Post by Talon Thorne on Apr 16, 2008 19:20:41 GMT -5
TNA 101
April 15, 2008
By Talon Thorne
iMPACT! Report Card
“It all end in the cage”
April 10, 2008
The show
- Team Tomko came to the ring and ran down Team Cage saying what they did last week pissed them off. Team Cage interrupted and Christian told Tomko not to think. After taking a shot at Hillary Clinton by saying she looked like Brother Ray, Cage said at Lockdown they would be leaving them for dead. AJ Styles told Cage not to bring it but to sing it. Mike Tenay said AJ mangled the English landguage almost as bad as President Bush (a few shots at politics tonight)
-Consequences Creed defeated Jimmy Rave to qualify for the Xscape Match following a Hammerlock DDT he calls the CreedDT. This was Consequences’ debut and he looked very good.
-Petey Williams and Scott Steiner defeated the Motor City Machine Guns following the Canadian Destroyer. After the match Steiner announced that Petey had to undergo his final initiation. He then pulled out scissors and a hair shaver. At first Petey was reluctant but moments later he allowed Steiner to shave his head. After that Steiner gave Petey chain mail to wear on his head.
-TNA showed a great video highlighting the history between Angle and Joe as well as comments from different people on who would win at Lockdown and finally comments from Samoa Joe himself. Great video
-We got the contract signing for Lockdown where if Samoa Joe loses, he has to walk away from wrestling. Kurt said he didn’t trust Joe so he needed to sign the contract. Joe did so but not after saying that he would walk out of Lockdown as TNA World Heavyweight Champion. The two biggest rivals in TNA then shook hands.
-Roxxi Laveaux defeated Angelina Love with a very cool move known as the “Voodoo Drop” that has to be seen to be believed.
-The next episode of Rough Cut talked about how Kip and BG hate each other. Kip said after this thing is done he will win a World Title.
-Super Eric defeated Black Reign with the Death Valley Driver. After the match Rellik, The Rock N Rave Infection and Black Reign attacked Eric Young and handcuffed him to the ropes. Kaz came out to help but was outnumbered. Super Eric broke free of the cuffs and cleared the evil from the ring.
-A good video aired between the history of Robert Roode and Booker T.
- Sting and Kevin Nash defeated Team 3D when AJ Styles and Tomko ran in. After not too long all 10 participants in the Lethal Lockdown Match were in a huge brawl in the ring to end iMPACT!
Notes
- A new match was announced called “Cuffed in a Cage”. It will feature six teams of two: Black Reign and Rellik, Rock N Rave Infection, Eric Young and Kaz, Petey Williams and Scott Steiner, LAX and the Motor City Machine Guns. Apparently there are only 11 set of cuffs. The point is for you to cuff your opponents to the cage, where there will only be one winner. Someone will have to sacrifice themselves for the team.
-Jim Cornette announced that as of that night, Matt Morgan would no longer be his Administrative Assistant and would be an active member of the TNA Roster. Matt Morgan called himself the “most genetically jacked, athletically stacked giant in TNA”
Grade:
Overall Thoughts:
Show Rating: 1.0
Lockdown PPV Report Card
1) Black Machismo defeated Sonjay Dutt, Johnny Devine, Consequences Creed, Curry Man and Shark Boy in an Xscape Match to retain the X Division Championship. Order f=of elimination: Sonjay Dutt, Shark Boy, Consequences Creed, Curry Man. In the end Johnny Devine taped Lethal’s hands to the top rope but Sonjay Dutt helped Lethal by preventing him from escaping through the door. Dutt then threw a knife into Lethal, who cut the tape and escaped through the door just as Johnny Devine was about to escape over the top rope. Good opener with a few high spots. I was surprised Sonjay got eliminated so quickly. (B-)
2) Roxxi Laveaux defeated Angelina Love to become Queen of the Cage and apparently gets a shot at the Knockouts Championship. The match also involved Rhaka Khan, Traci Brooks, Jacqueline, Velvet Sky, Salinas and Christy Hemme. The match was chaotic as all the ladies tried to get into the ring. Not a bad match at all and can definitely work better with a cage. Roxxi Laveaux won with her new Voodoo Drop on Angelina Love. Called it! (C)
