Bound For Blory 2013 preview

Somebody in TNA has finally taken notice of the fans. Free of the constraints of Hulk Hogan's contract AJ Styles is at last getting the opportunity he deserves to headline a pay-per-view for the world title, and to step up and be ‘The Man’. It’s what they’ve needed to do all along!

I'm being facetious of course. Styles has had chances to be the megastar TNA has always needed many times before. This latest shove, modelled on WWE's use of CM Punk in 2011, is simply the latest in a long line of attempts to turn Styles into something special. It won't work. I know this because it's never worked before and AJ has not changed significantly since the last time. If he had it in him to be that guy he'd have done it by now.

Yet a Styles push is something fans constantly call for. Make Impact the AJ Styles show, give him the championship and let him show his wrestling ability and the ratings will pour in, or so the logic goes. I won't argue that having Styles in a more prominent spot than he's typically been in for the last two years, and wrestling lengthy matches, would be the best use of him but it's not enough to save TNA. Styles has been used as well as a company like TNA can use him at various times in the past. It didn't make TNA into a global juggernaut or worthwhile number two wrestling promotion then. It won't do so now.

Pitting Styles against lead bad guy Bully Ray should result in a very good match. Styles' strength, as noted, is wrestling longer than average and exciting matches. Ray has been enjoying one of the best periods of his career over the last few months, easily the greatest portion of his career as far as his singles endeavours go. I don't doubt they'll produce a worthwhile match, but it won't be the sort of thing that encourages fresh eyes to TNA. Ultimately that's what TNA should be striving for with every show they put on, especially PPVs.

I can see one of two things happening with this match. Either Bischoff and co will continue to ape the Summer of Punk II plot and have AJ win the title while supposedly working without a contract or Dixie will further cement her ill-advised heel turn by costing the fans' golden boy a victory. The second option is almost as unappealing as the first but that it wouldn't be such a blatant rip off of a relatively recent opposition plot, and that it wouldn't result in 'The Phenomenal One' getting his umpteenth, inevitably doomed chance to prove he's 'The Man', makes me think it would be preferable.

I hope Bully Ray wins because he, in a roundabout and stunted way, stands for a fresher approach than AJ Styles does¹. Bully is also a more rounded performer than Styles thanks to his strength with promos, which makes me think he deserves the championship and the top spot that comes with it more.

Why has this been allowed to happen?

The problem of how TNA stars are perceived is not one exclusively linked to AJ Styles. Nobody in the company is seen as a genuinely big star. Even people who have been big names elsewhere, such as Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Jeff Hardy, lose lustre and credibility in TNA. There are dozens of reasons for this, a relatively minor one being how TNA handles its world title. Specifically I'm talking about former world champions going back to hold mid-card singles titles. The tag team championships are different because they can contribute to storylines in interesting ways and, more importantly, don't feel like a step backwards. The logic should be that once a wrestler has won the world title no other singles championship can satisfy them². At the moment it feels like TNA is in danger of making their world title look like a secondary title.

I bring this up because four of the five men in the Ultimate X match are former world champions. How is a world title meant to look important when pretty much everyone on the roster gets a turn to hold it? As with the main event I'm sure the match will be good, although there's a chance this one could get a little too spot heavy. A gimmick match becoming too reliant on big spots? Well, yes. If incredible, death-defying leaps are being rolled out at the three minute mark how is an audience meant to care (and react) when spots just as ludicrous are appearing twelve minutes into the match? Pacing is the key, and some of the guys in this match have had trouble in that area in the past.

The participants, for the record, are Jeff Hardy, Samoa Joe, Austin Aries, Chris Sabin, and Kenny King, with the latter being the one never to have held a world title. Reasons could be found for all of them to win. Hardy would be winning a title he's never held before³. 'A Double' and Joe would be getting something to do. Kenny King would be solidifying himself as a mid-card stalwart (which is even more meaningless in TNA than it is in WWE). Sabin would be getting something to brag and boast about, enhancing his wearisome heel act.

I'd like to see King win. I don't think it's going to happen. I suspect Sabin will leave with the gold.

In order to combat the slenderness of their roster TNA have granted considerable time to two of their middle card matches: Sting v Magnus and Kurt Angle v Bobby Roode. It was the smart thing to do. In theory it should create interesting matches with understandable reasons to be taking place. That’s what a show like this needs.

