TNA Hits

Samoa Joe, Kevin Nash, and Booker T: This has turned out to be a fun storyline and all three men were great in their roles last night. Joe is proving that he can be a good performer when he's given quality material to work with. I'm looking forward to Joe vs. Booker, as well as Joe vs. Nash. TNA has set itself up with at least two pay-per-view main event matches and they could get a lot more out of both feuds if they play it right.

Motor City Machine Guns vs. Yoshino and Doi: An entertaining match. I can only go that far in my praise, though, because I didn't like the way TNA just threw the Japanese team out there and let Mike Tenay explain who they are as they were walking to the ring. How about hyping these guys in advance? Why not open the show by raving about a Japanese team that has to be seen to be believed? Maybe TNA doesn't think much of Yoshino and Doi, but I hope they will take that approach with some of the wrestlers who are coming in for the X Cup because it's hard for viewers to care about wrestlers they know nothing about unless they're given some reason to think the wrestlers are special.

Kurt Angle and Karen Angle: I got a kick out of Kurt "putting a hit" out on his wife last night. As I mentioned in my live coverage, I'll gladly watch Awesome Kong go after Karen than sit through another clip of Kurt spitting on his wife. The negative of the Angle drama is that it actually took away from the main event. The focus shifted from Kurt vs. A.J. to the Angle family drama and A.J. saving Karen from Angelina Love and Velvet Sky. By the way, the Beautiful People were tremendous again.

Overall show: There was never a dull moment. This was just a good, fast-paced show that had a nice balance of in-ring action and backstage drama. There were a couple of times when I felt like they were trying to cram too much into one segment (see the end of the show), but overall I enjoyed Impact this week and I like where the top storylines are going. This was definitely a step in the right direction.

TNA Impact Misses

Kaz: He's appeared in two TNA Title matches and an X Division Title match within the last two months and yet I don't feel like I know anything about the guy. Part of the problem is that he has limited mic skills. However, creative is also to blame since they've done nothing to create a backstory or a character for Kaz. He's very good in the ring but he and creative must step up if he's ever going to be more than just a guy that TNA throws out there to guarantee themselves a good match.

LAX vs. Robert Roode and James Storm: I enjoyed the match and I think these teams could have a solid program together. I just hated that restart. So now a babyface manager can piss and moan about a controversial finish and the referee will just give in and restart the match? Isn't this the same Hector who proudly boasts about coming from a family whose characters lie, cheat, and steal? By the way, I also didn't care for the post-match whippings simply because enough time hasn't passed since Roode did something similar to Booker T and Sharmell.

In case you missed it, you can find out whether Dot Net TV ace Rich Twilling agreed with my assessment of the show by clicking here.

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