8 Ups & 2 Downs From Impact Wrestling (Aug 4)

3. But He's Got Kids

That Moose vs. Heath opened the show marked the third week in a row that Impact Wrestling opened with a championship contest, as 'Mr Impact Wrestling' defended his TNA World Heavyweight Championship against the former 'One Man Band'. Despite the title being up for grabs, the bigger story surrounding this bout was actually the prospect of Heath earning an Impact contract should he come out victorious.

'The Free Agent' really stepped up his game here. Mounting a comeback after being initially decimated by the champion, Heath was christened the 'modern-day Rocky Balboa' by Josh Mathews. Not a connotation you would typically expect to hear regarding Heath, but it did a lot to build him up as a credible challenger. Having Moose continuously leave the former SmackDown Tag Team Champion laid out left you feeling sympathy for Heath.

A ref bump opened the door for a low blow courtesy of Moose to ensure he remained the TNA champion, leaving Heath without a job. He did manage to hit his Wake Up Call finisher (essentially a Zig Zag), so it wasn't all bad news. Having been underutilised in WWE for a number of years, it was clear that this opportunity had lit a fire inside Heath.

What was far better was that Heath didn't simply win his contract. A step in the right direction.