TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 26th March 2009

After a good little show last week it was time for TNA to bring us one step closer to Lockdown. At the moment they may be in WWE’ shadow with Wrestlemania upon us but TNA still need to show us what they can bring.

Good Points

The build for Lethal Lockdown

Tonight’s show was all about getting us ready for Lethal Lockdown with forty minutes spent deciding on team captains. To decide on captains they held a 20 man gauntlet match in a cage with the last standing being opposing team captains. Angle had promised to win it and captain MEM and he would stop at nothing to do it but after a very entertaining PPV quality match it was Samoa Joe that came out the victor beating Angle.

Sting has enough of Foley

Sting was in no mood to joke about with Foley this week as a little bit of heat got added to this feud from Sting’s side. This feud was started off by Sting trying to look out for Foley but now its personal and with Foley telling Sting he still has some cage dives left in him it should be an ok match at Lockdown.

Bad Points

Segment order

Again with TNA we had four non wrestling segments back to back. It’s not rocket science but TNA need to start mixing it up a little bit more in their running order to make the show flow better.

Dixie Carter tries to take the high ground and fails

This week Dixie Carter got in an argument on the internet where they both counter claimed that the other company isn’t producing family friendly TV and that they were. However Dixie needs to look at her own promotion if she is going to let wrestlers throw out throwaway lines which have sexual references which aren’t needed. This week it was Scott Steiner during a backstage segment with the Main Event Mafia.

Overall

A bit light but all in all a good show with a hot ending. Having these shows once in a while is great as it feels like you are getting PPV for free but they should go back to the usual format next week.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 19th March 2009

After a very disappointing Destination X could TNA produce the goods this week on iMPACT and get me excited for the product again?

Good Points

Interesting angle between Sting and Foley

Sting is doing a great job of playing this conflicted character between siding with the Main Event Mafia and the side of TNA management. Trying to look out for Foley, Sting tried to get the main event for iMPACT stopped so he wouldn’t have to wrestle but Foley saw this as a kick in the teeth and booked himself and Jarrett to square up against Angle and Sting in the main event which ended with Foley laying Sting out with a chair and getting the win. The only problem is I don’t want to see the match between them which is set for the next PPV.

Samoa Joe takes it to the extreme

I’m liking the off the wall crazy man that Joe is playing at the moment. This week he attacked Bashir and proceeded to torture him backstage. Their match lasted all of a few seconds on iMPACT before Joe got disqualified and took him to the back. Wonder who he is going to attack next.

Tag scene got a bit better

After being disappointed by the bogus ending to the tag title match between Team 3D and Beer Money they put it right this week on iMPACT. Now set for Lockdown is a steel cage match between the two in Philadelphia in a winner take all match as Team 3D put their New Japan titles up against Beer Money’s TNA titles.

Bad Points

Angle pushed to the side

Having Sting against Foley as the main event for Lockdown what does it leave for Angle? Angle did a great job on the mic tonight but needs someone to work with as am getting bored of him and Jarrett going at it because it has lost its intensity.

Frontline mess

When speaking about his Legends title win AJ addressed himself as part of the TNA Originals and not The Frontline so it looks like TNA are trying to remove The Frontline from everyone’s memories.

Overall

A quite decent show in all honesty was very entertained but thy need to be careful about the card for Lockdown.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 5th March 2009

With it being the last iMPACT before Destination X I was expecting big things from TNA after being very impressed with their last outing.

Good Points

What side is Sting on?

TNA are pushing Sting well at the moment as he continues to play his cards close to his chest. Foley is trying to get him to leave the MEM but the MEM are doing their best to convince Sting that he needs to stay in the faction. I am intrigued to see what will happen following his match with Angle this Sunday.

Tag Team Scene hots up

After being on a run of victories and knocking people out of TNA Beer Money finally met their match in LAX as they had to get themselves disqualified in order to save their belts. Unhappy with what has been going on Team 3D finally had enough and have challenged Beer Money to a match at Destination X to shut them up once and for all which should be a great match.

