wrestling / TV Reports

The Impact Crater 11.15.07

November 16, 2007 | Posted by Ryan Byers

Quick & Dirty Results

Segment #1: Kurt Angle/Kevin Nash Interview
Segment #2: Jimmy Rave & Lance Hoyt def. LAX
Segment #3: Bobby Roode & Traci Brooks def. Chris Harris & Gail Kim
Segment #4: Dudley Boys/Murder City Machine Guns/Jay Lethal Interview
Segment #5: Kevin Nash/Scott Hall Interview
Segment #6: Abyss def. Chocolate Reign & Johnny the Bull in a triple threat match
Segment #7: Amazing Kong def. Alexa Thatcher
Segment #8: Booker T./Christian Interview
Segment #9: Kurt Angle (c) def. Frankie Kazarian to retain the TNA Championship

The Main Stuff

Angle Numero Uno: What Exactly are They “Outside” of Now?

It looks like we’re getting a rare pay per view without a TNA Title defense in December, as Kurt Angle will team with Travis Tomko and AJ Styles against Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Samoa Joe. Given that Frankie Kazarian’s title shot was this evening (more on that later), we didn’t get a ton of buildup to the PPV main event on tonight’s Impact. I’m fine with that, primarily because I have no clue how this story could actually wind up being compelling. The company has finally decided that Kevin Nash and Kurt Angle are rivals after weeks of giving them an on again/off again relationship which featured Nash going back to Angle more times than a boomerang. Yet, because they’ve already had Nash turn on Angle so many different times, the fact that they’re now finally rivals seems to have no meaning. Meanwhile, there’s never been an issue between Angle and Hall aside from Hall being associated with Nash, and the Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle rivalry has already been blown off decisively with no new reason being given for them to be at each other’s throats. I would imagine that the company is going to bank on the Outsiders reunion to sell PPV’s as opposed to a hot angle, and that’s a mistake given that Hall and Nash reunions have no proven track record of increasing either television ratings or pay per view buyrates. I suppose I am somewhat intrigued to see how long Joe can work for three men in the PPV main event, though.

Angle Numero Dos: The Rise of Kaz

When the spoilers for this edition of Impact hit the internet, I read a lot of complaining about Frankie Kazarian’s title shot being put on free television as opposed to being saved for the pay per view. I’ve got a word for people who made such complaints: Idiots.

Impact was the perfect place for Frankie’s championship match. The fact of the matter is, no matter how great his performances against Christian were in last week’s two matches, he’s not yet on a level in which most fans perceive him as a star. He’s not going to be able to sell pay per views in a main event title match. He’s a guy that, three months ago, was a nobody in Raven’s stable of jobbers. He then broke up with that stable and won a match to prove that he was the jobber in Raven’s stable that sucked the least. Then he beat Raven, which means nothing in 2007. Then he lost a feud to Bobby Roode, which established that he was more than likely a jobber all along. At that point he did win a series of several matches in the tournament, but, until the finals, the matches were all short and treated by TNA as though they were completely insignificant. The matches that he had against Christian went a long way towards establishing him as an elite level player, but they weren’t enough to solidify him as anything more than a guy who got lucky. (Particularly when less than a fifth of Impact viewers are buy PPVs, meaning that a very small minority of the overall TNA audience saw his most important performance of all.)

Thus, if you’re going to give Frankie Kazarian a title shot, free TV is the best place to do it. And, for a title match on free TV between the World Champ and a guy who was a jobber at the beginning of the year, this was GREAT. The video package before the match did a fine job of summing up and putting over Kazarian’s prior accomplishments, and the match was exactly what he needed. Angle was completely unselfish in the ring and did everything that was necessary to ensure that both the live and television audiences viewed him as being on the same level as the champ. Despite the fact that Kazarian lost, he managed to lose in such a way that he came off as a man who could have pulled out the victory given a slightly different set of circumstances. This is exactly what he needed in order to give his career its next shot in the arm, and I hope that TNA continues to continue the fine booking of this man’s ascension up the card. I swear to god that if he winds up in a feud with somebody and loses on the next pay per view, I may well put my foot through the television.

