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 B.G. James is still alive, Lethal and Creed are opportunists, and Shane Sewell collected unemployment for three days. But what else is there to notice? Let's see what we can spot. Cue the opening pyro.

While we prepare to put Impact under the Microscope, let's see what was noticed during last Sunday's Genesis PPV. Last week, Mick Foley mentioned to the MCMG "a level of suckitude not seen since Kazmaier and Oz in '92." Mike Tenay repeated the quote in his commentary Sunday, so what is the reference? Bill Kazmaier was a Strong Man competitor who tried his hand at pro wrestling in WCW. He faced off against Oz (Kevin Nash) at Halloween Havoc in 1991 and beat him by submission. The match was a dud, just awful to watch, as he actually defeated Oz with a bear hug of all moves.

We saw the TNA match debut of referee Shane Sewell (who is actually a wrestler). But referees competing in matches is nothing new in the wrestling world. TNA's Slick Johnson competed in a few WCW matches as a member of the NWO. Former TNA and recently released WWE ref Mike Posey has a couple of TNA matches in his past.

The WWE refs have plenty of match experience as well. The most well known would have to be Scott Armstrong, who had a long career before becoming a ref in WWE. He has competed in promotions such as Jim Crockett Promotions, WCW, and Smoky Mountain Wrestling. Charles "Little Naitch" Robinson wrestled and lost against Randy Savage's girlfriend at Slamboree in 1999, thus allowing the recently fired Savage to be reinstated. Robinson also wrestled a tag match on Nitro with Ric Flair as his partner.

Eric Bischoff forced Chad Patton to wrestle Chris Jericho on Raw a few years ago - a match that Bischoff himself refereed. Mike Chioda took part in a Smackdown match from 2001 that saw Jericho, The Rock, and Chioda face off against The Dudleys and fellow ref Nick Patrick. Jack Doan was the ref of a Crash Holly vs. Mark Henry Hardcore Title defense on Heat in 2000. After the match Doan took off his ref shirt and tried to win the title from Crash under the old 24/7 rule.

Sewell came to the ring Sunday donning a basketball jersey with referee stripes that had Sewell and the number 27 on it. Not sure exactly what the number refers to, but it could be title reigns. Of the currently active titles in IWA and WWC in Puerto Rico, Sewell has a combined 27 reigns with those different belts.

Compromise is a great asset to a successful tag team. Tag team champs Jay Lethal and Consequences Creed met in the middle for their entrance last Sunday. The intro video and music of Lethal played, but the video screen above the entrance ramp displayed the intro video of Creed. That may signal a short-term partnership though, as TNA has yet to mesh their music or videos like they do to some other tag teams.

Sting mentions the fact that before Sunday, he had not competed in Charlotte, N.C. in 15 years. That is not true. There have been plenty of WCW Nitro episodes emanating from Charlotte since 1994. On September 11, 2000 Sting defeated Ron and Don Harris in a handicap match. May 3, 1999 saw a heated brawl between Sting and Goldberg that was instigated by then WCW president Ric Flair. The show-closing segment on December 15, 1997 saw Sting appearing on the entrance ramp to face of with Hogan. And the December 11, 1995 show featured a main event of Sting and Hogan defeating Flair and Arn Anderson.

There were plenty of instances of ringside brawling during last Sunday's PPV. During most of those camera shots, there was quite a bit of popcorn spilled on the floor by the guardrails. Not a noteworthy mention, but in all my years of watching wrestling I have a hard time recalling any instance of a fan eating popcorn during a wrestling show.

Back to tonight's show. After the Feast or Fired match last month, I was full of praise about the concept. The MIB contract in WWE has been an interesting plot the past few years, and TNA had the opportunity to do the same thing, but with three different titles. Creed and Lethal were opportunists, cashing in their shot after Robert Roode had just been injured in a loss. Hernandez, however, did not pick an opportune time tonight. Sting not only had the evening off from competition, but three of his buddies standing by at ringside to interfere for his cause.

Is the end near for the Impact bleep counter? During Brother Devon's promo tonight, he mentions he is going to kick Kurt Angle's ass at the next PPV, but the censor did not omit the easy-to-predict bleep opportunity. The censors have to still be on standby, however, as I'm sure a Roxxi or ODB segment will be coming up soon.

