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.

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.

Countdown to Lockdown

Tonight’s Lockdown pay-per-view is a peculiar point in TNA’s history. It’s their first supershow since January and will mark as the final one until June. This is all a part of the promotion’s move to shed themselves of the well-worn twelve PPVs a year format. The bigger news is that they’ve made the decision to begin with: Lockdown will always be a the footnote as the first show after a month being skipped but that’s minor in the grand scheme of things.

A far more important point is the contract status of Bobby Roode.

‘The It Factor’ hasn’t been on IMPACT much over the last few weeks. It’s also been revealed that he’s been absent from this weekend’s TNA-themed festivities (put on by TNA themselves, natch) in San Antonio (host city of Lockdown). Roode’s contract expired several weeks ago and it’s clear he’s not signed a new one.

It’s a typical TNA situation. They’ve pushed the guy to the top and he’s proven himself to be a reliable headline talent. Re-signing him should have been (and still should be) an absolute priority for the group. Roode has been a massive success story for the league, proof that hard work can be rewarded with a prime slot. His story could be used to convince others to re-sign or join the company to begin with. Losing him to WWE, which is a very real possibility looking at recent signings by the sports entertainment outfit, would be a tough blow for TNA.

On another level it seems stupid and amateurish to allow someone’s contract to expire while they’re recognised as a champion. Why put a belt on a guy who’s working without a contract or whose contract is about to expire?

 

Will the tag champs be reunited at Lockdown?

 

Hopefully TNA can work something out with Roode so that he appears as scheduled at Lockdown. Losing him would be harmful to their product and their image. If he were to leave I wouldn’t be surprised to see him on NXT within a couple of months.

The final point of interest going into Lockdown is the main event. TNA world heavyweight champion Jeff Hardy defends against Bully Ray. That’s the same Bully Ray whose storyline father-in-law is Hulk Hogan. The same Bully Ray who’s storyline “brother” Devon is an important member of heel faction Aces and Eights.

Could all of these facts be linked? Very possibly.

Going into the event Ray is a good guy. It’s very easy to envisage him revealing before or during the bout that he has secretly been the man orchestrating the Aces gang’s antics all along. It would set up programmes for him with Hogan (who we’re told wants to make another one of his many comebacks to the ring this year) and Sting (who has vouched for him several times over the last six months) and reunite him with his former Team 3D/Dudley Boys partner. It would also establish him as the promotion’s chief heel, a role he seems well equipped to play, and kick off what would surely be a boring story about Brooke Hogan choosing between her kayfabe husband and her real life father.

I’d like to believe TNA will resist the urge to have Ray affiliate himself with A&E. Not only is it a predictable swerve turn but it would also waste a guy who’s become a surprising hit as a top line face. ‘Calfzilla’ has taken to the role of good guy very well after his extended run on the dark side. He may be very good as a villain, and the group may be short of a clear lead heel, but the temptation to put Ray into that role should be resisted. Have him stay a face while there are fresh things for him to do and concentrate on building someone else up for a run as a top

heel.  

A more interesting swerve turn, but not one I’d particularly recommend, would be Brooke revealing herself as a power player in Aces and Eights. There’s no logical reason for this to happen but it would keep Brooke prominent, which seems to be a priority for TNA. It could be interesting for a week or two but the entire Aces story is old hat now. They should do whatever swerve turn they’ve got planned and begin wrapping the plot up.

 

Next world champ?

 

Whether or not Ray will walk out as TNA champ is anyone’s guess. He’s well placed to dethrone Hardy, especially if the ill-advised heel turn ends up going ahead as he could then go into potentially big defences against ‘The Hulkster’ and ‘The Stinger’. Should he capture the gold and remain a face then there are considerably less intriguing defences to be made against the likes of Devon and Mr Anderson, as well as Austin Aries and Bobby Roode (if he sticks around). Putting Chris Daniels back into the challenger role would be a shrewd move too.

Ray is one of the few guys in TNA that comes across as a genuine threat to the reign of ‘The Charismatic Enigma’. I think the match will be very good. As far as a winner goes I’m torn, which is how wrestling should be. I’d like a Ray title win though. He’s worked hard to get to the top and I think he’s an asset to the company. I’ll be rooting for him.

Don't Blink

Don’t blink when you’re watching IMPACT Wrestling. So much happens so quickly that it’s easy to miss plot developments.

A perfect example is the recent booking of Mr Anderson. After not doing anything notable since failing to capture the vacant (and worthless) TNA television championship in September he returned to the company on the final broadcast of the year. For no discernible reason Aces and Eights offered him membership. Anderson accepted, seemingly swayed in his decision by two women who appeared from nowhere to cling onto his arms.

