2013 Year In Review: TNA

Sigh....

Here we are folks with another article in my annual Year In Review series! A series where I will take a look back at the best performers, PPVs & matches from each major promotion that I watched this year and give an overall assessment of how much I enjoyed said promotion's product throughout 2013. Next up, we're going to take a look at TNA's product and see how they stacked up against their major rival up north.

 

The Best TNA Talent Of 2013

Win, lose or draw, these were the finest performers of the year.

Bully Ray chewed up scenery all year long.

 

1. Bully Ray (Last year: 7)

2. AJ Styles (8)

3. Bobby Roode (2)

4. Austin Aries (1)

5. Bad Influence (9)

6. Gail Kim (-)

7. Kurt Angle (3)

8. Jeff Hardy (4)

9. Magnus (-)

10. Samoa Joe (10)



The Best TNA PPVs Of 2013

These cards delivered the goods and left the viewer the most satisfied.

Gail Kim & Taryn Terrell put the KO's division back on the map at Slammiversary.

1. Slammiversary [7.5/10]
2. Bound For Glory [7.5/10]

3. One Night Only: TNA 10 Reunion [7/10]
4. One Night Only: X-Travanganza [7/10]

5. Lockdown [6/10]



The Best TNA Matches Of 2013

These are the "must see" TNA matches of the year.

Angle vs. Roode at BFG was TNA's biggest spectacle of the year.

1. Bound For Glory: Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Roode [****1/2]

2. Genesis: Bobby Roode vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Austin Aries [****1/2]

3. Slammiversary: Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles [****1/4]
4. One Night Only X-Travaganza: Austin Aries vs. Samoa Joe [****]

5. Slammiversary: Gail Kim vs. Taryn Terrell [****]
6. Bound For Glory: AJ Styles vs. Bully Ray [****]

My Thoughts

I have mixed emotions about TNA in 2013. At times, I found their product to be superior to what WWE had going at the time, but then within a week or two, I would usually end up hating myself for even giving Impact Wrestling a second chance. The Aces & Eights storyline/Bully Ray's shocking reveal was a prime example of my love/hate relationship with the company. Like the angle, the promotion would often have some of the best and worst ideas spinning on the same wheel and it was damn near impossible to sit through one entire episode of Impact without hitting fast forward at least three to four times (being that I only watch their programming on DVR because of how little I trust them at this point). The most interesting program for me was the AJ Styles/Bully Ray lead-in to BFG along with the Angle/Roode rivalry that backed it. Other than those folks, I pretty much tuned in to see Gail Kim, Austin Aries, Jeff Hardy and Bad Influence. Anyone else pretty much got caught in the whirlwind of my excessive fast forwarding. Such is the reason why I couldn't for the life of me come up with more than six matches I'd give a solid recommendation to. Still, this wasn't the worst year ever for the company as there were some very, very good ideas. Where TNA failed however, is in the follow-through. This should come to no real surprise to anyone who's been consistently watching these past few years. And perhaps that's the biggest disappointment of all.

Overall Grade: D