Select Next Article by Category
WE ARE A PROUD UGO AFFILIATE SINCE 1999

Support Our Sponsor: PWI!
===========================
CHECK OUT OUR AFFILIATE WRESTLING NEWS SITE - THE FASTEST GROWING PRO WRESTLING SITE IN 2008! (click on logo)

|
The Specialists
4/3 TNA Impact Hits & Misses: Lockdown hype, Angle/Steiner, Monsters of Rock, & more!
Apr 4, 2008 - 1:15:00 AM |
|
Mike Roe, Torch Specialist
TNA Impact Hits
Kurt Angle promo: This was pretty awesome, though I think the race baiting may have been unnecessary. His confrontation with Steiner was also absolutely fantastic. We're finally getting the payoff to that stupid briefcase storyline, and it's actually looking to be in a meaningful situation, not just a throwaway TV match. However, there is a miss associated with this, so look below for more...
Matt Morgan reveal: While I have mixed feelings about Morgan in general, I did think that the reveal was well executed. It seems inconsistent with his character, though, so I'm hoping they have an explanation up their sleeves. I'm not holding my breath, though.
AJ Styles & Tomko vs. Rhino & Christian Cage: The athletic highlight of the show. It's said after pretty much every one of his matches, but AJ is just so graceful and sharp in the ring. The fact that he hasn't been put in the position to be a real money player is tragic, but they have actually handled him better recently, and they have defined his character better. Tomko continues to be cooler than us all, though he's lost some momentum, and I think their failure to pull the trigger on turning him face when he was really peaking is going to keep him from being as hot a babyface when they do finally turn him. Christian continues to be the guy who's good, but doesn't need to draw all the attention to himself, helping make everyone else he works with look that much better. Rhino's character still needs a little something extra other than just being a recovering drunk, as right now, the only times he's really that interesting is when he's working with James Storm.
Rough Cut: I've really enjoyed these Rough Cut segments. I'd like to see them do more of these realistic style promos in the future. It's the modern version of the traditional sitdown interview. They need to be careful in not letting it become too Russo shoot promo style, but they've remained focused enough on the storylines that it has worked.
Samoa Joe training clip: A fun segment that made you feel like he's going to bring it and absolutely kill Kurt Angle. I liked the interspersed clips of Kurt Angle working out, and would have liked to see more of that during this build. Joe cut a good promo without yelling in our faces the whole time as well.
TNA Impact Misses
Promoting Kurt Angle versus Scott Steiner: This is a match for the Sacrifice pay-per-view. You may have noticed that there's another pay-per-view before that called Lockdown. All I could think after watching this was that I didn't want to see Lockdown, I just wanted to see Kurt Angle versus Scott Steiner. It also made me want to root against Joe at the pay-per-view, as I want to see this title match, and Angle losing would mean this wouldn't happen. Nice job reverse selling Lockdown, TNA!
Mike Tenay sitdown interview with Kong and her handler: Case in point about my earlier point regarding the evolution of pretape promos. Not that there aren't situations where they can work, but it certainly didn't work here. The idea of Amazing Kong, this monster who destroys other women, sitting down for an interview is absurd in the first place. Then you have the awful stilted promos by her handler that aren't quite bad enough to be comical, thus making them just bad and boring. You also have Mike Tenay making his stern face, and giving us all this exposition about the rules set out for the interview. Not good.
Crossing the Line: So what's with the stupid new catchphrase? And aren't catchphrases supposed to be, you know, catchy? I was particularly annoyed by that opening video package trying to talk about lines in every conceivable context, with none of it making any sense. I miss "We are wrestling." With Impact, kind of a lie a lot of the time, but at least that was something you could get behind.
Team Cage shirts: Could they at least have gotten Christian a shirt that fit? Christian looked like a little kid wearing his dad's clothes. The generic Team Cage shirts were pretty cheesy. Hopefully they get some slicker looking gear by the pay-per-view. I realized this was even dumber during the main event, as it said "TEAM CAGE" in the same ugly block font on the front and the back of these stupid shirts. What a great job looking like stars, guys!
The Monsters of Rock: I actually thought this was a kind of fun idea. The monsters are totally absurd and spend most of their time feuding with Eric Young, so why not go all the way and pair them up with the show's other goofy heel tag team and make them the Monsters of Rawk! They then go on to lose their match, briefly try to get their heat back afterwards, but then get beat up by Eric Young in a superhero costume. I think this officially puts their credibility level somewhere below that of Shark Boy and Curry Man.
Crystal: Her pretend trying to come up with the name of Consequences Creed was one of my least favorite moments of this show. Bad announcer acting drives me crazy. I guess she's been studying Mike Tenay tapes.
