-- 8/8 TNA Hardcore Justice PPV Reax

Martyn of Lincoln, U.K. (6.0): Best Match: 2 Cold Scorpio vs. C.W Anderson. Worst Match: Rhino vs. Al Snow vs. Spike Dudley. I was never too hot on the idea of an ECW revival in either TNA or WWE, as I'm a firm believer you either need to do something 100 percent right or not at all. If you can't get all the wrestlers, all the staff, etc., then don't do it. WWE had a few things missing from their revival that I thought dragged down a 10.0 show to a 7.0 show. Given TNA's history of over-promising, I was dubious about the delivery, but I'm happy to say in terms of "who they booked" and the match quality, they didn't fare too bad. The card was booked well from top to bottom and seemed just like any other ECW show from back in the day. The talent performed well, despite some of them looking a bit rough around the edges. My issues with the show are the really low-rent production values and the amount of interview filler. What was with the stupid blue tint? Okay, so you're trying to make it look different, but no need to make everyone look like smurfs and plunge the crowd into near pitch black. TNA had four weeks to promote the show, so couldn't someone in production have whipped up some unique entrance videos for each person? Wait, that time was probably spent producing the overly-scripted/pointless "TNA wrestlers reminiscence" segments. Overall, I didn't think it was a bad show and some of the guys can still go (2 Cold Scorpio & C.W. Anderson), but this should have been taped and aired as a special on Spike or produced for DVD.

Jeffrey Jones, Nuclear Cardiology Technologist (7.5): Best: Joel Gertner. Worst: TNA Reflections. Having attended countless live ECW events in the late '90s, my friends and I struggled Sunday whether to purchase the PPV. Did we want to watch a group of men ten years past their prime embarrass themselves? We decided to give them a shot, and couldn't have been more pleased with our decision. Were the athletes at the top of their game? No, but we knew this going in. What we didn't know was Scorpio could still blow us away with a single move, Kid Kash would attempt to kill a man, Al Snow still makes us laugh, Joel 'Poker Face' Gertner would steal the show, a light saber battle would ensue, or that even Tommy-Raven would deliver. I thought they accentuated the positives and did their best to hide the negatives, thanks in part to a spectacular crowd. If TNA or WWE would deliver as entertaining a PPV with their own talent month to month, I would be a much more satisfied customer. Yes, Tommy, that was one hell of a PPV.

Mike Clark, PWTorch reader (1.0): I never watched any ECW pay-per-views, but my friend had tons of ECW videos and I would watch them back in the Original ECW. This was nothing like old-school ECW. The matches were nothing more than WWE PG-rate with weapons. And dance-offs. Dance-offs. As for the Dreamer vs. Raven match? Pass. You could tell they gave more attention to wrestlers actually in TNA. I thought this pay-per-view was a slap to the face of old-school ECW fans, and the crowd was not invested from start to the finish. As for "dedication to the ECW wrestlers no longer with us," no photos and no names? I am sure if they spit out their real names, fans would know who they are, but, no, it was just a black screen saying, "This was dedicated to you."

Harrold Revis Thatcher of Sarasota, Fla. (2.0): Reunion shows are sad to begin with. And with three or four behind ECW, this was the saddest of them all. It was a bunch of over-the-hill wrestlers you might have wanted to see five years ago, but this was an embarrassingly low-rent PPV, even by TNA standards. Was this a hardcore wrestling show or a generic comedic wrestling show? ECW prided themselves on violence, but there was too much comedy on this show. The Innovators of Violence should be amended to say "the Innovators of Bad Comedy." To think that some TNA regulars missed a payday so TNA could pay these guys is a disservice to all those loyal TNA regulars who have been with the company since Day One. Team 3D should be ashamed of their performance. Hugging in the ring after their match was one of the things that is totally wrong with pro wrestling today. I hope that wasn't Tommy Dreamer's idea. If it was, then he's a clueless as Vince Russo has been for the past year. It was evident that Paul Heyman had nothing to do with the show. Actually, I don't know if the show was a tribute to ECW or a tribute to Dixie Carter and Paul Heyman. ... One thing this PPV proved is that nostalgia gets old quick. At the same time, the difference between TNA and WWE gets larger by the day - WWE signs Tyler Black and TNA brings in a bunch of middle-aged men who never grew up. Raven looked 100-years-old and, after the huge pop Sandman got Thursday night on Impact, they basically give him a cameo. ... TNA doesn't have an identity and after tonight, they still don't. One thing that really sucked was having the regular TNA talent put over the old ECW. You could tell it was forced and they didn't have any passion in their message. Funny, they didn't have the Powers That Be putting over ECW like Flair, Hogan, Bischoff, Russo, Jarrett, and Russo. ... This PPV was nothing more than a commercial pleading with Paul Heyman to come to TNA. The only thing missing was the Queen of TNA, Dixie Carter, cutting a promo for Paul to come. Oh yeah, I forgot. Dixie doesn't cut promos because she is real and no one writes anything for her. But, the most offensive thing was seeing Brother Ray pick up Dixie Carter and carry her to the ring after the PPV was over. That spoke volumes about the entire TNA experience - it's a Dixie Carter vanity project and a way for her to be on TV so Bob Carter can see that she's finally a star. As long as Mr. Carter doesn't mind picking up the tab, TNA will continue doing their outdated model of wrestling that even WWE has dropped. After the show was over, in a visually perfect scene, we saw who was standing right next to Dixie Carter - Mick Foley, Bubba, and Tommy Dreamer. It suddenly became obvious to see who's playing Dixie Carter like a violin. ... Yes, ECW had a following and that following was evident, but even when they shot the ECW fans in attendance, they looked as old as the wrestlers themselves. I do think that Dreamer indulged in a bit of delusionary thinking when he said that the PPV was a helluva show. It was probably fine inside the arena, but on TV, the show fell flat.

We welcome your 0-10 score and comments on this show for a "TNA PPV Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. Just to add a twist to this feature, include not just your hometown, but also your occupation (mechanic, lawyer, stay-at-home-dad, college student, etc.) so readers get a flavor for what everyone does as "day jobs." To contribute your thoughts on the PPV, click here.

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