Stormy Road to Nowhere

America's Most Wanted. Beer Money (Inc). Two of the most celebrated teams, original or otherwise, in TNA history. A commonality between them is James Storm. That could indicate that Storm's niche is tag wrestling. But it would be unfair to simply leap to that conclusion.

A little over two years ago TNA's creative team took the decision to split Storm from his Beer Money teammate Bobby Roode. That was nothing new for either man. Storm had been through a high profile tag split when he and Chris Harris stopped being AMW. Roode had been through a quieter version of the dividing process when Team Canada was wrenched apart.

The Beer Money break up was different. The TNA world title was to be involved and both men were to be elevated to main event status. It was an ambitious thing to attempt for a company as set in its ways and unimaginative as TNA. It would prove worthwhile. Fans responded well to the tale of betrayal and the freshness the two men's promotion brought to programming.

The TNA championship's prestige gained a boost from the plot. Bobby Roode benefited greatly too. He proved such a hit that he became the longest reigning TNA champion ever was, for a short while, was presented as the company's top act, morphing into ‘The It Factor’ and proving he could do well at the top. The split was well judged and well handled.

As good as it was the benefits for TNA and its fans weren't as great as they could have been. For the first half of 2012 TNA appeared to have finally grasped what they needed to do to satisfy disgruntled viewers: move new and deserving acts to the top of the card and grant them sustained pushes with logical storylines and rivalries. That sense was created largely by the Roode v Storm feud, although the progression of Austin Aries played a significant part too. Shortly after Destination X it became apparent that it had all been happy coincidence. 'A Double' was flipped senselessly back to the bad guy role shortly before losing the title to old hand Jeff Hardy at around the same time that Roode's standing slipped.

That had already happened to Storm, of course. His headline exploits were shown to be over at Slammiversary X. At that event he returned to TV after an extended break (which he'd been put on to show how gutted he was about not being world champ) and ended Crimson's (dubious) undefeated streak. It was a meaningless accomplishment which did nothing for either man.

Note the lack of sartorial elegance

Since then the only thing of note that 'The Cowboy' has done is form a team with Gunner and capture the tag titles. That he went from an invigorating headline feud that fans bought into back to working in the understocked doubles department is a disappointment. Had TNA stuck with him Storm could have amounted to more. This is true with most wrestlers: everyone needs time to get over at the top, no matter how long they've been around. Stardom isn't achieved overnight.

At one time the splitting of Gunner and Storm could have been taken as a sign that TNA knew they’d been wasting Storm and that they were going to rectify the situation. That’s not the case now. Turning Storm heel at the expense of the vacuous punch-kick machine that is Gunner indicates a lack of a long term plan. That the two have not only split but started feuding is further evidence of this. And that Storm and Roode teamed up on the January 2^nd Impact has come as close to rendering the singles pushes of Beer Money pointless as is realistically possible.

Then again I don't have access to all of TNA's facts and figures. Perhaps they have concrete proof from TV ratings and merchandise numbers that people are not willing to support Storm and Roode in any meaningful sense. Maybe a mid-card tag team is the best place for them. I’d disagree regarding Roode. He made significant changes to his character, look and wrestling style when flying solo.

Storm did not. He still wears those awful plastic hats and leather coats. He still sports long hair and a physique that's soft around the edges. It all screams mid-card. It's entirely plausible that TNA has their numerical proof, and if that's the case I don't blame them for not doing more with Storm.

Slammiversary XI review

TNA's eleventh Slammiversary may not have done much to excite me during its buildup but it certainly delivered once the first bell rang. There wasn't a single bad match on the card, even the worst entry (Devon v Abyss) being perfectly adequate thanks to its brief time and an enthusiastic crowd. Even more impressively the show's final three matches were perfectly laid out. That's never a bad way to top off a pay-per-view.

The card kicked off with the X Division championship Ultimate X match. Kenny King defended the belt against Suicide (played by TJ Perkins) and Chris Sabin. They had as good a match as possible with what is quite a restrictive gimmick. The standard offering of flips and dives were on display. It was entertaining. It earned itself a "This is awesome!" chant fairly early on.

Towards the start of the match we were told it was the thirtieth ever Ultimate X. As soon as Tenay furnished us with that fact I remembered just how overused the gimmick was at one point. WWE hasn't reached that number of Hell in a Cell matches yet, and that's a gimmick that predates Ultimate X by well over half a decade.

