The Asylum Years – IMPACT Grading (PPV’s #1-#8)

Want a more in depth look at NWA-TNA from the first eight weeks?  We’re reviewing every Weekly Pay Per View on our WrestleCorp Review show.

Full Show Reviews:

Weeks #1 and #2

Weeks #3 and #4

Weeks #5 and #6

Weeks #7 and #8

 

NWA-TNA Weekly’s #1-#8

A’s

Firstly it should be noted that AJ Styles has yet to miss on a segment.  Since debuting in the show’s first ever match, which was a six man tag, Styles has routinely delivered either one of, if not the best moment on the card.  He’s through Weekly #7 a double champion, and has defended both his championships twice a piece.

Ron Killings went from K-Krush and feuding with Hermie Sadler, to The Truth and challenging perceived racial biases against him.  While if done right, or wrong depending on who you ask, the gimmick could come close to sympathetic, Truth so far has made sure to keep things vague and accusatory; instead of factual.  Truth’s promos have been the best so far in the company, and even though the gimmick is, at best, scandalous, he’s making it work.

Jerry Lynn is still co-champ with Styles, and is through #7 involved in the companies best storyline and feud, pitted against co-champ Styles.  The two are off and on again, but are still able to retain the gold, while Lynn occasional assaults Styes.  Much like two of the other three’s in the “A” category, Lynn is also key for putting on amazing matches.

That’s also why Low Ki is where he is as well.  Ki has been involved in three of the best matches so far, and that’s no coincidence.  Ki has proven to be Style’s best opponent so far, and has shown to be extremely valuable with a bloated roster of mediocre workers at best.

 

B’s

Despite being the face of the company, Ken Shamrock has been lacking so far as champion.  While he’s in the B’s, Shamrock has yet to have an amazing match.  He’s had a few good ones, and even faced off with Sabu, but so far he’s mostly just a name.  His promos have been what you want, but with the lack of other great promos, you want and need more from your World Champ.  Perhaps going with Jerry Lynn as your inaugural champion would of been best.

While Monty Brown won’t be around for too long in this stint with the company, he’s so far been a bright spot every week he’s on.  His promos are pedestrian, but that is like saying a dude who’s 5’8 is tall among a pack of children.  Sure, he’s not really tall, but comparatively he is.  His matches are often short and physical, which adds a unique twist among the rest of the weekly matches.

Finally for the ‘B’s’, Chris Harris and James Storm have really cemented the tag team division outside of Jerry Lynn and AJ Styles.  While they still haven’t gotten their name, theme song or signature double team moves just yet, they’re the most consistent team in the division, and have made several good matches with some not so great talents and gimmicks.

 

C’s

Jeff Jarrett is the co-founder of the company alongside Jerry Jarrett, and he’s had a dismal run so far, wrestling in mediocre matches with Scott Hall, uninteresting tag team matches and boring promos.  His highlight so far is watching Jarrett use a chair on a midget.  More on that later.

Being here due to name value alone is the best way to describe Scott Hall.  Hall hasn’t wrestled good matches or cut any great promos.  The worst part though, is the commentators even acknowledged that Hall is past his prime.  Not too great to hear, considering he, Jarrett and Shamrock were supposed to be the Trinity.

While he was a mid carder in WCW asThe Wall, Malice has been given a lot of work to do in the early days of NWA-TNA.  He’s faced off with Ken Shamrock, Sabu and beat down four men at once but that’s about it.  James Mitchell is a fun addition to the show, but all the members of his New Church, Malice included, are very replaceable.

The Hot Shots are wrestling good matches and are somehow the de-facto third best team in the tag team division.  They had a good match with the pre-AMW/AMW on Weekly #5, and are poised for bigger things.  Even if not together.

Mostly it’s because of Sonny Siaki but the Flying Elvis’ have been genuinely interesting in the early days.  This could easily be due to how bad the rest of the roster is in regards to consistency from this point out, but the Flying Elvis’ put on good matches and Siaki does ooze charisma.

Elix Skipper has become a utility guy for the company.  He’s wrestling mostly X-Division matches, and even had a great match with AJ Styles for the X-Division championship.  His mini-feud with Monty Brown was designed in to get Brown over, and help sell for him in the ring.  Skipper’s real value would be later on with Triple X but for now he’s in a good role.

His debut, and weak ladder match with Ken Shamrock has hurt Sabu‘s stock and he’s only a handful of weeks in the company at this point.  Watching him slug through two ladder matches with Malice and Shamrock isn’t too encouraging but Sabu was mostly brought in to be a spot guy who does big moves.  And he’s done that to a degree.