Just like that Anderson had returned to TV, become a heel, and joined a faction. Any viewer who had missed this episode of IMPACT, or even that one backstage segment, would have missed several weeks’ worth of progression.

No logical reason has been offered for Anderson joining A&E beyond the aforementioned women. It’s not that him joining the gang is a bad idea. If TNA’s booking team had nothing else lined up for him then it’s as good a use for him as anything else, and a far better use than paying him to sit at home. But it was a rushed job. For all the praise that’s been heaped on TNA regarding the pacing of their stories over the last year this demonstrates that they still haven’t mastered that area.

If Anderson’s move to the Aces clique was rushed then the A&E story in general is painfully slow. The bikers (that’s what they are remember) first showed up in TNA in June of last year. Seven months later we’re only just beginning to see members of the troupe revealed. We didn’t discover the identity of the first member for four months. While I agree that keeping people waiting for reveals is the best way of approaching things that was far too long.

As things stand right now we know the identity of seven members of the group. Of those seven names only six are active wrestlers. The non-wrestling member is Taz, a man who nobody was crying out to see elevated to anything even resembling a position of prominence. The reveals are proving a painfully slow process. It has sapped the initial interest in the group by simply being allowed to wallow in its own self-importance and hype for too long.

We know there’s still more to come from the Eights too. We still don’t know what their aim is or who’s in charge. At the current rate neither revelation is going to be made until at least late spring. Summer seems more likely.

Something else that falls firmly into the “blink and you’ll miss it” file: the whirlwind romance between Bully Ray and Brooke Hogan. On the surface this story appears worryingly similar to the Stephanie McMahon and Triple H marriage in the WWF back in 2000. A wrestler marries the boss’s daughter (Hogan’s not the boss but he is an on-screen authority figure, so same difference really) against the boss’s wishes.

"Finger Point of Doom, brother!"

It’s too early to know whether this will end with ‘Calfzilla’ turning heel but it wouldn’t be surprising. By marrying Brooke Bully has gotten a (kayfabe) power spot. With his “brother” Devon a member of Aces and Eights it’s all too easy to imagine a swerve turn that reveals that it was “a setup all along” and that the former Dudleys planned this entire ruse to grab power in the Land of Impact.

Or perhaps this is an altogether more subtle plot, one designed to be a parody of the real life marriage between Steph and Tripper. I doubt it though. Even TNA would find it hard to justify that particular brand of nonsense.

The marriage of Ray and Brooke has come about very quickly. Their relationship was only revealed in November. For them to be married two months later feels pretty quick (although in fairness it’s not the first time a wrestling wedding has happened fast). Just as bizarre is the speed with which Hulk Hogan has been won over by the idea of his daughter dating a wrestler, and one close to twenty years older than her to boot.

TNA may have long term plans that they’re sticking to. That’s great. It’s something the company has needed to get sorted for years. But just because you have long term plans doesn’t mean things need to play out over the long term. Knowing what’s going to happen several months in the future is good, but it doesn’t equate to having one storyline stretch out over years.

Long term booking can just as easily be a plan to shift through three or four major angles and storylines across a calendar year. TNA’s getting this right in having one story bleed into the next but their pacing is poor. Title reigns and pushes should be lasting for six months, not stories. It’s an approach that isolates casual viewers and bores regulars. Things are looking promising in TNA but there’s still work to be done.

Aces High

The Aces and Eights faction has been appearing on TNA programming for a couple of months now but the group’s roster still remains a mystery. While it’s known that Luke Gallows, D’Lo Brown, Wes Brisco, Mike Knox and Chris Masters have all appeared as members of the group under masks it is not known whether they will be revealed as actual members of the gang when the inevitable unmasking comes. Who will have their faces shown as A&E members has been as much of a talking point as what the gang’s motives are.

The fact that so many of the men confirmed to have been on run-in duty for the group are former WWE performers could be indicative. Perhaps the group will be comprised exclusively of former WWE wrestlers who feel they should have been offered jobs by TNA. Perhaps they will be presented as men desperate for work, who have hit rock bottom and see joining the Aces and Eights as their only viable option.

Perhaps it’s simply a coincidence that TNA have used so many former WWE wrestlers so far. Or perhaps it has been a deliberate attempt to lead so-called smart fans down the wrong path.

Personally I think that when the group’s members do start getting revealed we will be seeing a number of ex-WWE guys in the ranks. All the men listed above (with the exception of road agent D’Lo Brown) would work well as part of a large heel faction where their duties mostly consist of running interference or work multi-man outings. I could see any of them being revealed as members.

