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The SmarK Rant for TNA Impact–03.21.13

The SmarK Rant for TNA Impact – 03.21.13

Taped from Chicago, IL

Your hosts are Todd Keneley, Mike Tenay & Taz

Bully Ray explains his EVIL PLAN for us, as losing to Jeff Hardy at No Surrender was apparently Plan A going badly, so the Brooke deal was Plan B. We get a series of video packages throughout the show following this, recapping the entire Aces & Eights angle. On one hand, BARF. On the other, that’s a pretty handy way to catch up newer viewers with the last eight months or so. Makes me realize I’ve actually been sticking with this show for a long-ass time now.

Hulk Hogan joins us, and he wants to thank Samoa Joe, Magnus, Jeff Hardy, and Kurt Angle for taking the lead against the Aces last week. Only they can rescue the TNA World title from the clutches of Bully Ray, which is of course dripping with irony coming from the guy who used to spraypaint the most historic belt in wrestling…uh…history. So anyway, tonight it’s a four-way for the title, brother.

TNA World tag titles: Bobby Roode & Austin Aries v. Hernandez & Chavo Guerrero

Roode gets trapped in the LAX corner and double-teamed to start, and Hernandez gets a splash for two. Aries saves things for the Dirty Heels, however, catching Hernandez in the corner with chops to set up a double suplex. Which Hernandez casually reverses. Over to Chavo as we take a break. Back with Aries hitting a dive on Chavo to get two. Roode hits the chinlock, but Chavo fights up and escapes with a tornado DDT, setting up the hot tag to Hernandez. He tosses the heels around and then goes to the ramp for a reversed MEXICAN OUTTA CONTROL dive into the ring, which is a much safer way to do it. Shoulderblock puts Roode on the floor, but Aries takes Hernandez to the floor with a rana. Back in, brainbuster for Chavo (complete with shakes) is reversed into the Three Amigos. Bad Influence runs in, however, and pushes Chavo off the top to give Aries the fluke pin at 11:40 to retain. And then they lay out the champs to set up the AWESOMEST FEUD EVER. Good, standard tag match here. **3/4

X title: Kenny King v. Sonjay Dutt v. Zema Ion

So apparently the X title is only defended in three-ways now. Dutt gets a crazy double rana to put the other guys on the floor, but King comes back with a dive onto Ion and gets two. Leg lariat follows, but Dutt breaks it up and goes up, only to get shoved to the ramp by King. King puts Ion out as well, but walks into a tornado DDT. Dutt comes flying in with a headscissors, then hits both guys with a moonsault press to the floor as well. Back in, the DOUBLE STOMP OF DOOM hits Ion, but King nails the Buff Blockbuster and steals the win at 5:00. This apparently eliminates Dutt from the X division, which is the total opposite of awesome. Fun match. **1/2

Sting wants a piece of Bully Ray tonight, so Hogan tells him to go sit in the rafters. Angry Hulk is pretty cool.

Taryn Terrell joins us, and as a referee she’s supposed to CONTROL chaos and not CREATE it, so she’s ready to take her medicine. Gail Kim is excited about Taryn getting her punishment, but Brooke Hogan comes out and fires Taryn as a ref, then signs her as a wrestler, and the women fight back to the dressing room. This brings out Bully Ray, looking more genuinely menacing in the Aces gear than any of the other scrubs in the gang. Brooke wisely retreats, lest she get overwhelmed by Bully’s heel awesomeness and fall in love with him all over again.

Matt Morgan v. Joseph Park

Morgan of course casually throws Park around the ring with ease until he misses a charge, allowing Park to briefly unleash some fisticuffsmanship before getting smacked down again. Morgan misses another move and Joe tries to go up for the LEGAL EAGLE SPLASH (OK, I made that name up), but that tragically misses and the big boot finishes at 5:12. That was way too long for what they were trying to do. *

AJ Styles is out to presumably talk about what’s up with him, including RUMORS of drug use and alcohol abuse. Maybe now he can reconcile with Claire Lynch? Taz makes a pitch on behalf of the Aces, but this brings out James Storm, who is deeply offended at being clotheslined last week. And then they just kind of go nowhere with it, as AJ walks away without speaking. Well, that Sting rafter deal in 1997 did draw a lot of money.

