Who Needs Hulkamania? A short-form TNA 2010

[Sky]

From the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, late October 2009...

Fans of TNA will be shocked to hear that a reported deal to bring wrestling's biggest ever name, Hulk Hogan, to TNA has fallen through. Hogan and Eric Bischoff demanded excessive levels of creative control, high pay comparable to the worst excesses of the WCW days, and carte blanche to bring several names they wanted to see, including the Nasty Boys, Scott Hall and X-Pac, and even Bubba the Love Sponge - he's a radio DJ in the Tampa area. Dixie Carter was apparently like "Well, whatever you need", but she was talked right out of it by management.

(It's my professional opinion that the sooner TNA gets a better owner than Carter, as soon as possible - she very nearly sleepwalked America's number two into a catastrophe trying to catch a buzz that just isn't there.)

(( Basically the concept is that Hogan and Bischoff never come to TNA, and so the hirings and firings that came as a result never happen, as well as no Monday Night Impact. I'll be posting this in terms of PPVs as well as just a few major Impacts, filling in general info required as necessary. It will probably suck ))

 

[Sky]

Current roster, updated to Sacrifice (May 2012)

Men:
Abyss
Adam Cole
AJ Styles
Alex Shelley
Amazing Red
Austin Aries
Bobby Fish
Bully Ray
Charlie Haas
Chavo Guerrero Jr.
Chris Adonis
Chris Sabin
Consequences Creed
D'Angelo Dinero
D.O.C.
Daniels
Davey Boy Smith Jr.
Devon (inactive, kayfabe fired)
Douglas Williams
El Generico
Eric Young
Guido Maritato
Gurv Sihra
Harv Sihra
Homicide
Jack Evans
James Storm
Jay Lethal
Jeff Hardy
Jeff Jarrett (managing the Bollywood Boyz and Shera)
Jeremy Buck
Jimmy Rave
Jon Moxley
Kazarian
Kevin Nash (managing Studio K)
Kurt Angle (inactive)
Kyle O'Reilly
Lance Hoyt
Low Ki
Mahabali Shera
Max Buck
Mick Foley (face GM)
Mr. Anderson
Robert Roode
Samoa Joe
Sheik Abdul Bashir
Sheik Mustafa Bashir
Shelton Benjamin
Sonjay Dutt
Sting (inactive)
Tony Nese

Women:
Angelina Love
Athena
Daffney
Gail Kim
Hamada
Hannah Blossom
Holly Blossom
Jessie McKay
Katarina
Madison Rayne
Mercedes Martinez
Mickie James
Miss Tessmacher (in training by Tara)
Nicole Matthews
ODB
Raisha Saeed (managing The Sheiks)
Sarita
Taeler Hendrix
Tara
Taryn Terrell
Thea Trinidad (managing Hamada)
Velvet Sky

Spoiler: Current Teams and Factions

A-Holes United - Mr. Anderson, Bobby Fish, and Low Ki
Bollywood Boyz - Gurv Sihra and Harv Sihra
Christopher Daniels and Kazarian
Generation Me - Max Buck and Jeremy Buck
Heritage - Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Chavo Guerrero Jr.
Motor City Machine Guns - Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin
Rock and Rave Infection - Lance Hoyt and Jimmy Rave
Roderick Strong, El Generico, Adam Cole, and Kyle O'Reilly
The Sheiks - Sheik Abdul Bashir and Sheik Mustafa Bashir
Studio K - Kevin Nash (manager), Guido Maritato, and ???
Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team - Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas

Angelina Love and Madison Rayne
Hamada and Thea Trinidad
The Blossom Twins - Hannah Blossom and Holly Blossom
The New Beautiful People - Velvet Sky and Jessie McKay

Spoiler: Current Champs

World Heavyweight Champion
James Storm since Lockdown, April 2012

Tag Team Champions
Christopher Daniels and Kazarian since Sacrifice, May 2012

X Division Champion
Sonjay Dutt since Sacrifice, May 2012

Television Champion
Devon since Sacrifice, May 2012

Knockouts Champion
Hamada since Lockdown, April 2012

Knockouts Tag Team Champions
The Blossom Twins since Sacrifice, May 2012

 

[Bobby Barrows]

I'm HYPE!

