James Caldwell, Torch Assistant Editor (5.5)

The show started off great, as in the best stretch of TV that I can remember on Impact in quite a while. The opening promo from the Main Event Mafia wasn't too bad, the Hernandez vs. Sting match led to a really strong moment for the Frontline, and Brothers Ray and Devon delivered very strong promos. It just sucks that Hernandez cashed in his briefcase and earned a DQ win without any follow-up a la Stephanie McMahon with C.M. Punk in the IC Title chase of William Regal. With all of the talking done on this show, you would think they could have carved out two seconds for a follow-up for LAX's sake.

The worst part of the show wasn't anything on the show, but the fact that there was zero follow-up on Alex Shelley's X Division Title victory from the PPV other than a five-second clip on the PPV recap package. Unacceptable and shows TNA has zero intent of re-building the X Division, even after Shelley and Sabin stole the show at the PPV. Just like the Beautiful People got too hot as an act, TNA had to cool them down. Mediocrity will always be rewarded in TNA because you'll stay on TV just doing the minimum, but if you go above-and-beyond, then you're asking for the cool-down hose to be taken off TV or stuck in a horrific storyline, such as the Beautiful People were subjected to.

Abyss vs. Morgan? Eh. ... All of TNA's talking segments should be Rough Cut style. SoJo's backstage promo was an example of horrible writing by creative, but the Rough Cut interview was an example of great TV with her just cutting loose and letting her hair down to tell us a compelling story.

Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (6.0)

Aside from the Beautiful People segment, this was an OK show. James brings up a good point about the lack of mention of the X Division title that was won by Alex Shelley on Sunday. They could've cut some time in the MEM-Dudleys segment to fit it in.

Hernandez cashing in his briefcase was kind-of random. What prompted him to do it, and why not a few days prior, right after Sting went nine minutes with Rhino? Kurt Angle's promo was fine, but the MEM have been so obviously dominant, I don't think we need a segment devoted to them telling (and showing) us how dominant they've been. It's well established. There wasn't much to the Sting vs. Hernandez match, but the ending made sense for the MEM; the briefcase does only stipulate one title shot. Somehow, it looked like Brother Ray has gained more weight in his absence.

The whole payoff for the Beautiful People-Sarah Palin stuff was atrocious. I know it's supposed to be funny that since they're "dumb blonds," they didn't know Palin lost the election (more than two months ago), but instead, it just came across as pathetic. There was just so match bad TV in the Palin skits. The best thing about the angle? It's over. Not a bad promo from Sojourner Bolt after that though, and the Rough Cut helped fill in the blanks about who she is and it had more of a heelish tone that worked for her character.

The six-Knockout tag match had its moments, but there were too many weak workers in there and a long match like that is bound to get exposed; it did at times. The #1 contender's tag match was OK, but Matt Morgan, while he can be impressive, just is not smooth in there. I'm surprised it was so late in the show before we saw Mick Foley. At this point, Styles is the right type of guy to get a good match out of Scott Steiner. The ref bump, unfortunately, was predictable.

Curtis Shanks, PWTorch.com Contributor (8.0)

The beginning and the ending of this weeks Impact were stellar. The type of segments that get me excited for the TNA product and the main event storylines they have going right now. The only thing bringing down this Impact was the filler in the middle. Aside from giving us a bit of eye-candy, the Knockout segments in the middle were barely watchable. I'm all for pushing the Knockouts and giving them a prominent part in the shows. But the segments have to be meaningful, not the garbage TNA presented this time around.

Onto the good. The MEM vs. Frontline stuff is really starting to intrigue me. I'm tired of the formulatic storyline writing where the same thing always happens. Heels always win in situation A, or faces always win in situation B. This storyline is a roller coaster, with the momentum switching between the sides. The Frontline assembled and started winning matches. Then they began to take out the Front Line members one-by-one. Now the young guys are winning matches and getting stars back. The return of Brother Ray and Petey Williams gave new life to the story and made the viewer believe that they now have the momentum and a chance to win the overall war.

I'm not upset with how Hernandez's title shot was played out. The way the match was booked with the cheap finish, I can see him getting another shot at the title down the road. With build and perhaps a PPV slot, this match could be the beginning of a huge push for Hernandez. Feast or Fired is a good concept. But if that was it for his world title chances then the rewards of the FOF match have been devalued and TNA dropped the ball big time.

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