Samoa Joe v. Kurt Angle v. Jeff Hardy v. Magnus

Joe gets rid of Hardy and Magnus and beats on Angle with a senton for two, then tosses him out and onto Jeff. He follows with a dive onto all three guys and we take a break. Back with Joe and Magnus busting out the double-teams on Angle before turning on each other. Magnus takes over on Hardy for a bit and stomps him down in the corner. Magnus with the Michinoku Driver on Joe for two, but Hardy comes back with Twists of Fate on everyone. He goes up and Angle distracts him long enough for Magnus to bring him down, but now Angle is the suplex machine. Anklelock for Joe, and Hardy steals the win with a swanton on the fallen Joe at 12:10. Oh yay, another #1 contendership for Jeff Hardy. Hard work from everyone here, though, with a really hot finish. ***1/4

The Pulse

Man, the guys who cut together the Aces packages actually made it seem like a logically-built and compelling storyline. Too bad it took NINE MONTHS to tell it. Oh well, I had no beef with this show, a fine two hours of professional wrestling action that all made sense and featuring nothing bad.

Comments

  1. (reposted from the live thread now that discussion has moved here)

    Just finished watching on DVR, so maybe I'm still caught in the moment, but tonight's ep of Impact is why we all love pro wrestling so much, from both a storytelling and in-ring standpoint.

    The X-Division match was good, and it was nice to see Sonjay back.

    The main event was fast-paced and the crowd was extremely hot for it, and it was never dull.

    Joe/Morgan was fun for what it was.

    The tag match was damn fine.

    But the whole review of the A&8 angle was pure genius, IMO. Personally speaking, it made me glad to have been with the angle since it 1st started, b/c it provided a nice wrap up over the whole story and addressed some of the things we all talked about and hoped that they'd address (the big one for me obviously acknowledgement of "taking one for the team"). But the biggest strength in my opinion was that it made
    everything make sense, and along with last week, as many people have noted, sort of turned the tide on the group and made them actually seem like a legit threat.

    You know how lots of people point to the build to and pay-off of Rock being crowned Corporate champ being some of the best storytelling WWE's ever done? I think looking back, taken en masse, this stuff as a whole with A&8 is pretty similar.

    And as an aside, even if you're not thrilled that Hardy is getting the rematch, from a story-telling perspective, it boosts the story b/c he didn't get the rematch "just b/c," he actually went out and earned it and proved he belonged there in the 1st place.

    PS - Taryn Terrell is so hot. I've always thought so since she was Tiffany in WWE. Too bad she's fake up top.

    (elvy mode off)

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  2. I dug Bully recapping Aces n Eights because I checked out after BFG. And what they're doing with the X title is one of the dumber ideas they've had recently.

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  3. Comparing Aces N Eights to Rock turning heel is a bit much. Just because it ended up making sense doesn't mean it didn't take too long and was incredibly boring.

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  4. I usually do not watch TNA. I follow, but do not watch. So, tonight I tuned in at around the halfway point. Here is what I discovered: a) no forced fucking pandering to the social media sloths, b) no burying of talent from the announcers, c) no fucking sign pointing, or pre-rehearsed camera angles to wedge a PPV logo in between two rivals, and d) it had a FUCKING HOOK to make me want to watch next week. I watch WWE because it's what I've been doing since I was 12. I'll watch TNA next week because they made me.

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  5. The review is useful because like me, a lot of people checked out of this promotion months ago. Recapping stuff I missed actually makes me want to find out what's next as opposed to thinking "who are these guys...wait is that Anderson?"

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  6. Dear Samoa Joe:
    For fuck sake, you are friends with BOTH John Cena AND CM Punk. You are a MADE MAN. Stop jobbing to Jeff Hardy and get your expanding ass out of TNA.

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  7. John Cena cuts a promo after Mania.


    Godzilla music starts playing.


    Joe Muscle Buster's Cena through a table.

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  8. I remember hearing that Cena did get him a tryout, but they told him he was fat and had to lose weight, so he told them to fuck off. Or something.


    Coulda been a rumour, but... sounded truthy.

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  9. What happened to throwback Thursday? I was hopin it would be permanent.

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  10. Too bad for Sonjay. Playa from the Himalayas is one of my favorite nicknames ever.

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  11. Shoulda took that Umaga gimmick.

