I was in the middle of doing The Wheelhouse show when the ratings for the March 15 TNA Impact were released and didn’t get a chance to look at it until I got home to read an e-mail from the great Eric Gargiulo. In it he sent me the ratings for TNA Impact and WWE Raw from the past Monday March 15th shows. WWE Raw received a 3.7 rating while TNA Impact in show #2 of the Monday Night Wars II headed by up by Eric Bischoff & Hulk Hogan received a 0.84 rating, the lowest rating for TNA Impact in four years.

As I figured TNA had a lower rating then last week’s show but I didn’t think it would be in the .8’s! I think re-runs of the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” on Nick at Nite at 2am receive higher ratings that TNA Impact right now. Don’t hold that statistic to me, I can already hear TNA fans going “that isn’t true!” It’s all in jest but I digress.

Are the red flags waving in Nashville at the TNA offices and at the Spike TV section of the Viacom building yet? You would think right? They paid in what I’m sure is millions of dollars to bring in Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, The Band etc. You wouldn’t think so after reading Dixie Carter’s now infamous twitter page tonight after the announcement of the rating came out. Here is what she wrote:

“Although its classic David v Goliath, 1 stone will not bring down our giant, it’s a different day. It’ll take time & commitment, we have both.” – Dixie Carter (via her twitter page)

You have time & commitment do ya? Does Spike TV have the same kind of time and commitment as you do Dixie? Because if they don’t your off of a network and don’t have an outlet to take down Goliath.

This isn’t breaking news to TNA this rating has been getting worse and worse since January 4th when TNA pulled in their biggest rating of all-time. Everyone in TNA was jumping up and down like a room full of kindergarten’s being greeted by the ice cream man. You would have thought that they had already won the Monday Night War the way they were acting. That’s how ridiculous it was.

We talked about the Impact rating from last week’s show (March 8th) at length on my podcast “The Still Real to Us Show” co-hosted by fellow Camel Clutch Blog’s Eric Gargiulo. I’m not going to go back in time and discuss that rating again. At the time I was shocked that was how TNA rated back on the 8th, this time around I am not as shocked.

I read the spoilers because I had little interest in tuning into the show this week. I’m sure the TNA defenders will use that as another reason as to why the rating was so low. Are you sure it has nothing to do with the inconsistencies with the booking of TNA? Or how maybe, just maybe fans of the TNA product are fed up with the same old wrestlers being shoved down our throats ten years ago being shoved down our throats yet again?

TNA took everything they laid their foundation with for 8 years and threw it out the window the minute they brought Hulk Hogan on board to “shake up” their product. How does Hulk shake up the product? By bringing in Ric Flair, Rob Van Dam, The Nasty Boys, Bubba the Love Sponge, Sean Waltman, Scott Hall, Sean Morley and Mr. Anderson. Last I checked wrestling fans and more importantly TNA fans weren’t clamoring for one last run for The Nasty Boys, to see Bubba the Love Sponge on TV and to get another chance for Scott Hall to no show a TNA event.

This is slowly becoming more and more of a joke every week. I wouldn’t be surprised if we soon see bets on how low the TNA rating will be in Las Vegas next week. TNA will be live next week so I’m sure the rating will do better right? Maybe it will move from a 0.84 to a 0.94. I’m a believer! You can do it TNA! Let’s beat the ratings of Impact from the Fox Sports days!

Something is not working right now in TNA obviously. This situation Dixie Carter got her organization into by bringing Hogan & Bischoff into the fold was a make or break situation. They can either fight the situation and make their product entertaining or continue to go down with their sinking ship.

You can point the finger at Vince Russo, but as Eric Gargiulo brought to my attention on last week’s “Still Real to us Show”; the finger must be left to be blamed to Dixie Carter, Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan. Those three and more then likely Hogan & Bischoff, have the final say on what we see on Monday nights. Clearly what we’ve been seeing lately is some of the worst things TNA has produced in four years according to the ratings of course.

Spike TV executives are not going to let this continue happen for much longer as they have invested a lot of time and more importantly money into the TNA product. Spike TV & TNA want to beat the USA Network & the WWE in the ratings game. They didn’t air on Monday Nights because they are the “little engine that could.” They did it to make a point and climb the ladder of the Wrestling game. It is another form of “Survival of the Fittest” and right now they are most definitely the hunted.

To me they are even behind Ring of Honor’s Monday program that I watch on YouTube because I can’t get HDnet! No offense to ROH, their product is by far much more entertaining then the TNA product right now. Spike TV call up Cary Silkin and bring ROH to the worldwide fan base because the way it’s looking right now TNA won’t survive till 2011.

What is TNA’s excuse this week? I’m sure it will be that they were taped. But even so most wrestling fans read spoilers including spoilers for NXT & Smackdown. You know the two other WWE shows not named Raw that are doing better then your program. What will TNA’s competition be next? Hell maybe they can take on WWE’s AM Raw that airs at 2am on the USA network.

This is one of the worst wars I have ever seen so far in the Wrestling business and I know it’s still early for me to say this in Week 2 but this is horrible. If TNA makes a comeback they will look back at this period of time and remind all the haters (including the one writing this blog) how they came back from a 0.84 rating to out-do the WWE on Monday Nights. I don’t know when or how that can happen right now and I think TNA is feeling the same way right but won’t let on that they feel that way as we speak.

