Bully Ray is the *NEW* TNA World Champion, and the President of Aces & Eights!

[TeddyCJD]

Everybody is loving this outcome right now, but i want to point out two things:

1) The angle still sucks, the faction still sucks, and it will just keep sucking! They are basically a bunch of washed-up, has-been WWE/F jobbers who couldn't draw a dime!

2) Who would care to wager with me that we see Bully Ray v Hogan for the Title at Bound For Glory? You know that this is the way it will go! Hogan said himself in numerous interviews that he wants another World Title run, and his biggest mark, Dixxie, will give it to him!

 

[TheHorndogSays]

This was the right move... the problem was it was about 6 months too late. This reveal SHOULD have happened at BFG. It's dragged on for far too long and even though Bully Ray has proven that he can pull his own on the Mic I'm not sure if even he can bring this storyline back around.

 

[TylerFloyd5283]

Once again in this day and age on one hand its good to see Hogan tries to put someone over yet still shows he cant do it...everyone saw this coming a mile away, it dragged on 3-5 months to long, once brooke was involved we saw it coming cuz you know if he brings in his friends or family it has to do with the biggest angle in the company luckily i feel bully can pull this off but now has to carry how many no names, i feel bully can do it but i doubt with hogan behind the scenes itll happen, bully vs hogan at bound for glory and god help us if this happens, didnt hogan do an interview a while back stating he wanted to be TNA champ, well as usual hes set the stage and what will be over year of storyline to make this happen...my question is this...Will anybody care???"

 

[JASONIGHTMARE]

So much for those IWC idiots that said "Bischoff, or Jarret, were obviously behind all this." Please grace us with more of your wisdom... Welcome back The Real Bully Ray. Nice to see 3D back together again. Now the question is where does this lead to next? They were teasing possible Morgan title shot last week. Seems like AJ may be TNA's version of "The Crow Sting"; coming back back all dark and badass to take down Aces and Eights. I think Rhoode, and Aries will continue to be more focused as heel tag champs for now.

Who's to say Aces and EIghts won't branch out ? eh? nWo had more members than Aces and Eights!! If Garret is in there why not his dad? geeez lol
Jarrett is the TNA founder and it would make more sense !!

 

[NotoriousMEAT]

Finally the payoff of the last 9 months of TNA. This is great for TNA and was great to watch. I think most people suspected this could happen tonight, and I for one am so glad it did. The response from the crowd made it all the better. When it rains trash, you know ya did something right. Bully Ray just became the biggest heel in the biz (Punk just gets way too many cheers) and I can see him holding that title for the majority of 2013.

 

[gers09]

best thing tna done with this story line in a while am glad they have done this i like bully ray always have from he was bubba-ray in wwe but his bully persona is not a face he needs to be a heel.

My only fear cos tna great at ballsing things up (eg. d-lo is vp total fuck up) is that they make d-von and bully reform team3-d bully is on the best run ever what tna has done with him has been great if they make them reform it will b a huge step back for him

 

[MINISTRYrising]

Thank god the leader was not Eric Bischoff. Having Bully as the leader was a great idea and allows TNA to take the story in some intresting directions. Plus Bully has always been a better Heel then a face and if they had continued to push Bully as a face then I think his nice guy character would have started to get boring. good work TNA.

 

[Rayne]

The funny thing is, I remember people acting this way when they revealed Mr. Anderson, and the same way when they revealed Taz. And by next week, they had forgotten about it completely. This is a good thing for TNA! Never stop laughing when I hear that trope. If anything, it would appear they've recognized that absolutely no one wants to see Eric Bischoff around this thing. That is a good thing for TNA.

So we're going to be treated to another storyline involving "I took all those asskickings because..." it looks like. I've always thought those storylines were insulting to a viewer's intelligence, but there are certainly some people here who are going to lap it up. Let the faction wars storyline begin again.

At least Bully Ray is a really good heel. He's not good enough to single-handedly rescue this shit storyline, but he's good enough to make people forget about how shitty it's been for a week or two.

