TNA… Cross the Line again

[garynysmon]

9 hours ago, mdh85 said:

Very, very, nearly bought Hard to Kill to watch after the fact this evening as I'm bored laid up in bed with Covid and there seemed to be a bit of a buzz about the event...was a big TNA fan from around 2006 until Hogoff ushered in the false dawn, and thought it might be fun to dip back in. But £20 on Triller is a bit rich for my blood for the C promotion. 

Anyone dip back in with this show and really enjoy it? I'd be happy to be swayed tbh.

Probably a cheaper option would be subbing to the Impact youtube channel and plonking £1.49 for Ultimate Insiders, giving you a month’s worth of upcoming episodes. They have Ospreay v Josh Alexander, Jordynne Grace v Trinity rematch and the MCMG’s and Okada teaming up in the last batch of tapings so probably worth that much at least.

TNA+, the streaming app, is £9.99 a month but contains weekly episodes, the archive and all monthly PLE’s (apart from the ‘big 4’).

Edited January 15 by garynysmon

[BomberPat]

  

39 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

As much as I was tempted to watch this, it just puts me off an entire card when I see Tommy Dreamer on it.

maybe not the point, but he's on the pre-show, so you can at least watch the show without seeing him on it.

I thought the show was fine, not as much of a triumphant relaunch as I was expecting - I thought we'd get a few more old faces, in the style of the anniversary shows they did; instead we got what TNA do best, which is a really solid wrestling show, but not one that really makes me want to watch it week-to-week, with a few bizarre booking decisions thrown in.

Jordynne Grace vs. Trinity was great, probably the best match I've seen from Jordynne in a long time, and if it's Trinity's swansong, then a very fitting one. Only criticism is that Trinity shouldn't be doing Mike Bailey's rapid fire kick sequence when he was literally in the previous match.

The X-Division Triple Threat was really good fun, just a superb mix of talent that gel together really well, and forced Vikingo into something more interesting than the showcase matches he normally gets booked in. If I were to recommend anything from the show, it's those two matches. The tag title match was good - Grizzled Young Vets in particular looked superb in it - but it's nothing I'll remember this time next week.

Hammerstone looked good, and I think he'd be a good fit if they bring him in as a regular. Didn't really care for the main event, I don't rate Moose, and it just had a lot of not very well done shenanigans, and didn't play much to Alex Shelley's strengths.

PCO took the daftest bump I've seen in a long time, for a throwaway DQ spot that would be forgotten by the time the next match was over. Never change, total nutter.

 

Nic Nemeth being good or not completely depends on whether he takes the opportunity to change things up, or whether he carries on just being Dolph Ziggler with a different name. I would have preferred to see him vs. Alex Shelley than vs. Moose, as I think the former match provides more of an opportunity to showcase him outside of his usual style and WWE format points, so we'll see how that goes.

I didn't even recognise Dana Brooke, so I'm glad they explained who she was. 

[westlondonmist]

42 minutes ago, garynysmon said:

Probably a cheaper option would be subbing to the Impact youtube channel and plonking £1.49 for Ultimate Insiders, giving you a month’s worth of upcoming episodes. They have Ospreay v Josh Alexander, Jordynne Grace v Trinity rematch and the MCMG’s and Okada teaming up in the last batch of tapings so probably worth that much at least.

TNA+, the streaming app, is £9.99 a month but contains weekly episodes, the archive and all monthly PLE’s (apart from the ‘big 4’).

Do you get the big 4 a couple of months later?

[garynysmon]

9 minutes ago, westlondonmist said:

Do you get the big 4 a couple of months later?

Yes, a month I think.

[garynysmon]

18 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

  Hammerstone looked good, and I think he'd be a good fit if they bring him in as a regular.

He’d be an ideal TNA signing. He can wrestle, is big and would add something to a main event/upper midcard scene that isn’t exactly brimming with bigger guys.

