TNA: At A Crossroads

[Texasrangers13]

OOC: I wasn't sure if I had any interest in actually writing this, but in the end I decided I needed some release from work. I work 90-100 hours a week, so this gives me a nice mental break and something I can do to keep my mind fresh. With that said, I've written diaries before, I write for my own pleasure. I don't mind if I don't get predictions, in fact I may not post future cards except for PPVs. I don't write for personal gratification or seeking approval, I write because I enjoy it. I like trying new things, and presenting ideas in a different format. With a previous diary I wrote two months worth of shows entirely from one wrestlers perspective. With this one i'll probably try different things too. For now, let's just see where this goes.

 

___________________________________________________________________

 

January 2nd, 2013.

 

The meeting had been on the calendar for a few months, all the big names were there. Dixie Carter sat at the head of the table, Jeremy Borash one of the original faces of TNA was to her right. To her left sat Hulk Hogan. The rest of the table was filled with the likes of Al Snow, Pat Kenney, D'Lo Brown, Dave Lagana, and of course Eric Bischoff and his close friend Jason Hervey. Bruce Prichard and Jeff Jarrett stood in the corner around the spread, chatting and smiling. Jarrett had just returned from Mexico where he had been vacationing and performing with AAA, Prichard appeared to be soaking in the stories. As I walked in I quickly found my way over to Dixie and gave her a hug. I'd known Dixie for years, but never had the opportunity to work for her. Around the television industry I was known as a fixer. A consultant by trade, I'd found myself working with the entertainment industry at a young age. One of my first gigs right out of college was working with a senior analyst on a project for Fox Sports Net, that project was TNA Wrestling. It gave me a taste of the industry. From there, I worked on reality programs, game shows, and even scripted dramas. For the most part my job was to help identify what was causing a show to fail. In May of 2012, I was at Universal Studios with a client when I bumped into Dixie. After a brief re-introduction Dixie and I hit it off immediately. She suggested I swing by the studios and take in a taping, just in case we may have a future match. I agreed and kept in touch with her through the summer. In October, as the Aces and Eights were earning the right to "run" TNA, I was called in. Hogan and Bischoff's plan to draw viewers wasn't working. The company felt it was treading water. I told Dixie that my current gig would wrap up in December, and that I could sign onto TNA starting in January of 2013.

 

I did have some specifics in my contract. First and foremost, as with all of my consulting gigs, this gig would start at six months. At the end of six months we could talk about continuing or going our separate ways. This allowed both sides flexibility. Secondly, I wanted to be hands on, not just a face in the crowd. We agreed that the writers would write, the road agents would script things, but in the end all ideas come to Dixie and they come to my desk. For the most part I'd sign-off on everything, but there were certain things I didn't want to see happen. For example, Hogan and Bischoff were pushing for the Aces and Eights to take the form of Devon, DOC, D-Lo, Garrett Bischoff, Wes Briscoe, Mike Knox and the leader to be revealed as Bully Ray. Ray had recently turned face and been defending TNA, and was getting a good reaction. In the end I decided that the fans didn't need to be force fed the idea that Garrett Bischoff and Wes Briscoe were turncoats and that Bully Ray was orchestrating everything. And D-Lo, well, let's just say I didn't see the purpose in that and to be honest, he didn't either. Instead I scripted up a group of five that I thought the fans would buy and recognize. I also made the decision that the group would have a direction but not necessarily a "leader".

 

The Joseph Park/Abyss storyline was unique, but people were guessing they knew were it was going. As we rolled into 2013, we decided that for now, Abyss would return to the screen and Joseph Park would make sporadic appearances as the talking "face" of Abyss.

 

The next major decision I made was both the Gut Check and Fight Night would continue but with certain changes. First, the Gut Check would be a recurring segment, at anytime a wrestler or a couple wrestlers could debut and be fight for a contract. We could hire both, one or none. No more of this bogus, one judge says yes, one says no, the third says yes. In fact, I decided we wanted to make the decisions interactive. Fans votes online would help contribute to the decision.

 

Speaking of online, we decided that our online presence needed a fresh face. I brought in a group of graphic designers and programmers and restructured the entire website. Now when you visit TNAwrestling.com you can watch full 60-minute episodes of TNA Xplosion as they happen, meaning if you wanted you could watch it live the hour before we film Impact. We'd use Xplosion as it was intended, as a show to showcase talents, build storylines and try new things. It wouldn't be a recap show anymore, instead it would become a chance for us to grow our roster and try new things.

 

Finally, I presented a list of names that I wanted us to hire for our development federation, Ohio Valley Wrestling. As I brought up OVW, I brought into the meeting a close friend of mine, Das Wunderkid, Alex Wright. Alex has been running his own school in Germany, The Wright Stuff, but had expressed an interest in coming back to America at least part-time. I had already made this hire (Dixie signed off on it in December) but I wanted to show the guys that I was here and I was serious. I also knew the industry and had connections. Alex would join Douglas Williams as the trainers for OVW Wrestling.

