The Official Weekly LIVE iMPACT Wrestling Thread!

Cherry_Cola wrote: »

Christ, she looks older than Dixie.

http://www.specsavers.ie/

Reganio 2 wrote: »

First time watching TNA since the famous night when everybody came in. Is Orlando Jordan still around?

No unfortunately he was released about a year ago.

Charisteas wrote: »

No unfortunately he was released about a year ago.

Oh noes . But Jeff... Wooo.

takamichinoku wrote: »

Has Jeff had any issues since he came back about a year ago? Like, is he actually stable now?

Physically no issues, but as far as I know he still isn't allowed to leave the country which is why he couldn't go on the European tour on January.

Random I know but I am also watching a link for Mexico vs Bosnia and Herzogovina, but the link is just Mexican TV not showing the match. Its almost racist.... Towards Mexican's! Its mental

Is Joey Ryan the dictator?

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

I think Ryan has an interesting gimmick, it wouldn't harm to take a chance and give him a short term trial contract to see how the crowd take to him.

They gave Silva a full time contract and he has nothing going for him other than he has a decent look. He'll be released within a year while Ryan would have been a very solid addition to the X-Division.

If that 87% thing was true, they are idiots for turning him down.

Do you think that will be the end of him on tv though? I wonder could they have him showing up at events campaigning for a contract, possibly trying to attack Tazz etc. It'd be a pity if they didn't do something more with him.

Reganio 2 wrote: »

Why are people saying aw I can't believe he didn't get a contract? From the sounds of it I reckon he will be back next week and attack Tazz setting up a feud with him where he wins and gets a contract off the back of it.

That would be good but to me it sounded like Taz was telling him to piss off and try again in a few months time.

CMpunked wrote: »

This thread has more posts than some raw threads lately.

The earlier start probably helped. It's easier staying up until 3 than it is until 4:15.

gnfnrhead wrote: »

The earlier start probably helped. It's easier staying up until 3 than it is until 4:15.

I expected it to. Hence why im on now and not earlier.
Did they do a "behind the curtain" show at the beginning, gnfnrhead?

gnfnrhead wrote: »

Poor Kazarian having awful trouble with those cable ties :pac:

They are really hard to do in fairness add in all the pressure and movement of Angle its gonna be extra hard

Reganio 2 wrote: »

They are really hard to do in fairness add in all the pressure and movement of Angle its gonna be extra hard

The first one he did backwards meaning it just pulls open, the second one he missed Angle's hand complelty. Just as well Daniels saved him with the title belt shot, we could have been there all night! :pac:

Didn't they advertise a surprise for the show a few weeks ago? Was it the going live or Brooke, or something?

Machismo Fan wrote: »

I assume it was Sting. Nice to see wrestling act like episodic television for once.

But he was back last week?

Doesn't matter either way. They seemed to stop mentioning it in recent weeks anyway.

Bar the middle section with the backstage Gut Check segment and the Dixie/Brooke borefest, I thought it was another really good show. TNA seem to be getting their act together big time just as WWE seem to be losing theirs.

Machismo Fan wrote: »

Which is pretty much exactly why they had to raise the standard by turning down Ryan (who really didn't show all that much).

But Ryan is one of the best they could have gotten unless they plan on going for the really big Indy guys like Generico etc. They seem to be looking at the lesser known guys and Ryan is one of the best in that category. I don't see what reason they can have for denying him after giving Silva a contract. It makes a joke of the whole thing and sends out the message that you're only getting a contract if you have a sob story to tell, while your in ring ability and charisma don't count for anything and you damn well better not try using a gimmick to stand out.

EDIT: Either Joey is signed up already and working a storyline, or he is pissed: www.twitter.com/#!/joeyryanonline

Thought that was very refreshing, great to see an insight into the workings of a wrestling company. Don't religiously follow TNA but I'd watch it if it was on, and have definitely been impressed.

Thoughts on the Live iMPACT show 31st May :

Bobby Roode taps out clean to Sting in 10 minutes.
I thought Roode lost way too fast to be this clean, I was hoping for at least some more lumberjack interference, but I imagine it's just to get up the tension when they face at Slammiversary and Sting puts on the scorpion death lock. This didn't look competitive though, I think it hurt Roode worse than it helped Sting. Never a fan of starting a show with a world title match, i'm sure it was to jump-start people into finding the show at the right time.

Bully Ray/Joseph Park confrontation
This was absolute gold. I LOVE watching both of these guys. Bully is just that, a cowardly, big-mouthed bully, and Joseph Park's gimmick is hilarious. His mannerisms are fantastic. This was great. I really hope when Abyss really returns, they're able to get a similar enough body double, and have them interact. Favourite part of iMPACT.

Austin Aries vs Chris Sabin
Very smooth X-D match, just it was far too short. Both great wrestlers and so the match was fun for as long as it lasted.

Gut Check Segments
Backstage, Taz tells Hogan that if he joins Gut Check, you'll get the "real" Taz, i.e. his commentator role is a phoney. It really pissed me off. So we're getting bull****ted for 90% of the show?
Pritchard, Taz and Snow chat about Joey Ryan, smashing kayfabe. They go over his gimmick etc, and this really, really angered me. How are we supposed to take Joey Ryan/your show seriously if it's literally telling you it's fake? You can't have it both ways, either shoot or storyline. Awful concept.

Dixie introduces Brooke Hogan
She looks like she's had too many late nights, wow she's aged. Not as many boos as I would've hoped.

D-Von vs Jeff Hardy
I love Jeff's look. He really does look like a superstar. Of course it's a DQ finish so Hardy doesn't have to lose and D-Von retains. Probably the smartest decision when the match has been booked.

James Storm had a nice vignette of him at his ranch with his daughter, getting upset about Lockdown.

Gut Check Time as the Three Judges talk to Joey Ryan out of character, while he remains in character. Although an interesting segment, it is horrible in it's concept. You can't have it both ways. Ryan delivers a terrible generic promo cutting his own legs off and Taz "the badass" reads him the riot act. And goes back to being an idiot commentator.

Main Event : AJ Styles vs Daniels
These guys are super smooth and get about 10 minutes together. As expected the match is a joy to watch. After a post-match beatdown w/ Kaz, Daniels plays an exerpt of a phone call between AJ and Dixie. I'm not a huge fan of the storyline but I'd imagine casual fans would be. Dixie storms to the commentators desk and screams for them to stop the audio. That was great. She dropped a few F-bombs.

Overall
All in all it was a fun show, TNA are getting their act together. Unfortunately I think this kayfabe smashing stuff has no place on the main broadcast, since that's supposed to be the show. It's like playing a 5-minute "making of" video during Game of Thrones. Breaks all illusion, shouldn't be done. TNA are going full steam ahead with it, and that's gonna hurt....well their PPVs are already hurt. So I guess it'll just annoy wrestling fans like me.

Garseys wrote: »

This weeks show was alright, Jay summed up my feelings for it pretty well. Gut Check really should be a seperate show....

it would be fine if it was shorter. Last months was awful. This month was much better but still too long. Cut out the backstage segment (stick it on the website for anyone interested) and just do the short in ring segment. Let the wrestler cut his promo and THEN the judges say yes or no instead of having two judges decide before the promo even happens.

Also, Taz could do with leaving the blatantly obvious tough guy act at the door. He's an idiot on commentary then were supposed to believe that he's suddenly not an idiot who laughs at his own jokes but is instead a bad ass?