My World w/ Jeff Jarrett - Final Resolution 2008 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Last month we covered the epic Samoa Joe - Kevin Nash backstage fight after Turning Point. Scott Hall’s no-show of the main event led to the issues and now - well there’s a lot to clean up isn’t there Jeff?

From the Observer:

“On 12/3, before television, a meeting was called at about 1:30 p.m. with all the wrestlers and management. This meeting had nothing to do with the actions at the PPV. The meeting had been planned for at least two weeks, as management was fed up with undercard wrestlers complaining, talking about wanting to leave but being bound by their contracts, and wanted a showdown, like what Eric Bischoff did years ago in WCW when he figured nobody would walk out and that Raven asked for his release.”

Jeff the night between the pay-per-view and this TV - one of the more stressful ones since you started TNA?

Who’s idea was it to call the meeting regarding getting talent on the same page?

“The meeting, held at the Impact Zone in the bleachers, started with Joe apologizing to Nash and to the company for being unprofessional the night before and was very emotional in his speech. Johnny Devine then got up and apologized, as apparently something happened involving him at the hotel on 12/1. Dixie Carter then spoke, and she got choked up at times, but it was said this was her finest hour when it came to speaking in front of the talent. At the meeting, Terry Taylor told any wrestler that if they wanted to be released from their contract they could get it.”

Jeff walk us through the meeting. Between Joe apologizing, Johnny Devine apologizing, and then Dixie’s speech.

Did you talk?

Why do you think it was important to offer to the talent a release if they wanted it?

“Senshi, who had asked many times to be released, immediately asked. Both sides agreed that he would work the TVs this week first, to give the company time to create a story that writes him out of the XXX team. He was the only one who asked on the spot, but Ron Killings, who had quit once before but was called back to do the Pacman Jones angle, also asked for and was granted a release. Nobody else asked for their release, but we know that several wrestlers have contacted ROH and/or AAA about availability, and it would be assumed WWE also got similar calls. The way the wrestlers understood it, the offer was open-ended, which meant they could come back in a week or two and ask. It was a risky move because there is unhappy key talent.”

Was Senshi - Low Ki and Ron Killings asking for releases shocks? Was it open ended - was that the plan? Do you think it was risky?

The Senshi issue - just the night before he won a briefcase which should lead to a X division title shot - would you had released him right then and there if it wasn’t booked that way?

“In conjunction, Kurt Angle, Booker T, Brother Ray, Earl Hebner, Tomko and Christian all gave speeches to the locker room. With the exception of Christian, who didn't say a lot, all gave strong speeches to guys who have never-worked WWE saying that most of the guys in WWE right now are miserable, and talked about the pressure and the politics being horrible. The gist was the lifestyle of being in TNA is far superior to WWE, you guys don't know how lucky you are and the grass' seems greener, but having been there, it isn't.”

Were these guys asked to do this or did they stand up to say this?

“Brother Ray also gave a speech praising the work of Gail Kim and Awesome Kong on the PPV. Also speaking up was Kong, who said she had never told anyone this, but she was approached by WWE at about the same time as TNA. She said she knew WWE wasn't going to be the right place for her and signed with TNA.”

Did you know that about Kong at the time?

There’s a lot of little stories going on but the main story on TV is about how Christian Cage is asked by Kurt to join the Angle Alliance.

“Kurt Angle met with Christian Cage. He said how they both lost at the PPV so they need to get together and form a team. He gave Christian one hour to make up his mind.

Later, Christian and Roode and the Angle Alliance were all out. Roode agrees to Angle's idea. Christian then started ripping on Roode. He then started ripping on Tomko, about all he'd done for him in wrestling (well, that's a shoot because Christian was the one who got him his TNA job and also was the one who got him out of WWE Hell by making him his problem solver) and how he'd gone with Angle. Christian said he would join the group, but only as the leader Angle agreed to it. Joe, Kaz, Eric Young, Booker T and Kevin Nash all came out and this led to a challenge for the TV main event.”

