Hey fans. Dan here, formerly DK Wrestling Savior from the previous EWN website, here to give my thoughts on TNA, focusing mostly on this week’s episode of Impact. For a long time now, I’ve been a defender of TNA Wrestling. While I still enjoy it more than the typical WWE Raw that I still tread water with each week, I must say this week brought back many not-so-fond memories of not so long ago. I’m not going to section this off by segment, simply because MVP and this new age Immortal faction took up about 75% of the show. I was instantly reminded tonight why I started growing tired of Hogan and Bischoff during the dreaded Immortal days. So, let’s get started, shall we?
MVP is 2014’s version of Hulk Hogan from 2011. I’m not sure why, after they started in the right direction following Hogan departure, they would revert back to the same thing. Why? It’s a simple question, isn’t it? I’m okay with the idea of factions. I’m even okay with the faction stemming from the Heel authority figure. But 7 segments in a 2 hour show? Overkill. Simply put. MVP comes out with Lashley and King. They cut their promo. They take out The Wolves. Money, Power, & Respect is the Key to Life…and done. Move on to the next thing. If they’re going to be on the show another one or two times, fine. But not one right after the other. The EY segment should’ve taken place after other stories were told. Have the Gunner/Shaw segment. The Anderson/Storm segment. A match. Then have EY come out and call out The Money Team. Instead, EY comes out after the first commercial, the entire faction is back out. MVP is cutting another promo. They jump EY. A Double to the rescue and takes a beating for his trouble. Then we get, MVP vs A Double, and EY vs Lashley. Fine.
Well, if that was it. I probably wouldn’t even be writing this right now. Unfortunately for us loyal TNA fans, that was just the tip of the iceberg. We got The Money Team out again at the conclusion of MVP’s match with Aries. EY comes out and gets pummeled again. Dixie Carter comes out. Does she come out to take on The Money Team? Of course not. She can help him in many ways. Bully Ray comes out. The Money Team jumps him. Then EC3 applauds them. Snoring yet?
Moving on. We got an okay match with Brittany and Angelina. It ended in typical Beautiful People fashion. I like them by the way so no real complaints here. Gail comes out. We’ll be seeing Gail vs Angelina at Slammiversary which should be good.
I know I’m not really going in order here. Next, We get one half of the Tag Team Champs, Eddie Edwards, calling The Money Team out. Only Kenny King comes out and they brawl. Kenny King gets the better of Eddie and now the Wolves look weak. Not only that, but Kenny King didn’t sell anything during that brawl. It was a bad, BAD segment.
Anderson has to get Storm drunk so he can beat him up. Is the snoring getting louder yet? Oh yeah, Gunner is playing the support role for Sam “The Creepy Bastard” Shaw. More wasted time. Where the hell is Samoa Joe? I wish we could get some info on that.
Let’s see. Oh yes, Lashley vs EY. Good match except EY didn’t do much except punch and kick and take a beating. The Money Team comes out again. 9th or 10th time of the night by this point. I waited impatiently for the episode to end and it got deleted from my DVR faster than you can say, “TNA”.
Now that the complaining is out of the way, let me jump into why I titled this blog what I did. I’ve defended TNA constantly. I never believed they were in trouble. I still don’t believe the story of the crew worker walkout threat. In the real world, if you haven’t been paid since early March, you’re not working in the middle of May. But clearly, TNA is in trouble. No news of a TV deal. This could be UTA negotiating on their behalf. Maybe Spike is fed up with them. Maybe they’re fed up with Spike. Who knows what the issue is but clearly, things are looking bleak. Do I think the company is folding? I’m not ready to concede that one yet. But they need to do something and fast. The fix is not going to come from rehashing Hulk Hogan’s role, with a much MUCH lesser star. That much is for certain.
So now, what do we, as TNA fans, have to look forward to? We have 3 weeks until Slammiversary and I’m pretty sure we can expect much of the same with The Money Team gang jumping people. I’m not real enticed by the idea so if that’s all that’s going to lead us to Slammiversary, it might be a PPV I’m going to skip. But where do we go from here?
We have a live Impact from Bethlehem, PA. That’s not far from me, but I’m not sure I’m willing to cough up the cash for that. There’s also a live Impact in NY a few weeks later. Again, not a super far trip for me but, not wasting my time or money. But what’s on slate after that? They taped how many episodes at the Impact Zone? What are the plans for the summer’s end. I never wanted to believe it but, I feel like the end is near for TNA. Which I guess means we can expect more lazy and uncaring booking by WWE to boot.
Thanks for reading everyone. I’d like to hear your thoughts on the state of TNA right now. TNA fans only please. WWE fanboy haters, get a life and comment elsewhere.
Be Safe Everyone.
