Instant Reaction - TNA Impact Wrestling 5/17
By Benjamin Tucker, PWTorch TV specialist

Overall Score - 8.0

I thought Impact this week was really, really good. With solid pacing, good wrestling, and logical story progression, tonight felt like a huge improvement for TNA. There are some minor gripes, such as how Hulk Hogan decides the guy who will face Bobby Roode next week (why not just turn it into a full-blown tournament?), and this entire story feels like it could've been stretched out over a couple more weeks. But, overall, I was very happy with the improvements made tonight.

Impact's pacing continues to improve week after week, with tonight's show being a prime example. Without cramming too much into one show, they managed to enhance the World Title, Knockouts Title, Joseph Park, and Styles-Daniels feuds, while apparently wrapping up the Anderson-Hardy feud. Considering that this all took place while hyping the main event and next week's Open Fight Night, and you can see that TNA really is improving. And, most of these stories aren't bad, either.

Styles-Daniels is still running the risk of having some sort of hokey ending/way to keep A.J. looking strong, but at the moment all three of the main characters, especially Daniels, are playing their roles well. The Park-Ray story does seem to be developing at a mind-bogglingly slow rate, and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because they want Abyss's return to be at Bound for Glory, but if they want his in-ring return then, why start Park's segments this early?

The Knockouts triple threat match wasn't the best in-ring wise, but the finish, while predictable, was effective in continuing the ongoing feud between Gail and Velvet. A more personal feud between the two could do wonders for the division and finally give women's wrestling fans a story that doesn't suck (on that note, I am still waiting patiently for Kharma's return).

All of the OFN qualifying matches served their purpose, and I was surprised at how good the battle royal was. Now, Taz is dead wrong in calling it the "best battle royal of all time" - it only went 11 minutes - but for what it was, it was really entertaining. There was a lot more than random punching and kicking, and it built up to a nice finish. Plus, Garett Bischoff didn't win. That's always good. Look, I don't dislike the kid, but send him to OVW. He is not ready for prime time. Did anyone else see his weak-looking kicks on Devon? Bully Ray getting a win off RVD was a good move, too, considering that Ray really needed a win after countless high-profile losses over the last couple of months.

Overall, Impact much better than almost any other non-PPV show of the last couple of weeks, in fact. Pacing was one of TNA's key issues, and it seems like they may have finally beat that demon. Let's see if this momentum continues into Open Fight Night.

Any questions or comments? Message me on Twitter at BTuckertorch.

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