I have not watched TNA in a very long time

[Dr. T is an alien]

Granted, I have pretty much stopped watching wrestling altogether (I have probably watched about an hours worth in the past year), but at least I touch base with WWE just to see what is going on. I have not done so for TNA since around the time Ken Andersen was champion. I noticed the thread regarding Eric Young winning the TNA title and got curious. I looked at the title lineage and saw some people that surprised me as having been champion:

1) Jeff Hardy - How did they ever trust him enough to give him ANOTHER title run after showing up to wrestle s***faced?

2) Magnus - Really? While he looks like a McMahon wet dream, the guy never struck me as being worth more than a midcard jobber.

3) Bully Ray - The WWE tried to make him a singles star. He was a dud. From what I had seen in TNA he was a tired, old dud. Did he really improve that much or did they really not have any options?

4) Chris Saban - Not that I am not a fan, but unless they changed how they booked him how did they present him as a legitimate challenger in the first place?

5) Eric Young - I actually liked him in the past, so I am happy for him, but taken out of context this is about like putting the big belt on Santino. Is he now booked seriously?

6) Austin Aries - This is less of a surprise than Saban as I could see his booking only needing a slight tweaking to make him champion material. Still, I am a little surprised that they put the belt on a guy that as far as I knew made it clear his focus was on a different company. Did that change or did TNA just take the chance anyways?

7) James Storm and Bobby Roode - I could have seen either get that push, so that is not a shock, but the fact that they did both in succession is a bit weird.

[El Cokehead del Knife Fight]

Bully Ray really did improve. It's a shame it was connected to the never-ending Aces & Eights.


Sabin was a pointless title reign. Wins it in a match where he gets dominated then loses it three weeks later in a match that he gets dominated in.

[comahan]

Bully was the best heel in wrestling for a while. Dude was on fire.

[Dr. T is an alien]

Apr 18, 2014 0:00:39 GMT -5 El Cokehead del Knife Fight said:

Bully Ray really did improve. It's a shame it was connected to the never-ending Aces & Eights.


Sabin was a pointless title reign. Wins it in a match where he gets dominated then loses it three weeks later in a match that he gets dominated in.

I just saw a few pictures of him as champ. The guy must have busted his ass because he got into shape. When I last saw him he was starting to masquerade as a globe.

[Deleted]

As for Eric Young...this picture says it all.

[Magic knows Black Lives Matter]

TBF to Jeff, he really seems like he's cleaned up his act. I know, once an addict, always an addict but dude busts his ass in every single match he has and consistently has good/great matches. It's a far cry from the drugged up Hardy we saw in 2010/2011 that was phoning it in all the time.

The build up to Aries' title win was tremendous. He was easily the hottest thing in the company when he won it but TNA, being TNA, faltered and booked him as fairly inconsequential while he was champion to make room for Aces & Eights. He then had a silly heel turn and dropped the title to Hardy at BFG.

[JoDaNa1281]

1. They suspended him for several months. When he came back at BFG '11, he said he had cleaned up & they wanted to be sure he stayed clean before giving him another reign. After they felt he proved it, he won the BFG Series & won the title at BFG '12, 1 year after he came back & nearly 2 years after "that incident" & he has appeared to stay clean since coming back(according to him, the birth of his daughter was the biggest reason he has).

2. Magnus has gotten better in the last couple years. He's not a world class wrestler, but he's pretty good & he's also gotten better at promos. He's not somebody you could build your company around yet, but he's still young enough where he can improve even further & be that guy in a couple years.

3. Yes, he did improve that much. He lost a whole lot of weight, got in great shape & started putting on better matches as a singles wrestler. Those, combined with his great mic skills, earned him a chance at being World Champion, which many people on here & other places on the internet, were in favor of.

4. Sabin had a good story(comes back from a 2nd torn acl, fights to get back in the ring & wins the X-Division Title) & he was booked good up to the title match, but unfortunately, he won the title in a match where he was Bully's bitch for 90% of it & then lost it on his 1st defense back to Bully, where while he got more offense in, Bully still owned him.

5. He's booked more seriously, but there's still those comedy elements there. His winning the title was most likely a backup plan after Joe decided to take some time off, for personal issues, so they kinda rushed his win(which I feel they should've waited to do at the ppv) & had him win it a week after taking the fall in a 4 way title match. They can still make him have a good reign, time will tell.

