Tonight's Impact had a central theme. AJ Styles was provided the choice between joining the cool group of friends and the group under duress of an old man screaming at him. Granted, the cool guys are a bunch of dicks who emotionally abuse women and take all the shortcuts. They also still scatter even with a numbers advantage (although if you have Garrett Bischoff and Wes Brisco in your group, do they really count?). But man, why would I want to have Hulk Hogan yelling at me and throwing ultimatums at me? Styles' choice is kind of a hard one, but honestly, in TNA, it's been a historical pattern. Friends are bad, weird loners are good. Jeff Hardy as the good-guy flagbearer and Aces and Eights as the villainous group (with the criminally absent from tonight's show Christopher Daniels and Kazarian as the secondary baddies) hammer that point home.
The ancillary story behind Styles though seems to be this subplot with James Storm. Was I the only one to detect that maybe he's going to end up as a bad guy down the line? He came out almost lording over his pin over Styles, and then went right into his sanctimony again. Styles has turned into so much of a lynchpin lately, and if he's ever going to shed the role of "up-and-coming" guy to become an actual, bankable star, it's going to be now.
Oddly enough, I feel like it's going to be as a weird loner, or at least that's what I think he should do. Friends are bad in TNA, and Styles doesn't seem to me to be a bad guy. But I'm not entirely sure Hogan's going about things the right way either. He's done enough to muck things up. So has Sting, really. The old guys maybe aren't the best directors for the company anymore. Maybe they need to follow suit with their Gut Check match for the evening, trying out guys in their primes.
Because let's face it. AJ Styles isn't a young in the wrestling industry anymore. Neither are Adam Pearce and Magno. Poor Magno, by the way. One match is such a small sample size, and lucha libre is such a hard style to do flawlessly even for guys who are in it going against fellow luchadors. I hope he didn't fuck his face up on that one flop he had going over the ropes.
One other note, I have to comment on Joey Ryan as the Knockouts referee. I thought it was a brilliant idea and use of his character, and most of the match was pretty entertaining in its execution. But it did get a bit hairy at times. I'm not sure I trust TNA going forward not to make this a total misogynist sleaze show, but for now, I dig it.
The ancillary story behind Styles though seems to be this subplot with James Storm. Was I the only one to detect that maybe he's going to end up as a bad guy down the line? He came out almost lording over his pin over Styles, and then went right into his sanctimony again. Styles has turned into so much of a lynchpin lately, and if he's ever going to shed the role of "up-and-coming" guy to become an actual, bankable star, it's going to be now.
Oddly enough, I feel like it's going to be as a weird loner, or at least that's what I think he should do. Friends are bad in TNA, and Styles doesn't seem to me to be a bad guy. But I'm not entirely sure Hogan's going about things the right way either. He's done enough to muck things up. So has Sting, really. The old guys maybe aren't the best directors for the company anymore. Maybe they need to follow suit with their Gut Check match for the evening, trying out guys in their primes.
Because let's face it. AJ Styles isn't a young in the wrestling industry anymore. Neither are Adam Pearce and Magno. Poor Magno, by the way. One match is such a small sample size, and lucha libre is such a hard style to do flawlessly even for guys who are in it going against fellow luchadors. I hope he didn't fuck his face up on that one flop he had going over the ropes.
One other note, I have to comment on Joey Ryan as the Knockouts referee. I thought it was a brilliant idea and use of his character, and most of the match was pretty entertaining in its execution. But it did get a bit hairy at times. I'm not sure I trust TNA going forward not to make this a total misogynist sleaze show, but for now, I dig it.