Dominick Mayer, PWTorch.com Contributor (6.0)

Even if it was a Mafia-centric gauntlet match, the fact remains that TNA had 45 minutes of wrestling on an episode of Impact!, and that alone is worthy of praise. The ending was thoroughly convoluted, and I don't like this logic (which Don West, to my delight, pointed out) of the TNA Founder (shoot!) being able to essentially twist things however he likes. This is to say nothing of Cornette doing whatever he wants, also. Regardless, it'll be Team Joe vs. Team Angle, tentatively; it's honest to Joe's questionable new character that he doesn't want to captain a team.

I didn't much care for how Angle ripped through the entire midcard during the gauntlet, but it pushes him as a monster heel, I guess. The other thing of note was the Sting-Foley exchange. For my money, that was the best Foley has sounded since his return, and the best Sting's been in a while. They made me care about their PPV match in a few weeks, so well done there.

Jon Mezzera, PWTorch.com Contributor (4.0)

After a good Impact last week, we got a less than good Impact this week. There were a few things to like before the gauntlet. Kiyoshi vs. Suicide was a high energy 5 minutes match, despite the fact that Mike Tenay and Don West ignored it while it happened. The Rough Cut featuring Brother Ray was good, despite the references to WWE and Steve Austin. The interview that followed was solid featuring Team 3D and Beer Money. Too many references to ECW and Taz, and legendary tag teams bogged it down a bit. But, the build for their Lockdown Tag Title match was been good so far. The Sting - Mick Foley confrontation was solid, based on the strong mic work of the two. I don't know who I'm supposed to cheer for, but it was good on the whole.

Before the gauntlet there were some things to dislike as well. The opening segment with Jim Cornette explaining the rules to the gauntlet and to Lethal Lockdown got tedious to listen to and to decipher. The gauntlet sounded like a stupid idea, as it was entirely possible that two friends (or two people nobody cares about who aren't feuding) could have ended up as team captains for Lethal Lockdown, which wouldn't have made sense. I am tired of there being three Tag Team Titles in TNA. They need to give two back to Japan. I already mentioned all the WWE/ECW references from Team 3D, and Foley did the same when making a backhanded (and ridiculous) comment about WrestleMania. I have no idea who I'm supposed to root for. Kiyoshi and No Limit were babyfaces against the Motor City Machine Guns, now they are heels against Suicide. The Beautiful People are heels suddenly feuding with Awesome Kong and Raisha Saeed, who are heels. Foley and Sting's roles are convoluted. Samoa Joe's "babyface" character is terrible.

The Gauntlet itself featured good wrestling action for 45 minutes, which is more wrestling than we usually see in an entire Impact. However, the ending was poor. Hernandez had a chance for a boost, but his credibility was killed when he was pinned moments after entering the match from one Angle Slam, which Samoa Joe later no sold. The whole Jeff Jarrett entering as #20 and Joe as #21 was stupid. The biggest problem was that after the long match, we were told the outcome didn't matter. Angle lost but still gets what he wanted, to be a team captain at Lethal Lockdown. Joe won, but didn't care about the prize. He doesn't want to be a team captain. TNA told me that I was foolish for investing 45 minutes into a match where the outcome was totally pointless.

Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (5.5)

The grade is high thanks to the entertaining battle royal inside the cage (even if the rules made no sense- why were Joe and Angle fighting in the end when they were the last two and therefore captains?). I thought they kinda buried LAX though, but otherwise, solid action for the most part. Suicide vs. Kiyoshi was OK, but it felt like it didn't matter, as most X-Division matches do these days.

I did also like the sit-down interviews with Beer Money and Team 3D, even if it was reference-heavy. I'm not sure what Mick Foley did to earn a title shot and anyone who sees him move around there can't possibly think he has a chance of winning. Their mic work was fine, other than Mick taking a shot at Wrestlemania, which seemed so minor league since no one can really believe what he said (can they?).

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