By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist

This was an unusual episode of Impact. It is not very often that any two hour wrestling show only has five total Hits and Misses, particularly Impact which on a bad week can easily have 5 Misses alone. But, this week I found myself totally indifferent to almost the entire first half of the show. The first Hit or Miss on this week's list is Beer Money, and they didn't appear until about 55 minutes or so into the show. Take it however you want to take it. Is it good that I found nothing to complain about for much of the show? Or, is it bad that I didn't find anything to like for much of the show either? Or is it more telling that I didn't even care about the content to comment on it?

IMPACT HITS

Beer Money: Beer Money came across as the top babyface tag team in TNA. I don't know if that's how they were supposed to come across, but they did. They were very likable in their Rough Cut video, particularly James Storm. Robert Roode was more likable here than in his own Rough Cut from a few weeks ago. They also played their parts in the ring very well. Roode did a great job of selling his knee injury. They both did a great job with their facial reactions when they found out they had to defend their Titles against Jay Lethal and Consequences Creed. I don't agree with having them lose the Titles (more later). But, they performed their roles very well. I really hope they are turning face, because everything about what how they were presented this week said that we should be cheering for them.

Hyping Genesis: TNA did a good job focusing Impact on Sunday's Genesis PPV. The announcers mentioned the line up several times throughout the entire night. They added Sheik Abdual Bashir vs. Shane Sewell which made sense. They hyped Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin with Mick Foley's threat that they have to actually wrestle each other. They also did a good job of hyping the Triple Threat for the Tag Team Championship after the bizarre booking decision to take the Titles away from Beer Money (still more later). They focused on the big three matches, particularly Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett and the 6 Man Tag featuring the in ring return of Foley. They didn't do much to hype the Knockouts Title match and they could have done much more to hype Sting vs. Rhino for the World Title (more later). But, it was still good to see them really focusing the show towards the goal of selling a PPV and ending it with another well produced video package.

IMPACT MISSES

New Tag Champs: Creed & Lethal were heelish in how they won the Titles. It was a bit reminiscent of when CM Punk cashed in Money in the Bank to defeat Edge for the World Title. The difference is that Edge was so hated, Punk was loved, and Punk was beating Edge at Edge's own game. Here it just makes Lethal & Creed look like heels. They took on the Tag Champs when one of them was injured. Then, they used the briefcase to actually get the pin. It was basically a handicap match, and they still had to cheat to win. This doesn't start out their Title run on a great note. If they are trying to turn Beer Money face and want the fans to have sympathy for them, I can understand that. But, if they really want to turn Beer Money face, then have them win clean despite the odds.

James Kicks out of Angle Slam: BG James vs. Kurt Angle was a decent match that featured plenty of intensity from both. The problem is that James hasn't even wrestled in a long time, and it has been even longer since he was seen as a threat to anyone. It is hard to believe him as a threat to Angle at this point. I was able to ignore that for the most part, but it was totally ridiculous that James would kick out of the Angle Slam. I know that Angle really doesn't use it as a finisher any more, but the move once had a ton of credibility. We are still asked to take it as a serious move. Someone kicking out if it should be a big deal. But, it won't ever be a big deal any more. If James kicked out, then anyone should kick out every time.

Is Rhino in a Title Match?: The major exception to my Hit above about hyping Genesis was the almost nonexistent hype for Sting vs. Rhino. Rhino is the #1 Contender for the World Title, yet he got zero mic time on the last Impact before the PPV. That makes no sense. Mick Foley gave a nice promo to end the show about the big three matches, but really didn't talk much about Rhino even though he was standing in the same ring. I haven't been a fan of having Rhino in this position, but once TNA put him in that position, they owed it to him to get behind him and they haven't done it at all.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and TNA Impact each week. Email him at jmezz-torch@sbcglobal.net.

For another view from the original Hitlist author, compare Jason Powell's views to mine by visiting prowrestling.NET's "Hitlist" section here.

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