In practice it’s not worked out quite as well as could have been hoped. Acting is not the strength of either Magnus or Sting, which is unfortunate as they’re teammates breaking up which has meant their reasons for clashing have been entirely verbal (as opposed to the more conventional random run-ins and beatdowns). Their exchanges have been awkward and have frequently made me cringe.

That said it’s nice that TNA appears to be planning on doing something worthwhile with ‘The Mag Daddy’. He’s got the look, size and promo ability that are rare in wrestling these days, and he’s also one of the few people that has managed to continually shrug of any nonsense thrown his way by the writing team. Used right he could be someone that helps TNA grow. A split from and feud with the Main Event Mafia would be a good starting point, and it looks like that may be what we’re getting.

I’d like to say TNA will do the smart thing and put Magnus over clean. I can’t see that happening. I think he’ll win via underhanded tactics to further demonstrate that he’s making a turn. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sting simply won clean. That would sum up the company’s approach to preparing fresh storylines and building new stars perfectly.

Angle versus Roode hasn’t been mishandled. Announcing Angle’s return for the biggest show of the year makes sense: it helps it to feel like a worthwhile event and may possibly encourage a few more people to tune in. The trouble with it lies in the fact that we’ve seen the two men clash many times over the last several years. It was at BFG two years ago that Roode’s headline elevation started with an unsuccessful challenge against Angle. They won’t have a bad match, but it will be very hard for them to have a fresh one.

As far as a winner goes it would make sense for it to be Angle. A loss wouldn’t harm Roode while a win for Angle would reintroduce him in the right way and provide the crowd with something to cheer for. I think it helps if big shows (and Bound For Glory is the biggest in TNA Land, remember) can provide more face wins than heel wins whenever possible.

Elsewhere on the card ODB defends the once prestigious but now mostly forgotten Knockouts championship in a three-way match against Brooke (Tessmacher, not Hogan) and Gail Kim. Again I find myself thinking that the match should be fine but I’ll be surprised if it amounts to much more. I will say that it’s a shame Taryn Terrell’s not involved in the product at the moment (she’s pregnant) because she was looking very promising as a wrestler.

The final match will see tag champs Gunner and James Storm defend against the winners of a gauntlet match. Involved in that are Eric Young and Joseph Park, Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez, Bad Influence, and The BroMans. Of those four Bad Influence are my preferred unit but we’ve seen a lot of them over the last year. Robbie E and Jesse Godderz are a promising tandem that TNA management were smart to pair up. They deserve to make it to the pay-per-view and wrestle for the titles. Whoever goes through I’m not going to predict a title change, but anything could happen in a company as haphazard and desperate as TNA.

The last thing to mention is potential returns and debuts. Mr Anderson, Mickie James and Hulk Hogan have all left TNA recently. In each case it’s been due to contract negotiations. In theory any or all of them could show up at Bound For Glory. In practice Hogan and James are unlikely to appear.

James seems content to pursue her musical career for the time being. There seems to be interest in her in that regard so she clearly doesn’t need TNA. ‘The Hulkster’ could return if he got a similarly cushy deal to the one he’s had over the last few years: limited dates in exchange for creative influence and what we should assume is a considerable chunk of cash. But I think he’ll see if WWE has interest in using him at WrestleMania XXX before he commits to TNA. Which they might.

Anderson strikes me as someone who will return to TNA. It’s hard for me to imagine him trailing around the US indy scene and WWE appear to have no interest in him. In TNA he’d be guaranteed an upper mid-card spot at least, plus a regular paycheque. He was written off TV as part of a rivalry with Bully Ray, which would make his reappearance during the main event natural.

The last man to mention is potential debutant Ethan Carter III. Formerly NXT’s Derrick Bateman the real life Michael Hutter has signed with TNA as part of rumoured influx of new talent. The character has apparently been inspired by a football player called Robert Griffin III. He goes by RG3 and Ethan will go by EC3. It doesn’t sound the most thrilling of ideas, but introducing the character at a pay-per-view would provide it as good a start as possible.

Bound For Glory's problem is that it just doesn't feel like a must-see event. It's a card filled with the same faces we've been seeing for years. There are no matches that have the aura that they can't be missed. It's allegedly the company's biggest and best show of the year but it has unfortunately rolled around at a time when TNA are simply incapable of living up to the hype that entails.