3) BG James defeated Kip James with a rollup. BG used a non-lyrical version of his “Beware” song when he was with 3 Live Kru. Kip James’ theme was new. This match was pretty bland, not really bad, just bland. BG kicked out of the Famouser from Kip James. After the match BG shook the hand of Kip. Kip then attacked BG. (C-)
4) Super Eric won the “Cuffed in the Cage” Match. This match also featured: Kaz, Black Reign and Rellik, Scott Steiner and Petey Williams, Rock N Rave Infection, LAX and the Motor City Machine Guns. Eric Young was attacked before the match by Black Reign and Rellik and didn’t appear until later. I predicted Steiner to win this and he was actually cuffed quite early after the other participants decided to team up against him.H High spots include a Wave of the Future into the Cage, a Flux Capacitor and a chokeslam from the top rope by Lance Hoyt. It came down to the Rock N Rave Infection and Black Reign and Rellik when Super Eric came into the match and single handedly cuffed all four men to win the match. Quite chaotic, the fans were behind Super Eric. Once again exceeded my expectations which were very low for this match (C)
5) Gail Kim and ODB defeated Awesome Kong and Raisha Saeed. What a debut for Saeed. She is quite a talented wrestler who snaps off moves, like that. Good tag team match. A cool point saw Gail Kim HurriKimrana Raisha at the top of the cage. Gail Kim and ODB picked up the win after Kong accidentally backhanded Saeed. Another good match (B)
6) Booker T and Sharmell defeated Robert Roode and Payton Banks. This match just didn’t entertain me. Nothing against Booker but I find him to be bland. I like characters and Booker’s is pretty generic. This match saw solid wrestling however. This feud looks like it will continue. (C+)
7) Team Cage defeated Team Tomko when Rhino pinned James Storm in Lethal Lockdown. The match started with Christian Cage and AJ Styles (who attacked Cage while he was distracted on Tomko). Excellent match that saw AJ Styles and Christian Cage go through a table on top of the cage. (B+)
8) Samoa Joe defeated Kurt Angle to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. This match was excellent. I was reluctant seeing both men do an MMA Style match at the beginning but they both pulled it off well. Karen Angle was originally ringside to support Kurt but Kurt had her ejected. She told the security guards “Don’t f*****g touch me”. Things got really excited when it developed into more wrestling. This match was very similar to Kurt Angle vs Yuji Nagata from earlier in the year. After 18 minutes of excellent action, Samoa Joe pinned Kurt Angle with the Musclebuster for the win and the title. I loved this match! MOTYC (A)
Comments: To me this was the PPV of the year, rivaled closely by Wrestlemania 24 and the Royal Rumble only. The World Title Match, Lethal Lockdown, Xscape and Knockouts Tag Team Match were all pretty good. Even the matches that I thought would disappoint weren’t half bad. If you saw it or didn’t see it, catch the replay. You aren’t a real wrestling fan if you don’t.
Grade: B+
The Rankings (4/14/08)
Heavyweight Division/ (NEW TNA World Champion) Samoa Joe
(#1) Scott Steiner- Big Poppa Pump may have been eliminated early in the Cuffed in the Cage Match at Lockdown, but he will be cashing in on his TNA World Heavyweight Title shot at Sacrifice against New TNA World Champion, Samoa Joe
(#2) Kurt Angle- The former World Champion will likely be looking to reclaim his title. He will have to wait in line until after Sacrifice however.
(#3) Christian Cage- The Instant Classic was usually one step ahead of Team Tomko. Christian Cage came up with the team that came out victorious at Lethal Lockdown. From Kevin Nash, to bringing back Sting to getting Matt Morgan. It was his reunion with Rhino that put the War Machine on the team. That same War Machine Gored his way to victory at Lethal Lockdown.
(#4) Sting- When Sting returned at the Live edition of iMPACT, he made a statement that TNA was his home. He led Team Café to victory that night in an 8 Man Tag. He also defeated James Storm a week later. What a dream match it would be to see Sting challenge Samoa Joe for the World Title.
(#5) Rhino- Ever since Rhino returned in February he has made iMPACT after iMPACT, from Elevation X to defeating Judas Mesias. The one that really counted was this past Sunday when he hit the Gore on Cowboy James Storm for the victory.
