FINAL THOUGHTS
We get our first taste of TNA’s monthly “One Night Only” pay-per-view experience, and while X-Travaganza didn’t exactly blow the roof off the Impact Zone, or the socks off my feet, it wasn’t all bad either. For those older TNA fans who are in love with the history of the X-Division, we got some familiar faces and new high flying clips for the highlight reals. There were at least two, if not three solid matches worth watching, but I’m not sure the $25 HD experience was worth it. And that’s going to be the real story as we had forward into next month’s Joker’s Wild event – is there enough value to keep coming back for these one-off shows?
One thing I thought TNA did really well tonight was utilize returning names to put over their long-term talent. Christian York was a part of the worst match of the night, but at the very least he win the match, and you know he’ll be used in the future. Kenny King beat three great competitors, and came off looking great. As much as I like Petey and Sonjay, putting over an established TNA team that competes full-time for the company was the right move.
My biggest complaint – aside from the Impact Zone, as per usual – was that nothing seemed to matter. There’s nothing at stake with with “One Night Only” shows. They’re not a part of the Impact continuity – wins and losses mean very little outside of exposure, and no titles or future title shots are on the line. This is what I’m talking about: if you’re going to put together random match cards for the next year, and expect to sell them at $25 a pop, you better make sure each and every match on the card is worth the price of admission.
Sadly, X-Travaganza would only fall short of expectations, and make me question my future investment in these shows.
FINAL GRADE: C+
Top Five Matches:
1. Austin Aries vs. Samoa Joe
2. Ultimate X
3. RVD vs. Jerry Lynn
4. Bad Influence vs. Sonjay & Petey
5. Old School vs. New School
