TNA’s Real Turning Point
Continuing my miniseries on why TNA is the mess that it is.Think back with me to Destination X 2012 and Aries vs. Roode. Why was that match special? Among other reasons, there was one major reason: either guy could win. So many times in wrestling and TNA in particular, the stories and winners to the matches are very predictable. This has plagued TNA since about No Surrender 2012. Let’s think for a minute.
At No Surrender, Jeff Hardy won the BFG Series. Wasn’t it was pretty obvious that Hardy would win the title?
At Bound For Glory, D-Von was revealed as the first member of Aces and 8’s. At that point, wasn’t it somewhat obvious that Ray was involved too? They’ve been together for years and you can’t have one without the other. Also at Bound For Glory, Hardy won the title to the surprise of very few.
On some episode of Impact, Ray started dating Brook Hogan. At that point, wasn’t it clear that Ray was going to be the big bad and screw everyone over?
Once Ray won a tournament (which he wasn’t in) to get a title shot at Lockdown, wasn’t it obvious that he would win the title and be revealed as the Aces and 8’s boss? Again, that’s what happened.
Once AJ Styles became Stinger Styles, wasn’t it obvious he would take the title from Ray and end the reign of terror which wasn’t so much terror as it was boring? Again, that’s what happened.
The night of Bound For Glory, I said Magnus was going to be Dixie’s man. Any guesses as to who Dixie’s man will eventually be?
You can see a problem here: TNA is REALLY bad at having their stories go exactly as people say they will. If I know nearly every step a story is going to take, why would I want to watch it? There are exceptions to this rule of course, but the majority of the time it doesn’t make for compelling television.
I know. If anything, Kurt Angle and Bobby Roode are a breather to that kind of stuff. But whenever TNA tries to go for a major angle, it can be seen from miles away.