Bound for Glory 2013: I Give Up

AJ Styles wins
Photo from TNA Wrestling

By Chad Smart

@chadsmart & @my123cents on Twitter

I want to start this off with a disclaimer. I hate being negative about wrestling. I hate being negative in life in general. I’ve tried to have a positive outlook, especially over the last year. I’ve been a fan of TNA since day 1. Longtime readers of the blog may remember my live recap of last year’s Bound For Glory weekend where I said the weekend was a better experience than Wrestlemania weekend. With that said, what I’m about to write is very disappointing and frustrating.

After watching Bound For Glory 2013, I can no longer tolerate TNA/Impact wrestling. I’ve felt this year has seen TNA regress from the positive strides they made during 2012. The Chris Saban World Title win seemed like something that TNA had to do to make Destination X feel important instead of something that happened organically.  Aces and Eights started falling apart with no one in the gang having moved up the pecking order in the TNA roster. Bringing in Rampage Jackson and Tito Ortiz only to have them removed from television a few weeks later. And then there was the release of several underutilized wrestlers that when asked about the cuts, Dixie Carter had this to say: “I think part of our problem is that we didn’t turn the roster often enough. … We have to be able to do that to where we can shift and make talent appear fresh ….I know that our competitor lets people go constantly. We had not done it in a long time, and I think because we had not done it in a long time, that it raised some eyebrows. … It’s time for us to bring in some new faces… It’ll freshen things up somewhat.” How bringing in new Jobbers (which is essentially how the cut talent had been portrayed) to wrestle the same core group of guys who have been the focus of TNA for the past 7-10 years freshens up TNA, I don’t know. Maybe I should tweet #AskDixie and she’ll let me know.

Giving all the steps back, my interest in TNA has dwindled over the past six months or so. Initially I was excited for BFG to be taking place in San Diego and was going to once again take part in the weekend festivities. However, I wanted to wait until the show got closer before buying a ticket, as I was afraid the main event could end up as Bully Ray vs. Hulk Hogan. I have zero interest in ever seeing Hulk Hogan wrestle another match. As the months went by and the likelihood of the Bully/Hogan match seemed less and less likely, I found myself overall not caring about anything that could take place on the show. So instead I opted to stay home and watch instead of making the two-hour drive to San Diego.

Gail Kim & Lei'D Tapa
Photo by TNA Wrestling

If I had started this blog off by saying I watched a wrestling show last night and on the show I saw a women’s champion winning with assistance from a muscular female of Southern Pacific heritage, the owner of the company trying to prevent the fan favorite from winning the title and that wrestler winning the World title even though he doesn’t have a contract, would you think I was watching a TNA show or a WWE show?  For some reason TNA can’t comprehend the idea of presenting a different wrestling product than what WWE is doing.

If I watch RAW on Monday, why would I want to see the same thing on Thursday? I don’t even watch Smackdown because I feel it’s more of the same of what happens on RAW.  TNA has a roster full of talent that could go out and wrestler amazing match after amazing match yet bad writing is overshadowing the wrestlers.  With Hulk Hogan’s contract expiring and TNA making budget cuts, there was hope that the focus could be taken off the General Manager and put on the people actually doing the physical part of the job. I forgot that we live in a post-Montreal Screw job era and wrestling shows can only operate under the direction where the person who owns the company and has the power to fire people must instead make life miserable for the wrestlers fans cheer. So instead of simply phasing Hogan out, we get the unnecessary heel turn of Dixie Carter. To be fair, I have also stopped watching RAW on a regular basis because I don’t enjoy seeing Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. 

AJ & Dixie (not at BFG)
Photo by TNA Wrestling

I can’t think of anything that happened at Bound For Glory that has me looking forward to what’s going to come next in TNA.  With AJ Styles winning the World Title, even though he “doesn’t have a contract” makes me fear we’re going to get more Dixie Carter trying to get the title off of AJ. Again, it comes down to do you want to see Stephanie McMahon torment Daniel Bryan or do you want to watch Dixie Carter harass AJ Styles. For my time, I’ll pass on both.

Sorry TNA wrestlers. You are extremely talented and I wish it were still 2004 when I could see you on Indie shows. Unfortunately it’s 2013 and I don’t want to sit through Community Theater retelling of WWE stories. 

I’ll continue to monitor what happens in TNA and will hope they right the ship and finally after 12-years will create their own identity. However, given the track record of the last 11-years, I don’t see TNA management learning from their mistakes. Or more accurately, I don’t think TNA management sees their mistakes.

When will Chikara rise from the ashes and bring entertainment back to wrestling? 

Things I'd Like to See Addressed in TNA

By Chad Smart

@chadsmart & @my123cents

I had planned on making this a 5-part series, but 1) who really wants to read 5 blogs and 2) I’m lazy so getting one blog is challenging enough these days. As I’ve said over the past year, I really feel TNA is on the right path to being a solid company and worthy competitor to WWE. That being said, there’s still a lot of work to be done before TNA can get lazy and rest on any laurels of success. The following is a list of things I’d like to see addressed before Bound For Glory.

Hernandez & Chavo
Photo courtesy: TNA

The Tag Team Division: For the past few months there have been three tag teams battling over the titles. Chavo/Hernandez, Roode/Aries and Daniels/Kaz have been playing hot potato with the number one contendership and the tag belts. Am I to believe there are no other tag teams in TNA that could at least act as a buffer to prolong another match between the previously named trio of teams? Aces and Eights have two potential teams in their ranks. Why haven’t Bischoff/Brisco or Doc/Knox attempted to bring the tag gold to the clubhouse? Why were Robbie E and Robbie T split up? Why did Joey Ryan and Matt Morgan never do anything as a tag team after putting them together at Bound For Glory 2012?  Sure the tag team title matches have all been good this year but the division is far from ideal.

