Still playing catch-up, but at least I ought to be there soon enough. This is the second of five reports in a row, btw: Friday Smackdown, TNA Impact, WWE Survivor Series, Monday Night Raw, and then the live Tuesday Smackdown. They sure are keeping me hopping.
So what will happen on this week's TNA Impact? Will Christian Cage seek revenge on Monty Brown? What will happen with the 3 Live Kru? How many champions will wrestle? Let's get to it.
- We start off with highlights of Monty Brown Pouncing Christian Cage after their confrontation last week. That's definitely becoming the hottest feud in TNA right now, which probably isn't the greatest thing, since no titles are on the line.
- Match #1: The term "Match" applies only because of the ringing of the bell. Monty Brown squashed Helvis in about, oh, 15 seconds? I'm not sure, it was over before I could start my stopwatch. Monty did have time at one point to turn to the audience and say "Are you not..." but didn't finish with his usual "Entertained?" because the crowd was chanting for Christian. The Pounce followed shortly after, with Monty ignoring the calls for "One More Time". Gotta admit, that's the way to get Monty over as a heel.
- A 3 Live Kru promo runs, discussing their recent problems, as well as BG James' decision to 'air out their issues' tonight.
- 3 Live Kru, along with Kip James, came to the ring, with BG James talking about how he loved all the men in the ring. The crowd "aaahhhhed" for this, which BG kind of took offense to. Konnan went over some of Kip James' history, including being a lackey to the Honky Tonk Man, a low-man in DX, and almost a married gay man to Palumbo. Classic! BG called for an "Up/Down" vote on Kip joining the Kru. Ron Killings went first, agreeing that BG had never given him reason to doubt, and giving Kip the thumbs up. Konnan then seemed upset, but BG yelled at him, telling him to shut up. He said Konnan's either with them or against them, and that BG has never given Konnan a reason to turn on him. Konnan reluctantly agrees, apologizing and shaking hands with Kip. BG then announced the formation of not one, not two, not three, but a family tree, the 4 Live Kru.
- A doctor (I didn't catch a name) talked about Christopher Daniels' concussion, with footage running in the background of Daniels getting killed by Samoa Joe. Interestingly enough, boos were apparently spliced into the footage (because I seem to remember the crowd chanting "One More Time"). Daniels won't be returning any time soon.
- Match #2: AJ Styles defeated Chris Sabin in the match of the night. I can't believe that they just gave this one away the way they did. Poor Sabin. The two had a good X Division fight, with Sabin nearly winning after a running powerbomb, when AJ was distracted by Samoa Joe standing on the rampway. AJ came back and got a cool reversal, bouncing off the top rope to set up the Styles Clash, winning the match. AJ and Joe stared at each other after the match.
- A nice video package put some life into the Larry Zbyszko/Raven storyline, even giving some meaning to why Zbyszko is against Raven (who assaulted him a couple of times).
- Shane Douglas followed Larry Zbyszko, with security guards, to talk to Raven, who was in the back seat of a car. Zbyszko said that he had nothing planned for Raven that night, but in a week, if Raven didn't sign the release, he would be booked in a "House of Fun" Match, with Zbyszko's modifications. About time Zbyszko's threat about putting Raven through hell started taking off. Raven threw away Zbyszko's pen, then talked about how he wouldn't be responsible for the bloodshed. He then told the driver to take off, leaving an annoyed Zbyszko behind.
- Shane Douglas (busy guy tonight) interviewed Christian Cage, who talked about last week's confrontation with Monty Brown. Cage said he had gone to Zbyszko's office after the Pounce and had gotten a match signed against Brown at Turning Point. The crowd was popping huge for that. Christian said he was going to the Serengeti to go straight through Brown on his way to the top, because that's how he... gets interrupted by Gail Kim. Sheesh, what a way to kill a segment's momentum. Gail mentions that they both made the choice to come to TNA (ummm, Gail, you were let go), but that Cage had made the wrong choice by turning on Jarrett & D'Amore. America's Most Wanted then showed up, telling Cage that payback was a b&$@h and that Cage would never get to the NWA World Title.
- Match #3: Jeff Hardy defeated Abyss with the Twist of Fate. Once again, after a solid match, Sabu appeared to distract Abyss, allowing Hardy to catch him with some chair shots, followed by the Twist(which Matt does a lot better). After the match, Sabu and his barbed-wire chair scared Abyss off. At least they're really promoting Abyss' fear, although I don't like that he keeps losing on Impact. Oh well.
- Match #4: Jeff Jarrett defeated Kip James. Before the match, James did his old announcement, except it was a little different, in that it was 4 words, not 2: "I'm Kip James, B@#%h!" The match was frought with the usual run-ins and interference that you would expect from a Jarrett match. Jackie Gayda made her appearance, wanting to know something about Gail Kim, with Jarrett saying this wasn't what it looked like. Huh? Jackie and Gail fought it out, while a distracted Jarrett almost got pinned by the Fameasser. But then, with the ref distracted as well, Bobby Roode suddenly entered the ring and ko'ed James with the hockey stick, allowing Jarrett to get the win.
- After the match, BG James tried to explain what happened to the ref, then attacked Jarrett, leading to, yep, you guessed it, another night-ending brawl. 4LK came out, followed by Team Canada, who beat down 4LK to end the night, even as Jarrett went up the ramp, asking where Gail was. Confusing as all get-out, especially with no Rhino appearance.
Summary: I don't know what it is about TNA right now. Really, maybe it's just too formula-driven currently. Take the formula for tonight's show: a Monty Brown squash, an X Division Battle, a match between two Hardcore guys, and a main-event match that ends in a brawl. That could go with several TNA reviews I've done. It's almost become too predictable.
I did figure out one thing that I think could be a main problem: whoever the story writers are, they're a little too complex for what fans want to see. I mean, most wrestling fans expect two - four guys to be feuding with each other, leading to the PPV. We've got that in a few places (AJ/Joe, Sabu/Abyss). But in others, we've got some complex feuds being set up. 4LK vs. Team Canada. Jarrett vs. Rhino. Jarrett vs. Christian. Christian vs. Brown. Brown vs. Jarrett. Christian vs. America's Most Wanted. Team 3-D vs. America's Most Wanted. Team 3-D vs. Team Canada. Raven vs. Jarrett. Raven vs. America's Most Wanted. Raven vs. Zbyszko. Do you see the problem yet?
I honestly believe that the main event picture is just too freaking crowded right now. Many guys have speculated that a major reason for the ratings decrease is because Jarrett still has the NWA Heavyweight Title. I think it may be deeper than that. If there was one guy, say, Rhino, being pushed hard against Jarrett, while everyone else stopped mentioning the World Title for a while, I think the fans would be happier. The contendership picture is just WAY too confusing right now for the casual fan, or even someone like me.
That being said, they delivered some solid matches again. In fact, three of the four were pretty enjoyable (I can't get into Brown's quick wins anymore; sorry, Monty, I'm just not entertained). The videos were also well-produced, with the Rhino one in particular really catching my eye. I still think that TNA has a shot at becoming a viable contender to WWE. They've got the potential. But until the fans can figure out what's going on, I don't see TNA able to move forward as of yet.
Peace
The Accelerator