2012 the year of TNA

Last year I wrote a blog about the state of professional wrestling in 2011 in which I had many good things to say about the progression that TNA had made and the emergence of CM Punk within the WWE as a major superstar. Roughly one year on and although my wrestling viewing has been sporadic, I have managed to keep abreast of the all the major developments and PPVs.

If I was to judge in relative terms the progression each company has made since last year I would say that TNA has made the greater improvement. This year the company celebrates its 10 year anniversary, which I believe is a great achievement and an important milestone, especially considering how short lived WCW and ECW were in their heyday. TNA may not have got their ‘Monday night war’ yet, which has almost become a rite of passage amongst potential rivals of the WWE, but the company have made massive strides to correcting the mistakes of the initial Hogan/Bischoff era. If the company is to be seen as a legitimate alternative to the WWE then longevity is important.

And legitimacy is what TNA is earning for itself, little by little; this month saw TNA host its second largest annual PPV – Slammiversary, one of the best PPV’s of 2012 so far. The PPV showcased all that is good about TNA: the star power and quality of its roster as well as the intelligent booking that is slowly becoming more of a primary feature of the company. I want to just highlight some of the features of Slammiversary that I believe are examples of just how far TNA has come – firstly the promotion of ‘original’ and indie talent over ex-WWE superstars. Slammiversary opened with an X-Division title match between Austin Aries and Samoa Joe. Austin Aries has proven to be a star signing and one of the biggest revelations of 2012. The first ever X2 ROH world champion that should tell you something of the calibre of this performer; Aries is one of the best all round wrestlers in the business and epitomises what is great and innovative about the X-Division, something that has always set TNA apart from the WWE. Aries and Joe are two of TNA’s most successful indie transfers and really give the company that air of credibility.

Following on from the inclusion on the roster of ‘The greatest man that ever lived’, ‘A-Double’ Austin Aries, is the way in which TNA are using their ex-WWE superstars who bring much needed star power to the promotion. Slammiversary saw the tag team of AJ Styles and Kurt Angle, two of TNA’s greatest world champions as they faced off against reigning tag champions Christopher Daniels and Kazarian. The chemistry of Styles and Angle worked well and the gelling and harmonising of TNA’s first ever grand slam champion and arguably TNA’s biggest ex-WWE signing is a great example of the way in which ex-WWE talent is being used correctly to undergird the quality of the roster and the booking without creating an elitist inner circle for themselves. Moreover RVD, Mr Anderson and Jeff Hardy put on a tremendous triple threat match, which included some amazing spots, proving that for three seasoned veterans that they can still entertain while putting their egos aside as the upper mid card without the diva attitude of ‘I’m only here to be world champion’. Slammiversary benefited all the more from these three individuals’ contribution and performances without them needing to muscle their way into the main event.

Slammiversary was also the venue of the announcement of the inaugural TNA Hall of Famer – none other than the icon Sting. It is debatable whether Sting should have been the first Hall of Fame inductee but he is certainly worthy of it. Sting has been a massive edition to TNA these past 6 years and has been used to put over several TNA world champions, while steering the ship in troubled waters such as Jeff Hardy’s drug induced self-destruction a couple of years ago. Sting has led by example over this past year, showing the next generation how to give your best performance week after week and how to remain relevant in an ever evolving wrestling landscape. His Joker gimmick of last year was a stroke of genius and proved that he still belongs within the contemporary wrestling scene unlike some of his peers, who have only disgraced themselves by their shameless self-aggrandisement and living off of their past reputations ala Rick Flair. Sting may have toyed with finally moving to the WWE over the past few years, but he has stayed loyal to TNA and I think TNA have made the right decision in inducting him into their Hall of Fame. Conversely, Sting’s biggest contribution to Slammiversary was in his main event title match against Bobby Roode.

Roode is currently the longest reigning TNA world champion and one of the best TNA ‘originals’ the company has produced. Roode is one of the biggest indicators of how far the company has come to reversing some of the questionable booking decisions of a couple of years ago. Roode is a homemade star within TNA and his rise to success has been well planned and executed – Roode has been attempting to break through the glass ceiling for a little while and has finally smashed through it with a vengeance. Roode has played the heel superbly over the course of his title reign proving that he deserves to be the flag bearer for TNA. What is more exciting though is not just the fact that Roode has made TNA history in this historic year but also how his break up and relationship with former tag partner and Beer Money member James Storm has played out. Storm returned at Slammiversary to take Crimson’s unbeaten streak in emphatic fashion in what appears to be a slow burn push leading to his own world title run, hopefully at Bound for Glory. Again Storm is another example of TNA promoting their ‘in-house’ talent and turning them into bona fide main eventers and world champions. TNA are certainly moving in the right direction with Roode and Storm at the helm.