 

[SpecialFNK]

Everybody is loving this outcome right now, but i want to point out two things:

1) The angle still sucks, the faction still sucks, and it will just keep sucking! They are basically a bunch of washed-up, has-been WWE/F jobbers who couldn't draw a dime!

no offence, but this is total bullshit.
I guess by this same comparison, Steve Austin was a WCW reject. so was Mean Mark (Undertaker) and Terra Ryzing (Triple H).
I'm not saying these guys in Aces/Eights will go on to be good/great, but just because they were were with WWE and they're not anymore doesn't mean they suck.

the angle doesn't/didn't suck. the angle itself was great. when it started and there were a bunch of masked people that were all unknown, it was creating a lot of buzz. it sucks that a bunch of lesser known guys were revealed, rather than some important guys. but maybe TNA couldn't get anyone important or more known.

 

[multiverseman.com]

If only they hadn't ruined the Aces & Eights storyline up til now. It started so hot and then just meandered and fell apart. Now they do something they should have done months ago and that's cool. Hopefully it'll lift the whole faction up. I'd suggest they conveniently leave D-Lo out of the whole thing from now on, fire Wes Brisco, and choose a guy to push besides Bully Ray (not Devon).

 

[sabataged]

Like it has been said so many times in this thread. It is what needed to happen. Personally I was hoping for Bully Ray to be the Vp and then Jarrett to end up being the President but this will work too. So they just had their big nWo swerve. Now they just need to keep working AJ Styles as their dark and twisted Sting type savior. He feels the company he loved turned their back on him. They will play up the who side is he on angle for awhile until his one year without a title shot will be up. At that PPV he will challenge and defeat Bully Ray

 

[Jack-Hammer]

The funny thing is, I remember people acting this way when they revealed Mr. Anderson, and the same way when they revealed Taz. And by next week, they had forgotten about it completely. This is a good thing for TNA! Never stop laughing when I hear that trope. If anything, it would appear they've recognized that absolutely no one wants to see Eric Bischoff around this thing. That is a good thing for TNA.

So we're going to be treated to another storyline involving "I took all those asskickings because..." it looks like. I've always thought those storylines were insulting to a viewer's intelligence, but there are certainly some people here who are going to lap it up. Let the faction wars storyline begin again.

At least Bully Ray is a really good heel. He's not good enough to single-handedly rescue this shit storyline, but he's good enough to make people forget about how shitty it's been for a week or two.

Personally, I want Eric Bischoff nowhere near this. I'm not hating on the guy, but I just don't really have any desire to see another non-wrestler take up even more air time. Plus, Bischoff being involved truly would make this seem like it's the nWo again, just with motorcycles and without credibility.

In some ways, this storyline of Ray taking all those beatings can be looked at as "insulting". However, the Aces & Eights angle has been so bad that it's worth putting up with to see something that, at least for now, looks good for the faction.

I enjoy Bully Ray as a heel, he's one of the top in wrestling. But yeah, he alone can't pull Aces & Eights out of the toilet. Like I said alluded to earlier, TNA's booking of the group as a whole needs to change and change dramatically. They can't be getting their asses handed to them left & right in matches. Wes Brisco didn't look like he even belonged in the same ring as Angle, so last night didn't build his credibility. Aces & Eights lost the cage match last night, which got more build & hype than any other match on the card. Aces & Eights is too much dead weight using current booking strategy for any one wrestler to carry. It'll only be made worse if TNA starts booking Bully Ray as a weak champ who can't hold onto the title without constant interference.

 

[King Patrick Star]

I do like the idea of Team 3D going after the TNA Tag Team Titles. I also agree that Devon should have had the VP Title. I do think, however think that instead of Team 3D themselves, it could better serve the Aces & Eights if DOC and Knox challenge for, or even win the TNA Tag Titles for the Stable. I’d also now like to see Wes Brisco challenge for, or even win the TNA X-Division Title. I don’t think it’s really necessary for both the President and the Sargent-At-Arms to “drop back down a level” at this stage in both of their careers. Plus, a side story line of Team 3D mentoring 2 of the As&8s to gun for the Tag Straps would be a great story in itself.

