By Curtis Shanks, Torch specialist

Welcome to the TNA Impact edition of Under the Microscope. 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. We're here to point out those little tidbits you may have missed, make some random observations, or use a little research to dig deeper into what was on the show.

After last week's show, we know that Red has a big mouth, Abyss is a pin cushion, and Alissa Flash may be here to stay. But what else is there to notice? Let's see what we can spot. Cue the opening pyro.

We've been talking about the departure of Rudy Charles for a couple of weeks now, but there is a new zebra shirt to take his place this week. Our new red-headed ref (I can poke fun, as I too am a carrot top) for the Samoa Joe-Homicide match is Jamie Tucker. Tucker made his debut last Sunday in the Matt Morgan vs. Daniels match-up, but he has refereed on the big stage before joining TNA. Tucker spent time with ECW and WCW during the late '90s, and was under a WWE contract as a developmental ref before being released in August 2008. While Rudy was a respected veteran referee, the move could be financially efficient for TNA. It was reported that TNA was looking for a local referee to save on travel costs. Tucker's hometown is listed as Tampa, Florida, while Charles names Evansville, Indiana as his hometown.

If you are a Ring of Honor fan, you don't need to look too closely at the opening match-up for this week's show to realize there is plenty of history between the two wrestlers involved. Samoa Joe vs. Homicide is relatively new to the TNA fan, but the feud was a common staple throughout ROH's history. After Samoa Joe helped Steve Corino defeat Homicide, Homicide sought revenge versus Joe in the form of a World Title match. It was a match-up that would be seen on more than one occasion during Joe's long run with the strap.

Joe's first successful defense against Homicide was at "Do or Die" in 2004. The two also faced off on the "DVD Reborn: Stage 1." Homicide lost that match by DQ, and made his mark by throwing a fireball in the face of Joe. Other shows to feature the match-up are "Generation Next" and "Death Before Dishonor," both from 2004 as well. This match-up was seen again at "Battle of the Icons 2007," but this time it was Homicide the champion and Joe the challenger. Aside from their title matches, the two also teamed together in a feud with the Briscoe Brothers. To top it all off, Joe had his ROH farewell match in March 2007 - a victory over Homicide in the U.K.

The Mafia is in control of most of the gold in TNA after the title changes that took place Sunday. It definitely is a month of firsts in TNA if you're looking at title changes. Two weeks ago, Tara won her first TNA title by defeating Angelina Love. Last week Homicide won his first X title, cashing in his Feast or Fired case in a victory over Suicide. Victory Road managed to give us two more firsts. Kevin Nash and Scott Steiner have both won numerous titles over the course of their wrestling careers, but neither had held a title in TNA before last Sunday. It's been a long wait, as Nash has been with TNA for over four-and-a-half years and Steiner for more than three years.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Don West, in my opinion, is the best wrestling commentator right now. (Sorry, Mr. Striker). West can always be counted on for a laugh, and he has been having some fun at the expense of Amazing Red the past couple of weeks. Last week he sarcastically asked what could Red have done to provoke an attack from Samoa Joe, and suggested Red's huge mouth was to blame. This week, Red is tossed around the ring like a rag doll by Kevin Nash, eliciting even more sarcasm. As Nash tosses Red half-way across the ring, West compliments the "high-flying" ability of Red, stating "watch Amazing Red fly, he's amazing, how can he go through the air like that?" Thank you again for a good laugh Don West.

If I turn the microscope way up, I can closely detect that Stacker 6 Hour Power is a sponsor of Impact these days. The energy supplement is not only plastered all over commercials during the show, but the ring canvas itself. But there was a new product placement this week. During the backstage segments in Mick Foley's office, two containers of the drink can be seen sitting on Foley's desk. Add in the Five Hour Energy commercial I saw before the seventh quarter-hour, and I'm starting to realize why Impact is such a fast-paced, throw it at the wall and hope it sticks show.

