State of TNA + Impact + PPV + Other Guff!

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By Rossman Sat-11-Jan-2014 17:44:46

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If there was a time for a phoenix to rise from the ashes of this tepid, imitation of entertainment its now. It really can't get much worse, TNA has hit the sea bed and everyone who can, has jumped ship. The bi-weekly on the road episodes of Impact have been canned and they've regressed back to an even smaller TV studio on the Universal Studio's lot. TNA have done a good job of making the area TV ready but its so small and I doubt you create an atmosphere in there, if you set the building alight. TNA are still trying to make you believe they are making money, even when they haven't got a pot to piss in. Contracts are being slashed, talent disappear every week. Taz & Tenay don't even call the matches from ringside anymore, they overlay their commentary in the post show edit to save on traveling costs. OVW & TNA split as the developmental territory because promises never materialised. The One Night Only PPV's are shot so far in advance, they make no sense. Wrestlers who have since parted ways pop up, factions that have split up reappear. The crowd for Impact are lifeless, on these PPV's they make as much noise, as if they were six feet under. The gimmicks behind each show are uninspiring drivel. They have enough tag tournaments & world title tournaments on free TV for a consumer to bother spending money on a sub-par product. I feel bad for those who bought tickets to the upcoming UK house shows. They expect to see the TNA roster in enjoyable matches. But now, they have since been reassigned as PPV tapings for a British cup & a convoluted random tag tournament that turns into a battle royal. As they know the UK draws double to treble the crowd than in the US, they can make the PPV look more lively and more marketable to buyers.

The roster is running on fumes in terms of bodies & talent. And those who are/were stars have been bled dry and their stock has dropped. In 2013 does Samoa Joe still have the same aura as the 2006 version of him. Hogan got hit with the 411 and bolted with Bischoff on his coat-tails, when a pay decrease was mentioned. Mr TNA, AJ Styles has had enough and it looks like he's done now after this weeks Impact. He's booked for ROH & he's got commitments all over the world, as well as a shoot laying bare his TNA beef. The way Styles lost the unification title match this week on Impact was mindbogglingly dreadful for TNA. They built the whole show around this match with Magnus. It was set up as a No-DQ match so all of the heels could keep interfering. Styles vs. the whole heel roster with a little help from Sting. Styles was beating up 8 guys until Robert Roode came out, hit his finisher & Magnus pinned Styles to win. They tried to bury Styles but he's the only one who came out of this looking good. Magnus was put over as the biggest wimp you had ever laid eyes on. If they're going for him being a cowardly heel, fair-play but there has no inclination of this and even then Magnus looked incapable of doing anything for himself. It looks like Magnus has got the belt to appease the British fans for the upcoming UK tour and put some kind of positive PR spin on it for the British market. If I had my way, the belt would have gone on Gunner because he's the only legit heel who hasn't been shat on, has something about him and looks mental. If you look at when WCW & ECW were getting ready to close their doors, the stars weren't as bright as before. TNA's top heels are Magnus, EC3, Rockstar Spud & Dixie Carter. Its hardly the NWO or the Four Horsemen. The babyface side is a bit more buoyant with Angle, Hardy, (on storyline leave) Storm & Aries. But a babyface is only as good as the heel he's chasing.

The booking/writing whatever you want to call it, is so drawn out and nothing ever gets finished. It lacks any form of spontaneity or punch.Take Joseph Park for instance, is this actually an angle or have they forgotten to change him back to Abyss? Its now been two years he's been Joseph Park, doing nothing of note and wasting TV time, circling around with farcical nonsense with Eric Young. None of the storylines have me wanting to give them any attention, let alone exert any emotion for the characters. Gunner & Storm are mad with each other about such a trivial thing, who gives a fuck. Roode & Angle don't like each other, "shrugs shoulders". Oh but they put on good matches. You can only see so many semi-passable TV matches to care about what you're watching. Angle use to be the go to guy to pull a great match out of anybody but even he's been misfiring lately. It doesn't really matter who's booking the show because it all has to get cleared thorough Dixie. And as she doesn't know her arse from a hole in the ground, its going to come out the other end looking like chopped liver.

When the news finally broke that Jeff Jarrett was brokering a deal with country music mogul Toby Keith to buy TNA. Even he thought it was a waste of time to buy 12 years of nothing. What assets do TNA actually have? A Spike TV deal and thats it. Their back video catalogue is worthless. Their talent is not as good as WWE's anymore. Thus, wrestling's next best kept secret is Jarrett's imminent announcement. Rumours that he's starting his own promotion with Keith, remain to be seen, but that would shake things up a bit.

