You know the hype, so I will just jump into the action.
Impact began with an 8 person Asylum cage match. A lot of people seem to dislike the Asylum cage, and I can understand why, but I don’t mind it. Aside from looking like an Elimination Chamber ripoff, it reminds me of the old blue WWF cage. What they have to remember, though, six sides of anything is going to need extra reinforcement compared to four sides, so this means more obstructed views from the fan’s perspective in the crowd.
The match ended with Homicide taking out the other secen participants, which prompted a ‘no contest’ decision from the referee. Much to no one’s surprise, the decision earned a ‘bullshit’ chant from the crowd, which was bleeped out every time. This got pretty annoying. Overall the point of the finish was to end it without burying any of the X-Division stars by not actually putting anyone over (although no one gets buried if it’s an escape finish).
Homicide failed at escaping the cage (as anyone probably would) and dropped back into the ring. The remaining participants ‘came to their senses’ and attacked Homicide, basically having to improvise. Jeff Hardy jumps the barricade and Homicide attacks him. The attack included an unprotected chair shot, which is really not necessary in this day and age of wrestling. Too many reports of brain tissue analysis are coming out that describe horrific effects of constant head trauma from this profession, so hopefully TNA/Homicide/Hardy don’t make a habit of it.
A lot of people complained and nitpicked on various forums and reports I’ve read, about that debut and everything about it, but I really thought it was pretty good considering a lot had to be improvised. Even Mike Tenay had to make an effort to cover up Homicide’s inability to escape the cage: “Oh, now he’s just showing off.” When I watched it live, I thought Tenay caught something that I missed, so I bought it. Effective emergency control on an announcer’s part. Still, if such a mishap can occur so early in your most important broadcast, maybe they should have gone with a regular WRESTLING match, or Ultimate X. Continue reading →
