AJ Styles: The Cornerstone of TNA

"There are professional wrestlers...and then there is "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles" begins the blurb on the back of TNA's last DVD release of AJ Styles' wrestling highlights. A DVD simply entitled "Phenomenal".

To many TNA fans AJ Styles has been the epitome of all that they love about the company: fast paced, full bloodied and supremely athletic. Since the days of the Asylum in Nashville, "The Phenomenal One" stood out from other wrestlers who graced the TNA ring. Not only could he produce death defying moves such as The Spiral Tap and the 450 Splash, but AJ seemed to connect with the fans in a way that most non-WWE wrestlers couldn't. Despite a heel run supported by every IWC smark's favourite hate figure Vince Russo, Styles remained a crowd favourite, capturing his first NWA World Heavyweight title and then blazing a trail for the emerging X Division.

When TNA left the Asylum and uprooted to Soundstage 21 in Universal Studios, Florida, AJ was at the forefront of TNA's push for wider exposure, featuring prominently on the new weekly show Impact! that had begun to air on the Fox Sports Network in the US. Styles became TNA's first ever Triple Crown winner when he added the TNA tag titles (partnering long time friend Christopher Daniels) to his impressive haul of World Heavweight and X Division belts.

During 2005 AJ was involved in probably TNA's most successful ever feud when he was a part of the intriguing three way battle that had evolved between himself, former friend Christopher Daniels and newcomer Samoa Joe. The matches that these three had were bloody, brutal and mesmerising to wrestling fans who had not seen such intensity within a wrestling ring in years. The feud culminated in what many argue is TNA's finest ever bout, the three way at the Unbreakable PPV of 2005.

Despite taking a back seat to ex-WWE wrestlers who jumped to TNA -such as Christian Cage and Kurt Angle- Styles remained at the core of all that TNA did- even becoming a Grand Slam champion (after defeating Booker T for the Legends title)- and in 2009 Styles claimed his fourth World Heavyweight Title when he pinned Kurt Angle at No Surrender. This title reign was to last for an amazing 211 days, making him the longest reigning champion in TNA history.

As a member of Fortune(as well as the protege of the legendary Ric Flair) and their alliance with Hogan's Immortals in TNA, "The Phenomenal One" is still present in the upper echelons of TNA and proving why he is a true cornerstone of the company.

Brock Lesnar Loses UFC Title to Cain Velasquez

In quite a turn of events (or maybe not to some,) Brock Lesnar was defeated in round 1 by ref stoppage by challenger Cain Velasquez.  When Lesnar first debuted in UFC, his loss to Frank Mir was looked at as due to inexperience, but Lesnar showed so much potential that everyone agreed he was going to be a force.  Since then Lesnar has won every one of his fights, including winning the UFC Heavyweight Championship from Randy Couture.  In his last fight, Lesnar was tested and nearly beaten by Shane Carwin, but Brock's comeback in the fight convinced even more people that Brock was a well rounded force that would be tough to beat.  Cain Velasquez was looked at as a solid challenger, being he, like Carwin, was also undefeated.  While Cain was looked at as a threat, the hype for Carwin as a threat was much more.  But tonight, Cain solidified his spot in MMA by destroying Brock Lesnar in a round 1 TKO, repeatedly punching Brock in the face.  Brock was bloody and beaten, and definitely lost some steam as an unbeatable monster.

A return match will be big money without a doubt, but the question is can Brock come back and take his title back, or has it been proven that Lesnar will not be as dominant in MMA as everyone thought.  A return to wrestling, whether it be WWE or TNA is possible at some point, especially if Brock performs like he did in his last 2 fights.  Brock has at least a couple of fights left, and even another big run if he can claim his title back, but the hype for Brock especially from wrestling fans took a huge hit with tonight's loss to the new UFC Heavyweight Champion, Cain Velasquez.

Jeff Hardy: Anti-Christ

The heel turn of fan favourite Jeff Hardy at TNA's Bound For Glory PPV last Sunday was certainly shocking, but some in the wrestling media questioned the logic/workability of a turn to the dark side for 'The Charismatic Enigma'. By forming an alliance with the universally hated Eric Bischoff and Daytona Beach's last famous new born heel Hulk Hogan, many critics and fans alike believed that Jeff Hardy would be able to limit his mic work (for which is isn't famous) and use his new mentors as his mouthpieces .

However, on this past Thursday's episode of Impact! which had the fall out from the revealing of "They", Hardy proved that he is more than a decent face character with an excellent repertoire of ring skills. His promo proclaiming himself the "Anti-Christ" of the wrestling world was sheer genius. He garnered heat from his previously adoring teen fans whilst also making himself look legitimateuly bad-ass to hordes of older wrestling fans who need a decent heel to admire following Randy Orton's face turn in WWE and The Miz's often comedic heel-lite promos. Maybe Jeff will even attract those disillusioned WWE Universe members to TNA's burgeoning fan base.

Critics often like to point out TNA's flaws without recognising the good things that occur in Orlando, with the supposedly senseless turning of Babyface Hardy into a possibly disastrous heel being a case in point. If Thursday's unveiling of "Immortal" (Hardy, Abyss, Jeff Jarrett, Eric Bischoff, Hulk Hogan) and Hardy's perfect transformation into a hated champion is a sign of things to come in TNA, then these critics may have to start mentioning the increasing positives of TNA wrestling.

smackdown

SMACKDOWN; a very interesting smackdown show. The smackdown team is quite a diverse group, consisting of: Big Show, Ray Mysterio, Jack Swagger, Alberto De Rio, Edge, Tyler Reks & Kofi Kingston.