TNA is a bigger show window than MLW so it would be a step up for him too.

I was fearful of what they’d do with Top Dolla, as the online groupthink seemed to dictate he’s a bit of an idiot that’s full of himself. But playing off that image works imo and also gives Joe Hendry a new feud.

[Kfogg1991]

I really haven't found a actual answer yet about this. Was I dreaming and making it up.....I swear will ospreay was supposed to be on this ppv..... but he wasn't??!!

Did I make this up or was it genuinely a thing and what happened to it if it was supposed to happen lol 

[Infinity Land]

6 minutes ago, Kfogg1991 said:

I really haven't found a actual answer yet about this. Was I dreaming and making it up.....I swear will ospreay was supposed to be on this ppv..... but he wasn't??!!

Did I make this up or was it genuinely a thing and what happened to it if it was supposed to happen lol 

He and Okada worked the Sunday tv taping. 

They were never down for the ppv as NJPW had their own. 

[Hannibal Scorch]

On 1/14/2024 at 6:52 PM, RedRooster said:

She was on the screen for seconds - how can you possibly deduce that’s what the gimmick is? It didn’t cross my mind for a second that this was what she was looking to replicate, I’m guessing she’s going for a wealthy socialite; something along those lines. But we’ll see. I’ve never rated her, but I’d never have expected Steve Maclin to become what he has either, so good luck to her.

Yeah, I’m not sure how anyone can think it’s a poor imitation 

 

oh

[Jazzy G]

George Iceman used to do a recap segment on Xplosion or whatever their Impact preshow was called. He's like a poundshop Don West. 

[garynysmon]

The new match graphics are tremendous.

 

[AndyUK]

Just caught up on Hard To Kill. Other than the mess with Fandango, Kozlov, PCO etc I really enjoyed it and will definitely tune in to Impact this week to see how things go. The X-Division match was grear and Alexander/Hammerstone were really good, the main event was solid and the Ultimate X and Tag Title match were fun spotfests.

Interested to see what happens with Nic Nemeth, Definitely more so than Dana Brooke! I think it's a great move for both parties as he'd have just gotten lost in the shuffle in AEW and he could easily be the face of this new TNA.

 

 

[JLM]

I watched this show off the strength of GYV signing and the clip of Nic Nemeth debuting. Firstly I was hugely relieved to see he hasn't been signed by AEW because their roster is already enormous and I think he's rubbish. Second, and more pertinent to this show, the clip of an Impact/TNA show with a very loud and rowdy sounding crowd inspired me to give it a chance. Watching some of the Impact matches I'd had recommended play out in front of near-silence has made them very difficult to sit through.

Pre-show: Steve Maclin and Rich Swann was a good, competitive opener. I'd need to see more of Maclin's TNA run to see how his re-invention has gone. The only way was up from The Forgotten Sons, glad he's worked it out.

AJ Francis cut a decent heel promo and got great heat for it. Joe Hendry is fucking hysterical. Literally became a fan in 1 second when his video interrupted AJ's and I thought I was watching Limmy's Show for a second. I've definitely been missing out here. Did some wikipedia research to learn more about the gimmick and confirm that it is indeed him singing his theme song. I immediately believe in Joe Hendry. "I tried to make it in the NFL, I tried to dive but I just fell". Jesus Christ, ambulance for Top Dolla.

https://youtu.be/A5WERzdKiBU?si=bjrSRDTjGszVWKkY

Outstanding. 

Kaz/Eric Young vs The System was a very standard tag match. I knew Eddie Edwards but I admit I spend much of this match trying to place Brian Myers before remembering he was Curt Hawkins. Crazy Steve's spooky video about Tommy Dreamer was made less spooky by him having to say "Digital Media Title". Nice production values on it though. Can't be sitting through a Tommy Dreamer match in 2024 so gave this one a miss. 