Was it time for Christian to be babyface?

Christoher Daniels defeated Senshi clean to win the briefcase and write him out with Elix Skipper as referee to really put the nail in the coffin on Senshi and you had Hermie Sadler doing commentary. Was the plan to work closer with him in 2008 for house shows?

“Team 3-D & Johnny Devine beat Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley & Jay Lethal in a ladder match. The deal here is that the X division title belt was at stake but not the championship itself. Make sense out of that one. Lethal actually pulled down the belt first but the ref missed it. Ray hit Lethal with a kendo stick, and gave Devine the belt. Funniest part unintentionally was when Brother Ray climbed a ladder at one point, the ladder broke.”

Bubba could not have liked that could he? Why are we booking possession angles for titles instead of for the actual title?

“Joe & Nash & Booker & Kaz & Eric Young beat Angle & Tomko & Styles & Cage & Roode in a good main event. Nash teased he was going to do a tope, but then stopped short and started laughing. Nash pinned Roode clean with a power bomb. Christian and Roode started arguing so Angle hit Nash from behind with a belt shot and everyone beat down Christian, to set up Angle vs. Christian as the 1/6 PPV main event for the title. Tomko walked out rather than help in the beat down. Styles didn't help either and sided with Christian”

Do you think there was something left to get out of Christian after his main event run and undefeated streak with a babyface turn?

The next week…

“Then in the "Deal or No Deal," spoof, the four guys who have the briefcases have a match. It's Scott Steiner, Petey Williams, Daniels (beating Senshi for his) and B.G. James. They have a four-way where the winner has a choice between picking any briefcase that the loser would have or get a check for $50,000. Sadler was back out doing color. Steiner pinned Williams. They teased the idea that Williams had the shot at Angle's title, but never expressly said it. Steiner asked the fans like in a game show, and they said "take the money." Steiner said he wanted a title shot and chose he'd take Williams' briefcase. They then opened Williams' briefcase, which was Steiner's, and it was the one with the TNA title shot. So Steiner blew the money and gave away the shot.”

Does this - I don’t know - make Steiner look like an idiot? Does this help anyone?

Christian is scheduled for a tag match to take on Roode & Angle in the main event but Christian has not exactly made friends in TNA up until this point. He’s turned down by Kaz, Booker and Nash. This isn’t really a way to cement a new top babyface is it?

“Angelina Love & Velvet Sky beat Traci Brooks & Jackie Moore. Moore acted drunk during the match. Moore was also drinking during the match. As Brooks yelled at Moore, one of the women snuck up from behind Brooks and pinned her. Then Roode started yelling at Brooks about losing again. This caused Sharmell to come out and defend Brooks saying she's sick and tired of how he's treating her. Roode called her a streetwalker which brought Booker out, but Roode left. This sets up Booker vs. Roode for the PPV.”

This…is a hell of a way to get to Booker vs. Roode right?

“Jim Mitchell returned and called out Abyss. Mitchell said that Abyss owes him everything because he got him out of jail and made him a star. He kept calling Abyss "Chris" and kept going on about how his mother shot his father three times. Abyss attacked Mitchell when the lights went out. Judas Mesias was back and bloodied up Abyss with barbed wire and then tied up his hands (Mick Foley in the famous match with Rock in "Beyond the Mat") and nailed him with two hard chair shots to the head. Fans were chanting for Sabu when the lights went out and booed when it turned out to be Mesias. They probably also may have thought it would be Sting.”

This…this is a lot…why call Abyss Chris though? Was this the original angle before Mesias got hurt?

BG opened his briefcase and it had a tag title shot but he notes that he may not choose Kip. Were they for or against breaking up the tag team do you think?

“Daniels opened up his briefcase and he was fired. This meant that Steiner's briefcase had the X Division title shot. When Daniels was fired, the crowd started cheering, probably because they knew it was either him or Steiner. There was a "ROH" chant when it was announced Daniels was fired. Although Daniels is under contract and he's not leaving, there is nothing decided as to how he'll be brought back.”

