Read on for my segment-by-segment thoughts on Superstars and Impact Wrestling.
Superstars:
Primo vs. Titus went well. Titus seems to have grown in the ring since his last 1-on-1 match, showing that he's able to work longer matches. He doesn't need to do anything flashy or technical to be effective. He's a power wrestler who works a methodical pace. Primo did a good job getting the fans behind him despite the lack of backstory. AW was an effective heat-getter as always. What this feud needs (if it's going long-term) is more in the way of reasons to like Primo and Epico as faces. They're pretty much faces by default.
Good little match to give Kofi a win (and something to do while R-Truth heals up). I'm curious on the background of Cabildo. He got in more offense than most non-WWE regulars. He wasn't bad at all.
Antonio Cesaro vs. Alex Riley was enjoyable to watch. Cesaro has legitimate-looking rough offense and a solid wrestling background. Talk about someone who stands out in the ring. Riley continues to be impressive and someone the company missed the boat on. Both guys could benefit from character advancement and TV time. With a third hour of Raw coming up, WWE will have no excuse to have talents stuck on a show a lot of people in the U.S. don't know still exists.
Ryder vs. Swagger was pretty damn solid. They told a pretty good story and the crowd responded well. Definitely main event worthy.
Impact Wrestling:
When I hear a promo like Bully Ray putting over his Twitter account, I wonder why I watch this show.
Abyss plays "his brother" pretty well. His performance is saving what could be a terrible angle.
Hogan and Aries' segment was ok. Maybe a little too brief to hold much meaning.
See, that segment was "real" because it had people who actually work backstage at TNA and fancy HD cameras.
Devon's "weekly" title defense was so-so. I don't think Devon has but so much left in the tanl. I hope there's a long-term plan for the guy who's doing nothing with the title going over a talented up-and-comer who's only lost once.
Terrible swerve with Madison. If I didn't feel like I had to cover this show, I'd be playing video games now.
Sabin's promo wasn't very good. After Edge's retirement speech, it's hard to come close.
Good use of Sabin to advance Roode vs. Aries.
A bunch of crazy flippiness in the X-Division match. It's just not my cup of tea.
Tessmacher's segment seemed like a set-up for a Tara heel turn.
Fair enough Knockouts match. Didn't do much to make me want to see Tessmacher vs. Gail, though.
Another "blah" segment with Styles, Daniels and Kazarian. I hope things finally wrap up at Destination X.
Stupid "shoot" segment with Hogan. They try way too hard to make a fake show look real. If you're putting on a good show, you don't need to make it look real for people to tune in. The cards referece was the "Dead Man's Hand"- what Wild Bill Hickok had when he was killed playing poker.
I like the videos for Storm vs. Hardy.
The X-Division match was kind of "off" in places, but King was pretty impressive. He seems "ready" to be in TNA.
Nice promo by King. I'd be looking into signing him.
I hope Aries talking to King is a sign that TNA wants to keep King around. Fine backstage segment.
Hardy vs. Storm was a pretty solid match. I just kind of question having Hardy beat Storm. They should be building Storm as a pretty big deal going into BFG (and the top babyface). Follow-up's going to be important.
That was one of Anderson's better promos, though I'm generally not a fan of the sitdowns.
Pretty good setup for Aries vs. Roode. It would have been better without Hogan but he might have een a necessary evil in the segment.
II'll be back for Destination X on Sunday. A news post will be up later tonight.
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