By Chris Reed, Torch specialist

-- 10/8 TNA IMPACT HITS & MISSES

Last week I was at my most critical point ever of TNA for throwing out an episode of Impact that needed to be flushed away like the garbage that it was. There's only room for improvement, can TNA make the fans want to buy their biggest PPV of the year in Bound For Glory? Here's my take on this week's show.

IMPACT HITS

Four Tag Teams, Two Titles, One Feud: One angle that has been built up very well has been the ongoing conflict between Team 3D, Scott Steiner & Booker T, The British Invasion, and Beer Money. There have been plenty of matches involving these teams in some sort of split fashion, so it makes sense for the biggest PPV of the year to have all four teams going for both the TNA and IWGP Tag Titles at the same time. I only wish TNA hadn't completely killed the idea of a ladder match being of any significance, because the hype on this could be great to watch, especially since most wrestling fans will remember Team 3D's days in some of the early TLC matches in WWE, so we know they can bring it in a ladder match.

Matt Morgan and Abyss Remember They Have History: One thing that really annoys me is when wrestlers all of a sudden forget anything that they've done in the past that involves each other. When Morgan and Abyss were announced as a tag team, it was good to see the segments backstage between them actually acknowledging their very recent feud between them and the fact that they can still get along if they try. Their work in the ring was still strong together, and now that both are babyfaces, they picked up the win over the veterans Kurt Angle and Mick Foley with relative ease.

Sting, Kurt Angle, and A.J. Styles Interview: Sting did his best this week to try to convince people that his match against A.J. Styles at Bound For Glory may be a retirement match. I'm sorry, hasn't this been already hinted at in promos, posters, and just about every lead-in to Bound For Glory seen out there? And the "hint" given by Sting was just bombed in the ring, with no reaction whatsoever from anyone. At least Kurt Angle came out to make things interesting, attacking Sting and goading A.J. Styles into a match against Angle just a few days before BFG on Super Impact.

IMPACT MISSES

Samoa Joe Blames Bobby Lashley For Everything: This is one giant clusterfudge of a booking experiment by TNA. Last week, for no reason at all, Samoa Joe decided to attack Bobby Lashley. No rhyme, no reason, just did it. So when Samoa Joe had to defend the X-Division Title against Amazing Red this week, he's surprised when Lashley comes down to ringside? And then Joe Invites Lashley Into The Ring During The Match? Seriously? Since when, in any wrestling match, is outside interference allowed just because one wrestler invites it? Sure, Red's combination of corkscrew moonsault followed by the Code Red looked cool, but it wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for Lashley's assist. Then, Joe loses his cool at Lashley for costing him that match. Um, memory check. Joe started this crap. And we still don't have a legitimate reason for why Joe originally started up with Lashley. I'll admit, the fight later in the show that ended with Lashley eating an elbow drop through a table was cool, but there's still been no backstory to this feud.

Mick Foley Brings Dr. Stevie Back Into The Abyss Storyline: Just when we all thought it was safe to buy into the Mick Foley-Abyss storyline and the battle of the hardcore kings, Foley has to go out and bring Dr. Stevie into the picture for their Monster's Ball match at BFG. Dr. Stevie needs to be out of this angle, and now. It's old, it's been played out, and no one believes that Dr. Stevie poses any threat to Abyss. Let's leave this match strictly one-on-one and just see who the better hardcore wrestler today is, no excuses.

World Elite Claims Victory Over Main Event Mafia: BWAHAH...oh my dear God...my sides are hurting from laughing here...move along people...BWAHAH.

More Championship Matches, Less Time, No Hype, No Reason: Hernandez vs. Kevin Nash for the Legends Title. Umm, okay, why? Tara vs. ODB for the Knockouts Title. This was announced when? I am really getting annoyed when TNA throws out these title matches for absolutely no reason whatsoever and gives them no hype at all. Even the X Division Title match between Amazing Red and Samoa Joe didn't get that much push, not even allowing the soon-to-be-new-champion the dignity of an entrance seen on TV. Save championship matches for championship caliber shows people. Look at Raw. The U.S. Title match between Kofi Kingston and The Miz was announced at the top of the show, was hyped repeatedly during the show, and then the actual match was given more than five minutes!

Chris Reed is a PWTorch Specialist covering TNA Impact with a weekly Hits & Misses column.

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