The Official TNA / Impact / GFW Discussion Thread

[critical-23]

I was OK with the ending as well. It's not often they give a real "we did it" feel to title wins anymore.

 

For the following comment, most of my friends would probably ask for me to turn in my wrasslin' fan card: i didn't like the end to Impact last night.

 

RVD winning after like zero build-up just made AJ look bad, IMO. RVD is super over and I creamed my pants on his debut, however, after building up D'Angelo so much and having AJ beat him, I expected Dinero to challenge him at the next PPV or at least another PPV later on down the road.

 

Having RVD win the title is what makes alot of people turn away from TNA and claim that the old stars are taking over again. RVD is old and with a little paunch and I would gladly love to see him with the TNA title but only after a proper build up. Give him the Dinero treatment (RVD on the mic without a script made me believe in him during his WWE title run), knock down some obstacles in the form of Beer Money/Desmond/whoever can look credible, and THEN have him beat AJ Styles.

 

Once again, I like having RVD as a champ, I really do, but let's have some buildup, some heat, something besides just winning the Lethal Lockdown match or beating Jeff Hardy earlier in the night.

 

That is my long-winded and probably non-sensical rant about last night's main event. I am pretty sure you guys will bury me and c all me stupid which I welcome but that is how I feel about it all.

[Slagaholic]

Not every World Title win needs a huge build up. Like you said RVD is super over, if he's super over he doesn't really need a big build up. He wrestled 4 full matches in 48 hours, I'd say that's pretty good build up.

 

How does the loss make AJ look bad? Do you really think people will care less about AJ Styles now that he lost the title?

[The Final Countdown]

Not nonsensical, critical. At least not as far as I'm concerned. I feel exactly the same way. I don't mind RVD winning the title, but winning it with no build up makes no sense to me. I know, I know, "shock value" and all that. But I just feel like it would've been better for the company long term if they had actually spent some time building up towards RVD winning the title. I'm with you on how it makes Styles look, too.

[The Final Countdown]

How does the loss make AJ look bad? Do you really think people will care less about AJ Styles now that he lost the title?

The fact that RVD had just wrestled a rather lengthy match with Hardy, and should theoretically be weakened heading into his 2nd match of the night. Will people care about AJ less? No, probably not. I still think it made him look sorta weak.

[Self]

I don't like the lack of build, and I'm not crazy about another ex-WWE guy picking up the strap... but I like RVD, his fighting style, his character, and what I saw of last night's show was pretty good. It seemed important. Could have stretched it out though.

 

The one thing on the show I HATED with a fiery passion was the backstage segment with Hogan and Bischoff congratulating each other on their amazing booking. Total man-on-man love-fest... with Brooke wandering in at the end to remind us they're straight.

[Slagaholic]

The fact that RVD had just wrestled a rather lengthy match with Hardy, and should theoretically be weakened heading into his 2nd match of the night. Will people care about AJ less? No, probably not. I still think it made him look sorta weak.

 

If no one will care less about AJ, how does it make him look weak?

 

The one thing on the show I HATED with a fiery passion was the backstage segment with Hogan and Bischoff congratulating each other on their amazing booking. Total man-on-man love-fest... with Brooke wandering in at the end to remind us they're straight.

 

Oh my god that was awful.

[infinitywpi]

I like the change from a booking standpoint... the old-school TNA fan has seen AJ fight pretty much everyone but Waltman, Hall, and... well,you know. RVD has whole string of "for the first time ever" matches ahead of him, with established-in-TNA names.

 

Thinking in TEW terms, if I want to avoid repeat-match penalties, I can either a) hire a new main eventer every month to challenge my champ, or b) hire a new main eventer for nine months, make him champ, have him run through the roster, and then have someone dethrone him at the end. One of those is much cheaper and easier to pull off.

[Slagaholic]

That's a good point. Who is left for AJ to face? Did anyone really want to see AJ vs Jarrett for the 73rd time?

[critical-23]

That's a good point. Who is left for AJ to face? Did anyone really want to see AJ vs Jarrett for the 73rd time?