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  12. Eh, there was a spot sponsored by 5 Hour Rnergy, so Kenny King gratuitously was like, "Man, I need a lot of energy for my match, Good thing I have 5 Hr Energy" or somesuch, and then held up a bottle.

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  13. I'll give you that, that it took a while and dragged on. But the point is, here we are and they've done a hell of a job making us care about being at this point.

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  14. By all means, at the time he was right not to. But he's wasted the last five years of his career while his two most comparable contemporaries have been World Champions and are moving merchandise.

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  15. The Blue Oyster Cult song?

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  16. It doesn't count as elvy mode unless you start with a "Best Impact Ever!"

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  17. ... part of me did want to say it was the most amazing Impact ever. :(

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  18. Three good matches tonight, after being mostly about the plot devices last week (save for Sting/Aries). I could totally live with TNA alternating between plot/angle-heavy for the live show, and then quality matches for the taped show. It's the best of both worlds.

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  19. How fucking awesome were those A&8 recap videos? Seriously, it almost makes the entire angle seem like a masterpiece of storytelling that was riveting from start-to-finish, instead of the laborious slog it so frequently was from week-to-week.

    TNA's YouTube channel posted all five parts, and if you missed Impact, I'd definitely recommend checking them out. Bully Ray is remarkable as the narrator too.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5xOdpKJ59M

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYFPIZvtbEQ

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Tcl6tbpBeA

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8fBPTyOh90

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91CalyYIlxE

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  20. Goddamn. Those videos were good and made it make some sense.

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  21. I love the "Fry" memes.

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  22. Nah, Samoa Joe's theme has always started with a sample of Godzilla music.

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  23. Apparently he's got a wife and kids.


    I understand doing something for the paycheck, but it's a shame we'll never get to see Samoa Joe at his best again.

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  24. And the best version was apparently an inspiration to Cena.

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  25. Especially if that paycheck is the one Umaga got for WM23.

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  26. Wow, never noticed that before.

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  27. Those videos were tremendous. It actually makes sense now! If only I hadn't given up watching. Bully Ray is great and it looks like they may be going the Bully-AJ route at BFG. Poor James Storm. He looked poised to be the face of the company just last year.

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  28. Umaga had a great run from 2006-2007. Didn't he beat both Triple H and Shawn clean in 06? And the Cena matches. I don't know what caused him to stall out whether it was his gimmick limiting him or backstage stuff. But Joe as Umaga could have been cool.

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  29. Wouldn't there be a copyright or something on Godzilla that would prevent WWE from using it? Either way it's perfect for Joe.

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  30. What sign are TNA wrestlers going to point at, an out of door sign on a vending machine?

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  31. No, clearly he wasn't. Umaga was booked strongly from the start. Would Joe have been booked as strongly? I'd say yes. And would've had a gimmick where weight gain wouldn't impede his career growth.

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  32. TNA's been able to get by with a cover version of sorts, so I'm sure the E can figure something out.

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  33. Only if he comes out as OOOOMAGA, and CM Punk makes a joke that his brothers dead.

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  34. He got popped for a few wellness violations, got hurt a few times, and got unmotivated.

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  35. Alright...


    First and Foremost, those videos were the shit. I can not sit here and knock em. They are without a doubt some of the greatest wrestling vids i have ever seen.


    But TNA has done this to fans over and again.


    Im not at real liberty to watch them now, but I have to hold judgement again until they give me a good 3 months of solid shows, (which i know its gonna come because the whole AJ deal.)

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  36. I'm not sure most people would remember or care. Did they acknowledge Umaga's passing?

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  37. Samoa Joe will also EAT YOUR CHILDREN!!!

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  38. Please.


    Did you hear Christian's TNA theme?


    Have you heard Ice Ice Baby?


    Are you implying that Jarrett and Vanilla Ice can out huckster Vince?

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  39. I always thought that Joe could've used a bit more gimmickery.


    Sure it's great being a submission machine, but play up the crazy Samoan-ness as well. A crazy monster heel, that can also out-wrestle the babyface? Fucking money dude.

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  40. As Harlem Shake begins to go the way of Kriss Kross, I will say the TNA one was one of my favorites, probably due to the fact that James Storm of all people is leading it.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up1aX874Vj8

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  41. I've seen very little of it. Most of my viewing came last year.

