Impact wrestling thread - It's a Don West tribute thread now!

[Big Bully Busick]

Impact was really good a few months back but recently it has become so fucking stale its unreal

 

The Aces n Eights shit is just boring now,90% of the group are job squad material.

 

As much as I enjoy the Bound for Glory series it kinda shows off every match TNA can provide and thus I give even less of a shit about the PPVs than I did before.

 

The X Division is a piece of shit,the 3 way match rules kill off any chance of a feud building any story at all.

Plus the talent is thinner than my Hairline (believe me that's thin)

 

I really want to enjoy Impact and will still watch it but a lot of changes need to be made

[FireBrand]

It really has grown stale, recently there have been bright spots but the show is always going to struggle with Aces and 8's being one half of their major fued and an MEM while populated with good talent has only come into exsistance to end the Aces stable.

 

Used to be a time when despite the school-in-the-morning Sunday night feeling I would tune into Impact because I actually really wanted to see it. However now I catch it on the Tuesday night repeat when I can be bothered.

 

Thing is TNA is in flux now creatively and from what I read Jarret looks to taking the Talent relations job, Hogan is going to have to take a pay cut or just leave and Bischoff may not be around for long. This time next year I hope to see TNA as a more exciting product again.

[Doctor Whos Next]

I am woefully behind on Impact. I'm currently watching the induction of Magnus into the MEM and have been struck by the odd suits. Sting looks like an accountant of a firm for 30 years who has taken redundancy money and turned up at the job centre in his suit to sign on, because he thinks it's a proper interview, Samoa Joe looks like a dodgy Greek car dealer and Kurt Angle looks like a drunk uncle at a wedding. Does anyone know about suits? Can anyone tell how much TNA are shelling out on their suits. Am I just not looking at it right or are those shit suits?

 

EDIT: Just saw Al Snow's screamer of a suit jacket. I take it all back.

 

Wait till you see the latest member (I'll put it in spoilers in case you're avoiding them

 

<-- click on 'spoiler' to show/hide the spoiler

Rampage Jackson in his jeans and T-Shirt... he's like the bloke in the office who everyone's too scared to ask to wear a suit in case he kicks off.

 

[close spoiler]

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[Loki]

Impact was really good a few months back but recently it has become so fucking stale its unreal

 

The Aces n Eights shit is just boring now,90% of the group are job squad material.

 

As much as I enjoy the Bound for Glory series it kinda shows off every match TNA can provide and thus I give even less of a shit about the PPVs than I did before.

 

The X Division is a piece of shit,the 3 way match rules kill off any chance of a feud building any story at all.

Plus the talent is thinner than my Hairline (believe me that's thin)

 

I really want to enjoy Impact and will still watch it but a lot of changes need to be made

 

It's just drifting, isn't it? The move to less PPVs was meant to give the show more creative freedom, but the writing team seem lost without a PPV to sell every month. They threw all their decent wrestlers into the BFG tournament just so they'd have something to do, but it doesn't feel like it's building to anything. In previous years the tournament has been the knot that tied a bunch of storylines together, but this time it's just something for Bobby Roode to do.

 

They should wrap up the A&8s toot sweet and have more top level feuds and less gang warfare, that's played out now.

 

Edit: and couldn't agree more on the X division. The 3 way rule has been so shitty, it's hard to understand where the thinking came from. The x division doesn't need rules, it just needs regular fresh young talent and air time.

Edited August 7, 2013 by Loki

[pryko]

So, who can't contain their excitement at what may happen with Tito Ortiz tonight?

[King Pitcos]

It's just drifting, isn't it? The move to less PPVs was meant to give the show more creative freedom, but the writing team seem lost without a PPV to sell every month.

The thing is, writing teams have only ever existed with monthly PPV build-ups. Back when the two big companies moved to monthly PPVs, it was still shitty squash match TV for about six months to a year until the Monday Night Wars kicked off. By the time they had to start writing a decent TV show, they were already used to the monthly PPV schedule. When Dixie saw a load of berks say "less PPVs is the answer (because they only used to have four or five a year when I was a child, and I'm absolutely certain that the number of PPVs was the reason why I liked wrestling then and don't now)" and changed TNA's schedule accordingly, she left the writers in a bit of uncharted territory. Very few wrestling writers/bookers have been revolutionary, they just tack new ideas and twists onto stuff they've seen before. Spike wouldn't have been happy if TNA used 1992 episodes of Wrestling Challenge as a guideline for Impact, and tickets to the tapings would be an even harder sell. So they're just floundering.

