Sunday 25 December 2011

2011 Lo-Down Wrestling Awards


Hi everyone, I hope you had a Merry Christmas. It’s Boxing Day and that means that it is time for the inaugural Lo-Down Wrestling Awards. All winners will get well...nothing. Well, a picture of their award and a mention on twitter. It’s the least I can do. What I done is list the winners, with a brief explanation. However, for Moment of the Year, Wrestler of the Year and Match of the Year, I’ve gone into more detail about them and they will be published over the next few days. So, here we go. If you want a look at the nominations, click here.






PPV of the Year

Money in the Bank
Can anyone think of a PPV that had almost universal praise, an awesome atmosphere and one of the best storylines in years going into it? No, me neither. Everything about this event was excellent, from the atmosphere throughout to the matches, which had a brilliant ending. Even the commentary, which has been abysmal at times throughout the year, was pretty decent. This is one of the best PPVs WWE have done in years; and the fact that it had LDW Nominations for Match of the Year (twice), Promo Video of the Year and Surprising Moment of the Year, speaks for itself.






Moment of the Year

The Promo by CM Punk
I have an in-depth article about this moment but here is the video.

Promo Video of the Year

The Miz, Wrestlemania XXVII
At Wrestlemania for the main event, WWE decided to do something a little different. Instead of doing a promo video, they showed a video showcasing each wrestler. For The Miz, it showed clips of various famous wrestlers and Wrestlemania moments interspersed with moments with Miz’s career. It showed on the Real World, being on Tough Enough, being the host of Friday Night Smackdown, and winning the WWE Champonship. The music that they used was “Hate Me Now” by Nas and Puff Daddy, which really fitted the video and Miz’s character. To me, it showed that The Miz had arrived as a main event player and really emphasised how awesome he is.



Feud of the Year

CM Punk vs John Cena June – August
Even though this feud only lasted a couple of months, so much happened during that time. You had Punk doing his shoot promo; Cena getting Punk reinstated and getting threatened with losing his job by Vince; Punk leaving the company with the WWE Championship; Vince McMahon being replaced by Triple H; and Punk returning just after Cena wins the “WWE Championship”. While I feel that Punk should have waited a bit longer before returning, this feud made people want to watch wrestling again.



Match of the Year
CM Punk vs John Cena, Money in the Bank.
This match had a brilliant storyline going into it and with it, a lot of pressure. This match truly delivered. There will be an in-depth article about it during the week.






 “Ok, I Did Not See That Coming” Surprising Moment of the Year

Alberto Del Rio winning the Royal Rumble
Alberto Del Rio had only been in the WWE for a few months so hardly anyone expected to win his first ever Royal Rumble. However, despite a brief scare when he forgot that Santino Marella had not been eliminated, Del Rio did exactly that and he went on to have a tremendous year culminating in becoming a 2-time WWE Champion.




Douchebag of the Year

Matt Hardy
Matt Hardy gets released from his contract at TNA, gets arrested twice for driving while intoxicated, goes into WWE-sponsored rehab and then gets kicked off and arrested for failing a breathalyser test.

Then Hardy puts up a video on YouTube, implying that he was going to commit suicide. This prompts phone calls to the police to check Hardy’s wellbeing. This drew criticism from Jim Ross and Hardy’s sister-in-law.




Worst Match of the Year

Sting vs Jeff Hardy, TNA Victory Road
This wasn’t so much a match as a complete joke. The main event at Victory Road was for the TNA World Championship between Sting and Jeff Hardy. Hardy comes out completely out of it on painkillers, spends ages finding somewhere to throw his T-Shirt. Sting, obviously pissed, hits Hardy with a Scorpion Death Drop and pins Hardy in 88 seconds. Although it was a joke of a match, there was one funny moment when Sting is going back up the aisle and he hears one fan’s bad feelings about what happened, Sting replies “I agree”. Looking back on it now, I don’t know what pisses me off more about Jeff Hardy and TNA: the fact that TNA allowed Hardy to compete in that match in the first place; or Hardy has become No. 1 contender a few months after he returned.

