This Week In TNA This Week In TNA: The Whole F'N Show, Fake Hulk Hogan Tweets, EV2.0, Superstar of The Week, and More
By Mike Johns
Aug 15, 2010 - 11:42 AM
Before we begin this week, I just want to take a moment to send condolences to the friends and family of Lance Cade, who died this past Friday. For those who aren’t aware, Cade was a former WWE Tag Team Champion with former TNA and WWE star, Trevor Murdoch, and trained by Shawn Michaels. While he never wrestled for TNA, at least to my knowledge, I do know he was contacted by them at one point in 2009 to reform his team with Trevor (then known as Jethro Holiday) in TNA, but was unable to due to his commitments in Japan. Regardless, though, all of us here at the Insanity would like to let the family and friends of Lance Cade know that we are sorry for your loss, and that Lance will be missed.
And, now, as Freddy Mercury once famously sang, “The Show Must Go On!”
Welcome back to your One-Stop Shop for All Things TNA here at the NEW Insanity – This Week in TNA. I’m Mike Johns, and believe me when I say that, if you’re following me on the Twitter (@TheMaverickMJ), you’re following the real deal… not that I really tweet all that regularly, but still. When I tweet, it’s me.
Of course, there are some on the Twitter who like to pretend to be people they’re not. People like whoever the hell was running the supposed Hulk Hogan Twitter account (@realHulk_Hogan) this past week. The story here, apparently, is that someone started up this Hogan Twitter account and somehow convinced both Eric Bischoff and Bubba the Love Sponge that it was legitimately Hogan, as they both announced it to their followers that it was official. Then, @realHulk_Hogan starts tweeting about how Hulk and Eric were finishing up with TNA, thanking the Carters, and claiming new leadership was coming into TNA. As soon as that hits, Bischoff (@EBischoff) comes on his Twitter and says that @realHulk_Hogan is a fake account, to ignore everything that was posted, and that the real Hulk was in the process of setting up a Twitter. So, you’d think the story would end there, right?
Nope. @realHulk_Hogan gets taken over by TNA. They wipe the slate clean, and now point fans to the actual Hulk Twitter @HulkHoganCOM. Meanwhile, the former @realHulk_Hogan then sets up another account, @TNAnonymous, claiming to be a TNA employee who will reveal himself when his contract comes up in the fall. And you’d think THAT would be the end of it, right?
Oh, hell no! @TNAnonymous then begins saying that he was “open to interviews”, which pretty much gave away that he was, more than likely, just some dumbsh*t fan trying to get attention, because if @TNAnonymous actually WAS a TNA employee and open for interviews, he’d just come out and say, “Yep, that’s me.” And you’d think THAT would be the end of it, wouldn’t you?
Oh, no… there’s more. @TNAnonymous begins insinuating that he was, in fact, Christopher Daniels. Meanwhile, the actual Christopher Daniels (@facdaniels), comes out on his Twitter saying that he is not @realHulk_Hogan or @TNAnonymous, and tells whoever it is that’s using his name to own up to their own opinions, and stop using his name.
In the meantime, as all of this foolishness was going on, WWE posts this on their Twitter (@WWE): Reminder: #WWE Superstars on Twitter have "Verified Account" seals on their profile pages. Don't get fooled by fakers!
Classic. Only TNA could achieve this level of incompetence when it comes to social networking. There are some theories as to what’s really going on here. One is that this is just some dumbsh*t fan who worked Bischoff and Bubba into thinking it was actually Hulk, and things went from there. Another is that this was legitimately Hogan, who announced something he wasn’t supposed to, and the ensuing sh*t storm followed. Another theory is that this could very well be a disgruntled TNA wrestler, although, claiming to be open for interviews, yet saying he couldn’t reveal himself until his contract ran out, then claiming to be Christopher Daniels really does make the idea that this is all legit seem unlikely. All we know for sure here is that it’s not Christopher Daniels, and that Eric Bischoff and Bubba the Love Sponge were made to look pretty stupid, here. Beyond that, it’s all speculation.
Speaking of speculation, it seems that now the Heyman boat has seemingly sailed, TNA is looking to make Tommy Dreamer the new Head Booker in TNA, based on the recent ratings spike surrounding the EV2.0 angle, and the interest generated by Hardcore Justice. This is also fueling the second theory behind the Hogan Twittergate, the idea that Hogan and Bischoff are actually on their way out. Once again, NONE of this is confirmed, as TNA still has a few months on Hogan’s contract, and the boat with Heyman seems to be lost at sea for the time being. Tommy could be taking over, but, for the moment, this is all rumor and speculation, and should be taken as such.
