Instant Reaction - TNA Impact 5/9
By Benjamin Tucker, PWTorch TV specialist

DVR Guide - What to Watch Later

- #1 Contender's tag match (Q5)
- X Division promo segment (Q6)

Overall Score - 5.0

Meh. I've said it before and I'll say it again - Impact is rarely truly bad. That being said, the number of good Impact episodes lately has slowly dwindled, leaving it once again as a perfectly mediocre show where nothing of importance or excitement truly happens. The only exception to this rule tonight was the return of Abyss. It was a solid surprise, though I really don't see what they're hoping to get out of using this character again. Abyss doesn't have enough depth to be the leader against the Aces & Eights, and the Joseph Park character is still floating around. Very odd.

Outside of his strange return that culminated in him illegally slamming Mr. Anderson through a table right in front of the ref and not getting disqualified, we had a typical Impact - one emo A.J. segment, Sting and Hulk Hogan being positioned as the biggest threats to the Aces & Eights, some good segment involving two out of the three tag teams in TNA right now, and just an overall feeling of sluggishness.

I will say that the X Division segment was surprisingly good tonight. Now, that being said, it wasn't a home run. But, it was Kenny King's first extended promo in front of a live TNA audience and he backed up everything he said with the appropriate level of cockiness. Sabin was fine in his own right, but it was King who really stood out in my eyes. If he can continue to develop a character behind the stick and maintain his current in-ring moveset, he can be a real asset in TNA's future.

The number one contender's match was the other segment to look for tonight. It was a lot of fun seeing the two heel teams go after each other with all of the different shenanigans, but it did become too much by the end. James Storm just walking out suddenly to close the segment made it feel incomplete and left the match on a sour note. Still, it was fun while it lasted.

The first hour is where Impact really dragged badly. The opening segment had the same stuff that we've seen in Hogan and Styles segments for weeks now, and the announcement of the tag match didn't do much considering how often the Aces & Eights are in them and how they're not treated as a big deal. Seriously, compare how TNA treats Aces & Eights wrestling in a tag match to WWE advertising a Shield match. The comparison isn't the best, but you can still see how TNA isn't treating their main heel stable with nearly enough care.

Speaking of Aces, I'm perfectly fine with the D-Lo storyline. And, by fine, I mean indifferent. Should we really care about D-Lo? He hasn't done anything since joining Aces & Eights, and he hasn't been relevant in years. The segments revolving around him were serviceable, but shouldn't that time be spent instead on developing new stars like Magnus?

Again, it's the same issues revolving around TNA. Old stars being pushed in front of new ones. TNA originals not getting the spotlight they deserve. And what it's created is a stale product where potentially profitable areas like the Knockouts division are treated as nothings so that Hogan and Sting can have more television time. When was the last time there was a Knockouts story that progressed over the length of an entire show? TNA is simply focusing on the wrong things right now, and it's producing downright boring television. Someone wake me up when they do something interesting...

Any questions or comments? Feel free to message me on Twitter @BTuckertorch .

We suggest these recent related articles...

10/5 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Natalya vs. Paige, Owens vs. Cara, Stephanie McMahon, Sasha Banks, Xavier Woods

COLLECTIBLES COLUMN: The History of Foam Hands in Pro Wrestling

9/28 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Kane's Split Personality, Divas Revolution, Heyman & Big Show, Reigns vs. Wyatt