Missed Opportunities

Over the last several years TNA have had a number of guys under contract that they could have turned into something special. Wrestlers who could have helped TNA grow and expand if they’d been married to an extended period of good booking and decisive wins in enjoyable matches. In fact I think they’ve had more of these names than I think they’re usually given credit for.

If you want to go back years then they had Samoa Joe, Chris Daniels and AJ Styles. They mixed with one another for years and put on a variety of cracking matches amongst themselves and with others. Joe and Styles in particular were on the cusp of becoming ‘The Man’ in TNA on several occasions each. They were always standout guys wherever they worked, but if TNA had set their minds to it and worked at presenting them as the best wrestlers in the world, as opposed to second tier talent not on the level of former WWE names, they could have helped the promotion find greater meaning. Neither became the leading man they deserved to be.

It’s not just those three guys though. The end of 2011 saw Beer Money split and feud over the world championship. At the time I felt both men could contribute to expanding the company. In hindsight I was wrong about James Storm. His physique, promo style and plastic cowboy hat all scream mid-card. I remember a particularly excruciating advert airing on Challenge hyping an Impact tour that featured one of the worst vocal performances I’ve ever heard from a wrestler. ‘The Cowboy’ is suitable only for the mid-card even in TNA.

Not enough faith was placed in this man.

But Bobby Roode is a different story. He looks like an athlete, carries himself like a champion, gives very good verbal performances and can excel in a wide range of match types. He had a lengthy reign as TNA champion as a result of that 2011 split and headline run and he looked the part. A main event built around him would have been one of the best things TNA could have done over the last few years. Instead they dropped Roode down into the mid-card after he lost the title and structured their major storylines around Jeff hardy, Chris Sabin and Eric Young. Had TNA stuck with Roode for another year things could have been very different.

Then there was Austin Aries. He’s another guy who has a good look, fits the bill as a good guy or a bad guy and can wrestle a fantastic match when given the chance to. TNA did the right thing in putting the title on him when it became clear that fans wanted to see it, but they didn’t know what to do next. ‘A Double’ flip-flopped between face and heel during his reign and has crossed the line so many times since that it’s practically impossible to make sense of his character’s motivations anymore.

Bully Ray surprised most long-term wrestling fans by getting into the best shape he’s ever been in and transforming himself into a singles act. He was never going to morph into a top guy, age and length of time spent working as a mid-card and tag guy made sure of that, but more could have been done with him. Before he was swerve turned to head up Aces and Eights TNA audiences were really into him. He knows how to keep his character consistent and can put on a pretty wild match with the right opponent and stipulation.

‘Calfzilla’s’ heel turn may not have destroyed TNA and brought them to their current undesirable situation but it didn’t help. People liked Bully in early 2013 and they wanted to continue supporting him. A plan being concocted for when Aces disbanded wouldn’t have hurt either. For that matter the group’s split coming sooner would’ve been a blessing. Heading up a terrible faction didn’t do the former Dudley Boy any favours.

And most recently they’ve had Magnus. No, he’s not the best wrestler in the world. But he’s not bad. His slightly above average in-ring ability is nicely complemented by his good looks and proficiency with promos. The Magnus package is not stellar but it is solid. If he’d had the TNA world title for a few months longer and lost it to someone who fans had been primed to be desperate to see topple him his reign would have been closer to a success than it was.

TNA could still try a recapture what they had with Magnus. He’s still the sort of heel who could be booked to retain his belt via tricks and cheats and work good or great matches with a variety of wrestlers. A short, convincing victory over Eric Young would help establish him as dominant champ and could be used to explain that he “lost his focus” when he originally lost the gold. Having him end a few more careers wouldn’t hurt either. He already has the bragging rights to Sting and Styles beign gone. Angle could be next. It could be a good way of writing people off TV as their contracts expire and would build Magnus up.

Ultimately all thinking and writing about this subject does is frustrate. If TNA had tried harder, planned better, and realised when they were on to something good they could have built themselves a compelling main event roster. With that they could have presented very good matches and storylines and provided people with reasons to watch every week.

Eric Young's Turn

How do you combat the most popular wrestler in WWE closing the year's biggest wrestling show as the world champion? Well, if you're TNA, you find someone who looks vaguely like Bryan and switch your own world title on to him at the first televised opportunity. The man deemed most suitable was long-time comedy performer and mid-card mid-roader Eric Young.

