CALDWELL'S TAKE CORNER CUBE FRIDAY 3/7: Good Impact, but did it sell TNA's PPV? Mar 7, 2008 - 12:09:24 PM

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Updated throughout the day from the corner cubicle, Torch columnist James Caldwell's weekday blog focuses on hot topic current events and other items of interest from around wrestling.

Updated Friday, March 7

TNA Impact thoughts. I'll get my nitpicks out of the way first. The gimmick battle royale was an unproductive use of talent. Rough Cut is a good concept, but it means the other "character segments" backstage are b.s. because they're not "real". The over-use of gimmicks, especially the eye-roller on how Tomko beat Joe, damages gimmick matches in the long-term when trying to sell PPVs with the escalation of a feud.

Now, onto the good from the show. Booker vs. Roode has been carrying Impact for two months it seems. It's like the Hardy vs. MVP feud on Smackdown last year that carried Smackdown through some dark months of programming.

Roode's promos are so great, specifically the way he twists every statement from Booker to make it seem like Booker is in the wrong here. And, you know what, Roode makes such a plausible argument that you can't help but nod your head slightly in agreement.

On Sunday's PPV, I think a good spot on the card would be the semi-main event. Obviously, the six-man tag is the main event, but Roode and Booker have done such great work in this feud that they deserve a significant spot on the card for their match. I honestly hope this isn't the blow-off match on Sunday, though. I wouldn't mind five more weeks of Roode vs. Booker on my TV building to the Lockdown PPV where they can end the feud in style inside the cage.

The other strong point of the show was clearly the main event cage match with Angle vs. Christian. A fine TV match with compelling drama and good action, which was enhanced by how TNA structured the commercial breaks throughout the show to give Angle-Christian a good ten minutes of uninterrupted TV time.

If you look at past TV main events that have gone about 15 minutes, TNA often puts two commercial breaks in the match. It's difficult for viewers to invest in a wrestling match when the action is just getting good and they cut to a break. I think that's reflected in the ratings where comedy angles have rated higher than matches in the final quarter hour of recent shows.

The show-closing moment of Angle trying to break Christian's ankle and Samoa Joe desperately trying to get into the cage was a nice touch to set-up the PPV main event on Sunday. The opening and ending segments certainly added up to a good TV show. But the question is whether the TV matches and angles sold the Destination X PPV on Sunday.

Overall, I thought TNA did a better job than in recent months of building up a PPV. However, TNA gave away three singles matches featuring the PPV main event participants on free TV. And, considering there isn't anything on the line for the PPV main event that I'm aware of, I don't see any reason why the pay show has a better deal than TV with three free singles matches.

Individually, I don't think there's enough juice for the six-man tag match to sell the PPV. But, that's OK this month, as the main event is complemented by the aforementioned Booker vs. Roode match and Kong vs. ODB vs. Gail Kim. The women's feud has been a ratings draw for months, and the intrigue of seeing the three top women in a match for the Title is reason enough to order the PPV.

If I were laying out this card, I'd say the top three matches are the six-man tag, Booker vs. Roode, and the Knockouts title match. Star power, a very hot feud, and three women capable of tearing the house down is a heck of a three-match combo for a PPV.

***

Updated Thursday, March 6

X Division Title. During Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley's conference call this afternoon, they were asked about the lack of focus on the X Division, specifically the X Division Title. They talked about the X Division not being at the forefront of TV, with the Women's and Tag divisions having more focus lately.

Chris Sabin didn't say the X Division Title should be retired, but he suggested TNA should look into a TV Title for wrestlers at their level who don't necessarily wrestle an X Division style, but are trying to make a name for themselves on TV.

I'll take it a step further and say the X Division Title should be retired. I believe TNA did enough damage to the prestige of the belt during the Lethal-Devine mess where the belt was passed around like a Christmas gift that no one wanted to keep.

The decline of the X Division really started two years ago when the Trinity of X - Joe, Styles, and Daniels - moved on to the Heavyweight division. The resulting problem was that TNA didn't have anyone ready to fill those slots and still maintain the high level of the Division.

