TNA Wrestling: Takeover

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WrestlingLive.com [QUOTE][B]SUMMARY OF INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL BLACK, MEMBER OF TNA BOOKING TEAM[/B] TNA Booking Comittee member [B]Michael Black[/B] recently appeared on our weekly interview show and revealed loads of details about the general direction of TNA as the companys heads into their biggest PPV of the year, Bound for Glory. He was very candid, and revealed some of the company's concerns about their overall product as well as their direction in the future. Black said the biggest concern backstage is the overall cohesiveness of their product, noting that the former booking team paid little attention to continuity. Over the next several weeks he said to "expect the unexpected, especially in terms of heel and face turns." The new team wants to develop more clear heel & face characters so that the product doesn't seem so jumbled. He noted that the recent focus on [B]Robert Roode[/B] is an attempt to solidify Roode as an uppercard heel, and that he thinks its been doing well; Black also feels Roode has shown that his long-touted potential is paying off in the ring, using his recent match against [B]Kurt Angle[/B] as an example. Talk then turned to the recent tag team fued, and the unmentioned disappearance of the tag titles. Black revealed that he has booked most of the tag team fued between [B]Team 3D, The Steiner Brothers,[/B] and [B]The James Gang[/B]. He also mentioned that the tag team title situation would be addressed following [B][I]Bound For Glory[/I][/B] and that they will be trying to reestablish their once credible tag team division in the coming months. When talking about the X Division, Black was very high on the recent showing in the X Divison and put over [B]Jay Lethal[/B] as a great champion. "We want to show people that Jay can hang with the more recognizable wrestlers in the Divison; guys like [B]London, AJ, Daniels, Kendrick[/B]. . . Jay is every bit as talented as those guys, and he's finally getting a chance to show it." He also confirmed, for the first time, that [B][I]Bound For Glory[/I][/B] will feature the return of Ultimate X but did not reveal the competitors. Black also brought up, with a hearty laugh, the overuse of gimmick matches in recent TNA history. "Guys like Russo are real big on over-the-top stories, which led to ridiculous things like Last Rites & Chamber of Blood matches. I know a lot of the team agree with me, but I fully believe that gimmick matches are best used for fued blow-offs and little else. TNA is known for things like King of the Mountain, Ultimate X, Monster's Ball, Six Sides of Steel. . . and that's because we've guarded those particular matches to maintain their credibility, much like WWE has done with things like Hell In A Cell. [B][I]Bound For Glory[/I][/B] is going to feature maybe 3 gimmick matches, and from then on out you can expect to see a big match like that once every few months when the situation actually calls for it." He did add that TNA would be continuing their yearly [B][I]Lockdown[/I][/B] event in its familiar format. In the interview he also compared Robert Roode to the late [B]Eddie Gilbert[/B] and [B]Rick Rude[/B], putting Roode over as a heel in the cut with guys like that. Black also mentioned that [B]James Mitchell[/B] would be making a return to TV before [B][I]Bound For Glory[/I][/B]. Overall, Michael Black showed himself to be very knowledgable of wrestling and put to rest a lot of naysayers with his saavy interview. Of course, there will still be those resentful as well as others who truly dislike his style. But it was certainly a pleasure to have him on the show. [/QUOTE]

[W3LSHY]

[QUOTE] "Guys like Russo are real big on over-the-top stories, which led to ridiculous things like Last Rites & Chamber of Blood matches. [/QUOTE] Couldn't agree more lol :)

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TNAWrestling.com [QUOTE][CENTER][FONT="Impact"][SIZE="5"][COLOR="Blue"]TNA IMPACT! ON SPIKETV [/COLOR]THUSDAY NIGHT @ 9:00PM[/SIZE][/FONT][/CENTER] OFFICIAL PREVIEW Head of TNA Management [B]Jim Cornette[/B] has just announced two huge matches for [B][I]Impact![/I][/B] this week; first, we will see "The Samoan Submission Machine" [B]Samoa Joe[/B] taking on The Monster [B]Abyss[/B], the winner will earn another shot at gaining entry into the King of the Mountain match at [B][I]Bound For Glory[/I][/B]. In our main event, you will see the winner of Joe vs Abyss enter a four-way elimination match to determine the final competitor for King of the Mountain. One man, by order of Jim Cornette, is being kept a secret until we hit the air on Thursday; the other two are "The War Machine" [B]Rhino[/B], and recent hotshot [B]Robert Roode[/B], who has promised a big 'Payoff' that will send him straight to [B][I]Bound For Glory[/I][/B]! All of this and much, much more this week on [B][I]Impact![/I][/B], and be sure to tune in to TNAWrestling.com for another 20 minute edition of [B][I]Internet Impact![/I][/B] before we go live at 9PM on SpikeTV! [/QUOTE]

