This is the third article in a series where I’ll be talking about TNA Wrestling in a way I don’t believe anyone has before. Click here to read my basis for this argument and the first article in the series, as well as the second.
TNA has been around since 2002, but they didn’t actually get their own belt until 2007. When I first suggested that the TNA belt was cursed, I did so around the time TNA stopped using the NWA title. I was right, but the argument wasn’t concrete. When I first proposed the theory that everyone who held the title became evil, I had overlooked the reigns by AJ Styles and Christian (and, I guess, Rhino). But when Kurt Angle hoisted the new TNA Title above his head at Slammiversary 2007 and clocked Samoa Joe in a brash act of unsportsmanlike behaviour (really, the moment he turned evil), I knew I had something. I just didn’t know how right I would be.
The TNA Title is cursed in two ways. First, it turns its owner evil. If you were a good guy while chasing the belt, you’ll be a bad guy defending it. Secondly, winning the belt signifies your ascension to the top of TNA, a place where the owner will now seemingly work forever. In a feat almost no pro wrestling organization can claim, every single TNA World Champion still works for TNA, and, likely, will continue to for the foreseeable future.
Only eight men have held this title, and all eight share the curse.
1. Kurt Angle: Angle turned evil the second he touched the belt, and would continue his villainy until he lost it for good in mid 2009.
2. Samoa Joe: TNA pushed Joe as their number one hero through 2007 and into his win at Lockdown 2008. His turn was subtle and subjective, as he would regularly “go too far” to defend his belt throughout the summer. After losing the title to Sting, he never returned to the same heroic character, playing a mercenary and victim to circumstance.
3. Sting: Sting had held the belt a few times without turning, and could have spoiled my theory if not for his run as a respect-motivated psychopath in 2008-09.
4. Mick Foley: Foley beat Sting for the belt and almost immediately let the power go to his head, threatening to only defend the belt once a year. His villainous turn was due entirely to holding the title, as he would return to his good guy nature immediately following.
5. AJ Styles: AJ had played a villain before, but it wasn’t until a few months into his respectably lengthy reign that he joined Ric Flair and turned, becoming another guy in a big faction (something that’s plagued his career).
6. Rob Van Dam: Here’s where it gets tricky. Rob held the title for several months without being a bad guy, and he still isn’t, not really. Well, that’s fair to say if you’re looking at it through TNA’s lense, but I’m looking at it using logic. Who hoisted Rob up as champion in the first place? Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff. If, as they claim, they were never there for benevolent purposes, you have to link their push of Rob as part of their “plan” all along, which makes Rob both a pawn of evil and a putz. Also, his main story was against Sting, who was proven to be right about all the deception stuff.1
7. Mr. Anderson: Mr. Anderson is an asshole who hurts people, and just because TNA wants you to cheer him doesn’t mean you should. Besides that, you can point to his delusions—he’ll risk concussions and career just to hold a belt that by all means and purposes is not good for you.
8. Jeff Hardy: Yeah, let’s spend a little more time on Hardy.
I honestly believe that TNA had never considered its prominent title a cursed item until they decided to give it to Jeff Hardy. They positioned Hardy as champion amidst court dates, drug charges, unprofessional conduct, and increasingly poor performances. First off, the title turned him evil, as he joined up with Bischoff and Hogan to reveal “they” at Bound for Glory. His transformation was far more bad cowboy than the other champions, as his dress and attitude shifted into the dark. Because Hardy and the TNA title were really made for one another, the belt was trashed and replaced with a purple faceplate. Finally, the belt resembled not an item of glory but avarice, a real cursed item, something to be sealed away to protect the hearts of corruptible men.
Hardy’s run effectively ended last week in the shortest and most disappointing main event in recent history (and, maybe, history). Sting felled Hardy with no effort, and then Hardy was sent home. It is unclear what will happen to him.
Obviously, there is no actual correlation between the TNA Title and Hardy’s behaviour and self-harm though you can certainly wonder out loud about a company that would enable and encourage a beleagured man. TNA’s cursed title is, if anything, indicative of an overall attitude with the company. Bestowment of metaphorical glory in place of a real thing can still make good men do bad things.2
WWE’s “Night of Champions” from last year featured a very poetic vignette that implied the desire to hold gold in wrestling as chasing a siren’s song. They weren’t talking about TNA, but they were talking about TNA.
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1 http://fakevince.tumblr.com/post/685836418/the-tna-world-heavyweight-title-with-the-word
2 TNA re-re-redesigned the World title this week, and it looks like a regular old belt again. But I wouldn’t hold my breath for this curse to lift.
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K Sawyer Paul is an author and publisher living in Toronto. He tweets and tumbls. In the wrestling world he is known for This is Sports Entertainment and The Footnotes of Wrestling.
Edited by Mitch.
