The Ghost of bps21

"Oh that's right...Shawn Michaels doesn't do jobs" Yeah...I liked it.

Alright...I'm going a complete different direction than I have been. I don't really like country. But...man I love this album. I don't know if it was just the time in my life that I caught it...but whatever the reason...I'm taking Tim McGraw Everywhere. It's an album I can listen to straight through...and a couple of the songs mean a lot to me. So...yeah... Screw it...I've gone country.

Ah...the weekly ppvs. I'm going to start off by talking about my absolute favorite thing from that era...and see where it goes from there. My favorite thing from the weekly TNA shows was The Truth's title win in weeek 8. I had been ordering the weekly ppvs and, like everyone, was naturally impressed with AJ Styles. Styles may or may not be the #1 reason that people were watching in the beginning...but he was most certainly the answer to "Why do you watch this?". From the week #2 4 way X title match I was kinda hooked...but all that really was was some meh matches and you'd hope for that blow away X division match to save the show. Look at the early (first 2 months) roster. Styles, Lynn and LowKi were being asked to put on the performances that would put the X division on the map... Past that you had Jarrett, Hall, Shamrock, Malice, Brian Christopher... it wasn't all that pretty. Not that they were terrible (well...except Christopher) but there was no reason to really be getting behind them. AMW started tagging together but they were a far cry from what they'd become... I should backdrop this by mentioning that I was in a real rut as far as wrestling was concerened at this time. HHH had come back from his Quad tear looking huge and unable to put on much of a show worth watching. He was a really shitty face too. Hogan won the title...Taker won the title... I was an RVD fan. They weren't giving me much to get behind in the E...especially since I couldn't stand Brock Lesnar for the first several months of his push. 2002 was not a good year for me as a fan. I really didn't have anything to get behind. Then, out of nowhere, K-Krush got on the mic. He renamed himself the Truth and the rest is history. It's not ever going to be Austin 3:16...but for me it kind of was. I was disenfranchised and then here came this guy that I only remembered as a low low low card tag guy in the WWF...and he was be given a chance to shine. And he didn't just run with it. He fucking nailed it. It all happened very very quickly. On Week 8 he was already getting a title shot, and he would win. That meant more to me than almost any title win I could think of. In TNA or WWE. Here's what I mean... Truth was a guy that got himself over and got the fans (and me) to care about him. And there wasn't a big long chase of him getting screwed. He talked his way into a shot...and he won it. As a fan of the guy...this was thrilling and fresh. I think of my favorite wrestlers who've managed to get to the top... RVD was years too late. Rey only won because Eddie died. Joe is coming a year and a half too late (at least) and even AJ who got the title in the first year IMO should have won it when he got his first shot at JJ...becuase that would have made a better statement about the importance of the X guys in the company... Anyway...When we look back at this (my favorite TNA moment...and the one that relit my passion for wrestling in general) it's not just the title win that stands out. When he held the title he started a feud with the X division that I thought was brilliant and should have gone deeper. He was pissed that the X division got all the attention while he was world champion, and that lead to 2 matches with Lynn (that they'd split each retaining their title that was on the line) and a fantastic match with LowKi. All the way through, Truth's promos were making me want to tune in and spend my money. In the end he lost it to Jarrett in a really good match...that was actually probably the one time I didn't really mind JJ winning the title. It was a nice moment, built up well...so I had no complaints After his run, though...TNA never pulled the trigger on letting him loose again. He would win another NWA title (very briefly...and lose it in the first King of the Mountain match) He got stuck in 3LK where they were "comedy" that wasn't funny. Every so often you'd see flashes that reminded you that he was one promo away from being right there again...but it never came. I'll do more on another topic later. That's just the one I wanted to do now.

I like the idea of discussing a wrestler each week. It's a neat idea to give us something to focus on in between Impacts and ppvs. It's fitting...The WWE (folder) did it first...and TNA (folder) is ripping it off... For week 1 we're going with a guy who has been on the roster from day 1: James Storm Name: "Cowboy" James Storm Height: 6'0" Weight: 245 Age: 30 TNA Debut: June 19, 2002 Accomplishments: 7x NWA World Tag Team Champion Background: One of a handful of people that have remained with TNA from the first ever show until today. With partner Chris Harris formed the most successful tag team in TNA history, America's Most Wanted. Since the breakup of AMW Storm has gone back and forth between comedy midcarder and serious midcarder. Points for Discussion: Does James Storm have the ability to break through as a singles wrestler...or was the end of AMW the end of Storm's usefulness? Is his drunken cowboy gimmick too lower midcard for him to be take seriously? Favorite Match? Should the fact that Storm is one of the few guys who has been in the company since its inception dictate a bigger role in the present company?