Angle Numero Tres: Dammit, He Stole My “Booker TNA” Joke

Well, Booker T. has made his Impact debut. I’ve been a big Booker fan ever since WCW first started pushing him in the TV Title division, so it’s a bit difficult for me to complain about this talent acquisition despite the fact that I think TNA is getting to the point that they don’t have room for additional wrestlers on their roster. (After all, I could’ve sworn that the whole point of getting a second hour was to better feature their existing roster, not to add fifty new names.)

Overall, I think that his first Impact appearance was handled well. Though I thought things were poorly handled at the pay per view in that he was far from the focus of his own debut match, things picked up here. Giving him a special segment for the signing of his TNA contract made him out to be a big deal, and obviously Jim Cornette was great at putting him over due to Cornette’s decades of experience as a manager. As far as setting up the feud with Christian is concerned, I again have to give the move a thumbs up. Long-time readers will probably remember that I was rather annoyed when TNA put Kurt Angle vs. Christian on top of a pay per view a while back, in large part because running a “main event” that wouldn’t have even been the semi-main on Smackdown three years ago made TNA look second rate. Much like Kurt Angle vs. Christian, Christian vs. Booker T. would’ve been a throwaway match on WWE programming not that long ago. However, I believe that there’s a difference this time around in that Booker/Christian isn’t being used at the top of a pay per view. It’s not going to be the primary focus of the company’s television for the next several weeks, and it’s not what they’re counting on to sell pay per views. It’s just a placeholder for Booker, giving him his first rivalry and his first (advertised) PPV match as we bide time until a slot at the tippy top frees up. This I can live with.

Angle Numero Cuatro: Does This Make Him D-Vine Dudley?

We got an interesting advancement of the Dudley Boys vs. the X Division angle tonight, as Johnny Devine decided that he was going to break ranks with his comrades and assist the Duds in their war against all things flippy. I don’t know what happened to Devine being under the control of Raven, and I don’t know what happened to both Devine and Raven being members of Jim Mitchell’s little stable. Yet, aside from those minor problems, I think that this is a fine addition to the angle. First of all, it helps to eliminate one of my biggest problems with the storyline, namely that the supposed faces were always outnumbering the heels. Though there are still technically more X Division wrestlers than there are heels, at least now there are more conceivable situations in which the odds could be even if not slightly tipped in the bad guys’ favor. Additionally, this provides more direction to the angle involving the Dudleys stealing the X Division Title belt. Usually when there’s an angle in which a bad guy steals a strap, the conclusion involves a title match in which the heel winds up with rightful possession if he wins. Yet, in this particular instance, nobody would’ve believed that the company was going to legitimately put the X Title on either Bubba Ray or D-Von. With Devine acting as Jay Lethal’s challenger in that blow off match, there will be much more of a question in fans minds as to whether we will be seeing a new champion.

And the Rest . . .

~ I know that he’s had it for a few months now, but can I take a second and point out that Kurt Angle entering the ring to hip hop music just sounds wrong?

~ I pray that we get some kind of rematch between LAX and Hoyt/Rave, even if it is just a six person tag with the two women involved. Rave and Hoyt cannot be allowed to hold a victory over the best tag team in TNA without it being avenged somehow. They just can’t. (I’d also settle for the Kong vs. Rave squash match I requested a couple of weeks back.)

~ Though their segments are always brief, the booking of the women’s division in TNA remains some of the only writing in the company that I can actually get behind. Kong obviously looked like a monster after tonight’s squash, and Kim coming out and managing to get a bit of offense against her established that she might have a fighting chance in their eventual rematch. The whole thing would have made a little bit more sense if Kong was the champion and Kim the challenger, but that’s a minor flaw.

