This past Thursday night, TNA Wrestling presented their fallout episode of IMPACT after the Against All Odds PPV last Sunday. What went down when the new number one contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, “The Pope”, confronted his opponent at Lockdown, AJ Styles? Did Kurt Angle get his revenge on Mr. Anderson? What went on as the Hogan/Bischoff era continued after the announcement that TNA will be switching to Monday Nights next month? Let’s get to the review and find out!

To open up the show, the new number one contender for the world title, “The Pope”, came out to the ring and claimed that he will be the next champion after he defeated AJ at Lockdown. AJ and flair soon interrupt, and Flair and Pope argue back and forth, and later AJ intervenes and he and Pope argue back and forth about who truly is the better wrestler and who will be the champ come Lockdown. Eventually, after what was a really good promo between these three, Pope jaw jacked AJ and the fight was on! Soon the number game caught up with Pope and Flair and AJ began to beat him down. Eventually, they stomped on his ankle which was caught in the middle of a steel chair, and then the segment ended with AJ applying the Figure Four Leg Lock. Overall, this was a great segment which did an ideal job of setting the foundation for the big title match at Lockdown!

Tara (C) Defeated Daffney In A Non-Title Match

Pretty formulaic stuff here. Glad to see Daffney back in the ring. I love her gimmick. Very unique for a Knockout. After about 5 minutes of standard action, Daffney blew up and hit Tara with a toolbox, getting herself disqualified. She then pinned Tara down with the guardrail and smashed her viciously with a steel chair until she was successfully restrained by Dr. Stevie. This potential Tara/Daffney feud seems interesting and fresh, and could potential make for some pretty entertaining hardcore Knockout matches.

Orlando Jordan Defeated Samoa Joe

Jordan came out to the ring with a woman and a (gay) man. Is he going to start using a bisexual gimmick? Very odd, and gross! Before the match began, Bischoff confronted Joe backstage and told him that he was disappointed in him for not getting the job done at Against All Odds. He dared Joe to impress him. In the early going of this match, Joe was very intense in his on-slot of Jordan. Within a few minutes though, Bischoff made his way to ringside to watch on. Joe’s mind seemed to be somewhere else and Jordan capitalized on this, pinning Joe with an elevated back stabber. Looks like a new storyline is in the works involving Joe and an upcoming loosing streak. Hey, at least TNA’s using him on TV now!

Kazarian, Generation Me, And Amazing Red Defeated The Motor City Machine Guns, Doug Williams (C), and Brian Kendrick

Kaz is back, and he’s not wearing a mask and jumpsuit! As I have said before, Kaz playing Suicide will only get him as far as it has, and that’s not very far! I am a huge Kaz fan, and really hope TNA utilizes him to his full potential. By the way, this was a super entertaining match here, but only went about 5 minutes or so. This featured tons of faced paced action though, as well as plenty of dives to the floor! Kaz ended up pinning the X Division Champion Doug Williams with a slingshot DDT. Great way to set the tone for Destination X here. Could Kaz be the new TNA X Division Champion in the very near future? Let’s hope so!

Jeff Jarrett VS. Abyss Ended In No Contest

This match was being hyped all night long. Bischoff sent Foley away from the IMPACT Zone on a shopping spree, and Bischoff promised to unmask Abyss! Bischoff demanded to Jarrett earlier, that he must use the barbed wire baseball bat on Abyss. In an attempt to keep his job, Jarrett complied. This match was a bit on the slow side, however it did tell a good story. It was very intense throughout the entire duration, in anticipation for Abyss to be unmasked. After about 10 minutes, Bischoff came down to ringside and demanded that Jarrett use the bat. Jarrett though about it, and then surprisingly dropped it and refused to use it, to Bischoff’s dismay. At this point, Bischoff sent a handful of heels into the ring to attack both men. They held Abyss down and as Bischoff was about to unmask him, Hulk Hogan’s music hit, and he told Abyss to go to his office immediately. He ignored a bewildered Bischoff and walked away. Nice stuff here! Pretty interesting. We’re now starting to see more and more friction between Bischoff and Hogan. Later in the evening, Hogan gave Abyss a pep-talk of sorts in his office, claiming that he’s tired of looking at Abyss being afraid of his own shadow. He gives Abyss his Hall Of Fame ring, and tells Abyss that this ring will empower him to be 10 times the entity that Hulk Hogan ever was! Great, great pep-talk with should do wonders for Abyss. No more of the mentally ill, childish Abyss, it looks like we just may get back “The Monster”!

Beer Money Defeated Big Rob Terry(C) and Brutus Magnus

Nice, short, and to the point here with Beer money dominating and getting the pin of Magnus with the DUI in about 3 to 4 minutes. Nice way to reestablish Beer Money as worthy members of the TNA roster, I’m just waiting for them to receive their well deserved singles push. After the match, Magnus verbally belittled Terry and preceded in slapping him in his face. At this, Terry snapped, took Magnus’ head off with a running lariat, and walked out. As I’ve said before, this was an inevitable feud that I am not looking forward to in the very least. I honestly don’t believe it will ever amount to much more than an undercard matchup on the next few PPVs or so.

Kurt Angle Defeated Daniels

Angle literally made Daniels tap out here in less than one minute with an ankle lock. Seriously??? Why do this to Daniels. Why not do it to someone like Sean Morley or someone off less potential and prestige? I mean come on… Didn’t Daniels nearly beat AJ for the world title a few months ago at Final Resolution??? WOW! Anyway, after the match, Angle did literally cut one of the best, most emotional promos I have witnessed in quite some time, as he talked about how a soldier in Iraq gave him that dog tag that ANderson busted him open with at Against All Odds. Very, very emotional. He talked about how when Anderson spit on the tag, he wasn’t spitting on him, but the USA! Anderson soon interrupted, and mocked Angle. Soon Angle had heard enough and run up the ramp way only to be knockout by Anderson with a microphone shot to the injured head of Angle. Awesome segment here full of emotion! Can’t wait to see these two get their hands on one another, probably come Lockdown! What a grudge match this promises to be!

With only 5 minutes left in the show, getting real sick of these 5 minute segments to end the show, Kevin Nash comes out to the ring with Eric Young and calls out Nash and Waltman, because of their attack on Nash 2 seeks ago. The came out, Young pounced on Waltman, and before Nash and Hall could go at it, security separated them, as Hogan watched on. These old veterans should by no means be ending the show. That’s my major problem with their involvement. Don’t see much of a payoff here either unless this some how elevated Eric Young.

