TNA Impact Review: "Pain Comes in Threes"

[DWEarhart]

Triple Threat - Homicide (w/ LAX) vs. Devon (w/Ray) vs. Scott Steiner: wow. Steiner’s outfit. Shiney. Devon and Steiner go until Homicide finds an opening, but Devon keeps it together. Punches on Steiner, but Homicide gives him and Steiner the advantage. Hector’s back. He’s always wondered what it’s like from THIS side of the stage. He found it under-whelming. Steiner is gracious with the pins; lets Homicide try one, and the two are teaming together nicely. Steiner humps Devon a couple of times before belly to bellying him. The two heels get trap him in the Tree of Woe. Homicide severs the chord with Steiner, but Steiner gets a Tilt-A-Whirl Slam on him. Steiner Recliner on Homicide, but Devon isn’t completely out yet. Devon DUNKS Homicide with a follow through right to the mat. Steiner is preoccupied with Ray, Machete’s distracting the ref, and Hernandez BOMBS Devon with the Border Toss. Homicide covers – 1…2…3.
Winner: Homicide, and Steiner is pissed.

Borash is waiting for Christy Hemme, and Steiner trounces through, completely miffed that no one from Christian’s camp had his back. He didn’t think it would have been like that if HIS BROTHER (wink wink) had his back. Christy shows up, looking goth-girl princess, and invited VKM to the ring to hear her out.

Christy’s in the ring, and so is VKM. It seems like nobody in the audience knows who these guys are. They LEVEL VKM with some chairs. I like’em already. Christy goes sixties Catwoman on Kip (Julie Newmar. Oh yeah. Like that), and introduces Basham and the Damager, then smacks Kip in the mouth.

Bob Backlund wants his back back. The one that Mr. Sahbin, and Mr. Shelley took from him. Black Machismo, Nash, and Sonjay are walking through, but there’s not time for Sonjay. Again.

Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley vs. Black Machismo Jay Lethal & Sonjay Dutt: Lethal and Dutt are last minute substitutions for the original participants VKM. Lethal and Shelley collide. Shelley blows some snot on Lethal, who comes back up with some punches, and the top rope harangue. Shelley and Sabing don’t waste any time in taking the match back. Sweet double teaming by Shelley and Sabin. Motor City Machine Guns ARE HERE. Shelley gets a boot, Sabin gets an enziguri, and tags Sonjay in. He’s alive and electric. Beautiful moonsault on Shelley, but a spring from the rope and Shelley catches him with a chin cutter. Lethal gets Shelley out, Dutt grounds Sabin. Lethal goes up top, but Dutt is having second thoughts, waving off Lethal. Lethal’s confused, Dutt gets the tricks and treats from Shelley and Sabin. Celtic Cross by Shelley – 1…2…3.
Winners: Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley.
Bob Backlund is out, and is not happy. He wants his book, and whoops on Shelley and Sabin in order to get it back, but after suffering some damage, the two haul tail to the back.

Triple Threat Debate - Sting vs. Christian Cage vs. Kurt Angle: Christopher Daniels wants to talk to Sting, but Sting says now’s not the time. Sting and Angle bicker, while Christian tries staying neutral. Testosterone everywhere.

6-Man Tag - Samoa Joe/Rhino/Chris Harris (w/Gail Kim) vs. AJ Styles/Christopher Daniels/James Storm (w/Jackie): Joe and Harris’ hat start things. Joe kicks and quickly tags Harris in. storm hightails it out. Styles wants some action. Harris outsmarts AJ, preps him for a suplex, Joe blind tags in, DROP, and Joe goes for strikes. Rhino wants in, spend some time with his ole buddy AJ. AJ reverses Rhino(?). Storm shows Rhino’s head around the outside. Daniels does the same, but back in the ring. AJ returns, and the former tag partners fall back into rhythm. AJ can only get 2, and Daniels cheats his way in. Storm takes a swig before he comes in – BEER MIST in Harris’ face. Wildcat goes to town. Everyone nails clotheslines on everyone, but Rhino nearly decapitates AJ. Everyone’s out except Storm and Harris. Someone tosses Storm a bottle, but overshoots it, and it lands right in Harris’ hands. The ref holds off Harris, Storm gets the roll up, some tights, 1…2…3.
Winners: AJ Styles/Christopher Daniels/James Storm
Harris and Storm spread into the audience. Harris gets hurt near the upper level rails. Storm charges him, and Harris dumps him over the top.