The heat will be on this coming Monday March 22nd in Orlando, Florida. The WWE is doing their “go home” show to Wrestlemania 26. TNA and their fans need to stop blaming the “Road to Wrestlemania” as well for their problems. This has been getting worse for weeks and weeks. Plus have you been watching the same show I have been? It’s horrible and un-entertaining.

The only war that seems to be happening on Monday Nights right now is TNA Impact taking on VH1’s replay of the Tool Academy. TNA needs to improve fast or the Spike TV executives will be calling Dixie Carter, Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff into their offices rather quickly. Things are at least getting most definitely getting interesting during the Monday Night Wars II.

If you have any questions or comments for Eric Gargiulo and I for this week’s “The Still Real to us Show” please e-mail us at thestillrealtousshow@gmail.com

Jeff Peck is the producer for the “Wheelhouse Radio” program that airs every Sunday – Thursday @ 8pm ET/5pm PT at www.blogtalkradio.com/thewheelhouse and at www.errorfm.com @ 2am ET/11pm PT

Jeff also co-hosts “The Still Real to us show” with Eric Gargiulo which can be available at www.wheelhouseradio.com and can be downloaded in the “Real Guy Radio” section of the site. There you can also download many different shows including “The Wheelhouse”, “24 on 24″ and “Lost: Smoke Monsters and You.”

If you would like to subscribe to “The Wheelhouse” on iTunes simply subscribe for free at iTunes by typing in “Wheelhouse Radio!”

You can follow “The Champ” Jeff Peck on twitter by going to www.twitter.com/therealjeffpeck or you can follow Wheelhouse Radio! on Twitter by visiting their page @ www.twitter.com/thewheelhouse. You can also e-mail them @ wheelhouseradio@gmail.com

Check out discounted WWE DVDs, merchandise, t-shirts, figures, and more from the WWE Shop on Amazon.com

Order the DVD – WWE: Shawn Michaels – My Journey

Order the DVD – WWE: The Best of RAW 2009

From the ring to your wall – WWE REAL.BIG Wall Graphics on sale now at Fat Head!

Thank goodness TNA Wrestling love surprises. The all-important ratings are in for the start of the new weekly Monday Night Wrestling Wars. The pressure was undoubtedly on TNA Wrestling who drew first blood by moving their TNA Impact television show from Thursdays to Mondays to run head-up against WWE RAW. Well after promises of surprises and a “hot first five minutes”, the Impact rating is in and let’s just say the only surprise is a dismal debut for TNA and a lot of bleeding from two legends who are wrestling way past their prime.

TNA Wrestling finished with an overall 0.98 rating for the night. This was way down from the 1.5 rating that TNA Wrestling scored on January 04. TNA Impact did peak with a 1.7 at the fourth and fifth quarter hour segments however the number greatly dropped hitting as low as a 0.76 through the next forty-five minutes. The company came nowhere close to the 1.88 peak it generated on the January 04 show that went head to head with WWE RAW in the first Monday Night War of the year.

I have read and heard the spin from TNA Wrestling fans and quite frankly none of the excuses hold any water. The numbers don’t lie! The easy excuse is, “Well it well take time and the show won’t be a success overnight.” While that may normally true, the fact that TNA has already appeared on Monday nights and garnered much bigger ratings makes this excuse null in my opinion. People were predicting a number like this the first time that TNA moved to a Monday in January. The fact that TNA beat that instantly kills the argument because the 1.5 is a standard they set for themselves back in January.

This brings me to the comments I made following the news of the January 04 rating. I applauded them for the rating and actually declared them victors that night. However, I pointed out that while the rating was impressive it was where they went next that would dictate the success of the night. If two million tune in to see your television show, and half of them don’t ever tune in again, and TNA’s pay-per-view buys don’t see any increases, than how successful of a company are you?

While it may be a little early to call the Hulk Hogan/Eric Bischoff era a disaster, I don’t think we are that far off. After initial interest in seeing the new direction of the company, the ratings have continually dropped for TNA Impact. On Thursdays with no competition, the rating has drastically dropped over the last two weeks to below WWE NXT numbers. It will take a few months for the pay-per-view numbers to be officially released, but I can’t imagine a dramatic turn around when people are tuning out of their free television show. After 90 days all the company has done since turning the keys to the car over to Hogan and Bischoff is a) lose a ton of money on high-priced contracts for guys like Hogan, Ric Flair, RVD, and Jeff Hardy, b) lose its television audience, c) lose core fans that were watching before the transition, c) retract the progress of several stars, and d) decrease the effectiveness that Impact has had in promoting the paid shows. So objectively at this point I can’t see any reason not to call the transition a disaster.

There were some really entertaining moments on Monday nights. At the same time, there were several moments that just made you wonder if anyone in the company of such “brilliant writers” has a clue? For example, let’s start with the surprises. This is something I have been critical of for the last two years from TNA. TNA Wrestling continually to hype surprises on their biggest shows. That is fine when you already have a steady audience, but TNA are in no position to hype surprises. How do you just throw a Sting vs. Rob Van Dam match with no warning and expect anyone to watch? Yes the ratings peaked, but imagine if TNA promoted Sting vs. RVD for the last two weeks or even a week? Jeff Hardy was fine, but if nobody knows he is there, how do you expect them to sit through that horrendous Jeff Jarrett-Beer Money segment? Hey, it’s okay to have surprises every once in a while but when you are making such a monumental move, you need to lay all of your cards on the table and let the fans know about these special appearances and dream matches. TNA has pulled similar stunts on pay-per-views which even make less sense to me. The only surprise here is that a company would be that dumb as to hold all of their cards to their vest and expect fans to be waiting with baited breath for their big surprise.

