Friday Morning Backlash: TNA Impact’s Fortune, Immortal and They

Columns, Top Story

By Anthony Zinzi

Hello, friends, and welcome to my review for all the WWF pay per views from 1996! Hope you packed a lunch and a six-pack. I kid, I kid. But you now have an idea of what I do with my free time. I’m so lonely.

But enough about me, let’s talk about the current state of affairs with Total Nonstop Agita. Tonight was the big reveal. Hulk Hogan was going to wrestle control of TNA away from Dixie Carter…again. “They” were coming…again. And this time, it would shake the very foundation of TNA to its core…again. Trust me. Tonight was supposed to be the triumphant return of the Main Event Mafia, as evidenced by the company’s re-signing of Big Poppa Pump Scott Steiner. That noise everyone heard, that was the collective groan of the IWC, envisioning horrible matches, promos rife with revisionist history, and at least one nonsensical turn.

Then, it happened. Much like in 2001, when WWE signed away the WCW Hardcore Champion THEMONSTERMENG to compete in the Royal Rumble as Haku, WWE decided it was time to tweak the competition. Only this time, this tweak would have a greater overall impact. Over the weekend, WWE signed Main Event Mafia members Booker T and Kevin Nash, just in time to have them compete in the Royal Rumble. With rumors swirling that WWE also signed Sting, it appeared that TNA would be in major trouble…again. The angle they had been building toward would be dead in the water, forcing TNA to scramble for a replacement. How can our heroes possibly deliver something positive?

In the aftermath of tonight’s Impact, it appears the TNA has seemingly pulled a rabbit out of its ass…wait, that doesn’t sound right. But I digress. With an assist from the WWE, “They” turned out to be Fourtune, finally breaking away from Immortal to take back the company they put on the map. This, of course, has the potential to be great for TNA, as they, for the most part, have capable workers on both sides able to tell the necessary story.

There are, however, many interconnected stories involved in this one program. You not only have Fourtune versus Immortal, but also TNA Champion Mr. Anderson versus Jeff Hardy, as well as Rob Van Dam versus Jeff Hardy, which is still brewing from September. There is also the intrigue of the TNA Championship being caught in the middle of this gang war. Can Anderson truly trust Styles and Fourtune? Or is he being lulled into a false sense of security so Fourtune can take the title and add it to the stable’s collection? Only time will tell how TNA will choose to go, but for right now, with Against All Odds only nine days away, it is imperative that the faces establish momentum going into the pay per view, whether it is by winning matches, laying down the punk card in promos, or attacking backstage.

Glazer is a former senior editor at Pulse Wrestling and editor and reviewer at The Comics Nexus.