X Division/(TNA X Division Champion) Black Machismo
(#1) Johnny Devine- The traitor of the X Division nearly won the X Division Championship at Lockdown. He was responsible for the eliminations of both Sonjay Dutt and Curry Man. Devine nearly won had it not been for the interference of the Guru. Devine will receive another title shot this Thursday and he might just walk out as champion.
(#2) Curry Man
(#3) Consequences Creed
(#4) Shark Boy
(#5) Scott Steiner- Big Poppa Pump still holds that Feast or Fired X Division Title shot. He could cash it in at any time.
Tag Team Division/(TNA Tag Team Champions) AJ Styles and Tomko
(#1) Latin American Xchange- Their win over the Infection and Machine Guns at Destination X landed them a title shot. When will they receive it? Apparently this upcoming week on iMPACT!
(#2) Super Eric and Kaz- Super Eric overcame the Monsters of Rock to earn himself the victory. This win earned Super Eric and Kaz a Tag Title shot on iMPACT!
(#3) Rock N Rave Infection
(#4) Black Reign and Rellik
(#5) Team 3D
Knockouts Division/ (TNA Women’s Knockout Champion) Awesome Kong
(#1) Roxxi Laveaux- Laveaux got the win at Lockdown over more than half a dozen other Knockouts at Queen of the Cage. The debut of her new Voodoo Drop has really helped her as well.
(#2) ODB- At Lockdown she pinned Raisha Saeed, Awesome Kong’s manager. She has nearly met the strength of Kong with her own.
(#3) Gail Kim- Gail is the only lady to have beaten Awesome Kong in singles action. She wants her title back!
(#4) Angelina Love
(#5) Traci Brooks
Thoughts
Mynetwork TV President, Greg Meidel recently confirmed that Smackdown will remain in its Friday Night Smackdown timeslot. This is great for me as a TNA Fan and as a wrestling fan. I thought going head to head with Smackdown should it have been moved to Thursday would have immediately hurt TNA. I enjoy watching both iMPACT and Smackdown and would have been saddened had I had to choose between one of the two. This is good for TNA since they won’t have to move and will allow them more time to build up a product on Thursday Nights. For the record I would have chosen iMPACT over Smackdown.
I am unsure shaving Petey Williams head was the right move. I think that having another carbon copy in TNA isn’t the right direction they should be heading.
Matt Morgan is no longer part of TNA Management. Hopefully this new blood will freshen up the main event scene as it has gotten a little stale. Matt Morgan is a big star with a new catchphrase, above average promo skills and a really cool looking finisher.
I was impressed with the debuts of both Raisha Saeed and Consequences Creed. Creed was using the music D-Ray 3000 used to use (and used during Bound For Glory 2006). I think there is room for improvement on the experience level but he can only get better. I also like his name of his finisher (Hammerlock DDT) called the Creed-DT. Raisha on the other hand did excellent in her first match in TNA at Lockdown. She did very well in adding the extra oomph that is needed. I am looking forward to the next Saeed match.
Many wrestlers made their PPV in-ring debuts at Lockdown: Matt Morgan, Consequences Creed, Raisha Saeed and Rhaka Khan.
Special thanks go out to Suzanne Abshire. While being one of the biggest critics of TNA, she and I actually worked out a few issues. She is also one of the most detailed readers of this column. I have also invited her to attack TNA Creative in our next War of the Words.
The two-month anniversary of TNA 101 on TNAWrestling.com has come. I would like to thank Newton for giving me this opportunity and the readers for the excellent feedback. In my short time here I have branded things never before seen on wrestling websites: Report Cards with Letter Grades for example. I have also done things like TNA Rankings, Six Points of iMPACT, War of the Words, TNA Q&A and so much more. I can confidently say that you haven’t seen anything yet as in future columns I will be debuting my State of TNA Address as well as create an article that chronicles storylines seen in TNA.
As for next week, I will be talking about a very controversial topic, Crash TV in TNA!
Total Nonstop Interaction
There are three Interactive Topics this week, I would like to hear what you think about them
1) What did you think about Lockdown?
2) Would you like TNA to incorporate more MMA into their product?
3) Do you think TNA should bring iMPACT! on the road within the next six months?
