The Official TNA Discussion Thread

[Jaysin]

I liked Bound for Glory until Roode/Angle. I would have been ok with Angle winning of the match hadn't been such a stinker. I swear Roode had the crossface on Angle a dozen times in the match. I kept waiting for them to kick it into another gear, but meh...the match just sucked.

Almost any other match on the card would have been a better main event.

The Knockout's match was meh, but I did get excited for Velvet winning. Been a huge fan of her's for forever.

[eayragt]

After reading the reports I'm not going to be happy if they run an Angle injury angle that leads to a vacated title, leading to Roode eventually taking the title. When I read about the post match unexplained "X" that was my first thought, and I don't see how that would be any better than... just giving Roode the title. Oh, and remembering that there are other moves in wrestling apart from submissions.

[angeldelayette]

Just recently got back to the hotel following Bound For Glory. Enjoyed the card from top to bottom. Will be back with more over the next couple of days as I am flying home tomorrow.

[Bigpapa42]

Spoilers, I guess... buf i you don't know BFG results, you probably shouldn't be in here...

As we discussed on the TNA Bound for Glory Post-Game show last night in the PWInsider Elite section, the original plan for the PPV was for Bobby Roode to defeat Kurt Angle for the TNA championship to close the PPV. The story going around was that yesterday afternoon, Hulk Hogan lobbied to have the finish change, feeling that Roode wasn't ready for a run with the title. So, the finish was changed.

Between that and the AJ Styles stuff in the last few days, there was a lot of resentment towards Hogan among the long time members of the roster. The resentment was especially at a high because Hogan was ripping on Styles on Twitter when everyone knew Styles had missed the TNA Fan Interaction event due to a death in the family.

One running joke I heard after the PPV, which to a person, everyone agreed wasn't a strong show, was whether roster talents could "request a transfer" to Jeff Jarrett's new India project.

pwinsider elite

[juggaloninjalee]

TNA needs to forget about Hogan and realize that guys like AJ Styles and Roode are their future. If they burn those bridges and those guys end up going to ROH and elevating that promotion or going to WWE and becoming major stars they only have themselves to blame.

If that report is true that Hogan is the reason Roode isn't champion then TNA just isn't worth backing. They need to realize that decisions like that could lead to them dieing off eventually.

[ZMAN]

Damn, TNA ruined their own MITB before WWE had a chance to ruin Daniel Bryan's. I mean, I'm with Hulkster; I don't give a **** about Roode. But it's still stupid to change plans at the last minute. Even if Bobby isn't ready, who cares? It's just the TNA belt, and Bobby can't be that terrible. There's barely anyone paying attention anyway. He's acting like Bobby was about to headline WM or something.

[juggaloninjalee]

Damn, TNA ruined their own MITB before WWE had a chance to ruin Daniel Bryan's. I mean, I'm with Hulkster; I don't give a **** about Roode. But it's still stupid to change plans at the last minute. Even if Bobby isn't ready, who cares? It's just the TNA belt, and Bobby can't be that terrible. There's barely anyone paying attention anyway. He's acting like Bobby was about to headline WM or something.

Exactly how I feel.

Personally I've always felt Roode was a little bland and that James Storm had more personality of the 2. I was enjoying Roode lately though as I felt like he was being pushed as their new poster child but apparently not.

BFG leaves me really wondering where they are going and not in a good way. Does Sting now battle Angle for the belt? Where does TNA go with Roode? I have more questions now but who knows maybe things will work out ok.

[BHK1978]

TNA needs to forget about Hogan and realize that guys like AJ Styles and Roode are their future.

I agree 100%, at this point Hogan's name value is nothing. In fact he probably couldn't draw flies if he was covered in crap. Why anyone would listen to his opinion is beyond me.

Granted I do not think that Bobby Roode is championship material either but I felt they built him up pretty good and it would have been cool for him to take the title. A Bobby Roode championship win, to me, would be something like when Ron Simmons won the NWA/WCW Championship. You give the guy a chance to see what he can do. Maybe he will turn out to be a good champion or maybe he will not. After all it is not like anyone else is helping to draw the fans into TNA, so why not give someone else a shot.

[juggaloninjalee]

I agree 100%, at this point Hogan's name value is nothing. In fact he probably couldn't draw flies if he was covered in crap. Why anyone would listen to his opinion is beyond me.

Granted I do not think that Bobby Roode is championship material either but I felt they built him up pretty good and it would have been cool for him to take the title. A Bobby Roode championship win, to me, would be something like when Ron Simmons won the NWA/WCW Championship. You give the guy a chance to see what he can do. Maybe he will turn out to be a good champion or maybe he will not. After all it is not like anyone else is helping to draw the fans into TNA, so why not give someone else a shot.

Yeah I think of it like the Ron Simmons run as well. I mean how do you truly know if a guy is Main Event material until you give him a chance?

Chris Jericho in WCW is a good example. Many people including me never thought he could be main event material. I was wrong and wish that I was on board much sooner.

[Jaysin]

Jericholic since Day 1 ;)

From an interview with Kurt Angle this past weekend I believe. I found this on prowrestling.net

On the current direction of Impact Wrestling and "passing the torch": "God willing, we have more wrestling and less talk. I’ve been pushing for that. Sometimes we have people there on the show that don’t wrestle. They take up a lot of the show with only promos. The young guys need to step up and be the guys cutting the promos. It’s kind of a catch 22. We need to realize who we are and we need to fix the problem. The young talent needs the opportunity to shine.

"I’m one of the top guys in the company and I don’t want to remain there. I don’t know who it will be but I am more than willing to find somebody in the company to hand to torch over to and say ‘hey, you take the lead and I’ll follow you.’ I’m near the end of my career. I’ve got three more years left with TNA Wrestling and then I’m done. I signed that deal with TNA so I can help the company. I want them to compete with WWE. It will take some time, but it will happen."

[Eisen-verse]

Justin LaBar of Wrestlezone talking about one of the reasons why Roode didn't win at BFG:

There is also reports saying that the company is waiting for the right time and wants to put the belt on Jeff Hardy and let him have another run.

I must admit, I like TNA. Well, I like what TNA COULD be I guess. With that said; however, THIS is what makes me continually bash my head into the wall when it comes to their approach.

At one time I liked Hardy (a LONG time ago) but I don't really see ANY reason to give him the belt once again. He made a mockery of the TNA Championship when he showed up 'high' (simply put, it's true) and after months of the company talking as if they were going to release him... All of a sudden, He's in-line for another shot?

