Tag Archives: Total Nonstop Action

AJ Styles is ready to move up or move on in TNA

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By Jonathan Williams

Before he became a “Phenomenal” standout star in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, AJ Styles made an equally impressive debut  at National Championship Wrestling and NWA Wildside, a Georgia-based National Wrestling Alliance promotion (now known as NWA Anarchy) that has been the breeding ground for numerous other professional wrestling talents such as Abyss, Gunner, R-Truth, New Jack, Evan Bourne and Jimmy Rave. With TNA returning to Georgia this Wednesday for an Impact Wrestling taping in Macon, I spoke to Styles last week in an interview for my new Georgia Wrestling History radio show, Georgia Wrestling Now.

Courtesy Impact Wrestling

In the interview, which will air in its entirety tonight, Styles seems frustrated by the direction his career (and TNA as a company) has been going as of late. Though he seemed poised to carry the company to new heights as the TNA World Heavyweight Champion early last year (as the Hulk Hogan/Eric Bischoff regime assumed power of TNA), he has since fallen to mid-card status while Fortune stablemates Robert Roode and James Storm have become title contenders.

Despite his victory over Christopher Daniels at Bound for Glory earlier this month, as well as Dixie Carter’s return to power in TNA (thanks to Sting‘s victory over Hogan at Bound for Glory) and Storm‘s TNA World Heavyweight Championship victory over Kurt Angle on last week’s Impact Wrestling, Styles does not seem optimistic about TNA right now.

For someone who has held every men’s title in TNA (many on multiple occasions), Styles says there is someone who “still says I don’t possess whatever ‘it’ is.” And whether he’s receiving the ire or accolades of the fans, Styles says his main goal is to entertain them as best he can.

Courtesy Impact Wrestling

“I prefer, first and foremost, that the fans are entertained by me,” he says. “I believe they like to watch me wrestle, so I guess that kind of makes me a good guy. But in the end it’s not me who decides what the fans want; it’s the fans who decide that. That’s the most important thing. That’s how it should be done and hopefully that’s how we’ll do it here in TNA. I’m sorry, Impact Wrestling. I don’t even know anymore. Do I say TNA Impact Wrestling or do I say Impact Wrestling TNA? I’m just going to say Impact Wrestling to go on the safe side.”

 

Tune in tonight at Blogtalkradio.com/psp to hear the entire interview. And catch Styles at the Macon Coliseum this Wednesday and on Spike TV on Thursday.

For more information, go to www.ajstyles.org or www.impactwrestling.com.

 

 

“Enigma” highlights the charisma and chaos of TNA’s Jeff Hardy

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Prior to his recent return to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, Jeff Hardy‘s last appearance in a TNA ring was in the main event of Victory Road last March. Considering that he didn’t come anywhere close to defeating Sting for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship and, instead, was pinned in less than two minutes in what will likely always be considered one of the company’s most embarrassing moments, it might seem unwise for TNA to release a two-disc set celebrating Hardy’s most recent stint with the company.

Enigma: The Best of Jeff Hardy, Volume 2, however, is actually a good reminder of Hardy’s accomplishments prior to Victory Road. From interviews with childhood friends and peers such as Kurt Angle, Sting and brother Matt Hardy to footage of Jeff at home with his artwork, dirt bike and baby daughter, Enigma shows the seemingly down-to-earth guy behind the makeup and mishaps. More importantly, the DVD set features some of Hardy’s best matches in TNA, as well as footage of his 2004 debut at the Asylum against AJ Styles, his return on the Jan. 4, 2010 and his first match back with the company last March (again against Styles in an impressive non-title victory over the then-TNA Champion).

Enigma chronicles Hardy’s climb to the top of TNA’s ladder (literally, in some instances) as he teams, then feuds, with Mr. Anderson, has a great series with Angle that includes some incredible matches with awful endings, reunites with Matt and becomes the TNA Champion after his ultimate heel turn at last year’s Bound for Glory. Though his inclusion in Immortal (like so many other things about that faction) seems a bit nonsensical, the fact that he was actually able to achieve his greatest success since returning to TNA despite the egos of Immortal’s other members (and that horrendous custom title belt) says a lot about Hardy’s charisma in and out of the ring.

The DVD concludes with two of his best TNA matches to date; a ladder match against Anderson at Against All Odds where Hardy regained the TNA title and the March 3 Impact! match against the returning Sting, in which Sting defeated Hardy for the title. Both of these matches happened just weeks before that other match against Sting at Victory Road, which makes Hardy’s inevitable fall from grace that much harder to accept. Of course, this being a “Best of” DVD, that match is not included. And as evidenced by what is included in this collection, including an amusing episode of his Internet-based The Hardy Show (as well as the positive fan reaction Hardy has received since his return to TNA in recent weeks), Hardy clearly has plenty more to offer as long as his self-destructive risks are limited to athletic displays rather than reckless ones. Let’s just hope his current run results in a third volume rather than another public spectacle.

