I realize that as I write this there is probably thousands of blogs floating around the World Wide Web regarding their own personal thoughts on last night’s first official shot to the restart of the Monday Night Wars in the world of wrestling. For what it’s worth it really wasn’t anything extremely special unless you don’t read any internet reports or even camelclutchblog.com as Rob Van Dam showed up on TNA Impact. Besides that it was very little bang in both shows that made us go “the Monday Night Wars are back!”
Taking a look first at TNA Impact where I have been pretty critical on the product lately in my blogs and on “The Still Real to us show.” I’ve been pretty critical of the product lately because of the things Hogan & Bischoff have done with the organization since they took over as it continues to look like a Hulk & friends expo more then anything. The main event they had setup for their first official Monday night show wasn’t all that appealing either.
TNA heavily promoted the “first five minutes” of their show were a “must see.” They didn’t tell us why they just told us to be there. Well if you went to TNA first you got the main event match in the first 5 minutes. You saw the return of Flair and Hogan in the ring. The match itself was dreadful and both legends are showing their age in the ring. The return of Sting was cool but a heel turn never works for Sting because no matter what he does the fans love him. I find it strange that in recent months Hogan & Bischoff have buried/re-packaged guys like Jarrett, Sting and Foley, three guys that were focal points for the organization in the last year.
For some reason TNA creative thought they would pull on the ol’ heart strings if Brooke Hogan cried and pleaded with her father not to wrestle. It did nothing for me. If they want to make me feel sad for Brooke Hogan make me listen to her album from front to back then I will feel a drop of sadness for Brooke Hogan.
Unsurprisingly Rob Van Dam closes his open door relationship with WWE to sign with TNA as was reported all last week within all the smart marks of wrestling. How do they debut Rob Van Dam? They give us a dream match in less then thirty seconds with Sting vs. RVD. When you heard RVD’s music come on as Sting awaited his opponent fans were popping in the living rooms as they finally got a match that they have waited to see on free TV.
Then the amazing booking of Vince Russo kicked in and we got a kick to the head, a rolling thunder and a three count. I was more pissed then anything else because it was a waste of time and a throw away match for two legendary wrestlers people want to see actually wrestle. The beat down of RVD left me scratching my head as there was no mention of RVD’s beat down for the rest of the show. Nice to see RVD was a pawn in a Hogan angle.
One of the only good things I saw out of Impact was the way they made Eric Young look last night. The fire and fight they made him have when he took on Sean Waltman was pretty awesome. Despite not being on the show for a whole lot of time I would give Eric Young the MVP, along with the X-Division match for last nights show as he showed the fire the TNA locker room once had.
One random thought from last night’s show was how many commercial breaks and promos they had. I understand ad revenue but damn it was pretty boring and hard to watch. The Nash/Young stuff with Waltman/Hall was dragging for too long. By the way who see Nash turning on Young or even vice versa to give Waltman & Hall contracts? Props to the TNA Impact zone fans for chanting “Hall is wasted.” Chant of the night.
Then to finish the show we get the Main Event again with Earl Hebner as referee for no reason what’s as ever as they brought him back after another “screw job” from a few weeks ago. Also don’t make me feel bad for the Hulkster when he’s taking to Bubba the Love Sponge. The guy doesn’t belong in wrestling and it’s sad that TNA sided with him after the years of service Awesome Kong gave the company.
Flair and Hogan showed their age yet again in this match. They look much slower then they did in their recent WWE runs and it was sad to see. But what do you expect out of a 60 year old and a man in his late 50s. Abyss/Hogan win and Abyss gets a title shot. Ok.
On the other side of the wrestling spectrum, the WWE and Raw has been fun to watch in recent weeks as they have really done a good job building toward Wrestlemania 26. Last night’s show may have been one of their least entertaining shows in weeks but still got a lot done to further expand their storylines which TNA did not do a good job of. Like Doug Williams vs. Shannon Moore for the X-Division Championship, ok why? Because Jeff Hardy signed that is Shannon Moore’s bonus?
The Undertaker/HBK stuff has been great in recent weeks with little physical confrontation to set up this match. They made sure the match at Wrestlemania 26 will not end in Disqualification and someone actually has to win the match. I have my suspicious on how it will end but either way Undertaker/HBK at Wrestlemania 26 is huge and the booking has made it feel that way.
I don’t like when the WWE gives away PPV matches on free TV, I don’t like it even more when it’s a Wrestlemania 26 match. The tag team match did nothing for me. I understand that they need to start building this match and it was nice to see they added it on Raw instead of just focusing it on Smackdown but the match itself did nothing for me.
As we have talked about a lot of “The Still Real to us show,” Eric Gargiulo and I have no idea where the Randy Orton/Legacy thing is going as we get closer to Wrestlemania 26. Is Orton a face? Is he a tweener character now? I have no idea and I feel that way even more from watching Raw. The fans cheered for him so the face ball is in his court. I’m hoping creative will have a good ending to this confusing build towards Wrestlemania.
Sheamus vs. Triple H is official for Wrestlemania 26 and I’m actually looking forward to this match. I think this will give Sheamus the opportunity to move in the step forward of being taken seriously as a main eventer in the fans eyes. I was also happy with Evan Bourne being the final participant for the “Money in the Bank” ladder match as Eric Gargiulo was right on the money (no pun intended) with his prediction for the last spot in the match.
As for the Main Event match it was “eh.” McMahon being in the main event was funny as it was definitely counter programming to TNA’s main event with the battle of the senior citizens. I didn’t really expect anything out of this match; the stuff with the gauntlet was interesting and made sense for wrestlers face or heel to do it because Vince McMahon is the boss. I hope something comes out of this for Mark Henry or Kofi Kingston as they were the only two to stand up to Vince McMahon.
This was probably the lowest of all the great stuff Cena & Batista have been doing lately in their build for the main event match for Wrestlemania 26. Batista lays out Cena again and continues to make Cena look like the guy that won’t “give up.” I have a feeling things will change next week with Steve Austin in charge of Raw.
With that being said next week’s Raw looks great with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the guest host. I love the “Wrestlemania rewind” stuff that WWE has done the past couple of years on Raw and this coming Monday should be fun to watch. Already three huge matches have been announced as Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho (possibly for the last time ever), Triple H vs. Randy Orton and John Cena vs. Big Show. Add the Bret Hart/Vince McMahon contract signing with Steve Austin overseeing it and we have a jammed packed show for next week’s Raw.
