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TV Reports
TNA IMPACT ROUNDTABLE REVIEWS 6/25: Parks, Shanks, Wilkenfeld rate and review Jun 26, 2009 - 2:16:27 AM
I was ready to give this show a five, or perhaps lower, but then I watched the show-closing segment. I thoroughly enjoyed the main event angle with Sting facing off against the rest of the Mafia. Sting was strong on the mic, but Kevin Nash delivered a fantastic promo. Everybody played their parts well, and most importantly, it sets up even more intrigue for the next few episodes as well. Love 'em or hate 'em, the Mafia has been involved in some great storylines during the past couple of months, and it appears more may be on the way.
Now on to why I was ready to give this show a less than stellar rating. TNA used to give us a few great segments sandwiched around a bunch of corny, eye-rolling segments. Tonight made me feel like it was two years ago with some of the stuff being presented. Booker T has a new accent? There's a tarantula on a Knockouts shoulder? Jenna Morasca will face Sharmell at the next PPV? These things all sound ridiculous on paper and didn't present themselves any better on TV. The worst was Dr. Stevie tasering Abyss. The smoke from the taser, the fake sound-effect, and the lack of marks on Abyss' clothing reeked of TNA past. I understand the unpredictable aspect means things will be hit or miss, but we unfortunately got more misses this evening than I would have preferred.
Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (6.0)
I'm trying to forget the entire Joe turn fiasco, but other than the rather lame explanation, the show was fine. The segment that closed the show was helped by strong mic work from Kevin Nash and Sting (even though Nash is best used as the calming voice of the Mafia, not one of the screamers). It was a segment that actually lived up to the hype, something you can't say too often about TNA.
The short 10,000 tack matches was a disservice to gimmick matches and the wrestlers who are involved in them. The tag division is getting more interesting by the week, with the British Invasion growing on me (save for Rob Terry) and Steiner & Booker now getting involved. I was disappointed in the follow-up to the Knockouts title match. Abyss vs. Nash was fine for what it was, other than the taser spot. Mick Foley's character was all over the place tonight, but I guess that was the point.
Daniel Wilkenfeld, PWTorch.com Contributor (9.0)
So we came into a show with a focus entirely on Joe and Angle, and somehow left with interesting things happening in the Tag Division, the Legends Division, and, most surprisingly exciting of all, with Sting-Nash. Last week I was annoyed that there were no long matches, which can only be justified when the promos actually do something. Tonight, they did something. Great show.
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