Women's Ultimate X was a decent, lively spotfest. Nothing amazing but a fine choice to open the show. I thought Dani Luna looked excellent in this, good showing from Jody Threat as well. Xia Brookside looked and wrestled about the same as last time I saw her on NXT UK. Gisele Shaw's Crazy in Love knock-off theme is Jimmy Hart-esque. Made me smile. Gotta say the term "knockouts" clangs a bit for mw. I know it's their thing and not saying they need to change it, but over time it's gone from sounding much cooler than "divas" to much lamer than "women" for me. 

Wonderfully schlocky entrance for PCO. I have heard the tales of what he's been up to over the years and how he does batshit stuff on the indies, but I think the last match of his I'd have seen would be Wrestlemania 14. After this I can confirm is indeed a complete nutter, that sabotaged moonsault bump was insaaane. It's been years and years since I've seen Santino and was pretty burned out on him at the time. Turns out after a huge break he's cycled back round to being funny to me again. Also popped for Rhino. I like it when the entrance ramp on a show is level with the ring, and Jake Something took great advantage of it with his big running spring board double clothesline to enter the fray. Looked like a total beast and maintained a beastly aura throughout the match. They built up to the gore, PCO tried to kill himself a few more times and the people got the result they wanted. Felt more like a whacky TV segment than a PPV match and had slight World Wrestling Allstars vibes but it was amusing enough. 

Fair play for them for making a big effort with Dana Brooke. I never thought she showed anything in her WWE run, and I can see the criticism of this being a liiitttle bit reminicsent of Timeless Toni Storm, but at least they've gone for a reinvention rather than saying "look it's Dana Brooke!" and expecting people to care. 

Was happy to see Decay show up. Big fan of Rosemary and I enjoy her particular brand of spooky bollocks. It's always felt just the right amount of self aware B-Movie-schlocky to me, compared to how seriously Bray Wyatt took it. Loved the Su Yung/Susie gimmick too, is she still there? Killer Kelly is always solid and have heard good things about Masha Slamovich too. Would like to see more of MK Ultra as they looked good in the little flashes they had here, but this was really an extended squash. Even in this short match though you can see the in-ring level is a cut above the average AEW women's match. With a handful of exceptions they're definitely still a fair bit behind both WWE and TNA in that regard. 

Sabin/Kushida/Vikingo. What a wonderful mash up match up this is. I bloody love Vikingo as the promotion-hopping Mega Champion. I'd be happy if every promotion outside of WWE all had a shared cinematic universe. Sometimes it feels like they do and I love it. This was tremendous. By far the best match on the card up to this point, unsurprisingly given how juicy it looked on paper. You know how I said I like it when the ramp goes up to the ring? I was positively salivating when I realised these three would get to play with that. 

They did not disappoint. Too much good shit to mention here, and it immediately feels like Kushida has finally found his North American home as a foil to the more flippy X Division guys. He's flashy enough to not be the dull one, but grounded and grapply enough to be a base for your pure fiipsters. I won't list all the spots, but I tell you what though, that might be my favourite Canadian Destroyer ever. A large part of it is because of the context. I have massive, massive Destroyer fatigue. It is overdone, the Panama Sunrise remains my most hated wrestling move ever conceived, I am done with the destroyer as a pro wrestling move. So for this one from Sabin on Vikingo to make me leap out of my chair and scare my dog (that is becoming a highspot barometer in my reviews) is the highest praise I can give it. Hooollyyyyy shit this was amazing, and it earns even MORE points because it took Vikingo out of the match. He was done, and so he fucking well should be after that. Fabulous match. 