Women schmoz: I guess that it's just Amazing Kong, ODB, and Gail Kim that make this division work, as this segment, not including any of them, was horrible. The worst offender was Christy Hemme, who threw the worst worked punches I've ever seen.
Traci Brooks promo: So, she tells us to look at her back. We see a back that looks completely normal, other than the tramp stamp that makes it impossible to take this woman seriously. Then she tells us that bruises go away and that she's totally fine. So, lesson: When a heel beats down a babyface, don't worry, they'll get better quickly and won't really care about the beating in the first place.
Mike Roe is PWTorch.com's fill-in guy, providing his point of view on Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and TNA Impact until Hits & Misses Specialist Jon Mezzera gets home and kicks him to the curb for the inevitable walk of shame. Email him at mikeroe@gmail.com.
Download Audio Sample:
For more BREAKING NEWS on WWE, TNA, ROH
visit our affiliate: JASON POWELL'S PROWRESTLING.NET
For UFC AND MMA NEWS & BLOGS
visit our affiliate: MMATORCH.COM - now featuring the MMATorch Daily Audio Update!
REACT TO THIS STORY IN OUR FREE PWTORCH FORUM
PWTORCH VIP SIGN-UP INFO - NO ADS, EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
|
The Specialists
Latest Articles by Category |
| Smackdown Storylines and Feuds - Analysis on the Scramble, Vickie-Undertaker, and McCool-Natalya |
| THE ABSURDITY OF IT ALL: 8/25 Raw and 8/26 ECW - A list of the most absurd segments so far this week |
| PARKER'S PENNY THOUGHTS: WEDNESDAY 8/27: ROH's Supercard of Honor III : The Best ROH Has to Offer |
| LOGIC CHECK - 8/25 RAW: Keeping tabs on what made sense, what tested suspension of disbelief, and what was just ridiculous |
| UNDER THE MICROSCOPE - 8/25 RAW: What I noticed that you might have missed |
| Nostalgia Review: Clash of the Champions 24: Vader vs. Smith; Flair/Sting vs. Kongs, Steamboat vs. Orndorff |
| UK WORLD: Another slice of the history of pro wrestling in the United Kingdom including Lock Ness/Giant Haystacks |
| DEPTH PERCEPTION 8/24: Champion Power Rankings and A Depth Chart of the Their Contenders |
| KEY MOMENT OF WEEK: Hell in a Cell and Family-Friendly Programming |
| FAST FORWARD: A main event prediction (Joe's future), a mid-card prediction (ECW), and a please-no prediction (Gail Kim) |
| 8/22 WWE Smackdown Hits & Misses: MVP vs. Festus, Finlay vs. Benjamin, 2nd Scramble, End of the Show |
| UNDER THE MICROSCOPE - 8/22 WWE SMACKDOWN: Did you see Tazz picking his nose in the background? |
(c) 1999-2008 TDH Communications Inc. - All rights reserved.
|
|
 |
| PWTorch Free Podcast |
| 8/27 Daily Keller Hotline: Foley-TNA Details, Lots more on Gail Kim, Cena returns, Nash controversy, more (20 min.) |
| Audio Torch Talk with Lanny Poffo, pt. 1: Growing up Randy Savage's brother and son of pro wrestling Angelo (5 min. free clip) |
| 8/26 Daily Keller Hotline: Cena's surgery, Raw ratings perspective, full Raw analysis (5 min. free clip) |
| 8/25 Daily Keller Hotline: TNA Impact Ratings Breakdown, Poffo Torch Talk Notes, Weekend Notes, More (5 min. free clip) |
| WWE Raw 8/25 Post-game Show: Caldwell and Parks discuss Raw (7 min. clip) |
| 8/25 Nostalgia Audio: Debut edition discussing news of legends Kowalski, Heenan, plus SummerSlam Flashback, WWE 24/7 (5 min. free clip) |
 |
LATEST PRO WRESTLING TORCH NEWSLETTER #1040 (18 PAGES)

This issue begins with a cover story by Wade Keller looking at the final scene of SummerSlam and why it's bad for WWE not in and of itself, but due to the context it's put in... In-depth coverage of the WWE SummerSlam PPV including Keller's match report with star ratings and the newsletter-exclusive Roundtable Reviews and Reader Reax... Jason Powell's "Page 2 Buzz" with scoops and insider analysis on Mick Foley, TNA's expiring contracts, and more... Bruce Mitchell's Memo further reviews the latest Ric Flair DVD... WWE Newswire, TNA Newswire, and ROH Newswire with insider news, big story analysis, and notebook tidbits... Plus Keller's reports on Raw, Smackdown, and Impact, the Top 5 Stories of the Week, and more... PDF EXCLUSIVE features include the Jon Mezzera's Weekly Hits & Misses and Greg Parks' look at SummerSlam and Smackdown...
