I have to say that each week I enjoy writing this more and more. I find myself taking notes all week, just so I know what I want to say the next week for my pre-show segment of the Blog.

This week I want to talk about Jeff Jarrett. I have done some research on him this week to find out all I could because his speech last week touched me. I feel like such a girl saying this, but I had tears in my eyes listening to him this past week. When he spoke about his wife Jill, I thought about how much he has lost through his years in the industry. There was the loss of his partner and friend Own Hart when he fell from the rafters and died. This obviously touched him closely. I was not watching regularly back then, but I was lucky enough to see a tape of that following Monday’s RAW (and I re-watched it this week on YouTube). My heart went out to everyone involved, but it was after that which I started to watch JJ more closely. I watched him on WCW until it’s ultimate demise. I do not know why JJ did not stay around after McMahon acquired WCW, but I think it was right that he didn’t or we would not have TNA now.

While a lot of you might think that TNA not being around might be a good thing, I do not agree. I think Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett had a beautiful idea in creating TNA. The problem is what TNA has become of late.

I fully admit I only started watching TNA when I discovered it was being aired at some obscure time on Friday afternoons in the spring of 2005, even though it had been on since the June before that. My first memorable TNA moment was the death of Chris Candido. I really appreciated the way TNA handled his death and still aired the taped show a couple days after his death. That’s when I was captivated - but had huge issues trying to actually watch the show as their one year contract was up and they were no longer on Fox Sports. It wasn’t until this past 10 months to a year that I really started catching Impact! more and more - basically since it went to being a two hour show.

From what I have been able to gather through my research this week, Vince Russo had been with TNA from about the start of it all. While he was head booker, he had no writing or creative control and was also on on-air talent. I highly doubt TNA would have survived until now if Russo have been at the creative helm during those early days - knowing what he did while in WCW - such as putting the WCW Title belt on David Arquette.

Why Carter rehired Russo and put him in a creative role, I will never understand. Russo has had his amazing (possibly even genius) moments, but they sure have not happened in a long, long time - possibly since his early stint in WWF(E). From what I have seen he has done nothing but confuse matches and storylines with over booking, terribly convoluted gimmicks and down right bad writing. The AJ Styles versus Trigg MMA Match from NS has already been added to Russo’s wikipedia page (and not by me) as yet another example of Russo’s horrible ideas.

Angle has been speaking out against the horrible gimmicks in TNA. Angle in Slam Wrestling- “We don’t need to have gimmick matches. We have the talent to have great wrestling matches.” Angle in The Sun - “Being in TNA is exciting and frustrating at the same time. We’ve been doing a good job but what we need to do right now is to simplify things. We get a little bit too complicated with our gimmick matches and run-ins. I’ve spoken to the bookers, writers and owners of TNA and said: Listen. Wrestling is very simple, keep it simple.” While I’m not normally big on Angle interviews, he sure hit the nail on the head in these two and I think the nail that just got pounded is Russo.

I am never for anyone losing their job, but Russo sure seems to be doing everything in his power to try to get fired. All you have to do is listen to the fans when they chant, “Fire Russo” during bad gimmick matches and over bookings. Fans are not stupid. They know who’s behind it and they want him gone. I think it’s about time TNA listened.

TNA Starts
TNA started with a video review of Jeff Jarrett’s in ring speech/promo last week followed up with Foley on screen.

In Ring Segment
Jeff Jarrett came out to the ring with his guitar in hand. The fans love him right now. The announcers said JJ had a huge announcement. JJ said as the founder of TNA it gives him great pleasure and pride to announce that they have signed one of the most unique entertainers of all time. He paused and the fans jumped in with huge, “Foley” chants. He went on to say Foley was the best acquisition for TNA, and next week he will be on the show live. The fans love it, until Angle’s music and he came out to the ring. Angle got some heat from the fans. Angle said JJ has been out of the loop too long if he thinks Foley is the greatest acquisition then said JJ has his head too far up his ass. Two years ago JJ left and Angle carried this company on his back by himself. He brought the company from an out house to a penthouse. JJ said he wanted to let bygones be bygones and wanted to apologize for some things he said last week. He wasn’t sure he wanted to get back in front of the camera, but things have been going badly. Not just with Angle, not just with Sting, but then there’s AJ. Two weeks in a row AJ left with Angle’s gold medal. He’s getting it back from AJ and returning to Angle. Nothing will change that in 1996 Angle became an Olympic gold medalist. The fans gave a “USA” chant for Angle! Angle was shocked that JJ was just going to hand back the medal, then told JJ to get the hell out of his ring. JJ started leaving and Angle demanded he stay. He told JJ to not walk away like a scared little bitch. He then said JJ was like his father Jerry Jarrett, a washed up failure. He wanted JJ to tell his daughters that their daddy is a quitter. JJ was at the top of the ramp when that stopped him and he returned to the ring. JJ said his whole life he’d been a fighter, a warrior, a competitor. Angle has no idea of the trials and tribulations he’s been through. But no matter how low he got, he never has, nor never will quit. If Angle wants to goad him back into the ring, he’s got it. Angle doesn’t want all of JJ’s pain, but he’s got it at BFG.