Is this just trying to figure out a story with Senshi leaving?

“Angle & Roode beat Christian in the TV main as it turned out Christian couldn't get a partner. Roode pinned Christian after a double-team piledriver. Angle then put Christian in the ankle lock. Styles ran in, looking like he was going to make the save for Christian, but then walked out without doing so.”

That’ll show Christian right?

How’s this for funny stuff 15 years later…

“Sting, who turns 49 early next year, has either verbally agreed to a new one-year deal, or the belief is they are very close to an agreement. It's been reported that he signed, but the last word we had is they believe he's close to signing.

The deal is said to be for some TV, and most PPVs.

As noted last year, there were differences of opinion regarding Sting. Dixie Carter sees him as a superstar whose name will help them in licensing deals and look more major league. Sting will be working few if any house shows, even though the company plans to greatly expand in that direction this year. At this stage of the game, I see Sting as having his best value working maybe a few shows per year when the right angle fits in, but even then, I don't know what he'd mean. His pay numbers are big and he's not a guy like Angle who can be justified because he helps them sell house shows to outside promoters and gets others over.”

How does this deal all come together? Does Spike kick in some of the money - like they did before?

Was Sting important to the brand?

Meltzer has some pointed criticisms regarding creative:

“Even though the execution was lame in a lot of ways, I like the idea of the annual Feast or Fired briefcase match, similar to WWE's annual Money in the Bank match at Mania. To me, a lot of what building a wrestling brand is that you make things special. TNA does a horrible job of this.

With the exception of Ultimate X, which was a great innovation but they do it too often, what has TNA come up with? Ladder matches on TV so they have no impact? Royal Rumbles on every PPV so they have no impact? (I'm beginning to realize the name of the TV show should be TNA Lack of Impact). King of the Mountain, while the matches are usually good, is too confusing to draw buys. The idea of this match once a year is good—except they have to get rid of the fired aspect because it removes all logic.”

Was this something you struggled with a lot in creative?

“Dustin Rhodes came out. I guess the idea is that Rhodes doesn't know that he's Black Reign and he's got a split personality. Rhodes said that last week on TV he was attacked by Kaz, and he has no reason why (since Reign did an angle with Kaz earlier) and he was just at the show because he's looking for a job. Kaz came out and they argued and ended up brawling in the crowd.”

This…man Dustin Rhodes worked with a lot during his career didn’t he?

Samoa Joe turns into a badass killer again as he gets DQ for beating up on Elix Skipper and then when he goes to grab a mic - it cuts out - with the idea that the company doesn’t trust him with a microphone anymore. Coming off that promo with Nash - do you think there’s still some juice left in Joe as a badass shooter?

“Team 3-D both came out with Santa Claus costumes. Devine wore an elf costume.

They all say they are going to apologize to the X Division guys. So they call them to come out. Out come minis dressed like Sabin, Shelley and Lethal. Mini Lethal asked for a night with So Cal Val. Sabin, Shelley & Lethal came out and it led to challenges.”

TNA loves mini people don’t they?

“They had a pole match with the winning team getting to pick a match at the PPV between a tables match or an Ultimate X match. Since the last PPV had a tables match, it was the Machine Guns & Lethal winning and they'll do an Ultimate X match on the PPV.”

Another pole match Jeff! A stipulation match to setup another stipulation!

Also on TV there was a four-way hardcore match between Rellik, Black Reign, Abyss…and Shark Boy…

“This was a Christmas street fight with a tree with barbed wire around it, as well as presents underneath the tree that had weapons. They used Christmas present like weapons, such as new golf clubs, to go along with the usual Abyss thumb tacks and broken glass. Yes, on TV again. Rellik pinned Shark Boy to win the match when Mesias interfered and slammed Abyss on broken glass and thumb tacks.”