 Most Improved Wrestler of the Year

Mark Henry
You can remember what Mark Henry was doing this time last year? No? Me neither. The most memorable that Henry did in 2010 was him coming out to his “Sexual Chocolate” gimmick at the Old School RAW. Since Henry was drafted to Smackdown and he turned heel, he has been slowly destroying people and inducting people into the “Hall of Pain”, resulting in him defeating Randy Orton cleanly at Night of Champions to become the World Heavyweight Championship. Henry had a domnating run as Champion defeating Orton and The Big Show (twice) before losing it to Show at TLC. Henry has had such a meteoric rise this year and I hope that he continues to be like that in 2012.

Female Wrestler of the Year

Beth Phoenix
Beth Phoenix has proved one of the most dominating female wrestlers in the WWE right now. Aligning herself with Natalya to form the Legion Divas of Doom, Beth defeated Kelly Kelly (at the third attempt) at Hell in a Cell to become Divas Champion. Despite challenges by Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres, Phoenix has ended the year as the Champion and looks to be that way for the foreseeable future.







Wrestler of the Year

CM Punk
Without a doubt, this has been Punk’s year. While many people have had amazing years, I don’t know that they have had a much of an impact as CM Punk. A more in-depth article will be published during the week.








There are the awards. I will edit the article during the week to include the links for the articles for Moment of the Year, Match of the Year and Wrestler of the Year.




Wednesday 21 December 2011

Daniel Bryan: Hypocrite or Opportunist?


Bryan with the MITB Briefcase

Daniel Bryan surprised a lot of people by winning the Smackdown Money in the Bank match. The following Smackdown, Bryan announced to Michael Cole, who has always been critical of him, that he would be cashing it in at Wrestlemania, making him the first person since Rob Van Dam to actually cash it in for a match.

However, since then Bryan seemed to go on a losing streak. He lost to Wade Barrett at Summerslam and wasn’t featured on PPV, only wrestling in the dark matches beforehand. It seemed that his decision to cash in his contract at Wrestlemania was coming back to haunt him.

Show persuading Bryan to cash it in his MITB contract on an unconscious Mark  Henry
Opportunities in which to cash in the contract came when The Big Show started feuding with Mark Henry over the World Heavyweight Championship. Show tried to get Bryan to cash it in after he had laid Henry out on Smackdown at the beginning of November, only for Henry to take out Bryan with a World’s Strongest Slam before he had a chance. After Bryan cashed it in two weeks later and won, it was overturned by General Manager Teddy Long, and it looked like it was increasingly unlikely that Bryan would keep his promise to cash it in at Wrestlemania.

At TLC last Sunday, The Big Show finally defeated Mark Henry in a chairs match to become the World Heavyweight Champion. Henry, understandably, did not take that too well and DDT’ed Show onto a chair. Bryan, after reading Edge’s manual: “How to be the Ultimate Opportunist”, could not resist and cashed in his contract to become the new World Heavyweight Champion to raucous cheers from the Baltimore crowd.

In your face Cole!!
Michael Cole has said since that Bryan is a hypocrite and, although he’s saying that because he doesn’t like Bryan, he does have a point. Bryan had promised that he would cash in his contract at Wrestlemania and not do what most MITB winners have done and take advantage of the champion being attacked by someone else. Bryan was, in effect, going to give the champion a chance to fairly defend his title.

However, to be fair to Bryan, if he did cash in his contract at Wrestlemania, he would be facing either The Big Show or Mark Henry. Both of those guys are over 400 lbs and are twice Bryan’s weight. Bryan is one of the most technically gifted wrestlers that I have ever seen but it would be no contest in terms of strength and he will be easily overpowered by either one of them. Bryan probably realised that he might struggle to defeat them and knew that, in order to become World Heavyweight Champion, he would have to seize the next available opportunity. If the Big Show is unhappy about what happened to him, he only has himself to blame. He was the one who effectively planted the seed in Bryan’s head about cashing in his contract early.

It will be interesting to see where they go from here. They could turn Bryan heel, which judging by the very positive crowd reaction would be insane; or turn Show heel, which might not be advisable since we already have one monster heel on Smackdown. One idea that I saw would be really good and you don’t need either of them to turn heel. The Big Show could say that he respects Bryan cashing it in but he wants a rematch to see if Bryan deserves to be the Champion. Bryan  beats Show cleanly at the Rumble and Show raises his hand as a show of respect.

