TNA Impact Hits

Kurt Angle vs. A.J. Styles: I may have turned the channel had it not been my job to cover the show when Mike Tenay and Don West ran through the long list of babyfaces who were injured or absent for various reasons. I assumed they were setting up another Main Event Mafia beatdown. Fortunately, the Mafia stayed away, and Angle and Styles delivered an excellent television main event.

Scott Steiner and Booker T vs. Eric Young and Petey Williams: Sure, it pisses me off that Petey is still dressing up like the guy he's feuding with, but they gave these guys 12 minutes of television time, which is only six minutes less in-ring action than we received throughout WWE Raw on Monday. The young guys took another loss, but the Mafia had to work for it. Williams looked strong in trying to fight off two Mafia members before he was eliminated. Sure, he lost the match, but only because he was outnumbered in the closing minutes.

Kurt Angle and Sting: Nice tease of tension between the two heading into the four-way TNA Title match at the Against All Odds pay-per-view. My guess is that Angle comes out of the match with the title, which eventually leads to Sting's babyface turn. If Sting retires this year, could Angle be the final match opponent?

TNA Impact Misses

Beer Money vs. Matt Morgan and Abyss in a first blood match: The match may have been decent. I wouldn't know because I was too busy laughing at the absurdity of watching the referees dab the wrestlers heads with white towels to determine whether they were bleeding. Any other referee could look at a wrestler's head (yes, even Abyss with the mask on) and determine whether he's bleeding, but in TNA they dab their heads with white towels. Factor in all the hilarity of the Big Bird and Snuffleupagus breakup and this was a laugh riot.

Mafia vs. Frontline: How are the young guys being elevated in this feud? I can see how The Mafia, Team 3D, Jeff Jarrett, Mick Foley, and Rhino are benefitting, but it's not like Samoa Joe, AJ. Styles, or the other young guys are better off now than they were when the feud started. The Motor City Machine Guns are getting more camera time, but I wouldn't say the Mafia saga is the reason they've gotten over.

Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin vs. Sheik Abdul Bashir vs. Sonjay Dutt: Just a random match thrown in the opening segment on the show. Worse yet, they used the X Division guys to foreshadow the four-way pay-per-view main event. The followup to the great Guns match at the last pay-per-view has been lousy. It was the best X Division match in ages, yet it's like TNA has already forgotten it and moved on.

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