Welcome back to your One-Stop Shop for All Things TNA here at the Insanity – This Week in TNA.   I’m Mike Johns, bringing the latest news and results from the folks in Orlando.   Or Nashville.   They kind of work out of both, really…

So, big thing in the news this week – Samoa Joe, suspended by TNA for allegedly going off on Vince Russo following a recent match with Jeff Hardy on Impact, which went to a time-limit draw.   Joe felt that the use of time calls during the match gave away the fact that it was going to go to a time-limit draw, and believed it took away from the match.   Apparently, Dixie Carter witnessed the incident, and suspended Joe immediately.   News of the suspension, though, broke just this past week, leading to an uproar on the internet, including a flood of angry tweets directed at Dixie herself by fans who felt Joe was being treated unfairly.

My take?   Joe’s right, at least in principal.   The time calls in his match with Hardy ABSOLUTELY gave away the ending, especially since there are generally no time calls given AT ALL in TNA.   Heck, the only promotion I know of off the top of my head who even does regular time calls these days is SHIMMER.   So, of course a time call would give away the result.   Even more so was the emphasis made on the time limit in the first place.   As for whether Joe reacted properly, I can’t say.   I wasn’t there, nor am I aware of any other incidents that would have led to this, although any idiot with a simple understanding of television production can tell you that TNA’s production team is absolute sh*t.   Don’t believe me?   Just ask Aaron Wood.   He’ll tell you!  

Personally speaking, though, with the information that’s been made available, and the circumstances surrounding it, I feel that Joe’s suspension is either an overreaction on Dixie’s part, or, there have been other incidents we’ve not been made aware of that lead to this.   Either way, the fact that this has gone public should be an indication to all of us that Joe may be on the way out of TNA.   The track record works against Joe here, really.   Let’s take a look at similar incidents just in the past year –

-           Jim Cornette goes off on Russo.   Leaves less than a month later.

-           Kong gets in a scuffle with Bubba the Love Sponge, and punches him.   She’s out a month later.

-           ODB tweets that she’s unhappy with the direction of the Knockouts Division.   Month later, she’s out.

-           Hell, let’s even go back to 2005.   Kid Kash goes out, cuts a blistering interview where he out and out bashes all things TNA, and within days, he’s released, and getting booked on WWE shows.

And it seems AJ Styles may be next.   In a recent interview on PWI Weekly, AJ trashes some of TNA’s decisions this past year, including having him drop the World Title to RVD, saying, "I definitely didn't understand it. For the life of me, I couldn't figure it. I was very surprised that they would want me to lose that title after holding it for so long, and to somebody who hasn't been in wrestling for over a year, and came from WWE to win the World Title so quickly…. he should have been tired from wrestling a match before that (against Jeff Hardy). I was very conflicted on that. It was like, 'I have no idea what's going on here anymore.' I don't know how to put it in words. I was pissed off - I don't want to say that - but at the same time, I was very confused. 'Okay, I guess I'm not the star that I thought I was here at TNA. I guess I'm just a TNA guy.'"  

He also talks about TNA’s decision to turn him heel earlier this year, claiming that he could have made more money for them as a face before they cut it short, and calls the move to Mondays “a mistake”.   He then adds, “I don't know if it's necessarily the people we've brought in, but there's stuff where surely they took a step back and thought, 'Okay, maybe we don't need this.' There were some people brought in who I don't think we necessarily needed. But, there's Jeff Hardy. He sells so much merchandise; he's making so much money for this company. There are other guys I think who deserved a shot at TNA who are not here that I'm very confused they're not here because I think they could make money."

Reading heard the full interview with AJ myself, I really do have to think that this, at the very least, is the equivalent of ODB asking, “What happened to our (Knockouts) division?” on her Twitter.   It’s very hard not to, really.   So, if for some reason, AJ’s match with Kurt Angle next week suddenly DOES become a TV Title Match, this interview may just be the reason why.   Not saying it will happen, but the track record doesn’t look good here, as both Joe and AJ have been involved in incidents where they have been very critical of the company as of late.   If Joe is going off on Russo, and AJ is burying TNA in interviews much the way Kid Kash did to get his TNA release in 2005, it’s really only a matter of time, based on TNA’s track record, especially as of late, before Joe and AJ are wished the best in their Future Endeavors.

