Results: TNA Turning Point

Not so much a review as TNA isn’t really my thing.

* Amazing Red d. Homicide by pinfall to retain the X Division Championship
Meh. Red’s alright.

* ODB, Sarita, and Taylor Wilde d. The Beautiful People by pinfall to retain the TNA Knockout and TNA Knockout Tag Team Championships; ODB pinned Rayne
Lacey CAN NOT wrestle. No way to hide that.

* The British Invasion d. The Motor City Machine Guns and Beer Money, Inc. in a triple threat tag match to retain the TNA Tag Team Championship; Kevin Nash and Eric Young interfered on their behalf
This was a big ad for Hogan. Nash’s reasoning, “Hogan told me to.” Fuck that shit, man.

* Tara d. Awesome Kong in a Six Sides of Steel match by pinfall
Tremendous. Tara really impressed me, and I already liked her.

* Rhino and Team 3D d. Hernandez, Matt Morgan, and Elijah Burke by pinfall in a six man tag match; Rhino pinned Hernandez
Waste.

* Scott Steiner d. Bobby Lashley by pinfall
Bigger waste. And a head scratcher.

* Kurt Angle d. Desmond Wolfe by submission
Awesome. Wish Nigel had won, but he looked great in defeat nonetheless.

* AJ Styles d. Daniels and Samoa Joe by pinfall in a triple threat match to retain the TNA Championship
TREMENDOUS MATCH. WOW! Worth a viewing in my opinion. These 3 are what TNA IS ALL ABOUT.

Cliff’s Thoughts: Hulk Hogan Signs with TNA

http://www.wrestlingnewsarena.com/2009/10/cliffs-thoughts-hulk-hogan-signs-with-tna/

It was the announcement that TNA hoped would shock the wrestling world to its foundation: Hulk Hogan has signed with us. Take that, Vince! While it’s far, far too early to gauge if this move will have any sort of lasting impact of any kind, I must admit that this initial wave of reactions has been underwhelming. Sure, wrestling fans were buzzing, but who else is?

When Hogan jumped to WCW in the early 1990s, it was a much bigger deal. Was this only because WCW was a bigger promotion than TNA? That point’s debatable, but here’s what isn’t: Hogan’s jump then forever altered the landscape of sports entertainment. TNA is obviously betting on the Hogan and Bischoff combination again, but the question is of course whether or not they can deliver, and make TNA a factor inthe wrestling world.

So, can they?

While the initial ratings and buyrates will most certainly go up, I can’t say that I truly believe TNA has caught the proverbial lightning in a bottle. Hogan has made himself some enemies over the years, and it’s tough to say if other wrestlers will jump ship for an opportunity to help TNA out. I’m not ruling this possibility out, but with Hogan’s reputation as a “me first” kind of guy, I don’t see a lot of wrestlers going to TNA as a way to further their careers. After all, who wants to be buried by a guy who can’t even perform his own signature maneuver anymore?

That brings me to my next point, Hogan’s so far past his prime that there’s no way he can get in the ring more than once a month, and that’s being generous. His back’s shot, his knees were gone years ago, and you can’t overlook the fact that he’s pushing sixty years old at this point. Are we really supposed to believe that the likes of AJ Styles and Samoa Joe are going to lose to a guy who moves around like the geriatric that he is in the ring? It’s hard enough to watch Sting beat them, but at least Sting is still in wrestling shape. I can’t say the same for Hogan, but I guess I have to wait until I see what he does in the ring before passing further judgment.

Further expounding upon Hogan’s “me-first” attitude, I have to wonder if he’s in it to make TNA the #1 company, which cannot happen overnight. This is a guy who is really signing on in order to promote his new book, in my opinion. Keep in mind, the last time we saw him on WWE TV was at the Raw 15th anniversary, and he didn’t even wear his trademark colors in the ring. No, he had to promote “American Gladiators,” so he opted for the all black look he sported on the short-lived series. If buyrates, ratings, and book sales don’t skyrocket immediately, will he stick it out? That remains to be seen.

With all the negativity I’ve presented, I have to say that there is a possibility this could work out for everyone, and by everyone I mean the fans. The last time Vince was beaten, we got the Attitude Era. He took chances, and created new stars. Maybe this will start a bidding war between the companies for some of the independent workers, or even some of the ROH studs. If this works out for TNA like they’re hoping, we could be in line for another wrestling boom. It could happen.

That said, I’ll take off the rose-colored glasses, and admit my true reaction. When I read the news, my feeling was much like any other time I’ve seen TNA sign an ex-WWE guy (save for Angle and Christian).

You can have him, brother.

Pay-Per-View (Semi) Review: TNA Bound for Glory 2009

Can’t be bothered with a photo if TNA is gonna wait so damn long to post them

Results:

* Pre-show Tag Match: Motor City Machine Guns d. Lethal Consequences by pinfall; as a result, Shelley and Sabin qualify for the Ultimate X match
- Shelley pins Creed after a double team neckbreaker/cross body
Quick take: Pretty decent match to get the already relatively hot crowd into the show. I love the Guns, and was glad to see they ended up on the BFG card after all.