 

Now, that is good point. I certainly don't want to see Style/Jarrett whatever the Roman numeral would be for 73 but once again, I would like for them to build up credible challengers for the title. RVD wrestling four matches in incredible because I knew he can do things like that and be happy to do it.

 

As far as AJ looking bad, Aj looks bad after beating a game Dinero and then losing the next night to a battered RVD. That's what I truly mean.

 

And speaking ill of Ric Flair makes me not want to return to North Carolina for fear of having my car turned into a fireball, lol, but Ric mentoring AJ was a small mis step. I feel he could have put his energy into Eric Young or someone else, just not the champ. Just my opinion about Ric Flair as well.

 

I have always seen AJ as a superior athlete who was too good to cheat even though in early TNA years he cheated. Then Aj I am used to seeing is the one from the early Ring of Honor days. I understand he has evolved but he should have stayed a face champion and have Hogan and co build up some more credible challengers but they didn't.

 

Oh well, here's hoping for a credible RVD reign!

[liontamer]

I have to admit, I honestly didn't like the show last night. There was a lot of good matches, but it seemed as a whole to lack energy to me. I even found myself flipping back and forth to Raw (HHH's promo) during the RVD vs Hardy match. Didn't even really care for the ME, and that's a match I've been waiting for. The matches just seemed too slow.

 

It may have to do with the crowd as well because they didn't seem as hot. And I was suprised at the lack of reaction for RVD's entrances given the usual pop (glad to see he got a finally decent pop after winning). Also found the Hogan Bischoff promo and the post match RVD Hardy promo to be incredibly akward.

 

Don't mind RVDs title win, I like a surprise, but with a little more build up the crowd would have been way hotter. On the bright side, it turns RVD vs Sting into a title match.

 

My gut says AJ will take the title back pretty quickly though.

[Marshall]

Impact was right on the money last night - they established the world title as a really, really big deal, and RVD's win gives TNA so many options going forward. Couple of good matches from RVD and he finally gets a chance to run with the ball. Little disappointed AJ lost the belt though - could really see a long term run as the face of the company, maybe breaking from Flair and turning face at the end of the year as a bonafide superstar, but they went for the instant recognition route, which is just fine tbh.

 

Also, had the sound off for most of the show - but did the announcers talk about Pope much? Seems they planned to push him hard, then brought in RVD and changed their minds. I'd rationalised that AJ was going to have a long run, which is why he retained over Pope at Lockdown, but if they were having him drop the belt, I would've liked to see it on Pope - granted, he's not as popular as RVD yet, but he's fairly over, and it would've been someone completely new and just as charismatic, but nevermind.

 

Avoiding spoiler issues, the mystery partner in the 8 man tag was perfect - really good booking and the characterisation was flawless. Simple and effective, something TNA seems to be learning, and good for them. Great show maybe helped by a really lacklustre Raw understandably. You never know, a freak incident like the volcano could cause a swing in momentum - sometimes it's the coincidences that start to turn the tide. Be interesting to see the ratings when they come out.

[The Final Countdown]

I don't think I heard Pope's name mentioned once. I did flip to Raw occasionally, though, so I may have missed it.

[shawn michaels]

If no one will care less about AJ, how does it make him look weak?

 

 

 

Oh my god that was awful.

 

I'm not gonna quote all your posts but...shouldn't your name ne TNAholic?

 

Seriously, not trying to ofend,but sometimes it seems like you defend them...just because. Any title win without a proper build up will hurt a champion, no matter how over his opponent is. As for AJ,think about it in TEW terms. People won't think less of him but he will certainly lose momentum.

[BHK1978]

The fact that RVD had just wrestled a rather lengthy match with Hardy, and should theoretically be weakened heading into his 2nd match of the night. Will people care about AJ less? No, probably not. I still think it made him look sorta weak.

 

AJ will bounce back from it, I mean when he was doing the whole Prince AJ gimmick a few years back I thought for sure that would have killed his career. And I am talking kill his career much like what the Red Rooster gimmick did to Terry Taylor.

 

However, he came back from that and I am sure he will be made to look strong again.

 

I agree with Critical, I think putting Flair with him was a mistake. AJ just does not have the personality to carry that role. And this is just my opinion.