I mean that all makes sense right?

“Kaz beat A.J. Styles in a loser wears a Reindeer suit ladder match. Kaz won. Didn't we just have a ladder match on TV that would air two weeks earlier, and last month on PPV? It's mind-boggling how much this is like WCW, and Jarrett, Tenay, Borash and Russo all lived through that already and saw the results of it. I can sort of understand Russo in the sense he has a mentality about wrestling and since it did work in 1998 when people said it wouldn't, he doesn't listen, and has had a lifetime to come up with excuses why it didn't work in WCW.”

I mean he’s got a point right?

“Main was a cage match but with Christmas lights all over the cage, as LAX & Booker & Scott Steiner beat Jimmy Rave & Lance Hoyt & James Storm & Robert Roode.”

Jeff - that’s 4 gimmick matches on one TV. You have to know it’s too much right?

The Angle & Christian story continued with both working to try and get Styles & Tomko to side with them. Did Kurt & Christian have a bigger part in their creative than others?

“Cornette came out and Joe confronted him about not having a match on the PPV. Nash said that he did, and said he and Joe had a title shot at Tomko & Styles.”

This seems like an odd way to continue what happened from the pay-per-view but were there any concerns about Joe & Nash working together again?

Also the tag team division is about to get really absurd but we’re not there yet…

“In the first of four Royal Rumble matches taped on the same day and airing over two weeks, Williams won an X Division rumble to get a title shot.”

4 ROYAL RUMBLES? JEFF? I mean let’s talk about the absurdity here. Steiner won a title shot in the briefcase match, Devine has possession of the belt, and Lethal is the champion.

Christian Cage would win a Rumble for the actual title shot at Kurt at the pay-per-view while ODB would win the women’s Rumble to earn a shot at Kim. The whole crowd though is chanting for ODB and she’s over like rover but still being booked as a heel. Any thoughts on shifting considering the crowd reaction?

“Sabin & Shelley won a tag team Rumble beating Hoyt & Rave in the end. That means the top contenders for Styles & Tomko are B.G. & someone (briefcase), Joe & Nash (Cornette proclamation) and these guys. I wonder if anyone has learned the Cyber Sunday lesson about buy rates.

Hell, they think because Vince does a big buy rate every year for the Rumble, that if they do 30 of them on TV each year they'll draw ratings with them.”

Was that the mindset?

Well a major injury takes place at the one set of tapings…

“Karen Angle suffered a broken leg at the 12/11 tapings. Karen landed badly when leaving the ring and had to be carried backstage. During an interview segment, when leaving the ring, she jumped off the apron instead of taking the steps, and wearing those high heels and landing like that is a recipe for an ankle injury, which is what everyone thought she had at first.”

What do you remember of all this?

TNA makes a deal with New Japan to air matches on Spike from the Tokyo Dome show after Impact and also a Friday & Saturday replay. The show is called “TNA Wrestling: Global Impact” and it’ll air Kurt and Yuji Nagata taking on each other for the TNA & IWGP title. How did this deal all come together between you, New Japan & Spike?

Speaking of the show…”Jeff Jarrett will be at the show, but not as a performer, looking to further the business relations between the two companies and look at talent as they are looking at adding a few names. . .”

Was there someone you had your eyes set on?

The go-home Impact is built around Jeremy Borash being at Styles’ home to see if he’ll choose between Angle and Christian. This is something that really shows Styles as a big time player does it not?

Where was this segments filmed? Do you remember?

Also on the show…

“There is also a line by Lethal, who is mad at Dutt because he saw Dutt kissing Elizabeth (SoCal Val) at the Christmas party and threatened to do a John Stossel number on Dutt, bringing up David Shults. Man, that's 23 years ago.

That's where the age of the writers becomes a problem. They are writing for their own generation (granted, that's my generation and at least I can figure out where they are going, but I think by often watching with people in their 20s who lose interest in the show rapidly you would get a different perspective), because that's the era they remember best.