In terms of Bryan being a hypocrite or an opportunist, I would say that he is both. Yes, he is a hypocrite because he didn’t cash in his contract when he said he would. However, the feud between The Big Show and Mark Henry gave him way too many opportunities to resist. Judging by the crowd reaction at TLC and the following RAW, the fans seem to be happy enough that Bryan is the Champion. For those people who are unhappy for Bryan’s hypocritical behaviour, I’m sorry but if you had the MITB contract and you could either cash it in to give the 400+lb Champion a chance in a proper wrestling match or cash it in when that guy has no chance to defend himself, what would you choose?

Tuesday 20 December 2011

WWE TLC 2011 Review


The final WWE PPV of the year took place at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, home of the Ravens (and The Wire). Did the WWE end the year in style? Let’s take a look

Woo Woo Woo! Zack Ryder finally gets another opportunity to challenge Dolph Ziggler for the United States Championship. I’m not really a big fan of opening PPVs with a title match but these two are guaranteed to get the crowd pumped up. The fans in the arena were cheering for Ryder and he got the early momentum before Ziggler took control for a while with ten consecutive elbow drops. There was a good Scott Steiner-inspired move by Ziggler when he decided to do sit ups using Ryder’s body to keep his feet down. Total dick move by Ziggler. After Ryder hits Ziggler with a Broski Boot and covers him, Vickie Guerrero puts Ziggler’s leg on the rope. However, like Survivor Series, the referee figured it out and ejected Vickie. In the end, Ziggler got hit with the RoughRyder and Zack Ryder becomes the new United States Champion. There was a great shot of Ryder’s dad and best friend celebrating the win. Michael Cole wasn’t happy (tho I don’t really get why) and the crowd were loving it. It is exactly what Zack Ryder deserved. Ryder took it upon himself to get a push, the WWE noticed and he has been eventually rewarded with a title reign. I hope he holds on to it for a while and not lose it in his first defence. As for Ziggler, hopefully he can go onto the main event scene as I can see him being a future WWE Champion. However, it’s time for Ryder to now introduce himself as the US Champion. Congratulations Zack. Woo Woo Woo! You did it!
Winner: Zack Ryder Predictions: 1for 1 (good start!)

 After a backstage segment in which Booker T is attacked by Cody Rhodes, Air Boom make their return after Evan Bourne’s suspension to defend their tag team titles against Epico and Primo. I wish that WWE made these matches earlier in the week so I can make a prediction.  I don’t know much about Epico and Primo but I can see this being a high-flying match. Epico and Primo get the advantage focusing on Bourne. Eventually, Kingston gets the tag, destroys his opponents and hits Trouble in Paradise on Primo to get the win.
Winners: Air Boom Predictions: N/A

After we go backstage to see Hornswoggle gets a Christmas present from Teddy "Santa" Long (with some casual racism thrown in), we have a tables match between Wade Barrett and Randy Orton. Barrett, in the early going, tried to put Orton through a table with a pumphandle slam but it was reversed. Orton then tried to suplex Barrett through a table from the steel steps but it was blocked. Barrett almost won it when he tried to kick Orton off the ring apron through a table but unfortunately, Orton just fell where he was. Barrett then tried to hit Orton with a Wasteland through the table but Orton managed to fight out of it. In the end, Barrett laid Orton out on a table and attempted to splash him through the table from the top turnbuckle. However, Orton got up and hit Barrett with a RKO in mid air to send Barrett through the table and get the victory.
Winner: Randy Orton Predictions: 2 for 2

Backstage, Teddy “Santa” Long decides to make a match between Jack Swagger and Sheamus. Ok then, don’t quite get why but hey, no argument from me.

Next is another match that WWE didn’t announce until after I made my predictions, Kelly Kelly taking on Beth Phoenix for the Divas Championship. I don’t know what Kelly had done to become the No. 1 contender but hopefully Beth can destroy her and go on to someone else. It had an interesting beginning with Beth daring Kelly to slap her in the face (Kelly slapped Beth at the Slammys when she tried to steal Kelly’s award), which Kelly did, giving her the early advantage. Beth gets some momentum and, despite a brief fightback, gets the win after face planting Kelly Kelly.
Winner: Beth Phoenix Predictions: N/A

After Alberto Del Rio and The Miz get into a slagging match, we have Booker T versus  Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Championship. Er...wait, no we don’t because Rhodes attacks Booker during his entrance and is stopped by the referees. It looks like Rhodes really doesn’t want this match and it seems that he succeeded.

