For two weeks, I have written columns where I have pretty much ripped TNA a new one, and it was pretty well deserved. This week, I figured it was time to balance things out, and point out the good things in TNA.
On balance,Jesse Gotterz has improved a great deal since he has arrived, he carried the Bromans at Sacrifice. DJZ was also OK, although having him do a neck breaker in the ring was a bit off. Spud again was excellent, and he and EC3 make a good pairing, feeding off each others reactions. That’s it, that is all I got.
Lets look at what else went on though. And really, I did try to enjoy Sacrifice, even after seeing the line up. The Wolves look like they need what it seems they wont get, Bad Influence. I am not sure if it was just a clash of styles, the wolves are still not long removed from ROH, and perhaps still look to wrestle the ROH way, but against the Bromans, they looked a bit clunky.
Loved the gimmick in the “committed” matchthough, NOT. We have seen Sam Shaw and Kenny boy go at it for weeks now, the addition of a van with some padding did nothing. Anderson winning with the help of a girl made him look weak, and Sam Shaw, well he has a dead gimmick now. This match was probably the sixth too many in a series of seven.
On the subject of a series of matches, the final rubber of a best of three for the X division title. TNA really tried to build some interest in this, but the problem with a match like this is pretty easy to spot. A Mexican who nobody has heard of, who can’t speak English, V a Japanese who nobody has heard of, and can’t speak English.
What is the point of a match where the audience has no idea what either wrestler is all about? Showing us segments of a Japanese wrestler running awkwardly in the middle of the night just wont cut it. We need something to invest in. To be fair to Tigre Uno and Sanada, the crowd had pretty much checked out well before they came out, and they had no chance of getting them back.
The Knockouts. Every time a knockout returns, they win the belt. Madison did it, Gail Kim did it, Velvet Sky did it, and now Angelina has done it again. Why watch a knockouts match? Remember when the knockouts put on half decent matches like Tarryn Terrell V Gail Kim? Now we have a returning Angelina picking up a win because of some hairspray.
Hang on though, just when you thought this was going to the dogs, here comes EC3 and Spud, ready to face Willow and Angle.I honestly thought Spud and EC3 were superb at the start of this match, they interacted well, and a crowd who had been totally apathetic up to this point suddenly woke up. To chant “boring”…
Ethan and Spud put on a master class, EC3 tagged Spud, who was not happy. Ethan ignored him and shrugged. Spud gets warned by Kurt, so tags in EC3, then ignores him and shrugs. Unfortunately this cannot go on all night, so they have to start wrestling. Kurt was obviously not 100%, and spent a fair bit of this outside, which left Willow to be as annoying as possible.
Despite having the two best performances of the night, this was a definite contender for worst match. Willow seemed to forget he was Willow, Kurt was nowhere near his best, and was not really taking on serious opposition, and we all knew this was a match that was there to kill time till Kurt is fit enough to face EC3 one on one.
Under normal circumstances, a tables match between Bully and Roode would be one to look forward to.This one however had a few problems. Having a PPV at Universal, presumably with a free entry policy killed this match before it started. It could be argued that its up to TNA to lift the crowd, but this was a mix of people with nothing better to do, and people who watch WWE, and wanted to show the world how clever they are.
Crowds chanting “CM Punk” on Raw was funny for a week or so, 10 guys shouting “AJ Styles” was never going to be great. It obviously won’t help when you only have about 2000 in the arena to start with, and for some reason TNA went without the piped in crowd noises we get on Impact. So the crowd were more annoying than the wrestlers.
Knowing what we know though, this match was destined for a swerve at the end. Gimmick matches are nothing without swerves, and this one had about 12 of them.The finish was the single worst finish I have ever seen. Dixie Carter, in disguise is strong enough to push Bully off the top rope?And Bully never noticed Roode had moved? Now I am a Miz’s Dad guy not a Miz guy, but Really? Really?? Really???
My tolerance for crap ran out here, this show was pretty much awful from start to finish. Promos in a PPV for things not on the PPV, nothing to distinguish it really from any episode of Impact, 90% of the matches were gimmick matches, and the crowd was horrendous. After ten or so years of defending TNA, I think I might be done.
After watching the Tables match, I was tempted to just turn it off, but figured I would watch it in fast forward to see EY retain, just in case something stupid happened. I probably missed the only half decent match on the card, but I don’t think I would be the only one. Naming your PPV “Sacrifice” is not a great idea when it leaves the viewer thinking they have sacrificed their time to watch it. Having your PPV in front of an apathetic crowd is never a good idea, but if you must, stick some pyro on at the start, and make sure you are selling beer, anything to get the crowd going a bit.
Now this article has been written in a different style from my normal one, but it has been done for a reason, and I should probably tell you what that reason is. For the past few weeks, I have been mean to someone, and they did not deserve it. I was trying to impress someone else, and become #wolfieapproved. It was wrong of me to do that, and I apologise.
MFX have branched out and now do a podcast called ‘unleashed’, along with their usual weekly look at wrestling. The guys at MFX do a great job, and fellow SLTD writer Duckman was the victim of my vitriol, and it was completely unwarranted.
For me to have a go just to look cool was not cool, and this entire article has been written with the goal of apologising, and only by explaining this can I explain the difference in style, and the opening word of the next paragraph, which will make no sense.
Xylophone. I really could not think of anything else, but now, along with my thoughts on Sacrifice, you can read the first letter of every paragraph to reveal my message to you. Hope this is enough to prove I am actually #ADuckmanGuy………
As is my wont, I would highly recommend a scroll through the articles right here on SLTD.com. You will find articles which are well written, knowledgeable, and were not written by someone who is concentrating more on the last week of the football season, and a team that is top of the league.
Comments are welcome below, and anyone who wants to help me in my efforts to have more twitter followers than my girlfriend, which is REALLY important to me can follow me @GrantCookDFC. Hopefully by next week, my team will be champions, and I can concentrate on writing a good article for you…
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