Predictions summary:

Bully Ray to defeat AJ Styles
Chris Sabin to win Ultimate X
Magnus to defeat Sting
Kurt Angle to defeat Bobby Roode
ODB to defeat Gail Kim and Brooke
James Storm and Gunner to retain the tag team championship

***

¹ Which is a fairly depressing thought.

² I've written this before but it bears repeating every once in a while.

³ This seems to be becoming increasingly important in wrestling. It's an excuse to put guys into feuds. It's linked to the former world champs winning mid-card titles problem, the "I've never won that belt before" shtick being the excuse to get the wrestler in question competing for a title clearly below their station.

No Surrender 2013 review

Remember Chris Sabin? He's the man who has worked for TNA for a decade, routinely being relied upon to provide exciting matches. He's the man who was chosen to unseat TNA's lead heel as world champion. He's the man that, with a little bit of work, could have been a perfectly satisfactory addition to the company's rather drab main event scene.

You and I may remember who Mr Sabin is but TNA's writing team apparently do not. Just four weeks after his world title reign (which also lasted just four weeks) was unceremoniously halted Sabin has already slipped down the card enough to be omitted from what is allegedly a pay-per-view quality edition of Impact Wrestling. The treatment obviously does Sabin no good and it's not a positive for the TNA world championship either. That now looks like something that anyone can get a shot at and win. That's not how any promotion should present what is supposed to be their top prize.

Thankfully this was the only major complaint I have about No Surrender. Sabin's absence aside it was a perfectly fine show.

The evening kicked off with the standard video package. It was well produced. First it showed us the four men who would compete in the BFG semi-finals and finals, each man doing his utmost to stress the importance of the BFG series and the title shot the winner would receive. Following an F Scott Fitzgerald quote (I like the idea of TNA doing more literary quotes, partly because it's such a clichéd thing to do that it suits them perfectly) we were shown how the Mr Anderson and Bully Ray, the Vice President and President of Aces and Eights respectively, issue came about.

Bully Ray opened with a promo. That wouldn’t have happened were No Surrender a real pay-per-view. He said the problems between Anderson and him were because of General Manager Hulk Hogan. That brought out 'The Hulkster' who said that Bully should be focused on Anderson, cracking the same "You should be worried about facing one of your brothers, brother!" gag twice. Hey, no one can accuse Hulk of not reusing things that work.

Bully called Anderson out to the ring. His music hit immediately, almost as if he'd been waiting at the gorilla position. The Vice President of Aces and Eights refused a handshake from Hogan and joined Bully in the ring. He was told that if he just apologised it would all be over. After very briefly teasing giving that apology he decked the Pres. After that he shouted his own name and Hogan got back on the stick to say that the world title match would be a Last Man Standing match.

Match one saw Austin Aries meet AJ Styles. They had the sort of smooth and enjoyable match you'd expect. There was nothing wrong with what they have us at all. The finish came when 'A Double' went for a splash in the corner but got hung up on the top rope. Styles then hit a Pele kick and followed up with a middle rope Styles Clash for the win.

 

Finish ahoy!

 

Backstage Sting tried to give Magnus a pep talk. Magnus told him he's tired of being the future and declared he was going to be the champion. Samoa Joe was slouched on a sofa throughout.

After a break Bobby Roode was shown screaming at Taz, Mike Tenay and the referee whose surname isn't Hebner, demanding Magnus be brought out so he could beat him and then go on to beat Styles in the finals. We also got a shot of a handful of the St Louis Rams. Which was... well, it was something. Their support would mean a lot more if they were shown to support TNA on non-TNA programming. But obviously that's not going to happen.

'The It Factor' got the match off to a quick pace when he jumped Magnus and instigated some fiery brawling. When they got underway in the ring the intensity remained and they produced a very lively match. Magnus reversed a fisherman suplex into a double leg takedown, floating over for a victory from nowhere. Presumably he didn't get a more convincing result because TNA want to keep the Extraordinary Gentlemen's Club member strong.

Backstage Roode jobbed out a table before being joined by fellow EGO boys Daniels and Kazarian. Roode said it was Hogan's fault they weren't in the finals and said if they couldn't be there nobody would be. That so many heels blame Hogan for their woes is distressing. He's had his TV time cut as a way of saving money and isn't going to be working a match any time soon, yet he's essentially positioned as the company's top face, the man all the bad guys are gunning for.