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  42. I have to give credit to them, they've pulled a lifesaver out of an angle I thought for sure was dead in the water. And making sense of it too. Bully as A&8 leader/World Champ + a possible Bad Influence/Roode-Aries feud? Could be off the chain, as Tazz would say.

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  43. Give me a fucking break. So a few well-produced recap videos make the whole angle worth more than a single piece of shit? In that case every single major angle produced by WWE in the last 10 years has been a "masterpiece of storytelling." If this angle is watchable now it's purely because of Bully Ray's awesomeness and has nothing to do with TNA's creative media division.

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  44. I don't think anyone's saying the nine-month slog was worth it, but rather, they found the right guy to head up this whole thing and made it not seem like an ass pull, which was more than any of us was expecting. It was still too damn long and redundant, but it at least paid off with SOMETHING, whereas WWE doesn't really pay off anything these days.

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  45. What's this story? I didn't know Joe could've been Umaga? Eh?

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  46. I like the change to the X Division. I wish they made it more clear what "the title picture" was though. It also kinda sucks for them that the entrance ramp goes right to the ring apron, they have less room for flippy attacks.

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  47. True enough. I certainly don't want my criticism of TNA to be seen as praise of WWE. Bad Influence vs. Aries & Roode automatically makes TNA a more competent promotion than WWE's current shitshow.

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  48. Thank you for not insulting my intelligence tonight, TNA. Feels good being able to watch wrestling and not feeling like stabbing my brain in the face.

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  49. Totally agree with that, especially your last two sentences!


    Last /week's/ show was the best wrestling weekly show that I've seen in months at least. Smackdown has been okay at times, but I had to just turn off Raw last night. That opening Cena / PTP segment was brutal. I love Lawler for his accomplishments and him + Vince I thought was a GREAT commentary team, but he's absolutely useless out there now except as a smiling face. Got to give credit to Cole for carrying the show single-handedly except while I respect him for that, he doesn't do a good enough job that I don't want to fill his mouth with taffy and gum for the three hours that Raw lasts.


    Really excited to watch TNA some time in the next week. Am very excited that they are hitting up the UK more. I WANT to give them money. I WANT to buy their merchandise. Haven't felt like that since the Summer Of Punk and not like that since, fuck, 2000.

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  50. Dunno. How did people react to that no-good stinky giant Son Of Andre?

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  51. Yeah I couldn't blame him if he was totally unmotivated now. I think a heel turn after he 'has enough and snaps' is gonna be necessary now.

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  52. I think he got a mention on WWE.com, but nothing on TV. Same with Test and Cade.

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  53. Count me in the minority of NOT wanting to see Bad Influence/Rooden Aries.


    Who's the heel?


    Who's the face?


    Its a heel-heel program which further makes me laugh because they are wasting 4 good talents in the tag ranks. Two of which are former world champs not 6-8 months prior.


    This is a waste of time.


    Beastie Boys called it SABOTAGE


    But hey, at least the matches will be good right?


    Fuck character development and the future main event scene.

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  54. That is a pretty awesome video and a good job at retconning some stuff -- sort of reminds me of the whole Danny Davis angle back in the day. Love the look of the videos too, it's a pretty slick production.

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  55. AJ's gonna be sitting in the rafters listening to The Cure by the summer.

    It's too bad AJ doesn't wear facepaint. Then we could have had "Aces And Eights AJ" hang out with the group for a couple of months while the real AJ is gone.

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  56. Oh man! If TNA manages to recreate the Buff Bagwell/Sting DDT moment from that one Nitro, I will love them forever.


    A bunch of guys in hoodies attack Aces And Eights, one of them steps up to, let's say, Brisco. He punches him. Poses. Man in hoodie no sells. DDT. WHAM! There's the real AJ.

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  57. Agreed. She's apparently a crazy bitch also which likely makes her a top shelf lay... mad she broken up with Matt Hardy instead of Drew McIntyre he likely would have killed himself.

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  58. It was my good fourtune that bbt wasn't on last night so my DVR picked up the show. Add my voice to the many praising it. I still ffwded some, but it was quite a well-made wrestling program.

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  59. I freakin' loved those Bully Ray videos. Well-produced, tied everything
    together nicely, and they damn near salvaged the entire angle for me.
    Just great, great stuff.