Wrestlers Disappear for Months at a Time: Speaking of tag teams, at Slammiversary, James Storm got to pick his partner for a Four Way Tag Title Match.  His partner was the returning, Gunner. I don’t remember the last time Gunner was on TV and pretty sure the last time he was on Impact he was a heel teaming with Kid Kash.  So Gunner shows up and the crowd let out a collective, “who’s that?” 

Right before Lockdown, Sting brought back Eric Young to be on his team for the Lethal Lockdown match. EY had appeared sporadically over the past year due to shooting his reality fishing show. I don’t think EY has been seen since Lockdown. There may be a storyline reason for his absence that I don’t recall, but the point is wrestlers being brought in and used once or twice then disappearing is more the norm than the exception in TNA. Look at how guys are brought in for X-Division matches and once they lose are rarely seen again until a spot has to be filled in an X-Division match.

One of my big complaints with WWE and TNA is the same wrestlers are on every show, and usually interacting with the same wrestlers week after week. I wish one company would learn how to effectively rotate the roster so shows feel fresh.

Why is the Knockout Tag Title Still Around? It was bad enough when Eric Young and ODB won the Knockout tag titles but now that they’ve been champions for over a year while Eric is rarely around and ODB has been named the Knockout division referee, can the titles be forgotten? Most fans probably have forgotten they exist anyway. I’m including this here because EY/ODB are still listed as champions on the Impact Wrestling website.

Aces & Eights

Why Should I Care About Aces and Eights? Have Aces and Eights ever won a match they didn’t rig?  I think the nWo B-team won more matches than Aces and Eights have won. Why bring in Doc and Knox and have them be nothing more than punching bags for Sting and Kurt Angle? They’re close to the point where they should swamp out D-Lo Brown with Al Snow and change the name of the group to The Job Squad.

For the love of God, do not have Hogan vs. Bully Ray at Bound for Glory: I may be putting the horse before the cart for this one. However, given the storyline with Hogan wanting revenge for Bully Ray tricking him into giving Bully the title shot at Lockdown and for Bully marrying Brooke Hogan.  Add in Hogan’s recent comments about wrestling again and wanting to be TNA Champion, I’m going to address this possible scenario.

Hogan & Bully Ray
Photo courtesy: TNA

Yes Hulk Hogan gets one of the loudest cheers from live audiences. Why? Hulk Hogan is a legend in the sport of wrestling and had a hall of fame career. If Magic Johnson stepped foot at center court of the Staples Center, he’d most likely get a loud ovation as well. Same thing would happen if Wayne Gretzky, Ozzie Smith and Dan Marino took the field in their respective hometown arenas. Does this mean they should suit up and play another game? No. It means fans are appreciative of the athlete’s careers and are giving them the reaction earned from years of playing.  Hulk Hogan is the biggest name on the TNA roster, of course he’s going to get cheered. In no way though should the Hulkster consider another match, especially a match for the TNA title.

A big reason why wrestling is stagnant at the moment is the lack of new stars being made. Putting the biggest name in the business, who’s been around for over 30-years in a match with a guy who’s been around for nearly 20-years isn’t going to do anything for the long term success of TNA. It will give the appearance that TNA doesn’t know how to build new stars and relies on past stars to sell their shows.

Since TNA has four months to build up to Bound For Glory, hopefully they’ll use that time to take whoever they see has a potential face of the company and build that person up as a credible challenger for the title. Now that I’ve typed that, unless Hogan is entered into the Bound For Glory series, there should be no logical way he challenges for the title at BFG. Stranger things have happened though. TNA could always rehash the ending of Wrestlemania 9.

So there are just five areas I’d like to see addressed by TNA and improved upon before their biggest show of the year. Since Bound For Glory is being held in San Diego, I am planning on making the two-hour trip down Interstate 5 to see the show for the second consecutive year. Last year’s show was a better experience than being at Wrestlemania 28. We’ll see if the same holds true this year.

Do you have any suggestions for TNA? Share them on our Facebook page. Not that TNA will read them. Just curious to hear what other fans think. 

Will 2013 Be a Breakout Year for TNA?

TNA Stars at the Hall of Fame Ceremony
Photo by: My 1-2-3 Cents

By Chad Smart
@chadsmart & @my123cents on Twitter

I’ll admit that Kevin and I don’t give TNA the fair amount of coverage we should on the blog. Part of the reason is because most of the feedback we get from readers centers on WWE. That is understandable since WWE is the number one wrestling promotion and most casual fans associate all wrestling as being WWE wrestling. The other main reason for the lack of TNA coverage is when we talk about other wrestling promotions; Kevin usually talks about Pro Wrestling Collision because he’s associated with the company while I usually discuss Chikara because that’s my favorite promotion. I often feel bad we don’t write about more companies, but then I watch cat videos on YouTube* and forget about writing anything for a few days.

Most of the blogs I write are based around concepts I think will get at least two or three comments. That’s another reason why I tend to write about something that is popular or mainstream. However, if I would write more about happenings in the wrestling world that excite or interest me, I would write ten blogs about TNA to every one blog about WWE. 

Honestly, while there are certain aspects to WWE programming I like at the moment, I haven’t been able to watch a full episode of RAW in over a month. On the other channel, while not a perfect show, I am more intrigued about what will happen on Impact on a weekly basis.