As for TNA they will be taped as they will be taping their next Monday show on Tuesday March 9th. That will take away from the rating for the show as some fans will read the spoilers and rather watch the action packed live Raw for next week. That will hurt the numbers at least for the second week of the Monday Night Wars.
As for both shows overall I really didn’t feel like there was a winner or a loser. Both shows were just kind of “eh.” I lean more to the WWE side because I don’t like what Hogan & Bischoff have done with TNA already as I have stated on past blogs and during “The Still Real to us show.” The ratings will obviously raise the hand of one winner but I don’t think the TNA rating for this past Monday will match or be better then the one from January 4th. TNA still clearly has some work to do before they reach the same level as WWE.
Jeff also co-hosts “The Still Real to us show” with Eric Gargiulo which can be available at www.wheelhouseradio.comand 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!”
Here we are in 2010 just hours away from the second Monday Night War of the year, or as I like to call it, the Seniors Tour. Instead of separating themselves from the WWE, TNA Wrestling will unload Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan in its main-event. The World Wrestling Entertainment will counter with Vince McMahon wrestling in its main-event. What’s next, Sgt. Slaughter vs. the Iron Sheik?
I have to say as someone that watched the original Monday Night Wars, the start of this war looks more like a bad Civil War reenactment. Both TNA and especially the WWE should really be embarrassed promoting the over sixty club in 2010. You know you have problems when Hulk Hogan is the second youngest wrestler out of the Big Four (John Cena, Vince McMahon, Ric Flair, and the Hulkster) headlining the Monday Night Wars.
Neither pro wrestling company has done a good job of creating superstars. In the last several years, the WWE has really only produced three new superstars in Batista, John Cena, and Randy Orton. One could argue that Cena is the only real superstar due to his drawing power among young fans and women as opposed to anyone in the WWE. Think about how pathetic that is for a second. Over the last several years, the WWE has had five-six hours a week of television and yet they have only been able to produce one real superstar attraction. As much as people like to call Vince McMahon a genius, I have a feeling that any intelligent pro wrestling fan could have replicated that same accomplishment by accident.
TNA Wrestling is arguably more disgraceful when it comes to the creation of new stars. Over the last eight years, TNA has had a slight advantage in that the only place they could go is up. If the WWE spends too much time pushing guys that aren’t connecting, people will notice immediately. For TNA, they had the luxury of taking their time and developing stars over the last eight years. TNA also had a chance to differentiate its brand from the WWE and cater to a different kind of pro wrestling fan. Instead, TNA has the accomplishment of establishing one borderline star in A.J. Styles who has yet to remain a consistent headliner, and hasn’t translated into a ratings or pay-per-view draw. Great job!
Monday night is an opportunity for both pro wrestling companies to showcase their best, knowing there will be an added pro wrestling audience tuning in to the shows. Instead, we are subjected to a bad replay of an edition of the 1998 Monday Night Wars. Hey, Ric Flair was my favorite wrestler growing up. Randall Cunningham was also my favorite Philadelphia Eagle, but I don’t want to see him under center in 2010. Hulk Hogan can barely move and is so banged up, he can’t even do the trademark leg drop anymore without suffering excruciating pain. Vince McMahon is a fun character, but I don’t think anyone is running to their television sets to see him actually wrestle. If this is the best these companies they have to start this weekly war off, than we are all in trouble.
So why has it been so hard for these pro wrestling companies to create superstars? I mean, pro wrestling companies were able to develop new superstars practically monthly for four decades. I think it is complex, but I think it comes down to how the WWE and TNA view success in 2010. Thanks to the first Monday Night Wars, Vince McMahon and now TNA judge success by ratings. I never understood the accomplishment of drawing a big crowd to watch your free show. Instead of having the patience to develop a new superstar, both companies pull the panic trigger immediately once they see a bad rating in the wrestler’s timeslot, and the experiment is over. For the WWE, they will see a high rating point by a Triple H, Randy Orton, or John Cena and play it safe. However, they forget that those three as well as everyone else from Batista to the Undertaker needed time to get their character over before fans watched in droves.
The thinking in TNA Wrestling is more backwards than the WWE. TNA had a proven draw in Samoa Joe. Joe consistently drew the biggest pay-per-view numbers in the company when he headlined. Yet for whatever reason, Samoa Joe is barely even part of the equation today. That likely had to do with a poor rating, whereas his drawing power was completely taken out of the equation. Looking at the numbers, there is no way that anyone in TNA can explain with a straight face why this guy isn’t headlining every show. Instead, TNA panic and bring in familiar faces that quite honestly aren’t going to draw new fans in 2010. If fans wanted to see bad WWE wrestling, they are going to buy or watch WWE and not TNA. TNA really has nobody to blame but themselves for the company’s lack of young star power.
So while some pro wrestling fans are excited about the return of a weekly Monday Night War, I am one of the few who are disappointed. Now, both companies will become obsessed with ratings points and the chances are even less that either company will put the television time into developing a new superstar. Instead of getting blown away by new feuds and angles, be prepared for the usual suspects from both companies. I hope that one of these companies prove me wrong, but there is nothing at this point that indicates that will happen.
I watched TNA Impact this past Thursday night to prepare myself for “The Still Real to us Show” as we will preview the Monday Night Wars II to kick start this Monday night. I could not believe how a promotion that is going to be toe-to-toe with the WWE had such a lackluster to show to close the books on Thursday nights and step into the Monday night squared circle. For their flagship show to be called “Impact” is a joke after what I saw this past Monday.
Everyone criticizes the WWE for how many promos they will do for a show but for crying out loud if you watched TNA this past Thursday you were begging for anything besides a promo. Hell I was happy to see vignettes with Jeff Jarrett and Mick Foley. By the way if anyone told me I’d be writing those words five years ago, I would never believe them.
Sure we got the hype for this coming Monday’s show but its no where near the hype TNA gave their first Monday night outing.
They are building this coming Monday’s show around the return of Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair in the ring. As a wrestling fan I am sad to see how Ric Flair’s career has taken a turn for the worse the past two years and sad to see that Flair is yet again returning to the ring after the send off he received two years ago from the wrestling world. That being said I don’t really care to see either one of these guys wrestle this Monday.
The fact that TNA has built this true debut Monday Night wars show around Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair tells you the viewer something. It’s almost as if they should change the name to Monday Nitro and just have cruiserweights wrestle for most of the show then Hogan or Flair can tear the house down! It’s horrible to see what TNA has done after that huge 3-hour show in recent weeks.
To me I feel like TNA has actually lost steam. I believe the last eight weeks we have truly seen where this Hogan/Bischoff regime is going to take TNA. No where.