Coming out of the entrance, it’s Sting and Kurt Angle beating the hell out of one another, while the world champ Christian Cage looks on, and he is amused.

Thoughts: I smell Steiner Brothers vs. Team 3D. Shelley and Sabin, yet again, were awesome. With everything that TNA tried cramming into this show, it didn’t seem to kill the momentum. Everything neatly segued into one another, aside from the usual foibles. The action was solid, and everyone came to play. Kudos to Steiner on his blown temper.

-TNA has released the Naturals.
- They’ve added a house show for the Twin River Event Center in Lincoln, Rhode Island on Saturday, June 23rd, 2007. Tickets go on sale on May 18th. The house shows are where its at. It isn’t one hour, that’s for damn sure.

[DWEarhart]

Current Sacrifice card:

World Title: Christian Cage (C) vs Kurt Angle vs Sting
World Tag Team Titles: Team 3D (C) vs LAX vs Steiner & Tomko
X-Division Title: Chris Sabin (C) vs "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal vs Sonjay Dutt

Texas Death Match: James Storm vs Chris Harris
AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe
Jeff Jarrett vs Robert Roode
Christopher Daniels vs Rhino
VKM vs Basham & Damager
4 Corners Match: Senshi (Low-Ki byatches) vs Alex Shelley vs Jerry Lynn vs Tiger Mask

[Legato]

Why cant they fire VKM? Even they wanted out.

Im liking the way Christian Cage is getting inside the head of Kurt and Sting. he is one of the best heels I have seen in a long time currently.

[lboinyamouf4sho]

Why cant they fire VKM? Even they wanted out.


why make it easy for those assclowns, job'em out 1st. i say let christy get the pin.

[lboinyamouf4sho]

Current Sacrifice card:

World Title: Christian Cage (C) vs Kurt Angle vs Sting
World Tag Team Titles: Team 3D (C) vs LAX vs Steiner & Tomko
X-Division Title: Chris Sabin (C) vs "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal vs Sonjay Dutt

Texas Death Match: James Storm vs Chris Harris
AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe
Jeff Jarrett vs Robert Roode
Christopher Daniels vs Rhino
VKM vs Basham & Damager
4 Corners Match: Senshi (Low-Ki byatches) vs Alex Shelley vs Jerry Lynn vs Tiger Mask

i'm sold, too bad baby mama aint trying to watch wrestling on mothers day:mad:

[Arune Singh]

Very good Impact. Using promos to further some feuds instead of in ring time helped let the other matches breathe.

I just wish AJ could pull off one cool move per show, even when he loses-- I get why he needed to lose, but he didn't even get a cool flip in, which seems like a waste for a guy like him. I know he can't be "phenomenal," but he could at least be "cool" and execute one nice move.

On the other hand, Daniels looked great in ring, but needs to wear longer tights. The short shorts look silly with his new look.

[DWEarhart]

Watching the quick altercation between Harris and Storm, and even their short time spent fighting one another in the ring totally took me back to the old days, when quarreling former tag partners was something really special. I am really looking forward to their Texas Death Match.

It sucks that the Naturals were released. Buuuuut, since someone seems to be showing glimpses of revitatlizing their own tag division.....

....just sayin'.

[DWEarhart]

After all the yackety yak yak yak, TNA Today presents Robert Roode vs. Sonjay Dutt (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yV4sl6ZC-aw&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Etnawrestling%2Ecom%2Fnews% 2Ffullnews2%2Ephp%3Fall%3D1246)

[Rusty Cage]

I really want to like TNA, but they make it so difficult.

I don't care that they're heels, having Shelley and Sabin get their asses kicked by Bob Backlund who hasn't mattered in 20 years makes ZERO sense. Backlund isn't going to draw a dime, so why destroy guys who potentially could?

I've never been a big Sting fan, and I'm less of one now, but how do you give away Sting/Angle for the 1st time on free TV, then have their 1st PPV match be a 3-way?

