Austin Aries at the end of last week's Impact....

[IT Factor]

I know this is pretty far behind, but I watch Impact the night after on DVR[since TNA has been sucking as of late]. Anyway, I noticed that Austin Aries finally got to come to the ring and say what he wanted to say[dunno if that was scripted or legit]. He told the audience that he'd been controlled and told what to say and try to get the crowds behind him. He also said he'd been asking TNA to give him new entrance music and a new entrace "befitting a World Champion". He also admitted that what he's been saying the last few weeks about coveting what Jeff Hardy has is crap.

Now to me, it seemed like TNA was trying to give Aries his CM Punk shoot promo-type of moment. He even tore up a supposed script for what he was to say to Hardy. In my view, this is what TNA should've been doing with Austin Aries all along. I dunno if this was legit or just TNA's way of turning Aries heel. Either way, I was impressed with that one moment more than the last month or so of Aries' TNA Title reign. Impact Wrestling has been focusing more on Aces & Eights and less on their World Champion, which is quite moronic to me. Aries should be given the freedom to express himself and try different things to stand out during his reign as World Champ. Sadly, it's probably all for nothing since Hardy will probably win @ BFG. I have been underwhelmed with what should have been a breakout point in Austin Aries' career with him winning the title and think Impact has done a lousy job of really cementing his reign as important. While I don't think Aries should copy what Punk is doing, he should refrence that fact that he's been overlooked and get more mic time to really make his character stand out and make his title reign more impactful.

 

[NotoriousMEAT]

Yeah this chap's my ass. TNA really brought me back on board this summer, then really hooked me in with Aries' title win. It was huge, and I thought for sure they were setting him up to be the new face of the company. But no, in typical TNA fashion (since the Hogan/Bischoff administration came into power) if you wanna be champion.. you gotta be heel!

AJ Styles, turn him heel and give him Flair
Jeff Hardy, turn the biggest PPV draw of '09 heel and put him in Immortal
Mr. Anderson, tween for 5 months then turn him heel
Kurt Angle, vow to defeat Sting cleanly.. then turn him heel
Bobby Roode, pass on the crowning BFG moment.. to turn him heel on IMPACT

And now Aries for what.. jealousy of Jeff Hardy? This guy who for the last year has claimed to be the Greatest Man that Ever Lived and beats to his own drum and does things HIS way because they work for him, is now jealous of how Jeff Hardy of all people is treated. BOOOOOOOO! Now who are TNA's top babyfaces.. James Storm and Jeff Hardy!? Maybe RVD too. Good god we're in trouble again. TNA has this stupid problem where instead of getting better around the biggest show of the year (like WWE's "WrestleMania season") they just get worse. I stopped watching TNA for 8 months after last year's BFG, and the same may happen this year. The card is weak, they didn't even try for the best show possible, and now in the process they're ruining their brightest star. And people bitch when WWE doesn't "make any sense"..

 

[kemist]

The problem with aries as champ is that he has been a good champ but his reign has been fairly uneventful, roode was out as a contender while AA has the belt but all his belt matches have been won fairly cleanly. Despite holding and defending the belt AA is getting less attention than others, roode and storms feud again, hardy, bully, and even anderson are bigger stories. It must be frustrating for AA and it is clearly wasting potential by tna to not use the belt as a strong storyline. I suspect it will go to hardy as he is a bigger character and opens it up to roode trying to reclaim it.

 

[UFOcalling]

I agree with the majority, that Aries' rant on Hardy at the end of Impact was a "worked shoot". I don't think that TNA Creative gave Aries a script, then he came out and spoke "off the cuff" (or whatever term you want to use). I bet what Aries said the other night had been planned for weeks, based on how Aries has been acting towards Hardy since he won the BFG tournament.

I also don't think that Aries' full-fledged heel turn this week was necessarily a bad thing, either. TNA needs to sell the main event for BFG tomorrow, and an easy way to do it is to have your #1 face (Jeff Hardy) compete with a guy you want to see him beat. Let's face it; no matter what TNA does right now, Hardy is going to get more cheers than Aries. Will that change over time? I think there's a pretty good chance of it happening, but not for at least another year (especially in the Impact Zone).

