"TNA iMPACT!" 4-10-08 Talkback (Spoilers)

[The Penguin]

Lockdown is Sunday! Catch all the last minute TNA action tonight on Spike.


http://library.toonzone.net/talkbacks/spike.jpghttp://library.toonzone.net/talkbacks/tna.jpgTonight's iMPACT: Will Samoa Joe Return?

PREVIEW FOR TONIGHT'S "IMPACT!" ON SPIKETV: THE FINAL COUNTDOWN TO LOCKDOWN
Plus, a huge tag team main event of Sting and Kevin Nash vs. Team 3D!
By Bill Banks

Tonight at 9pm, TNA Wrestling returns to SpikeTV for two hours of Total Nonstop Action, featuring the final countdown to the April 13 "Lockdown" Pay-Per-View!

The below is a preview of what is scheduled to take place on the broadcast:

HUGE MAIN EVENT: STING & KEVIN NASH VS. TEAM 3D
Two of the biggest superstars in wrestling history in Sting and Kevin Nash will team up tonight to face off against one of the greatest tag teams in wrestling history in Team 3D! Not only that, but all four TNA stars will be a part of the Lethal Lockdown match on April 13 - so this will certainly be a preview of the potentially bloody battle coming up at Lockdown!

ALSO TONIGHT ON SPIKE TV:

- Speaking of Lethal Lockdown, Team Tomko is livid over Matt Morgan's scheme last Thursday, as he revealed himself to be the fifth and final member of Team Cage! Sources tell us Team Tomko plans to address the situation tonight prior to the Pay-Per-View.

- TNA World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle has demanded to TNA Management that Samoa Joe be present during the broadcast to sign a legally-binding contract that if Joe does lose at Lockdown, he will honor his promise of walking away from the sport! Will Samoa Joe break from his training in California to appear on "iMPACT!" and sign the contract? Tune in and find out!

- In addition, "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner and "Maple Leaf Muscle" Petey Williams (with Rhaka Khan) will take on The Motor City Machineguns!

- The final matches for Lockdown will be announced on the broadcast!

- Plus, it will be the TNA Wrestling return of newcomer Consequences Creed as he faces off against The Rock N' Rave Infection's Jimmy Rave in a Lockdown Xscape Match qualifier!

ALL THIS AND MUCH MORE THIS THURSDAY NIGHT ON "iMPACT!" ON SPIKE TV

[hobbyfan]

I was hoping they'd give Matt Morgan a warm-up match prior to Lockdown, but no go. Russo IS, after all, a bigger moron than anyone else in TNA.

Rhaka Khan speaks. Now I wish she hadn't. Needs help on the mic.

I'm sorry, but a bald Petey Williams is not an improvement. It's just Steiner (with help from Russo, I'm sure) embarassing him because "Big Poppa Pump" is past his prime and can't accept it.

I think we'll see two title changes at Lockdown. Lethal's losing the X title, I'm certain of that, unless they want his feud with Sonjay to be about both the title AND Val, and Samoa Joe will send Kurt "I wanna be Lex Luthor" Angle down to defeat, then face Steiner as his first challenger.

Is Russo a closet comics fan? Seems that way with the not-so-secret identity angle Eric Young is doing. EY might be, himself, but that's another story.

Is it me, or does Roxxi look hotter than ever?

I think we know who's winning Lethal Lockdown, as they're continuing to tease a tag title feud between AJ & Tomko vs. Team 3D. Cage got Ray with the fat jokes, but using Hilary Clinton as a punchline? Is Jarrett a Republican? Or did Mantel come up with that?

[TheVileOne]

This episode only drew a 1.0 rating as TNA's pathetic attempts to increase ratings and interest don't work at all.

[Wonderwall]

This episode only drew a 1.0 rating as TNA's pathetic attempts to increase ratings and interest don't work at all.

Should anyone really be surprised at that.

[TheVileOne]

It definitely doesn't surprise me. TNA's destroyed their product and roster for in the name of mediocre, stagnant ratings, and dropping buyrates in the last year. All because Dixie Carter is a dumb idiot that knows nothing about wrestling and she won't do anything about the people running the company into the ground. Jarrett, Russo, Angle, Mantell, all of them are killing the company and she lets them do it.

