MGFanJay

Rewatching the show via Unlocked now. 1 - Tommy Dreamer splits his pants 2 - TNA can't spell "similar"

The show started and everyone talked and talked and talked. I dug the 4-way match by the end of it all. I like Lashley being a confident face champion who didn't make Aries cash in to get a shot in the four way. Lockdown was mentioned as being next week for the first time ever, in an ad, and they announced Team Angle vs. the BDC and showed a dive off the cage from Spud. KOs 3-way was pretty good. Everyone shined in it and they even got something out of the Ferrell movie deal. EY-Dreamer was a bad idea in theory, but it worked out well with EY taking him out and then Roode making a save. Loved Jeff Hardy's wacky promo rattling off weapons he'd use to destroy Abyss tonight. The Bram-Magnus saga was great. It starts off with Magnus going to a bar, he and Bram mending fences by talking it out. Magnus apologized if he was offended by grabbing the case, but Bram was out of it and he had to make a judgment call. He got the tag title case and who did he think his partner would be? Bram cools off a bit and asks to see Magnus's son and they talk about how Bram's anger has cost him before - playing off his WWE firing without bringing that up directly, and then Bram misdirects Magnus to trap him and attack him using the real-life geography of the building they were in. This was way better than it seemed in theory. The Monster's Ball was about what I expected, although I wasn't expecting the backstage stuff. This was a fine way to eave the tag title match into singles matches and Hardy's bump to the floor off the missed Poetry in Motion to the floor was sick. Loved the Spud and Mandrews-BroMans tag. EC3 making a handicap match against Tyrus made sense, but they've got to stop spoiling so much with the video ads hyping shows up. Amusing little bit with JB saying "competitor number thr...two!" when MVP came out second and Taz ribbed him. Fine start to the title match with some fast action before an ad break. The main event was a really good match overall and a bit more than just a parade of finishers. Loved the dominator out of the chancery and the finish was great too - this was the best match of the DA era so far. The Team Angle reveal was largely good and I like the faces needing a last-minute surprise to even the odds. This was a "sum is greater than the sum of its parts" show. TNA really seems to have nailed down the format of the show and it results in past events being cited and shown regularly, so things feel important. They also put over the rankings strong for the main event and re-integrated the Biscoff-style shooting outside of the building and talking head bits. http://jayreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2015/01/tna-impact-wrestling-1-30-15.html Screens - http://www.imagebam.com/gallery/pto1p1hi29vks2d2opouvbpaugesboh0

Thank God there's no way that can backfire on a guy in his '50s. Great opening video for the gauntlet really put the rankings over huge. Then they had Angle do a blink and you missed it promo, followed by another one from Lashley. Wolves and Hardy beat the Revolution, but ate a beating and then Storm ordered Abyss to take out Manik so he did. CAN ANY TEAM IN TNA GET ALONG!? Spud and EC3's stuff was fun. Anderson was hit or miss, but they got the shaving stip over quickly with Tyrus tonight. Grado-Snow was a lot of fun, in part due to the commentary and them keeping in Grado's full intro with a knock-off, so you still got the clapping visually, but couldn't hear it. Galloway came off like a huge deal in the post-match deal and fucked Ki up something fierce. Knockouts title match was short, but set up an awesome 3-way program with Taryn-Gail-Kong. EY-Tommy was a going through the motions version of every Tommy Dreamer match since 2000. The Mickie-Bram stuff was fantastic and right in line with HHH's bit about how you've got to make the female roster seem tough. Mickie came off as someone who didn't just say that she took no shit, but backed it up by attacking the guy who assaulted her fiance. She was a total badass, and it's a shame we're not getting this story on WWE's main roster with all three being treated like serious deals. Lashley is SUCH A BAD PROMO. Jesus. Get him a talker! Gauntlet was a thing. Good to see Melendez back on the roster. No one was given much time to shine here though until SPUD AND TYRUS HAD A FANTASTIC EXCHANGE. Spud ran wild with great running forearms, but ate a lifting Samoan spike to Spud. He took out Koya, ate mist, and got eliminated by Anderson. I dug the MVP-Kurt stuff. Not sure if MVP got hurt on the ropes or what. Loved the post-show video NOT COMPLETELY SPOILING THE SHOW FOR ONCE, and MVP-Lashley could be good. http://jayreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2015/02/tna-impact-wrestling-2-20-15.html Screens WWE was right to fire Josh - http://www.imagebam.com/gallery/r1rt8y69jj4bs4tgyk2cqjouu5rpmbwe

Bryan's got one coming out in conjunction with WM.

