TNA Impact Wrestling catch-up (5/9, 5/16 and 5/23)

Much like with Raw, I'm going to polish off three straight Impact reports in one shot to get caught up. I really don't need to for the last show, but I'm going to be balanced and do for Impact what I do for Raw.

So on that note, let's get to it!

5/9/13

The Good - Abyss returns! And lays out the Aces & Eights: I went back and forth on whether to sing the praises of Kenny King's promo skills or this return, but ultimately I had to touch on this match. Kurt Angle and Sting were having a pretty damn good 3-on-2 handicap match with Mr. Anderson and Team 3D, but Abyss' return put this over the top. He came across as a true force to be reckoned with in TNA and the Aces & Eights were definitely intimidated by the man. After weeks of TNA piling on the screwed for the faces, this was a good way to get people thinking there might be some real payoff coming. Kudos! I gave the match 2.75 stars, but the Abyss return puts this thing up to an 8/10 for the whole promo.

The Bad - Angle doesn't 'get' AJ Styles, does he?: Before he went all silent on everyone, AJ said that he planned to do what he wanted for a change and didn't want to be led around. So what's Kurt and Hulk's plan to get AJ on their side? Force him into it. I suppose it's good that I'm critiquing story points and not the story itself, but this does make this unit look idiotic. This happened in the opening promo, which got 6/10 if you were curious.

The Ugly - James Storm ruins an awesome Bad Influence-Roode & Aries match: This match is probably now more famous for the backlash Austin Aries got after showing off his Speedo-covered goods to Christy Hemme, but the match is actually really good. I'd say it was the best match on the card had it had a finish. Sadly, though, that wasn't the case because James Storm decided to get himself angry about all the recruitment into Bad Influence and other insanity of this match and lay everyone out. It was certainly random and only made sense because, well, that's what special refs do, but it doesn't negate the match. The match wound up only 2.75 stars and the segment fell to 6.25/10 for the end, but it was still a fun ride.

5/16/13

The Good - Kenny King d. Petey Williams and Chris Sabin to retain X Division Title: I am quickly becoming a huge Kenny King fan. The guy is GOLD and knows how to trash talk in and out of matches, and that's just great. I'm glad they didn't just cave and let Sabin win immediately, and I'm glad this feud looks like it will continue into the Slammiversary card. Everyone in this match had something to offer, and it came together in an entertaining manner. Good stuff, and the match garners 3.25 stars and an 8/10 segment rating.

The Bad - Does anyone know how divorce works around here?: This is a weird complaint to have, but it's a real issue: How exactly does Bully Ray have the ability to just kill a divorce. Was that in the prenup? Who drafted a stipulation that stupid? I'm not sure TNA properly gets what a divorce is, and they should probably ask Kurt Angle about such things. It was brief and doesn't really enter the ratings, but as soon as this starts to pay off, I'm jumping on it.

The Ugly - Joseph Park wins a title shot by beating up D-Lo Brown: From a technical perspective, this segment was boring much of the time. D-Lo and Park's styles don't lend themselves to greatness, and there was a degree of underwhelming spirit in there. But then you realize the booking here is awesome. Park gets himself hyped like Abyss and it's clear to everyone but him that he's actually Abyss. I love it! And it's great to see a weak link in the Aces & Eights. It was a necessary move. The match was only 1.75 stars, but thanks to bonuses, the segment as a whole got up to 5/10.

5/23/13

The Good - Mr. Anderson d. Kurt Angle and AJ stares Kurt down: There were a few candidates for this category, but this match took the cake. Angle and Anderson know how to make a match work well and this was just a pleasure to watch. Angle sold his shoulder perfectly and Anderson dictated the pace in a more than satisfactory manner. AJ Styles' arrival ringside was a nice addition and added to the drama, and I LOVED that he didn't get involved, allowing this match to have a reasonably clean finish. The match itself was about 3.5 stars, but the additional storytelling gets this up to a 9/10 for the segment.

The Bad - Sam Shaw gets no time to get noticed: This seemed like such a waste. I know that his opponent had a medical issue, but giving Shaw no video package or promo time made him less important when he got beaten down. In all likelihood, he'll have to go to the Gut Check finals now, but they still need to give him some push so we're invested. More could have been done besides an Aces & Eights beatdown to postpone dealing with the issue for a week. The whole thing was a 4/10.

The Ugly - James Storm picks a partner... and everyone's invited!: This thing got weird... but in a way that I was finding myself very interested in what was happening. Having every tag team in the 4-way was necessary and was probably guaranteed, but having Shark Boy return and Robbie E used at all were good calls to add to the insanity. I like Shark Boy and his 'Shell Yeah' gimmick and while I dislike Robbie E, he didn't irritate me as much during this promo because it was clear I wasn't supposed to take his madness seriously. The weakest point was Gunner's reveal as Storm's partner. Most people forgot who he was (I did until they said his name) and he went for a silent gimmick, which didn't help matters. Overall, the segment was weird but in a good way, and it is totally worth 7.25/10.

As a whole, TNA has been really consistent in their quality. As for the show yesterday, I thought the move to  keep AJ on the fence was the right call, but I have to give them credit for waiting until just before the show was about to fade out to finally reveal that. I actually thought they were going to end for a second. Also, the Knockouts Title match was pretty solid but a possible heel turn from Mickie James and a title change made this match fairly monumental.

Here are the averages for the last few weeks:

5/9/13: 6.0/10
5/16/13: 5.9/10 + .25 for setting up this Abyss thing for an epic payoff = 6.15
5/23/13: 6.2

The quality has been rising each week, and that's a good sign. Now that the show will be at 6 p.m. and I have that time at night off, I look forward to getting this report out the same night!

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