By Chris Reed, Torch specialist

Episode number 201 of Impact aired this week, and we've seen a new face in Hernandez and a new heel in Eric Young getting pushes up the cards. We've got two distinct heel groups now, the question is what can they do? Can the faces rise up against the odds and overcome? Here's the answer...

IMPACT HITS

Alliance of Main Event Mafia and World Elite: This is a great way to give a group of mid-card stars (World Elite) that little extra push that they need by teaming up with the stable of superstars (Main Event Mafia). Once again, Eric Young was on fire on the stick, and we now have all sorts of new angle possibilities between the faces and the heels. You could also see a little hint of Kurt Angle just tolerating Young's point-of-view and stabilizing the other members of the Mafia who might not have been so fond of this alliance. Some people may not be fans of this black-and-white division of locker rooms, but I think it opens up a lot of new match ideas.

The Entire Card Brawls: Again, the critics of Impact seem to be not too impressed with this brawl, but as for me, I absolutely loved the chaos of it. I honestly can't remember WWE doing anything like this except for the mini-brawl that almost always happens in the last Raw before the Royal Rumble. It was chaotic, hectic, and got a lot of their roster on TV all at the same time in various fashions. Plus the fact that Impact focused a good segment of TV time on this brawl and that it happened during the middle of the show rather than just an after-thought to close it out made it seem that much more important.

Hernandez' Sit-Down Interview: For as much as Mike Tenay is annoying as all get-out when he calls matches, he is just that much more intense and on the spot when he does these little sit-down interviews. The back-story to Hernandez and his beliefs in what he does gave another dimension of character to Hernandez. He still has a little work to learn about cutting an interview, but let's make it official -- Hernandez's stock is on the rise.

IMPACT MISSES


Scott Steiner, Booker T, Doug Williams, and Rob Terry vs. Beer Money, Inc. and Team 3D: The brawl to end all brawls took too much attention away from what was going on in the ring. There was just not enough focus on the wrestling here, and I really don't believe there should have been any sort of finish considering the brawl that was going on. A much more believable finish would have been with the referee throwing the match out as all men in the ring joined into the ruckus going on around ringside. Sure, no one would have remembered the match, but it wouldn't have mattered because of the after-brawl. And was I the only one catching the "He's on steroids" chant directed at Rob Terry?

Brutus Magnus vs. Sting: I wish Brutus Magnus had been given a little more offense in order to continue the establishment of World Elite and their push on the card. Instead, we got a match that mostly took place during the commercial break, and what was shown on TV was mostly a Sting squash. At least the after-brawl led to Hernandez being the one to clear the ring of the heels and to continue his push. Yes, I'm a Hernandez fan and won't hide it.

Chris Reed is a PWTorch Specialist covering TNA Impact with a weekly Hits & Misses column.

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