It’s more of an egotistical battle to try and take down Vince McMahon again. They most definitely don’t have the money backing this time around to go after the WWE. This time it’s going to actually take talent and not name value.
Obviously they don’t believe in that theory yet because Flair & Hogan are the big time stars they are pushing for this show. I get it because they are trying to grab the casual wrestling fan rather then the big-time wrestling fan. But for all of those that still follow it and watch it religiously they have got to feel disappointed.
Sure TNA is putting two of the original stars that they have built since they started in Nashville with AJ Styles & Abyss being the two team mates of the legends in this tag match. But it still does nothing for me.
As for surprises there are no rumored surprises for this show with the exception of Rob Van Dam signing with TNA. I guess we should assume some sort of Jeff Hardy appearance but really who else could they bring in to shock us? My best guess would be Tommy Dreamer who I don’t believe is done with his 90-day no compete or Paul Heyman. Those two would be decent surprises.
The only other surprises that would make me be shocked would be if The Ultimate Warrior or the “Macho Man” Randy Savage showed up. While it would be cool to see the two in the ring again it would only be worth an appearance rather than a full-time employment. These guys days as stars in the Wrestling business have since long past them and they are only worth the occasional appearance or Hall-of-Fame induction speech (I can’t believe I’m writing that in regards to The Ultimate Warrior).
I expected more out of TNA going into this past Thursday’s show. I get that many TNA faithful feel that I’m writing off TNA lately and may have been writing them off during the show but when you watch a company build itself around making new stars change their philosophy when Hogan & Bischoff came into the picture is just sad to see. This has literally become a sink or swim mentality for TNA right now.
This past Thursday’s show was certainty not an “impact” which isn’t the way you want to head into the Monday Night war. I expected more out of TNA and got way less then I thought I could. To see TNA become a playground for old-timers, legends and Hulk Hogan’s friends to receive a paycheck is just a sad sight to see as we head into the Monday Night Wars II.
Jeff also co-hosts “The Still Real to us show” with Eric Gargiulo which can be available at www.wheelhouseradio.comand 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!”
This past Thursday night, 3-4-10, TNA Wrestling presented their final episode of Thursday night IMPACT before the permanent switch to Monday nights starting this upcoming week! What went down leading into the return of the Monday Night Wars??? Let’s get to the review and find out!
TNA IMPACT this week opened up with the world champ AJ Styles and Ric Flair making there way to the ring. They cut a promo claiming that they wanted to apologize to Hogan for what happened last week. Hogan and abyss came out and stood face to face with them in the ring. Flair offered Hogan some of his ladies but nothing for Abyss and Hogan responded in a pretty hilarious way. He said, “You know something, Flair, I’m not here to bum a cigarette off of you, I don’t want you to buy me a drink, and I don’t want ya’ to loan me one of your hits of Viagara, brother!” I got a kick out of that! Hogan preceded in cutting a passionate promo on how he will prove that he can still go this Monday night! AJ cut into the conversation but was interrupted by Eric Bischoff who booked the main event for this very night which would feature “The Pope” vs. Desmond Wolfe vs. Abyss vs. AJ for the world title! Looked like a great main event! Just was kind of random that the title was thrown in there considering “Pope” already has a shot at AJ for the belt at Lockdown. Overall, the segment between AJ/Flair and Abyss/Hogan did a good job of setting up the big tag match Monday, however I feel there wasn’t enough focus on Abyss and AJ. Too much focus on Flair and Hogan.
Beer Money Defeated Matt Morgan and Hernandez, Generation Me, and The Motor City machine Guns In A Four Way Tag Match
A lot of great, great talent involved here. Great faced paced action on the part of Generation Me and MCMG and well as quality wrestling by the other four men. Most of the match highlighted Beer Money, who will challenge Morgan and Hernandez at Destination X for the tag belts. Friction was made obvious between Hernandez and Morgan. mark my words, this is going to end up just like the Morgan/Abyss feud. Abyss kept costing his team matches much like what is happening with Hernandez. Morgan will go heel and feud with Hernandez like he did with Abyss. Very unoriginal. In the end of the match, Morgan was jaw jacking a bit with Hernandez and got surprised with a superkick courtesy of james Storm for the win. Nice way to put over (in my mind) the new tag champs come Destination X, Beer Money.
Sean Morley Defeated Jeff Jarrett In A No Disqualification Falls Count Anywhere Match
As a way to further the storyline between Jarrett and Bischoff, Bischoff forced Jarrett to assume the responsibilities of the TNA janitor for the evening. He then had Sean Morley attack him in the restroom resulting in this matchup, if you could call it that. Morley basically beat the crap out of Jarrett, predominantly working over Jarrett’s shoulder and then rammed it into the bathroom door for the pin. More of a segment here than a match, much like the “backlot fight” last week between Nash, Young, Hall, and Waltman. Watching this segment brought back some memories of the WWE Hardcore Championship era. In my opinion, TNA should bring in a TNA Hardcore Championship and have hardcore matches like WWE used to have during the attitude era. This would be something to put them ahead of WWE in the Monday Night Wars.
Big Rob Terry (C) Defeated Doug Williams In A Non-Title Match
The X Division Champion vs. The Legends Champion here in a non-title bout. As I’ve stated before, I’m not at all interested in this feud and this match expressed just why. Rob Terry look better than usual here, but he’s nothing out of the ordinary besides his physique. This was nothing but a basic squash with Terry pinning former British Invasion partner Doug Williams with a modified spinebuster. Way to squash the X Division Champion weeks before Destination X TNA! After the match, Brutus Magnus attacked Terry and he and Williams beat him down. They left with their heads held high. We’ll probably see Terry vs. Magnus at Destination X. Ugh!
Up next, Mr. Anderson made his way out to the ring dressed like Kurt Angle. He mocked him in the ring but Kurt soon showed himself and stormed to the ring with purpose! The two engaged into a fist fight but Anderson put himself into the driver’s seat after throwing a soft drink into Angle’s eyes. He gave Angle the Angle Slam, mocked him some more, and left him laying in the center of the ring. Really impressive segment here which was very creative in furthering along what is looking to become a blood feud between these two. Look forward t seeing a classic at Lockdown if they aren’t booked at Destination X first. Wouldn’t mind seeing both to be honest, but waiting until Lockdown would be more of a rare, anticipated pay off!
