This is from my latest blog but here's the TNA part. The Uncommon One: Comedy In The Bank
From the mega company to the company that wrestling fans love to make at the but tend of their jokes. Yet these days, TNA has been anything but a joke. I'll admit that I didn't start watching TNA until early 2010 when Hulk Hogan made his debut. That's when I heard about how TNA would attempt to go head to head with WWE on Monday nights. They had loads of talent like Kurt Angle, Beer Money (James Storm & Robert Roode), A.J Styles, and Samoa Joe which gave Dixie Carter and the rest of her crew to try to go at it with WWE. It turned out to be a massive failure and now TNA has now been considered a joke. I've made several jokes just like many wrestling fans would but in the past two months or so, it has started to deliver. This isn't the first time it has delivered because old school TNA fans know how great things were from 2006 to 2009. They picked up guys like Sting, Kurt Angle, and Christian to add to their pieces on the roster. I watch some old school TNA matches like Christian vs Sting or Kurt Angle vs Samoa Joe or A.J Styles vs Christopher Daniels (we've seen that way too many times but you get the idea) out of matches. Those were some top notch feuds and it made me realize that TNA really put on some great shows back in the day. Then when TNA brought in guys like Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan who were way past their prime to begin with, it really made me not care. It was awful to watch and I stopped watching because it was getting boring seeing the same past their prime guys be in the spotlight. It was stupid to see them try to start stables like Immortal and then try to form a ECW faction which turned out to be a major failure. It wasn't evolving while WWE was bringing up new stars like Sheamus, The Miz, and Wade Barrett at the time. Then TNA began to start pushing guys like Crimson and Garrett Bischoff which really turned me off even more. It got to the point where I didn't even want to see parts of the show because it would end up seeing my favorites like Samoa Joe and A.J Styles being barley used and being buried. Then things changed with Vince Russo being fired and Eric Bischoff finally getting off my TV screen. I'm not sure who changed that, maybe Scott Steiner's rants made people within TNA realize that things to change. Isn't it odd since Steiner has laid off the rants that the Bischoffs have been taken off TV. Who would have thought that Scott Steiner out of all people would help save TNA after literally tearing apart the Bischoffs and Hogan. We still got Hogan on TV but he's the general manager so he needs his parts. Anyway let's get to why TNA has really impressed me which all came apart at Destination X.
What got me back into TNA was hearing about Austin Aries. People were telling me that Aries was TNA's version of CM Punk back in the fall but it still didn't interest me because I was just thinking another ripoff of WWE product, what else is new. What I didn't realize was after doing re search was that Aries feuded with Punk in ROH and they are close friends. Then I realized we may have something here and Aries started becoming must see TV. His matches were incredible to watch and his confidence on the microphone was pretty outstanding. After some more research, I read that WWE rejected him from signing up for Tough Enough. I literally laughed pretty hard and said way to go WWE in hiring actual talent. Aries would have blown all of them away including that Silent Rage jokester who isn't even employed with the company anymore. Aries has been on a roll and finally got his moment at Destination X. After a terrific match with Samoa Joe at Slammiversary, he got his main event match against Bobby Roode. It started a bit slow at first but they built it up to a really hot finish which led to the Aries upset win off a brain buster. It really shocked me considering Roode was on such a great run and everyone was predicting that it would be Roode vs James Storm at Bound For Glory in October. That could still happen but the swerve was pretty unexpected but it was a feel good moment. Right now in 2012, nobody has out performed Austin Aries with his ability on the mic and how he's making the most impact in any wrestling company. I've been hash tagging Summer Of Aries because it truly is with his performances. It's not all about Aries that has made TNA fun to watch again. Even though the storyline of A.J Styles and the crackhead has been brutal, Styles and Daniels put on another great match at Destination X. I'm just hoping that they put the storyline to trash because it has been some horrible acting and Dixie Carter has some brutal facial reactions. The Bound For Glory series is going on which is always fun to tune into even though last year, I stopped watching after some really shady booking decisions. Even though the Series has guys that I don't want to see my TV screen like Mr. Anderson and The Pope, it still has plenty of great talent. Kurt Angle and Jeff Hardy may be head cases but they still put on great matches. I'm pretty sick and tired of Angle's antics outside the ring, but he's still a machine in the ring and that was shown Sunday against Samoa Joe. Joe is my favorite wrestler in the company and its great to see them actually using him in a bigger role. He's too talented not to be featured more and to see him in first place in the Bound For Glory series is great to see. It's about time they put him in major match ups and have him go over (screw you Russo). If they can have Joe, Angle, Ray, Angle, Hardy, and Storm be heavily featured in the series then it will make TNA even better. I didn't include Daniels and Styles because I don't think they'll be factors in the series.