Last edited by Rossman (Tue-29-Apr-2014 20:23:29)


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By benjawi Sat-11-Jan-2014 18:32:12

Admin · 3,242 comments

What's really sad is that I used to really enjoy TNA. I'd happily watch the whole show. The X-Division was booming, throwing in great three way matches among other things. But then back then it was almost the opposite of WWE. It was a wrestling show that had more wrestling than promos.

Then they decided to try and follow WWE's method, and to me that was their downfall. The WWE is too big to try and emulate, they best thing they could have done was to continue offering something different. I can remember reading plenty online about how if you're fed up of hardly seeing any wrestling on WWE TV then watch TNA, if you want to see wrestlers not being watered down then watch TNA (although they do still allow their wrestlers to do a lot more than WWE still), if you want a wrestling show with quality wrestling then watch TNA, etc.

Certain things brought back my interest a bit. Roode had a great few months that were really entertaining, Styles is consistently good, and Aries had a fantastic few months. (I saw had because I haven't watched in a while now so can't really comment on whether they still are).

If they'd kept things going like they used to be, offering something completely different from WWE then they'd still have my interest. Instead they wasted stupid money on old guys and put them over the guys that had got the company to where it was.

Any company that had Hogan is a put off to me anyway. The guy can barely walk, yet he goes over most people. Can't even wrestle anymore yet still seems to go over people. Sting on the other hand can wrestle still, but he's not as good as some of the wrestlers in TNA, yet he goes over most and was (probably still is) beating up more than one guy at a time - he's no Undertaker!

Then there's the crazily overbooked finishes. So many run-ins that it becomes ridiculous.

To me they've only done 3 good things in recent years - but that is based on randomly picking it up again and then getting bored and not watching for prolonged periods so there could be more. Anyways, signing Aires, making Roode a main eventer and going back to the 4 sided ring are the best things they've done in recent years to me.

Do wonder about if Jarrett does go and create a new company. Hopefully they do it like TNA used to be. Then it'd be worth watching. Not saying TNA used to be perfect, but it used to be a great alternative to WWE and had some epic matches. I remember more of TNA past than I do of current TNA which says a lot.


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By rhys Sat-11-Jan-2014 19:38:27

Admin and 4CW Head Booker · 5,100 comments

It's been a long time coming. It is a shame, because TNA used to be the second best wrestling show out there and at times its shows were better than WWEs. It was different, that was the best thing. There was no-one like Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Raven etc in WWE... and the tag division was fantastic, as was the X Division. It all started to fall apart when Angle joined.

For a while it was good, and with Angle came an influx of people over the years that put TNA in the position its in now. It's really sad that something with such great potential just became a nothing show disguised as a big deal. They've been on borrowed time for a while. I'd be very surprised if by January 2015 they were still in business.


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By Rossman Sat-8-Feb-2014 16:46:39

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Bit of a TNA update for you lot. They're only trying to reinvent the wheel again with another mystery investor angle. It was unveiled last week as MVP and he's got the American Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) with him. Haven't seen any spoilers, but I would imagine its going to lead to a Lethal Lockdown match with the winners getting control of the company.

Kurt Angle was on UK TV the other week promoting the London TNA show and it was the most depressing interview I had ever heard. He mentioned his left hand is constantly numb, his arms are 3 inches shorter because of all the nerve damage. He's broken his neck 5 times, the first time in the Olympics, he kept re-breaking it because he couldn't train & heal it. He has to work-out first thing in the morning because his body seizes up. It was a catalogue of negativity that would have made me embarrassed to buy a ticket based on that promotional appearance. It's an unwritten macabre rule that wrestlers are decaying their health, for the fans viewing pleasure. But it seemed more like a cry for help rather than trying to shill tickets.

One thing I have enjoyed on TNA has been the Samuel Shaw character. He came on Gut Check with a part-time John Cena parody persona but they've repackaged him as an intense, malevolent, unhinged maniac. He's been courting Christy Hemme for a few weeks and last week when she at his place, she tried to get into one of his rooms. He sent her away but went in instead to this.

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Completely took me aback to how crazy it was. Then this week, Hemme looked uncool about Shaw's obsession with her but wasn't freaked out by it. Yet wanted to keep their relationship professional. I hopes this isn't the end. I wanted her to come round his house, there's no answer at the door, she looks up at the window, and he's there in the wig, dress & make-up gone full-on Norman Bates style mental. Then have him re-debut the next week.


