By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

IMPACT HITS

2007 Awards: The award presentations sprinkled throughout Impact were a nice touch. They awarded the fans who took the time to vote online with seeing the results on t.v. TNA did a good job of capitalizing on the awards to advance storylines and give some wrestlers a chance to talk. I was happy to see Jay Lethal talk, but wasn’t thrilled with the results (more later). Gail Kim’s appearance helped to sell her concussion while hyping Awesome Kong vs. ODB. Booker T’s appearance allowed for an update on Sharmel, while furthering his feud with Robert Roode and allowing Roode to cut a nice promo on Booker. Samoa Joe’s win for MVP capped off a pretty good night for him. All in all, these were good segments that put an end to 2007 while looking to advancements in stories for 2008.

Samoa Joe: This is a marginal Hit for me. If TNA insists on portraying Joe as a whining prick, then at least have him be a whining prick of a bad ass. I liked the early promo from Kevin Nash. His relationship with Joe is starting to be better defined and developed. Joe’s promo after saving Nash from Matt Morgon was strong. I liked seeing him beating up guys like Black Reign and Johnny Devine. It doesn’t make Joe a very good babyface to attack people from behind (particularly one who was already bloody), but it gives him more of an edge. It is also better than just hearing him whine all the time. I’m also not thrilled with his ultimatum of just wanting more money than Kurt Angle. This is not going to inspire the fans. But, at least he showed more fire than he has of late.

Tomko: Tomko is the cool bad ass babyface that Samoa Joe could be. Joe has in ring ability that far surpasses Tomko, but Tomko’s build has been better than. I have been enjoying his work as of late. He had a very good night on Impact. His refusal to join the Angle Alliance was very well done. The brawl to the ring was as well. He looked very strong in going toe to toe with Kurt Angle. Hopefully next week’s match will just be a tease, as Tomko vs. Angle can be a PPV Main Event to build to over time. That would be a lot of fun. Tomko’s shove of AJ Styles was good too. TNA has to put the focus back on Christian Cage vs. Kurt Angle as it is the Main Event at the next PPV. They did not do a good job of hyping that same match last month, and are not doing a good job of hyping it this month. The focus on Tomko has been fun, but it needs to be put on the back burner after next week, so that they can really focus the attention where it needs to be. At the same time, they have Tomko in position for a run at Angle down the line.

IMPACT MISSES

Where’s the Madness?: I have no problem with Jay Lethal dropping the Macho Man gimmick. It has been fun, but inconsistent as of late. It helped him get over and let him practice on the mic. Letting him talk in his normal voice was a good idea, but TNA should have addressed why he dropped the imitation. It was never clear whether it was indeed an imitation, or if Lethal really thought that he was Randy Savage circa 1990. That part of the gimmick was never defined and too inconsistent. If he was just imitating Savage, then why stop now? I was excited when he started talking normally, because I thought he was about to deliver a killer promo on entertaining the fans with his imitation, but now speaking for himself. I was expecting something great, but the promo fizzled. The announcers said it was his serious side, but that is hardly enough to justify dropping the gimmick. Of course, he might be right back to doing Savage next week.

Shark Boy 3:16: Just when one guy stops doing an imitation of a retired wrestler, another begins doing his own. Does TNA not have an original idea? Shark Boy’s Steve Austin impression is good, but that doesn’t mean that he should be doing it as his new character. That was ridiculous. How many times am I going to have to write that TNA should stop living in the past of other wrestling organizations? It is unbelievable that a TNA booker would think this is a good idea. What’s next? Maybe TNA can come up with other old wrestlers to imitate and give those gimmicks to their characterless guys. Can Elix Skipper do the Rock? Can Johnny Devine do Greg “the Hammer” Valentine? Can Kaz channel Bret “the Hitman” Hart? Can Abyss do a good Mankind imitation? Oh wait, he already does one, although not a good one.

Devine vs. Lethal: This could have been a very good match, but TNA decided to make it a street fight, taking away the actual wrestling ability of Johnny Devine and Jay Lethal. I am also giving this match a Miss, partially because of its short time and the fact that we didn’t see much of it with a commercial interruption. Also, Devine took a clean chair shot to the head which was unnecessary. Devine was dominated during the match, but did not sell long term at all. It was like those chair shots and other weapon shots from Lethal meant nothing. Ultimately, Lethal took one kendo stick shot to the back and that was enough to finish him off, even after time elapsed as Devine slowly made the cover. Lethal was looking like a tough guy, but looked really weak in the end for losing like that. Where were Shelley & Sabin? That could have been a good match, but was a huge disappointment.

Tiger Mask & Curry Man: As if Shark Boy isn’t enough, two more cheesy masked wrestlers appeared on the show. We’ve seen Tiger Mask before, and although I am thoroughly underwhelmed by his ring, he is o.k. I find it odd having a wrestler named for a cartoon character, but whatever. Curry Man was ridiculous. I don’t know if he is really a Japanese wrestler based on another cartoon as the announcers said, or if he was made up by TNA. Either way the gimmick is stupid. We couldn’t take them seriously, but we couldn’t take their Guitar Hero carrying opponents serious either. In fact, it is hard to take anything serious on this show.
[WRITERS NOTE: After posting this article on Friday, I read here on the Torch that it is Christopher Daniels playing Curry Man. On Saturday I checked my email and had 4 just telling me that it is Daniels. So, I am adding this note to let you know that I am now in the know. And to be perfectly honest with you, knowing that Daniels is playing Curry Man makes me like the character even less. Daniels is too talented to be playing such a cheesy character.]

Short Matches: Weren’t short matches supposed to be a thing of the past? I don’t mind a few short matches each show. Not all matches should be 5 minutes plus. It would be nice to see at least one long match on Impact each week. Storm & Roode vs. Young & Dutt was 4 minutes. Skipper vs. Shark Boy was 2 minutes. Lethal vs. Devine was 9 minutes with a commercial. That is a good length without the commercial, but we only saw about 5 minutes of the match. The Rock & Rave Infection vs. Tiger Mask & Curry Man was 4 minutes. The Main Event was 9 minutes, meaning again we only saw about 5. The Main Event had good action, but I was too distracted by the ridiculous rule that you couldn’t tag your own partner, the over booking, and ultimately the short time for what could have been a good match to give it a Hit.

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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