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The wrestling matches were very good for TV, by TNA standards. They began with Alex Shelley vs. Johnny Devine, which lasted a 9 minutes and had a clean finish. The match had great action while it lasted and ended up with Devine scoring the pin after his dangerous looking Divine Intervention (double underhook piledriver). The 6-man tag match featuring Petey Williams, Scott Steiner, LAX and their female counterparts was also good, and LAX is building up a lot of steam and continue to demonstrate why they are one of the best tag teams in wrestling. The Kurt Angle MMA-style match with Tomko and A.J. Styles was definitely watchable, partly because of the hard way cut that Tomko suffered, but also because it was done about as well as it could've been. They're trying to mix MMA with pro wrestling, which could have been disastrous, but instead ended up decent at worst.
Booker T vs. Robert Roode was probably the best match either of the two has been involved in since they've been in TNA. The match had an excellent level of intensity throughout, though I didn't like the First Blood match stip, they did well in working with what they were given. The Women's Title match was also an great for a free TV match, though it was rather short at 6 minutes, but that's acceptable because I'm not sure if ODB had the opportunity to set up any spots before the match. Either way, it was a great TV match with yet another clean finish.
Finally, we got to the main event. This was probably the second or third best wrestling match we've ever seen on TNA Impact. It had yet another clean ending. All of the clean finishes on the show made me walk away as a fan feeling satisfied (take note, Vince Russo). Hopefully this will become the norm, though I highly doubt it. They'll have clean finishes one week only to return to the old Vince Russo booking formula of cheap finishes and interference.
TNA didn't seem to have many problems putting on their first live wrestling TV show, either. Granted, the audio was glitchy a few times, but it was just for a couple seconds and was tolerable. Most of the lighting and audio was well done, and it made me happy that they didn't get the chance to overproduce the show. It gave Impact a bit of realism that it's usually sorely lacking. It also made it easier to watch without the camera constantly panning all over the place.
The announcers were even more tolerable than usual. Mike Tenay and Don West, having to improv on the live broadcast, calmed down just a tiny little bit. Though Don West had a few lines that made me want to turn off the TV in frustration, I was mostly able to tune out the announcers the whole episode. Anyone ever consider replacing these old announcers with some younger guys? What about that MMA guy you brought in for this broadcast, he'd be a great replacement for Tenay, West, or both (please, please both).
This show also more clearly defined who was face and who was heel. It's difficult as a wrestling fan if I do not know who I'm to cheer for. It seems like Vince Russo has set up a three-month revolving door for who is good, bad and in between with every wrestler playing musical chairs at each of TNA's quarterly major wrestling Pay-Per-Views. I don't know if Russo's "Cross the Line" experiment can work, with wrestlers displayed in more of a realistic way where there are no truly good or bad people. Either way, if it brings realism back to wrestling that has seemingly disappeared in the last decade, then I'm all for it.
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