James Caldwell, Torch Assistant Editor (7.0)

Aaah, that was a refreshing episode of TNA Impact. The final image of the show focused on the wrestlers involved in angles that will play out on PPV was reflective of a show that mainly focused on the wrestlers, limited the backstage junk, and limited Hulk Hogan's involvement. Of course, Hogan still got a payday appearing on TV in a Reaction segment with Mr. Anderson that was bothersome for the "heel" and "babyface" references, but at least his appearances were limited and we didn't get the chin scratch of doom at the end of the show big-footing the roster.

This show had a very nice pace from beginning to end, which isn't typical of Impact. TNA slowed down and allowed things to marinate before being presented to the audience e.g. A.J. Styles vs. Mr. Anderson in the main event and Jeff Hardy vs. Desmond Wolfe in the second hour. Wolfe vs. Hardy was a very strong TV match with Wolfe distancing himself from the ineffective heel resorting to running people over or trying to get them arrested. He's an assassin heel who needs to be built up as a threat in the ring who can hurt someone with his offensive arsenal, not vehicular assault.

Regarding Styles vs. Anderson, it was just a really strong TV main event. And the post-match angle stemmed from the result of the match - with a win and a loss mattering - and was not just a random run-in where the post-match took precedent over the match. Even though TNA gave away Styles vs. Anderson on free TV rather than saving it for a PPV, they left something for down the road where the audience still wants to see that match-up with Anderson getting the win and Styles getting his comeuppance.

One of the non-wrestling highlights of the show was Matt Morgan's promo turned challenge to Kurt Angle. Morgan has started to slow and make his words count, which has made him more effective as a talker. Sprinkle in some of that natural heel comedy that comes out of his personality and he created a nice pre-main event segment with Kurt Angle. Morgan had shades of Batista's great disillusioned heel character addressing Kurt Angle as "a kid from the crowd," which perfectly set up Angle's return promo. Meanwhile, TNA continues to plant seeds for a Morgan vs. Samoa Joe feud that can build a little bit before matching up a monster heel and a BA babyface.

The rest of the show was hit or miss. I like the emphasis on Kazarian via his relationship with Ric Flair, but I don't like the tone with Styles where the wrestlers are presented as spoiled brats fighting for daddy's love. The audience won't take those wrestlers seriously when TNA tries to market a fight or a match. Also, Orlando Jordan, Abyss, and Rob Terry are taking up TV time and not being productive. The Abyss ordeal was thankfully pushed to the back-burner this week.

Wade Keller, Torch Editor (7.5)

Is this the first two hour national cable wrestling show in modern history that didn't cut away from a single match for a commercial break? That's one of the trends that I've been critical of, since it devalues the whole concept of a wrestling match to cut away from live action in the ring so often. Imagine if they did that in the NBA or MMA? There'd be huge outcries. Sure, the matches end up shorter (they don't have to, but the reality is bookers aren't going to cut back too much on overall content density otherwise to make room for uninterrupted longer matches), but they regain that sense that every minute matters. I hope TNA sticks with it even though there's no "instant gratification" that comes from doing it.

This was a show without a single major gripe that comes to mind. Not a great must-see show, and the marquee matches were still too short for my taste, but overall an enjoyable two hours. It had more of a sports-like feel than a scripted vaudeville show and focused on worthwhile characters.

Greg Parks, Torch Columnist (6.5)

Not a bad show by any stretch, but it did feel a bit forgettable. Mr. Anderson's opening promo was bizarre and all over the place, which is one of the negatives of not scripting the promos. Anderson is usually pretty good, but he was a bit too over-the-top for me here. Team 3D's feud with Jesse Neal and Shannon Moore has been set up nicely, but I just don't care about 3D at this point. Lethal vs. Kazarian was a fine match, but I hope Kaz doesn't start following in Flair's footsteps; that'll be three wrestlers on TNA's roster that would be mimicking Flair if that were to happen.

The whole midget thing was pretty useless, but overall, less intelligence insulting than what WWE trots out on Raw every Monday with their guest hosts. The sock full of coins used by Desmond Wolfe looked like it was the least dangerous foreign object in TNA history. It looked like there were about three quarters in there. Still, as long as they're building up Wolfe, I'm OK with it. Is anyone shocked we still didn't get answers from Sting this week?

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