Bad Points

How to kill Angle

Having Angle end the show by beaten up by Jarrett in a street fight and kicked out of the arena made no sense. Jarrett doesn’t have a match on the card but Angle is in the main event, if they wanted to build these two again they should have waited for after Destination X.

Stupid Police costumes

It is always cringe worthy when wrestling show’s pretend to bring the police in but TNA pushed the bar this week with the most ridiculous police costumes I have seen in my life.

Overall

Could have been so much better the only person that came out smelling of roses was Sting. Saying this though I am still hyped to see Sting vs. Angle this Sunday.

TNA Genesis 2009 Review

TNA Genesis kicked off the 2009 Wrestling PPV season this past weekend with a card which featured what they were calling a triple main event. The preparation and the build for the event had been hampered by the festive season but TNA had to forget about all that and show us an insight in to what 2009 is going to be like for TNA.

Good Points

Angle vs. Jarrett

These two put on another brutal match which left both the other main event matches in the shade. The match had been well built over the past few months and it more than delivered. In a match in which Jarrett said he couldn’t lose he was beaten in the idle of the ring by the bully Angle who reclaimed some pride after losing to Jarrett in their first encounter.

Shelley vs Sabin

These two put on a match of the night effort. Everyone going in to the match was unsure of whether they would actually fight each other due to their tag team partnership or if they would have a trick up their sleeve but to theirs and creative teams credit they put on a superb match. The ending spoiled the match for me with Shelley getting the cheap win but I understand why creative team needed to do it to develop the storyline.

Bad Points

Missing in Action

There were some big changes to the card that had been advertised and pushed over the last few weeks. Christy Hemme was injured during training so her match against Kong was scrapped, Nash was in hospital so he was out of the six man tag and then to top it all off they decided to run a storyline in which Rhino was late getting to the building after being beaten up by MEM earlier in the day. All this meant that we had an unannounced six man tag to kick off the show and that Kip James was bizarrely added to the six man main event.

Ordering of the card

To have a six man tag match with no major champion or challenger as the final match of the night ahead of the actual title match and the feud with the biggest stars in Angle/Jarrett made no sense whatsoever. All they managed to do was downgrade the title, take away from Angle / Jarrett and show how weak the MEM / Frontline factions are as D’Von, Kip James and Scott Steiner should be nowhere near a main event.

Overall

The show exposed TNA’s weakness at the moment which is having too many guys at the top that shouldn’t be there. If you are going to push MEM and the Frontline storyline which I think they should then they need to use the top guns to do it and not have a match where AJ Styles is the only credible performer in there.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 8th January 2009

After missing the last few iMPACT’s and with Genesis this weekend I was interested to see how TNA would build the matches in one night for the PPV.

Good Points

A show of emotion

Was great to see the emotion shown by Jarrett and Angle. TNA really pushed the Jarrett story hard with BG James taking up the fight for his friend against the bully Kurt Angle which lead to Jarrett having to make the save as Angle and the MEM tried to destroy his friend. Can’t wait to see this match at Genesis.

Build for the six man

There was some great build for the six man tag match as D-Von and AJ came together to fight for TNA and to have the back of Jarrett. The show of solidarity was added to by Foley’s impassioned promo as the show went off the air.

Unpredictability

We had the Shane the referee getting fired and then rehired as a wrestler, we had the debut of a new Knockout and new tag team champions as Creed & Lethal cashed in their shot. Not it can be a doubled edge sword which I will talk about it the bad points but I was happy with two of the unpredictable things than happened.

Bad Points

No Push for the title match

The Sting / Rhino match was only hyped by a few minutes on the mic by Sting which was underplayed as it came off the back of a killer Angle promo. This has the potential to win the award for the worst built title match in wrestling history which only devalues the TNA title.

Structure

TNA need to work on their structure I counted six non wrestling segments in a row at one point three of which were backstage interviews. Yes a TV show needs to have lots of non wrestling segments but you need to intersperse them not have them all in one chunk.

