TNA Hard Justice Hits

Kurt Angle vs. A.J. Styles: The best TNA match of the year so far. The creative team gave them plenty of time and let them do their thing. No interference or even a tease of a cheap finish. It's about time. Angle and Styles made the most of their creative freedom by delivering a highly entertaining match. I could have lived without the big DDT spot at the end. I don't like seeing that move when the guy taking it doesn't have a history of neck problems. That being said, this was a very good match.

LAX vs. Robert Roode and James Storm: Another strong match with both teams working hard. Homicide seemed especially motivated while working in front of the East Coast crowd. I didn't care for the bottle finish, but I enjoyed the action while it lasted.

Petey Williams vs. Consequences Creed: Yes, the finish bothered me. Yes, it annoys me that the heel X Division champion always hits flashy crowd pleasing moves that entices the live crowds to cheer him. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the match and the effort that both men delivered. Creed stepped up nicely in his highest profile pay-per-view match to date, and Williams is good enough that he can have a good match with just about anyone. Negative points for the lame finish with Sheik

Christian Cage and Rhino vs. Team 3D: All four guys delivered the type of match the live crowd wanted to see from the former Dudleys. The fans didn't get the table spot they were begging for because the table didn't cooperate at the end of the match, but it was still a fun brawl. Unfortunately, it killed the crowd on the hardcore gimmick before the weapons match main event.

TNA Hard Justice Misses

Jeff Jarrett's guitar: I get the symbolism, but I hope this is the last time we see Jarrett's damn guitar. Nothing screams dying days of WCW combined with everything bad about TNA like those f'n guitars. Jarrett can contribute to the product, but he can't come back as the same old, guitar swinging Jeff Jarrett. I don't care if they shake things up by turning him babyface, the guitar will make him stale.

Sting: Borderline intriguing, but I'm going to groan if this all leads to the New Blood vs. Millionaire's Club V2.

Samoa Joe vs. Booker T: Did I mention how much I hate those damn Jarrett guitars? Joe dominated Booker last month, yet needed the lights going out and a damn guitar to beat him this month. The fans were completely burned out on the hardcore gimmick by the time this match rolled around and the creative team should have seen that coming. It's just a shame that this match between two of TNA's more over wrestlers has been overshadowed by baseball bats and guitars.

Jay Lethal vs. Sonjay Dutt: It's bad enough that TNA felt the need to add weapons to a cage match, but they also came up with the horrible idea of combining a tuxedo match with a chain match. My guess is that TNA has burned through so many gimmick matches that they've decided they need to combine gimmicks to make them see fresh.

Gail Kim and ODB and Taylor Wilde vs. Awesome Kong and Velvet Sky and Angelina Love: A disappointing match. It was very choppy in spots and I expected more from a match that involved a group of talented female performers.

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