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

[Notorious718]

Completely saw this coming a mile away. Bully Ray was overdoing the babyface role to the point where I thought it was suspicious. Not that this is a bad thing. On the contrary, it's great. Aces & Eights needed to add someone credible to what honestly is a very weak lineup of scrubs and jobbers. I'll admit that the interest I had in the Aces & Eights angle died months ago but now that Bully Ray is the president, I guess I can give it a second chance.

 

[joduke41]

Even if people saw this coming,it is still the right move.you cant be called "Bully" and be a face.I dont like a lot of things on TNA but I like this.

 

[fafa1021]

I think this was a logical move for TNA. Bully is their best heel and if you want to give the A&8's credibility, make him the lead dog. Judging from what I've seen over the last few weeks I think this will build to a couple of things.

Hardy gets a rematch and then gets sent to the back of the line.
Sting vs. Bully - Sting was Bully's biggest supporter and will want his pay back.
Hogan vs. Bully- Because of course Hogan wants one more moment in the sun.
Finally Morgan vs. Bully- If you noticed Hogan's reactions to Matt Morgan's actions he kind of likes the more aggressive verison of the Blueprint. I think inevitably he will turn to Morgan to be the one to "save TNA" and release the Cracken. Morgan will get his shot to be a main eventer.

Do I think any of this is interesting and good? Absolutely not. But it would be typical TNA and I think the direction we are going to see them go.

 

[SpecialFNK]

just because it was predictable doesn't mean it was a negative thing. it was still an awesome thing to happen. and just because it was predictable to marks on the internet doesn't mean it was predictable to many viewers on TV.

was there anyone to introduce as President that would have been a shock/surprise? you had the shock/surprise reveals with the likes of Devon and Taz.

 

[Spencesc11]

I think the build up was solid but still to predictable. It should've been someone else and they could've played the Brooke-Bully angle longer. I think I would've had James Storm as he would make a great heel leader of the group. A "TNA Original" thats had enough and taking over. He could've turned on Sting's team and it would've been unexpected.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

"It was predictable"

Through the discourse about who it could be, the most common names were Eric Bischoff, Jeff Jarrett, Hulk Hogan, Bully Ray, D-Lo, Abyss, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Brooke Hogan. That's 9 people right there, and I'm not even counting others people thought might end up as the president.

So when you take 9 guesses, you basically run out of people to name and yes, one of them is bound to be the leader.

Don't act like you knew Bully was going to end up as the President from day one. It only became a bit more apparent once he got booked against Hardy and even then TNA did a good job of making us guess.

This isn't a case of will Rock beat Punk for the WWE Championship. This is TNA and somehow they've become the unpredictable ones these days. They've become the ones having solid, logic and structured storylines (for the most part) with a start, a middle and an end. Shocker!

It was never really unpredictable, it just matched one of your 10 choices. If it was Double J, it would be predictable. "Of course it's Double J, he's coming back to take his company". If it was Bischoff, it would be predictable. "Of course it's Bischoff, he takes revenge on Hogan and his SON is in it". It's Brooke Hogan, it would be predictable. "Of course it's Brooke, it's Aces and Eights, Queen's Hand, the leader is a woman, TNA be copyin' WWEz with tehz daughterz fatherz storylinez!"

I can go on for days.

Fact is, anyone shitting on this is a plain moron. This was one of the most fantastic heel turns in recent memory and half the credit goes to the crowd. TNA played it out, stood by their decision, stood by the story they wanted to tell and didn't swerve us just because a couple thousand IWC marks "figured it out". Vince.

Congratulations to Bully Ray for FINALLY becoming a World Champion, congratulations to TNA for having the most natural and best heel in wrestling today (Punk's not a solid heel anymore, sit the fuck down) and congratulatios to all the fans that will enjoy his stellar work from now on, and especially on the road.

Excellent development, excellent Champion. Hopefully this will make Asses and Eggs a bit more watchable.

 

[Justinian]

This was the logical move by TNA. When Bully said he was going to make people remember him, I knew TNA were going to finally pull the trigger with this. Just because the move is logical doesn't mean it is great (one poster even likened it to Hogan's NWO turn lol). NOBODY knew Hogan was going to turn at any point, most people knew Bully was going to turn it was just a matter of when.