Title change before the main event

TNA had been pushing Matt Morgan/Abyss vs. Beer Money as the tag title match for some time and done a great feud between these pairings only on the iMPACT before the PPV to have Beer Money lose the belts to Creed and Lethal and for them then to turn the match in to a triple threat at the PPV. If a title match is advertised for a PPV don’t change the champions on the show before.

Overall

A mixed bag of crazy and inspired booking. I just hope for TNA’s sake that Jarrett vs Angle delivers.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 18th December 2008

After a good show at iMPACT last week would TNA go back to its usual hit and miss formula of weekly TV programmes or would we see consistency creep in to TNA it is Christmas after all.

Good Points

Good Build for Angle vs. Jarrett

TNA did a good job of pushing this one as Angle went out to the ring to attack Jarrett’s family on the mic to force him to come out to the ring. The heated altercation ended with a nice pull apart and left Jarrett fuming backstage about Foley asking him who’s side he was on after cavorting with the Main Event Mafia over the last few weeks.

X-Division Tournament

The X-Division tournament is providing us with some good wrestling matches and a good storyline for the MCMG as they both try and make the finals and continue to try and prove they are the big guns in TNA.

Suicide

Another nice piece for Suicide this week as he appeared in the ring to fend off Awesome Kong from attacking ODB and Christy Hemme only for the lights to go down and for him or her to vanish. There is a lot thy can do with this character so long may this kind of stuff continue.

Bad Points

Frontline made to look pathetic

It’s the NWO all over again. TNA are pushing MEM too strong every week and not letting The Frontline get one back on them. After not protecting Bubba last week this week The Frontline were helpless but to watch Samoa Joe get a beat down. The booking decisions reek of backstage politics.

Most obvious swerves in history

At the moment TNA are setting up the most obvious swerves in history. I think it is obvious that Mick Foley is befriending the MEM is to turn on them as siding with them is out of his character and I think it is obvious the Team 3D may switch to MEM. I hope it doesn’t go down this way but I wouldn’t be surprised if it does.

Overall

If it wasn’t for Angle and Jarrett the show wouldn’t be worth watching when you have a feud which isn’t involved with the title and the main stable feud stealing the show you have major problems.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 11th December 2008

After a poor Final Resolution and with WWE’s last PPV of the year coming up this weekend TNA really needed to put in a decent show this week. With rumours circulating that Angle is on his way back to WWE when his contract expires these are uncertain times for TNA.

Good Points

The Intensity is back

On tonight’s show we had intensity like we haven’t seen since the Angle / Karen / AJ love triangle. Bubba took up the lead of the Frontline as he challenged Kurt to a match to end the rivalry between them and the Main Event Mafia with the condition being that all other members of the Frontline and the MEM having to leave the building. The match was intense and went to the back where the MEM had as all heels do broken their word and been hiding to lay the beat on Bubba.

Jarrett takes a backseat

Now Jeff has a match with Kurt coming up he has left the running of TNA down to Foley and it will be interesting to see what Foley does now he is in sole charge. This week he was seen coming out of the MEM locker room all smile and pally with his old friends so at the moment we are not sure which side he is on.

Bad Points

Abyss and Matt Morgan

These two should have been pushed to run roughshod over the tag division in TNA but instead they have been made to look like bumbling idiots on the verge of falling apart. The tag division need freshening up as Beer Money have gone stale and yet again TNA waste an opportunity.

MCMG

I don’t like what creative are doing with this team. Chris Sabin has been pushed to the side and they seem to have no direction. The only direction they have is complaining it seems at the moment. I think it is time they pushed Alex Shelley just as a singles wrestler and drop the MCMG team.

Overall

Coming out of Final Resolution I was hating the Frontline / Main Event Mafia but in one show they managed to turn it around which TNA deserve a lot of credit for. They just need to tighten up the undercard with some proper direction and they will have a great show.