My other criticism of TNA after watching this week is that I still really don’t understand the main storyline. I have been watching wrestling for 30 years and have worked in wrestling for well over a decade. Surely someone like me should be able to follow a simple storyline. If Dixie owns the company, can’t she just fire Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan? If Bischoff and Hogan are in charge, why is Dixie making matches? Whatever happened to Mick Foley’s ownership in the company? I honestly don’t get it and I really don’t get who is fighting for whom here at the end of the day. I think a little bit of ambiguity is a good thing, but this is just unheard of for a main storyline.

I can sit here and play Tuesday Morning Quarterback and pick apart various angles throughout the show, but that would just be nitpicking. My personal tastes may not equal the audience that TNA is targeting which I completely understand. Yet the audience that they are targeting is tuning out in droves. The bigger problem here is what TNA Wrestling’s next move will be. I can’t imagine their rating getting much better in its current state. Television is a tricky thing and it is not a given that TNA could just slide back to Thursdays with no repercussions. Will Spike TV just sit back and watch TNA slide from a 1.0, to a 0.88, to a 0.80? The irony here is that there was no logical reason for the move to Mondays. Dixie Carter was talked into one of the biggest con jobs in the history of the pro wrestling business.

Unfortunately for her, there may be no turning back.

Eric Gargiulo hosts Pro Wrestling Radio which airs Monday nights live at 7 PM/EST. To listen to the show and join the chat room live on Monday, click here. Check out http://www.prowrestlingradio.com for more details and archived shows.

Eric Gargiulo co-hosts “The Still Real to us show” with Jeff Peck which can be available at www.wheelhouseradio.com and can be downloaded in the “Real Guy Radio” section of the site. There you can also download many different shows including “The Wheelhouse”, “24 on 24″ and “Lost: Smoke Monsters and You.”

Order the WWE Hulk Hogan’s Unreleased Collector’s Series DVD collection by clicking here.

Order Hulk Hogan’s new autobiography, My Life Outside the Ring by clicking here.

From the ring to your wall – WWE REAL.BIG Wall Graphics on sale now at Fat Head!

Last Monday night, 3-8-10, the Monday Night wars returned full time as TNA IMPACT took on WWE RAW head to head on live television! Who made their shocking returns/debuts? How did TNA truly make an IMPACT on the professional wrestling industry as we know it? Let’s get to the review and find out!

IMPACT opened up with a brand new video package open and pyro display. great stuff! Crowd was electric! abyss and Hogan came out sporting the red and yellow! They cut a promo claiming that they wanted their match with Flair and Styles right then and there! AJ and Flair came out the the main event was underway! Guess this was why TNA had been heavily hyping the first five minutes of the show!

Hulk Hogan And Abyss VS. AJ Styles (C) And Ric Flair Ended In No Contest

The match began, but before it could pick up any momentum whatsoever, the lights went out and “The Icon” Sting’s theme music filled the IMPACT Zone! The light went back on and there was Stinger in the center of the ring! We all thought he was going to take out AJ and Flair, but shockingly he turned on Hogan and Abyss, taking them both down and out with his patented baseball bat! AJ then grabbed a chair and cracked Abyss over the head with it and then Flair followed with a chair shot of his own onto Hogan. Both men were busted wide open! As Flair and AJ walked away, Hogan got on the mic and announced that they would still be having this match later in the night! Great, great segment here! It not only featured the shocking return and heel turn of Sting, but also opened things up with the main event which would now be restarted later! Very smart ratings-wise!

After a commercial break, Kaz stood in the ring and cut a promo claiming that he had come back to TNA to restore the X Division! Huge, and I mean huge pop from the crowd! He was soon interrupted by Christopher Daniels who claimed that it would not be Kaz who would carry the X Division in the future, it would be him! The two argued back and forth for a few moments until they were both interrupted by the X Division Champion Doug Williams who claimed he was the one who would carry the X Division. At this point, Eric Bischoff came out and acknowledges the fact that Kaz had a title shot at Destination X, but he said he had a better idea. The three men would have a three way match for the title right there and then!

Doug Williams (C) Defeated Kaz and Daniels To Retain His TNA X Division Championship

Vintage X Division action here! Great, great fast paced action throughout! It’s about time! Looks like the X Division may be on its way to restoring itself as the adrenaline, as Eric Bischoff stated, of TNA! again, great work from all three men with Daniels and Williams getting heat from the crowd several time throughout the duration of the match. Crowd loved Kaz, who in my opinion is one of the most underestimated pro wrestlers in TNA history! Picture perfect flip dive to the outside courtesy of Kaz in the early going. This reminded me of the all so competitive X Division matches from TNA’s past. The good old days! Shockingly, this match went nearly ten minutes! Can you believe it? TNA is finally giving more time for not only X Division matches, but matches in general! In the end, Daniels went for the BME, missed, and Williams hit the Chaos Theory for the win. Great match! After the match, Shannon Moore ran out and took out Williams! Eric Bischoff announced that Moore would face Williams for the title at Destination X. Sounds fun, however I was really looking forward to a Kaz push. Maybe Kaz will feud with Daniels though.

