TNA Impact Hitlist: Team 3D and Survivor star, Karen Angle Motor City Machine Guns, LAX

Overall show: This was an all around better effort for TNA. It still felt like they were trying to cram too much into two hours and they show jumped all over the place like it always does, but I applaud the fact that they kept the comedy to a minimum and presented a more serious product than they have in recent memory.

Team 3D attacks Joel Anderson: A good segment that got Team 3D out of the comedy and reestablished them as badass heels. I liked the fact that they limited the camera shots of Anderson, but the foreshadowing to the attack was just too blunt. An argument can be made that teasing the angle in advance may have kept some viewers watching, but there’s also something to be said for truly surprising the viewing audience. Nevertheless, it’s nice to have Team 3D back doing what they do best.

Jim Cornette: The Face of TNA (lame title) has been made to look silly lately with the Samoa Joe contract debacle, but he did an excellent job of getting over the double main events for the Lockdown pay-per-view. This was an example of how Cornette should be used. No one can make sense of some of TNA’s more chaotic story lines quite like Cornette can and the creative team must do a better job of protecting his credibility.

TNA Impact Misses

Karen Angle’s bombshell announcement: Can you believe this was the only thing the TNA website hyped in the official preview of this show? Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled we’re not going to suffer through another pregnancy angle, but this announcement just didn’t live up to the hype. I’m pregnant? Yes. I want a divorce yes? I’m leaving you to be with my new lover Don West? OK, not so much. The point is that if you’re going to build a show around a major announcement it better deliver. The obviously realized the announcement was going to be a letdown or they would have had it at the end of the show. So why did they continue to hype that announcement as the featured attraction?

Motor City Machine Guns lose to Black Reign and Rellik: Way to capitalize on that MTV exposure, guys. You’re still pissed about the blading thing. We get it. You made your point. But at what price? This was vindictive booking at its worst. The people who make these decisions need to stop holding grudges and start thinking about what’s best for the company.

Lack of hype for the live show: We’re only two weeks out from the live show and there was no mention of it during last night’s show. Apparently, TNA has opted to treat the live event like any old show as far as the hype goes. They still have time to hype it next week, but I think they would have been better off making a big fuss over it and treating this live broadcast as their own version of a WCW Clash of the Champions special. I’m not sure whether the network or TNA made this decision, but I strongly disagree with it.

The Rock-n-Rave Infection: Quite possibly the most embarrassing gimmick in TNA history. Worse yet, TNA builds up LAX at the pay-per-view and then puts them right in their place by having them lose this match. Heck, they should never have been in this match in the first place. I know women have been drawing good ratings for TNA, but they need to protect the gimmick. It’s one thing for the LAX guys to have Salinas in the corner, but it seemed totally out of character to have them working a mixed tag match. Bring back the killer tag team that was so much fun.