INFO ON SUBSCRIPTION TO NEWSLETTER AND AD-FREE VIP SITE
DOWNLOAD RECENT (5-10-08) SAMPLE OF PWTORCH NEWSLETTER (PDF)
|
| Articles Grouped by Category |
 |
| Torch Today |
| TORCH NEWS TICKER 8/27: Cena injury update, TNA commercial for video game, Finlay interview, Candice and Batista on FOX News |
| PRIORITY DRAFT TRADITION CONTINUES: Which ten wrestlers would you start a promotion from scratch with? |
| TORCH NEWS TICKER 8/22: Results Wanted, Austin return date, Batista comments on Cena match, Kofi and DDP interviews |
 |
| WWE News |
| WWE News: A YouTube video puts new spin on Shawn Michaels-Chris Jericho saga |
| Ratings News: John Cena surgery a success, estimated time out of the ring determined (w/Keller's Analysis) |
| Ratings News: USA replay audience added to live Sci-Fi audience makes up for drop in rating |
 |
| TNA News |
| TNA News: WWE legend Mick Foley agrees to terms with TNA, set to debut as soon as September (w/Keller Analysyis) |
| TNA New: Impact Ratings up, winners include Knockouts and Creed, losers include Tenay-Nash and Morgan (w/Keller Analysis) |
| 8/23 TNA in Topeka, Ks.: Samoa Joe vs. Abyss, Beer Money vs. LAX, Taylor vs. Awesome Kong, Kip vs. Morgan |
 |
| ROH News |
| Interview Highlights: Roderick Strong on his stint with TNA, lagging promo skills, indys working together |
| 7/25 ROH in Toronto: "That show was the first thing to make me proud to be a wrestling fan in a LONG time." |
| ROH News: Lance Storm interview on working with ROH wrestlers and injuries in pro wrestling |
 |
| Other News |
| Torch Indy Weekend Preview: Steen in IWS, Shiozaki in FIP, Delirious in Elite Pro |
| Torch Indy Weekend Report: Sabin & Shelley, Lynn, Jake Roberts, ROH results |
| ETC. News: Jesse Ventura in talks for a court show, according to TV Week (w/Keller Analysis) |
 |
| PPV Reports |
| CALDWELL'S WWE SUMMERSLAM REPORT 8/17: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of live PPV |
| KELLER'S WWE SUMMERSLAM REPORT 8/17: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of live PPV event |
| KELLER'S TNA HARD JUSTICE PPV REPORT 8/10: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of event - Samoa Joe vs. Booker T in cage |
 |
| TV Reports |
| CALDWELL'S ECW TV REPORT 8/26: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of WWE's Sci-Fi show |
| 8/26 ECW on Sci-Fi Report: Mayer's "alt perspective" report including Hardy vs. Morrison, Miz vs. Bourne |
| VIP - KELLER'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 8/22: SummerSlam Fallout, Vickie asks Undertaker for forgiveness, Maria vs. Natalya |
 |
| Arena Reports |
| 8/24 WWE Smackdown in Canton, Ohio: Triple H & Undertaker vs. Khali & MVP, R-Truth vs. Carlito, Michelle vs. Maryse |
| 8/24 TNA in Wichita, Ks.: Samoa Joe vs. A.J. Styles, Morgan vs. Kip, Knockouts Title Match, Lethal vs. Dutt |
| 8/24 WWE in Bethlehem, Pa.: Cody & Ted vs. Cryme Tyme, Jericho & Kane vs. Cena & Batista |
 |
| MMA / UFC Coverage |
| UFC News: Paul Heyman comments on Brock Lesnar's controversial post-fight antics last Saturday |
| KELLER'S UFC 87 LIVE PPV REPORT; On-site ongoing coverage of Lesnar's second UFC fight, full card coverage |
| UFC 87 PREVIEW: Fight analysis, predictions, odds for Lesnar vs. Herring, GSP vs. Fitch, Huerta vs. Florian |
 |
| KELLER'S TAKE |
| VIP - KELLER: More crazy G.M. ideas for WWE to consider (PWTorch Newsletter #1037) |
| KELLER: An overhaul is in order for Raw before ratings drop further - several specific suggestions |
| KELLER: McMahon Returns for That? Nothing Funnier than a DUI! Let Me Shift So You Can Hit Me! |
 |
| MITCHELL'S TAKE |
| MITCHELL'S BLOG: Notes From the 2008 NWA Fanfest - Ric Flair |
| WWE News: Flair's departure from WWE amicable, nostalgia convention circuit could be next |
| VIP - MITCHELL'S MEMO: DVD Liner Notes Part 3: Nature Boy Ric Flair - The Definitive Collection |
 |
| MCNEILL'S TAKE |
