MONDAY NIGHT WARS FEEDBACK
- 03/09/2010 (3:48:48 pm)
- Bob Mulrenin
Keep the feedback coming!…. Now 2 Pages…..
Who won the war? TNA for sure. The first 15 minutes of the show we saw Flair and AJ Styles vs Hogan and Abyss go down with the return of Sting. What did WWE have? Taker and Shawn talking! Who cares? We get new Womens Tag Champs, a beautiful 3 way dance that will re-introduce the X-Division. The return of Shanon Moore, the Debut of ROB VAN DAM, and Jeff Hardy is back in TNA!!! And, the main event was awesome! The crowd was awesome. TNA blew away WWE last night.
TNA-1
WWE-0
***********************************************
TNA-1
WWE-0
***********************************************
IMO I think TNA took wwe by a long shot, RVD, Hardys return, and Sting
heal tops Vince, Cena, HHH and Shemus and believe me I love WWE but
Vince needs to step up his game.
Danny D.
***********************************************
heal tops Vince, Cena, HHH and Shemus and believe me I love WWE but
Vince needs to step up his game.
Danny D.
***********************************************
TNA it was Great
**********************************************
I flipped between Raw and TNA. TNA seemed to be all about Hogan,Flair,Styles and Abyss. Sting turning heel would have really worked if RVD hadn't beat him in a squash match. That killed a lot of his heat in my opinion. The WWF/E had a regular show and I wasn't impressed with them either. but they are working towards Wrestlemania 26. I have no idea what TNA is trying to do. The WWF/E wins this round by default.
Stephen Faust Easton,PA.
****************************************************
wwe did not do it for me, same thing like every week it seems. so predictable. but tna was fast paced
and with hogan and flair that's why they the best giving there blood,tears, and sweat for this bussiness.
returns of rvd getting huge win off sting, and then sting turning heel that was unexpected. then jeff hardy
that was huge. but overall tna delivered the goods. wwe already had Monday nights tna didn't, and wwe
did not do anything different that they normally wouldn't do. so definitely TNA keep IT GOING GREAT JOB.
Johnny
******************************************************
TNA kept up the momentum tonight during their show. Sting's attack on Hulk Hogan and Abyss was something I was not expecting. A SURPRISE like this is what the WWE lacks. I flipped over to Raw briefly, but can't say that I watched a total of two minutes of the show. TNA had me locked in with their MEANINGFUL storylines, better matches, hotter women who can actually WRESTLE, and of course, the great mixture of newer talent that is amazing, as well as the legends I have watched my entire life. Of course the Hulkster and the Nature Boy aren't the same as they were twenty years ago. Who cares? They still tell a great story in their feud and have both gotten A.J. Styles and Abyss over. I hope that TNA keeps it up. As long as Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, the Wolfpac, Jeff Hardy and RVD are on television, TNA is the show I will be watching. Mike
*******************************************************
both shows had their moments, but i think impact was better. yeah, impact was good, besides brooke hogan and bubba the love sponge's boring crap, and nash and hall, the rest was pretty good. wish the rvd -sting match would of been longer, but it is good to see sting as a heel. raw was a little crappy tonight. dont care about criss angel and his magic tricks. wwe got the highest ratings though as they have the kids, teens, and women demographics in the bag every week, since they are PG. crap
******************************************************
Impact vs. Raw. So who won? First and foremost, there is no Monday Night War......at least not yet. TNA is NOT on WWE's radar, but perhaps after tonight WWE may have to take another look. TNA took a big step forward for their company. They were lacking credibility. I most certainly do not mean that guys like AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, Abyss, etc. were not credible. I most certainly do not mean any disrespect to guys like Sting, Angle, Jarrett, Foley, etc. who have established names and careers. What I mean is they finally have put together a roster that draws main stream fans. The same guys that dont know what ROH is or who think Chikara is some sort of Japanese men's colonge with pheromones and sold on ebay. I am talking about the one or two guys who bought a Nasty I Am Shirt. I am talking about the hordes of guys who chant "This Is Awesome" at everything! Or even the people the guys who dont know Matt Sydal and The Shooting Sydal Press, but sure do love it when Evan Bourne does his flippy move. :-/
So who won? I know its gonna be strange coming from me, considering how critical I have been of TNA recently, but WWE won. LOL!!! I know, I know. You expected me to say TNA did. But lets face it, the ratings are gonna come out later this week and TNA is gonna see a nice 1.2-1.7 and they are gonna be happy. Its a step in the right direction. Trying to get those numbers week in and week out will be the real test. And WWE is gonna see their normal 3.3-3.8. And they will walk away wondering if TNA actually was on SpikeTV Monday night. Thats why there is no Monday Night War. There cant be......right now.