Eric Young is not a bad wrestler. Nor is he an especially good one. His sole previous foray into main events (as part of the heel World Elite faction) was utterly unmemorable and saw Young busted back down to his natural role as comedy face soon after it ended. It’s that role he's been known for throughout his TNA career. He’s the comedy guy who goes out and makes the punters laugh. He’s also, for the record, a former Knockouts tag team champion, hardly something you look for on the CV of a prospective world champ.

Eric Young is the TNA champion

The title change, which aired live on Thursday 10 April and has been made available through TNA’s YouTube account, came about after EY survived a Michinoku driver and a low blow and drilled Magnus with a piledriver. But really, how it came about is irrelevant. What matters is that a longstanding comedy performer has been awarded TNA’s top prize.

Eric Young does not have the aura of a world champion. Nor do I believe he has the ability to cut it as an underdog champion who flukes his way to successful title defences (a viable way of turning someone into a legitimate main event act over time). He has been promoted far too quickly to the role of champion and his win has harmed the prestige of the title and, by extension, the promotion.

The TNA championship is once again looking like something that everyone gets a turn with if they stay under contract long enough. That simply shouldn't be. A promotion’s world title should be its top prize, something only the elite win. It's not as important as it was in the days of kayfabe but a world title is still a significant part of a promotion's success. The champion’s credibility (or lack of it) will help to form people's opinions of the company as a whole (especially a smaller outfit like TNA). A meaningful championship is needed for a lead babyface to chase and hold. If the title means nothing then what has that top star (or anyone else) accomplished by winning it? Any athlete needs a prize worth competing for.

Bobby Roode or Austin Aries would have been a better choice for the role of relieving Magnus of his title. For starters both already have title reigns notched up, which would have avoided giving yet another member of the roster their go with the belt. More importantly they are both more credible than EY. They both look, talk, wrestle and carry themselves like main eventers and have histories at the top of the card. There was an obvious storyline to present in having a heel ally of Magnus gradually turn on him before taking the title from him, and either ‘A Double’ or ‘The It Factor’ would have been a perfect fit.

And let's spare a thought for Magnus. He had what should have been a career defining reign curtailed to reward a mid-carder's loyalty and-or to give the audience a Shock Moment™ (this more than anything else has convinced me that Vince Russo has indeed returned to TNA¹). He is not the most talented man in TNA but he looked and acted the part, and was growing into the role of both champion and faction centrepiece. Of the talent at TNA's disposal he was one of their best choices for a fresh start champ. Perhaps he'll get the strap back in a few weeks. Perhaps he'll go on to have a longer, more impressive reign in the future. But the damage is done. He is now the man whose first reign ended at the hands of ‘Showtime’ Eric Young.

This is another example of TNA floundering around aimlessly, desperately searching for something that will click with viewers and ignite their popularity. It's not something that will cause the downfall of a company. At this point it barely registers above the background hum of absurdity they present on a weekly basis. When the story of TNA's downfall comes to be written this will simply be another point on the graph. But it’s one that could, and should, have been avoided.

***

¹ I've defended him in the past and will defend him in the future but I disagree (as talked about above) with Russo’s belief that wrestling championships are simply props that embellish the drama of the stories he's telling. They can enhance the perception of a wrestler or feud and lend credibility to a company. Think of how Daniel Bryan’s recent journey to the top of WWE would have been affected if there were no meaningful championship for him to win in the main of WrestleMania.

That Wrestling Podcast Episode 46

That Wrestling Podcast Episode 46 by Dave Hatton on Mixcloud

Last Monday’s RAW saw Triple H forced into agreeing to face Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania. There was an additional stipulation added that will see D-Bry added to the WWE championship match between champ Randy Orton and Royal Rumble winner Batista. Someone feeling generous could say this is the culmination of months of storyline development that began with ‘The Game’ costing Bryan the championship at SummerSlam.

Personally I think that’s a bit tenuous. Bryan has been at odds with The Authority only on-and-off since last August and has spent less than a month petitioning for a ‘Mania showdown with ‘The King of Kings’. Not only that but his request for a title match came from nowhere. It’s promising that WWE are doing Bryan v Triple H, and more than likely Bryan v Batista v Orton, and indicates that Bryan’s going to be an important part of the company after WrestleMania XXX but you have to overlook a fair bit to see this as something that’s been built to for months.

