TNA- Main Event Mafia Runs Things

 TNA- Main Event Mafia Runs Things

The show starts out with a bang as we see a great vignette sponsored by the Main Event Mafia. The MEM says that the Frontline is the bad thing in wrestling and they are gonna look to end it. We then cut to Kurt Angle who has taken over Jeff Jarretts office while he and Mick Foley arent in the arena and are overseas. The MEM seems to be placed all over in different positions as Kurt checks in with them. He then makes the call to start the show and we see the opening video and cut to the announce table! Booker T aka Black Snow and Kevin Nash aka Chet Lenow. Their pyro specialist, aptly named Blow Your Load, hit’s the pyros and we are under way!

Sharmell has taken over the backstage interviewer position as MEM has obviously hi-jacked the whole show. She cuts an interview with ODB where the two insult each other back and forth and Sharmell has a bodyguard to protect her from ODB. ODB cuts a tasteless promo and we cut to Steiner who is the announcer for the evening, AWESOME! Steiner proceeds to botch all kinds of names and swears a lot… Quit entertaining to be honest with you. Steiner introduces the first contestants as Kongfucious and the Kontourage make their way to the ring to take on ODB in a “Whore on One” match up.

The matchup itself wasn’t all that impressive but it did have a lot of action and saw ODB dominating the first part and taking down all of the members except Kong. Awesome Kong comes in and then proceeds to take it to ODB, and when she ODB gets the upper hand they try to team up on her to no avail. The commentary on this match was hilarious and proves why I still think Kevin Nash is a valuable person to have in a company. Awesome Kong dominates ODB at the end and they pick up the win in the obviously overmatched contest.

Kurt Angle then is seen in the office again arguing with Jim Cornette as he is trying to tell Kurt how much bills and peoples palms they are going to have to grease. Jeremy Borash tries to talk some sense into Kurt then he tells JB off and says he is running a fair ship. Mick Foley is said to be on “his way to the arena with backup” and Kurt begs Foley to come with whatever backup he has. JB then comes on to Kurt Angle, hilarious by the way, then he is told to go sell Main Event Mafia merchandise in the arena as the segment ends.

Sharmell is shown in the back when we return from the break. Its Booker T v Two refs from TNA… They are no names and not Shane Sewell and Earl Hebner. Rudy Charles is one of them… Which was an awesome mark out moment to see him in a wrestling match.  Scott Steiner introduces the next match as a “Meat Grinder” and he is amazing on the mic. Kevin Nash and Booker T talk up Booker on commentary as they come to the ring and of course “Black Snow” talked to Booker before the match. Classic little exchange between those two… Nash begs him to beat the two refs to death and they laugh as Booker gets introduced and gets in the ring. Scott Steiner joins the commentary team and I totally mark out and get prepared to laugh the whole match. Booker T proceeds to DESTROY Rudy Charles, who has an amateur background in wrestling, and then makes his limp body tag the other ref. Steiner and Nash’s commentary is amazing as they talk about all Bookers “offensive moves” cause he is just slapping them or kicking them and it is doing brutal results. Booker destroys them while Nash plugs the TNA Mobile by saying he’ll send you a nude pic if you sign up. Shane Sewell comes in at the end and he proceeds to take it to Booker T until Booker reverses and nails the Axe Kick which ends that.

Another Main Event Mafia vignette is up next and it once again is a well done piece. Telling us how better they are than us and explaining how much they have accomplished. They take whatever they want, because they can. Pan to Kurt in the office talking to Kevin and they discuss a “hot chick” in section 3 who they think can show her boobs. Sting confronts Kurt Angle in the office showing displeasure about Kurt Angle booking him in a handicap match with The Dudleys. Sting tells Kurt what do you want at Against All Odds, A Sting friend? Or a Sting foe and then he proceeds to point his bat against Kurts chest… WELL done promo right there hinting at the face turn of Sting.


Sharmell is interviewing Matt Morgan when we return from the commercial break. She calls Petey Williams an elf, and then lets us know that Morgan will be fighting Petey Williams in a “hand tied behind back match”. Matt Morgan cuts a decent heel promo completing his heel turn by insulting Abyss and Petey Williams. The match is up next and Steiner does an amazing job introducing as usual and I once again laugh hysterically at him. Booker is back on commentary as Black Snow and they talk up Matt Morgan a little bit calling him a “Big Guy” about 25 times. Scott Steiner proceeds to call Canada a “Suck-Hole Country” and tells Obama to stop building a wall keeping the Mexicans out, when we should be building one keeping the Canadians out. ROFL

The match gets underway and its basically Petey dodging and ducking around Matt Morgan and nailing kicks and various strikes for a few minutes. Matt Morgan on his knees is as tell as Petey Williams basically… What a sight to see that was. Matt Morgan has the match won after an impressive elbow combo into a running splash into a side walk slam, but he pulls Peteys shoulders up to continue the beating. Matt Morgan has the match won again and he pulls Petey up as Scott Steiner is giving him instructions as in what to do. While he was doing that the ref untied Petey Williams arm and Petey then begins his comeback with a flurry of punches and running forearms til he lays Morgan out with a Missile Dropkick. Petey then attacks Scott Steiner on the outside which leads for him coming back and getting the Carbon Imprint right in the face and Matt Morgan wins an entertaining-ish match. Morgan hit’s the Hellevator after the match is done and Steiner locks in the Steiner Recliner. Jay Lethal and Eric Young come out to try and make the save and Booker runs into the ring and grabs a mic and does commentary on his own moves. AMAZING segment right there from Booker as it cuts to commercial with them dominating Lethal, Young, and Petey.