It’s possible Matt Morgan will be revealed as an Aces and Eights man. A few months ago it looked as though ‘The Blueprint’ was leaving TNA and heading back to WWE. His surprise appearances at last weekend’s TNA house shows indicate he has opted to ink a new deal to stay in the IMPACT Zone.

The likeliest reason for Morgan’s return, after being very outspoken about wanting to jump to WWE, is that his former employer aren’t hiring talent recently affiliated with TNA right now (due to an ongoing legal battle between the groups). Being unable to make the move he wanted will have restricted his options.

It’s too early in the Morgan storyline to determine exactly what’s going on but membership of A&E is an option. Of course it’s equally possible he’ll be a pro TNA babyface that works hard to protect the company against the gang.

 

Who's under these masks, eh?

 

There are other former WWE stars that could pop up in the group too. DH Smith and Cliff ‘Domino’ Compton spring immediately to mind. TNA’s previous form of loading up on former employees of Vince McMahon is what makes me think we’re going to see the ranks swelled by sports entertainers.

The question of leadership is another interesting point. For a while it was rumoured Sting would be revealed as the A&E mastermind. Thankfully that is looking increasingly unlikely. Not only has ‘The Stinger’ been attacked by the group himself but it wouldn’t have been sense for him to be part of the group. What would he have been gaining from it?

In my mind there are four potential leaders. The first, and probably most unlikely, is Mr Anderson. ‘The Asshole’ has been given nothing of interest to do for almost a year and is currently at a loose end after his token inclusion in the Bound for Glory series predictably ended in failure. Maybe he formed the Aces and Eights faction in order to help him take out the competition and regain the TNA world title.

Bully Ray is another potential leader. What I like about ‘Calfzilla’s’ chances of being revealed as the group’s leader is that he’s recently been teasing a face turn. If he were to be announced as the leader of the heel unit that’s been plaguing TNA for months it would make any fans who had cheered and supported him feel foolish, something the Bully character would revel in reminding them of in promos.

The man most people think will be the group’s head is Jeff Jarrett. He has been absent from TNA since late last year, overseeing the company’s Indian Ring Ka King endeavour and various other projects. ‘The King of the Mountain’s’ return would freshen up the headline picture somewhat and provide the group with a good mouthpiece and credible centrepiece, but it wouldn’t exactly be a surprising move.

The other option I can see is Eric Bischoff. ‘Easy E’ has been absent from TNA screens since April and while I’m sure most other fans would agree with me in saying that there’s no need for him to hurry back I can imagine he and the rest of the promotion’s creative department are keen for him to resume TV duties. He would be slightly more surprising than Jarrett in the role, but he would just be doing the same thing he always does: acting as a heel spokesperson. If that’s what the group are getting then at the very least somebody new should be given a crack at the role.

I hope that whoever is revealed as the group’s leader is a surprise and there’s a logical plan in place to build on it. The worst thing TNA could do after working so hard to get the unit over would be to provide an inadequate leader, roster and goal for the group. It needs to be something more than a big name wrestler returning to become champion and “take over” the company.

Of course, the biggest mystery regarding the group is why they’ve chosen Aces and Eights as their name. This being TNA we may never get an answer to that.

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.

IMPACT Report 05.04.12

I’ve been watching TNA’s IMPACT Wrestling on Bravo each week for around a month now. Yesterday evening I thought I’d have a go at tweeting my way through it. The results of that can be found below.

Before we get there I feel that I should give my thoughts on the show. As is always the case with TNA they got some stuff right and some stuff very wrong. Falling firmly into the latter camp was the use of Hulk Hogan. After months of not appearing on TV at all Hogan made his return to the promotion on the previous week’s IMPACT, accepting the job of General Manager that had been vacated by Sting.

On paper having Hogan as an on-screen authority figure is a fine idea. It allows Hogan, a big name, to appear on the show each week to put over babyface acts without needing to wrestle. That’s exactly the sort of role Hogan should have been in from the beginning of his TNA career instead of embarking on his spotlight-stealing heel run alongside pal Eric Bischoff. He appeared at the beginning of the show to set up matches for the show as well as Lockdown, TNA’s next pay-per-view. That was the logical thing to do seeing as ‘The Hulkster’ had only just accepted the GM position. There wouldn’t have been a problem had things ended there.