:eek:

I don't get it.

A REAL uprising is in need within TNA. Create the classic young vs. old storyline and have people like Roode, Styles, Joe, Aries, Morgan, etc. benefit. While it's true that Roode may need more fleshing out before the belt should be put around his waist, giving it to Hardy seems like a very stupid idea.

[The Final Countdown]

Maybe Bobby Roode would work as champ, maybe he wouldn't. But I'm confident in his ability to walk up the ring steps, at least.

[Eisen-verse]

Maybe Bobby Roode would work as champ, maybe he wouldn't. But I'm confident in his ability to walk up the ring steps, at least.

Amen.

[LiquidSwords]

I must admit, I like TNA. Well, I like what TNA COULD be I guess. With that said; however, THIS is what makes me continually bash my head into the wall when it comes to their approach.

At one time I liked Hardy (a LONG time ago) but I don't really see ANY reason to give him the belt once again. He made a mockery of the TNA Championship when he showed up 'high' (simply put, it's true) and after months of the company talking as if they were going to release him... All of a sudden, He's in-line for another shot?

:eek:

I don't get it.

A REAL uprising is in need within TNA. Create the classic young vs. old storyline and have people like Roode, Styles, Joe, Aries, Morgan, etc. benefit. While it's true that Roode may need more fleshing out before the belt should be put around his waist, giving it to Hardy seems like a very stupid idea.

TNA has already tried to do this storyline a couple times and the young guys never go over. I really don't understand why they would place a lot of faith in Hardy when they don't know how long he can stay clean and not pull another Victory Road.

Also I feel sorry for the young talent who are constantly being wasted in TNA. Its sad because if they leave they either have to go back to the indies and make less money or try and make a run in the WWE (which could possibly mean they will be jobbers). There really isn't any place these guys can go.

[20LEgend]

I can't imagine how pissed Bobby Roode is, I hate Hulk Hogan - he's screwed Bobby over, I certainly can't see TNA doing any worse with Roode as champion than they are doing. If they give Jeff Hardy a new run as champ there is very little chance I'll continue to watch. I feel like some of these guys need to leave TNA for the sake of their careers, sure they might make money (and to a lot of people that is the most important thing) but what about accomplishment, what about self satisfaction? I've gone off on a bit of a tangent there but I wish these guys had somewhere else to go basically, where they'll not only be respected but pushed on how good of a fit they are to said promotions roster, ROH would be great but they can't really take on that many more people I don't think.

[juggaloninjalee]

I can't imagine how pissed Bobby Roode is, I hate Hulk Hogan - he's screwed Bobby over, I certainly can't see TNA doing any worse with Roode as champion than they are doing. If they give Jeff Hardy a new run as champ there is very little chance I'll continue to watch. I feel like some of these guys need to leave TNA for the sake of their careers, sure they might make money (and to a lot of people that is the most important thing) but what about accomplishment, what about self satisfaction? I've gone off on a bit of a tangent there but I wish these guys had somewhere else to go basically, where they'll not only be respected but pushed on how good of a fit they are to said promotions roster, ROH would be great but they can't really take on that many more people I don't think.

Yeah I agree 100% with you. If there was another option in America it would help a lot. There are other options and they could make a lot of money on the indies, in Japan, Mexico, and other places. Maybe they could join up with the NWA and restore some prestige to that brand?

They could also pool their money together and open up their own promotions/schools. That would allow them to make a good amount of money.

[ZMAN]

An old guys vs. new guys storyline would be perfect for TNA, just look at their roster. But I wouldn't trust them with that kind of storyline. In order for it to be effective, the new guys would have to win the final battle and the older guys would need to leave the promotion. I can't see TNA actually doing that, no way.

[sebsplex]

Even if Bobby isn't ready, who cares? It's just the TNA belt, and Bobby can't be that terrible. There's barely anyone paying attention anyway. He's acting like Bobby was about to headline WM or something.

Same really. TNA are in a far better position than the WWE in terms of being able to take chances with their talent. If Roode couldn't grow into the role, given the push and the build-up that got him there, then fair enough, get the belt off him again.

Then again, what does it matter? The original plan probably had Ken Anderson turning heel again and winning the belt from Roode 2 weeks later anyway...

[steesh07]

I still find it befuddling, that Bully Ray came out as apart of Immortal despite begin put through the table a few matches earlier.
Not to mention how bad the Knockouts match was, especially since they did the almost exact set up as last years (four corners & special guest referee).

[Johnny Fenoli]

TNA Spoilers............ very very very interesting..............

[steesh07]

Wow, just WOW.

[Johnny Fenoli]

Wow, just WOW.

I like it... I think they COULD go somewhere with it. ::: fingers crossed :::

[steesh07]

Yeah, I'll defo be watching Impact this week. Gunna be interesting.

[Jaysin]

:eek:

^ my reaction

Good reaction though

[Astil]

Fill me in via PM please

Make me believe in TNA again...

[Eisen-verse]

Fill me in via PM please

Make me believe in TNA again...

Me too!!!

[Astil]

Okay. I can really get behind this. Good storyline idea.

[steesh07]

There's another spoiler but didn't share, good surprise though.

[OldStingberg]

I don't watch much TNA, I only kind of know what's going on, but I'll definitely be watching Thursday night. There's a lot of potential in that story.

[XxFutureLegend112xX]

This is the first thing TNA's done in over a year atleast that's interested me, it has real potential if they play it out right. But keep in mind peeps this is TNA we're talking about and they have a history of screwing up storylines via swerves, turns and other general Russo/Bischoff/Hogan nonsense....

[jwt13]

This is the first thing TNA's done in over a year atleast that's interested me, it has real potential if they play it out right. But keep in mind peeps this is TNA we're talking about and they have a history of screwing up storylines via swerves, turns and other general Russo/Bischoff/Hogan nonsense....

But the new head guy in creative is that Bruce guy so now maybe it's a new era in TNA

[Eisen-verse]

This is the first thing TNA's done in over a year atleast that's interested me, it has real potential if they play it out right. But keep in mind peeps this is TNA we're talking about and they have a history of screwing up storylines via swerves, turns and other general Russo/Bischoff/Hogan nonsense....

While true, I think I read that Russo was no longer head of creative in TNA. If so, then there's a chance that this MAY not end up in the crapper. I wish I had cable so I could watch impact but I guess I'll just have to keep up with their youtube channel to see how this comes together.