Bully Ray isn't the best heel in the business and for you to say he is even on the same level as Punk is a joke dude. They pull off a Hogan NWO style turn and it is the greatest thing since sliced bread and all of a sudden Bully Ray is a superstar instead of a great tag team competitor that happens to be DECENT on his own. Bully Ray isn't CM Punk, AJ Styles, John Cena, Austin Aries, or Bobby Roode no matter how much you or anyone else wants him to be.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Well, Ray turning heel did surprise me a little bit, because I was one of those people, who thought Jeff hardy would walk out of Lockdown with the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.

Good move, and more importantly, a necessary move on TNA's part. The Ace's & Eights storyline has been stuck in the life support phase for months now. Now that he's a world champion, Bully Ray can rise above the level of a career nobody/scrub. Aces & Eights needed a spark, and Bully Ray should give it to them as the best heel in TNA.

Also, I was beyond ecstatic, when the REAL Bully Ray returned last night. FINALLY, Ray can put the ass-kissing, "let me suck up to Hulk Hogan and Sting every chance I get" face character behind him. Bully can be the nasty, foul-mouthed heel again, who is more than capable of cutting amazing promos. I'm really looking forward to hearing Ray trash Hogan, Sting, and Brooke this Thursday.

With all that said, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Ray's heel turn could help the Aces & Eights storyline, but I'm not expecting a complete 180 and a resurrection. This angle has been dead in the water for months, so it's going to take some time to climb out of the hole. And for everyone, who's bragging with the "I TOLD YOU SO!" chest-pounding bullshit.....please. Spare me. Let's wait and see where this goes before we all get our hopes up for a bright future again.

 

[Judah's Lion]

quick thoughts regarding Bully Ray as the NEW TNA HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION:

1. congrats to Calfzilla. this move may or may not resurrect the Aces and 8's storyline, but there is NO DENYING that Bully Ray has resurrected his entire career at an age that many do not and cannot. this is a well earned and well deserved title win.

2. the storyline going into and out of Lockdown was partially predictable. so what? who said predictable was a bad thing? it was also logical and something the fans wanted to see. sounds like good booking to me.

3. to be totally 100% honest, i have one, AND ONLY ONE, concern with this current development. Hulk Hogan. he has said that he'd like to win the TNA WORLD TITLE. if he's serious, i'd look for it to happen. Hogan's reasons to feud with Bully Ray are two-fold: face authority fighting the anti-authority heel champion, and father protecting his daughter's heart. to add to my concern, i look for Hogan and Bully to have a match at Bound 4 Glory. Bully Ray will feud with anyone else between now and then. Hogan will hand pick someone to fight for him. when that person fails, Hogan will assuredly take matters into his own hands, challenge the Bully to a "fight" for the title. thus, Aces and 8's will finally be destroyed by Hulkamania.

so there's my review. i absolutely loved the title match and the end result. as i stated above, my only problem with it at all is that i feel, not hope but feel, that it will lead to the Bound 4 Glory main event of Hogan vs. Bully for the title.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

Bully Ray isn't the best heel in the business and for you to say he is even on the same level as Punk is a joke dude. They pull off a Hogan NWO style turn and it is the greatest thing since sliced bread and all of a sudden Bully Ray is a superstar instead of a great tag team competitor that happens to be DECENT on his own. Bully Ray isn't CM Punk, AJ Styles, John Cena, Austin Aries, or Bobby Roode no matter how much you or anyone else wants him to be.

Except you probably missed his entire heel run from Team 3D's break-up to him turning face last year all the way to him going back to heel mode a day ago. This heel turn was only a testament to his ability and the storyline's potency. When's the last time you've seen fans flood the ring with trash when someone turns?

If you sit there and tell me that CM Punk's current heel persona, filled with nothing but lame Punkisms and the same old bullshit we've seen for the last two years, except much more watered down and stripped off of any edginess he had, is better than what Ray has going on, you're lying to yourself.

As it stands right now, Ray's the best heel in the business. Think persona, think impact and think delivery. Ray's character is much more resentful, his actions are much more resentful. The same goes for his look, for his words, his attacks, his demeanor, his whole gimmick. He's not trying to be a cool heel with stupid-ass pop culture puns and "pipe bombs". He's simply not TRYING, while Punk is and still fails to get people to truly hate him.

If this were the early stages of Punk's rise, around the time he was feuding with Cena and even during his Nexus day, he'd definitely get the upper hand. But right now Punk is losing steam, he's getting lost in the shuffle, his act is getting old while Bully Ray is FRESH, right off a face run and on top of the entire company as the leader of Aces and Eights AND the TNA World Champion. No other heel in WWE or TNA is as hot as Bully is right now, and will be for a good long while. The only people behind Bully are guys like Punk, Roode and Aries.