I have to leave for work now. I'll pick when I get back. I have no clue what I'm going to select.

Oh...I'm gonna have a field day with this topic when I get back from work. I sat and ordered every stupid one of those shows...hell I used to write previews for the now defunct site that we used to use here. I'm going to spend my 9 hours of work thinking on this topic.

I think Toxxic made a good point about Storm being able to pull off believable low card comedy and mid card seriousness. And you're right that it will take time to shake off the drinking championship lunacy... Do you think that, if they kept to a more serious character, Storm could handle a bigger push. Perhaps playing off of the fact that only he and AJ are active wrestlers that have been in the company from day 1? I kind of liked when Roode was pissed that Booker T was getting attention when he'd been there a lot longer (which they then dropped to focus on Roode being an asshole)...and Storm's a natural for that kind of story since he's probably the best example of a "TNA original" on the roster. When I think TNA I still pretty much think AJ Styles (but I had seen him prior to TNA in RoH and WWA ppv). Storm I had never heard of and quite literally watched him become a star in TNA. And when you go back to the first years of TNA, AMW was just behind, or up there with, AJ and JJ as the faces of the company.

All I know about attendance is that they've said it will be their largest crowd for a ppv yet. I've read that ticket sales were really good so they should do some good business. I think this match is going to be something really good for TNA. The booking for it has been really good with no bullshit taking place and I think the crowd will respond to that at Lockdown.

I think he's only getting into the wrestling now because he's going to be an American Gladiator. I don't know why they didn't use him earlier. I know that Cornette loved him in OVW and assume that's how he got a spot in TNA in the first place.

Yes. Can you smell the Reid Flair/Cody Rhodes feud? Cause you know it's gonna happen.

I like that in storyline, Christian masterminded putting Sting into a no lose situation to get revenge there.

Roxi is a good bet for winner as well.

Which makes me happy. Steiner/Angle was bad...but Steiner/Joe was fantastic...and we didn't get enough of it. If Joe wins, it's the perfect first opponent IMO. Someone that he works well with, that he gets a bit of a boost from beating, and it would save other bigger matches for a later time. go Joe!

At least they'll be having an actual match to finish it off. Since it's harder to get in a cage than into a ring...maybe we won't have those terrible moments where a guy has a free shot at getting into the ring...and stands there because he's not booked to.

A reverse cage match. I just don't get it.

They sure have a lot of women on this roster. Anybody miss Karen Angle? ...yeah me neither.

That's one of the positives of Russo. Pretty much everyone on the roster is doing something. It's working well at the moment because the top 2 storylines are strong. Other stuff like Lethal/Dutt/SoCalVal, Steiner/Petey, Super Eric/Kaz/Monsters, Kong/ODB/Kim, The rest of the knockouts, Rough Cut can just be some filler...but at least they're trying to give them stories to get over.

Cornette has a dry erase board in his office that says "ppv Lockdown 4/13/08" That rules.

The crowd cheers Rhino for cheating...but boo the Dudleys... Double Standard. Rhino goring the ref was cool though. They build up to it nicely and the crowd loved it.

Exactly...I didn't even know they were doing a MITB type thing. I thought it was just another title shot that no one would ever get.

Although...Harris did look good at Slammiversary last year now that I think about it. He was outclassed by the rest of the people in the match...but he worked his ass off to look like he belonged in there.

Credit to him for finding a niche that worked for him. He was able to mesh into matches with Rhino and look believably on that level... Compare that to Harris who never found his footing and just looked like that AMW guy...

It's funny because you could kind of see that they wanted to push Harris instead of Storm after AMW broke up...but Storm just shined through with charisma that he'd never shown...and Harris didn't have.

Nice heel promo from Storm. "I'm already famous"... Someone's been working on clever lines in the office.

Consequences Creed BITCHES!!! I love me some predebut hype videos.