By the way, in an only somewhat related note to the previously stated Twittergate story, neither Dixie nor Eric Bischoff have “Verified Accounts”. You’d think, after all the promotion they’ve done on TV, especially for Dixie’s Twitter in the past year, that someone would have contacted the folks running Twitter to let them know the account is official. But, then again, this is TNA…
TNA’s Current Champions (as of August 12, 2010)
This Week in
Impact The Whole F’n Show
The Whole F’n Show Special starts off with the #8 ranked Kurt Angle vs. the #6 ranked AJ Styles. After an incredibly strong, albeit short, showing, the match concludes with Angle going for a german suplex on AJ. AJ grabs the ref by the shirt, distracting him as he goes for a low blow on Kurt. Kurt grabs AJ’s leg and locks in the ankle lock for the win.
We follow that with the Knockouts Title match between the champion, Madison Rayne and challenger, Angelina Love. Of course, JB screws up the ring announcement, calling the KO title the “Ladies’ Championship”. Either that, or they officially renamed it the Knockouts’ Ladies’ Championship, because he actually says it not once, but TWICE. The match itself is what you’ve come to expect from Maddie and Angie in the ring, which is, to say, that it resembles a catfight more than it does much else. Just as Angelina takes the advantage with the Botox Injection, the Biker Chick makes her way to ringside, distracting Angie. Velvet Sky then runs in, attacking the Biker with a chair, then tries to take off her helmet as the ref tries to break up that fight. Meanwhile, Maddie nails Angie with the KO title in the ring. Maddie goes for the pin, but only gets 2. Meanwhile, Velvet gets the helmet off the Biker, just to find she’s wearing a mask, too, so Velvet tries to claw the mask off as the match continues in the ring. Maddie goes for the Rayne Drop (her version of the Zack Attack, not to be confused with Rain’s “Rain Drop”, which is a falling inverted DDT), but Angie reverses into the Lights Out for the win, making her the new KO champ. Meanwhile, Velvet may or may not have pulled off enough of the mask to see who the Biker was before she shoved Velvet off and ran for the hills. Velvet certainly looked like she recognized the Biker (who can’t POSSIBLY be Tara. Oh, no. She’s retired *wink*).
Up next is the Triple Threat between Mr. Anderson, the Pope, and Matt Morgan. Anderson and the Pope work together against Morgan early, but once he’s down and Pope goes for a pin, that’s when the alliance breaks down, and Anderson and the Pope start going at each other. With Morgan supposedly out of the picture, Anderson and the Pope go at it, and it appears Anderson will get the win as he hits the Mic Check on the Pope. But just as he goes for the cover, in runs Morgan, who kicks Anderson in the face and out of the ring, then gets the pin on the Pope, still out cold from the Mic Check.
Jeff Hardy’s Open Challenge is next. Most of us assumed the man who’d answer the challenge would be former WWE Cruiserweight Champion, Greg “Hurricane” Helms. Instead, we get Shannon Moore. Shannon talks a bit, telling Jeff that win, lose, or draw, they’ll leave here tonight brothers. Meanwhile, Taz and Tenay plug the upcoming Vampires Suck movie, apparently because Shannon’s “Team I Don’t Give a F*ck” is Movie Merch. As the match goes on, T & T talk up Jeff and Shannon’s friendship. Shannon misses a top rope Huracanrana, allowing Hardy to nail the swanton for the win.
Up next, we have the final match in the Best of 5 series between Beer Money and the Motor City Machine Guns for the MCMG’s Tag Team Championships – Best 2 of 3 Falls. Winner takes all here as the teams are tied 2 apiece, and the Impact Zone is HOT for this encounter. It’s refreshing to see these two teams not working a gimmick match, for once. What’s really sad is that neither team really needed the gimmicks in order to make this series interesting, and this match just drives that point home something fierce. Beer Money takes the first fall, hitting Alex Shelley with a gutbuster from Roode, followed by a Backstabber from Storm, followed up by the DWI for the pin. The MCMG take the second fall after nailing Roode with their neckbreaker/frogsplash combo. The third fall sees these two teams seemingly break out every single double team finish of every major tag team in TNA History not named Team 3D, as the Guns nail a Tornado-Plex (AJ and Tomko’s team finish) and Beer Money break out the Natural Disaster (the Naturals’ finish), just to name a few. Beer Money goes for the DWI again, but Sabin escapes, sets Storm up for the neckbreaker/frogsplash combo, but only gets 2. They hit it one more time to get the win and retain their titles, ending the series 3-2, MCMG.
