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The Specialists
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE - 9/18 TNA IMPACT: What I noticed on the show that you might not have
Sep 19, 2008 - 10:49:00 AM


By Curtis Shanks, PWTorch Specialist

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 Curry Man has only one thing on his mind, Rhino badly needs a storyline and Matt Morgan is the long-lost son of the fast-talking guy from the old Micro Machines commercials. But what else is there to notice? Let's see what we can spot. Cue the opening pyro.

Before we enter the Impact Zone with tonight's microscope, let's follow the standard formula for a post-PPV wrestling show and begin with a quick look back at last Sunday's PPV. Samoa Joe defended his title in a Four Ways to Glory match, which ended up being a standard triple threat match due to the absence of Booker T. Thankfully TNA did not use the WWE Championship Scramble approach in building up Joe's chances at the PPV. Using this WWE mindset, Joe began the night with a 75 percent chance of losing his title in the match. But that number was later reduced to 66 percent with Booker T not in the mix.

Whoever this Suicide character is, he is able to not only disrupt the TNA cable feed with his subliminal messages, but also the TNA PPV feed. During promo videos for the Trigg/Styles and ODB/Kong matches a "whoissuicide" mention flashed on the screen. Maybe Suicide is the one who also cut into many viewer feeds during the MMA match showing us his version of "Knockouts".

There was a lot of hype by TNA about their PPV taking place in Canada. Christian was a huge hometown favorite after his homecoming build up on Impact. The X title match featured Petey Williams as a heavy Canadian favorite as well, as the announcers alluded to that fact many times. But there was hardly any reaction by Mike Tenay, Don West or the live crowd for any of TNA's other Canadians. Former Team Canada members Robert Roode and Eric Young are both Canadian. So are Johnny Devine and Traci Brooks.  The Knockouts title match featured two more Canadians as well, Taylor Wilde and Angelina Love.

Back live in the Impact Zone, we'll start off with a look at a few fan signs. During the opening Samoa Joe promo a "Suicide is gonna kill ya" sign can be spotted. That's true, it literally will. And as Joe's promo ends, the camera focuses in on one fans misspelled sign that reads "Samoa Joe - Fear No One, Hurt Everyne." Everyone? Must be a newly signed wrestler yet to debut.

TNA does not hide that fact that they are taped. Either they are not live, or the censors are amazing at their jobs and were quick to perfectly edit out the middle fingers of Shelley and Sabin.

It may seem like a TNA creative brainchild, but the story of Matt Morgan and his DNA being sent into space are true, and not another lame TNA storyline. Speaking of the press conference, who was it held for? Usually a press conference involves someone inviting reporters to document the event and pose questions. The segment looked unrealistic with no media personnel shown.

Nice job by TNA filling in the logic loophole with Matt Morgan and Abyss. Morgan was upset with Abyss at the PPV after he incorrectly thought Abyss took him out with a chair. It's a logical action that after Abyss denied the attack, Morgan would simply go back and look at the film to resolve the issue.

A commercial airs tonight for the new TNA Knockouts DVD. A few independent clips are shown of the knockouts pre-TNA. Did you notice the quick indi clip of Traci shown during that commercial? Current WWE announcer Jerry Lawler can actually be seen in the ring behind her.

Jay Lethal is flustered, irked and upset. The lady of his dreams just turned on him, his best friend is now his worst enemy and he lost the PPV match for the ring and the girl. If I were Lethal, I would be upset that Sonjay not only has Val, but the ring as well. Lethal obviously must have bought that on his own for his proposal to Val, so now he's out at least a few thousand dollars as well. No wonder he can't think straight during his promo.

During Rhino's tag match, a fan in the front row has a sign that reads "Rhyno sucks". The fan is obviously not a fan of Rhino's WWE work, where his name was spelled Rhyno. No mention of how the fan views the work of Rhino, the spelling used in ECW and TNA.

Trying to think of the perfect gift to buy Jeff Jarrett this Christmas? My suggestion would be a dictionary. Jarrett tells Sting tonight that guys like Joe and A.J. literally carried the company on their backs. Literally? A.J. and Joe have got to feel that when they wake up the next morning.

Tonight is the Impact debut of TNA's newest acquisition, Mick Foley. If we were to use real-sport references for wrestling, Foley is like the journey-man pitcher or the strong-armed quarterback who are around forever, but never stay on the same team long. Foley probably has extra ink on hand for his resume. Along with a stint in Japan, he has appeared in WCW, the original ECW, WWF/E, UWF, WCCW, Ring of Honor, Jim Cornette's Smoky Mountain Wrestling, the Global Wrestling Federation (which was seen on ESPN), Jerry Jarrett's CWA and now TNA.

Will we see any of Mick Foley's alter egos in TNA? An online article I read recently mentions a Mick Foley appearance on WWE 24/7. Foley notes he owns the rights to the Cactus Jack character, but WWE owns the rights to Mankind. No mention of who owns the Dude Love character, but I'm assuming that is Foley's as well, as he created the character in his old homemade movies before breaking into the business. I'm guessing that neither owns the rights to Jack Foley, the name Mick first used in the WWF jobbing to the likes of the British Bulldogs, Kamala and the Killer Bees. Don't remember the Killer Bees? They were the tag team of Jim Brunzell and B. Brian Blair, and used to wrestle in forgettable black and yellow stripped trunks.

Tonight's notable MIA's: Kevin Nash, Consequences Creed, So Cal Val and Sonjay Dutt.

Numbers crunched harder than an unprotected chair shot to the head: Mick Foley is the latest in the list of wrestlers to go from WWE to TNA. We've seen this transition by talents a number of times before, but it's rarely happened the other way around. Out of a WWE roster of 89 talents, twelve have appeared in TNA in some form in the past. Only Jeff Hardy and Ron Killings made it onto free TV, as the other ten were around only during the weekly PPV era. To satisfy your curiosity, those other ten were D'Lo Brown (a tag champion), C.M. Punk, Jim Duggan, Paul London, Mickie James, Super Crazy, Jimmy Yang, Mr. Kennedy, Umaga and Evan Bourne. Definitely some talent on that list that TNA let slip away.

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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