Those Wronged by TNA and Aces & Eights

[TLDD]

I'm not going to sit here and lie. I think that the Aces&8s storyline has progressed well. While it may not be the greatest storyline in the history of wrestling it has kept the attention of TNA Wrestling fans.

At first the Aces&8s were a bunch of masked men attacking the TNA Roster and causing mayhem. Everybody was wondering who could be behind these masks and who could be possible members. As we stand the only two known members are Devon and DOC (Luke Gallows). Speculation has been swirling as to other possible members. So over the last few weeks I began to think the same...

The possible wrestlers who could fill out Aces&8s

1. Mike Knox
2. Garrett Bishoff <---- which I am in NO way a fan of.
3. AJ Styles

What's funny to me is that Devon and DOC are current members. If you remember DOC had a tryout match several months ago and supposdly nothing came out of it. The same goes for Mike Knox as he received a tryout back in May of 2012 and again supposdly nothing came out of it.

Now on to Garrett Bishoff and Devon. Devon supposdly was wronged by TNA and he doesn't feel the love by management. He stated that he never lost his TV Title and so forth. In a segment where Hogan chose another challanger for a match ( I can't remember exactly the segment) over Garrett. As Garrett was walking off he gave Hogan the evil eye and you could clearly see his displeasure.

AJ Styles... Over the last few weeks I started to wonder about ol AJ. His demeanor seems way different the before. He stated on the taping for the upcoming Impact that his pissed about his position in the company. He's been subject to some good old baby mamma drama and now he doesn't get a shot at the title for another year. So now that gives me reason to suspect him. Obviously AJ has been the poster boy of TNA for years. Now he's in the basement so to speak and he's been shunned by mangement.

I know that a lot of folks are tired of this storyline. If AJ were to join the group I feel that it could be a good twist... What's your thoughts?

 

[Slash-LN]

AJ doesn't fit the mold of the group so it would be pretty surprising. He's also the poster boy of the company and has been there long than anyone else so it would come as a total shock. Honestly I don't know how I would feel about it. I never liked AJ as a heel. It it just doesn't suit him. That being said it would be the biggest shock of the whole Aces and Eights thing. No one would suspect him.

Also several people (including myself) have felt that Wes Brisco is one of the members. Any idea on how TNA wronged him?

 

[entertainer101]

I respect your opinion, but I just cannot agree that this story has progressed well... I'm not even sure this story has progressed at all. Since it's inception, not much has happened. The exceptions to that are the revealing of Devon as a member and the revealing of Doc as a member. I have no issues with either of them. To be honest, I couldn't care less about Devon, but I didn't mind him being revealed. Fact is though, nobody really has a clue what it is they're doing there and there really seems to be absolutely no threat in regards to a power shift. They'll randomly beat people up and take them out, yes, but just how long can they keep doing that? The answer to that question is about two months ago. I do give them credit for sticking with the storyline, but it's completely lost my interest. Time to wrap it up.

 

[edgehead113]

I'm intrigued by Styles as an Aces and 8s member. The only way it works is that he'd emerge as the leader. But it could work.

Say Devon and DOC are in a tag team match against Kurt Angle and Sting at Victory Road or somewhere around there. It's the main event, and Aces and 8s have had more reveals and they claim their leader will reveal himself if they lose. Late in the match, all 4 guys are down, and out comes Garrett Bischoff (unmasked) to attack Sting and Angle, but in comes Styles for the save. Clears Garrett out of the ring, only to turn heel and perform the Styles clash on both Sting and Angle. It's the face of the company turning heel on the other fan faves. It's Hulk effing Hogan Bash at the Beach 96 NWO all over again.

Wrestling storylines are always redone and reused. Maybe TNA got Hogan's consent to make their own little NWO facton (although Devon and Doc are no Razor and Nash).

I doubt this is the plan, but it'd be surprising for the fans and probably better than what they really have in mind (if they have a plan at all).

 

[SacredMesa]

I don't think AJ is gonna become part of A&8s he's not a good heel and like Sting fans of TNA will never boo AJ they respect him to much for what he can do in the ring and how loyal he's been to TNA.