But they need to think about this. If there was a kid starting to watch wrestling this year, or even have been watching for 10 or 15 years, they wouldn't know what the hell they are talking about.”

Was this an issue looking back?

“Glenn Gilbertti is now working as an agent, as is D’Lo Brown.”

What made you bring in Glenn & D’Lo as agents? Past experiences working with them in the ring, their time in TNA as wrestlers, what do you look for in an agent?

“We don't know for what it's worth, at the last TV tapings, when the wrestlers saw all the gauntlets, Christmas gimmick matches, etc. on the board, there were those asking what was going on. They were told it was because they were doing an angle where Matt Morgan was drunk with power while Jim Cornette is gone. The big joke after that explanation was given is, everyone going does that mean we're building up to a Cornette vs. Morgan match.”

I’m sure you weren’t building to this match - but Jim Cornette seeing all those gimmick matches would’ve lost his damn mind wouldn’t he?

You run a 4-night Canadian house show tour before the turn of the year…and they’re sold shows and it’s reported in the Torch that Oshawa was the only success and the promoters all lost their asses. Is that how you remember it?

Let’s discuss ratings. All the shows in this run-up except for one - which drew a 1.16 rating - drew a 1.1 rating which equals 1.5 million viewers on average each episode. Wade Keller of the Torch would point out that the highest rated segment usually would be the women. Did you think there was a bigger role or spot for the Knockouts?

Now we’re at the show Jeff - which you can check out at Impactwrestling.com/packages and use the promo code JEFF!

The show is way down in buys from the 2007 buyrate featuring an iron man match between Samoa Joe & Kurt Angle, and Abyss defending the NWA title in a 3-way with Christian & Sting which drew 35,000 buys. This show…only 20,000 buys and it’s even 10,000 less than Turning Point. Do you think Scott Hall no-showing pissed off a lot of paying customers or is this just a reflection of the creative?

The show is well received critically as 56.3% of the Observer readers thought it was a thumbs up.

But…both Meltzer and Keller are critical of the show.

“TNA is just a company that has lost its way. It's a funny deal. For a variety of reasons, between reruns on the network, good promotion on the station, a good time slot, and star power, more people are watching their television than ever before. And it appears, fewer are buying their PPV shows than at any time since they had no television at all.

For decades, it's been proven that television ratings and drawing are completely different animals. But no matter how many times i t's proven, people will subscribe to the theory that we'll do anything to get our ratings up, because attendance will soon follow. Bad house show business (with the notable exception of the unique Toronto market) during the easiest week of the year to draw, a bad advance for the next PPV, a lower level of buys on PPV even with more star power than ever before. A message is being sent.”

Is this something constantly talked about? Why are we not converting free viewers into paying viewers?

“A case in point is that we have five weeks of decently rated television building Kurt Angle vs. Christian Cage. But was the focus on who would win, or that the title is a tangible goal? No, the build was which side, the Angle Alliance or Christian coalition, would A.J. Styles join. But the television comedy skits were such that nobody could take them seriously. That's fine for the second match, but it doesn't work in money matches.”

Do you think the focus should’ve been on the title?

“But TNA will never change. They are locked into a mentality that this is wrestling. The more angles the better. The more references to the childhoods of the writers and inside references to the Internet, the better. The problem is, if the Internet was enough to allow you to pull, say, 60,000 buys per month, and theoretically some day it will be, the funny part is, TNA is losing its interest with · that crowd as well. They don't have anything that would be appealing to the children's crowd that is saving WWE. They don't have anything for the 18-40 sports ·ran that wants believability in its male soap opera. They have skits with funny personalities, which absolutely is an effective part of the mix, but they put shows together like it's the main and sole mix. And the problem is, so much damage has been done, it's not easy to come back from it.”

There is a big drop in purchases from 2006 when Kurt joined…I’m sure you sat there and went - how do we get better - but do you think there was a solution at this point or did you just need to continue doing what you were doing and hoping to get paying customers back?

