Some thoughts on last night’s TNA Impact:

As a longtime admirer of Kurt Angle’s work, I never thought I could see too much of him, but that was the case on this week’s show. Not only did it seem like he was in every segment, but he spent almost the entire show wearing nothing but bikini briefs and a pair of flip-flops. I think I would rather look at a shirtless Big Daddy V then to ever again see that much of Angle (at least Big Daddy V will only be in one segment, not seven).

The show-long story line centered on Angle trying to figure out who stole his clothes and title belts. Why Angle never suspected Samoa Joe, his archrival for the past nine months, is beyond me. Maybe Angle should have hired federal investigator Daniel Beck. He probably has a lot of time on his hands now that the Mr. McMahon exploding limo story line has gone the way of Chuck Cunningham from Happy Days (yes, that is a dated reference; ask your parents if you are too young to get it). But I digress.

In the final segment, Joe confessed that he indeed was the thief. Joe then said that he wanted to put the past nine months behind him and start fresh with Angle. He challenged Angle to a match at the Hard Justice pay-per-view on Aug. 12 with all the title belts on the line, and then extended his hand. Uh-oh. I think I’ve seen this before with these two and it usually doesn’t end well. Two weeks ago I wrote: “You’d think after all those double-crosses that Angle and Joe would stop falling for the old handshake trick by now.” I guess Angle doesn’t read Ring Posts, because he shook Joe’s hand and Joe then head-butted him.

Now, here’s the beauty part. After Joe (the babyface) steals the possessions of Angle (the heel) and then suckers him, Angle ultimately gains the advantage and the show ends with Joe screaming in pain from an ankle-lock. TNA’s creative team has sure made Joe out to be one pathetic babyface. As far as the stipulation of all the belts being on the line in their next encounter, why would Angle, the world champion, want the X Division and tag team titles? Just wondering. …

To me, the most entertaining aspect of the Angle skits was the performance of backstage announcer Jeremy Borash. He has great timing and facial expressions and knows how to add to a segment without taking the focus off the wrestlers. Back when we were in WCW together, I remember thinking that JB showed a lot of potential as a performer after he was briefly given a role on television as Vince Russo’s lackey. If he ever wanted to go this route, I could see Borash becoming a quality heel manager. …

It was definitely time for Team 3-D to turn heel, and I have always thought they were better in that role (Brother Ray can incite a crowd with the best of them). The fans at the Impact tapings in Orlando, Fla., already had turned against them (more specifically, they turned on Brother Ray) a while ago, and I think the Steiner Brothers were going to be cheered in this feud no matter what. …

Why did TNA bother to turn Lance Hoyt heel and pair him with Christy Hemme if he wasn’t going to be given a push? I’m not saying Hoyt should be headlining pay-per-views, but couldn’t he at least beat Kip James?