~ Is anybody actually interested in this Abyss/Rhodes/Stamboli/Rhino/Banderas bullshit? All it does is build to the exact same match every month (with a slight change in participants) at the pay per view, and the trip there isn’t all that compelling either.

~ When did Chris Harris go from being TNA’s next can’t miss prospect to being an utter jobber? Oh well, at least he aided in moving long Rain’s angle. She’s awesome.

Overall

On the whole, I have to give this episode of Impact a big thumbs up. As previously noted, everything that they did with Kazarian this week was worth of praise, and, with that being the primary focus of the show, it’s hard to call the episode anything other than good. Surprisingly, though, that was not the only quality segment on the program. I enjoyed the beginning of the Christian/Booker T. rivalry, and it also appears as though the Duds/X Division story is starting to right itself after a rocky start last month. The only weak link the whole show was the Outsiders vs. Angle storyline, and even that wasn’t actively bad as much as it was bland and uninteresting. My only hope is that next week, when the awesome Kaz/Angle stuff is no longer on the show, something of equal greatness will be on the show to fill the void. If the time it received is filled by more Outsiders action, I doubt that will be the case. Hopefully the promotion manages to prove me wrong.

Reader Feedback

We’ll kick of this batch of readers’ letters with A.G., who contacted me through the good ole’ MySpace:

Hey I have been reading your 411 TNA recaps for awhile now and even though you are mostly ranting (not that there is anything wrong with that) I was wondering why you havnt said anything on who you thought the mystery tag partner is going to be?

I know everyone is saying how it is going to be RVD, or Ric Flair, or Booker T, or even Chris Jericho (I think it is all wishful thinking from the internet). Im just wondering why nobody has thought of who I think it is going to be, Jeff Jarrett. Am I alone in my guess? Im pretty sure it is going to be him since he hasnt been around in awhile, is probably over the mourning of his wife, and fits all of Stings hints. Plus I am sure he is looking for a bit more time at the top before he hangs up the boots. Not that I want it to be him, I just think it is going to be him.

I actually didn’t speculate about the identity of the mystery partner because, several weeks before the pay per view, I’d read articles from fairly reliable sources (F4W Online and The Wrestling Observer) identifying who the partner would be. I didn’t want to spoil it for anybody who doesn’t want it spoiled.

And here’s a letter from Shane R., who wants to ask me about Southern California Valifornia:

Have you noticed in the last couple of shows the Lethal and SoCal Val connection? Do you think she will eventually be his version of Miss Elizabeth?

Keep up the great work.

Yes, I’ve picked up on the interaction, and I’d imagine that’s where they’re going. I’m glad to see it too, as Val does a really good job managing on the independent circuit (particularly in FIP) and would definitely bring something to the table in an expanded TNA role. Of course, I don’t know if her skills will translate to being a face given that I’m used to seeing her as a heel, but they may as well give her a shot.

Let’s wrap it up with this doozy from Alex K.:

Dude you are so biased to TNA. You complain about every little thing. Your a nitpicker!!! Just enjoy the goddamn show. Nobody cares if Jay Lethal wore yellow boots instead of red. Just enjoy the damn show and stop complaing. And another thing. I love how you claim TNA has low buyrates. First of all where do you get this Information??? Tna is a privately owned company therefore they do not release that kind of information. Nobody knows TNA’s buyrates. Wrestling websites like the wrestling observer just make them up to get more views. You dont know if TNA is losing money. Are you backstage??? Did you call up Dixie CArter and ask her yourself. Your full of shit!!! TNA is doing great right now there coming out with a video game, more live events next year and more ppv’s outside Orlando. You just cant stand that TNA will be the biggest wrestling company in the world in 5 years. I can’t believe you perfer WWE and there watered down wrestling!! All of there matches are the same, headlock, armbar, closeline it’s BorING!!! If your gonna work the arm find other ways to work the arm instead of doing the same move over and over. In the end your just a biased wwe sheep. Go watch Bill and Doug and videos on youtube that should straighten you out!! Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4kEWIpx2xI

Of course, I’ve got plenty to say in response to this one.

