TNA started off with their normal "This is TNA package" and then into a huge video hyping up their product for the debut. I enjoyed the video aspect of it as it was a great montage. However, they definitely need to re-do the audio parts of their videos for now on. They are way too deep for an audience that is not going to read into it that much and it pretty much delivers the same exact message as every freakin' TNA PPV opener: "We are TNA. We are the new age. We own you." Repetition is not a good thing, especially in a promotion that puts the shine on the guys doing the same flips night after night. The new Impact! opening package that played was tight though and we head right into the action.
AJ Styles Vs. Roderick Strong
Match was okay, and what I would expect from an AJ Styles match at this point. AJ Styles used no psychology in this match at any time. This is what I don't get about the guy. You can't make a case for his matches one bit because he is literally just flipping around the ring with no care as to making sense. This match is a perfect shining example. AJ started by doing arm drags, then he did chops, then he flipped about hitting the full body impact, then he did an Enziguri and the Pele focusing on the neck as well as the Inverted DDT, and then he did a full body impact move with the Styles Clash. AJ's finishing move may be great, but it has no meaning in what he does. AJ's move set basically encompasses the whole body, which is stupid and not believable because he doesn't do enough to wear down any one part of the body and the whole body wouldn't give out because of that. It just makes no sense. Now, I know AJ Styles had strep throat going into this match and I was prepared to write this match off on his sake because of that, but this match is the exact same one as all of his other matches so why should I review it differently? Strong was great in here though as he sold AJ's offense really well and was always trying to work that back with attempted German Suplexes, stiff kicks to spine, and well-placed back breakers. I can just imagine him screaming "Work, AJ. Work!" in the back of his mind while working AJ too. Daniels even came out during this match and really didn't do as much for the match as you would think he would from ringside. Finish came when AJ hit the Pele, Inverted DDT off the Springboard Moonsault (another move that boggles my mind in terms of making sense), and the Styles Clash in that order in a like 30 second time span. Yeah, AJ Styles is an amazing worker. Sarcasm again is wasted in print.
Winner: AJ Styles
Star Wrestler: Roderick Strong
I do think the match was a great way to open the match (though what we saw was actually the fourth match of the night as apparently the first one had too many botches in it and needed to be re-taped). AJ's athleticism was a great focal point to have early on, and even if I don't like it, it's going to get the product over which is good. Strong was great here though as he sold everything and basically went around with Styles' nonsensical psychology. When he had the chance to go on offense, everything he did was towards that back which was great. I would have liked to see him hit some more back moves to make a struggle for AJ seem more evident and get him over more, but literally, it's TNA. What do you expect?
After the match, we go to Don West and Mike Tenay and they hype up the product. God, what a freakin' joke of an announcing team too. In the opening match, they said at least three times, "I bet you're noticing the six sided ring." Well, I did the first time; the second and third time you said it, I bet I was noticing how idiotic you are. West eyeballs the camera like it's a jelly doughnut as they hype up the rest of the card and we go to our first commercial break.
Commercial break version TNA number one.
Back from break, they show a Monty Brown package hyping him up. David Sahadi said in a recent interview that the guy TNA wants to be the "face" of the promotion was going to be showcased on the first Impact! heavily, and by this promo, it seems it's Monty Brown. I think that's a pretty smart move as Brown has always been to me TNA's version of Goldberg. The only problem is that it's going to make no sense to have TNA hyping up the face of the promotion that is a heel right now. Brown should have been turned a month or two ago and been face for the casual audience. Having all that stuff being said about him and clips of his wins is going to get the crowd behind him, and having him come out and insult them and cheat is just going to make no freakin' sense. Meanwhile, the video itself was a joke. Brown virtually can't do anything right. He's a real joke in the ring and I don't even see how the casual fan will buy into a guy wearing leopard jackets and screaming in a high pitched voice. I really don't. I just don't see what the casual fan sees in him, and even more, the supposed smart fans who jerk themselves off to him screaming POUNCE. Jeez.
