I'd say the former, with some caveats.
First of all, I'm just tired of wrestling bookers taking perfectly good feuds and trying to make them "personal." TNA does this a lot (Angle's plot to mess with Sting's head is very similar to what Jeff Jarrett did last year, except without Alex Shelley and his handi cam, making it less cool, somehow; there was also the stupid crap that unleashed Karen Angle on an unsuspecting world that used to think Stephanie McMahon was the most annoying woman in the history of the business, because a match over every damn title in the company as well as a Japanese one wasn't enough to build a feud on), but they aren't alone; the worst example I can think of is when WWE took a perfectly good, if redundant after a few months, Rey Mysterio/Eddie Guerrero storyline and series of matches (Eddie couldn't beat Rey no matter what he did, which drove him nuts) and threw in the stupid melodrama of Eddie being the real father of Rey's son. It set up a good ladder match to blow off the feud, but really, was it necessary? It's even more depressing that it was part of the last extended feud of Eddie's life, but I digress. I was impressed with Angle's whole "I'll leave this to your imagination" bit at the end, but, you know, isn't a match for the title enough? At least we have had to mostly Karen Angle-free weeks. That's something positive, at least.
Another thing that bugged me is something that can serve as metaphor for TNA's one step forward, two steps back progress in the last few years; the show opens with a typically excellent video package, putting over the importance of the show and really pumping me up for it. The first match to follow the intro? Rhyno vs. Black Reign. Now, I'm as big a fan of everyone's favorite stumpy legged, greasy haired human battering ram as you'll find, and as Aaron Glazer said in his very good column you'll find at the link, Dustin Rhodes is a great performer stuck with a stupid gimmick he doesn't seem to care for. I don't have any problem with these guys having a match. That said, these guys seem like two of the worst to put out there when you're trying to make the right first impression about your product and try to hook anyone who might be tuning in for the first time, a lapsed fan, or anyone else who isn't a regular viewer of TNA who's curious about what they'll do with 2 hours. Again, nothing against these two guys, but they're both WWE expatriates, and Rhodes case, a fairly worn out retread at that. Wouldn't something like that gauntelt match have been a smarter opener, since it gave a bunch of athletic, most likely unknown to a wider audience between the TNA faithful, guys a chance to show of what they could do for 15 minutes?
Other than those two sticking points, and the 3D/Team Pacman match I missed most of due to being on the toilet but doubt I actually missed anything at all by not watching, I was impressed with the show over all. Gail Kim vs. Jackie Moore was a good choice for a women's single match, because they're the two best female workers on the roster, and have a good chemistry after all the matches they were in this year; this match reminded me a lot of the kind of thing Trish Stratus and Victoria could put on with each other at the drop of a hat, which makes it miles ahead of anything WWE's put on since Trish and Lita hung up their boots (no matter how enamored I am with their current Women's Champion and the cute redheard who bumps around for the heels every once in awhile). Although calling Kim's finisher the Happy Ending has such tasteless connotations that I have to wonder if Paul Heyman isn't at least contributing ideas; that would somehow make it better to me, for some reason.
The gauntlet match I alluded to was also enjoyable. So much so that I wonder why they're using the Fight for the Right match at the PPV. While I happened to be one of the few people, from what I can tell, that liked the first itteration of that match, the Royal Rumble with a twist format of TNA's gauntlet is straightforward and leads to enjoyable matches. The Fight for Your Right-- amuses the hell out of me, because it's an inside out battle royal! But in the end, it's still ten guys standing around punching each other until the eliminations start. That format seems more limiting that this one, which allowed everyone to show a little of what they could do and event advanced a storyline while still holding together as an entertaining match.
The main event was formula tag stuff, but it was certainly more energetic than anything I've seen in a WWE main event in quite awhile, even if no one tore their pec or used a Leprechaun as a foreign object. But considering the talent involed, you had to expect this match to be above average. I mean, come on; Christian, Low-Ki, AJ, and Daniels vs. LAX and Joe? How could that not be a ton of fun. Speaking of which, that was an easy segue to Rikishi; he held his end of the bargain admirably, even pulling out the first Fire Thunder Driver I've seen on TV since... well, the last time he did it. Which has to have been 7 years. It would have been nice to see Jay Lethal in there, given that he's got the big match with Daniels at the PPV, but at least he got some promo time.
I do have to say that you can tell LAX have lost their street cred when Don West is openly marking out for Homicide, but then again, wouldn't you if he hit a tope con hilo from the middle rope right in front of you? Low-Ki doing the job was kind of lame, but predictable; he was probably the lowest man on the totem pole in there. I mean, Joe used him as a projectile. Which is, admitedly, the quickest route any match can take straight to my heart.
I thought this was a good show with some small but notable flaws. I forgot to mention the possibility of new interview girl feuding with old interview girl; while I'll take that over Gene Okerlund vs. Mark Madden, I watched Thunder in 2000 and saw Gene Okerlund fight Mark Madden, so I have no right to criticize anything ever. That said, it's dumb. That said, TNA has a good track record with their two hour shows and debuts; it will be interesting to see if they can maintain the momentum they've started to build up, or if the buzz will wear off like it did last year, when Russo's fast paced booking and Angle's arrival gave the show a temporary shot in the arm, only for it to coming crashing back down to Earth and not really stop until last week. I really hope so; with this talent roster and the current staidness of WWE's product, I want these guys to succeed enough to give Vince and company some competition to fire them up outside of Congress again. If they can build on this show instead of resting on their laurels or getting bogged down in crap that only Vince Russo finds interesting again, they may finally realize all their potential. Or at least make me feel like watching them isn't just a habitual thing. Hell, I'll take that.
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