 

[kemist]

I like that they have finally revealed the higher up members, I wont be suprised by a founder but it is likely to be a non wrestler so will not make much difference. Bully is so much better as a heel! I like him and devon mentoring the next tag champs, DOC and Knox are not the greatest but with the right help could hold the belts. Brisco or Jarret with back up could hold the x division, or king could be recruted by A8 since he has already stated he will do anything to keep the belt and joining them would stop them going after him.

 

[The Rizz]

I don't post on here much, but being an avid fan, and yes, a mark for wrestling, especially for the "little guy", TNA could have handled last night way better. Bully Ray is a PERFECT heel, we all know that. He's great for TNA, great for wrestling, and great for the business itself. But......

He's done the heel turn over and over. Yes, it's a new storyline, he's the president, but it's not at all the same level as Hogan revealing himself as the leader of NwO back in the days of WCW. My wife and I were watching the match last night and she looked at me and said Bully was gonna turn, and sure enough, he did. I love Bully Ray, but my reaction to his turn was, "So what."

He's turned before, I'm sure before his career is over, he will do it again at some point. But.....

Dixie/Hogan COULD have made what happened last night a thousand times better. Brooke could have been IN on it. Now I know the majority of the fans are not a fan of Brooke, but think about it. Picture her sobbing outside the cage, her back to her father. Hulk reaches out her hand on her shoulder to comfort her. She slowly turns around with a huge s**t eating grin on her face, slaps daddy, and joins her man in the ring, raising his hand in triumph as the show ends. But.....

That didn't happen. However....

TNA still has the chance to do essentially the same thing this Thursday. Many people expect Jeff Jarrett to be the one to be revealed to be the ultimate leader of Aces & Eights, after all, you have a Vice President, you have a President, but now you need the CEO/Leader/Boss. So what if it's not Jeff. What if it's Brooke?

"WTF?" Okay, but hear me out here. I know most of the fans, including the people here at WZ do not like Brooke, and that's probably an understatement. She's weak, timid, quiet, ditzy, knows nothing about wrestling, and just doesn't fit or belong in the business. Okay, but look at who her father is. She grew up watching EVERYTHING he did. She took ALL of that in, EVERYTHING. She watched his highs and his lows, she watched his heroics and his villainy. More specifically, she watched his turn and reveal as the leader of NwO. She also watched the downfall of NwO. So she comes into TNA as the "quiet, I don't belong here but I'll do what I can" leader of the knockouts division and pretty much stays behind the scenes except for that, but in the meantime, she's orchestrating, and masterminding a huge event with Bully Ray who recruits other people and they form Aces & Eights. Brooke and Bully "fall in love", and in the meantime, Aces & Eights start attacking people, one by one, get revealed, with Bully getting involved as a target in the process. He plays the hero, protecting Brooke, defending TNA, teaming with Sting, and winning over Brooke and asking her to marry him, and ultimately winning over Hulk, and earning a title shot. He portrays himself as a man with morals, many a time saying he wants to fight Jeff Hardy fairly, even in mid match, fighting against the first 2 members of Aces & Eights getting in the cage, throwing them out. Then the second wave comes, and BOOM. The big reveal, and there it is. Bully is the Prez, 1,2,3 he's champ. Brooke "cries" and Bully says he used Hulk and screwed her. Show ends, Impact airs on Thursday. Bully introduces the 10th and final member of Aces & Eights, reveals that this person is not only the leader but the mastermind of the "whole freakin' idea" and it's not Jeff, or anyone else anyone expects, but it's the "Queen" of Aces & Eights, Brooke Hogan. WHO EXPECTS THAT?

WWE does not have a lot going for it right now, especially storyline wise, and especially with WM29 coming. Cena vs Rock II? So what? Punk vs Taker? Predictable. Lesnar vs HHH? Meh. There's no captivating storylines happening in WWE right now, and the only real hope I have for WM29 is for Jericho or Ziggler and maybe the Shield to have some decent matches and that they include New Age Outlaws vs Rhodes Scholars vs Team Hell No vs Prime Time Players as a Fatal Four Way Tag Team Championship match. Other than that, WWE is pretty much at a flatline right now IMO.

