-- 2/25 TNA Impact Reax

T.J. of Pittsburgh, Pa. (3.0): Best Match: Wolfe vs. Abyss. Worst Match: take your pick, the best wasn't even that good. If this is what TNA is doing to prompt people to tune in to Impact instead of Raw, then WWE has nothing to worry about. By my own math, there was 13 minutes of wrestling on a two-hour wrestling show. That's weak even compared to WWE TV standards. We got more than that on NXT for crying out loud. It was nice to see them give Beer Money a little face time, but I continue to feel the desire to turn the channel any time Bischoff is on the screen. It's pointless and has been done to death. If they can't find something original to do with him, they should dump him as an on-air character. Also, I realize that they need to find something to do with Abyss - and with this WWE mentality they have, they will certainly push those who are the biggest over those who are the most talented - but this whole angle is stupid from the word go. Never mind the absurdity of Abyss getting super powers from Hogan's ring, but the entire angle sends the message that a Hall of Fame ring from ANOTHER COMPANY has more importance than TNA's own World Championship. This is all culminating with us having to endure Hogan getting back into the ring. Wasn't it just this month that Hogan said he didn't think he should wrestle again? Other than it being more evidence that you can't believe a word out of the man's mouth, it's painful even watching this guy WALK to the ring, let alone attempt to wrestle in it. About the only positives of the entire angle were the possibility of Flair starting to build a stable with Wolfe maybe being the first recruit and Hogan being beaten to a bloody pulp. Sadly, we'll probably have to endure Flair jobbing to the hobble drop of doom in his first stateside match since WrestleMania 24.

Jay of New York, N.Y. (1.0): Eric Bischoff made fun of the Raw guest hosting gimmick, but TNA's main angle was Abyss having the "power" of Hogan's WWE Hall of Fame ring. In fact, the ring is so powerful and important that TNA hotshotted Flair and Hogan's in-ring confrontation, which would have drawn 10x more PPV buys than TNA ever has in its history! The power in Hulk's ring stupefied all of TNA including Taz, who channeled Jim Ross's "business is about to pick up" line to sell the ring-inspired battle. In short, Hogan's WWE HOF ring brought Flair out of retirement, Hogan into the wrestling ring when he can barely walk, and cost TNA their biggest PPV buyrate ever. WWE and Vince should never be spoken about in TNA creative meetings. On top of that, TNA delivered 12-13 minutes of wrestling on a two-hour WRESTLING show when TNA allegedly is better at WRESTLING than WWE. Instead of that, TNA gave us Hogan's Lord of the Ring with Abyss as Gollum. Tragic...just absolutely tragic.

John of Cocoa Beach, Fla., writer (2.0): Best Match: none. Worst Match: Abyss vs. Wolfe. A couple weeks ago, we officially said goodbye to the brand known as ECW. Today, we can also say that the TNA brand founded in 2002 by Jeff Jarrett also died. Maybe for the good of loyal original TNA guys like Kazarian, Beer Money, Eric Young, Daniels, Hernandez, and Motor City Machine Guns, TNA does become so successful on Monday Nights that they can split the company. You would have their show still on Thursday. Then have the WCW/ECW/WWE alumni brand on Monday Nights with Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, Ric Flair, Team 3D, Nasty Boys, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall & X-Pac. Then have Abyss, A.J. Styles, Mr. Anderson, Kurt Angle, Jeff Jarrett, and Mick Foley choose which brand they want to be on through a draft. Other talents like Rob Terry, The British Invasion, and the Pope can do the same. What, ODB is still with TNA? What's happened to Taylor Wilde and Sarita? Did Bubba the Love Sponge say something offensive about Canada or Mexico? Too bad he didn't say something bad about Texas, that way we would be rid of Lacey Von Erich! Yes, I like Daffney's psycho character; it's hard to believe she once was making fun of a former Vice-Presidential candidate. Matt Morgan is rapidly turning into Lex Luger 2010 and it's pretty obvious the turn on Hernandez is coming at the next PPV. It was kind of strange they showed the creation of a title (Legends) by a guy not employed by TNA...unless Booker T is coming back on the March 8 show. A main-event with two legends like Flair and Hogan was worth watching 15 years ago, but not today. Unless TNA has a real surprise under its hat - something larger than RVD - I suspect we will see the show end with Hogan winning the TNA Title. And we will see Sting in the rafters. At least when TNA goes under in 2012 due to Hogan, Jeff Jarrett can still make burgers for a living. We can't say the same for Shawn Michaels.

We welcome your 0-10 score and comments on this show for a "TNA TV Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. Just to add a twist to this feature, include not just your hometown, but also your occupation (mechanic, lawyer, stay-at-home-dad, college student, etc.) so readers get a flavor for what everyone does as "day jobs." To contribute your thoughts on Impact, click here.

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