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

[PowerButchi]

He had another cracking bomb thrower with Kozlov around the same time. I'm really high on The Big LG.

[Sphinx]

They keep doing the two factions warring thing as well. They did it with Fourtune and Immortal which I couldn't keep up with. I understand it more this time round, but it's just repeating themselves. Bringing back Main Event Mafia is repeating themselves too.

 

I'd take Chris Masters over MVP as Masters seems more marketable. There must be a reason no one will have him though. I don't know who will demand what kind of wages, but if Morrison was cheaper than MVP I'd go for Morrison. Him and Masters are both younger from what I understand. But then again, would you trust TNA to present either as bona-fide stars? I doubt it.

 

Therein lies the problem. It shouldn't be a case of signing an ex-WWE wrestler on fairly high wages just so you have fresh matches. They shouldn't be in that predicament. If they presented their stars as such, they'd reap the rewards more. I think Jeff Hardy still comes across as a star, but look how they presented him on that 4th January show. They probably put his return at the start of the show as they were head to head with WWE and needed something big from the off. Fair enough. The commentary was so unenthused though, it made it seem a lot less of a big deal. It should have been dramatic return but it was tame.

 

TNA could have got some indy names like WWE did for some fresh matches. They could have focussed on the best indy/high flying action on the undercard with some name wrestlers at the top. The undercard would be a USP, would cement them as being somewhat alternative and has worked in the past for WCW. They'd just need to make sure they made a star out of those in some way (Destination X and BFG series).

 

Edit: I don't think Gallows is all that marketable, but he's a good hand. And yeah, Hogan and Sting are big names, but are they worth the money bring paid to them? Sting's done it all now and Hogan is paid too much for what he brings. Marketing money would have to come from somewhere

Angle and Hardy would be essential to hold on to and are a good embodiment of this 'alternative'.

 

Another edit: They could have had Gallows and Knox domimating as heel and face. They'd go through a lot of wrestlers, be bigged up as being tough as fuck or whatever and eventually cross paths. I was hoping that would happen with Joe and Angle. Angle was established, Joe was killing people when he first came in, you can have the odd moment when they're in each other's presence but generally you want them kept apart building to a culminatolion.

 

I'm just fucking waffling now.

Edited July 4, 2013 by Sphinx

[gold76]

I thought someone would have snapped Masters up after he saved his Ma from a fire

 

Could have given him a hero gimmick

Edited July 4, 2013 by gold76

[Loki]

D.O.C does nothing for me. All I can see is his tits flopping out of his top. If he's the next big thing, he's not showing it at all in TNA.

 

This week's Impact, which I'm just getting through now (UK pace) is ace, so it's hard to get too anxious when the tv is this good. You had a good women's match, a first rate match between Roode and Magnus, the creation of a great new tag team (with a brutal looking knockout from Gunner), the continuing resurrection of Joe, and a hilariously bad Gut Check match. I actually quite liked Big O, but I'm a total sucker for a muscle man. His opponent was fucking shit though.

[Professor Paul's Bin]

I hope they decide to show the door to Chavo some time soon. I could imagine he is costing them a high price and offering absolutely nothing to the product. Before they sack him they should turn him heel and put Hernandez over (who has been brilliant for a long time now). On the topic of Gallows, I am a fan but he has done literally nothing worthy or memorable since being in TNA (shockingly he's been there like nearly a year now).

 

I like how the Gunner Knockout Blow got some praise on here. I thought it legit looked like it hurt and Jesse sold it great. I like Jesse he reminds me of The Miz.

 

I'm the same Loki, I watch it at the UK Pace and I whilst not getting overly excited for the show, I find myself enjoying a good 75% of the show most weeks. On the topic of Joe, he has been ace lately, I some how have this gut feeling they are going to do something decent with him soon. The past 4 years of his career have been bloody awful (apart from the tag team with Magnus and the feud with Lashley, Lashley was the worst but Joe was ace around that time).

