A few things TNA

A few things TNA

Welcome everyone to the Coffee Table Thoughts 15. Today, I want to discuss the on goings in the number 2 wrestling organisation in the United States of America, TNA Wrestling.

There are a number of things going on in Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling’s weekly show called Impact Wrestling. Among all the storylines progressing there, the most prominent one has to be the one involving a group known as Aces and Eights.

Aces and Eights. It represents a group of people, hiding their identity with the help of faceless masks, moving and doing things together, raising hell in Impact wrestling by attacking the superstars like a pack of wolves. They have sent a strong message to the TNA roster with their actions - well, the message is not as clear right now, but we can assume it has something to do with adding more lights in the TNA backstage area, to not let each and every kind of a fan inside the locker room areas - you don’t know what shit they’re gonna pull. They have not only attacked the superstars, but those charged with the governance too. The list of casualties caused by them include the Current World Heavyweight (?) Champion - Double A, the best heel in a long time - Robert Roode, professional wrestling’s only gold medalist - Kurt Angle, probably the greatest superstar of our beloved industry (second only to Stone Cold Steve Austin) - Hulk Hogan, the brightest future of TNA Wrestling - what was that Indy guy’s name again?

As revolutionary as this angle may seem, I think TNA has taken a huge risk by going this route. They have done a lot of right things in the recent past and are seemingly on a path to keep getting better and better and have appeared as more and more mature with the kind of storylines they have pulled barring a few exceptions. This particular dinosaur of an idea, the group attacks by unknown or known people, may never get old in true sense and may be relied on by the wrestling organisations world over in every few years, but it is still fresh in people’s minds. And not only the WWE, even TNA has had its fair share of group attacks when the Main Event Mafia Fortune led an attack on the Immortal last year. This particular route may seem a bit childish even for us wrestling fans, when it takes place almost annually.

Obviously, there are differences between the storylines involving the likes of NWO and Nexus as compared to Aces and Eights (that name is pretty cool, I will give you that) with the attackers not being revealed and it is different from Fortune too in that the attackers are actually people who can possibly be from outside of the current TNA roster.

And to their credit, TNA has so far handled this storyline quite brilliantly. Alongside these attacks, Robert Roode has found out a way to put James Storm in a vulnerable position by claiming that he is the leader of Aces and Eights. This blatant accusation coupled with the obvious proofs that lead us to believe that James Storm may indeed have a hand in these attacks or at least, he may have some sort of influence on this group. Kurt Angle was taken out by them when he was supposed to face James Storm; AJ Styles was taken out by the group while James Storm was left untouched in the ring. They didn’t interfere in the match between James Storm and Kurt Angle when it was clear that James Storm was winning the match; and he indeed won the match.

All these circumstances, by the wrestling logic 101 actually prove that James Storm is not behind these attacks and that he is not the member of the group but it will take some time to reach there.

The most intriguing question to come out of all this is - Who are these guys? What is their motive?

And the most intriguing question in a non-kayfabe sense is - Whether TNA will be able to answer these questions effectively?

My initial response to this would be, No.

As much as TNA has handled this brilliantly, the angle cannot really become a success without revealing some interesting names behind the masks.

*Spoiler Alert*

Few of the names making rounds as possible names behind these attacks are unflattering. Luke Gallows and Chris Masters have had their share of success in WWE, but they are not the names you would jump out of your couch for. The impact (pun) of their debut in TNA cannot justify the amount of effort and screen-time that has been allotted to this particular storyline.

I do like Chris Masters and was quietly hoping for good things in his future when he was a regular staple in the WWE Superstars and was about to be given push to the main roster. I will definitely enjoy watching him in the impact wrestling fighting against the likes of Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe and James Storm. He is someone that probably every fan will recognise, but he is also a name that fans will only recognise. Neither cheer nor loathe.

I had seen Luke Gallows in the Straight Age Society alongside the Messiah but I am not aware of much of his work. He may be a good enough talent and may prove to be a good asset for the company in years to come, but may not be enough of a shock value.

Unlike the two mentioned above, the next few names that I am going to take, do have a potential to make this angle click.

First name that comes to mind is John Morrison. John Morrison was one of the most over superstars of WWE when his contract ended with the WWE a little under a year ago and neither party made any attempt to renew the contract. However, from all the interviews that he gave afterwards and from what he has been saying all along, it looks like he is still hoping for a return to the big ‘E.