HHH's long babyface promo was more bizarre than it usually is. He teased something huge for Raw with Roman, and then got interrupted by the Superstar of the Year, the Royal Rumble Winner, THE BIG DOG HIMSELF who faces THE BIG SHOW next. They had a bad match "highlighted" by Roman trying a new headscissors on the ropes and it just being messed up in every way. Roman won and THERE'S NOTHING BIGGER THAN BEATING BIG SHOW ON LIVE TV, LOVE HIM PLEASE! Vince's promo on the free month was fine. Kidd-Jey was too short, but I dug the Kidd win. Loved Cena and Rusev since Cena went a bit into the rapper gimmick with the jokes. Randomly, the Ascension are now a serious team and Byron both loves them and hates them. Goldust and Stardust are now I think faces, not sure. I guess they'd be defacto faces. They lost thanks to Stardust tagging himself in selfishly, so I guess Goldust will be a face in their feud. Miz magic skit ruled thanks to Truth. HOLY GOD WAS THE CASKET MATCH BAD. It just refused to end. At least they teased Bryan going into the WWE Title match via a Raw announcement. http://jayreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2015/01/wwe-smackdown-live-1-29-15.html Screens - http://www.imagebam.com/gallery/9yght14cbavoqu4h2bcv1walx8s0gudp

I don't mean that - but they should at least put a graphic up for him since his death was a huge part of WM week.

Series Premiere - WrestleMania XXX - WWE built this up pretty big and while it was really good, it was greatly hurt by time constraints and painting as rosey a picture as possible for things. It was Connor-heavy, which is fine but Steph saying they invited him to WM to give him something to live for came off as one of those self-congratulatory lines that they throw out. It was nice to have Warrior's family in this, but if you didn't know otherwise, you wouldn't know he passed away since that didn't get a graphic while Connor did. The biggest letdown here was the Taker-Brock stuff. We got the briefest of glimpses of Taker backstage and I loved the hug with Vince, but they didn't even talk about what caused the injury or Vince going with Taker to the hospital. They went with a surface-level approach to everything and I get why they would do that from a corporate perspective, it did make the special a lot worse than the Mania of WrestleMania/WrestleMania: The Movie this was patterned after. http://jayreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2015/01/wwe-24-wrestlemania-30.html Screens - http://www.imagebam.com/gallery/x3wu9hds6oknfkj7ugrnasccartfibsf

This was such a refreshing show. Beyond having JBL do the weather, they should really consider putting at least one full PPV match on a post-PPV Raw show. They've already budgeted PPV buys as zero, and by only doing one match (and not always having it be a main event), you don't piss off Network subscribers. The sitdown interview stuff was so great too. Seth put himself over as a top guy and then did a deal with Brock that should logically lead to a Brock match at Fast Lane. They're already giving away Cena-Rusev and a HHH-Sting confrontation for that show, so you might as well go all-in and get one more match out of Brock if you're determined to sacrifice so much of WM's card. Have Seth-Brock in a one on one match to cement Seth, even with a loss, as the top dog. Hell, I'd have Seth beat him and either do a triple threat with Brock cashing in his rematch and saying it's a chance to beat up two guys again, or do Brock-Bryan and calling it a number 1 contender's match. They seem to think that Brock's leaving, although if I was WWE, I'd look into a dual contract with UFC. It seems insane given that WWE is such a control freak of a company, but they do allow him to have sponsors and UFC does allow Josh Barnett to do IGF matches. UFC has far more to gain with Brock being exposed on WWE's TV than just being on their currently-struggling TV setup and it would be best for both companies to have Brock's services right now. WWE needs the roster depth and star power, and the same holds true for UFC. Having him do one fight per year for UFC and then long before and after that doing a match for WWE would work for the companies and allow Brock to line his pockets like never before. The Roman interview was a disaster. Between the audio issue at the start and Roman offering up patty-cake responses, he came off as doomed. The weirdest bit was them bringing up him being hand-picked by the higher ups, who in storyline are opposed to him as evidenced by the end of the Rumble match, and he thanked them for the opportunity. LOVED LOVED LOVED the Arnold parody bits - Paige and Ryback shined, while Vince probably went through his personal collection for the bodybuilding pics. Loved Dean walking and hitchhiking to the building, then asking "Hey, you guys got any posters of me I can look at!?" Bryan's interview with Renee was a great way to set up a Brock match in the future. They've really got more matches they need to get out of Brock - shame they wasted three matches on a year-long feud with HHH. Heyman cut among the greatest promos in history with Roman Reigns here. This promo was worth every penny they've paid Brock since 2012 if it winds up helping Roman out. If this was just in a vacuum with nothing else until WM, it would be a million buys. http://jayreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2015/01/raw-1-26-15.html Screens - HE'S ON A ROLL, BABY! http://www.imagebam.com/gallery/ptv0z9xmgjba96whobfjrlrd6lepafx0