Let’s get to the show!

“1. LAX (Homicide & Hernandez) beat The Rock & Rave Infection (Lance Hoyt & Jimmy Rave) in 6:48. Everyone worked hard but it came off as very indie level, particularly with Hoyt, but also it seemed like a contest of how many moves they could fit into the short time they were given.

Finish saw Christy Hemme interfere. Shelly Martinez in her costume came out. While this was going on, Hernandez gave Rave a border toss off the middle rope, almost like a splash mountain, for the pin. After the match, Hoyt went after Martinez, but she gave him a low blow. Hemme then gave Martinez a low blow, but she didn't sell it. She threw Hemme out of the ring, then took off her mask and her coveralls. The whole crowd began chanting "Shelly" the minute the mask came off. It ended with her doing a stripper dance.

Observer **¼

Torch *¼”

Lance Hoyt as Lance Archer sure has come a long way hasn’t he?

“Throughout the show was a best of three segments drinking contest with Eric Young vs. James Storm, called the DCS (Drinking Championship Series). This was filmed the night before, to explain Jeremy Borash being there. The first segment involved drinking and I guess running down an embarrassing moment that involved the other after a drink. After the jokes about Storm catching Young buying rubbers in a skit months ago when they were doing the Young/Ms. Brooks stuff, Young accused Storm of being at the Detroit race riots of 1967. Well, since Storm wasn’t born yet in 1967, Young was wrong, so Storm won the first fall.

The winner of two of three falls ended up not only as the TNA drinking champion, but also could pick the stipulations for a singles match between the two of them at the 2/10 PPV in Greenville, SC.”

Jeff - what is this silly shit?

“2. Kaz pinned Black Reign in 7:28 with a version of the downward spiral. This served to slow down Kaz's momentum. At one point Reign knocked Kaz off the apron and Kaz may have suffered a hip pointer the way his hip hit the ramp in the fall, but he worked the rest of the match and didn't favor it.

Observer *¼

Torch *¼”

Kaz from getting some big time rub with Kurt and Booker in the last few months - is down to this and it does feel like the steam is off. Could you had seen Kaz in the main event picture back then?

“3. Gail Kim pinned Awesome Kong in 12:44 to retain the knockouts title in a no DQ match. The women nearly stole the show again, and, by far, this match had the most heat on the card. Kong threw Mike Tenay's papers on the floor and scared Don West. We found out that due to the headphones they wear, that the announcers have little ability to move during a broadcast. They may as well have painted a bull's-eye on themselves. Fans did the dueling chant. Kong tried to spear Kim, but Kim moved and Kong crashed into the wall. The wall survived with no damage. They should have set up a gimmicked wall to explode on impact. Kong missed a chair shot and Kim kicked the chair in her face. Kim tried a plancha, but Kong caught her and rammed her into the post. Lots of near falls. Kong gave ref Slick Johnson a power bomb. Kim used three chair shots, two going to the head and went for the pin, but no ref. Rudy Charles ran in to ref but Kim kicked out. More near falls and kick outs, including Kim kicking out of a choke slam.

Finish saw Kong pick Charles up for a power bomb, but Kim got behind her and gave her a schoolboy, with Charles' weight crashing on Kong, and then Charles counted the pin. They did a pull-apart after the match. There have been smoother worked matches, but booking the women's title match like a world title match, because it's never done, really worked. Unfortunately, putting that kind of world title match on this early made it hard to follow.

Observer ***½

Torch ***¾”

My goodness - go out of your way to watch this. This set women at a whole new level and still was able to make Kong be a monster while losing. Any thoughts on these two ever main eventing a pay-per-view?