Meanwhile, the holding pattern with Paul Heyman may be reaching its breaking point, as many now feel he won’t be coming to TNA.   Spike TV is trying to turn the tide, it seems, as they are very high on bringing Heyman in, but it seems that Dixie Carter isn’t willing to concede full booking powers to Heyman, including that of hiring and firing talent.   Once again, I feel she should cave here and cave hard, but, also, once again, her complete misunderstanding of how the wrestling business works comes into play, failing to see how the corporate wresting structure has hurt both her product, as well as WWE’s over the past decade.   At the end of the day, you need a single person with the power to approve or bury an idea, or else, your company has no real direction.   Dixie doesn’t understand the business well enough in order to do so, and everyone else around her is feeding off the corporate structure, preserving their own jobs rather than looking out for the welfare of the company and the business overall.   Whether it’s Paul Heyman, Jim Cornette, Gabe Sapolsky, or, hell, James Guttman running creative, it’s not going to mean spit if they have no control over which talent gets signed.   Ultimately, it’s in TNA’s best interest to either cave to this demand with Heyman, or give that sort of power to someone else and let them run the ship, because the current model just isn’t working.

And then, there’s Hardcore Justice.   Who’s all going to be there?   Well, if you’re not connected to a site like this, you may never find out, as it seems TNA’s not interested in promoting names for this show on TV.   So, here I go, doing TNA’s job, telling you who’s supposed to show up tonight for the big ECW Tribute Show –   Tommy Dreamer, Raven, Al Snow, Johnny Swinger, Simon Diamond, Team 3D, Stevie Richards, Mick Foley, Sandman, Rhino, Brother Runt (Spike Dudley), Jerry Lynn, 2 Cold Scorpio, CW Anderson, The FBI (which is all they’ve credited them as, thus far.   Most likely, we have Little Guido and Tony Mamaluke wrestling here, but, for all we know, we may get Tracy Smothers, JT Smith, Tommy Rich, maybe even Sal E. Graziano making an appearance here), Axl Rotten, and, of course, Sabu.  

Someone who may or may not show up, based on how much he’s been bitching about it lately, is Shane Douglas, who, between demands for more money, and his on-going hatred of all things Flair seem to have put up a huge roadblock between him and the last company that gave him a full-time run worth a damn.   On his website, Douglas claims that the only way he’d do the show is if he’d wrestle Ric Flair, which just doesn’t make sense, because Flair never worked for ECW, ever but then again, this is a TNA show.   Who said it ever needed to make sense?   Dixie certainly doesn’t think it needs to…

TNA’s Current Champions (as of August 5, 2010)

This Week in Impact

This Week’s Impact starts off with Tommy Dreamer, demanding that Raven come out to explain why he attacked Tommy last week.   Raven comes out, and Tommy goes on about how he and raven supposedly patched things up over the years since ECW, and how Tommy’s kids even call Raven “Uncle Scotty”.   This, of course, leads to the Impact Zone chanting “Uncle Scotty” as Raven retorts.   Raven tells us that the reason he attacked Tommy last week was because Tommy stole his girl 30 years ago at summer camp.   Seriously.   We’re still talking about Beulah.   I mean, really, what else did you expect?   In the past 15+ year history between Raven and Tommy Dreamer, what have they always fought over?   Beulah.   So why in the hell didn’t Tommy already know this?   Seriously!

So, anyway, Raven goes on to tell Tommy how, after he beats Dreamer at Hardcore Justice, Raven’s going to go home and take Beulah back and make her call him ‘daddy’ and junk, which leads to a Tommy/Raven brawl.   Abyss comes out to attack Dreamer, but RVD comes out to even the odds.   As RVD and Abyss brawl off, Raven sets Dreamer up for the Evenflow DDT on the ramp.   Mick Foley then runs in to make the save, attacking Raven with a barbed-wire baseball bat, then announcing that he will be the special guest referee for the Dreamer/Raven match at Hardcore Justice.

Our first match of the evening features Hamada’s return to Impact, as she and Taylor Wilde take on Velvet Sky and Lacey Von Erich for the Knockouts Tag Team Titles.   Hamada and Taylor, to their credit, manage to bring about a far better than average performance out of the usually uncoordinated and clumsy Von Erich, but, at the end of the day, it’s still one of the most respected female performers in wrestling history and Taylor Wilde against a couple of Barbie Dolls, so take that for what you will.   Velvet definitely brings her A-Game though, which helps.   Madison Rayne makes her presence known on the rampway as the match goes on, as does the “Mysterious” Biker Chick (who in NO WAY is supposed to be Tara *wink* *wink*), who distracts Wilde and Hamada long enough for the BPs to take advantage.   The Biker hands Lacey a chair while the ref is down, but Taylor Wilde dropkicks it into Von Erich’s face and goes for a cover.   The ref recovers just long enough to make the count, making Taylor Wilde and Hamada your NEW Knockouts Tag Team Champions!

