TNA Impact Hitlist: Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle, Motor City Machine Guns, Jim Cornette, Karen Angle

TNA Impact Hits

Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle: Another very good match. I've heard from a number of people in TNA who felt this match was better than the MMA-style match they had at Lockdown. I actually enjoyed the pay-per-view match more, but it really had nothing to do with the MMA style. The hot pay-per-view crowd added to the atmosphere and the buzz that Joe was going to win the title certainly helped the Lockdown encounter. This was still a highly entertaining match despite the lame finish with Scott Steiner. You could hear some boos and a lot of groaning from the live crowd as the finish was taking place and I'm sure that was the same reaction was widespread in living rooms last night.

Motor City Machine Guns vs. Christian and Rhino: I think it's ridiculous that the Guns aren't being pushed as serious contenders for the TNA Tag Titles, but this was a really fun match. The Guns were given plenty of offense and had ample time to remind viewers what they are capable of. I really enjoyed the early exchange between Alex Shelley and Christian. The latter wrestler's smiling nod to Shelley served as a nice acknowledgement for viewers that a top TNA wrestler was impressed with Shelley's ring work. Hopefully TNA management can let bygones be bygones and start pushing the Guns again.

Overall show: There were only four matches on this show, yet I never felt like there wasn't in-ring action. The matches were long for the most part and the action was solid throughout the broadcast. The show wasn't plagued by lame comedy. It was mostly a straight forward, no nonsense type of show. I think more people would be raving about this show had there been a clean finish in the main event match. TNA is showing some signs that they are headed in the right direction. I really hope they abandon this mindset of changing the direction on a regular basis just to keep viewers guessing. Stick with the serious approach for a while and see where it leads.

TNA Impact Misses

Jim Cornette: I was always a fan of Cornette's work as a manager and I thought it was a great idea when TNA hired him to serve as their on-air authority figure. It would have been even better if TNA had brought him in to head up the creative team, but that's another issue. Cornette does a great job of explaining TNA's awkward concepts and gimmicks. However, his character is often painful to watch because he comes across so bothered and upset by everything that's going on around him. He should be the voice of reason, but instead he just adds to the chaos that takes place on most Impact shows. Worse yet, his new "punish the wrestlers" character felt more like Dr. Evil than Jim Cornette. I'd like to see TNA portray their commissioner (or whatever term they're using this week) as a professional who brings order to the show, not as a lunatic who is out to punish the talent. We get enough of that on Monday night wrestling.

Karen Angle drama: Karen has been a very pleasant surprise. She plays her character very well and definitely adds something to the show. However, last night was not the time to showcase the love triangle drama. I understand the creative probably felt like it was the perfect time in that it helped establish that Kurt is more concerned about TNA Title than his marriage and family, but they've already cemented that in the minds of the viewers. This show should have been all about building up the Joe vs. Angle match. And TNA did a nice job of doing that throughout the broadcast, but I felt like the segments with Karen and Styles pulled the attention of Kurt's character and the viewers away from the title match.