Great hype package for Alexander vs Hammerstone. Josh Alexander I'd checked out before based on recommendations and am already a fan. Hammerstone I have heard much buzz so was excited to see him here. Bloody brilliant line from Hammerstone here "I have never been a big fish in a small pond, I've always been a shark and now I'm in open waters". Enjoyed this match. Hammerstone looked great. Really impressive power and good physical charisma about him on top of his Vince-bait physique. Nice simple layout, Alexander struggling to cope with Hammerstone's power but he worked the leg and that allowed him to stay in it and ultimately clutch out the win. Hammerstone's nightmare pendulum is a gorgeous lookng move. One thing I enjoyed here is that they protected both men's finishers. Both WWE and (especially) AEW are guilty of near-fall fatique on finishing moves, to the point where the first time someone hits their finish I don't expect it to end a match any more. Here they had Hammerstone hit his finish but he couldn't make the cover due to the leg injury, then shortly after Alexander hit his finish and got the 3 count. It was very refreshing. 

Tag title match was a belter. I have sorely missed watching Grizzled Young Vets work. I couldn't bring myself to watch whatever they had them doing in NXT 2.0, so it's been a while and they have not lost a step. Seamless, brilliant tag team wrestling. Only downside was Gibson didn't come out with a mic. Hadn't seen ABC before and they had some impressive stuff too. Everyone did really, I could list 100 different flashy spots from this one, but my favourite bit was when Speedball and Laredo kid kicked some guy's head off, only for GYV to bumrush them out of the ring and try to steal the win.. Both of then looking frantic as hell with Drake standing guard over the cover and sort of half-cheating making it harder for the downed guy to kick out. That is GYV in a nutshell. They are working together and trying to win at all times. Everything they do is with that in mind. It's beautiful. 

Trinity vs Jordynne Grace was very good. Monstrous performance from Grace and impressive to see Trinity working at this level in a big singles match. The sequence of near falls into Starstruck was great, as was Grace powering out of it the second time. She seemed to have a massive strike or power counter for everything Trinity tried. Trinity in turn had some heavier strikes than I've ever seen from her before and some power spots of her own; the deadlift sit out powerbomb was nuts, did not expect that at all. I felt like this was a little bit hurt by crowd burnout but it was still a strong match. After watching Julia Hart vs Anna Jay on my last AEW viewing, all of the women's matches on this show were a breath of fresh air. 

Main event was OK. Moose looks like a god but this was a bit ploddy at times, had interference and didn't hit the heights of the four matches before it for me. Thunderous reaction for Nick Nemeth. He will bump like a madman when he fights Moose but I still think he's a con artist. He bumps like crazy to convince you he's a good wrestler and when it's time to get SERIOUS he shouts as loud as he can to try and convince you he's a good promo. I bought it myself for a while. I was all a-buzz when he cashed in on Del Rio and was finally hetting what he DESERVED. But I think he's actually bang average. Good chance to prove me wrong here if he changes up and becomes interesting though. 

That was an enjoyable watch on the whole. Got a kick out of seeing many old faces I haven't seen in ages/had almost forgotten existed, the second half of the show had some belting matches, it was a delight to see GYV back at it and I remain a big fan of the women's division. I will definitely be keeping an eye on GYV and Decay's progress after this, I will continue to watch notable matches from Josh Alexander and  Speedball (his match with Zack Sabre Jr at NJPW Lone Star battle was a good’un by the way) and I am very glad I didn't skip the pre-show and got introduced to Joe Hendry. 
 

Edited January 18 by JLM

[RedRooster]

8 hours ago, JLM said:

AJ Francis cut a decent heel promo and got great heat for it. Joe Hendry is fucking hysterical. Literally became a fan in 1 second when his video interrupted AJ's and I thought I was watching Limmy's Show for a second. I've definitely been missing out here. Did some wikipedia research to learn more about the gimmick and confirm that it is indeed him singing his theme song. I immediately believe in Joe Hendry. "I tried to make it in the NFL, I tried to dive but I just fell". Jesus Christ, ambulance for Top Dolla.

 

 I've always enjoyed Henry, even if it did take me a while to get over the distracting fact that he shares a face with CM Punk. I'm mildly surprised that AEW didn't pick him up after purchasing ROH, his gimmick is fantastic. But I was pleasantly surprised by how good AJ Francis was here. Hopefully he ends up being another Steve Maclin, if he sticks around. 