6. That changed. He was considering retiring until TNA called him up in 2011 & got a push on his return, going undefeated for several months & having the longest X-Division Title reign in TNA history. He eventually was turned face because the fans were cheering for him, making him one of the most over guys in the company. Eventually, he asked for a World Title match, but GM Hogan gave him 2 options; option a: he gets the title match, but only if he forfeits the X-Division Title or option b: He keeps the title & as a result, not get the shot. He chose option c: that every year, the X-Division Champ can trade in their title for a shot at the World Title at Destination X, Hogan agreed. He won the title & held it until BFG, losing it to Hardy.

7. Roode, I guess, was originally gonna win the title, as a face, at BFG '11, but Hogan decided that he would be a better heel champion, so Angle retained it, despite being injured. Then, on the next Impact, Storm beat Angle for the title & 2 weeks later, Roode turned heel on Storm to win the title & go on to have the longest TNA World Title reign in history, before losing it to Aries & he's been at least 1 of the 2 top heels(depending if Bully was heel) ever since.

[Oh Cry Me a Screwball]

1) Jeff Hardy - There has been no real sign that Hardy has fallen off the wagon since Victory Road. The guy is easily their #1 draw right now, which makes me wonder why they currently are wasting him in the Willow role right now. Probably because the only person that thinks it's a good idea is Hardy.

2) Magnus - The idea that he's a promoter's dream that hasn't actually earned anything is the basis of his entire gimmick. When he kept losing big time matches, he sold out to Dixie Carter and became champion, and then erected every roadblock he could to keep himself in the spot. It didn't make for good television, because they went too far and made it seem like a total chump without the backup rather than a guy who has the tools but relies on the shortcuts because it's easier.

3) Bully Ray - Everyone has already commented about this, but yeah he did put in the work. Shamefully, Aces and Eights soured what could have been one of the best heel runs of all time.

4) Chris Sabin - They did not present Sabin as a threat at all. The whole thing would have been so much better if he just lost the match against Bully.

5) Eric Young - I'd say they are booking him seriously now, but they didn't bother building him up at all. It's like the transition from Bradshaw to JBL, but in two weeks rather than two months.

6) Austin Aries - Aries was a true star when he won the belt, but the big problem he seems to have is that TNA can't decide whether to present him as a anti-hero or a heel, and it's starting to really hurt his current standing with the company.

7) James Storm and Bobby Roode - There's a big story as to why both Beer Money guys became champions at the same time. They were promoting Roode as the next babyface star, but Hogan publicly voiced that Roode wasn't ready, brother (this is the incident that really popularized that meme). Magically, Roode comes up short against a very injured Kurt Angle (moreso than usual) much to the anger of the TNA audience, and James Storm ends up beating Angle in a minute-long match on the next Impact. This sets up Roode vs. Storm where Roode realizes he can't beat Storm, so he grabs Storm's beer bottle and takes the easy path to the title. It ends up leading to Roode having one of the best heel runs with the title in a long time, but at the expense of James Storm's potential babyface run as he constantly comes up short in his title matches (even in his hometown), and Austin Aries ends up in the spot instead. By the time Storm can finally win the feud, Roode no longer has the title and Storm hasn't main-evented since.

[Orange]

Apr 17, 2014 23:58:25 GMT -5 Dr. T is an alien said:

Granted, I have pretty much stopped watching wrestling altogether (I have probably watched about an hours worth in the past year), but at least I touch base with WWE just to see what is going on. I have not done so for TNA since around the time Ken Andersen was champion. I noticed the thread regarding Eric Young winning the TNA title and got curious. I looked at the title lineage and saw some people that surprised me as having been champion:

1) Jeff Hardy - How did they ever trust him enough to give him ANOTHER title run after showing up to wrestle s***faced?

2) Magnus - Really? While he looks like a McMahon wet dream, the guy never struck me as being worth more than a midcard jobber.

3) Bully Ray - The WWE tried to make him a singles star. He was a dud. From what I had seen in TNA he was a tired, old dud. Did he really improve that much or did they really not have any options?

4) Chris Saban - Not that I am not a fan, but unless they changed how they booked him how did they present him as a legitimate challenger in the first place?

5) Eric Young - I actually liked him in the past, so I am happy for him, but taken out of context this is about like putting the big belt on Santino. Is he now booked seriously?

6) Austin Aries - This is less of a surprise than Saban as I could see his booking only needing a slight tweaking to make him champion material. Still, I am a little surprised that they put the belt on a guy that as far as I knew made it clear his focus was on a different company. Did that change or did TNA just take the chance anyways?

