Official TNA iMPACT! IGN Countdown Thread

[The RKO]

lol i don't think i'd use Shark Boy tho.

[Kage]

Anyone know if Sharkboy will be regular Sharkboy or Sharkboy 3:16 in this game? The way he's described makes me think he's just going to be regular Sharky.

[Flair Country]

Anyone know if Sharkboy will be regular Sharkboy or Sharkboy 3:16 in this game? The way he's described makes me think he's just going to be regular Sharky.

As of right now, he's only been shown as regular ole' Sharky. Everyone supposedly has at least 2 attires in this game so I guess it could be possible that he'd have his 24:7 gimmick too.

[Black Widow]

shark boy is gonna be my jobber

[Kage]

LAX looks cool and I'm glad they put Chris Daniels in the game.

[The Phenomenal Blaze]

Tomko is gonna be my World Champion if I can do that lol...and MCMG Will be tag Champs and My guy I guess X-Division champion

But know for a fact I am gonna get this game because it looks cool..and I love TNA.

[Flair Country]

I really like Jay Lethal's character model but there are two things that I'm really hoping for with him:

1 - More attires like the Red and Black one specifically.
2 - Tons of story mode banter talking about Jake the Snake Roberts and what not.

[Flair Country]

8/18 - Sting

What is there to say about Sting? He's the man. For more than 20 years, Sting's been tearing dudes apart on TV screens across the world much to the delight of professional wrestling fans. His career started with a man that would go on to become the Ultimate Warrior, he was the face of WCW, he's battled the biggest names, and he's been the TNA champ twice. His career is the stuff of legend -- a tale that's summed up with a black bat and some face paint.

Although TNA iMPACT! -- at least in my office build -- doesn't have character-specific taunts, the game does a pretty good job of capturing the flair that makes Sting stand out. He enters with his black trench coat and bat, his face paint looks intimidating as ever, and after nailing an opponent with the Scorpion Death Drop, Sting raises his hands to his mouth for the traditional battle cry.

Aside from those standout moments, Sting's got a smattering of moves we've seen before such as a belly-to-belly suplex, neckbreaker, and a stiff looking punch. Still, playing as the Sting character feels good, looks good, and is fun.

Wooooooooo!

8/19 - Sonjay Dutt

The Sonjay Cutter is sick. If you haven't been able to keep up with the TNA roster, Sonjay Dutt has been stomping a path through the X Division that's not only fun to watch but also exciting as hell. A former student of Sabu, Sonjay was a key part of Kevin Nash's Paparazzi Championship Series, and the event led to his Buddhist gimmick and feud with Jay Lethal.

After just one match as this guy, Sonjay has risen to the top of the fun wrestler list in TNA iMPACT! He's fast, his moves are acrobatic, and he really feels like an X Division brawler should. From the run, he's got a head scissors takedown, there's a hurricanrana from the grapple, he packs a leaping neckbreaker and more.

To top it all off, the Sonjay Cutter is one of the best looking moves I've seen on TNA-Listers so far. Saying Dutt is someone you need to play as is pretty much a no-brainer.

8/21 - Team 3D

Goddamn, I love Team 3D. I remember the first time I saw Brother Ray and Brother Devon kicking the crap out of people in Philadelphia while wearing tie-dye; I fell in love with them at first sight. If you caught a match with these two, you were treated to brutality, fan interaction, a cast of screwed-up characters, and a general sense of not knowing what the hell they were going to do. I watched the team capture ECW, WWE, and TNA gold, and I've never gotten tired of their gimmick.

Anyone willing to powerbomb elderly women is OK in my book.

Team 3D translates really well into TNA iMPACT!. As I stated on TNA-Listers before, making characters in this game feel like they should comes down to picking and choosing the right moves to fit the style you'd expect the characters to have. Brother Ray's got a body slam that looks like the stiff scoop he does in real life; when his opponent's down, there's a Ray elbow to the head that looks good; Devon's got a nice neckbreaker and the belly-to-belly suplex is a nice choice for him.

On top of all that, the guys look great with Brother Ray in jeans and Devon taped up like he should be. Nice.

8/22 - Kevin Nash

Big Daddy Cool is back. Over the years, Kevin Nash has been in plenty of videogames, but it's been a while now since we saw him running around a virtual ring. The star is returning to TV screens across the globe this September in TNA iMPACT! -- but this probably won't be the first time most have seen this storied showman. In a career spanning nearly 20 years, Nash has worn championship gold in numerous federations, bounced back from career-threatening injuries, and put on some of the most memorable matches and feuds fans have ever seen.