Earlier in the evening, we saw the Beautiful People attack Angelina love and whip her senseless with a leather belt. Now Angelina came out to the ring and furiously called them out! They soon came out and Angelina beat them all down with a leather belt of her own! The numbers game soon caught up with her and she was once again brutally beaten with the belt. The beating was predominantly dished out by velvet Sky. Expect these two to face at Destination X, Lockdown, or possibly both. Nice feud, but isn’t going to result in the best matches in TNA Knockout’s history either.
Jeff Jarrett Defeated Tomko
Another match made by Bischoff here to further along the Jarrett/Bischoff feud. Pretty short match here, only going about 5 minutes. Very formulaic matchup with Jarrett selling his injured shoulder. Jarrett soon got the win with a surprise sunset flip. Bischoff was shown in frustration in his office. Fair way to further along this storyline. Eventually there will be some sort of matchup where Jarrett is wrestling for his power within the company. Hopefully we don’t see Jarrett and Bischoff wrestle one another though. God forbid!
TNA World Heavyweight Championship: AJ Styles (C) Defeated “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero, Abyss, And Desmond Wolfe
Four great athletes here should have put on a great main event, however this was not the case! Don’t get me wrong, the action was great, but the freaking match ended in five minutes tops! TNA seriously needs to have a lot longer matches come the Monday Night Wars! Especially when it come to main events, not to mention world title matches! Most of the match featured AJ working on The Pope’s injured leg. AJ hooked in the Figure Four and the ref called for the bell for the sake of Pope’s well being. Crappy finish to say the very least! After the match, Wolfe, Flair, and Styles attacked Abyss. Hulk Hogan then came out with a baseball wire bat and cleared the ring of everyone other than Flair. He hit Flair with the baseball bat. Flair bled from the forehead pretty profusely! Great way to take a shot at WWE’s PG rating! Security entered the ring and Hogan beat them up too. Abyss also beat up security. Hogan stood in the ring and told Flair that that’s just an example of what’s going to happen on Monday. Great way to promote for Monday, however once again not enough focus on Abyss and AJ.
Overall, this was a pretty lack luster episode of IMPACT. Way to much talk and not nearly enough wrestling! Hopefully this changes Monday. A few nice segments though including the segment between Anderson and Angle as well as the ending segment between Hogan and Abyss and Flair and AJ. TNA’s major problem now if not enough wrestling on the show. Also, too much focus on the veterans once again. This needs to soon change, and it all needs to start come this Monday night when the Monday Night Wars return!
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.
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This past Thursday night, 2-25-10, TNA Wrestling presented one of their final episodes of Thursday night IMPACT before the full time switch to Monday nights in just a few short weeks! Also, what went down this week as both Destination X and Lockdown are in the horizon? What happened to further the Jeff Jarrett/Eric Bischoff/Mick Foley saga? What next for the blood feud between The Band and Kevin Nash and Eric Young? How about what went down last week with Hulk Hogan giving his Hall of Fame ring to Abyss? What in store for the TNA World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles and Ric Flair? Lets gt to the review and find out!
To start off the evening, The TNA World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles as well as “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair made their way to the ring, and preceded in calling out “The Monster” Abyss, who soon joined them in the center of the squared circle. Flair and AJ verbally berated Abyss, telling him that he didn’t deserve Hulk’s ring. The demanded that he take the ring off but he refused. Then, Hulk Hogan himself came down to the ring, and ran down AJ and Flair. Things soon got heated, the all four men got into position for a fight! When we all though the battle was on, AJ and Flair, being the crafty heels that they truly are, slid out of the ring to the dismay of Abyss and Hogan as well as the fans in attendance at the IMPACT Zone. Nice segment here. Looks like we may see AJ vs. Abyss for the title at Destination X which is fine by me, for these two have had some very good matches in the past, especially their match from Lockdown back in 2005. I really like the push for Abyss, I just wish he’d completely resort back to being a monster rather than a special needs case.
Team 3D Defeated The Nasty Boys In A Tables Match
Nothing remarkable here, although I’ll readily admit that this was much more watchable than their match at Against All Odds. More action outside the ring, which is a huge plus when the Nasty Boys are involved, especially when you consider their age and the shape they’re in. Match went for about 5 minutes. In the end, Jimmy Hart attempted to use the helmet as a weapon, but out came Jesse Neal who grabbed it, threw it to Team 3D who used it and then hit Sags with the 3D through a table for the win. Should have done this at Against All Odds.
ODB Defeated Daffney
Half the match, Tara was shown on a split screen cutting a promo vowing revenge on Daffney. I hate when they interrupt a match with a split screen! Very short match here with Daffney getting disqualified after going berserk on ODB, hitting her in the knee with a broom handle repeatedly. Match was just done for storyline purposes here, furthering the unpredictable character that defines Daffney. Again, her and Tara could potentially have a very entertaining hardcore type of matchup come Destination X and maybe even further their feud into Lockdown.
Up next, Beer Money came out to the ring and cut a promo, putting themselves over as the top tag team in all of professional wrestling. I was hoping this was going to be a separation speech if you will, with both men pursuing their singles careers. This was not so. Hernandez, one half of the TNA World Tag Team Champions, came out and granted Beer Money a title shot for Destination X. Should be a fun match. Later in the evening in a backstage segment, Matt Morgan approached Hernandez and questioned him for giving away the title shot so openly. Friction is starting to build among these two so expect a feud between them come Lockdown. I can almost guarantee Beer Money will win the titles at Destination X because of Hernandez’s fault. Morgan will progressively get more and more frustrated and eventually turn on him. Carbon copy of the Abyss/Morgan feud. Real original!
After this promo, Eric Bischoff made his way to the ring for another. Two in ring promos in a row? Not a smart decision. Anyway, earlier in the evening, Jarrett stormed into Bischoff’s office and was no to happy about what happened last week when Bischoff sent out his goons to beat him down. Bischoff apologized and told Jarrett to meet him in the ring. Jarrett was not very hot on the idea and rightfully so. Jarrett met Bischoff in the ring, theme music and all, and Bischoff took a few moments to put him over, but soon changed his tone when he told Jarrett he was never to disobey his orders, which he did last week when he refused to take out Abyss with the barbed wire baseball bat. Bischoff handed Jarrett a spatula and a hair net, and told him he’d be flipping burgers in catering if he wanted to jeep his job. A little corny, but it worked. Nice way to further along the storyline between these two in the struggle of power in the company Jarrett founded 7 and a half years ago. Can’t wait until Jarrett gets his hands on Bischoff! It’s evident that it’s going to happen in the near future.