It was on-the-job training for the next group - Lethal, Dutt, Sabin, and Shelley. They didn't stand a chance based on where TNA was taking the TV product away from wrestling and more toward storylines and character segments.

After two years of trying to find an identity for this version of the X Division, TNA should retire the belt and the Division. You could even say TNA has outgrown it. It's funny because the X Division brought TNA to the Spike TV dance when the only reason to tune in to Impact during the FSN era was for X Division matches. But the reality is that the brand name of the Division no longer holds the same value it did two years ago. TNA no longer needs it.

What they need is the next brand identity for the younger wrestlers. As Sabin said, maybe it's a TV Title division. This is TNA, after all, where they have all sorts of concept matches, so they can surely come up with a catchy name for the next generation of "X Division" wrestlers and wrestling.

It has become obvious to me covering Impact each week that the X Division is a punch line more than a sign of excellence. Whether TNA has outgrown that Wednesday night PPV/FSN concept or simply done far too much damage to the X Division name, it's time for a change. This way, the wrestlers and writers can find the next generation concept to feature TNA's younger talent rather than trying to live up to a standard that TNA is no longer striving for.

***

Updated Wednesday, March 5

ECW thoughts: I thought last night's show was fairly decent. It didn't blow me away, as evidenced by the fact that the first two things that come to mind are the main event and Kofi Kingston giving Kelly Kelly the most awkward half-hugs/brush-on-the-shoulder I've ever seen. I've seen some really awkward hugs in the singles class at church in my day, but the Kofi-Kelly combo was pure gold.

In any event, the Chavo vs. Punk main event was a good TV match. Thank goodness Punk didn't try to channel the ghost of Eddie Guerrero like at No Way Out, because it's getting really uncomfortable with the references to that other Guerrero who shall remain nameless.

Related to the wrestling, Chavo is booked like a complete dunce who stumbles over his own two feet, except when it comes to the big money match with the belt on the line. Apparently the 2008 version of wrestling's classic Championship Chase formula is to have the heel champion booked like a complete dolt to build up a weak babyface challenger. Considering ECW is not expected to do anything more than beat TNA in the ratings, and currently does not have a match announced for WrestleMania, I suppose the booking is fine.

Carrying over the inconsistent character theme from Raw, I don't see how in the world heel authority figure Armando Estrada would grant Dreamer & Colin a re-match for the tag titles after Colin got their team intentionally DQ'ed. I'm sure it's one of those swerves where Armando has a trick up his sleeve for Dreamer & Colin, but after the Vince-Finlay-JBL debacle on Monday, I could use a little consistency from the over-bearing authority figures on WWE's wrestling program.

Mayweather segment. Bryan Alvarez in the F4W Newsletter has a note about Bruce Pritchard getting an earful from Stephanie McMahon for how the Mayweather segments were executed on Monday's TV. Pritchard was the agent in charge of directing the segments. It's encouraging that at least Stephanie recognized how terrible Mayweather's appearance came across on Monday.

My question is how WWE plans to correct Monday's error. Are they now more determined than ever to push Mayweather as a babyface, with the belief that it was an easy-to-fix screw-up in the presentation? Or, will they come to grips with the reality that Mayweather is a natural heel with a repertoire of one-liners that wrestling fans are going to boo? At least there is recognition of a problem. That's step one in the recovery process.

WrestleMania Rewind. We're still looking for your thoughts on the Question of the Week for what WrestleMania re-matches you'd like to see on Raw next week. I'll be posting our first batch of responses later today.

One match that popped into my head during the Raw post-game show with Jamie Penick is a Flair vs. Undertaker re-match from Mania 18. The obvious storyline thread is building up Taker's WrestleMania streak, which is on the line against Edge, while building up Flair's do-or-die against Shawn Michaels (presuming the storyline is carried out with the match being formally announced).

