The Art of War or Not a Man Just Yet

Wrestling matters?

Not yet apparently.

TNA wasted the first 15 minutes of this week’s episode of Impact with an utter mess of a promo and listless encounter between the X-Division roster, Immortal and Fourtune. While Mike Tenay and Tazz were adamant about how wrestling comes first in the new TNA, that wasn’t wrestling.

It was a dragging disaster.

By the end of the night, things didn’t change. TNA has not yet proven they are any different than they were two weeks ago.

Well, to be fair the ropes are blue and the set is a bit snazzier.

While there weren’t many developments last night aside from the returning ODB, Tommy Dreamer earned his TNA stripes after he took out AJ Styles once again with a piledriver. While the storyline between him, Bully Ray and Styles is still a convoluted mess, Dreamer is getting a push he hasn’t gotten in years. It remains to be seen if he can make the most of this opportunity though.

However, wouldn’t it make more sense to see a youngster like Gunner in a program with Styles?

Instead, they’d rather waste Gunner on Eric Young, who can compete, but has been made to look like a fool for years now.

Enough is enough. Let Young wrestle and be funny. It’ll make for great television and make the feud between the two of these guys a meaningful one.

Another big mistake last night was following up the Matt Hardy and Eric Bischoff/Generation Me match with a handicap bout between Anglina Love, Winter and Velvet Sky. Simply put, you cannot have Bischoff in the ring and then follow that up with an angle that is not over with the fans and will never be over. It’s just not smart. If this show was on Monday nights, this would be the exact moment even the most loyal TNA fan would change the channel.

It gets worse.

The promo between Ric Flair and Robert Roode was a crime scene. At one point, Roode said, “Don’t you ever underestimate the fact that I’m not a man.” Soon after he got his reverse arm-bar on Flair, but was thn beaten with a chair by Immortal. Where was Fourtune?

Good wrestling has a creative logic; this stuff is beyond wacky.

Between all that and the silly fan interviews, TNA is sinking fast.

They say wrestling matters, but there’s still a ton of posturing and dilly-dallying going on during Impact.

Matches:

Sarita, Rosita and Madison Rayne vs. Miss Tessmacher, Mickie James and Tara: This match, above all else, proved to any naysayers that Tara can still wrestle. In just a few minutes in the ring, she delivered her trademark spinning side slam, a few clotheslines and a two-handed seated choke bomb, which ensured her team the win. Will she feud with Rayne for Slammiversary?

Abyss vs. Kazarian for the X-Division Title: What would Sun Tzu do? What is Eric Bischoff smoking? Sure, Abyss captured the X-Division title, but those silly comments weren’t necessary. We know Immortal is at war with Fourtune, but little extras like Bischoff’s comments made it all hokey. Aside from the meandering before and after the match, the contest itself was solid, with Abyss using the shock treatment to set up the black hole slam for the win.

Amazing Red vs. Samoa Joe:
Quick victory for Joe, who defeated Red with the muscle buster. After the match, Crimson attacked Joe. Will they fight too at Slammiversary?

Generation Me vs. Matt Hardy and Eric Bischoff: With Hardy doing most of the heavy lifting for his team, this wasn’t a bad match until Bischoff got in there. Early on, it was like watching a master teach his apprentices. Generation Me is essentially a clone of the Michael Hayes managed Hardy Boys. They’re such a quality tag team, but they need a real persona. It’s okay to emulate the Hardy Boys, but at times it feels like they “are” the Hardy Boys. From their look, to high-flying moves, they need something different that fans can latch on to. Otherwise, they’ll never get through the mid-card.

On another note, having Bischoff pin any wrestler isn’t good for their career. The X-Division is in serious trouble creatively.

Velvet Sky vs. Angelina Love and Winter: A run of the mill handicap encounter that continues this inane and repetitive angle. Velvet Sky won the contest with an inside cradle and was soon beaten up by the returning ODB. At this point, Sky needs a real push as a knockout or as a valet. Maybe a feud with ODB can help her because this program has her stuck in wrestling purgatory. It’s also taken the life out of Love’s career.

mm
About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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