The Beautiful People Defeated Tara And Angelina Love And Taylor Wilde And Sarita To Become The New TNA Knockout Tag Team Champions

It was announced that Kong and Hamada had to forfeit the titles for not defending in thirty days. Damn Bubba The Love Sponge! Nice Knockout showcase here, but not given enough time to really pick up much momentum. On the bright side, The Beautiful People do look to be improving though. After about three or four minutes of action, Daffney came out and hit Tara with the title belt behind the ref’s back enabling The Beautiful People to win the titles! Nice way to further the Tara/Daffney feud, however I’m by no means thrilled with The Beautiful People as the new tag champs.

Rob Van Dam Defeated Sting

An angry and confused Dixie Carter ordered this match earlier in the evening. Sting came out and awaited his surprise opponent. before the match, Taz asked Mike Tenay what he was doing at 4:20 that afternoon. TNA just cannot keep a secret! RVD’s theme hit as the IMPACT Zone literally erupted! He came from the crowd, hit Sting with a leaping side kick from the top, hit Rolling Thunder, and got the win if under ten seconds! Explosive way for RVD to debut while not hurting Sting because he was more or less caught off guard. After the bell, Sting went off on RVD, savagely assaulting him with his baseball bat! Soon, Hulk Hogan’s theme hit and he made a beeline toward Sting with vengeance on his mind! Security prevented the two from getting a hold from one another, but Sting broke free, hitting both Hogan and several security guards with the bat. Pretty cool segment which will make for a very intriguing storyline. again, I have no problems with storylines involving veterans, just as long as the young guys are the companies’ major focus.

After another commercial break, Kevin Nash and Eric Young came out to the ring and called out Hall and Waltman. They held a contract which would allow Hall and Waltman to compete for TNA for one time and one time only. Hall and Waltman soon came out to the ring from the crowd, and once again security stood between the four men. A deal was eventually made where at Destination X, if Hall and Waltman win they are signed with TNA, and if they loose they are gone for good! Eric Bischoff then orders that security take Nash and Hall away and leave Eric Young to kick Waltman’s, who slapped Young in the face earlier, ass all over the building!

Eric Young Defeated Sean Waltman

Nice impromptu match here featuring both men fighting in street clothes. Very short match, but both men looked good, including Waltman who looks to be in pretty good ring shape. Young went over in under one minute with a sick piledriver! Can’t believe they put Young over Waltman one on one at all, let alone in under one minute! Very surprising, and in a good way at that! This storyline is decent, but hopefully Hall and Waltman loose at Destination X. I don’t mind Waltman, but Hall isn’t necessary.

We now witnessed about 25 members of the United States Military surround the ring, followed by the entrance of Kurt Angle! Angle cut another promo putting over the troops and putting under Mr. Anderson if you will. He was soon interrupted by Anderson who mocked both Angle and the troops. Anderson then attempt to leave up the ramp but the troops stop him! They force him into the ring where Angle blasts him! Angle precedes in throwing him out of the ring on all four corners of the ring for the troops to get their shots in! Finally, Angle hit the Angle Slam and the troops hoisted him up in the air to end the segment! Great segment here to further the Anderson/Angle trilogy! Hopefully Anderson will get the best of Angle next week though for it’s always more interesting for a heel to go into a PPV match with momentum and the face looking for revenge.

Beer Money Defeated Jeff Jarrett

Looks like Beer Money are heels now. Seems really, really sudden if you ask me! Just last week everything is all good with the fans and they have momentum, and now all of a sudden they’re full fledged heels! I like them better as heels anyhow. They were starting to get a bit stale as faces anyhow. Hopefully they will go and pursue their singles careers too sometime in the near future. Anyway, this match was another plow from Eric Bischoff in his storyline with Jarrett. Foley was also involved here for he was the special ref. Pretty formulaic stuff here going about five minutes or so. Toward the end, Mick Foley actually handed Jarrett a barbed wire baseball bat, but Slick Johnson took it away and Beer Money hit the DUI for the three. Glad Beer Money went over though. Interesting way of bringing another element to the Bischoff and Jarrett and Bischoff and Foley saga by somehow interlinking them into one.

Hulk Hogan And Abyss Defeated AJ Styles And Ric Flair In A No DQ Match

Main event time! Flair and Hogan battled one another for the majority of the beginning section of the match. Soon, both men were busted open, especially Flair. He was a bloody mess! Nice old school brawling here which I haven’t seen for quite a while. Pretty fun to watch again, especially intermixed with the new school wrestling of AJ and Abyss! Also, this main event went more then five minutes! Record main event match length! It actually went about ten to twelve minutes. Very, very solid stuff. great example of what I’d call a clash of generations! Flair looked alright, but I’ll admit Hogan looked pretty stiff and rightfully so. The blood really made things a lot more interesting though, unlike WWE! In the end, Abyss hit AJ with a Black Hole Slam for the pin! Surprised that Abyss got the pin and not Hogan! This is great! Way to go TNA! By the way, I’m actually not being sarcastic this time! After the match, Desmond Wolfe came out and hit Abyss with a chair. “The Pope” who wolve attacked earlier, ran out and evened up the odds. Then, Jeff Hardy ran out and hit hit AJ Styles with a Twist Of fate as IMPACT went off the air! Not sure was Hardy’s involved here, unless TNA just kind of threw him out there to end the show with more momentum. This would have been a better job for RVD in my mind with Hardy doing the Angle where he was beaten by Sting. Looks like things may be staring to form regarding the upcoming Lethal Lockdown matchup in a few months!

