By Curtis Shanks, PWTorch specialist

Welcome to the TNA Impact edition of Under the Microscope. We're here to review all those little observations and tidbits you may have missed. This is not a detailed recap of the show, but a review for those of you that saw the show but didn't actually "watch" it.

After last week, we know that Samoa Joe needs a pep talk, Abyss was hung over Friday morning, and Chris Sabin likes grown men in tights. But what else is there to notice? Let's see what we can spot. Cue the opening pyro.

While the microscope tunes up for tonight's Impact, let's see what was noticed during last Sunday's Final Resolution PPV. The microscope is always tuned up for Velvet Sky, and this past Sunday her shirt drew a notice. Sky donned a pink shirt that said "You See Me" with a hand print that stated "Hi Hater." While probably just a generic shirt to fit the personalities of the Beautiful People, it could also have been a reference to John Cena's "You Can't See Me" quote and hand gesture.

What is going on with the X Division Title? I don't think TNA knows any more than we do. Sheik Abdul Bashir defended against Eric Young a few weeks back and lost the match, but later had the title returned to him due to outside interference. A re-match was set up for the PPV with Bashir defending yet again. The outcome of the match was the same, but this time Jim Cornette declared the title vacant rather than return it to Bashir. Seems simple enough, or is it? As Bashir made his way to the ring noticeably absent was his X Title, as it was already in the ring with the ref, a scenario usually reserved for a vacant title. Mike Tenay also noted in the X Factors segment to hype the match that Cornette had declared the title held up pending the result of the PPV match after the convoluted outcome a few weeks ago. Yet Bashir was still referred to as the current X Division Champion during his ring intro last Thursday and on the PPV, and was shown holding the title during all the graphics hyping the match. Confused? I doubt you're alone.

Despite being a valet of a heel tag team, Christy Hemme was portrayed as the babyface in her title match vs. Awesome Kong at the PPV. However, the live crowd missed this and seemed heavily in favor of Kong for the match. There were audible chants during the match proving this point, as well as some fan signs that were anti-Hemme as well. One sign simply stated "If Hemme wins, we riot." Another sign was a Playboy Bunny logo (Hemme has previously posed for Playboy) with a cross through it.

We all know TNA has too many authority figures on TV with Jim Cornette, Jeff Jarrett, Mick Foley, and Tracy Brooks all in the management mix. You can add referee Rudy Charles to that list after last Sunday. After stalling to start their tag team title defense vs. Abyss and Matt Morgan, Beer Money left the ring and started heading up the entrance ramp, apparently wanting no part of the duo. Charles then instructed ring announcer Dave Penzer to announce that the bell was to be rung, and Beer Money had until the count of ten to enter the ring and start the match. If they failed to do so, Beer Money would be counted out and forfeit their titles. That is just sloppy writing, as a referee should have no authority to make that decision about a title change.

Back live to tonight's show, the Main Event Mafia enters the ring for yet another show-opening promo. If you watch Impact closely, you'll notice the MEM always comes to the ring out of the right side entrance tunnel. The reason for this is TNA separates the entrances for their wrestlers by having the babyfaces enter on the left side and the heels on the right side. It will be fun to watch anytime a wrestler turns heel or face if they will abide by the "entrance tunnel rules." It will also be interesting to note which tunnel a wrestler portrayed in the tweener role will choose as well.

As Eric Young faces Sheik Abdul Bashir in the opening round of the X Title tournament, Mike Tenay notes that referee Shane Sewell has been suspended two weeks for his actions in the PPV match. He also mentions that Bashir was fined for his actions against Sewell. This is a two-faced statement, as it helps and hurts things from a logic standpoint. On the one hand, it is nice to hear actions such as Bashir's don't go unpunished and there are repercussions. However, it also defies logic in the sense that we see plenty of heinous acts by talents every single week, many of them worse than Bashir's. Yet we hear no mentions of a suspension or fine for any of those actions.

