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IMPACT HITS

Hoyt & Rave vs. LAX: This match was short and had the wrong ending. But, it was good while it lasted. This Hit is mostly for the effort put in by Homicide and Hernandez. To be fair, Lance Hoyt and Jimmy Rave did a fine job also. The match seemed like it was going to be a tag team squash, and I was enjoying seeing it. The opening moments showcased what LAX can do as a team. The later moments showcased what Hernandez can do on his own. There were many nice moves crammed into 4 minutes. I would have preferred either a longer match, or a total squash of the same length. LAX should have won, but I liked much of what I saw.

Christian Cage Promo: I’m going to refer to this as the Dark Promo. The lighting set a nice mood. Christian’s character needed some tweaking to keep it fresh, and giving him a darker edge has a chance to be good. It was nice to see someone question Christian’s supposed undefeated record. His promo was well written and well delivered. It did a great job of focusing on his troubles lately to set up where they are hopefully going with his character.

Build to the Main Event: I was expecting Kaz to get screwed out of his title shot by Christian goading him into a rematch. So, even though I’m not the biggest Kaz fan, it was a nice surprise that he actually got his match. I was also pleasantly surprised that TNA did a nice job of hyping the Main Event throughout Impact. They announced the match multiple times, and they showed Kaz warming up a few times as well. Kurt Angle cut a solid promo giving Kaz props for making it this far, then putting him in his place as the heel Champion should. There was a good video highlighting Kaz’s climb to the top in the Fight for the Right Tournament. The ladder metaphor was strong. And, they gave him a chance to talk. Now he didn’t deliver, but at least they gave him a chance. My only problem is that the video and interview with Kaz came right before the match. TNA should have spread that out more. But, other than that it was good.

Main Event: The Main Event delivered as well. It was a very good match. It started off nicely with Kaz getting in some amateur style moves on the more experienced Angle. They did good playing up Kaz’s role as the underdog who has the speed advantage. It had good back and forth action with neither man getting the upper hand for too long. Kaz hit some nice high energy moves. Angle was Angle. The drama wasn’t there, because nobody could really expect Kaz to win. So the near falls which were very good from a performance stand point, were not that dramatic. This is a problem with Kaz’s treatment, not with how he and Angle performed. They performed very well. The match built towards a good ending. The Angle Slam has to be killed as a finisher after this match. Kaz took it after a low blow and still kicked out, so Angle better not use it to finish off anyone. The ultimate end with Angle getting the amateur style pin was odd looking. Kaz did a good job afterwards of selling how close he came to winning. I have mixed feelings about the aftermath of Samoa Joe being revealed as Scott Hall and Kevin Nash’s partner. Kaz seemed to earn that spot, but if I were picking a partner, I would ask Joe too.

IMPACT MISSES

Opening Segment: TNA ended strong, but they started off weak. Angle gave a bellow average promo to start things off with AJ Styles and Tomko. The interplay between him and Nash wasn’t good. Nash doesn’t belong in the ring in any physical confrontation. And why exactly did those random (mostly X-Division) wrestlers come out to protect Nash?

Gag Order: I have many problems with this. First, most fans know that Booker T was the guest partner at Genesis. It makes sense why TNA would want those who didn’t know to have to wait around to find out, but it makes a mockery of building to that reveal at the PPV in the first place. And why couldn’t the announcers say Booker T’s name? If he didn’t sign a contract would they never be able to acknowledge his presence at the PPV? TNA has named non-TNA wrestlers several times in the past without legal troubles. What about all those text polls they’ve done in the past where they ask the fans who a mystery man will be? They included names like Brock Lesnar, Chris Jericho and Goldberg who weren’t in TNA. And if you say that those were in the past, and we are talking about the present, then why could Kurt Angle say the name of Shawn Waltman? He is a wrestler not in TNA. Where was Cornette to admonish Angle for saying his name? I can reluctantly accept inconsistencies from week to week, but can’t they put together a consistent Impact from start to finish?

Turkey Bowl Announcement: Mike Tenay twice announced this Turkey Bowl match for next week, and I still don’t get it. It is three triple threat matches, tournament style where one winner gets cash and one loser has to wear a turkey suit. That’ll get people to tune in.

Team 3D vs. X-Division: I will admit to laughing at some of Brother Ray’s list of demands. But, the segment was too bipolar as Ray shifted between comedy and drama too often. The references to the internet are out of place. The end of the segment with Ray making out with the camera was unnecessary. I knew that whoever was the hostage was going to be working with Team 3D. Chris Sabin’s taunting of Team 3D was o.k., but Jay Lethal’s screaming at them was terrible. He can’t do an angry Randy Savage. Nobody cares about Havok, so why should they try to rescue him? Why say that the X-Division has a traitor if you are just going to reveal his identity 30 seconds later? That was a great build to that reveal. Just have him turn without setting it up at that point. This feud hasn’t gotten me hooked yet, and I doubt that they will.

Mixed Tag Match: If the match is going to turn into Robert Roode vs. Chris Harris, why have the women in the match at all? Ms. Brooks is going to be there no matter what. And why is she being asked to wrestle shortly after fainting while just standing at ring side? Her health should be more important. Why is Roode’s fan still allowed in the Impact Zone after she got involved in the show two weeks ago and was kicked out? They would never in real life let her back in after she got kicked out. Shouldn’t Cornette have punished Brooks for putting her hands on a fan? That should cause real legal troubles. By the way, the match itself wasn’t good.

Rellik vs. Black Reign vs. Abyss: I tried to spell Rellik’s name right, but I can’t figure out how to make a backwards “k” on my keyboard. After debuting as the newest monster at Genesis, Rellik lost clean in his first Impact match. That is a great way to establish him. The match was slow and sloppy and clunky. Abyss needs to wrestle guys who can elevate him. He can’t elevate Black Reign and vice-versa. I don’t care about the two established guys in the match, and they did nothing to make me care about the new guy. And, the match was bad.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's Hitlist Specialist, providing his point of view in the Torch's hitlist format for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and TNA Impact each week. Email him at jmezz-torch@sbcglobal.net.

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