Overall, this was an excellent effort by TNA Wrestling! They exceeded my expectations to be honest. very happy with the X Division stuff, both promo/angle and the match itself. More time was also given to matches with is a big fat plus! great intrigue build around Sting as well as hardy and RVD! Again, as long as the veterans don’t take over the show and overshadow the young guys, I’m happy as a lark! With Lockdown coming up it will be easier to distribute this balance because of the multi-man Lethal Lockdown match. great show by TNA and if this is any indication of we should expect from TNA on Monday nights in the future, WWE better watch out! I give this show an A!

Todd Frizzell is from Columbus Ohio, and has been a huge professional wrestling fanatic for the last ten years. Todd is very interested in all aspects of pro wrestling, including what goes on when the cameras aren’t rolling. Todd is very excited to write about his passion, and will try his best to entertain and provoke the wrestling fans.

Order TNA: Kurt Angle: Champion on DVD by clicking here.

Order the WWE Hulk Hogan’s Unreleased Collector’s Series DVD collection by clicking here.

Order Hulk Hogan’s autobiography, My Life Outside the Ring by clicking here.

The wrestling world is a buzz as TNA has announced that on Monday night March 8th the Monday Night Wars will return. TNA and Spike TV have been working on getting a deal in place for TNA to air their flagship show “Impact” on Monday nights from 9pm to 11pm along side WWE’s Monday Night RAW. Once again we will see Hogan & Bischoff vs. The McMahons.

As a wrestling fan I couldn’t be happier because now it is forcing both companies to go all out for their fan base to make sure their fans tune in on Monday night. The initial TNA vs. WWE war on Monday night January 4th brought us Bret Hart back to the WWE, Hogan/Hardy/Flair/Hall/Waltman debuting or re-debuting in TNA. In just one night of wrestling action!

No question now that it has become official will we see the landscape of wrestling change as we enter into the new decade. I am not a fan of the TNA product, never truly have been even after some of my favorite Ring of Honor wrestlers debuted (Samoa Joe, Nigel McGuiness aka Desmond Wolfe, etc.). To me it reminds of a lesser WCW product now with Hogan and Bischoff at the helm.

I mean lets be honest The Nasty Boys were booked on the Against All Odds PPV this past Sunday night. Who wants to se the Nasty Boys and Jimmy Hart together or even wrestle again? I guess it’s nice to have friends in higher places. But I digress.

What this Monday Night War will do is force WWE and TNA to promote newer/younger talent. If you remember thanks to newer/younger talent like Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H and Mankind the WWE would regain & control the first Monday Night War with WCW. WCW at the time was still promoting Hogan, Savage, Nash and only one new talent…Goldberg. WCW is now a show on WWE On-Demand.

This will hopefully force WWE to strap the rocket ship to guys like Kofi Kingston, John Morrison, The Miz and Drew McIntyre; whom are all bound for super stardom in this decade. TNA already has the edge in the pushing younger talent department but no telling how long that could last under a Hogan/Bischoff regime. It’s almost as if they are pushing the younger guys right now in spite of everyone giving them hell for their past practices.

TNA has Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Desmond Wolfe and the guy WWE missed the boat with “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero (Elijah Burke in WWE). The next pay per view will be headlined by a Styles/Dinero main event for TNA which I think was a great move but may have been too quick for a guy who was sparingly used on WWE’s 3rd brand in ECW.

This new Monday Night War will not only push WWE & TNA creative to give us the best wrestling we can get it will also push the wrestlers to the next level. That’s what helped WWE win the first go around as the hard work of the Austin’s, Rock’s, Triple H’s and Foley’s of the WWE landscape helped them defeat WCW. It will be interesting to note who takes the ball and runs with it.

I’m excited for March 8th; I will be watching both shows and keeping an eye on what the wrestling landscape will look like in its first few months. I’m leaning towards WWE in this one because I’m just not a fan of the Hogan/Bischoff regime for TNA but I hope they can change my viewpoint. Time will obviously tell whether or not who will win the second Monday Night Wars.

Jeff Peck is the producer for the “Wheelhouse Radio” program that airs every Sunday – Thursday @ 8pm ET/5pm PT at www.blogtalkradio.com/thewheelhouse and at www.errorfm.com @ 2am ET/11pm PT

You can visit The Wheelhouse’s official website where you can download “high quality” shows and see all the latest happenings with the show at www.wheelhouseradio.com

If you would like to subscribe to “The Wheelhouse” on iTunes simply subscribe for free at iTunes by typing in “Wheelhouse Radio!”

You can follow “The Champ” Jeff Peck on twitter by going to www.twitter.com/therealjeffpeck or you can follow Wheelhouse Radio! on Twitter by visiting their page @ www.twitter.com/thewheelhouse. You can also e-mail them @ wheelhouseradio@gmail.com

Order The Monday Night War – WWE Raw vs. WCW Nitro DVD by clicking here.

Order Hulk Hogan’s Unreleased Collector’s Series DVD by clicking here.

One thing I love about being American is the fact that, in our Bill of Rights, the very first item listed is the affordment for all Americans to be able to think and speak freely. The “First Amendment” is something that gets thrown around by everyone, from politicians to street urchins, in order to validate whatever message they have to get across.

I consider myself a moderate on most subjects, including politics and philosophy. As such, I believe that anyone, no matter how insane or wrong, is entitled to speak on a subject. It was appalling to me that in 2004, both the libertarian and green party Presidential candidates were denied entry to a debate featuring both George W. Bush and John Kerry, when both Michael Badnarik and David Cobb had as much right to speak as the two other candidates did. They were even arrested for ‘disturbing the peace’. One would think that with the office of President, leadership of the free world, at stake, that all potential candidates would have their voices heard, right?