[Franchise22]

my take:

 

Rob Terry botches a guerilla press, then falls over himself. hilarious. i cant take him seriously.

 

i like RVD as champ, but i have 2 beefs: one was the match length. it was short. i would have preferred hardy/rvd shortened and lengthed main event title match. it just seemed too short. #2: the celebration did really match to me. it wasnt a long heated match. it wasnt the culmination of a looong bitter fued. it wasnt like when luger beat hogan back in the day. what were we celebrating really? I like the title win, but dont like how it went down.

 

other side notes:

 

im confused, Easy E had been playing a bit heelish recently. he had been torturing Jarrett ect, giving hogan dirty looks and such. but last night he was quite the face. he was "punishing" the team flair heel squad by matching them up against team hogan again and trash talking team flair. a team hogan squad that includes jarrett.... can anyway fill me in on what i missed to cause this?

 

Sting wearing a tshirt in ring. makes me feel like hes ashamed of his physique.

 

all things said, i enjoyed it more than raw. raws openeing promo was money (punk is awesome), but was trash after that in my opinion. but ill put that peice in the other thread.....

[BHK1978]

my take:

 

Rob Terry botches a guerilla press, then falls over himself. hilarious. i cant take him seriously.

 

Yeah, Rob Terry should not be getting that push. Heck I would rather see someone like Kaz or even Eric Young getting that push, instead of Rob Terry.

 

I also hate Sting as a heel, there are just some people that I could never buy as a heel (Magnum TA, John Cena, The Rock n Roll Express, and Ricky Steamboat) and Sting is one of them.

[Hyde Hill]

He is not doing to bad as a heel so far imho although some explanations do need to be forthcoming. On Bischoff you missed Lockdown which apperantly squared everything between him and Hulk. Bisch still has heelish tendencies though and we will see these again soon enough I bet.

[Bigpapa42]

Last night's title change was completely symptomatic of the issues I have with TNA. Don't mind RvD with belt and I understand why they'd want him as champ. Makes sense and its a safer pick than Hardy. But to do the #1 contender match and title change on the same show, without much build seems really rushed. I get the feeling it was done to establish a "you can't miss Impact or look at what you could miss" thought. To put two of their biggest money matches on a single episode of Impact with no lead-in build... Unbelievable. I just don't get why you would do that. Why rush things to that extent?

 

I'm usually a sucker for big celebrations like the one they did, but the one felt... forced. I just don't get why most of those guys are supposed to be so happy RvD won the belt or AJ lost it. Save those kind of celebrations for a title change after a long chase, or for an ultimate underdog winning it. Not RvD.

[fatallylost]

He is not doing to bad as a heel so far imho although some explanations do need to be forthcoming. On Bischoff you missed Lockdown which apperantly squared everything between him and Hulk. Bisch still has heelish tendencies though and we will see these again soon enough I bet.

 

While that is true, it hit me last night that the Jarrett dynamic confused me.

 

So, since Bischoff swerved the swerve and help Hogan, all the crap that was done to Jarrett is forgotten? Or, it is maybe just a usual TNA "we'll deal with that in the next few weeks" kind of storyline?

[Trashbear]

Last night's title change was completely symptomatic of the issues I have with TNA. Don't mind RvD with belt and I understand why they'd want him as champ. Makes sense and its a safer pick than Hardy. But to do the #1 contender match and title change on the same show, without much build seems really rushed. I get the feeling it was done to establish a "you can't miss Impact or look at what you could miss" thought. To put two of their biggest money matches on a single episode of Impact with no lead-in build... Unbelievable. I just don't get why you would do that. Why rush things to that extent?

 

I'm usually a sucker for big celebrations like the one they did, but the one felt... forced. I just don't get why most of those guys are supposed to be so happy RvD won the belt or AJ lost it. Save those kind of celebrations for a title change after a long chase, or for an ultimate underdog winning it. Not RvD.

 

Yeah, I pretty much agree. RVD with the belt is a good thing, but it seems like they could have slow-cooked things a bit more. At least until the next PPV. But Russo and Bischoff have never been afraid of hotshotting, have they?

