This past Monday night, TNA threw in the proverbial towel. The early rumors are that TNA did marketing research and found out that fans of the product prefer them on Thursdays. That may be the case but one cannot dispute the fact that since arriving on Monday nights, TNA has struggled against the big dog. Their 1.5 from January 4th soon dropped to a 0.5 last week.
Many will say that “TNA lost the war” or that “TNA failed on Monday Nights.” Whatever the claim is, that is now history. The one question I ask, is will TNA learn from history if in fact they test the waters again? There are many things TNA did wrong when they attempted to take over Mondays:
Too much of a gap between January 4th and March 8
It’s a simple fact that TNA had momentum following January 4th. The internet media was buzzing and people were talking. Unfortunately TNA took too long to make the eventual move to Monday Nights and they had no real momentum going into the show.
Going Head to Head with Raw
Nobody should dispute the fact that WWE is a much bigger and more powerful entity in pro wrestling. Monday Nights is there nights and TNA tried to take a piece of the pie. However instead of taking a little bite, they thought they should go head to head with the cook and take the whole thing. When TNA went head to head for both hours against Raw, they got destroyed. Eventually the move to the 7 to 9 EST timeslot gave them that hour to boost their fanbase.
TNA’s annual all still cage PPV is in the books and like every one before it, it shall remain very memorable in TNA’s history books. There were a variety of changes done to the card before hand but in the end, it turned out better than advertised.
One thing I wanted to mention was my opinion of the setup. I always believed that PPVs should look different than tapings and while tonight’s crowd separated them, I felt TNA could have done more with the stage, and ropes.
CAGE MATCH: LETHAL LOCKDOWN ADVANTAGE
Rob Van Dam defeated James Storm to earn his team the advantage.
Going in, I really questioned what chance James Storm had against the “Whole F’N Show” since RVD is so much higher on TNA’s pecking order. RVD kicked things off strong by knocking the cage door into the face of Storm then moments later jumping from the cage wall to the outside. RVD was bloodied (a common theme in tonight’s show) moments later. A very solid outing in spite of both men having to compete twice in tonight’s show. RVD picked up the win with a Five Star Frog Splash.
3 out of 5
CAGE MATCH: XSCAPE RULES
Homicide defeated Brian Kendrick, Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin to advance to the X Title Match later tonight
This was originally a tag team match but was changed as a result of the X Division Championship Match being changed. (More on that later) I felt like this match benefited from the change as beforehand there was no reason for these four to go at it. This should have been better than it was but wasn’t given enough time to develop. Kendrick got busted open then screwed over by Homicide, who escaped the cage to win and advance to the X Division Championship Match.
Here’s the video that Big D was talking about on last night’s FGB Radio (which you can listen at the top of the home page). It’s not only as bad as he said it was. It’s worse.
“Destination X will be an example critics will use when they point out what’s wrong with TNA!”
Destination X last night was the showcase of the X Division, and in that regard TNA succeeded. Everything else though was polarizing with some solid, some mediocre and some bad.
-The Ladder Match was extremely fun! There were some sick spots that I definitely wouldn’t encourage anyone to do. I think it will give Money in the Bank a run for its money. Kazarian is back in the run as challenger to the X Division Title
-Tara vs Daffney was okay but nothing great. The Knockouts Division hasn’t really shined recently for one reason or another. Daffney is an awesome character and looks to continue chasing the Knockouts Title after stealing Poison on tonight’s show. Continue Reading »
Big D and I are back and we’re not just talking wrestling. In fact, we open up the show discussing WEC 47 and Jens’ Pulver’s awesome promo. We also talk about the James Toney signing and UFC’s mystery show that they want to put head up against the Strikeforce CBS show.
Then we discuss the new Monday Night Wars and talk about TNA and WWE, including discussing the continuing angles for WrestleMania XXVI.
The cleaning of the Knockouts continues as Roxxi a.k.a. Nikki Roxx, who in reality wasn’t even under contract but worked the New Years Eve show, has been told to take a hike. This is the second time she was released, the first being when she was involved in a backstage scuffle with fellow TNA Knockout Rhaka Khan, who at the time was dating Kurt Angle and had the political advantage, which upset a lot of folks because Roxxi was not at fault. Our friends over at QCW Radio interviewed her last summer, which can be heard here. Don’t forget to cover your nose when you hear this one.
In addition, Sean Morley, the former Val Venis, has been removed from the TNA Roster Page. Morley wrote on this facebook that he was given the go after accepting dates for CMLL. Morley was one of the many former WWE talents brought in on January 4th and since coming in, has cleanly pinned Christopher Daniels and Jeff Jarrett, who former champions for TNA (the latter of which happened on last night’s Impact).
In addition to that, TNA dropped Traci Brooks earlier this week.
“Destination X will be an example critics will use when they point out what’s wrong with TNA!”
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