History of TNA Wrestling: Year 1

I was watching this DVD over the last few days and it left me with a very odd feeling. I was both really happy about the quality matches I was watching and really pissed off that TNA has evolved into such a shit show over the last few years.

When NWA TNA came into existence I had taken a sabbatical from wrestling to drink massive quantities of beer and whiskey and chase skirt in college. I somehow convinced myself out of insecurity that admitting to my large wrestling collection or love of pro wrestling in general was going to probably keep me from scoring. I was probably right looking back, but wrestling sadly sat on the shelf collecting dust for me while a lot of big stuff happened in the business.

The advantage of that is that I can watch DVDs like this and its all new to me. When TNA fans still held on to the greatness of the X division and even some of the main events, I honestly didn't quite believe them. After watching AJ Styles vs. Jerry Lynn vs. Pscosis vs. Low Ki in that 2 fall elimination match I can see that I was a pretty big dummy for not believing them. Unbelievable stuff. The ladder match with most of the same competitors on the DVD is absolutely unreal. Great match.

I'm not shy to say I was the biggest Raven mark on the planet for many, many years. I still love the guy, even though he's semi retired and has gotten into worse and worse shape. More so, I really have never been a big fan of Jeff Jarrett at all. I always thought he was extremely overrated and I always associated him with what myself and many wrestling fans feel to be the biggest evil in professional wrestling, Vince Russo.

That being said, Raven and Jarrett tear the house down in their championship match on the DVD. Was a lot of this due more to Raven being the ring general and some creative booking? Yes, but I'll give Jarrett credit where its due; he worked hard in the match.

I'm excited to delve more into the early X Division matches as time goes on. I know its only going to make me even more upset that they've managed to squander all that potential to turn TNA into such an awful show.

I know we're not incredibly consistent with our show and PPV reviews, but I can assure you from now on that we both refuse to review Impact. Its such an awful show. PPV's will continue to be reviewed but neither one of us can stomach writing a review of Impact.

Over the next few days I'm going to begin a 3 part series on something I hate almost more than Vince Russo. Garbage wrestling. If you're a fan of light tubes, fat guys who barely know how to take a bump, and CZW, I would just take us off the bookmarks of your browser right now. Enjoy!