Aries turning heel will either mean that we'll get to see a "new" heel champion (if Aries retains at BFG), or we'll get to see a new pissed off heel Aries that lost his championship if Hardy wins at BFG. Either way, I think this character change will breathe new life into Aries, and ultimately will get him even more over as a face when he changes back again (although I hope TNA doesn't change him back to a face until Summer 2013, at the earliest). After all, Aries was changed into a face by the crowd - I think it was when he fought against Bully Ray (when he was still X-Division Champ). That could easily happen again, given the right opponent. Unfortunately, against someone like Hardy - Aries has to be the bad guy right now. Hell, it might not even last past BFG (although I hope it does).

 

[bigandpissed]

Yeah this chap's my ass. TNA really brought me back on board this summer, then really hooked me in with Aries' title win. It was huge, and I thought for sure they were setting him up to be the new face of the company. But no, in typical TNA fashion (since the Hogan/Bischoff administration came into power) if you wanna be champion.. you gotta be heel!

AJ Styles, turn him heel and give him Flair
Jeff Hardy, turn the biggest PPV draw of '09 heel and put him in Immortal
Mr. Anderson, tween for 5 months then turn him heel
Kurt Angle, vow to defeat Sting cleanly.. then turn him heel
Bobby Roode, pass on the crowning BFG moment.. to turn him heel on IMPACT

And now Aries for what.. jealousy of Jeff Hardy? This guy who for the last year has claimed to be the Greatest Man that Ever Lived and beats to his own drum and does things HIS way because they work for him, is now jealous of how Jeff Hardy of all people is treated. BOOOOOOOO! Now who are TNA's top babyfaces.. James Storm and Jeff Hardy!? Maybe RVD too. Good god we're in trouble again. TNA has this stupid problem where instead of getting better around the biggest show of the year (like WWE's "WrestleMania season") they just get worse. I stopped watching TNA for 8 months after last year's BFG, and the same may happen this year. The card is weak, they didn't even try for the best show possible, and now in the process they're ruining their brightest star. And people bitch when WWE doesn't "make any sense"..

Well as for your first statement, if you wanna be champion you gotta be heel... Austin Aries won the title as a face and has been a face for his entire reign up to this point so thats not really true.

As for the heel turn not making sense, it makes perfect sense for a couple of reasons.

First of all, aries character is much better suited as a heel. He is a cocky asshole, which doesn't really work well as a face. He rose through the ranks as a heel and since his face turn he has been pretty stagnant as a character.

You say it doesn't make sense for Aries to be jealous of Hardy, but it makes perfect sense. Aries is a man who thinks he is the greatest man that ever lived and even though he has the World Title, he is still being overshadowed by Jeff Hardy by not only by the fans (who cheer way harder for hardy), but by the company he is supposed to be champion of.

You say they are in the process of ruining their brightest star, but what would be worse for Aries, him turning heel or going into bound for glory as a babyface and getting boo'd anyway because he's facing jeff hardy?

 

[12isthison]

This is a simple fix to an issue TNA had. Both Aries and Hardy were face, so what better thing to do than 3 days before the PPV than turn one of them heel for ONE NIGHT ONLY? They were never going to do it with Hardy as it would not work. In 2 weeks time Aries will be a full blown face again and we will not hear anything about this. I personally thought TNA did a good job for the build to BFG and the Aries/Hardy match with so little time. People look into things too much sometimes.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Aries rant during his promo was something of a turn off. Pretty much everything that Austin Aries said during his promo this past Thursday is very reminiscent of CM Punk. However, it was extremely weak in my eyes.

As Johnny Savage hinted at, I have a feeling that this is something that's been planned for a while. Throughout the build towards BFG, the Aries & Hardy match hasn't really gotten all that much hype. Aries promo segment in which he just sort of seems to vent here might have worked better if TNA hadn't waited right to the last minute to do it. Because they waited literally to the last minute to put some heat into this feud, the whole thing felt extremely rushed.

At the same time, however, Aries has ultimately done the best he can with what he's been given and that's not very much. Throughout his reign as TNA WHC and throughout the build with his match against Jeff Hardy, Aries has very much taken a backseat to Aces & Eights. This is the basket that TNA's decided to put all its eggs even though Aces & Eights has consistently failed to be a draw. The company's ratings have been in the toilet as of late, especially heading towards BFG, and I just don't think Aces & Eights will give TNA the big payday it was hoping for when it comes to BFG.

Aries' title run has been pretty underwhelming but, as I said, it's not really his fault. He's just doing what TNA Creative is giving him and making the best of it. I think the fact that he's been able to keep interest in him up even though he hasn't really been treated as a top priority as most TNA World Champions have been shows that the guy's a real star.

