Monday night's episode of TNA Impact had some good and some bad. Among the good was the fact that "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal got significant TV time for the first time since the Hulk Hogan-Eric Bischoff Era began in January.
Lethal is exciting to watch in the ring and his spot-on Randy Savage impersonation is entertaining. It was frustrating to see him out of the mix while tired acts such as The Nasty Boys and Sean Morley were able to get on camera. I had figured it was a sure thing that Hogan would have some type of story line with Lethal because of Hogan and Savage's storied history as both friends and foes, but until this show, I don't think their paths ever crossed.
The deal here was that Hogan had "some TNA business in New York" and had to leave, so Lethal was helping to run the show. After a while, Bischoff had seen enough of Lethal's brand of "Macho Madness," so he booked him to face Beer Money in a handicap match. Lethal was initially no match for the former TNA tag team champs, but when James Storm turned his back on the action to retrieve his bottle of beer, Lethal caught Robert Roode in a small package for the victory. Normally, I would be upset that a top tag team lost to a mid-card guy, but the way it was done made sense, and Beer Money is still going to be over no matter what.
Hopefully, this is the start of some kind of push for Lethal and it won't be forgotten about next week. I'm not saying Lethal should be the world champion, but certainly he deserves a spot somewhere on the show.
Other thoughts on Monday's show:
Another highlight was the non-title match between TNA world champion A.J. Styles and Jeff Jarrett. I know that some in the Internet wrestling Community think that Jarrett is overrated, but I actually believe he is underrated as a worker. Styles got the win after a low blow. Jarrett was holding a guitar when Styles hit the low blow from behind, and as Styles connected, he caught his hand on the guitar and bled heavily. ...
The stipulation of the Styles-Jarrett match was that if Jarrett won, he would be the No. 1 contender after the April 18 Lockdown pay-per-view. What about Jeff Hardy? Shouldn't he be in line for a shot after pinning Styles two weeks ago? ...
I can't get excited about seeing The Band in a main event – cage match or not – but I did like that Eric Young was put over strong, as he, Hardy and RVD defeated Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman. Young scored the pin on Waltman after hitting an elbow drop from the top of the cage, which was impressive. Young needed to do something to get his heat back after being made to look like a fool when Nash turned on him at the Destination X pay-per-view on March 20. On a side note, Hardy helping Young cover Waltman was silly and took away from Young's moment. ...
Perhaps I haven't been paying close enough attention, but has Nash explained why he turned on Young and rejoined his Band mates? He said it was business, not personal, but what does that mean? Was he duping Young all along or did he decide to double-cross him on the spur of the moment? And how does it make sense that after turning on Young he then invites Young to join The Band? ...
Speaking of explanations for turning heel, does Sting have one? ...
Young, with Hardy and RVD by his side for a promo, had a great line when he told Nash to look at his partners and ask himself which one of them traded up. ...
As soon as I saw Chubba Sponge come out to the ring with The Band, I hit fast-forward until Young came into the ring. I will continue to do grab the remote whenever I see him on my TV. Hogan can put his buddy on TV but he can't force me to watch it. ...
I didn't get why Nash and Kurt Angle did the little Wolfpac finger-touch thing as they walked by each other on the ramp. Didn't Nash's buddies Hall and Waltman attack Angle last month? This is the stuff that drives me crazy with TNA's storytelling – or lack thereof. ...
"The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero cut an entertaining promo, although he is bordering on becoming too much of a Rock imitator. Then again, two of wrestling's all-time biggest stars – Hogan and Ric Flair – borrowed heavily from Superstar Billy Graham and "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, respectively, so being original is overrated. Dinero's promo style is actually a combination of Rock, Dusty Rhodes and Martin Luther King. ...
Chelsea's acting during the segment with Dinero was beyond awful. And since I'm on the subject of bad acting, what the heck was that video of a sweating, shaking Samoa Joe all about? He said something like "they have spoken." Who are they? More importantly, who cares? Samoa Joe's character has gone through so many resets that it's become a bad joke. ...
More on Chelsea: I still don't know why she accompanies Desmond Wolfe to the ring but also hangs out with Flair. ...
The Wolfe-Dinero match was decent. Since Wolfe won and Dinero is the No. 1 contender for Styles' world title, does that mean that Wolfe also is line for a title shot now? ...
Did I really hear Angle say with a straight face that he's made a career out of playing by the rules? I know he's a babyface now, but that's just insulting the fans' intelligence. ...
I enjoyed the Tara-Daffney first blood match. I was relieved that the loser – Daffney – only had a speck of blood near her hairline. I don't know if she was legitimately bleeding or if it was fake blood. I was fearful that TNA was going to have one of the women do a major blade job. Daffney no-selling the blood and actually seeming to enjoy it – she licked the blood off her fingers – was a nice touch and totally fit her character. ...
Well, Orlando Jordan coming down from the ceiling wrapped in police caution tape was different. His character reminds me of Goldust when he first debuted in WWE, only Jordan is pushing the envelope even more. I'm interested to see how far TNA is going to go with the character. ...
The tag match in which Kazarian and Shannon Moore defeated Doug Williams and Brian Kendrick was entertaining. Kendrick is fun to watch, but he's not showing the same charisma that he did in WWE. Perhaps it would help if TNA let him cut a promo.