We see a lot of different locker rooms with all the backstage segments in wrestling today, but none better than the locker room of the Frontline in TNA. There are towels strewn about, various bottles sprawled around, and locker doors left open. In other words, it looks more like a real locker room than anything else presented to us on a wrestling television show.

Aside from a few exceptions, most of the opinions out there on TNA's Feast or Fired concept are quite negative. But I am actually one of those exceptions. I think it is a great idea to play off the success of the Money in the Bank contest in WWE and put their twist on it by making a case for every title. I enjoyed the concept last year, although I wish the briefcases would not have been passed around so much afterwards. If TNA books the follow through correctly, it will be interesting to have three guys waiting backstage with title shots that they could cash in at any point in the coming months.

The Petey Williams X Title shot was well done last year, as his redeeming of the case was a surprise and came at the most opportune time for him - after champ Jay Lethal had just competed in a match. The tag title shot by B.G. James and the world title shot by Scott Steiner were both announced in advance, so they did not have the same shock value. If Hernandez, Homicide and Jay Lethal and his partner (my guess is Consequences Creed) wait in the wings for a surprise moment it will add a lot of intrigue to the concept. If it is booked correctly, I hope we see the return of Feast or Fired next year.

After the briefcases are opened tonight, we say good bye to Curry Man. This no doubt signals the return of Christopher Daniels to TNA, hopefully to join the Frontline. While Daniels spent a year wrestling under a mask in TNA, this was not the first time we'd seen him wrestle under a mask on TV. Before the formation of TNA and even before his short stint in WCW, Daniels actually appeared on WWF television while under a developmental contract. He did not appear as Christopher Daniels or Curry Man, but tagged with Aaron "Jesus" Aguilera (remember him) as the Conquistadors on a few occasions.

While I pointed out that we had a new bleep counter record last week (12 compared to only three instances this week), TNA set another record last week as well. A new ratings record was set for last week's Impact, and hopefully that number will stay consistent, if not grow. Competition can only be good for professional wrestling.

TNA is not at WWE's ratings level, and I doubt they'll make it there any time soon. TNA is a show that caters more to the smart fans and the 20-somethings. Unfortunately, a 1.2 seems about as high as you can go targeting that demographic. The reason WWE is double and sometimes triple that rating is because the smart fans watch, but they also have a large audience of kids and their families. Take a look at a TNA crowd and you'll be hard pressed to find a lot of children or families, mostly just 20-somethings and people who have that "insider fan" look.

Numbers crunched harder than an unprotected chair shot to the head: There has been a lot of news recently about WWE cutting costs, and one side effect of that has been the release of many undercard performers. Rumors have also been circulating concerning TNA and trimming the fat from their roster. Already this year we've seen the departures of Bobby Lashley, Cade & Murdoch, and Paul London from WWE. We've also said good bye to TNA wrestlers Senshi, Tomko, Johnny Devine, and Gail Kim (although none of them were actually fired). While not huge names, all of the listed individuals were previous title holders in their companies, proving that success can be gone in the blink of an eye.

So what do the numbers say about current rosters and previous title holders?

In TNA's six-and-a-half year history, there have been 52 different individuals who have held some sort of title at one time or another. In that same time span WWE has featured 106 different wrestlers who have held a title, a number that makes sense since WWE has twice as many title belts as TNA.

While roster turnover and title changes can vary with the times, WWE and TNA are surprisingly similar in the number of those wrestlers who are still on the roster. In TNA, 46.2 percent of their previous 52 title winners are still with the company. If we consider guys like Goldust and Chris Jericho "still with the company" despite leaving and returning, WWE sits at a retention rate of 46.5 percent for their previous title holders in that same time span.

Curtis Shanks is a self-described wrestling nerd. Who else understands what Matt Striker is talking about all the time. Feedback is welcome, as comments, suggestions, questions and Dear John letters can be sent to Curtis at curtisshanks.torch@gmail.com.

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