Facts from TNA Impact Wrestling, Phones4U Arena, January 30 2014

As always with TNA tour blogs, the spoilers are strong with this one…

TNA British Boot Camp 2, episode 8: or the one with the winner

We’re down to the final three, then. (If you don’t know how we’ve got to this point – one two three four five six seven.)

This week our trio of contestants face off against TNA talent in an effort to make a final impression. Obviously there’s a lot of recapping and exposition, including some great footage of UK shows – get yourself along to your nearest promotion, what you’ve seen on Boot Camp is just the tip of the iceberg! (Also, buy my book!)

TNA British Boot Camp 2, episode 6: or the one with Grado’s flatulence

Previously, five episodes have happened! (One, two, three, four, five.)

Our six contestants have arrived after their road trip, and the first thing they need to do is build a ring in what seems a very poorly-lit arena.

Facts from TNA Impact Wrestling, Phones4u Arena Manchester, January 31st 2014

So after the “Direct from Glasgow” episode on Thursday night, we trekked along to the Arena formerly known as the MEN to catch up on who the mystery investor is. Spoilers abound, obviously, as always.

Interview: Magnus on TNA Impact Wrestling’s forthcoming UK tour

After a hectic end to 2013 following his title win, Magnus will be leading the TNA Impact Wrestling roster round the British Isles at the end of January.

He’s convinced that getting the opportunity to fight for the World Heavyweight Title was just as much about the importance of the British market to TNA as it was about him.

“It’s just as much about British fans as it is about me because they’ve provided the market,” he says. “They’ve provided the strongest live event market we have in the world, which means that they actively look for more British talent. By actively looking for that talent they found me and others, and I’ve been the one who’s been able to take the opportunity and run with it, and because of that they’re able to consider me as someone who’s ready for the upper echelon.”

And now he’s got the belt, he also has the heavy burden – literally and figuratively – of looking after it, which means carrying it around in his hand luggage on every flight he takes.

“You can’t check it. What if the airline lost your luggage?” he asks rhetorically with mock horror.

Interview: Magnus on Sting, Samoa Joe and TNA Impact Wrestling’s future

Now that Magnus is TNA Impact Wrestling’s first-ever British World Heavyweight Champion, the question is – as always – what happens next.

“We have endless possibilities of what to do with it,” he says. “It’s like the whole situation of putting me with Dixie, Spud and EC3’s involvement, there’s a lot more questions than answers, which is a great situation to be in, because then it means people are actively wanting to see where we go next with it, and that’s always what you’re trying to achieve with wrestling.

“I was a little bit worried that the whole thing [leading up to the title win] was a bit foreshadowed, I’ll be honest, and it was, there’s no getting around that. But we just worked through it, and we just stuck with it, so people were going, ‘I think this is going to happen, I think he’s going to do this,’ and even when it happened it was done in a way that nobody would have predicted exactly how. Just because they could see it coming, that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s a bad thing.

Interview: Magnus on becoming TNA Impact Wrestling’s first-ever British World Heavyweight Champion

It’s a cold, damp Monday morning in London. More than that, it’s the morning after the night before for TNA Impact Wrestling’s British contingent – they were guests of honour at the now-customary Fan Party at the Garage in Islington, thrown to commemorate Magnus becoming the company’s first ever British World Heavyweight Champion.

“It was [a good party]. It meant a lot to me,” says the new champ.

He feels that getting his shot at the championship was just as much about the British audience’s loyal support for TNA as it was about his own abilities.

“That’s a testament to our generation of wrestlers and fans – we were the fans that made them aware of the fact that we’re a strong market, so when we all became wrestlers they went, ‘These are the guys who have grown up their whole lives watching us. They’re as big a part of this as anyone.’ They understood that my aptitude for wrestling was for the worldwide business, the world’s getting smaller, they just said, ‘You’re the right guy.’ The Brits get to go, ‘He’s OUR guy.’ That’s an important thing, and a great feeling.

Fact: Magnus is TNA’s new champion

I very much like being right.

And as Magnus is TNA’s new champion after last night’s episode of Impact, I feel it is time to reflect on my words this summer when I was interviewed by Collar & Elbow:

Magnus has the look that US pro wrestling companies have loved for years, and he has charisma and loves to talk on the mic. He’s adept at playing the heel or being the good guy – as long as he’s allowed to chat, he can put that character over…It took TNA a while to let him unleash that brash, pantomimey persona, choosing instead to make him into a stoic, silent type. But now they’ve let him do what he’s best at, and there is no question he can handle main eventing.

If you’ll let me peer behind the curtain briefly, it’s also heartening that he speaks very well of Kurt Angle and Sting, who he says have given him advice and helped him settle in; and certainly Angle speaks equally well of him. This willingness to listen to the senior pros and to get along with the roster’s elite bodes well for his longevity in US pro wrestling.

Obviously I’m slightly biased as Magnus is the cover star of my book ‘Spandex, Screw Jobs and Cheap Pops’ and has been extremely complimentary in his endorsement of it – but after years of the best British talent being wasted by the US promotions, it’s exciting to see one with gold around his waist. Congratulations, Magnus!

Question: Where will TNA go from here?

You’ve probably seen the rumours circulating about TNA Impact Wrestling’s direction in the future.

I don’t have access to their accounts; but I do know that while US audiences have been critical of the product recently, they still have a hugely loyal UK fan base, evidenced by their expansion of their 2014 tour over here.

I also know that the British Boot Camp at the start of this year created huge interest in TNA and the four contenders.

And I know that Ring-Ka-King was critically acclaimed and popular with fans worldwide, who managed to watch it despite it not being aired in their country.

So – is it time for TNA to try working as a UK-based promotion?

Fact: Magnus reads ‘Spandex, Screw Jobs and Cheap Pops’

Apologies for the brief hiatus – busy with promoting ‘Spandex, Screw Jobs and Cheap Pops’, but normal service will resume in November as WWE hits the UK!

In the meantime, here’s a picture emailed to me from the man who beat Sting at Bound for Glory last week – the UK’s very own Magnus!