Recently, TNA President, Dixie Carter made some announcements that change the landscape of TNA Wrestling. Personally, I think these changes are long overdue but at the same time I’m curious to see if they’ll pay off in the long run.

The first dramatic change was going from 12 pay per views a year to only four live shows.  TNA has taped three shows for future PPV airings, and plan to tape either three or four more in March. These taped shows will run during months that don’t have a live show and will be more or less stand-alone shows.   This is a move I have been waiting to happen for at least five years. I wish WWE would also follow suit. Twelve pay per views is too many. By going back to four main shows this should allow TNA writers to build storylines and feuds to the point of wanting to see the match instead of rushing something together in 2-3 weeks. Also it should mean no last minute or unannounced matches added to the pay per view. As an old school fan who remembers when there was only the Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series in WWF and Starrcade, SuperBrawl, Great American Bash and Halloween Havoc in WCW, I gladly welcome TNA scaling back to just Genesis, Lockdown, Slammiversary and Bound For Glory. I’ll also admit that I am more likely to order these shows as shelling out $40 every 3-4 months is a lot easier on the wallet than paying every month.

In the last day or two there has been rumors that Lockdown (the next TNA PPV) will only feature the top matches inside a cage instead of having the entire show take place inside the cage as has been the norm since Lockdown’s inception. Again, this is something I’ve been wishing for since the first Lockdown. There was a time when cage matches had meaning. The cage was used as an ender to a violet feud or was used to keep people from interfering. Now cage matches are used as props on a roulette wheel or as an excuse to see a wrestler perform jaw dropping aerial move. In addition to not understanding why guys who weren’t even feuding were placed into a cage match, having every match in the cage took away the prestige of the Lethal Lockdown match. If this is the direction TNA is going with this year’s Lockdown, I fully support them.

Perhaps the biggest news of the last two weeks was Impact leaving the Impact Zone and taking the show on the road. My biggest fear is TNA management will think they can sell more seats than they actually will and thus book large arenas. In my perfect world, TNA would be content to think of themselves as a modern day ECW and book smaller, more intimate arenas. My favorite ECW arena was the Madhouse of Extreme in Queens, NY. If TNA could find someplace like that and realize a rabid, raucous crowd of 1000-1500 fans can make for a better show than a 20,000-seat arena full of fans that only care about the World Champion.

Chad & Jeff Hardy
Photo by My 1-2-3 Cents

Will these changes help TNA? Will the audience grow over the course of the year? I don’t know. If TNA keeps on the path they’ve been on for the past 8 months or so, if fans would watch with open eyes and leave their blind hatred based on something that happened eight years ago aside, I would think business should grow. TNA isn’t perfect.  Aces and Eights haven’t won a meaningful match. The Knockout Tag Titles are still in limbo. Hulk Hogan is still scaring fans away by saying he wants to be TNA World Champion and the X-Division is treated like a red-headed stepchild. Overlooking those flaws, which could easily be fixed, there is a lot of good wrestling, good characters and freshness in TNA. I will gladly take Jeff Hardy as champion over David Arquette 2k13 headlining Wrestlemania any day. Changing venues will make Impact seem fresher, but the writers and wrestlers still have to deliver. Hopefully they’re up for the task.

What are you thoughts? Will these changes help TNA? Are you more inclined to watch TNA because of the changes or will you be watching Community?

*I don’t actually watch cat videos. 

Making An Impact With Less Pay Per Views

Dixie Carter & Chad at Bound for Glory weekend
Photo by My 1-2-3 Cents

By Chad Smart
@chadsmart & @my123cents on Twitter

Last week TNA President Dixie Carter announced a change in TNA’s schedule for the 2013 pay per view calendar. Instead of doing 12 live monthly shows, TNA was scaling back to 4 live big pay per views and 7 taped themed shows for the year. The live shows are Genesis in January, Lockdown in March, Slammiversary in June and Bound For Glory in October. TNA taped the first two themed shows on January 12. One of the shows was called Joker’s Wild Tag Team Tournament and featured a tournament where wrestlers were paired together by drawing names from a hat. The second show was an X-Division spotlight show. Future shows will include an all Knockouts show, a return of the ECW Hardcore Justice concept (this one I’m really not excited about as I think it’s time to let ECW rest in peace) and a return of the World Cup tournament, which was a staple in TNA’s early days. The taped pay per views will carry a price tag of only $14.99. If I were a cynical, jaded wrestling fan, I’d think someone within TNA finally replaced the 1997 calendar hanging in the office with one for 2013.

On a serious note, with the changes I’ve seen in TNA over the past year, I hope fans will finally let go of their preconceived bias against TNA and give them a new fresh look. A few weeks ago we unveiled the winners of the Centies Awards. We didn’t do a promotion of the year, but if we had, TNA would have been my pick. I have been impressed with their focus on more long-term storytelling as well as starting to let homegrown (or at least non-WWE made) stars shine. Not saying they’re perfect and there is still some room for growth, but compared to the first 9 years of TNA, it seems they’re finally starting to give the fans what they want to see in an alternative to WWE.

Samoa Joe in action
Photo by My 1-2-3 Cents

I hope the move to only four major pay per views will help strengthen storylines and TNA builds the shows as must see events. I have been saying for at least the last five years there are too many pay per views. With monthly shows, a lot of matches get thrown on at the last minute with no build as a way to fill out the show and there are usually rematches on several shows which, as a fan I hate paying to see the same matches over and over. Even though I applaud the decision to cut back on pay per views, there is one change I hope to see coincide with less shows.

