BRM Reviews the 11/12/2014 Impact (enjoyable)

[Big Red Machine]

KENNY KING & LASHLEY BACKSTAGE- Lashley is really pissed and wants to find MVP.

JAMES STORM’S REVOLUTION & THE WOLVES SEGMENT-
Storm’s Revolution comes out. I was kind of disappointed that Mahabali Shera wasn’t with them. Storm says he wants a decision from Davey Richards right now. Davey says no, so the Revolution assault the Wolves and go after Davey’s leg. Storm goes to the back and gets a briefcase and does more damage to Davey’s leg. The people chanted “FIRE RUSSO!” which was strange not only because Russo doesn’t work for the company anymore, but also because this was a really good segment.
Storm reveals that this is the Feast or Fired Tag Team Title Briefcase and said he wanted his title shot right now. This was a good surprise, and I like the fact that it was a surprise because Storm wasn’t carrying the briefcase around all year. They let us forget about it. Compare this to WWE, where they tease MITB cash-ins so often that you get sick and tired of it and completely cease caring.
Anyway, the ref said okay and started the match… WITHOUT EVEN ASKING HIM WHO IS PARTNER WOULD BE.

TNA WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Wolves(c) vs. James Storm &…?
So Manik is standing on the apron, but then Abyss came out had a staredown with Manik and Sanada, had a staredown with Storm, but then it was all a Russo swerve and Storm introduced him as the newest member of his Revolution. Storm and Abyss won the tag titles. During the entire match, there was both a microphone and a steel chair lying in the ring, and the referee made no attempt to remove these dangerous weapons.
For those keeping track, this is now the FOURTH TIME that Abyss has turned in the past year.

MADISON RAYNE vs. TARYN TERRELL- 5.75/10
During this match, just to be argumentative, Taz tried to correct Teany on a matter of semantics. Taz was wrong, of course, but the whole concept of this is like an emu trying to teach a penguin how to fly. They both know that they’re birds and they both know that birds are supposed to fly, but neither one has any idea how to do it, and thus any advice they give by calling upon their own skillset will not help the other in any way.
Tenay kept pushing this match as a grudge match of “former partners.” While this is technically true, it is technically true because they only teamed ONCE, while Tenay is acting like Madison turning on Taryn in that match was Bubba turning on Devon.
MAJOR props to these two for the spot where Madison used illegal leverage on the pin, but Taryn kicked out anyway. I thought that the way they did it really sold how much more difficult the illegal leverage makes it to kick out.
This match told a great story. Taryn was pissed and wanted a grudge match, while Madsion tried to do things to worm her way out of it. First she tried to win quickly by attacking Taryn as she got into the ring. When that didn’t work, she tried to make peace (and then tried to attack Taryn when it was clear Taryn wasn’t taking it). Then she started to use illegal leverage and pull the tights to end the match quickly, but Taryn persevered and eventually won, getting her revenge on Madison. (And no, Taz and Tenay, it’s not “redemption” in this case, because that would imply that the initial failing was Taryn’s. It’s “revenge” because Madison screwed her and Taryn is going to kick her ass for it)

KURT AND LASHLEY BACKSTAGE- Kurt is talking on the phone, he says he wants someone to find out if a mysterious something is “legal.” That sounds ominous.
Lashley wants his return match against Roode tonight. Kurt says he can’t have his rematch tonight because Roode isn’t here because he is doing promotional work for the company, which is my favorite kayfabe excuse for not having someone on the show. It makes so much sense, and yet it is so underutilized.
Lashley got in Kurt’s face (silently, which made it even better) and Kurt warned him “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Lashley responded “I do what I want to who I want. Isn’t that what you wanted?” I really like the idea that the babyfaces’ encouragement of Lashley to not let MVP control him has both the intended consequence of breaking MVP and Lashley up, but the unintended consequence of turning Lashley into an even more heelish, selfish, mean person, because that is what Lashley wants.
One other little touch here that I liked (and maybe this happens a lot more often, but I just haven’t noticed it until now) was that they actually had Taryn’s music still playing in the background during this, as it would be on a live show. Good editing by TNA.