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TNA-NewsWeb.net [QUOTE]- TNAWrestling.com recently announced that, with SpikeTV allowing the show to air live on Thursdays now, [B][I]Internet Impact![/I][/B] will be a weekly feature. - With [B][I]Impact![/I][/B] airing live from the Tri-State, [B]Brother Runt[/B] stated that he would be working the show; it will be his first TNA appearance in nearly six months. - Rumours are flying as to who the mystery entrant for the last King of the Mountain spot might be. [B]Monty Brown[/B]'s name has come up again, as has [B]Ken Shamrock[/B] and [B]Rob Van Dam[/B]. Perhaps the most interesting rumour is that the mystery man will be none other than [B]Kevin Nash[/B] making a return to the ring, although he has denied any desire to wrestle again due to the poor condition of his legs. - Matt Bentley is expected to redebut soon, working as [B]Shane Michaels[/B]; he is rumoured to be paired with [B]Brian Kendrick[/B]. - Look for [B]James Mitchell[/B] to be heading up a new stable when he returns, with [B]Abyss[/B] and others. Some sources are saying that one or more of the turns [B]Michael Black[/B] mentioned in his recent interview could be joining the stable, and TNA is rumoured to be in talks with a name talent to put with the group. - Here is the updated [B][I]Bound For Glory[/I][/B] card: [B]KING OF THE MOUNTAIN FOR TNA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE[/B] KURT ANGLE (C) -VS- STING -VS- CHRISTIAN CAGE -VS- RAVEN -VS- ??? [B]ULTIMATE X FOR TNA X DIVISION TITLE[/B] JAY LETHAL (C) -VS- PAUL LONDON -VS- AJ STYLES -VS- HANDSOME BRIAN KENDRICK [B]THREE-WAY ELIMINATION CHALLENGE[/B] TEAM 3D -VS- THE STEINER BROTHERS -VS- THE JAMES GANG SAMOA JOE -VS- ABYSS CHRIS HARRIS -VS- JAMES STORM [/QUOTE]

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So, yeah. . . this dynasty died. For those who were readers, and were interested to see where things were going I decided that I would post some of my plans for where things were headed. Kevin Nash was indeed going to be the mystery guy at Impact!, but he would lose the spot to Robert Roode after Samoa Joe (starting a loose cannon-style storyline) causes the loss. At the PPV, Joe would win a match against Abyss and start a program with Nash for the next PPV. Abyss' loss would also bring about the return of James Mitchell on the following Impact!, with a promo that serves to put him back with Abyss. I was going to start a stable with James Mitchell, Abyss, Raven, Christopher Daniels, Vampiro, and Sterling James Keenan (renamed Salem) called The Black Parade. The groups would be a dark, devil's advocate type group with Abyss being the monster and Salem being the lackey while the other three's mind games allowed Raven & Vampiro to get some uppercard momentum going. Daniels would return to his occult-ish "Fallen Angel" gimmick and get big X Division push. I was also planning a big Raven vs Sting fued, which is what would bring about Vampiro's debut. Handsome Brian Kendrick was going to pick up the win in Ultimate X, with some help from Shane Michaels (Matt Bentley). The two would were going to start calling themselves either The Showstoppers or 2 Dudes With Attitude (hadn't quite decided yet. . . the 2 Dudes moniker could've lead to a tie-in with Nash somehow). The big three-way tag fued was going to see The James Gang taken out after the PPV match, and Team 3D going on to eventually pick up the victory at the end of the fued. I was still planning the restructuring of the tag division, so I had no plans for the Tag Team Titles. I was considering bringing in B-Boy, Kory Chavis (aka Rainman) and/or Ruckus as additional members of LAX. I had plans to bring back Monty Brown eventually, after some of my big money contracts like Kevin Nash and The Steiner Brothers were gone, but all the internet talk was just rumours as it would've been over six months until that happened. I had no plans to use Ken Shamrock, just wanted to keep people guessing. Rob Van Dam wasn't interested in coming back from hiatus for me, so that was all rumour as well. Samoa Joe was going to take the belt off of Angle (who was retaining in King of the Mountain) sometime early in 2008. I was planning to give him a lengthy run with the belt, resembling his run with the ROH belt. Robert Roode was going to continue to establish himself as a viable part of the uppercard. I was hoping to have him positioned as Joe's first opponent after winning the belt. I had planned to use Roode & Ms. Brooks like "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert & Missy Hyatt, making Roode International a stable that was somewhere between Hot Stuff International and The York Foundation. I had planned to put America's Most Wanted back together as Roode's underlings just as they had been Jeff Jarrett's. I was also trying to build a really good X Division, with AJ Styles, Paul London, Handsome Brian Kendrick, Shane Michaels, TAJIRI, Jay Lethal, Christopher Daniels, Salem, Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, Jason Jett, Petey Williams, Shark Boy, Kazarian, and Sonjay Dutt. Was going to try to book it more like the WCW cruiserweight division, but while building stars for the company since a lot of those guys could easily transition out of the X Division as well. So, if anyone wants to know anything else, or if anyone wants a copy of the save so they can play it out on there own, just let me know and I'll be happy to do what I can. :) AND! [cheap plug] Check out my new diary: [URL="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29696"]National Wrestling Alliance: Reinvneting Tradtion[/URL] [/cheap plug]