Pro Wrestling Power

This might be the most exciting week of the year in pro wrestling, and both WWE and TNA delivered with entertaining shows, although TNA’s live Impact this week was a little disorganized and had its ups and downs. But Raw came through big time once again with a clutch show that will leave people anxious to see Wrestlemania 26 this Sunday. Unfortunately, not that many people saw it, as Raw did a surprisingly bad 3.2 in the ratings, compared to Impact’s 0.9, which is pretty standard for them, and not that bad considering the time of year.

Here’s my comments for Raw:

I’m glad they finally put Kofi Kingston in the money in the bank match. His athleticism could really add to the match, but I worry about it being kind of a mess with 10 participants. I’m hoping Christian gets the win and waits to cash it in sometime this summer.

It’s good to see the tag division actually getting some attention and some build up. It was a good idea to have John Morrison go over Miz too, not just for Sunday but for Morrison’s post Wrestlemania push.

The WWE also did a nice job of promoting both the Triple H vs. Sheamus match and the Legacy vs. Randy Orton triple threat by having a solid tag match on Raw.

The Shawn Michaels vs. Kane match, with Undertaker’s interference, was very good. There’s not much more they could have done to hype this match, and by all rights, it should be last on the card at Mania. I also love the interaction between Pete Rose and Kane. I just wish there was another tombstone or chokeslam delivered. Rose could have been an awesome heel in the business when he was younger.

For as much as I don’t care for John Cena or Batista, this is another match that has been built up extremely well. Batista is much better as a heel. Actually Cena is too, but he’s been more tolerable as of late. That match will probably be the last match main event at Wrestlemania, and I can’t argue that, given the popularity of both men and the audience demographics. All in all, that was a very good, heated ending to Raw. That match will help to sell the PPV in a major way, along with Michaels vs. Taker, Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon and Edge vs. Chris Jericho.

Impact had one of the most strange beginnings I’ve ever seen on a wrestling show. But you’ve got to admit two things: 1. It was very unique and made you wonder what the hell was going on. 2. Eric Bischoff actually is really good on guitar. I never thought I’d write that sentence on a wrestling blog, but hey that’s TNA for ya.

Having said that, I don’t think the Bischoff/Jarrett/Foley angle is strong enough to open or close a show, but it’s fine for what it is, a good midcard angle involving three guys who are usually main eventers, Bischoff of course in a non wrestling capacity.

As corny as the Abyss/Hogan angle has been, there was some pretty entertaining, and also comedic stuff that went on Monday night. First of all, I don’t think it was supposed to be funny, but Ric Flair in the wheelchair was freakin hilarious. The bump he took when Abyss clotheslined him out of it wasn’t so funny though. I once again feared for the health of the 61 year old legend, but I guess he can still take it. Having the Pope run down and save Hogan was a good move, as it starts to put the focus back on him as the number 1 contender to AJ Styles’ TNA title at Lockdown. The team Hogan vs. team Flair feud has a chance to be interesting as well.

Later in the night we saw that the Foley/Jarrett stuff is actually starting to go somewhere, but I hope Foley isn’t taken off TV for an extended amount of time like Somoa Joe, even though in the storyline he is fired. Though another nice touch was having Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam come down to save Jarrett from Beer Money.

I didn’t know that Hernandez was legitimately hurt from his brawl with Matt Morgan until reading the results online. Hopefully he’ll be alright. This feud, and Morgan’s heel push, was just starting to get interesting.

The tag team main event between Beer Money and RVD/Hardy was a good match, although I don’t think it’s such a great idea for Beer Money to job cleanly right now, even if it is to two of the most popular wrestlers in the world today. The post match set up for next week’s show was exactly what they should have been doing the past couple weeks, but I’m not sure how much interest there will be in this one: The Band (Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Syxx-Pac) vs. RVD, Hardy and Eric Young. Umm, first of all, Eric Young is really out of place in that match because he is NOT a main eventer. Not even close. And as far as workrate goes, it could be pretty ugly, but there will be some casual fan interest with all the big names involved, minus Young.