 

[ヒュー　G.　レックション]

He also admitted that what he's been saying the last few weeks about coveting what Jeff Hardy has is crap.

Is that what he said? I thought he said that his catering to fans was fake and that he was jealous of Jeff's success.

I didn't mind the turn per se but I wish it had happened a week or two earlier.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I know Jeff Hardy is TNA's #1 face but by God he brings nothing to a feud. He's had one great singles feud in his career and the feud had to go in to his personal drug addicted demons to get there. I don't like Aries (heel or face) as TNA's Hwt. Champion but it is not his fault he is failing to build up what is supposed to be the biggest main event of the year when it has to follow a far more deep/personal feud in Storm/Roode and whateve the hell A's & 8's has become.

Not to play Saturday evening booker, but the "shoot" (it was undoubtedly planned, Hardy is not witty enough to come up with the "balls" line) should have come a month ago instead of that stupid mini-feud and non-match he had with that A's & 8's guy or they should have found someone else to feud with Aries. Or if nothing else, Hardy and Aries are in the position Storm and Roode should be in.

 

[ABMorales787]

Just seemed like a way to show how angry Austin is. Yeah, maybe it did come off as a "pipe bomb" (I really hate that term) imitation when he crumpled up the paper, but the real meat of it was when he said production would rather make highlight videos of Hardy than make him a new theme song and that people cheer for a guy who is or was a wreck rather than a guy with natural talent. It came off as being real without having to go all "hi Colt Cabana" like Punk had to do.

I know Jeff Hardy is TNA's #1 face but by God he brings nothing to a feud. He's had one great singles feud in his career and the feud had to go in to his personal drug addicted demons to get there. I don't like Aries (heel or face) as TNA's Hwt. Champion but it is not his fault he is failing to build up what is supposed to be the biggest main event of the year when it has to follow a far more deep/personal feud in Storm/Roode and whateve the hell A's & 8's has become.

I think that is precisely the reason why the title was taken off Roode. To set this match up. If TNA intended to stack the deck for Bound For Glory, then stretching the card with as many big matches as possible was the way to go. Ergo Roode/Storm was made without the title leaving whoever is champion available for a 3rd main event. Maybe from our perspective it doesn't look good, I feel Roode/Storm should've been for the title too, but from the business side it's smart. More big matches, more potential buys.

Not to play Saturday evening booker, but the "shoot" (it was undoubtedly planned, Hardy is not witty enough to come up with the "balls" line) should have come a month ago instead of that stupid mini-feud and non-match he had with that A's & 8's guy or they should have found someone else to feud with Aries. Or if nothing else, Hardy and Aries are in the position Storm and Roode should be in.

Maybe last week, but not so far back. Their feud was set up quick and if Austin had cut the promo he did this week any earlier, TNA would risk having nothing new to do with him without coming off as a typical heel with sneak attacks and such.

 

[BenChillin]

They wanted to make Aries a heel so when he loses to Hardy it's more "emotional and bigger"

Fuck that.

Fuck giving Hardy a title to stay longer. Aries holding it was good for the time it was.

Damnit TNA. DAMNIT.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

Why are we acting like TNA is setting Aries for failure? Have we learned nothing from Aries' title win and title defenses?

- Aries versus Roode(c) for the belt : "oh TNA will never give the belt to Aries this soon. They just wanted to find a way for him to drop the X-Division title without actually losing it. They want to do Roode vs Storm, he's just another guy on Roode's list, Roode and Storm need the belt to Main Event BFG. Storm will win the series."

Well, little did we know, Aries won the title, Storm didn't win the BFG series.

- Aries(c) versus Roode: "okay, here we go, now Roode's gonna take his belt back just in time for Bound for Glory. Figures. TNA fucking up a great thing once again. Storm will win the series and we can have Roode vs Storm for the belt. No way TNA is going to have Roode not go for the belt again, that stipulation spoils it all."

... yeah. Not really. Aries beat Roode. AGAIN. Storm didn't win the series. Hardy did. Pretty much no one predicted it.

TNA is manipulating our doubt for them with the way they book Aries. They're focusing WAY too much on Hardy. Oh it's Hardy's time, he turned his life around, finally Hardy will be Champion. Then turned Aries heel. And why not?

Can anybody in here honestly say that face Aries is more entertaining than heel Aries? No. He works better as a heel. Is he a good face? Hell yeah he's a good face, but he works better as a heel.