King removed Suicide from the match in the closing moments by trying to remove his mask. Seconds later Sabin leapt up to join him in the centre of the crossed wires and booted him until he fell down to the mat. The former Moror City Machine Gun then unhooked the belt for the victory and the opening match pop.

Before Sabin could get backstage he was accosted at the top of the ramp by Hulk Hogan. 'The Hulkster' did his typical apathetic routine of trying to get a young guy over: saying his name and the name of the city they were in repeatedly, presumably in the hope that it would continue to generate enough of a reaction to make Sabin look like a star. It didn't. People can see through Hogan like a window in 2013.

 

The new X Division champ: endorsed by Hulk Hogan

Once the token attempt at turning Slammiversary into something special for Sabin had failed Hulk hobbled down to the ring and continued wittering about Boston, name dropping André the Giant for good measure, before Mr Anderson, Garrett Bischoff and Wes Brisco interrupted him.

Anderson uttered some thoroughly clichéd material which prompted 'The Immortal One' to call Aces and Eights terrorists and pussies. The crowd lapped it up but it still felt a very strange thing for him to say. Hogan also referred to Sting as the greatest wrestler in the business. That's not going to help make new stars, is it? Once again I feel compelled to advocate stricter rules when it comes to old hands cutting promos in TNA.

That segment led into the evening's second match, a six man tag pitting the Aces and Eights members against Magnus, Samoa Joe and Jeffrey Nero Hardy (who'd grown a beard during his time off). The match was a solid effort that gave everyone something to do.

The faces won, which I feel was the wrong result. Had Garrett or Wes pinned any of their opponents it could have been a big moment for them. Instead Brisco caught Magnus with a low blow and a rollup, only to be hit with a Swanton by 'The Charismatic Enigma'.

Backstage JB interviewed Joseph Park about the TV title match he'd have later in the night. The segment existed solely to have Park assaulted by Devon and Knux.

Match three was the Gut Check tournament final between Sam Shaw and Jay Bradley. Shaw played face but had received a bye earlier in the tournament while heel Bradley had won all his matches. That's another curious booking decision to add to the list.

Neither man got much of a reaction when they entered. The crowd had been hot earlier in the show and would liven up considerably later, so the logical conclusion to draw is that they were interested in the Gut Check participants. Perhaps it's time to retire the concept and go back to introducing new faces in a more traditional manner. A generic but inoffensive and competent match was won by Bradley after a poke to the eye, a shove to the turnbuckle and a clothesline. After winning Bradley told Christy Hemme it feels "good" to be in the BFG series. He said he'll win it and go on to become champ. I'll be honest, I don't like his chances.

A backstage promo from Aries and Roode was followed by Devon retaining his television championship by count out. Joseph had been so thoroughly duffed up earlier that he was unable to make it to the ring, you see. Devon then got back onto the mic to run his mouth about Abyss.

That prompted the monster to return. The referee rang the bell to signal a title match. As Taz rightfully pointed out no bout had officially been made. This would be fine in ECW but TNA so often goes out of its way to emphasise tedious rules and regulations that it just seems off when they're disregarded like this. Abyss won the match and the title. No mention of how he and his brother have remarkably similar builds was made.

Dixie Carter came to the ring, completely oblivious to the fact that she is not well suited to an on-screen role. The woman seems determined to be the TNA equivalent of Vince or Stephanie McMahon. She's no Stephanie and she's certainly no Vince.

Anyway... Dixie recited a well rehearsed pro-TNA speech and invited the roster out onto the stage. Everyone bar Aces and Eights members was shown filing out. Kurt Angle was then announced as the second member of the TNA Hall of Fame. He's a good choice, particularly when you consider that he's been saying nice things about WWE again lately (because this could placate him and sway him to stay a bit longer, plus TNA are inducting him while he's under contract). A well produced video package of Angle's Olympic win and TNA career was shown after which he said a few words about the announcement and thanked the fans. Although I don't see the need for a TNA Hall of Fame I think it was a very well put together slice of television and Angle's a deserving inductee.

Backstage Bad Influence made fun of Jeremy Borash and claimed credit for making the tag team titles valuable again. I think they have a point. TNA's doubles belts meant very little until the Bad Influence v Angle and Styles feud last year. Daniels and Kazarian did help to restore meaning to the gold.