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By Rossman Fri-11-Apr-2014 11:46:02

Main Event · 687 comments

In the week that Christy Hemme became a member of the creative team, TNA have given up and are just taking the piss now. Eric Young just won the TNA World Title from Magnus. Magnus was a crap champion in his own right, he never won a match clean in his whole reign. But this is the equivalent of making Santino your world champ. To make it even worse, it was a CC (crap copy) of the Daniel Bryan win, a couple of days earlier.

Small, bearded wrestler, fighting the authority, has to go through an extra match to get a world title shot. He's also got an arm injury and his monster, former tag team partner is trying to stop him.


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By Mr Hilds Fri-11-Apr-2014 12:52:06

Almost God like? Maybe... · 1,774 comments
Rossman wrote

Small, bearded wrestler, fighting the authority, has to go through an extra match to get a world title shot. He's also got an arm injury and his monster, former tag team partner is trying to stop him.

Wasn't that the same story with hbk and sid, hbk and diesel,  benoit, and most other small champs? I don't think the dbry story is new or unique.

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By rhys Fri-11-Apr-2014 13:05:45

Admin and 4CW Head Booker · 5,100 comments

Yeah but to do it so soon after thd Bryan match.


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By Rossman Fri-11-Apr-2014 13:07:21

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Mr Hilds wrote
Rossman wrote

Small, bearded wrestler, fighting the authority, has to go through an extra match to get a world title shot. He's also got an arm injury and his monster, former tag team partner is trying to stop him.

Wasn't that the same story with hbk and sid, hbk and diesel,  benoit, and most other small champs? I don't think the dbry story is new or unique.

Errr no. I don't remember HBK or Benoit fighting twice a night when they won the belt or were storyline injured or had big bushy beards. And those were 10 & 15 years ago. The point I was trying to make, was that they've seen the Bryan win. Gone out to find the closest version of him on their roster and recreated the same storyline with Eric Young, less than a week apart. Young has had no momentum and is a fan favourite like a Santino or Eugene, comedy character. He's still half of the female tag champions!


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By theonetruemichael Fri-11-Apr-2014 14:20:27

Mid Card · 406 comments

EY gets the 'christian' title run. You've been here forever, here a token world title run.

Yes, he & Dry are similar in look and size, but both have taken crap gimmicks and made gold of it, time and again. Young deserves the title, but, yeah, its crap that they just copied the dbry scenario, and had it so close to the wrestle mania payoff.

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By Imty Fri-11-Apr-2014 14:36:44

Mid Card · 109 comments

I don't know what to make of the EY title win. I think it's a stop-gap before they give the belt to Abyss and have him go on a long run culminating in Willow or even MVP winning the title off of him. 'Taking the piss' is a little harsh, there has been much worse. Foley winning the title with busted up knees was much much worse.


As a whole, I've enjoyed TNA since they got rid of a lot of dead wood. The product is leaner, with focused feuds and plots instead of feuds and plots which meander here, there and everywhere before a drawn out conclusion. Willow is very interesting, much better than when I last saw Hardy's alter ego in 2003. MVP is solid, the Knockouts division is really competitive and the tag team division is stacked. The main event scene needs a little restructuring in regards to how talent is used and planning effectively how to use them but I look forward to watching it play out. It's not doom and gloom.

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By theonetruemichael Fri-11-Apr-2014 16:06:09

Mid Card · 406 comments

TNA needs to listen to Jim Ross's podcast, and not be wwe-lite. They need to go like sec did vs ufc. WEC was JUST 155lb era. UFC didn't have that. The fights were nonstop action (tho very few knockouts). They had a different product... until ufc bought them out.

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By Imty Fri-11-Apr-2014 16:40:04

Mid Card · 109 comments
theonetruemichael wrote

TNA needs to listen to Jim Ross's podcast, and not be wwe-lite. They need to go like sec did vs ufc. WEC was JUST 155lb era. UFC didn't have that. The fights were nonstop action (tho very few knockouts). They had a different product... until ufc bought them out.

They're doing that or at least looking like they are. The tag division and Knockouts division are the reasons to watch the product. Shame that 'fast pace' you are talking about isn't very well booked. The X Division doesn't need much to make it great again.

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By Rossman Fri-11-Apr-2014 16:51:10

Main Event · 687 comments
Imty wrote

'Taking the piss' is a little harsh, there has been much worse. Foley winning the title with busted up knees was much much worse.

