Hey Scott, love your reviews. I know this has been talked about on your blog, but is there any way they can fix the Aces and Eights scenario. I have seen that Jeff Jarrett may be the leader, which would really suck.
My bigger issue at this point is that I think we've gotten whatever payoff to the Joseph Park storyline there's going to be. For months they were building up the fairly complex Jekyll and Hyde dynamic with the Bully Ray feud, and then Park just suddenly stopped being a wrestler and now he's just this wacky lawyer who hangs out backstage talking about "kayfab" and tweeting pictures of himself. I keep waiting for someone to mention that this guy might be deadly monster The Abyss but no one ever does, and in fact now they're just treating him like he's innocent lawyer Joseph Park, end of story. It's really weird storytelling.
As for the Aces, I really wish they had never teased that the leader might be someone. They should have just had some masked dude talking without the voice modulation, so that they weren't promising intrigue that they couldn't deliver. They're just nameless thugs out to destroy Hulkamania for 1-2 segments per week, no problem. But they got greedy and wanted a piece of that sweet nWo mystery buildup pie, and now they've pretty much booked themselves into a corner with it, where the heels don't interact with anyone but Hogan and Sting now and they've spent so much time building up Act 1 that they forgot to move onto Act 2. I don't think there's any real point in "saving" it now, it's just a silly Hulk Hogan feud, especially if it is Bischoff behind it all.
I keep waiting for someone to mention that this guy might be deadly monster The Abyss but no one ever does, and in fact now they're just treating him like he's innocent lawyer Joseph Park, end of story. It's really weird storytelling.
ReplyDeleteI think it actually helps things along; nobody's seen Abyss in weeks, so by pro wrestling logic, he's "gone." And Park hasn't shown any signs of "reverting" since that one incident with Bully Ray, who's been preoccupied with other issues lately, so nobody's up to rocking the boat.
I get the main point, but how do you proceed with marketing a payoff match if it's never revealed as "someone". He can't stay "masked man" forever. Somewhere, the Black Scorpion is watching...
ReplyDeleteEasy - you just have a group of thugs who get over based on their actions, instead of getting over on based some big mystery of who they might be. Then at the end the payoff is the faces beat the thugs.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure your Black Scorpion comparison is valid. The problem with the Black Scorpion (well one of the problems) is the same problem with Aces & Eights - they built up a storyline based on the mystery over who this masked person is, but didn't have anyone to fill that spot. And it turning out to be Bischoff or Jarrett would be just as big a letdown as it was when the B.S. turned out to be Flair or when the "Higher Power" turned out to be Vince.
Actually, I think they could have stayed threats if they stuck with the masks instead of going with this "mystery leader" bullshit. Masked heels hasn't been done in so long that it's immediately seen as a fresh idea now and I think they should have run with that instead of going with the mandatory "Mysterious masked attacker must always reveal his identity when it's conveniently time
ReplyDeleteI just figured it out! Aces and Eights are the same dudes that were Jerry Lawler's knights back in Survivor Series 93! We'll NEVER know who the are!
ReplyDeletejust don't be JJ
ReplyDeleteYeah that's a good place
ReplyDeleteYou're right, I just mean at THIS point they have to pay it off with someone under the mask. They booked themselves into that corner and now they have to deliver. Short of someone like Goldberg, it's going to fall flat.
ReplyDeleteWe're a few minutes removed from the days of Dick Beyer though. I think it could certainly work, it's just too late at this point to not deliver a "man under the mask" and that's the unfortunate corner they've booked themselves into.
ReplyDeleteI think they are purposefully trying to make everyone forget about Abyss. I fully expect him to be revealed as the leader, with Bischoff and Jarrett backing him. TNA needs a (no pun intended) monster heel (Bully Ray is too comedic to be taken seriously, I feel, although he's been on fire all year).
ReplyDeleteBFG will go down like this; Sting's Mystery Partner (that's the storyline they are going with, right?) is revealed to be Abyss at the PPV, but's its all a giant SWERVE, as Abyss is really behind A&E's, so he turns on Sting ala the famous Horsemen swerve with Brian Pillman and Arn Anderson. I don't know who the other guys would be in the stable, doesn't really matter.
"the heels don't interact with anyone but Hogan and Sting now"
ReplyDeleteThis has been a problem for a while. Champion Roode rarely interacted with his challengers. Just look back at the shows leading up to RVD's title shot. I don't think Roode and RVD shared time in the ring or bumped into each other backstage once before the PPV.