This that TNA has right now, has the potential to be a huge draw and success and make me want to watch TNA more than WWE right now, but if it stays as is and Brooke really is an unknowing victim, it's going to fall flat as a storyline and be a failure and I will be sorely disappointed. This is a pivotal moment for TNA/Dixie/Hogan, and I know Hogan is smart, he's proven it in the past. He once discussed the one thing that Hulk Hogan has NEVER done, and that was turn on the fans, and then he did it, and it was a shocker of all shockers. Granted Brooke is nowhere near Hulk, but WHO the hell would expect "daddy's little girl" to follow in her father's footsteps in a manner such as that?

 

[Zeven_Zion]

I don't post on here much, but being an avid fan, and yes, a mark for wrestling, especially for the "little guy", TNA could have handled last night way better. Bully Ray is a PERFECT heel, we all know that. He's great for TNA, great for wrestling, and great for the business itself. But......

He's done the heel turn over and over. Yes, it's a new storyline, he's the president, but it's not at all the same level as Hogan revealing himself as the leader of NwO back in the days of WCW. My wife and I were watching the match last night and she looked at me and said Bully was gonna turn, and sure enough, he did. I love Bully Ray, but my reaction to his turn was, "So what."

He's turned before, I'm sure before his career is over, he will do it again at some point. But.....

Dixie/Hogan COULD have made what happened last night a thousand times better. Brooke could have been IN on it. Now I know the majority of the fans are not a fan of Brooke, but think about it. Picture her sobbing outside the cage, her back to her father. Hulk reaches out her hand on her shoulder to comfort her. She slowly turns around with a huge s**t eating grin on her face, slaps daddy, and joins her man in the ring, raising his hand in triumph as the show ends. But.....

That didn't happen. However....

TNA still has the chance to do essentially the same thing this Thursday. Many people expect Jeff Jarrett to be the one to be revealed to be the ultimate leader of Aces & Eights, after all, you have a Vice President, you have a President, but now you need the CEO/Leader/Boss. So what if it's not Jeff. What if it's Brooke?

"WTF?" Okay, but hear me out here. I know most of the fans, including the people here at WZ do not like Brooke, and that's probably and understatement. She's weak, timid, quiet, ditzy, knows nothing about wrestling, and just doesn't fit or belong in the business. Okay, but look at who her father is. She grew up watching EVERYTHING he did. She took ALL of that in, EVERYTHING. She watched his highs and his lows, she watched his hoerics and his villainy. More specifically, she watched his turn and reveal as the leader of NwO. She also watch the downfall of NwO. So she comes into TNA as the "quiet, I don't belong here but I'll do what I can" leader of the knockouts division and pretty much stays behind the scenes except for that, but in the meantime, she's orchestrating, and masterminding a huge event with Bully Ray who recruits other people and they form Aces & Eights. Brooke and Bully "fall in love", and in the meantime, Aces & Eights start attacking people, one by one, get revealed, with Bully getting involved as a target in the process. He plays the hero, protecting Brooke, defending TNA, teaming with Sting, and winning over Brooke and asking her to marry him, and ultimately winning over Hulk, and earning a title shot. He portrays himself as a man with morals, many a time saying he wants to fight Jeff Hardy fairly, even in mid match, fighting against the first 2 members of Aces & Eights getting in the cage, throwing them out. Then the second wave comes, and BOOM. The big reveal, and there it is. Bully is the Prez, 1,2,3 he's champ. Brooke "cries" and Bully says he used Hulk and screwed her. Show ends, Impact airs on Thursday. Bully introduces the 10th and final member of Aces & Eights, reveals that this person is not only the leader but the mastermind of the "whole freakin' idea" and it's not Jeff, or anyone else anyone expect, but it's the Queen of Aces & Eights, Brooke Hogan. WHO EXPECTS THAT?

WWE does not have a lot going for it right now, especially storyline wise, and especiall with WM29 coming. Cena vs Rock II? So what? Punk vs Taker? Predictable. Lesnar vs HHH? Meh. There's no captivating storylines happening in WWE right now, and the only real hope I have for WM29 is for Jericho or Ziggler and maybe the Shield to have some decent matches and that they include New Age Outlaws vs Rhodes Scholars vs Team Hell No vs Prime Time Players as a Fatal Four Way Tag Team Championship match. Other than that, WWE is pretty much at a flatline right now IMO.

This that TNA has right now, has the potential to be a huge draw and success and make me want to watch TNA more than WWE right now, but if it stays as is and Brooke really is an unknowing victim, it's going to fall flat as a storyline and be a failure and I will be sorely disappointed. This is a pivotal moment for TNA/Dixie/Hogan, and I know Hogan is smart, he's proven it in the past. He once discussed the one thing that Hulk Hogan as NEVER done, and that was turn on the fans, and then he did it, and it was a shocker of all shockers. Granted Brooke is nowhere near Hulk, but WHO the hell would expect "daddy's little girl" to follow in her father's footsteps in a manner such as that?

