Tonight is the final episode of Superstars on WGN America. How will WWE mark this occasion? They probably won't. As of this writing, the future of the show in the U.S. is unknown. There hasn't been any indication that it will be picked up by a different channel or become an online show. It will almost certainly continue internationally. If it loses a home in the States, I will no longer cover it in-depth here (since I won't have a way to watch it as it airs). However, I will give the results for the show in my news posts along with other dark matches.
Also tonight, TNA comes back into the picture with Impact. How will Christopher Daniels' return change things in the company? Read on for my thoughts on this 3-hour wrestling block.
Matches like this are why I'll miss this show. The fact that they're not promoting a new home for it (even if it's WWE.com) isn't a good sign for its future.
Drew McIntyre in particular should get a fresh look in the "new season" of WWE after the draft. Not that I dislike JTG. WWE's got a solid midcard, but without this show, we're not going to see as much of it.
And here are two other guys I'd like to see more of. No ECW brand and now (theoretically) no Superstars means these two aren't going to get much TV time (at least not in the US). If they're taping it for international markets, why not show it online as well?
Nice match. These two have a good deal of potential in the US or Tag Team Title picture already, and if they keep improving, hopefully they move up the card. But with so many younger talents and only so many spots available for now, it's going to be a while before that happens. Not that hasn't always been kind of the case in wrestling.
And that's that. I liked the main event. It represented what this show's all about (other than recap packages). No gimmicks, no promos, just some good midcard wrestling matches.
The show ends without a mention of a new network or online home for the show. If there's any update on that front, I'll cover it in a future news post. I hope the show ends up online by WWE in some form, even if it's a different night and time.
But for now, we go to Impact. The commercial before the show (to promote it) had images of Hulk Hogan, Sting, and Kurt Angle. So they're your priorities. Though any viewer who caught that who's unfamiliar with the product would know those names and could tune in out of curiosity.
Daniels and AJ Styles are legitimately very close. I think AJ named 2 of his sons "Christopher" and "Daniel" out of respect to him.
It does make sense that Daniels wouldn't have a contract in kayfabe. I think it was established that anyone already with TNA when Immortal took over can't be released from a valid contract. But when they come due (in kayfabe), they have to renegotiate with Immortal.
Anyway, Bully Ray's what a heel should be. No redeeming qualities, no moral gray area, just a straight-up prick. Daniels' promo was ok, but nothing that got me excited to see the main event.
Anyone who's read a column I've written during Impact knows my thoughts on Anderson's character and the "documentary" camera style. They haven't changed.
I wonder if Okato is the mole for the network. I think I'd book that just to stop the stupid camera work. He and his friends get fired and we go back to normal cameras...
Ha, Dreamer's video still says EV2.0. I'm glad that run's over.
I like the Mexican flag gimmick.
I thought it was pretty well known that "What's up?" in Spanish is "¿Qué pasa?"
Dreamer should be used in situations like this (read: not going over newer talent) in this stage of his career. Fair enough match.
I wish TNA would have questioned what mental state Angelina would be in for the Knockouts tag match. It's the little things sometimes.
Murphy lost heel cred for not jumping Joe as soon as he turned his back. And cred in general for losing that quickly.
If they want to move Dinero up the heel ladder, he should admit that he DID do all the horrible things he's accused of doing, and he's proud of it/he'll do it again, etc.. I full-on admit I got that idea from Dutch Mantell's Guest Booker DVD. It's genius. Have the good guys be good and the bad guys be bad.
Pretty fruity stuff from Sting. And no, I don't mean that in the homophobic sense. Just the "yeah, that's kind of... weird" sense. And Anderson's an awful actor here.
Velvet's facial expressions when she came out were gold. So were Angelina's for that matter. THIS is how you show people's emotions.
Fine match as far as getting the story further along.
Nice "getting stuff past the radar" moment from Orlando Jordan. That kind of humor's normally not my cup of tea, but they got me that time.
Anderson must not mind that cameraman being in his view as he looks for Sting. And RVD must not have bumped into him or anything. I'd be upset at him for not telling me someone was about to attack me, but I don't exist in TNA's "the shaky cameras are real but the cameramen sometimes aren't" world. Good segment other than that.
I wonder if Sting knows that RVD had his old trenchcoat.
Nice move starting the hour with two of the most identifiable stars in case someone's flipping channels.
Talk about your flashbacks. RVD and Sting were in WCW together all the way back in 1992-93. No, that's not a typo.
RVD vs. Sting should be pushed as a pretty big deal. That's a PPV-level main event.
That beatdown must not have been that bad if Anderson's still walking around looking for payback.
Alex Shelley's still hurt (or was at the time of the taping) so that's why he wasn't in this match.
I wonder who's playing Suicide now that Daniels is back as himself.
There's an indy promotion somewhere where these six guys would be headlining. Kind of a scary thought.
Gunner, Murphy, and Rob Terry just look like 3 goofs in Immortal not important enough to hang with Flair. Immortal B-team if you will.
Hogan trusting Anderson seems kind of out-of-character.
Cool segment with Madison, Tara, and Mickie, shaky-cam guy notwithstanding. He needs to take something to steady his hands if he wants to make it in the cameraman business.
I hope no TNA fans get motion-sickness easily. Someone in TNA's clearly a fan of the movie Cloverfield.
I was half-expecting Taz to go "speaking of getting lit up, RVD's in action later".
Not a bad match. Too much Hogan on the show though. Why not Gunner?
Another (pre-taped) comment about Angle being in prison. Life imitates art I suppose?
Pretty good heeling by Jarrett. I was kind of hoping Karen was going to come out to Angle's music and pyro (from the lift as well), though.
Thankfully they didn't give away anything between Jarrett and Angle in the cage. That's kind of one of the main reasons we're supposed to be paying money in 10 nights.
My pick for stipulation between Angle and Jarrett is that the winner gets Karen Angle for the night/week/month/whatever. Though it might be about time to wrap this one up.
Bleh. The main event just continued a feud I'm not crazy about, so not much to say there.
I was thinking that Anderson was going to play Immortal to his advantage for a while, but nope. DTA: Don't Trust Anyone.
Awful acting by Hogan to end the show, and if he was so mad, why didn't he shove the cameraman that TNA always feels the need to point out?
That's a wrap for this week. Tomorrow I'll have my thoughts for Smackdown up. Until then, a news post is coming later.
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