October 12, 2010

the Month In Review 9/16/10-Bound For Glory





9/16/10 iMPACT

MADISON RAYNE, TARA & LACEY VON ERICH BACKSTAGE SEGMENT

-So Lacey is back from selling her injury. Oh crap... this is going to suck, isn't it?

-What the hell did Madison & Lacey do to earn a title shot? Lacey has been out injured for weeks and Madison is coming off of several big losses in a row. I don't want TBP to get a title shot either, but logically, shouldn't Velvet & Angelina be ahead of these two in the line?

-Apparently, Lacey hasn't made up her mind yet about which side of this interminable feud she wants to be on. This is the sound of me not giving a rat's ass. Just go away, Lacey. Get off my damn TV and learn how to wrestle, you twit.

-Why would Madison tell Lacey to put her clothes on when everyone knows that Lacey's body is the only reason why she's on television? It sure as hell isn't because of her wrestling skills, that's for damn sure.


KNOCKOUT TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH:
MADISON RAYNE & LACEY VON BOTCH ERICH (w/ TARA) vs. TAYLOR WILDE & HAMADA (c). MADISON & TARA BEAT DOWN LACEY POST-MATCH. THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE MAKE THE SAVE

-Hell yeah! Taylor & Hamada are back from wherever the writers have been hiding them. Things are looking up.

-Crap. I spoke too soon. Here comes Lacey. And it looks like she does indeed intend to try to wrestle tonight. God help us all.

-Wow... Lacey was tagged in for most of this match. And you know what? SHE STILL SUCKS!!! Her execution is sloppy as hell, she has no idea how to bump properly, she's constantly making simple mistakes that rookies in their first month of wrestling school make. She's completely lost in that ring, doesn't have a clue what she's doing and has no business being there. And yet, she's on iMPACT when the returning Sarita is stuck on Xplosion. I ask you, where is the justice in that?

-As expected, the match was not good and it was entirely Lacey's fault. But at least the right team went over, the right person got pinned and the match had a clean finish. Considering the way the Knockouts have been booked for the last 9 1/2 months, that's actually saying quite a lot.

-If management want to continue allowing Lacey to compete in the ring then they need to start a separate division for her; a special needs division where you wrestle in a helmet and a full-body padded suit, and ride to the iMPACT Zone on a short bus. What a perfect fit for Lacey that would be.

-And why exactly did TBP come out to save Lacey? Yes, Angelina reconciled with Velvet, but I thought there was no love lost between her and any of these other women. Just stay in the back and let them kick Lacey's worthless, no-talent ass! Maybe we'd luck out and she get off TV, selling an injury again. Do V & A seriously think that Lacey could be of any help to them whatsoever? That's just asinine. I wouldn't let Lacey play with an empty cardboard box without supervision.

-Are these factions seriously fighting over Lacey Von Botch now? Because if there's one thing in the world that could actually make me care LESS about the feud at this point, that's it.

-BTW, you can tell from Taz's commentary that he thinks Lacey is an appalling, God awful wrestler (which she is). He masks it with jokes, but it's pretty obvious. Don't hold back, Taz. Let her have it with both barrels. It's the only way she'll get the message.

"Hamada can carry a bag of shit to a good match and Madison probably should have chosen one as her tag team partner."

-Noah 'Spoony' Antwiler, www.wrestlewrestle.com.


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9/23/10 iMPACT


-Well, it was pretty much confirmed yesterday that TNA has signed Mickie James. This is quite a coup for them as Mickie is arguably the most popular female performer in the industry and was the top Diva in WWE for several years. The fact that she's also a talented wrestler certainly doesn't hurt either.

-Mickie could be just what TNA needs to resuscitate interest the Knockout division after the writers did their best to kill it this year if they use her right -- 'IF' being the operative word here. However, I really hope they think this through and don't make the same mistakes with her that they made with Tara. When Tara signed, she came in with a lot of fanfare, she was pushed to the top immediately, they booked the entire division to revolve around her, but when she didn't deliver in the ring or on the mic, her push just kept on going and going anyway. It seems as if they're taking a wiser approach with Tara since she resigned, having her partner with Madison Rayne rather than pushing her right back to the top again, so maybe they've learned something from the Tara experiment.

-However, this does beg the question of what the they're going to do with Mickie. She's so popular as a face and has that added sympathy due to her treatment in WWE towards the end of her run in that company, so they'd be stupid to turn her heel, at least at first. But that presents a big problem -- if she's going to be a face (and I believe she will), who can they feud her with? The options are pretty limited.

-Obviously, they're going to want to put Mickie in the top mix right away, but they have zero credible heels for her to work against. They spent months trying (and failing) to create a new top heel in Madison Rayne, and recently they seem to have finally realized that her push didn't work, which IMO is why Madison has been buried by TBP for the last month or so. But since Madison was the only prominent heel they had, that pretty much leaves them with nothing.

-The only other possible option would be Sarita. The writers seem to have been trying to reestablish Sarita as a heel on Xplosion recently, but that push is still in the early stages. They haven't built her up enough to where she could credibly challenge Mickie.