[steesh07]

Bruce Prichard's the head of Talent Relations and has the book (IIRC) and they have Dave Lagana on writing too now. But saying that, how many new era's can TNA have? Seems like they try changing direction every year :confused: I'll be keeping up with this however.

[juggaloninjalee]

This thread made me read the spoilers. Now I wish I didn't because I would have loved to have watched it and been surprised. I approve of it though.

[OldStingberg]

Bruce Prichard's the head of Talent Relations and has the book (IIRC) and they have Dave Lagana on writing too now. But saying that, how many new era's can TNA have? Seems like they try changing direction every year :confused: I'll be keeping up with this however.

Lagana has nothing to do with Impact, though. He's going to be working on a separate TNA project that will air in India.

After reading the full spoilers for Impact, I'm much less excited. There's literally three matches on the show, and none of them sound long. I just don't want to see that much talking.

[juggaloninjalee]

After reading the full spoilers for Impact, I'm much less excited. There's literally three matches on the show, and none of them sound long. I just don't want to see that much talking.

This is typical after a big TNA show. Isn't this the normal format of the 1st show on tv after a PPV? They don't know how to set up feuds other than by talking it seems.

[Jingo]

This thread made me read the spoilers. Now I wish I didn't because I would have loved to have watched it and been surprised. I approve of it though.

Same here, i'm a big fan of spoiler guy and prefer him over the other guy so would of marked out big here but alas i've spoiled it for myself. I hate the internet and everything it stands for right now! :p

[steesh07]

Lol...
Spoiler: A person or thing that spoils.

[justtxyank]

Hey yo Chicos....someone send me the spoilers via pm. Haven't watched wrestling in awhile. Want to know if it is worth it.

[juggaloninjalee]

Hey yo Chicos....someone send me the spoilers via pm. Haven't watched wrestling in awhile. Want to know if it is worth it.

Go to nodq.com and under the TNA section it has 2 links to them.

[20LEgend]

I get there is an initial coolness to this and if it goes the way I think it will I'll be quite happy. But why on this show? Why didn't they go the other way (the way they went with the not spoiler guy), seems on the fly booking? I am being cynical but why not, then things can only be better.

[juggaloninjalee]

I get there is an initial coolness to this and if it goes the way I think it will I'll be quite happy. But why on this show? Why didn't they go the other way (the way they went with the not spoiler guy), seems on the fly booking? I am being cynical but why not, then things can only be better.

It does really make you wonder why things went the way they did up until now because it is out of the blue kinda.

Maybe they are going to treat BFG as their Season Finale and with the following Impact it is their next Season Opener or something. Huge stretch because I don't think this is a sign of things going into next years BFG or anything.

Should be interested to see how this goes. After Thursday I will explain where I think things are going with this but don't want to give anything away for this week.

[soxfan93]

I get there is an initial coolness to this and if it goes the way I think it will I'll be quite happy. But why on this show? Why didn't they go the other way (the way they went with the not spoiler guy), seems on the fly booking? I am being cynical but why not, then things can only be better.

PWInsider reported yesterday that Roode was supposed to win at BFG, but Hogan nixed it Sunday afternoon.

I wouldn't be surprised, and honestly, it's disgusting if it's true.

Link (http://www.pwinsider.com/article/62572/last-minute-change-to-tna-bound-for-glory-ppv-and-who-was-responsible.html?p=1)

As we discussed on the TNA Bound for Glory Post-Game show last night in the PWInsider Elite section, the original plan for the PPV was for Bobby Roode to defeat Kurt Angle for the TNA championship to close the PPV. The story going around was that yesterday afternoon, Hulk Hogan lobbied to have the finish changed, feeling that Roode wasn't ready for a run with the title. So, the finish was changed.

Between that and the AJ Styles stuff in the last few days, there was a lot of resentment towards Hogan among the long time members of the roster. The resentment was especially at a high because Hogan was ripping on Styles on Twitter when everyone knew Styles had missed the TNA Fan Interaction event due to a death in the family.

One running joke I heard after the PPV, which to a person, everyone agreed wasn't a strong show, was whether roster talents could "request a transfer" to Jeff Jarrett's new India project.

[Bigpapa42]

Typical TNA... I'm happy with what I've read, but its an awful way to do it. They are either booking on the fly and reacting to the fan reaction from BFG, or they are trying to put the subsueqent storyline together in the most convoluted, random way possibe. Like they wanted to kill the momentum this could have built.

[ZMAN]

Yeah, it seems like they just go and read the internet's reaction, panic/feel stupid, and then go and do some drastic change to make it seem like it was all part of the plan. I guess it could be legit though, who knows.

Regardless of all of that, I'm diggin' the new direction they are going whether it's intentional or just a way to cover their mess. It's nothing exciting, but it is the right direction for them at least. Make them the main feud and it's on.

[OldStingberg]

After reading the spoilers for next week's Impact, I'm much, much less excited about watching tonight. Overall, I think they stumbled backwards onto a good idea, but they're already showing they don't have the ability to pull it off well.

[angeldelayette]

I know that I hear a lot of these bad things about Bound For Glory, but it was an amazing show live. I killed my voice screaming and shouting for my favorites. lol. There was a definite Austin Aries chant during his match and a few ECW chants sprinkled throughout the show. The Hulk Hogan turn was amazing live and felt to me like being there at Bash At The Beach 1996 when he turned bad. When Mr. Anderson set Bully Ray on the table and went to the apron, I began a 'Kenton Bomb' chant and it seemed to me like he looked my way. It could be just me, though.

The Fan Fest weekend was absolutely awesome. We had a reception on Friday night with guys like James Storm, Jeff and Karen Jarrett and Jeremony Borash showing up. Then the Fan Fest came and it was great to get autographs and pictures taken with guys like Rob Van Dam, Hulk Hogan, Sting, Ric Flair, Mr. Anderson, Bully Ray, etc. Then came the breakfast where Traci Brooks, Kazarian, Christopher Daniels and Mexican America all showed up.

Then before the show my guest, myself and the other contest winners had a meet and greet with Matt Morgan, Traci Brooks and Kazarian before we were taken down to the backstage area. We had interviews done with So Cal Val and as soon as they are posted on the website I will post the link here. So Cal Val is definitely a gorgeous woman.

All in all, it was an amazing once in a lifetime experience.

[eayragt]

You know what, I honestly believe Bischoff read Saturday spoilers for RAW, realised it was going to be the 2nd poor show in a row and changed plans.

