TNA iMPACT! Sample
Nothing was on this evening, so I figured I'd watch TNA's iMPACT! show. TNA is Total Non-Stop Action, a rival wrestling promotion to the WWE and, really, a distant second to the WWE. Distant. iMPACT! is their weekly TV show on Spike TV and I've seen bits and pieces in the past, but this was the first full episode I've seen. My exposure to TNA has been limited mostly to one PPV that I saw with Adam and Matt, and those odd moments, mostly with Adam present. That I haven't seen more is because those bits I've seen have been pretty bad. A running joke between Adam and myself is that he's never seen a TNA singles match end cleanly.
Well, first off, I saw that happen tonight. Weird.
Other than that, nothing of note really happened. The storytelling at TNA reminds me of WCW at its worst (or its best depending on who you ask). When it came to the main players, I had no idea who is a face and who is a heel. Seriously.
Mick Foley is the world champ and majority shareholder of TNA in story. At the next PPV (Slammiversary, which is TNA's WrestleMania), he's defending the belt in the annual King of the Mountain match (horribly complicated and inane rules), and, if he wins, he wants to change the rules so that the world belt only has to be defended once a year instead of once a month. As he explained it tonight: "It's a world championship, not a menstrual cycle." He's the corrupt boss looking to protect himself... so he's a heel, right?
The Main Event Mafia is a faction based around headliners like Sting, Kurt Angle, and Kevin Nash. Good idea. But, the first time we see Nash that evening, he demands that Foley pay him four times his usual pay to do a Lethal Lockdown match against Samoa Joe later that evening (steel cage with weapons provided). He says it's all about the money and nothing the other Mafia members ever say really change that perspective... so they're heels, right?
Jeff Jarrett punches out a ref and acts like a crazy man... so he's a heel, right?
Samoa Joe is violent and anti-social... so he's a heel, right?
Except, none of these people like each other! Maybe I misread the story, but it seems like they're all anti-hero types. The '90s "cool heel" that acts like a heel, but is cheered anyway. A total mess.
Other segments weren't much better. I don't think I'll be watching this again any time soon.
Later
Well, first off, I saw that happen tonight. Weird.
Other than that, nothing of note really happened. The storytelling at TNA reminds me of WCW at its worst (or its best depending on who you ask). When it came to the main players, I had no idea who is a face and who is a heel. Seriously.
Mick Foley is the world champ and majority shareholder of TNA in story. At the next PPV (Slammiversary, which is TNA's WrestleMania), he's defending the belt in the annual King of the Mountain match (horribly complicated and inane rules), and, if he wins, he wants to change the rules so that the world belt only has to be defended once a year instead of once a month. As he explained it tonight: "It's a world championship, not a menstrual cycle." He's the corrupt boss looking to protect himself... so he's a heel, right?
The Main Event Mafia is a faction based around headliners like Sting, Kurt Angle, and Kevin Nash. Good idea. But, the first time we see Nash that evening, he demands that Foley pay him four times his usual pay to do a Lethal Lockdown match against Samoa Joe later that evening (steel cage with weapons provided). He says it's all about the money and nothing the other Mafia members ever say really change that perspective... so they're heels, right?
Jeff Jarrett punches out a ref and acts like a crazy man... so he's a heel, right?
Samoa Joe is violent and anti-social... so he's a heel, right?
Except, none of these people like each other! Maybe I misread the story, but it seems like they're all anti-hero types. The '90s "cool heel" that acts like a heel, but is cheered anyway. A total mess.
Other segments weren't much better. I don't think I'll be watching this again any time soon.
Later