Magnus is checking a cage, not hanging around in a school playground

The night before RAW TNA presented their first pay-per-view of 2014, the all cage extravaganza that is Lockdown. The most significant things to happen on that show were Magnus retaining his world championship and Bobby Lashley returning to the company. Why TNA have re-signed Lashers is anybody’s guess. He’s never been popular, has very little crossover appeal, and doesn’t seem dedicated to wrestling in general or TNA in particular. It comes across as a company clutching at straws and a wrestler making a return to make some cash.

These subjects form the bulk of this episode of That Wrestling Podcast, but they’re not all we discuss. There’s also some Buff Bagwell news to kick things off. Specifically we discuss what he’s up to these days, how he could help TNA, and his views on two WWE superstars.

Magnus Opus

I think we're currently seeing the peak of Magnus's wrestling career. He's riding high as TNA world champion and lead heel, allied with villainous company (joint-)owner Dixiebelle Carter, and is a month away from facing one of the company's most popular and accomplished performers, Samoa Joseph, in a pay-per-view main event. Basically there's nowhere for him to go but down.

Yes, TNA could theoretically become a bigger company while Maggers is still working there and yes such expansion would present him with fresh challengers in and out of the ring and on and off the mic, but that expansion isn't likely. TNA has taken such a hammering in so many different areas that it seems impossible that they'll regain ground. I'd like to see it happen, for the good of the wrestlers and improvement in quality it would spur in WWE, but too much has happened and too much would need to be done. TNA is not a brand name that can generate sufficient excitement in 2014.

Back to Magnus’s career. If he made the jump to WWE I think he’d make it through NXT and on to the main roster. He’s got the size, look and verbal skills the promotion likes. Similar, or even slightly lesser, treatment in WWE would be far more meaningful than being TNA’s lead bad guy but I think he’d be unlikely to get high enough on the roster.

A TNA success story

I would like to congratulate TNA on what they've accomplished with Magnus though. This is a man they introduced as a Roman gladiator, seemingly based on the fact that he’d been on the ITV Gladiators revival, who went through a variety of different tag partners and gimmicks, and still managed to become a legitimate singles star. And he is legitimate. Within TNA Magnus is seen as a genuine headliner. That's important as it means existing fans accept him and take him, and by extension his championship, seriously. If current fans accept him as a big name then newcomers are likely to as well. Perception, as they say, is reality.

He's also one of TNA's more experienced wrestlers. He may wrestle something resembling the much maligned sports entertainment style but as that's not the dominant approach in TNA it helps him stand out. It also helps him be a more effective heel as he’s able to remind viewers of WWE simply by wrestling a match.

His success is a credit to him and to those involved in booking him over the years. It shows that when they set their sights on something TNA can achieve positive things. Had they gotten their act together and concentrated on other wrestlers four years ago maybe they'd be doing better now.

Stylin' Worldwide

During the Summer of Punk II CM Punk “left” WWE as champion and a new champion was crowned in his absence. That set up a champion versus champion unification match. The entire thing was horribly rushed (Punk was gone less than a month) but the objective was achieved: Punk gained another win over John Cena and became not only the company’s undisputed champ but its number two star.

TNA has been aping this storyline for a while now. AJ Styles revealed that his contract had expired and won the TNA world championship as a free agent, after cutting a number of worked shoot promos (all of which were stilted and awkward) on or about Dixie Carter and her regime. In order to make the comparison even more emphatic the TNA hive mind is now holding a tournament for the “vacant” TNA world championship.

Involved in this eight man series are Jeff Hardy, Magnus, Samoa Joe, Kurt Angle, Bobby Roode, James Storm, Austin Aries, and everybody’s favourite former world champ Chris Sabin. The brackets could provide us with some nice matches but there’s nothing fresh or exciting about the direction. Nor is this going to lead to the creation of new headline stars. The only man whose standing could conceivably be significantly bettered by this is Magnus. That seems unlikely to happen.

The champion versus champion idea is not, in and of itself, a bad idea. Had WWE not done it two years ago it’s likely many fans, myself among them, would acknowledge that it’s the sort of thing TNA should be doing to set themselves apart from the competitor. But the only reason it’s happening is because the competitor has already done it. There’s no point writing at length about how TNA needs new ideas over WWE rehashes because I’ve done it before. TNA has been a tribute act for years now.