The tag team title match that followed was very good. Even Hernandez and Gunner, two men I'm not especially keen on, looked good. With so many guys involved I'd expected the match to be a mess but it was one of the better tag matches TNA's put on this year. I suppose having so many veterans in one bout helped keep the quality high.

Daniels and Kazarian were the first team eliminated when 'The Fallen Angel' was caught lamping Chavo with a title belt. Seconds later that act resulted in Chavo getting pinned by Austin Aries. Having the first two eliminations occur at the same point in the match helped the pacing. It's not a trick that could be used all the time because it would become boring and cheap but it worked well here.

The closing portion showed Gunner to be the equal of the three more high profile performers he'd been left with. It culminated with him kicking out of the 450 splash and getting the win for his team by making 'A Double' submit to the Gun Rack. TNA passed up quite a few star building opportunities at Slammiversary but they took care of Gunner. That's better than nothing I suppose.

Presumably Gunner and Storm will feud with Aries and Roode. That will be great for Gunner but a comedown for the other three men, all of whom were headlining cards last year. Hopefully some new teams are created so that they can return to singles roles.

We went back to JB for the final time to find him with Brooke Hogan. She was there to discuss the Knockouts division that she's still in charge of yet knows nothing about. Her stupidest claim was that the division has been "grown like never before". Maybe she should watch some KO footage from 2008, when the division boasted Awesome Kong and the Beautiful People along with Gail Kim and was often the most enjoyable thing about iMPACT. That was the division's golden age and should be something TNA emulate now.

When quizzed about whether she still loves Bully Ray Brooke said she'd have to end the interview. Thank heaven for small mercies.

That was followed, fittingly, by the Last Knockout Standing match between veteran Gail Kim and referee turned grappler Taryn Terrell. The match the two women had was astonishingly good. It was the best Knockouts offering I've seen for quite some time and far better than anything the WWE Divas will be allowed to produce anytime soon. It bettered the Ryback v Cena LSM from Extreme Rules too.

Memorable spots included: Taryn narrowly avoiding a Kim spear, which sent Kim tumbling into a chair out of the ring; a cross body onto a steel chair from Taryn to Gail; and the match winning running cutter from the entrance ramp to the floor for Terrell. It was an intense, believable and crisply executed match. If Taryn Terrell can wrestle like that all the time she deserves a spot in the division.

AJ Styles had new music when he headed to the ring to face Kurt Angle. People have been going crazy for it. It did nothing for me.

Styles and Angle produced a match that was predictably superb. They did everything from high spots to mat wrestling. In a break from the norm of pay-per-view wrestling Angle won after an exchange of pin attempts stemming from an attempted Angle Slam. The result surprised me. I thought they'd want to keep 'The Phenomenal One' strong for whatever push is planned for him later in the year. Apparently not. It doesn't matter really. AJ's so well established that a loss to Angle won't harm him.

 

Look at the intensity!

A poll that JB had introduced in one of his many backstage segments was revisited after that. Viewers had been asked to vote (via TNA's high-tech Facebook page) on who they thought would win the title match between Bully Ray and Sting. Sixty four per cent of voters believed Sting would become the new TNA world champion. I thought that was high at first, but perhaps viewers were swayed by the stip that Sting would never challenge for the belt again if he lost.

Bully cut a pre-match promo telling Sting he was going to beat him with the most feared move in wrestling: the piledriver. He wanted to break 'The Stinger's' neck. To begin with I thought Bully was talking about the 3D. A no DQ match would have made interference from Devon perfectly legal. But then I remembered the Motor City Machine Guns kicked out of that and lost interest in the idea.

I do like the idea of TNA building up the piledriver. It's gained a reputation as a legitimately dangerous move due to WWE's ban of the move in the late nineties, which influenced many other wrestling groups to follow suit. It's a move that could meab a great deal if limited to special occasions.

The match started out as a pretty decent brawl. Bully predictably connected with the piledriver eventually. Just as predictably Sting kicked out. He also kicked out of a power bomb through a table. Moments later Bully easily avoided a Stinger Splash and piledrove Sting on the exposed boards of the ring. Sting kicked out of that too, at which point I begun to think that the piledriver's credibility was being sorely tested.

