Coalition - Alliance Summit: The Impact Recurring Backstage Segments of the Week centered on AJ Styles attempting to make peace between Christian Cage and Kurt Angle. For the most part, it was very well done. That is not to say that it was all great. As usual, there were too many scenes. The “Coalition - Alliance Summit” graphic at the beginning was cheesy and unnecessary. Karen left to find Christian, but then Styles and Tomko found him instead. That was poor continuity. But, the scenes were entertaining. Styles was great all night in his attempts to bring the team together. The fact that he was successful was a nice touch. Tomko was good too. The funniest moment was when Jeremy Borash coached Styles on breathing techniques, as he tried to get Tomko to join in and Tomko just shook his head “no.” The scene between Styles, Tomko and Christian was the best of the night. The ultimate sit down meeting was very good as well. It was good that it ended seriously after the goofiness when Christian threatened Karen.
Dutt & Lethal vs. Team 3D: This was a good tag team street fight. There were a few problems. Why didn’t Team 3D use weapons when they jumped Sanjay Dutt and Jay Lethal to start the match? Plus, some of Dutt and Lethal’s moves were too choreographed as happens too often in the X-Division. But, there was some good action and excitement. Dutt was particularly impressive in his spring board to the outside, and the flipping kick to the trash can. It was good to see Dutt & Lethal more than hold their own against the larger team. Team 3D still won, but they had help from Johnny Devine, giving their opponents more credibility.
Roode vs. Booker T: This was not a great match, as Robert Roode is not capable of delivering great matches. But, he is capable of delivering good solid matches, which is what this was. Roode got in enough offense to seem credible, but jobbing him out to Booker so soon is a mistake. It wasn’t flashy, but it was a good t.v. match to set up the tag match at the PPV.
Main Event: The 8-Man tag match was a good Main Event. I am still confused as to why Scott Steiner and Abyss were in the match, but at least it was entertaining. The match told a story as AJ Styles was celebrating bringing the team together, and then working to keep them together throughout the match. It was great how he had to ask for help to lift Abyss back into the ring. In addition to telling a story, the match had good action. It was slow at first, but things picked up nicely after the commercial. The rapid fire finishing move sequence was a bit too scripted for my tastes, but it was still fun to watch. The ending was strong as it sets up more tension between Christian and Styles.
IMPACT MISSES
Booker’s Promo: I am so tired of the standard “WWE sucks, TNA is the greatest” promos that former WWE stars all give when they sign with TNA. TNA is not the hottest thing going. They still get lower ratings than ECW, which has been a bad show. TNA should stop touting themselves as being the best or hottest wrestling promotion at least until they pass ECW. Booker talked about wanting to face younger and hungrier competition, which is fine and works well in regards to being interrupted by Robert Roode. But, he is feuding with Christian, who is hardly younger and newer competition. This would have been much better if it had been Roode who interrupted Booker’s contract signing a few weeks ago. Roode was good for his part, and Booker delivered the promo well, but the WWE references need to stop.
Mixed Tag Match: Christy Hemme does not belong in the ring, and with an influx of new Knockouts who are actual wrestlers, there is no reason to have her wrestle. Someone should tell her that when rolled up, she should struggle and look like she is trying to kick out, instead of selling the roll up like she got a pile driver. The match on the whole was boring and sloppy.
Beer Drinking Contest: Other than Mike Tenay getting in a great line that this was Rudy Charles’ best refereeing ever, the drinking contest between Eric Young and James Storm was not good. It is bad how obvious it was that Young was not drinking the beer. A feud over beer is not a great idea in the first place. Young got way too bloody for a throw away Impact segment. The bottle to the head was fine, but the unprotected chair shot was unnecessary.
Rellik: TNA has done a terrible job of building up this monster. After his debut, he lost to Abyss in a triple threat match with his partner Black Reign, which was like a handicap match. His character was ruined in his participation in Kurt Angle’s Thanksgiving Dinner last week. And this week, he loses again to Rhino. He is not a very impressive monster.
Scott Steiner Interview: He is Hit or Miss in his interviews, and this one was a Miss. It is amusing that he gets Crystal’s name wrong, but he stumbled over his lines. The fact that he doesn’t know the rules of the Feast or Fire match at the PPV shows that the fans aren’t going to understand or care either. He asked why he was in the Main Event, which is a good question. The interview pointed out problems with TNA’s booking, and was poorly delivered by Steiner.
Turning Point Line Up: Is it just me, or is the line up for Turning Point looking less than impressive? In the past, I have concentrated on reviewing how well TNA and WWE hype their upcoming PPVs. But, I have been too easy on both organizations when it comes to some of the lame cards that they have put out there in the past. That stops now. There are some good matches on paper. The 6-Man Tag Team Tables match should be very fun to watch. Booker T & Kaz vs. Christian & Roode should be good as well. That is it. The Match of 10,000 Thumb Tacks is going to be a mess with lots of “This is Awesome” chants, despite the fact that it won’t be awesome. Kim vs. Awesome Kong might be good, but we haven’t seen enough of Kong in matches other than squashes to know whether or not she can deliver in a competitive match. The Feast or Fired match is another ridiculous gimmick match which has rules that make no sense at all. Young vs. Storm will be decent, but not special. Apparently they’ve added a Knockout Tag match, which will be nothing special also. That leaves the 6 Man Tag Team War. When you have Styles & Tomko, Kurt Angle, and Samoa Joe in a match, you should look forward to it, but when you add Kevin Nash and Scott Hall to that match, it becomes harder too look forward to. Nash should never wrestle again. Scott Hall is way paste his prime. Chances are the whole thing will end up with the Outsiders turning on Samoa Joe. On paper, Turning Point looks very weak.
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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