Instant Reaction - TNA Impact Wrestling 2/23
By Benjamin Tucker, PWTorch TV specialist

Overall Score - 7.5

Man, over the last six months Impact has gone from pretty bad to consistently good. Some of TNA's issues are still present, though. Segments like the A.J. Styles-Robbie E. segment didn't do much for me because the TV Title means nothing and the feud with Kazarian has been ignored for a while now, making the entire angle lose its focus. (I know, they only have two hours a week, but it's still annoying.) The Roode-Sting feud still does nothing for me, either. The retirement tease for Sting felt hollow, and his interaction with Roode wasn't different enough from their last few encounters to seem very exciting. Oh, and what's the big deal with him returning to the ring? Didn't he just wrestle two weeks ago? I digress.

Overall, the action was pretty solid tonight. The opening tag match had a nice pace to it and Joe & Magnus are meshing really well together. The Knockouts match was fine for what it was, and the X Division match was once again great for the short amount of time it was given, even if I dislike the idea of Alex Shelley already being used as enhancement talent.

Brandon Jacobs was surprisingly entertaining tonight for a guy who doesn't cut promos on a regular basis. His chokeslam through the table on Ray looked good, as well, and it was a nice end to what was already a very nice tag team match. Ray is a great guy to work with Jacobs, as he has a style that's easier to mesh with and can cover many of his opponents's flaws.

I'm having a hard time finding major issues with the show tonight. While TNA still has pacing issues, plus the problems with Crazy Sting and Garett Bischoff, the last two episodes of Impact have been above and beyond almost anything I've seen from the company since I started watching it weekly back in late 2009. The shows are developing a nicer flow to them, the wrestlers are being given more of a chance to shine, and the overall product is drastically improving. Now, if only they can have a satisfying pay-per-view...

Any questions or comments? Follow me on Twitter at BTuckertorch, or e-mail me at btuckertorch@aol.com.

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