The Dudleys are out next carrying their newly won IWGP tag titles and cut a promo on Sting and the Main Event Mafia. The gist of the promo was that the Dudleys don’t wanna beat up Sting, but One of the greatest tag teams ever has to beat him down because of who he is associated with. They say that at the PPV one of them will be the new Heavyweight Champion guranteed. Steiner proceeds to call the Dudleys fat in their introductions then introduces Sting down to the ring and the match gets underway. A mention of The Bladerunners tag team made me smile in commentary, That would be the tag team of Sting and Ultimate Warrior from the early 80s. The crowd is split pretty evenly between the Dudleys and Sting as we go to a commercial break with Sting on top. Good back and forth match when we return from the break with good sequences. The match ends with Kurt Angle and Scott Steiner attacking The Dudleys and then they are joined by Booker T who grabs a table. Mick Foleys music hits and LAX, Abyss, and Mick Foley come out and clear the ring as they go to a commercial break.

Mick Foley then cuts a promo saying that the Main Event Mafia is over and that he will make sure of it. He goes on to explain the Hernandez situation where he was attacked and he says Hernandez gets another shot at the World Championship at a later date. Scott Steiner is then booked in a weapons match with Abyss and this seems to please Abyss. Then another match is made for the night where we will see Kurt Angle v LAX. Kevin Nash said hes leaving in disgust and protest then we cut to Jim Cornette saying that everyone is back to their normal positions and the fun for the night ends L.

Coming back from the commercial and we get a rundown of the lineup for Against All Odds which is this Sunday night. Jim Cornette adds the match Booker T v Shane Sewell to the AAO show. Next up is the Scott Steiner v Abyss match, Scott is not allowed to use any weapons apparently. The match was a little slow at first getting going but then we had a few good spots, one with Abyss going through a wall in the Impact Zone. Steiner is dominating after the commercial break. The match is broken up by Suicide, Played by Christopher Daniels this week, and Abyss wins the match. Pretty lame match but not a horrible one either… Nice appearance by Suicide though.

TNA then runs a vignette of their very successful European Tour which seen most of their big stars on it. Then they plugged a stupid show called The Toughest Cowboy about bull riding guys.. -_- moving on… Kurt Angle v LAX is up next in the main event of the night. “You Suck” chants for Kurt as he is coming to the ring and in the ring. A solid match which can always be expected when watching a Kurt Angle match. A steady back and forth ending to the match seeing Kurt Angle do heel like moves by distracting Hebner when Homicide made a tag, and etc. Homicide tries a quick rollup when Angle sends Hernandez to the outside and then he nails a Gringo Cutter after a quick exchange. Angle reverses the Cop Killa into an angle slam and picks up the win in a solid main event for Impact. Samoa Joe has a vignette at the end where it shows him with a face tattoo and he claims to show Main Event Mafia “The Real Samoa Joe”

Overall the first hour and a little bit was an extremely entertaining program when Main Event Mafia had control. The commentary was classic and so was the ring announcing from Steiner. Overall it was a good show how MEM controlled the first part then got what was coming to them in the end by Mick Foley. Show was a decent one and a good solid program leading into the PPV Against All Odds. This show gets a 4/5 from me… MAINLY because of the Main Event Mafia’s involvement in the first part of the show. Stay tuned for more TNA news next week!

Comments

1. Comment #1

   Johnny blaze is a newb LOLOLOLOL FIRST.

   Posted by Jack Jones on Saturday, January 31, 2009

2. Comment #2

   Thanks Jacky
   
   ;)

   Posted by Johnny Blaze on Saturday, January 31, 2009

3. Comment #3

   Well-written article. Good job of concisely discussing the show.
   
   As far as the show, can we swap Don West for Kevin Nash permanently as the color guy?

   Posted by Elmer The Hick on Saturday, January 31, 2009

4. Comment #4

   i`m with elmer on the nash part

   Posted by starscream on Saturday, January 31, 2009

5. Comment #5

   I liked it. Better than the other guy who did it :) Well done

   Posted by Jason Callahan on Saturday, January 31, 2009

6. Comment #6

   Thanks guys...
   
   Kevin Nash replacing Don West is a great idea

   Posted by Johnny Blaze on Saturday, January 31, 2009

7. Comment #7

   But honestly... nice article. Format it more next time maester blaez.

