Impact Wrestling Review

So after reading spoilers last week that Sting has now taken on a Joker gimmick I made a point of watching this week's impact! and I must admit I was quite impressed.

Just when I thought Sting had nothing left to offer in his career, he proves me wrong. His Joker gimmick has totally reinvigorated his character and given it a new lease of life, which at this stage in his career is impressive. This could well be the last great era in Sting's career and if they keep this gimmick roling I believe it could be a very significant one. It is definitely better than the Crow/Surfer Sting hybrid he's been playing these last few months - that just didn't work for me.

But I must say on the whole it was a solid episode - the quality of wrestling was very good, each match was given a decent amount of time and there was plenty of variety - from the high flying X-Division style of AJ & Low Ki to the submission style of Samoa Joe to the power game of Gunner and Steiner. I also have to give TNA kudos for the Bound for Glory series. This is a great concept for the following reasons:

A) It raises the profile of BFG their flagship PPV, this is something I've thought for a little while that TNA needed to raise its profile and now they are doing it. WWE have done it for years with the RR starting the road to WrestleMania. TNA needed an equivilant and now they have one.
B) It gives an instant, simple justification for the booking focussing on the wrestling and not the storylines. I really feel TNA are making a big effort to prove that wrestling matters and appealing to the wrestling community. In creating a tournament to crown the No1 contender for BFG it immediately shifts the focus onto the sport element of wrestling and gives a simple yet effective storyline of someone working their way through the rankings to become the legitimate No1 contender - ROH have used this simple storyline to great effect in the past.
C) The BFG series includes veterans and up and comers and its good to see that Gunner and Crimson the two newest members of the roster and future main event material are leading the board with most points. I just hope this trend continues and that they continue investing in new talent and future world champions.

Even the knockouts had a half decent match, showcasing more wrestling than your typical divas match in WWE.

My only criticism would be that the storyline revolving Angle and Anderson is getting lost somewhere in the mix with Hogan and Sting, but as Sting's Joker gimmick is still developing I am willing to be patient to see how this transpires. But nevertheless a very strong episode of Impact! I hope the level and quality of the booking continues to be this strong but knowing TNA's track record of inconsistency I'm not holding my breath. But I'm just taking each episode at face value, appreciating each episode while the booking remains so strong. TNA comes under a lot of criticism, and fairly so but it should also receive the same level of praise when it gets it right and maybe, just maybe TNA is starting to turn the corner.

I read this morning there were 21 minutes worth of in ring action?

Impact has been excellent in recent weeks.

And last week I criticised the Sting - Joker persona as a rip-off, but actually, I think it's differene enough to be classed as an influence rather than a rip-off. He was excellent, particularly at the beginning of the show.

I enjoyed it - and I think you can see that they really are making an effort with the "wrestling matters" mantra. There is more good wrestling on the weekly TV shows than on Raw or Smackdown at the moment.

They should keep it up

Looking forward to The British Invasion vs The Mexican Americans.

Brutus is value for money.

westisbest wrote:Looking forward to The British Invasion vs The Mexican Americans.

Brutus is value for money.

Totally agree - Brutus Magnus is very underated. He's solid on the stick, very similar to Wade Barrett and i dont necessarily mean by way of accent, they both have the same confidence and delivery on the mic. I really like the British Invasion.

Also i want to add that as minor as it may be changing the name to impact, and getting the blue logo etc, even down to the impact t-shirts and the on screen graphics when at the announcers table it now makes the show seem to be better packaged.

boomdangle wrote:Also i want to add that as minor as it may be changing the name to impact, and getting the blue logo etc, even down to the impact t-shirts and the on screen graphics when at the announcers table it now makes the show seem to be better packaged.

Agree

Clarke James wrote:I read this morning there were 21 minutes worth of in ring action?

I don't know, I never counted but the action in the ring is what counts. The wrestling is far superior to WWE - as I said there was a bit of everything. WWE style is so restrictive on the wrestler - CM Punks does best at working around it but then again he is a product of ROH. The wrestling on impact! leaves WWE behind. This is why it is so clear that they are serious about 'wrestling matters'.

On another note the commentary works really well to enforce and undergird their focus on the wrestling - Taz is a seriously underrated colour commentator - he is knowledgable, enthusiastic and has a distinctive personality that comes across on the mic. As much as I like Booker's commentary, Taz is superior.

I'm also really loving the new graphics and impact! zone - the blue makes it look cleaner and brighter.

talkingpoint wrote:

Clarke James wrote:I read this morning there were 21 minutes worth of in ring action?

I don't know, I never counted but the action in the ring is what counts. The wrestling is far superior to WWE - as I said there was a bit of everything. WWE style is so restrictive on the wrestler - CM Punks does best at working around it but then again he is a product of ROH. The wrestling on impact! leaves WWE behind. This is why it is so clear that they are serious about 'wrestling matters'.

On another note the commentary works really well to enforce and undergird their focus on the wrestling - Taz is a seriously underrated colour commentator - he is knowledgable, enthusiastic and has a distinctive personality that comes across on the mic. As much as I like Booker's commentary, Taz is superior.

I'm also really loving the new graphics and impact! zone - the blue makes it look cleaner and brighter.

Wrestling matters, right? Yet, forgive me if i'm wrong, but Impact is a 2 hour show? With 21 minutes of Wrestling?

Clarke James wrote:
Wrestling matters, right? Yet, forgive me if i'm wrong, but Impact is a 2 hour show? With 21 minutes of Wrestling?