 

Even when WWE had split brands and one brand would have a two-month gap between PPVs, they'd still often have an episode the week of the other brand's PPV that was basically a free PPV.

Edited August 8, 2013 by King Pitcos

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Johnny Devine looked in the form of his life at that One Night Only PPV. Check him out. He's incredible. How is this man not working for a national wrestling promotion?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=playe...p;v=UYvVyn7K64I

[PSF]

Johnny Devine looked in the form of his life at that One Night Only PPV. Check him out. He's incredible. How is this man not working for a national wrestling promotion?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=playe...p;v=UYvVyn7K64I

 

Probably something to do with him nearly breaking his neck whilst trying to pull off a moonsault.

[UK Kat Von D]

That was maybe the best spot I have ever seen. Don't think I have ever popped like that. Pure gold

[HarmonicGenerator]

I used to really like Johnny Devine, he was my favourite in Team Canada. Can't watch the link above so sorry if it features this, but I really liked the variation on a moonsault he used to do (Devine Intervention, it might have been called?) for a finish. I think they kind of missed an opportunity with him when he came back from being stabbed with a huge great scar down his abdomen - didn't he save someone in a bar or something like that? Unlike most, I liked him in Paparazzi Productions as well, so I'll be watching that link when I get in tonight.

[Maverick]

I used to really like Johnny Devine, he was my favourite in Team Canada. Can't watch the link above so sorry if it features this, but I really liked the variation on a moonsault he used to do (Devine Intervention, it might have been called?) for a finish. I think they kind of missed an opportunity with him when he came back from being stabbed with a huge great scar down his abdomen - didn't he save someone in a bar or something like that? Unlike most, I liked him in Paparazzi Productions as well, so I'll be watching that link when I get in tonight.

You won't be disappointed.

[Loki]

It's just drifting, isn't it? The move to less PPVs was meant to give the show more creative freedom, but the writing team seem lost without a PPV to sell every month.

The thing is, writing teams have only ever existed with monthly PPV build-ups. Back when the two big companies moved to monthly PPVs, it was still shitty squash match TV for about six months to a year until the Monday Night Wars kicked off. By the time they had to start writing a decent TV show, they were already used to the monthly PPV schedule. When Dixie saw a load of berks say "less PPVs is the answer (because they only used to have four or five a year when I was a child, and I'm absolutely certain that the number of PPVs was the reason why I liked wrestling then and don't now)" and changed TNA's schedule accordingly, she left the writers in a bit of uncharted territory. Very few wrestling writers/bookers have been revolutionary, they just tack new ideas and twists onto stuff they've seen before. Spike wouldn't have been happy if TNA used 1992 episodes of Wrestling Challenge as a guideline for Impact, and tickets to the tapings would be an even harder sell. So they're just floundering.

 

Even when WWE had split brands and one brand would have a two-month gap between PPVs, they'd still often have an episode the week of the other brand's PPV that was basically a free PPV.

 

Cutting the PPVs is still a good move - they were doing terrible business, and they ended up using their main audience (TV) to build storylines that climaxed on PPVs that no bugger watched. As you say though, what they need to do (and it's been suggested before here) is have a 2-hour TV special on the off-months that they build towards and pay off from. TNA has made some experiments towards that in the past that have worked - Open Fight Night and all that. A Night Of Champions 2 hour special every 2 months would be good. Personally, I'd be all for the Heavyweight title only being defended there and PPV.

[mim731]

Johnny Devine looked in the form of his life at that One Night Only PPV. Check him out. He's incredible. How is this man not working for a national wrestling promotion?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=playe...p;v=UYvVyn7K64I

 

 

Wasn't this show pre-taped? You'd think they'd edit that out, looks just awful!

[Professor Paul's Bin]

Christ that looked nasty. Those One Night Only PPV's were very disappointing. The dead crowds just make the events a chore to watch. Every match seems to feel far too similar and there isn't anything special. It's a shame considering what the concept of the events was supposed to be. Then like usual.. due to poor management on TNA's behalf they thrown out this shite.

 

The World X Cup later in the year should be a right laugh though.

[Devon Malcolm]

Johnny Devine looked in the form of his life at that One Night Only PPV. Check him out. He's incredible. How is this man not working for a national wrestling promotion?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=playe...p;v=UYvVyn7K64I

 

Bloody hell. Was he alright?

 

He was always rubbish. I was glad they binned him so quickly from the Paparazzi stuff early on. Shelley and Nash just wiped the floor with him.