PWTORCH.COM
VIP SIGN-UP JUMP TO VIP
CONTACT US VISIT MMA TORCH




Select Next Article by Category





TAKE PWTORCH
WITH YOU!

PWTORCH IPHONE APP
Get our iPhone App (FREE!): Click Here
Or enter "PWTorch.com" on your Blackberry or other Smart Phone browser for mobile-version of PWTorch.


The Specialists
9/27 TNA Impact Hitlist: Tag Matches, Women's Match, End of the Show
Sep 28, 2007 - 3:15:03 PM


By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

IMPACT HITS

James Mitchell: Impact got off to a good start this week with the promo from James Mitchell as he walked with Judas Mecias and Jeremy Borash. It was nice to see Mitchell back after being absent from Impact the last few weeks. In addition to being the strong promo that we’ve come to expect from Mitchell, the opening segment also nicely set up the focus of the show, as he challenged Sting to confront Mecias. That led to Borash’s various failed attempts during the show to find Sting, all leading up to the ultimate confrontation when Sting attacked Mecias and they brawled to the ring. It was a nice set up to start the show.

Rave & Hoyt vs. Motor City Machine Guns: This was the match of the night. I was surprised by two things. One, Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin actually got the win. Two, the match went about a minute longer than the comedy tag match from earlier in the show. Those were nice surprises. There was more athleticism in this one match than anything we see from Impact most weeks, and certainly the rest of this week. I was sitting there thinking that it would be nice to have some explanation as to who Jimmy Rave is and why he is teaming with Lance Hoyt? Then, the announcers actually talked about Rave’s background, listing his age, number of years as a professional wrestler, his previous stint in TNA, and his recent work in Japan. That was a nice way to introduce him to the fans. They didn’t address why he is teaming with Hoyt, but you can’t ask for too much. All in all, it was a good tag match, with a lot of energy. Having dissension between Hoyt & Rave and their manager Christy Hemme on their first Impact match is too much too soon, but I guess I have come to expect that from TNA.

IMPACT MISSES

Team 3D vs. Dutt & Shark Boy: My first problem with this match is that at least in the last few weeks, Shark Boy has been teaming with Eric Young. That was random enough, but at least starting to become established. So now why is he randomly teaming with Sanjay Dutt? There were some nice moments in the match, but it was mostly a comedy match that wasn’t very funny. Once again, TNA has Heavyweight wrestlers destroying two X-Division wrestlers. I don’t mind them going for a different style of match than the faster paced more athletic tag match discussed above. The problem was that it just wasn’t funny and ultimately was a waste of time.

TNA Text Question: The TNA text poll questions are bad enough when they give the fans a vote of who they think is going to be doing whatever, and they include huge non-TNA stars on the list like Goldberg or Brock Lesnar. Now they had this lame question about whether there should be an automatic rematch clause in the Sting vs. Kurt Angle World Title Match at Bound For Glory. It seemed like the vote would be binding, but that wasn’t clear. Is this something that fans really care enough about to text a vote? Maybe so, but it would surprise me.

VKM: Right after Borash announced the TNA text question, the segment got worse when he was joined by the Voodoo Kin Mafia. These guys keep changing their character. They go from heel to face to heel to face and now back to heel so quickly that it would be hard to care about them even if I wanted to. They complained about getting looked over, but they should be looked over considering the other talent on the roster. Although considering teams like Team 3D are not looked over, maybe they have a point. They talked about no more fun and games, but then they are still involved with their voodoo princess Roxxi Leveaux, which is not they way to go if they want to be taken seriously. I don’t mind the new attitude and talking bad about the fans, but bringing up terms like marks just doesn’t mean anything to most casual fans.

