Booker’s king shtick is growing on me I suppose. Oddly, I
think he needs to turn up the arrogance a bit. I’ll withdraw that statement if
TNA intends to turn him soon. Maybe they’ll do a Hart/Austin style double turn
in the weapons match. This would be a great time to give Booker the title via
the DQ rule as happened when Abyss won the belt from STING. It would also lead
to a natural third match that keeps both guys occupied for another month while
STING works with Angle or Styles.
Beer Money vs. Christian Cage and Rhino in a #1
contenders match:
Wait a minute, haven’t 3D been dominating Cage and Rhino?
How does that team get excluded from the #1 contenders match? Goodness.
This match reminds me how much I’d like to see a series of
matches between James Storm and Christian Cage. They’re both incredibly
versatile with realistic offense and solid selling. This kind of series could
do what Storm’s truncated program with STING was supposed to: elevate Storm
into a top tier player.
Another match that ends with not just interference but also
with radically incompetent officiating. A 6 on 2? Just not necessary or
helpful.
Christy Hemme busts out with ‘We are living the gimmick.’
That, friends, is an instant classic.
Johnny Devine and the Rock ’n’ Rave Infection vs. Curry
Man, Shark Boy and Jay Lethal:
Gimmickalooza ’08 is upon us. Okay, this is two straight
matches in which women have physically accosted men. Since men can’t hit women
in TNA there needs to be a concerted effort to simply eliminate the physical
interaction between the genders. Wow, Jay Lethal looks absolutely fabulous in
this match. He really is someone they could build the X Division around. Good
outcome too as Lethal needed to get the victory here.
Okay, so apparently nobody on the TNA roster actually
watches the program. Jay seems so stupid here. That’s just unacceptable. I did
like the Heroes reference though.
I still don’t think I understand why Samoa Joe has become
such a hothead. His role as the calculating, destructive machine got him
incredibly over. Watching Joe slide into this new, vaguely unhinged persona has
been jarring at best. He gets much better reactions, even now, when he simply,
concisely states what he intends to do. Finally, the ‘Joe’s gonna kill you’
chant comes back. A 3rd woman hits a guy. Just not necessary,
although Sharmell’s intrusion made sense.
Oh yeah, Sheik Abdul Bashir is gonna be over in a big, giant
way. No doubt.
It was great to see AJ Styles pressing the fans to react
strongly to STING. Styles needs this kind of move to help him seem like a
credible wrestler instead of a glorified stuntman. Angle’s appearance was a
helpful surprise and their interaction was helpfully intense. Even though the
premise of their feud feels tired and a bit silly by this point, (especially
since Kurt didn’t want Karen!) there’s a great dynamic between the two
wrestlers.
The Beautiful People are just great. Shark Boy and Curry Man
are humorous too. So seriously nobody in this organization watches the show?
Embarssing. Lots of fun lines though and great sexual innuendo.
"Rahka, let’s roll." That’s gotta be Petey Williams’ exit
line. By the way, how smart an idea is it to have wrestlers actively making fun
of other wrestlers’ gimmicks? This is two segments tonight in which that’s
happened. Yeah, clearly Consequences Creed is doing an Apollo Creed gimmick but
does it seem so ridiculous as to be mocked? Maybe if there’s some comeback time
for Creed but not if it’s just a one-off comment.
Consequences Creed vs. Petey Williams (c) (in an X
Division non-title match apparently):
Helpful win for Creed, although I missed it being non-title
until Hermie Sadler mentioned it 2 minutes before the decision. Speaking of
which, Hermie Sadler is competent but only adds to the regional, small time
flavor of TNA. Now if he can bring a few drivers to the table, we’re talking
something different.
Are we really building to a STING turn and a series with AJ
Styles? Super sweet.
Karen’s Angle would be so much better if she had a distinct
personality. That being said, Kaz handled himself quite well. It must be tough
for him to make that kind of ‘announcement’ while she seems incapable of
intelligent response.
Matt Morgan vs. Sal Rinaldo:
Another squash match for Morgan? Probably a helpful idea.
This is going to do wonders toward making Morgan the monster TNA needs him to
be. Wow, that was about 2 minutes. The fans ate it up too. There’ll be some
Mile High Club signs soon.
And now, they feed Tomko to Morgan. The hellevator was
impressive and this was a great way of using Tomko on his way out.
The PJB solves the Val ring case. So sad.
Wow, JB needs to get paid extra. He’s all over this show.
I love these Rough Cuts. They really work for me. Developing
back stories and 3 dimensional wrestlers always helps. There’s just more you
can do with real people than with cardboard cutouts.
The Beautiful People vs. Gail Kim and Taylor Wilde:
I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a women’s match featured as
the main event. I seem to remember WWF featuring Wendi Richter in house show
main events when they ran two shows on the same day back in the 80s. This is
clearly different. And I think it works. The fans are really into this match
and the wrestlers are performing well although Velvet Sky is not in the same league as the others. The timing of the finish made
it look a bit too contrived but everyone played it nicely. I think it's great that this 'first' doesn't seem likely to ruffle feathers.
Kong looks Awesome. It doesn’t happen often that the faces
introduce chairs to the ring but it worked well.
Joe on the rampage to end the show? Well, maybe, except
STING has not been presented as a threat to his title. That would be the guy
who laid him out earlier in the show and has him in a cage match in a couple
weeks. Booker is a good enough wrestler and a big enough star that he doesn’t
have to be the secondary contender. Especially if they plan to give him the
belt! <sigh>
TP
The WhoDeannyPod 