First of all, I’d like to address the “stop complaining and just enjoy the show” comment, which is something that comes through my inbox every couple of months. I honestly don’t know why people bother to make it. Do they actually believe that this is going to change my opinion of anything? Do they think that there’s a magical button that I can flip in my head which will allow me to ignore all of the negative aspects of Impact and only focus on the positives? The fact of the matter is that I don’t go in to these shows looking for things to nitpick, as Alex’s “who cares about Jay Lehtal’s boots” comment implies. I watch the show, and what you read here is a slightly extended version of the thoughts that pop in to my head as I watch the program. The analysis is not any deeper than my initial reaction to the show, neither because I’m writing a review nor because I have any sort of agenda. What Alex is essentially asking me to do when he asks me to change the content of my reviews is to either eliminate 90% of my honest thoughts or completely rewire the way that my brain works. One of those is literally impossible. The other is so disingenuous that I don’t see the value in doing it.

As far as TNA’s buryates and profits are concerned, Alex is right. My primary sources are publications like the Wrestling Observer. However, Alex is way off base in his evaluation of the Observer and its author Dave Meltzer. Meltzer isn’t some sixteen year old kid on the internet who makes things up just because he wants to get hits for his website. What Alex and many other people who are not actually familiar with the Observer don’t know is that Meltzer is a legitimate journalist. He’s a sportswriter, just like any sportswriter whose material you would read on ESPN.com or in Sports Illustrated. He worked in such a position prior to the mid-1980’s, when he exclusively began to cover professional wrestling. After he began exclusively covering wrestling, he wrote for several mainstream publications, including The Oakland Tribute, The Los Angeles Times, and The National. Those aren’t publications who would employ an individual who did not have a strong journalistic background. Though there are periodic inaccuracies in his reporting – the same inaccuracies you’ll see in the work of any journalist covering any subject matter – he is a legitimate writer and, at the very least, holds himself to the same standard as any other reporter.

Besides, if Alex is telling me that nobody knows what TNA’s pay per view buyrates and profit margins are, then that means he doesn’t know what they are either. Alex’s assumption seems to be that, just because he thinks that he’s discredited my source, the opposite of what my source has reported must be true. That is a logical fallacy larger than any other.

Alex is also completely off base when he claims that I prefer WWE’s in-ring product. If anybody actually goes back and reads everything that I’ve written in the history of this column, I very rarely knock major TNA matches. My rants are typically directed towards the booking, which has been wretched over the course of the last year. I have always acknowledged that TNA has a talented roster of wrestlers who put on some great in-ring performances. As a matter of fact, I did watch the “Bill and Doug” video that Alex sent over, and there was actually very little that I disagreed with. (Aside from their claim that WWE has “spit in their faces,” which is melodramatic, immature, and makes them sound like utter crybabies.) They’re right, TNA consistently puts on great matches on pay per views. I’ve never said otherwise. However, the focus of this column is not talking about TNA’s pay per view matches. The focus is reviewing Impact, and specifically the storytelling that is done on Impact. THAT is TNA’s biggest weakness, and it has such glaring problems that I have grown to hate several shows which otherwise contained excellent matches.

So, Alex, if you plan on writing in to me again, I suggest doing a few things:

1.) Focus your criticism on parts of my writing style that I’m actually capable of changing, not things that are inherent in my manner of thinking.

2.) Understand the backgrounds of the individuals that you’re critiquing and do not make accusations about the quality of their work when you have no factual basis for those critiques.

3.) Read what I have written in the past, attempt to comprehend it, and do not put words in to my mouth.

Phew, that’ll do it for this week. I’ll be back in seven days, and, until then, you can check me out on the MySpace blog.

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Ryan Byers

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