All posts for the month November, 2012

A Clash Of Styles: What Wil A.J. Do Next?

Written by @Robbie_G_CH

At the Turning Point PPV, A.J. Styles lost the number one contenders triple threat match, falling prey to James Storm’s ‘Last Call Superkick’, in usual situations this would be just a small bump in the road as another chance would usually come up in the coming weeks or months, or as Bobby Roode found the next TV taping, but for A.J., thanks to a stipulation in the match, he has to wait until at least Bound For Glory XI for his next shot at the championship, the question now is what will the Phenomenal One do until he can challenge again?

Styles reflects on Impact

Dwelling On The Past

On Impact A.J. addressed the situation he finds himself in and how it reflects the year he has had referring to the issues he has had with Daniels, Kazarian and Claire Lynch. After being interrupted and berated by the former ‘World Tag Team Champions of the World’, Daniels and A.J. agreed to face each other for ‘one last time’, many people will be thinking that this match has been played out, and they would have a fair argument as I have lost count at how many times these two have locked up over the last 18 months, but besides a few tag matches with Kurt Angle, A.J. never got the closuer on the chapter with Daniels regarding the Lynch issues, and in all honesty who wouldn’t want to see these two lock up for ‘one last time’?

Road To Redemption?

With Styles being portrayed at a major low point in his career and outcast from the title picture for 11 months the similarities can be drawn with Jeff Hardy’s redemption storyline; returning from a major low point, proving himself to his peers, and then going on to win the BFG series and the World Heavyweight Championship; once A.J. has finished his business with Daniels who in this case signify the ‘demons of the past’ but unlike Hardy who managed to stay around the main event scene, he will need to go a different route to get back to the top.

There are two possible routes that he could take over the next few months until his likely participation in the BFG series, the first would be to go back to his roots in the X Division whilst the second would be to guarantee TV airtime by competing for the TV Title. Both options would mean dropping down the roster but often in wrestling to gain the top spot you need to work your way up from the bottom.

Ultimate X

It is no doubt that A.J. is most known for his time in the X Division and what a better place for him to rediscover himself than where he began. Since winning the title RVD has done very little in way of elevating the division besides the odd match and I would be surprised if he reign as champion and his run in TNA lasts much longer. Being a former champion brings a certain credibility and if anybody is to get an entertaining match out of RVD then it would be Styles.

High Flying is Styles Speciality

Like the Knockouts division (but executed better as to not happen month in month out), the X Division needs a match or tournament to establish the players, A.J could enter this tournament and come up short in the final to allow someone like Joey Ryan to get another shot and further add to Styles’ woes whilst giving the rub to newer members of the roster, in the following month he could then become number one contender and defeat RVD, depending on what the situation is with Van Dam’s contract (remember last year when Gunner put him out around January) they could have a rematch with the title on the line and a stipulation of the loser leaves TNA.

Over the next few months Styles could defend the title whilst using his experience to elevate the likes of Joey Ryan, Zema Ion, Kenny King and even Jesse Sorensen once he returns from injury, before dropping the title in the lead up to or at Slammiversary to someone who will be looking for a short cut to the Heavyweight Championship whilst P1 enters the BFG Series looking to headline Bound For Glory.

The Face of Impact Wrestling

The second option would be to follow in Samoa Joe’s footsteps and secure a spot on TV every week and go after the TV Title. Like the X Division this is an area in much need of competition, especially since Magnus, whom has been pushed to match Joe, will likely be off air until the UK shows following his beat down at the hands of Aces & Eights (and his appearances in panto).

A.J. and Joe are no strangers to one another and a feud over TNA’s second belt could boost both competitors and the image of the belt, throw a returning Magnus into the mix and the TV title could become hot property over the opening months of 2013.

Bound For Glory

The fact that the stipulation states that Bound for Glory is the the first opportunity to get a shot at the silverware suggests that Styles will be victorious in the BFG series and get his shot at the biggest stage, but this year everybody had James Storm as a dead cert to win and we all saw how that played out.

