TNA Impact Hits

Jeff Jarrett reintroduction: I like the way it came out of nowhere with Foley speaking to Jarrett on the phone. I didn't read the spoilers for this show, but I don't believe they gave this away to the fans who were at the Impact taping. I'm all for taping segments for pre-taped shows that don't air in front of the live crowd so that it's actually a surprise when it airs on television. Jarrett sounded bitter and Carter's tease that there was a personal incident makes sense to viewers who know the story and should be intriguing for viewers who don't know why he's been off television for so long. I'm not sure how much impact Jarrett will make for the company, but this was a strong tease for his return to television and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes from here.

Desmond Wolfe and Kurt Angle: Good hype for their pay-per-view match. The key now is giving Wolfe some meaningful wins in the two weeks leading up to the pay-per-view. I'm not saying they should give away potential pay-per-view matches, but he needs to beat someone who matters in a decisive manner to develop in-ring credibility with the masses. Sure, he has that credibility with ROH fans, but I'm not sure the crossover is widespread enough to assume that the majority of TNA fans are familiar with his background.

Dixie Carter hype: I wasn't blown away by the payoff (more on that in the "Misses" section), but it was encouraging to see TNA hype the interview consistently throughout the show. They need to take that same approach with their main event matches or other top segments going forward. There are too many occasions when TNA mentions the main event at the beginning of the show and then do a lousy job of hyping it consistently throughout the night. Taking this approach would make the main event seem significant and the wrestlers involved in that match seem like bigger stars.

Kristal Lashley: Nice mic work. Are they turning her heel? She took a bump last week and Taz pointed out that she popped right up and showed no signs of being hurt once Bobby Lashley won his match. This week she seemed to take a jab at wrestling fans by stating that she's never been harassed at an MMA event before. Coincidence?

TNA Impact Misses

Dixie Carter interview: Maybe my expectations were set too high. I expected some indication of when Hulk Hogan would make his debut. If they don't know or didn't want to say too much about a January event when they still have a December pay-per-view to sell, then they should have waited to have Carter comment, as her interviews should always pack a punch or people won't take hype for future interviews seriously. Dixie handled herself well, but I still don't think they've done a good job of establishing who she is and why casual viewers should care about what she's saying. TNA has had so many on-air authority figures over the years that it must be hard for casual viewers to keep them straight or to know that Carter truly is the ultimate authority figure in the company.

Daniels: They've done a terrible job of giving viewers reasons to dislike Daniels and making him seem like a legitimate threat to capture the TNA Title from A.J. Styles. He's playing his jealous character well, but there was never a real heel turn, nor have they given him enough meaningful wins to provide in-ring credibility. Sure, the web fans love Daniels and respect his in-ring talent, but the key is to make the masses believe he's a threat to beat Styles. His fluky win over Abyss accomplished nothing aside from making it look like he needs a distraction to beat an upper mid-card talent.

Samoa Joe: Where is Joe? He went from three-way main event on the last pay-per-view to having no program heading into the next pay-per-view. Perhaps his disappearance is part of a storyline, but you'd think they'd at least have the announcers acknowledge that he hasn't been around.

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