Kazarian Defeated Brian Kendrick To Become The Number One Contender For The X Division Championship
Very fun match here, but as one would expect, wasn’t given much more than the standard 5 minutes. TNA needs to seriously consider extending their match lengths for IMPACT. Both men looked good here, with the spotlight placed on Kaz, and rightfully so. It’s about time he comes back as himself and at least gets somewhat of a push! Kaz gets the win with an awesome Flux Capacitor from the very top rope! It’s been way to long since I’ve seen that sucker! Should be a really good match between Doug Williams and Kaz at Destination X for the title. I call Kaz as the new X Champion!
Big Rob Terry (C) Defeated Mr. Anderson To Retain His TNA Global Championship
Before I go any further, I’d just like to express my extreme displeasure with how TNA has marketed the Global Championship. Let’s say Mr. Anderson won the Global Championship. Anderson is from the United States of America! What’s global about that? TNA really dropped the ball with what could have been a great opportunity to bring in international stars and legends like Jushin Thunder Liger, Alex Kozlov, Kenta, Kota Ibushi, The Great Muta, and others. Needless to say, TNA has royally screwed up! Anyway, before this match officially began, Anderson stood on the ramp and further ran down Kurt Angle, bragging about what he did to him last week. In the middle of his rant, Angle arose from the stage behind him, and patiently waited for Anderson to finish his promo with a steel chair in hand! Eventually, Angle could take no more, and cracked the chair over his back! Big Rob threw him into the ring, hit a powerslam, and got the pin to retain his title. Nice segment here to further what promises to be a very intriguing Anderson/Angle feud! On the other hand, Big Rob still does nothing for me.
Up next, Eric Young and Kevin Nash were in the parking lot in pursuit of “The Band”. After meeting up, Young and Pac attack each other. Hall then nailed Nash with a led pipe. Scott Hall then assisted Syxx Pac in the beat-down of Eric Young and took him out with clubbing blows. Hall says it’s nothing personal, just family business, before Syxx Pac kicks Young and they spray paint “4 LIFE” on Eric Young’s back. Real surprise here, eh? Nothing intrigues me about this feud. On the bright side, at least it wasn’t used as the final segment of the night!
“The Monster Abyss” Defeated Desmond Wolfe
Apparently Abyss is coming out to Hulk Hogans old theme music now. A little corny??? Abyss was sporting Hogan’s Hall of Fame ring here, which supposively gives him “super human” strength. Is this professional wrestling or the Superman series??? Abyss basically squashed Wolfe in a few minutes, pinning him with a Black Hole Slam. Last week we see Daniels squashed and this weeks it’s Wolfe??? Come on!!!!! After the match, Flair and Styles ran into the ring. They tried to take Abyss down but nothing worked until Wolfe attacked Abyss with a steel chair shot. Abyss tries to “hulk up” but the numbers game picked up with him when Flair and Styles attacked him from behind. Flair preceded in delivering a low blow and Styles stomps Abyss in the side repeatedly. Flair and Styles beat Abyss in the corner and Wolfe then handcuffed Abyss to the ropes. Predictably, Hulk Hogan ran down to the ring, and cleans house! Soon the numbers game catches up with him as well. Wolfe held him down and Styles throws his own Flair like chops. Styles then knocked Hogan out by driving the World Title into Hogan’s face. Abyss tried to stop them but he was cuffed to the ropes. Flair continued to wait on Hogan’s forehead until he was busted wide open! Abyss stared down at the Hall of Fame ring, and then busted through the cuffs. The heels bailed as Abyss circled the ring. Interesting stuff going on here, however the superhero like gimmick with Abyss is pretty corny. We want “The Monster” back!
After a brief commercial break, Hogan grabbed a mic and says on March 8th, Flair is coming out of retirement. Hogan announced that he is booking him in a match! Hogan proclaimed that Styles is in their and it’s a tag match. That team is going to fight Abyss and his tag team partner. That man is him, Hulk Hogan! Shows ends here. Should be an interesting match. Nice way to put Flair and Hogan in the same ring together while still incorporating the young guys in AJ Styles and Abyss (as corny as his gimmick may be).
Overall, this was a decent episode of IMPACT. There wasn’t nearly, and I mean nearly, enough in ring action on this night, however there were some great segments, including the opening segment, the Angle/Anderson segment, the Jarrett/Bischoff segment was alright, and the final segment was intriguing and a fair way to end the show for once. If only there was quite a bit more actual wrestling on the show. It’s understandable though with the big move to Monday nights coming up in 2 weeks. Hopefully after that things will settle in and TNA will find their niche. Overall, I give this show 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.
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-You know the usual. Let’s go back to April 5, 1992 to the jam packed Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis. This was less than 24 hours after Indiana had been bounced out of the Men’s Final Four by Duke, proving that this isn’t the first time that the Hoosier State has been close to a title and fallen short. Except in 1992, there was no Peyton Manning to yell at his teammates to do exactly as he says, only to throw a lousy interception to a dude who shaves pictures into his hair. Peyton’s like a stuck up prep in some college comedy about slobs vs. snobs. If Super Bowl XLIV was just such a movie, then it would have ended with Peyton Manning getting crushed by a giant keg falling out of an airplane.
-This show is important as it was meant to be the last hurrah for Hulk Hogan, who was going to detoxify—er, retire after this show. As his going away gift, he gets to try and carry Sid Justice to a watchable match. Remind me to never leave WWE. Vince might give me a Corvette with no brakes.
-The show begins with a typical, raspy Vince dub job. Vince missed his calling as the emcee on The Price is Right. “GREG LARSEN, COME ON DDDDDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWN-AHH”.
-Also of note, Ric Flair has promised to show some revealing photos of Miss Elizabeth, should he defeat Randy Savage. Bobby Heenan spends the entire welcoming segment searching for them as Gorilla Monsoon berates him. If you’re ever going to a singles bar, leave Monsoon behind. Sounds like the opposite of a wing man, whatever that may be (Broken-wing-man? Buzzkill? Social malaria?)
-Here to sing America the Beautiful, Reba McIntyre. It’s 1992, and she has some rather prominent mall hair going. By 1992, the northeast had moved away from mall hair and the women were more into straightening theirs (some experimented with the Sean Young/Jamie Lee Curtis short look) while men had moved into rocker mullets (like the Phillies) and mostly simpler styles. Point being: the South is always behind on the times. You saw how long it took em to integrate schools, right?