Talking of Hogan, he was shown talking to TJ Perkins backstage. Apparently the Manik gimmick reminds Hogan of his Hulk Up routine. I think he may have taken one too many chair shots. Dixie Carter came in and told Hogan that Bellator has pulled Tito and Rampage until after they've had their MMA match on November 3. That's not a loss. If anything it's a good thing for TNA. It will force them to concentrate on their wrestlers for a while.

Elsewhere in the arena Bully Ray ranted at Knuxx, Garrett Bischoff and Wes Brisco. His feeling was that they wanted Anderson as the world champ and club President over him. The three didn't get to address these accusations. They're not important enough to have speaking parts. Bully said he knew they'd do the right thing and walked off. We were left to presume "the right thing" was interfering in the world championship match on his behalf as opposed to not getting involved and seeing who could win on their own merits.

Following a recap of the tensions between Anderson and Ray we got the TNA would title match. As gimmick brawls go it wasn't a bad one. The only minor niggle I have is that Anderson wrestled in his Aces vest and jeans. Surely the storyline would've lent itself to Anderson busting out his more traditional wrestling trunks. Perhaps they want to save that for later, to signify he's finally done with the group.

Anderson had the match won from a Mic Check onto a chair but Bully had floored Hebner with a manly shove into a turnbuckle. Hebner had stood up to him, y'see, and the champ didn't like that. Anderson dragged Ray to his feet, presumably to hit another move and keep him dazed, this earning himself the gold. Instead he was floored with a Bully Cutter. This was the signal for the rest of Aces and Eights to mosey on out. Anderson staggered to his feet only to be low blowed by Brooke (Tessmacher, not Hogan) and triple power bombed (Shield style) by A&E.

Hebner recovered to make the count and Anderson managed to make his way back up by nine. A chain-assisted punch put him down for another count of nine. He finally went down for ten after he was tackled through a table by Bully.

Anderson was put on a gurney and wheeled up to the entrance ramp to be slapped about some more by Bully. The champ whipped Anderson with the leather vest and then gave him a piledriver on the steel. It's nothing we've not seen before from the character but it did earn some heavy boos, so it was obviously the right thing to do (from a booking standpoint, of course).

 

Nothing gets heat like an exposed piledriver

 

ODB was shown in a bar talking up a Knockout title match had scheduled for the next able. It was effective as a thirty second promo.

James Storm and Gunner came to the ring for a dire segment. Gunner just stood around as Storm shouted nonsensically. It was easy to believe in his gimmick of drinking heavily. Chavo and Hernandez interrupted and acted in a decidedly heelish fashion. Gunner granted them a title match for the next episode of Impact. Everyone involved seemed stilted and ill-prepared for the exchange. It highlighted how much TNA needs fresh teams.

In the main event AJ Styles defeated Magnus in a match that was fitting of being the final instalment of a lengthy series. EGO interfered at one point, attacking both competitors before being dealt with by officials. When the show returned from a break they were gone and weren't seen again. It was odd booking.

'The Phenomenal One' won with a Spiral Tap. There were more shots of Magnus immediately after the bout finished than there were if Styles celebrating. He looked glum. Perhaps a heel turn could be coming. That wouldn't be the worst thing TNA could do.

 

The next TNA world champion?

 

Styles cut a promo about not getting a response from Dixie Carter about the mistakes he pointed out a week or two ago. He asked for Dixie to show up next week, so that he can point out more mistakes presumably. It wasn't the greatest thing AJ's ever done, but I've seen far worse from him.

While this show didn't do anything wrong it didn't do anything to show that TNA understands they need to do something new and different. Some interesting possibilities were presented (potential Anderson and Magnus turns, EGO being used as a strong faction beyond the BFG series, something involving Styles and Carter) but none of them are things that will turn TNA's misfortune around.

The final words of the show? "Stay tuned, Bellator is now!" I think that says it all about TNA's standing.

The Reunion: Now Showing in 3D

I don't normally do this but if you're the sort of person who's keen to avoid spoilers regarding TNA you'll want to avoid this until Friday morning. This is the only warning you'll get.

Last Thursday's sort-of-live Hardcore Justice edition of Impact Wrestling hinted at dissension in the ranks of lead heel stable Aces and Eights. Gang leader Bully Ray told his second-in-command Mr Anderson that he didn't feel sufficiently supported by his subordinates. Of course everything worked out for them in the end. Anderson dutifully trotted out to the ring to play his part in Bully regaining the world championship during the main event.