Overall, this was a good show, but too much veteran involvement at the end, which should be considered the most important point in the show. Fair amount of action in the ring on this night, but still not enough to completely satisfy me. We did see a few great segments though. One being Pope and AJ and the other being Angle and Anderson. Could have gone for a quality main event. Overall, this show gets a B+.

Be sure to join me on my very own radio show tomorrow from 3-5 PM/EST for The Sports Opinions Show on Blog Talk Radio! We will first discuss the world of sports then pro wrestling for an hour and a half. We will also be giving away a very special ECW DVD! Don’t miss out! http//:www.blogtalkradio.com/thesportsopinionsshow.

Todd Frizzell is from Columbus Ohio, and has been a huge professional wrestling fanatic for the last ten years. Todd is very interested in all aspects of pro wrestling, including what goes on when the cameras aren’t rolling. Todd is very excited to write about his passion, and will try his best to entertain and provoke the wrestling fans.

Order TNA: Kurt Angle: Champion on DVD by clicking here.

Order the WWE Hulk Hogan’s Unreleased Collector’s Series DVD collection by clicking here.

Order Hulk Hogan’s autobiography, My Life Outside the Ring by clicking here.

This past Sunday night, 1-14-10, TNA Wrestling presented their second PPV under the Hogan/Bischoff era, featuring an eight man tournament to determine the number one contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship! Who will make up one half of the world title main event matchup at Lockdown? Who will be the champ heading into Lockdown? Let’s get to the review and find out!

Eight Card Stud Quarter Final Match: “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero Defeated Desmond Wolfe

TNA decided to open thing up with the first of four quarter final matches in the Eight Card Stud tournament, and I must say, this was a great way to open up the evening! These two had a great matchup last month at Genesis, but this topped that! Both men had their supporters, but Pope was super over! Nice back and forth action between both men featuring a very intriguing clash of styles, with Wolfe’s technical excellence topped off by Pope’s fast paced, aerial assault! Early in the match, Wolfe planted Pope with a sick, and I mean sick DDT! Many near falls starting about half way through the bout, climaxing with a beautiful superplex from the tip tip turnbuckle! After about 15 minutes of excitement, Pope hit a neckbreaker on Wolfe from the second rope, and then hit the DDE for the 1…2…3! Again, great match to open up the show! (***1/2)

Eight Card Stud Quarter Final Match: “The Blueprint” Matt Morgan (C) Defeated Hernandez (C)

Interesting contest here, featuring the current TNA World Tag Team Champions going one on one with one another. Typical big man vs. big man action in the early going which was a bit slow for my liking, with both men trying to overpower the other, but things really picked up in the final few minutes or so when Hernandez elevated Morgan up for a suplex, holding him up for a good 30 seconds before plating him down onto the canvas! Man this guy’s strong! After this, Hernandez hit his patented suicide dive over the top taking Morgan out on the ramp! Hernandez then sold a shoulder injury, which Morgan capitalized on by thrusting him shoulder first into the turnbuckle and rolling him up (using the tights) for the win. After the match, Hernandez walked out on him. Expect a possible feud between these two, which wouldn’t be too bad as long as the memorable spots they pull off outlast, or at least, override the methodical action. (***)

Eight Card Stud Quarter Final Match: Mr. Anderson Defeated “The Olympic Gold Medalist” Kurt Angle

Although I had expected this to have been a good bout, this completely surpassed my expectations! Great matchup here, which not only featured great wrestling action, but told a great in ring story as well with great ring psychology! Perfect balance here. Anderson busted Angle wide open early in the match after digging Angle’s dog tag into his forehead, and believe it or not the EMTs didn’t dive into the ring and clean him up! After this point, most of the match featured Anderson beating on an injured Angle, until Angle came back with momentum, hitting 3 German suplexes in a row! The match went about 20 minutes or so, and featured plenty of back and forth action at this point in time. Earlier in the match, Anderson had attempted to undo the turnbuckle pad, but the ref caught him. As the ref put it back on, Anderson undid the opposite one! Crafty heel work at its finest! After a very intense false finish, featuring Anderson kicking out of the Angle Slam, Angle charged at him, but Anderson sidestepped him sending him face first into the exposed turnbuckle! He hit the Mic Check for the win. Kind of disappointed that Anderson went over, but I guess it wasn’t exactly what you’d consider a clean victory. After the match, Anderson laid Angle’s dog tag on his chest, and then spit on it before leaving the ring! Looks like this feud will continue and rightfully so! IO can’t wait to see the intense promos and even matches that this will bring in the future! (***3/4)

Eight Card Stud Quarter Final Match: Abyss Defeated Mick Foley In A No DQ Match

Before this match began, Eric Bischoff told both Abyss and Foley that if they didn’t use the barbed wire baseball on one another, Abyss would be unmasked on IMPACT! Semi intriguing, much like it was when Abyss spoke for the first time. Throughout the match here itself, Abyss seemed very hesitant in doing any sort of physical maneuver to Foley because of their friendship. Foley tried his best to fire the monster up. Overall, this match was nothing like their Monster’s Ball matchup at Bound For Glory. This only featured a single chair shot and the ending, where Abyss won with the Black Hole Slam by planting Foley into a pile of tacks. The match did tell a good story though, and everything done made perfect sense storyline wise. After the match, Abyss picked the tacks out of the body of Foley. By the way, no one succeeded in using the barbed wire baseball bat! This does create intrigue for IMPACT this Thursday night. Will Abyss be unmasked? (**)

The Nasty Boys Defeated Team 3D

I’m not going to lie, this match pretty much sucked bad! Can’t believe their weren’t any sort of hardcore stipulations here, for that’s the only way this match could have been watchable whatsoever. The Nasty Boys were very sloppy in the ring (timing, speed, bumps, and all) and you could really tell that Team 3D was pretty frustrated with this. After waking up from a 10 minute nap, I couldn’t believe my eyes! Guess who threw in a helmet allowing Sags to use it and get the pin? “The Mouth Of The South” Jimmy Hart! I personally have no problems with him being involved in TNA, but why manage The Nasty Boys? How’s that going to help elevate any younger talent, which should be the purpose of legends nowadays? It isn’t! (*1/2)

Eight Card Stud Semi Final Match: “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero Defeated “The Blueprint” Matt Morgan

Another interesting clash of styles here, this time featuring the high flying ability of Pope mixed with the power game of “The Blueprint”. Slower match here in the early (these two already wrestled once mind you) but again really picked up in the final few minutes, featuring a vicious lariat from Morgan taking Pope’s head off as he went for the DDE! Very close count here! Then, Morgan went for the Carbon Footprint, but Pope sidestepped him causing him to ge entangled in the ropes. Pope hit a beautiful DDE for the win! (***)