While TNA is busy crowning a new kingpin TNA ‘The Phenomenal One’ will appear in other wrestling companies to defend the “real” championship. Already announced is a defence against Seiya Sanada for the new Wrestle-1 promotion. The idea of a champion taking a world title around to other promotions and even other countries isn’t a bad one. TNA just didn’t have it in time to do it justice.

 

The champ is here... for now. He'll be in Japan soon

Who’ll win the tournament? It could be Jeff Hardy or Austin Aries because they have good combinations of name value and wrestling ability. They’d make the inevitable programme with a returning Styles work. But I think the likeliest man to win is Magnus. The former Gladiator seems destined for a heel turn and it’s looking like he’ll get there via the tried and tested smarmy and disingenuous route.

It’s easy to imagine Magnus winning and becoming linked with heel company head Dixie Carter on-screen (assuming she retains ownership of the company long enough for this to play out as planned). That link is what’s needed to make the AJ aspect work. The prospect of AJ Styles versus Magnus for the title of undisputed TNA champion doesn’t fill me with joy but it would at least make sense and be something new.

I’ll be interested to see how long Styles is absent for. As mentioned above a key problem with the Summer of Punk II was that WWE rushed Punk back to TV to try to get a tasty SummerSlam number (and because they had Kevin Nash waiting in the wings and you don’t keep that level of talent hanging around). TNA having a reduced PPV schedule could actually work to their advantage. The promotion hasn’t yet announced a return to pay-per-view but if we take this year as an example they’ll give us Genesis in January. That would be a good amount of time to establish AJ as a separate entity with a rogue, if more legitimate, championship and Magnus as a “paper champion” and pawn of the heinous Dixie McMahon.

AJ could be built up for a return on the first Impact of 2014 and have his unification bout with Maggers announced then for the end of the month. It’s not a thrilling idea but I think it would make the best of an unimaginative situation.

What I really want TNA to do is use the time between now and the payoff to devise some new, original plots and new characters that will help to expand their audience and allow the company to promote something fresh. It’s the only way they can become relevant and attain any degree of success.

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.

Hardcore Justice 2013 review

It’s a good job Hardcore Justice wasn’t presented as a pay-per-view this year. Had it been I think TNA would have had a lot of unsatisfied customers. It was not a good show. There were no matches that rose above average and far too much time was dedicated to the progression of storylines that are hard to care about.

The worst offender there was the Main Event Mafia and Aces and Eights plot. MEM ate up a ridiculous number of segments throughout the show. It was entirely unnecessary. The same things could have been accomplished with half the screentime they got. The way they’re presented doesn’t help people to care about them. They come across as swaggering, egotistical idiots more interested in how they look than anything else. Sunglasses indoors? C’mon guys.

The chief problem with the MEM is that they try so hard to be macho. It always ends up verging on ridiculous. They are not an act people feel they can invest in.

The show opened with the first of three multi-person matches. It was a four-way ladder match involving leather-loving loner AJ Styles, frequent face-heel flipper Austin Aries, run-in bump fodder Frankie Kazarian and facepaint aficionado Jeff Hardy. As matches of this type go it wasn’t bad. The trouble is that we see so many ladder matches these days that it’s tough to care about them. One means little more than another, and it doesn’t help that both TNA and WWE more often book them to fit with the theme of a show than because they fit well with a programme.

Through a combination of this fact and a lack of memorable spots this match failed to rise above the average level of ladder battles. And again, this is not the guys’ fault. It’s because the modern pro wrestling product has become oversaturated with gimmick bouts.

Frankie picked up the twenty points (amusingly represented by a clipboard with 20 written on it) after interference from old pal Chris Daniels and new pal Bobby Roode. ‘The It Factor’ dashed an appletini (easily the greatest foreign object currently used in pro wrestling) into Hardy’s face, causing him to fall off the ladder and giving Kazarian a free shot to the top. Why Hardy feel because liquid was thrown into his face wasn’t clear. Perhaps it was secretly acid.

 

That's a victory pose, right there

Now is as good a time as any to discuss the commentary work of the evening. It was bad. Really bad. Tenay spent far too much time hyping Bellator. He mentioned the Bellator show that airs after Impact a nauseatingly high number of times. He wittered on about the Rampage Jackson v Tito Ortiz Bellator match that will happen in a few months too, but that at least made a little sense as they’re both on the TNA roster.