Shane Douglas is then with Monty Brown to interview him and Monty Brown starts it how? By putting himself over? TNA over? Spike TV over? Nope. He holds an insanely high note for ten seconds in a move that makes less sense than AJ Styles' offense. I don't care what anyone says; the fact that TNA's next big star opens his promos by holding falsetto notes shows me why TNA is not even in the top ten promotions in the world today in terms of quality. This whole Serengeti gimmick is just not working either. It makes no sense to have a former NFL star do a gimmick like that at all as opposed to an actual athlete gimmick the could be pushing. Brown then does the usual "Pounce, period" phrase to end the gimmick and you can tell by the way he's doing it that he literally can not go as high and as rough as he used to. So he started the promo with a high pitched squeal and he ended it with one, and you're going to sit there and tell me he's not playing a gay gimmick on some subliminal level? Yeah, right. Shane Douglas then watches him leave in disbelief (which had to be at the lack of talent) and then says there is a huge commotion going on in the back. We go there and Raven is destroying everyone. Why? I guess because he's pissed he lost his title, but why would he do it at some random point? Jeez, make sense TNA. For once in your life, I beg of you: make sense!
Monty Brown Vs. Lex Lovett
Quick squash with nothing to it but a power move, an offense by Lovett that was completely in vain, and the Pounce. Can't complain much about the booking since this is the way to build up Brown, but as far as Brown's move, mannerisms, and taunts? I needed a good laugh so I thank you, Mr. Brown.
Winner: Monty Brown
Star Wrestler: Monty Brown
Thanks for the laughs, Monty.
Commercial break version TNA number two.
We come back and see the Bound For Glory package that, like I said, says the same damn thing as every other package TNA does. Get a new writer, damn. They then show an X Division package that was actually really good and got the division over very well. I especially liked them showing Samoa Joe as soon as they said "no limits."
Triple Threat
Chris Sabin Vs. Petey Williams Vs. Alex Shelley
This should be good. I stress should though. When Williams' isn't hitting the Canadian Destroyer, he's an above average worker in my opinion. Shelley is great and then you got Sabin. I really enjoy Sabin's work and a lot more than I really know I should. I just love the guy's look, gimmick, charisma, and move set in most of his matches. By the way, Petey Williams was the guest on my audio show, The Wrestling Crossfire, this past Saturday. To listen to the interview with Williams, click here. Match started off a bit sloppy here and there, but got a bit good with Sabin's offense. Shelley seemed off in the beginning though. He hesitated here and there which didn't come off well. After Sabin's offense, it starts to fall apart as they start flipping around on the outside and give no meaning. Even Sabin does it and makes me a sad Sabin fan. For some reason, we go to a commercial break then even though this stretch of TV has only been about 5-7 minutes tops.
Commercial break version TNA number three.
Back from break, the same thing is going on except Shelly starts to do some nice neck/head working which was a nice turn from what he had been doing earlier. He even had some nice heel words to share with the crowd in a pure condescending way. Towards the end of the match, Sabin and Shelley started to make more sense in their offense, especially Shelley. Shelley working over Sabin's neck was really good, and bar that suicide dive he did earlier, I would say his whole offense has been great. Finish came when Sabin hit the Cradle Shock for the win.
Winner: Chris Sabin
Star Wrestler: Alex Shelley
I'm a huge Sabin fan, but even I know he's not an amazing worker. Sabin is just a good blend of spotty and meaningful wrestling in a sea of virtually spotty X Division wrestlers. Shelley here though was on top of his game and probably the best I've seen him in TNA since his return (bar that dive on the outside). Match was pretty good, but could have been miles better had they cut out all that outside flipping before the third break.
After the match, Petey Williams hit the Canadian Destroyer onto Sabin. I hate the move since it's completely unbelievable and what-not, but it is marketable in terms of its flashiness and was a smart move for TNA to do in their debut episode.
We then get a pretty good segment with Larry Zybsko, Shane Douglas, and Tito Ortiz. I don't know why, but I kind of liked it. It was basically just to put over Ortiz though, but I think the Zybsko-Douglas bickering sold it in the end.
Commercial break version TNA number four.
