Some thoughts from last night’s TNA Impact:

I like the way TNA has dealt with the situation with Jeff Jarrett, whose wife, Jill, died last week after a lengthy battle with cancer. Professional wrestling has a long history of exploiting deaths for story line purposes, and I’m hoping TNA will continue to show restraint. To this point on television, it has only been said that Jarrett has had personal issues to deal with. I have no problem with TNA acknowledging that he is going through something in real life, because I’m sure a large portion of TNA’s audience already knows about it, and TNA needed to explain Jarrett’s absence from last night’s show after he had been advertised to face A.J. Styles in the main event. I think not going into specifics is the right call, because if they were to mention on television that his wife died of cancer, it would likely come across as an obvious – and distasteful – way of getting the fans to rally behind Jarrett, a longtime heel who has recently turned babyface. Actually, I wouldn’t really mind if Jarrett wanted to talk about it on the air if it was something he felt he needed to do as part of the grieving process. I just don’t want to see a heel bring up Jill’s death in a disrespectful manner in order to get heat and start a feud with Jarrett. …

The opening promo by Jim Cornette that was interrupted by Christian Cage, Styles and Tomko demonstrated once again how talented Cornette and Christian are as performers. No one is currently playing the general manager/authority figure role better than Cornette, and Christian is perhaps the most entertaining character in TNA. Christian has a flair for comedy, but he also knows how to project the intensity that a main event-level heel needs. ...

OK, I admit it. I find the Mr. Backlund character entertaining in a so-bad-it’s-good kind of way. For someone who grew up watching Backlund as WWF champion when he was the ultimate soft-spoken, white-meat babyface, I can’t help but laugh seeing him now in a bow tie and suspenders and maniacally screaming his gibberish. …

That was a good beat down by Sting on Christopher Daniels, and I like the way this angle is progressing. Daniels has had his share of success in TNA, but working with proven stars like Sting is what it will take to get him to the next level.