Think about it - Impact ratings will spike. RAW ratings could have been awful. Queue lots of promotion about closing the gap, even if it was for only one week and unsubstainable.

Clearly these weren't the plans even two weeks earlier, because, you know, they could have at least given a certain someone a couple of singles win to give him a little momentum?

[Hive]

I just watched the Sting vs. Hogan match from BFG. And holy cow, that match was terrible! Guys like Hogan and Flair should really really REALLY stay as far away from in-ring action as they possibly can... I mean, Hogan made Sting look like Bryan Danielson in comparison. It almost reminded me of the Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon match from last year.

The turn was pretty good though.

[Eisen-verse]

Watching the opening promo with Robert Roode and I'm getting a Shane Douglas (during his ECW days) vibe from his delivery/mannerisms. If he keeps this up then he's got a fan in me.

[Adam_Starr36]

Geez.. I usually change the channel when it comes to the Diva's of WWE, but I thought the Knockout's of TNA would be much better, I've been proven wrong by Karen Jarrett... She seems like either a watered down version of Vickie Guerrero, or either Vickie Guerrero is the watered down version of her, either way, she's more than annoying.

[Adam_Starr36]

James Storm, the uh.. New TNA Heavyweight Champion? Wow.. Truly out of nowhere.. I'm guessing Roode turns Heel, or James does now..?

[Johnny Fenoli]

Watching the opening promo with Robert Roode and I'm getting a Shane Douglas (during his ECW days) vibe from his delivery/mannerisms. If he keeps this up then he's got a fan in me.

I can totally see that.... actually they are pretty similar in size and ability too....

James Storm, the uh.. New TNA Heavyweight Champion? Wow.. Truly out of nowhere.. I'm guessing Roode turns Heel, or James does now..?

I can see a ****y smug, "I did what you can't do" James Storm... Slowly morph him into a Pompous punk.

[jwt13]

So this leads to the question is Roode the Marty Jannetty of Beer Money??

Also James Storm is the #1 trending topic on twitter right now.

[Eisen-verse]

So this leads to the question is Roode the Marty Jannetty of Beer Money??

Also James Storm is the #1 trending topic on twitter right now.

While I haven't watched TNA much lately, mostly because we don't have extended cable in my apartment right now, I did watch the main event from tonight with Storm/Angle via youtube. I don't really think we can go as far as to label Roode as the Jannetty of "Beer Money" just yet. I mean, If TNA is booking this right then it's bound to create a "tension storyline" with Roode and James eventually warring with one another over the belt. I mean, Hogan, who has a lot of sway right now, said in a recent interview that he thinks Roode would be a better 'heel champion' than a face. That said, I could see them billing a war between the two were Roode ultimately turns heel and then wins the title down the road.

I guess we'll have to see where we go from here before we can decide on if Roode is the second-tier guy within the tandem (as I think you're putting it). Truthfully, this whole thing could really turn out to be a HUGE win for TNA in the long-run if booked right. We could be looking at TNA's Triple H/Rock feud.

What I mean by that is a strong feud that eventually A) defines a company at that time in history and B) elevates both wrestlers to the point of being dual main eventers.

Either way, I loved the quick superkick ending.

Well played TNA.

[OldStingberg]

There was less than seven minutes of wrestling tonight. Seven minutes! On a show that was approximately 85 minutes long. That is literally almost unbelievable.

[Timber]

TNA where wrestling goes to die.

[TheOmniWarrior]

Just ended here roughly 20 minutes ago... There may not have been much wrestling but I loved the ENTIRE show. (Aside from the abyss/gunner "match"). This show is a prime example of "angles definitely helped lifted this show as a whole." The angles flowed nicely enough and kept enough of a pace that the lack of wrestling didnt matter that much.... and this is coming from a guy whos hated TNA(to the point of not watching it) and just about everything thats happened since Hogan/Bischoff took over.

Also Hogan has still got "it" on the mic

[Fleisch]

I'm the first one to moan about a show that had little wrestling, and although I was disappointed with the lack of in ring action I have to say the rest was actually very entertaining.

I hope they drop the TNA name though because it is very misleading. It certainly isn't a company with "Nonstop Action" as last night showed.

[juggaloninjalee]

I liked the Angle vs Storm match. It still surprised me since I read the results but not how they happened. Liked the celebration as well but when Storm tried to hand the belt to Roode I got pissed. I didn't see the Green Bay Packers last year try to give the Superbowl trophy to the Lions.

Either way now onto where I think this is going. I feel like this will lead to the break up of Fortune. Everyone now wants a shot at James Storm. I hope James Storm becomes the fighting champion and becomes known as one of the toughest champions in TNA history!

James Storm could barely get by for a long time and win a lot of close matches with his kick out of nowhere. It would come across legit and make him a major name in this business I feel.

I said a few weeks ago I liked Storm more than Roode and hoped that Storm got that push since he has more personality. To me Storm is easier to push as he has more to offer I feel. In my opinion James Storm has more star quality and charisma in tew terms.

[Wrestling Century]

To be honest, I've never understood why exactly they stuck James Storm in a tag team (although it is/was a great team) when he always seemed to be oozing with charisma and Roode seemed to just be, well, there. For the first time in 6 months, I will watch Impact next week. Well played TNA, well played.

[LoNdOn]

Whist I still don't agree with not giving the title to Roode I am happy that Storm has been given the gold as he is, for my money, far more entertaining to watch. The question remains though, why didn't they just have Storm win the Bound For Glory series and have the title change hands on the biggest stage TNA has to offer.

[Fantabulous]

The question remains though, why didn't they just have Storm win the Bound For Glory series and have the title change hands on the biggest stage TNA has to offer.
Because that would have taken some of the spotlight away from Hulk Hogan making his big turn. We can't be having that, now can we?

[Bigpapa42]

Final number isn't out yet, but it looks like Impact pulled some strong ratings, topping over 2m viewers. Of course, those viewers got to see about 8 minutes of wrestling in a 120 minute show and a 3 minute title change match...

[LoNdOn]

Because that would have taken some of the spotlight away from Hulk Hogan making his big turn. We can't be having that, now can we?

Sad isn't it. Glad I didn't have to pay for the PPV because I would have felt mugged with Roode walking out as the loser.

[The Final Countdown]

Whist I still don't agree with not giving the title to Roode I am happy that Storm has been given the gold as he is, for my money, far more entertaining to watch. The question remains though, why didn't they just have Storm win the Bound For Glory series and have the title change hands on the biggest stage TNA has to offer.

