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LOOKING AT A 'GO AHEAD AND LEAVE ME TOOTS, I'VE GOT A WORLD TITLE TO DEFEND' EDITION OF TNA IMPACT

TNA started on the road to Lockdown last night. Some thoughts:

Positives:

*The renewed focus on Samoa Joe with a video feature on his TNA career and a decent in-ring promo where the important things were Joe wanting to win the World title and vanquish his opponent was a nice breath of fresh air.  There has been talk off and on about the company becoming more serious in their direction and if this was an indication of that, I'm all for it.  That said, I'd love to see more of the Samoa Joe shooter persona we saw in the early days of his TNA run.  There was something about that asskicking persona that really stood apart from everyone else in TNA at the time.  That had nothing to do with the X-Division and everything to do with his work.  I'd love to see TNA allow Joe to bring more of that out as they build to his what really looks to be his first, long overdue TNA title run.

*Kaz vs. Kurt Angle was a fun rematch from their Impact bout a few months ago.  I wrote it before Destination X and I will repeat it again, Kaz has really improved.  His work is fluid, his facials are getting better and you can feel he's almost at the point where he's ready to break into the next level.  He needs more matches like this and less silly feuding over a rat to get there.

*Kurt Angle's response to Karen Angle wanting a separation was hysterical.  If my wife came out on national TV and told me she wanted to split, I'd no sell her too!

*The opening segment with Christian Cage going off on Tomko was long overdue.  The guy turned on Cage months ago, but we never really saw him give Tomko a piece of his mind.

*I know I shouldn't smirk and snicker at the character, but I love Super Eric Young.  There's a place for silliness in TNA and Young does a great job at it and is over with the fans because of it.  The key is to keep the rest of the comedy that often pops up on the top of the card to a small minimum so Young's shtick remains fresh.

*TNA started to turn Team 3D back into asskickers again.  Their beating of Kevin Nash to close the show was good and I popped to see Ray lay out the Survivor guy again, since I could care less about second-tier celebs taking TV time away from wrestlers.  Brother Ray's interplay with Jim Cornette backstage was also good.  Despite all the silliness of the weigh-ins and the Shark Boy feud, Ray can turn it around with one good promo.  After a few weeks of silliness, 3D were back on the road to being the legitimate bad asses that team can be at their best.

*I can't say I love how he's used, but I love seeing Jim Cornette on my TV.  He adds an aura of legitimacy to everything he announces, even when TNA booking is silly.

*The Tomko-AJ Styles-Karen Angle backstage segment was good wrestling soap opera.  Styles as the lovestruck goof has really grown on me (and I hated that direction for him at first), largely because of Tomko's great work as the all business straight man.  Styles commenting, "Why do you guys keep grabbing me?" was a great line.

* I know some fans still dislike the six-sided ring, but I love that camera shot from overhead into the ring, probably because it stands out from anything WWE does.

*TNA Roughcut.  It was a nice way to present some "shoot style" background between the former James Gang without trying too hard to have a "this is a shoot, get it, wink wink" moment, which always comes across awful since it's been done so well.  I'd much rather see a build to BG James vs. Kip James at Lockdown this way, as opposed to watching them wrestle.

*Maybe I'm coming down with a fever, but the Rock and Rave Infection gimmick is starting to catch on with me.  These two goofs thinking they are 1980s rock stars while carrying Guitar Hero around is a great opening match gimmick.  Christy Hemme has really tossed herself into the role and is still hot, so that helps.

*I thought Sonjay Dutt spiriting So Cal Val away from Jay Lethal on his date was funny stuff as well.

Negatives:

*I know I praised the build to Lockdown, but uh, wasn't there a PPV last Sunday?  Doesn't TNA want anyone to order the replay?  It sure didn't feel that way, since it was hardly touched on, if at all!

*A lot of the backstage promos feel so scripted, as if they were right out of a soap opera script.  Christian Cage approaches Rhino backstage and it doesn't feel like two former friends turned enemies speaking, but two guys trying to remember lines.  Scott Steiner's interplay with Petey Williams is similar.  I'd love to see TNA just give guys bullet points and let them go with it.

*Karen Angle.  Is she hot for AJ or upset that Kurt Angle was happy to give her the separation?  It seemed last night while she was both, which makes no sense, unless the idea is that she's conflicted - which certainly didn't come across well, if that's the case.

*LAX loses a match the FIRST WEEK after they earn a TNA Tag Title shot?  Maybe being off TV after winning a title shot at Bound for Glory wasn't so bad after all!

*There is NO NEED to ever go to commercial a minute into a match, especially when the show is pre-taped.  I hate that.

*I know there's been some heat on the Motorcity Machineguns, but there was no need for them to basically be cannon fodder for Black Reign and Rellik.  One team has a huge upside.  The other are limited performers who, while meshing well as a team, don't have the same traits.

*I think Velvet Sky and Angelina Love are as hot as the next guy, but when they are in the ring, they are obviously a step down from Gail Kim, Awesome Kong, ODB and even Roxxi.  I'm not saying that to rail on them, but because TNA needs to remember that.  There's a reason WWE protects certain Divas (like Maryse) and uses them in limited in-ring roles.  Sky and Love have looked their best in tag team situations, so putting them in singles roles where they are never going to win against the upper-tier Knockouts and look secondary to them only brings them down in the eyes of the audience, which could work against them in the long run.

*By the same token, that backstage vignette with them laying out Roxxi and putting makeup on her looks like something left over from David McLane's GLOW.  Awful. 

*Did I really see Christian pull out the clique hand symbol? 1995 called and wants their mannerisms back. 

*Is it me or does TNA security always /look like a bunch of wrestling students unless Atlas Security is at the show?  When they hit the ring to clear four of the biggest heels in the company, how is anyone supposed to take that "security force" seriously?

*This has nothing to do with TNA, but why in the hell is an acclaimed actor like Djimon Honsou doing a Karate Kid knockoff MMA movie??

*Can we please have a main event with a clean finish on Impact?  Pretty please.  They could have easily finished with Angle vs. Kaz, then did the Karen deal, leaving us with a cliffhanger over why she was so upset instead of another run-in, DQ ending in the tag that did close the show.

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

 

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