TNA iMPACT Review - 4th December 2008

After missing last week’s iMPACT I was looking forward to see what TNA were going to do with their last show before Final Resolution. With the biggest faction war in TNA history going on it was going to be interesting to see if it would be the Main Event Mafia or the Frontline getting the upper hand before the PPV.

Good Points

Jarrett / Angle feud

It’s great to see this feud continuing as it has some great emotion in it and is believable. The intensity of Angle’s and Jarrett’s confrontation in the iMPACT zone was immense and I for one hopes Angle beat Rhino so we get to see Angle vs. Jarrett 2.

Faction Wars

Finally the Frotnline have a name and look like a cohesive unit because when I last watched they were a mess. I think team 3D is a great addition to the faction I just hope that they don’t do the obvious and turn them heel having them double cross the Frontline.

Bad Points

Sarah Palin lookalike

The Sarah Palin lookalike was a terrible idea. We’ve moved on from the election and her segments were just awful. Having comedy segments like this just took us out of the intensity that the faction wars were building.

Abyss drinking with beer money

These segments took Abyss from an unstoppable monster to a pathetic bumbling idiot as he was lead in to drinking by Beer Money and then beaten up.

Overall

A solid episode of iMPACT which was got me excited for the PPV. It is very hard to promote a PPV which has an eight man tag for a main event but they did their best.

TNA Bound for Glory IV 2008 Review

Bound for Glory is TNA’s version of WrestleMania and has been hyped as such by TNA over the last few weeks so I was expecting the best event of the year.

Good Points

Jarrett back on top form

Jeff Jarrett made an awesome in ring return after nearly two years out of action against Angle. The match was well paced told a great story and although predictable at times Foley’s involvement as Special Enforcer added to a great match. Foley helped Jarrett to the win but it was stressed by the commentators that this was Foley’s only contractual obligation which is obviously just part of the storyline so it will be interesting to see where this goes.

Sting wins the gold

After being pushed to the side in recent months it was great to see Sting win the TNA heavyweight title. In recent weeks TNA have been circulating news that Kevin Nash is out of contract with TNA but that didn’t stop him from costing Samoa Joe the title which makes me think this news is just part of the storyline and now Nash and Sting are going to be the leaders of the established stars vs. the TNA originals.

Great Monsters Ball match

The four way tag team title match was great. Although the ending was weak there were some very memorable moments. We had Abyss going through the flaming tables and then unlike what normally happens when the fire dies on impact Abyss was left rolling around afterward still engulfed in flames, I think something went wrong there but it was memorable to watch. Then we had Hernandez going through a table covered in thumbtacks chest first instead of back first which is how wrestlers normally take that bump.

Bad Points

No Wrestlemania

I thought that the second half of the show was awesome but the first half was quite hard to sit through and no Wrestlemania by any means. When WWE do Wrestlemania it has a distinctly different feel to all other PPV’s whereas although this had some good moments felt no different to any other TNA PPV.

Main Event Booking

When you book a show with such a strong under main event match I think you are asking for trouble. With Jarrett’s return against Angle and with Foley as special enforcer it took the shine off which should have been a night we went home remembering Sting. When you have such a strong match which isn’t for the title you need to put it last or book that match so that it is for the Heavyweight Title.

Overall

Although I didn’t finish the show thinking I had seen the most special event of the year I did think it was a really good event. Lots of scope for storyline development and some memorable matches.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 2nd October 2008

With only two weeks to go until Bound for Glory and with Mick Foley set to make his presence felt in the iMPACT Zone I was looking forward to what TNA had in store this week for us after I missed last week’s episode.

Good Points

Jarrett / Kurt feud

TNA have done orchestrated this perfectly with the help of the UK media especially Simon down at The Sun they have created a great angle. Kurt gave shoot style interviews to The Sun where he claimed he didn’t like TNA and still had respect for Vince at WWE. These comments then got printed and TNA have sewn in to the storyline where Jarrett now takes exception to the comments made about his company and the storyline is coming over as real which makes for entertaining TV.

