The first Impact Wrestling of 2014 wasn’t without its annoyances, but there were some cool moments as well, especially Sam Shaw’s debut and the “reunion” of Beer Money. Regardless, TNA still has a lot of ground to make up before they’re a respectable sports entertainment company.
Check out our weekly TNA Impact Wrestling Power Rankings to see who started 2014 with a pinfall or revelation that will get them to the top of the company.
5: Samual Shaw: Weird isn’t the word for Shaw’s offense. His submission finisher needs work, but his persona is pretty cool. Shaw definitely has potential. Lets hope TNA doesn’t screw it up.
4: Madison Rayne: Considering how solid a Knockouts Champion Gail Kim is, it’s interesting that Rayne got the win over Kim this week on Impact. A capable competitor in her own right, Rayne’s ascension up the TNA ladder is best for the division and finally puts Kim on her toes.
3: Chris Sabin: To win back the X-Division title from Austin Aries is no easy task, but to do it with a nasty Low Blow and Rollup- that’s another story altogether. Sabin’s win will undoubtedly continue the storyline between the two and keep the X-Division relevant for the time being.
2: Kurt Angle: His shoot in the beginning of this week’s Impact was deep and emotional. It’s something that’s always lacking on Impact and it was a nice way to start 2014 for the company. His continued angle with Bobby Roode is the best feud in the ring and continues to get better on the mic. Simply put, these two must continue their squabbles. It’s one of the only interesting things on the show.
1: Magnus: His coronation ceremony was corny, but the thought he’ll be in the ring with AJ Styles soon enough could be great for his career.
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports.
Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders.
His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023.
Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief.
Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale.
Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.
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