I get your point, but I disagree. If Brooke joined Bully it would take away from the weight of his heel turn. You have to understand that this heel turn is one of the rare ones which will actually appeal to women. Perhaps every woman you've ever known or will know has been used in some fashion. This is a bridge for association for women, in order to hate Bully. The men will hate him for other reasons.

What Bully did was some heartless shit. Just turning on Hogan and the fans is fine, but is it enough? The whole issue with Aces and Eights is that they claim to be evil, but they do nothing that is ACTUALLY evil. They claim to be badass, but they do nothing that is badass.

Now, finally, Bully does something that is inherently evil, and kinda badass. He does this whole trick, he marries Hulk's daughter, he earns his trust, he earns our trust, he earns the trust of every person in the locker-room and does THIS? That's some heartless stuff right there.

Therefore, Brooke joining Bully would've hindered his heel turn and the entire situation. Brooke can't act for shit, she doesn't know what she's doing and she's way better being the hurt, broken little girl. This marriage of theirs had to end sometime and the sooner the better.

Now this gives Hulk extra incentive to go ape-shit on Bully, Bully got over real good, this was executed perfectly.

 

[The Rizz]

I get your point, but I disagree. If Brooke joined Bully it would take away from the weight of his heel turn. You have to understand that this heel turn is one of the rare ones which will actually appeal to women. Perhaps every woman you've ever known or will know has been used in some fashion. This is a bridge for association for women, in order to hate Bully. The men will hate him for other reasons.

What Bully did was some heartless shit. Just turning on Hogan and the fans is fine, but is it enough? The whole issue with Aces and Eights is that they claim to be evil, but they do nothing that is ACTUALLY evil. They claim to be badass, but they do nothing that is badass.

Now, finally, Bully does something that is inherently evil, and kinda badass. He does this whole trick, he marries Hulk's daughter, he earns his trust, he earns our trust, he earns the trust of every person in the locker-room and does THIS? That's some heartless stuff right there.

Therefore, Brooke joining Bully would've hindered his heel turn and the entire situation. Brooke can't act for shit, she doesn't know what she's doing and she's way better being the hurt, broken little girl. This marriage of theirs had to end sometime and the sooner the better.

Now this gives Hulk extra incentive to go ape-shit on Bully, Bully got over real good, this was executed perfectly.

I definitely see your point here. You're right in that they really didn't do much in the way of evil. They attacked some people here and there, but that's pretty much it. Good points. I'm probably way off base in my predictions anyway, and since I am more of a mark, I'm probably more biased.

 

[New Hot Fed]

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!

I don't disagree with you about the angle sucking but I think having Bully as leader gives them a big shot in the arm. They'll stop being incompetent fools cause Bully and his heel character doesn't allow for being treated like a chump. He's a guy that when Hogan was on a leave of absence of Immortal, he threw Mr. Anderson out.

Now as far as Hogan facing Bully, Hulk gets surgery every two weeks, I don't see it happenning.

 

[New Hot Fed]

I get your point, but I disagree. If Brooke joined Bully it would take away from the weight of his heel turn. You have to understand that this heel turn is one of the rare ones which will actually appeal to women. Perhaps every woman you've ever known or will know has been used in some fashion. This is a bridge for association for women, in order to hate Bully. The men will hate him for other reasons.

What Bully did was some heartless shit. Just turning on Hogan and the fans is fine, but is it enough? The whole issue with Aces and Eights is that they claim to be evil, but they do nothing that is ACTUALLY evil. They claim to be badass, but they do nothing that is badass.

Now, finally, Bully does something that is inherently evil, and kinda badass. He does this whole trick, he marries Hulk's daughter, he earns his trust, he earns our trust, he earns the trust of every person in the locker-room and does THIS? That's some heartless stuff right there.

Therefore, Brooke joining Bully would've hindered his heel turn and the entire situation. Brooke can't act for shit, she doesn't know what she's doing and she's way better being the hurt, broken little girl. This marriage of theirs had to end sometime and the sooner the better.

Now this gives Hulk extra incentive to go ape-shit on Bully, Bully got over real good, this was executed perfectly.

