TNA Impact 12/28 Talkback

[VCXZX]

http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o13/corrado1/RobertRoode.jpg


With apologies to sigma, here is the last Impact talkback of the year.

It was much better than last week's show. Lots of funny moments but some moronic stuff as well.

The Dudley stuff was pretty moronic. I'm not liking this Brother Runt is an alcholic storyline. TNA has an alcholic in James Storm. And then Runt at the end is back in the 3-d fold. Yep, Russo.

The HOYT/Robert Roode match was uneventful. Except for the hilarious commentary. http://67.18.37.14/html/emoticons/laugh.gif http://67.18.37.14/html/emoticons/laugh.gif http://67.18.37.14/html/emoticons/laugh.gif http://67.18.37.14/html/emoticons/laugh.gif at Tenay saying "Fo Schizzle". I lost a little bit of respect for Tenay after that. http://67.18.37.14/html/emoticons/laugh.gif http://67.18.37.14/html/emoticons/laugh.gif http://67.18.37.14/html/emoticons/laugh.gif http://67.18.37.14/html/emoticons/laugh.gif at Don West's revelation that he smokes after sex. I did not need to hear that. Did Russo tell West to act like Lawler? Anyway, that was the 3rd straight week that I died laughing at Impact. a very rare feat indeed.

More PCS greatness. I liked the Lanny Poffo pole, and the "juice" chant.

The title picture stuff wasn't good. You know Abyss will turn as soon as next week knowing Russo. And speaking of Russo, good to see his trademark "_" on a pole match make a TNA appearance. I did http://67.18.37.14/html/emoticons/laugh.gif http://67.18.37.14/html/emoticons/laugh.gif http://67.18.37.14/html/emoticons/laugh.gif
at Christian saying "Trick" again. That was a great promo.

I guess Angle is now the heel here. Was that Joe's girlfriend? Sister? They really could've been more specific as to who this mystery woman was.

So Overall, a decent Impact though it could've been better. And I guess its the Show of the week this week.

[bigddan11]

Being home for the holidays actually means I get to watch an episode, and I can't say it was that great. I enjoyed the intensity of Kurt Angle, but I can't help but wonder why he must always play the heel character. Team 3D's storyline was okay, though I agree that I don't care for the alcoholic storyline, and the matches were decent. I will say they've improved with telling stories since Ive last seen it, and Christian Cage looks better than ever, though Tomko looks exactly the same. It was a good job for being the final episode of the year.

[Fifi Fanatic]

I'll have to second all that, VCXZX.

Right now it looks like Impact is the show-of-the-week.... depending upon what happens on Smackdown tonight.

[hobbyfan]

Austin Starr gives Kevin Nash his shades and Nash does Harry Caray. ROTFLMAO!! Not quite as good as Todd Grisham on Raw (Halloween '05), but it's an improv spot. Please end the PCS soon.

Sting wins the nightstick on a pole match, then hands off the stick to Abyss. Well, you know what happens on alternate weeks.....

So Jim Mitchell knows the secret. Not surprised.

Voodoo Kin Mafia, shut up & wrestle!!!

Robert Roode gets a win only because Traci Brooks came racing out in the nick of time to provide the distraction. I say, reverse the decision and slap Roode with a DQ for interference. This gimmick is nowheresville.

Ditto with the tag match. I'm sick of the loose rules in TNA allowing so many screwjob finishes.

So Samoa Joe is Mr. TNA of '06, ending AJ Styles' string of winning those awards. Remember last year? Styles got a plaque,
which Shannon Moore (now w/ECW) stole. That feud went nowhere in a hurry because Moore was bum-rushed out the door before they could conclude the feud. Don't know who that barefoot hottie was that Angle snatched (she was Joe's date for the evening), but after failing to clamp the anklelock on So Cal Val 2 weeks ago, Angle finally attacks a woman. Reminds me of Jarrett using the figure four on Cindy Margolis on Raw back in '99, before Russo left.

Prediction: Russo's gone by the start of the summer, if not sooner.

[Tapout]

They shoulda kept Joe heel and had him say something to the effect of "you think I give a damn about that broad?" That would have made me giggle even more than Nash & his crew did.

[Condiment King]

The tag match between Christopher Daniels & Petey Williams versus James Storm & Chris Sabin was pretty good. I'm a little surprised to see James Storm go over in a match with three of the bigger names in the X Division. It was also pretty weird to see James Storm in a (more or less) X Division match. Again, I don't see how much room there'll be for Chris Harris or James Storm as singles competitors after their initial feud.

I'm sick of the Dudleys. They are such a waste of time on this show, and now they are being thrust into the Tag Team Championship. Hopefully, they are just another team jobbing to LAX. Man, I hope they don't take the tag titles away. Spike Dudley coming down still as Santa and drunk was just bizarre and weird. LAX attacking them would have been a good way to end the segment. The faces are going at each other and the heels are organized. Unfortunately, somehow SPIKE DUDLEY fends off the entire LAX and the Dudleys end up getting the last laugh. Terrible. And I guess the Naturals really are gone for good.

So the girl from two weeks ago is back in Latisha, now down to just wearing a top and shorts, still really bad on the mic and looking bored during interviews. Jeremy Borash should not be losing his interview job to this girl. Speaking of which, where is Christy Hemme recently?

Nice to see Robert Roode pick up the win over Lance Hoyt, but still, I can't stand how much TNA is underusing this guy. He won't do anything as long as he is wrestling Lance Hoyt on Impact and feuding with Eric Young (and losing I might add). Awful booking on this guy.