Match #1
Rock and Rave with Christy faced Matt Morgan and Abyss. Rave slapped the heck out of Abyss and got nowhere so tagged out. The longer Abyss was in the ring the funnier it got, but then Morgan entered and powered away on Rave, losing all the fun of Abyss. Morgan hit a great dropkick - amazing for his size. The shock treatment back breaker from Abyss looked downright painful! The hellivator (his finisher) by Morgan, on the other hand looked a bit clinical and not quite right. While that ended the match with Morgan and Abyss getting the win, it was not over! Team 3D had to come out to bitch and moan at Morgan and Abyss. The boos were huge, but I’m not sure if they were for Team 3D or for the whole thing continuing to drag out. Team 3D proceeded to run through their title reigns - over 20 tag team title reigns - which is bloody amazing. The background noise through all of Team 3D speaking sounded like a constant boo. Brother Ray declared the Tag Team Invitational is a Monsters Ball. While the match was entertaining and interesting when Abyss was in, Team 3D’s invasion killed any excitement in the crowd.
6/10 - The match was decent, but the ending was too drawn out and lame.

Video promo for Roxxi being so hardcore and how tough she is. I’m actually impressed with how well spoken she is. This is the first time I have heard her articulate anything and think she could do really well on mic.

Back Stage Segment
BMI interviewed by the blonde. They’re not happy that they could lose Jackie in their later match. They said they could have hired a pretty little thing, but they wanted Jackie because she’s tough. They talk her up beautifully, but she walks off apparently in tears. They’re determined to keep Jackie. They showed real caring for Jackie, more than just as a manager and it worked wonderfully for the segment. We saw a new side of them, other than the beer drinking jerks - very cool, even for heels.
8/10 - So beautifully done!

Match #2
Mercedes Steele faced Kong. Mercedes is such a tiny little thing! She’s little, even compared to Taylor Wilde! Poor girl got the crap beaten out of her. Awesome bomb and it was over - she had no chance! Saeed slid a chair in and followed with another. Saeed attacked Kong?!?! Nope! It was Roxxi who removed the mask and continued to beat down Kong until Kong rolled from the ring. Saeed jumped out of the tunnel all tied up. While I’m usually annoyed by the over booked endings, this one actually made sense and did something! It promoted Roxxi’s feud with Kong, showed her creativity and dedication to taking Kong out. So while it was a typical Russo over booking, it actually made sense for once!
8/10 - This was good because of the long ending. The match was a nothing, but Roxxi tore it up in such a creative way. She deserves serious props.

Back Stage Segment
Karen’s Angle with Cage. She talked about how the locker room is divided. The veterans are on one side, the young guys on the other. Cage said he’s someplace in the middle. He takes it all as motivation to prove he should be on top. He’s not far removed from the young guys, but also not far from the vets. Karen wanted him to pick a side, but he wouldn’t. His phone rang and he left to talk to his agent, but Karen kept demanding he pick a side the whole time while he walked away. Why am I getting a huge sense of WCW deja vu? I have seen this played out before on WCW - written by Russo - and it was when they were tanking in the ratings. This is so wrong on so many levels!
5/10 - Cage is great on mic, but where this storyline is going makes my brain hurt!

Back Stage Segment
LAX was interviewed by the blonde. Hector (sounding too much like Eddie for me to not twitch) said he’ll be there for his boys. But the whole thing was a bit over done with the Spanish. I understand their gimmick, but when you can only understand 1/10 (if that) of a segment, it doesn’t mean much. BMI was so much better in their interview.
2/10 - Just not enough substance compared to BMI.

Back Stage Segment
Borash was in Booker T’s locker room. Booker is still doing that horrible accent. This time he was ripping on AJ for no apparent reason. I just don’t get it.
1/10 - Booker is getting odder and odder as the weeks go along. The accent is also getting stranger.