The post-show was something else. They had Rock cut a promo and Roman said TONIGHT, FAMILY SAVED HIM. No, not "his brother" Dean Ambrose who he fought side by side with tonight. THE ROCK, who saved him when he theoretically already won the match. There was also this hilarious bit at the end.

The undercard wasn't much, but HOLY SHIT WAS THE WWE Title match amazing. It was non-stop highlights - like a video game match with a crazy finish out of nowhere. Royal Rumble was a clusterfuck, but I loved Bubba Ray's return even if he was a bit too hefty. it fits Bubba Ray, but it sucks to see him not in as Bully Ray. DDP was booked perfectly - shame Dean Ambrose, Daniel Bryan, or other modern-day stars aren't nearly 60 and retired so they could be protected too. HOLY SHIT THE BOOS FOR REIGNS. Holy God are they doomed. He got booed doing everything and NOT EVEN THE ROCK COULD SAVE HIM. Jesus. http://jayreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2015/01/wwe-royal-rumble-2015.html Screens - Heyman - Master of the WWE Universe http://www.imagebam.com/gallery/0knjaxtcl8dkxlbnhymca537rbd5g1wg

I haven't watched ROH since the last PPV and loved this week's show (well, the 45 minutes of it I saw). ODB got a huge pop and while she's an odd fit for ROH, she's a perfect fit for the Briscoes. Beer City Bruiser is an act I should like more than I do, but he comes off as more of a tribute act than someone genuinely getting what made big fat brawler types work. Alberto-Daniels was very good, but also was exactly how you'd expect a video game match to be done with both of them. I love Lethal seemingly setting up a PPV match with Alberto and Hanson's promo was really good hyping up the world title match. Not sure what to make of the Knights of the Dawn other than this gimmick requires a bigger budget than ROH can afford. I'm more excited about the reveal than seeing the buildup to the reveal on that one. http://jayreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2015/01/roh-1-25-15.html

It was easily the highlight of the show.

"C'MON $1,500 A SHOT WITH TRANS PAID AND MERCH MONEY! C'MON $1,500 A SHOT WITH TRANS PAID AND MERCH MONEY! C'MON $1,500 A SHOT WITH TRANS PAID AND MERCH MONEY!" "EC3, you have received a TNA World Title shot." "DAMMIT JB!" "I know, I know." Then a little TNA factoid pops up on-screen telling you that the company is money-poor and creatively bankrupt in case you don't get it. Show thoughts - They started with the one match they hyped up and then did an awkward cut to the announcers before going to a horrible battle royal. Then we got Lashley saying words, which was worse, and Lashley-King wasn't good either. Beatdown wasn't anything special. Gail-Havok was fairly bad until Kong came out and shined brighter than anyone on the show so far by just standing around looking like she'd kill everyone around her. Even without being able to really work, she's a megastar - hopefully WWE re-signs her because she shouldn't be wasted her. Koya beat Uno in a nothing match before Storm cut a promo on Matt Hardy about being a bigger demon than anything Hardy's ever faced, and Roode and Angle argued because they're a team now, so they can't get along. EY and Ki vs. Roode and Angle was a nothing match. EC3-JB was nothing, but the loogie EC3 spit on Spud was sick. Also, Tyrus nearly didn't catch Mark Andrews off a super SSP to the floor. Matt Hardy-Storm sucked and set up Jeff-Abyss in monster's ball next week. They show clips of this during the break, and then after it say WE'VE GOT BREAKING NEWS - Jeff-Abyss next week in a monster's ball. Also, Lashley is shown with his belt next week defending against Aries, so we know that Lashley gets his belt back in the street fight and that Aries gets the World title shot case. Aries got that case, Spud got the X title shot, Magus gets the tag title case so he and Bram can break up in the tag title match, and Velvet got fired in the greatest FOF firing bit ever - thanks to Robbie being great. Street fight wasn't much beyond a couple of cool camera angles, and this show was way too lifeless in every way. http://jayreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2015/01/tna-impact-wrestling-1-23-15-feast-or.html Screens - http://www.imagebam.com/gallery/8db1ibl93vs6kjl057hnkqjvylrh3doc