[The Penguin]

Consequences Creed? What kind of a name is that?! Is he Apollo’s kid?

And Matt Morgan is done as Cornette bodyguard/TNA Management. It's about time, I never understood how all of a sudden he was able to make decisions with James E. missing.

So now Petey doesn't have any hair and his very own Scott Steiner chain mail. Okay. :shrug:

Watching Velvet Sky come down with Angelina I had just one thought, Gregory Helms, you are so friggin lucky!

No surprises on how the show ended with the big brawl. I'll give TNA a pass this time, because WWE would have done the same thing. It's all the other times that get on my nerves.

[Fifi Fanatic]

The frustrating thing is that the solution to the three-headed monster of Russo, Jarrett, and Mantel is right there in front of them. One of the truly great wrestling minds, James Cornette, is already on their payroll as the on-screen "boss".... all they have to do is hand him the book for real and watch things turn around....

They have the talent, but they fail to use them properly, usually having them mired in one ridiculous skit after another.... it's like WCW never left.

Not that things are really all that better in McMahonland right now, mind you.... 2008 is shaping up to be a really low year... :sad:

Ahh well, I'm still a mark for LAX and at least I know I won't have to see John Cena on Thursday nights... :D

[The Penguin]

The frustrating thing is that the solution to the three-headed monster of Russo, Jarrett, and Mantel is right there in front of them. One of the truly great wrestling minds, James Cornette, is already on their payroll as the on-screen "boss".... all they have to do is hand him the book for real and watch things turn around....I'll grant that Cornette is a great wrestling mind, but your comment just reminds me of how it was Russo who replaced Cornette when WWE needed to revitalize itself. Russo taking the book away from Cornette might have saved the WWE from ruin. Of course TNA at least tries to tell us it is different and James E. could at least give us that. TNA seemed like it was more traditional and wrestling-focused, but now they can't decide what they want to be. In the next decade, I bet WWE buys it.

[oo7565]

I bet WWE buys it.

i bet more like in the next year but wwe will bring it back but with there own wrestles they keep some tna wrestlers but will have more of wwe roster on tna. just what they did with ecw

[TheVileOne]

Russo or Cornette isn't the answer. It's definitely not Mantell or Jarrett. They need a new fresh perspective to handle booking TNA. Someone that gets wrestling but can still update the product to make it more presentable to new viewers.

Dana White was the one that saved UFC from ruin several years ago.

[Fifi Fanatic]

In any case, somebody better do something to turn things around before Vince decides to acquire a fourth "brand"....

"WWE Presents: Lethal Lockdown"?

[Beat]

Russo or Cornette isn't the answer. It's definitely not Mantell or Jarrett. They need a new fresh perspective to handle booking TNA. Someone that gets wrestling but can still update the product to make it more presentable to new viewers.

Dana White was the one that saved UFC from ruin several years ago.

So TNA needs to find another boxercise instructor with a penchant for swearing?

It's not exactly the same thing though. There's obviously a market for pro wrestling even in today's day and age when MMA exists because kaybfaye finishes and drama in the ring never gets old. (I should know, I have a friend who loves pro wrestling but could never see the appeal MMA had for me). But fake MMA fights, gimmicks that give Wrestlecrap a weekly dose of fresh inductees, and a general lack of direction for the company create problems.

In this day and age, unlike the early 90's or even Ring of Honor in the mid 90's, you can't return to pro wrestling's roots of wrestling. If people want real wrestling, they'll watch MMA and see Frank Mir nearly break Brock Lesnar's arm off, or if they're more into less known promotions, watching Imanari HL reels (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ldw-TFeZqY). I think Russo and friends realized that MMA has made a return to "traditional wrestling" an oxymoron in this day and age. The problem though, is that they never had a Plan B. Even on Toonzone it shows. Every week, TNA talkbacks get smaller and smaller. We don't even have a Lethal Lockdown talkback.

