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Updated daily 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 Monday, July 14, 2008

After ring announcer Dave Penzer officially ended last night's TNA Victory Road PPV by telling the fans (with a chuckle) to tune into Impact to see what comes next, there was a hush in the arena. Fans filed out completely dejected. People remained standing waiting for an explanation to an unexplainable finish to a PPV main event.

It felt like leaving a sports stadium after a dejecting loss for the home team. It's that feeling when the team blows a ninth-inning lead or misses a field goal as time expires. Only difference is that there was no finish. It would be like the water sprinklers coming on during the bottom of the ninth inning and the stadium officials simply telling everyone to go home and watch the finish four days later on TV.

People were clearly frustrated as they left the building. Fans huddled in groups trying to wrap their heads around one of the worst finishes to a PPV main event since the Jeff Jarrett era. As I pulled out of the parking lot, a scene unfolded like the poignant moment in a movie.

Directly in front of me across the parking lot was the 75,000-seat Reliant Stadium, where WWE's WrestleMania 25 will be held next April. Behind me was Reliant Arena, where TNA drew about 3,500 for last night's PPV. The booking of the main event exemplified why TNA won't be running large arena shows anytime soon.

TNA's booking simply has not caught up with the times or the company's overall production. My seats were front row right behind Mike Tenay and Don West, which afforded several opportunities to get a hard copy of the Torch Newsletter on camera. But, I also had a chance to watch TNA's production crew working throughout the show. This was a professional group of people who had things organized.

I came away impressed with TNA's overall presentation. It was a significant improvement over the Lockdown PPV in St. Louis that I traveled to last year when TNA offered up the ridiculous electric cage match with Team 3D vs. LAX. About 14 months later, TNA presented a much cleaner show with the crew taking a professional, business-like approach to coordinating talent, announcers, camera operators, and spotters.

If only TNA's crew of writers can catch up to the rest of the company. Right now, the only thing holding this company back is the writing. TNA promoted the event well with Kevin Nash and Booker T leading the charge locally. They took up the "hometown hero" angle with Booker and sold a significant number of more tickets as a result.

With this being TNA's first show in Houston, TNA had an opportunity to make a good first impression. They were well on their way to a satisfying show for the live crowd. Instead, TNA dropped the ball when they couldn't produce a finish to the main event, which people bought tickets to see.

Something certainly didn't seem right when the timekeeper left the ringside position and took off to the back a few minutes before things went out of control in the main event. And he never came back to ringside. The same could be said on whether the fans will come back next time TNA has a show in Houston. Only time will tell. Simply put, TNA failed with the finish of last night's PPV. The writing has to catch up to the rest of the company.

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