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UNDER THE MICROSCOPE - 9/11 TNA IMPACT: What I noticed on the show that you might not have Sep 12, 2008 - 11:29:43 AM
Welcome to the TNA Impact edition of Under the Microscope. We're here to review all those little observations and tidbits you may have missed. This is not a detailed recap of the show, but a review for those of you that saw the show but didn't actually "watch" it. After last week we know that ODB has the fastest bathroom time ever, Mike Tenay finally remembered the name Jeff Jarrett and there was apparently some kind of video game coming out. But what else is there to notice? Let's see what we can spot. Cue the opening pyro.
It's nice to see an "Earlier Today" graphic at the bottom of the screen whenever a TNA talent arrives at the arena. Employers are not very keen on the idea of truancy. It's a far cry from WWE, where people are always arriving in the middle of a show, if at all.
Opening match referee Shane Sewell got some action last week by taking out Sheik Abdul Bashir after a reversed match outcome. During tonight's match we hear Mike Tenay tell us how Sewell was reprimanded by Jim Cornette for those actions. Tenay continues that Sewell was very apologetic for his actions and promised they would never happen again. Why Sewell only? Where is the backlash from Cornette when TNA talents take out the referees on a weekly basis. Outright attacks on referees go unpunished, but self-defense from one of those referees is worthy of punishment? Doesn't seem logical to me.
Our judges for tonight's Beauty Contest are the Prince Justice Brotherhood, who Mike Tenay describes as TNA's resident superheroes. Doesn't the connotation of the word mean that they should have some sort of super powers? I only see costumes, not any super-human strengths. When Super Eric first debuted we did see his "super human power", but nothing from the other two. Curry Man's ability must be the power of dance. And Shark Boy has the power to ripoff a character without threat of copyright infringement. They may be viewed as powers to some, but not the powers I'd have in mind if I'm a damsel in distress looking for a rescue.
Anytime a boring, stupid or distasteful segment airs, it's always fun to let the mind wander and spot the variety of fan signs in the crowd. But during the Beauty Contest did you see the fan in the front row wearing a Beautiful People paper bag with a Kip James face plastered on it. For some asinine reason, I actually found that quite amusing.
During the Karen's Angle segment tonight Sting is asked about Jeff Jarrett. He responds with a comment about how his dad, Jerry Jarrett, got him his big break. This may be in reference to Jerry Jarrett getting Sting and The Ultimate Warrior a spot in the defunct United Wrestling Federation. Sting and Warrior started out their careers wrestling as a tag team known as The Freedom Fighters. The team would later go on to be known as Power Team U.S.A. and The Blade Runners.
Wow. Quite the surprise to see Tomko on tonight's show. Yes, I was surprised and no, I do not read any spoilers. The unemployment line must not have been nice to Tomko. In all seriousness, the last I had heard, Tomko was either going to work in Japan or looking for a job back in WWE. Remains to be seen if it was a one-off appearance or if he is renegotiating a contract. Let's hope we see him back in TNA full time, as Tomko was poised to break out before he was suspended and buried on TV for missing a TNA fan-interaction event. TNA dropped the ball on that one as Tomko elected to walk away, so hopefully a second chance will be the answer.
At the start of each segment, Jeremy Borash refers to the Knockout segments as the "first annual Beautiful People Beauty Pageant." First annual? That's means there are more on the way. Oh goodie. These segments are what a Diva Search competition would look like if TNA decided to try their hand at it.
I know there were many more, but I only noticed one "whoissuicide" blip on tonight's show. That was a long two hours ago during Samoa Joe's entrance in the opening segment.
Double J is back. Now that Jarrett is back on the active roster, TNA has two second generation wrestlers, Hector Guerrero being the other. WWE fares much better in this category with Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, Primo Colon, Chavo Guerrero, Manu, Randy Orton, Natalya and Ray Gordy (Jesse). Don't forget the disappearing D.H. Smith, Carlito and Deuce. This list also fails to include developmental wrestler Joe Hennig, the son of Mr. Perfect himself.
Tonight's notable MIA's: Beer Money, LAX, Consequences Creed, Sheik Abdul Bashir, Petey Williams, Jay Lethal, Sabin & Shelley and Jim Cornette. Boy, those Beautiful People segments sure took up a lot of time that could have been better spent on things like wrestling matches, PPV buildup or character and storyline development involving any of the aforementioned individuals.
Numbers crunched harder than an unprotected chair shot to the head: If I were to use one word to describe TNA's weekly TV ratings, that word would be consistent. Since the first week of 2007 there have been 89 episodes of Impact Of those episodes, 68, or 76 percent, have drawn a rating of 1.0 or 1.1. Twelve episodes didn't even achieved a 1.0 rating, six of them in May and June of this year alone. TNA is clearly losing the battle with ECW for number three in the wrestling ratings wars as well. After those 89 weeks the results are ECW 83 and TNA 2, with 4 ties.
Curtis Shanks is a self-described wrestling nerd. Who else would lay claim to keeping up-to-date on the title histories of over 40 independent and foreign promotions? In the words of Adrian Monk, "It's a blessing…and a curse." Curtis encourages anyone with questions or comments to e-mail him at curtisshanks.torch@gmail.com.
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