MANIK & MAHABALI SHERA HORSE AROUND BACKSTAGE- I’m really loving this. It’s the exact opposite of what happened with Abyss. Rather than Storm saying “BEHOLD! My newest minion: ABYSS!” and then Abyss comes out, apparently on Storm’s side, completely out of nowhere, we were first introduced to Shera as a guy with a lot of potential, but who very much feels like an outsider. He is leaving his homeland and his family behind to come to this place where he has no friends, and has to learn a new language, in a business that has a reputation for being cut-throat. Even if there are tons of great people in the company, so of them, like Joe and Ki and the Wolves, have tough exteriors and can be a bit intimidating. Then he has to deal with the fact that he is a newcomer among many veterans, so people who might be perfectly nice like the Hardys or Gail Kim or Devon might seem inapproachable to him as well. In fact, his only friend coming in seems to be Kurt Angle, and we all know how bad it can look if you are an new guy coming into a company and your only friend is the boss. This is the position that Shera is in. He feels like an outsider, even if he maybe he really isn’t one.
Then Manik comes along and is so nice to him, and is now taking him to meet a man who has helped him, and who has helped another outsider in Sanada. You not only totally understand why Shera might join James Storm, but you feel bad for him for getting duped into it, and you root for him to eventually turn babyface because you know that he really is a nice guy deep down. Despite the fact that he will become a heel, he remains relatable because we know that he is just a nice guy who fell in with the wrong crowd because he was led astray in this scary and intimidating new world. It’s the same sort of tactic that Gabe used so well in Jimmy Loves Lacey, and that whole story was one of the most brilliant stories ever told in wrestling.
Obviously not all of the elements of this story have been stated on screen- especially the stuff about him being intimidated to approach certain people whom he might have easily made friends with- but that is the beauty (and importance) of the video packages they did for him last week. You could paint a picture of a forest at night, with wolves and bobcats and other predators running around, looking scary… or you can paint a picture of a forest at night with spooky eyes of animals looking out at the viewer, and let them decide what animal it is based off of their knowledge of the scary predators that prowl the forest at night.

KENNY KING, KEN ANDERSON, & CHRIS MELENDEZ PROMO- he says that MVP is not here because he is at a photoshoot for a magazine tonight. I could point out the inconsistency here, as Kenny had told Lashley that he didn’t know where MVP was, or I could be nice and assume that Kenny called MVP between now and then and asked him. Because this show has been so good so far, I was tempted to do the latter, but I won’t because it seems entirely possible that this segment and earlier segment were meant to illustrate that Kenny was lying to Lashley, which could be important to the story.
Anyway, Kenny called out Chris Melendez, who came out with Mr. Anderson. I really don’t like that Anderson goes everywhere with Melendez. As we are constantly reminded, the man is a war hero. He shouldn’t need Anderson to hold his hand or protect him the whole time.

Kenny says he loves America, but calls Chris Melendez a fraud. You’d think a war hero would be upset about this, but instead it was Anderson who did the talking. He told us that Melendez was a hero, an inspiration, and a man who fought for our freedoms, etc. etc. and I really can’t stand this because it feels so exploitative. Kenny King calls Melendez “peggy” and says he isn’t good enough to be a wrestler, and I am quickly losing faith that TNA will ever be able to find anything else to do with this guy. Obviously the man has a prosthetic leg and yes he is a war hero and yes those are important aspects of Chris Melendez… but at some point that needs to slip into the background and become the foundation of his character rather than the entirety of it.
Kenny also said that Melendez doesn’t belong in the ring with him… and unfortunately, Anderson’s presence seems to confirm that. If they don’t trust him to cut the promos he needs to be able to cut and to react that way he needs to be able to act in front of a live crowd, then they shouldn’t be using him in front of one, because having Anderson do so much of the talking kills him. His promo was okay at best, and as Kenny pointed out, Anderson is always out there with Melendez, even though Kenny came out on his own tonight.
Kenny wants a one-on-one match with Melendez. Melendez says he will prove that he is better than Kenny. Kenny sucker-punches Anderson and bails, mocking Melendez on the ramp first by hopping on one leg, then by saluting.