-To kick things off, El Matador (Tito Santana) and Shawn Michaels. Matador had his furry hat with him that he carried, but never wore. How bad must a hat be when its’s the ONE thing that Santana WON’T sell for? Besides, what was the POINT of this gimmick? I know he’d basically been plain-as-toast Tito Santana for a decade at this juncture, but did they expect the fans to rally behind a bullfighter? My guess is that with neon colors being all the rage, that it was merely an excuse to put a man in green pants and pink boots. It’s like a wrestling piece of produce with that color scheme. Triple H could dress as Gallagher and whack him with the sledge. I’d pay to see it….
-Michaels, however, was oozing stardom about three months into his heel turn. The crowd reaction is mixed, indicating either there was still some residual love for The Rockers, or that Shawn was just so interesting that they really couldn’t boo him. This is, by the way, Sherri’s third WrestleMania in a row that she’s with a different guy. She’d have a different man the following year, too. Was this a social commentary on disloyal women, or just a parody of Missy Hyatt?
-Monsoon says that Helen Keller does Sherri’s make-up. I thought Heenan was supposed to be the callous heel?
-As Matador and Michaels work the mat superbly, I notice that the set-up is kinda similar to WrestleMania III, except with a side aisle. The circumstances are even similar: Savage in a great title match, Hogan has a limited opponent, and nobody cares about Rick Martel’s match.
-Sweet Chin Music! Well, not quite. At this point in canon, it was merely a set up move. The BIG finish? A teardrop suplex. This explains Shawn’s beer gut, as he spent 2 years drinking himself into a stupor, saying “My move is a suplex where I cross my arms under the guys’ CROTCH. OH MY GOD”.
-Michaels manages to win it by reversing a slam into the ring. At this point, I was eight years old and a BIG fan of Shawn’s. When Bobby Heenan said “The star of the nineties, right there”, I nodded. My brother’s friend Dave watched it with us and said, and I’m serious, “I think it’ll be Stunning Steve Austin”. Dave’s also the same man who bought Richard Roundtree’s autograph off of E-Bay for $3.50, but he’s still one of the best friends I’ve ever had. So here’s a shout out for the man.
-To waste some time, the LOD come out for an interview, bringing their old manager Paul Ellering with them. Heenan is flabbergasted to see this somewhat dangerous mind, but Monsoon has no idea who he is. Had he added “I never watched those other crappy promotions!”, he would have been my savior with brownie points to spare. Ellering’s doomsday speech goes over the head of the marks, but sounds really wicked now, especially the line “From the rocking of the cradle to the rolling of the hearse”. Then he would bring in a dummy named Rocco and ruin the fun. Stupid kids entertainment.
-Next up, Jake Roberts will do battle with the Undertaker for the title of “Dennis Hopper’s Favorite Wrestler”. Roberts doesn’t have a snake with him, but does have his uber-eerie heel music. Try listening to it at 3 AM on low volume and see if you don’t feel a bit unnerved.
-A fan has a sign for Taker that reads “For Whom the Bell Tolls”, and I realize that later in the year, he was supposed to feud with Nailz in some “electric chair” matches. Reminds me of “Ride the Lightning”. Can I make wrestling jokes using Metallica’s entire Ride the Lightning album? Probably not, unless there’s a Japanese wrestler named Ktulu that’s flying under my radar.
-I immediately realize that this match was long before Undertaker was any fun. He was just a slow zombie character who didn’t have the submission based offense, nor the opponents to do his swank stand-up power brawls with. Especially not Jake, who’s phoning it in, and not even having the kindness to pay for overnight delivery. I think Jake wanted to be a booker after this show, and there was no spot for him, so he knew he was on his way out and was dogging it badly. Not good.
-Also not good: without Jesse Ventura, there are too many awkward pauses from Heenan, who tries to comprehend too much before speaking, or is at least trying too hard to make jokes. It just detracts from the whole.
-So Undertaker sits up from 2 DDT’s, which is unheard of (until the DDT became a transition move) and Jake goes for the urn from Paul Bearer, but Taker’s on the attack outside the ring. Taker then Tombstones Jake on the concrete. Well, actually, he tombstoned about 4 strands of Jake’s ratty hair, since that’s all that hit the concrete; his head was about nine inches short. It’s a rare time where WWE put the closest camera angle available onto a blown spot. Doesn’t happen often.
-Taker gets the pin on Jake, who passed out from the shame of blowing the finish. Or so I assume. Taker’s now 2-0, with no end in sight. Though next year’s match counted as a loss for anyone who watched it, but we’ll cross that bridge later.
-Backstage, Roddy Piper and Bret Hart do a dual promo before the IC Title match, in which Piper is nuts and Bret is bland. Good to see both stretch from their usual styles for this.
-As Bret Hart makes his entrance, you can hear the squealing of a cassette tape in the early portion of his theme song. Just one more reason that I’m glad we live in this digital age.
-Piper, meanwhile, is wearing a t-shirt promoting WWE’s UK Rampage tour. I thought it was the job of the midcarders to wear the event-specific shirts? You’ll find no better walking billboard in wrestling than Tommy Dreamer.
-While both men build their story with a mix of back-and-forth wrestling and frustrated tactics (spitting, etc), Heenan lets us know that if he was Bret Hart and trying to win, he’d have his agent buy it for him and, if that didn’t work, take Piper out back and waffle him with a tire iron. The Brain hath redeemed himself.
-It should be noted that Piper’s keeping up on the mat with Bret and is holding his own well. Here’s a message to Cena haters: it’s not that Cena CAN’T wrestle. It’s that main eventers in WWE work a “mainstream” style that’s much like a universal language. Cena speaks German, Hunter speaks French, Orton speaks Japanese, let’s say. Whatever English they have in common, they share with each other in communication. It just so happens that guys like Shawn and Jericho are tri-lingual and can communicate with a wider variety of performers. Think of it like that.
-Bret gets busted open off of a Piper left hook, which is actually where Bret blades, unbeknownst to Vince. Five years later, Bret lambasted WWE for becoming too sick, raunchy, and disturbing. Know what’s disturbing? Defying your boss’ anti-blade policy just to create sick drama for your match. Sounds like the Hitman is a hypocrite.
-Funny moment as Piper tumbles to the floor and falls against the rail, and the fan pushes it back into him. I miss the metal railings. So much personality.
-After the ref is bumped, Piper finds himself in a position to destroy Bret and retain his title, and does so by getting the bell. And we all know just how much the Hitman hates ring bells. Heenan exclaims “What the hell, use the bell!”. I think Vince came up with a more memorable slogan than that, actually.
