The Official Weekly LIVE iMPACT Wrestling Thread!

gnfnrhead

To be fair, he debuted just before that winter break so it's harsh to judge since then. But since the start of this year, yeah, he's just there trying to look mean. A shame as they were doing really good with the former WWE pick ups. Most of them have been a hit in recent years but Tyrus is definitely a miss.

rovert

Machismo Fan wrote: »

He's done literally nothing of worth since he debuted.

He's also a bit of a big, dumb lummox for not catching Borash:

Machismo Fan

Borash is probably a better worker. Also Tigre Uno renewed. They've done very little with him in his first year.

gnfnrhead

Completely forgot they even had Tigre Uno. Hoping they pick up a few more X-Division wrestlers and remember the title exists. Even use it like a TV title and have the champion defend every week or two. Surely they can spare ten minutes for it.

Sanada must be going back to Wrestle-1 this year. He has done very little recently. Last year he was the first recruit to the Revolution and had the Muta feud, along with an X-Division title run before hand. Now he stands there and gets knocked down by the incoming baby faces. That's a pretty big drop off if he isn't leaving in the next few months.

Machismo Fan

You could catalogue how a whole host of guys are doing absolutely nothing in TNA at the moment. Also Roode signed a new one year deal.

gnfnrhead

Only now realised how weak the roster has gotten. It's been going downhill for a while now, but it's really getting obvious now. I think they screwed up a few years ago when they essentially stopped letting guys work for Indy companies. For an Indy company, it isn't worth paying for someone if they can't appear on the DVD. TNA would have a lot more options if they had continued to let guys work elsewhere at the same time. I doubt the likes of Mark Andrews (or pretty much anyone lower than the upper card) will be making anywhere near enough to be able to just work for TNA so in a few years he will be looking for more money or his release, since he probably won't ever make it to the top of the card. A lot of other guys will be in the same boat. They seem to be easing up lately though as a lot of the TNA roster compete for HOH.

They could do with getting some sort of partnership with a worthwhile company (not an OVW, while HOH is mostly TNA and former ECW to begin with) like PWG and letting their guys wrestle for them. PWG (or whoever) get the option of bringing in Aries, Roode, The Wolves etc. and Suddenly TNA have another 20 or so guys they can bring in too whenever needed. The Wolves have no one new to defend against? Bring in the Young Bucks for two or three tapings without them having to give up their other appearances. Everyone wins.

rovert

Tenay's facials slay me

Machismo Fan

Tenay is my fave.

Machismo Fan

Spud vs. EC3 was a more than worthy conclusion to a really great feud. Make sure to seek it out. Also Roode vs. Young was very good.

Stereomaniac

He will be 32 on Wednesday. It is kind of sad how long they get held onto in developmental.

BohsJohnny

EC3 vs Spud lived up to the hype really reminded me of an old school Memphis hair match,Spud was unbelievably great as an underdog babyface in it.

rovert

David Bixenspan's thoughts on the match. Spoiler tagged the stuff that spoils the finish of match:

-- If you didn't see last night's episode of Impact, you need to go out of your way to watch the main event, which was EC3 vs. Rockstar Spud in a hair vs. hair match. This was the best match and overall presentation on TNA programming in a really, really long time. It was a great, super heated match with incredible drama, a hot crowd in the palms of their hands, and even in 2015,

I have to say that the blood helped put it over the top, though it was already a great match. When I saw how TNA was promoting the match, I wasn't sure what to think. It's 2015, nobody really blades in major league pro wrestling and the last time TNA brought blood back, the fans didn't react well to it. As much as the visual adds to the drama of a great match, it just doesn't feel like it's worth it anymore.

Once Spud came up bleeding and the heat kept on building, I kind of forgot about the real world consequences, but only because I was so drawn into the match. Taking some distance from it, I still don't like the idea of it, but I'm glad that if TNA was going to bring back blood for a match, it was the sympathetic home country babyface in a long-term story bleeding in a TV main event of what will probably be their biggest card of the year, as opposed to Abyss doing his shtick, or anyone considering a double juice match. I don't want anyone cutting themselves, but the visual of blood, in and of itself, really does add to the type of match that Spud and EC3 had. It would be nice if there was some other way that actually worked in a pro wrestling environment.

http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/118-daily-updates/41625-sat-update-ufc-185-preview-must-see-tna-match-anthony-pettis-on-cm-punk-and-more?

gnfnrhead

I loved that match and was so happy they gave it the main event spot. It's been a very entertaining feud with some great promos and that is the easy TNA MOTY at this point. I'll be surprised if it doesn't make the top ten for the entire year.