It is doubtful that TNA would book the same outcome to the same story, it is more likely that Styles will come up short in the finals of the BFG Series; hopefully to Bully Ray who has been the losing finalist in both the tournaments so far; and then go on to become number one contender in the following months, maybe even not until one of the bigger events in 2014.

What ever path Styles takes it will lead back to the top, it may even be for the final time in his career, but it seems safe to say that when that shot does come, A.J. will be the new Heavyweight Champion.

All Quiet on The Impact Front

Last week, TNA Wrestling held their annual Turning Point pay-per-view. Coming off a string of high-quality shows in the months preceding it, I had high hopes. The potential was certainly there on paper and it stood every chance of continuing the trend. So why did it fail to entertain this fan in particular? By playing it safe at every turn.

No risks taken, no surprises sprung, no titles changing hands, no cliffhangers to keep me coming back. I mean, I’ve heard of transitional pay-per-views, where nothing much happens because they’re in the process of furthering long term angles, but this was a joke. It was little more than a placeholder. Fans could tune into Impact Wrestling the following Thursday and not have missed a beat. You could make the argument TNA have always profited more from (and preferred) Impact over pay-per-views, but they’re not exactly trying to swing the balance back the correct way.

Looking at each championship division on it’s own, it’s hardly surprising they put out such a lackluster show. They’re all merrily chugging along with a single token challenger, but they don’t have any juice. No lightning-in-a-bottle feud every professional wrestler should be striving for the moment they lace up their boots for the first time. Whether it be the TV, Knockouts, Tag or X Division Championships, they’re being defended, but only in a professional sense. No butting heads, no personal insults, no grudges to hold. Close to 90% of the show this month is feud free, and the other 10% is relying on the tried and tested programs of Bobby Roode vs James Storm and AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels. Two matches that have played out a million times and aren’t even for titles!

All of this would be moot if the top tier battle for the World Heavyweight Championship was shouldering the burden. Unfortunately, Jeff Hardy has been about as enigmatic as a cardboard cut-out. He may inexplicably sell the most merchandise, but that doesn’t mean he’s earned this blind faith and devotion. In the past two months, Austin Aries has pretty much had to lead Hardy by the hand to half decent segments and matches. But it seems ‘A-Double’ is not long for the World Title picture. What with the Number One Contendership being such a big deal elsewhere and ominous allusions to Open Fight Night, I can feel ‘The Greatest Man That Ever Lived’ being quietly swept under the rug. Leaving our World Champion wandering the backstage area cutting promos in his head like a roaming psychopath. Who is this modern day wordsmith going to shout “creatuuuuuuuuures” at next? Whoever it is, I don’t envy their task. It’s akin to babysitting.

However, we do have three weeks until the next pay-per-view ‘Final Resolution’ and assuming he can put his issues with James Storm to the side for a little while, I have every faith in Bobby Roode to try and coax some life out of Jeff Hardy. I was pleasantly surprised by the renewed focus on ‘the IT Factor’ this past week. Even with him treading well worn territory with his former tag team partner, Roode carried Impact Wrestling on his back for the majority of 2012 and he did it with style. So much so, I wouldn’t be adverse to seeing him end the year in the same manner, as our World Heavyweight Champion.

This Is Awkward: TNA Post BFG

Written by Robbie_G_CH

Photos by Impact Wrestling

The dust has well and truly settled on this years Bound For Glory event as TNA gear up for the Turning Point PPV but the after effects from BFG can still be felt and the build up to next year has already started. A few major talking points have emerged with this years ‘reset’ but does this make the next few months and year excitable or disposable.

The Redemption Of Jeff Hardy

Jeff Hardy celebrates with his Heavyweight Championship

As much as it was annoying to see Aries lose the title after such a short period, the BFG series really needed to produce a winner otherwise the tournament wouldn’t have the impact to carry it through another year, it’s just a shame that it wasn’t Bully Ray, James Storm or Samoa Joe that came up trumps in the series; but at least Aries managed to get a good match of Hardy. The main event of BFG saw Jeff Hardy rise back to the top of the locker room by becoming the new TNA World Heavyweight Champion and complete his redemption after his drug ordeal including the infamous main event at Victory Road 2011.

