Well, it's actually been over for a while. TNA Impact continues to slide downward, but actually made a slim gain this week, registering a 0.9 rating, but it's still not enough to overtake Monday Night Raw. The real challenge lies next week, when both shows are pre-recorded. Raw will be on same-day tape from London, with actor-singer David Hasselhoff (ex-Knight Rider, Baywatch) as host. You can expect comedy skits built around those two iconic shows, since they already did a parody of America's Got Talent when Ozzy & Sharon Osbourne hosted late last year. Impact tapes tonight in Orlando, but it's more prevalent than ever that a total housecleaning is in order for TNA.
As a creative team member, Hulk Hogan is a failure. His biggest fault, of course, is cronyism, which would explain Bubba the Love Sponge still being gainfully employed by TNA, and now associated with The Band (nee the NWO). Bubba is the reason the single most dominant female grappler in the business today, Awesome Kong, left the company. She punched him out off-camera one night because he dared to belittle her efforts to help the victims of the Haitian earthquake, but because Bubba is one of Hogan's buds, he stays, and she goes. It isn't fair or right, but co-owner Dixie Carter has to take the blame for this, since she foolishly signed Hogan and Eric Bischoff to try to save the company. It's kind of like the tag line of the comic book character, Bat Lash, back in the 60's. Would Bischoff & Hogan save TNA? Or would they ruin it? The latter's pretty obvious. Benevolence has given way to ego, and it would be a major surprise now if TNA actually lasts the calendar year.
Hogan is reported to have said that if he can't turn TNA around, he'd walk away. I'd say he needs to find those walking shoes, and take Vince Russo, TNA's beleagured head scribbler, with him.
Over in the WWE, NXT "rookie" David Otunga (he's engaged to Jennifer Hudson, you know) hosted, and proceeded to play John Cena like a fiddle, as if that hasn't happened enough times already. They dusted off the Million Dollar belt for Ted DiBiase, Jr., as if that'll help him get over, which I doubt. Jack Swagger, the new WWE World champ, got a send-off courtesy of a loss to Randy Orton (go figure the logic in that one), while the divas were all dressed in evening gowns for a battle royal. The gowns didn't get ripped for once, though the ladies had the good sense to remove their shoes before the match started. All in all, another average night. Not great, but acceptable.
I declare this war is over.
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