Bobby Roode seems Bound for Glory in his main event match against Kurt Angle

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By Jonathan Williams

Best known for his multiple Total Nonstop Action World Tag Team Title reigns with “The Cowboy” James Storm as Beer Money, Bobby Roode has proven himself as a capable singles wrestler after winning the Bound for Glory Series last month at No Surrender.  As a result, he now finds himself just days away from the biggest singles match of his career as he challenges Kurt Angle for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship this Sunday at Bound for Glory. Having overcome Angle’s gauntlet on Impact Wrestling (pitting Roode against his Fortune stablemates in singles matches over the past few weeks), Roode appears to be in his prime heading into his first world title match. As he prepares for the main event at TNA’s biggest pay-per-view of the year, Roode talks to Wrestling with Pop Culture about how ready he is for the match.

With all that’s going on in TNA with Hulk Hogan, Immortal and older wrestlers, including Kurt Angle, how do you plan on helping usher in a new era for TNA if you become the new World Heavyweight Champion?

If I become the champion, obviously just having a new face in the main event is something that a TNA original like myself, who has been with the company from day one and has never left and has been very loyal to the company, it gives a TNA original a chance to be a main eventer, to carry the company and to defend the title on a regular basis. It just opens new doors for new competitors to put on some fresh matches. So I think it’s just the beginning.

Your match is one of a few that could potentially have bigger consequences for the future of TNA. Where do you think it would leave Fortune and the other younger TNA talent if you aren’t able to defeat Kurt Angle for the title at Bound for Glory?

The way I look at it, failure really isn’t an option for me this Sunday. I honestly haven’t thought about the consequences if I didn’t win. This match is huge for me and it’s something I’ve been waiting for my entire life. If I don’t win the match, it just means the younger guys are going to have to pull up their socks and work that much harder. I think it’s going to be in the hands of myself, James [Storm], AJ Styles, even guys like Samoa Joe, the TNA originals, the guys that have built the company from scratch and have been here through thick and thin, the good times and the bad, to really step up and steal the show. Regardless of who’s going to be in the main event, they just have to prove to the world and to wrestling fans that really we’re the ones that are carrying the company.

You’ve obviously been a very accomplished tag team wrestler throughout your TNA career. This being your first singles title opportunity, how would you say your background as a tag team wrestler and being part of factions like Fortune and Team Canada may have prepared you for a match like this one?

Obviously people identify me as a tag team wrestler and the success I’ve had as a tag team wrestler has been documented with Team Canada and with James and Beer Money. But I got in this business 13-plus years ago to be a world champion and the only way to be world champion is to go out on your own and prove yourself. After almost nine years with this company, being in tag team situations pretty much my whole career, it’s time for me to step out and really prove to everyone what I’m about. Not just for me, but for James as well. I think our match last Thursday was just the tip of the iceberg of what we can do as singles guys. I think it’s just going to be a new start for this company, giving us an opportunity to step outside tag wrestling and improve ourselves. As far as preparing myself, I’ve been prepared for this my entire career. This title is something that I’ve dreamed about and aspired to for as long as I can remember.

I don’t recall you ever having a singles match against Kurt Angle. Will this be your first one-on-one encounter with him?

I actually faced Kurt a couple of years ago on Impact. It was a Thanksgiving day tournament with me and Kurt. It was a TV match, but this is probably the most important match I’ve ever had with anyone, let alone Kurt.

His tactics over the past few weeks, pitting you against your Fortune teammates each week, seems to have kind of backfired on him. Instead of causing dissension, it seems to have solidified Fortune as a unit. How do you think that will effect things going into your match on Sunday?

The matches I’ve had, I’ve obviously been successful in. Obviously my confidence level has risen being able to step in the ring against my friends and beat them at their best. The matches I’ve had with Kazarain, AJ and last week with James were some of my favorite matches to date. To be able to go out there and have great matches and be victorious in these matches has really boosted my confidence. By booking these matches over the last month, I think Kurt thought it would go in his favor. Obviously it hasn’t, so if anybody is worried about the outcome this Sunday, I think it might be Kurt, the way things are going.

Bound for Glory. $12-$153. 7:30 p.m. Oct. 16. (also on pay-per-view and in movie theaters at 8 p.m.). The Liacouras Center, 1776 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, Penn. 800-298-4200, www.impactwrestling.com.

Rob Van Dam brings “The Whole F’n Show” to the NWA Wrestling Legends Fanfest Weekend

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By Jonathan Williams

Rob Van Dam has held many championship titles and been known by many nicknames during his wrestling career. One of the few titles he has yet to hold is a National Wrestling Alliance championship, but that’s not stopping “The Whole F’n Show” from making his first NWA Wrestling Legends Fanfest appearance in Atlanta this weekend. As he prepares for the fanfest (as well as a match against Crimson this Sunday at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling‘s Hardcore Justice), RVD talks to Wrestling with Pop Culture about his career.

You’ve held many titles in wrestling, and you’ve held titles in companies that have previously been affiliated with the NWA, but you’ve never actually held an NWA title. How did you end up on this weekend’s NWA Fanfest given that you’ve never wrestled for the NWA?

I believe that to be true. One interesting, little-known fact that crossed my ears many years ago is that out of any other WWE Champion, I’ve held more championship titles than any other champion. Meaning that I have been the most decorated and diversified. That’s something that I’m proud of. An NWA title? No, I guess not.