Match #3
LAX and Hector face off against BMI and Jackie. Hector looked fairly decent when he got tagged in, but I have never seen him in the ring before. He did an homage to Eddie with the three amigos that got the fans hot. Jackie started getting involved but for some reason got chased up the ramp by Hector. Of course they have to have commercials in the middle of the match and a lot of great action happened while we were gone. It’s a taped show and everyone knows it, why do they even try to act like it isn’t? These two teams are so great in the ring together. Both teams have wonderful chemistry with each other and between the teams. Hernandez is not a little guy, but flies out over the top so gracefully. BMI gained the win by cheating - hitting Hernandez over the head with Storm’s football helmet. Jackie and BMI celebrated on the ramp while Homicide and Hector kneeled over Hernandez in the ring. The one time I wanted more they cut me off. They had a perfect set up for a moment there, but they cut away. I just do not get Russo and the other writers. They’re making no sense in almost everything they do these days!
9/10 - It was an absolutely beautiful match to watch. It had its funny moments as well as some top notch wrestling. So nice to see a match come together the way this one did, but it would have been better without commercials stuck in the middle.

Video of SoCal Val and Dutt. The blonde is in bed with them - they’ve been in bed for ten days - for an interview. SoCal Val asked about Dutt’s father’s money and how Sonjay will inherit it when his father dies. The blonde is so disgusted by them she stomps out. They did not really come off as heels. They should be true heels now, especially SoCal Val after screwing Lethal, but she just seemed rather wishy-washy.
2/10 - It was kind of pathetic.

In Ring Segment
Sting headed to the ring to bitch about Jeff Jarrett. He said a lot of the younger guys might believe him, but Sting doesn’t. It was JJ who pulled Sting out of retirement. Sting said JJ told him Spike would sign TNA if they had Sting. The problem with that is that Spike had already signed TNA before Sting came in. They might have gone to two hours after Sting came in, but Spike did not sign TNA because they signed Sting. He said that at the same time Vince McMahon called and offered him huge money. So JJ’s claim that Sting is all about money is wrong. He’d be elsewhere if he was out for only money. At first he liked the young guys, but when he got to know some of them he learned to dislike them. So it seems as though JJ doesn’t think he needs him now, but Sting disagrees. Sting then showed pictures on the screen and spoke about each person. First was a picture of Arn and Tully. They taught him to have eyes in the back of his head. Dusty Rhode’s picture is next. He taught Sting how to draw in the fans and not judge a book by its cover. Hogan’s picture is shown and it gets some heat from the fans. Sting says it’s because of Hogan that wrestling became mainstream. Ric Flair is the next picture. It was 20 years ago that Flair put Sting on the map. He could have made or broken Sting’s career, but decided to help. Flair taught Sting how to become a champion. How to travel around the world and keep on going. How to bleed and keep going. Sting gets really going on Flair, but gets very little reaction from the fans. The next picture is Samoa Joe. He said Joe doesn’t know how to be a champion or how to respect. The last picture is Sting’s. He said that’s the man who will get the job done at BFG. The fans really are not liking Sting tonight. Something has changed in how they’re receiving him. He wasn’t really getting heat, but he sure was not getting any sort of pop.
6/10 - This is getting very old very quickly. At first Sting was very vague about who he was talking about, now he’s naming names and people are not as happy with him. The first time Sting spoke on respect it was amazing, but he keeps rehashing the same concepts. He needs some fresh material!

Back Stage Segment
Abyss is freaking out about the Monsters Ball and how he can’t deal with weapons. Morgan tried to talk him down. Morgan said he talked to Abyss’ therapist and Abyss needs to face his fears. Morgan was afraid to fly, but he faced it. Abyss then wanted to see Morgan’s wings. Morgan then went on to say he was afraid of bears, so he went into the woods and beat the holy hell out of a bear. Abyss’ response to this was to say that bears are hairy - cuddly and hairy. Abyss is so good at this funny/crazy thing on mic. I’m loving this Abyss character and hope they keep it up as it’s fun to watch him go from normal to crazy in the blink of an eye and he’s so good at it.
9/10 - Morgan was fine, but all props go to Abyss.

Back Stage Segment
Borash with Samoa Joe. Borash is shocked that Joe didn’t go out and face down or attack Sting. Joe is suddenly zen and calm again. He said he and Nash are fine and he’s looking forward to facing Sting. It has nothing to do with respect and is all about fear, the fear that Joe will take that spot away from Sting. Lethal and Creed came in to thank Joe for all he is doing. It was interesting to see Joe so mellow. Also interesting to see Lethal without his gimmick and just being honest and cool. Very nice segment for all the guys. Not over the top great, just solidly good.
8/10 - Strong segment. Nothing flashy, but very effective.