Next is the sledgehammer ladder match between Kevin Nash and Triple H. There was some early back and forth between the two and Triple H got some momentum when he started using a ladder to attack Nash’s legs and then did a figure-four leglock with Nash’s legs through the ladder, which was a cool moment. Nash then decided to use the (mumerous) ladders to his advantage, hitting Triple H into them at every opportunity. After Nash tried (and failed) to powerbomb Triple H through the English announce table, Triple H tries to get the sledgehammer but is foiled. Nash brings out a table (it’s not a table match, Kevin) and they both go up the ladder to get the sledgehammer. Nash’s idea to bring out a table comes back to haunt him as Triple H uses the sledgehammer to knock Nash off the ladder and through the table.  Triple H gets the sledgehammer and beats the crap out of Nash with it, does the Pedigree and, despite Nash’s attempt to make peace, hits him in the face with the sledgehammer and gets the win.
Winner: Triple H       Predictions: 3 for 3

After an interview with CM Punk, which was interrupted by John Laurinaitis (did you know that he’s the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and the interim RAW GM?), we had another filler match with Jack Swagger taking on Sheamus. The match was enjoyable, just not really special. Swagger had Sheamus in the ankle lock at one point, which Sheamus countered and then he hit the Brogue Kick to get the pinfall.
Winner: Sheamus      Predictions: N/A

Next is a chairs match with Mark Henry vs Big Show III for the World Heavyweight Championship. After the last two matches between these two hopefully, we can get a clean finish for once.  The start of the match had Show go out and throw a ton of chairs into the ring (almost hitting the referee a couple of times). Henry decided that he didn’t want to take part in a chairs match after all and attempted to leave. Show thought differently and hit Henry with a chair. Henry managed to get some momentum later on and proceeded to injure Show’s right hand. However, Show managed to hit Henry with the WMD out of nowhere and get the win. Ok, I wasn’t expecting a long match but that was what, about 5, 10 minutes?  I guess my wish to see Henry stay champion until Wrestlemania isn’t going to happen. Anyway, congratulations to the Big Show for becoming World Champion for the first time since losing the WWE Championship to Kurt Angle in December 2002.
Winner: Big Show Predictions: 3 for 4

Unfortunately for the Big Show, Mark Henry didn’t take losing the World Heavyweight Championship too well and proceeds to destroy Show with chair shots and a DDT, driving his head into a chair. Then Daniel Bryan, after reading Edge’s manual: “How to be the Ultimate Opportunist”, takes advantage, cashes in his Money in the Bank briefcase, pins the Big Show, and becomes the new World Heavyweight Champion. Wow! Even though Bryan has had plenty of opportunities to cash it in, I thought that he would do it at Wrestlemania as he promised. Now this could go in so many different directions; Bryan could turn heel or he could have a match with Show to prove that he deserves to be the Champion. I’m looking forward to see where this will go. Congratulations to Daniel Bryan on becoming the new World Heavyweight Champion and I did enjoy him rubbing it in Michael Cole’s face afterwards.

You know that I wrote earlier that the match between Booker T and Cody Rhodes was off. it turned out that it was postponed as Booker is going to have another go at it. Booker goes flying out the blocks and goes after Rhodes and it turned out to be a decent match. Despite Booker getting a lot of offence in, the earlier attacks by Rhodes took their toll on him and Rhodes kicked him in the head twice to get the pinfall.
Winner: Cody Rhodes Predictions: 4 for 5

It's now time for the main event, a TLC match between The Miz, Alberto Del Rio and CM Punk for the WWE Championship. Quite a lot of stuff happens in this match, so I'll go through it the best I can. After Punk goes through a table, Del Rio puts him in a cross armbreaker through a chair. Later on, Punk tries to go up the ladder but Ricardo Rodriguez attempts to stop him and ends up handcuffing Punk to the ladder. That's an unique way to prevent someone from collecting the title. However, it only slows Punk down as he manages to break the ladder. Rodriguez decides to grab the title on Del Rio's   behalf. However, he is stopped by Miz and Punk, sending him crashing to the tables below. After a little bit of back and forth, Miz handcuffs Punk again, this time to the middle rope. That should stop Punk. But that doesn't stop Punk as he dismantles the middle rope, breaking the ring in the process. Punk fucking rules!!! In the end ,they were all up on ladders, Miz and Del Rio get thrown off but Miz pulls Punk off the ladder. Punk responds by giving him a GTS and Punk goes on to win and retain the WWE Championship. This was a really fun match and I really liked the way that, despite being handcuffed twice, Punk just wouldn't give up.
Winner: CM Punk Predictions: 5 for 6

