Powell's TNA Impact Wrestling Hitlist: Jeff Hardy vs. Christopher Daniels for the TNA Title, Bully Ray and Taz deliver wedding angle followup promos

By Jason Powell

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TNA Impact Wrestling Hits

Jeff Hardy vs. Christopher Daniels: A strong television main event. It felt more important because TNA took the time to build it up the week before and throughout this show. Daniels was his usual highly entertaining self during his promos, Hardy came through with a strong, brief promo via pre-tape, and they had a good performance in the ring. Simple and effective. The formula of promoting a week out seems simple. Why don't we see more of this in pro wrestling today? The attack by Aces & 8's on Hardy afterward felt tame compared to the other attacks we've seen, particularly since it appears it was an attempt to write Hardy off television for the next four weeks.

Bully Ray promo: A really strong and believable promo from Ray regarding a situation that's still hard to believe. I am hopeful that Ray is in the midst of a long con on the Hogan family, Sting, and TNA and that he will ultimately return to being the top heel. That said, there's no denying that he's doing a hell of a job in his current role. I've had a hard time suspending disbelief throughout his onscreen romance with Brooke Hogan, yet he's made it much easier via his mic work.

Taz promo: It was nice to see a motivated Taz deliver a solid promo and pump a little life into Aces & 8's. I wasn't blown away because he didn't really touch a nerve by saying anything that would help explain why he joined the faction, but it's good to see the group has someone who is capable of delivering good promos on their behalf. This doesn't change my belief that he was a poor payoff to the wedding angle. I mentioned last week that I felt he could be a good mouthpiece for the group, but I still feel that a non-wrestling color commentator turning heel just wasn't a big enough payoff for the high profile angle regardless of whether or not anyone saw it coming. I wouldn't see it coming if Kevin showed up at Dunder Mifflin and axed everyone to death, but that doesn't mean it would make for good television. On second thought, I might actually enjoy that. Bad example.

I'm lukewarm on Taz still sitting in on commentary. The obvious question is why TNA allows him to do so. Taz being hit with questions by Mike Tenay and Todd Keneley was interesting during the opening match and I did find myself paying more attention to the announcers throughout the show, though I'm not sure how long that will last. I'm all for a heel color commentator, but I have some concern regarding a faction specific color commentator. The positive is that the heel turn forces Taz to be more engaged and to abandon the chummy approach he had been using.

Austin Aries and Bobby Roode backstage: A fun backstage exchange between two heels attempting to worm out of wrestling Hernandez. This was more believable and entertaining than most of the bumbling comedy bits we've seen from the duo.

Kenny King and Zema Ion vs. Rob Van Dam and Christian York: A decent setup for what looks like an inevitable four-way between the four regulars of the X Division. It was good to see Ion get a rare victory. They need to build him up again and have him strong before Jesse Sorensen returns to the ring. More importantly, he's the most charismatic performer in the ring and on the mic in the X Division.

TNA Impact Wrestling Misses

Mr. Anderson joins Aces & 8's: Huh? Anderson was being courted by the Aces & 8's hookers and then he just shows up in Aces & 8's gear and the announcers act like it's just par for the course? The color commentator gets the big reveal, while the wrestler gets the half-assed introduction. Strange. Were most of us too distracted by Brooke Hogan falling out of her wedding dress to notice Anderson?

Tara vs. Velvet Sky: The ring work wasn't the problem. The Tara and Jessie act isn't working for me because it's just the same thing over and over again. Speaking of repetitive, creative once again made Taryn Terrell look like the most incompetent referee in the history of pro wrestling. She got caught up in arguing with Jessie (again) while Tara cheated, she missed Jessie tripping Velvet, and then she missed Jessie holding onto Velvet's leg during the pin. This is the same woman who screwed up four eliminations in the same Knockout gauntlet match at Genesis.