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  60. I believe the story goes that Foley was trying to sell Vince on Joe all through 2006, and Vince took forever to give him a look. Of course when he did, all Vince saw was "fat guy who can work a bit" and devised the Unga Bunga gimmick for him, to which Joe said fuck that.

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  61. Jimmy Hart could do a WWE version.

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  62. At this point, Joe just likes the schedule better. He's said in interviews stuff about being loyal to one company or some crap, but honestly I think that just means "I wanna stay here and play video games with AJ." After seeing YOUMANGA I think he's right to be apprehensive, and if he doesn't want to hit the road like they do then that's it. Only way he'll come in otherwise is if both Punk and Cena make Many H's care...THEN they can do the usual routine of slipping greatness past Vince & making him think it was his idea.

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  63. Crowd: "WE WANT ANGLE!"
    Magnus highspot: *crickets*
    Crowd (and Me): "WE WANT JOE!"
    Hardy wins: *little girl screams*

    Going out on the road is gonna carry a few surprises for them...

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  64. This is one of the RARE cases where the heel/face divide means jack and shit. Watching each team try to one-up the other should be quite entertaining... UNLESS we're still doing this in September.


    Also, why not let Aces and Eights run through the "cannon fodder" (Hardy, Angle, Sting(?)), THEN an Aries or a Roode can come back to the main event.


    Aries and Roode, if anything, are doing for the tag belts what Styles/Daniels/Joe did for the X-Division belt a few years back. They're not exactly gonna lose "main event" status during this run.




    In comparison, my issue with WWE IS NOT who is in the main event now. It's the WASTED potential languishing in 50/50 land, where midcard titles just mean you job to the Cenas and Del Rios of the world.

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  65. The last paragraph here is TNA/Impact in a nutshell. Yet another promising (re)start... can they manage to not screw it up?

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  66. Which I've been saying since Hardy won the damn belt. He had a ton of groupies in the Impact Zone.

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  67. Wow, never noticed that before.

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  68. I do love that theme, but only in small doses though.

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  69. TNA still treats tag teams like a big deal, especially when two top guys form a team. It isn't like WWE where as soon as you're a tag team, you become jobbers.

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  70. I thought it was refreshing how they took the time to try and make the Aces angle make as much sense as possible. You know WWE would have just had Bully say "I don't owe anyone an explanation!"

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  71. This! Plus they wouldn't have been able to go back 9 months and make sense of it because their plan would've changed several times from beginning to end.

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  72. I don't think he's out of the division... The way I took the new X Rules was that all title matches are 3-ways, and the person who gets pinned moves down the card and the person who doesn't get pinned is in the next title match with a new contender added. So next one will be King vs. Ion vs. someone else.

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  73. The main event scene is crowded right now. The face side has Joe, Angle, Hardy, Storm, and eventually AJ and Magnus, while the heel side is squarely focused on Bully and the Aces. Aries and Roode would be a distraction from Aces and potentially overshadow everyone in that group except for Bully. It's smart to move them elsehwhere. One of the great things about TNA is that guys can slide in and out of the main event with no problem, something you won't see in WWE.

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  74. Worst_in_the_WorldMarch 22, 2013 at 8:56 AM

    Haven't watched much TNA since around BFG (Aces & 8s and Jeff Hardy just turned me off), but tuned in last night after reading about the Bully turn.


    Anyway, was really blown away by last night's episode. Though the Bully videos don't make up for however many months of Aces & 8s shittiness, I'd say they put everything in a position where STARTING NOW the angle can get good. I mean good lord that Bully Ray (homophobic asshole that he is) sure knows how to cut a wrestling promo.



    The tag title match was really good, as was the X Division match. In fact I think the thing that has me mot interested in watching TNA right now are the changes they announced for the X Division. I LOVE how it's a division with very specific gimmick rules, yet the gimmick works in somehow giving the division a sports feel. I really hope they stick with this and keep the X Division completely separate from the rest of the show (don't job them out to "heavyweights!"), because if so that could totally become the most fun part of the show.



    Oh, and the main event rocked too. I like Hardy getting the win, since one would assume Bully is holding the belt at least until the next BFG. So Hardy gets to be his first bit of cannon fodder. Works for me!


    Anyway, TNA certainly seemed to be on the Road to Wrestlemania.

