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I do not know if this week’s crowd was larger than the prior taping, but if it was not, it was close to the amount from the last tapings. The line inside the park for people waiting to get in looked like the typical line for a pay per view.
While I think the idea of Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, and Team 3D being in the main event at Victory Road as the title holders is not really ‘breaking the glass ceiling’, I am glad that Team 3D retained the tag team titles because I would rather see Daniels and Styles in other matches to enhance the rest of the card.
The tag title match went a little less than fourteen minutes, but it did not have any run ins to spoil the match. If you ever wanted to see Brother Ray in the X Division, you will get a tease in this match.
I thought Christian’s promo was good especially with him being so confident about what he did for TNA only to be afraid of the mention of Abyss’s name or the playing of his music. That dichotomy of Christian’s character when exhibited in his promos makes them better.
If there is ever a TNA drinking game, if one of the options was ‘If someone mentions that there is no glass ceiling, take a drink’ it would be one of the most utilized options in the game. If there was no glass ceiling, we would not have seen Samoa Joe and Chris Sabin (two of the most recent X Division champions) challenging Jay Lethal for the X Division Title but we would have possibly seen Alex Shelley or Petey Williams challenge for the X Division Title. We also would not have seen Rhino and Christian Cage challenge for the World Title. We might have seen James Storm or a member of Serotonin in that match. Instead of LAX and the team of Christopher Daniels and A.J. Styles, we might have seen Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley in the match or Serotonin or Damaja and Basham.
It is good to see a variety on Impact with the inclusion of the women’s matches but I don’t know how many different combinations they can do with only three women wrestling on the roster.
With the post match involvement by Eric Young and Robert Roode, I wonder if we are going to have a three way mixed tag match with Eric Young and Gail Kim versus Robert Roode and Traci Brooks versus James Storm and Jackie Moore.
The Kurt Angle promo during episode one was okay. If TNA is trying to establish its identity, I don’t know if another promotion’s title belt is a positive. Some people might perceive it that there is not enough in TNA so Angle is wrestling elsewhere and for other companies. They do not publicize that Tomko is co-holder of the IWGP Tag Titles while they mention that he has been in Japan. You do not see non-WWE titles on WWE television. I wonder if they will air the ‘champion of champions’ comment since there will likely be comparisons to when King Booker called himself the Champion of Champions. There were also some comments that I do not know if they will make it to the broadcast based on the subject matter that it could suggest.
With the way that a portion of the crowd in the Impact Zone was reacting to Team 3D at the start of their promo in the ring with Kurt Angle, I think it will be edited a bit.
As soon as Team 3D came out, I was waiting for Samoa Joe to come for a promo. I was a bit surprised that he did not speak in the Impact Zone because he has had some very strong promos over the last few weeks. However, with the way that they have been booking Joe for the last year, I am not surprised that he was the person to be put through the table at the end of that segment.
The Hoyt/Abyss match was a good television match but if you remembered their pay per view matches from 2005, you will be a bit disappointed.
I don’t know why after the match, Christy Hemme would remain in the ring if Abyss brings a bag of broken glass into the ring. When Basham came out to make the save, I was a bit surprised that Damaja did not come out with him. With the Voodoo Kin Mafia coming out to confront Basham and Hoyt, I would assume that they will be in a match at Victory Road. I wonder why they did not try to go after Christy first.
I don’t know why they would have the Voodoo Kin Mafia confrontation with Lance Hoyt and Basham while Abyss was still in the ring.
Much like Sabu speaking in the current ECW, the mysticism over Abyss was reduced a bit when Abyss finally spoke on the mic.
I liked that they have Kaz coming out of the Chute of Facial Impact and separate from the other members of Serotonin because they are currently feuding. I am glad that Kaz went over in the match against Havoc and Martyr because of Kaz’s recent matches. I thought it was a good touch to have Raven come from behind as Kaz went to the back as well as the beat down.
I guess the Kevin Nash influence was accepted by Sonjay Dutt since his only appearance inside the Impact Zone was him walking to the ring with flower petals before leaving.
When you consider the problems during the first episode, I liked how there was tension between the champions. I hope they focus on Kurt Angle’s reaction during the match. Angle did what any heelish character would do in that type of match. He did not get involved in the match when everyone else was brawling. Then when they were ready to win the match, Angle made the blind tag and attacked his partner before getting the victory.
After the last tapings when they had five matches taped for Xplosion/TNA Today, I was a bit disappointed that they only had two matches this week. With the tapings starting earlier than usual, I was a bit shocked that they were done around 8:45.
The announced matches for the pay per view are as follows:
Match of Champions: TNA Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle and TNA X Division Champion Samoa Joe versus TNA Tag Team Champions Team 3D
Sting and Abyss versus Tomko and A.J. Styles
Ultimate X Match: Kaz and nine other participants
Feel free to send feedback to richard@pwinsider.com
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