And it's sad and wrong to see AJ Styles and Samoa Joe in such a meaningless match. Joe is clearly the most over guy in the company, but it looks like he's on the outside looking in as everything will revolve around Jarrett, Sting, Cage and Angle. I like what they're doing with Styles (he's a much better heel), and the match will be good, of course, but where's the build? If only they were as important as Eric Young.

Like I said, I want to like TNA, and I want to see legit competition for WWE, and TNA has a lot of talented guys, but, man, does the booking suck.

[SnowTrooper]

Im loving the team of Shelley and Sabin, they really seem to have alot of good chemistry as a tag-team. Awesome double-team moves as well.

Overall, a good Impact, I think this episode has given us more wrestling than any other all year.

I read on 411mania.com that TNA has finally gotten there new "World", "Tag-Team", and even a new "X Division" title belts. Curious to see when those will make there debut and we say goodbye to the NWA belts.

[DWEarhart]

I don't care that they're heels, having Shelley and Sabin get their asses kicked by Bob Backlund who hasn't mattered in 20 years makes ZERO sense. Backlund isn't going to draw a dime, so why destroy guys who potentially could?

Executing one move on each guy, then having the two heels succesfully retreat, I wouldn't call that destroying them. And since Backlund is around anyway, and there's nothing any of us can do about it, how is he supposed to gain any kind of ground or maintain credibility if he doesn't have a successful moment now and then? It's not like he put down the Hand of God beatdown like Christian and his flunkies gave Abyss.

I've never been a big Sting fan, and I'm less of one now, but how do you give away Sting/Angle for the 1st time on free TV, then have their 1st PPV match be a 3-way?

I don't know how or why, but TNA did it. Honestly, Sting v Angle wouldn't have been that big of a draw on ppv anyway. It didn't help the ratings in the least.

And it's sad and wrong to see AJ Styles and Samoa Joe in such a meaningless match. Joe is clearly the most over guy in the company, but it looks like he's on the outside looking in as everything will revolve around Jarrett, Sting, Cage and Angle. I like what they're doing with Styles (he's a much better heel), and the match will be good, of course, but where's the build? If only they were as important as Eric Young.

Samoa Joe has stated himself, he "doesn't give a shit." Whether he means it or not, that's something else. He's been put under because of negative comments he made about the company. He was close to getting the title when he fought Christian a few months ago, but those remarks shot that chance down. AJ and Joe have put on excellent matches in the past. Why do they need a reason to fight? Not every match has to be about a vendetta.

Like I said, I want to like TNA, and I want to see legit competition for WWE, and TNA has a lot of talented guys, but, man, does the booking suck.

There are many more follies than just the booking, and the greatest ones reside behid the scenes. The way they treat their wrestlers have been questionable lately, but it all depends on perspective; as a business person and as a fan.

I do agree TNA makes it hard to really like them. Some of the usual complaints:

Too many stars for just one hour
Too many gimmick matches
Jeff Jarrett and the other more established stars are hogging all the spotlight.

The greater shows are the ppvs and the house shows. TNA has yet to perfect the one hour spot, though this previous one was close. Their over-stacked lineup hinders them greatly, but they don't want to let them go because that ever elusive 2 hour slot always seems to be getting closer and closer. They need to forget about the 2 hours. It can always be a short distance of their fingertips and still never arrive.

WWECW is doing great filling up the one hour slot, now only if the matches could elevate that one hour they'd have the best wrestling show on tv.

I can't believe I agree with Vinny Mac, but a 90 minute weekly televised wrestling show would be perfect. 1 hour is too short, 2 hours is too long.

[lboinyamouf4sho]

Executing one move on each guy, then having the two heels succesfully retreat, I wouldn't call that destroying them. And since Backlund is around anyway, and there's nothing any of us can do about it, how is he supposed to gain any kind of ground or maintain credibility if he doesn't have a successful moment now and then? It's not like he put down the Hand of God beatdown like Christian and his flunkies gave Abyss.



I don't know how or why, but TNA did it. Honestly, Sting v Angle wouldn't have been that big of a draw on ppv anyway. It didn't help the ratings in the least.