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  75. That was supposed to be the case, and then supposedly he got re-pitched something along the lines of Rikishi, but he still wanted to be the monster heel. I think a Rikishi-ish thing could've worked, not necessarily the dancing but the streetwise Samoan thing, tying heritage to the modern day. Plus Joe has great charisma that is honestly wasted when he's just a monster.

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  76. Worst_in_the_WorldMarch 22, 2013 at 9:02 AM

    Oh, one more thing: I am totally 100% in on the Joseph Park character. Like, he's someone that actually makes you ROOT for him, which is no easy feat in modern cynical wrestling-land. I hope they just stick with him and never bring back Abyss, because watching Park keep getting better and climb the TNA ladder could be lots of fun. Just think of the pop he'll get when he wins his first championship—— Joseph Park winning the TV belt at BFG could be as good of a story as whoever beats BUlly for the world title.

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  77. My favorite part of Joe Park is the godawful punches he throws. It's hard to throw a good punch in wrestling, so I imagine it's probably a thousand times harder to intentionally throw a good-looking bad punch. Any time he starts "peppering" his opponents with right and lefts, I crack up.

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  78. Again as long as you are entertained its all that matters, doesnt matter if it ties down 3 main eventers... and Kaz and relegates them to the midcard.


    Aries and Roode, if anything, are doing for the tag belts what Styles/Daniels/Joe did for the X-Division belt a few years back. They're not exactly gonna lose "main event" status during this run.



    A few years back? 2005? Thats damn near a decade ago bro. Look whats happened to the X division since.


    Look what happened to those players since then.


    Daniels never got a shot, and got masked TWICE and fired.
    AJ treadmilled up and down the card
    and Joe... do i even need to say?


    But I want you to hold onto this post. Because TNA has done this year in and out and obviously YOU DONT GET IT.


    They KILL ALL THE TNA TALENT. to where nobody is hot.


    So they go with Angle and Hardy because they have residual WWE heat.


    I can run down the list, to the people they have booked into oblivion.


    But its ok, cuz they are still having good matches.


    Its damn near a decade and they are still having good matches in the same position they were in before.


    Sound familiar?


    Radicalz in 95 = Radicalz in 99
    AJ/Joe/Daniels/Roode/Kaz in 05 = same players in 2013. damn near same spot on the card.


    but hey, the matches will be good... smh...

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  79. meanwhile hardy/bully clog the main event, the same main event roode/aries had 6-8 months ago.


    im all about fwd progression.


    Ray is forward.


    Hardy is not.

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  80. i love the fact that yall can forgive so quickly.


    i cant.


    aries/roode is inherently wrong on so many levels
    kayfabe and non kayfabe.


    but again, at least the matches will rock right?

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  81. Bully Ray videos were phenomenal to watch. It explained everything for someone like me who has not been able to watch show about why each guy and their reason for being in the group.

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  82. Anyone else have the feeling that whenever anyone said, "the new AJ" they were really gonna say "the New Age Outlaws"?

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  83. OK, that's a Harlem Shake I approve of.

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  84. Well, yeah, the fact that the matches will be great and the segments entertaining is generally a plus for a wrestling show.


    I'm not sure what you're point is? A Bully/Hardy rematch makes sense given the current story and Bully has plenty of face contenders to go up against in the future. There's no reason to force Aries and Roode into Main Event singles angles when you can have them together, elevating the tag titles and putting on entertaining matches and segments.


    Aries and Roode are made men when it comes to TNA main events, just like AJ and Joe. A spell in the tag ranks won't harm them and they'll be back to having great singles matches by the time the Bound for Glory series rolls around.

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  85. Really nice camerawork on Park making his entrance and stopping right by the 'I Believe in Joseph Park' sign. Cool image.

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  86. Taz should probably just step away from the announcing table and be another mouthpiece for A&8's.

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  87. the streetwise Samoan thing


    Matt E Smalls and the Samoan Gangsta's say E-C-DUB!!! E-C-DUB!!!

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  88. Radicalz in 1995: NOWHERE near the main event. Great matches, sure. Oh, and Saturn was still in ECW.
    Radicalz in 1999: Okay, Benoit was JUST breaking into the upper card, Guerrero was showing promise, Malenko was still a damn good wrestler, and Saturn was... Saturn.