 

As I closed my speech, I reminded the room that we were a family. We were here to be friends, but we were also here to argue and to debate decisions. I wanted us to love the product we put out, day-in and day-out.

 

As I finished we broke into groups, writers and road agents, and I bounced around the room, sharing intel and information on what the demographic wanted to see.

 

As we rolled into 2013, we all knew this year could be the make or break year for TNA Wrestling, the group was excited and I was thrilled to be a part of it.

 

This is TNA: At A Crossroads.

[Bigjondalegend]

Looks interesting

Theres not alot of TNA diaries

Its looks to be a better take on aces and eights

Looking forward to reading the cards

[Rickymex]

I'm following as well and I approve of anything involving dancing Germans.

[Texasrangers13]

The morning before the first Xplosion and Impact taping/live show of 2013, I nervously paced the room. No matter what is going to happen, some things have to be explained. You cannot just ditch stories and leave your fans wondering what happened. After all TNA tried that back in 2010 and that wasn't a huge success.

 

I knew that they'd been pumping up the return of King Mo, he'd debuted at Bound for Glory, but was merely an enforcer. To start 2013 off, at least if you were watching online, King Mo would make his debut.

 

The tag team division had been centered around Bad Influence and the Latino Warriors (Chavo and Hernandez) but I had another team I thought would draw. Especially when the true intentions of the team come to the forefront.

 

Since we were re-upping Gut Check, we jointly figured the fans would like to see Joey Ryan in action against Christian York. But these guys get the crowds going, so that's a must for Xplosion. Again, really trying to draw fans online, get them involved and interested.

 

Lastly, I wanted to wrap up the hour-long debut of the new Xplosion with Devon defending his title. Since we were still new to the online game we weren't going to allow the fans to pick his opponent quite yet, but I had a good idea of who we wanted to pit him against. Naturally Samoa Joe fit the bill, both wanting revenge for the attacks on him in November and wanting his television title back.

 

As we sat around the table and passed a copy of the card for Xplosion around it looked a bit like this.

 

King Mo vs. Robbie T

Kid Kash and Gunner vs. Garrett Bischoff and Wes Briscoe

Joey Ryan vs. Christian York

Devon vs. Samoa Joe (Television Title)

 

We quickly jumped into setting up for Impact. We were only two shows away from the Genesis PPV and we knew we would have to re-establish storyline's and get the fans on board.

 

We all decided the best way to kick off the new Impact was not with Hulk Hogan at the forefront, but rather reminding the fans that on the last Impact of December, Hogan had promised Bully Ray a shot at the title in exchange for his loyalty to TNA. The show will open with a contract signing between Bully Ray and Jeff Hardy. To make it more official and less "Hogan", Dixie Carter will be the one handling the contract signing. And to prove his loyalty Bully Ray has volunteered to team with Hardy tonight against the Aces and Eights, Devon and DOC.

 

Joey Ryan and Matt Morgan spent much of December annoying people backstage, tonight they claim that the spent the New Year searching high and low for "NEW TALENTS" and will be holding their own version of Gut Check. Joey Ryan and Matt Morgan will face Volador Jr. and Elix Skipper.

 

As 2012 wrapped up we kept hearing rumors of the "British Boot Camp" reality show that was only available to viewers in the UK. Well as part of the new TNA Website we've uploaded all six episodes, and tonight Tara will put her Knockout Title on the line against one of the competitors, Hannah Blossom.

 

Austin Aries had a very interesting 2012 which included a reign as the World champion. 2013 will open with him facing Chavo Guerrero. Aries and Bobby Roode had last been seen seeming to make an alliance over their joint interest in gold. Austin Aries though has insisted he has his eyes on the X Division title not the tag title which Chavo is a partial holder of. Meanwhile Bobby Roode has managed to get himself a match with Rob Van Dam (the current X-Division champion) We will see where this goes.

 

Joseph Parks was an interesting storyline for awhile. 2012 wrapped up with him "training" to be a wrestler. Well 2013 is going to start with Abyss returning, not just that, but he's returning to take on Bad Influence in a handicap match. The explanation behind this will come from a scene that Bad Influence will "re-hash" prior to the match about teasing and taunting Joseph Parks while he was "searching for his brother".

 

In the penultimate match we have James Storm facing off against Kid Kash. On the surface this makes no sense, but again the story we have planned will explain it.

 

Finally in the Main Event we have Bully Ray and Jeff Hardy teaming up against Devon and DOC.

 

So the card for Impact looks a little like this.

 

Joey Ryan and Matt Morgan vs. "Joey and Matt's Gutcheck Foreign Finds"

Tara vs. Hannah Blossom (Knockouts Title)

Austin Aries vs. Chavo Guerrero

Abyss vs. Bad Influence

Bobby Roode vs. RVD

James Storm vs. Kid Kash

Bully Ray and Jeff Hardy vs. Aces and Eights (Devon and DOC)

 

Rough start I thought, but we had a direction and we had a plan... we just need the fans to buy into it early.

