Booking the Immortal Angle - Part 1

Photo: Lee South Photography / TNA Wrestling

Its been a slow newsweek with regards goings on at TNA Wrestling, likely due to this weeks show having been pre-taped last week, so i thought i’d fill the void by giving you my take as to how i would like to see the Immortal / Hardy Heel Turn angle go from here on it. It’s an angle that’s really captured the public’s attention and is certainly one of the most shocking and interesting developments in TNA history, but Hardy’s been turned heel – his cohorts in Immortal have also been joined by Fourtune, the question is who do they feud with and how is it all resolved? Here's what I think should happen...

First off i’d set-up a situation whereby in order to address the lack of Title Defenses from Hardy, Bischoff announces a new no 1 contender selected by the executive committee…..none other than Eric Young? We’d have some comedy moments from Young, and the fans would be irate that a joke like Young, clearly inferior to Hardy would be given a shot. However we would have RVD destroy Young, leaving them without a number 1 contender a spot which Rob informs Bischoff, he would gladly fill. However Bischoff and co would continue to dodge RVD.

Eventually, Rob Van Dam, desperate for a title shot, becomes a real thorn in Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan’s side. In order to keep him at bay and divide him and Anderson and Joe from getting together he should be set a series of improbable obstacles in order to get his title shot, for example i would pit him in a handicap match against Abyss & Matt Morgan in the main event on iMPACT! but finally against all the odds RVD gets an upset victory aided by his EV2.0 cohorts.

We now have RVD v Hardy setup for Turning Point. Bischoff, fuming at EV2.0 for getting one over on him and backed by Flair and Fourtune’s desire for revenge, the EV2.0 members are humiliated in a match by Fourtune and each of them fired from the company (In reality Foley and Dreamer would be kept on in a backstage capacity.), Bischoff stating that RVD was now on his own at Turning Point.

Meanwhile i’d have Mr. Anderson playing the role of the plucky annoying guy that just won’t go away or back down. Turning up injured each week to iMPACT! much to the surprise of Bischoff and Hogan who repeatedly pit him in dangerous matches in attempt to break his spirit and get him to quit, however Anderson keeps finding ways to sneak wins and generally annoy Bischoff and co.

The Pope on the other hand would be treated as a serious threat, and i’d have him in a program with AJ Styles over the TV Title.

At Turning Point, i’d have the unthinkable happen – no screwjob finish, no swerve just an all out, knock down, drag out match between RVD and Hardy ending with a clean win for Jeff Hardy. We’d close with Hardy standing tall and RVD sat in the ring in dismay. Now before you get on me about putting Hardy over clean, the reasoning behind this is that the key to building a great heel is to make him look invincible and a legitimate threat, whilst there’s much to be said about going the “can’t win fairly, must take the low road” sneaky heel i would much prefer to go this route with Hardy making him a seemingly invincible talent which makes the eventual fall all the more important.

In the fallout from Turning Point, Immortal are gloating over Hardy’s victory and a deflated RVD questions if he still has enough in the tank to beat Hardy. To further demonstrate Hardy’s “fighting champion” moniker Bischoff holds a mock Lottery with the winner getting a shot at Hardy on iMPACT! The winner would turn out to be a battered and injured Mr. Anderson, Bischoff figuring he could kill two birds with one stone by having Hardy take out Anderson once and for all. However much to their dismay they discover that RVD NOT Anderson has the winning ticket, the two having switched earlier in the night, catching wind of what was going down.

That leads us to the Main Event on iMPACT! RVD eager to prove his worth, dominates Hardy and is about to win only for Immortal and Fourtune to hit the ring for a beatdown of RVD. Then from the rafters comes Sting – the figurative “Angel of Justice” – now in all white gear and trenchcoat who comes to the rescue and clears the ring as iMPACT! comes to a close.

We’d open the following iMPACT! with Sting and RVD interrupting Immortal’s interview, challenging them. We’d have Hogan state that Sting and RVD talk an awful big game, being out there alone looking at the greatest faction of all time. Sting will answer “Who said we were alone!” much to the crowds delight Sting and RVD would be joined by The Pope and Mr. Anderson. With that the battle lines have been drawn and war is about to begin.

This article will be continued in Part 2 which will be posted later. As always i’d love your feedback on this, do you like the ideas being pitched and more importantly i’d like to hear your’s – post a comment below or drop me an email at raymullan@gmail.com.