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TNA?s version of The Honeymooners

Posted: Feb 22nd 2008 By: mikeiles

Following up on last week?s funny wedding ceremony, which saw Karen Angle ?marry? A.J. Styles, last night?s episode of TNA Impact featured several entertaining vignettes of the new couple on their ?honeymoon.? I?m not sure where TNA is going with this, but if it doesn?t lead to a title program between TNA world champion Kurt Angle and Styles, then it has all been a complete waste of time. Hey, maybe TNA could book a Karen Angle-on-a-pole match. There?s a joke in there somewhere about Karen knowing her way around a pole before she married Kurt, but I digress.

The show did not get off to a promising start, as the Angles were yelling at each other in the opening segment. It would have been fine except for the fact that they are arguing on every other episode. And sometimes they are really mad at each other and sometimes they are pretending to fight so they can swerve people.

Conflict and tension are key ingredients in wrestling, but they don?t have any impact when two people on the same side are constantly at odds. If the Angles got along most of the time, the arguments would mean more and I wouldn?t get a headache trying to figure out the characters? motives.

Speaking of motives, I didn?t understand why Kurt was jealous over Styles kissing his wife last week. Doesn?t Kurt encourage Karen to seduce other wrestlers ? Styles, Tomko, Kevin Nash ? whenever he is backed into a corner?

Even if the premise was flawed, the vignettes with Styles and Karen were silly fun. It was a nice touch to have Jeremy Borash as the cameraman (bringing back memories of Alex Shelley?s Paparazzi Productions).

The latest twist in the story line is whether Karen really is starting to fall for Styles after initially making it clear that she was just trying to make Kurt jealous. Something tells me this isn?t going to end well for ?Prince A.J.?

Other thoughts on last night?s show:

Kurt Angle and Booker T. had a good TV match, but what was up with Angle?s tube socks? I don?t claim to be on the cutting edge when it comes to the latest fashion trends, so maybe that?s what the kids are wearing these days. ?

Next week we will be treated to a match between Angle and Kevin Nash. Hey, wait a minute. I thought Nash would only wrestle if Jim Cornette cut him a check for $100,000. ?

To the surprise of no one, Kip James turned on B.G. James and ?Bullet? Bob Armstrong. The tip-off that the turn was coming occurred two weeks ago when Kip told B.G. and Armstrong that he was behind them all the way. After the match, an angry Kip cut a promo that might have been the best one I have ever seen from him. ?

Why exactly was the 68-year-old Armstrong in the ring, anyway? And why in the world was Tomko selling his weak-looking offense? By the way, the TNA creative team sure has done a nice job of making me not care about Tomko, who was on the verge of becoming a breakout character ? if he wasn?t already one ? before his nonsensical heel turn. ?

I liked the segment in which Jay Lethal was recognized for his accomplishments in TNA. Lethal has gradually climbed the ladder in TNA and he is looking more and more like a star. I also like the story line (so far) with Lethal, SoCal Val and Lethal?s pal Sonjay Dutt, who appears to be jealous of the budding romance between Lethal and Val. Knowing how story lines usually go in TNA, Dutt will turn on Lethal and Val will probably side with Dutt. Swerve! ?

Cornette again tried to get Samoa Joe to sign his new contract. For those who missed it, can you guess how it turned out? ?

Mike Tenay did a sit-down interview with Rhino, who talked about the risk of wrestling in an Elevation X match against James Storm. For this feud to be taken seriously, I think Storm needs to cut a promo saying that he?s got his focus back after getting sidetracked with the Eric Young foolishness. He should say that Rhino isn?t going to be facing the guy who played silly drinking games, he?s going to be facing the guy who intentionally tried to take out the eye of his former tag-team partner. ?

In a fun interview segment, Curry Man?s music played and both he and Crystal started dancing. I thought Curry Man?s moves were great, but even he couldn?t compete with Crystal. Later, Don West said that if anyone doesn?t find Curry Man and Shark Boy entertaining, they must not have a pulse. I guess that means I?m only half-dead. ?

The tension between Gail Kim and ODB, the company?s top two female babyfaces, boiled over after a long buildup of one whole week. ?

OK, Team 3-D having to do the weigh-in was somewhat amusing last week, but now I?m already tired of it. This time, Brother Ray actually made weight (under 275 pounds). I?m having a tough time suspending my disbelief on that one. I did get a chuckle out of seeing Ray break out his old dancing routine, but I like Team 3-D much more as despicable heels than as comedic heels. ?

Did you know that Rellik is Killer spelled backwards? Of course you do, because Tenay tells us every single week.

Tags: A. J. Styles, TNA, Jim Cornette