The one final note I'd like to mention about TNA is how they're fixing up the X division. When people look at the contrasts of WWE and TNA, people see that TNA has X-Divison wrestlers where WWE has completely negated the cruiserweight division. The division was in need of a revamp after Austin Aries held the title for a long time but vacated it to get a shot at the heavyweight championship. They brought in some new guys and some old talent to make a pretty entertaining tournament. Some matches were pure spot fests that didn't interest me but it had some stars shine. Kenny King really stood out to me as someone that could really make an impact and be a star. He's got the look like Shelton Benjamin but his athleticism is also on a Shelton Benjamin rate. Sonjay Dutt was cool to see return with his athleticism and actually having ring presence. In the end, Zima Ion won the title which was expected since he's been the most active wrestler. His character is pretty annoying but its effective in getting a reaction and now will see the build up for Jesse Sorensen's return against Ion. I'm not sure what to expect from Sorensen but they are going to give him a major push after his tragic injury. Overall though Destination X was one of the best PPV's I've seen in a while in terms of both companies. It had three outstanding matches in Joe-Angle, Daniels-Styles, and Aires- Roode. Despite all my praise for TNA, I want to give more credit to Bobby Roode because this is another guy that I have no idea hasn't been in the WWE yet. He's the best heel in the business right now that includes better than Daniel Bryan because he makes you believe that he's a heel and his personality is top notch to be a heel. I love Bryan but the fan reaction and some of his promos are more goofy than thinking he's a true heel. Hopefully TNA can keep this streak up because they've really impressed me in the past few months. For people that don't watch TNA but are major hardcore WWE fans should give TNA a chance. I usually watch all the shows over episodes and PPV's over Dailymotion.com. The internet is your friend, so use it and watch it because you'll be very impressed by some of the wrestlers. I'll still see segments where I'm going to fast forward it whether its Brooke Hogan, Dixie Carter, or any Mr.Anderson match but their has been far less segments that I'm pressing fast forward. It may sound harsh but these are positive steps for a company that has been in turmoil for far too long.
From the mega company to the company that wrestling fans love to make at the but tend of their jokes. Yet these days, TNA has been anything but a joke. I'll admit that I didn't start watching TNA until early 2010 when Hulk Hogan made his debut. That's when I heard about how TNA would attempt to go head to head with WWE on Monday nights. They had loads of talent like Kurt Angle, Beer Money (James Storm & Robert Roode), A.J Styles, and Samoa Joe which gave Dixie Carter and the rest of her crew to try to go at it with WWE. It turned out to be a massive failure and now TNA has now been considered a joke. I've made several jokes just like many wrestling fans would but in the past two months or so, it has started to deliver. This isn't the first time it has delivered because old school TNA fans know how great things were from 2006 to 2009. They picked up guys like Sting, Kurt Angle, and Christian to add to their pieces on the roster. I watch some old school TNA matches like Christian vs Sting or Kurt Angle vs Samoa Joe or A.J Styles vs Christopher Daniels (we've seen that way too many times but you get the idea) out of matches. Those were some top notch feuds and it made me realize that TNA really put on some great shows back in the day. Then when TNA brought in guys like Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan who were way past their prime to begin with, it really made me not care. It was awful to watch and I stopped watching because it was getting boring seeing the same past their prime guys be in the spotlight. It was stupid to see them try to start stables like Immortal and then try to form a ECW faction which turned out to be a major failure. It wasn't evolving while WWE was bringing up new stars like Sheamus, The Miz, and Wade Barrett at the time. Then TNA began to start pushing guys like Crimson and Garrett Bischoff which really turned me off even more. It got to the point where I didn't even want to see parts of the show because it would end up seeing my favorites like Samoa Joe and A.J Styles being barley used and being buried. Then things changed with Vince Russo being fired and Eric Bischoff finally getting off my TV screen. I'm not sure who changed that, maybe Scott Steiner's rants made people within TNA realize that things to change. Isn't it odd since Steiner has laid off the rants that the Bischoffs have been taken off TV. Who would have thought that Scott Steiner out of all people would help save TNA after literally tearing apart the Bischoffs and Hogan. We still got Hogan on TV but he's the general manager so he needs his parts. Anyway let's get to why TNA has really impressed me which all came apart at Destination X.