8 hours ago, JLM said:

I watched this show off the strength of GYV signing and the clip of Nic Nemeth debuting. Firstly I was hugely relieved to see he hasn't been signed by AEW because their roster is already enormous and I think he's rubbish.

I've no idea if there's any truth at all to this report from Cultaholic, but it's probably even more fortunate given one of the alleged pitches for Nemeth in AEW. 

[garynysmon]

It all depends what Nic Nemeth’s mindset is really. I was fully expecting him to sign with AEW and cruise along for another few years and collect paycheques Lanny Poffo style.

Ziggler always struck me as one of the ‘gratitude era’ posterboys, so taking the less straightforward TNA/New Japan route has the potential to be interesting.

He came across as a big star on both shows so who knows? If he’s hungry and has a chip on his shoulder he could do something here in a company which isn’t blessed with big name main event starpower.

He clearly has talent and a degree of notoriety (he has 2.7m Twitter followers while TNA has 700,000 for starters), so it could be good.

If he’s just looking for something to do for a few months before the WWE come calling again, then meh! 

2 hours ago, RedRooster said:

 I was pleasantly surprised by how good AJ Francis was here. Hopefully he ends up being another Steve Maclin, if he sticks around. 

I was expecting the worst beforehand but playing him off as a bit of a buffoon who has a high opinion of himself could work in TNA land which does like a bit of silliness.

Joe Hendry is great. He hosts his own interview series on TNA+ and their youtube channel which is always a good watch and seems like a decent bloke too. There are aspects of his act that scream WWE to me and could explode like Eli Drake in that kind of scenario/exposure.

On a different note, is there beef between AEW and TNA or what? I happened to watch Collision on ITV4 last night, which was the first AEW show I’ve seen since Wembley. The commentators were happy to mention Deonna Purrazzo’s background as AAA and ROH champions but not where she worked for 3 years. Her debut also followed a similar pattern. Seemed weird and awkward to me.
 

Edited January 18 by garynysmon

[RedRooster]

31 minutes ago, garynysmon said:

If he’s just looking for something to do for a few months before the WWE come calling again, then meh! 

I dunno, I think that's understandable - it worked out well for Trinity/Naomi - she showed something that she hadn't been able to in WWE, and as a result I feel far more excited about the prospect of her returning. Impact allowed her to show that she's actually a really talented wrestler, as opposed to being a level below the stars who had been pushed a bit more. 

Nemeth is a good wrestler, albeit one who hasn't had a memorable match in quite some time - perhaps since as far back as his series with Miz back in the early years of the second brand split. But during that series with Miz, he was really good - not just in ring, but as a character. I reckon he has it in him to be a real asset to TNA, and if that results in a move back to WWE, fair enough - it means everything has worked well for him. 

36 minutes ago, garynysmon said:

Joe Hendry is great. He hosts his own interview series on TNA+ and their youtube channel which is always a good watch and seems like a decent bloke too. There are aspects of his act that scream WWE to me and could explode like Eli Drake in that kind of scenario/exposure.

I totally agree. His music videos are genuinely funny too - not just 'wrestling funny' - I don't understand why he's not ended up on NXT or AEW TV, but I hope he gets that opportunity. He puts so much effort into his act, and it deserves the chance to sink or swim in front of a larger audience. 

38 minutes ago, garynysmon said:

On a different note, is there beef between AEW and TNA or what? I happened to watch Collision on ITV4 last night, which was the first AEW show I’ve seen since Wembley. The commentators were happy to mention Deonna Purrazzo’s background as AAA and ROH champions but not where she worked for 3 years. Her debut also followed a similar pattern. Seemed weird and awkward to me.

That's a really good point. It does sound like TNA has a closer relationship with WWE now, so maybe there's something in what you're saying.