In this day and age, there really isn't room for a wrestling promotion focused solely on wrestling, because that's what MMA is for. The era of shoot-style pro wrestling died when Nobuhiko Takada was beaten up by Rickson Gracie. But there's no room for a directionless, gimmick based promotion either.

[The Penguin]

i bet more like in the next year but wwe will bring it back but with there own wrestles they keep some tna wrestlers but will have more of wwe roster on tna. just what they did with ecwTNA has very little name to trade on and ECW was brought "back" because of its cult following, regardless of whether one agrees with the result. I bet you see a "WCW" brand for a TNA one.


"WWE Presents: Lethal Lockdown"?I'll admit not seeing the execution, but a yearly PPV full of cage matches is a bit ridiculous. WWE would never do such a thing. If WWE did buy TNA, only some of the wrestlers would carry over, I bet nothing else does.


I think Russo and friends realized that MMA has made a return to "traditional wrestling" an oxymoron in this day and age. The problem though, is that they never had a Plan B. Even on Toonzone it shows. Every week, TNA talkbacks get smaller and smaller. We don't even have a Lethal Lockdown talkback.I think the reason the TNA talkbacks have shrunk in size is because they have gotten away from "traditional wrestling." There are five hours of WWE on a week, no one needs more it with and underdeveloped mid-card and an upper card filled with mostly WWE cast-offs. TNA has made their own bed here and no one wants to lie in it. TNA means less to me so I forget about the PPVs half the time, I remembered Lockdown after it had started and since no one else had started a talkback, I didn't see the point of doing it myself. No one said anything last month when I forgot.

[Beat]

I'm not saying we needed a LL talback, I'm just pointing to the lack of one as more proof of TNA's decreased interest among pro wrestling fans.

And I still do wonder, is a return to "traditional wrestling" possible in this day and age, when we have real fights with heavy grappling and submission hold emphasis, as well as real fights with striking and wrestling? It seems that just about every promotion that promises "a return to traditional wrestling" has tanked. Now more than ever it seems like something difficult to do.

[The Penguin]

And I still do wonder, is a return to "traditional wrestling" possible in this day and age, when we have real fights with heavy grappling and submission hold emphasis, as well as real fights with striking and wrestling? It seems that just about every promotion that promises "a return to traditional wrestling" has tanked. Now more than ever it seems like something difficult to do.I was following your comments, but I didn't picture George Hackenschmidt vs. Frank Gotch when I wanted to see "traditional wrestling" in TNA. I would be bored to tears with that. I'm just looking for a great focus on the wrestling as we know it today and saw from TNA a while back instead of terrible backstage segments and screw job finishes with gang fights all around.

[TheVileOne]

TNA's product in the last 2 years has been jack crud terrible. It alienated many fans and turned them off from the product.

TNA is NOT a traditional wrestling oriented product. One Joe/Angle match doesn't change it yet.

I'm not saying Dana White can fix TNA. But like it or not, Dana White saved the UFC and made the product more mainstream and viable for the masses. UFC has been around for like 15 years. It's been shoot MMA wrestling for a long time. It's more than just presenting shoot fights, its the presentation of such fights and fighters that makes UFC appealing to millions of PPV viewers.

I refuse to believe there isn't a market for a stronger wrestling product.

More often than not, when WWE produces its best matches, PPV buyrates, and wrestling its when they simply deliver something really good without a lot of stupid storylines attached to it.

[Steven C]

I like TNA for the most part. Most of the storylines are dumb, and I do wish they would utilize their talent more (ie: AJ Styles, Petey Williams).

Its about time Joe became champ too.

What is "Cross the Line"? Is that TNA's new motto? Also I dont know if this is still the case, but does iMPACT still have a "theme". I remember before the show started they do some video package and before the opening they'd show the title of the theme of the night.
ie: when Karen told Kurt she wanted a seperation, the next iMPACT was called "Seperation" or something like that.

[TheVileOne]

It's just TNA's new stupid slogan that's supposedly about blurring the lines between good and bad and making everything more realistic. They adopted it early in the year. No one really knows what it means, including TNA.

For some background. TNA writer Vince Russo apparently hates heels and babyfaces, and only likes shades of grey with wrestling characters.