What I CAN see him doing is playing the same role in the A&8 storyline that Sting played in the NWO storyline. Sting saw everyone doubt him and walked away from WCW but then stayed silent for a year until he would face Hulk Hogan on WCWs behalf. I can see AJ doing something similiar. He will express that he is not happy where he is in the company, like he's doing now, and A&8 will become a much bigger threat until AJ comes back as the savior who will still be pissed a TNA but admit he loves it to much to A&8 destroy it, chances are this would happen at Bound For Glory next year.

Then again A&8 might not last to long with how it's going now. It's just not got a lot of momentum right now and they need something big to really put it over and losing to Kurt Angle and his tag teams definatly isn't going to get them over.

 

[jrush1978]

To me its not much of a storyline. I admittedly don't watch TNA full time but I try to keep up on the results and I don't remember many times where A&8's have went over top mid carders or main eventers in actual matches (i mean you gotta win some big ones to put a threat out there). I don't know if they can keep it going until Lockdown like some sources claim TNA wants to. Yes War Games (i know its LL) is a good match for the showdown but without some huge shocker I don't see it not completely going stale before then. So that leads to your question, are there any shockers out there. No disrespect to Devon but if he's the "biggest name" in the angle we've got issues. I have no problem with Gallows nor a problem if they bring in Knox but use them better. Anyone remember the DOC-Parks match where the announcers are trying to sell DOC as the "big man" when Park was clearly about 2 inches and 40lbs bigger? But that still leaves Devon-Gallows-Knox as members which im sorry is nothing more than a mid card faction. If Bischoff is the leader (while that was my initial prediction) then it goes from bad to laughable, especially if they turn it into a Hogan-Bischoff fued, then it goes from laughable to hard to stomach. If they're going to drop AJ or some other big name as the leader imo they'd better do it soon so there's time to build him up before Lockdown. Ive never been a huge fan of AJ as the cocky heel, but id love to see him try to play an outright evil heel. I.E. what Hogan tried to get over when they took out the Disciple at Road Wild and he did the "if i just did that to my best friend" line. My only concern with that is if you try and take AJ too evil can he ever fully recover as a face?

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Everyone's entitled to their opinion, I just can't agree that the Aces & Eights storyline has progressed well.

For me personally, Aces & Eights is probably the lamest nWo inspired faction that we've seen in TNA, and there have been a lot of those over the years. I get that TNA has tried to change things a bit with the biker gang element but the group definitely feels like a watered down rip off of the Sons of Anarchy that tries to incorporate just about every biker gang cliche` that's out there.

Tomorrow will mark exactly 6 months since Aces & Eights made its debut and I just don't see anything that's been accomplished in all that time. There was some interest and mystique surrounding the group at first, which is normal for a faction that a company invests a strong interest in, but I think the vast majority of that has faded over time. One thing that's killed it is that none of the reveals so far have been particularly exciting. Revealing Devon as the Sargent-At-Arms of the group was a surprise, I grant that, but after the surprise died down, we still had Devon as the face of a major faction. In my opinion, Devon simply isn't that great and doesn't have the talent for the spot he's currently holding. The appearance of DOC, which stands for Director of Chaos and sounds like the title of a 1950s comic book villain, hasn't bolstered things to any degree. With so much time passed and so little payoff thus far, I don't think even the revelation of big league names being in the group is going to improve things.

The other big problem, in my eyes, is the group's consistent inability to win matches. Taking people out with 4 or 5 on 1 beatdowns is all well and good. It's a good way for building heat up but eventually, a faction needs to back that up inside the ring and Aces & Eights hasn't done that. They frequently lose match after match when it's against actual wrestlers rather than "lawyers" like Joseph Park. The very few times that the group scores a win, it's due to massive outside interference during matches in which the member or members involved haven't looked all that strong to begin with.