BETTER USE OF THE ROSTER

One of my biggest complaints with the current mainstream wrestling product is the same wrestlers are on TV usually going through the same motions week after week. Part of the reason is because when you’re building to a pay per view in 3-4 weeks, the wrestlers facing each other have to be focused in order to try and sell the show. Now that TNA will have 8, 13, and 18 weeks between pay per views; this should give them time to showcase more than the top 10 guys and the latest challengers to the secondary titles.

At the tapings for the Jokers Wild Tag Tournament and X-Division shows, several talents that hadn’t been on TV for months were used. Hopefully this is a sign that we may see some new/old talents appear on Impact in the coming months. One issue I find to be hindering the major wrestling promotions these days is the hierarchy of talent. It seems there are Main Eventers and then everyone else. TNA has the chance now to really establish the stars of tomorrow. Will they utilize this opportunity or will we continue to get the same old same old from week to week?

Chad & the Hogans
Photo by My 1-2-3 Cents

TNA isn’t perfect but they have been making strides to be better. Sure I’d like to see the Bully Ray/Brooke Hogan relationship angle quietly fade away and never be mentioned again. That is only one aspect of the company though. There is far more good than bad on a normal episode of Impact. I am curious to see where they go this year and have the feeling if I end up going to Bound For Glory again this year as I am planning, I will walk out of the show feeling it was a better show than Wrestlemania. That’s a big statement, I know. Given the direction WWE and TNA are headed though, I feel I can safely make the statement without having to worry about eating my words. We’ll find out in October.

What do you think of TNA’s decision to cut back on the number of live pay per views? Does the decision make you more likely to check out a pay per view? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.

Time to Take a New Look at TNA

By Chad Smart

@chadsmart & @my123cents on Twitter

Last week on From the Rafter’s radio (past episodes available on iTunes) a question was asked whether TNA would get four straight weeks of a rating of at least 1.5 or higher by the end of 2013. Today on the My123 Cents Facebook page, I asked what does TNA need to do to get more people watching. Based on the answers received, I got the feeling a lot of people haven’t watched Impact much in the past 6-9 months as a lot of the criticisms don’t apply to the current product. Being a fan of TNA and wanting to see them succeed, I felt I should address some of the answers and try to clear up some misconceptions about TNA.

GET RID OF ANYONE FANS ASSOCIATE WITH WWE/WCW/ECW: Two years ago I would have agreed with this assessment. Back in 2007 when I was living with my cousin, after watching the Victory Road pay per view, he thought Vince McMahon owned TNA because of all the ex-WWE guys who were on the show. Today, while there are still several ex-WWE/ECW/WCW guys on the roster, I feel for the most part they are being better utilized.

Of all the ex-guys, Mr. Anderson is the only person I can think of that I would cut due to just not being a fan. I also think Kurt Angle needs to freshen up his act as he’s very repetitive these days. Sting is being used in a way that helps elevate younger talent. Bully Ray has reinvented himself and created a completely different persona separate from Bubba Ray Dudley. Devon has been used to help mentor newer talent. Jeff Hardy is arguably the most popular guy on the roster and seems to be motivated and trying to re-establish his reputation after a couple of down years. Chavo Guerrero is still relatively new to TNA but after the way he was used for the last couple years in WWE, I’m hoping he wants to show what he’s capable of inside the ring. Rob Van Dam, while a step slower than he was in his prime is still popular and can put on good matches.

I do wish TNA would not relay on putting titles on ex-WWE guys as soon as they come into the company. For the most part though, established guys are being used to help establish the next generation. That is something I think a lot of fans overlook. If TNA didn’t use any established stars, a lot of fans wouldn’t see the homegrown talent as being very good because they haven’t been in the ring with anyone of note. I once had a friend ask me why he should care about Jerry Lynn appearing on a local indy show because “Lynn didn’t do anything important when he was in WWE.”  While I think wrestlers should be able to cement their stature based on their work, there is a section of the fan base that doesn’t care how good a match guys have, if they haven’t heard of at least one of the wrestlers in the match, even though they’re on TV the wrestlers are on the same level as the local indy wrestlers who wrestle on the weekend in front of 30 people.

In a perfect world, TNA’s roster could exist of only guys they’ve made but this isn’t a perfect world. So TNA uses ex-WWE who fans know as a way to draw an audience and bring in wrestlers who may have wrestled in WWE but didn’t achieve much success and (hopefully) uses them in a way to make them bigger names.

DITCH HOGAN AND ALL THE GUYS OVER 50. FOCUS ON THE YOUNG GUYS:  I believe Sting is the only other TNA roster member who is over 50. I just looked up Stings age and was surprised to find out he’s 53. Sting is definitely no spring chicken but he’s also not a broken down relic. To repeat myself from the last section, Sting has been used to help elevate newer talent and he’s not embarrassing himself in matches. Hogan if the General Manager but what separates him from a WWE GM is rarely does he get 20 minutes of in-ring talk time. I feel TNA has done a good job of relegating Hogan to backstage segments, which help propel the storytelling aspect of the show. Even though I wasn’t crazy about Hogan taking out three Aces and Eights members at Bound For Glory, the reaction from the crowd showed fans still like seeing him do his act. Hogan isn’t dominating the show and, say it with me, he is being used to help put over new talent. When he says Matt Morgan, Joey Ryan or Austin Aries are the new generation that tells fan to pay attention to these guys.

I also wonder how many of the fans who complain about the use of ex-WWE guys are the same ones clamoring for Steve Austin to come back to fight CM Punk or cheer every time The Rock and Mick Foley show up on WWE TV.