Such a shame - Velvet's ass is one of the better reasons to tune into Impact.

WWE kept that tradition going by not mentioning Daniel Bryan being a big part of the World Series stuff this year.

Maybe Rusev can turn face with the help of Reverend Nikita.

Now this guy OTOH... It's a shame Dink died, because he legit looks like Sami Zayn's dad with that ginger beard.

The show opened with an awesome video package on Sting looking cool before guys talked for 20 minutes. DURING THE BREAK, matches were made. Barrett was talked about as someone who won the IC Title and has lost several times since then. He continued this trend tonight in a nothing chilnlock-filled match that was highlighted by a fan holding up a WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS sign while Barrett went for the elbow. Outlaws are facing the Ascension at the PPV, and Dean sneakily switched numbers with Fandango while he buried his tongue in Rosa's mouth. Roman, a huge prick, talked about how HE HAS NO FRIENDS IN THE RUMBLE, while his supposed brother is in too, and it's one versus all his his fist is cocked and ready to rock. Ryback nearly killed Rusev several times because he's still shockingly bad for being in wrestling as long as he is, and he won by countout while neither guy got an upper hand afterwards - so everything about this match was unsatisfying. Rowan-Harper was legit the best match of the night to this point since Harper's a good worker and these two have good chemistry. They structured this around things Rowan can do well, things Harper can do well, and the right man won. Kane-Bryan wasn't anything special, and the show's back to feeling quite missable. http://jayreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2015/01/wwe-smackdown-1-22-15.html Screens - http://www.imagebam.com/gallery/5znwnkb17e8xgjt1k8jnyqt4twc5jpop

This week's show didn't do much for me - this was the worst Cuerno-Drago match yet, although I like what they did with Ryck. http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/118-daily-updates/40869-lucha-underground-tv-report-drago-vs-king-cuerno-once-again

What a great pic of the Harts ruined by Owen's High Energy gear.

LOVED LOVED LOVED Brock coming out as a guy who was happy to be out ready to kick some ass, baby! Then HHH came down and talked. Then Steph talked. Then Cena talked. Then Seth fucked up "tuck your tail between your legs", and then HHH talked some more and we got Cena in a random match later where winning would allow him to keep his title match and get his buddies' their jobs back, but losing takes all of that away. Bryan-Bray had some terrifying Bryan bumps, but he took a safe bump for the suicide dive before jobbing thanks to the concession-selling corporate demon Kane. I enjoyed the Kliq backstage bit, even if it was a bit bizarre to have HHH the top heel play wacky babyface. The legends panel was largely a bunch of nothing, but I loved them having Flair Rumble shots with HBK and Hogan as he shared the ring with them here. Also loves Show being a smug asshole, then Flair manning up, fighting this giant, and getting KOed. Flair could probably still have a good match now. Dean vs. Barrett was pretty fun - I loved Dean countering Wasteland into the Dirty Deeds for the win. Ascension's burial was something else. These guys are so doomed. Dug the divas tag thanks to Paige. Sting's Raw debut was something else. Loved it! Brock kicking tons of heel ass was great as well. This was an up and down show, but by the end, I was hyped for the Rumble. http://jayreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2015/01/raw-1-19-15.html Screens - http://www.imagebam.com/gallery/o4eml20l5frmn6ujskh8dhhi5co3cf70

They bleeped holy shit during the best of Jeff Hardy show, which featured MISTER FUCKING ANDERSON in every match in some form. It at least also had this though -

Wow - way sooner than expected, very cool.

That is one amazingly low-quality image. I think they just grab shit from torrent files for some stuff because they've used screens for auctions and it just amazes me that a company wouldn't have the capability of getting better stuff I can do that with a $90 capture card.