Bruce Mitchell, PWTorch columnist (6.0)

I'll give TNA's Jeff Jarrett and Vince Russo this: even though the Main Event Mafia program has its usual storyline holes and rushed angles, the beginning of the program gives more of a purpose to these shows than they usually have. I'll also give Samoa Joe that he "created movement" or whatever it is Nash calls it, and sorta got a match out of Big Kev. A.J. Styles created even more movement by selling the entire match for the miscast heel, Sting. The insane Kurt Angle put his neck on the line with that somersault and missed moonsaults, but he and Abyss had a good match. Christian versus Booker T, with its rushed stipulation, wasn't much good.

The ten-man spotfest that opened the show was the ten-man spotfest that opened the show. It was funny to see the Motor City Machine Guns heel on the beloved Uncle Mick, then wrestle their entire match against Beer Money as clever young babyfaces. The match was good until each team kicked out of too many finishers and it got convoluted. Pretty little Taylor Wilde makes for a good contrast against the big, mean Awesome Kong, but the Knockouts tag match wasn't much. At least the Canadian beat the not-a-terrorist, so the honor of the American veteran was preserved. TNA shouldn't have let Scott Hall sit ringside and distract from the show. They also should have made Jeremy Borash tuck in his shirt.

Pat McNeill, PWTorch columnist (5.0)

The story of the night was Kurt Angle, who is determined to carry this entire promotion on his broken-down, damaged body. The Olympic gold medalist took a number of insane risks for a match that will be little noted and not too long remembered. It's a good thing Bruno Sammartino doesn't watch TNA, or he would never have given Angle his blessing on that upcoming DVD.

There's nothing that sells this TNA Originals vs. Main Event Mafia storyline like having the two forty-somethings who run the company refer to the babyfaces as "kids". Sure, there's nothing wrong with having one major storyline to anchor your promotion. But most of the Main Event Mafia won't be going to the house shows. The storyline revolves around a small group of heels, most of whom need gimmicks and tricks to pull off a decent wrestling match. And that's not the way to compete with WWE, where you have heel wrestlers who, for all their faults, can really work from bell to bell. Having said all that, you have to admit that Sting, Kevin Nash and Kurt Angle gutted it out tonight to give up an honest effort at the top. That's what saved the show.

Joe's match with Nash was laid out smartly. It's hard to believe the company's going to drag out the Joe vs. Nash feud, but there it is. There's also the additional problem of the Motor City Machine Guns. Not only do the TNA Originals get sponsored by the newly uncool Mick Foley, but the Guns, one of the hottest acts in the promotion, are too cool for school, and don't want to be associated with losers like Styles and Joe. And they're still babyfaces. Huh? The tag team title match between Beer Money and the Guns was okay. We've seen better efforts from both teams. Christian and Booker may be legends, but they didn't get to be "legends" with halfhearted matches like that one.

Someone's going to have to explain why Scott Hall and the Insane Clown Posse were in the front row during this show, and the announcers had to not mention their names.

James Caldwell, PWTorch columnist (5.5)

A middle of the road show deserves a middle of the road score. When there were spectacular moves, there was no-selling. When there was potential for a fantastic finish, there was interference. When there was potential to elevate a younger wrestler, the rug was pulled out from underneath. The third point can be - and had better be - corrected on Impact going forward if the Mafia vs. Young Lions storyline is going to do anything to elevate the younger talent, but it was frustrating to watch non-clean finish after non-clean finish in every War match.

Match of the night was Abyss vs. Kurt Angle, but even that had enough flaws to write another three paragraphs. That match had great intensity, drama, and believable nearfalls, but it suffered from a lack of long-term selling, risky moves, and chair shots to the head. The risks were certainly minimized, but the sum of the risks taken in the match was enough to bring pause when considering Kurt Angle was involved. His moonsault off the stage was a highlight, but, again, Abyss was back up on his feet no-selling within 30 seconds. It doesn't mean anything if the other guy is going to take it like a basic scoop slam.