How can a multiple time world champion in the hottest wrestling period of all time. Be worse than a guy who has one win in singles matches on Impact or PPV in the past year? Foley's knee's play no part in him bringing prestige to the belt and when he won it and defended it, they were both gimmick matches which he excels at. If his knees were fucked, he wouldn't have been able to climb up and over a cage, climb up a penalty box or climb up a ladder.


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By H Sticks Fri-11-Apr-2014 18:02:34

Jek · 740 comments

Do TNA still do those matches where you have to take the title down from the top of a ladder, and then put it back up again to win the match and you get locked in a penalty box for something?


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By rhys Fri-11-Apr-2014 18:07:21

Admin and 4CW Head Booker · 5,100 comments

I wonder what guys WWE will pick up if any when TNA inevitably dies.


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By H Sticks Fri-11-Apr-2014 18:09:22

Jek · 740 comments
rhys wrote

I wonder what guys WWE will pick up if any when TNA inevitably dies.

You've been waiting for TNA to die for years now Rhys, I really don't get why you hate it so much.


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By rhys Fri-11-Apr-2014 18:29:55

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I'm not getting into a TNA debate. Its just a horrible product.  My last post was serious though. I do wonder who WWE would sign.

I cant see Eric Young or Bromans having any chance.  Abyss is too similar to Kane plus way past any prime he had.

If they brought back Bubba it would only be for a Dudleyz reunion. I could see them signing Gunner or Bobby Roode. And a few others like Aries or The Wolves.

It just shows how far TNA have fallen when their World Champion and other champions really wouldn't last in the WWE. AJ Styles did well to get out of dodge.


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By chux4w Fri-11-Apr-2014 18:47:37

Better than Essa · 1,762 comments
H Sticks wrote

Do TNA still do those matches where you have to take the title down from the top of a ladder, and then put it back up again to win the match and you get locked in a penalty box for something?

King of the mountain. Unfortunately not.


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By Snake! Fri-11-Apr-2014 19:41:52

Administrator · 1,177 comments

While over the last 3 years i have seen very very little wwe, i've watched zero tna... is it still even called tna? i recall flipping through the channels a couple of weeks ago and saw something called impact wrestling on spike tv... i didn't watch it i was looking for another show... so i have no idea but i'm assuming that's the same thing..

I've read a little bit on tna the other day to see what's been going on there and it doesn't look good at all..  infact it just makes me think of wcw's darkest days to some extent, but maybe not as bad... speaking of wcw i love that the final ppv they held was called Greed.


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By H Sticks Fri-11-Apr-2014 22:00:42

Jek · 740 comments
chux4w wrote
H Sticks wrote

Do TNA still do those matches where you have to take the title down from the top of a ladder, and then put it back up again to win the match and you get locked in a penalty box for something?

King of the mountain. Unfortunately not.

The premise of that match was ridiculous but I loved it because they were so fun.


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By chux4w Fri-11-Apr-2014 23:22:46

Better than Essa · 1,762 comments
Snake! wrote

While over the last 3 years i have seen very very little wwe, i've watched zero tna... is it still even called tna? i recall flipping through the channels a couple of weeks ago and saw something called impact wrestling on spike tv... i didn't watch it i was looking for another show... so i have no idea but i'm assuming that's the same thing..

Yeah, that's a weird one. When Hogan showed up he had it changed because he got all embarrassed having to say he works for "T&A Wrestling." But they never really went all out with it, they changed the name of the show and colour scheme, but the title belts say TNA on them. They changed the website URL to impactwrestling.com but kept the old logo all over the place. It was a disaster. One of many.


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By Imty Fri-11-Apr-2014 23:35:32

Mid Card · 109 comments
Rossman wrote
Imty wrote

'Taking the piss' is a little harsh, there has been much worse. Foley winning the title with busted up knees was much much worse.

How can a multiple time world champion in the hottest wrestling period of all time. Be worse than a guy who has one win in singles matches on Impact or PPV in the past year? Foley's knee's play no part in him bringing prestige to the belt and when he won it and defended it, they were both gimmick matches which he excels at. If his knees were fucked, he wouldn't have been able to climb up and over a cage, climb up a penalty box or climb up a ladder.

I'm not saying Foley is worse than Young, but the decision to give the former a World Title win when his body was in terrible shape was bad. It's not about Foley being able to climb cages and compete in gimmick matches, it's about Foley having no place being a World a Title holder in 2008. His status as a multi time world champion in the hottest period in Pro Wrestling history is irrelevant, in 2008 he was semi-retired. Prestige being brought to the title during his reign is laughable. The man wanted to defend it once a year, enough said.