On a flip side, he may have come to believe that his chances of returning to the organisation are thin and that he may have a more successful run with TNA. In any case, he will certainly be a huge enough name that can give enough amount of shock on being revealed as a member of that group.

Next name is MVP. It has been too long that MVP has been seen in any major promotion in the USA. He has largely been on a hiatus as far as the more casual fans go. MVP is another huge name that can have a huge impact in the form of a Aces and Eights. There may be a concern as to his popularity because of not being seen on the television in a long time but I think the audience in TNA will surely recognise him. Again, his joining with the TNA would be different from what we have been hearing from him ever since he left WWE, but things and minds do change.

The last realistic name that comes to my mind is a controversial figure in wrestling today. I am talking about none other than Matt Hardy. Matt Hardy has had his share of issues with the pro wrestling industry in last few years. He was released from his TNA contract not a long while ago for unprofessional behaviour; he had removed himself from the WWE in hopes for a better future at TNA and had caused a lot of problem due to his sick social media activities. This does not count the issues he has had with addiction.

But we haven’t heard of any of these problems in a long time and his younger brother Jeff Hardy has become quite a major force within TNA so as to at least provide an opportunity to Matt Hardy to right the wrongs. Who really knows? This is a mere speculation on my part.

And who knows, maybe TNA is onto something here? If they can’t get any realistically huge names from the number one wrestling company in the world, what if they move a little downward? What if they involve some AAA players in it to get reap some benefits in the evr so important Latino market? Or...may be Jinder Mahal? Wow!

A Small Recap

These are a few thoughts on what went down in the TNA land this past week.

There was a very fun match between the team of Austin Aries and Kenny King Vs the team of Robert Roode and Zema Ion. It was everything that you would expect your main event to be. The only difference being, it was not the main event.

Speaking of fun matches, a four way match was held to determine who would become the next contender for the Knockouts division. I liked the involvement of all four knockouts in it and it involved some entertaining spots. While the ending wasn’t very clever, nor was it cleverly executed, it does make more sense in terms of booking as it involves a heel-face dynamic.

The third match worth watching this week was the match we were refused two weeks ago – James Storm Vs. Kurt Angle. A main event worth being the main event. And every time Kurt Angle locks on the ankle lock, in a different way than what he did the last time, I loath Jack Swagger that much more. He is supposed to be this decent to great wrestler but I have never really seen him perform an interesting set of moves and reversals. His matches may be more interesting than your average Joe (i.e. matches involving Average Joe, not Average Joe himself), but they aren’t really that great.

While the fans in general have disliked the whole AJ Styles-Dixie Carter-Clair Lynch (Spelling?) saga, I find the involvement of CD and Kaz very hilarious; and that’s what the segment involving them was this Thursday – hilarious. Check it out to get a chuckle or two from the baby shower celebrations.

I am a fan of the Joseph Park character and I like that he is further getting involved in different capacity. And the small conversation he had with Sting? Marvellous! Sting has this ability to be funny without saying much and that is in full effect in here. ‘That power slam that you did? Textbook! What, you are gonna Kayfabe me now?’ Similar to this very conversation, there was one involving Sting and Austin Aries two weeks ago. It was when Sting told Austin Aries to handle the whole Open Fight Night stuff and choose one X-Division wrestler to face the X-Division champion. You really need to listen to the pep talk that Sting gave to Austin Aries. Mild humour at its best.

Chavo Guerrero debuted in TNA with much fan-fare. It was kind of absurd watching the kind of hero’s welcome that he received. I am not against it, nor am I saying he shouldn’t be getting it. But it seemed they over-hyped his debut in the TNA. Chavo Guerrero has never been that huge a name as compared to the rest of his family, and what he got was more because of his family than because of himself. But does this point to the possibility that TNA have huge things planned for Chavo in the future? I think he hasn’t really been given that one huge opportunity to prove himself, will he get it here? Will he run with the ball the same way that Bully Ray has done so far? We will have to find that out!

The next TNA pay per view, which I believe goes by the name of Hardcore Justice, has three matches involving the Bound for Glory series. All three matches will be having four participants, effectively including all of the names involved in the BFG series. Each match has a special condition attached to it – Ladder, Table or Falls Count Anywhere. That’s all the details I am giving here, but be ensured that these three matches alongwith the World Heavyweight Championship bout between Austin Aries and Robert Roode are potential show stealers. That’s four matches for you!