Eight Card Stud Semi Final Match: Mr. Anderson Defeated “The Monster” Abyss

Quite ironic that these two also faced one another last month at Genesis. Although this was better than that match, there was really nothing memorable whatsoever that went on. Nice ring psychology on the part of Anderson though, who worked on the knee of Abyss throughout the entire matchup, bringing him down in size. After some fairly formulaic stuff, Anderson blinded Abyss with the mask, kicked him in the injured knee, hit the Mic Check, which consequently earned him the victory. (**1/2)

“The Phenomenal” AJ Styles (C) With Ric Flair Defeated “The Samoan Submission Machine” Samoa Joe To Retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship With Eric Bischoff As The Special Ref

Pretty damn shocked this wasn’t the main event, but I guess Pope and Anderson needed some time to recuperate. Overall, I wouldn’t say that I was disappointed with this matchup, but it defiantly wasn’t on caliber with the matches these two have had in the past. This seemed to be a bit more tones down, with a lot more focus on ring psychology and telling a story, which comes with the new found territory I guess. I really did appreciate the balance though. Nice heel work on the part of AJ as well as intensity on the part of Joe. Both men went back and forth exchanging offense in the early going, with Joe eventually picking up momentum with a suicide dive onto AJ on the outside, sending him crashing hard into the guardrail! Soon after, AJ began to work on Joe’s knee, after Flair rammed it into the ring post behind Bischoff’s back. This is where AJ presented excellent ring psychology, with the assistance of Flair at ringside. Later Joe came back with momentum, and the two fought back and forth offensively once again. Finally, Joe got AJ up for the Muscle Buster and connected, but Flair pulled Bischoff to the outside. Bischoff preceded in punching Flair right in the nose! The distracted Joe though who grabbed Bischoff in frustration. Aj hit the Pele and the Styles Clash, forcing Bischoff to make the three count. Bischoff was very, very hesitant. Again, not as epic wrestling wise as these two have done in the past, but this was a great match nevertheless which told a great story. Again, perfect balance in my opinion. (****)

Eight Card Finals: “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero Defeated Mr. Anderson To Become The Number One Contender For The TNA World Heavyweight Championship

Before the match began, Pope was attacked by Hall and Waltman backstage. They said they’re coming for Hogan next. Nice way to incorporate them into the PPV without having them become too heavily involved. Anderson beat on Pope for the majority on this main event, being that Pope was injured at the hands of “The band”. pope was certainly fighting Against All Odds! Pun Intended! Slow 25 minute match, but told a great story. Last few minutes were Very intense with Anderson kicking out of the DDE and Pope kicking out of the Mic Check! Finally, Pope hit another DDE for the victory! Pope wins! He will now face AJ for the title at Lockdown! Should be awesome! (***3/4)

Overall, I felt that this wasn’t a great PPV, but defiantly a very good one! The major matches seemed a bit toned down and told more of a story, but there was still plenty of action so no problem. Although it’s still fat too early to comment on how exactly the Hogan/Bischoff era will effect TNA, if this is any indication of that, I’m happy! Very good balance between wrestling and psychology. Very good PPV overall! (7.5/10)

Todd Frizzell is from Columbus Ohio, and has been a huge professional wrestling fanatic for the last ten years. Todd is very interested in all aspects of pro wrestling, including what goes on when the cameras aren’t rolling. Todd is very excited to write about his passion, and will try his best to entertain and provoke the wrestling fans.

Order TNA: Kurt Angle: Champion on DVD by clicking here.

Order the WWE Hulk Hogan’s Unreleased Collector’s Series DVD collection by clicking here.

Order Hulk Hogan’s autobiography, My Life Outside the Ring by clicking here.

This past Thursday evening, 2-11-10, TNA Wrestling presented their go home show until this Sunday’s Against All Odds PPV! Who advanced into the Eight Card Stud tournament? Did Scott Hall and Sean Waltman squeeze their way into the IMPACT Zone once again? Let’s get to the review and find out!

To open up the evening, Hulk Hogan made his way down to the ring, and he preceded to cut his typical TNA promo, putting the promotion over as the future of professional wrestling. Soon, he was surprisingly interrupted by Eric Young, who came down to the ring and vowed that he would get revenge on Hall and Waltman after what they did to, his fellow World Elite partner, Kevin Nash last week. Looks like Young’s going to be a face now. Notable “underrated” chant targeted toward Young from the front row. I can’t help but to agree. Young is really a great wrestler, and very solid on the mic as well. Hogan ends up accepting Young’s statements. He tells him to do what he’s got to do, but not on his turf. He tells him to “bust them up real bad”. Nice segment to set up some sort of story line to be carried out throughout the show here.

Eight Card Stud Qualifying Match: “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero Defeated Orlando Jordan

The last time these two faced one another, Jordan picked up the victory after capitalizing on the injured knee of “The Pope”. This was about the same quality of their last matchup, decent but nothing really memorable. After some fairly formulaic action, “The Pope” ended up advancing to the tournament after pinning Jordan following the Express. After getting the win against the world champ AJ Styles last week, I defiantly see “The Pope” winning the tournament at Against All Odds, and rightfully so. He’s a great performer, had plenty of charisma, has the look, and is super over!

Backstage, Jeff Jarrett entered Eric Bischoff’s office and asked to have a chance of being in the Eight Card Stud tournament at Against All Odds. Bischoff refused Jeff’s proposal. Jeff kept himself calm, and acceptingly walked out. Bischoff laughed to himself as Jeff walked away. This will defiantly turn into some sort of a power struggle story line.

Eight Card Stud Qualifying Match: “The Blueprint” Matt Morgan Defeated Suicide

Not sure why Suicide was even given the opportunity of being in a qualifying match here. When was the last time we even saw him on television? This was your basic match where Morgan got the pin with the Carbon Footprint in only a few minutes with minimal effort. Makes sense for Morgan to be apart of the tournament. As far as Suicide goes, he’ll never be recognized as a legitimate challenge for the world championship unless he takes his mask off and goes back to being Kaz. I still think Kaz was one of the most underrated wrestlers on the TNA roster for many years. I still remember to this very day that awesome ladder match he had with Christian Cage. That guy had potential! Just never really clicked with the fans.

Yet another backstage segment featured Mick Foley entering the office of Eric Bischoff. Foley was more or less a kiss ass here, for the fates of both JB and Abyss are currently in Bischoff’s hands. Bischoff gives Foley a buy into the Eight Card Stud tournament, and announces that his opponent will be Abyss. Should be interesting from a story line standpoint, and could be fun to watch too if given some sort of hardcore stipulation.