That wasn’t to be: Hogan came out for a second segment later in the show to bicker with Eric Bischoff and set up a Lethal Lockdown match for the PPV. That could have been done during his show opening address. He closed the show too, reversing the decision of the main event to favour Mr Anderson. This was all in addition to the numerous backstage videos he appeared in. Hopefully in the coming weeks TNA will realise that less is more and limit Hogan’s screen time.

The only other negative that sticks with me was the treatment of Austin Aries. His brawl with Bully Ray saw him presented as ‘Calfzilla’s’ equal for a few seconds before getting wiped out with a powerbomb. ‘A Double’ should have been able to counter that and sent Ray retreating up the aisle. If the two are going to feud then Aries has to be presented as Ray’s equal during physical confrontations, despite the significant size difference. If that doesn’t happen then interest in their eventual match won’t be what it should be. TNA clearly want Aries to get over as a babyface. For that to occur he needs to be able to tackle guys bigger than him.

Thankfully the rest of the show was very enjoyable. The six way Knockouts match was superb, far better than anything you’re going to get in either WWE or ROH (TNA’s two main rivals). For that reason alone TNA needs to keep working hard on the Knockouts division: it’s something you won’t get anywhere else in mainstream US wrestling. The only bad point of the match was that the entrances were shown in full directly before an ad break. Could the air time that the six entrances received not have gone to the match instead?

Chris Sabin looked excellent in his return match alongside Alex Shelley and while their post-match promo was a little stilted it did at least make it clear that the Guns have a goal: they want the TNA tag team titles back. The Hardy v Angle and Roode v Anderson matches were both good in terms of quality but could have been far better without the disappointing finishes. Storm v Styles was an excellent display that showed ‘The Cowboy’ deserves the push he’s currently getting.

A mostly positive show. I hope that trend continues.

Hulk Hogan promo with the roster at ringside

Tweet 1: A Hulk Hogan promo opening a wrestling show? Is this Nitro?

Tweet 2: I like Hogan's gimmick of mixing metaphors.
Tweet 3: I miss the days of commissioners in wrestling. It's all about GMs these days.
Tweet 4: The wrestlers Hogan's talking about are at ringside. Why is he addressing a camera?
Tweet 5: Flair's piping up. Of course Hogan looks at him, he's a star.
Tweet 6: Bobby Roode's talking. All I can think about is how great this show would be without Hogan, Sting and Flair.
Tweet 7: Anderson v Roode on TV. Nah, don't save big matches for pay-per-views. There's no point.
Tweet 8: A ten minute Hulk Hogan promo is not the way to open a wrestling show in 2012. It wasn't a great idea in 1988...

TNA's new General Manager: Hulk Hogan

Kurt Angle v Jeff Hardy

Tweet 9: Brian Hebner annoys me. Referees are not meant to draw the eye but he wears the most ridiculous blue trainers ever.

Tweet 10: Angle v Hardy on free TV is fine. It's a good match that should keep people watching. They're feuding too, so it makes sense to book it.
Tweet 11: Slapdash juice job by Angle there.
Tweet 12: Jeff botches one of his top rope moves. Tazz refers to it as "classic Hardy." The sad part is that he's not wrong.
Tweet 13: Twist of Fate, Tenay? That was a Stunner and you know it.
Tweet 14: Count out finish aside that was a good match. Shouldn't have opened the show though. Non-finishes set the wrong tone.

Assorted backstage vignettes

Tweet 15: Ric Flair making a call to Bischoff is getting TV time? C'mon...

Tweet 16: Great! Bischoff is on his way! He wouldn't have come had Flair not rung him, you know.
Tweet 17: Bully Ray next world champion? I don't see it somehow. It's not impossible though.

Bully Ray and Austin Aries confrontation

Tweet 18: A backstage Ray promo followed up with an in-ring Ray promo. Odd way of doing things...

Tweet 19: 'A Double'. Awesome stuff. My favourite TNA performer right now.
Tweet 20: That was a hefty powerbomb.
Tweet 21: Great way to make Austin Aries look like a jobber, TNA.

More backstage stuff

Tweet 22: The Joseph Park, Man of Mystery push continues.

Tweet 23: Roode v Storm video package. Angle looks OLD.
Tweet 24: Both men are talking about proving themselves to earn their way up the card. It's not often that's true but it is for these two.
Tweet 25: Storm and Roode have both improved a lot and deserve to be in prominent spots. TNA needs to keep pushing these two throughout 2012.
Tweet 26: Who's emailing James Storm to say "kick Bobby Roode's butt"?
Tweet 27: AJ Styles is a mid-carder. He shouldn't be but he is. TNA doesn't know how to use the talent it has.