Actually Bully getting mushy mushy with that bimbo and trying to please Hulk and losing his balls and turning face was displeasing to most guys outthere, and it was the women that were mainly accepting Bully cause he had become a "good boy" and women love to change their men.

Bully rejecting Brooke and Hulk, you could hear the relief of men everywhere. With a big "allright!" the World over. It was Bully getting his balls back. If Brooke would have stayed with Bully on the heel turn, guys that hated that dynamic would have continue hating it and women would have said to themselves "well she did it for LOVE". Bully has become a big time face to men everywhere with what he did on Sunday.

But it's OK, it's time for him to do bad things and we'll love him for it.

 

[MWRedskins]

As it stands right now, Ray's the best heel in the business. Think persona, think impact and think delivery. Ray's character is much more resentful, his actions are much more resentful. The same goes for his look, for his words, his attacks, his demeanor, his whole gimmick. He's not trying to be a cool heel with stupid-ass pop culture puns and "pipe bombs". He's simply not TRYING, while Punk is and still fails to get people to truly hate him.

i disagree. Bully Ray is a GREAT heel, no doubt about that, but i still think Punk's better as he is a better promo cutter (though only a tad bit better) and is a better wrestler in the ring. his match with John Cena on RAW showed me that as he made a predictable match very entertaining. Bully's great, but i think Punk's a LITTLE bit better.

as for what someone said above about Jarrett. my hope is that Jarrett's revealed as the "higher power" that Tazz discussed and they bring Jarrett in as the creator of Aces and Eights.

 

[The Eighties]

Obvious or not this was the way to go, Bully is a natural heel and a good fit with the Aces & Eights gimmick. I actually didn't expect him to be President but I did think this would lead to the World title for him and TNA have a good roster of faces for him to work with over the course of this year.

It was good to see long term storyline building again and Bully did as good a job as he could trying to make people believe he'd changed, and for all the hate she gets I thought Brooke played her role well in helping him with that.

The only issue has been how badly the group itself has been booked and filled out with directionless mid-carders who were bodies for an angle but not guys I really want to see in the ring. However if Bully is allowed to run strong with the belt he can steady the ship and hopefully elevate the group.

 

[countryhearts4]

yesterday Morning{Monday 11th March 2013} TNA released their Promo video for ''TNA's One Night Only: X-Travaganza PPV'' which is set to be filmed at Universal Studio's on 17th, 18th & 19th March 2013

but here's the interesting bit...

Bully Ray is Advertised under ''New ERA'' on the promo video for the ''TNA's One Night Only: X-Travaganza PPV'' BUT.... and I say BUT....

Bully Ray is NOT Holding a TNA World Title and he's NOT Wearing Aces&8's Gear...

it gets even more interesting...

Wes Brisco is featured in the same video under ''New ERA'' but he's pictured wearing Aces&8's Gear but he's stood with Angle in the same video.

Brisco is the ONLY Member of Aces&8's Advertised for the ''TNA's One Night Only: X-Travaganza PPV''.

so looks like Bully Ray being ''The President'' of Aces&8's was actually a Red Herring.

 

[bigdaddyb673]

The Brooke thing is ok but the issue is it will stink of HHH and Steph and they need to go a whole different route. Build Morgan into the new "Hogan" for lack of a better description. He's big enough and beleivable enough to pose a threat to Bully and eventually go over him and become champ. Will it put asses in seats who knows but it's gotta be better than the next WWE released talent to show up there or same old stale roster that won the belt already (Sting, AJ, Angle)

 

[LSN80]

I can't say I'm surprised that Ray turned heel. TNA did their darndest to try and steer us away from Ray turning, especially with the repeated attacks from Aces and Eights, especially at his own wedding. There are alot of storyline gaps that need to be explained, but I have the confidence that Ray can do so. He's that good on the mic. But his over-the-top persona with Sting, Hogan, and Hardy reeked of phoniness. When he told Hogan "I'll make sure they remember me", that cinched it for me. The key now is in the follow-up.

As poor as the D-Lo Brown reveal as vice-president of the club was, Ray is that good. I figured he'ld be revealed as part of Aces and Eights, but feared Jeff Jarrett, or worse, Eric Bischoff revealed as the President. So when Ray said, " I am the President of Aces and Eights", I was thrilled. With Taz and Brown, you have non-wrestlers in a club that was just trounced in Lethal Lockdown. With Ray, you have the World Heavyweight Champion. One that has shown he can talk, act, and have good matches. In other words, a top heel to give Aces and Eights some desperately needed credibility.

