[Hardcore Justice] Bully Ray v. Mr. Anderson

[UFOcalling]

I didn't want to steal any of IDR's thunder (since he usually creates these threads/polls), I just wanted a thread where we could discuss this match! No disrespect meant here.

This match was announced last night on Impact. Bully Ray and Mr. Anderson have been arguing for the last few weeks, causing an internal rift in Immortal. Who do you think will win? ...or do you think the match will end in a "no contest", with members of Immortal "choosing sides" -- or possibly stopping the fight before it even begins? Will the match end in a DQ, and not have a winner at all?

I know this feud has been rushed, with the match announced only three days before the event; that doesn't leave a lot of time for this storyline to build. Do you think the feud between Anderson & Ray will continue after HC Justice? Or will their match this Sunday be the end of it?

 

[TM Punk]

I think this whole story, not only between anderson and ray, but angle and sting too is just bad timing and rushed. You have anderson win the title for absolutly NO reason, only to lose it a few weeks later. In that time, he joins immortal, and ray is IMMEDIATLY on his nuts. I know they want bully ray in a hardcore match, they can't leave anderson off the ppv, and they want sting vs angle to happen. I just think they should have done it differently. You have angle and sting talking about how this match is going to be a mat classic, not a hxc match. One problem, ITS HARDCORE JUSTICE!!! When hardcore is in the name, people are expecting hardcore. That's why I would have had bully ray take on sting for the title. With angle and anderson in some type of gimmick match for the number 1 contender spot. Think about it. Anderson joins immortal and loses the title. Bully ray starts talking shit to anderson blah blah, just like it has been going on. Now, immortal and sting are supposedly feuding at this time (what happened to that?), so they're gonna want the title back. That's when you have a number 1 contenders match between ray and angle. In this match anderson comes to the ring, hits ray with a chair disqualifying angle, making ray number 1 contender. Angle is pissed at anderson, there's a match. Ray is number 1 contender and faces sting.

Now at hardCORE justice Sting beats ray, now anderson is talking shit and things are getting serious. They want a match at the next ppv. It can still bee a hardcore match or streetfight or whatever. Angle beats anderson, and that sets up a sting vs angle MAT CLASSIC for a ppv where it would make sense for you to have a mat classic.

Ahhhhhhhhh.

I want ray to win.

 

[UFOcalling]

I really enjoy your take on this whole idea, TM Punk. I think the main reason why Angle was put in the main-event match against Sting is because he's going to be off TNA TV for a while (focusing mainly on the 2012 Olympics). Since Angle will be gone soon, there isn't much time for him to enjoy one last chance at the Title. Personally, I think Angle will go over Sting at HC Justice, since this might be Angle's last chance to be TNA Champ (he could get injured at/before the Olympics, he might not return to TNA after the Olympics, etc). I'm getting a little off-topic, so I'll stop with Angle for now.

I completely agree that the Anderson/Ray "feud" has been rushed. I have a feeling that their little "argument" will continue past HC Justice, and they'll have another match at the next PPV.

To tell you the truth, it hadn't even crossed my mind that hardCORE Justice should have at least one "Hardcore" Match on the card. You're absolutely right, what's up with that? I bet Anderson vs. Ray will end up being a Hardcore match, but won't be announced until sometime during the PPV. Such a waste, this angle definitely was rushed. It should have been scripted for the next PPV, but such is the booking of TNA...at least currently.

 

[Jay Sherman]

From main event world title holder, to dropping it weeks later, and now other face in the crowd of Immortal stuck in a heel vs. heel match that quit frankly has no redeeming qualities in the sense of it lacking a story. I am going out on a limb here and saying this match will be nothing special. TNA booking at its finest.

 

[PompeyDJ]

i'm not sure who could win this. bully ray's on a roll, anderson has been losing so much momentum and they're both members of immortal. it's tough to call but i'm going for an anderson win and a lot of interference

 

[UFOcalling]

I didn't vote, when I originally started this thread. I just added my choice for the finish of this match, which is "Match ends in a DQ/No Contest".

I get the feeling that this feud won't end at the PPV this Sunday...at least, IMHO, I believe the feud between Anderson & Ray should last at least until No Surrender (the next TNA PPV, happening in September). We all know that this storyline has been rushed (hell, almost 90% of all the posts on this topic mention that fact), and TNA would be smart to keep this feud going.