As for potential members, based on what I've read, Mike Knox is said to be one of the members and there are plans for Garett Bischoff to turn heel to join them. I have a feeling that TNA will also include D-Lo Brown in the group as well as Wes Brisco. I forget exactly why Al Snow missed Gut Check last time but the story they came up with during a brief backstage promo segment in which Al thanks D-Lo for substituting for him was that he had a case of food poisoning? Was that it? I think they'll ultimately paint D-Lo as a mole for Aces & Eights. Brisco will probably be a mole that the group was able to plant by using Gut Check. As far as AJ Styles goes, I could possibly see him as part of the group. TNA wouldn't be able to use the same sort of excuse of being screwed over by management as they have with Devon.

I think the group does need a major name revealed as part of it because guys like Knox, D-Lo and Wes Brisco aren't going to make any waves. It could be that the 1-3-13 reveal could be all the members of Aces & Eights revealing themselves.

Personally, I'm just looking forward to Aces & Eights coming to an end. I'm just burned out on the faction wars angle that TNA has repeatedly done over the years.

 

[OldSchoolWrestlingFan]

This story line is very intriguing but also very confusing. To be such a power house faction they sure have been getting their ass handed to them as of late as far as winning matches is concerned. But that is a whole different debate.

I can see the AJ Styles heel turn- and I think it would help elevate Aces to a whole different level. I could see he and Jeff Jarrett being in it, two originals (the founder and poster boy) coming to reclaim their organization. I also see D-Lo having apart, but their is one name that has been long forgotten I have been wondering about.......Wildcat Chris Harris.

I have been reading some wrestling gossip about him returning to wrestling soon....but could it be a possibility that he could be behind one of those masks? Just throwing it out there

 

[ヒュー　G.　レックション]

Can't imagine AJ Styles in biker gear lol

However one who I think should be in the group hell maybe even the leader was Anderson. Some time ago someone here wrote up a theory on Anderson being the leader, because his name starts with an A and has eight letters. Haha but seriously Anderson spent the majority of the brawls never really touching anyone and also was never targeted.

However this somewhat great theory turned to shit when Anderson was attacked, planning to tag with Sting. Bully Ray ended up replacing him and so was Sting's partner in the end.

But did they actually show the attack? I think they just showed Anderson "unconcsious". So maybe he could be involved. It would certainly make me care about Anderson for once.

Also wanted Joe to be in the stable since he barely had any interaction but that's been shot down too due to the TV title situation.

So we have Devon, Doc, Wes, D'Lo. I think from a pure heat standpoint Garret should be included as he is one of the most hated and I think they should use that to their advantage.

Kid Kash and Gunner I think could easily be included I think they would fit the biker mould and neither of these two have been wronged.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

Can't imagine AJ Styles in biker gear lol

However one who I think should be in the group hell maybe even the leader was Anderson. Some time ago someone here wrote up a theory on Anderson being the leader, because his name starts with an A and has eight letters. Haha but seriously Anderson spent the majority of the brawls never really touching anyone and also was never targeted.

However this somewhat great theory turned to shit when Anderson was attacked, planning to tag with Sting. Bully Ray ended up replacing him and so was Sting's partner in the end.

But did they actually show the attack? I think they just showed Anderson "unconcsious". So maybe he could be involved. It would certainly make me care about Anderson for once.

Also wanted Joe to be in the stable since he barely had any interaction but that's been shot down too due to the TV title situation.

So we have Devon, Doc, Wes, D'Lo. I think from a pure heat standpoint Garret should be included as he is one of the most hated and I think they should use that to their advantage.

Kid Kash and Gunner I think could easily be included I think they would fit the biker mould and neither of these two have been wronged.

The problem with Anderson being part of the group isn't that they attacked him. You're right, they never actually showed the attack. He was just laying there "beaten." It's that TNA has completely destroyed his character. Yeah, when they bring him back people cheer, somewhat, but not nearly as loud as he used to get. He had a real roll going for awhile until Hardy put him out for real with that concussion. Now his character just shows up for a few weeks, jobs to a main eventer a few times, and leaves.