That being said, Ray alone is not enough to resurrect Aces and Eights. They've been buried for so long due to both who is in the club, and the repeated losses they've suffered. In order to salvage this angle, Ray needs to hold the championship for a long time. He doesn't need to have a CM Punk-esque reign, but he needs to hold the title and establish Aces and Eights as being on top for some time, preferably until Bound For Glory. This gives him time both to establish himself, and Aces and Eights, as the big bully, no pun intended, to be taken down in grandiose fashion.

Lockdown was a great start. The visual, be they plants or not, of fans pelting the ring with garbage was a great one. But the follow-up is key. Ray's been a great heel, hell, a great character, but can he be a great champion? Time will tell, and hopefully he'll be given time to establish himself as a great leader of the club. Further, if Ray becomes a great heel champion, it gives TNA time to build up a great face, hopefully AJ Styles, to be the man to eventually take Ray down. Jeff Hardy simply wasn't a great champion, and the time had come to switch the title. Ray was the right choice, at first glimpse. Here's hoping he shows to be the long-term answer as well.

 

[JJYanks121]

For some reason, when I thought about how this story played out, I thought of a relationship.

No, this has nothing to do with the one Bully and Brooke had, but more the storyline as a whole. Imagine, you start dating a girl. At first things are exciting and fun and you don't know what to expect. It's fun and passionate and after a few weeks you are ready to consummate that thing so you pull off the pants and reveal..........BUSH. Ok, so the big reveal of what you thought would be the first banging is a bit underwhelming. That said, you forge ahead and trim that shit so you can deal with it.

Along the way, she's told you that if you are patient, you'll get a big surprise. Early on you suspect it's putting it in her butt, but your buddies convince you that she might get a tongue ring to give an extraordinary blowsky. Then one friends says that maybe she's getting breast implants to improve on those perky yet not overly large 34B's. Some have even said that she might bring another girl into the bedroom for you. With this big surprise in mind, you are willing to wait to see what it is. Unfortunately, the time in the middle makes you realize that she's controlling, manipulative, bitchy, and even downright boring to have around. For months, you put up with this as every now and again she allows you to try a new sexual position.

So now it's the big night. You've been getting hints that this might be the night the big surprise is revealed. You remember all the options and they are all in your head but the fact that she bought lube the night before should have made things kind of obvious. Yep, you're putting it in her butt tonight and it's nice. It's everything you could hope for even. You enjoy it and are happy for a moment, but then you have to take a step back.

Was all the suffering of month's past worth it?

That's essentially the Aces and Eights Storyline. While the reveal itself isn't bad and even a cool moment for longtime TNA fans, the journey was miserable. For nine months we waited to get some sort of reasoning for these rogue bikers being around and until two nights ago, all we got was a bunch of rogue bikers with no aspirations who couldn't win a match to save their life. So finally we see their purpose as one of them tosses a hammer to the leader to help him defeat the champion for his title. Eight guys and nine months for that? Yep, and don't you forget it!

Keep in mind that the other thing in life that is 9 months of hardship with a payoff is pregnancy but that payoff makes you happy the rest of your life and you know is worth it. This was 9 months of bad TV to get to something that really shouldn't have taken so long.

"But JJ, it was the plan!" Why? Why couldn't that plan happen at BFG? Bully was a heel then and hot then. Aces and Eights started months before when they took out Sting. All they had to do was make it coincidental that Bully Ray got to the finals of the BFG series and then won it. People would have bought that and by the way, the promo he gave at that PPV made it seem like he was turning face anyway. So, have him give that promo and WIN the match somehow. Now, he's in line to face Austin Aries at BFG. Instead of your big reveal being Devon, the group helps Ray win the title and you get the result we got Sunday but with a lot less awful television.

So lets get this clear before I move on. The result is fine and likely will give us something decent for a few weeks, but it took WAYYYYYY too long to get there. As a result, many lost interest and it allows for way too many plotholes that some will nitpick. Now, as for a couple of other issues I have:

1) "It made sense!" In some ways, yes. That said, it makes sense to have diarrhea after eating Mexican food for 5 straight meals, but that doesn't mean it's entertaining. Some of the worst movies in cinema history have made sense. Their plots have got from point A to point B at the end with little issue getting there but that doesn't mean they were fun to watch. To some, the Aces and Eights story might come together and make sense, but that doesn't mean the 9 months prior to the big reveal were fun to watch at all.

