I wrote about how TNA seemed to have completely screwed Bobby Roode over by giving him a four month build up and then changing their mind (thanks to Hulk Hogan) and giving his tag team partner James Storm the title four days after Roode’s defeat to Kurt Angle at Bound for Glory. Roode defeated Samoa “Sore Loser” Joe the next week to become the No.1 contender. I thought that it would take place at the next PPV, Turning Point; however, it was decided to have the match on Impact this week. I heard what had happened so, instead of waiting til Sunday to see the match on Challenge TV, I trawled the internet to see it (thanks You Tube).
I really enjoyed the match. I had some doubt about whether Storm would be a good champion but I was glad to be proven wrong and he and Roode worked well together. The ending had Roode irish whip Storm into the corner, who stopped before he ran into the referee, Brian Hebner. Hebner had to dive out of the ring in order to stop Roode ramming Storm into him but he got injured landing on the floor. Roode in the process went out of the ring as well and spent a good 30-45 seconds debating whether to use Storm’s beer bottle or not. Storm attempts to bring Roode back into the ring, Roode smashes him with the bottle and promptly pins Storm to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.
While I’m happy that Roode has won the Championship, unfortunately, it does seem to personify a lot of what is wrong with TNA. First of all, I was surprised that this match took place on Impact instead of on Turning Point. TNA, like WCW as it approached its end, seem to have all their big title changes and matches more on TV then on PPV. WWE right now will have The Rock having his first wrestling match since Wrestlemania XX at Survivor Series. Would the WWE have that match on RAW or Smackdown instead of a PPV event? Of course they wouldn’t! I know it’s unfair comparing one of the popular wrestlers of all time to a TNA Championship match but the point I’m making is that, if Vince McMahon was in charge of TNA, to help generate more money for the company, he would have had that match at Turning Point, hopefully getting more buy rates for the PPV.
Another thing is that James Storm has just become the TNA version of Christian. In May, Christian finally won the World Heavyweight Championship at Extreme Rules only to lose it two days later to Randy Orton on Smackdown. Storm, while having a slightly longer reign than Christian, has lost in his very first title defence. Also, if the plan was to have Roode become the champion anyway, why didn’t he win it at Bound for Glory, especially since Kurt Angle was carrying an injury?
However, my main problem is they seemed to have crammed an angle that could lasted 2-3 months into 2 weeks. The reason for this seem thanks to, once again, Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff. Rumours are going that Hogan wants his face turn to be the main focus at the minute so, to do that, they need a heel champion. Based on what I saw from last week’s Impact, TNA seem to want the main angle to be between a man who has never wrestled regularly (Eric Bischoff), a 62 year old wrestling legend who shouldn’t be wrestling anymore due to heart problems (Ric Flair), and a referee (Jackson James Garrett Bischoff). Rumours are going round that Hogan might be involved to back up Garrett, so TNA are adding a man who is 57 years old who retired due to numerous injuries but wants to get back in the ring.
I seriously believe that Dixie Carter want to make TNA a better wrestling company, they need to get rid of Hogan and Bischoff. They are stuck in past glories and are unwilling to step aside and let the young talent like AJ Styles, Roode and Austin Aries shine. Add Vince Russo to the mix and you have a company that a lot of people view as a joke. Bruce Pritchard has been promoted to head the writing. However, Bischoff and Hogan have too much creative control. Unfortunately, professional wrestling is at times a selfish business, especially when you have main event wrestlers in charge of the booking. When that happens and it starts to damage the company, you know you have a problem. The question is, does Dixie Carter know that, and if she does, what will she do about it?
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