Because that would have taken some of the spotlight away from Hulk Hogan making his big turn. We can't be having that, now can we?
Well, there's that, plus I bet they had no clue James Storm would be winning the title until, at best, the day before it happened.

[bigtplaystew]

Well, there's that, plus I bet they had no clue James Storm would be winning the title until, at best, the day before it happened.

Storm and Roode had a pretty good match that told a story of a relationship that is being stressed with the world title looming in the balance. I wonder if maybe this WAS the plan all along? I don't know though. I'm glad because a Roode/Storm series isn't going to suck. At least we'll see some wrestling.

[Hive]

Whist I still don't agree with not giving the title to Roode I am happy that Storm has been given the gold as he is, for my money, far more entertaining to watch. The question remains though, why didn't they just have Storm win the Bound For Glory series and have the title change hands on the biggest stage TNA has to offer.

Maybe they see Storm and Roode as the two biggest TNA stars of the future and wanted a big setup for a feud between them?

[jwt13]

Storm is the highest drawing champion in TNA history :cool: Impact broke a record with over 2 million viewers last night

[bigtplaystew]

Maybe they see Storm and Roode as the two biggest TNA stars of the future and wanted a big setup for a feud between them?

Yea I'd say they're going with that. I dont mean to be reptitive, but they had a very solid match on Impact. It really built some nice tension between them. Good in-ring storytelling that you don't see all that often anymore.

So hopefully it'll be a nice slow build with them.

[Fantabulous]

Storm is the highest drawing champion in TNA history :cool:

Swing and a miss with that one.

Here are the quarters:

Q1: 1.38 rating - Sting promo, Sting calls out Hulk Hogan, Dixie Carter walks to the ring before the commercial break

Q2: 1.38 rating - Sting and Dixie Carter in the ring, Kurt Angle and Beer Money segment

Q3: 1.32 rating - Sting books the main event, Storm steps up and takes the title shot when Roode contractually could not, Eric Bischoff and Immortal confront Hulk Hogan backstage, two commercial breaks

Q4: 1.42 rating - Brooke Tessmacher and Tara vs. Angelina Love and Winter, Jeff and Karen Jarrett call out Jeff Hardy

Q5: 1.38 rating - Jarrett and Hardy pull apart, Angle promo backstage, Hogan and Sting video package, Eric Young announces to Robbie E and Rob Terry that he's bringing in a guy from Jersey Shore, Gunner calls out Abyss

Q6: 1.30 rating - Abyss vs. Gunner, Velvet Sky backstage, Gunner backstage, Velvet video package, Velvet, Karen Jarrett, and Traci Brooks in-ring segment

Q7: 1.34 rating - Knockouts continuation, Immortal and Hulk Hogan segment with Sting and Garrett Bischoff

Q8: 1.29 rating - Beer Money backstage, James Storm beats Kurt Angle for the TNA Title

The rating was driven by the key Male demo being spiked by the Knockouts. Also, avoid the tnainsider message board at all costs.

[eayragt]

Storm and Roode had a pretty good match that told a story of a relationship that is being stressed with the world title looming in the balance. I wonder if maybe this WAS the plan all along?

Can't see it - why not give Storm a couple of wins between the PPV's? Or even at the PPV? Answer - they had no idea at that point he was going to be champion.

[Fantabulous]

I just watched the Sting vs. Hogan match from BFG. And holy cow, that match was terrible! Guys like Hogan and Flair should really really REALLY stay as far away from in-ring action as they possibly can... I mean, Hogan made Sting look like Bryan Danielson in comparison. It almost reminded me of the Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon match from last year.

The turn was pretty good though.

People are wildly overrating the match simply because Hogan did far more than expected and more than he really should be doing. The entire match was made by Sting working his ass off and Flair working his ass off, and even then it wasn't good. But Hogan bumps, when his own doctor has told him he shouldn't, and people suddenly think it's a good match.

[Hive]

People are wildly overrating the match simply because Hogan did far more than expected and more than he really should be doing. The entire match was made by Sting working his ass off and Flair working his ass off, and even then it wasn't good. But Hogan bumps, when his own doctor has told him he shouldn't, and people suddenly think it's a good match.

Indeed. It also amuses me that they seem to believe that if they all blade like crazy, the match will suddenly become 50 % better.

[Fantabulous]

It reminded me a lot of Raven vs. Terry Gordy in ECW with people buying into an illusion because they wanted to believe it.

[Jaysin]

Heaven forbid someone be entertained by something :rolleyes:

[Rone Rivendale]

Heaven forbid someone be entertained by something :rolleyes:

I could not agree more.

[bigtplaystew]

I know. It's completely shocking that wrestling fans... gasp... LIKE WRESTLING???!?!?

ZOMG NO WAI!

[OldStingberg]

Wow. I just read the spoilers for next week's Impact and yeah, they're doing the whole Storm/Roode thing terribly. There goes my brief interest in TNA. Oh well.

[soxfan93]

TNA has turned into more of a joke than ever. Yes, I'm a WWE fan. But I've always hoped that TNA would be able to push WWE to improve, much like WCW did in the mid-90s. Unfortunately, that seems more and more unlikely every week, and I honestly believe that guys like Styles, Joe, Roode, etc., will be contacting WWE very soon, and they'll try to find a way out of their contracts.

[Astil]

Wow. I just read the spoilers for next week's Impact and yeah, they're doing the whole Storm/Roode thing terribly. There goes my brief interest in TNA. Oh well.

/sigh

[Teh_Showtime]

Ive started being a faithful watcher too this past spring, but that might have been the last straw.

Im gonna stop and maybe check it out around January.

[matthew222]

Ive started being a faithful watcher too this past spring, but that might have been the last straw.

Im gonna stop and maybe check it out around January.

im with u on this

[Johnny Fenoli]

I just bruised my self due to the intensity of the face palm to the spoilers...

[BHK1978]

In regards to what happened on Impact:

What in the name of the Wide Wide World of Sports is TNA doing!

[dvdWarrior]

In regards to what happened on Impact:

What in the name of the Wide Wide World of Sports is TNA doing!

Probably trying make things "shocking" ... might even bump that rating all the way up to a ... 1.7!

What's worse, as soon as I saw there was a "Major TNA Spoiler", I had a pretty good feeling of what it was...

I do approve of the title match signed for the next PPV though, not bad there.