Match #4
Bashir faced off with Samoa Joe in a Champion Versus Champion Match, but not a Title Match. Bashir over sold everything in the start of the match. He hadn’t been given much ring time in the ‘Other Company’, so I really had not seen much of his ring work, but I’m not thrilled with his reactions. He seemed to over react and move too early or quickly or wrongly for a lot of moves. It might just be this match, but I’m not impressed with his work! Joe casually walking out of the way of a flying move always makes me smile. Just something that only he does and he makes it work. Joe pretty easily finished off Bashir for the win. But it doesn’t end there! Joe talked on the mic about respect to Sting and then put a rear naked choke on Bashir and wouldn’t let go. The ref ruled a post match DQ and gave the win to Bashir. Again another move that makes no sense. Joe choking out Bashir to show up Sting after he had just had a hugely mellow back stage segment also did not ring true. Then the ref changing the winner post match screws with the continuity. Since when can refs change the winner on a whim?
5/10 - None of the low mark is for Joe. He was great in this match - as always. Bashir and the strange ruling killed it for me.

Back Stage Segment
Borash interviewed AJ Styles. AJ was pissed at what Booker had said earlier. AJ commented on the new accent that Booker suddenly discovered this past month and then accused Booker of trying to drive a wedge between him and Cage. The segment only made sense because of what Booker had said earlier which had made no sense at all. An actual storyline somewhere would be nice. An actual feud that made sense would also be nice. This whole show has been a roller coaster ride.
5/10 - It wasn’t bad as AJ is great on mic, but it was coming off Booker’s comments that made no sense. So the whole thing was a bit odd.

Match #5!
Booker versus AJ Styles was the main event, but it wasn’t something that had been set up earlier or promoted through the show. It didn’t seem to be set up at all until the previous segment. Before it could start Cage came out in street clothes and talked to AJ - off mic - while he walked down the ramp. He just stood at the bottom of the ramp to watch. AJ and Booker went back and forth in the match. AJ looked really good, Booker didn’t look too bad, but they had to put another set of commercials in the middle of the match. Five matches in the whole show (one more than usual) but they felt they had to put commercials during two of those matches! As if they did not have enough short segments in the show and plenty of places to put commercials, they felt they had to put them during matches so it felt more live. It’s just a distraction and takes away from the match. Such a huge let down during what could be a good part of the match, but we’ll only see little clips because someone thought it was a good idea to put a commercial break right there. They came back and Booker had obviously been in control a lot, but we missed how they got there. I know they’re setting up for the young guys against the veterans storyline, but Booker is really starting to look older in the ring. He’s still great with his kicks and those long legs, but his wrestling is just missing something he used to have. AJ is such a great worker and really did a lot to carry this match. But it was yet another match that did not have a clean ending. Either the matches have over booked endings or there’s some odd thing that happened to cause problems. This time Hebner got knocked down. Sharmell entered with the briefcase she’d been holding lately. She was about to hit AJ with it but Cage entered and stopped her. Somehow Booker slammed AJ into Cage who still held the briefcase and AJ got hit in the head with it. Booker easily got the three. Cage paced back and forth outside the ring until AJ started screaming at him. They argued as the show went off air.
7/10 - AJ was amazing in the ring and carried a lot of the match, but Booker and the poorly written ending brought my rating down.

This was a very odd show. Some segments and matches were wonderful, others were just terrible. There was absolutely no consistency. It was all a bit unnerving to watch as I did not know what to expect next.

I also have to comment on the ‘thrown together’ feel of this show. A lot of it felt like certain parts were written and put together during the previous segment. Suddenly Booker was complaining about AJ for no obvious reason, then AJ was mad at Booker and then they had a main event match. There was no reasoning behind it except as a gimmick to push a possible upcoming feud between the veterans and the young guys.

The locker room is divided into the young guys against the veterans which started with Sting’s first respect rant. This looks as though it’s leading to a huge feud between the two groups. Knowing that Russo has creative power with this feud starting really makes me wonder if he’s fully tapped out. He did this before in WCW and it tanked in a horrible way. If he has any respect for TNA he will walk away now and let this idea die.

Tags: AJ Styles, Angle, Awesome Kong, BMI, Booker T, Christian Cage, Jeff Jarrett, LAX, Roxxi, Samoa Joe, Sting, Vince Russo