Should ALL of Fortune have Turned Face?

[Rasha]

We all saw it; AJ Styles, Robert Roode, James Storm, and Kazarian turned on Immortal to stand up for TNA. How much the face turn was a backup plan to cover for losing Nash, Booker, and maybe Sting to the WWE is unknown.

Looking at TNA now, it seems to me that this dramatic shift has caused a pretty bad face/heel imbalance in the company. Just take a look:

FACES
Kurt Angle
Mr. Anderson
Matt Morgan
AJ Styles
Rob Van Dam
Samoa Joe
Robert Roode
James Storm
Kazarian
Scott Steiner
Doug Williams
Alex Shelley
Chris Sabin
Jay Lethal
Amazing Red
Crimson
Brother Devon
Eric Young
Brian Kendrick
Shannon Moore
Jesse Neal
Tommy Dreamer
Shark Boy


HEELS
Jeff Hardy
Matt Hardy
Jeff Jarrett
Abyss
Rob Terry
The Pope
Bully Ray
Max
Jeremy
Gunner
Murphy
Robbie E

Not only are the numbers bad for the heels (HALF as many), but the quality is pretty weak. Jeff Hardy and Jeff Jarrett are the marquee heels right now in two biggest angles. The Pope is the best talent but is stuck in a weak midcard feud. Your bottom three of Gunner, Murphy, and Robbie E are probably the three weakest guys in the company right now. Maybe they're planning on using all three of the returning Wolfe, Hernandez, and Magnus as heels, but that will only go so far.

My point to all this... why turn all of Fortune face? Wouldn't it have made much more sense to just turn AJ and let Roode step up as the new heel leader of the stable? Not only could he have taken over Fortune, but another failed attempt to get the title back by Jeff Hardy could've led to Roode becoming the new handpicked favorite of Immortal and taking what many believe to be his rightful spot as TNA's top heel. It just seems to me that the brief payoff of seeing all four guys throw up the handsign and stand up for TNA was shortsighted and has now put TNA in a bad position for its future booking. Plus, it took at least two guys in Roode and Kazarian who are MUCH better as heels and stuck them in the wrong role.

Agree? Disagree?

 

[Find'er Woo'er Ryder]

Eric Young
Brian Kendrick
Shannon Moore
Jesse Neal
Doug Williams
Hernandez
Wolfe
Magnus
Kazarian

These guys right here should all be heels. TNA does have a crappy face to heel ratio. With these eight guys, it will be pretty balanced out. I was thinking the same thing just a few minutes ago. The whole fortune/Immortal storyline is complete havoc and can cause the death of TNA. Also, Roode and Storm should stay faces because they are great together and the tag team division would look really weak without the two there. I would have Kazarian be replaced in fortune with Jay Lethal who is a great member and underused in TNA.

 

[Jackal960]

To start with, I don't think any storyline will cause the death of a promotion. I actually liked how it turned out. However, honestly, AJ is the only real "face" in Fourtune. The rest could stay heel and be more successful ( regardless of any storyline)

As for heel/face balance, it looks like it is way out of balance. However, there is a couple of guys who are very important and are not in your list: Hogan & Bischoff. The reason being, they are the actual top heels who have the power to change the rules! They can simply catch any face stable outnumbered. They can simply add a stipulation or a rule to the match that make you weak no matter what you do. So storyline-wise i don't think it will cause a big issue. As for the number of wrestlers 7-8 good heels can do the job. How many feuds do you see in a wrestling episode anyway? Add knockouts as well and you have a full show without any shortage of a heel wrestler. Ideally you would like to even them out, which will definitely happen in time but it doesn't seem like a high risk right now

 

[Tech N9ne]

They could throw another swerve in and turn a few guys to even up the playing field, so to speak.

I think Beer Money should have remained Heel. I think it could work, but I really thought they were in a good place.

Kaz on the other hand was the worst of all. I do NOT think he will get over as a Face right now.

AJ needed to turn. I think he should be Face and is perfect opposition for someone trying to control TNA. I think this is the perfect time for a Styles/Hardy feud.

One other name on that list that is Face. Scott Steiner will not last long as a Face. I think what will happen, maybe sooner than later, is Steiner will join with Bischoff and Immortal. It makes sense and seems like a perfect "swerve" for an Impact ending. It has Russo and Bischoff's names all over it.