Written by Talon Thorne
Talon_DR@yahoo.com
April 15, 2008
By Talon Thorne
iMPACT! Report Card
“It all end in the cage”
April 10, 2008
The show
- Team Tomko came to the ring and ran down Team Cage saying what they did last week pissed them off. Team Cage interrupted and Christian told Tomko not to think. After taking a shot at Hillary Clinton by saying she looked like Brother Ray, Cage said at Lockdown they would be leaving them for dead. AJ Styles told Cage not to bring it but to sing it. Mike Tenay said AJ mangled the English landguage almost as bad as President Bush (a few shots at politics tonight)
-Consequences Creed defeated Jimmy Rave to qualify for the Xscape Match following a Hammerlock DDT he calls the CreedDT. This was Consequences’ debut and he looked very good.
-Petey Williams and Scott Steiner defeated the Motor City Machine Guns following the Canadian Destroyer. After the match Steiner announced that Petey had to undergo his final initiation. He then pulled out scissors and a hair shaver. At first Petey was reluctant but moments later he allowed Steiner to shave his head. After that Steiner gave Petey chain mail to wear on his head.
-TNA showed a great video highlighting the history between Angle and Joe as well as comments from different people on who would win at Lockdown and finally comments from Samoa Joe himself. Great video
-We got the contract signing for Lockdown where if Samoa Joe loses, he has to walk away from wrestling. Kurt said he didn’t trust Joe so he needed to sign the contract. Joe did so but not after saying that he would walk out of Lockdown as TNA World Heavyweight Champion. The two biggest rivals in TNA then shook hands.
-Roxxi Laveaux defeated Angelina Love with a very cool move known as the “Voodoo Drop” that has to be seen to be believed.
-The next episode of Rough Cut talked about how Kip and BG hate each other. Kip said after this thing is done he will win a World Title.
-Super Eric defeated Black Reign with the Death Valley Driver. After the match Rellik, The Rock N Rave Infection and Black Reign attacked Eric Young and handcuffed him to the ropes. Kaz came out to help but was outnumbered. Super Eric broke free of the cuffs and cleared the evil from the ring.
-A good video aired between the history of Robert Roode and Booker T.
- Sting and Kevin Nash defeated Team 3D when AJ Styles and Tomko ran in. After not too long all 10 participants in the Lethal Lockdown Match were in a huge brawl in the ring to end iMPACT!
Notes
- A new match was announced called “Cuffed in a Cage”. It will feature six teams of two: Black Reign and Rellik, Rock N Rave Infection, Eric Young and Kaz, Petey Williams and Scott Steiner, LAX and the Motor City Machine Guns. Apparently there are only 11 set of cuffs. The point is for you to cuff your opponents to the cage, where there will only be one winner. Someone will have to sacrifice themselves for the team.
-Jim Cornette announced that as of that night, Matt Morgan would no longer be his Administrative Assistant and would be an active member of the TNA Roster. Matt Morgan called himself the “most genetically jacked, athletically stacked giant in TNA”
Grade:
Overall Thoughts:
Show Rating: 1.0
Lockdown PPV Report Card
1) Black Machismo defeated Sonjay Dutt, Johnny Devine, Consequences Creed, Curry Man and Shark Boy in an Xscape Match to retain the X Division Championship. Order f=of elimination: Sonjay Dutt, Shark Boy, Consequences Creed, Curry Man. In the end Johnny Devine taped Lethal’s hands to the top rope but Sonjay Dutt helped Lethal by preventing him from escaping through the door. Dutt then threw a knife into Lethal, who cut the tape and escaped through the door just as Johnny Devine was about to escape over the top rope. Good opener with a few high spots. I was surprised Sonjay got eliminated so quickly. (B-)
2) Roxxi Laveaux defeated Angelina Love to become Queen of the Cage and apparently gets a shot at the Knockouts Championship. The match also involved Rhaka Khan, Traci Brooks, Jacqueline, Velvet Sky, Salinas and Christy Hemme. The match was chaotic as all the ladies tried to get into the ring. Not a bad match at all and can definitely work better with a cage. Roxxi Laveaux won with her new Voodoo Drop on Angelina Love. Called it! (C)