It was no less sage a wrestling legend than Terry Funk who once said in part that you should listen to everyone’s ideas, since you never know where a good one will come from.

But where do you draw the line?

I suppose you could draw it at speech that is intentionally designed to disenfranchise people on grounds of prejudice. For example, what incentive do I have to attend a Ku Klux Klan rally? I’m not racist. I’m for racial equality. The speech is nothing but hateful garbage to me. There may be white supremacists who agree with the rhetoric. Good for them. If anything, the rally can be a good thing. I’d like to be given a list of attendees so that I know who I’m better off not speaking to.

For Dixie Carter and Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling, free speech has certainly been a blessing and a curse for them. It’s a blessing in that, in this modern age, feedback can reach them quicker so that they can find ways to tweak their product and put forth one that will draw money and make everyone rich. On the other hand, it seems that there’s a bevy of negative things to say about TNA Wrestling’s product, and it’s seeming to be a common sentiment in regards to the number two promotion.

It’s true. For every instance in which TNA has been able to swipe up a major talent such as Kurt Angle, Bobby Lashley, or Mick Foley, they’ve produced some shoddy programming with rushed storylines (many of which border on incoherent), nonsensical swerves, and horrid characters (I’ll just say ODB and leave it at that). While many fans remain cheerful and optimistic that TNA can push Vince McMahon’s buttons and give WWE a reason to put together a more fun product on their side of the fence, others remain permanently skeptical.

I say “permanently” in just that sense. Permanently.

It holds true for a lot of wrestling fans, this idea that nothing can ever please them. It just seems that many of these too-cool-for-the-room fans have no interest in anything except tearing down some aspect of the industry.

To paint them all with the same brush would be extremely unfair, since they could be grouped differently. So today, I’m going to focus on one group in particular who have come under scrutiny in recent days.

That group? The 900 fans at the Impact Zone.

Now, I’m aware that it’s not the same 900 folks who show up every time that TNA puts on a pay per view or taping, but there are, in fact, many “regulars”. These regulars are the ones that I wish to address.

Recently, TNA director Steve Small gave the fans a good talking to in regards to the demeanor he expects from them. Already, after this one sentence, no good can come from this. To tell people how to act in a free society is risking a serious backlash, especially when TNA needs all of the support that it can get. Given the aforementioned skepticism that many have for TNA, even when it’s unfounded, TNA really cannot afford to look like a rigid country club at this point. Small looked rather uncomfortable in his speech, trying to buddy up to the fans and no come off as a corporate slug. To his credit, it probably wasn’t his idea to speak to the fans, and most of his dialogue was likely from a memo that was edited and reworded a few times during the day. The fans seemed to have a good laugh at his pleas to not be overly condescending to the product being presented, and to help convince the fans at home that they’re watching a good show.

Now, after hearing this, I would side with the fans. But, you see, there’s just a tiny snag here.

The fans at the Impact Zone do not purchase tickets.

They get in for free, essentially as a live studio audience for a TV taping.

Now this is already common knowledge among wrestling fans, but it makes the situation a bit more comical when you realize that what these fans basically portray is a freeloading heckler who’s messing with a television production. Like it or not, there’s a little difference here between this and an actual sporting event.

If I were running a taping of Two and a Half Men on CBS, and I were filming it in front of a live studio audience, what would I do if six men in the crowd began to chant “YOU GOT BUSTED!” at Charlie Sheen? The audience, who would have likely gotten in for free, is there to laugh at the quips and provide basically the rhythm to the show’s lead guitar. I would have those men ejected from the tapings, for certain.

“But Justin, the fans cheer and boo naturally! You can’t disrupt their organic feelings! It’s a wrestling show afterall!”

While I agree that organic crowd participation makes a wrestling show better, there was an incident from the January 17 Genesis pay per view that seems to be a partial catalyst for TNA’s pleas for decorum.

Long time TNA star and fan favorite, even as a heel, Christopher Daniels was working the second match of the night against former WWE midcarder Val Venis, now known by his real name, Sean Morley. In Morley’s words, he had barely any sleep due to a long flight, and the match was well below the standards of both men. What appalled the fans is that Daniels, who ranges somewhere between “Jesus” and “Mecha Jesus” in the hearts of TNA followers, took the clean pinfall to Morley, who nearly botched his top rope finisher, the Money Shot. Many in the Impact Zone responded by turning their backs to the ring in protest, showing that they refused to endorse the events that had just occured.

Now, to be fair, the fans really shouldn’t have to cheer Morley, even if he’s playing the good guy. It comes down to organics, really. If they don’t feel the need to cheer him, then they shouldn’t cheer him. Simple as that. But to make such a show of your displeasure by turning their backs to the ring as if they were ritualistically slaughtering a calf is just ridiculous.

If Morley is right, then there’s a chance that he can make up for his bad performance. So why not give him the benefit of a do-over? Maybe he’ll get Daniels again down the line and they’ll have a good match like Desmond Wolfe had with D’Angelo Dinero, or even a great one like Kurt Angle and AJ Styles had?