 

[Megadeth]

Well you have to give them time, they just switched 4 guys over from face to heel, and havent had an episode yet to show the fallout. I am sure over the next few weeks we will see some returns of people that will probably go heel. Plus, they will probably have a few people switch over from face to heel. I know they have been teasing problems between the Machine Guns lately, so if they end up splitting then one will definitely go heel. Plus you have a couple guys who havent really been used much lately, such as Tommy Dreamer and Shark Boy. And I am not really sure at this point whether Eric Young counts as a face or heel. And you left off Eric Young's sporadic tag partner Orlando Jordan who I believe is still a heel at this point. Plus my guess is Ric Flair will still be a heel, but we have to wait on that one to find out for sure. And also Suicide is suppose to be returning on impact this week, so maybe they will try to turn him heel as well, you never know.

 

[finoj05]

Immortal certainly needs some more stars. Losing Fortune (and possibly Flair) is a huge hit for the stable. Now it's the Jarrett/Hardy Boyz stable. With Sting coming back, now more than ever Immortal needs some new talent.

The Pope, as of now, is a perfect fit for the stable. He is already heel and is a main event player. He will add some flavor and another good charismatic performer to the stable.

Steiner should run as a face for a couple of months and once the buzz has worn off, they should turn him heel and have him join Immortal.

Christopher Daniels is set to return to TNA. Having him come in and turn heel on AJ Styles and Kazarian (where he can say AJ and Kazarian did nothing when he got released by TNA last year and said Bischoff/Hogan did more to help him return to TNA than anyone else have done since). He can be Immortal's X-Division guy and challenge for the belt down the road.

Motor City Machine Guns or Ink Inc are also possibilities given Immortal needs a new tag team. Indeed, they can do more to re-package Gunner/Murphy or do a Rob Terry/Abyss tag team of some kind but turning one of these two tag teams makes sense as well. Ink Inc has history with Hardy and hasn't really feuded with Immortal much. Motor City Machine Guns however have proven they can be entertaining heel characters.

Bobby Lashley is a guy they rumored to bring in with the "They" angle and still could be a possibility down the line. I think he would make a great addition to the group as a heel or as an advisory if they were able to turn enough people to stack the deck again.

So yes, the heel/face divide has problems but Immortal isn't the group it was before and now looks weak in comparison. Jeff Hardy, Abyss, Matt Hardy, Jeff Jarrett and Rob Terry is not the makings of a dominate wrestling stable when standing on the other side of the ring is Rob Van Dam, Mr. Anderson, Kurt Angle, Sting, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Matt Morgan and Scott Steiner. Gunner and Murphy (possible future stars) are just lackeys at this stage and haven't really been pushed as anything but. They need some bigger names and there are plenty of guys they can turn/bring in to pad the group a little.

Either way, if they do intend to even the odds a little, I look forward to the weeks and months ahead. This angle could certainly get more interesting again and will be freshened up by the new dynamics.

 

[Brahma Bull]

Your right in that it is weird to have more faces than heels, and have the heels be dominate. but the thing that sets immortal apart is that bischoff and hogan are in charge. one person can run the show if they have the boss backing them. its what made 2 man power trip so dominate. but i agree to the point that it seems that beat downs should not happen any more. if the hardys, jarrett, abyss, terry, pope, etc all beat on lets say anderson; morgan, rvd, steiner, aj, and even more than the faces would realistically be able to stop them. tna must be planning another big turn soon so that immortal goes back to being dominate.

 

[SpecialFNK]

I think there will be one or more people turning heel sooner rather than later.

Robert Roode and James Storm in Beer Money can work well face or heel.
I agree on Kazarian. I think he has worked better as heel. have to see how he does as face.

I think the way they did it, it had to be all 4 of Fortune. AJ saying they are the young TNA originals.

does it always have to be face vs heel? or could you also have faces vs faces and heels vs heels? Morgan and Anderson have a little thing going on and off, yet they are both currently considered face. I'd like to see Morgan eventually go heel though.

 

[MWRedskins]

well, here's hoping that MVP signs with TNA as a heel and Douglas Williams turns heel along with Magnus and Desmond Wolfe and join up with Immortal, then it will even out.

 

[Mr_billy]

This might sound stupid, even though Fortune turned on Immortal, it doesn't necessarily mean they turned face, they could just feud with immortal, but still be a heel stable. The flock still did have issues with the NWO and everybody else. Or they could be a tweener stable, lets just all wait till next time to see how this plays out.

 

[ramblinroy682]

Yes...but, they will be tweeners. I think they will still cheat to win, but will be crowd favorites.

At some point, the other three will turn on AJ and go back to being a heel. I can see Roode moving to the face of the group.