Just because things ended up rosy for the biker boys that don't own bikes last week doesn't mean they'll stay that way. TNA has given us a very clear tease of a potential future storyline.

This Thursday's Impact (recorded last week, hence the uncharacteristic spoiler warning above) will feature a ten men tag match with the stipulation that the man who's pinned must leave TNA. It will be Devon who takes the fall. That could be TNA's way of moving him off our screens and into the D'Lo Brown shaped agent position they have backstage. It could be their way of legitimately getting rid of a guy who has far less to offer than recent firees Joey Ryan and Matt Morgan (and it should be noted neither of them had much to offer). Or it could be the promotion preparing for the next instalment of their long running storyline.

It's easy to imagine Bully Ray losing his world title at Bound For Glory come October. To who doesn't matter. The important thing here is that a bright-eyed babyface is likely to wrestle the title away from Bully at BFG.

What if the loss of the world title leads to Mr Anderson leading a coup of Aces and Eights? He could claim Bully's become a weak link and kick him out if the group. This would work incredibly smoothly, although slightly differently, if it were Anderson that won the BFG series. But honestly, can you see that happening? No, me neither.

With Bully out of A&E the stage would be set for him to battle with the gang for weeks on end until TNA's next pay-per-view rolled around (expected to happen in January). It's not too difficult to envisage Bully challenging Anderson and any member of his crew to meet Bully and a "mystery partner" at that pay-per-view.

 

Could a Team 3D reunion be in the works?

 

Obviously this mystery man would be Devon and we'd have the first major Team 3D match in years against the massive heel faction Bully fashioned in his own image. Just as obviously this scenario would be tedious to watch play out and illogical even by wrestling standards. Why should we care if Bully's kicked of a group he created to bring down TNA (through unspecified means)? The answer is that we shouldn't.

Some people would probably get behind a babyface Bully. He worked well as a good guy last year and for the first few months of this year. But that doesn't mean this scenario’s a good idea. I've written this simply to flag up the possibility. And to give myself something to link back to in six months’ time if they do go ahead with it.

Hail Sabin

Tonight Chris Sabin will make his first (televised) defence of the TNA world championship. Bully Ray is the challenger, getting his contractually obligated rematch after losing the title to Sabin on last month's X Division themed episode of Impact Wrestling (where wrestling and slogans matter). The rematch will be fought inside a steel cage so as to stop Bully's Aces and Eights gang interfering. Finally, if Bully loses he will (allegedly) never get another shot at the title.

Let's point out the obvious logic flaw first of all. The cage stip will not nullify A&E. Cast your minds back to Lockdown in March. In the main event of that show Bully Ray defeated Jeff Hardy for the TNA title with help from the Aces. The steel didn't stop them then so why should we believe it will stop them now?

The other big problem this match has is that everyone expects Bully Ray to win. That was the case the moment the rematch was announced and adding the no more title shots stipulation has only added to that.

There’s good reason to expect ‘Calfzilla’ to win. The Bully v Sabin feud has very clearly been a time killer from the very beginning. It's the drawback of the Bound For Glory series. Western wrestling fans expect world titles defended roughly once a month. With the BFG series running from June to September and involving TNA's most credible challengers it makes booking world title programmes hard: the champ can’t defend against someone in the series because that negates the purpose of the series, so he has to kill time with mid-card talent.

TNA's answer, as we've seen with Sabin and last year with Austin Aries, has been to allow the X Division champion to vacate their title and step into the main event. But this is not a solution because anyone familiar with the way wrestling works can see that they're not going to become a headline mainstay unless they have the required qualities. 'A Double' did. Chris Sabin does not.

This is not to belittle Sabin. He's a talented wrestler, he's just not cut from the main event cloth. He looks, wrestles and carries himself like a mid-carder. He can’t cut a half-decent promo, let alone a promo befitting a world title feud. He looks like he belongs in the X scene. He does not look like he should be at the top of the card.

 

Chris Sabin: lacking in main event aura

 

I'd feel this way no matter how his reign had come about but I will say that TNA didn't do Sabin any favours when laying out his victory last month. After selling for ten minutes Sabin got hold of the rubber hammer Aces member Mr Anderson had introduced to proceedings, clobbered his foe with it and then fluked a rollup.

