TNA Impact Hits

A.J. Styles: Styles has been showcased nicely over the last three weeks and he was especially good last night. The creative team has done a very good job of making sure he clicked as a babyface heading into Sunday's pay-per-view match with Kurt Angle. I like the way everything built up to last night's show when Styles was as intense in the ring and on the mic as he's ever been.

Awesome Kong vs. Daffney: It was a cool idea to have known female wrestlers show up in the crowd for a chance to cash in on the $25,000 challenge. Likewise, it was good to see Daffney again after so many years. She was always underutilized in WCW.

Velvet Sky and Angelina Love: These two continue to shine as one of the best acts in TNA. I'm not crazy about the new addition to their act, but their promo last night was outstanding.

X Division King of the Mountain match: I have mixed feelings regarding this match. The action was fast-paced and entertaining, and I think it was wise to let viewers get familiar with the goofball King of the Mountain rules (I'll never get over the idea that you have to hang the title belt rather than retrieve it). However, there were a couple of things I didn't care for.

What had anyone in this match other than Kaz ever done to put themselves in position to earn a title shot? Booker T still hasn't had a singles title match,yet Jimmy Rave had a chance to earn one in this match. Come on. This might be nitpicking, but I didn't like the way Johnny Devine moonsaulted off the top of the penalty box cage onto two opponents before the commercial break. That just felt like a maneuver that a babyface should have performed. Overall, though, the good outweighed the bad.

TNA Impact Misses

A.J. Styles vs. Tomko: Good work by both men. There was nothing wrong with the match other than that it should have been saved for a time when it could have meant more. These two are former tag team champions with a long history together. They spent most of their tag title reign bickering with one another and to give away their first television match as a setup for A.J.'s pay-per-view match seemed like a big mistake.

Clearly, TNA is still in punishment mode because Tomko came back from suspension not to long ago (he blew off company orders not to travel to Japan for a show held the night before a pay-per-view), as he lost this match clean and is not advertised for a pay-per-view match. There are other ways to punish Tomko without giving up what should have been a big Impact main event or upper mid-card pay-per-view match.

Karen Angle: The fake crying Karen isn't as much fun as the manipulative and seductive Karen. In fact, the current Karen is borderline annoying. Still smoking hot and a candidate for best MILF ever, yet annoying all at the same time. Let's just get to the swerve so that we can get the old Karen back.

Mickie Knuckles: I still can't believe they let her appear in a TNA ring wearing that hideous outfit. What's worse is that she's aligned with two women who pride themselves on looking good. I realize she's playing the muscle role, but TNA really needs to get this girl some better ring gear. Is it too late to call Jazz?

Sting sitdown interview: What was the point of this? How did it help Sting to talk about Ric Flair for a minute?

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