Could be decent.

:)

[jwt13]

So you bitch when it doesn't happen then you bitch when it does happen thats why I hate the IWC they are a cancer to wrestling.

[Hive]

So you bitch when it doesn't happen then you bitch when it does happen thats why I hate the IWC they are a cancer to wrestling.

Agreed. They complain when a guy doesn't win the strap, they complain when he do... they complain when a company does something predictable, they complain when they do something shocking... they just like to complain a lot.

But then again, who doesn't? I myself love to complain about different aspects of wrestling. It's often more fun than watching it.

[sabataged]

Agreed. They complain when a guy doesn't win the strap, they complain when he do... they complain when a company does something predictable, they complain when they do something shocking... they just like to complain a lot.

But then again, who doesn't? I myself love to complain about different aspects of wrestling. It's often more fun than watching it.

A lot of it boils down to timing though too. They built a guy up as the new face of the company. They showed him at home with his kids, working out in the gym, his long struggle to the top. Only to have him lose in a screw job ending. Ya I didn't like it. But I could of understood it if he went on to beat Angle at the next PPV, or maybe even the one after that. He FINALLY gets over the hump type thing.

But yet they have Angle lose to Storm because of Angle's injury. That was a shocker but I understood you had to move the title off of Angle because of the injury. Then they teased a Roode vs Storm match, but not at a PPV where you can build it up, at the next week's impact taping.

It's all about timing. Strike when the timing is right, strike when things are hot. Roode makes a better heel. His rich guy gimmick from before is what kind of put him on the radar. His generic babyface gimmick was holding him back. Now if only they let Roode run with the ball.

Roode vs AJ Styles
Roode vs Storm
Roode vs Ken Anderson
Roode vs Jeff Hardy

The guy is pretty good in the ring and if you ask me I think he is/was a better candidate for the Ric Flair successor then AJ Styles.

[OldStingberg]

So you bitch when it doesn't happen then you bitch when it does happen thats why I hate the IWC they are a cancer to wrestling.

I'll put this in white text so as to not spoil for those that don't want it spoiled (though it's probably too late for that considering some of the recent posts, yours included). Highlight between the asterisks:

*************


People bitched when they didn't give the title to Roode because they senselessly wasted a couple months of surprisingly good build and undercut their first-ever Bound For Glory Series.

And people are bitching now because instead of building up a proper Storm/Roode turn, they burned through the damn thing in three weeks, giving away two title changes on Impact and leaving their PPV-buying customers feeling like dolts.

The Storm/Roode feud had a lot of very, very good potential. They could have played out Storm being given the title chance at the next PPV, and letting Roode stew because he was still sour about being screwed out of his chance.

Then when they gave the title to Storm with a good month of build, they could then continue to have Roode simmer because he wants the title, feels he deserves the title, but can't do anything about it because his best friend has it.

Then on a PPV in a couple months, Roode could finally snap and turn on Storm. They could then build to a huge Storm/Roode title match on a PPV with a few months of build.

Instead, Storm won the title in one minute on Impact, Roode won a number one contender match a week later, and then Roode turned and won the title a week after that. What could have been an interesting, riveting number of months of story became three disappointing weeks.

Any person with any sense of quality entertainment would bitch about that, member of the silly IWC or not.


*************

[sabataged]

I'll put this in white text so as to not spoil for those that don't want it spoiled (though it's probably too late for that considering some of the recent posts, yours included). Highlight between the asterisks:


Ya the sense of "refrain from spoilers" was lost in this and the WWE thread a long time ago.

[Fantabulous]

Have you ever noticed how much easier it is when you blithely dismiss complaints as 'bitching' rather than actually address them? As ever, the usual suspects who would know the score know the score, and the usual suspects who don't have a clue don't have a clue.

[eayragt]

Have you ever noticed how much easier it is when you blithely dismiss complaints as 'bitching' rather than actually address them? As ever, the usual suspects who would know the score know the score, and the usual suspects who don't have a clue don't have a clue.

Ah yes, the clueless masses who contribute far more money to the wrestling industry than those who know the score.

Wait, hang on...

[OldStingberg]

Ah yes, the clueless masses who contribute far more money to the wrestling industry than those who know the score.

Wait, hang on...

Um, TNA isn't exactly swimming in a room full of gold coins at the moment, so implying that what they're doing is entertaining the masses is probably a bit off base.

[eayragt]

Um, TNA isn't exactly swimming in a room full of gold coins at the moment, so implying that what they're doing is entertaining the masses is probably a bit off base.

That's not something I was implying. In my opinion TNA and RAW are both rotten right now. But neither company give two hoots about my opinion, and they have no reason to care about it at all

[OldStingberg]

That's not something I was implying. In my opinion TNA and RAW are both rotten right now. But neither company give two hoots about my opinion, and they have no reason to care about it at all

Why would they not care about your opinion?

People need to get over this whole IWC thing. It's not 1995. There's now gajillions of people online sharing their opinions with each other, and those opinions matter. A company would be absolutely foolish to totally disregard those under the mistaken impression that somehow the opinions of the people who don't go online are obviously and totally opposite.

[Fantabulous]

Some serious swinging and missing here. Not you, OldStingberg; you're batting in the high 800s.

[sebsplex]

Agreed. They complain when a guy doesn't win the strap, they complain when he do... they complain when a company does something predictable, they complain when they do something shocking... they just like to complain a lot.

This kinda sounds like a pre-Immortal Abyss promo. ;)

[juggaloninjalee]

The IWC thing is skewed because each person in the IWC has differing opinions and people talk about the IWC as if they are 1 person or a group of people who all believe the exact same thing.

Not everyone in the IWC likes Zack Ryder, Mark Henry, Miz, and CM Punk. Some people dislike them for various reasons.

It's like saying all Christians look down on abortions. Some do and some don't but it isn't as clear cut as saying they all do or all don't.

I guess my point is that it's time to say the IWC is basically nothing more than the fans. It isn't an exclusive group or anything. People who view the IWC like something special are the cancer to wrestling. (Eric Bischoff, and Hulk Hogan I am looking at you)

Bischoff has shown that the initial reaction when in WCW was why he did things the way he did. It was about ratings. I think he feels he didn't elevate enough new stars in WCW so he is (was) trying to with TNA. Mix that with wanting to up the ratings and you get hot shotting belts on tv. Not allowing things to play out over time with good booking in favor of the guys you want to push.

