The first two-hour episode of TNA Impact last night wasn’t bad, nor was it anything special.

The opening of the show had me immediately wishing for the good old days when Impact was only an hour. It seemed like the intro with the voiceover would never end. I know wrestling is all about hype, and I understand that TNA is excited about realizing its goal of going to two hours, but it was a bit overstated.

Then it was time for the opening match, and who is the first wrestler to come through the curtain and usher in this new era of TNA? Kurt Angle? No. Samoa Joe? No. Black Reign? Bingo. I have nothing against Dustin Rhodes, but he’s been saddled with a bad gimmick and even worse ring attire. Not a good way to kick off the “historic” episode.

A short while later, Robert Roode cut a good promo, but the segment ended with Crystal – I think that’s her name – arguing with Leticia Cline. Talk about a waste of time. I wasn’t sure who was supposed to be the heel here (and it wouldn’t be the last time I was confused in that regard), but Cline’s annoying voice and complete lack of personality make her the villain as far as I’m concerned.

After that, we got see Adam “Pacman” Jones not wrestle. It’s so ridiculous to see him out there in a tag-team match just ducking out of the way and standing around because he isn’t allowed to have any physical contact. This week, it seemed like Pacman and Ron Killings were supposed to be babyfaces in their match against Team 3-D. The crowd cheered Killings like crazy, but it booed Pacman. Wrestling works best when there are clearly defined babyfaces and heels. It’s OK to have anti-heroes, but they are really just a different kind of babyface. When the fans aren’t sure how to react to a performer because he flip-flops from week to week, there’s no emotional investment, and therefore, no financial investment. But I digress.

Things started to pick up with a 10-man gauntlet match. Kaz was impressive and has potential to become a breakout star, and I’m jumping on the Motor City Machine Guns’ bandwagon as well. I was disappointed with the finish, however, as Eric Young pinned James Storm to win the match. I’m not a big fan of the Eric Young character, but he is over with the TNA fans, so he needs to be a part of the show. But he is a mid-card comedy act, and he should never win a match that has the likes of Storm, Roode and Chris Harris in it.

The main event, an eight-man tag match which saw Samoa Joe, Junior Fatu and LAX defeat Christian Cage, Tomko, Christopher Daniels and Senshi was very good. It was fast-paced and everyone had their working shoes on.

The show-long angle featured Kurt Angle stalking Sting’s teenage son at a high school football game in California. At one point, Angle talked about Sting calling the police to have him arrested, which was a little weird in light of the news this week that Angle had been arrested and charged with driving under the influence and erratic driving.

Involving family members in a story line is a good way to get heat – having John Cena’s father as a key figure in Cena’s feud with Randy Orton on Raw is a prime example – and Angle and Sting were both good in their roles. However, I’m not fond of wrestlers bullying minors, and this show ended with Angle manhandling the boy. I thought the segment could have been effective without things getting physical.

Another problem that I had with the angle was that Angle’s motivation didn’t make sense. Supposedly, Angle was trying to provoke Sting so that Sting would be motivated when he faces Angle at the Bound For Glory pay-per-view. If Angle is a heel – and therefore somewhat of a coward – why would he want to face a fired-up Sting?

Other than the eight-man tag match, the best thing about this show was that “Dr.” Kevin Nash was nowhere to be found. I had feared that going to two hours would mean twice as many Nash segments. Fortunately, we were spared – this week, at least.