Impact wresting

[travzilla]

I watched impact tonight for the first times in months and couldn't make it through the whole episode. The shoddy constantly off centered camera work makes it unbearable. How hard is it to keep the camera centered?

[RKing85]

haven't watched Impact in forever. I have heard it has been not to bad the past couple of months (maybe just in comparison to what it once was, I'm not sure). But there is just so much amazing wrestling out there, that I don't have time to watch Impact. Not when there is New Japan, PWG, Dragon Gate, WWE sometimes, CWC, NXT, Lucha Underground, Progress, etc.

[travzilla]

That has been my deal also. Lots of good stuff to watch. But heard impact was unique and getting more buzz and then I gave it a try. I just couldn't get passed the bad camera work. I would have to imagine a high school A.V. Club could do better work.

[kalgoroth]

Impact is the only major free to air wrestling on national TV over here in the UK (it's on the freeview channel Challenge TV, as it's name suggests usually home to re-runs of 80s quiz shows, while WWE is behind the paywall of Sky) and still I have no interest whatsoever in watching it. For too long it has basically positioned itself as the little brother of the WWE, taking it's 'hand-me-downs' and complaining about the fact that it is constantly compared to them, when they themselves try to emulate them as much as possible. I stopped watching regularly around the time of the '2nd summer of AJ' storyline where they blatantly ripped off the whole Cena/Punk feud from 2011 by having AJ Styles return after having left with the title to challenge the then-champ Magnus, but in typical TNA fashion wasted it by fast-tracking it in a 2-week window on a TV taping where no-one gained anything from it as Magnus only won by having every heel beat AJ down before pinning him. I briefly watched again after Wrestlemania XXX after hearing of their attempts to ride the Bryan bandwagon by once again fast-tracking a storyline to have EY win the belt in one night but there wasn't enough to hook me back in.

As per RKing, I simply don't have the time to dedicate even 2 hours a week to a company who try to bill themselves as an alternative while offering nothing new, when there is so much more that is both more innovative and better quality out there. Even the WWE themselves have created their own competition that is more compelling (NXT and CWC, not the brand split). I really don't see a way for them to get out of the hole they have dug themselves in, the brand is just too tarnished. Yes the Final Deletion was entertaining but it's not enough to sustain long-term interest (I myself only watched the compiled version on YouTube so they didn't even get the benefit of having me watch the rest of the show) and in itself only demonstrated their tendancy towards 'let's throw stuff on the wall and see what sticks' short-termism in their booking 'strategy' in what comes across as increasingly desperate attempts to boost ratings. Which is a shame, because as much as the industry as a whole beyond the WWE is going through a resurgance what it really needs is a single company that can genuinely challenge the McMahon juggernaut.

The only US-based company that could perhaps make a stab at it is ROH, but they are quite rightly sticking to what works for them without throwing all their chips in. I find it quite telling that WWE seem to be shifting their focus towards Japan, raiding talent and spending more time over there, they obviously sense that NJPW are gaining a foothold in the US through NJPW World and the link-up with ROH and maybe want to try to nip any chance of them becoming genuine competition in the bud.

[Christian Small]

Likewise. I would much rather sit down and watch a PWG, Progress or ICW show over something I gave up on during it's Spike days. The little clips I've seen of it have not won me back either, the last thing I watched from TNA in full was Final Deletion and that was because it was just God awful.

[rinaldo]

its vs it's

This coming from an Italian guy.

Just kidding, bros.

[Gee Hall]

I casually scroll through on occasion. I have interest in the wacky Hardy thing, but now that Lucha Underground is back, I'll be done with it after tonight. Just not enough time in the week to give any more fucks than that.

[Milky]

Like most of you guys, I stopped watching Impact this summer because there was just too much wrestling. And also like most of you, the TNA brand just has a certain stink to it now that's hard to get rid of. When I think of TNA nowadays the main thing I think of is just a company that's poorly booked.

