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IMPACT AND EFFECT - 18.01.2010 January 4th 2010 was a night of highs and lows in both the WWE and TNA, as for the first time since the closure of World Championship Wrestling in 2001 two major companies went head to head on Monday nights (although ROH is on HD-net on Mondays). The purpose of this column is not to review the past history of the Monday night wars of the 90’s rather to review the major segments of TNA’s three hour show and the examine the direct effect on TNA and what may be in store for the company looking ahead. From the outset it seems that what many have believed that was proved too been correct, TNA where coasting after Bound for Glory and where on auto-pilot waiting for this day to occur. This auto-pilot was smashed as TNA put everything into their 3-hour show, with a shacked card, multiple surprise debuts, a great x-division showcase(despite the finish), possible the greatest knockout match since the Gail Kim versus Awesome Kong street fight of 2008 and a major PPV quality effort from Kurt Angle and AJ Styles. They set up storylines and angles pushing the company in a new direct while purging themselves of any lingering Vince Russo angles, which would explain the sometimes disjointed, feel of the show. They addressed various discussion topics of the wrestling community and took advantage of them. This has now opened up two power struggle angles, between Jarret & Hogan and also Bischoff & Foley. These new storylines show potential as they can have both continuity and longevity. Critics of Hogan have branded his comments regarding the 4th January TNA Impact in which he stated that it would draw a “3.0 rating”, as ridiculous and only show how disillusioned and self centered Hogan is and this attitude will kill the company. These people must remember that Hogan is now the public face of TNA. Of course he is going to hype up the product as much as he can. To put this simply it was a promo! Hogan knew that TNA has neither the recognition nor the exposure to pull those numbers yet. TNA does not have the exposure yet to pull those numbers. However they did draw a 1.5 the highest rating in their history. This shows that TNA retained their weekly core audience of 1.0-1.1 while bringing in a larger fan base also (WWE pulled in a 3.3). This was a great move for TNA to experiment on in this way as Monday night is of course a traditional wrestling night. Many still have memories or are at least familiar with the lore of the original Monday night wars. TNA took advantage of this and made a dint, grabbing more viewers as a result. Now let’s examine the best and worst three matches/segments of the night. Obviously the Main Event was just that, a real main event in both quality and feel. It was the show stealer of the night. Bischoff had announced earlier in the night that the main event of Genesis would indeed happen that on that very impact. These two guys put on a clinic in the ring and introduced Ric Flair as part of this feud. The series of near falls and counters made the match engaging and entertaining, something often forgotten by wrestling promotions, the fact that real wrestling can be entertaining. This PPV match on free Television, some would say ‘is bad for business, to blow a match like that with no monetary gain’ or that this is ‘WCW Nitro all over again’. Yeah it is similar to Nitro (Hogan vs. Goldberg) but if a company is willing to give value to their fans on their TV show then great, as they will enjoy the product and continue to watch it. It grabs a wider fan base, gets people talking and makes the show’s main event match interesting and mean something (pointless tag matches or throw anyway single matches is a sin that Raw is guilty of far too often and a strong main event was something that the 4th January Raw indeed lacked). Abyss vs. Samoa Joe was a great decision as it showcased established TNA talent, something that is a good sign that the new TNA is willing to push homegrown talent while incorporating veteran talent to make noise and draw in people and it seems that the TNA guys will keep people there with stellar matches. The move was smart to give the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championships, the stop they got on the car. It allowed them the time and stage they needed to present what is their highest rated weekly segments to a wider audience on this unique format. Coming out of the match we now have two dominate women as our new Knockout Tag Team champions, setting up a mountain for sympathetic babyfaces to climb while also freeing up Sarita and Wilde to go after the Knockout’s belt once the Tara and OBD angle ends. On the flip side the Worst matches/segments of the night were few but damaging. The first was the TNA Knockouts Championship match, for a number of reasons. The ‘hot potato’ pattern of continuous title changes over the past three weeks only weakens that title making these matches not engaging (something that struck this same match at Genesis). It also damages the character of Tara because win or lose she will be presenting as nothing but a transitional champion with no direction (which is now a given that she is champion once again after Genesis). The DQ finish of the match was a cop out, while it works on sometimes in U.S Wrestling and a lot in Japan on this occasion it failed epically. The presentation and the ending of the Steel Asylum Match were unfortunate due to the fact it was a good ‘spotty’ match. It was the best way to use the first hour effectively as TNA X-division’s is still something unique to TNA. The problem was dire camera work at points and the ending with Homicide struggling to escape the Asylum looked awful. Then add to this the confusing DQ finish in a cage match. This just makes no sense. Doesn’t a cage match have a ‘no DQ’ stipulation anyway? It is disappointing because as I said it was a good match. I cannot help think that maybe the billed "signature match of the X-Division”, Ultimate-X would have been better suited. The X-Division when exploited effectually is something that the WWE cannot compete with. These matches have provided some incredible spots in the past and are a major different between TNA and the WWE.
On the whole January 4th 2010, impact was a step forward. It is a rebranding phrase for TNA. TNA brought in Veteran talents to lend both name value and interest to semi or non established stars and help expose TNA to a wider audience. Familiar names are something that allows people to engage with a product and sparks interest, the same thing the Raw did on the same night. TNA are going somewhere with these Veteran guys, as we saw on Genesis they are there to work, develop and put over new talent both TNA(homegrown) and new TNA(ex-WWE etc) unlike the WWE, whom are setting up a Hart vs. McMahon feud and was the guts of their January 4th offering. To me WWE is the one playing with ‘Fossils’ in order to draw a quick buck. After Genesis last night, TNA put many fears to rest. TNA talent went over the ‘Fossils’ and are in the process of establishing long term and different storylines. The production has increased and the new layout of the impact zone looks fantastic, although I will miss the 6-sided ring the 4-sided ring once again makes TNA more assessable to the non-TNA fan. Genesis like January 4th Impact is another step in rebranding Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as TNA. Things look bright and fresh now for TNA. Although a lot of progress has been made (in both the past seven years and now since Hogan/Bischoff have entered) work still needs to be done. Yes, there are guys from the WCW/WWF attitude era in TNA however they are not dwelling on it and there to serve a purpose. Compare that to what the WWE is promoting now, McMahon vs. Hart and Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker. Ask yourself which Company is really living in the past?? Darragh O’Connor, |
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