 

We'll see if they can keep things interesting, or if they'll burn themselves out.

[Guest Instant Classic]

Last night's title change was completely symptomatic of the issues I have with TNA. Don't mind RvD with belt and I understand why they'd want him as champ. Makes sense and its a safer pick than Hardy. But to do the #1 contender match and title change on the same show, without much build seems really rushed. I get the feeling it was done to establish a "you can't miss Impact or look at what you could miss" thought. To put two of their biggest money matches on a single episode of Impact with no lead-in build... Unbelievable. I just don't get why you would do that. Why rush things to that extent?

 

I'm usually a sucker for big celebrations like the one they did, but the one felt... forced. I just don't get why most of those guys are supposed to be so happy RvD won the belt or AJ lost it. Save those kind of celebrations for a title change after a long chase, or for an ultimate underdog winning it. Not RvD.

 

It's actually the simplest explanation there is.

 

TNA found out the WWE guys were stuck in Europe, and they rewrote the show for RVD to win the belt.

 

They came out and celebrated because they were all RVD's friends and because Styles was the heel Champion going after all those guys in some fashion.

 

I mean really, TNA could very well have put a dent in WWE viewership last night for all we know. They put on a very superior show. While WWE didn't have much to work with on such short notice, the McGruber garbage will no doubt be the main reason in any viewership changes.

[Bigpapa42]

It's actually the simplest explanation there is.

 

TNA found out the WWE guys were stuck in Europe, and they rewrote the show for RVD to win the belt.

 

They came out and celebrated because they were all RVD's friends and because Styles was the heel Champion going after all those guys in some fashion.

 

I mean really, TNA could very well have put a dent in WWE viewership last night for all we know. They put on a very superior show. While WWE didn't have much to work with on such short notice, the McGruber garbage will no doubt be the main reason in any viewership changes.

 

The problem I have with TNA trying to take advantage of the WWE's issues - which is a smart move - is that they didn't hype things. If they decided 2-3 days ago to do this, hype the crap out of it on Spike TV. Because doing the build in-show means you aren't drawing in new veiwers. At best, you might keep some from swtiching to Raw. That's it.

 

And by that basic logic for the post-change celebration, shouldn't every babyface title win have such a celebration? Why not do it every time a heel champion loses their belt? By memory, they did it back when AJ first won the belt. It felt right then. This one felt forced. How many of those guys in the ring had any sort of kayfabe relationship with RvD, let alone a historical wrestling one? It just made the whole thing feel useless and tacked on.

[shawn michaels]

The problem I have with TNA trying to take advantage of the WWE's issues - which is a smart move - is that they didn't hype things. If they decided 2-3 days ago to do this, hype the crap out of it on Spike TV. Because doing the build in-show means you aren't drawing in new veiwers. At best, you might keep some from swtiching to Raw. That's it.

 

And by that basic logic for the post-change celebration, shouldn't every babyface title win have such a celebration? Why not do it every time a heel champion loses their belt? By memory, they did it back when AJ first won the belt. It felt right then. This one felt forced. How many of those guys in the ring had any sort of kayfabe relationship with RvD, let alone a historical wrestling one? It just made the whole thing feel useless and tacked on.

 

 

Yup...Bischoff and Russo are probably the only guys capable of ruining RVD's victory night. Not even vince acomplished that one...RVD's reign on the WWE ended up as we all know...but at least he didn't won it like last night. Only those two to f*** that up!

[Hyde Hill]

I think ruining it is kind of an overstatement. It did not feel as great as when they did it with AJ but it did not take away from the win either and added a small bit too it.

[Bigpapa42]

I think ruining it is kind of an overstatement. It did not feel as great as when they did it with AJ but it did not take away from the win either and added a small bit too it.

 

I don't think it "ruined it". I just don't think it added anything at all. And the next time they have a big title celebration win, whether the situation calls for it or not, its going to feel less important.

 

Its about moderation. I would be so much happier with TNA if they could learn moderation. Like blood. Not every match on the PPV needed blood. Yet they did in nearly every match. It kills the effect when you overuse it.