Foley makes his iMPACT

Ok it wasn’t a great in ring promo that Foley delivered but it got attention and built to the announcement that he was going to be special enforcer for the Angle vs. Jarrett match. Will be interest to see where Foley fits in to this whole new school / old school situation currently going down in TNA.

A new name about to start

TNA produced a really good video teasing the debut of a new character called Suicide who looks really interesting. On the back of it TNA have launched a viral type campaign with a website and everything set up for fans to try and find out who this new guy is.

Bad Points

Samoa Joe pushed to the side

Samoa Joe was left with just a pre-record interview with Tenay and Sting as his involvement this week. Yes Angle vs. Jarrett is huge but it doesn’t mean you completely under sell your title match. I wouldn’t be happy if I was Joe at the moment.

Poor main event

The last match on the card before the final Foley segment was a woman’s tag which featured the Beautiful People vs. ODB and Raka Khan and as the girls aren’t currently in a match at the PPV it made no sense.

Overall

I thought bar the minor exceptions it was a great show and that momentum is starting to build again for TNA.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 18th September 2008

After a pretty good PPV TNA were looking to follow it up with one of their biggest iMPACT’s to date. With lots of storylines developing nicely and a new arrival looming TNA are starting to get that momentum back.

Good Points

Brilliant Jarrett Promo

Jarrett showed the boys how it was done in the final segment as he explained his reasons for his actions as of late letting the world know that he set up TNA to give young guys the breaks they deserve and not to be another WCW. It was heartfelt, emotional and felt real something which a lot of TNA promos and storylines haven’t been.

Cactus Jack makes his presence known in the iMPACT zone

As Angle came down to try and set up a match between himself and Jarrett for Bound for Glory Jarrett turned the tables on Angle by pointing to the video screen where Foley cut a short promo in his Cactus Jack Persona. It is going to be interesting to see how they use him next week on iMPACT.

Abyss and Matt Morgan continue to be pushed

Was great to see these two get good backstage interview time and for the feud with 3D to keep on rolling as the old protagonists interrupted their segment. Matt Morgan is being built as the future of TNA and a good run with Abyss which ends in the tag titles will do him no harm.

Bad Points

Jay Lethal’s promo

A lot of words get bleeped on iMPACT but during Jay Lethal’s promo one was let go. I don’t think wrestling is a place for swear words, I think a more creative mind can deliver a heated promo or a promo that really gets attention without swearing. Also I don’t see the point of just letting one swear word go, if you are going to use that language on a wrestling show either use it often or not at all there is no point in just having one.

Samoa Joe pushed to the side

With Jarrett, Angle, Sting and Mick Foley all getting either more TV time or better TV time than Samoa Joe he has been put in a bad situation. As champion if one maybe two people are pushed above you then you can handle it but when there are four guys above you in the pecking order it has a detrimental affect on your standing and the standing of the title belt.

Overall

Brilliant iMPACT. The focus was given to the right feuds and matches whilst still some attention paid to the lower card. I can’t wait to see what else happens in the run up to Bound for Glory.

TNA No Surrender 2008 Review

After a good PPV last time out I was looking forward to seeing what TNA would deliver on their first PPV outside of the United States. As most of you know it takes a lot for me to get excited about a TNA PPV but here are my thoughts on what went down.

Good Points

Team 3D help build talent

Was great to see Team 3D building the team of Abyss and Matt Morgan. The match had a great tempo and really pushed Abyss and Matt Morgan strong as they came back after every other handed trick in the book by Team 3D and so many false finishes to finally get an impressive victory.

SoCal turns on Lethal

After a terrible storyline it had a really good payoff as SoCal deliberately cost Jay Lethal the match so that Sonjay could win and that she could go off with him. It will be interesting to see what they do with this new heel couple in TNA. Having a Heel couple on a show is always fun for the creative team.