Dixie Carter and TNA made a wise decision to move Impact to 8-10 p.m. on April 5, as the entire Impact show would have had to compete not only with Raw as usual but also the college basketball championship game. That was a 0.5 waiting to happen, but now I could see it being a 0.9 or 1.0. Next week will be brutal though, because the night after Wrestlemania is usually one of the highest rated, if not the highest rated Raw of the year. Like I’ve been saying all along, the true measuring stick for the Hogan/Bischoff regime will be Lockdown and the live Impact the night after. And they should seriously consider permanently moving it to the 8-10 p.m. time slot.

But WWE delivered a great lead in show to Wrestlemania, which leads me to my next post, my Wrestlemania 26 preview. Look for it soon!

Well it’s kind of a delayed reaction really, but I was very busy this week…give me a break. Anyway, here we go…

With Steve Austin being the guest host, I thought Raw had a much more electric feel to it this week and was a much better show than last week. It also was more entertaining than Impact, and that was really reflected in the ratings, with Raw doing a 3.7 and Impact drawing a disappointing 0.8. On the bright side, the Thursday night replay also drew a 0.8, but it’s going to be a few months at the very least before they can even think of getting upwards of a 1.5 on a consistent basis.

It doesn’t help them that the WWE is on a roll right now and in the midst of hyping the best looking card on paper for a Wrestlemania since Wrestlemania 19. It also doesn’t help that Stone Cold was a refreshing change to the B-list celebrities of the past few weeks and that Impact was a taped show this week. They’re eventually going to have to go live every week if they seriously want to contend in the new Monday night wars.

The three Wrestlemania rematches were all solid matches, especially Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho, which was one of my favorite wrestling matches of all time when they fought at WM 19. It could have went much longer but it was good while it lasted and definitely above average for a TV match.

This show was built around the Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon contract signing, and along with Austin overseeing the whole thing, it was definitely the most electric moment on Raw in a while. I believe the overrun drew a 4.2. I thought Austin would announce himself as special guest referee for the match but there’s still time for that to happen. I think they have the attention of a lot of casual fans and as long as they can put together one more exciting Raw tomorrow night that builds up Mania properly, they are going to do one heck of a buy rate.

Honestly, I didn’t see nearly as much of Impact, but from what I did see, it was just an average show, and the fact that it wasn’t live did seem to take away a little of their momentum. The rating is a minor disappointment, but at this time, in March, and at this early stage in the game, it’s really not that bad, especially when you consider the replay on Thursday nights the past two weeks has matched the rating on the Monday show itself.

This leads me to believe that most TNA fans are also WWE fans who don’t want to miss Raw but still want to check out Impact when it replays. For this reason alone, they should keep the Thursday replay around for a while longer, especially if it keeps producing in the ratings like it has so far. They need to pull in more casual fans, old time fans who quit watching wrestling years ago, and newer, younger fans who’ve never watched wrestling before if they want to start consistently eclipsing the 1.0 barrier.

The promotion of the Destination X pay per view was much better this week and it might save the show from doing a horrible buy rate, but like I’ve been saying all along, Lockdown will really be the early litmus test for the new regime, to see if things are indeed headed in the right direction.

I think the Hogan/Bischoff interplay in the coming weeks and months is going to be very interesting, and it should be a focal point of the show, just not too much. Hulk is so far gone physically that I really believe he has only one match left in him at this point, and it’s probably going to be against Sting, either at Lockdown or during the summer, and he couldn’t ask for a better last opponent to make the match watchable and maybe even memorable for his send off.

The Nasty Boys vs. Team 3D feud and Hall/Syxx Pac vs. Nash/Eric Young feud are ok for TV and possibly attracting some casual fans to watch Impact for a few minutes here and there, but I won’t argue that neither of them will do anything to sell a PPV. I don’t even think the Nasty Boys are going to be on tonight’s PPV, and they shouldn’t be. They need to wrap up that feud and direct some more time towards others who are being left off the show by no later than the end of April.

