TNA IMPACT HITS & MISSES (5/14): Leon Slater vs. Cedric Alexander in X Division Title match, Santana’s simple reflective promo, a five minute battle royal, Indi Hartwell fired and rehired

HITS

Leon Slater Video Package to Open the Show:

Showing Leon Slater’s X-Division Title win over Moose at last year’s Slammiversary was a great way to build for the main event of the show. It was also good that they mentioned the historic potential of Slater’s X-Division title reign should he win tonight’s match in the backstage segment.

Mike Santana with a simple, yet effective promo:

Mike Santana’s promo was focused on how he has held TNA down since the company’s AMC debut and how he respects a tenured Eric Young, but he will defeat him. Don’t need much more than that when your next opponent is decided earlier in the evening. Until….(see misses section).

MISSES

Eric Young winning a Five Minute TNA World Heavyweight Title Battle Royal:

The first problem is inserting a well past his prime Eric Young in the main event title program. The second mistake is that the Battle Royale went five minutes. It felt inconsequential.

Lei Ying Lee gets a “You Deserve It” chant”

C’mon. I think that is all that needs to be said. Be a better crowd. Also, Xia Brookside makes a bad heel in this feud, and always. She is the consummate babyface.

“The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine, his role in “Over Your Dead Body” and the Elegance Brand:

Is the year 2004? Keith Jardine hasn’t been relevant in literally decades and, even when he was, it was a flash in the pan. Add to that the beyond embarrassing Elegance Brand and you have your ingredients for a dorky segment.

ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…

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Clunky and Comedic Sac-Town Street Fight:

AJ Francis and K.C. Navarro had a very clunky, goofy match tonight. Comedy shouldn’t be the tone that you strike with a recently returning Navarro who should be marked for an ascent to the main event. Francis is a mid-card, comedy act but that’s exactly why he shouldn’t be Navarro’s first feud.

Daria Rae Bigfooting Eric Young’s contendership for Steve Maclin (Second part to the Hits portion):

Neither Eric Young or Steve Maclin are compelling challengers to Santana at this point in his title run, but, we’ve already seen and done Maclin-Santana in what was one of the worst, clunkiest storylines in recent wrestling memory when “Feast or Fired” was interwoven into the angle. Daria Rae replacing Young as number one contender with Maclin, for no apparent reason, is making the show more about her than the wrestlers. Why do we need that and why is her character getting so much TV time doing the same dumb things week after week?

Indi Hartwell Fired then Re-Signed by Santino:

This is the “Feast or Fired” nonsense all over again. Why does everything have to be overly convoluted with TNA lately? It’s doing dumb, counterproductive things just for the sake of eating TV time for a weekly two hour show.

Cedric Alexander defeats Leon Slater for the X-Division Title Ending Slater’s chance at History:

This has to be a joke, right. This gross incompetence has descended the bar to its lowest point for TNA, in recent memory, and that is saying a lot. Why, in the World, would you end the tremendously popular Leon Slater’s X-Division Title reign one day before breaking the X-Division Title reign record? Slater is arguably the promotion’s biggest star and has a connection to the fans that is likely, currently unmatched. Why not simply have him drop the title next week, if that is the direction? Is it simply for the shock value? That’s the TNA mantra nowadays. All that lost good will simply to debut Fabian Aichner? I have no problem with the former Giovanni Vinci from the WWE main roster, but he really doesn’t have much of a ceiling or past star power. Is anyone dying for an Alexander-Aichner feud? Talent evaluation has been a bit of an issue with TNA in this last calendar year, as well.