3) BG James defeated Kip James with a rollup. BG used a non-lyrical version of his “Beware” song when he was with 3 Live Kru. Kip James’ theme was new. This match was pretty bland, not really bad, just bland. BG kicked out of the Famouser from Kip James. After the match BG shook the hand of Kip. Kip then attacked BG. (C-)
4) Super Eric won the “Cuffed in the Cage” Match. This match also featured: Kaz, Black Reign and Rellik, Scott Steiner and Petey Williams, Rock N Rave Infection, LAX and the Motor City Machine Guns. Eric Young was attacked before the match by Black Reign and Rellik and didn’t appear until later. I predicted Steiner to win this and he was actually cuffed quite early after the other participants decided to team up against him.H High spots include a Wave of the Future into the Cage, a Flux Capacitor and a chokeslam from the top rope by Lance Hoyt. It came down to the Rock N Rave Infection and Black Reign and Rellik when Super Eric came into the match and single handedly cuffed all four men to win the match. Quite chaotic, the fans were behind Super Eric. Once again exceeded my expectations which were very low for this match (C)
5) Gail Kim and ODB defeated Awesome Kong and Raisha Saeed. What a debut for Saeed. She is quite a talented wrestler who snaps off moves, like that. Good tag team match. A cool point saw Gail Kim HurriKimrana Raisha at the top of the cage. Gail Kim and ODB picked up the win after Kong accidentally backhanded Saeed. Another good match (B)
6) Booker T and Sharmell defeated Robert Roode and Payton Banks. This match just didn’t entertain me. Nothing against Booker but I find him to be bland. I like characters and Booker’s is pretty generic. This match saw solid wrestling however. This feud looks like it will continue. (C+)
7) Team Cage defeated Team Tomko when Rhino pinned James Storm in Lethal Lockdown. The match started with Christian Cage and AJ Styles (who attacked Cage while he was distracted on Tomko). Excellent match that saw AJ Styles and Christian Cage go through a table on top of the cage. (B+)
8) Samoa Joe defeated Kurt Angle to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. This match was excellent. I was reluctant seeing both men do an MMA Style match at the beginning but they both pulled it off well. Karen Angle was originally ringside to support Kurt but Kurt had her ejected. She told the security guards “Don’t f*****g touch me”. Things got really excited when it developed into more wrestling. This match was very similar to Kurt Angle vs Yuji Nagata from earlier in the year. After 18 minutes of excellent action, Samoa Joe pinned Kurt Angle with the Musclebuster for the win and the title. I loved this match! MOTYC (A)
Comments: To me this was the PPV of the year, rivaled closely by Wrestlemania 24 and the Royal Rumble only. The World Title Match, Lethal Lockdown, Xscape and Knockouts Tag Team Match were all pretty good. Even the matches that I thought would disappoint weren’t half bad. If you saw it or didn’t see it, catch the replay. You aren’t a real wrestling fan if you don’t.
Grade: B+
The Rankings (4/14/08)
Heavyweight Division/ (NEW TNA World Champion) Samoa Joe
(#1) Scott Steiner- Big Poppa Pump may have been eliminated early in the Cuffed in the Cage Match at Lockdown, but he will be cashing in on his TNA World Heavyweight Title shot at Sacrifice against New TNA World Champion, Samoa Joe
(#2) Kurt Angle- The former World Champion will likely be looking to reclaim his title. He will have to wait in line until after Sacrifice however.
(#3) Christian Cage- The Instant Classic was usually one step ahead of Team Tomko. Christian Cage came up with the team that came out victorious at Lethal Lockdown. From Kevin Nash, to bringing back Sting to getting Matt Morgan. It was his reunion with Rhino that put the War Machine on the team. That same War Machine Gored his way to victory at Lethal Lockdown.
(#4) Sting- When Sting returned at the Live edition of iMPACT, he made a statement that TNA was his home. He led Team Café to victory that night in an 8 Man Tag. He also defeated James Storm a week later. What a dream match it would be to see Sting challenge Samoa Joe for the World Title.
(#5) Rhino- Ever since Rhino returned in February he has made iMPACT after iMPACT, from Elevation X to defeating Judas Mesias. The one that really counted was this past Sunday when he hit the Gore on Cowboy James Storm for the victory.