I think Desmond Wolfe is on the brink of becoming a star heel in the company, and the Pope D’Angelo Dinero is about to get a major push leading up to his TNA title shot at Lockdown, and that build up should start in full force tomorrow night on Impact. And the Mr. Anderson vs. Kurt Angle feud is probably the hottest thing going in TNA right now and will almost certainly help sell some PPV’s, along with the Ultimate X match and maybe the TNA title match between Styles and Abyss.

Speaking of that match, I know that most of the IWC is down on it, and to be honest I am too, but I still think there’s a possibility we’re in for a major swerve on the Abyss character. Either way, as long as Styles retains tonight and sets up the big showdown between him and Pope at Lockdown, the booking is still headed in the right direction.

Beer Money really might be the best tag team in the business today and it looks like TNA is trying to make their tag division mean more than any tag division has meant in the past 7 or 8 years at least. Also, if you listen to Bischoff and a recent interview with Christopher Daniels, the X division should be getting much more of the focus on TV and PPV, even after tonight’s Destination X show. Along with the Knockouts division, these are areas in which TNA can really differentiate themselves from the WWE and steal some viewers in the coming months.

The Jeff Hardy vs. AJ Styles main event match was good and I like that Hardy went over. The aftermath was even better though. Abyss chokeslamming Ric Flair through the entrance ramp was an awesome moment and actually made you fear for Flair’s health. It also adds a little bit of the monster dimension back to Abyss’ character and did a nice job of promoting the title match between him and AJ tonight, with Styles clutching his title as the show went off the air. The production of this show seemed to be a little better than last week’s as well, maybe because it was taped, but they can afford to sacrifice that by going live each week. They did a good job of making their overrun go past Raw’s by about an extra 30 seconds or so, so fans who switched over at least got to see the conclusion of the show.

In short, TNA needs to just hang on and stay on course until Wrestlemania is over with, and the WWE just needs this week’s Raw and Smackdown to add the finishing touches on what has been a very well built card and well hyped show so far. Tomorrow night should be another very exciting one for wrestling fans, with it being the last Raw before Wrestlemania going up against a live version of Impact. Hopefully I can get out my reaction to the shows on Tuesday or Wednesday and then expect a preview later in the week of the biggest wrestling show of the year, Wrestlemania 26!

Raw was pretty good last night. Impact was great.

On the most important night in the company’s history, TNA came through big time with an exciting show that was similar to their January 4 debut two months ago, but was really better in almost every aspect, minus the Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles classic.

But I’ll start with what I feel was a quality episode of Raw. I missed most of the Shawn Michaels/Undertaker promo, but from what I saw it seemed like their usual good stuff.

I don’t like teasing PPV matches, especially Wrestlemania matches, but the tag team match served its purpose and R-Truth and John Morrison should be very over with the Phoenix crowd when they take on ShowMiz.

After being excited for the past couple months over the Randy Orton/Legacy feud and eventual breakup, it’s really started to fall flat the past few weeks. They need to add something to this to spice it up and make it a memorable match at Wrestlemania. After all, Orton is one of the WWE’s biggest stars, and he should be featured prominently on the show. His face turn, if it indeed is going to happen, should be a big deal and very dramatic. This might be the last time for the next decade that Orton is not in a main event or semi main event match at Wrestlemania. He is the future of the company, as a face or as a heel.

Triple H and Sheamus are doing as much as they can to build up their Wrestlemania match, which had the potential to be really bland and uninteresting without a world title on the line.

How about Evan Bourne winning yet again, and this time gaining entry into the money in the bank match. He is going to help make that match special, and who knows, maybe a push is in store for one of the most athletic performers in the WWE after Wrestlemania.

I think the gauntlet idea for the main event was actually better than just having a normal singles match between John Cena and Vince McMahon. The ending had a lot going on with Kofi Kingston running in to help Cena, Cena almost giving the attitude adjustment to McMahon, and then Batista attacking Cena and standing over him as the show went off the air. As much as anyone can complain about the actual match, the build towards Cena vs. Batista has been very good. Batista is much more effective as a heel.