All right, it needs said – this match was f*cking PHENOMINAL, and should be a highlight of DVD releases and video packages for years to come. In fact, I’m making it a point to download this match right now, as I type this, in order to use for future videos here on This Week in TNA. This was, by far, their best match to date, and just the amount of action, athleticism, and innovation these two teams displayed here definitely put them on a level above and beyond the best teams in TNA History - AMW, Triple X, AJ and Daniels, even LAX. This is a match you will remember, believe me.
Our Main Event brings us the Stairway to “Janice” match between RVD and Abyss for the TNA Title, with Eric Bischoff as Special Guest Referee. And, because this is an Abyss match, you know the violence, barbed wire, glass and thumbtacks are out in full force. RVD actually takes a really bad fall off of a ladder to the outside, catching his foot on the rope on his way down, and taking a bad spill to the outside after an attempt to pull “Janice” down. Abyss manages to pull his 2x4 “Janice” down after RVD’s bad fall. Abyss tries to use it on RVD, but gets it stuck in the top turnbuckle as RVD takes over using a chair. RVD nails a Van Terminator on Abyss, sandwiching Abyss into a plank of Barbed Wire, then nails a Five Star for the win, retaining his World Title.
We then close out the show with Hogan’s Special Surprise, which T & T have been hyping all night. Hogan comes out as RVD celebrates his win, and Hulk puts over the champ, talking up his match with Sabu at Hardcore Justice. Hulk then praises the Hardcore Justice PPV as Dixie blows kisses to him from ringside. Hulk then talks up the EV2.0, which is just surreal, the more I listen to it. EV2.0 – Guido, Tony Luke, Tommy Dreamer, Stevie Richards, Team 3D, Mick Foley, Rhino, Sabu and Bill Alfonzo - comes out to join RVD and the Hulk in the ring. Hulk then puts over the EV2.0 and hands the mic off to Tommy, who talks up the MCMG, Beer Money, and Abyss, claiming their raised the bar tonight. Tommy thanks Dixie, leading to a chant from the crowd. Tommy thanks the fans, and the lights go out, leading everyone to expect Sandman. Instead, it’s Ric Flair, Fortune, Matt Morgan, and Doug Williams, who proceed to take out all of EV2.0. Raven and Sandman each attempt to make saves for the EV2.0, but to no avail, as Fortune takes them out as well. Meanwhile, Abyss brawls with RVD outside the ring and to the back as Fortune dominates the EV2.0 in the ring, to the approval of the Impact Zone, who chant “This is Awesome”. We close the show with a shot in the back of RVD, bloodied and beaten by Abyss, supposedly with “Janice” as Flair and Fortune decimate EV2.0 in the ring.
This Week in Xplosion
Xplosion starts off with JB and Taz running down the card for the night. The graphic they used for Hamada, though, was just rough. Not only are they running on an outdated picture (as, sadly, am I. I’m likely to go and make a cut of one of Gilda Pasquil’s SHIMMER shoot with Hamada for future videos if I don’t find a better one soon.), but it has a shoddily photoshopped cut of the KO Tag Title slung over her shoulder. Keep in mind, this show is syndicated internationally, in some 65 different countries. You just sent a poorly photoshoped graphic of one half of your current KO Tag Champs into international syndication… Seriously, TNA, your production team sucks. Do something about it, please!
So we hear from all of our competitors here tonight. Ink Inc. claims to represent the outsider crowd and promises to become the new #1 Contenders for the World Tag Team Championship. We then go to the new KO Tag Champs, Taylor Wilde and Hamada. Taylor does all the talking, though, telling us how happy she is to be half of the new KO Tag Champs, putting over Hamada, and telling us how Sarita lost her mind or whatever. We then hear from Daffney, who finds it funny that Taylor and Hamada are the new KO Tag Champs. Then, Wolfe and Magnus brag about their 2-0 undefeated streak as a team. Desmond then rips on Chelsea for wearing the same red dress every time it’s “that time of the month”. Wolfe and Magnus then talk up how they’re going to beat Ink Inc. tonight.