[Rickymex]

King Mo vs. Robbie T

Kid Kash and Gunner vs. Garrett Bischoff and Wes Briscoe

Joey Ryan vs. Christian York

Devon vs. Samoa Joe (Television Title)

 

Joey Ryan and Matt Morgan vs. "Joey and Matt's Gutcheck Foreign Finds"

Tara vs. Hannah Blossom (Knockouts Title)

Austin Aries vs. Chavo Guerrero

Abyss vs. Bad Influence

Bobby Roode vs. RVD

James Storm vs. Kid Kash

Bully Ray and Jeff Hardy vs. Aces and Eights (Devon and DOC)

[Bigjondalegend]

Xplosion

 

King Mo

Kid kash n gunner

Joey ryan

Devon

 

Impact

Joey ryan n matt morgan

Tara

Austin aries

Bad influence

Bobby roode

James storm

Bully ray n jeff hardy

[The Lloyd]

Really like the lengthy explanations for each direction you're going in

 

King Mo vs. Robbie T

Kid Kash and Gunner vs. Garrett Bischoff and Wes Briscoe

Joey Ryan vs. Christian York

Devon vs. Samoa Joe (Television Title)

 

Joey Ryan and Matt Morgan vs. "Joey and Matt's Gutcheck Foreign Finds"

Tara vs. Hannah Blossom (Knockouts Title)

Austin Aries vs. Chavo Guerrero

Abyss vs. Bad Influence

Bobby Roode vs. RVD

James Storm vs. Kid Kash

Bully Ray and Jeff Hardy vs. Aces and Eights (Devon and DOC)

[RKOwnage]

I don't follow TNA anymore really, but I like the style of this dynasty so far so I'll be reading.

 

King Mo vs. Robbie T

Kid Kash and Gunner vs. Garrett Bischoff and Wes Briscoe

Joey Ryan vs. Christian York

Devon vs. Samoa Joe (Television Title)

 

Joey Ryan and Matt Morgan vs. "Joey and Matt's Gutcheck Foreign Finds"

Tara vs. Hannah Blossom (Knockouts Title)

Austin Aries vs. Chavo Guerrero

Abyss vs. Bad Influence

Bobby Roode vs. RVD

James Storm vs. Kid Kash

Bully Ray and Jeff Hardy vs. Aces and Eights (Devon and DOC)

[The Final Countdown]

Your previous diaries were always worth the read, so I'll definitely be following this.

 

King Mo vs. Robbie T

Kid Kash and Gunner vs. Garrett Bischoff and Wes Briscoe

Joey Ryan vs. Christian York

Devon vs. Samoa Joe (Television Title)

 

Joey Ryan and Matt Morgan vs. "Joey and Matt's Gutcheck Foreign Finds"

Tara vs. Hannah Blossom (Knockouts Title)

Austin Aries vs. Chavo Guerrero

Abyss vs. Bad Influence

Bobby Roode vs. RVD

James Storm vs. Kid Kash

Bully Ray and Jeff Hardy vs. Aces and Eights (Devon and DOC)

[olympia]

Joey Ryan and Matt Morgan vs. "Joey and Matt's Gutcheck Foreign Finds"

Tara vs. Hannah Blossom (Knockouts Title)

Austin Aries vs. Chavo Guerrero

Abyss vs. Bad Influence

Bobby Roode vs. RVD

James Storm vs. Kid Kash

Bully Ray and Jeff Hardy vs. Aces and Eights

 

glad to see some more TNA action on the horizon

[ClassDunce]

King Mo vs. Robbie T

Kid Kash and Gunner vs. Garrett Bischoff and Wes Briscoe

Joey Ryan vs. Christian York

Devon vs. Samoa Joe (Television Title)

 

Joey Ryan and Matt Morgan vs. "Joey and Matt's Gutcheck Foreign Finds"

Tara vs. Hannah Blossom (Knockouts Title)

Austin Aries vs. Chavo Guerrero

Abyss vs. Bad Influence

Bobby Roode vs. RVD

James Storm vs. Kid Kash

Bully Ray and Jeff Hardy vs. Aces and Eights (Devon and DOC)

[Texasrangers13]

OOC: Absolutely blown away at the support, thank you all. With that, I do want to say the write-ups will be my take. I won't be writing up extensive essays, but I will attempt to set the scene and explain the scenario.

 

___________________________________________________________________

 

I stepped out of the meeting and wandered into the empty Bridgestone Arena. TNA had been tinkering with the idea of going Live and on the road for awhile. Dixie Carter began implementing it in late 2012 and this week we were back in Nashville, albeit in a much larger facility. I walked down the ramp and paused taking it all in. Stopping at the end of the ramp I snapped on a quick cell phone photo and realized it was time...

 

TNA Xplosion

 

The show opened with a shower of gold pyro, King Mo strutted to the ring to virtually no applause. The crowd was hot, but the fact of the matter is, no one really cares about Bellator fighters. If your an MMA fan you know the stars, but King Mo is not a big name. Out next were Robbie T and Robbie E, the fans knew them and showered them with boys. I love the look of Robbie T and Robbie E's character is a bit absurd and over the top, so it works. As for the match itself it wasn't great it wasn't awful. Robbie T looked strong but in the end we had him tap out to King Mo. The hope was that the fans would react, but alas really nothing.