X Division Championship Rematch: Doug Williams (C) Defeated Amazing Red

After recently loosing his X Division Championship to Williams, this was Red’s chance at redemption, for both men were fresh. Nice faced paced, aerial action here, with some nice technical wrestling holds implemented by Williams. Match pretty much went back and forth with both men getting in plenty of offense. At one point, Red hit his amazing corkscrew splash over the top to the outside taking Williams out! After about 5 minutes or so, Williams threw Red’s shoulder into the ring post, hit his sweet rolling German suplex into a bridge for the three. Nice showing for both men here, as well as legitimizing Williams as the new, worthy X Division Champion. Maybe we’ll see a Brian Kendrick/Doug Williams feud next, although both men are heels. Maybe Williams will make a face turn.

The Beautiful People (Lacey Von Erich, Velvet Sky, And Madison Rayne) Defeated Tara (C) and Angelina Love In A Knockout Handicap Match

Another match between these ladies here, continuing their ongoing feud. This match was actually pretty decent, and lasted a lot longer than your average Knockout matchup. It ended up going for a good 20 minutes or so. To my surprise, Lacey Vin Erich looked much better than usual here, actually hitting a moonsault from the middle rope into a standing elbow drop! Otherwise, this is what has come to be expected from the Knockouts. Better than the WWE Divas, but still plenty of room for improvement. Where’s Sarita, Hamada, Taylor Wilde, Kong (well, we know where Kong is)? In my opinion, there are the most talented Knockouts on the TNA roster. So there not eye candy… who really gives a damn? Anyway, back to the match at hand. In the end, Lacey used the ugly stick behind the referees back for the pin. The Beautiful People stood tall after the match. This feud is decent, but kind of getting old. Seems pretty repetitive.

Kurt Angle And Mr. Anderson Defeated Hernandez And Desmond Wolfe

Nice way to incorporate four men, all in which will be apart of the Eight Card Stud tournament, here. Interesting concept to book Angle and Anderson, opponents for Against All Odds, as a team here. Being that Hernandez and Wolfe aren’t opponents at Against All Odds, it probably would have been better to have booked another pair as a team, although there were still qualifying matches going on previously on this same night, although Wolfe and Hernandez could potentially end up facing one another in the second round or finals. Anyway, nice tag match here, with plenty of action throughout. Did a nice job of giving us a sampling of what’s in store for us at Against All Odds. Both Angle and Anderson, opponents for Against All Odds, ended up physically assaulting one another. After about 7 or 8 minutes, Angle hit the Angle Slam on Wolfe, but Anderson gave Angle a low blow, threw him to the outside, and took the pin for himself! Nice way to throw a little bit of a story line or feud into the tournament matchup between these two at Against All Adds.

Up next, Samoa Joe came out to the ring and was soon interrupted by his opponent for the world title at Against All Odds, AJ Styles (accompanied by Ric Flair). The two cut another really good promo, which was very similar to the promo between the two last week, with Joe expressing his disgust in AJ. By the way, once again, AJ showed that he is more than capable of cutting great promos. He has improved a lot in that subject area as of late. He is really a much better talker as a heel than as a face if I do say so myself. Once things got super heated here, AJ decided to charge down to the ring and he and Joe began to unleash on one another! Joe soon was in the driver’s seat, unleashing all of his frustrations out on the champ! As Joe hoisted AJ up for the Muscle Buster, Flair hit a low blow on him, and him and AJ beat him down to end this segment. Great way to gets things even more personal and heated for Sunday! Soon after, Eric Bischoff announced that he will be the special ref for this Sunday’s title match. I say he’ll screw Joe out of the title. Bischoff is incapable of being a face, seriously!

Earlier in the evening, Angle told Young that he would take care of Hall, Waltman, and even Hogan himself. He now came into the ring, and called them out. Hall and Waltman soon ran to the ring, if you could call what Hall was doing running, and Angle began the brawl. Soon the numbers game picked up on him, being knockout by a shot with brass knuckles. Hogan now came out and appeared to be on the side of Hall and Waltman. He out on the knuckles, and was about to clean Angle’s clock, when he double crossed “The Band” and knocked them both out with fists of brass of the face! The show ended with Angle sporting a confused look on his face. Decent segment. Thankfully it doesn’t look like we’re going to see a full fledged NWO reunion! In nothing else, I’m glad that Angle is involved with this major story line here. He deserves to be. These guys will obviously get involved at Against All Odds somehow, the question is how???

Overall, this was a pretty solid go home show for Against All Odds. TNA has had very solid go home to PPV shows lately, but need to start building for PPVs earlier. They can’t make the mistake WCW did. Story lines were also a little more cleared up on this night, which is great! I’m seeing improvements here, but not enough yet to comment on how Hogan and Bischoff have effected TNA. More will be revealed come this Sunday at Against All Odds! (B+)

Todd Frizzell is from Columbus Ohio, and has been a huge professional wrestling fanatic for the last ten years. Todd is very interested in all aspects of pro wrestling, including what goes on when the cameras aren’t rolling. Todd is very excited to write about his passion, and will try his best to entertain and provoke the wrestling fans.

Order TNA: Kurt Angle: Champion on DVD by clicking here.

Order the WWE Hulk Hogan’s Unreleased Collector’s Series DVD collection by clicking here.

Order Hulk Hogan’s autobiography, My Life Outside the Ring by clicking here.

This Sunday night TNA Wrestling will present their second PPV as far as the Hogan/Bischoff era goes. This PPV will feature a very special Eight Card Stud Tournament to determine the number one contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. In addition, the TNA World Heavyweight Championship itself will be on the line in the main event! In just under forty eight hours the road to Lockdown officially begins! Let’s run down the card…

Team 3D VS. The Nasty Boys

If nothing else, this should be a historic meeting between the legendary teams. May not be the most entertaining matchup in the world, but if given some sort of no disqualification stipulation it could be fun. These two teams have had pretty fair buildup for this match featuring a few great promos, so this match should defiantly have a lot of intensity and emotion involved. Hopefully this will become some sort of a wild street fight around the entire building. I couldn’t see it any other way.

Eight Card Stud First Round Match: “The Blueprint” Matt Morgan (C) VS. Hernandez (C)

In the first matchup of the eight card stud tournament, current tag team partners as well as TNA World Tag Team Champions may just find out who’s the backbone of their team, as these two athletic big men take center stage. I like how TNA’s putting the tag champions in a match together here, really playing off of the whole “luck of the draw” theme for Against All Odds as well as this tournament. Should be a decent match, though probably pretty forgettable.

