Wade Keller, Torch Editor (5.0)

Tonight's TNA Impact was the final pitch for Sunday's Against All Odds PPV. The clear focus of the show was building up the intrigue between Kurt Angle and Sting, who are members of the Main Event Mafia, but against each other in the four-way with Brother Ray and Brother Devon on Sunday. I think they did a good job creating real tension between them, with Sting level-headed and Angle crazed and untrustworthy. They also get credit for continuing to stress that the whole reason the MEM is together in the first place is because younger wrestlers disrespected the veterans. Sting, though, is looking like a naive push-over for sticking around the MEM when their actions clearly violate his values. I also didn't buy Angle's approach. I think he'd be the type to lure Sting into thinking he had his back, and find an excuse to not tag in and let Sting get beat down by Team 3D a few days before their big PPV match, rather than irrationally absorb all of the punishment to prove something, leaving Sting fresh on the ring apron.

I'm not sure they closed the sale on any believability that either Ray or Devon could be a World Champion coming out of Sunday. They hinted that maybe they'd end up fighting each other in order to get the title, should it come down to that, but I just don't think anyone believes they're actual contenders to walk out with the title. Maybe that was a lost cause and any effort would have been wasted energy. The undercard hype was okay. Abyss hit an intense final note in his promo, with the memorable punching of thumb tacks on the mat until a dozen were stuck in his fists. ODB vs. Kong didn't get much hype. The title match with Beer Money vs. Lethal Consequences got about the right amount of attention. Petey Williams vs. Scott Steiner was ignored. They added Alex Shelley vs. Eric Young, which doesn't mean much of anything to buys, but fills a slot on the card.

Overall, it feels like an off-brand PPV and I do long for the days when World Champions defended titles in one-on-one matches for one, two, or three months in a row, with solid booking often leading to intriguing rematches before the champion most often, but not always, proved to be the best. It's a simple formula, but it's so much easier to grasp and relate to. But with so much of TNA's star power stock piled in the heel faction, and Samoa Joe not back into the mix yet, they pretty much have to feud MEM members against each other even before they break up, and they found a way to do that with Sting and Angle in this four-way with Team 3D.

Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (5.5)

I liked the Mafia promo to start the show, but I didn't feel the same way about the Team 3D one. I've never been a big fan of Brother Ray on the mic, especially when he gets into hyperbole and shouting. The Motor City Machine Guns vs. Jay & Lethal showed good athleticism, but the finish was just terrible. I hope we don't have a Sojourner Bolt vs. Jim Cornette match in our future, but Corny's interaction with JB was funny.

Either make Shane Sewell a ref or keep him as a wrestler, don't toggle back and forth. They've built him up well as a face thus far so they might as well keep him a wrestler for now. Sewell vs. Bashir was fine and a good way to hype his match with Booker as well as keep his feud with Bashir at the forefront. After a pretty decent promo from the Beautiful People earlier, they held up their end of the bargain relatively well in the match, and it didn't do too much damage to Roxxi & Taylor because of the circumstances. But if she's going to continue to perform, they've gotta find a new name for the Governor Palin character.

Brutus Magnus' debut was OK, but he did a little too much selling for Shark Boy for my tastes. I'm not exactly sure what his finisher was supposed to be though. Looked like an F5 that he didn't get all the way around. If this were WWE, Magnus would have about three or four more weeks of squashes before putting him in a PPV match with an open challenge, but TNA is not known for its patience. It feels like just yesterday that Rhino was in a title match at a PPV, and now he's being used as background fodder for the Matt Morgan-Abyss feud. Not that I'm complaining, but it's a bit odd.

The Sting-Kurt Angle dynamic is certainly interesting. I don't know that anyone really buys either of Team 3D as champion though. Overall, I thought the hype for Against All Odds was quite good.

Curtis Shanks, PWTorch.com Contributor (7.0)

Tonight's show did exactly what it was supposed to leading into Against All Odds. It hyped the four-way TNA title match by creating dissension between Sting and Kurt Angle. The chances of either member of Team 3D coming away with the title are minute, which is why it was important to hype the question of "Sting or Angle?" TNA now has a post-PPV storyline in place for either of the two winning. The great thing about this story is that no matter who wins, there will still be plenty of harsh feelings within the Mafia to follow up on during the next round of Impacts.

The undercard did fall a little bit flat tonight, but that's nothing new with the MEM dominating the hype and TV time over the last few months. Alex Shelley vs. Eric Young could be a good match-up, but has zero back-story and means we are still waiting for TNA to restore prestige to its X Division. Steiner & Petey received zero hype tonight, as did the Knockouts title match between Kong & ODB. The only other level of intrigue goes to the Matt Morgan vs. Abyss contest. While not an amazing feud, both have done well with what they've been given in the storyline. Abyss punching the thumbtacks to close is promo was one of the most sickening things I've seen on a wrestling TV show in a long time.

Daniel Wilkenfeld, PWTorch.com Contributor (6.5)

The opening segment was rock solid. I like that Sting sold Angle's promise to keep the title within the MEM as a threat, rather than as an idiot who thought it was an offer of help. I really liked Lethal vs. The Guns, but then with those three people it would take real effort to make it less than fun.

Bashir vs. Sewell was I think the best work we've seen out of Sewell yet. I'm not horribly impressed by his ring work, but it's really hard to argue with the reaction he gets in the Impact Zone. The women's match was a bit of a mess, largely because they had just run a similar one-partner-gets injured angle like 45 seconds earlier. TNA doesn't tend to take a lot of chances right before a PPV, and tonight was no exception. They made a bit more explicit the Angle-Sting issues, and did some excellent storytelling, but nothing overly exciting.

I seem to be in the minority that thinks Magnus has a major potential upside. His first appearance was no Samoa Joe or Chris Jericho debut, but I thought it was very solid. Morgan vs. Rhino was nothing special, but, after a rocky start, Abyss's post match program picked up a lot of heat. Team 3D vs Kurt Angle & Sting was a so-so match, but an incredibly well-told story. I almost thought it cheapened it a bit when they piped in some of the dialog, as they were doing a fine job telling the story physically. TNA doesn't tend to take a lot of chances right before a PPV, and tonight was no exception. They made a bit more explicit the Angle-Sting issues, and did some excellent storytelling, but nothing overly exciting. This show was competent—it loses a mark for running the same injured-tag-partner stories in back-to-back matches.

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