Young isn't semi-retired, his gimmick is over with the crowd and his in-ring work is solid. His win/loss record means little too. It's Pro Wrestling, not boxing. He's being built up well since revealing the Abyss/Joseph Park thing and has feuds to get stuck into with this win. Things are already looking better than some recent WWE world champions post-Money in the Bank cash-ins. What did Ziggler do as World Champion? Miz? Both were booked like crap before their wins.

If booked right, any criticism of the win now would look stupid in 4-5 months. And looking at how they've turned things around with talents, I'm willing to give them a chance.

Last edited by Imty (Fri-11-Apr-2014 23:36:13)

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By chux4w Sat-12-Apr-2014 00:34:22

Better than Essa · 1,762 comments

Foley wanting to defend the belt once a year was a gimmick. He was a cowardly heel.


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By Imty Sat-12-Apr-2014 13:24:21

Mid Card · 109 comments
rhys wrote

I'm not getting into a TNA debate. Its just a horrible product.  My last post was serious though. I do wonder who WWE would sign.

I cant see Eric Young or Bromans having any chance.  Abyss is too similar to Kane plus way past any prime he had.

If they brought back Bubba it would only be for a Dudleyz reunion. I could see them signing Gunner or Bobby Roode. And a few others like Aries or The Wolves.

It just shows how far TNA have fallen when their World Champion and other champions really wouldn't last in the WWE. AJ Styles did well to get out of dodge.

If you don't want to get into a debate, then why make a point that is asking for one? I get that it is your opinion but to say it's a horrible product because you might have caught 10-15 minutes here and there or watched their YouTube uploads tells me how out of date your opinion on the topic is.

As for your question, Eric Young has more going for him than at least half of the current WWE midcard. Just to reel off a few names that Eric Young is much much better than; Ziggler, Miz, Kofi, Del Rio, Swagger, Christian, Mysterio, Big Show, Mark Henry. All but one of them are former World Champions and everyone of them are less credible than Young right now.

Of course, bringing Bully Ray back as part of the Dudleyz is what WWE will do. They're one of the greatest tag teams in Wrestling history. But if Bully has shown anything deemed worthy of your viewing time, it's that he can be an excellent singles wrestler. And the final point about AJ Styles doing well to get out of dodge shows how little you know about TNA and the emptiness of your comments throughout the thread. Yes, he left because he was getting paid less than his expiring contract. Nothing to do with the product on show, more so the incompetence of those running the show.


chux4w wrote

Foley wanting to defend the belt once a year was a gimmick. He was a cowardly heel.

Indeed it was but there's a reason for doing that. It wasn't a gimmick to test the waters.

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By Rossman Sat-12-Apr-2014 14:34:28

Main Event · 687 comments

Fucking hell Special, you are deluded. The TNA product is shit. I've been watching it since Noah's been building the fucking ark and its crap. The feud's never go anywhere, they haven't created any stars in, well never. The storylines are dreadfully dull and fabricated from strands of petty indifference. They've cut everyone from the wage bill who wants to be paid actual money and not peanuts. They've gone back to broadcasting in an even smaller building, because no-one wants to see them live. If they scrape together 300 people at a house show its called a success. They've given Young the belt like they gave Dreamer the belt in ECW, they know he's loyal and won't leave because he loves wrestling.

You can pretend Eric Young is a better position on a show that no-one watches, in a company the owners can't sell off. How can he be more credible or in a better position than any of those WWE midcarders?! They're getting paid well and have health care for starters. They also get to work in front of actual people at live shows and are not welcomed by people dressed as black metal chairs.

I still don't understand what your beef with Foley was. His mobility wasn't as good as it was 10 years ago but from name recognition he's still going to bring in more media attention. Lockdown 2009 when he won the belt had an attendance of 4500, this years Lockdown did 1500. The PPV he dropped the belt at 2 months later, had 4000 in attendance. Those were the two best drawing PPV's of the year. From a commercial and financial standpoint, I think it was worth it. Did his reign hold someone else down? No they put the belt on Angle and did another Main Event Mafia angle. What does his status of retired or semi-retired even matter? He had not wrestled for a couple of years until he had that brilliant match with Orton at Backlash 2004 or when he faced Edge at WrestleMania a couple of years later. Hell, didn't Randy Couture retire from the UFC and then come back to the world title again?!


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