GET RID OF THE DUMB STORYLINES: I don’t think that’s TNA specific. I’m trying to think of all the ongoing storylines in TNA and the only one I would throw into the dumb category is the ODB/Eric Young story. The main reason I think it’s dumb is because once Vince Russo was fired, I was hoping the Knockout division would regain some focus and importance. Instead Eric Young is one half of the Knockout Tag Champions. Other than that, since the Claire Lynch story was ended all the stories in TNA make sense, are logical and put an emphasis on either being champion, wanting to be champion or wanting to be in TNA. Even though I don’t understand why TNA has a camera in the Aces and Eights hideout, the story being told is the A&8s want to be in TNA and will do whatever they need to to get a spot on the roster. 

Compare TNA to what’s going on in WWE. If fans aren’t watching TNA because of dumb storylines yet continue to tune into RAW every week, well maybe it’s not the storylines that are dumb.

THEY NEED TO CHANGE THEIR BOOKING STYLE: Again, anyone who has watched TNA in the last 6-9 months should have seen a change in booking style. Stories have logical advancement and a focus. 90% of what happens on Impact has a reason for happening. Instead of throwing random guys into a match or having the same match week after week, there is purpose and story advancement to the majority of each segment on Impact.

HIRE YOUNGER GUYS. SIGN MORE INDY TALENT: There are several wrestlers on the Independent level I would like to see get a shot at national exposure. However, there are several factors into bringing them into TNA. First off, TNA can’t just sign every talent that’s out there and have them appear on Impact. That roster should remain at a level where everyone can be properly utilized and honestly, that’s one of TNA’s problems. There are several wrestlers already on the roster who don’t get airtime for weeks or month at a time. Bringing in more wrestlers would only add to the problem unless TNA cuts several talents. In which case fans would probably complain TNA cut the wrong people.

Even if TNA is interested in talent, the talent may not be interested in TNA. If talent as heard WWE may be interested in signing them in the future, they will be less likely to take a TNA offer and not being available when WWE calls. If they are top-level indy talent, being able to control when and where they work could be more enticing then having a company dictate where you’re going. Money could also be factor. Someone who works every weekend could potentially make more money working indies and selling merchandise than a TNA position pays. Would it be worth bigger exposure to take a pay cut?

FINAL WORD:  After looking at the reasons fans seem to not like TNA, I think a lot of people need to take another look at TNA. And I don’t mean tune in for ten minutes and as soon as you see someone you don’t like change the channels. I mean actually watch an entire show for a few weeks. Learn the story lines and see the action in the ring. I will make a challenge to anyone. Watch TNA for a month. If after a month, you think WWE is better than TNA, well, I don’t know what I’ll do. Plus, I’m still skeptical that with the Thanksgiving episode of Impact next week that we’ll see AJ Styles in a turkey costume again. Seriously though, today’s TNA is not the same TNA that a lot of fans claim to hate. I honestly believe that if you are a wrestling fan, I said wrestling fan not WWE fan, and you can’t enjoy Impact, then the problem isn’t with TNA.

Bound for Glory: A Fan's Perspective

Jeff Hardy: New TNA Champion
Bound for Glory '12
Photo by My 1-2-3 Cents

By Chad Smart
@chadsmart & @my123cents on Twitter

After the experiences on Saturday at the Fan Fest and Hall of Fame dinner, I was eagerly anticipating Bound For Glory. I thought the card was a decent line up. Granted I would have preferred to see a Knockout 4-Way with Madison Rayne and Gail Kim added to the match instead of a straight rematch from No Surrender with Tara vs. Miss Tessmacher, That match notwithstanding, there wasn’t any match I saw as a “bathroom break” match. My biggest concern, as I wrote about last week, was whether or not there would be any significant story development with the Aces and Eights angle.

Inside the arena
By My 1-2-3 Cents

I got into the Arena around 4:30. I was somewhat disappointed there was no dark match or anything to hype up the live crowd prior to the show. Around 4:50, Jeremy Borash and Hulk Hogan appeared on the video screen and talked about Aces and Eights. Shortly after that Austin Aries came out to cut a heel-esque promo on the crowd saying he knew his name so he didn’t need the crowd to chant. I don’t know if TNA expected such a vocal supportive crowd for A Double and his promo was done to try and get them to cheer Jeff Hardy or not, but even with Aries heeling the crowd, the majority of the crowd stayed supportive of the TNA World Champion.

I’m not going to do a match-by-match review as there are enough of those floating around the web and since this review is getting posted two days after the fact, I doubt anyone reading doesn’t know what happened. Instead I’m going to offer up my personal Pros and Cons about the show.

CONS

Since I have more positive to say and want to end the blog on a high note, I’ll start with the things I didn’t like.

When I got to my seat, I had fourth row on the floor, three seats from the ramp. As I took my seat this guy came over and stood in front of me. At first I was thinking maybe he was a my123cents fan and I was going to have my first fan interaction. Instead he said his girlfriend was sitting next to me. They had bought their tickets separately and he was in the same row eight seats down. He asked if I would be willing to change seats so he and his girl could be together. I was hesitant to switch due to how good the seat was but decided it wasn’t like he was sitting in the cheap seats. I was only moving about 10 feet. It wouldn’t be that big of a move so I agreed. While the new seat was still a great view there were two issues I had to deal with throughout the show that I wouldn’t have had to deal with in my original seat.

First up was the group of four guys sitting in the third row.  They were the type of fans who got excited over every little move and would stand for the slightest punch or kick and would remain standing for a good 30-45 seconds. That wouldn’t have been so bad except for the fact the guy directly in front of me was about 6’4” and 350 pounds.  Definitely made a better door than window. I hate to nit pick on their standing because I’m all for fans enjoying themselves and having excitable fans makes for good television. However, I also think fans should be aware of their surrounding and realize when no one else is standing, be courteous try to not obscure other’s view.  Plus, they were in the third row. It isn’t like they were getting a better view by standing than they were by sitting.

