By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

IMPACT HITS

Christian’s Opening Promo: Impact got off to a pretty good start, highlighted by Christian Cage’s promo on Tomko. The promo was much more focused than last week. He pretty much spoke for the fans when addressing Tomko. He said what many of us have thought since Tomko joined the Angle Alliance. It was a well written and well delivered promo, and Tomko’s reactions during it were strong as well.

Kaz vs. Angle: This was the highlight of the night in terms of in ring action, which is unfortunately not saying much. This was a solid match. It had 6 minutes of good action, then it was over. This didn’t come close to the level of their match from last year on Impact, but that is not surprising. TNA has to keep Kurt Angle strong going into Lockdown, and Kaz’s push has been nonexistent since he took Angle to the limit the last time they faced. So, it is no surprise that the match didn’t go long. I am a bit surprised given what I just said that Kaz actually got in more offense than Angle. He really dominated the match, and then Angle got the win with the Ankle Lock. It was hardly a strong win. But, the match itself at least featured good quality action while it lasted, which can’t be said about any other match on the card.

IMPACT MISSES

Steiner and Williams: I have enjoyed some of the interplay between Scott Steiner and Petey Williams. But, this week it was terrible. Steiner starts off saying he is going to straighten everything out about the briefcases, but then proceeds to straighten out nothing. He claims that his cases give him the right to a title shot any time he wants one, which was never a stated stipulation, unlike WWE’s Money in the Bank. The interaction between Steiner and Williams has been fun in the past, but wasn’t here. They had developed some chemistry which wasn’t showcased. Then I was creeped out by the S&M angle after Williams’ loss to Curry Man.

Samoa Joe: Samoa Joe nearly put me to sleep in his promo. It failed to get me excited about seeing him vs. Angle at Lockdown. I guess he is going to be off Impact until the PPV, at least he hinted at that by saying something about not seeing him again until he is the TNA Champion. If all he is going to do is deliver boring promos in the mean time, then having him off t.v. will be fine with me. Joe is the cool and cocky character. Thanking the fans seems out of character to me. I wouldn’t say the same about Booker T for instance, but for some reason it just doesn’t fit Samoa Joe to me. Also, he comes off as a whinny crybaby when he says he will only wrestle if he is the TNA Champion. How am I supposed to cheer for a guy who will walk away from a company if he doesn’t get what he wants? That doesn’t inspire me to cheer for him.

Sky vs. Kim: For anyone who thinks it would be a good idea for TNA to start a new show that only features the Knockouts, they should probably look at this match. Beyond the top few women wrestlers in the company, the talent level goes down pretty quick. Velvet Sky is not good. She brought Gail Kim down to her level in this match. She took the ugliest looking monkey flip in wrestling history. She wasn’t smooth in anything she did in the ring. She would fit in perfectly with the WWE Divas like Ashley, Maria, Layla, etc., which is not a compliment. The Knockout Division has been good only because of the talent of Gail Kim, the impressiveness of Awesome Kong, and the craziness of ODB. There are other talented women on the roster, but for the most part, once you get past the top three, there isn’t much reason to want to watch.

PPV Follow Up: There was a PPV Sunday, right? Impact started with a montage of shots from Destination X, and Mike Tenay mentioned a few times that people should check out the replay. However, other than that the PPV follow up was practically nonexistent. LAX became #1 Contenders for the Tag Team Titles in their triple threat match, but I don’t recall that being mentioned. Instead, they jobbed to the Rock & Rave infection in a 6-person mixed tag match. That was a great way to follow up on their win at the PPV. Team 3D made weight at the PPV meaning they don’t have to weigh in any more, but that was never mentioned. TNA did a decent job of following up on their interaction with Joel Anderson, but never explained what that was all about, so for the many fans who didn’t see the PPV, or didn’t read the results, there was probably a lot of confusion as to why Team 3D would beat up some guy from Survivor. The Destination X match that got the best build going into the show was Booker T vs. Robert Roode, which saw the return of Sharmell. Neither the match, nor the aftermath was mentioned, and none of the participants were on Impact. James Storm got knocked off a scaffold through a table. Did it get mentioned? Do we get a medical update? Does Rhino get to gloat? No, no and no. TNA should make fans wish they had seen a PPV. They should make the PPV seem important before and after, and they failed to do that.

Mike Tenay: I am not a fan of the TNA announce team, but I don’t harp on it every week. However, this week Mike Tenay really got on my nerves. It is the usual complaints. He won’t ever shut up. Why can’t he just let guys in the ring talk, without interjecting his stupid comments? Jim Cornette announces that the match we’ve all been waiting for, Angle vs. Joe is going to happen at Lockdown, and Tenay says that it is the match we’ve been waiting for. As bored as I was by Samoa Joe, I still would rather hear him deliver his promo without Tenay’s constant interjections. The worst was when he said that Rellik is killer spelled backwards. It is amusing when Eric Young says it, but it is impossible to take an announcer seriously when he is making silly comments like that. He and Don West always annoy me, but for some reason I was more aware of Tenay’s annoying presence than usual.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and TNA Impact each week. Email him at jmezz-torch@sbcglobal.net.

For another view from the original Hitlist author, compare Jason Powell's views to mine by visiting prowrestling.NET's "Hitlist" section here.

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