He’s fairly new but Amazing Red offers up some quick paced action and could of been their Rey Mysterio but knee injuries are a bitch

D’s

He got a big debut, but Apollo has yet to translate his success from Puerto Rico into TNA so far.  Francine has name value but not talent.  Slash and Tempest are band and replaceable but do work well.  Norman Smiley is nothing but a jobber.  And Christopher Daniels has yet to be used effectively.

F’s

Jerry’s Kid isn’t even worth the time, Brian Lawler  is consistently the most uninteresting talker and worst worker on the brand.  His refusal to dump his previous gimmick really hurt his run.  Puppet is everything wrong with Vince Russo-era booking, a masturbating, midget with a gun?  Fuck off.  The Rainbow Express isn’t a bad team, but their gimmick make them unwatchable.  Same could be said for The Dupps, but minus the chemistry and talent.  Jasmin St. Claire got over with the crowd cus she’s a pornstar, but like Francine has no real talent for this industry.

Incomplete

The Johnsons were around for a few weeks but were quickly beaten off television.  Buff Bagwell dropped his ‘Buff’ moniker and disappeared with it.  Taylor Vaughn won a battle royal to win the Miss TNA label but hasn’t done anything  relevant since.  David Young‘s TNA history is that of a loser.  The Blue Meanie just debuted but won’t make an impact. Disco Inferno, Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger need to hang out with Brian Lawler in the unemployment offices.    Ricky Steamboat isn’t around as often as he needs to be.  We miss Mortimer Plumtree.

Announcers

He’s one of the all time greats and that was obvious during Mike Tenay’s early days with the promotion.  Don West’s energy is infectious but he’s mostly just prop comedy, getting slapped around by less imposing figures.   Ed Ferrara is actually engaging at times, but his sleazy character ruins a lot of his authentic moments.

Goldilocks is one of the best things going in the company at this point, and her anti-Dupps top in #7 made me giggle.

 

 

Top  Matches

NWA TNA X Championship (w/ Ricky Steamboat as special guest referee)
Round Robin Double Elimination
AJ Styles vs. Jerry Lynn vs  Low-Ki vs  Psicosis
Winner: AJ Styles
Rating; 4.5

Amazing Red and The S.A.T. vs. The Flying Elvis’
Winners: The Flying Elivs
Rating: 3.75

X-Division Ranking Match
Low Ki vs. Christopher Daniels vs.  Elix Skipper vs. Jerry Lynn vs. Kid Romeo vs. Tony Mamaluke
Winner: Low Ki
Rating: 3.75

X-Division Championship Match
Low Ki vs. AJ Styles (c)
Winner: Styles
Rating: 3.75

NWA World Tag Team Championship
The Flying Elvis’ vs. AJ Styles and Jerry Lynn (c)
Winner: Styles and Lynn
Rating: 3.0

X-Division Championship
Elix Skipper v.s AJ Styles (c)
Winner: Styles
Rating: 3.0

NWA World Tag Team Championship
AJ Styles and Jerry Lynn vs. The Rainbow Express
Winners: Styles and Lynn
Rating: 3.0

 

 

Top 5 Must Watch Talents:

Low Ki – While not the worker he’d become, he also didn’t have the attitude issue he has now.  Watching Low Ki bump and sell for everyone is impressive, and his athletic ability and work rate compared to guys like Bran Lawler is flabbergasting.  Low Ki makes it seem like everyone else is standing still.

Ron Killings – Ron Killings will have some good matches eventually, just not right now.  Killings is currently the best mic worker in the product, and is genuinely captivating with the risque subject matter he’s given.  While the NASCAR stuff was….YEEEESH at best, he’s since come into his own working with guys like Ricky Steamboat and others.

Sonny Siaki – The Flying Elvis’ aren’t that entertaining as a gimmick.  Jimmy Yang and Jorge Estrada are great hands though, so the three of them do have great in ring chemistry.  Yet, Siaki stands out among his peers due to his natural cockiness  Yet, Siaki himself is a truly amazing human being, having given up his career to donate a kidney to his brother, so to watch him be this unbearable douche shows just how good of a promo guy he is.

Jerry Lynn – He’s the second most versatile wrestler that TNA has at the moment.  While on one hand he’s engaged in their best feud through eight weeks, he should’ve been at the top of the card to start  A former ECW Champion, he and Jeff Jarrett could of really picked things up from the jump.  Jarrett and Lynn are both great hands, and given a non-bullshit finish, they could of had a match of the year contender, along with a feud of the year

AJ Styles – The legacy of the greatest wrestler of his generation started in earnest here.  He’s yet to have a bad match in eight weeks, he’s carrying the promotion in regards to caliber of wrestling, and his feud with Jerry Lynn is top shelf.  He, Low Ki and America’s Most Wanted carried a lot of the weight early on.

Next On:

The Asylum Years – IMPACT Grading (PPV’s #9-#17)