By Jason Powell

Dot Net Members are listening to Will Pruett's 55-minute audio review of TNA Impact Wrestling. They will be listening to my Q&A audio show later today in which I answer their pro wrestling questions (and some non-wrestling fun at the end). Join us on the ad-free version of the website via Prowrestling.net/amember/signup.php.

TNA Impact Wrestling Hits

Overall show: TNA Impact Wrestling his a dramatically improved product. Last week's show in the Impact Zone was also a strong show with improved production, and I've enjoyed the majority of the recent episodes with the exception of those holiday week episodes in December. I encourage people who gave up on the television product at some point to give it another try. Not every show is a home run, but it's not nearly as chaotic or plagued by the lousy booking issues we've seen for so many years.

Obviously, the London crowd was a big plus this week. Everyone on the show felt like a star because of the big, hot crowd. They're not going to get this many people to attend shows in the United States right now, but I really hope TNA and Spike can get together and come up with a way to take this show on the road more often. They've done a nice job of making the Impact Zone look good on television, but the regulars are too overexposed to the product to react the way a fresh crowd would.

TNA did a nice job of keeping the majority of the action in the hot arena. It sounds like an obvious move, but they've made the mistake of going with too many backstage segments when they've taken the show on the road in the past. Here's hoping this momentum will carry over to the pay-per-view product, which continues to be a major source of frustration for those of us who order the shows.

Austin Aries vs. Mark Haskins: I'm not sure why they felt the need to have Taz go off on that rant after Haskins made the pro-England comments. Were they really trying to get the American viewers to pull for the heel Aries? Anyway, Aries was phenomenal. Everything he does looks so crisp, and he plays his arrogant character to perfection. He's the perfect choice to be the long term X Division Champion and he's one of the highlights of the show whenever he's showcased. Meanwhile, Haskins has a lot of talent, but he has to improve his look. His shooting star press spot was frightening and he's lucky to have avoided serious injury.

Gail Kim vs. Tara: This was a pleasant surprise. Granted, I shouldn't be surprised to see two veterans have a good match, but the WWE Divas are limited to two minute matches and this was better than we've been getting from most of the Knockouts lately. Gail is reminding everyone why she was so good in her last run with the company. I just hope we get some real character development with Tara. No, that doesn't mean bringing back her stupid spider.

Hulk Hogan and Sting: Okay, so I have no idea what Hogan was talking about in that backstage promo about being a hood ornament that plows through ice cubes (how does that air on a pre-taped show?), but there's no denying that the UK fans adore him and Sting. The Garett trainer story was predictable, but predictable isn't always a bad thing. I'm still can't get behind the idea of giving Garett such a big push, but it was cool to see Hogan get the hero's welcome in front of a big crowd again. Meanwhile, Sting is cast nicely in the general manager role and I continue to be amazed at the improvement he's made on the mic at this late stage in his career.

James Storm vs. Bully Ray: A good television main event. As much as I disliked the setup (see below), Ray did a nice job of playing off the injury that was established in Storm's previous match. Ray continues to be one of the great veteran success stories. He appears to be in the best shape of his life and he's an absolute master of getting heat. As much as I believe that Storm is the guy the company should push as the top babyface, he needs to follow Ray's lead when it comes to getting in shape. Even five to ten pounds would make a world of difference in Storm's appearance. He's getting the best push of his career and he should be doing everything he can to make sure that it clicks.

TNA Impact Wrestling Misses

Bobby Roode vs. James Storm: The match quality was strong. The problem is that this should have been the the big match that TNA was building to. It's bad enough they are working in a four-way together at the pay-per-view, but to just randomly give away this singles match in the middle of the show was baffling. If they really felt the need to go with this match, then why not treat it as a mid-show main event and build it up as something truly special. They could have booked the same Bully Ray interference and then had Sting announce after the fact that Storm would get Ray in the ring later in the show as a result of that interference.

Matt Morgan and Crimson vs. Samoa Joe and Magnus: The TNA creative team didn't realize that Magnus was going to get some hometown love? The creative team hasn't figured out that Joe is a popular performer regardless of how they position him? They had their finger so far removed from the pulse that they thought this was the place to introduce the horrible two-on-one gimmick? Creative put Morgan and Crimson in a terrible spot by failing to realize that the London crowd would probably cheer against them. Morgan appeared to adjust on the fly and played into the crowd's reaction, whereas Crimson showed his inexperience by playing for cheers that he was never going to get. That said, I loved the big suplex that Crimson hit during the match, and the Joe and Magnus team has grown on me.

Gunner: Just as many of us feared, the whole bit with Gunner injuring countless wrestlers was nothing more than the company's attempt to build him up so that Garett Bischoff and Hulk Hogan could knock him down. You can't expect the fans to view a guy as a killer heel when he played a comical human pingpong ball for Hogan and Garett's punches.

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