 

--King Mo defeats Robbie T via Submission.

 

Things cleared out and we went to commercial, I sat with the road agents and jointly we agreed that King Mo probably needed more seasoning and maybe a true character. Wearing a crown and claiming to be an MMA star just doesn't cut it. We agreed that King Mo would finish the month out with us and then we'd send him to train with Alex Wright and Douglas Williams in OVW.

 

As the action returned live Garrett Bischoff and Wes Briscoe stood in the ring. Kid Kash and Gunner walked down the ring with Kid Kash carrying a microphone, Kash quickly told the fans that he was from Nashville, which drew a pop...before quickly reminding them that he didn't care where they were, the fans have never respected Kid Kash and they've never respected Gunner. Together Kash and Gunner were going to get the gold and force the fans to respect them. The match itself was another average match but Kid Kash and Gunner got the win. After the match Gunner and Kid Kash annihilated Briscoe and Bischoff with a steel chain that Kid Kash had carried down the ring with him.

 

--Kid Kash and Gunner defeated Wes Briscoe and Garrett Bischoff

 

The cameras went backstage to see Al Snow, Bruce Pritchard and D-Lo Brown discussing the success of Gut Check, they told the fans that starting in February they'd have a chance to voice their opinions on Gut Check. They also explained that the Gut Check was now something that would be featured on Xplosion and could be seen any week. Up next would be Gut Check winner, Christian York doing battle with Gut Check loser/cry-baby, Joey Ryan.

 

Joey Ryan and Christian York also put on an "average" match. I wasn't here to make the wrestling better, but I did want to see matches that people wanted to talk about. I wanted TNA to be a brand that was fresh and interesting. I wanted to find a face of the company and create new stars. So far Ryan and York look merely like pawns in the game. York has an interesting look and good skills, but he is gimmick-less and I really don't have any ideas. As for Ryan, the mixture of 1970s porn star and angry gut-checker is an interesting combo. He cuts good promos and after he got the win (with a bit of help from his partner Matt Morgan) he grabbed the microphone and told the fans that he and Matt Morgan spent the Christmas holiday traveling the globe searching for foreign talent and that tonight, LIVE ON SPIKE TV and on Impact Wrestling he and Matt Morgan will be showcasing two of the finest wrestling talents they found but after the match they'll go back to their hotel rooms and showcase the talent they found for themselves.

 

--Joey Ryan defeated Christian York, after Matt Morgan assisted Ryan

 

Backstage Samoa Joe issued a challenge to Devon for his television title for tonight. While he was cutting his promo the cameraman was thrown out of the way. Chaos ensued and when the cameraman was able to recover his lens was out of focus. As it came back into focus we see Samoa Joe on the ground with a chain draped over his back.

 

Coming back from commercial Devon made his entrance. Samoa Joe's music played but Joe didn't make it out. Devon told the referee to begin the 10-count and he complied. As the referee hit "five" Joe limped his way out to the ring. Joe and Devon put on a great match and Joe sold his injury well. In the end Devon managed to take advantage of the weakened Joe and got the win and defended his title.

 

--Devon defeated Samoa Joe to retain his Television Title

 

IMPACT WRESTLING LIVE!

As the first-ever "live" Xplosion wrapped up and Impact went live on Spike morale was high. While Xplosion wasn't great, it was a hell of a lot better than we had been putting out.

 

Impact opened as planned with Dixie Carter presenting the contract signing for Bully Ray vs. Jeff Hardy at Genesis. Bully Ray promised his loyalty to TNA and announced to the crowd that tonight he and Jeff Hardy would do battle against Devon and DOC. The fans ate it up and were hyped as we wrapped up the opening segment and went to the first break.

 

Back from break the fans were greeted by Joey Ryan and Matt Morgan. Ryan gave a similar speech that he gave an hour ago on Xplosion. He then introduced the "newcomers" he found. Mike Tenay quickly pointed out that Elix Skipper was a vet, and a 4 time TNA Tag Team champion as well as a WCW Crusierweight and Cruiserweight Tag Team champion. Skipper's partner was Volador Jr who TNA fans might remember from the World X Cup, and he was a former CMLL Tag Team champion. In other words these guys weren't unknowns and they weren't rookies. Joey Ryan immediately pointed out to his opponents that it didn't matter who they were, fans here forget about you immediately. All they care about is the present and 87% of the fans wanted Joey Ryan yet he didn't win a contract. He said this is the beginning of his revenge... As for the match, well, it sucked. Matt Morgan planted Volador with the Carbon Footprint and got the quick win.

 

Overall I wasn't pleased with this match. It was intended to push Ryan and Morgan as the angry, under appreciated, tag team. In the end we probably hastily put this together. Not a great start.