“They did the same skit they do every PPV. Kurt is worried he's going to lose the title and that Styles may go with Christian. Karen had an idea but wouldn't tell Kurt, which involves seducing the adversary. It should be noted that Karen moved around fine on her broken leg, and even came out to ringside for the main event. It wound up with Karen offering to relieve Styles of all his pressure and tension, but Styles acting like he was so naive he didn't know what she was talking about. She came on to him and said if he makes the right choice there's more coming. In the middle of this skit, ODB came out of a stall smoking a cigar. A.J. then left Barash and went into a stall where we were supposed to think he was whacking off after Karen got him excited.”

This has Vince Russo written all over it…

“4. Judas Mesias pinned Abyss in 11:03. Before the match, James Mitchell warned Abyss that his mother told him that little boys who don't tell the truth will bum in hell. We had no thumb tacks in this match. Apparently, the thumb tacks are Abyss' security blanket. Mitchell took the bag and was leaving with it. Abyss used the black hole slam, but Mitchell distracted the ref. As Abyss went after Mitchell, Mesias gave him a downward spiral (straight to hell) on the barbed wire chair. Abyss was bleeding from the head and arm and was pinned. After the match, Mitchell opened his new bag, and it had a canister of gasoline, or at least that's what it was supposed to be. Hopefully they used something else, since it was poured all over Abyss and got in his eyes. Mitchell pulled out a match to set Abyss on fire, but all the security came out to stop it.

Observer *½

Torch *½”

And this has Dutch Mantel written all over it…

“5. Booker T & Sharmell beat Robert Roode & Ms. Brooks in 10:47. Most of the match was T vs. Roode. It was decent, but nothing more. It really hit me just how little Booker meant, and he's only been around for a few months. Sharmell ended up kicking Brooks into Roode on the apron, and he took a bump off. Sharmell then pinned Brooks with a schoolgirl. After the match, Roode was blaming Brooks for losing again. Brooks slapped him. Roode started screaming at Brooks and acted like he was going to beat her. Sharmell ran in and they did a spot so quick you could barely see it where I guess Roode knocked Sharmell down with an elbow to the jaw. They played it up huge, like it was a big injury angle.

Roode sold it like it was an accident and he was horrified he did it. Booker's eyes got all big and he rushed back to the ring and Roode ran off. Unlike most TNA angles where they rush away and then never bring it up again, this was given time to breathe and they twice later in the show made mention ofSharmell being taken to the hospital and having a possible jaw problem. Match was decent but you have to give them credit for doing a good job selling the angle.

Observer **

Torch *½”

This is really one of those well down angles that can mean a lot but it’s hard to feel like Booker is just a mid card guy here wouldn’t you agree?

“Part two of the DCS is that both had been drinking and whomever has to pee first loses the fall. Young had to go really bad and admitted he couldn't hold it in any longer. However, he noticed that there was a wet spot on Storm's crotch. Storm said it was beer but Jackie Moore checked it and confirmed Storm peed on himself, so we're even at one fall each.”

Yup.

“6. Team 3-D & Johnny Devine won an Ultimate X match over Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley & Jay Lethal in 12:02. This was entertaining, but it also basically killed the Ultimate X gimmick and the entire premise was ridiculous. The X Division title belt was at stake and hung on the cables and the winner is whomever took the belt down. However, the championship, held by Lethal, wasn’t at stake. Make sense out of that. And then the finish saw Team 3-D introduce a ladder which Devon climbed and got the belt to win. Then Mike Tenay and Don West went on this speech about how there was an unwritten rule in Ultimate X matches that you didn't use ladders because it took away from what it was, and how Team 3-D violated the premise, again making fun of the X Division.

Observer **½

Torch ***”

I get the gimmick of the Dudleys doing this for heat…but this seems like it’s something else that doesn’t help the X division guys.