Good X-Division match

The quality of wrestling was phenomenal in this one with some great spots as Bashir won the X-Division title in the backyard of the X-Division champion. Consequences Creed and Petey Williams put in an awesome performance but it will be interesting to see what Bashir does with the title as he has great character skills.

Bad Points

Sting kicking the show off

With Sting hitting the ring to do a long in ring promo to kick the show off made the show feel like a regular weekly TV show. In the promo he then went on to say he would face the winner of the title match at the next PPV. Message to TNA concentrate on the PPV you are doing and not the next one, that was a promo which should have been kept for the iMPACT after the PPV.

Two Women’s matches on one PPV

It shows how much belief that TNA has in this division to put two all female fights on a PPV card when guys like Rhino are just reduced to support roles on the card. ODB and Kong put in some awesome performances but I just wasn’t feeling the Knockouts tonight.

Main event not living up to the hype

I thought that TNA could have done more with the event it just seemed to predictable at times especially when Jarrett came out to nail Angle. Now if TNA hadn’t mentioned Jarrett at all in the build up to the PPV and then have hit Angle with the guitar and then explain his actions on the next iMPACT would have caused interest. As it happened you knew Angle was going to be feuding with Jarrett so wouldn’t win the belt and as they hand’t been doing much with Cage recently he wasn’t going to win the belt so it was another easy predictable win for Samoa Joe.

Overall

A couple of solid matches, nothing to jump up and down about. I think the next PPV should be a lot better though with some good storyline movement in this show which sets us up nicely.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 11th September 2008

With only three days to go to No Surrender Thursday’s iMPACT was going to be an important one to hype the PPV. What finishing touches would the TNA creative team but on storylines and would Jarrett finally show his face in the iMPACT Zone.

Good Points

Push for Matt Morgan and Abyss

Was great to see these two getting pushed and a good feud developing between them and Angle / Booker T. They also have another feud in the making now as Team 3D interfered in their main event match against Angle and Booker T.

Push for the Beautiful People

I think these two are great characters and it is good to see them involved in so many segments. Although TNA need to be careful not to give them too much time over the big title feuds.

Jarrett’s back

Ok he only made it to the ramp but it was great to see him back on the show and it was a nice teaser to see if he would be involved at No Surrender.

Bad Points

Little Wrestling

There was very little wrestling on tonight’s show with most of the matches either being thrown out or very short squash matches. Storylines are more important than wrestling in the last show before a PPV but that still means you have to have some wrestling.

Terrible Promos

The promos which should have been long and delivered didn’t. Samoa Joe opened up the show with a very short promo which was then greeted by Sting coming out and stumbling over an unconvincing promo. This was added to by a rushed last segment of the show between Samoa Joe and Sting. They weren’t the only culprits though as Nash joined the stumbling over his words club.

Overall

For a show before a PPV I thought it was pure awful. A lot of the guys appearing at the PPV weren’t even on the show and those that were made a hash of developing their storylines.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 4th September 2008

After an average episode of iMPACT last week I was hoping for something good this week but I am not sure if TNA would deliver.

Good Points

Old School / New School set in motion

After this week’s episode of iMPACT it looks like it’s going to be Sting, Angle and Booker representing the old school and Cage, AJ Styles and Jarrett representing the new school. We are still yet to see Jarrett but Angle is starting to reference him in promos and his music is constantly hitting to unnerve Sting, Angle and Booker T.

Abyss being positioned under the main event

Now we knew that Abyss wouldn’t be getting main event status in TNA but it looks like they are building a feud involving him and Matt Morgan against Team 3D which could be interesting. The only problem is that with all this talent used up in two storylines it is really highlighting the weakness of the rest of the roster.

Bad Points

Top guys not delivering on the mic

I am usually a fan of Angle and Booker promos but the fifteen minutes they were given on the mic to kick the show off just seemed to drag and put the audience in a sleeperhold. Added to this we have Sting’s promos which aren’t working as after being positioned as a heel by taking a strip off fan favourites Samoa Joe and AJ Styles the fans are still cheering him.

