John
07-06-2009, 05:43 PM
The Hardcore Truth is back from another brief hiatus. The most notable event to happen since the last edition of The Hardcore Truth is Samoa Joe joining the Main Event Mafia (MEM) at Slammiversary. Joe aligning with the Main Event Mafia came as a shocker to me. I was on vacation the week Joe joined the Mafia so I haven’t had a chance to read the reaction of the internet wrestling fans but I’m sure there are mixed emotions.
My first reaction was confusion. After all, didn’t Joe have a mystery advisor in his ear telling him to destroy the Mafia? If Joe joined the Mafia, where does that leave Joe’s mystery advisor? Joe recently told AJ Styles on iMPACT! his mystery advisor will be in attendance at the Victory Road PPV. From where I’m sitting TNA has a couple of options of what they could do about Joe’s advisor. The first option is the straight-forward approach; Joe’s advisor is revealed and they announce the plan all along involved Joe turning his back on TNA in order to join the Main Event Mafia.
The other major option would involve a double turn. Joe’s advisor is revealed and Joe turns his back on the Main Event Mafia, revealing his advisor recommended “to keep his friends close, but enemies closer”. At the point in time when TNA seemed to be swerving fans every month I could have defiantly seen this scenario playing out. However, today I’m not so sure. I could see Joe staying in the MEM but at the same time turning against them. Either way the Joe/Mafia plot twist is intriguing.
No matter what happens in the near future, I like the fact Samoa Joe has joined the MEM. Many fans, including myself, felt once the Mafia/Frontline storyline began that the feud should be used to further establish guys like Samoa Joe and AJ Styles. For the most part that is not what we have seen. The Joes and Styles have been overshadowed by guys like Rhino, Team 3D, and Jeff Jarrett. For the first time since the Main Event Mafia was started, Samoa Joe has left the shadows. Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, Booker T, and Scott Steiner have come out on national television and said they wanted Samoa Joe because they couldn’t beat Samoa Joe. Having four former world champions come out and say they can’t beat Samoa Joe adds a lot of credibility to Joe as a wrestler.
The adding of Joe to the MEM has also seen the dismissal of Sting from the Mafia. I’m sure this has left distaste in the mouth of many fans because now we get to see Sting as the hero, which takes the spotlight away from AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels. I’m not exactly sure what to think of the situation yet. I can see why people fear Sting is going is overshadow the TNA Originals but at the same time I found myself cheering on Sting when he made the save at the close of iMPACT! and at the end of the day that is what counts; creating a product the fans can care about.
For now I’ll say Samoa Joe joining/Sting leaving the Main Event Mafia has been a good move on TNA’s part. The storyline developments have made the Main Event Mafia relevant again. I can only hope TNA can keep their newly founded momentum going.
My first reaction was confusion. After all, didn’t Joe have a mystery advisor in his ear telling him to destroy the Mafia? If Joe joined the Mafia, where does that leave Joe’s mystery advisor? Joe recently told AJ Styles on iMPACT! his mystery advisor will be in attendance at the Victory Road PPV. From where I’m sitting TNA has a couple of options of what they could do about Joe’s advisor. The first option is the straight-forward approach; Joe’s advisor is revealed and they announce the plan all along involved Joe turning his back on TNA in order to join the Main Event Mafia.
The other major option would involve a double turn. Joe’s advisor is revealed and Joe turns his back on the Main Event Mafia, revealing his advisor recommended “to keep his friends close, but enemies closer”. At the point in time when TNA seemed to be swerving fans every month I could have defiantly seen this scenario playing out. However, today I’m not so sure. I could see Joe staying in the MEM but at the same time turning against them. Either way the Joe/Mafia plot twist is intriguing.
No matter what happens in the near future, I like the fact Samoa Joe has joined the MEM. Many fans, including myself, felt once the Mafia/Frontline storyline began that the feud should be used to further establish guys like Samoa Joe and AJ Styles. For the most part that is not what we have seen. The Joes and Styles have been overshadowed by guys like Rhino, Team 3D, and Jeff Jarrett. For the first time since the Main Event Mafia was started, Samoa Joe has left the shadows. Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, Booker T, and Scott Steiner have come out on national television and said they wanted Samoa Joe because they couldn’t beat Samoa Joe. Having four former world champions come out and say they can’t beat Samoa Joe adds a lot of credibility to Joe as a wrestler.
The adding of Joe to the MEM has also seen the dismissal of Sting from the Mafia. I’m sure this has left distaste in the mouth of many fans because now we get to see Sting as the hero, which takes the spotlight away from AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels. I’m not exactly sure what to think of the situation yet. I can see why people fear Sting is going is overshadow the TNA Originals but at the same time I found myself cheering on Sting when he made the save at the close of iMPACT! and at the end of the day that is what counts; creating a product the fans can care about.
For now I’ll say Samoa Joe joining/Sting leaving the Main Event Mafia has been a good move on TNA’s part. The storyline developments have made the Main Event Mafia relevant again. I can only hope TNA can keep their newly founded momentum going.