The rollup was inoffensive enough. Considering the size difference in the match it was a logical move for the match to finish on. But coupled with the hammer blow and selling it made Sabin look weak. He should have entered a spirited, gutsy performance in which he peppered Bully with high flying moves and just survived all of his big moves.

Using the hammer, even in a turning the tables scenario, was the move of a heel and only served to underline that Sabin could not win a fair fight. If the hammer had to come into play (and there's an argument for its use because TNA need to keep Bully looking strong for his presumed Bound For Glory title match) it should have been an Aces member smashing Bully by accident and then Sabin following up with a move or a rollup to score the win.

The poor presentation has continued since Destination X. Sabin has been presented as a fluke champion and played second fiddle to the endless crushing boredom that is the Aces and Eights v TNA-slash-Main Event Mafia feud. Reducing a first time champion to the role of bit part player in a feud involving several big names does him no favours. It doesn't do the title any good either.

Some people have suggested that Sabin has been given the title reign as a reward for his years of loyalty and dedication. I couldn't hope that's not the case more. World titles shouldn't be handed out based on terms of service. They should be awarded based on how credible a wrestler will be in the role of champion. If TNA want to award Sabin's loyalty and hard work great, they should. But it shouldn't come in the form of a reign with what is supposed to be their most prestigious prize. Give him a cash bonus or a lengthy run with the X Division belt. Don't present him as the number one man in the promotion unless you're willing and able to fully get behind him in the role.

Adding to the frustration is that TNA had alternatives. They could have had Jeff Jarrett return to work the summer feud with Bully. The storyline there is obvious: ‘Double J’ has returned from exile to save the company he built from Aces and Eights.

They could have done something interesting with James Storm and Bully. Storm’s the only former world champ under the age of forty not to be involved in the BFG series, his omission coming because of his tag title reign alongside Gunner. He has the status within TNA to be involved in a world title feud. He and Bully could have had some great matches and Gunner could have been used for some interesting tag team matches and evening odds. There would have been a natural Gunner and Storm v Team 3D match to book as well.

There were plenty of things TNA could have done that would have been just as good, if not better, than slinging the belt on Sabin for a few weeks. In the long run I think the title reign is going to do Sabin more harm than good. He's unlikely to ever have a second reign, and if he does happen across one it will in all likelihood come about under circumstances similar to his first. Once he loses the title back to Bully and the feud wraps up Sabin is destined to slip back down the card.

That's only going to degrade the world championship because it will have been worn by a mid-carder. Meanwhile Sabin himself will look like he was out of his league and has been sent packing to his rightful spot. TNA really needs to get a grasp on the star building process before they bungle a main event push for everyone on the roster.

Glory Bound

At Turning Point last November AJ Styles was pinned by James Storm in a triple threat match. As a result of the pre-match stipulation that put ‘The Phenomenal One’ out of contendership to the TNA world championship for eleven months. A ban which comes to an end at this year’s Bound For Glory.

Why do I mention this? Because with the benefit of hindsight the loss was the starting point for Styles’ current story in which he’s an enigmatic loner who refuses to be affiliated with either TNA or the invading Aces and Eights faction. The loss sent him off the rails. We’ve learnt through the power of video packages that since losing at Turning Point AJ has become distant with his wife. He’s also been reluctant to get his hair cut or have a proper shave.

Look at the plot for long enough and you’ll spot a pretty obvious hole. So what if Styles was locked out of challenging for the TNA championship for eleven months? That’s not even a year. And, more to the point, many people on the roster have gone far longer than that without wrestling for the top prize. Chris Daniels’ last title shot was hyped as being his first in three years, for example.

I’m being a little facetious here. The general idea is that knowing he couldn’t earn a title shot is what sent Styles over the edge. Daniels, and anyone else on the roster who’s done a lengthy stretch with no title match, didn’t know it was coming, and so could always tell themselves they could earn the opportunity. In the wonderful world of kayfabe Styles new he would have no such luck until this October.

Which brings me to this year’s Bound For Glory series. The winner of TNA’s third annual tournament will challenge for the world championship in the main event of Bound For Glory (obviously). Styles has been entered, meaning he could have a title shot on the night on which his ban comes to an end.

 

AJ's giving up shaving since becoming a heel

 

At first glance an AJ win seems like the obvious result. After a year away from the title and setting himself apart from the rest of the roster Styles could be presented as the outsider that TNA finds itself relying on to take back the belt from the heinous Bully Ray.