What is particularly encouraging is the fact that TNA’s adopted mantra from last year ‘Wrestling Matters’ is still alive and well and has become engrained within the spirit and philosophy of the company. While it worked as way of differentiating themselves from the WWE who have taken the opposite approach to their marketing in recent times it would have been disappointing had it been only empty rhetoric. But TNA have proved that after 10 rocky years they have a lot to be proud of and many accomplishments to deservedly celebrate.

The WWE in comparison has had in many respects a mediocre year so far. The year started well with the mysterious ‘end of the world as you know it’ vignettes, which sadly fizzled out and proved a complete anti-climax when Jericho returned for the second time only to go on a losing streak, which continued all the way up to his suspension while at a house show in Brazil last month. Jericho had a great feud with Punk, one of the highlights of 2012 for me as his promos mimicked Punk’s ‘pipe bombs’ of 2011 cutting close to the bone and becoming extremely personal. Their match at Wrestle Mania 28 was the best of the night for me from a traditional wrestling stand point. Punk himself is currently enjoying an 8 month winning streak becoming one of the longest reigning WWE champions in recent memory. This has been a master stroke for the WWE who were guilty not so long ago of devaluing their prestigious world title. While some fans may be growing tired of Punk by now and complain that he is stagnating as champion, I think he is one of the most convincing champions the WWE have and has given back much of the legitimacy that the WWE was in danger of losing.

               

Two other superstars who have risen to prominence at the moment are Sheamus and Daniel Bryan. Sheamus’ face turn has been successful and his world title reign has been far more credible than his two previous WWE titles, both of which were short lived and distasteful, not to mention a travesty of his heel character. However, face Sheamus is finally enjoying the dominance on Smack Down that he deserves and I hope the WWE continue to book him strongly as he is one of the best legitimate heavyweights the WWE have. Daniel Bryan has brought his technical hard style indie wrestling that made him so popular in ROH to the WWE and has proven that there is a place for technical wrestling at the highest level of the all too often glamorous and over stylised main event scene. Despite this I felt WWE were wrong to have Bryan put Sheamus over in just 18 seconds at Wrestle Mania this year – Bryan deserved better.

Another irritating factor about Wrestle Mania 28 was the ‘end of an era’ Undertaker v HHH Hell in a Cell match, which ended... nothing! The language was apocalyptic and Armageddon was promised but what was delivered was just another, albeit excellent, streak match that saw Undertaker reach the unprecedented feat of 20-0. What disappointed me the most was the finish – unlike last year that saw a very human Undertaker leave the arena, this year Undertaker was allowed to dominate a beaten and battered HHH, who again showed far too much mercy despite vowing not to! And although there were several mark out moments for me, especially hitting Taker over the head with a sledge hammer and HBK connecting sweet chin music followed by a pedigree from HHH, Undertaker still managed to pummel the fight out of HHH until he could continue no more. The fact that an aging, injured Undertaker who is for the best part retired from the active roster and only wrestles now one match a year at Wrestle Mania was allowed to go over HHH so cleanly in the end was a disgrace. There was no swerve, no twist, no controversy and no double crossing, just Undertaker being made to look invincible. The streak, no doubt, will continue and as HHH has reprised his role as COO on screen it looks as if everything will go on as normal proving that in fact the end of an era was nothing more than empty rhetoric designed to sell a match.

Another failure in my eyes was the long anticipated comeback of Brock Lesnar. Lesnar returned the night after Wrestle Mania to the joy and euphoria of the fans but immediately the WWE booked themselves into a no win situation. Brock’s first action was to F5 Cena and set up a match at Extreme Rules. Cena had just come off of a surprise loss to the Rock the previous night. If Cena lost to two returning opponents at two PPVs back to back then it would send the implicit message that the current generation of WWE superstars are subpar compared to previous generations, and yet if Brock lost in his first match back in the WWE it would make him look weak and destroy any momentum he had at his return. In the end the latter proved the case as Brock lost and then kayfabe injured HHH’s arm leading him to ‘quit’ the WWE only a month after his triumphant return.

Dolph Ziggler continues to be on the cusp of his big break through, which has been teased many times over the past couple of years but to no avail. For some reason WWE are reluctant to pull the trigger on Ziggler, despite him being used as a fall back guy when needed. Ziggler is one of the best performers the WWE have and sells moves and takes bumps like no other and yet still he is stuck in mid card limbo unable to break from Vicky Guerro. I am beginning to fear for Ziggler now that his time may never come, at least not in the way his talent deserves.

So all in all WWE have blundered through 2012 with some booking triumphs and mistakes. For me nothing that the WWE has done this year has set the wrestling world on fire like MITB last year when Punk beat Cena in an historic night and the culmination of one of the greatest storylines of the 21^st Century. Maybe it is unfair to compare the WWE of 2012 with that of 2011 for that very reason but at the end of the day the WWE have set themselves a precedent now. For me while still a long way off from genuinely competing with the WWE from a marketing and financial point of view, TNA has made the greater improvement to the overall quality of their product and they deserve to be given the credit this year for celebrating their 10 year anniversary. May TNA enjoy 10 more years, which I am confident will be even better and more glorious than the first.