Ryan's Reaction: SummerSlam hype, a new TNA Champion, the continued hot then cold push for the Bound For Glory Series

By Ryan Kester

This feature article normally runs over the weekend and serves as a look back at what worked and what didn't during the course of the week. This is a rare Monday version of the article. If you like what you read, be sure to check out future versions on the weekends.

What Went Right

- The final segment of Monday Night Raw did an excellent job of hyping SummerSlam. I didn't think it was possible, but that segment made me think the match at SummerSlam was every bit as important as their first clash at Money in the Bank.

- Beth Phoenix delivered a quick and painless promo on Monday that explained her warpath in the Divas division. It wasn't much, but it's the most storyline we've had for the women since Kharma took her medical leave for her pregnancy.

- String dropped the TNA title to Kurt Angle at Hardcore Justice. Now, I don't think Angle is the best man to be holding the title, but at least someone that can work a good match has the title.

- Christian did his best to sell his match against Randy Orton for SummerSlam. They needed to do something to make it look like Christian has a chance to walk away with the belt at SummerSlam, and that little announcement did the job.

- Cody Rhodes is your new Intercontinental Champion. I believe he's the perfect man to make it a focus of the creative team's attention once again. In related news, Ezekiel Jackson's beat down of Ted DiBiase after losing the title was tremendous. If he actually wrestled like that he would live up to his "Personification of Domination" gimmick.

What Went Wrong

- Mr. Anderson's promo at Hardcore Justice was god awful. He managed to combine fart noises and dated musical references to make what has to be the worst promo in professional wrestling this year.

- Speaking of Hardcore Justice, the PPV as a whole was a letdown. I don't know why they kept the Hardcore name when there was not a single gimmick match on the card. TNA managed to deliver great hype for the PPV only to deliver a lackluster and uninspiring three hours of disappointing programming.

- The Bound For Glory Series is once again losing focus in TNA. They delivered great matches last week, but there is absolutely no rhyme or reason to how the BFGS has been booked. The more they add weird "get everybody on the card" matches, the more questions arise of just how this series is supposed to work. It feels like they are booking on the fly, and that's the last thing you want to be doing with a storyline that lasts for several months.

- Triple H continued to bury talent this week, the most egregious being his complete dismissal of Christian's legitimacy as champion. Now, I wasn't a fan of how Christian won the title, but there was no need to hear it from the COO of the company.

- Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guererro are no longer a team on Raw. Their break-up felt rushed and let me wondering what Dolph has left as a character as he's been riding Vickie's heat-generating coattails for so long.

What Needs to Happen Next Week

- The BFGS needs to be made the center-piece of TNA's focus going forward. If they continue to just have throwaway BFGS matches, they will only undercut the story and cause the payoff to be lackluster.

- Dolph Ziggler must establish his heel persona. He's relied on stereotypical heel antics thus far and it has worked because he had Vickie. Now that he doesn't, he needs to work fast or he may well be a midcarder for life.

- Kurt Angle needs to dial back the over-the-top antics with Hulk Hogan. We had badass Kurt in the closing moments with Crimson, and that's the type of Kurt we need for this latest storyline to work. The last thing we need to see is more of the goofball that was hugging Hogan last Thursday.

- Triple H's segments with wrestlers needs to get scaled back. I would say that he needs to stop burying talent, but it's like Hunter just can't help himself. Therefore, I'd rather see less of the man so his bad habit doesn’t rear its ugly head.

- Beth Phoenix has been treated like an absolute monster since her heel turn and she needs to continue to be treated as such. In a nutshell, I want another Barbie beat down at the hands of Beth this week.

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, criticism, or would just like to talk about the world of wrestling, then feel free to shoot me an email at ryan.kester@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter at @TheRyanKester. Have a great week.