 

--Joey Ryan and Matt Morgan defeated Volador Jr and Elix Skipper

 

Things only went downhill from there. We introduced the crowd to Hannah Blossom and hyped the fact that fans could now watch the British Boot Camp online on the new TNAwrestling.com but that didn't seem to change the fact that the fans would have rather seen Gail Kim or Mickie James or the Pigeons, pretty much anything other than a Blossom Twin. As for the match, Tara destroyed Hannah Blossom.

 

--Tara defeated Hannah Blossom to retain the Knockouts Title

 

We went to commercials and I buried my head in my hands. It was still early but this wasn't the way I was hoping to start my career as the creative consultant for TNA. Thankfully things were about to turn around for the night at least.

 

Austin Aries came out to some awesome heat. The hardcore fans love him because of his edginess and witty comments, plus his phenomenal wrestling skills. The average fan and television fan hate him because he plays a great heel. As for Chavo Guerrero, the fans seem to like him and respect the fact that he is a champion. Aries cut a quick promo reminding Chavo that he didn't care about the Tag Team titles, but that if he beat Chavo tonight he was promised a shot at the X Division title at Genesis. To sweeten the pot for Chavo, Aries told him that if he beat him... he could finally say he beat a world champion. This set Chavo off and the match got underway. The fans enjoyed easily the best match Impact had seen early on. Chavo looked very solid through but in the end Austin Aries hit the Brainbuster and earned the shot next week at Rob Van Dam for the X-Division Title.

 

--Austin Aries defeated Chavo Guerrero

 

Back in the locker room, Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels were hosting a spoof "Paranormal Activity" they wondered around until they walked into the boiler room. In there they claimed to "get a hit" and pulled out a cell phone to call Joseph Parks. Daniels seemed to get Parks on the phone as he could be heard saying "Joseph we found him, we found Abyss" suddenly Abyss appeared behind Bad Influence and attacked them both. He dragged them down to the ring for an impromptu handicap match.

 

The fans loved Abyss' return and Bad Influence draw a ton of heat. This set-up a great match between the two. Abyss had control of much of the match but Bad Influence did get some shots in. Suddenly on the Video Board appeared the words "Come Home Chris". Despite likely being a reference to Chris Parks (Abyss), Christopher Daniels and Kazarian were distracted long enough for Abyss to recover and ultimately hit the Black Hole Slam on both Daniels and Kazarian. As the match ended Abyss stared at the board as the words vanished and lights went red and we went to another break.

 

--Abyss defeated Bad Influence via Black Hole Slam

 

Back from break Bobby Roode was making his entrance. I personally really think that Roode gets it. He's a guy that I think sells the brand. I love his personality and his character. His opponent RVD is another guy who the fans love, but is probably just a bit passed his prime. This was the match of the night. Roode and RVD went back and forth for a good amount of time. The fans were really into it and in the end Roode got the win with the Payoff.

 

--Bobby Roode defeated Rob Van Dam via Payoff

 

Up next was James Storm vs. Kid Kash. Kid Kash and Gunner made their way to the rink both draped in chains. Gunner waited outside the ring as James Storm made his entrance. The match got going and seemed to be all James Storm. Suddenly Gunner jumped Storm and nailed him with the chain, Kash grabbed his chain and joined in. Both beat down Storm until suddenly Hernandez and Chavo ran down to fight off Gunner and Kash. Kash and Gunner retreated and we announced to the audience that Gunner and Kid Kash will face Chavo and Hernandez on the next Xplosion, exclusively on TNAwrestling.com next week.

 

--James Storm defeated Kid Kash via DQ when Gunner interfered.

 

We went backstage where Mr. Anderson was standing by with Jeremy Borash. Anderson talked about how he loves TNA and loves the fact that the Assholes love him. Anderson hyped that on next weeks Xplosion he'd face Devon for the Television title.

 

Kurt Angle then joined Jeremy Borash and ran down the Aces and Eights. He called out Devon for turning his back on TNA. He said that he was ready for war, suddenly he was interrupted by Bobby Roode. Roode ripped into Angle calling him soft and over the hill. Angle got in Roode's face, but then Matt Morgan stepped in and pushed both apart. Morgan told JB he was demanding respect and he'd step on anyones throats to get that respect. Roode smiled and patted Morgan on the back... this pissed Morgan off. Before things could get too out of hand, Rob Van Dam walked in and told everyone to chill. He said, you just gotta roll with the punches man, and enjoy life. Roode reminded him that he beat him earlier tonight. Finally Hulk Hogan made his first appearance of the night, waltzing his way into the image. Hogan grabbed a microphone and announced that next week, everyone will get a little bit of what they want. Next week on Impact, in the main event, Kurt Angle will get a chance to get his hands on Aces and Eights. Matt Morgan will get a chance to be heard. Rob Van Dam will get a chance at revenge. Bobby Roode will get a chance to pin the champ. Everyone looked a little confused, but Hogan clarified. Next week on Impact it will be Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle and Rob Van Dam vs. Bobby Roode, Matt Morgan and a member of Aces and Eights. The crowd popped at the announcement of next weeks mega Main Event.