Samoa Joe has stated himself, he "doesn't give a shit." Whether he means it or not, that's something else. He's been put under because of negative comments he made about the company. He was close to getting the title when he fought Christian a few months ago, but those remarks shot that chance down. AJ and Joe have put on excellent matches in the past. Why do they need a reason to fight? Not every match has to be about a vendetta.



There are many more follies than just the booking, and the greatest ones reside behid the scenes. The way they treat their wrestlers have been questionable lately, but it all depends on perspective; as a business person and as a fan.

I do agree TNA makes it hard to really like them. Some of the usual complaints:

Too many stars for just one hour
Too many gimmick matches
Jeff Jarrett and the other more established stars are hogging all the spotlight.



agree about backlund, shelly and sabin beat him down and stole his book last week, this week bob attacks them AFTER a match and they run. well they are cowardly heels after all.

agree on the fan vs buisness person perspective issue, if we're going to play booking annalyst i think we should wait till it's done with as we don't know their goals with angle/sting are. it's possible they want angle/sting involved with each other but don't want to put 1 over the other or turn either heel, if that's the case then by making their beef about the title and adding christian cage to the mix it's a perfect solution, plus gives christian bragging rights if he holds onto his title in the 3way.

agree on the AJ/joe point, the 2 have enogh history to have a match at any point if 1 is heel and the other is face.

i have to say that jarrett at this point is a midcarder, since returning i think he's been on impact twice, and he's not close to the ME at the next ppv. so far seems like he's letting CC run.

[DWEarhart]

agree about backlund, shelly and sabin beat him down and stole his book last week, this week bob attacks them AFTER a match and they run. well they are cowardly heels after all.

Machine Guns Panic The Disco At Motor City.....aaaahhhh. It's on. It is so frickin on.

agree on the fan vs buisness person perspective issue, if we're going to play booking annalyst i think we should wait till it's done with as we don't know their goals with angle/sting are. it's possible they want angle/sting involved with each other but don't want to put 1 over the other or turn either heel, if that's the case then by making their beef about the title and adding christian cage to the mix it's a perfect solution, plus gives christian bragging rights if he holds onto his title in the 3way.

I do hear there's a certain King of the suhin suhin match coming up.

agree on the AJ/joe point, the 2 have enogh history to have a match at any point if 1 is heel and the other is face.

Joe's going to reign one day. I'm just enjoying the ride. A side stop with AJ wouldn't hurt.

i have to say that jarrett at this point is a midcarder, since returning i think he's been on impact twice, and he's not close to the ME at the next ppv. so far seems like he's letting CC run.

TNA has many important figures that are openly Christian such as Dixie Carter herself, and Jarrett; also born agains like Russo. I think JJ experienced intense life-changing moments during these past months with his wife. This point of giving back may be sincere - but, this is still a business, and he has heavy ties with this business.

Just saying.

[DWEarhart]

From Vinny Mac himself at the shareholders meeting in Connecticut.

Said that TNA can succeed as a "niche product" but added that their biggest mistake would be to try and compete with WWE. He said he doesn't have time to watch their product. Said that TNA needs to produce a different product to succeed.

[The Zapper]

I hope Vince has to eat those words someday.

[RichStanz]

Samoa Joe has stated himself, he "doesn't give a shit." Whether he means it or not, that's something else. He's been put under because of negative comments he made about the company. He was close to getting the title when he fought Christian a few months ago, but those remarks shot that chance down.

Where did he say this exactly? Cause I've heard about this quote before.

What exactly inspired him to "not give a shit"? Yeah, maybe they rushed the Angle-Joe feud and the ending of his streak, but he had a pretty dominant year and half before that.

What prompted him to be so apathetic?

[marshal99]

Suck it up , fatjoe , suck it up . Maybe he wants to be in the WWE as the thong wearing fattie cousin of Umaga , Samoaga. :D ;)

[SnowTrooper]

Didnt Samoa Joe get in trouble with TNA management for saying he injured himself because he "tripped over some bad booking"?

[DWEarhart]

Where did he say this exactly? Cause I've heard about this quote before.

What exactly inspired him to "not give a shit"? Yeah, maybe they rushed the Angle-Joe feud and the ending of his streak, but he had a pretty dominant year and half before that.

