4/16 TNA Impact Reax

Luke Fleeman of Visalia, Calif. (4.0): Best Match: Homicide vs. Chris Sabin vs. Naito. Worst Match: Kurt Angle vs. Christopher Daniels. TNA took a huge step back this week. First, the last few weeks featured a grudging respect build between Beer Money and Team 3D, which Beer Money just threw away. And now they are in a match with the cage open on the all-cage-match PPV? Second, the Beautiful People segment and the opening segment were almost identical to last week, which was boring. Third, the Abyss/Daffney vs. ODB/Cody match was a waste of my time, and didn't really build the Abyss vs. Morgan match. Most importantly, I was super-excited for Christopher Daniels coming back. Until the idiotic "Dusty Finish" ruined it all. Especially since Angle won without pinning Daniels. A lot of my excitement for Sunday night dissipated.

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (8.0): Best: Angle vs. Daniels; Foley promo. Worst: Wilde/Saeed/Kong vs. Beautiful People. Last chance before Lockdown, and it wasn't a bad effort. Big question: Now that Daniels has returned himself, will he be doing double duty for the PPV or will someone take over as Suicide? The opening three-way match served to give TV time to one match that was thrown out there at the last minute. During the match, there was talk of the Bonaduce-Young match as only being online. Hey, TNA, I use WebTV to do my reviews; that's right, an antiquated rusty bucket of microchips. Think I'm going to be able to follow a storyline I can't watch? And how many other people who only watch the show will care about that match? The belt really needs to come off Kong, but all roads lead to her retaining. Kong's face turn has been fairly well received, though she looks pretty weak in the process. The ECW reunion had a neat casual feel as opposed to an obviously scripted one. However, Balls and Runt taking a beat down from Beer Money washed away any feeling I had that a torch could be passed come Sunday. The mixed tag match served its purpose of the last bit of build for Morgan-Abyss, but lost opportunities were everywhere. They did well to sell Cody as a non-wrestler, but didn't give much chance to show off Daffney. The idea of some kind of stable involving Daffney, Abyss, and Stevie could be on the horizon, but I don't think Lockdown is where it will start. I've been knocking Mick Foley a lot lately, wondering aloud if it was a good idea to brig him into the fold. Tonight he had me thinking twice. Usually when he does interviews with his multiple personas, it's done split screen on the Tron. This time, he did something different: an almost Sybil-like back-and-forth switch between the two personalities. And to do this in front of the live Impact Zone crowd added to the difficulty. I thought he did a very good job selling the difference between Cactus Jack (dominant heel) and himself (passive face). His interaction with Sting almost makes you forget that Sting is MEM (the intent maybe?) TNA will probably make a liar out of me, but I just can't see Jeff turning heel at Lockdown. He actually makes a proper reversal of the referee's decision, and shows the plain-as-day reason why, and Jeff is treated as a heel by his own team? Excuse me? Cornette even looked to reverse the decision--before Jarrett came out--when Angle made himself a fool in front of Cornette. If Jeff turns now, it will be like in WCW when NWO went into overkill. I'd rather see an angle where Jarrett throws his hands up and tells the company to fend for itself if they can't be anything but bitchy little brats, rather than him siding with MEM.

We welcome your 0-10 score and comments on this show for a "TNA TV Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. Just to add a twist to this feature, include not just your hometown, but also your occupation (mechanic, lawyer, stay-at-home-dad, college student, etc.) so readers get a flavor for what everyone does as "day jobs." To contribute your thoughts on Impact, click here.

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