The working assumption is that Randy Orton will book Cena vs. Hunter in a re-match from two years ago, but I'd prefer to see Cena vs. Big Show in a re-match from WrestleMania 20. I don't have a personal reason for wanting to see Cena vs. Show, other than it makes sense for Orton to put Cena in a tough predicament against Big Show, who they're building up as a monster against Mayweather. Also with Hunter vs. Cena, I don't like the idea of giving away mini-main events each week on free TV to water down the triple threat main event at WrestleMania.

***

Updated Tuesday, March 4

Last night's Raw was the worst show of 2008, in my eyes. It was WWE at its worst being stubborn and featuring inconsistent characters in frustrating scenarios.

The stubbornness continues to be reflected in the presentation of Floyd Mayweather. There's a simple truth about his on-air personality that WWE doesn't seem willing to accept. It's so simple that WWE should be able to adjust on the fly. Ready? Here we go.

Mayweather is a heel!

Now don't we feel better with that simple truth out of the way? But, since we all know that WWE doesn't make mistakes, nor do they ever misread characters prior to implementing a new TV angle, we will continue to be subjected to weeks of Mayweather being forced into a good guy role that doesn't fit his character.

Aside from the fact that WWE demonstrated a complete lack of knowledge of MMA, or simply wanted to make a mockery of the fastest-growing sport in the world to get over Big Show for whatever self-pleasing reason you want to come up with, the crowd reaction last night should tell the story that this angle is in trouble.

WWE is sending so many mixed signals with this angle, which has completely watered down the great opening act at the No Way Out PPV. The law of diminishing returns has kicked in full force, and WWE has shown an unwillingness to change course after it became quite obvious to everyone else that Mayweather is a heel and his on-air character should be presented as a heel to save the angle.

It was not a good night for characters on this show. John Cena's character, for the first time I can remember in years, came across like a prick. There have been individual segments on individual TV shows where that was the case, but not on an entire show. His smug demeanor telling Hunter and Orton they would be wrestling against each other, then reclining on the couch in Regal's office, and then jumping Hunter in the main event added up to a very inconsistent day at the office for Cena's character.

His character is built on doing the right thing and always fighting - not taking it easy by reclining on a couch - even if fans don't like his style of achieving his personal mission statement. Now, the anti-Cena fans have tangible evidence that supports their dislike of Cena's character that wasn't there before.

Triple H, by positioning himself in the shadows and being aggressive when needed, but not overtly, has moved into the leading role for the Mania title match. He's got that Kevin Nash babyface respect right now where the males in the audience respect him, not Cena.

And then there's the Finlay-McMahon-JBL issue. Fans had no idea how to react to any of this last night because it was heavy-handed, cheesy, and inconsistent. First of all, the "hospital" set was embarrassing. That's the cheesy part. It was heavy-handed with implied child abuse, based on how WWE has presented an adult male as a small child strictly because of his body type.

And, it was inconsistent with Vince McMahon not being upset with any of the revelations about being deceived. Certainly, there could be a shift in the character on the horizon, with McMahon deciding to extract revenge at a later date in a stealth-like manner rather than yelling and screaming this week.

But, the problem is with Finlay's character. He lied. He deceived. He put his son in danger because odds were someone would find out. And we're supposed to root for him? Why, because he helped Hornswoggle fend off Coach and McMahon's tough love for six months?

It's one of those storylines that WWE let drag out too long before deciding they needed to start working toward the finish. Problem is the whole thing is tied into knots with inconsistent characters and heavy-handed material that fans have given up on because they have no reason to care about any of the involved players.

Raw was a step back for WWE, as they should be polishing up the top matches at Mania, not turning people away from the key angles leading to the biggest PPV of the year. With a few weeks until Mania, WWE needs to re-focus on the path to Orlando. After WWE got its first really bad show of 2008 out of its system, I expect WWE to get back on track next week with the big three-hour show.

By the way, be sure to check out this week's Question of the Week on next week's Raw featuring all WrestleMania re-matches. Drop me a line with your picks to be published later in the week.

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