GAIL, TARYN, AND KURT ANGLE BACKSTAGE- they both want Havok. Kurt makes a triple threat match for the title next week. The girls came off kind of lame here.

SEVEN-PERSON ELIMINATION HANDICAP TAG TEAM MATCH: The Beautiful People & the Bro-Mans vs. The Menagerie (Knux, Crazzy Steve, & Rebel)- DUD!
They had a bunch of quick eliminations, including Angelina, Zema, and Knux. Instead of being sent to the back, they were allowed to stay at ringside. Then, behind the referee’s back, Angelina sprayed hairspray in Rebel’s eyes, leading to Rebel getting eliminated. Only now did the referee (who DIDN’T SEE THE INTERFERENCE, remember) decide to make people go to the back. And did he make everyone go to the back? Of course not! Just the Menagerie. In fact, while this was happening, Zema Ion interfered in the match.
Over the course of the match, Crazzy Steve sexually harassed both members of the Beautiful People. The announcers, both ostensibly babyfaces, made light of this.
This was an elimination match with six eliminations in seven minutes, just to ensure that no one got over at all. A lot of the stuff looked bad and it was another pointless match in a feud that isn’t going anywhere. Giving these seven minutes to Lashley vs Aries or Shaw vs. Gunner would have been a MUCH better idea than putting on this crappy match.


EY & SPUD BACKSTAGE- okay

STORM’S REVOLUTION BACKSTAGE- OH COME ON! They just killed the whole Mahabali Shera thing by having Storm randomly act like a douche. Maybe the idea is to turn Manik babyface.

TYRUS (w/Ethan Carter III) vs. ERIC YOUNG (w/Rockstar Spud)- 2.75/10
EY is introduced as being from Nashville. Did they not learn their lesson from when WWE tried to un-Canadianize their Canadians and how much fans on both sides of the border didn’t like it?
They did some stuff. Tyrus felt like he went down way too quickly. Spud punching Ethan was good, but with Spud and EY getting annihilated by Lashley afterwards, it was completely overshadowed, which wasn’t good.
Lashley Pillmanizes EY’s arm, then because that wasn’t enough, locks him in a crossface with the chair. Aries comes out with a chair to make the save, and Lashley runs away. Aries challenges him to a match tonight. Lashley accepted the challenge.

SHAW & BRITTANY BACKSTAGE- Brittany claims that Gunner came on to her in order to make Shaw more angry.

SAMOA JOE PROMO- he said he had a big injury and thus wouldn’t be cleared to compete for a long time, and thus, for the honor of the title, the wrestlers, and the fans, he is vacating the X-Division Title. He looked perfectly fine, and he never mentioned what the injury was. Taz also called this out, so maybe it is some sort of stupid angle instead of a gaffe. Joe said that when he was healthy again, he would come back and win the title.

BRAM PROMO- he wants to face Tommy Dreamer in a hardcore match next week. Snore.

NO DISQULIFICATONS MATCH: Gunner vs. Samuel Shaw (w/Brittany)- 6.75/10
Shaw’s best match. This was definitely brutal. The only thing I didn’t like was some of the interactions between Gunner and Brittany that Gunner instigated. He just seemed a bit heelish with the things he was yelling and the tone he was yelling them in.

AUSTIN ARIES vs. BOBBY LASHLEY- 6.5/10
They did a double count-out. Then Lashley beat Aries up after the match. Lashley is the #1 contender to the world title. Aries isn’t doing anything right now. Why not just give Lashley the win and then still do the crossface spot after the match. It builds Roode vs. Lashley the same way, but you also get to give Lashley the Destroyer an actual WIN.

Overall, a very enjoyable show from TNA. There was a lot of stuff in here that I liked, and not much stuff that I didn’t, so thumbs up.

STUPID ANNOUNCER QUOTES:
1. Tenay- After Joe vacated the belt, Tenay said “oh no! What’s Kurt Angle going to do?!” This would have almost been fine if Tenay was “the professor” with decades of experience in the wrestling business, making that the idea that he had no idea what possible idea what options might be available to Kurt utterly ridiculous, but in this case his reaction was even dumber because Joe had just said that he is sure there will be some sort of tournament to crown a new champion.