Our first match tonight features Daffney vs. Hamada. The match starts off well, but seems to derail about halfway through, as both Daffney and Hamada seem to each be having an off day here. The dead crowd, though, doesn’t help matters. Hamada ends it all with a Michinoku Driver that Daffney unsuccessfully blocked. As Hamada makes her way to the back, Daffney attacks Hamada and drags her back into the ring. Daff pulls out a chain from her boot and begins to choke Hamada, but Taylor Wilde runs in to make the save for her partner.
We then come to the finals of the Tournament to determine new #1 Contenders to the MCMG’s World Tag Team Titles – Wolfe and Magnus vs. Ink Inc. Oh, and Chelsea’s now wearing a black dress. That may or may not be intentional, though, considering how TNA’s Production Team works…
So, the match… Wolfe tosses Moore to the floor, and sets up Neal to get sandwiched in the corner. Magnus smashes into Wolfe in the corner after a miscommunication between the two. Neal gets a roll-up and a 2, then sets up for the Gore as Chelsea makes her way up to the ring apron to distract Neal. Apparently, she’s stolen his dog tags (Neal served in the Navy and was on board the USS Cole when it was attacked by a suicide bomber in 2000. His best friend died during the attack). Magnus then attacks Neal from behind, and sets him up for a sidewalk slam. Wolfe nails a Yakuza kick to Neal’s skull as Magnus drives him to the mat with the sidewalk slam for the win. Magnus and Wolfe become the new #1 Contenders to the TNA Tag Team Championship, and Chelsea apparently walks off with Neal’s dog tags as the show comes to a close.
This Week’s Spotlight Superstar – AJ Styles
AJ Styles is, without a doubt, the most important player in TNA today. He has held nearly every title TNA has ever sanctioned, been a part of nearly every show TNA has ever produced, and heavily featured in every piece of TNA-licensed memorabilia you could imagine. If TNA’s made it, AJ Styles has been on it. You could very well say that AJ Styles is the Face of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Ever since appearing in the first match on the first-ever NWA-TNA PPV, AJ Styles has been synonymous for everything TNA has ever done right in its 8+ year history. From becoming the first-ever X-Division champion, to Tag Champs with Jerry Lynn, to his first NWA title run over Jeff Jarrett and Raven, to becoming TNA’s first Triple Crown winner, the only 6-time TNA X-Division Champion, and one of only two people who’ve officially held both the NWA and TNA World Titles under the TNA banner (the other being Sting), AJ Styles is among the most decorated champions in TNA’s History. Not only that, but he was a pioneer of the X-Division, defining the Division as the home of fast-paced, action-packed, innovative wrestling the likes of which you wouldn’t be able to see anywhere else. To fans of TNA, AJ is the homegrown hero, the leader of a bold new generation of wrestling. To critics, AJ is the shining beacon in the otherwise dead and dreary world of TNA. And to those who’ve yet to see TNA, AJ Styles is the name they keep hearing, the one guy their friends and fellow fans talk up every time they mention TNA. To call AJ merely the “Face of TNA” is to do a severe disservice to his role in TNA’s History, or even his place in Professional Wrestling History. When fans, critics, commentators, journalists, historians, promoters, and even fellow wrestlers look back, years from now, and look at the Legacy of TNA Wrestling, they will all agree on one thing – AJ Styles wasn’t the Face of TNA, he WAS TNA.
That, in a nutshell, was the week in TNA. I’m Mike Johns, and I hope you found this all helpful.
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Mike Johns, imbued with special, shameless self-promotional powers the likes of which haven't been seen since the height of DX's self-fellatious babyface run in 2006, is a contributor to WorldWrestlingInsanity.com, as well as ClubWWI.com. Not only is he single-handedly responsible for WWI’s coverage of All Things TNA, he also keeps tabs on the WWI Message Boards - http://s14.zetaboards.com/Wrestling_Insanity - for your amusement, as well as writing an on-going, comic-book style series of glorified Wrestling Fan-Fiction known as “Tales From The Insanity Universe”. He is also the host of Maverick Radio on ClubWWI.com. In what spare time he has left, Mike plays drums for a yet-to-be-named band in the Northeast Ohio area. He also produces and records original music under the name 'SaviorSelf.07.05.98' as well as remixes and mash-ups of far more popular songs under the name 'TMJ'.