TNA Impact Hitlist: Awesome Kong wrestling men, Scott Steiner, LAX, Velvet Sky and Angelina Love, A.J. Styles, Jim Cornette

TNA Impact Hits

Awesome Kong wrestling men: I'm keeping an open mind. This could be a fun short-term gimmick that could lead to curiosity buys and establish Kong as an even more dominant female. I haven't ruled out the possibility that TNA will mess this up completely and somehow make Kong look bad or make her male opponents look incredibly weak. That said, I'm curious to see where they go with this and that should count for something.

Velvet Sky and Angelina Love: TNA has done a nice job of getting these two over as the snotty and pampered "Mean Girls" types. They play the parts well and it's nice to see that TNA is starting to get over more female wrestlers when there was probably some temptation just to keep the spotlight on Awesome Kong, Gail Kim, and ODB. Am I alone in thinking that there's room for a snotty pretty boy manager with Sky and Love? Their new line is that fans can look, but they'll never touch. I would think that fans would love to hate the obnoxious pretty boy(s) who gets to touch, not to mention the fact that it would put more heat on the women if fans were annoyed by their taste in men.

A.J. Styles: I still believe the company would make more money with Styles if they pushed him as a serious athlete and showcased his unique in-ring ability more than his comedy character. Nevertheless, he plays the character so well. He was fun in the backstage skits and that smile he flashed in the ring over having Super Eric as his partner was perfect.

Jim Cornette: He reminded me of an evil mad scientist last week and I've been down on his character in general because he's too rattled for an authority figure. The character seemed more confident and authoritative last night. I don't like all the talk about the "Egotistical Eight" in the tournament because Cornette should be an advocate of everything that's good about TNA, not getting caught up in petty feuds with the wrestlers. Still, I enjoyed watching his character more last night than I have in recent weeks.

Cheerleader Melissa: I'm guessing they're putting her on television now so that it will mean something when someone finally removes the burka and reveals that she's Raisha Saeed. She had a good match with Daizee Haze last night and it will be interesting to see where TNA goes with her dual characters.

TNA Impact Misses

LAX: This is no longer the LAX that got over as one of the coolest acts in the industry. That group wouldn't have bumped fists with their opponents, nor would they have called Hector Guerrero to the ring and asked him to be in their corner. The old LAX was cool. It was street. I suppose one could claim they are evolving, but it looks to me like the people writing the shows don't have a clue about how to book a street thug gimmick. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to see Homicide and Hernandez getting a push again. I just don't like the way the team has lost its edge.

Scott Steiner: Steiner just isn't being pushed as a main eventer right now. Normally, I'm fine with him being featured as a mid-card act, but the guy is going to be main eventing a pay-per-view! TNA hasn't done anything to establish him as a serious threat to Joe's title. He's basically playing the part that JBL played in the four-way match that WWE had at Backlash last month. He was added to the mix just to shake things up, but nobody thinks he has a realistic shot at winning. Worse yet, everyone expects him to be pinned. WWE was wise enough to add the elimination rules. Here's hoping TNA does something similar or manages to get Steiner over somehow between now and the pay-per-view.

Little Petey Pump: It's a one-joke gimmick. It's also really corny and makes Williams and the X Division look second-rate.