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This week’s edition of the Greenfield Review looks at this past Sundays PPV held in Orlando Florida by TNA Wrestling. This was the first PPV held under the new regime of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff. The Impact zone has now had a makeover with the cameras now more set to make the area look more professional and looks like they were upgraded. They has changed the entrance way with the ramp now gone and instead have gone with an old WCW look, where the stage meets up with the ring. The ring has now changed from the 6 sided ring to the old fashioned 4 sided ring. I think it is a good idea to go back to the four sided ring because it makes the look more like a wrestling promotion but also this is Hulk Hogan’s promotion and anything he says goes. The fans were upset about the change, but at the end of the day it is a ring and no matter what ring it is, the wrestling should still be at a good quality. TNA is now moving forward to try and look more upgraded as they are looking to create an alternative to compete with the WWE.
TNA Genesis had 8 matches on the card and the show did have a lot of good wrestling, some surprises, fans being vocal and also being told to not disrespect any of the talent rosters. Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff came out first and talked about the changes they have made and how they were going to beat Vince McMahon, Hulk Hogan got a few boos during this segment. The first match on the show was Amazing Red defending his X division title against a mystery opponent. The debut of Brian Kendrick was the wrestler, who faced Amazing Red. The match itself was very good for the time they were given and was a good idea for Amazing Red to keep the title and beat Brian Kendrick. Brian Kendrick made a good debut and thought he delivered a good wrestling match; he should be a good addition for the much depleted X Division.
The second match on the show was not really at all interesting because the match had the debut of Sean Morley, who used to be Val Venis in WWE. Sean Morley faced Daniels in a singles match and the fans crapped on Sean Morley, which is understandable because he has had the same gimmick for years but also he means nothing in the wrestling business in 2010. I thought the match was ok, but with Daniels losing, it does not help him one bit because it looks like he will be a jobber for a while. Daniels is a top class wrestler and can have great matches; they can do so much more with Daniels.
The TNA Knockouts Title match was a complete waste of time, I like both ODB and Tara, and they are great women wrestlers. But they just cannot connect together in a match and glad this feud is over because this has gone on long enough and they have really hurt the creditability of the title a little bit. Tara winning the match was good and thinks it was the right move to make. I just don’t know where they can go with the Knockout Division at the moment because it seems to have gone a bit stale. I would like to see a Hamada Vs Awesome Kong feud.
The match for the TNA World Tag Team Titles was a good match and thought it was good to see Matt Morgan and Hernandez winning the titles against the British Invasion. I can see this going quite well for Matt Morgan and Hernandez because they are big wrestlers, but can also have good matches. I see Hulk Hogan giving these two a major push over the year. I think it is important to keep the titles on them for a long time and help establish them a bit by feuding with the likes of Team 3D, The Band and also the Nasty Boys. The future if the British Invasion looks to be uncertain but do see them being in TNA for a while yet.
The match between Desmond Wolfe and The Pope was one of the better matches on the show and got a decent amount of time for these two to really have a respectable match. Desmond Wolfe has a new look and he is a great heel. I think TNA has hit the jackpot by signing him because he is one of the best technical wrestlers around at the moment and he can also cut a promo. His character is believable and it was important for him to beat The Pope to get heat back. The Pope is another good wrestler, who can cut a promo and is also believable. I thought both of these two delivered a good match and hope they can carry this feud on because they can do much more.
The return of The Band with Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and Sean Waltman seems to be quite boring at the moment; Scott Hall did not wrestle at the event due to some injury. Sean Waltman made his in ring return by teaming up with Kevin Nash to face Robert Roode and James Storm. The match was alright, nothing special. Beer Money got the win pinning Kevin Nash, but the finish was a bit annoying because Scott Hall came out and made the win for Beer Money look a bit meaningless. But it was good to see Sean Waltman back, but will be interesting to see how long he and Hall last in TNA.
