Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton Jackson made his official TNA debut on tonight's (Thurs., June 6, 2013) episode of Impact in Atlanta, Georgia, to announce his arrival on the scene after signing a deal with Viacom just days before. He'll be featured heavily on Spike TV in both TNA and Bellator but the first promotion to get its hands on him was the pro wrestling side and the crew wasted no time putting him on television in a prime slot at the 10 p.m. ET hour.
Above is the video showcasing how he was utilized. He was shaky early, treating the interview with Jeremy Borash like a casual sit-down more in line with what he's done in the past for his mixed martial arts career, but it didn't take long before he got more comfortable and went into promo mode.
At that point, TNA sent out Kurt Angle, recently announced for the company's Hall of Fame, and had him cut a promo on "Rampage" saying if Jackson wants to be the best he'll have to beat the best and that's Angle.
All "Rampage" had to do was a simple staredown, which is a great way for TNA to use him in his debut because he's already exceedingly good at it. The staredown is an integral part of every UFC weigh-in and, if you're the main event, fight. Jackson has been there and done that many times before, actually throwing down with guys who were legitimately trying to take his head off and cause him great bodily harm.
So this was really well done all around, save for his nervousness in the beginning. But that was to be expected.
Cagesiders, what did you think of his big debut?