They show a 3 Live Kru package hyping them up which was cool and well done. At this point, it seems like they are hyping them up as to make the eventual break that is supposed to happen before the end of the year that much more memorable.
Jeff Hardy Vs. Rhino
Why the hell does "no-show" Hardy still have a job? Someone please tell me that. Even more, why has Jeff Hardy not been in X Division champ or in an Ultimate X match yet? This was actually a pretty good match. On paper, it didn't look to hot and not worthy of TNA's first main event on Spike TV, but it was good. The only thing that hurt this match in my eyes was how sluggish Rhino was in spots. You could really tell this match was planned spot by spot because every time someone was going to duck or counter a move, the move before it was incredibly sluggish. Rhino tried a splash from the second rope to Hardy and Hardy rolled out of it, so Rhino just looked sloppy and slow. The Gore that Hardy ducked was the same way. Even more, in the end, when Abyss came out, you could tell Hardy forgot the spot because he head towards the wrong turnbuckle, and then did a side step and headed back to the one closest to the ramp. Besides these moments though, the match was pretty good and I enjoyed the agility versus power story it told and the slugfest. It didn't go as over with the crowd as I thought it would, but I still enjoyed it. Finish came when Abyss came out and the ref ruled it no contest. Sabu then came out and they all four brawled furthering their feud towards the Monster's Ball II match.
Winner: No Contest
Star Wrestler: Jeff Hardy
Rhino was just sluggish like he didn't want to take a bump and was just going to towards the motions towards the end. If anything, had Rhino picked up the pace a bit (not to the point of flying around the ring), it would have been miles better. Hardy was good here though and had a believable offense and stuff that made sense in the pace of the match.
Commercial break version TNA number five.
They then show the footage of Jarrett winning the title from Raven in Canada, which I'm not even going to go into. They showed America's Most Wanted helping him and Scott D'Amore coming in at the end as the mastermind. AMW and Jarrett then come out to the ring. Jarrett got on the mike and does a typical promo putting over how he is now in power and he did what he said he was going to do. He then publicly thanks AMW. He then brings out the fourth and final piece of the puzzle: Scott D'Amore. I think it's cool to have D'Amore with them, but what the hell does this mean in terms of Team Canada? They put over the fact that D'Amore owns the promotion where the title change occurred. Smart move to put that out there. The four start yapping and then 3 Live Kru comes out. They go back and forth and then Jarrett challenges 3LK and they come running down. A brawl ensues and Team Canada even spills out to help. At least I got my question answered! Team 3-D runs out as a sight for sore eyes and cleans house. They dish out some 3-Ds, but Jarrett weasels his way out. Kevin Nash then comes out and Jarrett walks in the ring and gets the Wassup Slam followed by a Jacknife. Nash then took the mike and said it was him and Jarrett at BFG. Team 3-D then took the mike and said it was them and AMW next week in what should and hopefully will be a great match. Man, I missed the Dudleyz. They are my all time favorite tag team and even if they are in a promotion I don't particularly like, I'm happy they are somewhere I can watch them. Segment reminded me of a better version of the end of Victory Road with Randy Savage coming out for some reason. It was definitely a good way to end the show and hype up two feuds, but I feel like 3LK and Team Canada had virtually no business being in there. Anyway, great thing to see the Dudleyz back even if they are back under a new name.
Overall, for what TNA was trying to do in terms of getting over their product, I would say they did it and did it well. Personally, I feel the card should have been a lot better and ended with a match rather than a segment, but it definitely did what it planned to do and that's really important. I think the show was pretty average, but better than most of the Impacts of the last few months. The opening match had so many problems it was hard to count, you can't really judge a squash, the triple had its problems but was still enjoyable, and then the Rhino-Hardy match was the same way. In terms of segments, the Raven and Brown segments were both stupid and pointless, but the Ortiz and ending segments were both good. By all this, I think it's safe to call the night average, but as far as a debut to the causal fan, I think it was a good way to go. That's going to be it from the mind of this smark, fans. Thanks for staying with me again and until next time, this is "Squared Circle Reviews" signing off and hoping you enjoy what you watch!
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