Impact Stress Test Result
Stalled
We kicked off October off with a spectacular edition of Impact . . . Is what I would start out with if that had happened. Unfortunately, it didn’t.
What TNA delivered this week was average. Nowhere near what the quality has been over the last month. It really seemed like it was thrown together at the last moment, or at least that a lot of stuff was reshuffled or rethought during the show.
It had the basis for a good show, but it didn’t quite gel. The problems were two fold, poor payoffs of angels, and a seeming lack of interest.
The Low Points:
Austin Aries and Samoa Joe
Anyone who reads Wrestlementary has to know that I am a huge Aries fans, and that last week I proclaimed they need to put the world title around his waist now. The World Title. What did they do this week? How did they follow up last week’s spectacular show where Aries won the right to face any champion?
The answer, have Joe bully Aries into a match. Yes, Joe bullied Aries into a match, telling Aries that if he was going to face anyone, it would be him (Joe.) They then went on to have an extremely sloppy match.
This whole thing made no sense to me, why dedicate an entire show to a tournament, only to pay it off in an OPENING MATCH, and have the champion bully the tournament winner into a match.
Even if the match was Joe versus Aries, it should have been a marque, main event match.
Havok versus Gail Kim
My same reason as Aries versus Joe, this was a poor pay off. Plus, it’s another case of TNA putting a World Title on a newcomer and pissing on the established stars. Have Havok win the battle royal, have her injury Gail, just don’t put the title on her right away.
It’s an old angle, challenger attacks champion, injuries them, then courageous champion still goes on to defend the title.
The bigger problem than the poor payoff is that putting the title on her right away devalues the entire locker room. Are they any credible challengers to Havok? How can there be when she has already destroyed the knockout’s locker room and ran through the entire roster in the battle royal?
The Crowd
I wrote a number of times of how great the crowd was at the Manhattan Center. I also wrote how I had concerns about the crowd for Bethlehem, PA. Those concerns turned out to be prophetic. This crowd was the most pathetic crowd I have ever seen at any wrestling event, much less a broadcast show.
Aries tried to rally the crowd, asking them whom he should face. He received zero response. Joe received no response when he came out.
Bobby Roode tried to get a ‘one more match’ chant going when challenging Lashley. The crowd was dead. Literally.
If one takes a good look, most of the area was blacked out. Many of the lights were turned off. When the action, and the camera(s), came close to the guardrail, it was plainly seen that most of the seats were empty.
I think the entire crowd in this arena may have filled one section of the Manhattan Center.
TNA should never have aired this, but they have little options with their current status. A turnout like this, to a televised taping, cannot help their cause in trying to find a new TV deal.
The High Points
MVP, Kenny King, Mister Anderson and Sarge
This is how you pay off an angle, and continue it. Anderson comes to the aid of Sarge and confronted King and MVP. Anderson challenged King to a match, but MVP stepped up and took the fight. MVP and Anderson went on to have an extremely good match, which MVP won after some distractions.
This accomplished three things: It put Anderson front and center as a face and has him back in the spotlight. TNA needs his star power. It also showed friendship between King and MVP with King thanking MVP for stepping up and taking the match.
But it really solidifies that the half man-half amazing Playa is back.
EC3 and Eric Young
Both of these guys have been on fire for months. EC3 really ripped into Spud, blaming him for Auntie D. EY came out to Spud’s defense and cut a passionate promo about knowing Spud’s predicament, having been a lackey once himself.
This lead to a good match been EC3 and EY and both guys delivered.
The Dudley’s, The Hardy’s, The Wolves
Their promo segment helped saved this broadcast. Great mic skills, both the Dudley’s and Hardy’s propping each other and trying to spank the new team on the block. This lead to a brawl with the Wolves protecting their territory. That territory being their budding legacy and the TNA World Tag Team titles.
Finally, we got the announcement that the next match in this series will be Full Metal Mayhem.
FINAL THOUGHTS: TNA had set things up greatly and they were cruising while at the Manhattan Center. Once they left, it seems that things might return to where they were. I hope not.
This crowd was a big reason for the lack luster of this show. Don’t expect it to get better; they taped a number of Impact shows in a week or so. From what I understand, at times they taped multiple broadcasts worth of shows in one day/evening, which means we can have the same pathetic crowd for two or three shows.
From the Knockouts Battle Royal to last week’s tournament, TNA was poised to grab the wrestling world by the balls and crush it. The problem is, it seems like TNA choked.
RATING: 5 – The lowest rating I have given TNA since July.
Match of the Night: MVP versus Mister Anderson
Wrestler of the Night: Gail Kim – Yes, I thought the angle was a poor pay off. That said, Gail Kim was excellent and sold everything and really put Havok over. Havok is good, Gail made her look better.
Impact of the Night: The piss poor crowd. I have written before that an impact can be negative. I will point it out when this is the case. This was the case. This crowd was horrible.
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