Not enough wrestling

Yes I know I say that your weekly show isn’t about wrestling but building storylines and entertainment you still have to have some wrestling as on a two hour wrestling show to go the first forty minutes with only one quick throwaway match is terrible. Wrestling matches need to be used on TV to build storylines you can’t just build matches with promos.

Overall

TNA should be at it’s hottest right now with Samoa Joe as champ and the return of Sting and Jarrett but instead these last couple of shows have been the least entertaining for me in some time.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 21st August 2008

After a nice iMPACT last week I was looking forward to seeing how TNA were going to improve and get us closer to No Surrender. Was Sting going to show up and was Jarrett going to put in an appearance.

Good Points

MCMG turning heel

Good to see TNA doing something with MCMG. After a big push as top babyface tag team there act had become a bit stale recently so to see them pushed heel should see them getting back up the PPV card again.

Angle screwed again

Once again Angle was screwed at the hands of a guitar. TNA are really pushing an Angle / Jarrett feud for when he returns. This week Angle tried to get his medals again but this time in a ladder match in which when it looked like he was going to do it the lights went out and AJ had a guitar in his hands. As well as pushing Jarrett / Angle these wins are really pushing AJ even though they aren’t clean.

Push for Matt Morgan

It looks like Matt Morgan has a feud finally and with Team 3D. After Morgan’s win he was jumped by Team 3D to which Abyss made the save. It’s good to see Matt Morgan involved in a storyline around such established names.

Bad Points

Two main storylines both carbon copies

To bring back two of the biggest TNA stars in the same fashion by having lights go out and then wrestlers appear with their weapons of choice with the wrestlers in question never actually appearing on TNA is terrible. Ok Sting has been announced for a comeback next week on iMPACT but it still isn’t the best. These are both major returns of Sting and Jarrett and to do them both at the same time and in the same way isn’t the way to go.

TNA need to do more to appeal to the casual fan

With the wrestling audience shrinking TNA need to stop doing the storylines that appeal to the internet wrestling fans which is an even smaller group again. This week we had Nash talking about the backstage workings of wrestling which didn’t need to be said.

Overall

A really good show which will be a million times better when Sting and Jarrett are on the show. TNA need to b careful not to drag the Jarrett storyline out too long.

TNA iMPACT Review - Thursday 14th August 2008

After an ok Hard Justice I was looking forward to iMPACT as the event had left some questions to be answered and some doors wide open which should be what a PPV tries to do.

Good Points

Jarrett on his way back

The show was all about teasing the return of Jarrett with Samoa Joe teasing it in the opening interview of the show and then by at the end having the lights go out, Jarrett’s music hitting and AJ having a guitar in hand. They really need to finish the Sting storyline properly first but at least it is keeping things interesting.

Nice reference to the Olympics

Was good to see TNA linking in to the Olympics with Angle doing an interview about his success at the Olympics and then putting his Gold Medal o the line in an Olympic wrestling style challenge against AJ for the main event.

Push for Matt Morgan

After being left out of the PPV Matt Morgan got his biggest push to date as after a promo in which he referred to himself as a the Blueprint and after a win over Jonny Divine, Abyss came down to the ring and when it looked like Abyss was going to take Morgan out he just shook his hand as both stood and posed for the cameras. This new partnership could be a force to be reckoned with in TNA.

Bad Points

No Sting

Even though we had another blackout moment with his music we could have really done with a Sting promo to explain his actions at Hard Justice. The only thing I can think is maybe Sting, Jarrett and Nash are going to be forming a faction at some point and takeover TNA as Nash says he hasn’t told Joe everything and now Sting and Jarrett are doing similar things with blackouts and having their music play.

Segment arrangement

Yet again I witnessed three back to back backstage interviews. Like I keep on saying this stuff should take precedent in a weekly TV show but it doesn’t mean you have three like segments bunched together.

Overall

Highly enjoyable if not a bit rough round the edges. TNA needs to be very careful how it builds the main storylines as it could very easily become quite confusing.