-Piper has a change of heart and discards the bell. A struggle leads to Piper locking on a sleeper hold, and then Bret kicking off the turnbuckles into a complicated rolling pin to regain the gold. Crowd pops huge and Piper does the right thing, embracing Bret and putting the belt on him. Piper’s all, “sorry I was going to hit you with the bell” and Bret’s all “That’s ok, you’re going to be a joke in ten years from drug use” and Piper’s all “That’s ok, I’ll still be in better shape than most of your family” and then Bret said “Why, what have you heard?”
-Meanwhile, we go via satellite to Lex Luger’s house as he prepares to make his WBF debut, which never happened. Jeez, Lex can’t even win the big one in events OUTSIDE of wrestling either. Is it wrong that the entire time the video aired, I was thinking “I wonder if that’s the room Elizabeth died in?”
-Just to gnaw on my nerves, we have a filler eight man tag forthcoming with Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Sgt Slaughter, Big Bossman, and Virgil (wearing a Vinnie del Negro/Rip Hamilton face shield) taking on The Mountie, the Nasty Boys, and Repo Man(!!). The worst part? Ray Combs doing bad, amateur night ring intros for the heels. I think Brian Gewirtz traveled back in time and wrote Combs’ copy, myself. I know I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, but….wait, I always do it anyway. In that case, you suck Combs. There, I feel better.
-This show only has nine matches, and even then they’ve crammed eight men into one match that lasts six minutes. No time for a story here, and Duggan HAS stories to tell. “One time, Iron Sheik and I were on our way to Asbury Park….”
-Saving grace of the match is Big Bossman lifting his knee to prevent a Repo Man sit-down splash, and Repo taking it to the sack. Yep, saving grace, I’m going with that.
-Fortunately, it comes to an end when Brian Knobs gets nailed with the face shield and Virgil del Negro scores the pin. I’d say more, but would you particularly care?
-Meanwhile, Sean Mooney interviews Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect, who are armed with the incriminating photos of Elizabeth. Mean Gene is on post outside Randy Savage’s locker room, though he’s not granting interviews. I think their assignments were backward. I KNOW Mean Gene thinks that. “C’mon, Sean, can’t we switch? I can get the inside on those nudie pix…”
-As expected, Savage goes wild on Flair at the start of the match, fighting for the woman he loves. When Savage is livid (in character), he has no peer. The man can, in storyline, be angry at The Berzerker for stealing his can of Mr. Pibb, and Savage, in the match, can make you believe that the soda meant the world to him by ripping Berzerker piece by piece.
-Other than Savage’s early frenzied pace, it’s a pretty slow build for a match that’s supposed to be intense and full of mind games and wild anger. This is what annoys me about Flair, and Bret was right about it: he tries to dictate the pace himself and do things that make no sense on the fly. In Flair’s book, he criticized Savage for planning things out ahead of time, saying good workers don’t do that. Really? I thought the whole point was to put on a great show for millions of paying fans, not have a pissing contest over who has the better improvisational skills. Those “five star matches” that Flair seems to get accolades for need to be reviewed by people who aren’t leaving their knee prints in the mud.
-Flair blades, and makes it look incredibly obvious, off of a Savage ax handle on the flair. If Flair didn’t spend all of his money on loose women, maybe he could have bought a better blade. And a book on practicing timing.
-Savage drops the big elbow and gets only two, when Perfect pulls Savage to the floor. That’s because Perfect saw that the remaining four matches weren’t any good and wanted to stretch the card out even more. Wise move, Curt.
-After some heel hijinx, Perfect clips Savage’s knee with a chair. I guess you can sense what’s coming. Sidenote: Is Kurt Angle the only wrestler in WWE in the last decade who actively worked a body part to set up his finish? I miss that. You can have Punk work on softening the chin or temple up for the GTS. It’s those little subtleties that make a character work.
-As Savage is in peril, Miss Elizabeth makes her way through the curtain (having figured out the combination to the door Savage locked her behind) and the officials trying to restrain her include…Shane McMahon! I can’t see the scuff marks from where Bret roughed him up the night before for touching his wife. Hey, it’s in the Hitman’s book, read it!
-Figure Four! And the crowd is sensing that Savage is done for. Flair’s got it sunk in, and the chair did the damage. Liz provides the moral support, and the whole scene is crazy. Other than Flair’s match with Vader at Starrcade 1993, Ric’s never had a WCW match that was this emotionally exhausting. Except maybe when Sting beat him for the title. It’s a big reason why WWE has survived so long: they do drama right.
-Flair slaps Savage when he tries to sit up in the hold. Good stuff.
-After Hebner forces the break when Flair’s caught using Perfect for leverage, Ric lands some more knee weakeners, and then woos at Elizabeth, before getting a punch blocked. Savage rolls Flair up and pulls the tights to capture his second WWE Title and letting the Hoosier Dome come unglued. If Savage had done that to Christian Laettner and Grant Hill the night before, he could have been elected governor.
-Afterward, an irate Flair kisses Elizabeth and then gets MAULED by Savage. Hot angle to end the match, though the promised centerfold never comes to light. No wonder nobody ever gave this match the full five stars.
-Both men have words afterward. Flair’s are exceptional, as he remains calm, albeit bleeding, while Perfect and Heenan go nuts at his side. He promises revenge in an eerie and metered tone. Savage, meanwhile, is a limping wreck, as he hands Elizabeth his title and basically promises to kill Flair for kissing his wife. Randy’s eyes during the promo are a sight to behold. If I backed into his car and he made that face at me, I’m driving off, leaving-the-scene charges be damned.
-At this point, I am advised to inform you that any goodness from this show has passed. A couple of four star matches, a fine opener, and a memorable Taker/Roberts match have given way to a remainder that is lacking in both quality and fun. If you wish to turn away now, you may do so. If not, then brace yourself for a wave of sarcasm and mockery that’ll erode the shorelines of merriment.
-Up next, Tatanka and Rick Martel, who had outlived his usefulness a year earlier. He does work in a “reservations” joke to take us back to the 1960’s when the joke was considered edgy. For an encore, Martel ‘s going to the sock hop later to spike the punch bowl with a foreign tonic. Oh, that darn Martel!
-Before the match, members of the Lumbee Indian Tribe perform a ritual dance inside the ring. I’m actually thrilled to see WWE do something cultural for a change. Of course, two years later, IRS would destroy Tatanka’s sacred headdress, so I’ll take anything that I can get.
