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James Caldwell, Torch Assistant Editor (5.5)

Well, I wasn't completely frustrated with this final episode of TV prior to the PPV. I'm writing this Roundtable after watching a PPV with more examples of stretching the "card subject to change" stipulation, so many things on TV in retrospect comes across like TNA was trying to utilize deception. Many things were simply out of their hands, perhaps, but at least Kevin Nash wasn't a huge part of the PPV build-up on TV, Christy Hemme wasn't even on the final episode of TV before the PPV, and Rhino was just Rhino.

The focus on the final show was very strong in the Jarrett vs. Angle direction. B.G. James crying through his pre-match speech to Jarrett was pretty over-the-top, and he looked like a jerk sneak-attacking Angle before the match. He needed all of these factors to explain why Angle didn't just put him away in 30 seconds, so that was fine. I just don't know why you book a non-wrestler at this point in his TNA career in the main event of the infomercial for the PPV.

Set up for Shelley vs. Sabin could have been more, especially when they had a four-star-plus match on the PPV that really could have sold the PPV to more of that hardcore audience. But, we know the drama surrounding ref Shane is greater than anything in the X Division. Shane > X Division and Mick Foley > Frontline. Perhaps TNA could book Shane & Foley vs. Styles & Joe & Devon & Rhino & ODB & Dutt & Sabin & Shelley & Shark Boy on a future TNA PPV.

Jon Mezzera, PWTorch.com Contributor (5.0)

This is a hard show to grade. I was so indifferent to most of what happened during the first half of the show. I just didn't care about The Motor City Machine Guns, Shane Sewell, Sheik Abdual Bashir, the Main Event Mafia's promo, the stuff with The Beautiful People and Sarah Palin, the Awesome Kong squash, Abyss' interview, or LAX's interview. None of those were bad, but none of them were good either. As I said in the intro to my Hits & Misses, "Take it however you want to take it. Is it good that I found nothing to complain about for much of the show? Or, is it bad that I didn't find anything to like for much of the show either? Or is it more telling that I didn't even care about the content to comment on it?"

I liked the Beer Money Rough Cut as I am now assuming that TNA has to be turning the team face. If not, then they are doing a horrible job. I thought that James Storm and Robert Roode played their parts very well, both during Roode vs. Matt Morgan, and during their Tag Team Title match with Consequences Creed & Jay Lethal. They did great at playing the babyface underdog role. I don't understand putting the belts on Creed & Lethal, especially in the way that they did. They looked weak and like heels.

Another problem I had was with how strong BG James, a jobber for the past few years, looked against Kurt Angle. The match was solid, and both showed very good intensity, but seriously, James should not look that good against Angle. He should not be kicking out of an Angle Slam. That move is ruined forever. It will never be believable as a finisher again.

The one thing TNA did a good job with was hyping the PPV on Sunday. They ran down the card multiple times, pushed several of the matches, and gave special attention to Mick Foley's in ring return and the grudge match of Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett. Unfortunately, they paid almost no attention to the World Champion Sting's Title match at the PPV vs. Rhino. They also paid little attention to the Knockouts Champion Kong vs. Christy Hemme. That is a big reason for the 5.0 middle of the road score. Even when they did something right, they didn't do it right enough.

Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (6.0)

It was a rough week for Eric Young, one of the faces of the Frontline; first a loss to Alex Shelley on Impact, then being the first eliminated in the six-man elimination tag opener on the PPV. The match was a high-energy opener as TNA likes, but the finish wasn't that well-time, as Young had to put his head through the ropes and wait for Chris Sabin to kick him.

I thought Bashir was going to one-up Sewell this week, but no dice. We just saw Sewell kick Bashir's ass (and have seen it in the past), so why pay to see the match at the PPV? The weekly Main Event Mafia interview segment was a good way to get everyone to plug their matches and add some intrigue to them. The promos were hit-or-miss. I really can't believe this Sarah Palin thing is still going on. Even in storyline terms, wouldn't she have more important things to do than hang out with The Beautiful People?

Madison Rayne, aside from sounding like the name of a porn star, didn't look like to much of a challenge for Awesome Kong, and wasn't. Abyss' interviews are usually pretty cringe-worthy, and this was another one that fell under that category. It doesn't help that his character is all over the place. I'm glad they found a way to get LAX onto the show despite the fact they didn't have anything scheduled at the time for the PPV. There was insinuation during Sabin and Shelley's interview that one would lay down for the other; how would they decide who would win? It doesn't make sense that one of them wouldn't want the title.

I liked the Beer Money/Morgan-Abyss/Creed-Lethal deal except for the nit-pick of Rudy Charles running up the ramp to deal with Abyss and Storm instead of, you know, the two guys IN THE RING in the middle of a match. I also thought it took Lethal & Creed a bit too long to win the titles as it was pretty much a 2-on-1 match against a guy not prepared to fight (not to mention needing a briefcase assist to win). James vs. Angle was a good brawl and I thought a fine set-up to the Jarrett vs. Angle match at Genesis.

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