Eight Card Stud First Round Match: “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero VS. Desmond Wolfe

Last month at Genesis, these two probably had the second best match of the night, so I expect nothing less this Sunday. In my personal opinion, these are two of the most gifted performers on the TNA roster, so I am really looking forward to seeing this rematch. Not much of a story line has been set between these two since Genesis, but because of that match they will always have beef with one another. Expect Wolfe to target Pope’s injured knee as well, being the true ring technician that he is. I defiantly see Pope going over here because, in my opinion, he’s the favorite to win the entire tournament. I see him as the next world title challenger and rightfully so.

Eight Card Stud First Round Match: Mick Foley VS. “The Monster” Abyss

Four months ago at Bound For Glory, these two had one of the most brutal matches TNA Wrestling had seen in quite some time. If given some sort of hardcore stipulation, this would be a very entertaining match for the bloodthirsty, hardcore wrestling fan. Otherwise, this match should be very intriguing on a story line standpoint. It is no secret that Mick Foley and Eric Bischoff are moral enemies, but remember, Foley must comply to Bischoff’s every demand because the fate of both Abyss and Jeremy Borash are in his hands. Expect the possibility of Bischoff getting involved here.

Eight Card Stud Qualifying Match: “The Olympic Gold Medalist” Kurt Angle VS. Mr. Anderson

Ever since his recent inception into TNA at Genesis, Mr. Anderson has really shown his true colors, through his brash, arrogant, self-centered, cocky attitude. This Sunday night, Anderson will be forced to put up or shut up and put his money where mouth is, as he faces one of the greatest wrestlers on this planet, “The Olympic Gold Medalist”, Kurt Angle! This past Thursday night on IMPACT, both Angle and Anderson were tag partners as they faced the team of Hernandez and Desmond Wolfe. Throughout the duration of the match, both men ultimately came to blows, with Anderson getting in a cheap shot on Angle, taking the pin, and heading for the hills! Angle has got to have retribution on his mind, and will have his chance this Sunday night on Pay Per View! This should turn out to be a really good match, if given enough time, and should feature phenomenal ring psychology.

AJ Styles (C) With “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair VS. “The Samoan Submission Machine” Samoa Joe For The TNA World Heavyweight Championship!

In the past, these two TNA pioneers have had some of the greatest battles in recent memory. Now, nearly 10 years after the inception of TNA, these two will go one on one once again, but this time AJ’s got “The Nature Boy” in his corner. Ever since the partnership between Flair and Styles began, AJ has transformed into Ric Flair the second, and Samoa Joe is none too happy with this! After several tremendous promos between these two over the past several weeks, this has got to be the first match between these two with this much animosity involved! Last week on IMPACT, Flair and Styles double teamed Joe, leaving his laying in the center of the ring. Joe will have revenge on his mind walking into the IMPACT Zone this Sunday night! As always, this should be an incredible main event, between two phenomenal performers, and with the recent history involved, should tell a great story as well! Sounds like the perfect balance too me, doesn’t it??? By the way, Eric Bischoff recently announced the he would be the special guest referee for this match. I’m guessing he’ll cost Joe the match, but I’m still very intrigued to tune in and find out!

Overall, this has the potential to be a pretty exciting PPV. I love tournaments, so that’s a huge plus! I also really like the main event. Expect Hogan to show up with Scott Hall and Sean Waltman, considering he knocked them both out last week. Maybe even a Kevin Nash return. Remember, Sting is still looming in the rafters. Could he make his presence known Sunday night??? I recommend check out Against All Odds this Sunday. I’d say it’s worth it, but don’t take my word to the grave! Remember, this is TNA! Expect the unexpected, and throw logic out the window! TNA has been doing a better job with this lately, but that’s another story for another time. Enjoy!

Todd Frizzell is from Columbus Ohio, and has been a huge professional wrestling fanatic for the last ten years. Todd is very interested in all aspects of pro wrestling, including what goes on when the cameras aren’t rolling. Todd is very excited to write about his passion, and will try his best to entertain and provoke the wrestling fans.

Order TNA: Kurt Angle: Champion on DVD by clicking here.

Order the WWE Hulk Hogan’s Unreleased Collector’s Series DVD collection by clicking here.

Order Hulk Hogan’s autobiography, My Life Outside the Ring by clicking here.

This past Thursday evening, TNA presented another addition of IMPACT after what was, in my opinion, a very confusing show which left defined story lines up in the air. My hope was that TNA would clear things up tonight. Did that go down? Let’s get to the review and find out!

Mr. Anderson Defeated Brutus Magnus In An Eight Card Stud Qualifying Match

Kind of an odd pairing here between these two supposed heels. The majority of the offense in this matchup was dominated by Anderson. After about 3 minutes or so, Anderson finished Magnus off with the Mic Check. Nice way to get Anderson to advance here, making him look like a more big time player by basically defeating Magnus with ease. Although Anderson may not be the most talented wrestler on the TNA roster, I’ve got to admit that he has excellent skills at playing his gimmick, an overbearing, arrogant heel.

Up next, Eric Bischoff made his way to the ring. He talks about how Mick Foley’s refusal of compliance will cost him big time tonight. Soon, Foley makes his way into the ring, and stands toe to toe with Bischoff. The two cut a phenomenal, and I mean phenomenal, promo discussing their past experiences working together, as well as their dislike for one another. Foley verbally ran Bischoff down, calling him a “salesman and a crappy commentator”! Foley claimed that he had always planned on living outside of the wrestling business. He claimed that he had saved everything he had ever worked for, taking it into consideration that he would one day not be working in the professional wrestling industry. He was ready to live life to the fullest if Bischoff fired him from TNA. Foley said that he didn’t really “hate” anyone and never has, but there is one man that is the exception, and that’s Eric Bischioff! He told Eric that he has and always will hate his stinking guts! Foley said the only reason he was still with TNA was because of JB and Abyss. As Foley prepared to leave the ringside area, Bischoff called him back, threatening the jobs of JB and Abyss once again. The segment concluded with Bischoff booking a match for later that night, featuring Kevin Nash vs. Mick Foley himself in a no DQ match. Again, this was an absolutely tremendous segment here! Again, not sure how we’ll get our payoff within this feud, but this promo made things a hell of a lot brighter.