-Sadly, the match is rather vanilla, and it stood no chance of holding the crowd’s interest after the roller coaster of a match that Savage and Flair just had. Maybe they should have made this match no DQ. Wouldn’t it be fun to see Tatanka and Martel wailing away on each other with tomahawks and war drums? The tribesmen have them at ringside, so why not?
-Tatanka wins it with a cross body. If that move were any more vanilla, it would have been drafted #18 overall by the Utah Jazz. Or maybe the Pacers would have snatched it up to give Tyler Hansbrough somebody to watch Cake Boss with. Let’s just move on.
-Now for the final title match of the eve, as Money Inc defend the gold against the Natural Disasters. Here’s what I never understood: why would a millionaire who is greedy and obsessed with picking on the lower class, why would he associate with a zealous tax collector who makes everyone hand over their hard earned money? Did IRS cut Ted Dibiase a deal to not go after him? Did Dibiase just have so much wealth that he didn’t care how much went to IRS, because he’d always have plenty left? Did I overthink this idea way too much? The jury’s still out on the aforementioned.
-Wait I figured it out: it was just a ploy to give Dibiase a legit title for once. Works for me.
-Double noggin knocker by Typhoon on the champs. Notice how heels never do double noggin knockers? Must be a law.
-I have to admit, I laugh every time someone steps on IRS’ necktie, and Heenan cries “He’s stepping on his tongue!”. I have no idea why it’s so funny. Maybe it’s the absurdity of the line. This match is really dragging, because fat hosses can’t do peril spots against smaller workers. Who’s going to buy Earthquake or Typhoon struggling to overcome Money Inc?
-IRS eats the Typhoon splash, and the Earthquake is teased, but Dibiase pulls IRS out and the champs walk away for the count out loss while the Disasters stood there like idiots. Biggest show of the year, yessiree.
-Brutus Beefcake is sad to see Hogan go. Good luck finding someone else who needs a sycophant there, Bruti.
-Here’s the next match: Skinner spits tobacco chaw into Owen Hart’s eyes, Owen kicks out of the gator breaker, and skins the cat to pin Skinner with a cradle. There, saved you a full minute. That’s the third time in four years that match before the main event lasted less than two minutes. Lazy booking? Can’t be! On a fun note, Carlito proved that he basically stole his shtick from Skinner, although his is less gross.
-Sid Justice taunts Hulk Hogan backstage and calls Mean Gene a “bald headed oaf”. Hey, let’s give Sid some credit. He didn’t accidentally call HIMSELF a bald headed oaf, you know.
-So here we go, the original “last hurrah” for the Hulkster, as he beats up Sid before the bell and throws him to the floor while “Real American” is still playing. I’d hate to think that that’s where New Jack lifted the idea from, but it’s a funny concept.
-The match wasn’t going to be slow enough, so Hogan and Sid have a test of strength, and it goes just like the Hogan-Warrior version, except with less interest than a corrupt bank. Hogan had definitely peaked and was going downhill in a hurry.
-Sid hits Hogan with a doctor’s bag, which is something I don’t say every day. What was the point of Sid being managed by Harvey Whippleman? What was the point of WHIPPLEMAN? What is he doing anywhere near the main event of WrestleMania? I’m grasping at straws here.
-Sid takes time to talk to the camera during the main event of the biggest show of the year. Not an offhand comment, mind you, but a full Shakespearian monologue where he rattles off the foods he’s eaten in the last thirty days. It’s going to take something big to save things here, but you know….we just might get it….
-Sid applies a nerve pinch, and THAT should end it. Just once, the main event of WrestleMania should end with a nerve pinch, just to see how people react. Unless Daniel Bryan made HHH submit to one, then in which case it would be lauded as a “brilliant move”.
-Hogan inexplicably breaks free of the nerve hold, but soon after eats the power bomb. BUT HOGAN KICKS OUT! I have no idea WHY Hulk’s retiring. He can no sell deadly finishers as good in 1992 as he did in 1985, if not better! Must be an outside force driving him away.
-So Hogan gets the usual sequence followed by the Leg Drop, but Sid has to kick out because the interfering Papa Shango missed his cue. Hey, pimpin’ ain’t easy, and apparently pulling off a simple run-in isn’t either.
-So after Whippleman causes the DQ, Hogan gets double teamed by Hoss and Hosser, until Ultimate Warrior (gone for seven months at this point) makes a surprise return, hitting the ring and saving Hogan. The two men celebrate, and Hogan’s basically handed the torch to Warrior again. Will Jim Hellwig drop the burning ember yet again? What do you think? Man, if Warrior never runs in here, then it’s a sour ending. As it is, it’s just “merely bad”.
-CYNIC SAYS: Well then. Seems that Vince did a lousy job stacking this card, didn’t he? Through Savage-Flair, you were looking at the greatest WrestleMania ever up to that point. It was almost flawless? Then the second half sank like a bale of ICO-PRO being jettisoned off of a drug raft. If this was Hogan’s sendoff, then was this the best that they could do? It clearly wasn’t the end for Hulk, and he provided many more great memories in later years, but it just felt so flat here. At least let the man who made millions for you pin Sid clean, right?
It’s a thumbs up show on the merit of all that was good, because what was good was GREAT. It’s enough to make it worth a watch, but keep those expectations low when you reach the climax.
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.
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I realize that as I write this there is probably thousands of blogs floating around the World Wide Web regarding their own personal thoughts on last night’s first official shot to the restart of the Monday Night Wars in the world of wrestling. For what it’s worth it really wasn’t anything extremely special unless you don’t read any internet reports or even camelclutchblog.com as Rob Van Dam showed up on TNA Impact. Besides that it was very little bang in both shows that made us go “the Monday Night Wars are back!”
Here we are in 2010 just hours away from the second 
I watched TNA Impact this past Thursday night to prepare myself for “
This past Thursday night, 3-4-10, TNA Wrestling presented their final episode of Thursday night IMPACT before the permanent switch to Monday nights starting this upcoming week! What went down leading into the return of the Monday Night Wars??? Let’s get to the review and find out!
-You know the usual. Let’s go back to April 5, 1992 to the jam packed Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis. This was less than 24 hours after Indiana had been bounced out of the Men’s Final Four by Duke, proving that this isn’t the first time that the Hoosier State has been close to a title and fallen short. Except in 1992, there was no Peyton Manning to yell at his teammates to do exactly as he says, only to throw a lousy interception to a dude who shaves pictures into his hair. Peyton’s like a stuck up prep in some college comedy about slobs vs. snobs. If Super Bowl XLIV was just such a movie, then it would have ended with Peyton Manning getting crushed by a giant keg falling out of an airplane.