Make no mistake about it, though; the Nash in iMPACT is the Nash you see on Spike TV and not a younger version of the man. He's clad in jeans and a polo, his moves are the standard selection of a suplex, body slam, and backbreaker, but there is some color tossed in. To begin with, Nash has a gorilla-press toss that accentuates his height, a powerbowb from the grapple to set up his finisher, and a big boot that looks devastating -- especially when the opponent is resting helpless in the corner. In the end, there's the jackknife powerbomb we all know and love.

Welcome back to videogames, Kev.

8/25 - Jeff Jarrett

Without Jeff Jarrett, there'd be no TNA. Don't get me wrong, lots of people started and continue to keep the federation going, but as co-founder of the organization, Jarrett brought notoriety and talent when he helped start the federation. Before he was helping to establish TNA, Jarrett was all over the place in a career that has spanned more than 20 years. He took on the independents and won gold, debuted in the WWE as a country singer with a passion for clocking people with guitars, won the WCW championship a handful of times, and then co-founded TNA and led the roster as its champion on a few occasions.

In the videogame, Jarrett's legacy doesn't seem to have been done justice. Sure, like most of the TNA roster, he looks great, but his moves are pretty average and seemingly obsessed with testicle shots. In the build of the game I'm playing, there's an atomic drop, low blow from the grapple, and the crotch stomp when the opponent's on the ground. Jarrett's also got a jawbreaker, suplex, knee to the elbow, and back body drop.

Thankfully, the Stroke is here and looks awesome. Jarrett spins around, grabs the opponent's head, jaws a bit, slams him down, rolls into the pin, and then does his patented strut after the win. Nice.

8/26 - Kurt Angle

What's not to love about Kurt Angle? After kicking ass in the NCAA, Angle won the gold in the 1996 Olympics and eventually ended up in the WWE where he went on an initial unbeaten tear before becoming one of the company's main eventers and racking up just about every title the place had to offer. In 2006, Angle headed to TNA. Here, Angle's held the world heavyweight championship, the tag team title, and the X Division Championship. He's even found work for his wife.

In my mind, Angle plays exactly like he should in TNA iMPACT!. His most basic grapple -- just a tap of the grapple button -- is a belly-to-belly suplex, he's got a snap suplex, there's an eye rake in there, and his head and leg submission holds (no ankle lock) look natural. Angle feels like a solid technician who works specific body parts. He's animated well, the Olympic Slam looks great, and the celebration right after the finisher is spot on.

8/28 - Samoa Joe

Samoa Joe is the TNA World Heavyweight Champion; this means he's pretty f'n good. A former TNA tag champ and TNA X Division champion, Joe's already ensured that he's going to have a legacy in TNA for a long time to come. Since 1999, Joe's been dropping opponent after opponent in the ring, and he's currently held the TNA title since April 13, 2008. That's nothing to sneeze at.

In video game form, Samoa Joe works well. Aside from looking awesome thanks to iMPACT!'s graphics, Joe's move set makes sense. The champ packs a body slam, backbreaker, and a stiff-looking powerbomb. All these moves are steadily weakening the opponent's spine so by the time you get to dropping the Muscle Buster -- which also looks good -- you've pretty much got the match in hand.

9/2 - AJ Styles

Don't deny it: when I say X Division, you think of AJ Styles. The Phenomenal AJ Styles has pretty much been the face of the death-defying X Division since his TNA debut in 2002. His career began in the late '90s and took him to promotions such as NWA and ROH before he landed in Orlando and racked up the TNA world heavyweight, tag, and X Division Championships. AJ's fast-paced matches and high flying moves have established him as one of the biggest names in TNA today.

AJ feels good in TNA iMPACT!. If you've been reading TNA-Listers since its debut, you're going to be familiar with his moves -- a running hurricanrana, a head scissors into a side Russian, a leaping neckbreaker, a leap off the ropes into DDT, etc. It's sad that iMPACT! doesn't have the move library to give AJ his many signature moves, but the combination he has now feels fluid and makes AJ feel right. He's fast, deadly, and the Styles Clash looks painful.

9/5 - Beer Money Inc.

It was a match with LAX that brought Beer Money together, but since the King of Wall Street Robert Roode and the Tennessee Cowboy James Storm got together on that episode of iMPACT! oh-so long ago, they've been breaking backs in the tag team division and quickly becoming fan favorites.

As the final TNA-Listers in our series, it's easy to be underwhelmed by Beer Money. Roode's got the standard suplex, a belly-to-belly, and a Death Valley Driver; Storm's got a body slam and inverted atomic drop; and the duo -- like every other tag team in the game -- doesn't enter together. Basically, we've seen all of their standard moves before and it kind of makes them blend in with the crowd.

Thankfully, the Eight Second Ride looks sick.

[Kage]

Sting looks awesome.

[Flair Country]

Nash looks suprisingly good in this game, for an old guy.

3D is spot on all the way. Great job again by Midway on those character models.