Tara v Angelina Love v Winter v Madison Rayne v Mickie James v Velvet Sky

Tweet 28: Six way Knockouts match. Get ready for Tazz to bury an entire division with casual misogyny.

Tweet 29: Why aren't Angelina Love and Velvet Sky together as the Beautiful People? That's the best way to utilise them both.
Tweet 30: Velvet Sky gets the final entrance. That means she'll be booked as the star of the match.
Tweet 31: STUPID cut there. They televised six entrances then cut to a break! Show us the last woman entering and start the match instead.
Tweet 32: Good reaction for Mickie James when she tagged in. Tazz and Tenay ignored that to hype the Eric Young bachelor party video.
Tweet 33: This match is FAR better than anything the WWE Divas are going to (be allowed to) produce anytime soon.
Tweet 34: A slow-paced finisherfest ended that match. Velvet Sky got the predictable win. Sky v Gail Kim should be a good match.
Tweet 35: Still to come: a Hogan and Bischoff confrontation. Joy.

Yet more backstage chicanery

Tweet 36: Hardy and Storm at a southern music awards ceremony. Storm dressed in that gimmick hat is an embarrassment.

Tweet 37: He should be doing all he can to present himself as a headliner and TNA as a credible organisation. That outing will not help.
Tweet 38: Was that the entire EY video? The commentators made it sound like it would go on far longer and be filled with all sorts of whacky antics.

AJ Styles v James Storm

Tweet 39: If I were AJ Styles I'd see how much money ROH were willing to pay me, He's done everything he can in TNA. A year away would refresh him.

Tweet 40: Styles v Storm is better than I thought it would be so far. They seem to be getting a lot of time.
Tweet 41: Storm wins via a beautiful Last Call after ducking a moonsault. Good match. Good finish.

Hulk Hogan and Sting talk backstage

Tweet 42: More TV time for Hogan? Do we really need to see him talking to Sting? The answer, of course, is no.
Tweet 43: Hogan needs Sting at 120%. This is stupidity.

Motor City Machine Guns v Mexican America

Tweet 44: Chris Sabin returns. Lovely stuff.

Tweet 45: Anarquia looks nondescript. Hernandez looks old. I'm not a fan of their act.
Tweet 46: Chris Sabin looks fantastic for a guy who's been off for a year.
Tweet 47: So many guys have tattoos in TNA. It's astounding.
Tweet 48: The Guns win, naturally. Short but enjoyable match. This post-match promo is slightly less entertaining.

Eric Bischoff’s arrival and Confrontation with Hulk Hogan

Tweet 49: Bischoff shows up half an hour before the show finishes. Are we supposed to believe that?

Tweet 50: I love Bischoff referencing Flair being a two time Hall of Famer. To be clear that's WWE's Hall of Fame. Y'know, TNA's rivals?
Tweet 51: Time for Hogan's second in-ring segment of the night.
Tweet 52: Bischoff’s stalling is grating.
Tweet 53: Bischoff's ranting needs a direction. This is painful. Meandering, you say?
Tweet 54: Why is Hogan wearing sunglasses?
Tweet 55: Team Eric v Team Garrett. Looks like the Garrett push isn't ending any time soon. Here's why.
Tweet 56: These are some weird stipulations Hogan is laying out...
Tweet 57: If Eric's team wins Garrett Bischoff will no longer be a part of TNA. If Garrett's team wins Eric cannot use his birth name any more.
Tweet 58: Hogan even specified that Eric can't use his name at the mall if he loses. What sort of idiocy is that?!
Tweet 59: For the record I don't care who wins that match. Even if Garrett does lose he won't be going anywhere.

Mr Anderson v Bobby Roode

Tweet 60: Anderson v Roode. Anderson's act is very over in the IMPACT Zone. Pretty impressive considering he's been doing the same thing for years.

Tweet 61: Nice pacey start to the main event. TNA is getting stuff right this evening.
Tweet 62: A series of matches will take place to determine who gets the "man advantage" in the Eric v Garrett bout.
Tweet 63: That series will go exactly like the traditional coin toss: the heels ALWAYS win.
Tweet 64: I am amazed by how over Anderson is. TNA should make use of that popularity. Doubt they will though.
Tweet 65: Ahhhh, a ref bump. It's a TNA classic.
Tweet 66: Bobby Roode smashes a bottle over Anderson's head. Brian Hebner makes the count despite LAYING IN GLASS to do so.
Tweet 67: Tenay described using a glass bottle as "a loophole."
Tweet 68: For the second time tonight I find myself writing that aside from the finish that was a solid match.
Tweet 69: I could have done without Hogan's third in-ring appearance of the night though.