Obviously, the finish to the Anderson/Ray match at HC Justice is irrelevant if TNA Creative decides to keep this feud going after the PPV; IE: this feud can continue whether there is a clear-cut winner (& loser), a cheap win, or a DQ/No Contest. Since wrestling is pre-determined (what? ...get outta here...), any storyline can easily keep the feud between Anderson & Ray going through September (with another match between these two happening at No Surrender). If TNA decides to keep the feud going, then the winner of the first match is insignificant (since the story won't be over, at least not yet).

I just get the feeling that Creative won't be able to come up with a finish for the match, and Russo has always been big on match-interference/run-ins. I know this is a PPV, not an episode of Impact...but I can see a DQ being the easiest way for creative to revisit this match (presumably at the next PPV). I don't think we'll see Ray or Anderson leaving Immortal any time in the immediate future, but I could see an eventual "loser leaves Immortal" stipulation added to a match between these two (possibly at No Surrender in September? or..........).

If TNA Creative was really smart (I don't necessarily believe they are this smart, but stranger things have happened), they would book a "loser leaves Immortal" match between these two for Bound For Glory 2011. I know it seems like it's a long way off, but in actuality there's only 10 more weeks until the biggest TNA PPV of the year. That leaves only 10 more episodes of Impact, and not a whole hell of a lot of time to get either of these two involved in other feuds.

Think about it...if I had a say in what TNA does creatively, that's what I would do at this point in time. A match like this at TNA's biggest PPV of the year could cement Bully Ray as a true main-eventer (at least by TNA/IW standards), and also allow Anderson to go back to being on his own. With Anderson out of Immortal -- and Ray as a main-eventer, this would effectively kill two birds with one stone. If a "Loser Leaves Immortal" Stipulation is added to a hypothetical match between Ray & Anderson at BFG, a win for Bully Ray would mean that Ray could step into the role of Immortal's top heel AND TNA/IW gets their "popular heel" back (Mr. Anderson).

In my opinion, this is the perfect payoff for the feud between Ray & Anderson (culminating on October 16th, 2011 -- at Bound For Glory). Anderson works better on his own anyway (IMHO), and Bully Ray is doing so well playing an old-school heel. Ray could easily be Immortal's one and only "top dog", especially if he were to win a "loser leaves Immortal" match against Anderson...and, there really isn't room for two "alpha-types" in any heel-group (the "alpha-types" I'm referring to being Anderson & Ray). Think back to when the nWo split into two factions in 1998 (Wolfpac, and nWo Hollywood), following the power-struggle between Hogan & Nash.

That's just plain smart booking, if you ask me: keep the feud between Bully Ray & Mr. Anderson going, with the final "money" match happening at BFG in October. The match at HC Justice might have seemed rushed, but let's just see where they're going with this.

 

[Dagger Dias]

This match is probably the one I am looking forward to the least on the show. Anderson has been booked worse than anyone in recent history and Bully Ray is, well, Bully Ray. There is no real reason for either guy to win. Anderson's bad booking negates all of the momentum his two world title reigns had given him, and Bully Ray will never be more than a jobber to the stars. I suppose they could give Ray the win because it would give him something else to mention in his promos to get him more heel heat. That doesn't make the match anything beyond boring filler though. I will be grabbing snacks from the fridge here instead of watching the match.

DAGGER'S PREDICTION
Bully Ray will defeat Mr Anderson.

 

[Rasha]

This match is probably the one I am looking forward to the least on the show.

Clearly you forgot about Devon vs The Pope!

I know this will sound weird, but I'm actually intrigued by this match in large part due to how quickly it was put together. It's almost impossible to predict which direction this feud's going to go because we haven't seen enough of it. I could see so many outcomes:

- Anderson leans face again by overcoming tons of interference from the other Immortal members
- Immortal turns on Ray after months of his throwing them under the bus
- Steiner, Jarrett, or Gunner run out to try and help Ray, but Abyss makes a save
- Bischoff or Hogan intefere on one guy's behalf, anointing him as the true leader of Immortal

By virute of not having weeks of build-up, we haven't seen any real signs for what might go down tonight. I know that's not a smart way to build up a match, but I have to admit I'm more interested in this one than most of the others.