Monday Night Mayhem: The stars of TNA draw first blood.
TNA pulled out all the stops Monday night, cramming a month’s worth of angles into one show, highlighted by a Sting heel turn, two Flair vs. Hogan bouts, Abyss pinning the World champion clean in the middle, a impassioned, teary-eyed plea from Brooke Hogan to her dad and the Hulkster’s resulting apparent “retirement,” the transformation of Kurt Angle into Capt. America, the debut of RVD–and in a bout against Sting no less–and the reappearance of Jeff Hardy.
Some of the highlights:
In a promising start, Hogan kicked off the show not hyping “change” or Monday Night War II but rather staying within the storyline of kicking Flair’s ass. They gave us the main event early,with Hogan and Abyss vs. Flair and A.J. Styles. The match didn’t go long before the heels gained the advantage and the lights went out, which brought Sting into the fray, armed with a baseball bat. Similar to Hogan’s infamous heel turn at Bash at the Beach so many years ago–a spot that Sting was standing by to fill in case Hulk got cold feet–the Stinger attacked Hogan and Abyss, who both juiced following two chairshots to the head during the onslaught. Instead of building up a rematch for the upcoming PPV or at the very least to spike next week’s rating, the bout was rescheduled for later that night. Sting shoved Dixie Carter backstage, so apparently they’re going all the way in with Sting’s heel turn this time around. A shaken Carter vowed later that Sting would be forced to wrestle that night against a mystery opponent of her choosing.
As Kazarian, Daniels and Doug Williams argued about their pecking order, Eric Bischoff gave a strong promo putting over the X Division as not only TNA’s heart but also its adrenaline, which got a big pop. He then made an impromptu title match with the three, which saw the champion retain after a dizzying series of spectacular highspots. Afterward, Bischoff revealed Shannon Moore as Williams’s opponent at the Division X PPV. (Wow–actually building toward a PPV title bout…what the hell’s gotten into Bischoff?) Good segment that showed that maybe Bischoff finally understands the delicate balance of making changes to improve the product while preserving what made TNA unique in the first place. This really felt like a commitment by Bischoff to continue the history of strong X Division title matches.
Tazz, who had an off night, initially claimed not to know whom Sting’s opponent might be and then minutes later made a cute inside remark to Mike Tenay, asking, “What were you doing at 4:20 this afternoon?” (Tenay, by the way, was his usual excellent self.)
Sting came out to a mostly silent crowd, who clearly weren’t sold on booing a legend. As Sting was in the ring, RVD’s initials hit the screen to loud music. The iMPACT Zone went crazy as RVD ambushed Sting from behind with a spinning kick to the jaw to get a fluke win in mere seconds. Afterward, Sting got his heat back by destroying RVD with his bat and taking out a few referees. The segment was effective but went too long–I mean how much punishment can a man take with a bat? Hogan stormed the ring as security held him back, which only enabled Sting to continue the beating on RVD’s ribs and ankle. (A few guards really should have stormed the ring to attempt to cover the fallen star only to be dispatched by Sting as it really didn’t make much sense for them to block Hogan like that while ignoring the prone RVD.) As security held Hogan at bay, Sting jammed a couple bat shots into Hulk’s ribs, doubling him over. By this point, the crowd was pretty hot at Sting, chanting “You suck!” Much like the angle to kick off the show, this was strong enough to close the program, but we still had plenty of show–and one more surprise–left. (It was almost like Bischoff and Hogan couldn’t decide on what would be the best ending for the show out of all their options on the drawing board, so they used all of ‘em.)
Kevin Nash, Eric Young had a painful segment with Hall and Waltman, which appeared to set the stage for the Band’s exit as the next PPV. That is, barring another swerve with Nash realigning with his former NWO brothers.
In tears, Brooke Hogan pleaded with her bloodied, battered dad not to go back out there. Hogan, who referenced the family’s personal problems, placated by her vowing this was his last match. (Hey, he lies to everyone else, so why not?) I have a sneaking suspicion this could lead to a Brooke heel turn down the road.
Kurt Angle came to the ring with several members of the U.S. Army and pledged his allegiance to America. As Mr. Anderson interrupted him, calling the servicemen “high-school dropouts” (a great heel line), Angle charged the backstage area and beat the shit out of him in an impromptu lumberjack match with the Army guys getting into the act with punches and tossing Anderson back into the ring. (It appeared as if they accidentally hurt him a few times as they hurled into the apron rather than into the ring.) After Angle stood over his beaten adversary and ripped Mr. Anderson’s Capt. America T-shit, servicemen lifted Angle on their shoulders as he waved Old Glory. This was pretty damn entertaining stuff. I’m digging Angle as a totally serious babyface.
The main event was a bloodbath, as Flair practically cut his head off with a bladejob that would make Tommy Rich wince. (Or as Tazz said, “Bleeding like a stuffed pig. No offense to stuffed pigs.” Stuffed? Really? Yikes.) Pretty surreal seeing Flair and Hogan in such a gore-fest at their age. Abyss pinned Styles with the blackhole slam, which I guess was the right finish since the two are facing each other in a title bout at the March 21 PPV. Desmond Wolfe, who had earlier laid out the Pope in a backstage attack, stormed the ring to help the heels beat down Hogan and Abyss yet again. Pope was cut off trying to make the save, which then brought out Jeff Hardy, who was cleaning house as the show closed. Whew. The chaotic final scene was very reminiscent of the NWO vs. WCW brawls that closed many Nitros.
Overall, it was an entertaining but horribly paced effort that gave away far too much on the first night of the new head-to-head battle. Clearly, TNA is going to push the envelope with a product that is grittier, raunchier and more violent than WWE, with plenty of juice and hotshot angles. At this rate, the company will burn itself out if it continues to rush storylines like this, but it sure made for a damn interesting night.
More Monday night notes tomorrow.
Highlight any portion you want:
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