Will Smackdown win Bragging rights? Will they beat Team Raw who 'The Miz' if captain of? or will SMACKDOWN turn on each-other with the large history in the group.

Undertakers berried alive match, will be one not to miss, the chances of him winning are not that great but he will come up on top to defend his Wrestlemania streak

Matt Hardy

Being a Matt Hardy fan for a long time, it is nice to finally see the truth behind Matt Hardy feelings and emotions. People either love him or hate him but he is truthful person with a vision of how to think outside the box. He last few entries on Youtube are begging to make sense. He is showing off what he wants and what he believe is his true self.

He is challenging people's view's opinions and choice's, just to prove that if you want something, all you have to do is believe in it, work hard to make things happen.

Reading the book, The Hardy Boy's and watching him on his Youtube Channel, you can start to see the resemblance, the fire and the spark in his eye that he will achieve all his goal's.

Just wait to see what he comes up with and what he presents to the wrestling world will be something new and exciting. It will challenging the current Wrestling world and bring it too it toes.

good luck to him, and looking forward to watching him change it up. Keep up the good work.

Is Sting a part of "They" ?

Watching the live episode of Impact! last night I began to see a clearer link between Abyss' rantings about a "They" and Sting's quest to rid TNA of Hogan/Bischoff's "smoke and mirrors". For months 'The Icon' has been on a one man mission to expose Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff for what he perceives them to be: liars. This began on January 4th when Sting watched Hogan, Bischoff, Hall and Waltman from the rafters and has progressed via his attempts to reveal the 'truth' to Dixie Carter, as well as his attacks on TNA's founder Jeff Jarrett.

Over the same amount of time 'The Monster' Abyss has gone from being Hogan's lackey- where he 'Hulked up' and wore red & yellow- to being the biggest thorn in the Hulkster's side, even ramming the Hall of Fame ring he was given by Hogan down his former mentor's throat. Abyss also began using devastating weapons called "Bob" and "Janice" to wage a path of destruction through the Impact Zone, even side-lining the world heavyweight champion Rob Van Dam in the process.

Despite many ideas about who "They" really are- from EV2 to Fourtune- no theory has stood up to scrutiny. However, during last night's live episode, Abyss began the show by handcuffing TNA boss Dixie Carter to his arm and asking her would she prefer "Bob" or "Janice", seemingly in reference to his two deadly weapons of choice. But the names of Abyss' weapons are also the names of Dixie's parents, Bob and Janice Carter, the owners of TNA's financial backers Panda Energy. This link is surely more than a coincidence and could be an indication that this Sunday at Bound For Glory, when "They" are revealed, fans could be introduced to Dixie's parents who are taking control of their daughter's company.

My idea is that Sting went to Dixie's parents and exposed Hogan/Bischoff for what they are, getting more support from the elder Carters who didn't want their money being flushed down the drain. Sting then went to his former protege Abyss and explained what the Carters wanted. This set the events in motion that saw Abyss destroy Hulk Hogan's supporters like RVD, Anderson and Hardy whilst pathing the way for Bob and Janice Carter to wrestle control from their blinkered daughter at 10-10-10.

If this is indeed the key to the identity of "They" then many potential story arcs could stem from Bound For Glory, including a possible heel turn for Dixie who could link up with Hogan, Bischoff and Jarrett.

WWE Hell in a Cell Results: John Cena to Join the Nexus

WWE Hell in a Cell is in the books, and WWE made an attempt to shake things up in order to improve the shit ratings they've done for the past 2 weeks.  In my opinion, nothing will change as long as you have a pay per view that features the most demonic structure in WWE, yet no one bleeds.   The main 2 stories coming out of the show were John Cena losing to Wade Barrett, hence forcing him to join The Nexus.  The arena seemed legitimately shocked and upset by this, which is pretty hard to believe these days.  There were "fan" run ins during the finish, but the fans were apparently members of NXT Season 2.  Cena was near tears, and the live crowd at least seemed to buy it.  To me, it's just another story that will see Cena forced to be a Nexus member for awhile, until he finds a loophole that will allow Super Cena to return, beat them all, and go back to the same old crap.  HOPEfully this is a test run for a full fledged Cena heel turn, which is about the only thing in wrestling that could have a bit of spark left to it.

The other story saw Paul Bearer turning on The Undertaker already, and helping Kane win their Hell in a Cell match.  We've seen Paul turn on The Undertaker before, hell we've seen The Undertaker turn on Paul, so this didn't have a whole lot of punch.  Everything else was pretty standard, they push this as a violent PPV but there isn't much to it when there isn't a drop of blood.  Other action saw:

Daniel Bryan defeated the Miz and John Morrison by making the Miz tap out.

Randy Orton defeated Sheamus in the first Hell in a Cell match.

Edge beat Jack Swagger in an impromptu match.

Barrett over Cena

Natalya over Michelle McCool by DQ

and Kane over The Undertaker

Now all eyes are on RAW, for the debut (at least temporarily) of John Cena as a Nexus member.