The real issue with A&8's is there inconsistency. As people have said, they lose more than they should for such a new group. It's not that impressive to beat Joseph Park. Plus they have absolutely no big names. And it's gotten to a point where revealing someone big is going to be too little too late. OMG Jeff Jarrett's the leader?! Big deal. Where was he 3 or 4 months ago when it would've been a big deal?

And one more thing. One of the front page editorial writers put this up, but I have to point it out here because it's true. Just because everyone KNEW Garrett and Brisco were going to turn on Joe and Angle, doesn't mean they shouldn't have done it. Just because it's obvious, doesn't mean it doesn't make sense. Neither name is a big one, but at this point, the best thing they've got going for them is the numbers game, because they have no big names to fight their 1v1 battles.

The saddest part of all of this is a few months ago TNA was really hot. Had interesting storylines and was generally fun to watch. A&8's was a good part of that. Now it seems everything has fizzled at once.

 

[Leveller]

I would quite like to see AJ change up his character. Someone suggested he do a Sting type year where he does nothing until it all gets too much. I think this would be amazing.


As for people being wrong by TNA, I know people wont like it but Abyss is one of them. No one that Im aware of has really questioned where Abyss is other than Joseph Parks.
Another one could be Anderson like someone mentioned. He has barely been mentioned or used correctly on TV recently (by recently I mean since the beginning of the year really.)

Im really hoping that either of the Bischoff family. Garrett has no need to even be on television let alone in a story line like this and Eric has played this role before so it would look terrible.

My unusual suspects for this would have to be Joe, AJ and Abyss. Could even throw in Chris Harris as a surprise

 

[midgensa]

As some others have stated ... I just cannot at all think that Aces & Eights has progressed well.

They have been promising payoff after payoff for months and all we have gotten is Devon and DOC? Really? That is the best they can get? Two guys who were always the No. 2 guys in tag teams? It has been extremely disappointing and (as a fan of "Sons of Anarchy") has often been downright laughable.

That said ... I did find it interesting at the beginning and thought for sure I was going to get the uber-predictable swerve of Hollywood Hogan running it ... so I am glad that didn't happen ... but in the end ... I have lost interest as a whole.

I think that making the top dog AJ Styles would definitely be a shocker and they have built his storyline well into him being pissy enough to be the guy ... but that still would not explain why he would have been the guy months ago.

Garrett Bischoff and Mike Knox would just be two more "Really? Who the hell cares?" guys.

I have no problem with those guys in the group, but until we get a big dog why should I care about this faction? Is Devon or DOC EVER going to be battling for a World Championship? Not likely ... and not believable either way.

I still would like to see Jeff Jarrett emerge as the guy ... or you know ... Stone Cold Steve Austin ... but I am starting to think that TNA is really going to drag this out for a while because they are not even sure where they want to go with it.

 

[SacredMesa]

So based on AJ's promo from last night...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKAITmo97js

Did anyone else get a similiar feel to this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dit0sfMCYpI


To me at least it felt very much alike. AJ effectively saying "screw Impact I'm my own man" much like Sting said "screw WCW I'm a free agent."

Just a thought.

 

[MINISTRYrising]

Well having AJ as a member of Aces and Eights would give them some ligitimacy as a stable But I just don't see it happening. As for what the final line up will look like I have no idea. we already know that Devon and Doc are in the group but after that its anyones guess. Sure we know that Wes Brisco and Mike Knox are under the masks but we don't know if they will still be under the masks when they come off.

I like the idea of Cliff Compton being a member as he is a solid worker and his look would mean that he would fit in perfectly with the rest of the Aces and Eights. Plus they really need somebody who could get them over on the mic and Compton would be the perfect person to do that.

Then there is Buff Bagwell, There has been a lot of talk lately about him resigning with TNA. and if the rumors are true then you could very well see him unmasked as a member of the group.

That brings me to who the leader and vp are. We now it was Eric Bischoff voice that was used when Hogan and Sting were taken to the clubhouse and I imagine that it will turn out to be Eric when the masks come off. the big question is who will the Vp be and I hope TNA have got a big name lined up for the position.