Of course this would leave out Mr. Anderson and Garett Bischoff, but someone has to. Maybe Anderson could restart the feud with Jeff Hardy and steal his Omega / Immortal V2 Belt, as he was one of the guys to hold the Immortal V1 Strap. That or Anderson, Bischoff, and D-Lo Brown should “create” a 6-Man Tag Team Championship. Haven’t had those in a while. HAHA!!

Did anyone notice that there are now 9 members in Aces & Eights, if you include the Messenger and the VP?? I smell a double cross coming soon.

Quick question, how can Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s 2012 Feud of the Year (vs. TNA) be Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s 2012 Worst Gimmick?? HAHA!!

 

[tvcolosi]

no offence, but this is total bullshit.
I guess by this same comparison, Steve Austin was a WCW reject. so was Mean Mark (Undertaker) and Terra Ryzing (Triple H).
I'm not saying these guys in Aces/Eights will go on to be good/great, but just because they were were with WWE and they're not anymore doesn't mean they suck.

the angle doesn't/didn't suck. the angle itself was great. when it started and there were a bunch of masked people that were all unknown, it was creating a lot of buzz. it sucks that a bunch of lesser known guys were revealed, rather than some important guys. but maybe TNA couldn't get anyone important or more known.

I have to say I think you have this backwards. HHH, Austin and Taker were young but left WCW because the old guys on top wouldn't let them in. Angle, Anderson, and the Dudleyz were old and left WWE. Knox/Knucks is a reject, plain and simple. Gallows/DOC had 3 different gimmicks and couldn't get over. Cornette always say Good talent overcomes bad booking, good booking cannot overcome bad talent.

Also WWF and WCW were a lot closer in size back then (early 90's).. Switching companies back then would be like leaving the NY Yankees to play for the Detroit Tigers. One team was better than the other but it was still Major League Baseball. Going to TNA from WWE now, but more inportantly 3-4 years ago was like being a free agent and not getting a MLB contract to you agree to play AAA.

As far as Bully goes, sometimes the glaringly obvious choice it the right one. The length of this story had me intrigued, I think its long from over. D'lo as VP might have been a mis-step, but him in the group explains why Al Snow was attacked before the Wes Briscoe gut check vote. I cannot believe I just said that.. A TNA story makes sence? Holy cow..

 

[Wald]

Great idea from them and well executed in the end.

Now please God let Bully be the actual leader of the faction. No more turns are needed (Brooke going heel I wouldn't mind so long as it doesn't take from Bully) but the group now needs to be built around keeping Bully Ray champion for as long as possible.

Keep masked henchmen too, they look very menacing and can be useful as Bully's insurance policy.

Side Note: I now find that TNA has the most interesting world champion in the business, this cold be a massive springboard for them if they get it right. Bully is absolutely a guy they can build the company around

 

[Chadmw]

I am torn on this, first it is a good idea, just because Bully Ray is a much better heal than a face.

But I hate it, because in typical wrestling fashion (both TNA and WWE), it was predictable as most people saw it coming, and also it doesn't make sense. Hell he had been beaten down by Aces and Eights several times, and also him and devon beat the crap out of each other several times,

Maybe because I have been watching wrestling for over 30 years, but rarely does any story line surprise me or the ending doesn't come off as dissapointing.

And I still do believe that either Bischoff or Jarret are still behind the Aces and Eights, and more likely Bischoff as he is a Motorcycle enthuthiast

 

[KingHill]

Oh my god. My friend was there

PEOPLE CRIED! People was so fucking crazy there at the end, INSANE!

One of the best heel turn ever.

One of the best since Hogan 96, one of the best heel turns ever.

Will be remembered for a long time.

 

[multiverseman.com]

I am torn on this, first it is a good idea, just because Bully Ray is a much better heal than a face.

But I hate it, because in typical wrestling fashion (both TNA and WWE), it was predictable as most people saw it coming, and also it doesn't make sense. Hell he had been beaten down by Aces and Eights several times, and also him and devon beat the crap out of each other several times,

Maybe because I have been watching wrestling for over 30 years, but rarely does any story line surprise me or the ending doesn't come off as dissapointing.