Here were the matches:

Devon v Samoa Joe BFG series match - winner Devon via pin (Joe put in a great performance using many different submission moves, most of which you never see in WWE and gives the product an element of realism that is important for the credibility of the business)

Division X contract match triple threat match - Jimmy Wang, Low Ki and some other guy - winner Low Ki via top rope Warrior's Way (there were plenty of great spots in this match including an incredible top rope suicide dive by Wang)

Knockouts elimination match - Winter, Angelina Love and Miss Tessmacher v Madison Rayne, Mickey James (C) and Terra - winner Mickey James (a decent knockout's match with some good spots)

Gunner v AJ Styles BFG series match - winner Gunner after Burning Hammer (or some variation of it)

Scott Steiner v Sting - winner Sting via Scorpian Death Drop - Immortal storm the ring afterwards led by Bully Ray, Hogans comes out after they beat down Sting and hits him with a taped up fist. Angle comes out to make the save closing the show.

There was also the contract signing for Division X between AJ and Daniels as well as setting up a 4 way match next week for AJ/Daniels/RVD/Lynn.

Mexican America cut a promo about being overlooked in the BFG series and British Invasion came out and challenged them to a tag team match - not sure when for.

All in all I think that's a very decent episode - some excellent matches and setting up nicely for the Division X PPV:

AJ v Daniels

Abyss (C) v Kendrick

RVD v Jerry Lynn

Kazarian v Samoa Joe

4 way contract match - involving Austin Aries and Low Ki

As I said TNA comes under a fair bit of criticism, often completely justified but I really think this week's episode was very good and TNA are starting to make positive changes i.e. the BFG series.

Thought it was a good episode to.

Brutus Magnus as I said before is quality, good on the mic to.

Am loving Impact, also xplosion after it is decent.

Low Ki Jimmy Yang and some other guy thats one Michael Shane, two time X division Champ and he was trained by his cousin, SHAWN MICHAELS, most of his moveset is based on HBK, Dunno why they went with his real name though, Michael Shane has all the tools to be a regular on TV every week, God knows why he didn't make it big

the-gaffer wrote:Low Ki Jimmy Yang and some other guy thats one Michael Shane, two time X division Champ and he was trained by his cousin, SHAWN MICHAELS, most of his moveset is based on HBK, Dunno why they went with his real name though, Michael Shane has all the tools to be a regular on TV every week, God knows why he didn't make it big

yeah I knew he was someone important I just couldn't remember his name and couldn't be bothered to trawl through the spoilers to find it! No disrespect intended to the guy.

Watch how he tried to pin Low Ki after the superkick, very HBK like at WM12

So is TNA worth watching again, I lost all intrest in wrestling a couple of months back. And have only watched either fed sporadically lately.

randy-poffo wrote:So is TNA worth watching again, I lost all intrest in wrestling a couple of months back. And have only watched either fed sporadically lately.

Based on the last few weeks - Sting's new gimmick and the BFG series I would say yes. Enjoy it while it lasts would be my advice!

Very good impact.

Strange to see Roode at the bottom with no points?

I thought Doug Williams should have been given the stick but I don't mind Magnus.


Hope gunner doesn't win it but happy they are pushing new guys,reckon he will turn face at the end of it.

My money was on Roode at the start,guess not.

Gunner wont win it, he will come out of it looking like a top player though, Roode being at the bottom will be a story, I'm sure he'll win it

With 10 points for a submission win and Robert Roode using his arm bar submission move a lot more recently, a couple of submission wins will put him straight back into contention.

Yeah I suppose. He could say the say being a tag team is distracting him and he needs to fully commit to the bfg series. Storm could then be his next opponent in the series or something.

There is loads of time to BFG and with house match results counting too it wont surprise me if he remains at the bottom for another month

the thing about the BFG series is that for it to be credible each wrestler will have to wrestle the same number of matches. For this to happen and for Crimson to keep his unbeaten streak going (which I presume TNA will want to keep going) he should win at a canter.

Not really, they can keep Crimson unbeaten without having him win the series, he can win by count out and DQ and pin while others can make up points by winning by submission, also, he could be in a winning tag team and not get points because he didnt get the actual pin, thats what happened with Roode and Storn

I suppose, just think it would be a cop out for him to win by DQ or count out. If he's to be pushed as unbeaten, it would make much more sense for him to win this as well.

I don't think it would be a cop out at all for him to win by count out or DQ from time to time, itr all about winning and getting a win anyway possible, what a rub he'd get to finish undefeated and it would set him up nicely to challenge the World Champion after BFG, hopefully he would have a win over him from this series so it would be a much hyped match

Was a decent iMPACT imo.

I just wonder and think what are they going to do or have anything planned for Samoe Joe? I mean its as if Russo/Hogan/Eric havn't had anything decent for in in the past 8/9 months.

He had that kidnap storyline last year that materialised into nothing, and then he had a fued with the pope which was a stupid reason for a fued and imo went one month too long.

Anyway I do agree that iMPACT has been good as of late and I think they were right to push the X-Division. Hopfully they can sign up a few of these guys that have been in the quailfing matches as of late. Ok it wouldn't make sence to sign them up now but guys like Jimmy Wang Yang, Austin Aries & Low Ki shows that they can head in the right direction.

A lot will depend on the buy-rate of Destination X, if they get a good buy-rate then that will dictate what they do with the X guys

I'm also enjoying Miss Tessmacher, Velvet & Madisn Rayne

I bet you are shagger

I'm not sure who'll get the contract I reckon its between Aries and Low Ki. Personally if Aries isn't in ROH I'd like to see him in TNA - I think he is a more all rounder than Low Ki.

who isnt enjoying them.

another aspect to great viewing.

With Jack Evans thrown into the mix with Aries and Low Ki, anything can happen!