Samoa Joe wins!
Photo by My 1-2-3 Cents

The second nit pick is the loud female fan behind him. Again, I’m all for cheering and expressing your support or who you want to win the match. I only ask that if you’re going to be yelling throughout the entire match, please have more than one cheer.  This girl would just repeat the name of whomever she was cheering for. Hearing, “lets go Joe” at the beginning of a match is fine. Hearing “lets go Joe” every 15 seconds for 10 minutes straight is torture. Maybe I’m getting old and cranky. Or maybe I’m used to Chikara crowds who are creative with their cheers and taunts.

Speaking of Chikara, one of the events of the night reminded why I enjoy Chikara (and Chikara fans) as much as I do. During the Aces and Eights match, one of the masked wrestlers maybe perhaps was Luke Gallows. Because he has been rumored to be part of the group and the crowd was a “smart” crowd, the fans around me were chanting “Luke Gallows” and “Festus” over and over. Contrast that with Chikara where Archibald Peck has resurfaced under a mask as the Mysterious and Handsome Stranger. When the M&HS comes to the ring the fans don’t chant for Archie, instead they play into the story and chant “we don’t know you,” or “who are you.”  Again, a small thing that means nothing in the grand scheme of things but at the same time helps to sell the story being told in the ring. OK, that’s it for small complaints. Onto the actual things I think could have been done differently.

My biggest complaint of the show is how underused the video screen was used. There were several times when I turned to look at the screen to get a better visual of what was happening in the ring and would be greeted with the Bound For Glory graphic. Only during selects moments when the action spilled out onto the floor did the director feel obligated to put the action up on the screen. Yes it was a small venue and there weren’t any “bad” seats so the crowd didn’t need to watch the action on a giant monitor for 95% of the show. It still would have been nice to have the monitor available to see what the audience at home was seeing.

New tag team champions
Hernandez & Chavo Guerrero
Photo by My 1-2-3 Cents

The outcome of half of the matches were outcomes I mentioned on From the Rafter’s Radio as being the least productive outcomes for future stories.  Rob Van Dam, Chavo/Hernandez, Tara and Jeff Hardy all winning not only cut the legs out from rising TNA stars. With the exception of Hernandez, all are former WWE talents and their wins, to the cynical fan, re-enforces the belief TNA wrestlers are inferior to anyone who’s wrestled in WWE. 

Rob Van Dam is and will be super over with crowd based on his history. Zema Ion is a rising star that hasn’t been featured on a regular basis since winning the X-Division title. This match could have been used to give Ion a major victory and some momentum in the X-Division. Speaking of the X-Division, where’s Kenny King, Sonjay Dutt, Rubix or any other potential rising star?

Chavo Guerrero has only been in TNA for about three months and is now one half of the Tag-Team Champions. Much like when Gail Kim returned to TNA, after a couple years of doing nothing in WWE, and quickly won both the Knockouts and Knockout Tag-Team titles, the impression being sent is if a wrestler jumps ship to TNA they will be rewarded with a championship. I like the team of Chavo and Hernandez, I just don’t see a reason for switching the tag-titles at this point in time.

Tara & Mr. Pectacular
Photo by My 1-2-3 Cents

Tara winning the title from Miss Tessmacher felt like less of a situation built around a title and more about giving Tara a stage to introduce some ex-reality star that most of the crowd didn’t know. I have been impressed by Miss Tessmacher this year and believe she could be a cornerstone for the Knockout division. Not discrediting Tara, as she’s a very talented wrestler in her own right. Simply stating the title change felt overshadowed. A quick note about Jessie (I think that’s his name), Tara’s Hollywood boyfriend, after he came out, I texted a friend and asked if Tara called him her “boo” so when the crowd booed him Mike Tenay and Taz could claim the crowd was actually cheering for him. I was saying boo-urns.

Jeff Hardy winning the World Title made sense from a storyline perspective. The year of redemption paid off for the Charismatic Enigma. I’m guessing no one in TNA expected Austin Aries to have the breakout year he’s had either. Otherwise why put the title on Aries only to quickly move it to Hardy?  

The video screen and the results are really the only negatives I had with the show.

Bonus Miss Tessmacher pic because Kevin's a fan...
Photo by My 1-2-3 Cents

PROS

During the Fan Fest, I spoke with a TNA employee who expressed concern with the crowd since Phoenix wasn’t a major television market for the company. At 5:05pm those concerns were put to rest. This was probably one of the loudest, rowdiest crowds I’ve witnessed live. They really didn’t get quiet for anything. Even the cool down matches had a frenzied crowd cheering almost every move. I’m guessing TNA wishes every crowd was like the Phoenix crowd.

Even though I don’t agree with the outcomes of most of the matches, that didn’t stop me from enjoying the show. As a wrestling fan first and sports entertainment fan second, I was pleased with the action on the show. All the wrestlers went out there and gave 100%. The matches weren’t cookie cutter matches going through the motions working in the wrestler’s signature spots. On the biggest show of the year, everyone delivered.