But no. The TNA faithful that didn’t buy tickets to attend the event made their decision on Morley’s fate. You know, given that the company brought in cult favorite Brian Kendrick for the X Division, larger scale cult favorite Ken Anderson to bring cred to the promotion, let AJ Styles and Kurt Angle tear the house down again, didn’t put aging slugs like Kevin Nash and Syxx over Beer Money, and did their best to provide a fresh product that they honestly thought would make the fans happy, doesn’t that make the hissy fit seem just a little more moronic in hindsight?

I mean, maybe I could understand the brattiness if these fans had dropped a couple hundred bucks for front row seats and the Morley/Daniels match was the main event, but really? There were still six matches remaining, two of which were tremendous and a couple that were solid fare. Personally, I felt it was a good show, and even Morley vs. Daniels wasn’t THAT bad. If you me a chance to rattle off 200 pay per view matches in history that I think were worse, the hard part wouldn’t be finding 200, but narrowing it down to 200.

TNA is not perfect. A combination of growing pains, shoddy production, Russorific writing, Jeff Jarrett’s nepotistic desires, and attempts to imitate WWE have kept TNA in a distant second to the McMahon empire. There’s still plenty of time to make up ground, so long as wrestling fans remain tired of the complacent and cutesy state that WWE keeps themselves in. But they’re going to do everything they can to claw their way onto WWE’s level, and we as fans owe it to ourselves to root for TNA to do just that, so that both companies will pull out all the stops and make themselves more exciting as a result.

So in that sense, I can actually understand Steve Small’s little lecture, as meek and contrived as it came off. Of course, it would help if TNA would actually LEAVE the studios and venture into actual arenas. I know I’m not the only person who gets horrible flashbacks to WCW Worldwide when he watches Impact. But the point is that the fans at the Zone are being treated, whether it’s a three hour pay per view or a three or four hour television taping. They are free to leave at any time if their interest wanes. It’s the same as they are free to lose their minds over AJ Styles and Kurt Angle raising the bar for their peers.

Here’s a helpful hint to fans who may be attending upcoming events at the studios: you can actually control pushes with your noises. If a babyface you like is involved, cheer him like crazy. If a heel that you like is involved, boo him like crazy. Booing the heel keeps him from being domesticated with a face turn (see Randy Orton, 2004), and it puts him in position to demonstrate his heelish ways with more prominent television time. Don’t cheer heels. As Bradley Cooper would say in The Hangover, “it’s gay”.

As for the performers that you have no interest in seeing? Be silent. Don’t make a sound. There is no louder noise in this world than eerie calm. If you don’t want to see The Outsiders stumbling around for $300,000 a year, then just be quiet. Turning your backs on them makes them seem edgy, because you’re providing a reaction to their presence. Don’t react. Just sit there like a mannequin (which is the French word for “McCool”). Trust me, it’ll work. If TNA turns Sean Morley heel and gives him a gimmick where he’s so offensive to people that he makes them turn away, don’t say that I didn’t warn you.

Freedom of speech is one thing, but it’s even better when it can be used to make a positive change. Keep cheering AJ. Keep cheering Angle. Ignore the old sloths that are a threat to make the programming dull and lame. Don’t be cute about it. Use your entrance into the shows, whether paying or comped by the studio, to help change the course of how the show is structured. But hey, if you’re getting in for free and you’re asked to be courteous to the production of the show, be courteous. Just be sure to let your organic reactions be heard, and be silent when you’re underwhelmed. They’ll see the difference.

Let’s make good use of our first amendment rights. Otherwise, TNA may make use of their second amendment rights.

No sense in fans getting shot just because they don’t like Sean Morley, after all.

When he isn’t watching WWE, TNA, or his beloved Philadelphia Eagles and Phillies, Justin Henry can be found writing. It is his passion as well as his goal in life to become a well-regarded (as well as well-paid) columnist or author. Subscribe to The Cynical Examination, his wrestling blog, at http://www.facebook.com.

Order Hulk Hogan’s Unreleased Collector’s Series DVD by clicking here.

Order TNA: Kurt Angle: Champion on DVD by clicking here.

Order Hulk Hogan’s autobiography, My Life Outside the Ring by clicking here.

This past Thursday night, TNA Wrestling presented their first IMPACT after the first PPV under the influence of the Hogan/Bischoff era, Genesis. How is the new direction looking for TNA? Who is the TNA World Heavyweight Champion? What was next for the Hogan, Bischoff, Jarrett, Foley, and Dixie Carter saga? Let’s get to the review and find out!

To open up the show, Ric Flair made his way down to the ring with several beautiful ladies, and introduced his new associate, the TNA World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles, who came out to meat him in the ring with several more beautiful ladies hanging on him as well. AJ preceded to cut a heel promo claiming that he had never been given the respect he deserved as a TNA original, which was a pretty intense promo to be quite honest. AJ’s mic skills really seem to be improving, especially as a heel now. Soon after, Kurt Angle came out to the ramp way with Hulk Hogan at his side, and Hogan announced that he changed his mind about Kurt not getting another title show in 2010 considering the questionable tactics AJ utilized at Genesis to retain his title. To both AJ and Flair’s dismay, Hogan announced that the rematch would take place tonight! This was a very well done segment to open up the show, and did a great job setting up the main event of the evening.

Hernandez And Matt Morgan Defeated The British Invasion To Retain Their TNA World Tag Team Championships

Nice basic little matchup here, being a return match from Genesis. Morgan and Hernandez dominated most of the match, showing off their powerful double team tactics working together as a cohesive unit. In the end, Rob Terry came out to the ring with his briefcase, and slid it into the ring for Brutus Magnus, who preceded in swinging it at Hernandez, but inadvertently missed, knockout out his partner Doug Williams for the three count. After the match, the Brits show distention among the ranks, until Mick Foley charges down to the ring, and takes them all out with a steel chair! He demands a meeting with Eric Bischoff before the night is over. Nice way to really capture the aggression and instability of Foley.