 

[Sky]

Making an Impact... on the 2010s
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Impact Zone - Orlando, FL​

Without Hogan, Flair, Bischoff, and a bunch of other people who aren't household names, there's no reason to compete directly with Raw. However, no reason not to put on the best show possible to kick off the 2010s with a bang, right?

1. Steel Asylum Match - Homicide d. Amazing Red d. Alex Shelley d. Chris Sabin d. Jay Lethal d. Consequences Creed d. Kiyoshi d. Suicide. Keeping this match from the real life. Maybe not make the cage hole so tiny so Homicide struggles to get out of it, and also not make it red / provide an interior camera feed so anyone watching can actually see in. Notably, Jeff Hardy doesn't show up to beat on the winner, sit on the cage and mope.
2. Knockouts Championship - ODB d. Tara (c). If you read my rewatch, you'll probably know that I thought it was odd that Tara was the face and ODB the heel, given their respective disposition. So let them double turn. Tara beats on the winner after the finish, giving her a Widow's Peak, a steel ring-post assisted assault and a tarantula to the face. This is as happened in our timeline, but we're making it clear that this is a turn.
3. Knockouts Tag Team Championship - Taylor Wilde/Sarita (c) vs. Awesome Kong/Hamada - No Contest. We flip the result because just as Kong and Hamada look to have it won, in comes Raisha Saeed, here with a chair to whack Hamada with! As will develop next Impact, she wants her Kongtourage ally back. Kong just stands and watches the two women beating lumps out of each other.
4. Matt Morgan/Hernandez d. Raven/Dr. Stevie. I legitimately have nothing for the losing two, so just throw in the OTL match and have Stevie eat a Carbon Footprint.
5. No Disqualification - Rhino d. Abyss. This match was supposed to happen in our timeline but Rhino got laid out by a mystery attacker that never got resolved. Abyss is still in his weakling loser phase. Let Rhino overcome him with hardcore stuff and a Gore, then promo on Abyss like "What the fuck happened to you?!" He challenges the Monster to a match at Genesis, one that will force him to bring back his edge.
6. Jeff Hardy/AJ Styles/D'Angelo Dinero d. Kurt Angle/Jeff Jarrett/Desmond Wolfe. Why not have a good old fashioned six-man tag to round out multiple feuds and send the crowd and TV audiences away happy? This is announced initially by Mick Foley (who's a shareholder) with a mystery partner on the faces' side... so the crowd pops huge when the Charismatic Enigma's music hits! Finisher is DDE -> Styles Clash -> Swanton on Jarrett, which sounds like a cool combo of moves honestly.

 

[Sky]

Genesis 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Impact Zone - Orlando, FL​

Let's get straight into it!

