Keith Watanabe * NET 2.0

the buzz on the net was quite alive these past few days as the announcement hyperbole was emitted from the dirt sheets and TNA themselves. the initial report was Vince Russo returning (more on that later). however, the emotion from the net indicated that this wouldn't sit well with the fans. however, apparently that wasn't the case as more rumors from the dirt sheets alluded to something larger (making me speculate that the Russo thing might've been tossed out to throw the dogs off the trail). so the net guessed various things from Goldberg's return to a new time slot to Benoit signing and even a 2 hour slot. Come the PPV and while a new time slot was announced, the bomb was dropped: Kurt Angle will make his wrestling return. obviously, the fans in the Orlando arena were more than elated. but the feedback from the internet was a clear indication that, indeed, this signing lived up to the hype. before the minor leak came TNA was dead on the boards in terms of news. considering the upcoming PPV and the Impact show, few really were talking about them. when the Russo rumor started, people ripped the move apart. but there was more that caused a great amount of speculation. now, with the announcement, TNA is on fire in terms of publicity. at this point, the signing does not have any true negative issues, outside of theoretical implications. what it has done is create controversy and that is what i think this move initially intended so that people look at TNA, for better or worse, using this momentum. now, the ball is in TNA's court to actually run with this. they've got a lot of momentum going for them. Spike seems happy, indicated by the move in time slots. The addition of Kurt means that additional funding was secured. despite these factors, TNA needs to make sure Kurt helps himself and slows him down. make him rest. have him talk. give him a month to establish himself as an on-air character so that his body can recuperate. he's got so much charisma that he can wait a bit and they can show an on-air angle that let's him heal a bit off screen. i think that he probably would be happy just being in front of the crowd doing one or two moves to keep his wrestling character alive. either way, you could tell TNA was just waiting for an opportunity like this to come by. it was a good snag at the right moment. now, they just need to give him an on-air role while he recuperates a bit. in terms of the whole no-compete clause deal, it makes me wonder if it wouldn't apply to Kurt since he was fired. who knows but let's see how this ride fares.