The first or second Impact of the month is usually TNA’s most important show because it is their last show before a pay per view. It’s a last shot to increase PPV sales and build up some anticipation going into the show. This week’s Impact was not successful in achieving that end. If I didn’t already know that ‘Against All Odds’ was this Sunday I’d have assumed that this show was another run of the mill Impact simply done to further a bunch of storylines.

This week’s show clearly lacked a main event focus with fewer matches on the PPV even getting a decent build instead we had a video package and an entire match wasted on Black Reign and his rat and Kaz, all of whom (rat included) will not be wrestling on the PPV.I don’t understand why Kaz will be sitting at home when AAO airs. The guy isn’t even on the card. Trying to even dignify a match, no matter how good the wrestling is where 2 wrestlers compete and try to bring down a rat locked in a box type thing and at the same time avoid getting their hands snapped by rat traps placed in other box type things ALL ON POLES is a waste of everyone’s time. I can only say that I like Dustin Rhodes, I liked Goldust; I do not like Black Reign.

The gimmick is not scary. I lived through watching the ‘Blair Witch Project’. I think I can easily handle Dustin Rhodes in a shiny plastic suit with lots of face paint, a wig ripped off from an old Japanese movie and a toy called ‘darkness falls’ and a rat which over the past few months has gained more attention than Kaz, a young, brilliant wrestler who also happens to be Reign’s opponent. So much for character building.

What saved the show was the wrestling which was quite good. I enjoyed the match between Homicide and Johnny Devine. Even though the finish was Devine walking away with the title after a DQ loss (apparently, the new TNA rules state that titles can’t change hands via a DQ win).It was good to see 2 X- division wrestlers taking part in a match with a lot of fast paced action laced with a bunch of kicks, a number of slam type moves and a really cool combo of moves from Homicide including a suplex and a couple of his ‘gringo’ finishers, which were placed well in the match.

Awesomeness followed this match in the form of Hernandez border tossing Devine almost halfway across the ring. He sold the move superb. Picked up Devine ,held him in a Crucifix position for a few seconds and then absolutely blasted him into the canvas clearing Homicide and Salinas who were in front .Try watching this in slow motion, I guarantee that you’ll enjoy it.

The match between Curry Man & Sharkboy (drinker of Clam juice) v Hoyt and Rave was another good match. Curry man and Sharkboy worked well around Hoyt’s robot moves and landed a few cool spots .Awesome to see Curry Man with his stupid dances (they’re really funny) and Sharkboy opening a can of the a** whip on Jimmy Rave. It was a nice finish with stunners to both Hoyt and Rave and Curry Man’s Spice Rack which led to Sharky getting the pin. Christy Hemme @ ringside=irritating.

The women’s division saw another good build with Kong taking on Traci Brooks in a match that I thought would be a total squash on Brooks but the match was booked with the intention of trying to pass off Brooks as a legitimate competitor in the women’s division. She was thus allowed to hit Kong a couple of times but that hardly made a difference. Kong looked good hitting her power moves including an inverted implant buster .After the match Peyton Banks did a beatdown on Brooks and before the match ODB cut a promo on Kong via the tron .Nice comment about her armpits.

There was another promo with B.G James involved and this one unlike last week’s was pretty damn entertaining. Kip James sat silently as B.G and Bullet Bob were doing the promo. Expect Kip to make an appearance at AAO.

There was another good wrestling match between Tiger Mask and AJ Styles. Though not the first time these guys have gone at it, I liked the skill on display in this match. I did expect a ‘high flier’ type of match but in addition, this match also had some pretty decent ground work.AJ retained heel status by getting the win after a clash that succeeded a low blow. Really good thinking by Tiger Mask to bite AJ when he tried to remove the mask. These guys should wrestle more often on TV.I enjoyed the use of the feet by both men,not only while landing their offense but also while maintaining their balance while doing their flier moves.

Samoa Joe was involved in the same contract signing situation that he was as last week. He came out to the ring with Nash and Cornette tried to get him to sign the contract and then Angle comes out and words follow. Angle’s mic work was good and so was Joe’s; the lines made sense. No overacting luckily. Angle eats table like Matt Morgan from last week.

The main event was Christian v Judas mess-yes. This was a good match though I doubt if it will be remembered for that. Mess-yes landed a lot of body shots on Christian who tried to counter that offensive by using the ropes and the turn buckle quite frequently. The second part of the match saw mess-yes hitting a couple of power moves which Christian tried to counter with power grapples. The finish was Christian winning via the unprettier after a distraction by Abyss caused Mitchell to run away. Abyss had his hand wrapped in barb wire. Abyss later returned tired of chasing his dad to take out his half-brother.

The show closed with AJ and Angle doing a post match beatdown on Christian when Tomko made the save and Mike Tenay making a vague reference to the Sunday PPV.

I would like to point out that this year’s main event at AAO has hardly created any interest. Maybe that’s because it’s the same as last year’s AAO.Last year had Joe being the officially appointed unofficial ring enforcer. This year he will be the officially appointed official ring enforcer. You can expect AJ and Tomko getting involved along with everyone from Karen Angle to Matt Morgan to Kevin Nash. I do hope the title changes hands.

The PPV will not have Joe or Kaz wrestling. I am looking forward to the Steiner v Petey Williams match, the 6 man street fight and the women’s title match.

The most important thing about AAO is that once it’s over certain horrible angles like the Abyss/Mess-yes angle should definitely end. I don’t want to see Mitchell and Abyss in the same ring for a very long time. Abyss is a big man who does a decent job wrestling. In 2007 he was sent on a horrible booking melee and a jobbing spree in stupid match after stupid match. After AAO he’d better be booked well, else he should pack his bags and go somewhere else.

It will be interesting to see the direction the company takes after AAO.Questions like Will Joe become champ? Will Tomko get a bigger push?Will AJ continue doing the ‘I am stupid’ thing and Will the X-division get a recharge heading into Destination-X?Will Kaz continue working rat matches and will we still see Black reign in action? need to be answered.

The only thing that looks consistent right now is the women’s division.TNA should get its plans straight after Against All Odds. The wrestling looks good but the storylines better mean something.

Tags: Against All Odds, Christian, Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, TNA IMPACT