Unbeknownst to me ...

Well - beknownst to me, but forgotten by me (as you've seen in the last couple of busy weeks, my head has been elsewhere, and I apologize for that), TNA made its Monday night debut this week, against a fairly good Raw. Not a huge Criss Angel fan but he did OK. Really enjoyed the stip they threw into the Shawn Michaels-Undertaker match making it no-DQ, no-countout. I didn't figure in a match of this magnitude they'd do a weaselly ending anyhow, but at least now that's a sure thing. MITB is shaping up to be great, and while I'm not terribly impressed with how they're building up the McMahon-Hart feud (Shore over on prowrestling.net brought up the point this is probably a good thing in the long run lest WWE be accused of putting over non-wrestlers), but Cena-Batista are doing well and I enjoyed the Legacy's work this week as well - although it makes me wonder just where they're going for WM, since they effectively just had the three of them fight.

The wrestling on the show was weak, as not one match (until the Gauntlet) lasted over 3 minutes, and the Gauntlet again semi-gave away Cena-Batista getting on each other; but they're doing a good job with those two of giving us just enough without giving away the match. Overall a strong build to Mania which should only continue with Steve Austin hosting next Monday.

On the TNA side, well ... didn't see it, although the impression I get from reviews is they tried to do the same as they did back in January, with too much all at once. On a night Jeff Hardy and RVD returned, they also had Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair return to the ring, as well as Sting's return and heel turn. An AWFUL lot of stuff that they could have played out over the ensuing weeks and still had some strong TV. It will be interesting to see how TNA does on Monday nights going forward ... while I doubt they are anywhere near even approaching Raw's juggernaut ratings, it'll be interesting to see if they can hold their own and if this is an 'all or nothing' proposition - can they survive being the #2 wrestling show on Monday nights?

All this and more tomorrow night on our podcast - be sure and check it out right here ... In This Very Ring. (check in around 11pm or so Eastern).