“7. A.J. Styles & Tomko beat Samoa Joe & Kevin Nash in 12:10 to retain the tag team titles. Styles & Tomko teased not getting along. Joe & Nash, in their promos, talked as if they were seeing eye-to-eye, which, ofcourse, meant they were turning on each other. Joe did a promo talking about how the two have been training together the past few weeks when it wasn't until the TV show that aired three days before the PPV where they agreed to team and work together. The good thing about the match is Styles and Joe work great together. The bad is that the crowd decided Tomko & Styles were the babyfaces once Joe was left in the ring by himself, stemming from their reactions to Joe's interviews. As far as wrestling with each other, Styles and Joe blew away everyone on the show with the possible exception of Angle and Christian. They doubled on Joe for a while, and then Joe made a comeback. As he went to tag, Nash walked out on him. The crowd started chanting "Thank You, Tomko." Yes, their brilliant "Joe is shooting" promos designed to make him an anti-authority babyface garnered the exact opposite reaction. Well, Tomko was actually turned babyface by the fans some time back. Joe was double-teamed, and Styles used the Pele kick and Tomko used a high kick for the pin.

Observer ***¼

Torch **¾

The idea is that Nash & Joe are still on the same page even though Nash walked out on Joe, because now they are even since Joe made Nash look bad on the last PPV. See, it wasn't a tum to start a feud. It was Nash teaching Joe a valuable veterans lesson about the industry. Which is, figure out ways to make sure bookers treat you like a star and always look cool, when it comes time to do the job, get injured or ill the night before and make them afraid to book the match ever again. But in the end, promoters and bookers have long memories, and even if it was many years ago, if you were once a headline star, that makes you a star, and a bigger star than the guys now who aren't really stars. But if you can't work, they'll also protect you in booking since you're a real

star and these other guys who work hard aren't.”

This…the explanation by Meltzer makes more sense then the way it was explained on TV. It really felt like everytime something like this happened in TNA - it was up to the viewer to figure it out or the assumption that the audience knew what it was.

“The finals of the DCS were that the first person who passed out loses. The highlight here is Borash going "He's gonna puke," like how Vince McMahon was doing play-by-play for Darren Drosdov's job interview in "Beyond the Mat." Thinking back on that movie and that scene, these are some warped people. Storm spiked Young's drink, causing him to pass out, so Storm won and can pick the match on the next PPV.”

Yup.

“8. Kurt Angle pinned Christian Cage in 18:39 to retain the TNA title. The crowd was totally burned out by the time they came out, plus everyone already knew that the finish wouldn't come until Styles came out and it would be a run-in. Christian used the unprettier but Angle kicked out. Christian went for the ankle lock. Angle was tapping but Karen had ref Earl Hebner distracted. Styles then came out and pulled Karen off the apron. He jumped up on the apron and hugged Christian . As Christian turned his back, Styles did a springboard into a Misawa style forearm to the back and Angle got the pin after an Olympic slam.

Observer ***¾

Torch ***¾

The ending saw Styles come out, pull Karen Angle off the apron, hug Christian, and then turn on him. Now, if wrestling had 20 straight years of logic, and you pulled something like that the first time, it would be great. But wrestling has had ten straight years of trying to fool people and render what you see as illogical as the base of the product, so when he hugged Christian, that meant he was turning on him. It also meant that once again we had to ask, well, if he was there to help Kurt, why did he pull Karen off the apron and hug Christian? The answer is, because it's wrestling. And if it's working, then that's fine. When it isn't working, the answer becomes it's wrestling- being done ineffectively. It's all been said before. TNA has done an atrocious job of building main eventers, and it is, has always been, and very possibly may always be, that matches with what the buying public sees as main eventers is what ultimately makes the difference in PPV. Branding is the biggest deal, but the success of the branding revolves around building stars. TNA is hardly the only struggling product around, but they are the only product struggling to sell tickets that has as much television on a good station in a good time slot with lots o f viewers and lots of talent.”

The wrestling was very good - it was a long show with a lot of gimmicks - but the match itself is great and then the finish…what say you?

What did you think of the show Jeff? Too much? Not enough? A fine effort?

Looking back at some of the creative - is it ever a - man if we just did this instead of that - or do you think possibly it all needed an overhaul and you were too far in the weeds to notice?