TNA Impact!

TNA (as in Total Non-Stop Action) strives hard to be an alternative to WWE in the world of pro wrasslin'. I couldn't tell whether it succeeds or not because I don't get Spike to catch their weekly Impact broadcast. But I do recognize a ton of old-time WWE cast-offs and a few of my other favorites so I went for a pack when nothing else jumped out at me.

This is the second TNA Wrestling set following Pacific's effort in 2004 or 2005. That one was a pretty straight-forward one most notable for the inclusion of some Hall of Fame autographs like Roddy Piper and Harley Race. It also featured the first card of some guy named CM Punk.

Here's what TriStar has to offer:

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37. Team 3D
The tag team formerly known as the Dudley Boys appear to still be kicking around. It doesn't look like their gimmicks have strayed much either.

 

MI-8. Kevin Nash's Tattoo

Muscles, Ink is one of a handful of base set subsets that feature different numbering. Kevin Nash's tattoo? I was thinking the same thing. I wonder if you collect the set that you can make some sort of Frankenstien's monster?

 

16. Hernandez

The way the photograph looks, it almost looks as though this guy is going to land on the ropes. For his sake I hope he made it.

 

33. Black Reign (28/50)

Wow! A parallel set that doesn't even have a name. The pack tells me to look out for parallel cards numbered to 1, 10 and 50. Sure, there's tons of similar sets out there but at least give them a name, like Gold, Platinum or Gumbo.

 

26. Mankind Abyss 

5. Tomko

I thought I saw Tomko running the Tilt-a-Whirl at the fair a couple years ago. Apparently not.

 

BS-2. Thoughts by Kevin Nash
The "BS" is supposed to stand for "Big Sexy" Kevin Nash. I think it might mean something else. Seriously, this is one of the ugliest card designs I've seen. The TV screen borders take up half the card, Nash looks ridiculous and the inset photo shifts the attention to Nash, not the guy he's 'talking' about.

MI-3. Petey Williams' Abs
I'm gunna build me the first monster with a six-pack!

Uggg. From knockoff gimmicks to gimmicks I was bored of five years ago to lame designs to meaningless parallels, this pack was garbage. However, there's enough big-name autographs in the set that I may grab another pack or two at some point but I'm definitely not going to go out of my way for this one.