The NWA was mostly defunct when I was coming up in the business. I think it was around for my first few years maybe, but shortly after that WCW was born and the NWA really kind of was unheard of for a while. Then some territories opened up under the NWA banner to carry on and one of those territories was in North Carolina with Greg Price. Greg Price has been a friend of mine for a long time. I met him way back in 1991 when I went to the Carolinas to wrestle Manny Fernandez. Greg Price was one of his promoters in the office and since that day, we’ve continued to do business and he’s always helped me out. I’ve always wanted to attend one of these because every year I hear that the NWA Fanfest is the largest wrestling convention that the fans get to go to. No matter where I’m at all year long for several years, I’ve always heard the fans asking, “Are you going to be at the NWA Fanfest this year, Rob?” I’ve always wanted to make it, but I’m always booked somewhere else. This year I finally get to make it.

The next day I have a pay-per-view for TNA Impact Wrestling, so I’ll be in Atlanta all day on Saturday signing autographs, taking pictures, meeting and talking with the fans and letting them fill my head with positive energy about how awesome I am and how I’ve impacted their lives.

This is the first time the NWA Fanfest has come to Atlanta, and your first NWA Fanfest. Is that a coincidence?

It’s really just a scheduling thing. [Price] usually has this in Charlotte, which is closer to his home base. I would have also been able to make it to Charlotte this year, but from what I understand this thing has been growing so big that having it in Atlanta will be advantageous for travelers to come in and out of the Atlanta airport. I know for sure that fans come to this thing from all over, from England, Australia and all over the country. They really look forward to it, so they make a vacation out of it. If you’re a huge wrestling fan, this is something you don’t want to miss. I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of my friends that I bump into here and there, and a lot of friends that I haven’t seen in years, so it’s a good time for us, too.

Many of the guests are legends of the industry, hence the name Legends Fanfest. How does it feel to be one of the few people appearing there that can clearly be considered a legend while also still actively wrestling?

It’s awesome. I’m really enjoying this part of my career where I’ve got more experience than most of the wrestlers and I know what I’m doing in the ring. At the same time, my body feels great and I can still move like when I was 25. There’s not a lot of wrestlers that fit into that category besides RVD. I feel like I’m a phenomenon because of that. I started professionally way back in ’89 and went to the Sheik’s school. And, of course, before that I was a huge dedicated fan and wrestling was a big part of my life. It’s pretty much been a lifelong thing and to be able to still go in the ring and do every move that I’ve ever done after 20-plus years is great.

Some of these guys helped make me a star. When I see Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, I think about back to 1992 or ’93 when the fans didn’t even know who Rob Van Dam was yet. I was wrestling Greg “The Hammer” Valentine and learning about the psychology and he was teaching me to hone my craft. A lot of these legends helped fill that spot.

Of course “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase will be there and he was part of your first on-screen wrestling experience.

Yeah, I was a fan that time when I got into the ring. I was in the crowd when they were doing the promotional piece where “The Million Dollar Man” would prove that everybody has a price. I was the most horrible negotiator in the world, by the way. He had been doing these bits on TV where people would keep raising the money. Like, he went to the emergency room in front of all these broken up people and said, “Nurse, I need a Band-Aid.” And she’d say, “Sir, you’ll have to wait.” Then he said, “Virgil, lay down $100.” And she said, “Sir, there’s a huge line.” And he said, “Virgil, lay down $200.” And she said, “Well it wouldn’t be fair…” And he said, “Virgil, $300” until she said, “Here’s your Band-Aid.” That was the whole deal, but I was so excited when I got to go in the ring and he said, “I’m going to give you $100 to kiss my hot, stinky, sweaty foot.” I don’t think he even finished the sentence before I kissed his foot. Then I was like, “Dude, Virgil. What’s up, bro.” I’ve learned how to negotiate a little better since then.

I was at another wrestling show later that month and I made it into the souvenir program. I was trying to show the person beside me, “You see this picture? You see that kid?” Right away the guy goes, “Oh, that’s all planted.” That’s the attitude with a lot of people with everything. But it’s that suspension of disbelief that you look for when you watch a movie or whatever. You want to forget about what’s draining your energy and invest your time into this, but some people won’t buy anything.

You’re taking on the undefeated Crimson this Sunday at Hardcore Justice. What are your thoughts on that match?

He’s still undefeated and that’s what he’s got going for him. Otherwise, I’d be like, “Who is this kid?” But the fact that he’s undefeated definitely makes people take notice. That’s what people noticed about Goldberg when he came in. And that’s what attracted me to the Ultimate Warrior when I was a kid. He was just crushing everybody and nobody could beat him. Crimson has that momentum and obviously he’s impressing a lot of people. He’s good, but then again I’m “The Whole F’n Show.” That’s how I’m looking at it for Sunday’s match.

NWA Wrestling Legends Fanfest Weekend. $20-$224, free for children ages 10 and younger. Aug. 4-7. Atlanta Airport Marriott, 4711 Best Road, Atlanta, Ga. 404-766-7900, www.robvandam.com, www.nwalegends.com.