06/11/2012

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.
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.

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. 

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. 
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.  

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 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
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. 

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.   

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.  


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