Also, next week’s show was promoted well and it should be a good one, with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the guest host for the night, and the past Wrestlemania rematches that will take place, which is a pretty good idea just two weeks before the PPV.

Impact had an even more electric feel than Raw, and they managed to capture the energy of the January 4 show with more logical and interesting long term booking. They also finally gave proper hype towards the Destination X PPV, but it’s clear that a lot is going to be riding on Lockdown in April. The only thing missing was a truly great match like Angle vs. Styles, but I think TNA wants to try to reserve matches like that for pay per view if they can help it, and honestly, tonight they didn’t even need a match like that with everything that was going on.

First off, Impact looked more like a big time show than at any other point in their history, with the pyrotechnics, a new and improved song and video intro, and a sleek new backstage set at the Impact Zone.

They plugged the opening of the show for the past few days and they actually delivered. The Hulk Hogan/Abyss vs. Ric Flair/AJ Styles match opened the show, but didn’t go long before Sting made his return and shocked the world with a heel turn, using his bat to take out Hogan and Abyss.

What a fantastic move by TNA! Sting is still one of the most well-known names in wrestling today, and for him to turn heel in the fashion he did not only made it a great moment on the show, but also set up long term interesting feuds between him and the TNA babyfaces that should do very good business on pay per view or on free TV. His interaction with Dixie Carter afterwards was a nice touch, and it was sold very well by Mike Tenay and Taz.

The whole X Division segment was great, from the promo to the match, and it really helped to spur some interest in the March 21 PPV. The Epics program next week before Impact on Monday night should also do a lot to help the buy rate of a show that appeared like it was being looked over in favor of the build towards Lockdown. But now it has a shot of being a quality PPV, and maybe even a financially successful one. Hopefully this is a new beginning for the X Division and it shuts up a lot of the hardcore fans, who have been unhappy with the way the division has been handled since Hogan and Bischoff took over.

That was a good idea to put the women’s tag titles on the Beautiful People, and an even better use of camera work during that segment. This was just another sign that TNA may be actually starting to figure out who their demographic is and what they want from a wrestling show.

Rob Van Dam’s debut as Sting’s surprise opponent was one of the biggest pops I’ve ever heard from such a small crowd. He is going to be a HUGE face in TNA if booked properly, which I think he will be, and his quick victory over Sting was a good start. Sure Sting beat the crap out of him with the bat after the match, but that just did more to solidify the heel turn and took nothing away from RVD, who should be a big help to the company in the ratings, PPV buyrates, attendance and merchandise. Again, the importance of this pickup for TNA cannot be understated, especially over the course of the next few months.

The whole Kevin Nash/Eric Young vs. Scott Hall/Syxx Pac angle might be the least interesting thing among the major TNA storylines right now, and even THAT was pretty over last night. Waltman looked very good for a short spurt with his ring work, and Eric Young finally seems to be gaining the crowd’s attention. Next week’s tag team match will be an interesting point in this feud.

It looks like Beer Money is once again being established as a top tag team. Look for them to win the tag titles from Matt Morgan and Hernandez at Destination X as the result of a Morgan heel turn on Hernandez. TNA has a much more impressive tag team division than the WWE right now, although you have to give them credit as well for effectively building towards the tag team title match at Wrestlemania.

Jeff Jarrett and Mick Foley’s respective feuds with Eric Bischoff appear to be bringing them together in their fight against the arrogant boss, which I think is a good move. There will probably be some type of payoff with this angle at Lockdown.

Speaking of a payoff to a feud, Kurt Angle and Mr. Anderson are probably going to have a great one. This is a very well booked feud that is building more each week. Plus Angle is capable of getting a very good match out of Anderson, and this might even be a series over the course of the next couple PPV’s.

Finally, the main event was an awesome display of how a match, and ending to a show, can be entertaining and exciting without necessarily having high workrate. It was nice to see Abyss get the pin on Styles after Hogan and Flair surprisingly did a majority of the work, and the post match stuff was chaotic, but in a good way. Desmond Wolfe and the Pope ran out to save the heel team and face team respectively and the crowd was loving it. But not as much as they loved Jeff Hardy running down to tilt the odds in favor of the good guys and cleaning house as Impact went off the air.