Our next match is Rob Terry’s rematch with AJ Styles for the recently rechristened TV Title.   In what may be possibly one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard a wrestling commentator say on television, Mike Tenay goes on to attempt to link TNA’s new TV Title to previous versions of the TV Title in both the NWA and WCW.   As I hear it, though, I think I understand the intent – Tenay was trying to give the belt a rub by claiming the history of Television Titles in wrestling, and mentioning previous versions in the NWA and WCW.   He did not, by any means, actually link TNA’s version to either of them, but it’s easy to see why some would say he had, because the intent was to equate them.   It’s smart to do, in theory, but the execution here really just made TNA look like it was reaching for credibility by latching on to belts they have no real connection to whatsoever.

So, on to the match itself.   AJ does the best he can with the powerhouse Terry, but the match is, for the most part, nothing worth writing home about.   The match ends with AJ nailing a low blow, then a Pele kick to set up for his springboard 450 for the win, retaining his TV Title.

We then go into a hype video for Kurt Angle, featuring clips of him training as he explains his current storyline in TNA, working his way up the Top 10 Ranks towards a shot at the TNA World Title.   Now, apparently, we’re adding this bit about where, if Kurt loses at any point in this quest, he’ll retire from wrestling.   This basically sets up Kurt vs. AJ for the “Whole F’n Show” special next week.   TNA follows that up with Jay Lethal at catering, grabbing a meal and talking about his upcoming Street Fight with Ric Flair.

We then go to the back yet again as we see Velvet Sky and Madison Rayne in a pull-apart catfight.   In the ruckus, Velvet accidentally knocks out Lacey Von Erich as Velvet screams at Maddie, blaming her for their KO Tag Title loss earlier.   Velvet then sees the unconscious Von Erich and freaks out, screaming for someone to get an ambulance and cursing Maddie.

Up next is Match 4 in the Best of 5 Series between Beer Money and the Motor City Machine Guns for the TNA Tag Team Titles, and it’s Ultimate X.   If Beer Money wins tonight, they win the series and become 4-time Tag Team Champions, but if the MCMG win, they’ll tie the series and force a fifth and final match for the Titles.   But, of course, this is TV, so we have to have Beer Money talk sh*t first.   Robert Roode goes on to brag about how great they are, and how they’ll beat the MCMG at their own game and yadda ya.   Sabin then takes the mic and tells Beer Money they can have the Tag Team Titles when they pry them from their cold, dead fingers.

So, on with the match itself - another solid, PPV-level showing by what many could say are the two best teams in TNA’s history.   Some of the more memorable spots of the match include Shelley nailing a Sliced Bread #2 on James Storm on the ring apron, Roode standing on Storm’s shoulders as they went along the cables, attempting to get the X, just to get broken up by the Guns as they pull Roode off the ropes into Storm, and Shelley nailing the Mickie DDT on Roode.   The finish sees Roode rope-walking the cable with help from the scaffold, then fighting with Sabin at the center for the X, just to get kicked off by Sabin, who grabs the X for the victory.   Match of the Night?   Duh!

We then see Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, and Miss Tessmacher make their way down to the ring, as they give us a rundown for next week’s “Whole F’n Show” special.

-           Abyss vs. Rob Van Dam in a “Stairway to ‘Janice’” Ladder Match for the TNA World Title; Eric Bischoff as Special Guest Referee.