Long story short the IWC isn't anything more than the fan base regardless of what people want to say. It isn't anything special.

[jwt13]

IWC isn't a big part of wrestling fans though its lik 1/4 of all wrestling fans so to say TNA should listen to that 25% of fans is stupid

[BHK1978]

IWC isn't a big part of wrestling fans though its lik 1/4 of all wrestling fans so to say TNA should listen to that 25% of fans is stupid

This is not directed at jwt, I was just using his post to set-up my joke:

The rest of the wrestling fans are inbred hicks who do not have access to electricity and they refer to the Civil War as the War of Northern Aggression.:D

I never get why people like to call out the IWC, after all if you post on here about wrestling you are apart of the community that you have so much disdain for. If something is bad why can't we voice our opinion on it?

From the looks of what TNA did, it is horrible. Everything OldStingberg said is how I feel about the situation. I do not think it was the right or logical move for them to make. Spoilers: It is almost as if TNA is saying, "Yeah we messed up, so we will make this move to keep our fanbase happy.

[Fantabulous]

I never get why people like to call out the IWC, after all if you post on here about wrestling you are apart of the community that you have so much disdain for. If something is bad why can't we voice our opinion on it?

Because if you attribute an opinion to faceless group, it makes it much easier to dismiss. What's easier to compose and type:

"Oh, the IWC always complain."

or

"Well, you've made a good argument but I disagree because of this, this and this."

[eayragt]

Because if you attribute an opinion to faceless group, it makes it much easier to dismiss. What's easier to compose and type:

"Oh, the IWC always complain."

or

"Well, you've made a good argument but I disagree because of this, this and this."

So I'm dismissing my opinion?

[Hive]

IWC isn't a big part of wrestling fans though its lik 1/4 of all wrestling fans so to say TNA should listen to that 25% of fans is stupid

Are you kidding me? I sure hope you don't work in marketing in any company... Completely ignoring a solid 25 % of your customer base is outright crazy.

[Fantabulous]

Are you kidding me? I sure hope you don't work in marketing in any company... Completely ignoring a solid 25 % of your customer base is outright crazy.

With TNA, the percentage of their fanbase who are 'IWC' is probably a lot higher.

[lazorbeak]

People in this thread need to wake up and smell the difference between bandwagon "boo hiss TNA is da worst" and genuine criticisms about poor storytelling. Such a wonder that fans might complain about a babyface not going over after months of build at a big show. Pretty sure you wouldn't need to be a WWF mark to know it would have been ridiculous for JBL to go over John Cena at Wrestlemania or HBK to go over Austin. Spoilers below:


Particularly if Austin or Cena's first run had been given to them on a taped TV match where they turned heel, cutting the legs out from yet another new champion in the process. The mind boggles.

[JackKnifed72]

The rest of the wrestling fans are inbred hicks who do not have access to electricity and they refer to the Civil War as the War of Northern Aggression.:D



The War Ain't Over --- Long Live Dixie !!


Now that the south has discovered the inter-webs nuttin' can stop us MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!

:D

[sheepy]

Reading the spoilers and I'm like, seriously wow.

You know the Roode build was epic, I really enjoyed it and wanted to see who would win that match. Heck I don't even care that Roode lost in the way he did.

The way that things have happened since have been atrocious - they could have at least had a Roode vs. Storm vs. Angle match (with Angle doing very little in the match) leading to Storm winning the title - that could have been a perfect lead into a feud etc and it's easy to make all three come out looking decent.

Instead we get convolusion and stuff that makes absolutely no sense at all. How it's gonna play out on tv I have no idea.

[angeldelayette]

For those of you who are interested, here is my interview done by So Cal Val and Impact Wrestling before Bound For Glory:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8ama0sI8QY

[BHK1978]

For those of you who are interested, here is my interview done by So Cal Val and Impact Wrestling before Bound For Glory:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8ama0sI8QY

That was pretty cool, you seemed very calm during that interview. I know if I was standing next to So Cal Val, well first I would be drooling and then I would just stare into the camera like a deer caught in headlights.

[Hive]

That was pretty cool, you seemed very calm during that interview. I know if I was standing next to So Cal Val, well first I would be drooling and then I would just stare into the camera like a deer caught in headlights.

Amen to that. I'd throw her over my shoulder and try to make a run for it out of the building, hoping the security would be mostly fatties that day.

[angeldelayette]

That was pretty cool, you seemed very calm during that interview. I know if I was standing next to So Cal Val, well first I would be drooling and then I would just stare into the camera like a deer caught in headlights.

Amen to that. I'd throw her over my shoulder and try to make a run for it out of the building, hoping the security would be mostly fatties that day.

Thanks a lot guys! And I thought about that with Val. lol. But it does help that I talked with her multiple times during the weekend, including a long conversation at the reception when I first got there. She is definitely one of the hottest women I've ever seen in person, though. One of my greatest memories there, though, is that she actually remembered my name throughout the entire weekend.

[Astil]

Amen to that. I'd throw her over my shoulder and try to make a run for it out of the building, hoping the security would be mostly fatties that day.

Or it's WWE security. I think I could get past them.

[Jaysin]

For those of you who are interested, here is my interview done by So Cal Val and Impact Wrestling before Bound For Glory:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8ama0sI8QY

Congrats dude. I went to a TNA house show last year and it's the best wrestling experience I've ever had. I can't imagine what Bound for Glory weekend would have been like.

[lazorbeak]

Finally got around to watching BFG. Honestly as bad as the finish was, the whole show wasn't great. Kendrick is a heat vacuum, nobody in Philly cared about Crimson so of course he goes over, RVD and Lynn was an entertaining re-run. Styles and Daniels had a strong finish but the opening was pretty slow. Knockouts match was a mess- Karen needs to learn that you need to maintain the illusion of counting and then stop the count if you want the fans to stay involved. Ironically Roode/Angle is probably the match I was most interested in, just because I haven't already seen it on "best of" dvds. And didn't TNA used to have an amazing tag division? We didn't even see the champions. In the pro column, Bully Ray actually is doing something outside of a nostalgia act, and managed to generate heat as a heel, something pretty much every other heel struggled with; and he's even an ECW guy! Sting vs. Hogan was abysmal, and watching Sting throw himself all over the ring to try to hide Hogan's inability to bend his knees was sad. Hard to believe how relevant Hogan was 14 years ago.


