By Will Pruett

Dot Net Members will be listening to my audio review of TNA Impact Wrestling on Friday. Join us on the ad-free version of the website and listen to hours of new audio content every week by signing up now via Prowrestling.net/amember/signup.php.

- Why does Kurt Angle dislike Jeff Hardy? Well, I guess it is for the same reason that Mick Foley didn’t like the Motor City Machine Guns. Sadly, Foley delivered that promo better and with more genuine passion than Kurt did. He did not connect in this poor promo.

- Jeff Hardy is always at his best when he is intense and silent. His anger at Angle is justified in a storyline sense. Angle’s interference a couple of weeks ago now feels like it was merely a way to set up a pay-per-view match.

- The Hardy vs. Angle combination produced some very good matches in 2010 leading into Bound for Glory. They wrestled to a couple of long draws and that story never reached resolution. I doubt that they will go back to that feud, but they can bring out the best in each other. Hopefully Angle is healthy enough to work a really good match.

- Austin Aries was great on this show. He was funny when he was supposed to be, serious when it was necessary and he fit in really well with the main event heel combination of Bobby Roode and Bully Ray.

- A.J. Styles demands that Kazarian and Christopher Daniels tell them what is going on and why they are betraying him. Kazarian and Daniels can just say no, right?

- Daniels and Styles had a really good match. I know that is a surprise, considering they’ve had about 1,000 matches with each other and none of them have been bad. The ending with Kazarian getting Daniels disqualified then pinning Styles was fantastic. It was a nice twist on the standard gauntlet match.

- The commentators loved the Knockouts on this show more than usual. This created mixed results. The Knockouts were consistently promoted, both before, between and after their two matches on this show. Sadly, it just made the commentators seem like lonely guys living in a basement.

- Madison Rayne losing when she is the number one contender to the Knockout’s title doesn’t make a ton of sense to me. Putting your next challenger in a comedy match with ODB may be a bad call.

- Velvet Sky paid her dues. Sadly she never learned to work a decent match in that time.

- Ric Flair is still employed by TNA and is upset at Garret Bischoff. Isn’t that cute?

- It seems that “I’m done” is the phrase that TNA is building around at this moment. The three main event heels did a great job explaining why they were done. Sting’s involvement here was also well done. This segment set up the main event later in the night well and it did so in what is traditionally the most-watched segment of the night.

- When did Samoa Joe and Magnus become babyfaces? Don’t get me wrong, they should be, but they have not been for quite a while.

- Jesse Sorensen’s video package was great. His promise to get back in the ring surprised me. I hope there is no pressure from TNA to return, but just to get better. Sorensen deserves time to make his own call.

- Zema Ion’s promo about Sorensen really did not upset me. He was just playing a cocky heel. They had to address the injury situation and what came of it eventually and Ion’s character wouldn’t express sadness over doing it. I’m sure Sorensen was chill with it.

- Is Shannon Moore really worth TNA bringing in? He is very talented, but the act just doesn’t entertain me. Zema Ion had a good match with him, but the finish was never in doubt.

- Did TNA really run a video package featuring fans talking about how wrestling is real to them and how wrestlers that take chairshots to the head are tough? Why would they do this? Was there no way for them to edit that fan out?

- Angelina Love and Sarita don’t have their own tag team partners to team with?

- Did you notice how Mickie James played second fiddle to Velvet Sky? This is what happens when you bash Garret Bischoff.

- James Storm cutting a promo with Magnus and Joe in the back was fantastic hype for the main event tag match. I still question the choice not to cut Storm loose in front of the crowd, but at least they let him talk this week.

- Oh good. Abyss is on the way back. I didn’t even notice he was gone.

- The six man main event worked on every level. Both teams worked hard. There was a ton of heat on everyone. There was a clean finish. Aries, Samoa Joe and Magnus all looked like they belonged in the main event. This was a great match and a great call by TNA.

- Well, it looks like Bully Ray will be James Storm’s obstacle going into Lockdown. This is solid, but unexciting. I did not enjoy their match for the number one contendership too much a couple weeks ago. Hopefully we at least get a promo battle between these two, since that is the real magic of this matchup.

- Did anyone else find it odd that with Bully Ray and Austin Aries in the match the World Champion Bobby Roode had to take the fall? Maybe they are using it to further Roode and Storm, but it seems too early for the babyface to take the win.

Perhaps it is just the fantastic main event clouding my judgment, but this was a great episode of Impact. They told some solid stories, built to not one, but two pay-per-views and there were some good matches along the way. The opening was not all that positive, but the entire second hour (aside from the Abyss package) was good to great.

TNA definitely has room to improve, but this show seemed like a big step forward. Is it the creative direction changing with the new writer? I have no idea. TNA creative seems to be firing up as Lockdown looms and that is exciting.

Let's do some good old fashioned talking about this show! Feel free to email me at itswilltime@gmail.com or to follow me on twitter at twitter.com/itswilltime.

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