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Hardy! Aries! A NEW! TNA World Heavyweight Champion!
With Bound For Glory in the books, Impact Wrestling is free to start in a new direction. A fresh chapter can be written, one that is not bound by the past year's stories, angles or tales. Now is the chance for TNA to choose any number of directions to take its promotion.
And it has chosen a very "charismatic" one.
Jeff Hardy defeated Austin Aries on Sunday (Oct. 14) to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. It was an outcome that was almost guaranteed. Hardy's contract is rumored to be up in Feb., and placing the strap on him does one of two things. First, it is a blatant attempt to try to win favor with Hardy. TNA has given Hardy its highest title, something which that other promotion is unlikely to do.
Why would Hardy want to leave that behind?
Second, it's a thank you to Hardy. Dixie Carter has shown that she is nothing if not loyal to a fault. While this occasionally hurts TNA -- such as with Vince Russo, Hulk Hogan, Sting... okay, it pretty much always hurts TNA -- there must be something nice working for someone that always loves your work. Even if Hardy is moving on to more "entertaining" pastures, Dixie probably wanted to thank him for the time he's spent in Orlando. It's a sweet sentiment, for sure.
It's just a shame that this had to take precedent over any actual storytelling.
No use looking back into the past, though, and see what could have been. We are now in the present, and we can wonder what will happen. Aries will certainly remain in the main event picture. He'll get a rematch, but whether it comes at Turning Point or a random episode of Impact Wrestling remains to be seen. Then there is the question of who is next in line. It will be interesting to see exactly how TNA moves forward with Hardy as its new champion.
It can't be any worse than his last run, right?
Aces and 8s! Hogan! Sting! Bully! Devon! Surprise!
As your favorite Cagesider predicted -- no, not Nolan you jerks. I'm talking about me -- Devon was revealed as a member of Aces and 8s. It's certainly a new development, but is it something that will create excitement within the pro wrestling world?
Let's just say I don't know how many butts Devon is going to put in the seats.
There is nothing that can be said after Bound For Glory that couldn't have been said before. The angle is moving too slow and has missed its mark so far. We've gone two straight Pay-Per-Views (PPV's) where those in charge were supposed to be revealed. There is nothing bad per se about Devon being the wrestler unmasked. In fact, I sort of love it. Devon against Bully Ray, a tale of brother fighting against brother.
It's the other "brother" whose involvement I would rather not see.
Hulk Hogan has no business being associated in this angle. He walks in, chews up scenery, no-sells any offense, and sucks in the focus like a black hole. It's impossible for anyone to look strong with Hogan standing in the middle of that ring. This entire thing should be a way to vault a midcarder into the main event.
Yet it just feels like the "same old TNA."
So Aces and 8s will continue, and we will see how the latest twist plays out. I really do want this to end strong. I'm just not too sure how that will happen.
Everything Else! Bullet Points!
- James Storm finally got his revenge on Bobby Roode. Now both can go back to the midcard where Hogan thinks they belong.
- TNA Knockout Champion Tara revealed that her boyfriend was Jessie Godderz. Just because I'm the only one that cares about the Knockouts, I'm going to pretend I'm really excited about this.
- Your NEW TNA X Division Champion is Rob Van Dam. Not even RVD cares about this.
Hopefully this has gotten you prepaired for the night's festivities. Leave a comment about what you are excited about, and please join Nolan, myself, and the whole CSS Thursday Night gang in the live blog right here.