Joey Ryan gets Head
Photo by My 1-2-3 Cents

The stories being told were logical.  It’s a little thing, but in wrestling logic is seen about as often as Billy Kidman actually getting power bombed. Yes, I just made a reference from 1998. At first I was disappointed in the Joey Ryan/Al Snow match because I felt Joey should have came in and dominated Al proving Joey belonged in TNA. Then I took a step back and looked at the story being told. Joey took a beating, making Al believe Joey wasn’t that good of a wrestler. Then when Al figured he had Joey ripe for the pickings, Joey had Matt Morgan ready to run in and destroy Al. At least I hope that’s the story TNA was telling. I think the pairing of Joey and Matt could be interesting and hope there’s a plan in place for the duo.

Devon revealed!
Photo by My 1-2-3 Cents

My questions about Aces and Eights were answered in a way I didn’t expect. I don’t know if it was because I was expecting Bully Ray to turn on Sting, or because of all the names I’ve heard rumored to be a members of the gang, whatever the reason, the reveal of Devon was a shocking surprise. Not only was it a surprise, it made sense. Here’s one half of the most decorated tag team in wrestling history who has watched his partner become one of the most popular guys on the roster. A guy who was Television Champion when his contract expired and who the company said “don’t let the door hit you on the way out” instead of offering a raise. Why wouldn’t he want to cause havoc and seek revenge? The reveal was a shot of energy into a story I felt was spinning its wheels for the past month. I am curious to watch Impact this week and see what the fallout will be from Devon’s involvement and how TNA handles Aces and Eights being allowed access to the Impact Zone.

Storm vs. Roode
Photo by My 1-2-3 Cents

What can I say about the Bobby Roode/James Storm match that wouldn’t sound like exaggerated hyperbole?  The blow off match to a yearlong feud was just as brutal and intense as one could have hoped for. Two of TNA’s originals went out and bled for the company they helped put on the map. One thing I really liked was how little King Mo was involved in the match. Usually when there’s a special enforcer or referee the person ends up having some effect on the outcome of the match. Other than protecting Earl Hebner from Bobby Roode at one point in the match, King Mo was kept more as a bystander. With Mo coming into wrestle in TNA, the match gave him a front row seat to let him know if he expects to make it big he better be willing to bust his ass.

A Double vs. Jeff Hardy
Super Hurricarana
Photo by My 1-2-3 Cents

Overall, I had a great time at Bound for Glory.  TNA has made some serious improvements over the past 4-5 months. It seems like they have plans for the next 6-12 months. Hopefully they will stick to the plan and continue to build on the entertaining and intriguing product they have going.  In doing so hopefully they forge their own identity. Also, hopefully they will quickly get the Knockout Tag Title off of Eric Young and put them on an actual Knockout Tag Team or get rid of the titles all together. Thanks to everyone at TNA for a great weekend of wrestling and for treating fans like they mean more than just money in your pocket.

Do you like the direction TNA is headed? What would you like to see them do differently? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.

Bound for Glory: Fan Fest & Hall of Fame

Austin Aries at Fan Fest
Bound for Glory '12
Photo by My 1-2-3 Cents

By Chad Smart

@chadsmart & @my123cents on Twitter

I have attended six WWE Wrestlemania weekends. The first two I attended (22 in Chicago, 24 in Orlando) featured private autograph sessions for fans that purchased the travel packages. At Wrestlemania 25, WWE re-introduced the Fan Axxess event. Axxess is a giant showroom with memorabilia on display as well as stations for fans to get autographs or photos with WWE wrestlers.  This year I had the pleasure of attending TNA’s version over the Bound For Glory weekend in Phoenix.  

As I was mentally planning this blog, I was thinking how much smoother and quicker lines moved at the TNA event than the WWE one and I wondered if it would be fair to compare an event that brings in 60-70,000 fans versus an event that had maybe 3-5,000.  When debating those numbers, I wanted to make sure to stress while TNA’s crowds may be smaller, that is actually a plus for events of this type.

At WWE Axxess it’s not unheard of to wait in line for over an hour to get one autograph or photo. At TNA Fan Fest, they had two sessions with nine autograph stations where fans could get both an autograph and photo (at Axxess you get one or the other depending on if the wrestler is at an autograph table or standing for photos) of the wrestler.  Even with long lines for the top stars (Rob Van Dam for the first session, Jeff Hardy for the second.) fans had plenty of time to get through all of the lines and even get some of the other TNA office personnel walking the floor.

Dixie Carter
Bound for Glory '12
Photo by My 1-2-3 Cents

My understanding is the wrestlers would take one photo and sign one item. The wrestlers had 8x10 photos at their tables to sign for fans that didn’t bring anything to be signed. Either the wrestlers didn’t know how much they were supposed to sign or didn’t care. I walked up to most of the tables with the TNA 10-Year Anniversary book and a DVD to be signed. The wrestlers would sign the DVD then sign the program and throw in an 8x10 for good measure. When I told Tara I was going to put the 8x10s in a charity auction for the American Cancer Society at the AAPW show on October 20, she was impressed and signed three extra photos.

Miss Tessmacher
Bound for Glory '12
Photo by My 1-2-3 Cents

At Axxess (again, I understand there is a difference in the amount of people) most of the wrestlers who give a half-hearted hi or thanks and you’re quickly moved through the line. At Fan Fest, with the except of Kurt Angle, Bully Ray (who I saw right at the beginning of his shift) and Bobby Roode (who I saw right at the end of his shift) everyone was very personable and took time to talk to fans. Fans were treated as if they actually mattered and the talent was genuinely thankful for the fans being there. It’s a little thing in the grand scheme of things but that type of interaction goes a long way in getting fans to come back the next time you hold an event like this. The first wrestler I talked to was Miss Tessmacher. I relayed the story of Kevin mentioning he thought she was “delicious” on the previous episode of From the Rafter’s Radio. I don’t know what Kevin meant, but Miss Tessmacher laughed and asked if that meant he wanted to eat her up. Thankfully she didn’t call security over to have me removed from the building.