 

Main Event time: Jeff Hardy and Bully Ray came down to the ring separately. Devon and DOC made their way down together, accompanied by a man who was wearing a mask, but looked familiar to many hardcore fans. This man stood quietly throughout the match on the outside and didn't get involved in the match. The match itself was good but not great. Devon had already worked a match tonight on Xplosion and that may have slowed him down. In the end, Bully Ray dropped DOC and Jeff Hardy hit a Swanton Bomb and the good guys got the win.

 

--Bully Ray and Jeff Hardy defeated DOC and Devon

 

The show closed and we cracked open a couple beers backstage. I knew we still had work to do. In fact for the rest of this month things are going to be a bit of a cluster. Xplosion ultimately won't have workers double booked, but for now we need to draw fans online and we want the fans to feel like Xplosion has a purpose. Tonight Abyss and Bad Influence put on a great match, and Bobby Roode and RVD rocked the house as well. Overall Impact was well received and I am happy with the direction we are going...

 

So far for Genesis (which is only one Xplosion/Impact set away) we've announced only two matches: Jeff Hardy vs. Bully Ray for the World Title and Austin Aries vs. Rob Van Dam for the X-Divison title. This week on TNAwrestling.com we will announce that Hulk Hogan has made a #1 Contenders match for Genesis, Bobby Roode will face Kurt Angle. We will ultimately have seven matches at Genesis, so we will announce the next four this coming week.

 

_______________________________________________________________

This show is much longer than most will be. This is likely more like what i'll go with for the PPVs. Still a work in progress though.

 

 

Next post will preview the next weeks Xplosion/Impact set.

 

As for predictions, I wasn't expecting this many, and noticed that if you picked the first guy each time you would have been correct. OOPS. I'll fix that next week:

 

ClassDunce: 8/11

Olympia: 5/7

The Final Countdown: 9/11

RKOwnage: 10/11

The Lloyd: 10/11

BigJonDaLegend:10/11

Ricky Mex: 9/11

[The Lloyd]

OOC:

As for predictions, I wasn't expecting this many, and noticed that if you picked the first guy each time you would have been correct. OOPS. I'll fix that next week:

 

 

DAMN IT!! i did think that you may have done that (i did something simlar in the first show on my diary i think) and yet i STILL decided to go for Bischoff/Brisoe to beat Kash and Gunner!! Damn it!! I decided to always write the Face first, and the Heel last... Gets more confusing for three-ways etc, but roughly the same concept... and also that way, you get to see if you've had a show which is all Heel wins (which I have also had on my diary!! annoyingly!! Bet the fans were pleased!! )

 

Yeh so far so good my friend. hence the positive reaction

[RKOwnage]

^ Lloyd I do the same thing and I also chose Christian York because I didn't think it could be everyone down the left side hahaha. Good show though, I enjoyed it.

[Bigjondalegend]

Bad influence prevenred me from being perfect

Enjoyed the show ... Will the new booker be revealed?

[Texasrangers13]

January Week 2, 2013, Pre-Show Meeting

 

Bad influence prevenred me from being perfect

Enjoyed the show ... Will the new booker be revealed?

 

Not so much "a new booker" as it is a new direction. The concept behind the "voice" of the diary is that he is there with the intention of making TNA interesting by bringing in new ideas and ideas that connect with the audience. Technically speaking, TNAs writers and bookers are still present and they are making the matches. The final creative say goes through the new "voice" instead of Hogan/Bischoff etc.

 

I've also fixed the cards so that they are in alphabetical order now. Make it a little tougher.

 

___________________________________________________________________

 

After a pretty successful debut to 2013, the group gathered to go over the cards for this weeks Xplosion and Impact. As was confirmed on Impact the main event for this weeks Impact! is already booked. It will be a 6-man tag between Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam doing battle against Bobby Roode, Matt Morgan and a member of Aces and Eights. That member will be DOC. We had been debating if we should use Devon in the main event of both Xplosion and Impact and ultimately decided against that. Devon will still wrestle on both shows (again we are going to go away from double booking guys as frequently once Xplosion is more established) as he will defend his TV Title against Mr. Anderson in the main event of Xplosion. He will also face Abyss in a non-title match (regardless of if he holds the title still after Xplosion).

 

The reasoning behind the Abyss and Devon match is push forward the "Come Home Chris" storyline/message that was displayed at the end of Abyss' return match last week. We think this storyline is a good way to ultimately eliminate the Joseph Parks character but for now, both will still appear.

 

With that all said and out of the way. We decided to start with a discussion about this weeks Xplosion. We are going to open the show with a Gut Check Challenge. Al Snow has brought in a wrestler he trained, Danny Daniels, and he will face a wrestler who has had a ton of success in Japan and had some success in the American Indies and in TNA's Mexican affiliate AAA before fading off the scene. That man is Go Shiozaki. Both men are good wrestlers, but I'm not sure how the fans will respond to either. It'll be an interesting match, but we will enjoy it.