Hernandez And Matt Morgan (C) Defeated Team 3D To Retain Their TNA World Tag Team Championships

Again, kind of an odd pairing here between two face teams. Morgan and Hernandez are obviously established faces, and TNA looks to be converting Team 3D back to faces through their feud with the Nasty Boys. Anyway, this match was actually fairly decent, with both teams receiving their fair share of offense. Both teams got their respective hot tag as well. Again, decent little 5 minute matchup here. In the end, Devon ascended to the top turnbuckle, but was shoved off by the Nasty Boys. organ hit the Carbon Footprint on Brother Ray for the three. After the match officially ended, the Nasty Boys entered the ring and continued their assault of Team 3D, until Morgan and Hernandez charged back into the ring, running them off. They shook hands with 3D to end this segment. Nice way to get a bit of action in as well as continuing the Nasty Boys/Team 3D feud, but not sure why Morgan, Hernandez, and Team 3D would be on the same page now considering they just had a huge feud which consisted of two eight man tag matches over the course of the last two PPVs.

Samoa Joe Defeated Jesse Neal In Another Eight Man Stud Qualifying Match

Not quite sure was Joe is involved in this tournament, considering he already has the world title shot briefcase that he won at Final Resolution as as a result of Feast Or Fired, but I’m just glad to see him on TV again. Very brief bout here, really doing a good job of reestablishing the bad-ass mentality that exemplifies The Samoan Submission Machine. After about 2 minutes or so, Joe got Neal up for the Muscle Buster, verbally said that this will be AJ Styles, and planted him hard onto the canvas for the win! Nice way to have Joe advance. I really loved how he said that this will be AJ before giving Neal the Muscle Buster. That really captured his determination.

“The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero Defeated AJ Styles (C) In A Non-Title Match

Finally it looks as though “The Pope” is getting his much deserved main event push. I’ve always anticipated the day where these two would finally go one on one in a TNA ring! AJ entered with Flair, with more of a heel entrance. In my mind, this was truly a picture perfect match here, really doing a great job of both putting on a great wrestling match, while telling a great story at the same time. Nice heel psychology on the behalf of the champ. People have complained from day one that AJ is a great wrestler but doesn’t have much charisma or mic skills, but that will surely change very, very soon. He has shown butt loads of improvement on the mic, is a great heel worker, and a great wrestler as always. Great work by not only AJ, but “The Pope” as well. “The Pope” is defiantly more than capable of participating in the main event picture. The crowd loves him as well. Anyway, as I said earlier, this was a very good TV match, featuring plenty of innovative maneuvers, near falls, and action throughout. AJ dominated the majority of the match, really shining as a heel, with “Pope” coming back several times with a few extended flurries of offense. The match was given more than enough time as well, lasting well over the 10 minute mark. In the end, AJ goes for a suplex, but “The Pope” counters it into a small package for the ever so shocking three count! “The Pope” just pinned the world champ! Although I believe that this loss may have hurt AJ a bit, it did wonders for “The Pope” who is now officially considered a main eventer in my eyes! Out of frustration, Flair and AJ beat “The Pope” down after the bell, until Samoa Joe charged down to the ring and cleaned house! After a brief commercial break, Joe got on the mic (he and “The Pope” were kept on the stage thanks to security), and cut the second awesome promo of the night! Flair initially attempted to talk over him, but Joe told him to shut his mouth or he’ll shove the “nature” up his ass! This is the Joe I have come to love! He said that even though him and AJ had been through hard times together, AJ had always been a warrior. He said that AJ had become nothing but a scumbag leeching off of Flair and his wholesale hookers! He tells AJ that at Against All Odds, he will be cashing in his world title briefcase, and will become the new TNA Heavyweight Champion of the World at his expense! Joe and “The Pope” precede to break through security, and chase Flair and AJ out of the arena. Again, great, great segment here! This looks to be an awesome world title feud between AJ and Joe. These two have had incredible matchups in the past, but things have never quite been this intense between the two. After Joe’s run with AJ, we’ll hopefully see “The Pope” as the challenger for the title at upcoming PPVs. Damn I can’t wait for Against All Odds! Did I actually just say that about a TNA PPV you ask? I sure did!

Kurt Angle Defeated Tomko In Another Eight Man Stud Qualifying Match

Wait a minute… I thought Hogan gave Angle a buy into the tournament at Against All Odds because of the screwjob? am I missing something? Anyway, this was another solid TV match, but only went about 5 minutes. Tomko did an alright job, but looks to be getting a bit physically slopping again, much like he was beginning to become when he was in the WWE a few months back. Angle looked very focused here as always, at one point hitting 5 German Suplexes in a row! This match was basically dominated by Kurt all the way through. The match concluded with Tomko tapping as a result of an ankle lock cinched in tight by the Olympic Gold Medalist. Nice way for Angle to advance, making him looks very focused as well as intense. I just hope he doesn’t win the tournament at Against All Odds, for AJ and Kurt have wrestled one another one too many times lately. It’s starting to loose its flavor. If Joe happens to win the title a Against All Odds though, I wouldn’t mind seeing another Joe/Angle feud.

Tara (C) defeated Angelina Love To Retain Her TNA Knockout Championship

Just to clarify, these two women are both faces now. They showed mutual respect for one another in several backstage interviews before this match officially got underway. Both Knockouts looks pretty good here, but weren’t really given enough time make any meaning out of the match. After only about 3 or 4 minutes max, Tara wins with a roll up. Personally, I wouldn’t have done this match this week because of the fact that the show was already packed. I would have waited until next week where both women could have been given more time in the match itself, considering this was one of Angelina’s return matches and all. After the match, The Beautiful People come out to the ring and attack Angelina from behind. Tara comes in to make the save, but it appears as if she had to think about it for a moment. Could we see Tara as a heel taking on Angelina as a face over the title in the future? Love and Tara clear the ring and stand tall as we went to a final commercial break.

Backstage, Kurt Angle stormed into Hogan’s office and accused him of putting the hit on him with Hall and Pac last week. He left in a heap. Not sure where this story line is going, but I’m glad Kurt is involved.

Kevin Nash Defeated Mick Foley In A No DQ Match

Considering there was only 5 minutes left in the show before the bell even rang here, nothing much was expected but some sort of angle which should have left a cliffhanger for next week. This was a very, very brief plunder match, featuring several garbage can shots and that’s about it. Back in the ring, Foley looked as though he was going to finish Nash off with a weapon of choice, but stopped in his tracks, almost like he was thinking of how him loosing his job would affect JB and Abyss. Out of nowhere, Nash hit the big boot for the three. Before I get to what happened next, there was a backstage segment earlier, where Bischoff asked Nash to take Foley out tonight. Nash said he was happy to do him a favor, as long as Bischoff gave Hall and Pac another chance at contracts. Bischoff basically refused, and hinted that Nash would loose his job if he didn’t comply. Anyway, after Nash pinned Foley, he stood in the ring, while Hall and Pac made their way through the crowd and entered the ring. Shockingly, Hall slugged Nash in the side of the face, and the two momentarily beat Nash down, as IMPACT went off the air. Although I’ll admit this was a major shocker, I have no interest in seeing a feud between Hall and Pac against Nash. Wonder how Hogan will get involved in this whole thing? You know he will.

