By Curtis Shanks, PWTorch Specialist

Welcome to the TNA Impact edition of Under the Microscope. We're here to review all those little observations and tidbits you may have missed. This is not a detailed recap of the show, but a review for those of you that saw the show but didn't actually "watch" it. After last week we know that Kip is definitely not cute, Kurt Angle got written up and the X Division title is apparently meaningless. But what else is there to notice? Let's see what we can spot. Cue the opening pyro.

During the show opening promo, Booker T references his past with Christian Cage and how they've had many battles. In case you forgot, in 2002 Christian was a tag team champion with Chris Jericho in WWE and feuded with Booker T and Goldust for the titles. Later on, in 2003, Christian won a battle royal to win the reactivated Intercontinental title. Christian would loose the title two months later to Booker T, only to regain it from him the next month.  

I'm tired of TNA treating A.J. Styles like one of the "new guys". It is constantly referenced that Christian Cage took Styles under his wing and helped him make a name for himself. Before Christian even debuted in TNA, Styles was a three time world champ, two time tag champ and five time X champ. After Christian's debut in 2005? A.J. has won three tag titles, one X title and more importantly, zero world titles.

When Sonjay Dutt's music hits there is a faint voice speaking in the background. It almost sounds as if the voice is saying "Ring of Honor wrestling." I know it's something along the lines of "free your mind…", but it can catch you off guard if you're listening intently.

Who said the World X Cup has concluded? Tonight's X Division four-way featured two wrestlers from the U.S. facing a wrestler from India and a wrestler from Canada, all for the right to face the champion, an Iranian.

You're a big winner tonight if you picked 38 as the number of minutes it would take TNA to reference WWE tonight. I think I'll go with 22 for next week.

"The greatest acquisition in TNA history" is a phrase that has been thrown around on Impact. First there was Christian, then Booker T, and now the debate about Kurt Angle or Mick Foley. But they are all wrong. In my opinion, the greatest acquisition in TNA history is Velvet Sky.

Steve "Mongo" McMichael is our special referee for the Monster's Ball match this Sunday. McMichael was a defensive lineman in the NFL for 15 years and participated in two Pro Bowls. McMichael joined the wrestling world in Lawrence Taylor's corner for his match vs. Bam Bam Bigelow at Wrestlemania 11. He later wrestled in WCW, feuding with Jeff Jarrett and even becoming a member of the Four Horsemen. McMichael defeated Jarrett to win the WCW U.S. title, only to lose it a month later.

Last week I mentioned that the heavyweight title has changed hands at every Bound For Glory PPV. To go along with that, every BFG event has also featured an amazing match on the card as well. Last year LAX defeat Triple X in a very good Ultimate X match. Two years ago LAX faced A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels for the tag titles in a cage match that garnered Match of the Year consideration. And the first BFG saw Styles and Daniels match up in an amazing 30 minute Iron Man match for the X title.

Want proof that Bound For Glory is TNA's Wrestlemania of sorts? The logos for BFG show IV in Roman numerals, just like WWE does for its Wrestlemanias. This is the first time I can remember TNA using this method for a PPV.

During Jeff Jarrett's intro video there is a pretty cool shot of Jarrett hitting a wrestler with his guitar. If you slow down the video, although you can't see his face, the unnamed wrestler actually looks a lot like Ron Killings.

Booker T has been carrying his mysterious briefcase around with him for a few weeks. What's in the case? My guess is that it's a shot at one of TNA's three men's titles or a pink slip.

I've never been a fan of contract signings for big matches in the wrestling world. They are an excuse to get two opponents in the ring for storyline development, but provide logic loopholes. Did TNA build towards this main event match without it being finalized until tonight's show when Sting and Samoa Joe signed the dotted line? Using this logic, Cute Kip and Rhino must have signed a contract for their match earlier tonight as well.

Tonight's notable MIA's: The Superheroes, Rock 'n' Rave and The Guns. All of the big names were present tonight with this being the final build towards TNA's biggest PPV of the year.

Numbers crunched harder than an unprotected chair shot to the head: If you want to see the WWE superstars of the future you can check out Florida Championship Wrestling and previously, OVW. But where can you look for the TNA stars of tomorrow? How about Ring of Honor? There are a lot of former ROH guys like A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe and Jay Lethal in TNA right now. Out of a current male roster of 34 talents, 18 have ROH experience in their past. Out of the eleven female talents, five can boast that distinction. And what kind of presence would WWE have at a ROH reunion? Out of the 75 males on the current roster, only 11 have wrestled in ROH. Mickie James would be the lone female attendee, as she is the only one out of their 14 current female wrestlers with ROH ring experience.

Curtis Shanks is a self-described wrestling nerd. Who else would lay claim to keeping up-to-date on the title histories of over 40 independent and foreign promotions? In the words of Adrian Monk, "It's a blessing...and a curse." Curtis encourages anyone with questions or comments to e-mail him at curtisshanks.torch@gmail.com.

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