X Division/(TNA X Division Champion) Black Machismo
(#1) Johnny Devine- The traitor of the X Division nearly won the X Division Championship at Lockdown. He was responsible for the eliminations of both Sonjay Dutt and Curry Man. Devine nearly won had it not been for the interference of the Guru. Devine will receive another title shot this Thursday and he might just walk out as champion.
(#2) Curry Man
(#3) Consequences Creed
(#4) Shark Boy
(#5) Scott Steiner- Big Poppa Pump still holds that Feast or Fired X Division Title shot. He could cash it in at any time.
Tag Team Division/(TNA Tag Team Champions) AJ Styles and Tomko
(#1) Latin American Xchange- Their win over the Infection and Machine Guns at Destination X landed them a title shot. When will they receive it? Apparently this upcoming week on iMPACT!
(#2) Super Eric and Kaz- Super Eric overcame the Monsters of Rock to earn himself the victory. This win earned Super Eric and Kaz a Tag Title shot on iMPACT!
(#3) Rock N Rave Infection
(#4) Black Reign and Rellik
(#5) Team 3D
Knockouts Division/ (TNA Women’s Knockout Champion) Awesome Kong
(#1) Roxxi Laveaux- Laveaux got the win at Lockdown over more than half a dozen other Knockouts at Queen of the Cage. The debut of her new Voodoo Drop has really helped her as well.
(#2) ODB- At Lockdown she pinned Raisha Saeed, Awesome Kong’s manager. She has nearly met the strength of Kong with her own.
(#3) Gail Kim- Gail is the only lady to have beaten Awesome Kong in singles action. She wants her title back!
(#4) Angelina Love
(#5) Traci Brooks
Thoughts
Mynetwork TV President, Greg Meidel recently confirmed that Smackdown will remain in its Friday Night Smackdown timeslot. This is great for me as a TNA Fan and as a wrestling fan. I thought going head to head with Smackdown should it have been moved to Thursday would have immediately hurt TNA. I enjoy watching both iMPACT and Smackdown and would have been saddened had I had to choose between one of the two. This is good for TNA since they won’t have to move and will allow them more time to build up a product on Thursday Nights. For the record I would have chosen iMPACT over Smackdown.
I am unsure shaving Petey Williams head was the right move. I think that having another carbon copy in TNA isn’t the right direction they should be heading.
Matt Morgan is no longer part of TNA Management. Hopefully this new blood will freshen up the main event scene as it has gotten a little stale. Matt Morgan is a big star with a new catchphrase, above average promo skills and a really cool looking finisher.
I was impressed with the debuts of both Raisha Saeed and Consequences Creed. Creed was using the music D-Ray 3000 used to use (and used during Bound For Glory 2006). I think there is room for improvement on the experience level but he can only get better. I also like his name of his finisher (Hammerlock DDT) called the Creed-DT. Raisha on the other hand did excellent in her first match in TNA at Lockdown. She did very well in adding the extra oomph that is needed. I am looking forward to the next Saeed match.
Many wrestlers made their PPV in-ring debuts at Lockdown: Matt Morgan, Consequences Creed, Raisha Saeed and Rhaka Khan.
Special thanks go out to Suzanne Abshire. While being one of the biggest critics of TNA, she and I actually worked out a few issues. She is also one of the most detailed readers of this column. I have also invited her to attack TNA Creative in our next War of the Words.
The two-month anniversary of TNA 101 on TNAWrestling.com has come. I would like to thank Newton for giving me this opportunity and the readers for the excellent feedback. In my short time here I have branded things never before seen on wrestling websites: Report Cards with Letter Grades for example. I have also done things like TNA Rankings, Six Points of iMPACT, War of the Words, TNA Q&A and so much more. I can confidently say that you haven’t seen anything yet as in future columns I will be debuting my State of TNA Address as well as create an article that chronicles storylines seen in TNA.
As for next week, I will be talking about a very controversial topic, Crash TV in TNA!
Total Nonstop Interaction
There are three Interactive Topics this week, I would like to hear what you think about them
1) What did you think about Lockdown?
2) Would you like TNA to incorporate more MMA into their product?
3) Do you think TNA should bring iMPACT! on the road within the next six months?
Written by Talon Thorne
Talon_DR@yahoo.com