Overall, I felt that this was a very good addition of IMPACT! Great action throughout, and two great segments (one with Bischoff and Foley and the other with Joe and AJ). Against All Odds is shaping up to be a very interesting PPV to say the very least. The many(too many) different feuds/storylines became a lot more define on this night, however I didn’t particularly enjoy the start of the Hall/Pac vs. Nash deal. I don’t see any pay off with that. TNA was more focused this week, but still has a long ways to go when it comes to the Angle, Hogan, Hall, Pac, and Nash deal. Great world title feud though, which in my opinion should be the main focus of the show, not these veterans. I’ll give IMPACT a B plus here, almost an A minus but not quite because confusion still exists without sole focus on feuds/storylines.

Todd Frizzell is from Columbus Ohio, and has been a huge professional wrestling fanatic for the last ten years. Todd is very interested in all aspects of pro wrestling, including what goes on when the cameras aren’t rolling. Todd is very excited to write about his passion, and will try his best to entertain and provoke the wrestling fans.

Order TNA: Kurt Angle: Champion on DVD by clicking here.

Order the WWE Hulk Hogan’s Unreleased Collector’s Series DVD collection by clicking here.

Order Hulk Hogan’s autobiography, My Life Outside the Ring by clicking here.

This past Thursday Night, 1-28-10, TNA Wrestling presented another addition of IMPACT! Last week, we witnessed the Kurt Angle screwjob resulting with Kurt Angle spitting in Hulk Hogan’s face and quitting on TNA, as well as Eric Bischoff coming out to the ring covered with blood, firing Mick Foley. Are Kurt Angle and Mick Foley truly through with TNA? Let’s get to the results and find out!

IMPACT opened up with Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff coming down to the ring. Hogan called out Mick Foley. Foley claimed that he didn’t attack Bischoff, that Bischoff was faking it. Hogan, although he didn’t say it directly, implied that Foley was not fired after all. He said that Foley and Bischoff had to work things out, which concluded this opening segment. I am none too keen of this whole Eric Bischoff/Mick Foley feud. I just don’t see a pay off, unless we end up seeing Bischoff vs. Foley in a match with one another, which would honestly result in me blasting my television into a million little pieces with a shotgun! Am I kidding you ask? I wish I was, I really wish I was.

Desmond Wolfe Defeated Sean Morley In An Eight Card Stud Qualifying Match

At TNA’s next PPV, Against All Odds, we will witness an 8 man tournament to determine the number one contender for AJ’s TNA World Heavyweight Championship. I love tournaments. If you love tournaments as well, I highly recommend purchasing Against All Odds. While showing several promotional shots of the individuals involved, there was a casino theme, with the wrestlers being revealed with the flip of a card. TNA has been lacking decisive themes to their PPVs, and I’m glad to see this theme relating to casinos/gambling. In a casino, you gamble and the “Odds” of winning are generally “Against”. Get it? Against All Odds? The PPV name? Clever, I know. Anyway, on to this matchup. As always, the fans were anti-Morley, although I’ll admit he didn’t look quite as methodical here as he did at Genesis. I really like Wolfe’s new valet, Chelsea. This really adds to his character/gimmick. This was a decent match, only because of Wolfe’s involvement, with Wolfe picking up the win in about 3 or 4 minutes with the Tower Of London. Thank God Wolfe got the win, or else the IMPACT Zone would have surely rioted. Not sure how long Morley’s going to last in TNA, for if Hogan doesn’t get rid of him, I swear someone in the crowd is going to kill him! Hey Morley, pack you bags and head up North!

Hernandez Defeated Daniels In Another Eight Card Stud Qualifying Match

Glad to see these two originals one on one here. This was a basic 5 minute contest, featuring what you’d expect from these two great talents. Both men looked good with Hernandez showing off his impressive power maneuvers, while Daniels used his quickness to his advantage. In the end, Hernandez hit his new finisher, which is a variation of the Denominator, for the win. Not sure why Hernandez was booked to win here and enter the tournament at Against All Odds, considering he’s one half of the TNA World Tag Team Champions. Not a smart way to push the tag division. Daniels should have defiantly gone over here.

Up next, Mike Tenay stood in the center of the ring, and introduced The Nasty Boys. Team 3D soon followed, but were forced to remain at ringside due to security. The two teams cut an excellent promo over which team was the greatest team of all time and which team had accomplished more. As always, Team 3D was great on the mic here, but to my surprise, so were The Nasty Boys. These two will meat at Against All Odds, in what should be a fun plunder match between two of the most notoriously hardcore stars in the dated history of main stream professional wrestling.

Last week, Bobby Lashley announced that he and his wife were wrong, and he truly wanted to be with TNA. This weeks, we saw Lashley with Bischoff in Bischoff’s office, where Bischoff surprisingly fires Lashley, having security escort him from the building. All I can say, Na Na Na Na Na…I mean, good luck to Mr. Lashley with his future endeavors.

The Beautiful People Defeated Awesome Kong and Hamada (C) And Tara (C) In A 6 Knockout Tag Team Match

Another more than fair showing for the TNA Knockouts here, given plenty of time. 5 of the 6 participants looked at least fairy good here, not counting Lacey Von Erich who was probably physically in the ring for no more than 10 seconds throughout the entire match, which is probably a good thing! There was also a mild chant regarding Kong punching out Bubba The Love Sponge, although I couldn’t exactly make out what was being said. TNA didn’t even bother to edit this out. Shows how much TNA feels for Bubba. I love it! Toward the end of the duration, Hamada hit some very notable, stiff kicks and enziguris taking out all three members of the Beautiful People! In the end, Lacey Von Erich hit Hamada in the head with the Ugly Stick behind the referee’s back to pick up the win for the Beautiful People. Good way to create cheap heat for the Beautiful People, but seems kind of strange considering that not only are Kong and Hamada the tag champs and Tara the singles champ, but Hamada ad Kong also essentially squashed the Beautiful People a few weeks ago. Go figure. After the bell, The Beautiful People continued the beat down, until Angelina Love ran out to make the save. I can understand her wanting more revenge with the Beautiful People, but is this the same woman who feuded with Kong for only God knows how long and cut her braids off? Why would she safe her? Anyway, I don’t see a very intriguing pay off with this Angelina Love/Beautiful People feud here, considering the fact that they probably wouldn’t have very good matches together. It would be more of a Diva quality matchup, where looks take predominance over talent or ability.

