By Double A...
Let me start off by saying that I did not watch TNA's entire broadcast of Impact Wrestling on Destination America. However, I watched about three quarters of the show and feel I can make my review based off what I saw. It's been quiet some time since TNA's aired a live program on television. And the night was especially important for them since it's was the first episode of Impact Wrestling to air on Destination America.
I feel the people over at Destination America were very generous with clearing 20 hours of time so that TNA could acclimate the audience of the network to what TNA has to offer. But did it do the job and was 20 hours really necessary? Well that is just a personal preference but I think 20 hours was a bit much. That is neither here nor there though.
Dixie Carter and her crew had ample time to re-evaluate what they were doing and trying to come off fresh that what they were doing in the past. Especially towards the end of 2014. Now if your reading and expect ol' Double A to just rip TNA a new one, well you better go and find another blog someplace else. There a lot of bitter wrestling fans out there in the internet so it shouldn't be hard to find one.
I want to talk about their effort they put forth Last Night. I will give TNA an "A" for trying their best to grasp the audience. However, I feel what was presented wasn't enough to get everybody talking. The opening segment featured a brawl with the entire roster that started out in the streets of Manhattan and eventually spilled into the Manhattan Center where they brawled everywhere. And that was the problem. The fact they brawled everywhere highlighted the fact that there was many empty seats shown on television. I would have avoided the brawl if I knew the building was not sold out. But I understand why it was done.
The matches that were presented were your standard wrestling fair. With the exception of the main event, there really wasn't one match that stood out over the other. The main event was impressive to me given how well Bobby Roode and Bobby Lashley work together. But the formation of this new faction that now involves Low-Ki and Samoa Joe took away from what was a very good match. Factions have been something TNA has used as a crutch for many years. But forming one from the onset of a reboot was not the smart move in my opinion.
One thing I was very pleased with was the combination of Tazz and Josh Matthews. I always knew from Josh's time in the WWE he was a gifted announcer and always enjoyed his work. In TNA, he is now given the freedom to call matches the way that Jim Ross, Gordon Solie, Lance Russell, Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and others were able to call before plugging everything on social media become the standard. Tazz who I always felt was a good color commentator complimented Josh Matthews well. No offense to Mike Tenay, but his pairing with Tazz never was good and more then likely would have remained bad had Tenay not been pulled from booth.
Jeremy Borash being involved in a storyline was one moment that could have been avoided all together. JB should just be left alone and perform interviews which is what he is good at. But the only other thing I was critical about the show was it looked the same. I was hoping to visually see a new look and approach to the way TNA was presented. And it basically was the same. Maybe with time that will change, who knows?
So what did I think overall? What grade would I give them? Well I will give them a "B-". Typically a higher grade for any one thing I have given to TNA. But most of it went to the effort and quality of wrestling. Is this the beginning of something positive for them? One can only hope so. I really wish them the best of luck. There are too many wrestlers in that organization that are sacrificing a lot and passing up other opportunities in the event something very good happens. And I really do hope that is the case. It would be a shame to see their efforts go to waist. I've already blamed Dixie Carter and management enough. It's time to start to care for the performers that are being put in less then favorable positions. But truly for the benefit for them and the industry, I hope that something really positive has been happening in Nashville, Tennessee for the last 3 months.
Let me start off by saying that I did not watch TNA's entire broadcast of Impact Wrestling on Destination America. However, I watched about three quarters of the show and feel I can make my review based off what I saw. It's been quiet some time since TNA's aired a live program on television. And the night was especially important for them since it's was the first episode of Impact Wrestling to air on Destination America.
I feel the people over at Destination America were very generous with clearing 20 hours of time so that TNA could acclimate the audience of the network to what TNA has to offer. But did it do the job and was 20 hours really necessary? Well that is just a personal preference but I think 20 hours was a bit much. That is neither here nor there though.
Dixie Carter and her crew had ample time to re-evaluate what they were doing and trying to come off fresh that what they were doing in the past. Especially towards the end of 2014. Now if your reading and expect ol' Double A to just rip TNA a new one, well you better go and find another blog someplace else. There a lot of bitter wrestling fans out there in the internet so it shouldn't be hard to find one.
I want to talk about their effort they put forth Last Night. I will give TNA an "A" for trying their best to grasp the audience. However, I feel what was presented wasn't enough to get everybody talking. The opening segment featured a brawl with the entire roster that started out in the streets of Manhattan and eventually spilled into the Manhattan Center where they brawled everywhere. And that was the problem. The fact they brawled everywhere highlighted the fact that there was many empty seats shown on television. I would have avoided the brawl if I knew the building was not sold out. But I understand why it was done.
The matches that were presented were your standard wrestling fair. With the exception of the main event, there really wasn't one match that stood out over the other. The main event was impressive to me given how well Bobby Roode and Bobby Lashley work together. But the formation of this new faction that now involves Low-Ki and Samoa Joe took away from what was a very good match. Factions have been something TNA has used as a crutch for many years. But forming one from the onset of a reboot was not the smart move in my opinion.
One thing I was very pleased with was the combination of Tazz and Josh Matthews. I always knew from Josh's time in the WWE he was a gifted announcer and always enjoyed his work. In TNA, he is now given the freedom to call matches the way that Jim Ross, Gordon Solie, Lance Russell, Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and others were able to call before plugging everything on social media become the standard. Tazz who I always felt was a good color commentator complimented Josh Matthews well. No offense to Mike Tenay, but his pairing with Tazz never was good and more then likely would have remained bad had Tenay not been pulled from booth.
Jeremy Borash being involved in a storyline was one moment that could have been avoided all together. JB should just be left alone and perform interviews which is what he is good at. But the only other thing I was critical about the show was it looked the same. I was hoping to visually see a new look and approach to the way TNA was presented. And it basically was the same. Maybe with time that will change, who knows?
So what did I think overall? What grade would I give them? Well I will give them a "B-". Typically a higher grade for any one thing I have given to TNA. But most of it went to the effort and quality of wrestling. Is this the beginning of something positive for them? One can only hope so. I really wish them the best of luck. There are too many wrestlers in that organization that are sacrificing a lot and passing up other opportunities in the event something very good happens. And I really do hope that is the case. It would be a shame to see their efforts go to waist. I've already blamed Dixie Carter and management enough. It's time to start to care for the performers that are being put in less then favorable positions. But truly for the benefit for them and the industry, I hope that something really positive has been happening in Nashville, Tennessee for the last 3 months.
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