He also decided to kick things off by discussing a “hardcore three-way” between three Knockouts. It was accurate but his wording could have been less evocative. Similarly his claim that Hardcore Justice was a pay-per-view on free TV could have been better. If it’s on free TV it’s not a pay-per-view, Mike.

Tenay’s not a bad play-by-play guy. Whoever’s producing him is doing a horrible job. He spends too much time shilling for irrelevant things or focusing on storylines. The amount of time he spent talking about action in the ring was minimal. Taz was awful too but by this point that’s expected.

Backstage, TNA world champ Chris Sabin put Bully Ray and Devon over as vicious guys. He said he won’t take them lightly but warned they shouldn’t take him lightly either. It was one of many inconsequential interview segments. It accomplished its goal of hyping the main event and was kept short. I don’t think we could ask for more than that.

The Main Event Mafia got the “already in the ring” treatment next. They were joined by Dixie Carter. She was there to inform everyone that Kurt Angle had checked himself into rehab after his latest brush with the law. She, the company and the MEM are all in full support of the guy, apparently. Personally I find it hard to sympathise with Kurt’s position. It’s entirely self-inflicted and it’s happened too many times for Kurt to deserve the benefit of the doubt. He’s clearly not learnt from his mistakes.

The Dixie-related fun was interrupted by Aces and Eights. Mr Anderson cut a boring promo designed to hype this coming Thursday’s MEM v A&E match. The man who takes the losing pinfall there will have to retire. The rest of Aces just stood around laughing and nodding, as bit part players in large heel stables tend to.

The segment ended with a brawl. Because they had a one person advantage Aces and Eights came out on top.

Match two (yep, we’re only on the second match) was the three-way Knockouts match that had so excited Tenay at the start of the broadcast. It saw Mickie James tangle with Gail Kim and ODB. The title was not on the line but that didn’t become clear until James was pinned and a title change didn’t occur. ODB went over with her Bam (TKO) finisher.

Again this match failed to be anything special. It was proficient but nothing happened that we haven’t seen before. It was just a solid match that we were given no particular reason to get into.

Cutting backstage again we saw Sting chatting to Austin Aries in a locker room. ‘The Icon’ asked ‘A Double’ to join the Main Event Mafia and help them fight Aces and Eights. The final shot was of Aries smirking.

Elsewhere in the building Bobby Roode said he has to win the twenty points available to him tonight. Doing so would help him leap from amongst the bottom scorers in the series to second place. This was the best interview segment of the night. It was kept short and Roode explained his point clearly and concisely. He’s got more than enough charisma to get through promo segments like this with no trouble at all.

Back in the Main Event Mafia’s pokey shared dressing room (hardly a main event aura, is it?) Sting returned to inform his cohorts that Aries had turned them down. Rampage said he had one last option but it had to be taken care of in the ring. Of course it did.

The backstage segments wrapped up with Bully on the phone. He referred to the mystery person as honey and said he’d bring the world title. He ended the call by saying “I love you too, Brooke.”

Oh noes! We were meant to assume that Bully and Brooke Hogan had swerved us all. My initial reaction was that I’d missed an important plot point revealing that they’d got back together at some point (because, y’know, this is TNA and everything). I hadn’t missed anything and neither had you. It will be revealed on this week’s show (taped last week) that Bully Ray was actually on the phone to Brooke TessmacherI. Brooke Hogan has been written off TV because she was released from her TNA contract last week. Apparently someone in the company realised they’d had to release some wrestlers for financial reasons and that Brooke should probably have gone too.

So there we are. The payoff to the months’ long Bully Ray and Brooke Hogan romance-slash-divorce plot culminated in a backstage segment. How thoroughly TNA.

Rampage Jackson finally made it out to the ring. For no reason at all Samoa Joe was with him. Rampage talked about how MMA fans have called him a sellout by joining TNA but that he doesn’t think that’s true because he’s always been a wrestling fan. After he’d rambled on about that he called out Tito Ortiz.

For those who don’t know, Ortiz rocked up in TNA a couple of weeks before. It’s part of a cross promotional deal set up by television company Spike with MMA outfit Bellator. It heavily favours the MMA league. I’ll avoid repeating my feelings on the signing. You can find them here if you're interested.

Ortiz came out in a T-shirt that read Wrestling Is Real. Take that however you want to.