-           Match 5 of the Best of 5 Series between Beer Money and the MCMG for the TNA Tag Team Titles

-           Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles

-           Angelina Love vs. Madison Rayne for the Knockouts Title

-           Mr. Anderson vs. Matt Morgan vs. The Pope

-           And Jeff Hardy’s Open Challenge to ANYONE in the Wrestling World (someone’s looking to debut, methinks…)

This is then interrupted by Kevin Nash, who’s been trying to get a meeting with Hogan and Bischoff for weeks now.   Hulk Hogan talks up the young guys, while trying to explain to Nash that its time to back off and let the young kids come up.   Meanwhile, we get a bunch of talk of backstage politics and the same old worked-shoot kind of stuff Russo tried to push in WCW with the old guys in 2000.   We then proceed to get one of the hokiest, fakest looking fights in television history, one that would make even Adam West take notice and cringe, between Hogan and Nash as Bischoff rolls on the floor, selling a turnbuckle like his internal organs were bleeding.   And this fight goes on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on…. Eventually, Nash goes for a chair, looking to powerbomb Hogan on to it.   Bischoff tries to intervene, and Nash pushes him off, deciding he’d rather whack Hogan across the back with the chair instead.   Before Nash can connect, Jeff Jarrett runs in and immediately brings some credibility to the fight, looking far more realistic than anything we had seen in this segment up to this point.   As Jarrett takes over on Nash, Sting runs in to back Nash up, wearing the red facepaint from his Wolfpac days.   Sting takes it to Jarrett, then tosses the bat to Nash, who finishes off Jarrett as Sting attacks Hogan.

Hemme catches up to Sting and Nash in the back, but they blow her off, leading to our next match, featuring the Pope vs. Orlando Jordan.   OJ tries to creep the Pope out, but the Pope’s just not having it.   Meanwhile, we’ve apparently stumbled into the batsh*t insane portion of this show, as Eric Young runs out and slides into the Dinero Cash that fell during Pope’s entrance, scooping it up and bringing the match, once again, to a full-on halt.   I think that’s Eric’s gimmick now – do something so insane that it brings the show to a complete, sudden stop.   So, anyway, OJ’s distracted by Eric, which allows Pope to make a comeback, nailing the D.D. Express and an Edge-O-Matic for the win.   Matt Morgan, though, attacks Pope as he celebrates his victory.   Then, out comes Anderson with a chair   Morgan runs for the hills as Taz and Tenay remind us of the Triple Threat between Pope, Morgan, and Anderson next week on the Whole F’n Show Special.   With Morgan gone, Anderson tries to make peace with the Pope, but Pope ain’t having it.   Then comes Murphy and Gunnar (the two TNA Security Guards Anderson and Hardy beat last week) to get in Anderson’s face.

To the back, where Christy Hemme interviews Ric Flair.   She reminds us of a stipulation where, if any member of Fortune interferes in his match tonight, Flair will be suspended for 90 days without pay.   Flair tries to hit on Christy a bit, then tells Jay Lethal that he’s in for a fight here tonight.   You know, typical Flair stuff.

Up next is the street fight between Flair and Lethal.   For some reason, Flair’s decided to wrestle in a suit here tonight.   Okay.   Whatever.   We then spend most of this match watching Jay Lethal tear the clothes off of Flair’s body.   Um… okay?   Eventually, Doug Williams runs in and nails Jay Lethal with the X Division title, allowing a near-naked Ric Flair to get the win.

We then come to our obligatory RVD promo of the evening.   He talks up the main event tonight, the match with Jerry Lynn at Hardcore Justice, and the match with Abyss next week on the Whole F’ Show.   Then, in pops Jerry Lynn.  

Our Main Event features RVD and Tommy Dreamer against Raven and Abyss.   RVD and Dreamer knock Abyss out of the ring, then Dreamer DDTs Raven and RVD frogsplashes him for the win.   Abyss then destroys Dreamer and RVD, post-match.   Stevie Richards, Rhino, and 3D all run down to try and make the save, but Abyss and Raven take them all out.   Then the lights go out.   When they come back on, Sandman is in the ring, taking out Abyss and Raven with the Singapore cane.   Sandman and EV2.0 celebrate victory in the ring as our show closes with a Hardcore Justice promo video.

This Week in Xplosion

Apparently, on Xplosion, we’re having a two-week tag team tournament to determine new #1 Contenders to the Tag Team Titles.   This week, Rob Terry and Hernandez face off against Magnus and Wolfe, and Ink Inc. goes toe to toe with Generation Me, with winners advancing to next week’s #1 Contender’s Match for the TNA Tag Team Titles.   So, we hear from tonight’s competitors as they weigh in on their opponents, and then we get to the action.

First match of the night features Rob Terry and Hernandez vs. Magnus and Desmond Wolfe.   Wolfe gets the pin on Supermex after reversing a Border Toss into a backslide pin as Magnus held Hernandez’s feet on the ropes to assist with the pin.

