Vince Russo must have hated last night’s TNA Impact, so it’s not surprise that I really liked it.

I know it sounds crazy, but last night I actually watched a pro wrestling show that put the emphasis on – wait for it – good wrestling matches. This stunning development means that either Russo has had an Epiphany or he is on the losing end of a creative power struggle.

Anyone who has ever heard Russo sound off about his concept of pro wrestling knows that he believes good matches are for Internet marks and that matches that go more than a few minutes bore viewers. The TNA creative team member and former WWE and WCW head writer also thinks title belts are meaningless props and that you can never have enough swerves, complicated stipulations, sophomoric humor and sketch comedy.

Don’t misunderstand. I don’t think viewers want to watch a two-hour show of nothing but well-worked 15-minute matches. I like the “sports entertainment” aspect of wrestling as much as anybody, and angles, backstage segments, promos and comedy all are part of the mix. The action in the ring, however, still is the most important component. Last night’s show had all of the elements that a good two-hour wrestling show should have.

To be fair, while I disagree with a lot of Russo’s booking ideas, I do think he deserves recognition for his role in creating some interesting characters. Many of TNA’s wrestlers are over with the crowd, and that is a testament to the creative team as well as the performers.

Other thoughts on last night’s show:

The episode was dedicated to TNA crew member Kevin “Angus” Sinex, who died in a scaffolding accident following the Slammiversary pay-per-view last Sunday. He was 45. Several wrestlers wore armbands in his memory. Unless I missed something, however, it was only the babyfaces who had the armbands. If that is the case, I think it’s ridiculous that the heels were not allowed to engage in the public display of mourning. …

There wasn’t a bad match among the seven that were on the show. The least entertaining probably was Sonjay Dutt’s win over Consequences Creed, but it was serviceable. Speaking of Creed, after a nice buildup for his debut, he hasn’t gotten much of a push. …

There were two excellent matches: Samoa Joe versus Kaz, and The Motor City Machine Guns versus Team Japan (Masato Yoshino and Naruki Doi from Dragon Gate). Kaz again looked good against one of TNA’s marquee stars before losing. A heel turn down the line might benefit Kaz, who could use the frustration of coming up just short in big matches as the motivation for the turn. As far as TMCMG, hopefully this win signifies that they are out of the doghouse and will get a push. …

Kurt Angle cut a strong heel promo in which he announced that he was putting a hit out on his wife, Karen. He said that only women were eligible to take him up on the offer because of TNA’s ban on man-on-woman violence. Of course Awesome Kong immediately came to mind, although I thought the “hit” angle would go on for a couple weeks before Kong got involved. Instead, Kong did a post-match run-in and attacked Karen after Angle’s win over A.J. Styles in the main event. Kong slapped her around a little, but for the angle to really get over, Kong should have given her an Awesome Bomb. Perhaps we’re headed to a mixed tag pitting Kurt and Kong against Styles and Karen. I think it’s a good move to get Kong involved in a top program with stars such as Kurt Angle and Styles. …

Gimmick infringement alert: Before Kong laid out Karen, Kurt did the thumbs up-thumbs down bit that Batista has established as a precursor to his finisher. …

It was announced that Karen Angle has become a contracted talent in TNA. I’m not exactly sure what that means. Is she going to wrestle? Is she going to be a valet/manager? If she’s not doing either one of those things, what kind of “talent” does she have? Don’t answer that. …

One last Karen Angle question: Why did she refer to Kurt as her ex-husband? In the story line, aren’t they just separated? …

I liked the verbal confrontation between Kevin Nash and Samoa Joe, but their on-again, off -gain alliance is starting to give me a headache. …

From a booking standpoint, I didn’t like the deal in which Robert Roode and James Storm’s victory over LAX for the tag-team title was reversed by the referee and the match was re-started because Hector Guerrero pointed out that Storm had used a foreign object to secure the pin. I thought the rule was that if the referee didn’t see it, he couldn’t call it. If every babyface complained to the ref that the heel cheated, no heels would ever win. Despite that drawback, Roode and Storm’s beat-down of LAX after the match did a great job of getting heat on the heels. …

Roode and Storm make a great team even though their characters don’t seem compatible. One guy is rich and pompous and the other is a beer-guzzling redneck. I thought it was a nice touch when Roode took a drink of Storm’s beer and then spit it out and said it tasted awful. …

More good work by The Beautiful People. Angelina Love is becoming one of my favorite heels – male or female. She cut a really good promo on Karen Angle. Her partner, Velvet Sky, had a good match against Gail Kim. …

Perhaps I’ve been too hard on backstage interviewer Lauren. She’s actually not bad. Still, she’s no Crystal. …

I hope the return of Abyss means that Jim Mitchell is going to be back on TV soon. Mitchell does a great job with his character, and if TNA doesn’t have a spot for him any longer, WWE should sign him immediately. …

It was good to see Daivari back on TV. He’s a heat magnet when he gets on the mic and he’s also a good worker. …

Here’s another reason why I liked the show: Eric Young, Shark Boy, Christy Hemme, Rellik, Black Reign, Hermie Sadler and Ace Young weren’t on it.