    A.J./Joe/Daniels in 2005: X-Division, pushing it up to (if not above, for a short while) "main event" status.
    Roode: Hell, this one I'm not too sure on. Team Canada maybe? NOWHERE near the main event IIRC.
    Kaz: See Roode (last line only. I'm pretty sure he wasn't on Team Canada.)

    2013: All but Kaz can be put in top roles without a massive build, and Kaz is fairly close to there.

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  89. True, they could have a nice sub-gimmick where he becomes the mentor for Bischoff & Brisco. Also harkens back to the Team Taz days in ECW.

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  90. haha... so literal...

    but AJ was already a two time nwa champ BEFORE 05... and then...


    but im glad you have this much optimism but again save this convo...

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  91. Random threadjack:


    Holy shit, I had to make sure it wasn't my eyes, but holy shit did Undertaker put on a lot of weight in 1999. He looks TERRIBLE.

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  92. Anything to get him out of the booth—— the dude is pure shit back there. Same as heel Cole, he just undercuts everything to get his own (pointless) gimmick over. Note to wrestling producers: nobody is tuning into a broadcast hoping they'll get to hear the announcers bicker.

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  93. Actually, I'm very guarded in my optimism. I know TNA's screwed up a LOT already.

    But the points you make above, IMO, are the wrong ones here.

    Bully HAS to win at least one, if not two, of his upcoming matches/feuds, otherwise A&8 is useless. If those wins are against Hardy/Angle/(?), then no damage is done to the "homegrown" talent.

    Now, once he's gone through them, the "homegrown" (Storm, Styles, Joe, Roode, Aries) can take their shots. One might have to lose, but it NEEDS to be someone not ex-WWE dethroning Bully Ray. Once Bully's defeated, even if we're ending A&8 there, the main event will still have a backlog available.

    Devon with the TV title would be okay, IF he ever defended the damn thing. (Magnus should really be here, chasing for now. Could also plug in Rob Terry here.)

    The X-Division title's been "relegated" to the cruiserweight role, and will probably stay out of A&8's focus for now.

    The Tag Titles are a good "shunt" for Aries and Roode, for now. after all, they seem perfectly happy staying out the crossfire between A&8 and Impact. That may change, especially if someone from A&8 enters the tag title scene. (Gallows and Knox?)

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  94. TL/DR:

    I'm optimistic about TNA at the moment. But I know full well this can become a disaster, or even just a mediocre angle, faster than Hardy can down a pain pill.

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  95. I think Lawler is one of the reasons I don't watch any more. He's just awful to listen to, especially thinking back to his Attitude Era stuff when he was just a great heel commentator in my opinion. He just annoys the shit out of me.

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  96. " Well, that Sting rafter deal in 1997 did draw a lot of money."
    Is that why that fuckers still sitting up their now?

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  97. I enjoyed during the "LETS GO ANGLE" "LETS GO JOE" chant war how he said "Listen to this huge Aces and 8's chant going on here"

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  98. I thought D'Lo and Kennedy's reasons were pretty weak actually

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  99. Throwing a convincing looking worked punch is incredibly hard... I struggled more with that then I did taking back body drops etc.. when I was training.

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  100. That was a top-five Nitro moment, IMO.

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  101. All I care about is the shows being entertaining.

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  102. Okay.

    Uh, take a listen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAPAfZMmCIk

    Then check this out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCI99p02ayU

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  103. Looks like Hogan vs Bully Ray at BFG this year.

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  104. This was a pretty good job of resetting A&8's, but as with everything related to TNA, I remain skeptical that they can follow through. With anything. Yeah, Bad Influence vs. Greatest Generation should be easy to book, but TNA can find a way to mess it up.

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  105. You could've just said rehearsed.

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  106. Yes! The crowd freaked out when they figured out it was the real Sting before Buff did.

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  107. Civil War: I'm with Fry

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  108. Forgive the repost, but after watching that opening segment again, I still think Jeff Hardy should have a beef against Hogan in the storyline. After all, Hulk was telling Bully before the Lockdown match that he was the guy to take the company "to the next level" and all that. So for Hogan to come to him for help after all that is some sniveling-ass bullshit.

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  109. What's wrong with just enjoying the shows while they're good? If TNA tanks the angle, so be it. But for now the show is good and the angle is good. If I based my viewing on what I think will happen in the future, I'd never watch wrestling and wouldn't have for about five years.