This was easily the best TNA show I’ve ever seen, and all indications are that not only did the crowd at the Impact Zone enjoy it, but many fans around the web did as well, even more so than Raw. I already can’t wait to see what they do for next week. I just hope they can keep the momentum going and not lose sight of what the fans really want to see. I know that it’s hard to capture the energy of a big show like this with surprise returns and debuts, but they can definitely continue to put out a quality product with the talent they have, both on the roster and backstage.

I hope it’s not long before they can go live every week, because the taped shows every other week have the potential to fall flat with TV audiences and live audiences, but it once again looks as if TNA is on the right path to eventually challenging the WWE for the title of number one wrestling company in the world.

A huge part of what draws us to pro wrestling is the over the top characters, and the entertaining promos, feuds and storylines they are involved in. I’ve made it pretty clear on this site that I think these things are infinitely more important in the wrestling business than actual in-ring work is. I’ve also emphasized how drawing money is the single most important aspect to consider when gauging the greatness of a professional wrestler, which is a somewhat odd measurable when compared to real sports or even other forms of entertainment, but it’s true nonetheless.

However, I will admit that the in-ring action also plays a part in the appeal of pro wrestling. Many fans pick their favorite wrestlers not only according to the qualities I described above, but also for their finishing maneuver and overall moveset. There’s no doubt that these things can play a significant role in whether a wrestler gets over or not, despite not being the most important quality a superstar should have. With that said, I’d like to present to you my top 10 favorite pro wrestling moves with an explanation of why I like each one.

You will take notice that I enjoy mostly finishers and striking attacks, and that my overall taste is somewhat basic. That’s not to say I don’t like the highly athletic cruserweight matches with fancy moves like hurricanranas and such. But I just prefer these moves. And I did throw in a few submission holds too, even though I tend to like the striking attack moves more. So here’s my list:

10. Boston Crab- A very basic submission hold, yet one that is rarely used anymore, unless you count Chris Jericho’s modified version as the Walls of Jericho. I always thought this move looked cool from the time I was very young, and I would like to see it featured more in some high profile matches, or maybe have a young wrestler adopt it as his finishing submission hold and give it a different name. The Model Rick Martel was the master of this move, and I’ll always picture him when I see this move applied in a match.

9. Steiner Recliner- Another awesome submission hold that was pretty basic. Really, it’s just a slightly modified version of the Camel Clutch, but the way Scott Steiner applied it made it seem like it hurt more, partially because Steiner’s physique added to the pain that you thought the other guy was in.

8. Superplex- Again, very basic yet cool looking maneuver. It’s just a suplex from the top rope after all, but I like the normal standing vertical suplex a lot too, so when it’s done from the top rope it really looks awesome. I don’t think current wrestlers sell this move right anymore. In the pre-attitude era, this was a big time move that was sold like the guy had just been shot. Now it’s sold like a normal suplex used to be sold. I don’t want to get off on another long tangent here, like I so often do, but the number one problem with the in- ring product right now is not selling most moves like they hurt anymore. Anyway, the Superplex is still a great move.

7. Sharpshooter- My favorite submission hold ever, applied by one of my favorite wrestlers ever, Bret the Hitman Hart. Props to Konan for showing it to the Hitman, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Sting’s Scorpion Deathlock here, which is the exact same move. This was and still is a great finishing maneuver that really looks like it hurts because it actually does. At the very least, it’s pretty uncomfortable to be in, but then again so are the Steiner Recliner and Boston Crab. Once again, the wrestlers who most often applied this move, Hart and Sting, made it seem even more special.

6. Rude Awakening- I haven’t really thought above this move in years, until I thought of the idea for this post. Like almost every move on this list, you could say it’s just a different name given to a basic move, in this case the neckbreaker, but the wrestler who performs the move and the way in which he does it adds so much to every move on this list. Ravishing Rick Rude was a very underrated overall superstar, so it’s only fitting that his finisher was underrated as well. You really got the feeling that the match was over when Rude hit this successfully.