 

[Maestro48239]

I feel they really need to add Scotty Steiner to Immortal. he's not that great as a face, but one of the best psycho heels ever! have him turn on his pals at the PPV sunday.

 

[SpecialFNK]

I feel they really need to add Scotty Steiner to Immortal. he's not that great as a face, but one of the best psycho heels ever! have him turn on his pals at the PPV sunday.

I agree on this. I also think Steiner could be great in Immortal. he fits alot better as a heel.
is this PPV really where to do it?
Steiner and Beer Money vs Gunner/Murphy/Terry. blah. those 3 of Immortal right now shouldn't be wrestling on a PPV. maybe Steiner turning and attacking Beer Money would be good?

 

[Maestro48239]

I agree on this. I also think Steiner could be great in Immortal. he fits alot better as a heel.
is this PPV really where to do it?
Steiner and Beer Money vs Gunner/Murphy/Terry. blah. those 3 of Immortal right now shouldn't be wrestling on a PPV. maybe Steiner turning and attacking Beer Money would be good?

perfect setup for a heelturn, everyone knows that Steiner and BM could easily wipe the floor with gunner/murphy/terry. so having pump walk out or just going off on BM would give him HUGE heat

 

[Calderownz]

Personally, I would have to say yes. For several reasons.

Fortune only has the four members, unless you include Ric Flair as a mouth piece. However, Fortune was supposed to be "THEY." Hard to say THEY, when you're talking about two or three people. Plus, if the entire group moves to the good side of things, it just makes it feel more impactful without breaking up a group that seems to be gaining momentum.

Also, it's always a good thing to have more faces than heels. Heels sell well for the arena and for PPV, but merchandise is moved by the faces. Historically, that's just been proven time and time again. The heels they have are fine right now. With Hernandez coming back as a heel, it was really only a three person switch. Nothing too major.

 

[Miss DFW]

Well, face/heel ratio is fine given the TV/PPV time limits. Promos time, Knockouts and tags. We get 3-4 at the most matches a week. We get a few every week and most of the roster shows up outta the blue, here and there, and who knows where?? The AJ/Williams fued was the of TNA best till AJ got hurt. And now where thats going,,realy haven't seen Willams since except for 1 tag match.

 

[AmazingRed]

the only reason i dont like fortune turning face is...

beer money face sucks there so much better heel

we have good face tagteams like mcmg,ink inc they need to stay heel

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I think Beer Money should have remained Heel. I think it could work, but I really thought they were in a good place.

Kaz on the other hand was the worst of all. I do NOT think he will get over as a Face right now.

AJ needed to turn. I think he should be Face and is perfect opposition for someone trying to control TNA. I think this is the perfect time for a Styles/Hardy feud.

I think for this Plan B to work, all of Fortune needed to turn Face and after hearing Roode's angry promo at Jeff Jarrett on Impact I am now convinced that he can be a top level face. It was a brilliant performance from the man I believe will be TNA's breakout star in 2011.

AJ needed to turn too, he just is not heel material. His look, style and voice ll scream "FACE" to me, and I think it is a good move to put him up against Jeff Hardy, those 2 could put on a spectaculr series of matches.

Storm needed to go face if he is to remain aligned with Roode and in his run with AMW showed he can be a perfectly good face character, so I am ok with that too. It is just Kazarian who is the one who could struggle here. His good looks, natural arrogant expression etc just fit the heel persona much better. He has always seemed a bit bland as a babyface and he was really coming into his own as a heel in Immortal.

I would have expected him to have been the one to swerve on Fortune at some point, but as Bischoff described him as "Million Dollar Looks and 10 Cent Talent", I don't think that will happen now.

Scott Steiner will not last long as a Face. I think what will happen, maybe sooner than later, is Steiner will join with Bischoff and Immortal. It makes sense and seems like a perfect "swerve" for an Impact ending. It has Russo and Bischoff's names all over it.

Agreed, Steiner is a much better heel. As a heel he can do his crazy make-no-sense-but-are-still-amazing rants so much better. His whole character is born to be a heel, and if a swerve is coming, it has to be Scotty.

TNA could do with some more top heels, as The Hardys, Jarrett, Abyss, and now Pope and Hernandez are the only ones really. I think Desmond Wolfe would be a great addition to Immortal after his return, he is gold on the mic and I would really enjoy a Roode v Wolfe feud. Also, Wolfe could team with either Magnus of Rob Terry to take on Roode and his partner Storm