It should be noted that Jeff Hardy will be appearing at this weekend's NASCAR-themed TNA/UWF event. He will be teaming up with Ron Killings to take on Jeff Jarrett and a mystery partner. Jeff Hardy is still under contract to TNA, however, he's been sitting at home the past few months.
*James Mitchell: Inside The Mind Of Madness."
The Article
JAMES MITCHELL: LAYING THE GROUNDWORK THAT WILL MAKE ABYSS THE WORLD CHAMPION
By Bill Banks
James Mitchell is tired of listening to TNA management and Larry Zbyszko – now he’s going to do things his way.
Since Abyss first entered Total Nonstop Action in 2003, no one can argue that the monster has reigned supreme as the preeminent destructive force in the TNA ranks. Time and time again, he smashed through contenders to come within reach of claiming the World Title, only to come up short. On rare occasions, Abyss trusted in others who were supposedly looking out for his best interests, but mostly he was on his own until he came under the guidance of James Mitchell.
The evil manager and Abyss seemed like the perfect fit – the brains and the brutality - and it’s anyone’s guess why the madmen didn’t find common ground years earlier. While Mitchell was hell-bent on annihilating Raven, Abyss was being “cared for” by men such as Kid Kash and Don Callis – egos so self-centered and all-encompassing that they merely saw the monster as a pawn for their own personal gain. Instead, the relationship between Abyss and Mitchell is much different…more supportive in its own sick and twisted way. Their compassion for each other is based solely on their shared enjoyment of human pain and suffering.
When James Mitchell took over the career of his monster in June of last year, he promised a more destructive and uncontrollable Abyss. For all the evil that Mitchell has inside his black heart, he was honest and truthful in one fact – he was the only one who truly cared for Abyss, and he would one day lead him to the NWA World Heavyweight Title. The manager immediately set out to keep his promise, eventually lining up a World Title shot for Abyss against then-champion Raven. Since that one opportunity, Mitchell has been ignored by Championship Committee member Larry Zbyszko in his calls to grant Abyss another World Title shot. After a while, the manager realized the corporate suits stopped listening. That was their first mistake.
Like any other successful manager, Mitchell was only going to do it the corporate way for so long. When you want something bad enough – that something being the NWA World Heavyweight Title - there are no lines to stand in. In the human game of chess that is professional wrestling, Mitchell is a respected tactician. The diabolical manager simply had to wait for an opening.
It appears that time is now…
With Zbyszko building an empire made of red tape and preoccupied with wars involving Sting, Jeff Jarrett, Scott Steiner, Samoa Joe and others, it appears in recent weeks that Mitchell was simply waiting for Zbyszko and management to have a momentary lapse of concentration in regard to the World Title situation. When Christian Cage defeated Jeff Jarrett for the gold, TNA management perhaps saw it as a welcome sign of calm about to be restored in the chaotic title picture. For Mitchell, he saw it as his chance to unleash doomsday. He spoke of his intentions during backstage interviews – claiming management was running out of time to give Abyss the shot he deserved. Many saw it as just more maniacal threats from the manager, but this time Mitchell was deadly serious.
Just how serious? After last week’s “iMPACT!”, try asking Christian Cage and his wife Denise that same question.
The footage Alex Shelley shot of the manager stalking the World Champion’s wife was both disturbing and stomach turning to watch, but not outside of what you might expect from two scumbags like Shelley and Mitchell. It was a clear and unmistakable message that Mitchell was sending to the wrestling world – he and Abyss weren’t counting on empty promises any longer. He was making it personal with Christian Cage, and if the manager’s demented mind is correct he may not have to wait to get what he wants. “Captain Charisma” may just grant it after watching the evil degenerate enjoy the scent of his wife’s hair on national television.
To understand the insanity that drives the manager’s mind, one need only look to his long and bloody war with Raven in 2003. Mitchell was determined to see Raven humiliated by his own hands, and accomplished that mission by making it a personal war. First, Mitchell robbed his nemesis of his only two followers in The Gathering, and then scalped him in perhaps the most gruesome moment in TNA Wrestling history. In the end, Raven put Mitchell in the hospital after an especially horrible beating when the two met face-to-face in the ring. But in the big picture the wounds Mitchell suffered were only superficial – the mental wounds he inflicted on Raven would last for many years to come. Mitchell has proven that when he makes it personal, when he concentrates every ounce of hate in his black heart at getting what he wants…he achieves it.
Like every other demented psycho in criminal history, they use simple human emotion to play their victims like a puppet on marionette strings – a strategy certainly not lost on James Mitchell. If you can control the heart, you can control the emotions. If you can control the emotions, you can control the person. Just like every person, we all make mistakes when it comes to decisions based on the heart. Certainly, Mitchell is counting on this in order to get the gold around Abyss. Stalking Denise just proves how far the manager will go to toy with the World Champion’s emotions. If he can’t get Zbyszko or TNA management to grant Abyss a World Title shot, he’ll take it by any evil means necessary.
Christian Cage is probably at home right now, sharing the same bed with Denise, looking out the same window Mitchell’s evil eyes were peering into...wondering what’s going to happen next in this sick game about to unfold. Does he wait for TNA management and Larry Zbyszko to step in and take control, or does he take matters into his own hands as a husband and protector? Does he listen to his mind – or does he follow his heart? Mitchell is probably counting on the latter. It would make things so much easier for him if Christian’s anger boils over – so much easier to control his emotions and capitalize on mistakes fueled by blind fury. The quicker Mitchell is able to manipulate Cage’s heart, the quicker he will be able to keep the promise he made to Abyss of becoming NWA World Heavyweight Champion. Perhaps, after the video of Denise, it’s only a matter of time before Mitchell and Abyss get what they want. It’s simple human emotion that might ultimately lead the World Champion to his own slaughter.
And then it will only be a matter of CLICK…DOOMSDAY….the end of Christian Cage’s title reign…