5. Rock Bottom- The Rock’s “People’s Elbow” may be one of the most ludicrous, most fake moves ever pulled off in a wrestling ring, right up there with Scotty Too Hotty’s ‘Worm” and John Cena’s “Five Knuckle Shuffle.” Mick Foley has pointed this out several times in his books, and rightfully so. However, the Rock Bottom more than made up for it. This move looks awesome, and it’s even better when you see the Rock set up for it with the look to the crowd and the “People’s Eyebrow” before sending his opponent crashing down to the mat. The only problem with it was that in theory it was easy to counter. The guy could just elbow The Rock in the head when his arm was slung on his shoulder, which was indeed the counter that many guys used to get out of it over the years. But you could say most moves in pro wrestling would be easy to counter in a real life fight. That doesn’t make them any less awesome.

4. Tombstone Piledriver- A normal piledriver is cool enough, and I really miss seeing them in today’s matches, although I understand the injury risk involved. But Undertaker’s version signaled the end of the match almost every time. After all, only a few men have ever kicked out of it, most notably Kane and Shawn Michaels. He makes it look legit almost every time, and this just adds to it being a great visual for the fans. One of the few bad Tombstones I’ve seen was in the otherwise enjoyable Taker vs. Jake the Snake Roberts match at Wrestlemania 8, where Robert’s head was about a foot above the concrete on the outside of the ring when the move was applied. His long hair even barely scraped the ground. This caused Bobby Heenan to say “I think he broke his neck.” The Brain was even hilarious when he didn’t intend to be. Anyway, no one will ever perform this move quite like Undertaker.

3. Big Boot/Leg Drop- The fact that Hulk Hogan used these two maneuvers as his finisher after the big “Hulk Up” makes them automatically awesome. But what about analyzing the moves themselves, as so many IWC fans have done over the years, calling them both, especially the leg drop, the lamest finishing move in professional wrestling history. Why? Maybe in the way the leg drop was actually performed by Hogan at times, it didn’t look like it should hurt all that much. But in theory, why would a muscled up 300 pound man’s leg crashing down on your larynx not hurt? And as far as the big boot goes, if you don’t think that move should hurt in theory, you’re an idiot. But again, it’s all in the way it was performed, and more importantly, in the way the opponent sold it. Randy Savage and Ric Flair took the big boot especially well most of the time. If you’re not a pansy, and you’re not afraid to come off the ropes after the Irish whip and take that boot square on the jaw, or at least to the forehead, then it looks great. If you don’t take it right though, then it looks like crap. And it’s not Hogan’s fault. Actually, I think the one thing to take away from this site, more than anything else, is that nothing is Hogan’s fault. He is the best ever…at everything…including the the big boot and the legdrop.

2. Sweet Chin Music- There might not be a more basic move on this list. It’s just a standing sidekick, or superkick. But it’s so freaking awesome. I mean, from the “tuning up the band” setup to the actual connection of foot to jaw, this is pretty much the perfect pro wrestling finisher. Now when Steven Richards or some other jobber does it, that’s another story. It’s not just that they aren’t on the superstar level of HBK, but they somehow just don’t perform the move as well. No one does it like Michaels. He is the best in-ring wrestler of all time, and sweet chin music is the best finisher of all time…except for…

1. Evenflow DDT- There are few things more beautiful in the world of professional wrestling than a perfectly executed DDT. And I’m just talking about a normal DDT. When Jake Roberts used it as his finisher, I thought it couldn’t get any better. But I was wrong. Raven, a guy who I wouldn’t put in my top 30 wrestlers of all time, but a wrestler I generally liked, had the single best move in the history of professional wrestling. I’m still waiting for TNA to let him have an actual match, and for them to let him win that match with the Evenflow, so I could mark out like I haven’t marked out for a wrestling move in years. Words cannot do this move justice. YouTube any of his ECW, WCW or WWF matches, or look for that awesome best of Raven compilation if you are one of the unlucky souls who has yet to see his DDT. But it’s not just a DDT. It’s a “flowing” DDT, as No Mercy labeled it. If you don’t see the beauty of it, watch it again. You will eventually come to appreciate Raven’s Evenflow as one of the best wrestling maneuvers of all time. I definitely consider it to be the best.