The semi main event saw the return of a former WWE wrestler, who was quite well known. This wrestler was being hyped up as a top player in the game and can make a difference in the World Title picture. But the person they brought in was Mr Anderson, formally known as Mr Kennedy in WWE. He was a big name in WWE but did not have a type main event run in the company. The debut itself was not very well done, as he was the wrestler who had to replace Bobby Lashley who got taken out by Abyss prior to the match. The match between Abyss and Anderson was not very good and was most likely one of the worst debuts for a wrestler joining TNA. I would not have him wrestle on the show at all, but just a promo would have been good to see, saving his first match for a rating or a PPV buy rate the next month. So the hype was a letdown for the major wrestler they were bringing in, but TNA does do this quite a bit over hype something that is not big at all.
The main event between Kurt Angle and AJ Styles was the rematch from the January 4th Monday Night Special, but this match was not as good in my opinion. The match between these two was still a very good match, but it did lack something to make it special because we have now seen it too many times. But this match did have a respectable ending and did make sense. AJ Styles has now turned heel and is now going to be managed by “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair. The ending of the match saw Ric Flair pull the referee out of the ring so that AJ Styles was allowed to tap from the Ankle Lock, leaving Kurt Angle unable to claim victory as the referee is knocked out. Ric Flair gave AJ Styles the World Title and hit it in the head of Kurt Angle, claiming the victory over him, regaining the title.
This has now made him the number one heel for TNA Wrestling; AJ Styles is now aligned with Ric Flair and think this is a good move. The reason for this is because Ric Flair is best served as a manager than being a wrestler at 60 years old. AJ Styles can get the rub of a true legend, by Flair putting him over in promos and videos to help make AJ Styles a true Main Event wrestler.
The PPV overall gets a 5 out of 10 for me, the changes made look good and the storytelling was very well done. But however some of the matches were really boring and did not really need to be on PPV. The presentation of the show was clear and much better. We did not get lots of multiple matches or lots of run-ins, instead we got some clean finishes and the run-ins that were done, were done for a purpose for carrying on the storyline. For example Kurt Angle got screwed, so he will want revenge. In the next section of this column, I will look at this past week’s TNA Impact and look at the current storylines they have set up.
This week’s TNA Impact was a good show and it seems they are creating a consistent weekly program. I think this show still has things going wrong and areas of improvement are still needed. I thought the Ric Flair promo was the best way to kick off the show because it outlined why Flair was in TNA, but also he explain why he was with AJ Styles and what his plans are for AJ Styles. I like how the first segment went because it was simple, but it came across where we all understood what was going on. Kurt Angle was upset and got a rematch for the title later in the show. AJ Styles does have what it takes to be a good heel, but not sure if it is ideal for him to be it now.
The use of Hulk Hogan in the show was not overly used and thought it was essential to make sure fans did not get bored of seeing him on TV. This is the same for Ric Flair because if they are used too much in the show, people get bored and tune out. Hulk Hogan acting as the authority figure on TNA Impact, has been very effective and his role is well defined. I liked how they used him, to force Scott Hall and Sean Waltman out of TNA.
The matches on the show were nothing special; the Nasty Boys debut was nothing more than a train wreck, to be honest. Orlando Jordan’s debut was just fine for what it was but feel sorry for the Pope jobbing to this guy. The TNA World Tag Team Title match between Matt Morgan and Hernandez Vs the British Invasion was a good way to help force the issue that Morgan and Hernandez are two powerhouse wrestlers. The main event was a bit boring, Kurt Angle and AJ Styles has been done too much now and is time to end the feud. The ending of the match was to send a message to the WWE about the Montreal Screw Job in 1997, to show how it was done. It was cheap and unoriginal that should not have been done. TNA needs to get away from past WWE and WCW storylines.
Overall the show was good and liked the ending where Eric Bischoff teased the firing of Mick Foley from TNA. It leaves that question for fans to work out and the only way to work it out is by tuning in next week, which is a good idea to keep us wrestling tuning back in. The show got a 1.26 rating and is the same as last week. This is good news and seems to be holding quite well, just need to start going up a bit more into the 1.4 range. Next week, I will look into the current storyline development and see what is working and not working.
