Impact, but as a normal Impact with big advertisements"
Oct 17, 2009 - 9:40:02 AM
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-- 10/15 WWE Superstars TV Reax
Justin James of Columbia, S.C., IT professional/author (6.0): Best Match: Morrison-Punk. Worst Match: Henry-Masters. This episode of Superstars was really dragged down by the opening match. Henry-Masters made zero sense from a booking angle. If I was Triple H, why would I give Chris Masters a shot at the team? The guy has not beaten anyone other than Santino! Mark Henry makes sense. This match should have been Henry vs. Primo, Carlito, Bourne, or MVP. When I saw the taped knee at the beginning, I figured the win was going to Masters with the knee being the excuse to protect Henry. Given the number of times we’ve seen a smaller wrestler beat a healthy Mark Henry, Masters lost what little credibility he had in this match. The match was boring, and the awful announcing didn’t help. They spent more time discussing past matches and future matches that did not involve either of the folks in the ring than they did discussing the match at hand. It made the match even more boring and less interesting. The Dreamer-Kozlov match was surprisingly entertaining. I cringed when I saw Dreamer’s elbow, and Striker’s description really elevated that. Kozlov looked good in the win and Dreamer looked good in the loss. The Morrison-Punk match was exactly what I expected, right down to the finish. The Miz was great on commentary. I loved his constant arguing with Grisham. The part where Miz was stunned was priceless, and really elevated John Morrison. Grisham handled it perfectly. C.M. Punk’s flapjack looked brutal, and we saw some fresh moves in the mix. I am hoping beyond hope that Punk loses the Final Four at Bragging Rights so he can get as far away from this dumb Undertaker feud as possible. I’d rather see Punk, Dolph Ziggler, and John Morrison mix it up over the IC title for the next year than another match against The Undertaker. The Undertaker has not looked right in the ring since his return, and he’s barely been in the ring. The comments about John Morrison being a “fighting champion” only highlight the problem with Taker having the belt.
-- 10/15 TNA Super Impact Reax
Brian Jaffe of Iowa City, Iowa (4.0): Best Match: Angle-Styles. Worst Match: Knockouts six-Person Tag. (THIS REVIEW BROUGHT TO YOU BY 6 HOUR POWER EXTREME ENERGY SHOTS: ENERGY THAT LASTS.) TNA Impact starts with the same thing that has happened for what seems like months...the MEM have a big promo, they are interrupted by faces, and then there's an out of control brawl. What is the point of having ODB, Tara, and Kong team if everybody KNEW they were going to attack each other...and for that matter, why is Tara "accompanied" to the ring by her spider, if she just carries it out with her? The Pope's promo become irrelevant within seconds when he starts by plugging Energy Shots. He also appears to have no idea what to do with this gimmick. He was all over the place with that promo, switching from religion to never say die to comedy to a little gangsta. I think Don West as a manager for Amazing Red is actually pretty cool. He really gets the crowd hyped up for Red, who with proper pushing, could be extremely popular as an underdog. I do question why the Suicide gimmick is still around. It's run its course. Although TNA wants to make the WOrld Elite into a legitimate threat, they are always going to be viewed as a bunch of mid-carders, especially when Hernandez (who is back to wearing his great LAX-style attire, and I hope he keeps it permanently) beats three members of them. I realize the four-man promo to hype the Full Metal Mayhem match was supposed to be serious, but all I could think of is how much it looked like Hollywood Squares...and of course, it leads to YET ANOTHER out of control brawl. The problem is that there was that wild brawl a few months ago that got really good ratings because of how well it was handled, so now TNA thinks they should put wild brawls on every single episode. I do like how they are pushing Homicide as a wild psycho because that could actually get him pretty far in TNA. I honestly don't know if Mick Foley is supposed to be a face or a heel...while Abyss is supposed to be sympathetic, he just comes across as a whiny wimp, so I actually enjoy Foley making fun of him. Flash vs. Hamada was okay, but I would have loved more time. Lashley vs. Rhino was a stipulation match for the sake of it, and just didn't feel like anything important. Styles vs Angle was a fantastic Impact match, but did little to hype the upcoming PPV. I turned it off after 15 post-match minutes, realizing this was just a hype show now. I gotta ask why TNA crammed all the hype at the end where fans are likely to get bored and tune out, instead of mixing the segments throughout the show and make it really FEEL like a Super Impact. For a show about hyping the upcoming PPV, I notice two men in the biggest matches - Sting and Matt Morgan - didn't do a thing other than stand around. This show struck me not as a Super Impact, but as a normal Impact with a big advertisement glued on the end.
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