-Having said that, I would take Mickie vs. Sarita in a heartbeat over what I think they're going to do. If they want to put the spotlight on Mickie, they're going to want to put her in the ring with who they see as the top Knockouts. Unfortunately, that probably means they're going to turn TBP heel and have Mickie feud with Angelina, which is a feud I have no desire to see. That would just be way too reminiscent of Angelina/Tara, and that feud was a total dud. I don't see Mickie having great matches with any of those women and I really hope they've got something better in mind for her than a program with TBP. The sad part is that, since the creative team's tunnel vision with the Knockouts has yet again caused them to write themselves into a corner on this one, I'm kind of struggling to come up with a better option right now.

-At any rate, I hope that at least they won't blow they're whole wad with Mickie way too fast like they did with Tara. Be smart about this, TNA. Don't put her in the title picture immediately. Give Mickie an introductory feud with someone else, keep her away from the belt for a while until the fans are really clamoring for her to win it, then give her a title shot on a big PPV like Genesis. If she wins the Knockouts title in a few weeks or a month after she debuts, it's not going to mean nearly as much.


BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE BACKSTAGE SEGMENT
-Segments like this are just further proof that V & A are just really awkward in a babyface role. Lacey is sitting there, obviously upset, and they just kind of blow her off. They're talking about the two of them becoming Knockout tag team champions with Lacey hearing every word, even though it's Velvet & Lacey who have the title shot tonight. Even when they're given babyface lines by the writers, their delivery is just naturally heelish. I suppose it's just as well as I fully expect them to turn heel again when Mickie James shows up.

-So Lacey is pissed off about Madison crapping on her for sucking so bad? Cry me a river, Lacey. You've been in TNA for a freaking year and you still haven't improved at all. The fact is, you should count your blessings because it's an act of God that you're even still employed by this company. Maybe if you actually learned how to wrestle, Madison wouldn't have so many reasons to treat you like garbage. As it is, can you really blame her? Seriously, Lacey... you suck.


KNOCKOUT TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH:
VELVET SKY & LACEY VON ERICH vs. TAYLOR WILDE & HAMADA (c). MADISON RAYNE INTERFERES. ANGELINA RUNS OFF MADISON

-Once again, not a good match because of the TBP. They're gorgeous women, they can cut good promos, but the bottom line is they are just no damn good in the ring. And they were on the offense for most of the match. Please explain to me the logic in that. Hamada & Taylor had to underperform in this match just so Velvet & Lacey could keep up with them and somehow they STILL made TBP look like idiots.

-There were two really bad botches by Lacey here. The first was when she tried to go for a hurricanrana and slipped off the ropes. The second was when Madison hit her with the motor cycle helmet and she completely no sold it like it hadn't even happened. Good grief...

-I repeat my point, Lacey: YOU SUCK! YOU HAVE NO TALENT! NONE! ZERO! GET THE HELL OFF MY TV, YOU IDIOT!

"I don't know what madness has infected whoever is booking these matches, but Lacey Von Erich is horrible. She may very well be the worst performer currently working in wrestling today. I say that without hyperbole. I honestly cannot think of a worse performer right now on televised wrestling who is worse. She sucks. She sucks bad. When you're putting her in a major title feud over the course of several weeks and having her basically be the character who is dominating the match, that is @#$%ing horrible."

-Noah 'Spoony' Antwiler, www.wrestlewrestle.com.


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9/30/10 iMPACT


-Good Lord... The crappy match where Lacey was botching all over the place AGAIN was the highest rated segment of the show last week. Hilariously, the return of the self-proclaimed rock star, Rob Van Dam, was the lowest rated segment of the show. Take that, Mr. 0.5.


BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE, MADISON RAYNE, TARA & MISS TESSMACHER BACKSTAGE SEGMENT
-A four corners match between Angelina, Velvet, Madison and Tara for the title? Dear God in heaven... four women and there isn't a single drop of in-ring chemistry between them. What the hell are the writers thinking? Did they not get the picture during the interminable series of lackluster matches between not only Angelina/Tara, but Angelina/Madison as well? Did they not see that embarrassing bout between Madison & Velvet at No Surrender? And now management think it's a good idea to put all four of these women in the same ring at the same time? They can't be serious. That match has "snooze fest" written all over it. This has to be some kind of rib on me.

-Effective segment as far as setting up their match at Bound For Glory, but I no longer have any idea who the good guys are supposed to be in this feud. As far as I could see, EVERYONE in this segment was acting like a heel, which I find is becoming a constant problem with TBP as a face faction.

-Why does Tara need to sign a waver before she can wrestle for TNA again when she already wrestled multiple matches while she was disguised as Biker Chick?

-This was the first time Miss Tessmacher has been used as anything other than Eric Bischoff's arm candy. Surprisingly, her acting was really good here and she was the only woman in the entire segment that didn't come off like a complete bitch. If the writers wanted to use her in more segments like this, I wouldn't complain.