Back in Hogan’s office, Hogan is meeting with Earl Hebner, the man who screwed Kurt Angle out of the world title last week calling for the bell before Kurt actually tapped out. After briefly denying his faults, Hebner eventually admitted that he did because of a pay off from Flair. Hogan suspended him until further notice. Seriously? This makes sense, but just came off as plain stupidity, although it was kind off comical!

Next, Kurt Angle makes his way to the ring. Didn’t he quit last week??? He cut a promo vowing that he would end up winning the Eight Card Stud tournament and go on to face AJ to win back his world title. Hogan apparently gave him a buy into the tournament considering what went on last week. But didn’t he spit in Hogan’s face??? Hulk Hogan then came out to the ring, and told Kurt what he did last week was unacceptable. Kurt apologized, and as Hogan walked away, Kurt was jumped and beaten down by Scott Hall and Sean Waltman. Why exactly are these two guys attacking Kurt? Security escorts them from the building, but they guarantee to be back next week. Oh, boy!

Brian Kendrick And The Motor City Machine Guns Defeated The Amazing Red (C) And Generation Me

Considering Kendrick and Red had a pretty good match at Genesis and MCMG had a really sweet match with Generation Me a few weeks ago, I was really looking forward to this match. This was a fun match, but far too short for my taste. Great double team maneuvers from my favorite tag team Generation Me, as well as MCMG. Red looked good as well, as did the aggressive Kendrick, who is now pretty much a full fledged heel and rightfully so. One things I have noticed though, is that I haven’t seen may dives to the outside since the new ramp has been implemented. These high fliers need to find away to accommodate that, but either diving in another direction or actually diving off of the ramp itself. In the end, MCMG hit a double team finisher, but Kendrick made the blind tag and hit a punt kick to Red’s temple for the win. It was perceived that MCMG were none too happy with Kendrick stealing the pin. Nice way to put Kendrick over as a heel. This is a guy who will most certainly bee the X Division Champion in the near future, considering he has a great gimmick, a great look, great verbal skills, and is a great talent. This guys really does have endless potential, and I guarantee that he will get opportunities here in TNA that he never would have received in the WWE.

Doug Williams Defeated The Amazing Red (C) To Win The TNA X Division Championship

Almost right away, Williams won the X Division Championship from Red with an awesome Chaos Theory rolling German Suplex. I guess this explains what’s next for the British Invasion, at least for Doug Williams. Hopefully Red will get his rematch at Against All Odds, in what would most certainly be a really fun matchup. We also saw more friction between the Brits and Rob Terry because of the fact that Williams demanded that Terry give him his X Division briefcase. Will Terry turn face? Who cares! The guy’s nothing but a muscle bound stiff, who has very little wrestling ability. Trust me, I’ve seen him several times wrestling on the independent circuit in Florida. It also seems that he won the TNA Global Championship from Eric Young at a TNA house show in the UK this week. Great, just great!

Mr. Anderson Defeated Jeff Jarrett

Earlier in the evening, Mr. Anderson through out an open challenge, claiming that he hoped it were Abyss. Later on, Jeff Jarrett went into Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff’s office, apologizing for the way he had been acting as of late. He said he was going to do just what Hogan said, and that is start on the bottom and climb up the ladder. Bischoff booked him against Anderson in the main event. I have to admit, Anderson looked much better here than he did at Genesis, for he meshed a lot better with Jarrett than he did with Abyss. Jarrett also looked decent here, considering he hasn’t actually wrestled a match on IMPACT for quite some time. A fair amount of action was featured in this match, which did a good job telling a story. It was given plenty of time, lasting about 15 minutes or so. In the end, Anderson hit a low blow behind the referee’s back, and then gave Jarrett a small package for the cheap victory. If nothing else, this was a fair way of awarding Anderson with more heel ammunition, as well as serving as the first step in Jeff Jarrett’s struggle for his job. After the match officially ended, Anderson continued the beat down, hitting the Mic Check on him in the center of the ring. Bischoff was shown backstage, and he commented that it would be a long, hard mountain for Jarrett to climb to the top.

Overall, this episode of IMPACT was all over the place, which is no surprise considering what has gone down lately. One of the biggest problems I see in TNA now, is their lack of focus, similar to WCW on its last leg. I mean, Come on. AJ and Flair are feuding with Angle, Hall and Waltman just attacked Angle, Bischoff is in a personal feud with Mick Foley, Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff are both involved with an ongoing story line involving Jeff Jarrett, and there’s a huge tournament set to decide the number one contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, all at the same time!!! For crying out loud, this is just ridiculous. It’s not that all of these individual feuds aren’t legitimate, it’s that there seems to be far too much going on at the same time, all of which seem to be considered main/major story lines which should involve far more focus. WWE generally is very good with this.

For example, on RAW they’re currently doing their major feuds between Randy Orton and Sheamus over the WWE Championship, as well as the Mr. McMahon/Bret Hart saga. Those are only two major story lines going on, and they have been fairly focused all the way through. TNA flat has too much going on to make meaning out of anything. Plus, I just can’t seem to think of a payoff for many of them. The major feud needs to be over the world title, not guys like Foley, Jarrett, Hogan, and Bischoff who don’t even step into the ring anymore. The TNA Champ, AJ Styles and Ric Flair were only shown celebrating backstage, and were later approached by Bischoff who told them they wouldn’t be slacking off and to be ready at all times. As I’ve said countless times before, it’s too early to make any major judgments, so let’s just hope Hulk Hogan and TNA work out these kinks, and result in an ideal product somewhere down the line. If not, we may be seeing a commercial for the new Rise And Fall Of TNA DVD! Anyway, the in ring action itself was fair tonight, but not quite enough. Overall I would give this week’s addition of TNA IMPACT another B.

Todd Frizzell is from Columbus Ohio, and has been a huge professional wrestling fanatic for the last ten years. Todd is very interested in all aspects of pro wrestling, including what goes on when the cameras aren’t rolling. Todd is very excited to write about his passion, and will try his best to entertain and provoke the wrestling fans.

Order TNA: Kurt Angle: Champion on DVD by clicking here.

Order the WWE Hulk Hogan’s Unreleased Collector’s Series DVD collection by clicking here.

Order Hulk Hogan’s autobiography, My Life Outside the Ring by clicking here.