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| The Unhossiest Hoss You Ever Done Did See Photo Credit: ImpactWrestling.com |
Tonight’s eight-man tag fully encompasses improper planning in TNA’s “two-for-one” system for their televised shows. Last week, they used all eight participants in a simple angle to reveal Gunner as Storm’s partner for the four corners match at Slammiversary. So, in order for TNA to “get their money’s worth” out of all eight competitors for this live event, they were forced to put all eight men into one match.
Quite honestly, if it hadn’t been for the heel team, I would’ve hit the FF button. Even the idea of TNA pushing Chavo and Hernandez makes me want to vomit. Add to that Gunner’s lack of charisma and Storm’s terrible gimmick, and you’ve got half the ring that I just don’t care about. But yet, this is what we get when TNA tries to keep the checkbook in the black.
Maybe I don’t relate well with the rest of the TNA fanbase, but I’m tired of seeing Chavo take up my TV time with the same four moves (three of which are consecutive suplexes) and to have Mike Tenay marvel about his in-ring ability. Having the last name “Guerrero” does not make you an excellent wrestler. Hernandez, meanwhile, is probably only second to Matt Morgan in terms of size on a hoss-less roster, and he does more over-the-top rope attacks than some cruiserweights. I believe his only “power” move is a shoulder block, which he does perform for more than fifty percent of his offense.
The other half of the team? Gunner is TNA’s Randy Orton. He seems like a total badass, but he has neither mic skills nor in-ring ability. I couldn't have cared less when he came through the crowd last week. Very Orton-esque. As a fan, I actually like James Storm if he’s doing something relevant. However, he’s stuck in this cluster of a match and it really buries the character for me.
On the other side of the ring, you have four of the best workers on TNA’s roster where only one of them can be in the ring at a time. This just baffles me. If you wanna do a build through in-ring matches, why not do a four corners singles match in back-to-back weeks? Then, we’re multiplying our chances of seeing some good work that people might actually care about.
But this match is just a microcosm in what was a terrible show. TNA basically crammed seven matches into five (or so) segments. It seems as though there was no emphasis on any one match because everything was mashed together into some sort of tag match. The only match that was really highlighted was the World Title match, and that monopolized the show with a subpar Bully Ray promo, an even worse tag match, and equally as bad video packages.
I just wonder if this is jet lag catching up with TNA on these “two-for-one” TV tapings. Between handcuffing the in-ring talent they can use, and overall lazy booking, there are trends in TNA that should be addressed. If TNA doesn’t start taking the full two weeks to ensure that they are booked correctly for these “two-for-ones”, I worry about overall product suffering. I HAD been watching Impact more intently than WWE lately, but if the shows continue in the current direction, it’s going to be very hard to stomach for an extended period of time. Hopefully tonight was just an anomaly.