By Chris Reed, Torch specialist

-- 8/27 TNA IMPACT HITS & MISSES

We're kind of in a strange middle-of-the road time with TNA it seems. THe next PPV, No Surrender, is still far enough out to build up some matches. The last PPV, Hard Justice, was barely worth remembering. A.J. Styles got his crying towel out and then had it quickly taken away by Sting. Let's see what was worth watching from this week's edition of Impact.

IMPACT HITS

Suicide vs. Samoa Joe becomes Suicide and Daniels vs. Samoa Joe and D'Angelo Dinero: It's one of those basic concepts that works well when executed correctly -- if a group of wrestlers are all brawling with each other, then book the natural match to keep the fans into it. There should have been some more build-up between Samoa Joe and Suicide (the former champion going after the current champion angle just writes itself), but at least the feud between Suicide and Dinero and the feud between Samoa Joe and Daniels both got build-up to their future one-on-one matches. Dinero is fitting in just right with the speed and athleticism typical of the X-Division, and shouldn't take too much of a dip from the loss in this tag match.

Hamada Debuts Hardcore Style: I can't say I've heard much of Hamada prior to this debut on Impact (was she even featured anywhere near to the degree that Sarita was?) but she definitely took advantage of the TV time that she got. Battling Daffney in a hardcore match was a perfect fit for Daffney, but it turned out to be a gem for Hamada. She seems to have a size that could rank up there with Awesome Kong and still have some athleticism to her as well. A nice Michinoku/Hamada Driver for the finish too.

Continued Advance Of Youth: If there's one thing I have to credit TNA for, it's for trying more often to get different people pushed up the card. Unlike a certain Monday night wrestling show that hasn't had a new wrestler in its title picture for about eight months now. Let's go over the list of wrestlers who got featured with pushes one way or another this week on Impact. Eric Young, check. Hernandez, check. A.J. Styles (yes, he's not new, but it is fresh), check. Samoa Joe, check. Daniels, check. Even Matt Morgan gets a check. It gives the fan an interest to keep tuning in and see how these men progress. I know I'm interested.

IMPACT MISSES

Set Your Stopwatches (Again): I am really getting sick and tired of complaining about short TV matches in TNA. With the exception of the Hamada-Daffney match and the two multi-man matches at the end of the show, no contest in the ring lasted more than three minutes. And these are (for the most part) coming from wrestlers who have credibility to them. I want to see some story-telling in the ring, and you just can't accomplish that in under three minutes.

Rhino vs. Jesse Neal: Please, please, for the love of my sanity, end this experiment. Now. Jesse Neal doesn't belong in a wrestling ring, and Rhino deserves so much better than the role of the frustrated coach who just wants to kick the behind of his student. Neal has not progressed one bit during the few matches he's been in, and he's never won a match by pinfall or submission. Watching Jesse Neal wrestle reminds me of the time back in the WWE when Zach Gowen was given the pity run. Someone needs to pull an Old Yeller on this whole thing and just end the suffering.

Overall Show Quality: Of the matches that we did see longer than three minutes, there wasn't anything that really stood out as above expectations. Dixie Carter's on-screen debut with Bobby Lashley was a ho-hum moment, mostly because it wasn't done in front of a live audience that might have given Carter and Lashley some support. The other matches were good, but not great. Just kinda blah. Considering some of the excitement that Impact has produced in weeks past, this episode was just pretty much Miss-worthy.

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