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

[IANdrewDiceClay]

You cant go back. I enjoy the old stuff purely for nostalgia. Not because I'm desperate to watch the Nasty Boys vs the LOD. There's just different levels of enjoyment from the new stuff and old stuff. The reason I continue to watch is because I want something to excite me. I dont think I've honestly ever reacted to a result like the Undertaker one earlier this year. I was in chat and I felt the shock from everyone in their via text on a screen. It was like every fan in the world came together with the same reaction. It was amazing watching. That's the feeling I'm after. You cant get that re-watching old stuff. You just smile and remember how cool it was playing with your hasbros as a kid watching it. Things have to progress. WWE's shows being shit at the minute have nothing to do with it being 2015 and not being 1992. Because if you read those old Observers and PW Torch newsletters they were celebrating this wonderful era like we were. The mid-90s are considered the worst era ever by most. You wouldnt have known it in our house. A wrestling show being shit has nothing to do with the time frame. Its all to do with how its presented. And sadly at the moment WWE and TNA just isn't at the races. WWE I can see picking up, because they have their good periods and bad periods. TNA is just TNA. Even when it had its moments it still had Claire Lynch and Devon as a outlaw biker. For as bad as WWE has been this year, they still gave me that Evolution vs Shield feud, they still gave me that Hogan, Austin and Rock segment, they still gave me that Brock vs Cena match and they still gave me the Undertakers streak ending. Not to mention those NXT specials. Raw might be shite, but if you stick around long enough you're going to get a treat eventually.

 

It does make me wonder if Cole and JBL will be loved in years to come. Like how we miss Gorilla Monsoon and Vince McMahon, even though they are considered beyond abysmal by the grown ups of the late 80s/early 90s. JR and Bobby Heenan are the only WWF commentators who get praised really. And that's because they are a one off. You dont get prime JR and Heenan anymore. You only got one each back then.

Edited January 10, 2015 by IANdrewDiceClay

[garynysmon]

I agree with most of that to be fair and almost feel this discussion is worth its own thread to be honest. I often wonder if wrestling is the same to kids these days as it was when we were their age. I suppose it is.

 

Oh, back to TNA, turning Eric Young heel was bollocks too. No-one want to boo EY.

Edited January 10, 2015 by garynysmon

[King Pitcos]

I'm fascinated by that as well, how much magic it all has for kids today. I still find it pretty hard to fathom that there are fans of wrestling who didn't get into it in 1990-92 or 1998/99. I reckon I would have happily murdered my entire family to have gone to Wimpy to shake hands with Koko B Ware (not that he ever made that a condition of meeting him), and I can see kids now not even wanting to punch their little brother for a chat to Justin Gabriel and Matadore B. They probably do, like.

 

For years, I thought modern cartoons were shit compared to the ones I used to watch. Turned out the ones I used to watch were as well, but it didn't matter because I was six. There's probably kids out there who were absolutely gutted for Ziggler and co at the end of Raw and never once thought "fucking hell, they'll be back next week, this company and stipulations."

Edited January 10, 2015 by King Pitcos

[ColinBollocks]

This show made me feel a little sad. I've not watched TNA since Magnus made Sting tap out at BFG (to complete silence), so the contrast from a couple of years ago is rather startling. It sort of reminded me of those AWA ESPN shows during that companies dying days - everything seems a bit lifeless and small time, particularly them making 90% of the venue dark.

 

No idea how TNA get themselves in to a position of making some serious coin. Shit channel, no PPV, no house shows etc. etc. Grim.

[wrestlingmad]

Lockdown Spoiler link below.. Holy shit!

 

http://instagram.com/p/xqISpvAbN6/

[tiger_rick]

I'm fascinated by that as well, how much magic it all has for kids today. I still find it pretty hard to fathom that there are fans of wrestling who didn't get into it in 1990-92 or 1998/99. I reckon I would have happily murdered my entire family to have gone to Wimpy to shake hands with Koko B Ware (not that he ever made that a condition of meeting him), and I can see kids now not even wanting to punch their little brother for a chat to Justin Gabriel and Matadore B. They probably do, like.

