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Spike TV's Impact Debut

Critic of the DawnPosted on 10/02/05 at 06:35:21

Since tonight was Impact's debut on a channel that actually was worth something, perhaps it's appropriate for a thread here to discuss what you liked and didn't like about it, how you think it will do in the ratings, etc.

What I liked:

The Opening Match: AJ Styles is, of course, an excellent wrestler with an amazing amount of athletic talent.  As an ROH fan, however, I'm very high on Roderick Strong as well.  This turned out to be a very good match to start the show off because it delivered a kind of action that WWE will not (I won't say cannot because with names like Spanky and Paul London, they COULD if they wanted to) deliver.  Very impressive work by both men, as always.

The Energy: WWE has largely lost the "Anything can happen" feel that it once had.  Yes, they've probably actually improved average match quality since the heyday of the Attitude era, but everything is VERY static by now.  Perhaps in part because it was something different from WWE, the show felt exciting in a way that RAW and especially SmackDown just don't as of late.  You could tell that everyone involved, even Big Lazy Kevin Nash, knew that this was a big night and were very excited about it.

The Production Quality: TNA quite obviously can't afford the same quality of production that WWE can.  However, they've done a very good job of presenting things in a slick, professional manner that gets as much as possible out of their production budget.  I especially liked the introductory video packages introducing new fans to the TNA roster, and expect that these will continue for a month or so.

The Ending Angle: While Jarrett bores me, I had no idea that Scott D'Amore would amuse me as much as he does.  Likewise, the whole ending bit showing large portions of the lockerroom uniting against Jarrett's cronies and Team Canada worked well for me.  Yes, this will probably end up with Jarrett's new EVIL ALLIANCE ending within a couple months and going after him only to fall short as usual.  But, for the moment, they have my attention.

What I didn't like:

Monty Brown: Okay, let me start off by saying I haven't seen much from him yet, and that a squash match probably isn't the best way to get familiar with him.  What I saw did not impress me, however.  He had a couple good suplexes, but came off as green and unpolished to me.  Brown desperately needs a long feud with a good, veteran worker who understands match psychology like Raven or Jerry Lynn to step up to the next level.  He DOES have some good natural charisma, so with some work in the ring he may eventually be main event material.  Now seems too soon to me, though.

Rhyno vs. Jeff Hardy: I like Rhyno.  He's not the world's greatest worker, but he performs well in a monster role, and his Gore is brutal looking.  Unfortuantely, Jeff Hardy is... uninspiring.  The worst part about this match was that Hardy pretty much dominated the entire thing.  While Rhyno is entertaining on offense, he is a bit more limited on defense based on his size.  Simply put, Hardy's lazy flippy style didn't seem to be enough to keep Rhyno on the ropes as much as it ended up doing, and this made Rhyno look extremely weak to me.

The Monster Ball Concept:  So... you get 4 crazy wrestlers and lock them up for 24 hours in the dark without food or water?  Um... why?  So they'll be shaky, grumpy and weak when they get to the ring?  Being hungry does not make people fight better.  Being thirsty DEFINATELY does not make people fight better.  This match concept insults my intelligence, and that's not what I want from wrestling.

Porn Advertising: TNA is trying to present themselves as a more family-oriented product than WWE.  If I had small children, however, I would not allow them to watch TNA becasue they were advertising Girls Gone Wild.  Oopsie.  Way to drive away the target demographic, Spike TV and TNA!

Squash Match Mentality: Okay, when someone doesn't get an introduction it's pretty much a given that they're going to lose and are only there to make your stars look better.  So... with that in mind... why not slap together a generic ring entrance for Roderick Strong to make your first match on Spike TV look like it means something, TNA?


Overall, this show was definately much more good than bad, and I'll make a point to watch it in the future if it can keep up this level of quality.

Eric "Critic of the Dawn"
FormulaFirebird91Posted on 10/02/05 at 10:20:20

Having watched most of the Impact shows on Fox Sports I think this was a far better ride... (at least tonight) then what they were doing on Fox Sports. I dunno what it was but it just seemed better and the production value definatley seemed better... ok...

What I liked

A.J. styles. Nuff said. Fun to watch and having never seen ROH I don't know much bout Roderick Strong but he looked good to me and they put on a good match.  You can't go wrong opening with A.J. though. If anyone is going to catch peoples attention it's him. Also nice bringing Daniels out to distract him. Though I would have liked to see him get more involved.

Team 3D's shirts. The Trademark this on the back was a nice touch but I'd like to say that the... er.... ex-Dudleys were very energetic and I think this could be a positive for wrestling. We want competition to make the product as a whole better between WWE and TNA. It's highly possible that WWE by pissing off ex-wrestlers may give the other promotion a shot in the arm. I mean only time will tell on this one but brother Ray and brother Devon seemed well motivated and them going up against AMW is going to be great. I loved AMW (before joining Jarrett hope that doesn't ruin them for me) Also... given that there is REALLY hardly any difference in their name I think the whole question of weather or not the name change will hurt their careers has been answered.

