Official Squared Circle Thread

[The Critic]

-- This week’s edition of TNA iMPACT drew a horrible 1.14 cable rating, with 1.5 million viewers. The first hour averaged a 1.3 rating, then the rating collapsed heading in to the second hour and diminished from that point on. The show closed with a 0.9 rating for their big angle with Hogan and Flair. Heading in to their historic move to Monday Night’s, you never want to see your rating/viewership drop in the latter part of your show. (Source: F4WOnline.com)

 

Good. I hope the ratings drop through the floor every time Hogan appears on the show. The novelty of Hogan is wearing off, so now they move to Mondays. That novelty will wear off, too, and they'll eventually end up running out of tricks and gimmicks and shocking "new old wrestler" signings. Then MAYBE they'll write interesting storylines for the people they already have under contract.

[The Critic]

So tonight the New War begins.

TNA is trotting out more familiar names for us.

Supposedly

Sting

is going to show up tonight, and the rumored new arrivals will be

Rob Van Dam, Sabu and Shannon Moore

.

I'm really surprised

Beefcake

's not there yet - maybe he scratched one of Hack's cars while he was washing them.

 

Once Hack Hogan runs out of castoffs to sign, maybe we'll finally see if they can write anything interesting for all these guys to do.

[Brian]

As excited I was for Jan 4th, they dropped the ball that day and actually forgot they are back on Mondays tonight.

[The Critic]

Couldn't see the Sting heel turn coming 1,000 miles away.

f***in' identical to Hogan's nWo turn. Awful.

[The Critic]

I saw about five guys cheering for the SHOCKING RETURN of.....Shannon Moore......yawn.

[Brian]

My gf won the KO tag titles

[The Critic]

My gf won the KO tag titles

And mine jumped up and down and (thankfully) didn't say a word.

[Brian]

I have no clue who STing will be wrestling tonight. No clue. What so ever. Not an idea. Who knows........oh yeah, not surprised.

[The Critic]

And then they give their HOT NEW STAR a 10-second win and a 10-minute beatdown afterwards.

Genius classic wCw booking.

[Brian]

I really thought they were going to go with Orton vs. Legacy in a handicap match at Mania, but they did it tonight with Legacy going over clean. Not sure where they are going with that. I like Orton, but it just seems like an awkward angle to me.

[juddling]

gee...Hogan full of crap???? who would have believed it........

 

While there will be some familiar names and surprises on TNA Impact! tonight for their move to Monday night, don't look for one of them to be Bill Goldberg.

 

The former WCW World Champion spoke with TulsaWorld.com and says he won't be joining TNA Wrestling despite claims from Hulk Hogan that they were talking between the two about him joining the company.

 

"Pardon my French, but Hulk Hogan's full of crap because I was never in negotiations with TNA," Goldberg said.

 

He even added to that, saying that he has no plans on returning to wrestling at all.

 

"Do I see myself getting back in the wrestling ring? I'm 43 years old. Do I want to be Ric Flair? Do I want to be Hulk Hogan? In the twilight of my life, do I want to be running around in my underwear trying to injure people? Absolutely not."

 

"(Wrestling) was a stage in my life, a wonderful stage," he said. "Do I ever see it happening again? You never say never, but I don't see it likely by any stretch of the imagination."

 

story

[The Critic]

I really thought they were going to go with Orton vs. Legacy in a handicap match at Mania, but they did it tonight with Legacy going over clean. Not sure where they are going with that. I like Orton, but it just seems like an awkward angle to me.

Yeah, it's a confusing angle right now. I kind of thought they might bring in the new guys to rescue Legacy if Orton started getting the upper hand. I am interested to see what they do with this.

[Brian]

I really do like the WrestleMania card. I'm sure HHH/Sheamus will suck, unless Sheamus goes over, but everything is somewhat interesting to me.

[Kyyle23]

The end of Impact was a crap filled spot fest. My god, that was annoyingly bad. And I dont know if anyone saw what I did, but it looked like Hardy dropped Desmond Wolf on his head, and not in a good way. It looked very awkward.

