By Will Pruett

- It is amazing that in a recap segment all of last week's main event TNA decided not to play the clip that actually featured Bobby Roode performing his finisher. I recognize that they don't care much about it, but getting his finishing move over will add drama to his matches.

- With Bobby Roode on the way to becoming the longest-reigning TNA World Champion, I predict that his title reign will be the focus of the next Open Fight Night (which should be in two weeks). It will be interesting to see what story TNA creative will tell on that night and as they go forward.

- Bobby Roode seems to be cutting the same promo on different nights,

- The opening pull-apart brawl between Bobby Roode, Rob Van Dam, Jeff Hardy, and Ken Anderson was semi-well done. It seems like TNA needed a way to get to the main event here and they had last week's final segment to set it up. I'm still not a fan of "TNA Agents" running out and being recognized as such. Once again, what does an agent do in the kayfabe world?

- Hulk Hogan barely seems coherent when he is cutting detailed promos and dealing out stipulations.

- Why would Rob Van Dam give up his World Championship shot for an opportunity to name a stipulation? Losing (or rather not winning) would remove him from the championship match. Winning is a long shot in a four-way match. Would a team in the Super Bowl ever give up that opportunity to play another game to get home field advantage? I doubt it.

- Does that main event four-way match remind anyone else of the "Ultimate Sacrifice" match from Sacrifice 2009? It is slightly less convoluted than that one, but it is reminiscent of it.

- I'm a little more accepting of Austin Aries' size being brought into the mix, if the idea of this feud with Bully Ray is to defuse the size issue once and for all. Bully Ray calling him his "little problem" still frustrates me though. Mike Tenay repeating that phrase mindlessly is even more annoying.

- I can't exactly figure out a purpose for the backstage segment between Madison Rayne and Gail Kim.

- Velvet Sky and Brooke Tessmacher tried to have a good match, but they were given too much time and there is not enough skill between them to do so. Sky is often hopeless in the ring. Tessmacher needs to be in the ring with someone better than her in order to succeed.

- I appreciate the time that TNA is willing to give their women's matches, but I wish they would put some of their better workers in the longer matches.

- Bully Ray's attack on Matt Morgan was odd. I don't like the chair-shot to the head angle at all. It felt out of place on the show. Morgan's selling of the shot with his hand twitching was disturbing. I know that the idea was the make Bully Ray look vicious, but this felt like too much.

- Crimson cut a pretty good heel promo after his non-match. He is doing much better, as a character, as a heel. I'm still not sold on his in-ring work, but the promo side of his character is interesting.

- The Rob Van Dam video package about adventure and his desire for it was an interesting one. We've known the RVD character for so long that it feels weird to hear about a new inspiration for him. That said, this Greek mythology he explained definitely fit into the character we already know. This was a good package.

- I really enjoyed the in-ring work from Austin Aries and Zema Ion. They have great chemistry together and their matches always produce an exciting result. What I did not enjoy was the positioning of the match. Aries is a rising star, quickly becoming a main eventer. Ion is a solid heel in the X Division. This match wasn't advertised or even mentioned until Ion entered.

- Ryan Kester brought up Open Fight Night and how these title matches pertain to it in his Impact report. How exactly do these title matches help Open Fight Night feel special? For that matter, how does it enhance the champions and the championships to have unannounced title matches?

- "No one gets higher than RVD" - Rob Van Dam. Jeff Hardy would beg to differ.

- I'm fairly intrigued by what happens with Dixie Carter and A.J. Styles going forward. Styles needs something to change his act a little bit after his long run. It does call into question his character though, which is not preferable for a hero.

- I don't want to sound like a jaded fan, but why bring Dixie Carter into another storyline on TNA television. Will this story require more acting from her? I know it is a classic move to keep a "money mark" happy, but I hope Carter will eventually see through it.

- When it was announced that Devon would be defending the TNA TV Championship every week, I did not believe that it would be against one of the two Robbie's on the roster on a consistent basis. This squash of Robbie E. was fairly boring and uninspiring.

- With the promise of a triple threat or a handicap match for the TV title at Sacrifice, I'm definitely just as disinterested as I was before.

- Here's the thing about this James Storm questioning himself story: the fans were not given an opportunity to fully buy in and support his act before he lost his smile. It's a great story to tell with someone who has been a conquering hero in the past, but using it to build a conquering hero is like trying to get a wrestler over with a losing streak. Making fans feel for him isn't as effective as making fans believe in him.

- James Storm is doing great work in these promo segments. He is taking a bad storyline and selling it well.

- When TNA shows shots of the entire crowd cheering, I often wonder if they expect us to believe that people just stand around screaming at wrestling shows. That would be quite the tiring evening.

- The Joseph Park and Abyss video package was fairly excellent. I really enjoyed the different approach (with the fake news voice).

- Someone should tell Joseph Park that you don't have to buy tickets to go to a show at the Impact Zone, you just have to show up.

- Bully Ray is in three feuds at the moment. I'm assuming he is starting one with Matt Morgan. He is in one with Austin Aries. Now, he is in one with Joseph Park as well. He is a great act, but placing him in so many segments and so many paces on the card is a crutch. He should be in one focussed feud, not spread all over to card, which renders him ineffective.

- Replaying the segment with Hulk Hogan debuting and claiming that everyone has to earn their spot in TNA reminded me of how much work Bubba the Love Sponge, The Nasty Boys, and Garett Bischoff did to earn the spots they were given in TNA at various times after that promo.

- When Mike Tenay describes a match as "stipulation filled" heading into a break, you know that the match is convoluted. What kind of hook is that?

- The main event four-way match featured some really great action. It was a classic four-way with rapid fire moves, signature spots everywhere, and finishers galore at the end. I never doubted that Rob Van Dam would win, but the action was good.

- How exactly will Bobby Roode cheaply win his ladder match to retain his championship at Sacrifice? I'm guessing that Van Dam will grab the belt with the referee(s) knocked out and Roode will hit him with a chair, causing him to fall and drop it. Roode will pick up the belt as the referee comes to and be declared the winner. That's screwy enough, right?

- Abyss' return definitely raises some questions going into Sacrifice. I like the twist in the Joseph Park story, especially if the end game is to have them be revealed as the same person. This was a fun end of Impact, even if the Abyss return seemed to have little to do with the four-way that preceded it.

Overall, this episode of Impact Wrestling can only e described with one word: frantic. It was non-stop for two hours. This made me feel exhausted by the end of the night. That said, nothing on this show was atrocious and there was definite focus on Sacrifice this Sunday (a pay-per-view on Mother's Day? Really?). I have to give this episode a thumbs up.

The break-neck pace of the show weakened the effect of everything on it, but not to the point that is was ineffective. The star of this show was easily Bully Ray, but he was drastically over-exposed. This Sunday seems more interesting than the average TNA pay-per-view after this show, which is surprising.

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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