 

Even Joe was bored by this segment

Rampage talked up their Bellator match but said that’s separate, it’s not TNA business. Tito repeated back everything Rampage had said, which never makes for a good promo. It also made him look thick. Bully Ray then came out and got himself some heat by saying if he had time he’d get into the ring and beat all three men. Rampage and Joe then did the hold me back routine on Tito as Bully sauntered to the back.

It was yet another boring segment.

Back from a break Anderson and Magnus had joined Joe at ringside and Bobby Roode was making his entrance. The match would be fought under table rules. The first man to put one of his opponents through a table would gain twenty BFG series points.

Magnus and Joe, MEM members both, worked together during the match. Anderson and Roode mostly stayed separate and when they did interact it was to confirm that they’d work together. So the bout effectively functioned like a tag match, Magnus and Joe swapping between their heel foes. It wasn’t a bad effort but as was the case with the previous in-ring offerings there was nothing on display that we’ve not seen before and we were given no reason to care about the tables stipulation. It had been added for the sake of it as opposed to being a logical heightening of drama in a continuing feud.

Repeating the finish of the evening’s opening match, Bad Influence headed to ringside at the match’s conclusion. Daniels threw his appletini (he certainly gets through those things) into Magnus’s face, allowing Roode to power bomb him from the second rope through a table in the centre of the ring. Twenty points went to Mr Roode.

 

Looks like Roode's doing a little dance, doesn't it? Well he's not. He's doing a power bomb

The evening’s final backstage interlude saw a camera crew catch up with Sting for his thoughts on Tito Ortiz. Sting said the guy’s an asset wherever he goes. He also said he felt Ortiz would join up with the MEM.

We were then treated to a shot of Bully and Mr Anderson. They bickered and ‘Calfzilla’ finally admitted (supposedly not aware of the camera crew filming him remember) that he was unsure if he could beat Sabin because the guy’s pinned him twice already. Bully said he wanted support from his club and that Anderson appeared to be more of an enemy than a friend. The message we were meant to take from this was that trouble is brewing in Aces and Eights. Not that it was subtle or anything.

The main event finally got underway with twenty minutes left of the show. The challenger controlled the first half of the match, overcoming occasional flurries from the champ. An attempted power bomb turned the tide of the match: Sabin reversed it into a sleeper and then spiked Bully with a tornado DDT. Sabin then blasted the Aces’ president with punches, kicks and an enziguri before whipping him with his leather gang coat.

Bully came back with a big boot and a Samoan drop. He tried to climb out of the cage but got stopped, which just so happened to place the two in the perfect position to botch a hurricanrana, which they managed wonderfully.

Moments later Bully was up on his feet trying to walk out of the door. Sabin stopped him and tried a walk out of his own. That got stopped too. Referee Brian Hebner (surely the unluckiest official in wrestling) took a bump as Bully scooped up the champion. Sabin came back with a missile drop kick but couldn’t get the win because there was nobody to count it. He shouldn’t feel too hard done by: when was the last time someone won a match off a missile drop kick?

Sabin tried to win via exit but Anderson appeared and slammed the door closed. Instead of simply climbing over the cage wall on the opposite side of the ring to Anderson, which would have guaranteed him victory, Sabin stood and stared incredulously at the Aces member. He looked an idiot.

Rampage Jackson and Tito Ortiz ran out at this point. Rampage threw Anderson off the ramp and down to the concrete floor then got blasted in the back of the head by a rubber hammer wielding Ortiz. Sabin, who’d stood and stared at this development like a slack-jawed mark, was rammed into the side of the cage by a recovered Bully Ray and then power bombed in the centre of the ring to lose his title.

 

Yep. Another TNA swerve turn

Tito Ortiz and Taz joined Bully in the ring to celebrate his victory. Ortiz raised the champ’s hand. The champ raised Ortiz’s hand. Nobody raised Taz’s hand. Back on commentary Tenay feigned disbelief at Ortiz’s “shock” betrayal. It had been a setup all along. The final shot of the show was two time world champion Bully Ray posing with his championship belt. That he regained it surprised precisely nobody.

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.

Slammiversary XI preview

When TNA announced they were cutting back on the number of pay-per-views they produce one of the reasons they gave for the decision was creating a schedule that would allow storylines to advance at a more natural pace. In theory that should work. A promotion putting on fewer large shows is not beholden to having two feuding parties wrestling every four weeks. Things can be teased out and foreshadowed because there's less need to fill up so many minutes of PPV.

