-- 2/11 TNA Impact Reax

Bill of Pittsburgh, Pa., engineer and freelance wrestling writer (6.0): Best: Desmond Wolfe promo prior to the Wolfe/Hernandez vs. Angle/Anderson match. Worst: Show end with Hall and Syxx beating down Angle, and Hogan "turning" on them. This is the second week in a row that they put together a program that had decent action and decent promos throughout the night, only to end on a dud segment. Last week it was the Nash vs. Foley "No DQ" match and this week it was this segment. TNA needs to stop ending on dud segments and give the show a feel and direction with some consistent storylines. I was happy to see a TV return of the X Division, which paid off in spades with a good match from Amazing Red and Doug Williams. Pope vs. Jordan confused me; why would they put Jordan in a qualifying match for the Eight Card Stud Tournament? Pope is way over with the crowd right now and can work a great match. Joe vs. A.J. has been done before, but they cut decent promos on each other. I thought A.J. grabbing the "constant face turns" card was a good touch. I was a bit disappointed that they didn't do a bit more to point to the PPV, as this was the lead-in show heading into Against All Odds. Ending on the Hogan segment left things dangling with no real direction heading into the PPV or next week's show.

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (5.0): Best: Williams vs. Red. Worst: Hogan swerve/anti-swerve. This was one of those shows where "cast members" needed to revolt. But maybe they are like when Hogan looks like he's responding to the crowd, but the crowd isn't shown doing likewise. The crowd did redeem itself from being sheep-like by teeing off on Orlando Jordan. Desmond Wolfe's quick rise has led to a nearly as quick of a fall, but maybe that's just me. The fan dressed in a Hulkamania shirt and holding big signs got a lot of attention, which makes me think there's more propaganda than fan happening there. With Bischoff as guest referee for the Joe-A.J. match, it absolutely wreaks of the joke being on A.J. It's been a joke with him as a Flair-influenced heel. And Hogan's swerve--if you want to call it that--was ridiculously unconvincing and could be seen coming all night long. The opening promo had him talking out of both sides of his mouth; either that, it was horribly scripted making Hogan look incredibly dumb. The crowd's "underrated" chant at Eric Young had to hurt The Hulkster big time. Hogan's tease of lacing them up better be just a tease. You can tell that Flair is feeling the itch too. It's unfortunate at their ages.

Steve Loncasta of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (2.5): I abandoned TNA back in October and only came back for the Jan. 4 show, which was very good. And after getting my hopes up that TNA was making a big change for the better, they produce a show like this? I don't really have words for it. It wasn't bad, it wasn't good. It was boring and confusing. Hogan's interview went on forever, Eric Young looked worse than he already has been portrayed, Jarrett and Foley have both been emasculated, a mic dropped out of the ceiling on a backstage interview, and Flair outshined both Styles and Joe. But the sad part is nobody cares one way or the other. Wasn't Joe just a heel and A.J. a babyface at the start of the year? All they did was switch sides. Confusing. After Jan. 4, I cared about TNA and thought that finally they climbed the mountain. Somehow, someway, TNA found a way to disinterest me again just over a month. I wish them all the best, but the new creative direction isn't working. Short story made shorter is that nobody much cares anymore.

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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