5-Way Knockout Match: This match actually had some decent in ring action. But I was very confused by the stipulation that only the winner would get to be in the 10 Knockout match at Bound For Glory to crown the first ever TNA Women’s Champion. That means that TNA has 9 other Knockouts without these 5? That is hard to believe. Shouldn’t 4 of these women be in that match? And the one who shouldn’t is the one who won! That means that Gail Kim won’t be in the match. Neither will Jackie Moore. I feel really bad for Christy Hemme as the Women’s Division was her idea several months ago, and because she wanted to be treated as more than eye candy, she became a heel, and now won’t even be in the match to crown the first Champion. The match itself was not enough to make me look forward to the Women’s Division.

NOTE: I have received multiple emails pointing out that my interpretation of this stipulation for this match is incorrect. The stipulation was actually to determine which woman would get to enter the match 10th after the other 9 have already entered. I have rewatched it and see my mistake. But they did keep saying that this was to determine the 10th entrant in the match, which I took to mean the 10th participant. I stand by the fact that it was still very confusing. They have not done a good job of explaining the rules of the Gauntlet match. In fact, one of my emailers thought that the Gauntlet match was like a WWE style Gauntlet match where two women start and have a 1 on 1 match and then after a fall another comes out, and then another. In other words, he thought that it was a series of 1 on 1 matches. Instead, I am pretty sure that a TNA Gauntlet is the equivalent of a WWE Royal Rumble where it is elimination by being thrown over the top rope. Clearly there is confusion here. Clearly TNA has not done a good job of explaining the rules to the match. They have never announced the women who would be involved (at least never on Impact) and they never said this week that all of these women are in the match. TNA created this confusion. I was wrong in my interpretation, and am glad because it makes more sense to have all these women at Bound For Glory. But they need to do a better job of not confusing the audience.

End of the Show: Impact had too much going on at the end of show. Before the final commercial, Sting jumped Mecias. Then it cut to break. After the break, the brawl continued as they fought to the ring. Predictably, Kurt Angle got involved as Karen stood by watching (no mention of her going to jail). Predictably, Rhino came out next to even the odds, still with no explanation as to why he is involved with Mecias. And we get the customary Don West silly statement that Judas Mecias brings out the best in Rhino. I don’t even know what he is talking about. Then, after missing one whole week after the terrible beat down he received, out walks Abyss. I hope TNA remembers the next time that Impact ends with a very bloody Abyss that it makes more sense to keep him away for more than just one week in order to sell the beat down. There was just too much going on, and Mecias is involved with too many other wrestlers to have any one of his feuds mean anything.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's Hitlist Specialist, providing his point of view in the Torch's hitlist format for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and TNA Impact each week. Email him at jmezz-torch@sbcglobal.net.

Comment on this Article Below

(CLICK FOR COMMENTS RULES OR TO REPORT ABUSE)
[an error occurred while processing this directive]

(CLICK FOR COMMENTS RULES OR TO REPORT ABUSE)