* Amazing Red wins an Ultimate X match to retain the TNA X Division title
- Participants included: Suicide, Daniels, Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, and Homicide
Quick take: I always mark for the Ultimate X match, and this didn’t disappoint. There was a SICK, SICK bump that Daniels took that overshadowed the finish, though. It looked like he really jacked up his neck as he landed on his head.

* Taylor Wilde and Sarita d. The Beautiful People by pinfall to retain the TNA Knockout Tag Team title
- Wilde pinned Rayne after a dropkick/german suplex combo
Quick take: Alright for what it was. TBP are more about their promos and vignettes than their in-ring work these days, anyway. Wilde and Sarita make for a good duo, and I feel they should get a good run with the belts.

* Eric Young d. Kevin Nash and Hernandez in a triple threat match to become the NEW Legends Champion
- Young pins Nash with a roll up as Nash had Hernandez set for a Jackknife.
Quick take: I am stunned that they put the belt on Young. Not that the Legends belt means much, but I can’t say I agree with the logic. He’s looked like a punk for weeks now, and I can’t say this does much to elevate anyone involved. Sloppy match, too.

* Team 3D and The British Invasion win a Full Metal Mayhem match; Team 3D becomes the new IWG-P tag champions while British Invasion become new TNA tag champions
- Other participants were Scott Steiner/Booker T and Beer Money, Inc.
- Rhino interfered on behalf of British Invasion
Quick take: 3D don’t need the rub, and I think British Invasion sucks, so I was more than displeased with this outcome. The match itself wasn’t a total spotfest as I feared it would be. Some good in-ring work from anyone not named Steiner or Booker,  who are flat out horrendous these days.

* ODB d. Tara and Awesome Kong in a triple threat match to retain the TNA Knockouts title
- Tara went after Kim Couture in the crowd. ODB beat Kong with a facebuster onto a chair.
Quick take: Once again, TNA opted to promote MMA over their own product, having Tara go into the crowd to confront her next Strikeforce opponent. Dumb. They also missed a golden opportunity to have Kong reign over the division again. Indefensible.

* Bobby Lashley d. Samoa Joe in a submissions match
- Lashley wins with a neck crank. It isn’t certain if Joe tapped or not, but the ref calls for the bell anyway.
Quick take: Two straight matches, two MMA plugs. I don’t get it. Might as well tell people to stop watching. Lashley’s terrible, and I’m glad the crowd shitted all over him.

* Abyss d. Mick Foley by pinfall in a Monster’s Ball match
- Dr. Stevie was the special referee
- Abyss Black Hole Slams Foley onto thumbtacks, and forces Stevie to make the three count.
Quick take: I so wanted this to be epic, but there were SO many blown spots that it was almost unwatchable. I wonder what happened as I thought these two would have better chemistry than they displayed. Sigh.

* Kurt Angle d. Matt Morgan by pinfall
- Angle wins with a victory roll.
Quick take: Undoubtedly the match of the night. Tremendous technical work from both, and the crowd really got behind Morgan in the end. Looks like TNA really has something with Morgan. Well done.

* AJ Styles d. Sting by pinfall to retain the TNA World Championship
- Styles wins with a Pele Kick and springboard splash.
- After the match, Sting gets on the mic, and says he wants to stay forever, and hasn’t decided whether or not to retire.
Quick take: Surprisingly good match. Sting can indeed still pull one out of the hat every now and again. This shows how talented AJ really is, too. I hope Sting doesn’t pull a Favre or Flair. Either walk away for good, or don’t. I know it’s not an easy decision, but I hate indecisiveness since I am so indecisive myself. In any event, cheers to Sting and one hell of a career either way.

Not a bad show. Not great, but not bad. 6.75/10

Alissa Flash will kill you

Two random gifs

Amazing Red’s tremendous Hurricanrana DDT

A Thwagger entrance

According to a report at ProWrestling.net, TNA Wrestling star Sting is not expected to retire after the upcoming “Bound For Glory” pay-per view as had been rumored. The report claims that there’s a strong possibility of a retirement-tour of sorts, and Sting could remain with the promotion until the spring of 2010. **********************************

No one knows how to walk away.

JeremyBorash: Colt Cabana will take on Puma in a non-televised match in Orlando tonight.

Colt in TNA? I can dig it.

Alfonso Castillo is reporting at NewsDay.com that former WWE and current TNA star Mick Foley’s father Jack Foley has passed away. Castillo posted the following:

“I wanted to take the opportunity to offer my condolences to Mick Foley and the rest of the Foley family on the passing of Mick’s father, Jack Foley.

The original “Cactus Jack” was the longtime athletic director for Ward Melville High School, and a member of the Suffolk County Public High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame. Mick wrote extensively about his father in first book, “Have a Nice Day.”“

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:(

Condolences to the Foley family.

TNAWrestling.com recently posted the following:

TNA WRESTLING KNOCKOUT TRACI BROOKS POSES FOR PLAYBOY!

This Thursday, September 17th check out TNA Wrestling’s original Knockout, Traci Brooks, as her sexy pictorial in the Playboy.com Cyber Club is revealed!  Sign up now for full access to the pictorial by going to www.playboy.com/traci .

(Important Note: Playboy.com is intended for mature audiences. You will be leaving TNAwrestling.com and going to the Playboy website by clicking on the link)

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Aw look at that. TNA got me a birthday present!