TNA Impact Hits

Kurt Angle and Sting: They did a good job of building tension between these two heading into the pay-per-view. The story shifted from Brother Ray wanting revenge on Sting for letting the Main Event Mafia attack him to the dynamic between Angle and Sting. The shift was logical given that most fans cheer Sting anyway, so it's not like they were anxious to see Ray attack him. My guess remains that Angle captures the TNA Title on Sunday, which adds to the friction between him and Sting.

Abyss promo: This was the best promo of Abyss's career. He abandoned the silly laughter (for the most part) and campy dimwit routine and finally came through with a focussed money promo. The shots of him slamming his fists into the tacks was probably too much for some viewers, but I thought it added to the intensity of the promo. As I mentioned last night, I hope they shake up the Abyss character even more by having him ditch the lousy white outfit and silly silver mask and return to his previous look. Did anyone else laugh when West said it was good to see the old Abyss back even though he and Tenay spent months applauding Abyss for not giving in and using weapons?

Overall show: Nothing spectacular, but they did a good job of building intrigue for the pay-per-view main event. I wish I could say I cared about the rest of the lineup for Sunday's show, but it's just a weak, house show-like lineup on paper.

TNA Impact Misses

The Governor: It was nice to see The Beautiful People get their heat back by plowing through Roxxi and Taylor Wilde (don't they have jobbers for this?), but the segment was ruined when The Governor ran out in her usual Sarah Palin clothes and cleared the duo from the ring. This joke wasn't funny to begin with and it gets lamer by the week. We know it's not the real Palin, so the time has come for the person playing the character to change her look and move on.

Brutus Magnus: I laughed when the announcers mentioned how much bigger Magnus appears in person. It was as if they were admitting they were disappointed that he didn't look good on television. Magnus looked very green in the ring and everything about the name and gladiator outfit is ridiculously outdated.

Kiyoshi Rough Cuts: I didn't care for the way Alex Shelley went against his character by speaking so respectfully about Kiyoshi and other wrestlers during this clip. It's also hard to get excited about Kiyoshi when they've featured him as just another undercard X Division guy thus far. Here's hoping the Rough Cuts segments will lead to a relaunch of the character. I'd love to see him have a lengthy feud with Shelley over the X Division Title.

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