ALSO DISCUSS MORE SUBJECTS IN OUR PWTORCH FREE FORUM

For more BREAKING NEWS on WWE, TNA!
VISIT OUR AFFILIATE - PROWRESTLING.NET


For UFC NEWS & BLOGS:
VISIT OUR SISTER SITE - MMATORCH.COM

Upgrade to PWTORCH VIP: DETAILS & SIGN-UP INFO


MORE "The Specialists" ARTICLES
CHARACTER MATTERS: Why The Game Doesn't Play with Me - The Flaws of Triple H's On-Air Persona
ABSURDITY OF IT ALL - 7/2 TNA Impact: Kurt Angle saw "The Hangover," Stacker2, A.J. Styles Eats a Lot of Cookies, Stacker2, Jeff Jarrett Has the Power of Flight
HITS & MISSES - TNA IMPACT 7/2: Kevin Nash's sit-down, Kurt Angle Plays the Game, Matt Morgan a Hit?, Samoa Joe muted, Bad acting, Raven MIA
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE - TNA Impact 7/2: Paging Dr. Wayne Cowan, look at all those tag team titles, cool stats for wresters in debut matches in WWE vs. TNA
7/2 WWE Superstars Hits & Misses: Santino, Reks, Edge vs. Punk
DEROSENROLL's ROH HISTORY: Classic Feuds v.6 - C.M. Punk vs. ROH
6/30 ECW Hits & Misses: A Look at the Total Re-Launch of ECW
ABSURDITY OF IT ALL - 6/30 ECW TV: You See, Stereotyping People Put Smiles On Faces
ABSURDITY OF IT ALL: Mark Henry Returns From His Time Machine, Monday Night Raw Wants To Be Like Saturday Night Live, Why "Proven Commodity" Reigns Supreme
6/29 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: McMahon's Announcement, Miz vs. Cena, MVP vs. Triple H, Gauntlet
MAYER'S BLOG: Analyzing the "Re-Draft" - ECW is only supposed to be pillaged once per year, Looking at where Swagger, Hardy, Benjamin fit in
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE - 6/29 WWE Raw: Raw Trade Players to be Named Later, Spellchecking Signs, A closer look at Lilian Garcia, Can Big Show really bench press a VW?
ABSURDITY OF IT ALL - Wrestling Burnout, Suge Knight Shares Foxhole with Vince McMahon, Feuds That Won't Go Away, Yoda Teaches Young Skywalker About "The Cena"
PARKS BLOG: The Bash Hangout Report - Quick Reaction to Rey vs. Jericho, Hunter vs. Orton stretcher job, Miz's clean loss, McCool & Taker
NEWTH'S STORYLINE ANALYSIS - As The Bash airs, get analysis on how WWE handled the Punk-Hardy rivalry leading into the PPV
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE - 6/26 WWE Smackdown: No good reason why McMahon was on SD, Name Game History of The Bash, English please, The Crusher
GARDNER'S KEY MOMENT OF THE WEEK: Randy Orton vs. Triple H given away on commercial-free TV
6/27 Awesome Independent Wrestling Show: Featuring PN News, Mastino, Matt Morgan, Alex Shelley, and Homicide
6/26 WWE Smackdown Hits & Misses: McMahon - Long, Truth vs. Benjamin, Morrison vs. Punk, Rage in the Cage
HITS & MISSES - TNA IMPACT 6/25: Kurt Angle and Eric Young money promos, Beer Money vs. Steiner & Booker, Gimmick match overload

(c) 1999-2009 TDH Communications Inc. - All rights reserved.

QUICK CLICK REFERENCE LISTING
-CLICK TO FOLLOW PWTORCH ON TWITTER!
-CLICK FOR OUR FREE PWTORCH IPHONE APP

-CLICK FOR OUR FREE PODCAST (#1 in iTunes!)
-CLICK TO GET INFO ON BECOMING A VIP MEMBER
-CLICK TO VISIT MMATORCH.COM
-CLICK TO VISIT PROWRESTLING.NET

-CLICK TO EMAIL PWTORCH EDITORS


PWTORCH READER POLL

FOURTH OF JULY POLL: What's your favorite July 4th "gimmick" in pro wrestling?
The Great American Bash
The Bash
Consequences Creed
Independent wrestling
The Patriot Del Wilkes
Hacksaw Jim Duggan
Mr. USA Tony Atlas
U.S. Title
USWA promotion
Babyface Sgt. Slaughter
Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle
Lex Luger bodyslams Yokozuna
USA Network
  

VOTE IN OR SEE RESULTS OF PREVIOUS POLLS


ARE YOU VIP? SIGN UP NOW FOR $7.50 A MONTH FOR INSTANT ACCESS TO AD-FREE, BENEFIT-PACKED VIP VERSION OF PWTORCH.COM (see screen capture)
PWTORCH VIP HOME PAGE