TLC had some good wrestling matches with a great opening match and a really fun main event, although it was weird not having John Cena there at all. However, there were too many backstage segments for me, although I know why they did (to prepare the equipment for some of the matches). Overall, I enjoyed this PPV and it was a good way for WWE to end the year. And the best bit is, since I only got one prediction wrong, I ended the year being over 50% in my Average Prediction Rate. Yay me!

Sunday 18 December 2011

WWE TLC 2011 Preview


It’s the last PPV of the year and will WWE end the year on a high? Only 6 matches that have been announced, so let’s look at the card.

Randy Orton will take on Wade Barrett in a tables match and there’s a possibility that this might open the show. I know people might complain that a former World Champion shouldn’t open the PPV, but he did that with CM Punk at Extreme Rules and they both ended up winning Championships. This is quite a tough one as I can see both guys winning. However, I don’t see Orton losing two PPV matches in a row, so I think that he will win.
Predicted winner: Randy Orton

Zack Ryder, thanks to a petition and some help from John Cena, gets another chance for the United States Championship against Dolph Ziggler. If you’ve seen Ryder’s show Z! True Long Island Story, you would have seen this feud develop over the last few months. I’ve enjoyed Ziggler’s reign as US Champion; however, I think it’s time for Ryder to stop introducing himself as the Internet Champion and say “the United States Champion” instead.
Predicted winner: Zack Ryder

The Intercontinental Championship is on the line as Booker T takes on Cody Rhodes. While Booker’s commentary has been...interesting, I do prefer him as a wrestler and he might be the best person to help Rhodes push onto the main event scene. I can see this feud going past the Royal Rumble. Therefore, I think that Rhodes will retain.
Predicted winner: Cody Rhodes

In a “sledgehammer on a pole (kinda) match”, Kevin Nash will take on his former friend (and COO) Triple H. Even though, he’s one of my favourite wrestlers, I can see Triple H losing. After a bit of thought, Triple H has been out for a while thanks to Nash and I think he will get revenge at the PPV.
Predicted Winner: Triple H

Big Show vs Mark Henry III is the match for the World Heavyweight Championship. I’m not really looking forward to this one but with it being a chairs match, we are at least guaranteed a winner. I think that Henry will retain and then go on to induct a new person into the Hall of Pain.
Predicted Winner: Mark Henry

The WWE Championship is on the line in a triple threat TLC match with CM Punk defending against Alberto Del Rio and The Miz. It’s good to see The Miz back in the WWE title picture and Del Rio is always a joy to watch. However, I believe that CM Punk will remain the champion for the foreseeable future. Therefore, I’m going for Punk to win.
Predicted Winner: CM Punk

So there you have it. It’s a bit weird not having a PPV with John Cena in it so I expect that he will be involved at some point. Otherwise, it looks to be a decent show. I hope you enjoy it and a review of the show will be up during the week.

Thursday 8 December 2011

2011 Lo-Down Wrestling Awards – Nominations

As we approach the end of the year, it’s time for me to release the nominations for the inaugural Lo-Down Wrestling Awards. I would like your input so feel free to give your options by placing comments at the end of this article or sending me a message via twitter (@lodownwrestling).

Here are the nominations:

Wrestler of the Year
·         Mark Henry.
·         Alberto Del Rio.
·         CM Punk.
Most Improved Wrestler of the Year
·         Cody Rhodes.
·         Mark Henry.
·         Zack Ryder.
Female Wrestler of the Year
·         Beth Phoenix
·         Kelly Kelly
·         Mickie James
Match of the Year
·         Undertaker vs Triple H, Wrestlemania XXVII.
·         Layla vs Michelle McCool, Extreme Rules
·         Randy Orton vs Christian, Smackdown, 6th May 2011.
·         RAW Money in the Bank match.
·         CM Punk vs John Cena, Money in the Bank.
Promo Video of the Year
This is for the video that you see before certain matches, describing the feud up to that point.
·         Undertaker vs Triple H, Wrestlemania XXVII http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06J7QGFpkKw
·         The Miz, Wrestlemania XXVII http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2aw71vghm0
·         CM Punk vs John Cena, Money in the Bank http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuOavBgmsIY
PPV of the Year
·         Elimination Chamber
·         Money in the Bank
·         Summerslam
Moment of the Year
·         The return of the Rock as he’s announced as the host of Wrestlemania
·         Christian winning the World Heavyweight Championship at Extreme Rules
·         The Promo by CM Punk, RAW 27th June 2011
“Ok, I Did Not See That Coming”
Surprising Moment of the Year
·         Alberto Del Rio winning the Royal Rumble
·         Daniel Bryan winning the Smackdown Money in the Bank match.
·         James Storm becoming TNA World Heavyweight Champion
Feud of the Year
·         Edge vs Alberto Del Rio, January – April.
·         Randy Orton vs Christian, May - September
·         CM Punk vs John Cena, June - August
Douchebag of the Year
This requires some explanation:
·         Matt Hardy. Hardy managed to get himself out of his contract at TNA like he did at the WWE the year before; got arrested for DUI; then implied on Twitter that he was planning suicide, prompting tons of phone calls to the local police. Hardy goes into rehab then gets kicked out when he decided to relapse.
·         Hulk Hogan. Hogan was highly critical of Edge’s retirement due to a neck injury, which was a slap to the face from Edge’s childhood hero; stops Bobby Roode from becoming TNA Champion at Bound for Glory; and, after wanting his face turn to be the main focal point, making Roode become a heel champion in the process, then has not been on TV since.
·         Michael Cole. Cole has become the most annoying person in wrestling at the moment, taking part in some terrible matches; continually embarrassing Jim Ross; and, especially on Smackdown, the constant bickering making the commentary almost unbearable. I feel sorry for Booker T, Jerry Lawler and Josh Mathews for having to put with it.
Worst Match of the Year
·         Sting vs Jeff Hardy, TNA Victory Road
·         Michael Cole vs Jerry “The King” Lawler, Wrestlemania XXVII
·         Sin Cara vs Falso Cara (Hunico), Hell in a Cell

So, there you have it. I will be announcing the winners on Boxing Day at about 12pm (GMT) so, if you wish to have your say, you have until Christmas Eve. 

Wednesday 7 December 2011

The Consequences of Turning Heel

I have written a couple of articles about the journey of Bobby Roode, from tag team wrestler to TNA Champion in the space of a few months. Roode had a title match against Kurt Angle at Bound for Glory and, thanks to some cheating, Angle had won. The following Impact, Roode’s tag team partner, James Storm, defeats Angle to become TNA Champion. Two weeks later, Roode defeated Storm to become TNA Champion. The match wasn’t without controversy as Roode hit a beer bottle on Storm’s head to gain the victory.

Since then, Roode has risen to become one of the top heels in the company which, considering that TNA is where heels can prosper is quite an achievement. While Roode’s behaviour has been that of a typical villain, Roode can have a valid argument to betray his best friend. He can argue that he had been betrayed first when Storm took the TNA Championship that should have been his.

Since that time, Roode has managed to alienate his friends at Fortune, Sting and Dixie Carter. While that was expected, Roode had also managed to alienate his family. In an interesting video, Roode’s family and his childhood friend talked over how disappointed they are with the way he has been behaving since becoming TNA Champion. Roode’s reaction to it was that it shouldn’t matter as long as he’s putting money on the table.

While I have been extremely critical of the reason behind Roode’s heel turn, I like what they have done here. TNA showed videos about Roode and his family before Bound for Glory, really building him up. I thought it was a great idea by TNA to add a real life element to what Roode has done. I liked the bit in the video when Roode’s wife had to try to explain to their 2 young boys as to why their father had to cheat to become TNA Champion, betraying his best friend in the process. Yes, we all know that professional wrestling is more of a performance but the children are too young to know that. They believe that it is real and I really felt sorry for Roode’s wife having to deal with that situation.

TNA can go in a few directions on this. You could have more videos like this over time as Roode goes further into darkness and in danger of tearing his family apart. You could have Roode’s family involved in a storyline where they are trying to stop Roode from alienating everyone.

It would be nice if TNA could do more things like this, adding a real life element to their storylines. It makes them more interesting and can make the company seem less of a joke, as viewed by some people.