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| The best option all along? Photo Credit: ImpactWrestling.com |
Let me throw this out there right away - I HATE hotshotting titles. I don’t care if it’s Yokozuna winning the title to lose to Hulk Hogan minutes later or CM Punk losing to Alberto Del Rio simply so that he can cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase and then give the title right back to Punk a month later. Titles are supposed to not only define a character, but they are a representation of the company. Steve Austin became a player in World Championship Wrestling when he won the Television Title. Personally, I feel as though that reign also helped to define the legitimacy of that belt. Granted, I was an eight-year-old just getting started in the world of wrestling, but even then, I could tell that the Television Title was something of importance.
In today’s wrestling world, many titles are losing their luster because of their misuse. WWE refuses to give any credibility to their titles outside of the World and WWE titles. The other belts are simply placed on someone who will lose countless times in non-title matches until they find someone else to job to their main event stars. But, in essence, the title is not defended enough to define the character or the title.
One reason that I could not get into TNA in their early years was because I felt that they moved too fast, in EVERYTHING. Their in-ring was fast, their segments were a blur, and I felt like if a missed a show, I missed a title switch. After Bobby Roode won the World Title, I felt like they started to give some nice, legitimate title runs to their workers, and I enjoyed it. D-Von held the TV Title for an extended period of time, and Bad Influence even had a good run as Tag Champs. This really helped me to be able to get into TNA for the first time ever.
So, with my feelings on hotshotting titles covered, let’s focus in on TNA’s latest rendition of this cardinal sin. Here’s my biggest complaint: why waste a step? If TNA would have simply taken another week to build Sabin and his decision on whether to cash in or not, we would not only have a deeper story between him and Bully Ray, but we could be building Austin Aries deeper into the Bound for Glory Series. Now, granted, we did get one hell of a main event out of this misstep in the story, but they could have just as easily reversed the roles of Sabin and Aries this week and the match would have remained the same. The story of Sabin heading into Destination X could have been that much more tremendous.
What would it have hurt to simply have Aries come out last week after Sabin cleanly defeated Kenny King and Suicide to say that since he was responsible for “option C” in the first place, that he felt he deserved a shot at getting that option again, thus leading us to our tremendous main event that we had tonight? This would not only build Sabin as the end-all-be-all X-Division champion, but also keep the story on a nice straight path to his World Title shot. In all honesty, I feel like this could potentially bury the Austin Aries character even more than him winning the match last week and actually getting the shot to take on Bully Ray while still in the BFG Series. I may be wrong here, but Aries is probably the most talented worker on their roster. The guy can talk, he can work, and the crowd eats out of the palm of his hand with everything that he says. Really, if the build had been proper from the get-go, he should be getting the shot anyway.
But, this is probably the biggest reason why TNA could never actually compete with the WWE. They have absolutely no idea who to push or when to do it. I really thought that they were turning the corner with Bobby Roode, but then they sprung the title on Aries too quickly and they did the same to him with Jeff Hardy. Maybe that should require a whole other blog entry though. I think I’ll put it in the bank because I have a lot of thoughts on that one as well.
I don’t want to take anything away from Chris Sabin. The guy is a great worker, and he deserves a shot at the World Title at some point in time. I feel like he deserves a better story than simply coming back from injury, winning a secondary title, and cashing that in for his shot, but I guess he’s gotta take what he can get. I do look forward to his match with Bully Ray. Their styles don’t seem like they’d line up, but they’re two of the better workers on that lackluster roster, so I’m sure that they can do what they need to put together a good match. Luckily for me, TNA is giving it away on free TV. So, thank you for that.