What got me back into TNA was hearing about Austin Aries. People were telling me that Aries was TNA's version of CM Punk back in the fall but it still didn't interest me because I was just thinking another ripoff of WWE product, what else is new. What I didn't realize was after doing re search was that Aries feuded with Punk in ROH and they are close friends. Then I realized we may have something here and Aries started becoming must see TV. His matches were incredible to watch and his confidence on the microphone was pretty outstanding. After some more research, I read that WWE rejected him from signing up for Tough Enough. I literally laughed pretty hard and said way to go WWE in hiring actual talent. Aries would have blown all of them away including that Silent Rage jokester who isn't even employed with the company anymore. Aries has been on a roll and finally got his moment at Destination X. After a terrific match with Samoa Joe at Slammiversary, he got his main event match against Bobby Roode. It started a bit slow at first but they built it up to a really hot finish which led to the Aries upset win off a brain buster. It really shocked me considering Roode was on such a great run and everyone was predicting that it would be Roode vs James Storm at Bound For Glory in October. That could still happen but the swerve was pretty unexpected but it was a feel good moment. Right now in 2012, nobody has out performed Austin Aries with his ability on the mic and how he's making the most impact in any wrestling company. I've been hash tagging Summer Of Aries because it truly is with his performances. It's not all about Aries that has made TNA fun to watch again. Even though the storyline of A.J Styles and the crackhead has been brutal, Styles and Daniels put on another great match at Destination X. I'm just hoping that they put the storyline to trash because it has been some horrible acting and Dixie Carter has some brutal facial reactions. The Bound For Glory series is going on which is always fun to tune into even though last year, I stopped watching after some really shady booking decisions. Even though the Series has guys that I don't want to see my TV screen like Mr. Anderson and The Pope, it still has plenty of great talent. Kurt Angle and Jeff Hardy may be head cases but they still put on great matches. I'm pretty sick and tired of Angle's antics outside the ring, but he's still a machine in the ring and that was shown Sunday against Samoa Joe. Joe is my favorite wrestler in the company and its great to see them actually using him in a bigger role. He's too talented not to be featured more and to see him in first place in the Bound For Glory series is great to see. It's about time they put him in major match ups and have him go over (screw you Russo). If they can have Joe, Angle, Ray, Angle, Hardy, and Storm be heavily featured in the series then it will make TNA even better. I didn't include Daniels and Styles because I don't think they'll be factors in the series.
The one final note I'd like to mention about TNA is how they're fixing up the X division. When people look at the contrasts of WWE and TNA, people see that TNA has X-Divison wrestlers where WWE has completely negated the cruiserweight division. The division was in need of a revamp after Austin Aries held the title for a long time but vacated it to get a shot at the heavyweight championship. They brought in some new guys and some old talent to make a pretty entertaining tournament. Some matches were pure spot fests that didn't interest me but it had some stars shine. Kenny King really stood out to me as someone that could really make an impact and be a star. He's got the look like Shelton Benjamin but his athleticism is also on a Shelton Benjamin rate. Sonjay Dutt was cool to see return with his athleticism and actually having ring presence. In the end, Zima Ion won the title which was expected since he's been the most active wrestler. His character is pretty annoying but its effective in getting a reaction and now will see the build up for Jesse Sorensen's return against Ion. I'm not sure what to expect from Sorensen but they are going to give him a major push after his tragic injury. Overall though Destination X was one of the best PPV's I've seen in a while in terms of both companies. It had three outstanding matches in Joe-Angle, Daniels-Styles, and Aires- Roode. Despite all my praise for TNA, I want to give more credit to Bobby Roode because this is another guy that I have no idea hasn't been in the WWE yet. He's the best heel in the business right now that includes better than Daniel Bryan because he makes you believe that he's a heel and his personality is top notch to be a heel. I love Bryan but the fan reaction and some of his promos are more goofy than thinking he's a true heel. Hopefully TNA can keep this streak up because they've really impressed me in the past few months. For people that don't watch TNA but are major hardcore WWE fans should give TNA a chance. I usually watch all the shows over episodes and PPV's over Dailymotion.com. The internet is your friend, so use it and watch it because you'll be very impressed by some of the wrestlers. I'll still see segments where I'm going to fast forward it whether its Brooke Hogan, Dixie Carter, or any Mr.Anderson match but their has been far less segments that I'm pressing fast forward. It may sound harsh but these are positive steps for a company that has been in turmoil for far too long.