What prompted him to be so apathetic?

ROH Debuts at the CT Expo Center in Hartford, CT

At 8pm, Samoa Joe comes out to greet the crowd and apologize for not being able to wrestle. A funny bit of words from him, he said "sorry, on the way here I tripped over some bad booking". He told us to strap on our seat belts and get ready for a fun night.

The story hasn't been followed up. My impression would be that Joe just wants to wrestle. He's just chillin'.

[Rusty Cage]

Executing one move on each guy, then having the two heels succesfully retreat, I wouldn't call that destroying them. And since Backlund is around anyway, and there's nothing any of us can do about it, how is he supposed to gain any kind of ground or maintain credibility if he doesn't have a successful moment now and then? It's not like he put down the Hand of God beatdown like Christian and his flunkies gave Abyss.

I meant "destroy" in terms of their credibilty, not physically. I don't see "Backlund being around" as a good excuse. He's funny, I'm sure he's entertaining backstage in a car crash sense, but he shouldn't be beating up two young, active wrestlers. I have no problem with Shelley and Sabin pulling the chickshit act against guys they're actually pushing and trying to sell PPVs with, but Backlund isn't drawing a dime, and I'm sure a lot of the audience doesn't even remember when he mattered. I'm sure you're a longtime TNA fan...remember how good the X-Divison was? That was your champion running from a 50+ year old. And 2 or 3 weeks ago he was pinned cleanly in a 3 minute match. They've all but killed the X-Division, and the Backlund angle is an example of the lack of respect they have for it.

I don't know how or why, but TNA did it. Honestly, Sting v Angle wouldn't have been that big of a draw on ppv anyway. It didn't help the ratings in the least.

You're probably right that Sting vs. Angle wouldn't have been a big draw. That's the problem...you have a company that's gotten so much more exposure since coming to Spike, and the PPV business really hasn't improved. Whatever TNA is doing isn't working. That said, you can't say "well, we can't promote a big match, so let's just give it away". They lose money every year, and that was another lost opportunity. You have to at least try...


Samoa Joe has stated himself, he "doesn't give a shit." Whether he means it or not, that's something else. He's been put under because of negative comments he made about the company. He was close to getting the title when he fought Christian a few months ago, but those remarks shot that chance down. AJ and Joe have put on excellent matches in the past. Why do they need a reason to fight? Not every match has to be about a vendetta.

I heard all of that, but I don't care. TNA has lost money every year...it's time to do what's good for business, instead of using excuses not to push the wrestlers with potential. Angle and Sting aren't very popular behind the scenes, but they're not being punished. And this isn't exclusive to TNA...WWE does it too, but at least they're making money. And I agree that AJ and Joe have great matches, but you're not the average wrestling fan who wants a storyline and motivation to buy a PPV. Sure, I'd watch them fight over a Carebear, too, but the casual fan not only wants good wrestling, but an issue too.

There are many more follies than just the booking, and the greatest ones reside behid the scenes. The way they treat their wrestlers have been questionable lately, but it all depends on perspective; as a business person and as a fan.

I hear what you're saying, but I think the business and the fan side are a lot closer than you think. We love this stuff, so we tend to settle for what they give us, but deep down we know it should be better.

I do agree TNA makes it hard to really like them. Some of the usual complaints:

Too many stars for just one hour
Too many gimmick matches
Jeff Jarrett and the other more established stars are hogging all the spotlight.

The greater shows are the ppvs and the house shows. TNA has yet to perfect the one hour spot, though this previous one was close. Their over-stacked lineup hinders them greatly, but they don't want to let them go because that ever elusive 2 hour slot always seems to be getting closer and closer. They need to forget about the 2 hours. It can always be a short distance of their fingertips and still never arrive.

WWECW is doing great filling up the one hour slot, now only if the matches could elevate that one hour they'd have the best wrestling show on tv.

I can't believe I agree with Vinny Mac, but a 90 minute weekly televised wrestling show would be perfect. 1 hour is too short, 2 hours is too long.

I agree with all of your points here, except that they were close to perfecting the one hour spot last night. The show has gotten better in recent weeks, but I still see a lot of problems, and I'm afraid it will kill them in the end. Bob Carter seems willing to spend the money and give his daughter something to do, but I wonder when that will end if the business doesn't improve.

