[Deleted]

I stopped watching TNA (hence wrestling, altogether... sans Hogan's CCW) quite a few months back to focus on school/job hunting/moving. I am pretty sure I stopped watching about 2 weeks before Foley showed up (saw ads during The Ultimate Fighter). I have last Thursday's recorded, so I will watch it this week.

So who wants to help a nigga out? What's been going on in TNA? Any major additions/subtractions to the roster? What major feuds have I missed? Any major character re-gimmicking? Is Velvet Sky still around?

[Batman]

Nash beat Joe clean.

Wrestling? Never heard of it.

[Deleted]

Please tell me that strikethrough didn't actually happen. Angle I could handle. Booker I could handle. Hell, I could even handle Sting or AJ, but not Nash!!!

[DevSop]

Sting beat Joe for the belt with Nash's help which led to the formation of the Main Event Mafia. The mem consists of Sting, Angle, Nash, Booker, and Scott Steiner. They've used Al Snow and now Kip James to help at times. There's a chance Nash has pinned Joe during the feud, but it def. wasn't clean even if it did happen. The mem has been opposed first by the TNA Originals (AJ, Joe, Lethal, Creed, ODB, and MCMG). Now the originals have been mutated into the Frongtline (Rhino, 3D, Jarrett, Foley, AJ, and Joe.) The lower guys are still involved on the fringes, but the storyline sucks and I don't see hope for it.

Velvet Sky is still around with Angelina and at the moment, they're obsessed with Sarah Palin. Palin, by all accounts, is being played by Daffney but Velvet and Angelina have been portrayed as complete idiots during this and it kinda sucks. But they're hot.

Amazing Kong has formed the Kongtourage which consists of Raisha, Rhaka Khan, and Sojourner Bolt. She's regained the belt from Taylor Wilde and has been dominating the division once again. Hemme was supposed to be her last challenger, but she's got neck issues so the division is really stagnant. They lost all of the momentum they had with Roxxi after she shaved her head, Taylor is capable but has been pushed down, and ODB sucks but is the new #1 contender. They really need Raisha to disrobe and become Melissa.

The X-Division Title was held up when referee Shane Sewell attacked champion Sheik Bashir (Daivari). Eric Young had thought he won the title, but Cornette decided to have a tournament to crown a new champion. The tournament played out to a Chris Sabin vs. Alex Shelley final. The match was a 30 on the 35 levels of awesome scale. Shelley is the current champ, and there may or may not be animosity between the Guns. I say not.

At Feast or Fired, Homicide won the X-Division title shot. Hernandez won the World Title shot. And Lethal won the Tag Title shot. And Curry Man was fired. It was sad. But there is hope this means Daniels may be back soon. Lethal cashed in his title shot with Consequences Creed to win the tag belts from Beer Money. Beer Money had been feuding with Abyss and Matt Morgan. Lethal and Creed lost the belts back to Beer Money last night when Abyss accidentally hit Morgan with the belt. This whole tag division is pointless. Except for James Storm and his beer helmet, beer boozer, and anything involving James Storm and his beer.

Homicide has not cashed in his shot, nor has Hernandez.

I think that's everything. If I didn't mention it, you probably don't need/want to know.

[Deleted]

That should pretty much do it. I did catch glimpses over the past few months (the ref going apeshit on Daivari was great).

And dammit, I loved Curry Man. I knew it would have a limited run, but I was really hoping to catch some more of him before they axed the gimmick. The return of Daniels would be quite welcome, though. As long as he's not obsessing over Sting, again.

Al Snow?!? Where the fuck did he come from?!? And they still won't go after Sean O'Haire?!?!?



And oh yeah, what brought Foley into the mix and Jarrett back again?

[Andy]

O'Haire is 37, dude. It may be time to give up on that dream.

[Deleted]

Hey, if Kip James is still employed and AL FUCKING SNOW is randomly popping up, I'll keep dreamin' for a bit more.

[Beer Baron]

Jan 12, 2009 14:00:27 GMT -5 @gatorbait said:

And they still won't go after Sean O'Haire?!?!?