But for me I don't even think it's the branding that's the problem. Most of us recognize that the booking has improved dramatically now. The problem, at least for me, is that I just don't care about any of the wrestlers anymore. Sure, I could care, but it's hard. All of the old wrestlers I used to like in TNA are gone now (Aries, AJ, etc) and now I've got to get into the new crop. It takes effort to care, even though I know the product is good now.

Anyways, I gave Impact another shot this week, and here's my synopsis:

1) Drew Galloway is a heel now. Also, I thought he was like 37 because he's been wrestling for over 16 years. Nope! Dude's only 31! WTF?! He could still end up back in WWE someday, and his prime years are still 5-6 years down the road!

Anyway, I actually went back to watch part of last week's episode because I was intrigued as to how this happened. He actually cut a really good heel promo when he turned. He didn't concentrate on the babyface who screwed him. Instead, he shot on the audience a la Brian Pillman.

2) Maria Kanellis is Knockouts Champion

When I last watched Impact the Knockouts were the one really down spot. Shame, because they used to be a bright spot. But again I was intrigued and went back to find out what had happened. Maria won in ultra heel fashion and had serious heat. It's a segment worth checking out if you can find it. She won the title from Allie.

3) Moose apparently turned babyface and is now in a feud with Mike Bennett.

4) There is a new title called the Grand Championship. It is MMA-based and also gives a slight nod to the CWC. Basically, there are 3-minute rounds and you can win by pinball or submission. If a match goes the distance then the judge's scorecards are utilized.

Frankly, I think this is brilliant. Wrestling fans are at least vaguely aware of MMA and how it works, so the new matches are a different/more realistic style and the judges add a certain amount of legitimacy. It's something different and that's always good, but the true brilliance is in the booking. Now you are open to so many more possibilities. You can have visionary falls with a guy being pinned or submitted just as time in the round runs out; or you can have a guy win two 3-minute rounds and then lose clean in the third, thus doing the job but still looking strong, etc. So many possibilities. I like.

5) Lashley is still the World Champion and looks fucking great. Talks like a champ and is booked very dominantly. He will face EC3 at Bound For Glory on October 2nd. It was presented like a UFC press conference and Billy Corgan actually looks like Dana White so it seemed even better.

6) Jessie Godderz seems to have a more serious gimmick now, but The Bromans were referenced during his match so I guess that shitty tag team is still a thing.

7) This was the main event segment:

[RKing85]

the Final Deletion episode of Impact was the first complete episode of TNA/Impact that I had watched in at least 5 years I would guess.

[TolerancEJ]

The Final Deletion was the only TNA segment I went out of my way to watch in the last 3-4 years.

[gerardgerard]

They've got a lot of folk I enjoy, and the product is consistently leaning towards solid, but outside of Final Deletion, it doesn't feeling like a show that has a focused philosophy underpinning it. No immediately discernible attitude or unique branding that sets it apart. As consequence, it can come across as disjointed and somewhat directionless, which makes it difficult to cultivate any buzz it may pull into any tangible momentum.

It's kinda grim when a lot of talent of reinvigorated themselves on TNA's time, like Bully Ray, EC3, Galloway, Lashley, The Deleted Hardys, and whatnot, yet TNA's continued lack of oomph has these career revivals greeted among the broader wrestling fandom with a deadpan "Jesus, that's great, imagine if they could do that in WWE" and not "hey, let's give Impact one last chance." I mean, it's their own fault, but yeah, no less grim.

[john casey]

What could be interesting is that, if Billy Corgan has bought Impact Wrestling, whether Spike TV may be interested in bringing it back when their contract is due.

[Christian Small]

I'd be very surprised if Spike picked them back up or if that would actually help. I feel like Impact has got to the point of no recovery, although would love them to prove me wrong and get to the level where the guys can make a good living from just Impact.

[deezy]

Their ratings are not even climbing after all this Deletion stuff. They should consider themselves lucky they have Pop and Fight Network and try not fuck those relationships up.

Also, if Vince Russo wrote the Final Deletion, that segment would've been tarred and feathered into oblivion.