As for the rest of show, bar Brooke vs Robbie (Brooke is too small to be in that role, almost any other Knockout would have worked better), the entire show felt more like a PPV than any of the actual PPV's have in quite some time. Roode vs Young was a great opener. Galloway vs MVP was good enough but they should have played the Lashley/Angle video beforehand so we knew neither were at the show. During the post match I was wondering why neither of them bothered to show their faces. Bram vs Magnus was decent but obviously not intended as anything more than a way to progress the feud. Spud vs EC3 was a great way to end the show too and had a big match feel, unlike Lashley vs Angle for next week.

TNA have had a run of good to pretty good shows going back several months now, but the last two weeks have been closer to great for me.

Machismo Fan

Spud vs. EC3: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2jia5q_tna-impact-wrestling-2015-03-13-rockstar-spud-vs-ec3_sport

rovert

https://twitter.com/STRIGGA/status/578137236161576960

Pure fecker

EdmondShiels3

Tna need to do something to make it better. I still like Tna but think wwe is better at the moment. It was the other way around a year ago. The roster is not as good either, they need more stars. They have a lot of wrestlers now that don't ha e that star quality. Why did they let Joe and aj styles leave. Could they not have paid them more because they do need them. I also miss Bully Ray and was not happy when he turned up in the rumble.

Stereomaniac

Happy Birthday Derrick Bateman.

gnfnrhead

rovert wrote: »

https://twitter.com/STRIGGA/status/578137236161576960

Pure fecker

Pretty sure they realised that was a massive screw up. Sanada was booked far better up until recently where he has kinda just been standing there to make up the numbers. I assume Sanada will be finishing up this year, hence why they aren't investing much in him anymore, but I'd be surprised if they don't give all future Japanese loans a fair shot rather than just having them as jobbers like Okada and Kiyoshi.

Machismo Fan

Latest spate of renewals - Robbie E, Bram and Lashley.

rovert

Sign of the times but it is a shame people aren't buzzing on here about Lashley-Angle. Trepidatious about the condition of Kurt Angle but Lashley vs Angle was a really good match that was presented so well both pre and post match.

The rest of the show was highly watchable and production wise the best show on Destination American so far. The X-Division opener in particular was a fun time.

Machismo Fan

Yeah they really did a good job on the night presenting Angle vs. Lashley as a really big match. Would've loved more of that in the weeks building up to it to try and actually get people to watch. And the match delivered. And the poster for Hardy vs. Storm next week in neat:


Also on a side note, Josh Mathews has been pretty solid as an announcer. Taz is still awful but Mathews really sounds like he's giving his all.

Machismo Fan

Angle vs. Lashley: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2k6qrq_tna-impact-wrestling-2015-03-20-kurt-angle-vs-bobby-lashley_sport

gnfnrhead

I think that was the best edition of Impact in a long, long time and I think they have been very good lately anyway.

They did a great job making Angle vs Lashley seem like a big deal. The pre match is something they used to do for the PPV title defences and I always liked it so I'm glad they brought it back. Hopefully they don't over use it though.

My only complaint about the show would be Aries vs Joe not having a real finish. Pretty sure that was Joe's last match so it's not like it would have hurt him to lose. With Spud winning the X-Division title, I'm pretty sure EC3 will be the one to take the title from Angle so Spud can trade in for a World title match against EC3. Not sure when Destination X will be. Hopefully sometime around July or August.

Machismo Fan

Hardy vs. Storm was great fun this week.

rovert

Hope this means the LAW radio show has to put over TNA now:
http://www.impactwrestling.com/news/item/6386-Fight-Network-Signs-Multi-Year-TV-Deal-with-TNA-Wrestling-to-Air-IMPACT-WRESTLING,-Xplosion,-Greatest-Matches-in-Canada

spektorfive

The LAW has put TNA over the past few weeks esp about the Spud/EC3 stuff.

Machismo Fan

Hardy vs. Storm: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2kzn7c_tna-impact-wrestling-2015-03-27-james-storm-vs-jeff-hardy_sport

Machismo Fan

I really liked this weeks Impact, uncharacteristically well paced show.

rovert

From the Observer:

This is a scary one. Before TNA got on The Fight Network this past week for Impact, they were airing their shows on YouTube in Canada and were only getting about 7,000 views per week. The Fight Network deal is not a lucrative one at all for the company, it was more the only option they had for getting any television outside of Quebec.