1. X Division Championship - Daniels d. Amazing Red (c). Why the fuck not? Daniels isn't jobbing to Val Venis here, he's getting gold befitting his stature in the company. This is pretty much made in the go-home show, but come on, it's an X Division Championship match featuring some talented movers.
2. Global Championship - Rob Terry d. Eric Young (c). Because the "title must be defended outside the US" rule was dumb. Have this change happen on worldwide programming instead of on the UK tour and mentioning it "oh BTW" two weeks later. Anyway, there's a split between the British Invasion and the rest of World Elite and Terry takes the gold off of Eric in quick fashion.
3. Tag Team Championship - Team 3D d. British Invasion (c) d. World Elite (Homicide/Kiyoshi). "Where's Morgan/Hernandez?" Later. "Where did Beer Money go?" Later. "Why have Team 3D win?" I'm going somewhere with this. British Invasion and World Elite squabble allowing Magnus to eat a 3D. Best add another notch to their tron.
4. Hamada d. Raisha Saeed. One of the legit toughest in the Knockouts division murderises Raisha in a nasty brawl. Hamada is Kong's partner once more! Kong comes out and hits an Implant Buster on Raisha when she goes to complain.
5. Ambulance Match - Rhino d. Abyss. Abyss shows but glimpses of his hardcore edge, but Rhino is able to stuff him into the ambulance. This is just to get Abyss off TV for a while so he can come back as the Monster again with no one batting an eye.
6. Knockouts Championship - Tara d. ODB (c). Same results, alignments switched, and in different contexts. Tara gets the handful of tights like ODB did in our timeline, and treats the ever-lovable face like garbage. I've just realised we have a heel champ and no real faces in the Knockouts division aside from Kong. I'd quite like to change that.
7. Mr. Anderson d. Jeff Jarrett. Because I had to debut Anderson somehow, let's put him with someone that his style won't clash so badly with. Mic Check finishes it. Jeff will be playing the face here, but in name only, and both get their fair share of cheers.
8. World Heavyweight Championship Last Chance Match - AJ Styles (c) d. Kurt Angle. You've got to have this match. It's the match from the real January 4 Impact, only with Mick rather than Hogan coming out and lauding them. Guess Angle can be a face now that he's out of the World Title picture as long as AJ is around.

 

[Sky]

Between Genesis and Against All Odds​

Here's a little something I wanted to do, just some storyline pointers that aren't covered in the PPV writeups.

• AJ pops up on the fallout show to complain about having no challengers, which leads GM-mode Foley to declare the 8 Card Stud tournament to decide his challenger. Qualified entrants are Kurt Angle, Mr. Anderson, Jeff Jarrett, Brother Devon, Brother Ray, D'Angelo Dinero, Desmond Wolfe, and Samoa Joe.
• Give Morgan and Hernandez a few wins on Impact leading up to a possible title opportunity, mostly against teams who were on the down anyway like Young/Kiyoshi, Shark Boy/Suicide, and Nash/Steiner (hey, Big Poppa Pump is on the way out, might as well get him to put a team over).
• Daniels gets a few matches on TV, including the rematch against Red on the go-home (because there's no goddamn room on the card given that there's a 7-match tournament on).
• ODB gets her rematch against Tara on Impact, loses, but is saved by the returning Angelina Love! She's got a bone to pick with Tara.
• On the go-home, Kong (with Hamada once again by her side) squashes Daffney. Seems inconsequential, but we go backstage and see that the Beautiful People are watching the beaten-up Daffney head off. Velvet gives the others an are-you-thinking-what-I'm-thinking look.

 

[Sky]

Against All Odds 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Impact Zone - Orlando, FL​

This is going to be dominated by the tournament, so let's get straight to it.