Xplosion winds down with Ink Inc. vs. Generation Me.   Max hits a sweet flipping neckbreaker on Shannon for a nearfall, which Neal breaks up.   Jeremy tosses Neal out of the ring, allowing Gen Me to set Shannon Moore up for the More Bang for You Buck combo.   Max hits his Samoan flip slam, and Jeremy goes for his 450, but Shannon puts up the knees and blocks it, then does the same for Max’s moonsault.   Neal comes back into play, and Ink Inc. hits Max with the Mooregasm From Hell, allowing Shannon to get the pin to close the show.

Next week on Xplosion – Ink Inc. vs. Magnus & Wolfe in a #1 Contender’s Match for the TNA Tag Team Titles.

And now, Hardcore Justice…

Oh, wait… that was a video for LAST MONTH’s Pay Per View, wasn’t it?   Yep, the video you would have gotten had I not had a last-minute schedule change and had to pass the Real-Time Reigns for the night on to Aaron Wood.   But hey, this is a new day, a new generation (you have Ted DiBiase’s theme song in your head now, don’t you?), and we’re not dealing with that BS anymore.   So…

Let’s be honest – I have no footage worth using for a video for Hardcore Justice.   Usually, I just use whatever hype videos TNA’s put together and reedit them for these intros, but the ones TNA have for this, well… don’t have much to them.   In fact, this whole PPV seems to have nothing to it, at least, as far as reasons to buy the show.   We’ve only had two matches announced, and anyone who’s been advertised for this show has been done, primarily, through Dixie’s Twitter, or the Official Hardcore Justice website.   So, because TNA has no interest in promoting this show enough to tell anyone, outside of nerds like ME, who’s even going to be ON this damn show, nor does Hardcore Justice seem to be taking place within the cannon of TNA’s continuity, I’ve decided to do the following –

-           Cover the PPV as a One-Shot show, unless, of course, TNA decides to do something during the show that puts it in cannon with the rest of the TNA Universe.

-           Talk about Next Week’s “Whole F’n Show” instead, since they seem to care more about that than the ECW Tribute Show taking place later tonight.

Next month, we’ll actually talk about the Pay Per View in this spot.   Unless, of course, TNA decides to have an AWA Reunion Show booked by Greg Gagne, instead…

So now, The Whole F’n Show…
No, you’re not getting a video for this, either.   At least, not this week…

So, the Whole F’n Show - stupid name, dumber concept.   They’re selling the whole thing as “No Talk, More Action”, going off the premise that people are sick of interviews.   So, instead of doing something fans actually want them to do, which is scale back the talking for more action on a regular basis, TNA has decided to announce a special show that has less talking, implying that, next week, they’ll just go back to the same crap with the overabundance of talking fans hate.   Does anyone else see the severe marketing flaw here?   Let me explain it this way –

-           You identify a problem (Fans hate it when wrestlers do nothing but talk)

-           You rectify that problem by announcing a special show that will have less talking

-           By calling it special, and bringing attention to the fact that there’s a lot of talking on your show, all you’re doing is announcing, “HEY! WE HAVE A LOT OF TALKING ON OUR SHOW!!!”

-           You’re giving fans no incentive to tune in to the next week’s Impact, which will be more of the same.   Because, after all, if the Special Impact is going to have LESS Talk, the Normal Impact is going to have MORE.   Simple Process.

But, of course, the real purpose of this show is to burn off the PPV matches we were supposed to get tonight before TNA decided to have the non-canonical ECW Tribute Show instead.   So let’s run down the card, shall we?

RVD vs. Abyss in a “Stairway to Janice” Ladder Match for the TNA Title:
Obviously, RVD retains here.   TNA has no real intention of taking the belt off of him any time soon, and they sure as hell aren’t going to do it with Abyss.   So, the best we can hope for is that “Janice”, Abyss’ 2x4 with the nails in it, is gimmicked beyond belief, and that whoever “they” are that Abyss keeps talking up actually show up and do something.   I’m not sure what the hell Eric Bischoff is doing here, unless “they” are Sting and Nash, and Bischoff is going to swerve us, but, then again, none of this has made much sense so far, so why should it start now?

MCMG vs. Beer Money - Match 5 of the Best of 5 Series for the TNA Tag Team Titles:
This could really go either way.   I wouldn’t be surprised to see Beer Money take the belts back home to Fortune, to be perfectly honest.   It may be a bit soon for Fortune to make a run for all the belts, and even sooner to try and run Kazarian into a feud with RVD for the World Title (if that is, indeed, what TNA decides to do with Fortune), but with all the talk Beer Money has made about becoming 4-time Tag Champs, holding up the four fingers, and being associated with Fortune, it’s very, very likely TNA will pull the trigger on it sooner than later.