Sean O'Haire is busy getting beaten up over Mexican ladyboys.

[DevSop]

On the first Impact in HD which was broadcast live from Vegas, Jarrett brought Foley in as a majority owner or something. It was stupid then. It's still stupid as evidenced by the main event last night when the ref counted all 6 guys out. Then Cornette tried to restart the match and Booker said he had more power than Cornette even though Cornette is supposed to be commissioner and Booker is just a wrestler. And then Foley AGREED with Booker that the commissioner couldn't restart the match, but this is a month after the commissioner was allowed to strip the X-Division champion of the belt. Anyways, Foley said that even though Booker was right about Cornette, that he (Foley) could restart the match because he owns stock or something, even though he was competing in the match.

This is TNA!!!


MTA: Jarrett was brought back because Angle was complaining about something or other and they had a "work/shoot" angle with the politics between the two as to whether or not Angle wanted to go back to Vince and if TNA wanted him to stay. It was dumb, and then Angle started making fun of Jarrett losing his wife to cancer and that he'd kill Jarrett and rape his kids or rape Jarrett and kill his kids. It was weird. But totally in character for Kurt.

[Deleted]

Hooray for logical continuity!!!

[eliasvict]

I HAVE been watching for the last few months and still need someone to tell me why Booker speaks like an African.

[DevSop]

For some reason people hate Booker's accents, but I love them. The guy can go from African safari tribal leader to Boyz n the Hood to normal speak and back in endless rotation. I think it's kinda fun to hear how he butchers an accent each week. There was one week, I believe the first time after Kofi Kingston gave his first, semi-lengthy promo and you could tell Booker decided he'd use a Jamaican accent with hints of Australian or something thrown in.

ALL HAIL BOOKER!!!

[Lucky]

I can give or take it but what I can't figure is why when Booker had a completely bullshit accent in WWE it was the most awesome thing in wrestling... and now its something insane that makes no sense and needs to be explained but "its TNA" so of course it sucks and makes no sense.

I mean, I agree it walks the line between stupid and amusing but its the EXACT same gimmick he did in WWE, just with a different accent. He's not British either.

[salmonjunkie]

I need to see Booker do an african accent. Can some one direct me to one of his better promos?

Is he doing some kind of pseudo-royalty gimmick again?

[Tommy]

Jan 12, 2009 19:09:19 GMT -5 salmonjunkie said:

I need to see Booker do an african accent. Can some one direct me to one of his better promos?

Is he doing some kind of pseudo-royalty gimmick again?

Pretty much. It was British for one week, and then it was African/Jamaican after that.

Here's one from back when Christian was alive.

[BC]

He's spoofing his WWE character. Is that too obvious?

He's like the naked foreign exchange student in Not Another Teen Movie who had a different accent every scene. Except he's not naked.

Thank the gods.

[Deleted]

Jan 12, 2009 19:29:35 GMT -5 Tommy said:

Here's one from back when Christian was alive.

I'm hoping this is something I should NOT take literally.

[eliasvict]

I guess since I don't watch the E, I didn't get it. It's really hard to explain to the fiancee though.

[Byrntrigan]

No, Cage is still "alive". Just not in TNA. Prevailing thought is that he is quite close to signing with the E again. Last cash grab I suppose before he gets too old and beat up. I believe I've read they'll be reforming Edge & Christian.

[Lucky]

Jan 13, 2009 12:51:52 GMT -5 eliasvict said:

I guess since I don't watch the E, I didn't get it. It's really hard to explain to the fiancee though.

Its not terribly complicated but you not watching WWE certainly explains why it confuses you.

Booker won the King of the Ring. He walked around in his crown and robe and was a general ass. He started calling SD his kingdom. He "knighted" Regal and Finlay. He basically slowly went insane and eventually took on a British accent. But he'd slip in and out of the accent depending on his mood. For awhile WWE fans hailed it as the best thing in wrestling and it propelled Booker to the World Title.