Joe vs. Nash hit the right note on the intensity level. We just had the eye-rolling moment of Nash with his feet on the ropes to score a pin. Hopefully Joe kicking out of two Jackknife powerbombs will lead to something on TV where the Mafia can plant seeds of respect for Joe, Styles, etc. to build the next chapter in the feud. They appear to be in this for the long haul, so a PPV where the Young Lions were swept rather easily isn't the end of the world just yet, but they need to start getting to the point of elevating the younger wrestlers.

Sting vs. Styles was okay, but not memorable among past TNA PPV main events. The match had good energy and the crowd was involved, but it was just missing something in the pre-match hype to really convey the importance of the match and the "dream match" factor of Sting facing Styles. ... ICP's appearance with Scott Hall was surprising, but not surprising at the same time because they're Attitude era holdovers who fit right in with an Attitude era booking philosophy and roster. It seemed like something TNA would put together to live off past relevancy. ...

Daniel Wilkenfeld, PWTorch Impact specialist (8.0)

I enjoyed this show very much. The preliminary matches were mostly better than I expected. I was happy to see Young bring home a win in the opener, and Bashir gelled with Rhino better than I would have anticipated. The women's match was nothing special, and felt a bit out of place. I always enjoy watching the Guns work; their matches are clearly very choreographed, but never reach the point for me where that pulls me out of the story.

I thought the first three wins by the Mafia were all solid, and built to a very good story where the fate of the world rested on the shoulders of A.J. Styles. It was only in the main event I think TNA dropped the ball. The match itself was fine, but the ending struck me as somewhat anti-climatic given all the build-up. Where were the rest of the TNA originals when Angle & Booker approached the ring?

Also, I'm usually a fan of roll-up finishes, but this one felt like it came out of nowhere. Again, it was a fine match, but, given the way the card was structured to build to it and the talent involved, it should have been phenomenal. Still, the show told a solid story from beginning to end, and I give it credit for having at least some faith in the members of the audience's attention spans.

Wade Keller, Torch editor (7.0)

The big matches delivered up to or beyond what a reasonable TNA fan should have expected going into this. Eight matches, each about the right length given their spot on the card and given the intensity of the feud.

The appearance of the ICP and Scott Hall at ringside was just odd. Not really sure why they did that other than create some buzz. Hall and the ICP wouldn't have gotten to the front row in front of the hard camera for a full match without TNA's consent. They played it pitch perfect to make it seem unplanned, though, although it's always annoying when announcers ignore something that everyone else sees.

What matters most was the big storyline that weaved throughout the show of the Main Event Mafia establishing a night of dominance with four wins in four big matches to end the show. The downside is that three of the four were soft wins with roll-ups and ropes or tights or low blows or metal objects or all of the above factoring in. It seemed they wanted the MEM to get big wins without actually hurting the younger wrestlers. I supposed that worked out, but eventually on a PPV you want to see a majority of the big matches end more decisively. At least the finishes were about 70 percent less convoluted than is typical for a TNA PPV.

Nash-Joe exceeded expectations. A little. Christian-Booker lived down to expectations. As usual. Styles and Sting surpassed expectations. Styles remains one of the best in the biz. Angle-Abyss was the match of the night, easily. It had a beginning, middle, and end, and the end seemed to come several times before it actually ended. Good drama, good heat, and good finish. Some memorable moments there.

Three entertaining hours. Not without faults. Booking-wise, probably better than typical but still full of frustrations and flaws that need to be cleaned up on Impact in coming weeks, most prominently establishing a non-patronizing name for the Short Young Jobbers led by Samoa Joe and A.J. Styles.

They also need to tone down bringing kids into storylines. Angle's threats to pay Jarrett's younger daughters a visit just shakes you out of enjoying escapist entertainment and become disturbing in a way where you just want to turn off the product.

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