 

We are following that up with a Tag Team title match between Kid Kash and Gunner taking on the champions, the Latino Warriors. Kid Kash and Gunner earned this shot with a strong showing last week. And we announced this match last week after Kid Kash and Gunner attacked James Storm and the Latino Warriors made the save. Again we opted to put this match on the Xplosion card in order to drive fans to tune in early online and appease some of the new sponsors supporting the online project.

 

Joey Ryan is going to be continuing to build himself up as the sleazeball his character is. He and Brooke Hogan are currently working on a skit that we will see live on Xplosion. Oh and Joey is going to face the "Samoan Submission Machine" Samoa Joe on Xplosion.

 

Whene you include the aforementioned main event (Devon vs. Mr. Anderson) Xplosion features four matches this week.

 

As for Impact, we went through a ton of changes on this script. It was a frustrating day and in the end we decided that we needed to do some questionable "Vince Russo-esque" things in order to set up the Genesis PPV that is this Sunday.

 

The show will open up with Austin Aries getting his warm-up X-Division match in before he faces RVD for the title at Genesis. On Impact he will face Elix Skipper.

 

We've got an angle planned that will reveal three more Aces and Eights members and really move that storyline forward, and toward a potential eventual conclusion. Though I will say, I'm not sure it needs a conclusion as much as it needs a direction. Aces and Eights remind me a lot of the FX hit tv show, Sons of Anarchy, and ultimately maybe that's a direction we will go with them.

 

The second match of the night will see four of the X-Divisions brightest stars and future contenders will do battle in a Fatal-4-Way, one fall takes it all match. Those four men include Christian York, Robbie E, Kenny King and Zema Ion. I love the cockiness of Ion but I'm not sure how it projects on TV. Kenny King is a guy I want to hate, but the fans seem to love so far. We are booking him as a face for the time being, but we are thinking about an idea that may change that. Christian York, as mentioned last week, seems to be a great worker, but he just doesn't have a gimmick and he's not a great talker. Maybe we will pair him with a Knockout, but we shall see. As for Robbie E, I am not sure... I'm not on the list, Bro.

 

Bad Influence will be on the show, but as of now we are undecided if they will wrestle or merely try to justify how they lost a 2-on-1 match last week. This will be a showtime decision.

 

We are filming a series of vignettes for the Knockout division this week. We have a partnership with Shimmer and may ultimately bring in some new Knockouts thanks to that partnership. For now though we are pretty satisfied with the girls we have.

 

One of the newly revealed Aces and Eights members (technically he was ringside last week) will be in action against James Storm. Storm is a great worker, but we think he's a little lost, he has been feuding on and off with the Aces and Eights and this match will put a better direction on Storm's feud with the Aces and Eights.

 

The Aces and Eights will make another appearance towards the end of the show to formally reveal the five members who make up the stable as of today. This is a chance for them to "speak" and explain what they want.

 

Finally we have the huge main event that Hulk Hogan announced last week.

 

We were still feeling a little hesitant, but we knew that after tonight we would have a card for Genesis formally announced and I think this show will come off alright.

 

Here are the two cards for tonight.

 

Xplosion

Gut Check Challenge: Danny Daniels vs. Go Shiozaki

Tag Title Match: Kid Kash and Gunner vs. Latino Warriors (Tag Champions)

Joey Ryan vs. Samoa Joe

Television Title: Devon vs. Mr. Anderson

[/Quote]

 

Impact!

Austin Aries vs. Elix Skipper

X-Division Fatal-4-Way Showcase: Christian York vs. Kenny King vs. Robbie E vs. Zema Ion

"Aces and Eights" Masked Man vs. James Storm

Abyss vs. Devon

Bobby Roode, DOC and Matt Morgan vs. Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle and Rob Van Dam

 

We may add a match with Bad Influence but that is still up in the air.

 

That's all for now folks, back to meetings I go.

[ClassDunce]

Xplosion

Gut Check Challenge: Danny Daniels vs. Go Shiozaki

Tag Title Match: Kid Kash and Gunner vs. Latino Warriors (Tag Champions)

Joey Ryan vs. Samoa Joe

Television Title: Devon vs. Mr. Anderson

 

Impact!

Austin Aries vs. Elix Skipper

X-Division Fatal-4-Way Showcase: Christian York vs. Kenny King vs. Robbie E vs. Zema Ion

"Aces and Eights" Masked Man vs. James Storm

Abyss vs. Devon

Bobby Roode, DOC and Matt Morgan vs. Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle and Rob Van Dam

[Astyn]

Xplosion

Gut Check Challenge: Danny Daniels vs. Go Shiozaki

Tag Title Match: Kid Kash and Gunner vs. Latino Warriors (Tag Champions)

Joey Ryan vs. Samoa Joe

Television Title: Devon vs. Mr. Anderson

 

Impact!

Austin Aries vs. Elix Skipper

X-Division Fatal-4-Way Showcase: Christian York vs. Kenny King vs. Robbie E vs. Zema Ion

"Aces and Eights" Masked Man vs. James Storm

Abyss vs. Devon

Bobby Roode, DOC and Matt Morgan vs. Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle and Rob Van Dam

[Rickymex]

Xplosion

Gut Check Challenge: Danny Daniels vs. Go Shiozaki

Go Shiozaki is the ACE of NOAH and he is a great addition of the roster.