INFO ON SUBSCRIPTION TO AD-FREE VIP SITE

INCREDIBLE BENEFITS!
Over 50 full-length audio updates per month (iPod compatible)... New weekly award-winning Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter (text and printable pdf versions) with latest exclusive insider news, new Torch Talks, great columns, Keller's cover story, much more... Hundreds of full-length back issues of PWTorch Newsletter from late-'80s to today... Ad-free access to PWTorch.com's Main Listing... VIP Forum with interaction with other subscribers and Torch staff... Torch Talk Library with text and audio of hundreds of interview installments from last 20 years... Great layout... Deepest archives on pro wrestling history anywhere... Keller's PWTorch Today PDF Bulletins with email alerts... VIP Email reports on major PPVs and TV shows... Staff Roundtable Reviews (text and audio) followiing major events... The best staff of writers and world class reporting since 1987... We'd love for you to join us and experience the most entertaining, authoritative, experienced staff of professional reporters and commentators in the business...

SIGN ME UP NOW!

Compare the value of four or five months of PWTorch VIP content to the price of just one PPV. Can you cut 25 cents a day from your budget to make room for PWTorch VIP?

AND NEW FOR 2009!
Monthly "Vintage Audio Torch Talks." We are releasing for the first time ever audio versions of our text Torch Talk updates, the historical first series of insider interviews ever. Wade Keller's newsmaking in-depth interviews with wrestling's biggest names are now being made available exclusively to VIP members. But you must be a member each month, as these are not archived, so they are replaced with a new one each month! This debuted in January 2009 with a 68 minute interview with the late "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith. Who's next? Hulk Hogan? Eric Bischoff? The Rock? Goldberg? Jeff Hardy?

SIGN ME UP NOW!