1. First Round - D'Angelo Dinero d. Desmond Wolfe. Keep this match. Really sell them as future stars of the company. Pope nails a DDE.
2. First Round - Samoa Joe d. Brother Devon. Joe still has his tribal tattoos, but he is here to commit near murder via Coquina Clutch.
3. First Round - Brother Ray d. Jeff Jarrett. In contrast to his tag partner, Ray gets the with a Bubba Bomb. I feel bad using Jeff Jarrett as a jobber to the stars, but at least it's better than him being Bischoff's little bitch.
4. First Round - Mr. Anderson d. Kurt Angle. This match gets to stay. I'm gonna do the Anderson/Angle feud, because as uninvested as I am in it, patriotism-poisoned Americans eat that shit up. So yeah, Anderson wins and carves up Angle's head with that Warrior Medal. And why is Kurt Angle here if Hogan isn't around to remove the Last Chance stip? Simple - no one said AJ will keep the title between now and Lockdown.
5. Number 1 Contender for the Tag Team Championship - Morgan/Hernandez d. Beer Money, Inc. During the break between rounds, Beer Money come out complaining that neither of them were even invited to the tournament nor were they given a shot at Team 3D beforehand. Foley shows up and makes a Number 1 Contender match right then and there - against Morgan and Hernandez. Beer Money acting suitably heelish.
6. Semi-Final - D'Angelo Dinero d. Samoa Joe. Much hype is made of Joe holding the Feast or Fired briefcase, where if he loses his potential title match he could just cash in on AJ to face him again. But it's not to be, he gets a DDE. Pope pretty badly beaten up but progresses... commentary makes a lot of this too.
7. Semi-Final - Mr. Anderson d. Brother Ray. You've got to make some sacrifices to get the final you want, and that sacrifice is Ray's place in the tournament. Really close-fought affair, but some unnecessary tripping outside the ring leads to a Mic Check.
8. Jeff Hardy d. AJ Styles. I've realised I have no one left that's a credible challenger for AJ's title, given that Joe is in the tourney. So, give the fans a crowd-pleasing non-title match. AJ starts to seem indignant that the fans are cheering this upstart from up north over the face of the company, and that distraction allows him to eat a Twist of Fate and Swanton... You know, I was thinking about how no Ric Flair meant no Fortune, but it seems the TNA Originals are primed to team up under their own power. I'll let readers decide their team name.
9. Final - D'Angelo Dinero d. Mr. Anderson. The more things change, the more they stay the same, so here's the final from our timeline. Pope's going to Lockdown!

 

[Roy Mustang]

Should call them the OC . The Phenomenals? I am shit at stable names. Also Pope winning is the correct call. Also keep jobbing out Jeff Jarrett and PUSH DESMOND WOLFE

 

[Sky]

Between Against All Odds and Victory Road​

First of all, yes, Destination X was still the March PPV in 2010, but I think it's disappointing that the "night where the X Division shines" is relegated to the "road to Lockdown" PPV. So, might as well slot in Victory Road here like they did starting 2011. It's a pretty cursed PPV name given how much the 2009 edition stunk, so maybe we're expecting low buy rates anyway. Might as well relegate this to being a "Fastlane-type" PPV.

• AJ shows up on the AAO fallout show, pissed as all hell. It's seemingly that he's lost in a non-title match to Jeff Hardy, but really because Hardy is way more over with the fans. Hardy goes out and promos, and the reaction he gets unintentionally goads AJ into granting him a title shot in the main event of Victory Road, Jeff names the stipulation. He calls for a ladder match! Because of course you're going to book Jeff Hardy in a ladder match.
• Morgan/Hernandez win the tag titles from Team 3D on Impact. Finish would be something like them being set up to give Morgan the 3D but Hernandez trips Devon from outside the ring (I'm playing this team as opportunistic tweeners ATM), which allows Morgan to recover and deliver a Carbon Footprint. Of course, the only thing Bubba sees is Devon not being in position for the 3D and losing the titles for them... Rematch is set for Victory Road.
• We get a segment during the first two Impacts after AAO where TBP bring Daffney into their ranks (yes, there is a kind of crappy makeover segment at one point). Eventually Daffney accompanies members of TBP to their matches and assists them. TBP win the Knockouts Tag Team Championship on the go-home show thanks to Lacey distracting the referee and Daffney giving Taylor Wilde the toolbox treatment.
• Also on the go-home, Hamada wins a number 1 contender Knockouts Championship match, but is attacked by champ Tara and she debuts a submission manoeuvre of some sort against Hamada. She won't break the hold, until Angelina Love makes the save. Angelina gonna be in Hamada's corner at VR.
• This is where we introduce Orlando Jordan. I was tempted to build up Jordan to a Global Championship feud, but that would mean Jordan vs. Rob Terry, and... no. Just no. So we keep him as a solid midcard heel, not playing up the bisexual predator gimmick like he did in real, but keep a bit of flamboyance. Have him win against our lower card guys but lose to guys we really want to push. Like Pope!
• Speaking of Pope, he's going pretty strong, tussling with and winning against mid-upper card heels, like Jordan (above), Doug Williams, and one final match against Desmond Wolfe (which is really even, to sell Wolfe as a top guy).
• Oh yeah, Doug Williams! He's doing his anti-silliness campaign, but it's directed at masked guys as well as flippy guys. So have his muscle Magnus and Terry decimate guys like Shark Boy, Suicide, and maybe a one night only reappearance of Curry Man, while he promos on them.
• There's a few tag team matches which is implied to be determining tag title contenders at Lockdown. Just an excuse to use guys like MCMG, Lethal Consequences, World Elite, and we bring in Shannon Moore teamed with Jesse Neal from the beginning! Hey, I like Ink, Inc.
• Angle vs. Anderson feud progresses much as it did in real life. I don't have much to say about it.