 

Tag Title Match: Kid Kash and Gunner vs. Latino Warriors (Tag Champions)

Too early for a title change so a beatdown seems like a good idea.

 

Joey Ryan vs. Samoa Joe

Samoa Joe is too high up the card too lose.

 

Television Title: Devon vs. Mr. Anderson

Devon can not lose the title since he would lose a lot of momentum.

 

Impact!

Austin Aries vs. Elix Skipper

Aries is a main eventer and Elix isn't.

 

X-Division Fatal-4-Way Showcase: Christian York vs. Kenny King vs. Robbie E vs. Zema Ion

Kenny King is a bad ass.

 

"Aces and Eights" Masked Man vs. James Storm

Storm wins by DQ.

 

Abyss vs. Devon

Draw seems like a good idea.

 

Bobby Roode, DOC and Matt Morgan vs. Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle and Rob Van Dam

Heels could use a good win and RVD is a weak link.

[The Lloyd]

Xplosion

Gut Check Challenge: Danny Daniels vs. Go Shiozaki

Tag Title Match: Kid Kash and Gunner vs. Latino Warriors (Tag Champions)

Joey Ryan vs. Samoa Joe

Television Title: Devon vs. Mr. Anderson

 

 

Impact!

Austin Aries vs. Elix Skipper

X-Division Fatal-4-Way Showcase: Christian York vs. Kenny King vs. Robbie E vs. Zema Ion

"Aces and Eights" Masked Man vs. James Storm by DQ/interference I think...

Abyss vs. Devon Come home Chris... Daniels...

Bobby Roode, DOC and Matt Morgan vs. Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle and Rob Van Dam

[RKOwnage]

<p>Xplosion</p><p>

Gut Check Challenge: Danny Daniels vs. <strong>Go Shiozaki</strong></p><p>

Tag Title Match: Kid Kash and Gunner vs. <strong>Latino Warriors</strong> (Tag Champions)</p><p>

Joey Ryan vs. <strong>Samoa Joe</strong></p><p>

Television Title: <strong>Devon</strong> vs. Mr. Anderson</p><p> </p><p>

Impact!</p><p>

<strong>Austin Aries</strong> vs. Elix Skipper</p><p>

X-Division Fatal-4-Way Showcase: Christian York vs. <strong>Kenny King</strong> vs. Robbie E vs. Zema Ion</p><p>

<strong>"Aces and Eights" Masked Man</strong> vs. James Storm</p><p>

<strong>Abyss</strong> vs. Devon</p><p>

<strong>Bobby Roode, DOC and Matt Morgan</strong> vs. Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle and Rob Van Dam</p>

[The Final Countdown]

<p>Xplosion</p><p>

Gut Check Challenge: Danny Daniels vs. <strong>Go Shiozaki</strong></p><p>

Tag Title Match: Kid Kash and Gunner vs. <strong>Latino Warriors</strong> (Tag Champions)</p><p>

Joey Ryan vs. <strong>Samoa Joe</strong></p><p>

Television Title: <strong>Devon </strong>vs. Mr. Anderson</p><p> </p><p>

Impact!</p><p>

<strong>Austin Aries </strong>vs. Elix Skipper</p><p>

X-Division Fatal-4-Way Showcase: Christian York vs. <strong>Kenny King</strong> vs. Robbie E vs. Zema Ion</p><p>

<strong>"Aces and Eights" Masked Man</strong> vs. James Storm</p><p>

<strong>Abyss</strong> vs. Devon</p><p>

Bobby Roode, DOC and Matt Morgan vs. <strong>Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle and Rob Van Dam</strong></p>

[Bigjondalegend]

<p>Ok now i fully understand the how the story is being told</p><p>

Its a very unique perspective but ita succeeds in giving your diary its own identity</p><p> </p><p>

Xplosion</p><p>

Go shiozaki</p><p>

Latino Warriors</p><p>

Samoe joe</p><p>

Devon</p><p> </p><p>

Impact</p><p>

Austin aries</p><p>

Kenny king</p><p>

James storm</p><p>

Abyssa</p><p>

Hardy Angle n RVD</p>

[Nobby_McDonald]

Interesting way of presenting and it seems to work well so far.

[olympia]

Gut Check Challenge: Danny Daniels vs. Go Shiozaki

Tag Title Match: Kid Kash and Gunner vs. Latino Warriors (Tag Champions)

Joey Ryan vs. Samoa Joe

Television Title: Devon vs. Mr. Anderson

 

 

Quote:

 

Impact!

Austin Aries vs. Elix Skipper

X-Division Fatal-4-Way Showcase: Christian York vs. Kenny King vs. Robbie E vs. Zema Ion

"Aces and Eights" Masked Man vs. James Storm

Abyss vs. Devon

Bobby Roode, DOC and Matt Morgan vs. Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle and Rob Van Dam