Also, turning HIM heel should be no issue whatsoever. He's not TNA's biggest face, not by a long shot. For one thing, Hardy tops everyone. Then you have Sting, Hogan and maybe James Storm. Aries is over but he's not THE top babyface and when your challenger is more over than your Champion - that's a problem. Both TNA and Aries are at fault here but it is what it is.

By being heel however he can at least get close to Bully Ray or rival him in heel status as I think he's a better heel than Roode, but that's just me.

So overall - please stop LOOKING for reasons to say "TNA fucked this up" when we haven't even seen the conclusion of the match. For all we know Aries will turn face again shortly after, or he'll actually win the match and remain heel.

A lot of people are forgetting that Aries is running out of heel Main Eventers to fight. He already feuded with both Bully and Roode. Who is he gonna fight? Kid Kash? A heel Aries opens up more options for him IF he wins. Namely AJ Styles and James Storm, both feuds that I doubt anyone wouldn't want to see. Especially the James Storm one - that match on iMPACT was fantastic.

Will Hardy win? There is a possibility. With Aces and Eights most likely prevailing at BFG and their goal clearly being the World Title, TNA will need a face Champion - Jeff Hardy. TNA's ratings have suffered as well and perhaps a Jeff Hardy reign could remedy that, at least a bit. And of course think of how good this will be for business.

Either way, TNA will either keep on stroking the smarks or do something that's going to make them some money. Either way, acting like turning Aries heel and a POTENTIAL loss to Hardy would be abysmal is straight up ignorant. It all led to a heel Aries. How's that a bad thing?

 

[SpecialFNK]

Aries should turn full on heel, and it could be more believable for him to come full out next Thursday all pissed off because he lost the title at BFG. which is what should happen, Hardy is the bigger star.
I think all of what Aries has been doing is scripted, from being jealous of Hardy to what he said this past Impact.
IMO Aries is not a consistent world champion. he should be thankful he was in the right spot at the right time to be the current world champion. TNA needed someone big to headline Destination X, made sense for that to be the then X division champion. the X division has been so week outside Aries there wasn't anyone for him to wrestle big enough for the X title. so TNA comes up with a plan for Aries to face the world champion Bobby Roode. it was also the right time for Roode to lose the title since he's beaten all the competition up til then, and it was a good story for the little guy Aries winning the title.
David can't keep beating Goliath, or it's not a story.
Aries can lose the title to Hardy, then come out full on heel. that will give him more opportunities to feud with faces in the upper mid card like AJ Styles, Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe.

 

[akathelaw]

So I haven't been following TNA closely for the past year, but I have had a general idea of what was occurring on the shows. I ended up catching the end segment with Aries on Youtube and I was impressed with him. Aries doesn't need the World Championship to validate his talent. Hardy actually needs it more than anybody, because he is a former World Champion. All of TNA's former World Champions deplete in value the longer they go without title reigns, especially World title reigns. Hardy will most likely capture the championship again, and Aries will move on. Hardy will be a strong face who can go up against a number of heel talents in TNA, boost ratings presumably, and hopefully draw a decent PPV audience into 2013. For TNA's sake as a company they need to put the strap on Jeff Hardy, arguably their biggest star, for better or worse.

 

[MrPlatano1989]

I still don't consider it a full heel change. Todays business is not like yester-years! I believe it's given him more of a cocky edge, something that played a big role in his current position in the company. So what if he brainbuster'd his upcoming opponent, I would too lol! Remember when they made Hogan face after his Mania match with The Rock? I see this along the same lines. They see how huge Hardy is for the crowds and masses, so instead of having a super over face vs face match, they can take advantage of how over he is and make Aries more hated to create a crazy environment. We had face vs face for BFG 09, and the crowd was off and on when deciding who to truly go for. If Aries does present himself as a full heel tonight, then the crowd would be super involved in the match. They can feel disgusted whenever Aries is on offense, and excited when Hardy is on offense. By the end of the match both men will have earned their respect regardless of they were originally rooting for. And I def dont see Aries using full heel tactics unless they are unsuccessful and near the end because he's desperate. I see TNA trying to have Aces & 8's stand alone as the super heels of the night. Sorry for the long post, hope I got my opinion across. Either way I've trusted TNA this far and they seem to know what they are doing, Its been a great year for TNA PPVs! Enjoy BFG everyone!