Although none of them were competitive, we got three title defenses on this week's show. Kevin Nash defended his Legends title, Steiner & Booker defended the tag titles, and Homicide put the X title up for grabs. The last time we saw three titles defended on one Impact was November 13, 2008. That show also did not feature a single title change. Sting was successful against Jay Lethal in the World Title match, Eric Young failed in his attempt to win the X title from Sheik Abdul Bashir, and tag champs Beer Money lost but by DQ to the team of A.J. Styles and Samoa Joe.

Traci Brooks made her return to TNA, as she plotted her way to a win in the Knockout battle royal. The last we saw of Traci was her role as a referee this past March in a Taylor Wilde victory over Madison Rayne. Although it seemed like she was just a ref tonight, we later found out she was actually a participant in the match. The last time we saw Traci in an actual match on Impact before this week was in July of last year. That match was also a battle royal, as Velvet Sky was victorious to determine a new #1 contender.

Although it wasn't hyped much, TNA is marking next week as episode 200 of Impact. Being the numbers guy that I am, I decided to check up on TNA's math...but didn't come up with the same result. According to my count (which I double, triple, and quadruple checked), next week will be the 201st episode of Impact on Spike TV. There were 14 shows in 2005, 52 a year between 2006 and 2008, and next week will mark 31 so far this year. That does not add up to 200. For those of you wondering about non-Spike episodes, there were 52 on Fox Sports and twelve Internet only episodes.

We get a ten-man tag match before our main event, as the Brits, Kiyoshi, and Bashir take on the TNA Front Li...TNA Originals. The Originals team consists of A.J. Styles, Daniels, Eric Young, and Beer Money, although only three of them were actually with TNA from the start. Eric Young did not have his first match in TNA until January of 2004 and Robert Roode did not come along until May of that year, almost two years after the company's inception.

Numbers crunched harder than an unprotected chair shot to the head: last week we took a look at short title reigns and lengthy title reigns in the big four promotions since 1995. We looked at the promotions as a whole, but this week we'll analyze the individual titles themselves. We'll break down the stats by percentage, so we'll exclude titles with only a few reigns such as the Legends title or the Divas title when looking at the leaders.

Short reigns (less than thirty days) dominated the WCW lineage, which is why it's no shock which individual titles have the highest percentage of short reigns. The WCW Tag titles lead the way, with 62.9 percent of the reigns since 1995 not reaching one month. Second is the WCW World Title (59.6), followed up by the WWE World Tag Team titles (52.3), and the WCW Cruiserweight title (45.5).

The title with the smallest percentage of short reigns is the WWE Tag Team titles at 14.8 percent. Next in line for fewest short reigns is the WWE version of the ECW Title (15.4), the WWE Women's title (18.2), and the WWE version of the U.S. title (19.2).

Looking at lengthy reigns (six months or more), the best title for that occurrence may shock some. The WWF Light Heavyweight title had 23.1 percent of its reigns last longer than six months. Next in line would be the ECW Title (21.7) and the ECW TV Title (16.1).

It's a tie for first in the fewest six-month reigns amongst the titles, as there have been a few that have not even reached that milestone since 1995. The TV, US, and Cruiserweight titles in WCW qualify for that distinction. So does the X Division Title in TNA, although Christopher Daniels's record reign was only two days short of the mark.

I find it intriguing when numbers between WWE and TNA are eerily similar, which is why I felt the need to look back at a number from last week. I mentioned that overall, 33.6 percent of the title reigns in WWE since 1995 failed to reach the 30 day mark, while TNA sat at 32.7. We've seen some title changes in TNA over the last week, and updating the numbers puts the two even closer. With the updates, the percentage of short title reigns in TNA now sits at...you guessed it, 33.6 percent.

Curtis Shanks is a self-described wrestling nerd. Who else understands what Matt Striker is talking about all the time. Feedback is welcome, as comments, suggestions and questions can be sent to Curtis at curtisshanks.torch@gmail.com or in the comments section below.

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