[lboinyamouf4sho]

From Vinny Mac himself at the shareholders meeting in Connecticut.

not surprising, i doubt vince has time to watch his own product.

Where did he say this exactly? Cause I've heard about this quote before.

What exactly inspired him to "not give a shit"? Yeah, maybe they rushed the Angle-Joe feud and the ending of his streak, but he had a pretty dominant year and half before that.

What prompted him to be so apathetic?

i don't think he meant it that way, i think he was just saying he's satisfied and not bitching about his spot.

I meant "destroy" in terms of their credibilty, not physically. I don't see "Backlund being around" as a good excuse. He's funny, I'm sure he's entertaining backstage in a car crash sense, but he shouldn't be beating up two young, active wrestlers. I have no problem with Shelley and Sabin pulling the chickshit act against guys they're actually pushing and trying to sell PPVs with, but Backlund isn't drawing a dime, and I'm sure a lot of the audience doesn't even remember when he mattered. I'm sure you're a longtime TNA fan...remember how good the X-Divison was? That was your champion running from a 50+ year old. And 2 or 3 weeks ago he was pinned cleanly in a 3 minute match. They've all but killed the X-Division, and the Backlund angle is an example of the lack of respect they have for it.



You're probably right that Sting vs. Angle wouldn't have been a big draw. That's the problem...you have a company that's gotten so much more exposure since coming to Spike, and the PPV business really hasn't improved. Whatever TNA is doing isn't working. That said, you can't say "well, we can't promote a big match, so let's just give it away". They lose money every year, and that was another lost opportunity. You have to at least try...




I heard all of that, but I don't care. TNA has lost money every year...it's time to do what's good for business, instead of using excuses not to push the wrestlers with potential. Angle and Sting aren't very popular behind the scenes, but they're not being punished. And this isn't exclusive to TNA...WWE does it too, but at least they're making money. And I agree that AJ and Joe have great matches, but you're not the average wrestling fan who wants a storyline and motivation to buy a PPV. Sure, I'd watch them fight over a Carebear, too, but the casual fan not only wants good wrestling, but an issue too.



I hear what you're saying, but I think the business and the fan side are a lot closer than you think. We love this stuff, so we tend to settle for what they give us, but deep down we know it should be better.



I agree with all of your points here, except that they were close to perfecting the one hour spot last night. The show has gotten better in recent weeks, but I still see a lot of problems, and I'm afraid it will kill them in the end. Bob Carter seems willing to spend the money and give his daughter something to do, but I wonder when that will end if the business doesn't improve.

backlund's a crazy old bastard, so they chose to split instead of stick around and fight, big deal, they're opprotunistic cowards. i don't see how their credability was destroyed. yes the x-division is not what it used to be but the HW division is very much better now. the way joe was booked is more to blame than backlund for the state of the x-division.

i don't see PPV numbers, lost money, or backstage politics as a reason to not like a wrestling company personally. i feel they've given enough to convince me to buy the PPV, that's all that really matters to me.

[Erik Lehnsherr]

I got Slammaversity '06 and Joe does a pretty good carry job on Scott Steiner. I didn't think anyone besides a Rey Mysterio could carry Steiner in this day and age like that.

[lboinyamouf4sho]

I got Slammaversity '06 and Joe does a pretty good carry job on Scott Steiner. I didn't think anyone besides a Rey Mysterio could carry Steiner in this day and age like that.

steiner carried his own weight in that match, why can't people admit that??

[Erik Lehnsherr]

He tried harder but Joe sold and slowed down his regular pace to make the match flow better. It's sad to see people go out of their way to disrespect Scott Steiner though. In his prime, HHH or Michaels WISH they had the ability this guy was born with. Disgustingly underrated worker and part of probably the best tag team of his era alongside LOD.

[lboinyamouf4sho]

He tried harder but Joe sold and slowed down his regular pace to make the match flow better.

that's just doing what you're supposed to do, not carrying. steiner held up his end. he also sold and kept the pace joe set.
steiner can still have good matches as long as he doesn't wrestle too often.