By Ryan Kester

James Storm

When I finished my report last night and went about the remainder of my evening and reflected upon the show I just watched, I wasn't thinking about the title picture and I wasn't thinking about next week's Open Fight Night; I was thinking about James Storm's promo.

Storm is taking some time off to heal some long-term industries, and it would have been simple for TNA to have just let him fade away and have a simple return. Instead, James Storm delivered one of the best babyface promos I have seen in years. Despite the presence of Jeff Hardy and Hulk Hogan on the show, James Storm managed to go out and create a moment with the live crowd when he spoke about his doubts and how he thought his luck had simply run out.

I was worried before that promo that TNA had simply lost its enthusiasm with James Storm and were looking for a way to move on from him. Instead he got a chance to deliver a very memorable promo that has me excited about whatever story he is going to be telling when he is healthy enough to go full time again.

Hulk Hogan's announcements

I am tentatively excited about the Open Fight Night concept and there are a lot of ways this can go right for TNA and a lot of ways it can go terribly wrong. If we get a bunch of screwy finishes or jobbers during the "Gut Checks," then this will be a waste. If TNA sticks to the youth movement their talents has been discussing an we get some solid wrestling matches with good finishes, then this could be a very, very good thing.

I like the idea of having the TV Title defended every week. It's a bit weird to see the focus put on that championship in this manner directly after the Title was gone from television for a month straight, but anything is better than the comedy prop prestige the title held just a few months ago. The first of these matches was also the only non-roll-up finish we got last night, and I hope TNA continues with the trend of allowing these matches to be competitive and finish clean.

I am most cautious about the idea of having anyone challenge for the various titles because it kind of defeats the purpose of PPVs and number-one contenders. This is what leads me to believe we may end up getting a bunch of screwball finishes out of the entire ordeal, and that is the last direction TNA needs to be going with the effort to liven up their product.

Rob Van Dam vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Mr. Anderson

I cannot pretend that the idea of another round of all-former WWE talent in the number one contender's match excites me, nor can I pretend that I think RVD is a good choice for a number one contender considering his recent lack of motivation and presence on the show. However, the match last night was very well-wrestled and Hardy and Anderson did a good job of establishing why they are going for the TNA Title and why they feel they deserve the shot.

As it stands, RVD feels like a filler opponent for Roode and a means for TNA to get through another month of him as the champion. That's all well and good, but if that feeling exists in any other TNA viewer then it will not help sell the Sacrifice PPV. I would say that this would be a good opportunity for Roode to get a clean win in, but if that hasn't happened by now I don't expect it to suddenly occur.

Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles

This match was directly hindered by Angle's nagging injury and the storyline involving Christopher Daniels and Kazarian and the dirt they have on Styles. It also wasn't helped by the odd cut to commercial that may very well have not been TNA's fault, but the missing chunk of the match hindered the performance for me.

The finish left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth simply because it was one of many roll-up finishes on the show and the hyped reveal of Daniels' and Kazarian's dirty on Styles was made to him rather than to the audience. A month or so ago I would have said that was effective storytelling. At this point it feels like they're stalling as they're trying to figure out what the story is they want to tell. I'm willing to stick with this and see that the end game really is, but this segment left me less excited about the storyline than I was going in.

Gail Kim and Velvet Sky

The eight-woman Knockouts Tag team match didn't do much for me from a technical standpoint because there were simply too many things going on within that match. Still, it served the purpose of getting the women on the card and it allowed for the Gail Kim and velvet Sky feud to get a reason to continue based on the finish.

I expect Kim will get some heat back next week in some capacity, and despite my reservations about Sky's in-ring work, I am happy that it appears that TNA is getting away from the challenger of the month booking for the Knockouts Championship.

Bully Ray and Crimson vs. Matt Morgan and Austin Aries

This match was well-wrestled and served the purpose of reminding the audience about both feuds while putting a little bit of heat on the heels for their cheap victory. Some of that heat evaporated as they finish was nearly repeated for the remainder of the evening, but the initial match was effective in revving up the crowd and was entertaining.

I'd like to see TNA get to the blow off of Matt Morgan vs. Crimson because I want to see how the current iteration of Crimson will fair with a fresh opponent. I feel like they'd gotten everything they can out of that feud.

The Aries vs. Ray feud is really just getting started, and I am looking forward to both the exchanges these men will have on the mic and the matches they will have down the road. My only real gripe about this feud is that while Aries is feuding with Bully Ray, the X-Division is almost nonexistent.

Garett Bischoff and Eric Bischoff

I am simply tired of seeing television time devoted to this storyline, especially when Lockdown was the hyped end of this story. Garett still can't deliver a convincing promo and the hook for seeing Eric Bischoff show up next week does nothing to convince me to order the show next week. I could very well be in the very vocal minority on this guy, but every time I see someone in TNA trying to convince me Garett is the next big thing in wrestling I simply can't suspend my disbelief. Please move on, TNA.

Overall Show

Last night was an extremely busy night of Impact that was put before a very hot live crowd. The entire evening felt like a set-up for next week and the Open Fight Night concept rather than allowing Lockdown to sink in. Normally I would consider that to be a mistake, but Lockdown was so disappointing I can't blame TNA for moving on to the next big thing and not looking back.

If you have any questions or comments or just wish to chat with a fellow wrestling fan about whatever, then feel free to email me at ryan.kester@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter at @TheRyanKester.

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