Mike Tenay. I liked him in WCW and I still like him now. I think he is a great play by play guy and he calls a good match.

Sabin vs. Shelley vs. Williams. Good way to show off X-division talent. This was my first time to actually get to see Alex and he really is fun to watch. He's different but I like that. I like how he is ground based in the X-division. Makes things interesting. Williams and Sabin are always fun to watch. Love the canadian destroyer so it was good to get to see one.

No pickup truck for an office. OK so that was gone before they got off Fox Sports but... still...

What I didn't like

Don West. I hate listening to this guy. Can't they find somebody better to do color?  Shane Douglas in heel mode would far better suit this role. I can't stand Douglas doing the backstage interviews being all face like. Make the franchise a heel and put him on color PLEASE! Does anyone else think that West is going to rupture a vocal chord when he starts... uh... whatever it is he does when he gets excited??

Jarrett as world Champ. Sick of this format. We've seen it 5 billion times and they weren't on Fox Sports that long. So what do we do? Start all over so we can show everyone on spike that Jarret can never lose. What was that announcer doing in the Jarret vingette saying that "he's won world titles everywhere he's been" Uh... I don't remember him winning the WWE world title? Or does he just mean he's won the TNA world title in every city in North America? That'd make more sense to me. Oh wait no it wouldn't cuz he NEVER LOSES IT.  Unless they aren't on t.v. Ok end rant....

Jeff Hardy. This guy needs to just go concentrate on his music and poetry. If only he had the desire he once possessed. The same desire his brother puts into the biz.

6 sided ring. Sorry... it's great for the X-division but did you see Rhyno trying to get around that thing? Granted he's probably not totally used to it yet but it's just not big enough for some of the power guys that they do have. I'm just not a fan of it. If anything they should figure out a concept that would make it only used in X-Division style matchs or something like that. I have no idea how you'd do that... but it'd be nice if it could convert from a 4 sided to 6 sided ring. I just think that if they want to seriously contend they need to go to the standard 4 sided ring. But that's me. It's not going to kill me if they don't.

My tivo cutting off the show before brother Devon could finish what he was saying. :)

Closing Thoughts

Thought the show was fun and hopefully it gets some attention and gets moved over to Mondays and gets 2 hours eventually.
rey619Posted on 10/02/05 at 16:17:22

When you only have 1 hour of putting together matches, promos and interviews, you must choose between having 2-3 medium length good matches, or 3-5 matches where a couple will be squash ones. Obviously, TNA has chosen the latter, and I can't really blame them. Squashing opponents is a great way of getting monster heels over.

According to the wrestlers themselves, a six-sided ring is actually bigger than a 4-sided ring, so I don't know why it should be too small for Rhyno.

I agree with the rest of the sentiments. Don West is terrible, Jarrett sucks as champ and the Monster's Ball is too much hype for me.
FormulaFirebird91Posted on 10/02/05 at 20:18:04

Maybe Rhino (i keep forgetting its I again and not Y) just looked awkward then. I guess the angle of the camera makes the size deceiving. I'll probably get used to it eventually.
JoeDesertratPosted on 10/11/05 at 04:07:27

The debut managed to build excitement and actually give me some hope thay could at least offer an alternative to WWE.
However, the production values are lacking. They seem to be going after a big show feel with an ECW budget. I'd like to see them trying to capture the ECW crowd feel which, at least to me, was one of the big factors in ECW's appeal rather than trying to look like WWE which they simply can't do on their budget. If they could start building the fanaticism of typical ECW crowds with a solid tv contract WWE might actually have reason to be concerned.
Another point, since this was my first chance to see the much hyped A.J. Styles I have to admit I was disappointed. Seemed like a cleaned up version of RVD or Jerry Lynn from their ECW days. Hits a lot of fancy moves but no emotional impact. Still, I'll reserve final opinion until I see him in a match that matters. Pretty much the same with the rest of the talent. The format of the show doesn't seem to give much of a chance to allow new fans to get a feel for the talent.
The second week was a travesty as it had an ending that could do WWE , um, justice. Didn't I see that stuff Monday night on Raw? I don't think I have to say anything else about it.
I wonder why they would try to go for the "family entertainment" thing, especially in that timeslot. And on Spike TV which bills itself as an entertainment for men network. Personally, having no kids I'm not the least bit interested in family entertainment. And if I had small kids they certainly wouldn't be watching wrestling at 11 pm on Saturday night.
It's too bad there isn't Japanese wrestling available on US tv.and it shows.
I'd like to see them hire Joey Styles to call the shows.
Rick GarrardPosted on 10/11/05 at 04:27:13

The ECW feel that you speak of for TNA went away when they moved from the Nashville venues in favor of the brights lights and big money from Universal Studios.

Anyone else see the irony in that TNA tapes their stuff at an NBC Universal property, yet it airs its programming on a CBS/Viacom network?  While WWE airs its cable programming on an NBC Universal owned network now while it also airs Smackdown on a CBS/Viacom owned network in UPN?  It kinda makes you wonder just how much money Vince McMahon has invested in Panda Energy.