UPCOMING EVENTS LISTING

Articles Grouped by Category
Torch Today
FOURTH OF JULY: Fun facts from the Great American Bash 10 & 20 years ago
TORCH MONTHLY AWARD VOTING: Polls OPEN for best/worst in pro wrestling from the month of June (Part 2 of 2)
TORCH MONTHLY AWARD VOTING: Polls OPEN for best/worst in pro wrestling from the month of June (Part 1 of 2)
WWE News
WWE News: Jeff Hardy contract status update, Hardy's future to be decided soon
TNA News: TNA video game franchise without a home after Midway Games bought out; Analysis of interesting domino effect involving WWE
WWE News: Jerry Brisco's heart surgery postponed again, update on his health
TNA News
TNA News: Latest episode of the Spin Cycle with Sting, Jarrett, Cornette, Foley greatness (w/VIDEO)
TNA News: TNA video game franchise without a home after Midway Games bought out; Analysis of interesting domino effect involving WWE
TNA News: Sting talks Shockmaster with Jeff Jarrett, Jim Cornette (w/VIDEOS)
ROH News
ROH News: Lance Storm's first match out of retirement announced, details on second match against Chris Hero
ROH News: Notes on Toronto Gauntlet match, Nigel McGuinness below-average performances into storyline, ROH selling PWG DVDs
TOP FIVE STORIES - Weekend edition: Three WWE PPV title changes, WWE announcer leaving, Lashley blasts Sapp, Jerry Lawler's son arrested, "State of TNA" address
Other News
Other News: Torch Talk All-Star Lanny Poffo Video interview, great poem on taking out Hulk Hogan
Other News: Brian Blair denies hitting his children in Father's Day Fight; local news runs 911 call leading to arrest (w/VIDEO)
Other News: New clip of Rob Van Dam doing a stunt for his upcoming movie (w/VIDEO)
PPV Reports
THE BASH PPV COVERAGE: Listing of the Torch's WWE PPV coverage - Title changes, Jericho writes on Rey match, Miz on Cena match
RADICAN'S WWE THE BASH PPV BLOG 6/28: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Orton vs. Hunter PPV
CALDWELL'S WWE THE BASH PPV REPORT 6/28: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Orton vs. Triple H, Punk vs. Hardy
TV Reports
PARKS' WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 7/3: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of the show, including Punk & Jeff Hardy vs. Jericho & Edge
WWE News: Preview for tonight's Smackdown - Mysterio vs. Kane and Edge & Jericho vs. Punk & Jeff Hardy
PARKS' TNA IMPACT REPORT 7/2: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of the show, including Team 3D vs. Booker & Steiner
Arena Reports
7/3 WWE in San Diego, Calif.: First-hand report on Edge's apparent injury, Punk vs. Rey Mysterio, Ricky Steamboat in action
6/27 ROH in Chicago: Austin Aries vs. Nigel McGuinness, KENTA vs. Black, Petey Williams looks odd, Crowd eats up Flair's generic promo
6/28 PWG in California: Joey Ryan vs. Necro Butcher, Davey Richards vs. Young Buck, Michael Jackson entrance themes
MMA / UFC Coverage
UFC News: Kimbo Slice, Rampage Jackson, Rashad Evans plus rest of cast of TUF 10 to be revealed...
UFC - ENNIS COLUMN: The Lay of the Lane - A look at MMA's top heavyweights from Brock to Mir to Carwin to Fedor to...
MMA: Plan a week of UFC and other MMA viewing with the Torch's viewer's guide including Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva
KELLER'S TAKE
KELLER: How bookers, like Jeff Jarrett last night, show that they're the toughest SOBs in the world
KELLER'S TNA IMPACT TAKE 7/2: Thoughts, observations, nitpicks, and quotebook
KELLER'S ECW ON SCI-FI REPORT 6/30: Results, star ratings, thoughts, observations, nitpicks, and quotebook
MITCHELL'S TAKE
MITCHELL SHORT: WWE Proving Once Again That Life is Easy...
MOJO MITCHELL'S 6/29 Raw Stream Of Randy Orton Faces ECW and Loses and That's The Main Event
Mitchell Short: Your Thank-You Note to WWE
MCNEILL'S TAKE
The Names Have Been Changed To Protect The Buyrates: McNEILL Previews WWE Bash 2009!
Redemption: McNEILL previews TNA Slammiversary 7!
MCNEILL BLOG: A Modest Proposal For Monday Night Trump
CALDWELL'S TAKE
CALDWELL: Analysis of WWE's roster shuffle from the 15-person trade - who benefited, which brand needs help
CALDWELL: Instant Reaction to key storylines on Raw and post-PPV developments
CALDWELL: WWE Smackdown/The Bash PPV analysis - Don't Mess with C.M. Punk's dynamic character
RADICAN'S TAKE
RADICAN: Torch readers sounds off on Mark Henry's shining moment on Raw (w/Radican Reax)
