Impact Wrestling Review: Second Verse, Same As The First

This week's episode of Impact Wrestling was the second installment brought to us from Peoria, Illinois. It was built upon Sting and Kurt Angle, current members of the resurrected Main Event Mafia faction, promising that another member would be unveiled before the end of the program. Also, it gave us some interesting narrative on the upcoming Destination X show on July 18.

The opening segment finally did not involve Hulk Hogan or Bully Ray. Automatically, a step in the right direction, away from the weekly redundancy. I was excited to see who the newest member of the Main Event Mafia was going to be, but I had a really good guess (which turned out to be right). Sting and Angle did a great job on the mic, causing the viewers to realize that the MEM is here to take care of business.

The X-Division championship match had an interesting twist to it. Although Chris Sabin is a great competitor, he just does not have what it takes to be a top draw. As a result, I can see how taking the title off of him leading into Destination X made sense. As far as Hulk Hogan coming out with TJ Perkins after the match, that was a bit puzzling. The fact that Perkins was attacked and someone else stole his suit was fine, but bringing him out with Hogan totally destroyed the mystique of the Suicide character. Now, what's the point of having him come out as Suicide anymore? Additionally, when Hogan said that Perkins was always Suicide, I guess that we are all supposed to forget about Christopher Daniels, Kazarian and Kiyoshi.

The Gut Check challenge match between Mason Ryan vs. Heath Slater... er... Adam Ohriner vs. Ryan Howe was incredibly stiff and had an embarrassment of miscues. If TNA really wants to represent themselves as a force to be reckoned with, they really need to save these kind of matches for the developmental league, Ohio Valley Wrestling. I get it?not everyone is a Kurt Angle or AJ Styles from the very beginning. However, I don't think that it is fair for the competitors to expose how green they are on national TV. Howe showed a bit more versatility than "The Big O", but Ohriner has the look to be groomed into a legitimate star. Well, come to think of it... so does Rob Terry.

The Knockouts title match of Mickie James vs. Velvet Sky was decent. Both looked a bit sluggish, though. Conversely, TNA is making a good decision to keep the belt on Mickie James. She has what it takes to put the division back on the map, and her present character is very good. Hopefully we will see more Knockouts soon. Lei'D Tapa, Taeler Hendrix, even bringing back Ivelisse Velez in some way, would be good for the depth of the division.

Magnus vs. Bobby Roode was a good match, and a great way to continue the momentum of Magnus. The guy is over, so TNA might as well take advantage of it. Guys like Sting, Kurt Angle, Bully Ray and Jeff Hardy are not going to be around for much longer, so now is the time to start building new stars.

The segment with James Storm/Gunner and Robbie E/Jesse Godderz was confusing and promising all at the same time. Since Robbie E and Jessie Godderz are still on the roster, might as well have them form an official tag team. Honestly, I am in favor of it. It adds depth to the tag team division, and presents another heel tag team that has a credible manager/valet in Tara. In typical heel fashion, they could easily capture the title via any method of cheating. Hopefully, we get to see more tag teams in the very near future. What was confusing about it was the weird ending when Gunner punched Godderz. It looked unplanned, and was very anti-climactic.

Samoa Joe vs. Mr. Anderson was a good way to reveal the newest member of the Main Event Mafia. The match was decent, but the ending was better. Samoa Joe gains 10 points, now as the newest member of MEM, which creates a shift in predicting who is going to win. Samoa Joe has a chance in winning it all on behalf of the MEM, in hopes to dethrone Bully Ray of his TNA World Heavyweight title. Joe vs. Bully would be a good match for Bound for Glory. However, using the BFG series to push a rising star may be the better option.

The unveiling of Suicide leaves us with more questions than answers. Although the idea was creative, and Austin Aries has shown that he can do well as a world champion, he is still in the Bound for Glory series. So since he has the opportunity to cash in the title against Bully Ray in a few weeks, is he suspended from the BFG series? Is he forced to forfeit his spot in the BFG series? If he loses the match at Destination X, does he resume his spot in the BFG series? Having him lose his BFG series qualifying match against Eric Young would have made more sense, but we shall see where this goes.

What were your thoughts of Suicide being unmasked as Austin Aries? Sound off below.