7) James Storm and Bobby Roode - I could have seen either get that push, so that is not a shock, but the fact that they did both in succession is a bit weird.

Jeff Hardy cleaned up his act big time and, as Magiconz said, has busted his ass to prove that he's a changed man.

I don't know why, but Magnus has always seemed like he could be the face of a company to me; however, I tuned out of wrestling a while back so I've missed his title reign, but when I was watching and he was a face I really enjoyed the dude. Great look and good in-ring ability, at least from what I've seen.

As others have stated, Bully Ray was the hottest thing going when he was world champ; a far cry from his days as Bubba Ray Dudley.

I've always liked Sabin, but I never really bought him as a world champ. Solid worker who had to come back from a lot with his terrible injuries, but I've never seen him as THE guy.

I don't foresee EY being anything but a transitional champ, so I can't see him being booked too serious from here on out.

I don't remember what Aries might have said, or what might have been implied about his focus being elsewhere, but all I know is I absolutely loved his program a couple years back with him vs. Roode. Great, great program and they had some really solid matches together.

Both Storm and Roode getting pushes doesn't surprise me either, but Roode is by far the more talented and the bigger all around total package of that group. It's weird because when I started watching TNA in '06, I always thought the opposite but Roode has proven that he is a solid main event guy.

[comahan]

A few matches i'd recommend from the last few years:

Bully Ray vs. AJ Styles, Last Man Standing, Slammiversary 2011
Austin Aries vs. Low Ki vs. Zema Ion vs Jack Evans, X Title, Destination X 2011
Bobby Roode vs. AJ Styles, TNA Title, Impact Wrestling 5/24/12
Austin Aries vs. Bully Ray, Sacrifice 2012
Daniels & Kazarian vs. Styles & Angle, Tag Titles, Slammiversary 2012
AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels, Last Man Standing, Destination X 2012
Bobby Roode vs. Austin Aries, TNA Title, Destination X 2012
Austin Aries vs. Bobby Roode, TNA Title, Hardcore Justice 2012
Bobby Roode vs. James Storm, Street Fight, Bound for Glory 2012
Austin Aries vs. Jeff Hardy, TNA Title, Bound for Glory 2012
Jeff Hardy vs. Austin Aries, Ladder Match, TNA Title, Turning Point 2012
Jeff Hardy vs. Austin Aries vs. Bobby Roode, TNA Title, Genesis 2013
Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles, Slammiversary 2013
Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Roode, Bound for Glory 2013
Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Roode, Steel Cage, 1/23/14 Impact Wrestling

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

Aries was the hottest thing in the company when he challenged for the title. Hogan put him over like f***, the crowd for the match was hot, the match was great, and and it was an amazing moment.

Of course they spunked the reign up the wall.

[Dr. T is an alien]

Apr 18, 2014 17:51:52 GMT -5 "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay said:

Aries was the hottest thing in the company when he challenged for the title. Hogan put him over like f***, the crowd for the match was hot, the match was great, and and it was an amazing moment.

Of course they spunked the reign up the wall.

Well, that seemed to be par for the course for TNA, especially after Hogan got involved. It's part of the reason I stopped paying attention. I basically only entered this part of the forum just to ogle the Knockouts thread.

[Harry The Arrow was Wrong!]

Bully Ray was the best thing about TNA for a few years. Hell, at times, he even made the wretched Aces and8s story bearable.

[Deleted]

Apr 17, 2014 23:58:25 GMT -5 Dr. T is an alien said:

Granted, I have pretty much stopped watching wrestling altogether (I have probably watched about an hours worth in the past year), but at least I touch base with WWE just to see what is going on. I have not done so for TNA since around the time Ken Andersen was champion. I noticed the thread regarding Eric Young winning the TNA title and got curious. I looked at the title lineage and saw some people that surprised me as having been champion

The only failures of the ones you've listed have been Magnus and Chris Sabin.

Magnus would have been helped by having some good challengers and good matches as champ. He was booked strong leading to his title win, with wins over some top guys, then needs help to beat Hardy and proceed to go complete cowardly heel. He couldn't even beat an injured comedy wrestler by cheating.

I think the only thing that would have helped Sabin would have been not winning. Set him up for the win later if necessary, but everything about him winning when he did was underwhelming and anti-climactic. AJ Styles should have ended Bully Ray's long title run, instead of the one month Sabin run interrupting Bully Ray.