Another "eh" episode of impact. I love the part with sting smiling towards anderson while punchin abyss in the head. Super intense.

It was sort of refreshing and different to see heel vs. Heel match and a face vs face tag match.

I was starting to think skyy was going to start getting a serious push towards the title a month or two ago...oops guess not.

I am really diggin the bound for glory series. I wish they would have changed the point system a bit...like with tag matches. Both partners should get points. More points means more excitement.

So it looks like both the Knockout Division and the X Division are being rebuilt? Also, did you notice on the ads for Destination X that they announced the return of the six-sided ring? Even if just for a PPV, it will be a welcome sight. Still, maybe someone in the powers that be decided Hogan-Bischoff wasn't working as well as vintage TNA and are heading back in that direction once again. I can only hope.

Just an observation on Sting's sudden snap , Kev. If you jobbed to gunner AND got screwed out of your title in the span of three days you'd probably snap too.

I still have no idea where TNA is going with their story lines (and I don't think they know either) but the Sting "Joker" act was certainly entertaining...something that TNA hasn't been in a while.

I have to admit, I get such a laugh out of Winter, with her over the top dramatic actiing and poses. At least she's entertaining to watch. And I thought it would be funny to see Double JJ with Mexican America. I'm getting excited over Destination X, i just hope the Canadian Destroyer shows up to make it perfect for me.

Two thoughts -

Good thing no one has suggested a drinking game based on the times TNA and WWE make you write the phrase 'doesn’t really make sense from a story line standpoint'.

'Taz wondered if that move would even hurt a woman.' My sympathies to Taz's wife or girlfriend given his obvious lack of knowledge as to sensitive areas of a woman's body.

Overall, it was a great episode of Impact.

To me personally, watching Sting mimic Health Ledger was just cringeworthy. If that's his thing now, he's gonna impersonate The Joker, I think he can get a better make up job. Think outside the box and paint him like an evil jester or something. They should really sell it as a new Sting, with totally new makeup. It's not that far fetched really, since Sting's character is actually a blatant ripoff of The Crow, and it worked for him.

I also like the Bound For Glory series. I loved how it showed a recap, footage from the house shows and a score chart. Just gave it that feel of competition that you don't normally get from wrestling.

I think Angelina was a zombie while Winter was transforming her, but now she's the finished product so she's out of her trance and totally loyal to Winter. That's the only sense I can make of it.

I didn't like how Abyss started consulting his book while in the ring and then he just happened to have a glove wrapped with barbed wire in his coat. That just came off as too cheesy even for a wrestling show. (If he had that there, then he obviously already knew what he was gonna do. Why consult the book?)

AJ styles and Samoa Joe can still put me to sleep today as good as they did back in 2006 or whenever. Back when TNA reaked of Indy promotion. As sad as it is, that's still all those guys are after all this time. They will have no problem going back to their X division roots.

Stinger is merely doing whatever it takes to prove he is the most violent and entertaining wrestler art Impact. Thats a story line in itself, just look at what he did to Abyss, and during the onslought the a**hole walked down the isle with a shirt that read "Wrestling is Real". I guess its fair to say "life is not scripted", Sting's "Transformation" on screen is definately Must See TV, storyline or not.

Ultimatley I hope to see Hogan get fed up with the Sting's mishaps and "Take Care of Business".

And Wrestling is Real

As a general rule, I find TNA nearly unwatchable. Lately I've been soldiering through most of it, and the strongest emotion I leave each episode with is frustration.

You can see flashes of genius in their programming. It's obvious someone on their writing staff has a real skill. The Bound for Glory series is a pretty good idea. It's an interesting premise and they're actually, for the most part, executing it well. Add to that the seeming revival of the X Division and Sting taking on Jokerish mannerisms, and you've got a few ingredients for exciting television.

But then you have the meandering adult content, head-scratching booking, and the dream team of Bischoff, Hogan and Russo.

I don't know which is more annoying: that with competent writing and management, TNA could make the race between themselves and WWE much more competitive, or that WWE could make TNA a distant memory if they'd just make a few adjustments.

Here's hoping the increased presence of RoH forces both TNA and WWE to step up their game.

Hey, Hey (and you too, Mr. Eck)

Cut Taz some slack. He was still in a tizzy over ODB's, as he called them, "bloomers." (Heck, I'm sill in one over his word choice!)

I really don't want to get down on Impact. It feels like there is only so much that can be said about lack of continuity until it just has to be accepted as par for the course.
The sad thing is that many of the performers do an outstanding job in his or her segments--but the segments typically have no week-to-week context.
I will say this though specifically---I think Steve Borden is a legendary performer. He's just a great all-around wrestler, if a bit past the prime that he most fully realized that greatness in. I think, again, ignoring lack of context--his performance was stellar---(big)BUT---I don't like this Ledger rip-off anymore than the Brandon Lee rip-off. Wrestling already has a stigma as second-class entertainment, when in fact it is not at all when it is done well.
When you blatantly copy a popular movie character instead of generating a unique one, it reinforces the idea that wrestling is second-class and not as creative as other forms of entertainment. It just seems that certain aspects of what made Brandon Lee's Crow character popular, or Ledger's Joker, could be integrated and used, as obviously people react to them, without overtly just lifting the whole character and look and recycling it. As I said, it isn't that Sting doesn't do a good job--it's that it would be nice to see him do a good job with a unique wrestling character.
To reference a great--Stone Cold Steve Austin certainly featured aspects of many pre-existing characters in movies, wrestling and other entertainment, (what character doesn't? They all adhere to archetypes)--but it was also a unique take on it. That's why it was a cool character. There was even major mainstream reaction, because it was a great character, unique and vital in its own way, which was executed by a great performer. I feel that this elevates wrestling's validity, while stealing a movie character does the opposite. From Anderson's self-announcing to Mick Foley's craziness to even Randy Orton's Viper schtick, which I don't like but is at least unique or CM Punk's messiah character---good ideas for characters are UNIQUE ideas for characters--it makes it look like wrestling has its own validity and its own ability to produce its own ideas. Ripping off someone else's ideas doesn't. It might play to some of the crowd, but I think that this section of the crowd would be just as happy if Borden did something that was a little more creative.

People who keep comparing Sting's characterisations to Heath Ledgers joker obviously weren't before 89' nor are they privy to the class of Burton's macabre original where Jack Nicholson stole the show as the joker. This is the joker who Sting is channeling. In fact he has been channeling Jack Nicholson with so much intensity that sometimes he steps over into Shining territory, I'm half expecting him to take his baseball bat to Bischoff's office and say here's Stingee. But I really am loving this character development of Sting. I think TNA need to cut a promo explaining this new development of Sting's character. But I wouldn't jump the gun with it as I think that there is so much intrigue in this narrative that they can hold off explanation for this sudden madness atleast for a couple of weeks.

The explanation for this sudden turn should be the fact that no one would listen to Sting for all of last year and with the title and network rep being removed from Impact, Sting has snapped.

This angle could be gold if done right. The one way TNA will shoot itself in the foot is if they try to turn Sting heel. They should have him act Jokerish until he gets Hogan to turn face at which point Hogan's goal will be to ensure that Sting hasn't totally lost it or try and return him to normality.

Let's not forget Darsow's golf gimmick and Coach Buzz gimmick