And I still do believe that either Bischoff or Jarret are still behind the Aces and Eights, and more likely Bischoff as he is a Motorcycle enthuthiast

Well as far as predictability, people kept saying it was going to happen at BFG and all these others times. Then when it didn't, they forgot about it. Now that it actually happened, people say it was predictable. Apparently it wasn't that predictable.

As far as making sense, this is Bully Ray. He voluntarily took beatings in bingo halls for next to no money for years. Why wouldn't he do it to win the TNA world title? He was playing the long game.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Folks, Aces and Eights came out of the gate hot, but it's struggled tremendously from the point that Devon was revealed as it's first member, so understand that they were very limited in terms of who they could turn here to make this whole thing come full circle.

Fact is, while Jarrett might have been an OK President, he too would have had a ton of holes in his strategy, and they'd have been relying on the shock of Jarrett's return to cover a lot of them.

Aces & Eights has been a bit of a failing group for the most part, but Bully Ray can salvage it as Champion. Yes, they still look a bit like the nWo B-Team who can't win any matches and just tend to get their asses beat, but even if that's the case, they're now the nWo B-Team with the best heel in the company as champion. Ray changes everything, because the focus is no longer on why the Aces and Eights suck, because they always lose, but rather on Bully Ray and his gang of cronies who will likely help him hold the title through to Bound For Glory. I stopped watching around this point, but this reminds me a bit of what WWE did with CM Punk taking over Nexus.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Ace's and 8's have been a group made up of talent that couldn't cut it in other places, namely WWE, they've been poorly booked damn near from the get-go, their put over as a force by commentary but when it comes to the actual brawls, matches and tussles they fall at almost every hurdle. Devon's reveal gained some shock but after the following Impact nobody truly cared, D-Lo Brown left people scratching their heads but again it gained some interest. Does anybody truly care now? Probably not.

But behind all of this there has been a pay-off and that pay-off occurred last night. In the beginning Bully Ray was made to look like the mostly likely affiliated roster member with Ace's and 8's, almost everyone was thinking it, but with his face turn and the angle with Hogan TNA managed to deviate peoples focus from it long enough to then shock with Bully Ray's turn last night.

Ace's and 8's is an angle that until last night was failing. It wasn't interesting, it wasn't correctly booked, but now it all makes sense. It was all a plan to get Bully Ray into Hulk's good books, get a chance at the World Heavyweight Championship and capture it when he had the chance.

It's great for a guy like Ray, who can finally say he is a recognized World Heavyweight Champion. His transition from Bubba Ray Dudley or Brother Ray to this all out, old school type heel was entertaining as hell and damn near everyone wanted him to eventually become World Heavyweight Champion. All they did was lengthen the story and now not only is Ray the top guy but Ace's and 8's are finally a formidable force of sorts.

Great pay-per-view, good booking, fantastic for Bully Ray who truly deserves it.

 

[Afro-Ameri-Spawn]

I will begin by saying this. TNA did an excellent job in building Bully/Bubba Ray up to main event worthy status. Rather than shoving him down our throats, they let him have reigns over his character and build up his own relevance, something that WWE was never able to do during his singles run there. And rather than it being a "Anderson" type character where you have to wonder where the relevance is in that person being the leader, it was Bully. And that is something that they already set into place with Devon being in the group and being the Sgt. At Arms. They also build up a group where you only really have one person (Anderson) who could be considered stronger than the actual leader. That way, it doesn't look too wasted seeing the group running around carrying out his every bidding.

Now with every good build up comes confusion and infinite questions. And I'm not sure whether TNA has built it to look this was or it just has come to look that way through booking confusion. The main question is, who will come at Bull for the world title. And that leave so much to wonder, but I have some possible candidates.

1. Roode/Aries- Both men have said it is their goal to hold all the gold. In order to do that, one of them (or both if TNA does the Diva's title angle from a few years ago where there were Co-Champions) has to go for the title. One of them would have to win it. Now their chances would be the best,as they currently have each other's backs. But it could turn into an entirely different and more expansive angle is they two turned on each other and turned it into a three way feud for the title.