 

[Sky]

Victory Road 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Impact Zone - Orlando, FL​

When I worry about not having good booking decisions, I just remember "I only have to be better than Vince Russo". Anyway, here's the March show.

1. X Division Championship Six Corners Match - Daniels (c) d. Amazing Red d. Desmond Wolfe d. "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal d. Chris Sabin d. Kiyoshi. Getting guys on the card is a good idea. Daniels plays full heel for this match. Red and Wolfe come closest. Also yeah, reminder that no Hogan means no four-sided ring.
2. Global Championship - Rob Terry (c) d. Dr. Stevie. Because where else was I going to use Dr. Stevie? After all, Raven is fine and Daffney has a different mentor now. Squash, as usual. Doug comes out and promos on Stevie. "You're not even a real therapist! You're pathetic!" he says, breaking the fourth wall slightly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a match of my own..."
3. The British Invasion (Doug Williams/Magnus) d. Generation Me. Like that segue? Anyway, Bucks do a bunch of free-flowing shit, Magnus is the fall guy for the free-flowing shit, Doug tries to keep his opponents grounded. Finish almost certainly involves interference, but leads to a Chaos Theory suplex for the win. I remembered Rob Terry has the X Division briefcase, I wanted to do something about it, but I don't want to make it a heel v heel affair, as I'm planning for Daniels to keep for a while. Accepting advice.
4. Knockouts Championship - Tara (c) d. Hamada. Ref is too distracted by Angelina Love being in the corner to stop Tara playing dirty with Hamada. Widow's Peak, and Hamada is looking at the lights getting the tarantula treatment. Angelina looking daggers at Tara is the end visual.
5. Tag Team Championship - Team 3D vs. Morgan/Hernandez - No Contest. This gets only a few minutes before Beer Money come out and attack both teams. Devon gets the brunt of the offense from Storm and Roode, and it seems that Bubba Ray isn't really co-operating to help his partner as much as he could. This is mainly because I want to draw out the storyline I'm trying to get across.
6. D'Angelo Dinero d. Jeff Jarrett. Keep Pope strong ahead of Lockdown. Finish is a failed Stroke sending Jarrett to the corner allowing for the DDE.
7. Kurt Angle d. Mr. Anderson. Angle gives in to the temptation to fight dirty, leaving Anderson coughing up blood. Same match from the real Destination X.
8. World Heavyweight Championship Ladder Match - AJ Styles (c) d. Jeff Hardy. Good wrestling because AJ Styles; ridiculous high spots because Jeff Hardy. Finish is when Jeff is preparing for a Swanton while AJ is on an upturned ladder, when he gets pushed off by... Daniels? That's Eric Young! And Beer Money! They're all laying waste to Jeff Hardy, allowing AJ to climb the ladder and retain. The five of them raise each other's arms as a chorus of boos rings out, when Victory Road fades out...

(note: this alternate universe Fortune is based around being long-tenured TNA stars, so having Desmond Wolfe in there wouldn't really fit, as tempting as it is)

 

[Sky]

The Road to Lockdown​

Yep, let's go.

