April In Review

April has been and gone and despite not having the time to add much on here, the goings on of TNA have still been viewed and despite what was quite a lackluster month still drew up some points worth mentioning.

Hogan Knows Best

Hogan with Sting and Dixie
(Image by Impact Wrestling)

The Hulkster took over from Sting as the GM for Impact Wrestling. In doing so he has opened up various different avenues which has seen some knock on effects, such as adding the stipulation to the lethal lockdown match that the losing Bischoff would leave Impact Wrestling and announcing the end of the Crimson / Matt Morgan fued, I hope in which that promise isn't broken. 

The problem of Hogan being GM is that he now seems to appear on Impact much more than what is needed, maybe this may slow down but at the minute he's making about 5 appearances a show which is just too much 'brother' for my liking. 

Not So Lethal Lockdown

The annual pay per view for April is the much look forward to Lockdown. This year the event was the first on the road and had much to look forward to, unfortunately it all fell rather flat! 

Lethal Lockdown kicked off the event for the first time ever and in predictable fashion it came down to the two Bischoff's facing off against one another, I have no issue with this as it was the whole reason the match was being contested, but the manor it was booked was a little weak, the fact that everybody lay around the ring apron where a much better option would have been to allow them to escape the cage and be scattered around the arena. 

My main issue with this PPV was not with the ring action but with the crowd, as good as it is to see TNA out on the road Tennessee really let themselves down as the roof should have been blown off the venue but that didn't happen and you could hear the individual heckles. 

Ric Flair also got some air time on the event to everybody's embarrassment with a segment which looks like it will end in a match against Hogan at Slammiversary, not that this match is what anybody want's but if it has to happen can Flair keep his clothes on from now on and not throw his shoes!   

Angle and Hardy had a decent match that was probably the best of the night and the other worthy mention is that Bobby Roode retained the title after another gimmick ending after being superkicked through the door of the cage.

Open Fight Night 

Impact held is first Open Fight Night which was one of the few new introductions that were announced after Lockdown. Essentially this once a month special show means that anybody can challenge anybody else and no isn't an option, with a title holder having to defend against what seems to look like Hogan's selection. 

On OFN there was also the first Gut Check where an unsigned wrestler got a chance to shine and get a chance at a TNA contract. This month's was Alex Silva who didn't impress me much against Robbie E as my main enjoyment in this segment was seeing Al Snow on TV, which I didn't think would ever occur on purpose again.

Devon defends his TV title on Impact
(image by Impact Wrestling)

I like the idea of OFN and hope it develops well over the next few months as it could become the must watch Impact of the month, even if it does seem as if management have been reading through ROH's 'Code of Honor' with their 'Proving Ground' policy. The roster doesn't actually need boosting that much unless cuts are going to be made so I hope they don't give contracts out every month but it would be interesting to see well known unsigned talent given a chance, even if they only take the 5 minutes to boost their name value. 

Moving on into May we have a TV title that is finally being defended on Impact on a weekly basis, a PPV that is looking more like filler while the main happenings will take place at Slammiversary X. 

RVD has a shot at the title after winning a number one contenders match against Jeff Hardy and Mr Anderson, the losers received a tag title shot and now face each other at Sacrifice, while previous title challenger James Storm hasn't been seen since saying his luck had run out after Lockdown. We are also one step closer to finding out why Kazarian turned his back on A.J. with a photo of some sorts seeming to be something so horrific that friends will turn on one another and A.J. would rather take a beating from Angle and lose a match than risk anybody seeing what it is, obviously we will find out soon.

The final note I have for May is that the ratings have been dreadful and the buy rates for Lockdown not so great, hopefully these will begin to turn but with Lesnar making waves in WWE and Extreme Rules apparently being a top PPV, TNA will have to pull out all the stops over the next month to stop the rot and turn things around.

@Robbie_G_CH