Give me your own list of your favorite wrestling moves or comment on my list in the comments section below. (PS, if you degrade the Big Boot and the Leg Drop, or Hulk Hogan for that matter, I’ll either verbally cut you up or just won’t publish the comment. I can do that, ya know, cause it’s my site)

Just like Raw this week, I thought TNA Impact made a significant improvement from last week’s show. While the February 25 edition of Impact was the most disappointing show so far of the Hulk Hogan/Eric Bischoff era for me, last night’s show came off much better and it really felt like they recaptured their momentum heading into the big live show this Monday night.

More than anything else, this show needed to be one giant endorsement of their March 8 show, both in how it was booked and in actual advertising, and on both fronts, I thought they did a very good job. I thought the opening segment with Ric Flair, AJ Styles, Hogan, Abyss and Bischoff was excellent. Hogan’s promos were very good all night. He sold the fact that he shouldn’t be in the ring and he knows his limitations, but he’s also committed to this match and he is going through with it no matter what. Even Bubba wasn’t bad in his segment with Hulk.

Bischoff was also great all night. Actually, I don’t think he’s had an off night yet as an on-air character for TNA. I am starting to warm up to his angle with Jeff Jarrett, and I do think it will lead to big things for Double J later on. I also really liked the Mick Foley segments tonight. I didn’t really care for this angle at first either, and when the first video package of Foley Etiquette school started, I thought it was about to get worse. But to my surprise, all of the vignettes were amusing, with Foley’s unique sense of humor shining through, and I feel better about the future of this angle as well.

The tag match was decent, and I like what was accomplished. Beer Money went over and looks to be getting a push again, while Matt Morgan and Hernandez hinted at a potential break up down the road, which I think would be beneficial for both men, particularly Morgan.

Rob Terry beat Doug Williams in a two minute glorified squash, which featured the Global and X Division champions. This was probably the worst part of the show, and it wasn’t even that bad, unless you consider this a major hit to the X Division title 17 days before the Destination X pay per view.

The Knockout segment was even entertaining last night. It looks like TNA is at least putting a little thought into where the angle with Angelina Love and The Beautiful People is headed.

It was a good move to delay the next Kevin Nash/Eric Young vs. Scott Hall/Syxx-Pac encounter until Monday, as many non-IWC fans are actually interested to see where this is going. Like several other TNA angles right now, you get the feeling that there could be a big swerve coming up.

I’m really liking Jeff Jarrett’s old school style of wrestling lately. Maybe he’s been doing that all along, but I’ve only been watching TNA since late last year and didn’t see Jarrett perform since WCW in 2001 before now. Hell, he managed to have a solid match with Tomko, who looks like he forgot how to get to the gym.

The main event four corners TNA world title match, between Styles, Abyss, Desmond Wolfe and The Pope D’Angelo Dinero could have gone longer and maybe wasn’t as good as it should have been considering the participants. But when combined with the post match brawl, this main event of Impact was exciting and really left you anxious to see what they have in store for Monday night.

I like how Pope actually sold the leg injury the whole time…what a novel idea. Again, I wish the WWE would take notes from this. And it ended up costing him at the finish, with Styles making him tap out to the figure four leg lock. Hogan making the save for Abyss and attacking Flair with the barbed wire bat was awesome, and of course Flair did his trademark blade job, which is the best in the business if you ask me. This was a great last segment and a very good overall last Thursday night edition of Impact.

Unless you don’t have a pulse, you have to be somewhat excited for the new Monday night wars starting next week. Both WWE and TNA are putting on quality programs right now, and things are only going to better as time wears on. Both companies will be taking it up a notch starting this Monday. And TNA will be working especially hard to pull out all the stops like they did on January 4. One thing we do know for the Monday night live Impact already is that TNA will be debuting their newest huge signee, the Whole F’n Show, Rob Van Dam!