2. Matt Morgan- This guy is strong and fierce, but kind of a wild card as he inserted himself into the picture again by saying he should have gotten a shot a long time ago. He could feud with Hogan or help Hogan or be a hired gun. You never know. But it gives you a monster character to strike fear into either side.

3. Jeff Hardy- Of course Hardy will feel cheated and want his title back. But will they push him back in rematches or will he disappear for a while to come back to fight for the title at a later date.

4. Sting- Sting feels betrayed by Bully, being his biggest backer, and will want some payback. Sure he will be tossed into the picture to try to get the title back. I doubt he will be able to beat the odds, but it will make for some good entertainment.

5. Angle- His hate for Aces and Eights is unmatched by anyone. He wants to tear them apart at the core. He could do the old "climb through the ranks of Aces and Eights" angle where he has to start with lower members and work his way up to Bully. Angle is always good for a main event push, so watch out for him.

6. Mr. Anderson- He's a strong character who is a two time champion. He could always be the "Giant" of Aces and Eights where he earns a title shot like Giant did when he was in the NWO and Bully thinks that Anderson will take a back seat and give it up but Anderson wants his title match. It won't lead anywhere but it could lead to there being cracks in Aces and Eights armor and brings to light the final candidate.

7. AJ Styles- Always the hero of TNA, AJ could come back from self imposed hiatus to once again champion TNA's cause and take his spot in the main event. But after seeing him seemingly talking to someone that looked like Anderson last week, what could be his agenda? Could he come back with Aces and then be that main eventer who turns on them for a title shot. Could he come back and fake accepting and Aces invite, only to show he is true blue TNA? Or, could be be plotting with Anderson behind the scenes to rip the group apart from the inside while chasing the title?

So TNA has seven strong candidates to play off of Bully Ray. So I would expect quite the lengthy title run where Bully plays the monster heel leader who pulls out all stops to win. It will be entertaining to see how the whole thing plays out, as TNA has been doing some good long term writing as of late.

 

[dman1373]

Well as far as predictability, people kept saying it was going to happen at BFG and all these others times. Then when it didn't, they forgot about it. Now that it actually happened, people say it was predictable. Apparently it wasn't that predictable.

First of all they russoed everyone by making him fight aces and 8's and then having him join aces and 8's. And then they waited untill the angle was completely dead. And everyone still knew that bubba was going to join aces and 8's. Just because they didn't know when doesn't mean that it wasn't predictable.

 

[Dirk]

But Sting attacked A&8's, with Bully with the make-up. Are we just supposed to forget about that? I enjoy Bully's heel turn and I get that it made for a cool PPV, but that's all I take from this.

This means that Jarrett is still MIA and AJ's apparent heel turn needs some direction.

 

[Prince Punk]

I would just like to point out something HUGE.... TNA did something right. And I mean Majorly right. something that WWE has failed to do in recent times, (and this is coming from someone who will bash TNA every chance he gets) As it's been stated by many people in this thread the Aces&8's has been losing steam the storyline has been stale for awhile now.

The Bully Ray face run sucking face with Brooke made for some trash tv at times. hell two of the best things TNA should have had going for them was stagnant and getting nothing but negative reviews. People were also nonstop calling for Bully to be behind it and swerve on Hogan.

BUT THEY STAYED!!! They kept course even though people were guessing what was going on, even though people were figuring it all out, they never tried to swerve the fans on what they intended. they played a long hand which is never done in wrestling anymore. And the majority seems to be grateful that they went with what they wanted to do instead of trying to swerve the fans.

Proof that when you let a storyline play out if the pay off is big enough it's allowed to have low points as long as you stay course and don't try and change it 100 times over to the point that no one even remembers what the point was from the start...

This was a long time coming for Bully Ray as he has truly made himself a star in TNA and is one of the best heels in the business right now. So kudos to TNA and all involved now i just hope they use last night as their new platform and book around that momentum while they have it and reach for the stars.

 

[clare houghey]

IMO i think it would of been better if they put Bully Ray over cleanly but however i think having him as presednt of Aces and eights will make the group intresting again and it was a pretty good shock too wake up today and find out that finally Bully Ray is finally TNA CHAMPION which he should of been a very long time ago