CONTACTABOUTFACEBOOKTWITTERPODCAST IPHONE APPANDROID APPAMAZON APPRSS
Pro Wrestling Torch
Pro Wrestling Torch Reaches The Most Wrestling Fans Every Week: #1 in iTunes • #1 on iPhone and iPad • #1 on Android • #1 on Kindle
GOT THE PWTORCH APP YET?
iPhone & iPad
Android
Amazon Kindle
Windows Phone
PWTorch Phone App
THE SPECIALISTS
6/19 TNA Impact Hits & Misses: Use of Joe, Kim Video, Koslov, Main Event

Jun 20, 2008 - 2:07:54 PM
PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO BOOKMARK US & VISIT US DAILY


By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

IMPACT HITS

Daivari & Dux vs. MMG: This was a fun tag team match. It had a few sloppy spots and a few over choreographed spots (as often happens in X-Division action), but it was enjoyable. It definitely had plenty of nonstop action and never got boring. It went a good length and even given a commercial break, we got to see plenty of the match. If Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin can deliver a quality match like this with no real build, with nothing really on the line, against two men who are new to TNA with no gimmick other than being foreign, just imagine what they could do in a PPV match against another well established team for the Tag Team Championships after a long and well written program.

Gail Kim Video: I tend to get sick and tired of TNA’s video packages, but this one was well done. It gave Gail Kim a chance to share her background and how she got into wrestling and how her career path has ultimately brought her to TNA. This is a case where bringing up her WWE past actually worked as it is much more recent than say Kyp James talking about DX. I enjoyed this video, but I have to ask, where has it been? Why are they using it now, with Kim firmly established as one of the top Knockouts in TNA and a huge fan favorite? Why does TNA wait to do one of these videos so long? Isn't this how you introduce a new wrestler to the fans?

Main Event: Christian Cage & AJ Styles vs. Team 3D was a good t.v. Main Event. It wasn’t a great match, as Brother Ray and Brother Devon are too slow and plodding at this point to have a great match, but it was a good match. It had solid action throughout. After a minute of brawling on the outside before the match, the match itself went 14 minutes which was good to see. So often, TNA teases us with the possibility of a long Main Event, only to have it go several minutes shorter than expected because of all the crap that happens after the match. This week had a much better balance between giving the match the time it deserves, while still having a plot development afterwards. Kurt Angle jumping Styles with the help of Frank Trigg was just as effective (if not more so) as the long drawn out beatings that we’ve seen Styles take as of late. Angle continued his dominance, and sent a message that he is smarter than Styles, in a short amount of time, which is more efficient and allowed for a longer Main Event.

IMPACT MISSES

Use of Samoa Joe: The TNA World Heavyweight Champion was barely on Impact this week, only in the opening segment. Samoa Joe should be the center piece of the show, not just barely featured early on then forgotten about the rest of the show. Plus, I was intrigued by why he gave up his locker room to Booker T last week, but this week we find out that it is just because he is a man of the people. That was lame. His backstage confrontation with Kevin Nash was ok, but nothing great. It set up next week’s presumptive Main Event, Nash vs. Booker, which I am not looking forward to. And that was it. No more Joe the rest of the show.

World X Cup Rules: I just don’t get these rules. There are four rounds of matches in which guys from the four teams compete to win points and the team with the most points at the end wins. The first round is tag matches. Was the entire first round this week’s Impact? If so, then Team Japan and Team Mexico are at a disadvantage for not having a match. If not, then the announcers have to make it clear that Round 1 continues next week. You get a point for Round 1, then two for Round 2 which will be singles matches. How many? How are the competitors for each match chosen? Is it random? Do the team captains pick their representatives? What is going on? It culminates in Ultimate X, but is it possible to end before then? Can a team win that for four points, but still lose the trophy? Don’t we all know that all of the first three rounds will be meaningless because the team that wins Ultimate X will win? Why should I care about these matches if the points don’t matter, because it is all leading up to a PPV match where any team can still win regardless of how many points they have won throughout the first three rounds?