Edited July 4, 2013 by Twinn

[thefallenangel]

I'd like to see Joe/Magnus be the final two in the Bound For Glory series and have Joe go on to beat Bully for the MEM. Magnus and Joe are brilliant at the minute

[GlennCullen]

Good show, bloody loved the reveal at the end.

 

The MEM are cheesy as hell, but I like it.

[Loki]

We should resurrect an Impact thread, chaps, as often the discussion of the actual product gets lost in all the doomsaying in this thread.

 

The BFG series brings out the best in TNA - belying the idea that matchups in TNA are too stale, once there's a tournament reason for them they get interesting again. I thought Magnus v Roode was really, really good and a perfect showcase for why I rate both of them so highly. They had to work hard to get a lethargic crowd interested, and they did, and everything was so smooth and natural.

 

I'm made up over the Jesse/Robbie team (Bromance?). Both are great bumpers, Robbie in particular is fantastic at putting over offence. Matches with Storm and Gunner throwing bombs and smashing those guys all over the place will be ace.

 

Hernandez - Twinn, I reckon Hernandez only works when he's the power half of a team. When he's on his own, he always flops. Love watching him, but worried about a singles push.

[Duke]

The thing with TNA tv right now is nothing ever seems to happen and so I lose interest. Can we sort this damn Joseph park thing out please? What about Bully and Brooke? It's mentioned every show but nothing seems to actually develop.

SPOILERS FOR JULY 4

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

the one interesting thing they did with Aries last week they've just completely reversed this week, making the whole thing completely pointless and makes me care so much less about their product

 

[close spoiler]

");document.close();. The wrestling is good, but I don't care about any of it

[Sexy Dad]

I'd like to see Joe/Magnus be the final two in the Bound For Glory series and have Joe go on to beat Bully for the MEM. Magnus and Joe are brilliant at the minute

 

If Magnus proves himself as championship worthy before January then Joe vs Magnus on the live impact from the UK for the championship could be special. Joe's got a lot of flaws and is considered to be past his prime but when he's in a match that means something hes really intense, believable and exciting. Joe vs Aries, Roode, Hardy and Magnus with the championship on the line sounds so much more interesting than most of Bully's feud options and I'd love to see Joe win the series.

 

But then what to do with AJ?

[King Pitcos]

The wrestling is good, but I don't care about any of it

That's not just a TNA problem, it's the great failing of modern wrestling. Too much focus on "good matches" and not enough on matches that people care about.

[Duke]

The wrestling is good, but I don't care about any of it

That's not just a TNA problem, it's the great failing of modern wrestling. Too much focus on "good matches" and not enough on matches that people care about.

It's a much bigger problem in TNA than WWE though. WWE does dumb stuff, sure, but at least it often leads somewhere. I'm reasonably excited by MITB, because I care about Henry and Cena and I care about who wins the briefcases. I don't know if they're handicapped by not having anything to work towards, but it's all so damn slow now in TNA

[Loki]

I disagree with that, Duke, I think the BFG Series has given the product a real lift.

 

Of course, if you only tune in periodically, then something like a series and its momentum is lost on you. So you also need the main event feuds to have momentum, and I agree that it's that area that's lacking since the reduction of PPVs.

 

I still think the solution to that is to turn one Impact into a Night Of Champions and build to title defences on those shows; a mini-PPV in between each actual one.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

But then what to do with AJ?

Nothing. They've killed him. They've devalued him so much. They do it every year. They start off with a winner of the Bound For Glory Series, stack the odds against that person or give them a clear route to win the thing and then just changed plans and leave that person in limbo. Like they did with Bobby Roode. Like they did with James Storm. Storm will probably never recover from the 2012 he had. AJ Styles isn't over. He was one of their most over guys. Its amazing what they've done to him when you think about it. Even if he wins it now, he isn't over so whats the point? At this stage people should be desperate for him to retain the belt, not indifferent to him.

Edited July 5, 2013 by IANdrewDiceClay

[AshC]

That promo the other day surely killed AJ as a babyface for this run, the one where he said he was only in it for the money.