Impact Wrestling Discussion **UK SPOILERS**

[Vamp]

- Dixie Carter said during the media conference call today that TNA is considering cutting back the number of PPV events per year. Carter said that she didn't know what the perfect number of PPVs would be but that they were considering six to eight a year. The company is currently re-negotiating their PPV carrier contracts

 

Good Idea? Bad Idea?

 

I suppose it's good on paper if you think that TNA would reduce the numbers and that would lead to them building up stronger pay-per-views and them really meaning something. I'm not sure it would though. Say there's six a year, that's two months between each PPV, they're still going to be giving away PPV worthy matches away on free TV for those two months. In an ideal world it'd work, I've always thought they should do it but I'm also hesitant to say it would. It wouldn't surprise me if the only effect was that it made them look like they were taking a step back. But then nobody cares about the PPV's anyway (except Lockdown and BFG of course) so maybe it doesn't matter. Reducing the number of PPVs definately isn't a solution, maybe it's part of one, but it's not an actual fix. I alway think, whenver I randomly tune into TNA once every six months or so, that it seems like it's mainly the same guys feuding again. They rarely ever seem to have any fresh match ups. I suspect that's changed lately with the pushes of Roode and Storm but there always seems to be a point where I think "oh, those two are feuding again?" and because it wasn't very interesting the last (and proably sixth time) I've seen it I just don't care. They have a smaller roter so to some extent that's inevitable I suppose.

[Loki]

It's a tremendously good idea, and one people have been suggesting for years.

 

TNA's business isn't built around PPVs, and they don't generate a lot of income, so it's strange to be using Impact to build to a climax of story lines at something that's essentially less important.

 

Cutting to a PPV every 2 months would allow them to concentrate more on Impact! and also to try and rebuild their PPVs both in terms of buys and in terms of live audiences. No more Impact Zone PPVs!

[The King of Old School]

No more Impact Zone PPVs!

 

This has to be the goal going forward, 6 PPV's a year, all on the road.

 

I don't mind them keeping the Impact tv show in florida, because it makes perfect sense from a costings point of view, hell WWE used to do it with Raw.

 

PPV'S should not, under any circumstance's be in the Impact Zone though, it makes them look so small time.

 

Looking forward to Slamiversary in a real building.

[ColinBollocks]

When is the rating out for this? 'Cause I'm a perv and that.

 

10% lower than last week. Not that I care about ratings, but you asked and I just read it.

Ta. Pretty decent number, when you consider wrestling fans seem to have a hard time remembering to tune in an hour earlier for shows.

 

Cutting back on their PPVs is pretty low risk. They don't make a great deal of money on a chunk of them. We'll probably get Clash Of The Champions-type shows on Spike too. I remember they did one centered around RVD, a couple of years ago, it was probably their best ever show.

[tiger_rick]

I watched for the first time in ages after seeing Ian's recommendation. Some of it was really good but my over-riding feeling was the same thing that stopped me watching in the first place. It just feels the same every week. Nothing felt any differen and I feel absolutely no reason to tune in next week. Which is a shame because as Loki said last week, the roster is quite star studded on paper.

 

The Bully Ray/Abyss thing was great. Abyss facials were brilliant, like I liked the in-ring bit but the pre-recorded segment seemed like some weird version of reality. I liked the guy though, he was quite good. Will they bring him back or is this genuinely the end for him?

 

Seen Daniels and Styles way too often to care. Jeff Hardy's make up was ace. Devon is looking great too. Fair play to him. Aries/Sabin isn't my thing. Roode/Sting was a good match, not sure Sting knows how to have a bad match. Sting as #1 contender is just so over-done though. Really lioked the James Storm video. That's the sort of thing TNA do brilliantly. A vote for number one contender for the TV title is a great idea too. MIke Tenay is still the worst though. He's OK during matches but his hyperbole for angles is so annoying and he just should never be on camera.

 

So yeah, nothing offensive but nothing to hook me. Felt familiar and not in a good way.

[Romford N Reem Express]

I personally loved this weeks Impact and feel it deserves all the praise it's getting. It is so different to anything else out there currently and i'm a big fan of their new found reality TV style presentation.

 

The gut check segment again for me was the best part of the show. The idea of Taz being added to the panel to replace Ric Flair hadn't actually occurred to me but it was actually a very shrewd choice. I genuinely believe these segments aren't a work in any way shape or form. The backstage portion was again brilliant and the in ring segment was belting. I felt sorry for Joey Ryan as it goes. His gameplan was obviously to showcase his gimmick and get over on that but i get the feeling the judges are wanting the contestants to take it seriously. Joey Ryan had a good point with the twitter poll results and how TNA apparently pride themselves on their fan interaction, but squaring up to Taz probably wasnt the best idea. I think Joey Ryan did his best to get his gimmick across and personally feel he would have had the legs to have a fairly decent run in the X Division, but he was already In far too deep when he first spoke in character which I can only assume Al Snow took his comments the wrong way and thought he was being serious. Id seriously question Joey Ryan being that cocky in reality, but if that is indeed the case then he should have toned it down when he realised it wasn't winning over the judges. Al Snow said yes regardless, the soft touch.