Orlando Jordan Defeated “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero

After the friction we witnessed between these two during the Monday Night War, it was finally time for these two to get their hands on one another. To be quite honest, I was fairly disappointed with this matchup. Although it was very good while it lasted, I feel that it wasn’t given enough time to get off the runway. After only a few short minutes, Jordan hit “The Pope” with a dragon screw leg whip on his injured knee, followed by a Flatline for the win. Finish seemed to come out of nowhere. I’m also not too thrilled with Jordan getting the win here. It’s not that I don’t honestly believe that he’s a great young talent, it’s just that I think “The Pope” has a lot more potential at the current moment, and needs all the momentum he can get. This loss didn’t hurt too bad, considering they really played up his knee injury.

Angelina Love Defeated Madison Rayne

Very quick match here, with Angelina picking up the effortless win with her patented bicycle kick. After the match, The Beautiful People came out, and continued their onslaught on Love. They posed over her fallen body to end this segment. Personally, from the looks of this, Hogan may be leading the TNA Knockout division into an extension of the WWE Divas, eye candy with not nearly enough actual wrestling involved. I really hope this mistake isn’t made.

Next, Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff made their way to the ring, and cut another promo attempting to put over TNA, much like their opening segment at Genesis. soon, they were interrupted by “The Band” of Scott Hall and Sean Waltman, who pleaded with Hogan over a roster spot. Hogan denied this because of their recent actions at Genesis, and had security escort them from the building. Hopefully this is the last we’ll see of them for a while. Wishful thinking, I know. After the were sent away, Mick Foley stormed to the ringside area, and demanded his meeting with Bischoff, who surprisingly granted his request. Nice segment here to both continue the dissension between “The Band” and Hogan, as well as the Foley/Bischoff business.

The Nasty Boys Defeated Kevin Nash and Eric Young

Let me just start off by saying that seeing Kevin Nash and The Nasty Boys in the same ring, at the same time wasn’t a pretty site! Damn fossils! The only reason this match was even watchable was because of the fact that Eric Young was involved, who really worked hard to keep up some sort of pace in this matchup. After a formulaic bout, The Nasty Boys pinned Young after Saga hit a pump handle slam. Let’s just say I wasn’t too pleased with The Nasty Boys pinning Young, when it would have been just as productive if they had pinned, the much older, Kevin Nash. Oh, well. I’m also very surprised that Team 3D didn’t show up after this match. Seems like this was pretty worthless to me, besides providing some dull filler time. Why were these two teams booked together in the first place? Both being heel teams, I’m not sure how this establishes anything. I could be wrong, but the Nasty Boys seem like they’re suppose to be heels. Whatever.

Up next, Mr. Anderson, who recently made his TNA debut at Genesis, came out and cut a heel promo more or less. He soon began making wisecracks about the man he defeated at Genesis, Abyss, who was standing directly behind Anderson, to his oblivion. Abyss ended up punching him out, but Kennedy fled the ring as Abyss went for the Black Hole Slam. I really don’t understand why TNA is continuing this Abyss/Kennedy feud, for these two don’t seem to mesh very well at all in the ring.

AJ Styles (C) Defeated Kurt Angle To Retain His TNA World Heavyweight Championship

Although this was really good stuff while it lasted, it was only given the better part of 10 minutes or so. Not a smart decision, for many fans, including myself, were really looking forward for 20 plus minutes of quality wrestling action. In the end, AJ hooks in an ankle lock of his own, and referee Earl Hebner calls for the bell, even though Kurt didn’t tap. You have got to be kidding me! If I ever see another Montreal Screwjob recreation again, I’ll surely puke! Hulk Hogan comes down to the ring, not looking very pleased I might add, and then Kurt Angle actually spit right in Hogan’s face! A fair amount of the crowd loved this! Wait a minute…Didn’t Bret Hart also spit in Vince McMahon’s face at the Mont…never mind, I think I’m going to be sick! Putting this recreation aside, this was a real shocker, and very intense. After spitting in his face, Angle said he quit! Now things started to get a bit more interesting. Angle preceded to destroy the set in rage. After the commercial break, Eric Bischoff comes down to the ring bleeding quite a bit from the forehead, and publicly fires Mick Foley! I’ll readily admit that things are starting to get more intense/episodic in TNA.

Overall, I was pretty disappointed with the actual in ring action on this show, but the final several segments really heated thing up on a story line standpoint, however I really wish TNA would include more young talent in this major saga. TNA is doing a good job of putting these guys in the main events at the PPV’s and so forth, but also need to include them in the company’s major storylines. Overall, I’d give this week’s IMPACT a letter grade of a B.

Todd Frizzell is from Columbus Ohio, and has been a huge professional wrestling fanatic for the last ten years. Todd is very interested in all aspects of pro wrestling, including what goes on when the cameras aren’t rolling. Todd is very excited to write about his passion, and will try his best to entertain and provoke the wrestling fans.

Order TNA: Kurt Angle: Champion on DVD by clicking here.

Order the WWE Hulk Hogan’s Unreleased Collector’s Series DVD collection by clicking here.

Order Hulk Hogan’s autobiography, My Life Outside the Ring by clicking here.