The move should have led to tightly produced events stacked with must-see matches. It hasn't. Slammiversary, like Lockdown before it, has a handful of reasonably intriguing matches to offer but the card as a whole is underwhelming.

If TNA are incapable of cobbling together four excellent cards a year then I don't see that they can have much of a future. Any company with a roster of talent like theirs and a half decent TV deal promoting four pay-per-views a year should be able to make them great. Making them profitable is a different story of course, but the quality should be there.

Let’s start with the use of the main event crew outside of the world title bout. Kurt Angle and AJ Styles are facing one another in a regular singles match. There are no stipulations and it seems the only reason it's happening is because of AJ's questionable loyalty to the company.

The two will have a great match but is this really the best that could be cooked up for two of TNA's best wrestler with three months to play with? They've faced each other so many times, often on free TV, that something extra needs to be added to their battles at this stage. Either an interesting story (which Aces and Eights emphatically isn't) or a stipulation they've not done before. If you want to use the two as the second biggest match of a pay-per-views fans need to be given something they've not been given before.

I'm expecting 'The Phenomenal One' to win. He's going to challenge for the world title later in the year. He'll need to be kept strong for that.

The treatment of Bobby Roode, James Storm, Austin Aries and Christopher Daniels has been similarly shabby. A year and a half ago 'The Cowboy' and 'The It Factor' were gracing the main event and 'A Double' was winning the TNA championship. It felt as though TNA was finally giving us the storylines and pushes we'd wanted for a long time. The younger guys on the roster were getting the featured spots and carrying the top championship.

In just twelve months that's all been undone. All three have been demoted to the tag ranks after showing so much promise as headline singles performers. The popularity of Christopher Daniels' heel character has frustratingly not been capitalised on. Instead the writers have focused more on the tiresome antics of Hulk Hogan, Brooke Hogan and Bully Ray. Even Taz has had more of a push than Roode and company.

Unlike Styles and Angle I'm not sure these horribly under-utilised wrestlers will manage to turn in a good performance. There will be eight men in one match, one of whom is clumsy oaf Hernandez. My concern is that too many spots and sequences will be stuffed into too short a run time. The elimination rules won't help the pacing either.

Anyone could win this. There's no obvious outcome. I'd like to see Bad Influence win. That would allow, Aries, Roode and Storm to segue back into singles careers and make use of 'The Fallen Angel'. So I'll pick them.

The returning Jeff Hardy will team with Samoa Joe and Magnus to take on Aces and Eights members Wes Brisco, Garrett Bischoff and Mr Anderson. The best thing I can say about this match is that it’s a very good way of elevating Bischoff and Brisco. Teaming with Anderson isn’t really anything special but getting to wrestle opposite Joe and Hardy on a pay-per-view is a big thing for them.

While it’s a good thing for them it’s yet another example of two wrestlers who should be in more prominent spots being booked in a throwaway outing. Both ‘The Samoan Submission Machine’ and ‘The Charismatic Enigma’ should be doing far more in TNA than they currently are. So should Magnus for that matter. TNA should want to use that guy before the inevitable hard-to-resist offer form WWE comes in.

If Joe and Magnus are going to continue being associated with one another, which appears to be the case, then why aren’t they in the tag team title match? If they’re going to be a team then they should be used properly as a team. They’re one of the most long-standing units on the roster, and former champions, but they were omitted from the title match. It doesn’t make sense.

I’ll pick the Aces to win. Hardy is notoriously generous when it comes to putting others over and a win here would make sense for Garrett and Wes. Quality-wise I’m expecting little more than fast-paced filler.

The TNA world championship match has been built up well enough but Sting being involved instead of any of the younger talent mentioned above is what's wrong with the company's direction. No matter what those in charge have convinced themselves Sting is not a draw. Neither is Hulk Hogan. The only way TNA will progress as an organisation is if they accept that and use the veterans in supporting roles while aggressively elevating the Roodes, Aries and Storms of the roster. They're the guys who could be draws within a few years (on a larger and more significant scale than they are now) if only they get treated correctly.

Perhaps the plan is for Sting to lose and take up that supporting role. That would be the smart thing to do. There's no sense that I can see in derailing Bully Ray's push at the moment. He needs to be built up into a dominating champion who's dethroned by someone who can play a part in the company's future for years to come. That ain't 'The Stinger'. It's probably AJ Styles, but it could be any of the guys I've already bemoaned the use of.