 

The Bully Ray/Joseph Park segment was again brilliantly constructed and has me interested for their match at the PPV.

 

Whats the betting on JJ being the first Hall of Famer for TNA? It's obvious isn't it...

 

With Alex Shelly leaving I also thought Chris Sabin's days might be numbered but he reminded me what he has to offer. His dive to the outside is fucking beautiful and his definitely worth keeping around.

 

Good start and hopefully TNA can keep up its recent good form.

[WWFChilli]

I'm giving TNA another shot on the basis of the last few Impact's I have just watched. It absolutely shat on WWE's TV output of recently.

[PunkStep]

I hardly ever check the TNA threads these days, it was just by chance (I can't remember exactly why) that I happened to pop in here and see everyone going mental over Impact. That's good enough for me to give it a look tomorrow night, especially as WWE has been severely uninspiring since Extreme Rules (Brock battering Trips aside).

[gold76]

liked the show, felt fresh & exciting, only thing dull was the Brooke Hogan/Dixie Carter in-ring bit, which screamed change the channel.

[ozzfan]

According to Davey Boy Meltzer, the main event for this week's Impact is AJ Styles, Kurt Angle & Sting vs. Bobby Roode, Christopher Daniels & Kazarian.

 

That sounds like great fun if they get 10+ mins.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

I thought the Brooke thing was in offense and thankfully pointless. It wasn't good or bad. It was just there. The real test is to see how she is in the coming weeks. The best thing to do with Brooke is to get Karen back on TV. Karen is such a huge character and such a bitch that she can definitely carry the segments in a feud between her and Brooke. If you are going to have Brooke on the show, you definitely need a strong female to hold her hand. And Karen's the best in the business at that. And it'll be funny to see two females taller than most of the male roster dueling on the mic.

 

I miss Karen. Some of the things she was doing just before her and Jeff got fired were some of the best stuff I've seen in wrestling for ages. She's a great actress. The Sting, Jeff and Karen segments leading to their firing have been some of the best things on TV in 2012 in my opinion. I can't think of anything better acted.

[Forrest]

Overall, I thought it was a great episode. It never really lagged and everything had a purpose. I also thought it was a great episode for people who may have burned their bridges with TNA and were tuning in to see if anything's changed. Eveyrthing had a purpose, and all the matches were enjoyable. I will say, what a rub for Devon defending against Jeff Hardy and for Robbie E being listed for the voting alongside those big main event names, really makes them look great.

 

I didn't realise Brooke was so old though.

[NEWM]

Well, I did it, I watched it all.

 

- Joey Ryan's great. Good 'tache. Good scarf.

 

- I like Roode's entrance where he looks up. That looks good. I still think his matches are boring as fuck as a heel though. The Sting match did fuck all for me, but everybody looked good at least.

 

- Joseph Park is fantastic, what a brilliant idea. Fans seem game enough to play along without being pricks for a change too. Bully Ray was stupendous in his role, this was probably the one match I would want to see at the PPV.

 

- I like the AJ/Dixie stuff, genuinely keen to see where it leads. Wish above all wishes I didn't have to endure Christopher Daniels in order to do so.

 

- Austin Aries is great, but what the fuck's he doing here? He MILES above anybody else on the show, in every department. Smooth as snake shit, that one.

 

Honestly, whilst this looks a blindingly different TNA than the one I left behind in October, there's still hardly anybody I was able to connect to here, and only the things above left any impression on me. To be frank, I'm a bit wary to give too much of a shit in case they bodge up the good stuff. Sorry for being such a Debbie Downer. I'm going to try and watch the whole live Summer run, but it still felt a bit like I could done have done more with my time than sit through this. Raw can be the worst show in the history of shows but I'd still rather watch an absolute turd than miss it.

[Loki]

Respectfully, Newy, I disagree about Roode's in-ring style. He looks as crisp as fuck to me, and it working a style that he can do until he's 50. I bet he looks at guys like Sting and thinks "better that than Sabu".

 

The only issues I have with Roode in the ring is that when he's taking punches from his opponent he stands there just a little too long whilst they dick around. I know that's usually the opponent's fault, but Roode could do a bit of what Benoit used to do, shaking his head to clear it, or something to cover the gap.

 

The other problem is his finisher - whichever one they're pushing this week. I don't know whether his finisher is a spinebuster, the fisherman's suplex or the crossface. They haven't really established ANY of them as definitive, so rather than having 3 strong finishers he appears to have 3 ones that occasionally work.

 

Other than that he's golden.

[King Pitcos]

I tried to watch it, but it was just shit. The thing with Bully Ray and the awful lawyer was just terrible, the worst kind of hammy panto. And unless I'm missing backstory, it didn't even make sense. Bully Ray was tricking him into a fight, but then the bloke went to fight him and Bully Ray fannies it, then Bully Ray's happy because he's agreed to a fight?

 

And the thing where Tazz and co are sat on sofas on a wrestling show going "he stayed in character there" beggars belief. I didn't make it all the way through the show. I was watching it on Youtube in several parts and after a bit I just searched for something else instead of clicking the next part.