Angelina Love vs. Madison Rayne for the Knockouts Title:
Once again, the match itself could go either way.   The only constant here is that Velvet Sky will get involved.   Whether or not this begins the road to an Angie/Velvet reunion against Maddie and the Biker Lady (who couldn’t POSSIBLY be Tara *wink*) remains to be seen, but I think that’s inevitable - Bound for Glory by the earliest, Final Resolution at the latest.   The Original Beautiful People WILL reunite this year, as babyfaces.   Put money on it, folks.

Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles:
I’m thinking, at this point, Angle goes over either way.   If AJ’s TV Title isn’t on the line, Angle wins, and if it is, it’s because TNA wants to take the belt off of AJ in the wake of his PWI Weekly interview, and, of course, Angle wins.   There’s no other real outcome here, unless Kurt Angle’s actually going to leave, which I seriously doubt, considering his current storyline.   Even if Kurt’s intending this to be his last run, he’s going to at least finish out the run, as long as his body is healthy enough to allow it.   So, pretty much any way this bread slices, Kurt Angle’s winning here, whether its for AJ’s TV Title or not, which, by all accounts as of this writing, it’s not.

Mr. Anderson vs. The Pope vs. Matt Morgan
The story here is that Anderson’s trying to make things up to Pope after injuring him a few months back, and Matt Morgan’s just a dick.   Meanwhile, these two jabroni security guys, Murphy and Gunnar, keep getting into Anderson’s business.   So, let’s just say, Anderson gets his ass handed to him, either by the Pope, who isn’t buying his change of heart, Morgan, who just doesn’t like him, or by the Jabronis, because TNA just had so much success with Shane Sewell (note sarcasm).   As for who wins, let’s just say Morgan because RVD needs an opponent for No Surrender, and even I’m not crazy enough to book him against Kazarian at this point, even if Beer Money wins the Tag Titles.

Jeff Hardy’s Open Challenge
Basically, Jeff’s accepting a challenge from ANYONE in the wrestling world to show up and fight him.   You know how this works.   So, who’s been released from WWE in the past few months who’s not riding the pine with a 90-Day No Compete Clause as we speak?   Greg Helms seems likely, but doesn’t strike me as “high profile” enough to debut against Hardy.   Dreamer’s already debuted, and I find it very hard to believe that Maria or Mickie James would be put in this spot.   Shelton Benjamin is likely, but rumor is that TNA’s been waiting to bring in Benjamin with Charlie Haas, so, you never know.   Mike Knox might be likely, as well, as he’s no longer riding the 90-Day Pine.   The easy money is on Shelton Benjamin, as he’s always been on the cusp of stardom, but it could just as easily be Knox or Helms.   I don’t think Helms is high-profile enough for the spot, but, then again, he is one of Jeff’s friends in real life, so that may play a factor here, as well.

And, of course, we wrap up This Week in TNA with This Week’s Spotlight Superstar – Douglas Williams

After running TNA's Tag Team Division in 2009 as a member of The British Invasion, Doug Williams has spent most of 2010 as the Dominant Force in TNA's X-Division. Defeating the Amazing Red to gain the title in February, Williams has gone on to become a 2-time X-Division champion, defending the X-Title against the likes of Red, Kazarian, Christopher Daniels, Brian Kendrick, and Generation Me. Now, though, as AJ Styles and Kazarian focus on the heavyweight division and the Motor City Machine Guns focus on their feud with Beer Money over the Tag Titles, the Contender Well for Douglas Williams has seemingly dried up. Perhaps this, more than anything else, was the motivation for Doug Williams’ interference on Ric Flair’s behalf this past Thursday on Impact – to build Jay Lethal as a contender to Williams’ X Title.  

That, in a nutshell, was the Week in TNA.   I’m Mike Johns, and I hope you found this all helpful.   Be sure to check back later this week for some insight on TNA’s Hardcore Justice, and don’t forget to check out the Insanity Message Board - where you can voice your opinions about TNA, WWE or whatever else tickles your fancy, as well as vote for who YOU think should be This Week in TNA’s Next Spotlight Superstar!  

*****

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. 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'.

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