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Here are my thoughts on the show:
I like that they continued to use the same configuration that they did during the pay per view. It allows for the wrestlers to do more outside the ring and showcase the athletic ability of the wrestlers.
I liked that they started with the Kurt Angle/A.J. Styles match. You know that you are going to get something good from those two men. This was a good match for television but this is a match that would have been even better if given more time on a pay per view because they would have gotten more than eight minutes. I liked how when A.J. did the pescado that he made sure to make additional contact with the head as he went to the floor. Angle and A.J. have worked against each other so many times that they were able to counter the other’s moves so well. It is also surprising to see these guys incorporate new moves into their matches since they have probably thrown everything at each other. I liked the finish of the match with Angle countering a low kick.
With this being a non-title match and the fact that Angle is on an ‘I am going to retire if I lose’ angle, it was almost a given that Angle was going to win.
That tattoo that A.J. got is a bit distracting when there is nothing going on in a match and they show him.
I could have sworn that when Angelina came back to TNA after her time away that she said she was not like the Beautiful People and that she wanted to be taken seriously so why is she doing the ‘cameraman zoomit on my butt’ bit like Velvet, Madison, and Lacey do?
I thought the Angelina/Madison match was okay until the Cool Rider came to the ring. Then we had the referee distracted while Madison hit Angelina with the belt after Velvet hit the mystery person.
I did like that the mystery cycle chick had a mask on since it was conceivable that someone would take her helmet off.
I like that they are trying to maximize the wrestling by cutting out some of the ring entrances.
The triple threat match had the interesting storyline of Dinero and Anderson in the ring together and whether Dinero had forgotten what Anderson did to him in the past. The double clothesline looked good since Dinero was coming off the ropes and had to hit at the same time as he hit Anderson. Why was it an ‘inadvertent’ shot by Dinero since it was a Triple Threat match? They weren’t partners so it was fair game.
I was a bit disappointed by the triple threat match because it was way too short with the talent in the match. Dinero did not look good in the match since he was pinned after one or two moves against him.
For a match that was billed as an open challenge for Jeff Hardy, it is a bit of a letdown to have it be Shannon Moore.
The Moore/Hardy match was a good television match. I thought both men looked good in the match. Some of the action on the floor felt a bit too choreographed for my liking. I was a bit surprised when Hardy went for the swanton so quickly after Moore dominated the match but I really liked that Moore was able to get his knees up. However, after being pushed off the turnbuckles, Hardy is able to hit the Swanton. I think Moore outwrestled Hardy in the match.
Personally, I would have had the Motor City Machine Guns/Beer Money match in the main event of the show. This match felt like it was the most important going into the show since it was the final match in a best-of-five series and it was the best match of the night.
I liked the summary of the first four matches in the best of five series before the Beer Money/Motor City Machine Guns match.
I liked the stare down by the two teams before the tag title match began.
I liked that Shelley anticipated the catapult double team move that Beer Money uses and countered it during the first fall. The suicide dive and double jump splash combination by the Machine Guns was a good change of pace from their usual dive to the floor. I liked that the first fall was won by Beer Money. I thought they wore down the Machine Guns more in the first fall.
Why did Beer Money do their jump around stuff during the match. I am glad that it basically cost them the second fall because they should be worried about winning the match and not trying to play to the crowd.
I liked the finish of the third fall in that the Machine Guns used their finisher twice to get the win, but I don’t know how Storm was able to kick out after the first attempt by the Guns after all of the stuff that Storm took in the third fall and throughout the match.
Did I really see a heel team denied a tag that the referee did not see? I think that might have been the fourth time that ever happened.
The crowd was really into the tag title match and that helped the match.
Why didn’t they have the usual ring entrances with both men in the ring since it is a World Title match?
I liked that Abyss tried to get the board while Van Dam was in the back before his entrance. Why not take advantage of the situation. At least Van Dam rushed to the ring and hit the kick to knock Abyss off. I liked Abyss blocking the monkey flip and turning it into a power bomb. I was a bit surprised that Abyss was not pinned after the thumbtack and glass spot with the sunset flip power bomb. The spot with Van Dam falling off the ladder in the ring and glancing off the ladder between the apron and guardrail was sick.
The Van Dam/Abyss match was okay. It definitely belonged on an episode of Impact.
For a show that was supposed to focus on the ‘action’ that TNA can bring, I did not like that it was essentially being overshadowed by a Hulk Hogan segment.
Didn’t Hulk Hogan say the same thing about A.J. Styles that he said about Rob Van Dam this week? Was Hogan also saying that he had to look back to 1995 for where to go with TNA?
I liked the attack at the end of the show by Fortune, Douglas Williams, and Matt Morgan. Did they do it because they were fed up with the fact that they were on the back burner since Tommy Dreamer got his pay per view?
Are Douglas Williams and Matt Morgan members of Fortune?
Here are my thoughts on Reaction
It looks like some of the final brawl was edited from the show because they showed Ric Flair on the mic during Reaction but it did not air during Impact.
I thought Kurt Angle and Ken Anderson’s comments about ‘They’ were good especially when you had Mike Tenay suggesting that Fortune is ‘they’. I like the idea that it is just something that Abyss is imagining.
I thought Abyss’ comments were good. However, I don’t know if it would have made sense to save some of the comments about what happened on Impact
I really liked A.J. Styles and Frankie Kazarian in the back talking about how they were tired of who is being brought in and that they are not going to be overshadowed. However, they might want to look at who is their leader if they are critical of the people who were big twenty years ago.
While Devon was talking about being attacked from behind, I was thinking about all of the times that Team 3D would attack people from behind. I did like that he was talking about people who he worked with during his time in TNA and seeing them attacking him because he was with the hardcore guys at the end of the show.
The stuff with Dixie and Tommy Dreamer would have been better if they didn’t do it during Douglas Williams’ ring entrance. I like how they are setting up things for next week’s show during Reaction. However, I am not a fan of Mrs. Carter becoming a regular character on the shows.
I really like the segment on the Motor City Machine Guns. It gave us a lot of insight into the team and what they think is ahead for them. I would have preferred that they would have gone more into their background, but it was a good look back at the history of the team.
With a show like this, I think they can do a lot to build the wrestlers who might need that little nudge to get to the next level and a five to ten minute segment to let us know what they have done on their road to TNA.
I thought Velvet Sky was the best part of the segment about the Knockouts Title. I think that they can do this angle without having anyone become friends again. Velvet can be a face against Madison but be a heel against Angelina while Madison would be the heel against Angelina or Velvet.
Is this building to a Fortune/hardcore situation at the pay per view? We have seen Team 3D versus Beer Money in the past but they can take it to a new level with the beat down at the end of the show. It would be interesting to see what combination they could get from the hardcore guys to face Styles, Williams, Morgan, and Kazarian.
I liked the way that Dreamer commented on what he heard from Frankie Kazarian and A.J. Styles during the pay per view. If they are going to continue this feud further, there is a good base to build on.
I liked the first episode of Reaction that aired a few months ago. This show is a great concept but I don’t know if it works with a look back at the episode that just aired. I think if this were to air before Impact the following week with a look back at the previous week (and then air on Saturday or Sunday on the weekend of the pay per view) it would be more effective. It would first show how well TNA can draw in other time slots and would keep the product fresh during the week instead of being kept in the same block every week.