 

Im disappointed in Hardy. I thought realized which promotion could give him the most

[The Critic]

The end of Impact was a crap filled spot fest. My god, that was annoyingly bad. And I dont know if anyone saw what I did, but it looked like Hardy dropped Desmond Wolf on his head, and not in a good way. It looked very awkward.

 

Im disappointed in Hardy. I thought realized which promotion could give him the most

Maybe TNA is just afraid to invest too much in him until they see what happens with his trial?

I thought Impact was the better show, but not because of anything they did. Raw was pretty bad from start to finish, and Impact had a few mildly interesting moments. Overall a lackluster start to the "New Wars".

[Kyyle23]

Maybe TNA is just afraid to invest too much in him until they see what happens with his trial?

I thought Impact was the better show, but not because of anything they did. Raw was pretty bad from start to finish, and Impact had a few mildly interesting moments. Overall a lackluster start to the "New Wars".

 

I dont know how this is possible. It wasnt anything but recycled WCW storylines, you said it yourself. At least WWE had something a little different moving with Orton, I liked R-Truth and Morrison popping off against ShowMiz. There really wasnt anything I liked about TNA last night, I couldnt watch it for more than a few minutes. Bubba holding Hogan back was so ridiculous I started laughing

[DBAHO]

I dont know how this is possible. It wasnt anything but recycled WCW storylines, you said it yourself. At least WWE had something a little different moving with Orton, I liked R-Truth and Morrison popping off against ShowMiz. There really wasnt anything I liked about TNA last night, I couldnt watch it for more than a few minutes. Bubba holding Hogan back was so ridiculous I started laughing

The Beautiful People winning some gold.

 

Desmond Wolf is my new favourite wrestler also. I hope they don't ruin what they built up with him from the program with "Kurt Mangled", although it looks like he could become part of some 4 Horseman Faction with Styles, Flair and Sting possibly.

[MHizzle85]

I was working on a paper last night so I didn't get to catch anything. Sounds like I didn't miss much from either side though...

[Kyyle23]

The Beautiful People winning some gold.

 

Desmond Wolf is my new favourite wrestler also. I hope they don't ruin what they built up with him from the program with "Kurt Mangled", although it looks like he could become part of some 4 Horseman Faction with Styles, Flair and Sting possibly.

 

Whenever the argument turns to a Woman or a Womans tag team winning a title as being the best part of the show, in my mind the winner of the contest goes to the other show.

 

 

And if they run out the 4 horseman yet again, I will puke

[The Critic]

I dont know how this is possible. It wasnt anything but recycled WCW storylines, you said it yourself. At least WWE had something a little different moving with Orton, I liked R-Truth and Morrison popping off against ShowMiz. There really wasnt anything I liked about TNA last night, I couldnt watch it for more than a few minutes. Bubba holding Hogan back was so ridiculous I started laughing

It was only better by default. Raw was unbelievably boring. The Criss Angel/Santino skit was unwatchable, they wrapped up with another SuperCena segment, FIGHTING IMPOSSIBLE ODDS. Even the Undertaker/Michaels showdown bored me. Legacy/Orton was OK. I missed the ShowMiz segment, so I can't comment on it.

 

Impact was fun to watch for all the mistakes they made. The Sting heel turn is ridiculous. His heart's not in it, he doesn't know how to be a heel anyway, and it shows. He grabs DIxie's shoulder softly, then remembers he's supposed to be "choking" her, so he does that for a half-second. Taz and Tenay talk for what seemed like an hour about how unacceptable his actions were.

They bring in RVD for a fluke win and a prolonged beatdown. They bring in Shannon Moore to deafening silence. They waste Jeff Hardy on a clusterf*** at the end.

Taz was really awful on commentary. Bischoff hypes the X Division to the moon and then the least "X Division guy" in the match wins it cleanly. (I know they don't want to give a title change away on free TV, but building up Kazarian and Daniels in the promo and then having Williams go over cleanly is bad planning IMO.) Oh, and of course The Bland come out to slow things down and slur their words.