Fine, makes sense. But perhaps it’s too obvious and simple. TNA is rarely a company to shy away from giving its audience something unexpected. And there are eleven other men in the BFG series, some of whom would also make credible challengers to Bully Ray’s title. Maybe AJ’s been set up as a decoy in order to disguise TNA’s real plans for the Bound For Glory main event.

The most credible entrant after Styles is Jeff Hardy. He’s a marketable force who can produce great matches with everyone on the roster. That includes Bully. Hardy challenging for the belt would make a great deal of sense as he’s probably TNA’s best hope of drawing decent pay-per-view numbers both at BFG and in the future.

‘The Charismatic Enigma’ may have wrestled Bully once on pay-per-view this year (his losing effort at Lockdown that saw the Aces Pres win the belt) but over six months will have passed since then by the time of BFG. That’s more than enough time for TNA to put a fresh spin on the contest. Although the fact that Hardy and Ray wrestled in the main event of the June 6^th Impact could indicate that they’re not meeting again in October: why would TNA give the match away free if they’re relying on it to sell a show in a few months?

Samoa Joe is another man who seems like he has a good chance. The last couple of years have seen him treated pretty poorly in the series, but with a field relatively light on big names Joe is almost certain to make it to the semi-finals (a side note on the rules here: every entrant wrestles every other entrant and earns points for wins and losses, and once all matches have taken place semi-finals and finals happen between the top four scorers). Joe hasn’t been used as a proper challenger for quite a while now. Combining that fact with his already well-established feud with A&E and Joe could squeak passed the more obvious choices of Hardy and Styles to face Bully.

If TNA wanted to use the series to create a new star (and that should be one of the goals of any such tournament in wrestling) then they could have Magnus win, or at least be a top scoring entrant who just misses out in the semis or the final. That they’ve done nothing to prepare audiences for the possibility of the former Oblivion winning makes me think it won’t happen, but if it did it could considerably enhance his standing.

 

TNA Need to make the most of Magnus while they have the chance

 

Both Bobby Roode and Austin Aries stand a chance of winning thanks to their status as former world champions. That they’re heels who’ve been left on the periphery of the Aces and Eights story (lucky them) means it probably won’t happen. A heel versus heel main event would be pretty poor and I can’t see either man being turned face before October, despite the fact that both could pull the move off and benefit from the change.

The remaining six competitors strike me as unlikely winners for various reasons.

I’m not sure why Mr Anderson is in the series. As a member of Aces and Eights he seems a strange choice to be given a shot at the TNA world title. Perhaps ‘The Hulkster’, or whoever is credited with putting this together, is hoping to cause descent in Aces and Eights with the possibility of an Anderson v Bully final? Even if that was a compelling story (which, let’s be honest, it’s not) it wouldn’t happen because Anderson’s stock has plummeted over the last eighteen months. He’s not headlining a pay-per-view any time soon.

Both Christopher Daniels and Kazarian have almost certainly been included to ensure there are some solid workers involved. Neither strikes me as having a chance of winning, although ‘The Ring General’ could make it into the final four. For the record (read more on said record here) I still think that TNA should discontinue the whole A&E thing and switch to presenting Daniels as a top line heel act and title contender. That would make a far more interesting product.

Joseph Park is a comedy performer, not a pay-per-view main eventer. If I had to guess I’d say he’ll be involved in something with Abyss at Bound For Glory. Either tagging with him, challenging him for the TV title, or working in some sort of angle that finally reveals both characters have been the same man all along.

Anyone who thinks the clumsy, boring forty-year-old Hernandez is going to win needs their head examined. The plan right now is quite possibly to present him as a dominant monster. If it is it won’t last. He’ll soon start picking up losses when TNA start planning out the scoring in the latter half of the series. He’s in there to lose to people and to give him something to do.

Finally there’s Jay Bradley. He’s going to lose. A lot.

Which brings us back to AJ Styles. There’s nobody involved in this tournament that has both the credibility to headline TNA’s biggest annual pay-per-view and a story to take them to the finals. AJ is the most realistic winner to predict. It’s possible that someone else, Jeff Hardy, Joe or Magnus perhaps, will become involved in a story over the coming weeks that makes them an obvious choice to tackle Bully Ray at Bound For Glory, but it’s not likely. Everything TNA’s done over the last year points towards a showdown between AJ Styles and Bully Ray at BFG. And while that may be predictable it almost guaranteed not to be boring.