Monday Morning QB: Magnus as World Champion

Looking at the current standing of wrestling one name that has kicked himself to a new level and in many cases he has hit the potential many fans expected for him. At one point Nick Aldis was looked at as a future star for TNA wrestling and even won a World Title for the company, but his run was extremely lackluster and really reflected the status of the company at the time. At the time of his title reign TNA was in a period of transition as a number of long time employees were heading for the door. In reality Nick was the chosen "golden boy" for the future of TNA, but never really brought stability to the promotion. This is exactly why I have chosen to rebook his title reign for Magnus: 

So around this time AJ Styles had to vacate the TNA World Title due to a contract dispute and "walked out" on TNA wrestling. Dixie is out to announce "With the unforeseen circumstances of AJ Styles current contract we have decided to vacate the TNA World Title and announce a tournament to crown a new champion. This tournament will culminate in our special this coming December on Spike so we will crown a champion before the year is out." Magnus will be in the tournament and his first round match would be against Eric Young & Magnus would get the win. Jeff Hardy, Samoa Joe, and Kurt Angle would also be a part of the tournament to add credibility to the goings on. Joe would defeat Mr. Anderson, Hardy would defeat Gunner. 

Angle would arrive half-way through the show and pushes the tournament as a way to prove himself that he was still at the top of his game. Angle defeated Abyss in his first round match the show ends with Magnus staring down Kurt Angle. Next week Magnus explains his actions last week saying "I was trying to scout my competition and see if I can find an advantage before meet you in the ring." Angle respects the reason and says he will be ready to fight Magnus when that time comes. Bobby Roode, James Storm, Bully Ray, & Austin Aries would round out the tournament setting up Roode vs Joe, Aries vs Angle, Ray vs Hardy, Storm vs Magnus in round two. 

On the Halloween edition Impact we saw Magnus against Storm, but Magnus would get "injured" in the match and he could be seen getting emotional after the match. At this point Magnus would be removed from television for the remainder of the year. The tournament would end with Samoa Joe defeating Austin Aries in the finals to win the World Title. This show would also be the first hype video talking about Magnus's recovery, but this is where he changes his name to Nick Aldis. In the recovery video Nick says "I would like to congratulate Samoa Joe on his victory, but to enjoy the championship for now, because I will be back." 

This does mean that AJ Styles last match in the company would be against Samoa Joe instead of Magnus which I think would mean more due to their history. Nick would return in early February at the end of the February 6 edition of Impact Wrestling. Following week Nick arrives "Samoa Joe please join me in the ring." Joe is out and Nick says "First thing is first I want to personally congratulate you on the title victory (shakes hands) I want my shot though." The match would be set up for Lockdown in March and the build for the match would be tied into their past as a team. 

"Two years ago Samoa Joe and I were a team and earned the TNA World Tag Team titles. Joe and I became friends, but we never really got a fair chance to meet in this ring. I enjoyed being Joe's partner, but the goal for everyone is to become the top champion I couldn't have asked for a better opponent for my first World Title shot." Both Nick & Joe are booked strong going into the event and this match would have a big fight feel. Even going to sit down interviews on both sides with Mike Tenay explaining what the match means to both Samoa Joe & Nick Aldis. Also Nick would explain why he chose to change his name. 

The week before Lockdown it is announced that Samoa Joe & Nick Aldis will compete in a NO-DQ contest to make them stick out as a different match then every other on the show. I know that the feud should sell the match, but when every match is in a Cage I don't think that this match belongs in that type of gimmick match. At Lockdown Nick Aldis defeats Samoa Joe to win the TNA World Title after grabbing his tights. Following the match Joe wanted an explanation and this when Nick's big push would happen. However, I would officially turn him heel until the rematch was signed for Slammiversary and this is when I would put them in a Cage.  

Overall I think that Nick Aldis needed to change his name from Magnus as I think that name was a terrible name for a main event talent. I do believe that Nick needed to leave the company to really find his potential, but I also think that not having a major PPV win for his title opportunity it hurt him. The old saying goes that "The title doesn't make man and the man doesn't make the title," but at the time Magnus won his title he wasn't ready for the win. The best comparison I can make is that Ethan Carter won the title from Angle and that really helped with his credibility, but the build did too; which is something that the Magnus win didn't have.