After winning the Championship Hardy has since swapped the belt for a personalised one, although at times he was carrying both until Aries stole the actual title back to set up the rematch at Turning Point. Aries has done most of the promo work to set up the rematch as Hardy’s mic work is still less than stellar with creative deciding to go with inner monologues to work with the shortcomings taking away from the ‘live’ aspect of the show.

Unfortunately for those of us who are not ‘creatures’ I can see Jeff holding the title for a few months until he decides on whether or not to stay with the company or jump ship for a bigger pay day; which is likely the reason they have taken the actual belt away from the champion for fear of him walking away from the company with it in his possession. If he decides to leave a title change will likely happen at Victory Road but if he decides to stay we may be looking at an extended run at the top for the ‘Charismatic Enigma’.

Dead Man’s Hand

Devon was unmasked as one of the group.

Devon was unmasked at the event as one of the group members to the shock of Hulk Hogan, Sting and his former tag partner Bully Ray causing a deathly silence between them filled by the arena crowd chanting ‘This Is Awkward’; with Luke Gallows being unmasked on a later edition of Impact. The other big talking point that came out of BFG which has significantly changed the landscape of Impact Wrestling is that the group of Aces and Eights have gained access to the Impact Zone after putting Bully Ray through a table in a No DQ match-up.

The access has caused many brawls between the group and roster members which is quickly becoming tedious as every match the group are involved in ends with the group causing a disqualification with a beat down bringing out various wrestlers to match them.

The story has massive flaws, starting well before BFG but being continued with questions including: isn’t that assault? are they contracted? why did Hogan make the match a No DQ without having a back up plan to ensure the group wouldn’t win? The biggest question will be how do they plan on transitioning the action from brawling back to wrestling? why would the group who have had so much success thus far by just fist fighting decide that holds and slams would be the way to go.

It’s clear that members of the group are going to be unmasked at various stages of the next few months with a few shocks to be had along the way, which will likely end in a multi man tag match similar to a traditional Survivor Series match-up, although it remains to be seen how they will filter into the roster once the big reveals are said and done.

Morganmania

Morgan and Ryan

Morgan is annoyed with TNA management, especially Hogan for holding him back and has vowed to go through the whole roster to get to the Heavyweight Championship, unfortunately this is occurring the same time as the previously mentioned Aces & Eights with both there quests being very similar. Matt Morgan returned at BFG by hitting Al Snow with the Carbon Footprint and starting a war of words with Hulk Hogan whilst also allowing Gut Check reject Joey Ryan to win a contract.

Joey Ryan however has set his sights on RVD and the X Division Championship. This is a strong feud to throw Ryan into but if booked correctly could put him over and could see him become the face of the X Division for a good part of the next year, maybe even until Destination X where the title holder has the chance to transgress to the main event scene.

The two are on odd pairing and I doubt they will stay together for very long with one likely to screw the other over, I just hope they don’t decide to make them team as that would harm both parties.

Minor Impacts

The commentary of Impact has been overhauled with two sets of commentary teams, Jeremy Borash and Todd Keneley take the microphone for the first hour and hand over to the familiar Taz and Tenay. No explanation has been stated for this change but it is akin to how WCW’s television shows were called. So far Keneley has done a solid job as the play-by-play for the first hour despite Borash usually taking this role on Xplosion but time will only tell of how long this will continue, whether a member drops out and they form a three man team or whether further changes are coming.

Tara’s Hollywood boyfriend was revealed to be Jessie Godderz who was apparently on Big Brother for a number of series, further research has shown that he has been in Ohio Valley for a year honing his skills and has won a few tag team titles whilst there, at least this explains how he knows to wrestle.

Bobby Roode, A.J Styles and James Storm will compete in a three way match for a shot at the Heavyweight Championship but with a price, the man who gets pinned won’t be able to have another title shot until next years Bound For Glory!

With a number of title changes, new members to the roster & commentary team and new feuds started the foundations of TNA have been shaken to give the feeling of a new year to freshen things up, change isn’t always a good thing but with everything you can’t please everyone! The company have been moving in the right direction in the past year and they are not going to get everything right but besides a few things to iron out, Impact Wrestling remains to be a consistently good wrestling show.