TNA IMPACT! This Week's Review and Thoughts

The show begins with Hulk Hogan in the ring, announcing a four-way contenders match for the TNA World Title will be held at TNA’s Victory Road Pay Per View. 

He also points out that Abyss needs to address his issues from last week’s Impact! 

Abyss comes out and confronts Hogan,  then suddenly attacks him, eventually choking him out and sticking Hulk’s Hall of Fame ring down his throat.  Rob Van Dam comes out to make the save, followed by Mr. Anderson moments later.

Abyss kept repeating, “They told me too.” 

Who is “they?”

Match One: Angelina Love vs Velvet Sky

A decent opening match.  Love appears to be taking down The Beautiful People before her shot at Madison Rayne for the title.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Match Two: Kazarian vs Jay Lethal

Really good match.  Jay Lethal is getting the biggest push of his career and the fan reaction has been very positive.  Lethal is now the No. seven wrestler listed on the Top 10 Contenders.  The feud with Ric Flair is also heating up, with Flair and AJ Styles attacking his brother backstage.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Match Three: Jeff Jarett vs Sting

The bogus Sting reappears once again, as it did back in WCW.  This wasn’t even a match, as Jarrett was fooled and eventually knocked out by the real Sting in the ring.

Match Four: Desmond Wolfe vs Kurt Angle

This was a terrific match.  Full of action and exciting to watch.  There is no question that I love what TNA is doing with Angle.  I think many can see him as champion one more time.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Match Five: Beer Money vs Ink, Inc

A solid tag team match.  Beer Money versus the Motor City Machine Guns should be an entertaining one to watch.  A good choice to select Beer Money in the finals, although Ink, Inc would have been entertaining as well.  Viewers also got to see Tommy Dreamer make an appearance but he wasn’t alone, as Dreamer was with Dr. Stevie and Raven.  It appears the ECW storyline is getting into its early gears. 

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Match Six: Abyss vs Mr. Anderson

The main event for Impact! was a decent one but intensified at the end with Mr. Anderson being chocked slammed through a table off the ramp.  Just like last week, Hulk Hogan comes out, but this time hits Abyss with a steel chair to no effect.  Abyss then points at Hogan, as the show closes with security guards separating the two.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Overall IMPACT! rating: 3 out of 5 (same as last week’s edition)

My Take

I felt this edition of Impact! was pretty standard.  On a positive note of the show, viewers got to see two really good matches and a few enjoyable ones.  TNA displayed more matches and continues to promote its Victory Road PPV. 

The ECW storyline is kicking into action, as Raven and Dr. Stevie, who haven’t been on TNA programming in quite sometime, reappeared with Tommy Dreamer.  Pretty soon, we may see Rhino jump back into the scene.

With the NBA playoffs over, TNA now has the opportunity to display good shows and climb over the 1.0 ratings mark.