By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

IMPACT HITS

Roode’s Promo: TNA has not done a very good job of making me care about any of the PPV matches this Sunday. However, this week’s Impact was an improvement in that area. For instance, Robert Roode’s promo to start the show was very strong. He was good in making fun of Sharmell. I liked his statements about how Booker T should be thanking him for breaking her jaw, so that she is losing weight and is unable to nag him at home. That was amusing. His straight forward heel character is refreshing in a company of tweeners. His promo should make fans want to see Booker T get his hands on Roode, which should be the goal of PPV hype.

Brooks vs. Kong: This was a solid short match. It helped to keep Awesome Kong strong heading into the PPV, while also allowing Traci Brooks to get in some offense too. ODB’s short promo before the match was good as well. I would much rather see a squash like this where Brooks gets in some moves and is able to catch Kong off guard after ODB’s promo, then seeing Kong run through Brooks without any trouble. This accomplishes the same goal, but makes Brooks look credible. It helps Kong by beating someone with credibility, then someone who does not. Easily beating an opponent with no credibility doesn’t do anything for you. But, mostly dominating an opponent with credibility who at least gets in some offense does.

Tiger Mask vs. Styles: This was a good match. I have not been impressed with Tiger Mask’s few appearances in TNA. But, this one was better. He and AJ Styles worked a good high energy match. It was good to see Styles treated as a serious wrestler when allowed to have a match without comedy involved. It was only 5 minutes, but it didn’t feel short. There was so much action packed into it that we didn’t feel robbed. I particularly want to mention the action on the outside of the ring. Styles’ leap over the security barrier was a great spot. He followed it nicely with the spring board flying forearm. While that move didn’t require all three replays that they showed, it was still a really good move. Styles should have won clean. TNA should not feel the need to protect Tiger Mask. That was the only drawback to an otherwise good match.

Main Event: Christian Cage vs. Judas Mecias was a surprisingly good t.v. Main Event. It wasn’t a great match, but it was good. We haven’t seen much from Mecias other than short squashes, so it was good to see him involved in a longer match. If TNA is serious about keeping him around beyond his never ending feud with Abyss, then having him hang with one of their top stars in an Impact Main Event was a good idea. The match had some nice back and forth action. Abyss’ appearance was predictable, but worked o.k. as a way to distract Mecias long enough for Christian to get the win. Christian needed a strong win going into his PPV Main Event. At the same time, Mecias needed to look strong as well. This was a case where TNA was able to make both guys look good, which was the right thing to do (as opposed to protecting Tiger Mask). The post-match confrontations worked well to help sell the PPV. TNA did a good job hyping the Barbed Wire Massacre and Cage vs. Angle.

IMPACT MISSES

Briefcase Madness: Will the madness never stop? Feast or Fired seemed like it was months and months ago. Christopher Daniels got fired, and BG James is getting his tag title shot with his daddy on Sunday. But, when will the Heavyweight and X-Division Titles be defended against the winners of those cases? Now, Petey Williams is facing Scott Steiner in a winner take all match. Why? Doesn’t this just further bury the concept of Feast or Fired? TNA has dragged this out so long, with briefcases changing hands a number of times, and now one of the men who won a title shot won’t be getting it, and another will possibly be getting two. I really hope TNA isn’t stupid enough to do another Feast or Fired ever.

4 Corner Capture Misty Match: If I ever get a chance to argue in front of a judge that TNA should do fewer gimmick matches, I will use this match as evidence. The concept of this match was ridiculous. The fact that this match came from Kaz added to its stupidity. He should want major revenge on Black Reign. If that is the case, then why come up with this lame match instead of a match where he could really get revenge. Why does he even want the stupid rat? Shouldn’t he want to hurt Black Reign, not just try to win the rat that he already had possession of? What was in it for Kaz? And in the end, the match didn’t even matter as Black Reign simply beat Kaz up and stole the rat that Kaz had rightly won. The concept of this match was terribly silly, which is a shame, because the actual wrestling in the match was decent. I would have been fine with this match if it had been a normal one on one match. Dustin Rhodes is way past his prime, but he can still put together a good match in the right circumstances. Kaz might be one to carry him to a good match, but not in a silly gimmick match like this.

X-Title Match Ending: Can someone please explain to me why the referee stopped his count when Homicide clearly had Johnny Devine’s shoulders pinned for three? Obviously, Brother Devon was very late in getting to the ring. The ref had plenty of time to count to three before Devon got in the ring. That was one of the worst blotched endings to a match that I have seen in a long time. It is a shame, because that took the match out of the Hit column where it was headed. It was a good match with such a terrible ending. I know that they mentioned their DQ rule change for Title matches last week, but it was a throw away line that I didn’t catch. My brother told me about it after the fact. That made me very suspicious that Angle will get himself disqualified against Christian, but it came up in this match. TNA should have done a much better job of explaining the rule change last week (or kept the rule as it set them apart from WWE).

Lame Gimmicks, One Match: With the exception of Black Reign, TNA managed to squeeze their worst gimmicks into one match. It is good to see them all at the same time instead of spread out through the entire show, but I would still rather not see them at all. The Rock & Rave Infection are jokes. They are supposed to be, so I guess that makes it o.k. I don’t care that Christopher Daniels plays Curry Man, or that he is popular in Japan or on the indie scene, it is a lame gimmick period. I’m already sick of complaining about how stupid Shark Boy’s Austin gimmick is. If I weren’t covering this show for PWTorch I would have changed the channel and probably never changed it back.

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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