Karen Angle Interview: This was just terrible. I am giving the interview the Miss, because Don West and Mike Tenay were just as bad as Karen Angle. Their questions were poorly asked. Tenay in particular is so bad. His acting is so over the top, especially when he accused Karen of having an affair with AJ Styles. Isn’t he the one who has defended her to Kurt Angle in the past? Karen is a bad actress. We have no idea why she is now under contract with TNA. Is she going to wrestle? If not, then what is her job? I could go on, but what’s the point?

Fans’ Revenge Strap Match: There are so many problems with this. First of all, awhile back Jim Cornette chewed out Jeremy Borash about Awesome Kong wrestling fans, but he is fine with putting 12 fans in harms way. Makes no sense. This is the first match between LAX and James Storm & Robert Roode, so of course it has to have a gimmick attached to it. What ever happened to building a feud to the point where a gimmick match is needed to settle the matter? They just started feuding and are already having one. Makes no sense. Jim Cornette can usually order wrestlers to have matches, even against their will. But this time, he has to get them to agree to it. Why can he usually order wrestlers to have whatever type of match he wants (like where a Knockout will get her head shaved), but this time he has to get Storm & Roode to agree? Makes no sense. That is what I have to say about this whole ordeal. Makes no sense.

Alex Koslov: Koslov vs. Kaz was indicative of much that is wrong with the World X Cup. We saw Koslov last week, but still don’t know much about him, other than the fact that he came to America as a child, trained in Los Angeles, and has wrestled in Mexico. He is doing his gimmick as if the fans are already familiar with it. He has not been introduced (like in a series of matches against jobbers) and he is already facing a star like Kaz. His Russian dance while kicking Kaz was one of the stupidest wrestling moves I have ever witnessed in over 20 years. Am I supposed to take this guy seriously? His surfboard in the ropes was stupid as well. It doesn’t look any more painful with the ropes than a typical surfboard. Plus, he can’t get a submission victory in the ropes, so it is pointless to do it that way. It is a clear case of a wrestler doing something different just for the sake of doing it different without really thinking about the ramifications of the move in the context of trying to win a wrestling match. Plus, chances are he will be gone in a month, so why should I care about his mannerisms?

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and TNA Impact each week. Email him at jmezz-torch@sbcglobal.net.

For another view from the original Hitlist author, compare Jason Powell's views to mine by visiting prowrestling.NET's "Hitlist" section here.


We suggest these recent related articles...
10/5 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Natalya vs. Paige, Owens vs. Cara, Stephanie McMahon, Sasha Banks, Xavier Woods
COLLECTIBLES COLUMN: The History of Foam Hands in Pro Wrestling
9/28 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Kane's Split Personality, Divas Revolution, Heyman & Big Show, Reigns vs. Wyatt
prowrestling.net
CLICK HERE FOR EVEN MORE PW.NET HEADLINES


CLICK TO EMAIL THIS ARTICLE
CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO MAIN LISTING

NEW! SIGN UP FOR FREE PWTORCH BREAKING NEWS EMAIL ALERTS
BECOME A PWTORCH VIP MEMBER
-FORMER MEMBERS LOGIN HERE TO RENEW
-NEW MEMBERS CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP
SELECT BY ARTICLES CATEGORY
SEARCH PWTORCH.COM



CLICK HERE FOR LIST OF UPCOMING PRO WRESTLING EVENTS
MORE HEADLINES AT AFFILIATE SITES
MMATorch
LATEST HEADLINES - CLICK TO READ CLICK HERE FOR MORE MMATORCH HEADLINES


PWTORCH POLL - VOTE NOW!
RAW POLL 10/12: Vote on Monday's show
 
pollcode.com free polls


RAW POLL 10/12: What was the Best Match on Raw?
 
