WK'S TNA IMPACT BLOG 6/30: Ongoing thoughts on "Limited Commercial Interruption" show
Jun 30, 2011 - 11:06:43 PM |
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By Wade Keller, PWTorch editor
-The opening clips featured primarily Hulk Hogan (age 57), Sting (age 52), and Eric Bischoff (age 56), and then the first segment featured Hogan welcoming Scott Steiner (age 48) into Immortal. I'm just sayin'.
-Hulk Hogan needs to drop this obsession with the phrase "hide the ball." I'm sure he picked that up during divorce proceedings, but it's just nonsense in the wrestling context.
-The screen in the upper right corner says "Limited Commercial Interruption." Shouldn't that be "Interruptions"?
-When Hogan gives "Kenny Boy" a choice to join Immortal or stay solo in his match against Sting, are we as viewers supposed to be rooting for one or the other? Anderson stands up to Hogan, so we feel good about that and like him, yet he's defending against Sting, whom we're supposed to be cheering for also, right? Anderson then came off heelish by saying he beat Sting without breaking a sweat.
-Hogan said Anderson owes them one because he would have lost to Sting if not for Eric Bischoff. So Hogan is exposing that the current champ is a fraud, winning only because heel management thought he was the lesser of two evils. Ugh.
-Sting said he was once a "Hulk Hogan mark." Oh, goodie. He said an insider term. I feel so "inside the clubhouse!"
-The crowd didn't seem to know how to react to Sting shoving pills in Hulk Hogan's mouth. Sting is so over the top and aggressive, he's turning Hogan babyface. Is that the goal here?
-The clips of the Bound for Glory Series matches convey two things. The good thing is it shows TNA travels around the country putting on shows, therefore they're not just a TV company that runs a few shows in Orlando. The downside is the setting at the house shows is minor league compared to the image WWE projects, as the venues look dark and small and sometimes sparsely attended. I think it's worth it in the end because TNA isn't going to succeed or fail based on whether they're perceived as being at WWE's level.
-Average age of the wrestlers in the first match: 35.
-That four-way X Division match is shaping up as a good match with Low Ki and Austin Aries as the two veteran standouts.
-I got a kick out of Kurt Angle, in the video package touting the Destination X pay-per-view, saying this is the chance for the X Division wrestlers to headline a PPV once a year. That sends a message that when the top heavyweight stars get out of their way, the X Division wrestlers can rise to the top. But only because he and other heavyweights over age 40 aren't on the event.
-What does Daniels mean when he says he wants to "take the X Division to the next level" when he faces A.J. Styles? Shouldn't he talk primarily about wanting to win the match, not "put on a great show"?
-Did RVD really claim that he was the Whole F'n Show while Daniels, A.J. Styles, and Jerry Lynn were just dreaming of becoming wrestlers? I mean, Lynn is 48, RVD Is 40, and I saw Lynn headline indy shows with X Division Style action against Lightning Kid (Sean Waltman) before RVD laced his first pair of boots. And Daniels is the same age as RVD.
-Again, I didn't come away from the X Division contract signing segment with any emotions about wanting to see one of them come out the winner. Styles seemed perhaps the most likable, but there's no one to really root against. So it's presented as "all about highspots" or "X Division pride" without that key component of getting the fans to root for one or two out of those four. Now and then, it's okay, but it's so often with TNA. There's always next week when they have their four-way match, so hopefully something happens there to define heels and faces.
-They gave Gunner wins over two different World Champs two weeks in a row, and you can tell they don't really know what to do with that and so Gunner is hovering around as "just another wrestler" having nice TV matches. To get Gunner really over, the mental energy and TV time being spent on Hogan, Sting, Bischoff, and Steiner (ages 57, 53, 58, and 48) would have to go to Gunner. They keep building these bridges for new stars one-third or half-way across the river and then they get distracted by pushing the "real stars" from the 1990s in WCW. Now he beats Styles, and that's another step up for him, but it still feels "mid-card" as they cut next to the top star Sting.
-The theme continues with the video on the Ultimate X match. It was all about highspots and vague notions of "No Limits" and "The Ultimate Test," which translates into a bunch of wrestlers without defined personalities or anything concrete to be gained or resolves putting on a highspot fest. Again, what is it about a wrestler being under 5-11 (not counting Kurt Angle and Jeff Jarrett) that means they don't have a marketable personality and must exclusively be marketed as highspot artists putting a show trying to get chants of "This is awesome!"? Why can't something actually be at stake and characters actually defined so we are given a reason to root for someone and against someone else when it comes to the X Division?
-Hey, Anarquia, Chavo Guerrero called and he wants his voice back.
-Taz said regarding Steiner attacking Sting during the ring intros, "You can't blame him." Tenay said, "Probably the best strategy, if you think about it." It's only a "good strategy" if there are no consequences. The ref just it go. That's what I loved about Smackdown last week. When Wade Barrett attacked Ezekiel Jackson before the bell, the ref didn't immediately call for the bell to start the match (which never made any sense to do), but instead warned Barrett to back off of he'd DQ him and then gave Jackson a chance to recover and asked if he was still willing and able to wrestle. Only then did he officially start the match. The announcing on Impact just plays into the crack in the foundation of this promotion, which is the blurred lines between babyfaces and heels, and no honor code that announcers decry wrestlers breaking. It's just a mess.
-The five minute Sting vs. Steiner main event looked like a 53 year old vs. a 48 year old. They worked hard and within their physical abilities, but that's very limited at this point.
-At least in the end, Angle was a clear babyface and Hogan, Bully Ray, and Steiner were clear heels. Oh, Anderson was a clear heel, too, although he didn't appear to be with Hogan & Co. But it's hard to get out of my mind that the babyface announce team praised Steiner for attacking Sting before the bell because Sting was attacking him with a bat, sending mixed signals about whether Sting deserved this beat-down at the end of the show from the heels, too.
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