| Ready To Roll! McNEILL previews WWE SummerSlam |
| Rap It Up: McNEILL previews TNA Hard Justice! |
| VIP - MCNEILL FACTOR: Twenty Years of Summerslam, part two |
 |
| CALDWELL'S TAKE |
| CORNER CUBE TUESDAY 8/26 - Raw delivered highlights, but was heavy on filler |
| CORNER CUBE MONDAY 8/18 - Shawn Michaels showed strength, not weakness by not attacking Jericho |
| CORNER CUBE WEDNESDAY 8/13 - Finally, Matt Striker has found his calling with ECW on Tuesday nights |
 |
| RADICAN'S TAKE |
| TALES FROM THE PULPIT 7/23: McGuinness & Jericho setting standard for heels in 2008 |
| DEJ's Kevin: Covering Pro Wrestling Ohio - The Ladder Match for the Heirloom Swords Part I |
| TALES FROM THE PULPIT 7/21: The man who talks poopy and defies fire can’t escape the windshield of doom! |
 |
| The Specialists |
| Smackdown Storylines and Feuds - Analysis on the Scramble, Vickie-Undertaker, and McCool-Natalya |
| THE ABSURDITY OF IT ALL: 8/25 Raw and 8/26 ECW - A list of the most absurd segments so far this week |
| PARKER'S PENNY THOUGHTS: WEDNESDAY 8/27: ROH's Supercard of Honor III : The Best ROH Has to Offer |
 |
| Guest Editorials |
| EDITORIAL: What's wrong with Raw this year? A lot. But one core problem trumps the rest |
| EDITORIAL: Tag Team Divisions will not get over until squash matches return |
| EDITORIAL: C.M. Punk needs a prominent program to make him the star of Raw |
 |
| Torch Feedback |
| DRAFT PICKS - Batch #3 featuring top picks of Mick Foley, Brian Danielson, John Cena, plus Abyss, Shiozaki, Teddy Hart |
| WWE Raw Reax #1: "I am having a love affair with Striker. He and Todd are the best duo on TV today!" |
| DRAFT PICKS - Batch #2 featuring top picks of Danielson, Edge, Jericho, plus RVD, Shannon Moore, Jack Evans, Teddy Hart, Mistico |
 |
| 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 |
| WEEKEND DVD SPOTLIGHT: SHIMMER Vol. 18 (Kong-Busic,Del Rey-MsChif) |
| RADICAN: Al Snow discusses his wrestling career, philosophy, time in OVW, and more in new interview |
| DVD Review: ROH "Glory By Honor VI, N2" with Kenta vs. Misawa, 110307 |
 |
| Torch Flashbacks |
| KELLER'S WWE RAW REPORT 5 YRS. AGO (8-25-03): Gail Kim vs. Trish, Jericho headlines Raw against... Shane McMahon? Linda a guest on Highlight Reel, |
| WWE Smackdown Reax #1: "This is the worst wrestling show I have seen in a long time with booking that defies all logic and common sense." |
| KELLER'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 5 YRS. AGO (8-21-03): Angle vs. Big Show, Rhyno & Eddie vs. Benoit & Tajiri, Taker & Jordan vs. Cena & A-Train, Brock vs. Zach |
 |
| VIP Exclusive Features |
| 8/27 Daily Keller Hotline: Foley-TNA Details, Lots more on Gail Kim, Cena returns, Nash controversy, more (20 min.) |
| VIP - PWTorch Today Bulletin #11 (PDF): Foley TNA-bound details, Nash blow-up, Cena update, Kim contract, more |
| Audio Torch Talk with Lanny Poffo, pt. 1: Growing up Randy Savage's brother and son of pro wrestling Angelo (5 min. free clip) |
 |
| Torch Trivia |
| Torch Trivia: How much do you know about SummerSlam - Part 3 |
| Torch Trivia: How much do you know about SummerSlam - Part 2 |
| Torch Trivia: How much do you know about SummerSlam - Part 1 |
 |
| Torch Instant Polls |
| POLL: What are your thoughts on the WWE Championship Scramble concept? |
| POLL: Should the TNA Knockouts women wrestlers be paid in the same ballpark as the male wrestlers? |
| POLL: Who is your pick as the MVP of the August 11 edition of WWE Raw? |
 |
| PWTorch Free Podcast |
| 8/27 Daily Keller Hotline: Foley-TNA Details, Lots more on Gail Kim, Cena returns, Nash controversy, more (20 min.) |
| Audio Torch Talk with Lanny Poffo, pt. 1: Growing up Randy Savage's brother and son of pro wrestling Angelo (5 min. free clip) |
| 8/26 Daily Keller Hotline: Cena's surgery, Raw ratings perspective, full Raw analysis (5 min. free clip) |
 |
| 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 |
 |
|
|