RADICAN: Mark Henry's shining moment on Raw leaves a bad smell in the room
RADICAN: A follow up on the Death Before Dishonor audio with Feinstein with notes on Special K angle, Punk-Raven feud, where's Misawa now?
The Specialists
CHARACTER MATTERS: Why The Game Doesn't Play with Me - The Flaws of Triple H's On-Air Persona
ABSURDITY OF IT ALL - 7/2 TNA Impact: Kurt Angle saw "The Hangover," Stacker2, A.J. Styles Eats a Lot of Cookies, Stacker2, Jeff Jarrett Has the Power of Flight
HITS & MISSES - TNA IMPACT 7/2: Kevin Nash's sit-down, Kurt Angle Plays the Game, Matt Morgan a Hit?, Samoa Joe muted, Bad acting, Raven MIA
Guest Editorials
EDITORIAL: Historical perspective on Austin Aries's ROH Title victory - his journey from main event to mid-card back to main event
EDITORIAL: TNA needs to K.I.S.S. the King of the Mountain match to make it more appealing to TNA viewers
EDITORIAL: How WWE could have better handled the Vickie-Edge segment on Raw and caught up with the year 2009
Torch Feedback
Smackdown TV Reax #1: "Fresh match-ups, superstars, and storylines just create great TV"
Thursday Night TV Reax - SS/Impact: "X Division, we hardly knew ya after Abyss beat up the only two representatives who showed up"
ECW TV Reax #2: "Yoshi is already on the road to being the next Funaki at this point"
Ask the Editor
Ask the Editor: Wouldn't incorporating MMA-style holds into pro wrestling matches just be trying to be something it's not?
ASK THE EDITOR: Have the Michaels-Batista promos crossed a line with use of insider terms, references to "jobs"?
ASK THE EDITOR: Why do wrestlers in WWE refer to wrestling as "the business" and not "the sport"?
DVDs - VGames - Books
RADICAN'S ROH DVD REVIEW SERIES: 2/7 "Proving Ground: Night 2" (Danielson-Generico, Steen-Richards)
RADICAN'S TORCH DVD REVIEW SERIES: YouShoot with Sabu: Sabu opens up about working in WWE, incident with Kurt Angle, negotions with TNA, more...
RADICAN'S PWTorch DVD review: The Best of RVD TV Vol. 1: RVD trains MMA with a UFC fighter, talks the power of the mind with The Ultimate Warrior, discusses love on a beach with Samoa Joe
Torch Flashbacks
KELLER'S TNA IMPACT REPORT (5 Yrs. Ago): Eric Young headlines, Jerry Lynn, R-Truth, Dusty Rhodes, Sabu, A.J. Styles, Jarrett, D-Ray 3000!
OWEN HART 10 YRS. AGO: Bruce Mitchell Feature Column - The Fluke Death of Owen Hart - May 23, 1999
OWEN HART 10 YRS. AGO: Torch Newsletter #550 cover story on Owen Hart's death (PART TWO) - May 23, 1999
VIP Exclusive Features
7/4 Bruce Mitchell Audio Show, part two: The Vickie Guerrero Injustice, Torrie Disrespect, Jericho Laments Schedule, Wrestler Twitters Going Too Far, Punk's Surprising Hardy Comment, TNA's Ho-Hum Kidnapping of Lauren (76 min.)
7/4 Wade Keller Hotline - The News: Edge Injured, Jeff Hardy's Uncertain Future, WWE PPV Strategy, Wrestling on FX? (19 min.)
7/4 VIP East Coast Audio - Smackdown: Punk-Hardy great exchange, Rey loses to Kane, Dolph and Maria an item? (40 min.)
Torch Trivia
TORCH TRIVIA 2/28: Which wrestler backed out of a WWA PPV in February 2002?
TORCH TRIVIA 2/27: Who said this quote about Hulk Hogan's athleticism 11 years ago?
TORCH TRIVIA 2/25: What said this quote about WWE's mid-1990s drug testing policy?
Torch Instant Polls
FOURTH OF JULY POLL: What's your favorite July 4th "gimmick" in pro wrestling?
7/3 SMACKDOWN MICROSCOPE POLL: What related topic from tonight's Smackdown do you want to see analyzed Under the Microscope?
TNA IMPACT POLL: Who was the MVP of the 7/2 episode if you saw the show?
PWTorch Free Podcast
6/23 Nostalgia Audio with Brian Hoops: Former WCW rapmaster PN News joins Brian Hoops to preview upcoming Midwest shows (10 min.)
FREE AUDIO: Keller & Mitchell Discuss Randy Savage's Place in WWE History, Elizabeth's Strengths and Weaknesses
FREE FOR ALL TODAY - 5/31 Keller Hotline: Tons of info on Kennedy situation, immediate future, plus what top star's days in TNA are numbered, what's working against Kennedy getting big push in TNA, much more
Annual Obituaries
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 1999 - Muchnick, Rick Rude, Owen Hart, Renegade...
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 2000 - Solie, Albright, Duncum, Tsuruta, Blue Demon, Al Costello
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 2001: Johnny Valentine, Terry Gordy, Chris Adams, Bertha Faye, Helen Hart