It was always Roode out there, whining and complaining to Hogan.
I like that, and have a feeling that's where it's going as well.
ReplyDeleteAgreed
ReplyDeleteIf that means Barry Horowitz is returning, I'm all for it
ReplyDeleteLet's say Abyss is the leader. So what? We've seen Abyss for years, it's nothing different or shocking. Same for almost anyone else. There might be that initial shock at who it turns out to be, but what happens after that? It's just Joe, or Kennedy, or Bully, or Abyss, or Angle, leading a heel group. Jarrett would be terrible. Even if you like Jarrett (and I don't), him leading a heel group? Saw it. His panties in a knot because he wants to run the company? Saw it. Same with Bishoff.
ReplyDeleteIf they can't land a big name (and who would even be available?) they'd have been better off keeping them as a masked biker gang. Like has been mentioned, once it turned into a "someone is leading them" thing it had to be someone good.
I agree; I was going to say that I figured your first two paragraphs are connected, Scott. I think they are avoiding mention of Abyss so that they don't draw attention to him. Same way that Bischoff hasn't shown up since telling Hogan he had his back several weeks ago.
ReplyDeleteive been thinking this for a while so i figure this is as good a place as any: There's been people who say that "if it's x, im out" and i have to ask, why?
ReplyDeleteI mean, most of us can agree that Impact has been good for a while (6 months? Ive been watching since the live summer started), right? Most of the show has been solid, even just discounting A&8's. So if you find youself enjoying most of the show, why tune out because of a reveal you disagree with?
Personally I think its obviously Bichoff, especially after last week. And yeah, i was a little bummed about that. But I really dig the rest of Impact as a whole, Im not going to stop watching, why would you? There's a lot of you who hate 90 percent of Raw but still watch cuz there are things you DO enjoy, so why the all or nothing with Impact?
Just my two pennies.
I think the angle can still go some ways that it wouldn't bomb.
ReplyDelete1. Abyss is the Leader - And there are a couple ways this could be done. Abyss could be the Leader and Joe Park was a put on. Or you could have Abyss as the leader and Park as a face but neither knows they are the same guy.
2. Ex-TNA union - Homicide, Lethal, Chris Harris, Monty Brown, Petey Williams, Amazing Red...there are a TON of names here. Any one of them would be a let down, but together it would be a good payoff.
3. Wrestlers without a home - A bunch of misfit wrestlers that don't have anywhere to go. This would explain the presence of Gallows and Masters. You could even blend this angle with #2. However, with this you'd need a leader and sadly, Bishcoff or Jarrett make the most sense.
4. Bully is the leader - This wouldn't be a homerun, but it wouldn't kill the angle. Especially if you could bring the Park/Abyss story back to the forefront. Let Park beg Sting to team with him, Sting picks Bully instead because he's more "stable". Bully screws him. This leads to Sting trying to get Park to realize he's Abyss and help save TNA.
Given his relationship with Bishoff, Hogan and Sting I'm surprised they haven't gotten Goldberg yet. He must really be done with wrestling, or wants a ton of money.
ReplyDeleteJesus, I had forgotten about how well they were doing the Joseph Park angle (remember that Black Hole Slam?) and now that's getting flushed away. I'm still enjoying Impact, but the stroytelling, which had been rock-solid for a while post-Russo, is starting to get shaky and reminiscent of a very goateed fellow....
ReplyDeleteBecause I have a Pavlovian response that Bischoff + Hogan powerplaying on a wrestling show that makes me wanna switch channels and if Impact is about them again like it was before, well, I was already burned by the company once. I'm just so fucking sick of that duo (it's no coincidence the show has picked up since Hogan hit the background and Bischoff disappeared) and there's no one in WWE that provokes that level of channel-switching disgust than those two do for me, not even Cena (although the horrible booking has already started to make me tune out both RAW and SD). I have a massive gaming backlog and a full DVR that I can work on knocking out Thursday nights if they burn me by bringing him back.
ReplyDeleteRight. This angle was a lot better when the whole company was in A&8's sights; I loved the way that Bully Ray had to make a save for a face simply because the locker room was united against the threat. As amusing as the "This is not about you" line was last week, that's exactly what it's turned into, brother, and Hogan being in the spotlight is what sunk most of our interest two years ago.
ReplyDelete