   Posted by Jack Jones on Saturday, January 31, 2009

8. Comment #8

   Agree with Jack, New format, Your new so I wont say much, but I only got thru the first paragraph and you lost me, Structure the article a little more, breaking up the matches and ads, more spacing, yada, yada blah blah(you get the point). Like I said your new so I will give you a break. I would like to read this TNA article hoping it's better than the last writer. Atleast your up to date and not two weeks behind like the other guy was. Hope to read your next aricle in a new format.

   Posted by Brg on Saturday, January 31, 2009

9. Comment #9

   NWO RULES! Oh wait...

   Posted by Asgard on Saturday, January 31, 2009

10. Comment #10

    yay since Nash is sick he should take over Don West's job, do us a favor and fire him

    Posted by Collective Soul on Saturday, January 31, 2009

11. Comment #11

    Russo, come up with a newer ideas! Stop using old WWF/WCW ones. I really like TNA but right now it sucks. I couldn't even watch this past show. Steiner is an idiot who can't wrestle, talk or read. I couldn't get into the 'new' commentators because it was too much like when nWo took over Nitro. Not original at all. I also hate how the Frontline is put together (use up and comers) so I'm not too happy with TNA these days.

    Posted by Bayou on Saturday, January 31, 2009

12. Comment #12

    good article but, I will say that I watched TNA over WWE lately and while I agree that Nash can be funny on air when he wants to be, when I saw that the Mafia was "taking over" Impact, I turned off the show.
    
    If TNAs goal is to be something different then the WWE they FAILED BIG TIME this past week. Hopefully no new viewers were tuning into Impact for the first time this week.

    Posted by Night on Saturday, January 31, 2009

13. Comment #13

    Thanks for the comments.. And i have left some of my OPINIONS out of this article... But i am deeply dissapointed in TNA as of late and think they are doing a horrible job... But this past week did make me laugh greatly

    Posted by Johnny Blaze on Saturday, January 31, 2009

14. Comment #14

    i like with kevin nash as on the color bt booker t was annoying when he was talking

    Posted by brandon on Saturday, January 31, 2009

15. Comment #15

    Kevin Nash was indeed funny as a commentator. But I also just loved Booker's commentary, he is a one man team! This has been the first time in weeks that I have liked a TNA show.
    
    Also Johnny you are doing a fantastic job considering this is your first report. I will look forward to the next one, but as it have been said before try another font and such.

    Posted by Fontaine on Sunday, February 01, 2009

16. Comment #16

    I was TRYING to shy away from the usual show rundown... but i guess i cant escape it.. lol... Ill go match by match and change up my style next week... I realize it is a long read like this

    Posted by Johnny Blaze on Sunday, February 01, 2009

17. Comment #17

    My favorite show so far this year, and not only do I get that but oh thank you god a new tna reporter, and a damn good one at that, to give it credit!
    
    Hopefully this'll shut up some of the heat tna's gotten, not only with the hilarious Booker T mocking every commentator he's worked with over the years but the general old school feel of the show that everyone's been begging for for so long during the first hour. Very, very enjoyable xD
    
    Just seeing all the MEM guys getting to have so much fun with their work makes me have to proclaim that I love TNA, and am going to defend it till the day Vince McMahon orders a driveby on my house.
    

    Posted by Rock Hawk on Sunday, February 01, 2009

18. Comment #18

    beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.........
    

    Posted by bautista on Sunday, February 01, 2009

19. Comment #19

    well written article, but i can't agree on it's content. i personally think, and i have talked to people that agreed on this one, commedy aside, this was one of the worst iMPACTs in recent memory. the gimicky wrestling was horrible, as there was not a single match that was normal. TNA has a lot to learn from ROH...

    Posted by Guy Landau on Sunday, February 01, 2009

20. Comment #20

    TNA learn from ROH, ha, whos got really good TV deal, what show still has money, ROH is in trouble finacally and your saying TNA should learn from them, learn what "how to shut down a company" yes ROH HAD better wrestling but its pretty much over sorry to say, oh its spelled COMEDY not 2 m's

    Posted by CollectiveSoul on Sunday, February 01, 2009

21. Comment #21

    it was a good article, and a nice read. I didn't really like the italization it was kind of hard to read, and maybe you should try a double spacing next time. that makes it look nicer and it makes it easier to read. sorry if i'm nagging you too much, but its just a suggestion..

    Posted by Will Necros on Wednesday, February 04, 2009

22. Comment #22

    Not nagging at all... I love to hear the feedback... Just didnt wanna make it too long....
    
    :)

    Posted by Johnny Blaze on Wednesday, February 04, 2009

23. Comment #23

    Good article.
    
    Nash and Booker should become the commentators and steiner for ring announcer. Combination was awesome.

    Posted by Scarface Montana on Thursday, February 12, 2009

24. Comment #24

    Really? pitiful. and why is it that the Motor City Machine
    Guns use music that sounds like it should be on nickelodeon or something. Like a teen sitcom? Can't they get some intro music that is a little rougher?

    Posted by Common Tator "Whazzup widdat?" on Wednesday, February 18, 2009

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