pollcode.com free polls
MCNEILL LIVECAST POLL: TNA will have a 32-person tournament to determine a new Hvt. champion - your thoughts?
 
pollcode.com free polls
CENA POLL: If John Cena takes a year-end break, who should win the U.S. Title from Cena?
 
pollcode.com free polls
VOTE IN OR SEE RESULTS OF PREVIOUS POLLS



LATEST HEADLINES - CLICK TO READ CLICK HERE FOR EVEN MORE INC HEADLINES

_
LATEST FREE AUDIO SHOWS - CLICK TO LISTEN VIEW MORE PWTORCH LIVECAST EPISODES
DOWNLOAD PWTORCH LIVECAST APP
SUBSCRIBE TO PWTORCH LIVECAST IN ITUNES


ABOUT US

THE TORCH REACHES MORE COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT FANS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE

PWTorch editor Wade Keller has covered pro wrestling full time since 1987 starting with the Pro Wrestling Torch print newsletter. PWTorch.com launched in 1999 and the PWTorch Apps launched in 2008.

He has conducted "Torch Talk" insider interviews with Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Steve Austin, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Eric Bischoff, Jesse Ventura, Lou Thesz, Jerry Lawler, Mick Foley, Jim Ross, Paul Heyman, Bruno Sammartino, Goldberg, more.

He has interviewed big-name players in person incluiding Vince McMahon (at WWE Headquarters), Dana White (in Las Vegas), Eric Bischoff (at the first Nitro at Mall of America), Brock Lesnar (after his first UFC win).

He hosted the weekly Pro Wrestling Focus radio show on KFAN in the early 1990s and hosted the Ultimate Insiders DVD series distributed in retail stories internationally in the mid-2000s including interviews filmed in Los Angeles with Vince Russo & Ed Ferrara and Matt & Jeff Hardy. He currently hosts the most listened to pro wrestling audio show in the world, (the PWTorch Livecast, top ranked in iTunes)


REACHING 1 MILLION+ UNIQUE USERS PER MONTH
500 MILLION CLICKS & LISTENS PER YEAR
MILLIONS OF PWTORCH NEWSLETTERS SOLD
PWTORCH STAFF

EDITORS:
Wade Keller, editor
(kellerwade@gmail.com)

James Caldwell, assistant editor
(pwtorch@gmail.com)

STAFF COLUMNISTS:
Bruce Mitchell (since 1990)
Pat McNeill (since 2001)
Greg Parks (since 2007)
Sean Radican (since 2003)

We also have a great team of
TV Reporters
and Specialists and Artists.

PWTORCH VIP MEMBERSHIP

PWTorch offers a VIP membership for $10 a month (or less with an annual sub). It includes nearly 25 years worth of archives from our coverage of pro wrestling dating back to PWTorch Newsletters from the late-'80s filled with insider secrets from every era that are available to VIPers in digital PDF format and Keller's radio show from the early 1990s.

Also, new exclusive top-shelf content every day including a new VIP-exclusive weekly 16 page digital magazine-style (PC and iPad compatible) PDF newsletter packed with exclusive articles and news.

The following features come with a VIP membership which tens of thousands of fans worldwide have enjoyed for many years...

-New Digital PWTorch Newsletter every week
-3 New Digital PDF Back Issues from 5, 10, 20 years ago
-Over 60 new VIP Audio Shows each week
-Ad-free access to all PWTorch.com free articles
-VIP Forum access with daily interaction with PWTorch staff and well-informed fellow wrestling fans
-Tons of archived audio and text articles
-Decades of Torch Talk insider interviews in transcript and audio formats with big name stars.


**SIGN UP FOR VIP ACCESS HERE**

CONTACTABOUTFACEBOOKTWITTERPODCASTIPHONE APPANDROID APPAMAZON APPRSS
VIP SIGN-UP
VIP LOGIN
THE TORCH: #1 IN COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT COVERAGE | © 1999-2013 TDH Communications Inc. • All rights reserved -- PRIVACY POLICY