My little nephew (age 6) fucking loves it. He sleeps with his Roman Reigns figure. He'd happily sit and watch WWE 24/7. I don't let my daughter watch it a lot but what she does see she loves. I don't think they'd have a product now if every generation of kids didn't love it like we did. I don't think as many of them will still be fans in 25 years as there are now but there'll always be enough to keep it popular. We underestimate that all the time.

 

That's not to say WWE is perfect or anything. They could tell stories and develop characters loads better but the whole "it's not as good as when we were kids" thing is a big myth. Unless you were a kid in 1997 or 2000 and then you have a point.

 

On topic, I watched Impact which goes to show that bad publicity isn't necessarily a bad thing. I didn't think it was a bad show. I just felt like I've seen it before.

 

The Good: The intro video was brilliant. Josh Matthews completely freshened up the commentary team. Brodus shoving that clown in the face was funny. EC3 is a great talent. Kurt Angle is no longer a shit authority figure. The Kronik/Kong thing was alright. The build for the main event was good even if it was between a guy I used to think was great and a guy I've never really liked.

 

The Bad: That shit clusterfuck of an opening brawl. Cutting to shots of Samoa Joe and Abyss doing nothing 50 times was the worst. Also, the arena looked good and sounded loud during matches. By doing this arena wide brawl, they showed all the empty sections! Senseless. James Storm is now podgy with shit hair and is pissing about with a shit stable. Waste. How is that Jersey Shore bollocks still on TV. Robbie E has some talent. Use him differently or dump him. MVP is fucking shit and looks old. Why are they building another stable around him, especially one that makes no sense? That Eric Young heel turn. He's the best babyface on the roster. WTF were they thinking?

[Your Fight Site]

Lockdown Spoiler link below.. Holy shit!

 

http://instagram.com/p/xqISpvAbN6/

 

That is horrible looking. And knowing him, he probably pre-planned to do that on purpose, too. Moron.

[CTXRussomark]

 

Lockdown Spoiler link below.. Holy shit!

 

http://instagram.com/p/xqISpvAbN6/

 

That is horrible looking. And knowing him, he probably pre-planned to do that on purpose, too. Moron.

 

Of course he did, he didn't just accidentally take a flip bump onto the steps from the top of a cage.  It's pretty much identical to the Swanton bump he took onto the steps a few months back.  Great looking bump, though probably not worth taking it for TNA thesedays.

[Loki]

Why IS Jeff still in TNA?  Of all of their guys, he's the one who could walk into a WWE contract.  They'd probably give him a more limited dates, Jericho type thing now, wouldn't they?

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Lockdown Spoiler link below.. Holy shit!

 

http://instagram.com/p/xqISpvAbN6/

Fucking hell, that's a horrendous bump. Hardy did the same spot in WWE years ago, but with Johnny Nitro on the recieving end, which makes me think he's just fucked it up.

Edited January 10, 2015 by IANdrewDiceClay

[Sphinx]

The Jeff Hardy bump looked pretty safe. He's had tons of others that were more dangerous.

 

Hold on, is it the steps or the ramp he's landing on?

Edited January 10, 2015 by Sphinx

[IANdrewDiceClay]

The steps. He bounced off the steps.

[Dirty Eddie]

They've obviously got some steps that are cool to land on, as Hardy has Swanton'd onto them before and I'm sure I'm seen Gail Kim take a nasty bump or two across the top of the ring-steps. It's a spot that looks and sounds nasty as hell, but is probably pretty much fine.

[Sphinx]

Steps obviously makes it more dangerous as you have less surface area to bump on. I don't think landing on the steps would hurt, but if you land on the corner obviously it's dodgy. He turns into the bump pretty low, watching the steps to make sure he lands right.

 

His ladder match bumps made me cringe more when the ladder would fall out and he'd land in all sorts of ways.

[Your Fight Site]

I don't think landing on the steps would hurt

 

I’ll let you go first then