Opening Segment: This was one of the best openings for Impact since it went to 2 hours. The opening video recapped the history of Tomko and Kurt Angle, helping to hype the Main Event. The scene between the Angles and AJ Styles was well done. I am tired of Styles constantly put in the position to have to choose sides, but he at least showed some backbone for once. The real Hit is for the confrontation between Team 3D & Johnny Devine and the Motor City Machine Guns & Jay Lethal. Brother Ray’s opening promo was solid, while the beat down that followed was very good. I was glad to see Chris Sabin and Jay Lethal at least put up their hands to soften the chair shots. It still looked very painful, but not as dangerous (not saying it’s not dangerous, just less). I loved Brother Ray’s speech at the end. His progression of Team 3D going from boys, to men, to heroes, to legends, to gods was really well done. And to cap things off nicely, after that great moment, instead of cutting backstage to Crystal or Jeremy Borash with something totally unrelated like usual, TNA actually cut to commercial to let the beating sink in.
Williams & Steiner: I enjoyed the dynamic between Petey Williams and Scott Steiner. Their interview with Crystal was decent. But, the real fun was during their match vs. The Rock & Rave Infection. Williams’ impersonation of Steiner during the match was great. Given the context of working together, this is a case where imitating another wrestler works. It is much better than when someone does a lame imitation of a retired wrestler from another promotion. Plus, Steiner was great in complaining about the imitation from the ring apron. TNA has to move this story forward, because the distance between Feast or Fired and the actual title matches is getting ridiculously long. But, at least Williams and Steiner have had some fun moments.
Build to the Main Event: Starting with the video mentioned above, TNA did a good job throughout Impact of hyping Tomko vs. Angle. The scenes involving Styles trying to get the match canceled were good. I would rather see something different than Styles choosing sides, but most of the scenes were well done. Angle and Tomko were good in their roles during the show. Adding Styles as the guest referee added intrigue to the match, and helped build the anticipation.
Main Event (the good): This was a good tease for a future Angle vs. Tomko match. It felt like we got to see the match, without seeing too much of it. We saw more than I expected to, but it was still just a tease. It had some good action. Styles played his part as the conflicted ref very well. I was watching the match amazed that Christian Cage hadn’t been on the show. I’m glad he finally made a cameo appearance to cost Angle the match. That adds something to the hype for their Main Event match at the PPV, which has been almost nonexistent.
IMPACT MISSES
Classic Dudleys: Last week Jay Lethal was so serious about his feud with Team 3D that he dropped his Randy Savage imitation. This week he was so serious that he took part in a lame Dudley Boyz imitation. We have more wrestlers imitating wrestlers. When is it going to end? They could have helped make the good opening even better by simply cutting a ripping promo on Team 3D. Instead, the stupid skit took away from that good beginning.
Kyp James vs. Hernandez: This was a bad match, that at least was cut short. It was slow and boring. Even in a short throwaway t.v. match, TNA insisted on having outside interference. Are we supposed to boo James for having Roxxi Laveaux cheat for him, right after Salinas tried to cheat for Hernandez? And Hernandez should not need help beating James. This was just a bad match.
Shark Boy: TNA should take note of how unresponsive the fans were this week to Stark Boy Austin. Last week, they responded well. This week, they did not. The “What?” chants did not come nearly as quickly, nor were they as loud. Luckily many of the Impact Zone fans showed that they understand how stupid this gimmick is. TNA is schizophrenic in how they portray the gimmick. He is doing a parody of a serious gimmick, while acting like a serious bad ass, while using silly fish metaphors. He is a joke, but is so intimidating that nobody took his challenge. At the end of the segment, Don West acted like it was a serious gimmick and that Shark Boy should be treated as a legit bad ass, then Mike Tenay said, “On a serious note...” meaning that he clearly doesn’t think Shark Boy is serious. So which is it? Either way it is bad.
Kazdust: Kaz vs. Black Reign is the early candidate for worst feud of 2008. TNA has Kaz do a lame Goldust parody, and tries to justify it by having him talk about it just being a mind game. That doesn’t change the fact that what he just did was stupid. And, this Mouse Cage on a Poll match sounds like the stupidest idea for a gimmick match in TNA history, which is saying something.
Contract Signing: This storyline is growing old. If you finally got the contract offer you’ve been bitching about for two months, wouldn’t you sign it? If you were worried about everything going smoothly, then wouldn’t you bring a pen to the contract signing? Would you have Matt Morgan with you if you always accuse him of messing everything up? We would all answer these questions with more logic than Samoa Joe and Jim Cornette.
Main Event (the bad): The problem with the Main Event was Styles’ ridiculously slow counts making Kurt Angle look very weak. It was unbelievable that he would take so long to kick out of those moves from Tomko. A case can be made that Angle was waiting until the last second in order to rest, but it still looked bad. TNA could have gotten the point across that Styles didn’t want to count Angle down with the slow count, and helped Angle save face by having him kick out at one. He didn’t have to look that bad. This match hurt Angle’s credibility.
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.
LATEST PRO WRESTLING TORCH NEWSLETTER #1039 (17 PAGES)
This issue begins with a cover story by Wade Keller who attended Brock Lesnar's first UFC victory on Saturday night in the semi-main event in front of a record-setting crowd in his hometown. Keller's BBL looks at Lesnar's place in MMA and in what ways he seems more comfortable than ever... Bruce Mitchell's Memo examines the dilemma of Chris Benoit and the Hall of Fame... Sean Radican reviews the two latest TNA DVD releases... In-depth coverage of the TNA Hard Justice PPV including Keller's match report with star ratings and the newsletter-exclusive Roundtable Reviews... Jason Powell's "Page 2 Buzz" with scoops and insider analysis... WWE Newswire, TNA Newswire, and ROH Newswire with insider news, big story analysis, and notebook tidbits... Plus Keller's reports on Raw, Smackdown, and Impact, the Top 5 Stories of the Week, and more....