HOWEVER, for the first time in a long time.......TNA might be able to change that. Can the Monday Night Wars return? Maybe. Jury is still out. But, my jury came back with a quick decision and the verdict is TNA had the more entertaining show, the better matches, better stories and better twists tonight.
I gotta say it didnt start hot. TNA promoted that the first 5 mins. would be huge! Big things! Ok. You got my attention. I am gonna tune in. I am gonna put TNA on....for the first 5mins and see if they can capture me and get me to watch. Note, I am DVRing both shows. TNA has a new intro. Cool. TNA has new music. Ok. TNA opens with Hulk Hogan. WTF!?!?!?!?! Are you kidding me? This is what you have hyped? This is the big surprise? This is what is supposed to stop me from changing the channel? Guess what? I changed the channel. I moved over to RAW, watched an entertaining segment with Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. A feud I feel has been so well built for months now. But more on that later.
After Shawn/Taker, I switch back. Lets see what old bag of boredom Hogan is doing with his muppet Abyss. Oh how have the mighty fallen. Abyss, the monster. Now nothing short of a muppet. Even the wardrobe change has done little for him. TNA opens with their main event. Gee, let me guess. This isnt really gonna be the main event. Somehow its gonna be schmoz and be restarted or added too at the end of the night. Hogan bleeds. Abyss bleeds. AJ looks ridiculous with his "Flair hooded robe".
Finally something interesting happens, Lights go out and Sting has returned. Iconic seeing Flair and Sting in the ring again. Took a moment to take it one more time. The faces on one side and the heels on the other and then......Sting whacks Abyss and Hogan with the bat. WTF?!?!!??! Not again. Twice yee fail. Turning Sting heel? C'mon! I know its shocking, but it doesnt work. In WCW, Russo turned Sting heel, while Hogan had recently made his babyface turn out of the nWo. What happens? Sting is cheered and cheered and WCW scraps that to start the Millionaire's Club, which is supposed to be a heel organization......but also fails. Then TNA puts Sting in charge of the Main Event Mafia. What happens? Sting is cheered, while the rest of the Mafia is booed. Angle and Sting feud, Sting is still a babyface regardless of his alliance. I got no issue with having Sting on a different side of Hogan. Hell, I like it. But to make him a full fledge heel with the attack and later with his actions towards Dixie and RVD. Meh.....dont like it. It wont work. What a horrid plan.
Fast forward to the X Division segment. Excellent job. I am finally able to remove my hand from my forehead in classic face palmness and there is a bright spot. Kaz, Daniels and Doug Williams. Reestablishing the X Division and putting out a damn decent triple threat was well worth it. Giving Shannon Moore an X Division title match at Destination X? Meh.....makes no sense, but whatever. Moore can work and thats whats important. A
Next they announce that Kong and Hamada are stripped of the tag titles and we are having a triple threat for them. Ok. Former champs, Beautiful People, babyface team. No problems. BP win. Hooray! They do draw some of the highest ratings for the company and are extremely over. Plus with the feud they have with Angelina already, you have a solid story there to work with. Daffney's interference on Tara develops that feud, so A+ to TNA.
Now they are reeling me in. Two A's for the last two segments. Lets see what they can do. And we get RVD vs. Sting. Big time match on a big time stage for TNA. FAIL! RVD comes in and in typical RVD style, hits his RVD moves, makes the pin and gets squashed. I mean really, why bring RVD in to just be fed to Sting like that? This was a chance to do something with RVD and you fail. I give you credit for putting this match, a first time event, on....but now what? And having Sting going ape shit certainly did not help matters. Finally, the biggest failure is when the whole thing becomes about Hogan. No need for Hogan to come stumbling out there like that. The whole thing was poorly planned and poorly handled.
Next we get the whole Wolfpack and that Eric Young thing. Meh. Does anyone actually not know that Nash is gonna turn and help Hall and Pac get those contracts. C'mon! I mean, its 101 booking, so its not a bad idea. But, I think this is just being dragged out for too long. As far as the street fight goes.....yawn. Nothing even to review.
Angle/Anderson is next. Excellently done. TNA outdoes themselves here. Anderson is making a case for being one of the best signings TNA has ever made. This feud is real. It feels real. It makes sense. We have our classic babyface hero against our loudmouth villian. They go back and forth. We have emotion and more importantly, something the main stream audience will buy into. This week Angle comes out on top and celebrates, as he downs the loudmouth villian. A+ TNA.
Jarrett vs. Beer Money?! HUH!?!?! 4 days ago on Impact Beer Money was a babyface team. Beer Money has continued to be one of the top merch. sellers for TNA. Now they are magically heels?! Why?! This is bad. Personally, I like Beer Money as a heel team instead of a babyface team. But the main stream loves Beer Money. Makes no sense. Develop the Jarrett story, but ruin Beer Money? Meh.....the grade is a D.
