TNA iMPACT wORKRATE rEPORT 12/28/06

WHAT WORKED:

-The In-Ring work was fine for the most part. You move the matches from three minutes to five minutes and you don’t break any of them up with commercial breaks and you instantly have a much much better show. It’s not that this makes it a good show and main event still should be longer than five minutes. But stuff becomes far less objectionable. I mean the opening tag has plenty that you would think would make it objectionable…I mean it has Petey Williams and Petey Williams is objectionable. The match opened with Sabin vs. Williams section and these two have been doing their particular shitty touring match exchanges forever, and well it has yet to look sharp. This I guess was different than all the other times they’ve run this exchange since Williams was face and Sabin was heel. The only difference I could see was that Williams no longer does the step on opponents cock and sing Oh Canada spot. And well Williams sections with Storm weren’t very good either as most of them were with Williams doing his shitty looking offense. But when Williams wasn’t in this it was fine. Sabin threw some nice jabs that I didn’t know he could throw. Chris Daniels did a lucha tribute section with a lucha armdrag into a nice quebradora, and everything Storm did looked nice. I would not recommend that anyone track this down but “more or less unobjectionable” is better than TNA has been able to hit in along time. At this point “more or less unobjectionable” gets you on “What Worked” side. Hoyt vs. Roode had Roode take a nice backdrop and one huge spot: top rope German. I’m not sure if you should have a top rope German in a five minute match and I know you shouldn’t have a top rope German in a midcard match when the big spot in main event is going to be a top rope superplex. But still this went long enough that the big move really felt like a big move and it had time to register. The commentators were a little too caught up with Killings and the Traci Brooks story to register it. Ron Killings wants to go Hollywood? I don’t buy him as next Denzel, and don’t buy him as Denzel’s friend either. Then again I would have never guessed that EMLL’s La Nazi would end up in a Denzel film. Again more or less unobjectionable match. The work in the main event wasn’t objectionable either, the big spot was a cool big spot (although once again killed by them doing a bigger spot in the midcard match),Abyss stayed out of the way for the most part and Tomko bumping around is always really fun. Was it a no-DQ match? Why didn’t Hebner DQ Tomko for interference? If no-DQ why didn’t Tomko interfere more? So last PPV was a non-stip three way dance between Chstian, Abyss, and Sting…next PPV has a three way with Christian, Sting and Abyss…but for some reason they are running the three way with a stip on free TV.

WHAT DIDN’T WORK:

-The work in the five minute matches was pretty unobjectionable but a lot of the booking around them was. You shouldn’t have a match with a top rope German in same show where the big spot in the main event is going to be a top rope superplex. So for a second there you think Russo might not have written this show, matches are going more than three minutes and ending more or less cleanly. I mean where is Russo to complain that no one can concentrate for more than three minutes? Then Eric Young is sexually assaulted backstage by Traci Brooks and is done 90 seconds later. I assume Russo was so caught up in the booking of the sex that he didn’t notice the length of the matches. Russo can’t even book someone to go longer than 90 seconds for sex! Russo in booking meeting “After 90 seconds you loose interest”. 90 seconds! Crash TV has been replaced by Splash TV! Knowing Russo, my guess is that Brooks ends up pregnant. Baby of course turns out not to be Young’s. Sting cheats on wife betraying Christianity? Nah. Ron Killings miscegenation? Nah Killings can’t turn out to be Brooks’ cousin. Austin Starr??? Yeah he could pass as a Traci Brooks sibling. Main event was too short for main event especially main event where you’re running the same match minus the stipulation at next PPV. The whole concept that nightstick on a pole match only ends when someone uses nightstick is pretty dumb too.

-Pantsless Angle mounting Cornette is a scene I never wanted to see. Since Russo came, half the matches have been made by the wrestlers. Wrestler comes in challenges another wrestler for the main event and it happens. Wrestlers are booking their own matches deciding their own match stips. I don't understand why Angle is going through Cornette to book a match at this point, shouldn't he just book it himself. When they brought Jim Cornette into TNA it was a breath of fresh air. Cornette is really good in role of authority making decisions to please the audience, really good explaining the reasons for the decisions, etc. And when Cornette was first brought into TNA he was booked as an authority figure who actually had authority. The Cornette speaches were some of the best parts of the Impact shows. Cornette was very good at preseenting himself as authority in charge. Cornette isn't very good at presenting himself as useless bumbling authority. I mean if this is the role they want, bring back Larry Zbysco. Larry does this much better. I mean when it comes to incoherent guys demanding things from authority, Angle really is no Monte Brown either. But pantsless Angle mounting Larry might have been a show highlight.

- Sting is a guy who has been wrestling for about twenty years at this point. Heavily pushed charismatic babyface for most of that time. But never really a guy known for his mic work. I can’t think of a single angle he was in, in all that time where he was asked to carry the bulk of the mic work. Heel Sting had Missy and Eddie Gilbert to carry the mic work. Surfer Sting could get over youthful enthusiasm on the mic and would cup his hands around his mouth and do a war whoop. Crow Sting was all about him being silent. So it’s really odd to watch how great Born Again Sting is at presenting conviction on the mic. Really Sting is single handedly carrying this Abyss storyline. It’s pretty clear that he’s writing his own stuff as his mic work is on such a different level from everyone else in this angle. For some reason this show had God awful James Mitchell mic work and weak ass Christian mic work but no Sting mic work. The Mitchell segment just dragged and the Christian one just sat there.

-Why is Jeremy Borash on my TV? They already have a semi-competent backstage interviewer in Leticia. Do they really need two backstage interviewers?

-The Vooddoo Kin Mafia are advertising WWE house shows. "Hey we're going to be at WWE houseshows trying to incite HHH and HBK to come out and fight us. WWE house shows coming to your area."

-The whole set up for the TNA man of the year award felt like a Nash comedy segment. For some reason they decided to introduce a Samoa Joe girlfriend in this show and then have her attacked at end of show. Joe is upset but audience doesn’t know how long the two have been dating, if they’re engaged, did he just pick her up last night, if she has a name, etc. Angle attacking her was shocking, as well she kind of looked athletic and I expected her to get at least three reversals on the ankle lock. Joe agrees to a match with Kurt if he lets his girlfriend go. Then Kurt fails to let her go. Is the rematch off? Is Angle going to be portrayed as the face again, next week? How is Don West gonna cover for that?