2) "The Big Turn" - I never understand how in wrestling you can be the biggest dick on the planet, turn good for a short time, and then expect people to be shocked when you become evil again. Granted, this situation is a little different because TNA didn't turn Bully Ray..........the fans did. He then took it over the top, but the fans like the guy and want to cheer him and in cases like that, I'm generally not in favor of making that guy a bad guy. That's pretty close to my exact explanation of why CM Punk has no business being a heel but in this case I'll let it slide. What I won't let slide is why this is played up as overly shocking. The guy was a bad guy not 6 months ago. It's not like Hogan turning in 1996 or even Jeff Hardy in 2010. Heck, it's not even Batista in 2010. It's closer to The Rock in 1998 minus the mass appeal. Rock was a bad guy for a long time, was turned face by the fans, and turned heel to win the title and join a big heel stable just months later. Sound familiar? Thing is, these guys were bad guys! Why are we so shocked?

3) The trash - I guess when you are confined to the Impact Zone, you don't trust what real fans will do. Then again, when you pull the same stunt twice in 3 years and that stunt is ripping off a real moment from years past, it looks cheap. In 1996, the trash thrown in the ring came from legitimate anger. Many felt their hero betrayed them. In 2010, another hero betrayed the people but it was small scale and the people wouldn't have bombarded the ring with trash if not for the plants there trying to recreate 1996. It looked stupid then so naturally, the same idiots that brought you that debacle plant fans again to pull the same stunt for a guy that's nobody's hero turning heel for the first time in 6 months! Does this not seem ridiculous to anyone else? Let the fans react organically. They'd likely boo and it would be real. TNA, you have real fans now that you are out of the Impact Zone. Let them be real fans and dictate real reactions!

In closing, I feel the need to state again that I'm perfectly fine with the reveal and find it a whole lot better than some of the alternatives. That said, I'm not going to forgive TNA for months and months of bad television just because one night was pretty good. Now the key is to try and make people forget their suffering. Do some decent TV moving forward and hope to get back some of the people you turned away with months of drek. It won't be easy, but there's at least something compelling to this. We'll just see if the company can keep it hot and relevant, or if it will cool and quick as most girlfriends do on blowjobs when they realize that their man will be "just fine" with a quick "get it hard and put it in" job.

 

[WrestlingAddict2000]

Awesome! I honestly haven't been this pumped for a Wrestling show in a LONG time. This weeks iMPACT! is definitely MUST SEE TV. I Can't wait for Thursday to see what Bully has to say, it's gonna be epic!

 

[Wald]

For people complaining about the timing of the reveal (as in it took too long) I'll ask you to think if maybe they held off this long to try and make it happen just as they are taking Impact on the road?

Bully Ray being the champion and leader of the faction makes for great TV, we're all gonna tune in to Impact this week. I love that this is happening in Chicago and I imagine the fans there are rubbing their hands together with glee at what they can shout at Ray and his team.

Now imagine this happened in the Impact Zone and the crowd was dead. It's the type of thing that could kill the impact of the angle dead.

The timing of this was perfect.

 

[Mattitude]

Admittedly, I haven't watched TNA since the end of the MNM or thereabouts. But from time to time I would glance at various results over the years, notice various news tidbits etc - Jeff, Austin Aires, Roode all becoming champions, Brooke Hogan and Dixie Carter having on-screen personas.

Then I heard the buzz of this Aces and Eights gimmick/storyline which has been going on since the summer and it seemed intriguing, so I did a bit of reading around the net and once I realised that Devon was a member of this group, and the fact that the Dudley Boys were nomore, I thought it was only a matter of time before Bubba or Bully Ray would join him in the group. I mean, these guys have been a team for over 15 years. Having one without the other by his side would just be odd.

Now to me, not being up to speed on TNA for a while, the thought alone of Bully Ray being a main eventer is somewhat laughable, not to mention being world champion! But the fact that this storyline has dragged on for the best part of 7 or 8 months, with the pay-off that the Dudleyz are the "masterminds" behind it all makes it all kinda disappointing and obvious, doesn't it? Especially as it was probably inevitable from the second Devon was revealed to be a member, that Ray wouldn't be too far behind.

Now do I need to go back and watch 3 years (or maybe to last summer when the Aces and Eights first appeared) worth of Impact and PPV's, so I can appreicate and see Bully Ray's rise to main event status and deserved role as World Champion and leader of this biker group, just so I actually get just what the hell is going on in TNA these days....or should I just smirk at the absurdity of it all and just continue to glance at the various news tidbits on the various wrestling sites?