Now the main event. What can be said? Hogan beats on Flair. Flair bleeds. Flair chops. We get a Hulk up and the babyfaces win. This match does not get an F. Why? B/c it could have been worse. We could have seen a legdrop on AJ by Hogan and a 1,2,3. But we didnt. So its get a D. Yes, we furthered the Abyss/AJ feud, but really it isnt one.
But TNA is not over. The classic WCW over run is in effect. The schmoz of chaos is coming. Heels get the advantage and Desmond Wolfe is in. Pope comes in for the save, heels retake the advantage. Who can save the babyfaces now? This is where you would want to cue Sting. But thats right, you turned him into a heel. Ugh. So instead we cue Jeff Hardy! Hardy comes in, babyfaces stand tall, heels run, show ends. Jeff Hardy looking like he is in the main event scene. A+. Why? No matter whether you like him or you dont like him. Jeff Hardy is the MOST OVER talent in wrestling today. PERIOD! BAR NONE! It is absurd what kind of positive reaction he gets from a live crowd. Even in tough towns like Philly and NYC, Jeff Hardy is still well received and easily the loudest pop of the night. His merchandise? Every kid has a pair of those armbands. Countless kids have their faces painted. He is a merchandise pimp. You have to give him his credit. He will attract a main stream audience. He will give you good matches. And he will sell merchandise and the company for you. He is money. Is he the super hero coming to the rescue? Meh.....no. Thats not his role. But hey, no one is perfect.
Bottom line, outside of the Sting heel fiasco.....TNA's positives really outshined their negatives. I give the show a B. Entertaining, twists, story development, etc.
Then we come to RAW. Raw opens strong with the Shawn/Taker segment. This feud is gold. They have worked it well and it will payoff at WM. Strong start. A+
Criss Angel is our guest host tonight. Ok. I'm a fan. I like it. Some magic tricks, well it beats Hornswoggle feeding weed laced cereal to two pot heads. B
We get a standard divas match. Hot chicks. 90% cant work. Babyface team wins. Lawler makes inappropriate comments. All is typical. C
Show-Miz vs. Truth And Wisdom. Thats the name I like. I am going with it. This had potential. But it never really got going. Yes, we developed this story a little bit. But I think a little more than 5 mins. would have been nice. I mean....WHATS UP!? Sadly.....that song is horrid. C
Hype for Cena/Batista. Ok, ok, we get it. You dont have to show the exact same long clip over and over. Change it up. D
Orton vs. Legacy. The whole thing just stinks. It stinks bad. Turning Orton face? Ugh. Wrong time. Orton pretty much dominates the match against Legacy, but Ted gets the pin. Meh. Where is this going? It lacks sense. It lacks emotion. Its badly done. This is getting an F and I am a HUGE Ted mark.
HHH/Sheamus segment. TOO LONG. WAY TOO LONG. HHH just got the crap beat out of him and he is having a civilized covo. with Sheamus. Horrid. Typical cluster ends this. Segment is too long. Feud has no real meaning behind it. Its another F.
MITB Qualifying match. Evan Bourne wins?! WHAT?!??!?! But with the positive comes another negative.....poor Regal, another loss. Bourne gets a chance at WM in the MITB match. Its a B segment. But I like that Bourne is getting a chance at WM, eventhough he has a 0% chance of actually winning MITB.
Plug Steve Austin and announce a stellar lineup for next week. A+. Big hits for main stream fans.
And the main event. What was supposed to be Cena/McMahon turns into Cena vs. the entire WWE roster. And Cena survives it all, until Batista. It was contrieved. Hell, I dont even believe the Cena/Batista feud is furthered. Its the same thing thats been happening for weeks. Cena looks strong against everyone cept Batista. He is getting nothing in. McMahon/Hart......nothing done there. The match is bad. The story was bad. We did not progress in the feud. Its an F.
Oh and I forgot about the obligatory Kofi Kingston run in and then being destroyed. Oh has Kofi fallen.
Bottom line, RAW gets a C. Why? Because it was a standard show. It was standard WWE booking as of late. Some positives. Some negatives. Some achievements. Some failures. Hell, if it wasnt for the cool guest host and lack of Hornswoggle, this show might have ended up being a D.
In conclusion, TNA took a big step tonight. Head to head with RAW. They put on a more entertaining, positive, story based show. We had better matches and more excitement. We had twists and turns, whether good or bad. A lot of was achieved.
RAW on the other hand did what it normally does. It was status quo. Highs and lows. Cept the highs were only mid high and lows were also mid lows.
WWE, has opened the door for TNA. The question is, can TNA come charging through? Jury is out as of now and will probably stay out for quite awhile. The numbers arent gonna have a shocking turn one week. Its gonna take steady 1.3s to get TNA in the game. But I am excited to see where it might go.
I hope you all enjoyed the read. Now its 1:30am, my time and I am off to bed.
CM Showstopper
********************************************************
Tags:
