By Curtis Shanks, PWTorch 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. Cue the opening pyro.

Like kissing your sister

Kurt Angle, as we hear from ring announcer Dave Penzer each week, is professional wrestling's only Olympic gold medalist. But Desmond Wolfe is not impressed with the factoid, and even debates it. During his promo this week, Wolfe states "Let's be honest Mr. Angle, you didn't really win that gold medal. You couldn't beat the guy on points." Wolfe's statement that Angle did not win on points in the finals is true...it's damn true.

I'm not a huge fan of amateur wrestling, but I am aware that matches can be won on a point system. At the free-style wrestling competition at the 1996 games, Angle wrestled in four contests to reach the finals. He won those bouts by scores of 4-0, 2-0, 4-3, and 4-1. Angle faced Iranian Abbas Jadidi in the finals, but came out even with a one-to-one tie in points in that contest. I don't know how amateur wrestling is scored, but I'm guessing Angle was the final victor due to the other guy's valet interfering on his behalf or due to Angle pleading with the G.M. to be awarded the gold medal during a backstage promo.

This space for rent

The old Kong is back, and she is not happy. Without Saeed by her side, Kong goes on a rampage this week spanning across several segments of the show. The first time we see her losing it, she is backstage destroying various items. TNA loves to give us hidden jokes that are not always obvious, and this was one of them. The location of Kong's assault took place in the personal locker room of the recently departed Booker T. Many of Booker's items were left behind, and TNA may have been making a subtle jab at Booker over his decision to leave the company and join WWE.

Ouch

I'm happy to hear that Chris Sabin is okay, as he was knocked loopy during the Guns tag match with 3D this week. The Internet has been buzzing about how TNA let the match continue with Sabin lying dazed on the ring apron, followed by a Kevin Nash tirade not shown to the at-home viewer. Taz referenced an injury from Sabin's past, which may have been an attempt by TNA to show that they were not entirely in the wrong for their decision to continue the match. Taz mentioned his own broken neck and how partner Eddie Guerrero continued in a handicap match while Taz laid on the ring apron.

The neck injury for Taz occurred during an ECW tag match when Taz and Eddie were facing off against 2 Cold Scorpio and Dean Malenko. A spike piledriver and Taz's inability to properly protect himself during the bump led to his injury. He was sidelined for almost a year with the injury, so we can all be thankful that Sabin's injury was far less serious and he should return much sooner than that.

Amateur Legend

The Legends Title (as it was known at the time of this writing) was on the line this week, as Bobby Lashley got a crack at gold. There were never any real qualifications listed for what allows someone to compete for the Legends title. You'd think the title was for legends only, but it's hard to tell what qualifies someone as a legend. As Lashley makes his entrance for the title match, we see his on-screen graphics, and the fact that he's only been a pro for four years. Seems a bit early to call someone a legend.

Looking back at all the one-on-one matches for the Legends title, Lashley became the least-experienced wrestler to ever challenge for the title. It's hard to pinpoint an exact date a wrestler became a pro by having his first match, but I would have to say the old record belonged to Samoa Joe. Newcomer Shane Sewell faced Booker for the title last year, but he had been wrestling professionally in Puerto Rico since the mid-'90s. With Joe beginning his career in 2000, his nine-years pro was the previous mark for the least experienced wrestler to qualify as a "legend."

Global domination

As I put the finishing touches on some research and debate about the Legends Title, Eric Young erases any future questions with his announcement this week. The Legends Title is no more. Instead we will get the new Global Championship, which is the same belt, but with a different name. This keeps up with the WWE trend of geographic terms for secondary belts. WWE currently has the Intercontinental and United States titles. There's also been the North American Heavyweight, the European title, and various International titles during their history.

The WWC in Puerto Rico has them all beat, as their main singles title is known as the WWC Universal Heavyweight title. Can't get much bigger than a universe. No, I'm not talking about the WWE "universe" that watches "superstars" compete in "sports entertainment" matches. With TNA still in a title-adding mode, it may not be long before we see the creation of the TNA Milky Way Galaxy Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships.

A fighting champion...in certain situations

Along with the title name change, Young wants to add a couple of provisions to the title to ensure his reign is a lengthy one. No defenses against an American wrestler and no defenses in the United States. This means that outside of his fellow World Elite members, only three individuals can even challenge for the title - Hernandez (who is from Texas, but billed from Mexico...sometimes), Desmond Wolfe, and Robert Roode. While those three might take a while to earn a shot and win a match vs. EY, it's the second rule that Young is counting on to prolong his run with the belt.

Aside from house show tours, only one TNA show has taken place outside of the U.S. - No Surrender 2008, which took place in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Canada is EY's home country, but he was not prominent on that PPV card. Young was relegated to superhero duty, as the Prince Justice Brotherhood (sorry to remind you of that) was victorious in the show-opening match. Looking at TNA's upcoming schedule, we'd better get used to EY holding gold on Impact. The next scheduled show outside the U.S. is a January 23 house show in Glasgow, Scotland.

Numbers crunch - Brother!

Did you see the end of the show this week? I'm not sure if you caught it, but TNA has entered into a deal with Hulk Hogan. With Mr. America himself taking over in TNA, I thought it would be fitting to look at some numbers about Hulk Hogan and the TNA roster he has been assigned to lead.

Hogan has been around forever, so there are plenty of fun facts we could state. Remember the famous clip of Hogan bodyslamming Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III? Some members of the TNA roster might not. Current TNA champ A.J. Styles was eight years-old when that happened. Even more shocking is current tag champ Brutus Magnus was not even five months old when that match occurred. But let's look at some overall numbers comparing Hogan and TNA's wrestlers.

Hulk Hogan's professional wrestling debut is listed as having taken place in August 1977. Of TNA's 52 current contracted wrestlers, 29 were not even born yet when Hogan first laced up the boots. But that was before he was Hulk and before he was a national phenomenon. His first taste of WWF gold happened on January 23, 1984. But there were still seven TNA wrestlers who had not even been born at that point. Flash forward many years to August 11, 2003. That's the day Hulk turned the big five-zero. When Hogan hit that age milestone, 22 of TNA's 38 current male competitors still hadn't won a title in a major promotion.

Hogan is no stranger to major title wins, as he held the WWF title for an amazing 1,474 days during his longest reign in the early '80s. If you add up all the WWE, TNA, WCW, and ECW titles of each of the current TNA talents, only Jeff Jarrett (who is still technically a roster member) has had more total days that Hogan's one longest run. While Hulk was a multi-time world champ, he only had one run with a tag team title - a short run with Edge in WWE. TNA loves to hype their tag division, and this is the one place they have him beat as 24 of their current 38 male roster members have spent more time as a tag champ than the man who revolutionized the industry.

Curtis Shanks is a self-described wrestling nerd who, contrary to popular belief, does have a social life. Feedback is welcome as comments, suggestions and questions can be sent to Curtis at curtisshanks.torch@gmail.com.

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