Hulk & Brooke Hogan
Bound for Glory '12
Photo by My 1-2-3 Cents

Even Hulk Hogan, who only signed for fans who had bought the travel package or VIP pass, spent time making sure every fan had a good experience. I think I saw the security guy tell Hulk on 3 or 4 occasions he needed to take less time with people as they only had a certain amount of time and had to get everyone through the line. The level of appreciation from everyone in TNA, which also includes TNA President Dixie Carter, is something you don’t get from a lot of wrestling promotions. Hopefully the good will from the company rubbed off on the fans that will now go home and tell their friends about the good time they had and will get more people to attend the next time TNA is in the area or holds something big like Bound For Glory.

Hall of Fame set up
Bound for Glory '12
Photo by My 1-2-3 Cents

After the Fan Fest was over there was about a three-hour gap until the first TNA Hall of Fame Ceremony.  Before the ceremony, I was still thinking TNA was foolish for having a Hall of Fame and should have done an awards ceremony similar to the old WWF Slammy Awards. Only they should have been taken serious unlike the last two Slammy ceremonies. After the ceremony was over, I understand why TNA did what they did. I’m curious if they’ll do Hall of Fame next year or wait and make the ceremonies more sparse and prestigious.  Before I lay out my reason for the change of mind, lets talk about the set up and event itself.

Unlike the WWE Hall of Fame, which is held in a large venue, the TNA Hall of Fame was in an intimate room. In fact it was in the same room the autograph sessions took place earlier in the afternoon. My one complaint with the event was the lack of assigned seating.  Each table seated ten people. There were 8-9 fans at a table and then a wrestler or wrestler and significant other. I was one of the last fans to enter and had to go around to four different tables before I found a place to sit.  I don’t know if it would be feasible to get the names of every ticket holder, or one name and the number of people in the party, and then do assigned seating like a wedding banquet or not but that is something I’d recommend TNA look into if they do this again next year.

Once all the fans were seated, SoCal Val greeted everyone and then introduced the TNA talent in attendance. After they were introduced, the wrestlers would take their spot at their table. I was at a table with Chavo Guerrero and his wife. Hernandez was at the table behind Chavo. Zema Ion was at the table behind me while Christopher Daniels, his wife and kids, and Kazarian and Traci Brooks were one table over.  Both Chavo and his wife were gracious table hosts answering any questions fans had and engaging is simple small talk. I overhead Zema Ion talking to the people at his table but the standout had to be Bully Ray. Not only did he seem to be entertaining his table, he walked around to a few other tables and at one point called Bruce Pritchard over to say hi to some fans. Once again, I applaud TNA’s effort to give the fans a unique experience and the wrestlers for not being standoffish.

TNA's first Hall of Famer: Sting
Bound for Glory '12
Photo by My 1-2-3 Cents

As for the induction of Sting into the TNA Hall of Fame, with the exception of the WWE induction of Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen, this was probably my favorite Hall of Fame induction.  Mike Tenay started the induction ceremony by sharing a brief run down of Sting’s career. AJ Styles spoke about working security at a WCW show. AJ told a story about being at catering when Sting and Lex Lugar sat down at the table with him and how he couldn’t stop staring at them due to being star struck. Then how excited AJ was when Sting came to TNA and AJ got to face him in Sting’s first match.  Lex Lugar followed AJ and recounted stories to stress how loyal a friend Sting has been over the last almost 30 years. After Lugar, Hulk Hogan echoed the sentiments of Sting being loyal by talking about how Hulk had tried to get Vince McMahon to bring Sting to WWF and how Sting wouldn’t jump from WCW. Dixie Carter was the last to speak. She talked about getting Sting to come to TNA and having to convince to stick around each year after his contract was about to expire. She stressed, as did Mike Tenay and AJ Styles that had Sting not come to TNA, TNA probably wouldn’t be in existence today. 

Sting naturally spoke last. The most telling aspect of the whole event was when it was over I didn’t think Sting had been inducted, it felt like Steve Borden had been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Maybe it was the fact Steve came out without face paint or sunglasses. This was the first time I can ever recall seeing him without either.  While several points in the speeches touched on Sting’s career and specific matches, there was just as much, if not more, talk about the person behind the face paint and the character of the character. This is why, on the ten-year anniversary of TNA, I understand why it was important to induct Sting into the TNA Hall of Fame. I hope TNA includes the ceremony on the Bound For Glory DVD and encourage all fans to watch it.

After the ceremony
Bound for Glory '12
Photo by My 1-2-3 Cents

Outside of TNA, I have to give credit to the fans in attendance as well. One of my biggest annoyances of WWE Hall of Fame ceremonies is the jackass fans that feel the need to yell and scream catcalls.  The Hall of Fame inductions are not the same as a wrestling event and therefore the code of conduct shouldn’t be the same. The fans in attendance at TNA’s event were all courteous and respectful of the people talking. My only complaint is the number of fans I heard talking during the afternoon that were upset they weren’t allowed to wear shorts and had to make special trips to the store to buy dress pants. Seriously, what is wrong with these people? There were a handful of fans in attendance wearing jeans and t-shirts. Then again, Hulk Hogan showed up in jeans and a Bound For Glory t-shirt so you can’t really blame the fans.

Overall, I had a great time on Saturday and depending on where Bound For Glory is held at next year, I would be interested in going if TNA had similar events. Next I’ll take a look at Bound For Glory itself. Could the show cap off a great weekend or would it fall under the hype?

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