2. Tenay was trying to put over the action in the Shaw vs Gunner match. Taz decided to interrupt him and yell at him for doing this because it was getting in the way of Taz hearing Brittany yells, which Taz wanted to hear because he found it “funny.” If TNA goes under, I think the thing I will be most glad to never have to deal with again is Taz on commentary.

[cero2k]

KENNY KING & LASHLEY BACKSTAGE- Lashley is really pissed and wants to find MVP.

JAMES STORM’S REVOLUTION & THE WOLVES SEGMENT-
Storm’s Revolution comes out. I was kind of disappointed that Mahabali Shera wasn’t with them. Storm says he wants a decision from Davey Richards right now. Davey says no, so the Revolution assault the Wolves and go after Davey’s leg. Storm goes to the back and gets a briefcase and does more damage to Davey’s leg. The people chanted “FIRE RUSSO!” which was strange not only because Russo doesn’t work for the company anymore, but also because this was a really good segment.
Storm reveals that this is the Feast or Fired Tag Team Title Briefcase and said he wanted his title shot right now. This was a good surprise, and I like the fact that it was a surprise because Storm wasn’t carrying the briefcase around all year. They let us forget about it. Compare this to WWE, where they tease MITB cash-ins so often that you get sick and tired of it and completely cease caring.
Anyway, the ref said okay and started the match… WITHOUT EVEN ASKING HIM WHO IS PARTNER WOULD BE.


TNA WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Wolves(c) vs. James Storm &…?
So Manik is standing on the apron, but then Abyss came out had a staredown with Manik and Sanada, had a staredown with Storm, but then it was all a Russo swerve and Storm introduced him as the newest member of his Revolution. Storm and Abyss won the tag titles. During the entire match, there was both a microphone and a steel chair lying in the ring, and the referee made no attempt to remove these dangerous weapons.
For those keeping track, this is now the FOURTH TIME that Abyss has turned in the past year.
I really really like that Abyss joined the RR, and that the Wolves lost the titles this way. I loved that they used the ForF briefcase, BUT i was hoping Storm would had given the briefcase to Sanada and Manik instead. This revolution thing keeps getting better IMO



SEVEN-PERSON ELIMINATION HANDICAP TAG TEAM MATCH: The Beautiful People & the Bro-Mans vs. The Menagerie (Knux, Crazzy Steve, & Rebel)- DUD!
They had a bunch of quick eliminations, including Angelina, Zema, and Knux. Instead of being sent to the back, they were allowed to stay at ringside. Then, behind the referee’s back, Angelina sprayed hairspray in Rebel’s eyes, leading to Rebel getting eliminated. Only now did the referee (who DIDN’T SEE THE INTERFERENCE, remember) decide to make people go to the back. And did he make everyone go to the back? Of course not! Just the Menagerie. In fact, while this was happening, Zema Ion interfered in the match.
Over the course of the match, Crazzy Steve sexually harassed both members of the Beautiful People. The announcers, both ostensibly babyfaces, made light of this.
This was an elimination match with six eliminations in seven minutes, just to ensure that no one got over at all. A lot of the stuff looked bad and it was another pointless match in a feud that isn’t going anywhere. Giving these seven minutes to Lashley vs Aries or Shaw vs. Gunner would have been a MUCH better idea than putting on this crappy match.
they just did this so that next time Crazzy Steve gets an x division title shot, you can't say that he hasn't won anything



STORM’S REVOLUTION BACKSTAGE- OH COME ON! They just killed the whole Mahabali Shera thing by having Storm randomly act like a douche. Maybe the idea is to turn Manik babyface.
I hope they don't turn Manik, but rather show Shera try to work his way to the team and Storm keeps pushing him out, kinda like when people asked to be part of the SES and go through that shit that Punk made them do.



BRAM PROMO- he wants to face Tommy Dreamer in a hardcore match next week. Snore.
I love Bram, but yeah, can he have something else other than a hardcore match?