The Steel Cage

I've been sitting on this for a while - just haven't found the time to give it the proper intro. Nor do I have the time now.

For my money, A.J. Styles has always been the best thing in TNA, so it was a thrill to interview him backstage at the iMPACT! Zone over WrestleMania weekend. There are a ton of great wrestlers that WWE has missed the boat on, but I don't think any are the complete package that Styles is. He's exciting, dynamic, can work a main event style, has a good look, and most recently has shown that he has a ton of personality. That said, I'm glad WWE hasn't come calling for Styles. I expect he'd be relegated to ECW filler.

The back story to this interview was that I spent my afternoon shopping for some formal slacks for my wife to wear to WWE Hall of Fame ceremony - and ran so late that I missed the entire iMPACT! taping. Nonetheless, I was able to get backstage after the show and interview some guys. Unfortunately, I ran so late doing the interviews that I didn't have enough time to get back to my hotel room to change into my suit, so I ended up attending the blacktie HOF with the Ivan Drago T I'm sporting in this interview, and I believe my wife wore a Little Mermaid shirt. Shameful.

And for the record, Drago is the greatest movie character ever ever ever.

I don't mean to make this a video game blog - especially since I primarily use my PS2 to watch ROH DVD's - but some of the guys from Midway were kind enough to take me backstage at a recent taping of TNA iMPACT! and tell me about TNA's new videogame, which comes out this September. They also supplied me with this awesome 'making of' video.

Having been lucky enough to get an early preview of the game, I can honestly say it's the best looking wrestling game I've ever seen, loaded with plenty of new and innovative features, and very easy game play. I haven't picked up a game control in some time, but I'll definitely be picking up this game when it comes out.

Just a few days ago, I caught up with Midway Executive Producer Scot Lane and talked to him about the highly-anticipated iMPACT! game, which will be available for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and PS2:

Alfonso Castillo: How will this game be different than other wrestling games in the past?

Scot Lane: This is a difficult one because we were heavily influence by a few games from the past (No Mercy, Fire Pro, and a few others) That said, we feel our combat and animation speed/quality will be faster and more responsive that other games. I can’t stress enough how much time and energy we put into making our combat look and feel smooth and responsive.

AC: What are some new and unique features?

SL: One big feature is the Ultimate-X. This is a match unique to TNA where there is a large “X” hanging from two ropes crossing well above the ring. The idea is to get up there and untie the X. First one to do that wins, but it is not so easy when your opponent(s) is trying to stop you. We also have lots of moves that to my knowledge have never been in a wrestling game and we are looking so forward to getting them in the hands of the fans.

AC: What was it like working with the stars of TNA?

SL: The entire group is amazing and professional. Every time we get together for a photo shoot, motion shoot, game review, or press event something fun takes place. Some of the guys are here so often, they feel like part of the team. We’ve all learned so much about wrestling and their input will be seen in the game. They’ve really helped us learn a lot of the subtleties both in and out of the ring.

AC: How closely will the game simulate the experience of watching - or even taking part in - an intense and dramatic wrestling match?

SL: Our goal is to recreate a TNA match so I hope it looks and feels as intense and dramatic as it does when you watch. I know the wrestlers sure enjoy playing the game and they really get into it. We have created a replica of the Impact Zone in Orlando, we have amazing looking characters and we have the ringside announcers Mike Tennay and Don West so we feel we’ve done everything we can to put you in the ring during a TNA match!

AC: How far has the wrestling video game genre come from Midway's days of "WrestleMania: The Arcade Game"?

SL: It is funny you ask because we have two guys here (Sal DiVita and Mark Turmell) who created WrestleMania for Midway. Sal brought the arcade machine here that we play from time to time. I think it is safe to say we’ve come a long long long way but we have a lot more power driving our engine. We are 60FPS and we take the Wrestling aspect a lot more serious, WrestleMania had a lot of fantasy aspects to it. TNA treats wrestling with the legitimacy it deserves.

If you haven't heard the news, Samoa Joe defeated Kurt Angle Sunday night at TNA's Lockdown pay per view to win the TNA world title. I didn't catch the whole show, but I've since seen some snippets of it on Youtube. I thought I'd share a few observations. Feel free to share your own.

. I'm thrilled for Samoa Joe winning his first "world title" and think it's a wise move for TNA, although I would have wished that the title change would have received more hype, and taken place on a bigger show that TNA's annual clustermess, "Lockdown" - which, by featuring all cage matches, severely lessens the significance of the stipulation. Nonetheless, TNA should be commended for putting their top title on a "TNA original" (even though that's pretty disputable, as well) rather than another WWE/WCW castoff.

(Photo credit: TNAWrestling.com)

I caught up with the former "Big Daddy Cool" in the parking lot of Universal Studios at the conclusion of TNA's Saturday afternoon event on the weekend of WrestleMania. In this interview, Nash talks candidly about his thoughts on wrestlers from different companies fraternizing, his WrestleMania memories, the competitive environment in today's wrestling scene, and the distinction of being one of the fallen opponents in The Undertaker's 16-0 Mania winning streak.