The build begins for Against All Odds, where it seems we will see Devon vs. Kurt Angle and Ray vs. Sting (looks as though we will not see a world title match on that show). Team 3D starts the hype with listing all of their tag team accomplishments, but saying they've never proven themselves as singles wrestlers. They have had that chance in the past though.

With the brand extension in WWE, Ray went to Raw and Devon to Smackdown. Ray involved himself in feuds for the Hardcore Title, experiencing nothing more than mid-card success. Devon was given the gimmick of Reverend Devon, a heel character. Along with being responsible for the "testify" catchphrase, Devon also helped launch the career of his protege, Batista, then known as Deacon Batista.

While nothing beats an ROH DVD, if given the chance for a wrestling TV show, I would pick Impact over the WWE far more often than not. That's not the popular decision, but I simply enjoy TNA more overall at this point. I start to question that decision however any time TNA presents a Beautiful People/Palin skit. They are not funny or interesting. Please move on and give us something I can stand to watch.

The outline for the middle of tonight's show is a Love/Sky/Roxxi/Wilde skit, a Kongtourage promo, a Sojourner Bolt Rough Cut segment, and then a six-woman tag match. That's 31 consecutive minutes of Impact involving just the Knockouts, something you will never see in WWE. While some of it has to do with TNA's push of the Knockouts, part of it may be that half of the roster is injured right now, as Impact underwent heavy re-writes after the injury list filled up.

Heading into the end of the show, the editing department drew my ire as there were two segments that meshed together that shouldn't have. Mick Foley gave a great promo backstage to Jeremy Borash, but the second he walked off we cut to the ring for his entrance as special enforcer in the main event. Foley could have been standing a few feet from the entrance tunnel, but the way it was presented made it seem as though the two segments took place at completely different times.

Tonight's main event of Kurt Angle vs. A.J. Styles was billed as one of the biggest main events in Impact history, although it was just a bait and switch with the Angle injury hook. We saw this main event on Impact three times last year. In June, Angle beat Styles in a lumberjack match. In back-to-back weeks in August, Styles defeated Angle in a no-ropes challenge and a ladder match for Angle's gold medal. We also saw this match-up twice on PPV last year, although those two matches were both semi-main events. Styles has the upper hand, as he was 4-1 vs. Angle in their matches last year.

Another instance of TNA not hiding the fact that they are a taped show, despite the characters on TV acting like it is Thursday night. As Impact goes off the air and I finish up this article, I get a TNA Mobile text message. The message says that TNA wrestlers have arrived in Dublin today to kick off the UK tour, with footage online tomorrow. Either Impact is taped on a day other than Thursday, or I'm choosing the wrong airline for my flights.

Numbers crunched harder than an unprotected chair shot to the head: it's not a new release, but I just finished watching the TNA Ultimate Matches DVD. We've seen plenty of gimmick matches in TNA, but these are the select few that stand out. So what do the numbers say about TNA and Ultimate matches?

The two most well-known have to be the King of the Mountain and Ultimate X. There have been six KOTM matches - five on PPV for the title and one on Impact for #1 contender. Jeff Jarrett is the only person to win two (the only two he wrestled in). Christian and A.J. Styles are the lone talents who have competed in three separate KOTM matches. Of the five title matches, only one was successful, Samoa Joe's win last year.

Ultimate X happens a little more frequently, as TNA has given us 15 in their history. Chris Sabin has been in eight, way ahead of the five appearances for Christopher Daniels, Michael Shane, and Styles. Daniels has the most wins however, as he has been victorious four times. Chris Sabin is close behind with three victories, actually winning three out of the first five Ultimate X matches. A title has been on the line seven times in an Ultimate X match, six for the X and one for the tag titles. In all seven instances the title changed hands, as there has never been a successful title defense in an Ultimate X match.

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 odes can be sent to Curtis at curtisshanks.torch@gmail.com.

We suggest these recent related articles...

10/5 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Natalya vs. Paige, Owens vs. Cara, Stephanie McMahon, Sasha Banks, Xavier Woods

COLLECTIBLES COLUMN: The History of Foam Hands in Pro Wrestling

9/28 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Kane's Split Personality, Divas Revolution, Heyman & Big Show, Reigns vs. Wyatt