Kurt Angle on getting the WWE brush off:

“I haven’t spoke openly about this,” said Angle, “but I opened up my options and was going to decide between TNA and WWE. I wasn’t going to leave TNA unless WWE was offering a fair deal.”

Angle, who lost his father when he was only 16 years old, developed a close friendship with Vince McMahon during his eight year run with WWE from 1998-2006. Yet, when Angle called McMahon, he was informed that a different man now runs the day-to-day operations.
“Paul [Levesque] is in charge,” said Angle. “I found that out when I contacted Vince. I’ve always had a good relationship with Paul, so I didn’t consider that a problem. But he decided they had enough talent.

“For the Vince McMahon who I knew, enough was never enough. He always wanted more. I don’t know what was going on over there, but they even canceled our meeting. I never went to see them. They didn’t even sit me down and talk to me.

“It blew my mind,” he said. “It was as if I was a nobody, that I wasn’t Kurt Angle. From a wrestling standpoint, they just weren’t interested. But TNA not only stepped up, they gave me everything I wanted – the dates, the money, and it’s no secret that I’ve went to rehab in the past, and they gave me time off. You talk about a company that’s loyal to you, and you want to be loyal back. So I didn’t pursue the WWE any further. When it comes down to it, you’ve got to stick with the people who want to take care of you. And [TNA president] Dixie Carter took care of me.

“But I’m going to be straight with you,” said Angle. “The WWE would have made more money this year if they would have signed me. That’s no secret.”

“The best match of the year would have been between myself and Daniel Bryan,” said Angle. “Rusev would have made sense, and Brock and I could have went at it again. There were just so many places to go. I don’t know if they just thought I was too old, but obviously they’re not watching our product. Triple H is the same age as me. It was hard, but at the end of the day, I’m really happy.

“Will I ever go back? I really don’t care. I’m happy to be here in TNA.”

source: http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2015/04/08/kurt-angle-wwe-tna-brock-lesnar

rovert

TNA WRESTLERS FRUSTRATED WITH PAY ISSUES, THE COMPLETE STORY
by Mike Johnson @ 4:29 PM on 4/12/2015

While the TNA TV product has been strong since it's move to Destination America, the company is still dealing with internal issues, PWInsider.com has confirmed.



TNA is well behind on pay to their wrestlers, according to many talents who reached out to PWInsider.com under the agreement of anonymity over the past several weeks. One wrestler claimed the company is behind two pay periods while others have claimed they are still owed money dating back to February. With no TNA dates scheduled until the live Impact broadcast on 5/8, it has been a growing source of aggravation for TNA wrestlers as they are working the indy scene to supplement their TNA income,

In asking sources within the TNA office in Nashville, I am told that the pay issues are legitimate and have been a source of great frustration within the TNA offices over the last several weeks as well. While one source I spoke to denied they were behind two pay periods, they did concede they have been behind on checks being cut to talents and that it was something TNA was trying to get a handle on over the last week.

One of the factors involved is that TNA's checks are not cut in Nashville by the company but are outsources to Dallas, Texas where TNA's parent company Panda Energy is headquartered. This alone adds another step to the process. Complicating that of late is that Panda recently moved their offices and while that move was ongoing, the department that handled issuing checks for TNA personnel and talents was completely closed. As you might imagine, that lead to a backlog on checks being issued the last several weeks.

I was also told that since TNA taped so many One Night Only PPVs during their last series of events in Orlando, FL at Universal Studios, that also led to a lot of payroll expenses while the company wasn't generating revenue from those PPV tapings as they were free and the PPVs won't air for several months. This additionally led to a backlog as checks were not cut for the talents working those shows yet.

As I noted, it's something those working out of the TNA Nashville office have been very frustrated with and they have been working to rectify the situation.

The original story from earlier in the week from Gerwick.net

We have learned once again that TNA Wrestling is behind in payment to several of their wrestlers and production staffers. A source indicates that many talents are 45 to 60 days behind in pay, meaning many have still not been paid for the February Impact tapings. From what we hear, those that are still unpaid are prepared not to perform at the next set of television tapings (May 8th, 9th, and 10th in Orlando, FL) unless they are compensated in full. As you might imagine, there is a growing frustration, as talent and production team members are routinely informed that checks are in the mail. However, most of the office workers are being paid on schedule.