So when he came to TNA lots of people speculated on if he'd bring it over and wanted him to since they were loving it so much. People imagined up the name "RoyalT" figuring he couldn't get away with "King Booker" without WWE's legal team going on the clock. Obviously he came in as good ole' Booker but once he turned heel he did the slow fall into insanity again. It was much the same way as the WWE evolution went, except without the "King" title. Booker started being a dick about "peasants." He got a lush locker room. He did himself up in the royal look. And then he adopted a completely ridiculous accent that he'd slip in and out of.

What I love is that the internet HATED that and continues to question why he has a funny accent when they were all saying they would miss his funny accent when he left WWE to come to TNA. But its the same parts of the internet who insist Kurt Angle hasn't had a good match since ECW and TNA is the worst show in history (not wrestling, TV). So I don't know what I expect.

[Tommy]

I love the accent. I think it's hilarious.

[Angle]

I doubt the Main Event Mafia is gonna be around much longer. Nash is out due to a real-life staph infection in his elbow that could keep him out indefinitely and from what I've heard, Sting's knees are pretty fucked up. Now, I just read that Steiner's days in the ring are pretty much numbered.

Credit: PWTorch.com

Scott Steiner is said to be in pretty rough shape, but then again he has been that way since the final year of WCW. There was a point in time where he would warm up for a full hour before going out for a match, and another time when after a 10 minute match he couldn't pick up a napkin he dropped in a hotel, but when he finally did manage to get down on one knee to pick it up he grabbed his back and had to lie down on a couch to relieve the pain. Steiner?s days in the ring may be numbed, as he had made it clear to friends he has no interest in appearing on camera if he looks feeble or injured. He was once working through back pain so bad that he couldn?t do any flat-back bumps and had to fall to his side or to his knees, and explain later to the wrestlers that he wasn?t trying to no-sell their moves but he simply couldn?t do the back bumps.

Steiner is said to be pretty hard on himself, and most of the locker room feels bad for him at times despite his reputation as an absolute lunatic who has threatened people?s lives over booking decisions. In WCW, Jeff Jarrett was always known as the guy who could keep Scott under control and calm him down.

Says one fellow wrestler regarding Scott?s health: "He can't bend over and tie his shoe because of his lower back pain. His stretching routine before matches is barbaric just so he has the mobility to get through a match because he's wound so tight. His back is so bad watching him go through a 12 step process to sit in a car seat is excruciating. It's so not a secret that his back causes him tremendous pain and is an overwhelming concern in his life every day"

Friends continue to encourage Steiner to back off on his muscle-mass, but Steiner continues to be stubborn and prioritize being as big as possible over all else. He never misses a work out and fans said they saw him at a gym in Hawaii while he was there on his honeymoon. Steiner is still financially set from his WCW days and real estate ventures with his brother, but there is tremendous pressure for him to retire due to his physical condition. With so many TNA wrestlers on the shelf, the loss of Steiner would be a major blow to the company.

[Byrntrigan]

Lord, I hope TNA at least gives the story an ending and not just forget it existed like they have with other angles.

[Jack Quinn]

I wonder if they could shift this to something different then? The Main Event Mafia is all about having former world champions in their ranks. Maybe if Steiner has to go, you could bring in Joe to replace him, and to replace Nash.....hmmm, well I am not real sure on that one. Seems like Morgan could be a great fit, but unless you want to hot shot a title on him just so you can say he was a former champion (or if you put the title on him and recruit him AS the champ, but then does Angle take a backseat to him?) and when Sting finally retires, he passes the torch to......AJ Styles.

This could lead to more of the young guys in TNA getting a chance to shine (or should)

[Lucky]

Turning Team 3D would easily not only replace Nash and Steiner in terms of numbers but also upgrade them in terms of ability. Meanwhile there are a number of guys who could be treated as youngsters picked by the Mafia to be the future if they help them hold onto the present. Morgan, MCMG, Beer Money. Rhino also would fit although they'd be stuck with one of those annoying character flips where he decides he wants to be in the group after the beat the shit out of him because he realized their strength or they knocked some sense into him or something.