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  110. I almost agree except for Gorilla and Bobby. Their bickering makes a lot of terrible wrestling worth watching. And also gets me to watch far more Prime Time Wrestling than I would if it were just a normal studio show.


    But it's probably not fair to include them since they're the exception (lone exception?) and not the rule.

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  111. Ooooooooohhhhhhh, I see. It's THAT kind of board.

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  112. Agreed. But Gorilla and Bobby (and Gorilla and Jesse) always raised their game when it was called for. Nowadays Cole (and Lawler, unfortunately) are just as likely to undermine a good match as they are the "bowling shoe-ugly" segments.

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  113. Kennedy had a decent reason, but it was kind of glossed over, I thought.

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  114. Agreed. Besides, they paid off the A&8's angle without changing their mind and now it's 1000x better than it was before Lockdown.

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  115. All I asked for was that the group was given focus and direction. Bully Ray did that in two hours.

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  116. Tito Santana talked about that in his book He said someon told him to put a styrofoam cup on a string, throw a punch at it and come as close as you can to hitting it without making a breeze.

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  117. Looking like a biker that hasn't bathed in two weeks is easier. I would have him go full-blown Frank Castle revenge mode and beat the shit out of everyone that doubted him.

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  118. They fucked up with having the TV title in limbo, but other than that I agree. Joe or Storm should be defending it against others while not getting World title shots.

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  119. Or the minute the team gets over the WWE breaks them up and makes them feud against each other.

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  120. I liked when Tazz was his advisor.

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  121. Yeah, this probably has been planned all along. It's definitely been planned since BFG, it's just they didn't do a good enough job of making the journey compelling.

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  122. Exactly. People around here get into this mentality that even though the show is good now, it won't be in the future, so therefore I cannot enjoy the good. Well then why the fuck do you watch, seriously? I think a lot of it has to do with our obsession with fantasy booking. People get an idea of what they want to happen and get annoyed when it doesn't turn out the way they want. Even worse, they can become convinced that their ideas are better than what the WWE/TNA is currently doing.

    I was like that for years, but now I just try to watch the show and enjoy it if its good. If its not good, then I bitch.

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  123. He was quite banged up at the time though, to be fair. He looked worse when he returned in 2000.

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  124. Very true. Although I wonder how much of them undermining stuff is because it's what Vince tells them to do. I imagine that has a lot to do with it. Not that it makes Cole or Lawler great announcers (it's so weird to listen to late 90's Lawler and listen to him now, he used to be so much better... and sounded like he cared).


    And even weirder is that when you listen to Cole and Tazz from the early-mid 2000's on SmackDown, Cole was actually competent if not great. Still much better than he is currently.

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  125. Because TNA has been a d-tease for seven years and for every step forward they go two back. I don't think it's that ridiculous that I praise TNA without also remaining skeptical.

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  126. So they make you like their crap after the fact? I guess being a TNA fan is kind of like having Stockholm Syndrome?

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  127. Not saying your skepticism isn't justified, I just don't think we should complain about things we don't know are going to happen yet and just enjoy the now. It makes the experience more enjoyable for yourself.

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  128. Sounds good, except it's basically the same setup as Brock-Cena from last year. Plus, WWE would never let Samoa Joe do "Ryback's move"

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  129. Of course it won't happen.


    But who cares if it's the same as Brock's comeback? Make it a running gag. Every Raw at Mania, some heel runs out and kills the top face dead.

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  130. It's funny whenever a wrestler legitimately does something awesome in the ring and Lawler is like "HOLY SHIT!"


    You can tell the difference between his fake enthusiasm and when he's legitimately excited so easily.

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  131. Odd - I had no idea about that "Evanescence" song, I just figured it was a loose knock-off of "Close Your Eyes".

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  132. Sting:Crow::::AJ:Punisher.


    They need to tease AJ being in Aces And Eights first. But I'm sure that's coming.

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  133. Me thinks they were both knockoffs of Evanescence. TNA just decided to...y'know...be way less subtle about it.

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  134. If anybody still has the show on their DVR, go back and listen to Hogan announce the four-way main-event. He refers to Kurt as "Kurt Anal".

    Kurt's expression and body-language after that were hysterical.

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  135. Yeah it's the only reason I have the real song on my iPod...

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