By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

IMPACT HITS

Opening Segment: Impact got off to a pretty good start this week. They did a nice job with the post-PPV video highlight reel. It was interesting to see the Main Event Mafia come to the ring to talk in their wrestling gear. The suits have become their trademark, but they emphasized that they were ready to fight all night long if need be to finish off the TNA Frontline once and for all. Of course, the real reason was that Sting was going to end up being in a match right away, and they wanted him to be dressed to wrestle, but they came up with a good excuse. Kurt Angle was good on the mic, recapping the positives for the MEM from the PPV, along with the big negative of losing to Mick Foley in the end. It also set up the main event, and the idea that they were planning on taking out both Foley and AJ Styles.

Frontline - MEM Brawl: After the MEM interfered and cost Hernandez his Title shot against Sting, there was quite a nice brawl between the group and various members of the TNA Frontline. Of course, LAX are not members of the Frontline, but it was good to see them fighting the MEM. It will be interesting to see if this gets them to be members of the faction. It was nice to see both Homicide and AJ Styles get in quite a bit of offense before the numbers game caught up with them. It was also a surprise to see Team 3D join the brawl. I thought Brother Ray was going to be gone for a long time, so I guess they swerved me (and others too). It was also nice to see the Frontline actually get the better of the MEM in a brawl.

Steiner vs. Styles: This was a solid 15 minute main event. It wasn't great, but it was good enough to get a Hit. AJ Styles created the movement, but Steiner carried his part of the bargain fairly well. I didn't like how first Foley and then Steiner grabbed chairs from the front row. Shouldn't there be fans sitting in the front row? That looked bad. But, the use of the chair was well done. I didn't like how Styles kicked out after being hit in the head with a lead pipe. But, it was good to see the return of Petey Williams. Williams is a talented wrestler who has a built in feud with Steiner and it should be fun to see that feud develop over the next few weeks.

IMPACT MISSES

Wasting Feast or Fired: Last week, Jay Lethal cashed in his Feast or Fired briefcase to get a Tag Team Title shot with Consequences Creed against Beer Money. They won the Titles, but lost them three days later. They looked like wimpy heels in the way that they won the Titles, and losing them so soon isn't going to help. This week, Hernandez cashed in his World Title shot and ended up in a 4 minute match that predictably ended in a disqualification. I'm not saying that Hernandez should have won the Title, but the Title shot should have meant something more than just being an unannounced throwaway match (Mike Tenay was more concerned with hyping the main event than calling the match itself) in the second segment of Impact. It made no sense why Homicide wasn't with him ring side, considering that Scott Steiner, Kurt Angle and Booker T were all ring side for Sting. I also was confused why Shane Sewell is still a referee. Didn't he get fired from that job and hired as a wrestler? Then why is he still a referee? It was a disappointing way for Hernandez's Title shot to happen.

Long Time, Too Much Talking: During the first half of Impact, there was one match that only lasted 4 minutes. Now, after that match there was a good brawl, so there was some more physicality at least. However, after that brawl, there was a very long period of time with a lot of talking, and no action (I have been led to believe that the A in TNA stands for Action, am I wrong?). There was the solid promo and challenge from Brother Devon, then Brother Ray. Then a Cross the Line video. Then Lauren backstage with the Beautiful People. Then a commercial. Then a video focusing on Angle vs. Jarrett from the PPV. Then a scene in the MEM's dressing room where the doctors informed Angle that he wasn't cleared to wrestle, with Steiner saying he would take his place. Then a commercial. Then a video of the Beautiful People and "Sarah Palin." Then the long in ring segment with those three, plus Roxxi and Taylor Wilde talking a lot and then mucking them. Then Lauren interviewed the Kongtourage. Then a Rough Cut aired on Sojourner Bolt (again, she came off more of a babyface than a heel in this video - I don't get it). Then finally, the six Knockout tag match. That is four entire segments without a match. Isn't in ring competition what is supposed to set TNA apart from WWE?

Kongtourage: I'm just not impressed with the Kongtourage. For one thing, Awesome Kong shouldn't need an entourage. She has a mouth piece in Raesha Saeed. She doesn't need the others. For another, the name is just cheesy. Everything in TNA has to have a name, and half the time it turns out stupid (Lethal Consequences, I'm looking in your direction). For another, why are all the black women heels? Three of the four black women in TNA are in this group, the other is a heel manager. The one non-black in the group is an Arab (at least she's pretending to be). This is not a good idea. Also, the group isn't that talented, particularly with Rhaka Khan bringing down the talent level. Kong should just be Kong.

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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