Remember Chris Sabin's feelgood TNA title run?

[ISO Mid Thigh Pull]

YEAH APPARENTLY IT DIDN'T FEEL SO GOOD

"Me dropping the belt to Sabin was never supposed to happen. That wasn't the plan. The plan was I was going to win the World Heavyweight Championship at Lockdown in San Antonio and beat Jeff Hardy, and I was going to hold that championship all the way until Bound For Glory. Nice little nine month run as the world champion.”



“Chris Sabin had gotten hurt. He hurt his ACL, an unfortunate injury. To my recollection, if I have the story correct, I don't believe TNA wanted to pay for his surgery. I don't know if they ever did. But to compensate him for getting hurt in their ring, they put the World Heavyweight Championship on him for one month.”



“I told them, 'This is not a smart decision because it is going to affect Chris Sabin. This is not going to be good for him. He's going to win and the people are going to go crazy because he beat me, but then he's going to drop it back a month later. Where is that going to leave him? How does this do Chris Sabin any good?'”



“This was a decision that went way beyond Eric Bischoff. I think it went way beyond Dixie Carter. I think it went straight to the people who cut the checks. Eric Bischoff said, 'Just go out there and lay down, we'll get past it, and we'll move on.' That's my recollection of the story.”



“Sabin was never in the equation, not because Chris Sabin is not a great wrestler, he just wasn't part of the equation. Bully is the heel and he's going to run parallel to AJ (Styles) up until Bound for Glory. So Bully goes over in San Antonio, then he'll drop it to AJ at Bound for Glory. Now, when I dropped it to AJ, people loved it, but they would have loved it even more if I hadn't dropped it to Sabin four or five months earlier."

Source: Bully Ray on the Brian Hebner Reffin It Up podcast

[Spider2024]

Even Chris Sabin himself has said he hated how the whole thing was executed, both the title win and the title "run" that barely counts as a brisk walk because he basically just trotted the belt around for 4 weeks just to lose it right back to Ray.

One of the worst thank you runs in wrestling history, really. (Still holding out hope that he can win the strap again one day since he is currently an Impact regular again.)

[TOK Hehe'd Around & Found Out]

Even at the time it felt out of place. I thought they were doing a Luger/Hogan thing but they didn't even do that, they made homie look like a clown which devalued the whole "Option C" concept that was the whole point of the title reign!

[Gerard Gerard]

It was a rare example of TNA ripping themselves off by trying to recreate the buzz of 2012's 'Option C.'

[tirtefaa]

Jul 20, 2022 18:47:16 GMT -5 Spider2024 said:

Even Chris Sabin himself has said he hated how the whole thing was executed, both the title win and the title "run" that barely counts as a brisk walk because he basically just trotted the belt around for 4 weeks just to lose it right back to Ray.

One of the worst thank you runs in wrestling history, really. (Still holding out hope that he can win the strap again one day since he is currently an Impact regular again.)

This is a perfect example of why I really hate most thank you runs, because it's done in a way that doesn't provide a good story or a rub that allows for the person to continue at that level after they win.

Once you win "the big one" you should be almost exclusively a main event performer who competently wrestles other main eventers most of the time.

Instead, it's "thank you" and back to the midcard or tag division for you.

[Deleted]

Doesn't surpised me giving how mamy times TNA f*** up on titles runs.

[Cyno]

If it went beyond Bischoff and even Dixie, who came up with it? I thought Dixie was the one cutting the checks at the time, so to speak.

[This Player Hating Mothman]

Jul 20, 2022 22:19:28 GMT -5 Cyno said:

If it went beyond Bischoff and even Dixie, who came up with it? I thought Dixie was the one cutting the checks at the time, so to speak.

By this point it was her parents; Dixie herself had lost control of the finances, and even though the money was coming from Panda Energy all the same, they were being a lot more strict about things. Their cheapness was a big problem even before the cracks were visible.

[Chiral]

Jul 20, 2022 22:19:28 GMT -5 Cyno said:

If it went beyond Bischoff and even Dixie, who came up with it? I thought Dixie was the one cutting the checks at the time, so to speak.

The one at the top of Panda Energy:

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{SPOILER: CLICK TO SHOW}

[4real]

It was terrible booking and Sabin was made to look like a complete geek even when winning the title. One of the reasons why I stopped watching TNA regularly in mid 2013.

Not that Ray’s title run was that exciting in itself. Aces & Eights were starting to become long in the tooth at this point.

[Magic knows Black Lives Matter]

“Sorry we didn’t pay for the injury you got in our ring, here’s a belt!” is the most carny shit ever, oh my goodness

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

Yeah that title run was booty cheeks

It was clear they were stuck between rock and a hard place and decided to just give him a run even tho Bully Ray was hot and their was a clear story where it was going.

Fail Sabin moniker stuck for a good min and the run was so bad and damaging that he had to turn heel

[This Player Hating Mothman]

You've heard of the 'thank you' run; now get ready for the 'f*** you' run

[TOK Hehe'd Around & Found Out]

Jul 21, 2022 8:00:11 GMT -5 Magic knows Black Lives Matter said:

“Sorry we didn’t pay for the injury you got in our ring, here’s a belt!” is the most carny shit ever, oh my goodness

Dixie was just trying to be the female Vince, sug