The funniest part of the evening was the Ron "The Truth" Killings anti-smoking commercial and then subsequent commentary during the Roode/Hoyt match. His New Year's resolutions are 1.) to stop smoking and 2.) to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. He wants to stop smoking prior to winning that belt. In the commercial, he commented that he never tried to stop smoking, but he had thought about it. Don West did say something about smoking after sex. Unbelievable.

Another great PCS segment. Lanny Poffo pole. More Backlund rules. Great stuff. Another lame VKM segment. No one cares, "Roaddogg" Jesse James and "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn. More talk of Abyss's secret. It better be good after all this.

Christian Cage had the best promo of the night. "Christian Cage is an instant classic." And of course, calling Latisha a "trick" was great as well. I really like this Christian Cage persona of him feeling entitled to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

AJ Styles/Rhino stuff was pretty funny. I can't help it, these guys are some of the less believable people in cutting promos. AJ Styles talking about how if he wanted someone to tell him what to do, he'd call his MOTHER. Rhino talking about intensity or something or other. I've noticed Rhino has been jobbing quite a bit recently. I wonder if he feels he's at the bottom of the main event.

The Nightstick on a Pole match was alright, but it looked better on paper. Well, I shouldn't say that since for some reason, it was a freaking nightstick on a pole match, thanks Russo. Anyways, as much as I'm one of the few who doesn't mind Tyson Tomko being the problem solver, he got way too involved in this match to make it entertaining. Then, even though he got so involved, Christian still loses, which makes him look bad. I'm sick of Abyss's teased babyface turn as well. Much of the interest in Abyss (what's there anyway) will be gone if he eventually turns face. That and James Mitchell is a great mouthpiece.

I'm really glad that Samoa Joe won Mr TNA. I was afraid it was going to be Kurt Angle after being in the company for only a couple of months. The only award I really disagree with is the Feud of the Year. I realize that Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle was probably the most anticipated, but the Feud of the Year had to be AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels vs LAX. That feud was amazing and took the NWA World Tag Team belts to a higher level.

Anyways, I really like how Kurt Angle is clearly a heel now and Samoa Joe is the face. It seems like I'm alone in this, and I'm not really sure why. Kurt Angle isn't really the flagship #1 guy in TNA, its Samoa Joe. The only way for this to work for Joe in the end is for him to be a face. Him turning heel abruptly to begin the Angle feud was unnecessary and killed a lot of the fan following he had accumulated in months of being the X Division Champion and then a main event face. Samoa Joe is the future of the company, not Kurt Angle. Not to take anything away from Kurt, but its really frustrating how TNA doesn't seem to have nearly as much upward mobility as one of the WWE brands. Whenever a slot seems to finally open up, someone is signed and steps into it. A guy like Robert Roode could take quite a while to finally climb the ladder.

[The Penguin]

I think it was a great move for TNA to offer original wrestling this week, but no 2006 special from them? With many passive fans probably just discovering them, I would think it would be to their benefit. I swear they had a special last year on New Year’s or something.

Jerry Lynn getting back into things and mixing it up. It seems the ‘X Division pioneer’ is finally no longer content with playing peacemaker. Sometimes a lesson needs to be taut with actions rather than words. Chris Sabin is about to learn the hard way.

Well Team 3D declared itself back on top pretty quickly. Though sadly Ray was right about the state of the tag division. It seems only bookers that are more traditional give a damn about tag team wrestling. Though a big feud between Team 3D and LAX should be pretty good in the short term.

The PCS limbo competition was… well I’m not sure what it was, but Kevin Nash managed to entertain me. Bob Backlund rules, people. Bob Backlund rules.

Christian Cage was at his cocky best during his interview with Spike TV’s trick whose name I can never remember. It’s great to have the old Captain Charisma back.

I don’t even know what to say about VKM. It’s not funny, it’s not edgy, it’s not even satirical.

Robert Roode actually gets a win (and it seems Ms. Brooks did some ‘convincing’ all over Eric Young in the iMPACT! Zone bathrooms :p ).

The Truth has managed to ruin anything that was remotely cool about Lance Hoyt by turning him into a dancing idiot. K-Kwik said something about going Hollywood? :eek: I won’t be going near whatever that is and I own “Universal Solider: The Return” featuring Goldberg.

Use the nightstick and you win? Ugh, that was painful. Not as painful as watching Abyss and Sting have another “love-fest” though. I just really can’t see all of this going anywhere good.

Well I guess Kurt Angle is still nuts. He went awful far picking on Joe’s woman like that. I suppose she means something to him, but I thought it may Joe look weak in a negative way.


Not to take anything away from Kurt, but its really frustrating how TNA doesn't seem to have nearly as much upward mobility as one of the WWE brands. Whenever a slot seems to finally open up, someone is signed and steps into it. A guy like Robert Roode could take quite a while to finally climb the ladder.That is a great point. Quoted for truth, or whatever the hip people say.

[Jin Kazama]

You know, they could have made Joe v. Angle 3 a Number One Contenders Match. That way, Angle gets his re-match and Joe gets put in the title hunt. It would have been so much easier.

Oh yeah, it's Russo. It has to be insanely complicated for no good reason. Forgot about that.

[EinBebop]

You know, they could have made Joe v. Angle 3 a Number One Contenders Match. That way, Angle gets his re-match and Joe gets put in the title hunt. It would have been so much easier.One step further:

Joe wants a title shot.
Angle wants Joe.
Angle wins a title shot after forcing Cornette to put him in last night's contendor's match.

Angle offers to put the title shot on the line against Joe.

Or, he just wins the title himself, forcing Joe to face him. The idea of a wrestler wanting to win the title as a means to an end rather the end would be an interesting angle.

[Hyper Shadow X]

a decent main event.