• Fallout show from Victory Road has AJ out to cut a promo. He says valid criticisms in the most jerkish way possible, talking about they, the backbone of TNA, were sidelined to chase money with men who made their name elsewhere. Namedrops Sting, Team 3D, Kurt Angle, the Pope, and finally Jeff Hardy. All those names get cheered. Everyone gets to say their piece, and we get some good promo moments from Daniels and Eric Young - we really didn't get to hear them talk serious enough before. AJ finishes the promo with: "We are The Originals, and we will not be kept down!"
• Pope gets his ass attacked after a match with Tomko, and there is kayfabe doubt that he'll be cleared for Lockdown, just like in our timeline.
• Doug WIlliams refuses to send Rob Terry to take the title off Daniels, because at least he doesn't rely on flips and gimmicks to get it done. He also won't take the briefcase off Terry to give himself a shot, for the same reason.
• Daniels title defenses mostly come with a caveat, as Eric Young stands by him to stop any opponents from getting a second's rest. He gets a match with Desmond Wolfe, and after he wins, he brings in Young for a piledriver then hits Angel's Wings on Wolfe again and again. Hardy shows up to chase off Daniels, and Wolfe joins an alliance against the Originals. This alliance expands to add Rhino after he saves Hardy from a similar beating in the main event next week.
• Tara/Angelina Love is set for Lockdown, as well as Awesome Kong/Hamada vs. any two Beautiful People for the Knockouts Tag Titles. TBP now includes Daffney.
• Team 3D vs. Morgan/Hernandez rematch set for Lockdown. Meanwhile, Beer Money can't stop winning (with heel tactics), and they're pissed that they're not holding the tag titles right now...
• But of course, they can't fight for it at the moment, because the Originals stand together in Lethal Lockdown! Originals (Daniels/Young/Storm/Roode) vs. Team Hardy (Hardy/Wolfe/Rhino/???). Mystery partner is hyped. AJ/Pope is the main event for Lockdown, remember.
• By the way, Samoa Joe was invited to join Team Hardy but refused...

 

[Sky]

Lockdown 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Family Arena - St. Charles, MO​

Big things happen in this one! Get ready!

1. Number 1 Contender for the X Division Championship Xscape Match - "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal d. Consequences Creed d. Alex Shelley d. Chris Sabin. Fuck it, why not? Lethal's a former X Division Champion, and a face at that, so why not give him the opportunity? BTW, Daniels isn't defending because he's in Lethal Lockdown. But... flippy shit, off cages, and occasional double teams! What's not to like?
2. Knockouts Tag Team Championship Steel Cage Match - The Beautiful People (Velvet/Daffney) (c) d. Kong/Hamada. The tactic is to isolate Kong and wear her down, freezing Hamada out of the match. It causes a lot of TBP getting beaten up, but ends well as Daffney hits the Daff-Knees and pins Kong while Velvet scraps with Hamada in the corner. TBP retain!
3. Tag Team Championship Steel Cage Match - Morgan/Hernandez d. Team 3D (c). Quite a few missed opportunities for Team 3D to take control, all of which Devon seems to be at fault for... and he takes the Carbon Footprint to drop the titles to Morgan/Hernandez. Bubba is not happy, not happy at all.
4. Global Championship Steel Cage Match - Rob Terry (c) d. Raven. What about Raven? He puts on much more of a fight than previous opponents, but is still toppled by Terry. Running powerslam. Retain.
5. Escape the Steel Cage Match - Kurt Angle d. Mr. Anderson. Yep. This rubber match still happens, Angle still moonsaults off the cage and it blows everyone's mind, Angle still leaves via the door and wins.
6. Knockouts Championship Steel Cage Match - Angelina Love d. Tara (c). Love is the one to topple Tara after her heel champion run.
7. Lethal Lockdown Match - The Originals (Daniels/Young/Storm/Roode) d. Team Hardy (Hardy/Wolfe/Rhino/RVD). Of course, the mystery partner is none other than the superhot free agent - ROB! VAN! DAM! He gets all his -inators in before the heels take control... After a long, hard-fought match, the Originals take it after a DWI to Hardy.
8. World Heavyweight Championship Steel Cage Match - D'Angelo Dinero d. AJ Styles (c). Just... really put both guys over. Originals come to assist Styles, but they're exhausted from the Lethal Lockdown and can't climb the cage fast enough, which serves as a distraction for Pope to hit the DDE! Pope's done it! Pope's the champion! But in a spectacular moment of pissing on the parade, Daniels unlocks the cage and the Originals do everything they can to beat on Pope. Why are they doing this? He already won! Well... (Godzilla music plays)
9. World Heavyweight Championship Feast or Fired Cash-In Steel Cage Match - Samoa Joe d. D'Angelo Dinero (c). Samoa Joe's in the Originals! Joe's with them! We really should have seen this coming! After that long hard match and that beatdown, it only takes one Muscle Buster to finish Pope off. And the World Championship is with the Originals once more!

