In Week 1, Total-Nonstop Action blew World Wrestling Entertainment out of the water, not only with the debut of Hulk Hogan but a stellar main event between AJ Styles and Kurt Angle. WWE’s only answer to the live Monday night show was the half-Harted return of the “Excellence of Execution.” But with the exception of a great tag team match involving DX, it was a lackluster show.
But TNA’s bombastic show left the promotion in a weird position last week falling back to the Thursday night taped format, surprises spent and a single show to build a pay per view event held Sunday, after the main event was already used for the live show. So while TNA’s shot at WWE Jan. 4 was a good one, last week’s episode had a slight feeling of “after the honeymoon.” The buzz wore off just a bit, but in that space TNA still found room to create a solid program, dish out a few more surprises and generally keep things above average. And while that may sound like a disappointment, it actually goes to show that TNA could have some staying power – that they can still pull off a respectable show in a tight spot in between the biggest live show in the company’s history and one week before a pay per view. If this is essentially TNA at its worst, then things are definitely looking up.
TNA started the show off with a fantastic tag team match featuring the Motor City Machine Guns vs. Generation Me. The latter is the formerly named Young Bucks with a new, incredibly bad name. The match, on the other hand, was a great way to start the show. These pairs are two wrestling duos that actually know how to function incredibly well as teams. The double team moves these guys pulled off were incredible and inventive, and even better that each individual is a capable high-flyer who works really, really well in the ring. This is the way a wrestling show needs to start.
It was announced that Genesis (which aired Sunday), would feature a rematch between AJ Styles and Kurt Angle, and would be Angle’s last shot at Styles’ championship in 2010. Both men got in the ring and Angle praised Styles for his talent, saying the two would have a good match at the PPV and extended his hand…but Styles simply walked around it. Looks like he’s getting a heel turn courtesy of Ric Flair’s meddling, and that seems like a really good idea, which was apparently furthered by the PPV Sunday, which I didn’t get a chance to watch but will catch up on and hopefully report on in a future post.
The mystery masked man from last week came out to beat down Styles and was revealed to be Tomko, returning off an injury, bitter about Styles success since the tag team split with his departure. The promo with Tomko was poor, but the match between the two that headlined the show was surprisingly…okay. I haven’t seen Tomko wrestle since his WWE days, and never remembered him as more than another big dude who kicked people in the head. It’s not that he’s high-flying now, but he seemed to hold his own with Styles. Unfortunately, the match didn’t tell much of a story, and the ending came before things really ramped up.
But along with the good, there’s still plenty of bad. It’s still hard to care about “The Band” getting back together, and I guess the PPV will show whether Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman can still perform at all in the ring. The promos have been bad, with Scott Hall talking like he’s got marbles in his mouth, and Bubba the Love Sponge really only making things worse. Bringing him in is already looking like a bad idea.
Mick Foley continues to be hard to watch, which is a shame because I always liked him in the WWE days. Samoa Joe seems to be used for little more lately than a catalyst for the stories of other wrestlers, which is disappointing, especially when they’re the stories of the likes of Desmond Wolfe, who seems stripped of any personality he once had. If TNA gets any credit in its missteps, though, it’s in calling itself out on them with promos like that of 3D, who tore into the Jerky Boys, among others, for being irrelevant. Hopefully, these stories pay off with some of these old stand bys going the way of the buffalo.
Because as much good work as TNA is doing, WWE’s going to be a hard company to beat, even if it isn’t at its best. At the top of that success, recently, is the guest hosting program for Monday Night Raw. It’s a gimmick for sure, clearly a stunt to gain ratings while helping celebrities promote whatever they’re doing nowadays. But that doesn’t prevent it from being a highly entertaining gimmick that undoubtedly brings a different flavor to Raw each week when the right people are in the driver’s seat.
This week, Raw’s guest host was Iron Mike Tyson, whose history with WWE traces back to Wrestlemania XIV. He first appeared on Raw to be announced as special guest referee and wound up in a scuffle with Stone Cold Steve Austin. At Mania, he play special guest referee in a bout between Austin and Shawn Michaels, turning on Michaels at the end to show his allegiance to Austin. At the opening of the show, Randy Orton, John Cena and Kofi Kingston all pleaded with him for a shot at Sheamus’ championship. Cena got a little geeky, saying he’d beaten everyone in the ring…including Tyson. He proceeded to explain that first he went through Glass Joe, King Hippo and Soda Popinski, before beating Mike Tyson in Punch-Out!
Michaels, after setting things straight with Bret Hart last week, wanted to do the same with Tyson. The former boxing champ said he wasn’t interested though, instead booking himself and Chris Jericho in a match against DX for the main event. Then he proceeded to kneel down to the leprechaun Hornswoggle and tell him he was going to rip out his intestines and his brain and eat them. Delightful. The main event ended with Tyson taking off one shirt to reveal a DX shirt and then knock out Jericho. Tyson made for an entertaining host, but the main event was a bust. Miz cut a terrible promo, and nothing else of note from the show.
Smackdown’s main event this week was an equal bust, pitting Rey Mysterio against Batista in a steel cage – winning a shot at Undertaker’s championship at Royal Rumble. The cage match was the payoff to last week’s no contest, after both men were beat down by Undertaker. The cage match could have been good, using the David vs. Goliath formula, but restricting Mysterio’s speed with the confines of the cage. The cage match presented some really cool ideas. Mysterio actually used Batista’s height as a launching pad to try an escape, and a clever finish saw Mysterio go over the top for the escape but Batista run for the open door. Mysterio held the top of the cage and kicked into the door to knock Batista back before dropping for the win. Unfortunately, the good ideas were hampered by a sloppy performance from both men, and the arc of the match made the ending feel a bit lackluster.
Between both shows, there’s also been a challenge issued by Shawn Michaels to the Undertaker for a rematch at Wrestlemania, with Michaels determined to end Undertaker’s undefeated Mania streak. I’m really not sure where WWE is going with this one. Unless the two have come up with a brilliant way to reinvent the match or a surprise ending is in store, I think Undertaker facing someone new would be more exciting than this. I’m curious to see if this will be the match or a wrench is thrown into the mix. Maybe Taker accepts Michaels challenge, but still has the belt by Mania and the Royal Rumble winner decides to challenge him instead. Maybe Taker turns down the challenge, but Michaels wins the Rumble and gets to fight him anyways. This, among many other things, will likely take shape in the next few weeks.
So the matches in Week 2 definitely go to TNA once again, with all around better performances from its athletes, but WWE put on a fun show with Tyson at the helm, and those guest hosts will continue to be a threat. If WWE could get the wrestling side turned around, and focus on making the entire package worthwhile rather than one story thread, they could easily retain. But the strain of three different shows with three rosters of wrestlers is definitely starting to wear the good material thin. And that’s where TNA will have to strike hard if it is to upset WWE. TNA’s area of improvement is the stories and creating an entertaining product to build around the wrestling. With Mania on the way and likely more surprises in store from TNA, it’s definitely a fun time to be watching wrestling again.
Raw airs Monday evenings on USA Network. ECW airs Tuesdays on Syfy. Impact airs Thursdays on Spike TV. Smackdown airs Fridays on My Network TV.
About the Writer
Bill Jones is the editor-in-chief of padsandpanels.com, a site dedicated to the coverage of comics and games.
- No Comments