'Calfzilla' to win a heated but ultimately only passable main event. For the record I'm expecting run-ins from Aces and Eights in this match, specifically DOC and Knoxx.

Sting versus Bully. Who'll win? Who'll care?

Down on the undercard is where things are really drab. The match that really stands out is the TV title match (yeah, that's still a thing) between Devon and Joseph Park. It will be a comedy affair and possibly feature a run-in from somebody substituting as Abyss. Because a plot that sees Park and his long lost brother Abyss interacting with one another is what TNA fans have been clamouring for.

I'm going to predict a win for Park. There has to be some reason for his continued presence on Impact. Scoring a victory over Aces and Eights is as good a reason as any. In an ideal world he'd win the title, vacate it, and then announce that he and Abyss are jetting off to live on an island together. Then we'd never have to see the tiresome reunion and-or feud play out. I won't get my hopes up for that though.

In the night's final title match Kenny King will defend the X Division gold against Suicide and Chris Sabin. 'Cide, for the record, will likely be played by TJ Perkins. He's the guy who was misused by Ring of Honor last year and left after wrestling a tryout match for TNA.

I don't feel very positive about this match. Suicide gimmick aside I like everyone involved. I was a big fan of ANX and King's proven very capable in his follow-up singles career. TJP is amazing, the sort of wrestler ROH management should have been desperate to hold on to but for some reason weren't. And Sabin is an incredibly talented athlete who's had a run of very bad luck with injuries over the last few years. He could easily be a highlight of a logically booked X Division.

The thing is that the X Division isn't logically booked. Take the decision to have every X Division match be a triple threat match, for example. That's a lazy attempt at making something unique. It's a substitute for compelling booking, as evidenced by the approach of trying to force an air of mystery as to who the third man in any given X match on Impact will be. The X Division deserves to be restocked with half a dozen new wrestlers and prioritised by the booking team. If TNA can't bring themselves to do that they may as well retire the concept. It's of no use or interest to anyone in its current state.

Who'll win? Sabin. It feels time for a title change and he'd get a good reaction winning the belt after returning from an injury.

The seventh match confirmed for Slammiversary is Jay Bradley v Sam Shaw. It's a tournament final, with the winner getting a spot in TNA's third annual Bound For Glory series, the winner of which gets a world title match at, yep, Bound For Glory.

The cynic in me feels that this is a rather elaborate way of including someone in the BFG series who can be used to lose regularly. They may pick up one or two fluke wins but ultimately I think it's pretty safe to assume either Shaw or Bradley will be involved to stop the likes of Robbie E, Kazarian and EY performing endless jobs.

So, really, it doesn't matter who wins at Slammiversary. They're going on to a string of losses. I'll pick Sam Shaw because I like his name better. Yes, that's my reason.

Finally there's Taryn Terrell v Gail Kim. It should be a good match. Terrell has shown promise in what she's been given to do since stepping out if the referree shirt. Her story has been logically booked and she'll be wrestling an established performer in Kim, which should mean people care about and react to the match.

I think the former Mrs Drew McIntyre will win. That would allow for an always popular underdog story and also setup a new babyface challenger to the now-possibly-heel Mickie James.

See what I mean about this being a humdrum offering? The BFG series should help to create some more meaningful rivalries for Bound For Glory in October. I've a feeling the Aces and Eights plot will be nearing completion by then too, which could bring about some pretty meaningful bouts. With four months to get ready that show ought to be something special.

I want TNA to be better than they are. The fact that they've got long term planning is great. They just need to start focusing it on wrestlers who warrant it, not the Stings of the world. My advice to whoever's scripting their shows right now would be to go back and look at what worked last year. At least the right guys were getting pushed then.

Predictions summary:

Bully Ray to defeat Sting
AJ Styles to defeat Kurt Angle
Bad Influence to outlast Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez, James Storm and Gunner, and Bobby Roode and Austin Aries
Chris Sabin to win the X Division championship
Wes Brisco, Garrett Bischoff and Mr Anderson to defeat Jeff Hardy, Samoa Joe and Magnus
Taryn Terrell to defeat Gail Kim
Joseph Park to defeat Devon
Sam Shaw to defeat Jay Bradley