Whoa.

 

[Sky]

A note: I'm going to leave it at that for a bit, as my roster is kind of wearing thin, even having brought in the canonical free agents that TNA brought in around this time. So: Are there any particular free agents that you'd like to see TNA pick up? (Must not be under contract in WWE, ROH, or any of the major Mexican or Japanese promotions, unless it's one of those talent exchange arrangements)

 

[Sky]

Between Lockdown and Sacrifice​

• Big gloating promo by the Originals at the start of the Lockdown fallout show. They hold up all the gold they have obtained so far. Joe is in mega heel mode, gloating directly to camera. Beaten up Pope comes out and vows payback. Joe claims he'd do it again, and again, and again, starting tonight! Of course, Joe wins by knocking Pope out with the Clutch after a ref bump allows AJ to beat on Pope.
• Meanwhile, Originals are being set up as contenders for more gold. Beer Money become number 1 contenders to the tag titles held by Morgan/Hernandez (which probably makes those two transitional champions, but I've got nothing for those two except as parts of the wider Originals vs. rest of TNA storyline).
• On top of that, Eric Young reclaims the Global Championship from Rob Terry following an assist from Daniels. Rematch set for Sacrifice.
• The TBP/Daffney angle continues, where notably they're much more successful with Daffney than without... Notably, the TBP second string of Madison and Lacey lose a non-title match to Kong and Hamada, granting a title shot at Sacrifice.
• Meanwhile, in Knockouts singles competition, Angelina Love would rather move on to bigger and better things - like feuding with TBP - but Tara really wants the runback, and her method to do this is to... assault her before every single match she's about to have with a member of TBP.
• Doug Williams' anti-silliness crusade leads the British Invasion into a minor feud with Ink, Inc. "Painted clowns" and the like, it's like Williams/Moore from real life but a tag team feud.
• Put newly-face Desmond Wolfe into a program with solidly-heel Mr. Anderson, because why not?
• Oh yeah, the X Division is a thing! Daniels against Chris Sabin, why not? Let's establish an enmity between MCMG and the Originals.
• Joe's world title program is against Rob Van Dam, because of course you use this guy if you have him. After one of those six-man tag main events that TNA loves so much, it ends with a steel chair-based beatdown of RVD. With barely any breath, the Whole F'n Show grabs a mic and declares that they're going to have a match at Sacrifice - and it'll be Falls Count Anywhere! And to stop AJ Styles from interfering on Joe's behalf, Kurt Angle will be in RVD's corner! Hopefully you see where this is going.

I have no idea what I'm doing. As for future roster plans:

- Get Shelton Benjamin in July, because that's when his non-compete is up. Charlie Haas was also free around this time... WGTT reunion?
- Roderick Strong to return. He had tryouts in the summer in real life.
- Mickie James to debut in September, as it was in real life.
- Brooke Tessmacher is with the company, and will play assistant to the GM in storylines after Slammiversary. Of course, that GM will be Mick Foley, and Tess will be heel.
- Jon Moxley? Sure, get him while we still can, eventually. I may need to free up some spaces because there's talent that I really can't find a use for.

 

[Chris]

WGTT reuntion worked well in ROH later than this irl so I'm sure it could work now.