-Okay, they just said on ReACTION that Bischoff has put Miss Tessmacher in charge of the Knockout division. I don't hate this. It finally gives Tessmacher a reason to be on the show besides standing next to Bischoff and sticking her boobs out, and frankly, anything involving a storyline about a woman who is not a member of or feuding with TBP is a very good thing right now.
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10/07/10 iMPACT

MICKIE JAMES ARRIVES AT THE ARENA

-Yay, Mickie! Strange that they're not going for surprise with her debut. I guess they're hoping she'll pop the rating for the next segment.

-Coincidently, I saw Mickie in person at an independent show last Friday. She was over as hell and had a really good match with Mia Yim. I really hope they do something meaningful with her. It has to be more than just putting her in the ring with TBP. Mickie is someone who could make a real impact in TNA if they use her right.


RIGHTS TO THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE GIMMICK ON THE LINE:
MADISON RAYNE & TARA vs. VELVET SKY & ANGELINA LOVE

-Good grief... they're really scraping the bottom of the barrel in their desperate efforts to prolong this feud. Now they're actually fighting over the rights to TBP's entrance music. Seriously, who gives a rat's ass? Is the music really that important? Does anyone other than them even care? Besides, it couldn't have been more obvious that V & A were going to win. They need to get Mickie out here so she can put a stop to this pointless crap.

-Madison changed her hair. She's a brunette now. I like this change. It makes sense in terms of furthering her split from TBP. Plus, there's too many damn blondes in this division. It needs more girls with different looks like it used to have.

-Okay, this match was better than what we usually get from these women, but it still wasn't anything impressive and it doesn't give me high hopes for the match this Sunday. That match might be decent, but it won't be anything you'll talk about afterward. The only interest is what Mickie's going to do.

-Here's Mickie! And dear God... her entrance music is ATROCIOUS! Oh well. I guess they can't all be winners. The live crowd popped huge for her, so the music didn't seem to bother them.

-So Mickie will be the special referee this Sunday. That makes sense. I figured she'd either be the referee or the special enforcer or something.

-Mickie announces her intentions to win the belt and be the first woman to have held all the major women's titles in the industry. This is what I wish WWE had done with Gail Kim when she returned to that company and instead they turned Gail into a jobber. TNA get points for making Mickie look like a big deal, but I'm just not interested in seeing her feud with any of the women in the ring right now. There are no compelling match ups there. Let's get Mickie in the ring with Sarita, Hamada, Taylor and Daffney, and see what she can do with them!


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10/10/10 Bound For Glory

MADISON RAYNE & TARA BACKSTAGE PROMO

-Effective promo getting over that Madison trusts Tara not to screw her over tonight. If there's one positive to take away from Madison's title push, it's that it gave her the chance to really improve her mic skills. Her wrestling is still the same, but she has turned into a pretty decent talker.

KNOCKOUTS TITLE MATCH:
MADISON RAYNE vs. TARA vs. VELVET SKY vs. ANGELINA LOVE (c). SPECIAL REFEREE: MICKIE JAMES

-You know, I kind of like Madison Rayne's new entrance theme. She probably traded up from TBP's music.

-Does anyone else think it's funny that the announcers refer to Mickie as a former 5-time Women's champion, but leave out the fact that she was also the Diva's champion? I guess the butterfly belt doesn't count. LOL

-To my absolute horror, there were some jackasses in the crowd chanting "We want Lacey!" I hope every single one of those idiots got run over in the parking lot after this PPV.

-I'm a fair person and I'll give credit where credit is due. This match was better than I was expecting. Nothing amazing and it got a little chaotic towards the end, but this was probably the best TBP match in ages. Granted, that's not saying much, but I do mean it in a good way. That being said, it changes nothing. I'm still sick of TBP and I still say they need to be de-emphasized in the worst way. With Mickie around now, hopefully that will happen.

-So Tara claims her 4th transitional Knockouts championship. This is the sound of me not giving a crap. And yes, I say 'transitional championship' because we all know Mickie is going to be winning that belt before too long. It can't come soon enough if you ask me. Yes, I previously said that they should hold off on Mickie winning the belt until people were really clamoring to see it, but if the alternative is another sleep inducing title reign for Tara when her first 3 runs with the belt sucked, then I say the sooner Mickie wins that thing, the better.

-Really strange decision to put the belt back on Tara here since she's been booked as Madison Rayne's stooge since she came back. But maybe there's going to be more to this since she kind of made the pin by accident.

-All things considered, I guess I should be thankful that they didn't give the title to Velvet Sky. Also, Lacey was nowhere to be seen tonight, which is always a good thing. Something else we have to be thankful for is that for the first time in God knows how long, we have a Knockouts title feud that DOESN'T involve TBP. Of course, I fully expect TBP to go for the tag titles now, but if that means Taylor & Hamada get some damn screen time, I can live with it. It's not like there are any other Knockout tag teams for them to feud with.

-Love it or hate it, we now have two former WWE Divas feuding over the Knockouts championship (unless they're planning a triple threat feud with Madison, which is possible). This is exactly what I didn't want. It only reenforces the belief in the fan community that TNA can't create their own stars. Oh well... it could be worse. At least Madison Rayne didn't win the belt back, thank God. Let this be the end of her singles push.

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