 

I'll be interested in seeing the ratings. Hogan made sure to be on TV at the beginning, at the top of hour two and at the end. Shocking.

[Y2HH]

I don't know why most of you even watch wrestling anymore, all you do is waste two hours (if not more) watching something you dislike/hate and are bored with, then get on soxtalk.com and b**** about how crappy it was, whether it be TNA or WWE.

 

Usually when a show gets bad, people stop watching it. Maybe it's time to start looking into that.

 

I realize it's your own time to waste, but seriously. It's like *every* modern wrestling fan watches wrestling just so they can b**** about how crappy it is and everything that's wrong with it.

Edited March 9, 2010 by Y2HH

[Kyyle23]

I don't know why most of you even watch wrestling anymore, all you do is waste two hours (if not more) watching something you dislike/hate and are bored with, then get on soxtalk.com and b**** about how crappy it was, whether it be TNA or WWE.

 

Usually when a show gets bad, people stop watching it. Maybe it's time to start looking into that.

 

I realize it's your own time to waste, but seriously. It's like *every* modern wrestling fan watches wrestling just so they can b**** about how crappy it is and everything that's wrong with it.

 

have you ever actually read pale hose talk?

[The Critic]

have you ever actually read pale hose talk?

or followed any sports team?

 

Half the fun is dissecting the shows. Like I said in my last post, it was actually fun to watch all the mistakes TNA was making with their "big opportunity".

I want them to succeed, because historically Vince McMahon only steps up his game when he has legitimate competition.

There's always something good to watch on each program, but even in the down times there's fun to be had criticizing the product.

[Y2HH]

or followed any sports team?

 

Half the fun is dissecting the shows. Like I said in my last post, it was actually fun to watch all the mistakes TNA was making with their "big opportunity".

I want them to succeed, because historically Vince McMahon only steps up his game when he has legitimate competition.

There's always something good to watch on each program, but even in the down times there's fun to be had criticizing the product.

 

B****ing about a sport that occurs in real time with without predetermined outcomes and b****ing about a fake wrestling show are WAY different things.

 

Wrestling is like a stage play. It's physical, yes, but it's not a contest.

 

I don't watch House MD and then b**** about how bad it is -- if it's that bad that I complain about it *every* week, I stop watching and find something better to do.

 

I still enjoy a sprinkling of wrestling from time to time as long as it seems fun, WWE has a few cool things going on, so does TNA, neither are great though. I'm happy TNA moved to Monday, however, as at least it will force WWE to do some things they otherwise wouldn't bother with. I hope it sparks off a new golden era in pro wrestling.

Edited March 9, 2010 by Y2HH

[The Critic]

B****ing about a sport that occurs in real time with without predetermined outcomes and b****ing about a fake wrestling show are WAY different things.

 

I don't watch House MD and then b**** about how bad it is -- if it's that bad that I complain about it *every* week, I stop watching and find something better to do.

 

I still enjoy a sprinkling of wrestling from time to time as long as it seems fun, WWE has a few cool things going on, so does TNA, neither are great though. I'm happy TNA moved to Monday, however, as at least it will force WWE to do some things they otherwise wouldn't bother with. I hope it sparks off a new golden era in pro wrestling.

 

The thing is, there are enough interesting things to keep me coming back - unlike a show like Scrubs, which is dismal in every way, and I avoid it like the plague.

The frustration for me is that TNA has so many guys who can be interesting characters, yet the new regime is dragging carcasses back from the 80s and 90s instead.

 

Wrestling is different from other scripted television in the fact that its storylines are fluid and they can react to criticisms and fan reactions more quickly and more easily than other types of programs. Wrestling has a much looser logical progression than an episodic program like House. That's always been part of the draw of it for me - guys can completely change their onscreen personas in an instant, whereas Dr. House can't suddenly become a super-caring nice guy without losing the entire basic plot of the show.

 

I'm hoping that once the Old Guy Show fails in TNA (and it will - the same basic cast of characters killed WCW) they are still around and focus on the better personnel they still have on their roster (the Motor City Machineguns, Desmond Wolfe, The Pope, AJ Styles (not Little Flair), and so on).