 

You may have noticed that Bully Ray's new move of choice is the piledriver

Bully got dropped with a Scorpion Death Drop on the boards and appeared to have been beaten. Aces and Eights naturally made the save. Sting made a comeback against group jobbers Bischoff, Brisco, DOC and Knux. Devon tossed a chain to Bully but Sting grabbed it, nailed the champ and went for the pin. Devon did the old yank the ref from the ring routine and so Sting, stupidly, left the ring to chase the Aces member around ringside. That allowed Mr Anderson to hand a hammer to Bully, who landed 'The Icon' with it as he sailed back into the ring from the top rope.

Yep, Bully Ray won a PPV main event via hammer shot. Again.

I've nothing against screwy finishes to main events usually. As long as they don't happen all the time I tend to be fine with them. But because TNA's only producing four pay-per-views a year now they should be trying to avoid this sort of thing. If it has to be done they should at least vary things a little.

I liked the main event. It was a match built around brawling and false finishes and was very effective for what it was. It provided a fitting end to an enjoyable, productive and well-paced card. If TNA can thread some decent stories together between now and Bound For Glory and then replicate the in-ring action of this card on the night they'll be doing something right.

Mere Mortality

Immortal was once a pretty formidable heel stable. When they formed in 2010 members included ‘Hollywood’ Hulk Hogan, Jeff Hardy, Jeff Jarrett and Eric Bischoff. Those are some pretty big names. Just over a year earlier Hardy had been the number one babyface in North America (and arguably the world) in WWE, and upon the group’s formation he won the TNA world title, meaning that the faction had the most prestigious belt in the organisation from the start. Meanwhile Bischoff was (and is) one of the most successful wrestling bookers in the industry’s history and Jarrett brought more credibility as a former WCW and (more significantly) TNA world champion. Hulk Hogan is Hulk Hogan: one of the biggest names the wrestling business will ever know.

Not a bad start for a heel group then.

Based around Hogan’s longstanding ‘Immortal’ moniker it would have been easy for him to become the sole focal point of the gang. Surprisingly he didn’t. Jeff Hardy was allowed to shine as Immortal’s most important member and did some pretty solid work as a heel. Immortal dominated TNA for close to a year before cracks began to appear. Unfortunately they were big cracks.

Back when it was built around Jeff Hardy Immortal wasn't half bad

Security guards had been introduced as Immortal’s personal enforcers. That was as a good way of packing the group’s matches with heat garnering interference. But then someone had the idea of letting the security guys (Gunner and Murphy) start wrestling. That was a poor move. Not because the men couldn’t wrestle but because Immortal was meant to represent the pro wrestling elite. How elite can a group be if security personnel are allowed to become full-fledged members?

Matt Hardy joined TNA and became associated with the group. Then Ric Flair swerve turned on Fourtune and jumped ship to Immortal. It was a blur of nonsense as Immortal began gobbling up anyone in TNA without a storyline. Flair joining was fine: he’s regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers ever. But Matt Hardy? His biggest claim to fame at that point (and now) was his rampant lunacy on YouTube and Twitter. Oh, and being Jeff Hardy’s brother.

What harmed Immortal as an entity more than anything else was Jeff Hardy falling off the wagon in March of last year. He had to be written off of television quickly and sent home to get himself together. It was an embarrassment for TNA and a blow to Immortal. Both lost their biggest star.

With Hardy gone Mr Anderson was hastily added to the faction only to be written out again a few weeks later to advance his lacklustre feud with Bully Ray (and Immortal at large). Since then the group has been treading water, based around Ric Flair (a man in his 60s who wrestles only very occasionally), Eric Bischoff (a man best known for booking WCW in the mid- to late-nineties), and Gunner (a wrestler who has improved a lot since his debut but isn’t exactly a big star). Their chief rival at the moment is Bischoff’s son Garrett who was introduced to TNA as a pro-Immortal referee who has since seen the error of his ways and become a wrestler.

These two men do not epitomize the term "heel stable"

While Bully Ray, one of the best acts TNA currently has, is still technically a member he is barely ever shown with the group these days and is off with storylines of his own. That their most prominent active member is Gunner is not good. The TNA writing team need to accept that Immortal has had its time. The group had a good run but it’s time for a fresh idea and some new heels on top.

The bottom line here is that the group is very much Mortal.