The second coming of the Monday Night War is officially underway, and
TNA came out with guns blazing, while
WWE gave us....the usual Monday Night RAW.
TNA went all out with billboards, commercials, and promoting the returns of what may be the two most legendary figures in wrestling, those being of course Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair. While most say that internally
WWE isn't worried about
TNA at all, they were quick to put The Undertaker and Shawn
Michaels out to start off their show, to counteract
TNA's strategy of opening their show with their main event of Hogan and Abyss vs. Ric Flair and
AJ Styles.
WWE's kickoff was what seemed to be just another Undertaker vs. Shawn
Michaels face to face promo, same as we've seen in both last years and this years
WrestleMania buildup. The tag match on
TNA featured a very slow Hogan as expected, but the match didn't go too long before surprise number one of the night which was Sting returning, only to turn heel on Hogan and Abyss. Hogan was bloodied, but vowed to finish the match later. On RAW we got more of the same stuff we've seen recently. Legacy in a boring feud (it's just so bland to see 3 guys who dress alike, same bodies, etc.) The Money in the Bank Match pretty much has the same guys as usual, mixed in with guys that have no chance of winning, so whatever.
TNA had some great surprises, possibly the biggest of which was the debut of Rob Van Dam, as he shocked a rabid crowd by beating Sting in about 10 seconds. Much controversy has come of the aftermath, as Sting beat down
RVD and really got over as a heel for doing so, but many feel
RVD's debut ended on a sour note in the segment - the big key, it has people talking. I really can't pick anything out on RAW that I can say was done to counteract
TNA. Vince vs.
Cena turned out to be just another boring swerve with a gauntlet match and
Cena squashing guys and making them all look worthless, all leading to the obvious Batista run in. The whole show is 1 big commercial for whatever pay per view is next, while
TNA is unpredictable with stars like
RVD and Jeff Hardy (who returned to end the show last night.)
TNA was one big bloodbath by the end of the night, emphasizing that they're not afraid of a bloody war, and you won't see matches stopped and put on hold
ala the TV-PG
WWE.
WWE always ends with a stare down or a beat down, while
TNA ended with Hardy hitting the ring, blowing the roof off the Impact Zone, and left us with a shot of Hardy about to hit the
swanton bomb. Overall I once again say that
TNA did what was necessary to put on the better show, and make people want to follow their stories, which they have plenty of now.
WWE is 3 weeks out from Mania, and has resorted to simply having guys walk out and basically say "How about a match at Mania?" which is how the
Sheamus vs. Triple H match was set up. Hopefully
TNA can keep this up, and I think
RVD and Hardy are 2 names that have the power to draw fans away from RAW, and become regular Impact viewers.
Blogger's note: The following entry is a new thing we are wanting to try here at PWRoundup. The Frozen One is a young fan (14) but has been watching wrestling since he was at least one year old. Here, he ices up his take on dream matches among the various wrestling promotions. Check out his cool predictions every Thursday. -Leah
