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THE 'HOW DO YOU FOLLOW A POLYGRAPH TEST?' EDITION OF TNA IMPACT FALLOUT

Last week's Impact featured the main event of a Polygraph test. Seriously. How did TNA come back from that episode, which saw their ratings dip slightly? What was next on the road to their PPV this week? Well, a little late (and I apologize for that), here's the TNA Impact Fallout:

Opening Sement: Another good video piece putting over the Jeff Jarrett "Fan's Revenge" match. You can't go wrong with a So Cal Val cameo, either. Mike Tenay and Don West did a good job getting over the Hangman's Horror match. Something I'd like to see in the future is TNA edit in clips of those appearing in the matches later on tonight while they are discussed. It would be something simple to help new viewers understand who these characters are.

Ultimate X Video: Well edited piece, but too short. The soundbites from AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels sounded devoid of emotion. They've been bloodied, beaten, and are going for revenge and their tag straps...shouldn't they be pissed off? Konnan sounded far more intense.

AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels vs. Matt Bentley & Frankie Kazarian: With that haircut, perhaps WWE should have kept Kazarian around for that greaser gimmick they want to do with Deuce Shade. Styles and Bentley had a nice exchange early. I was a little surprised with the amount of offense Kazarian and Bentley were given. The BME/frog splash finish was nice stuff. OK match.

Eric Young/Larry Zbyszko/Jeff Jarrett: Jarrett's delivery was really good, although I couldn't quite figure out why the World champion was wearing his hat backwards like he just came in from a softball game...oh, it's a TNA hat. Those marketing geniuses. Young's mannerisms are hysterical. Zbyszko is...well, Zbyszko. What else can you say?

Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin: With no mention of Kevin Nash yet again, I guess TNA finally realized it wasn't worth playing that game anymore, especially since the only side effect of his appearances were having a highly paid talent that made no difference in the ratings. The downside is that Shelley's mic time has been depleted since. The X-Division is in a rebuilding process right now and from an in-ring standpoint, this was good action. Senshi scouting Sabin was a smart, simple way to build to the PPV match without having Senshi do anything physical while his neck is healing. The Jackass 2 antics at the end I could have done without, especially since Devine didn't do anything during the match that would lead to Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt helping Sabin, but that's just me. Devine's bump into the ringpost looked scary.

Christian Cage-Rhino Video: The camcorder footage was a nice touch. Cage is finding his fire behind the mic again. Rhino was good here too. Really strong piece.

Hangman's Horror Match - Raven vs. Abyss: The video feature before the match was awesome. It should have opened Impact, it was that good and probably would have done a better job enticing UFC viewers to remain. Mitchell is an unbelievable talker and the last great old school villainous manager going today on the national scene. The brawl to open the match was decent. One thing Raven probably doesn't get enough credit for is always trying to evolve his look. It slowed down a step once they got into the ring but picked up steam after the commercial break. Abyss does a great job as a "big man" performer and when Raven is in the right position, he's still entertaining. That visual of Abyss chained as he was being beaten with the trash can lids was great. The finish seemed somewhat anticlimactic, but that was probably by design so the focus was on Brother Runt's turn at the end. It would have been interesting to see what Mitchell and Abyss' reaction afterwards.

Bobby Roode meets Col. Parker: Another small step in the Bobby Roode storyline but nothing of real consequence here. It's kind of hard to follow a Bobby Heenan cameo, though, although I am enjoying watching this unfold since TNA isn't rushing this.

LAX Backstage: Awesome promo. Everything about the segment was perfect.

Do You Hate Jeff Jarrett?: I guess when WCW was sold, TNA got the old "WCW Amateur Challenge" library.

Jim Cornette's Town Hall Meeting: The idea of having the fans around the ring was a cool idea that looked great in execution. I had mixed feelings about the segment. It was a positive that one of the major points of it was to put over Samoa Joe as a player. I absolutely love the fact that Joe was finally given some live mic work in front of the crowd and he delivered perfectly. As long as TNA keeps working hard to get Joe over as a personality and doesn't sidetrack him left and right, he's going to be their top dog. It almost looked as if the segment was designed to explain Joe's place in the storyline to new viewers, which is fine with me. You have to get over the new personalities, something that TNA has been unable to truly excel at due to lack of time and a focus on extraneous issues and established stars.

On the other side, the one major factor Jim Cornette brings to TNA is credibility, so of course they put him into a situation that makes fan question that credibility by having Cornette reinstate Earl Hebner. Sometimes you watch and wonder why TNA even bothers with some of the storylines, because in the end they go nowhere. It reminds me of the Jackie Gayda deal. She was written out because she was pregnant so plans changed, but where was it going anyway? It was one of those ideas that took place but were never fleshed out and left more questions than answers, and that's how I felt about the Hebner deal. He obviously screwed Cage out of the NWA title, so he's fired, he's homeless, and now he's back? Jeff Jarrett cleared him? Seriously, who cares? I can't even believe fans clapped for it.

Larry Zbyszko did as good of a job as he was going to do as the stand-in for Jeff Jarrett in order to give Joe and the fans a chance to lash at someone, but why is the heel Jarrett coming out with a chair to fend off the lashing fans? Wasn't he scared last week of the whole segment? I guess when it's all about Jeff, it doesn't matter.

Final Fallout: A better show than last week's but again, it felt like the company was on cruise control with the vignettes and promos standing out more than the action in the ring. There were some decent spots and OK action but nothing that epitomized the company's namesake "Total Nonstop Action." The company really feels like a truck that's pushing hard to get out of the mud but isn't out of the muck yet. That said, I am looking forward to No Surrender as I like the lineup and think that given the chance, the matches will deliver. I hope they do, and I'm sure everyone reading this who wants to continue to see TNA grow, feels the same.

Mike Johnson can be reached at Mike@PWInsider.com.

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