Honestly TNA needs to realize that a character only has a limited shelf-life. Guys like AJ, Joe, Abyss, etc., have done everything they're gonna do in this company. They've won every title, feuded with everyone, and as-is, they're not big enough "names" to work a reduced schedule or be an attraction match on their own. Maybe they go to Japan or WWE and struggle- worst case, they come back to TNA and they're in exactly the same position they're in now, but hopefully have a few new faces to work with.

[bigtplaystew]

I think criticisms about bad storytelling from a booking and promo perspective are fair. TNA hasn't been doing a great job of this. There are a few good things in TNA. Lots of not-so-great.

I try not to judge TV spots based on spoilers because they don't always do the TV moment justice. Ask Mick Foley about that. But it doesn't seem like it's getting better.

What IS improving in my opinion is the match quality. And if they continue to give their unique talent more TV time over the WWE-jects than I think they have the possibility to become a viable alternative to WWE.

That said, I agree that Bully Ray has emerged as a great mid-to-top-card heel. His stuff is always watchable.

[Rone Rivendale]

Honestly TNA needs to realize that a character only has a limited shelf-life. Guys like AJ, Joe, Abyss, etc., have done everything they're gonna do in this company. They've won every title, feuded with everyone, and as-is, they're not big enough "names" to work a reduced schedule or be an attraction match on their own. Maybe they go to Japan or WWE and struggle- worst case, they come back to TNA and they're in exactly the same position they're in now, but hopefully have a few new faces to work with.

Because when you home-grow your talent and make them stars, the next thing you should do is let them go so they can become even bigger stars somewhere else...

[lazorbeak]

Because when you home-grow your talent and make them stars, the next thing you should do is let them go so they can become even bigger stars somewhere else...

I'm honestly not sure if this is a joke post, but I'll bite.

Yes, when a guy has done everything in your territory to the point where he can't do anything else, he should move on. Particularly when the "stars" that TNA builds for at the PPVs tend to be guys like Sting, Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, and Hulk Hogan. What is the benefit for AJ Styles as a performer to be wrestling Chris Daniels for the umpteenth time? On TNA's side, what new stories can you tell with guys that are doing rehashes of their own work from 5-8 years ago? At a certain point they are taking up a spot without adding anything new creatively, and on the personal side they are treading water because no matter what, AJ Styles can't get bigger than a Jeff Hardy in terms of exposure as long as he's in a tiny pond. So it's damaging to both the performer and their creativity and the company they're in, who get diminishing returns from a completely known quantity. It's why, back when there was a territory system, guys would cycle in and out of them, not just stay in the same place for 8 years- even in WWF, it's the incredibly rare performer that sticks around for 8 years, and they have a global presence and the ability to make stars. Jeff Hardy is actually a great example of how this can still work. When he left WWE the first time they clearly didn't know what to do with a guy that couldn't talk, wasn't big, and had been doing the same character for four years, and he stopped being motivated. He goes around ROH and TNA, where he's not immediately hailed as a "top guy" because he was never seen as one in WWE, then goes back after a few years and becomes a far bigger star. Heck, even his initial heel turn in TNA was an interesting new direction that kept him as a property relatively fresh- if not for his drug issues, it would've totally made sense to give him the belt.

But it's better for the company's exposure in every way to let a guy like AJ go someplace else. I mean not only are you not paying them and freeing a spot in your roster, you're getting free publicity from them appearing elsewhere, plus you own all the work they did in your company. Because they're not 'stars' in terms of drawing power based entirely on the fact that they've only appeared on a company that doesn't draw.

[Rone Rivendale]

I think you severely underestimate both TNA and AJ Styles.

TNA isn't some small company that doesn't draw. Its the 2nd biggest wrestling company in America. It's the only company outside of the WWE that can afford to take on prolonged tours outside of the US.

And AJ Styles I would argue IS TNA. If I was told to tell you the 1st person that came to mind when I heard the name TNA, Styles would be it. And I would also argue that he is the 1 guy that they need more than anyone else. He has been the top guy in the early days. He has been the workhorse of the X Division when it was JUST as popular as the World Title picture. Then he went to the forefront of the main event again, even going as far as being #1 in the PWI 500 in 2010. At this moment, he isn't in the Title picture. But this isn't anything bad on his side. They are giving some new faces some main event time. People like Storm and Roode who DESERVE it. People who have come up in the company just like Styles from the ground up. People who earned their spot and shouldn't be tossed aside like you would have them be.

I won't change your mind, but now at least you know I am serious about this.

[Wrestling Century]

So lazorbeak, you would rather have TNA keep the old WWE rejects and let go of their homegrown talent? Because I would personally rather have it the other way around.

[lazorbeak]

I think you severely underestimate both TNA and AJ Styles.

TNA isn't some small company that doesn't draw. Its the 2nd biggest wrestling company in America. It's the only company outside of the WWE that can afford to take on prolonged tours outside of the US.

And AJ Styles I would argue IS TNA. If I was told to tell you the 1st person that came to mind when I heard the name TNA, Styles would be it. And I would also argue that he is the 1 guy that they need more than anyone else. He has been the top guy in the early days. He has been the workhorse of the X Division when it was JUST as popular as the World Title picture. Then he went to the forefront of the main event again, even going as far as being #1 in the PWI 500 in 2010. At this moment, he isn't in the Title picture. But this isn't anything bad on his side. They are giving some new faces some main event time. People like Storm and Roode who DESERVE it. People who have come up in the company just like Styles from the ground up. People who earned their spot and shouldn't be tossed aside like you would have them be.

I won't change your mind, but now at least you know I am serious about this.

It's like you are halfway understanding my point- I agree Storm and Roode deserve a shot. That's why I'm saying what's best for everyone would be to let the guy move on without moving down the card- he's not a big enough deal to be an attraction in of himself, and to be just "one of the guys" after being the face of the promotion hurts his long-term value. But demoting Styles or putting him in re-run feuds doesn't increase business, isn't doing anything new creatively, and takes up a spot that could go to somebody else who, in your words, DESERVEs it.

What I'm saying that you're not getting is that there is a creative shelf-life to a guy like AJ Styles, and TNA has basically run the well dry. I think that's true of a lot of TNA's roster, too. Matt Morgan was challenging Kurt Angle in what, 2009, and still hasn't ever won the belt? Either give him the ball or replace him with another big monster guy.

The point is, change is what's good for the business, and TNA lets itself get creatively stagnant by keeping these guys floating around the roster after they've run out of stories for them. I mean AJ had worked his way up the card, had won every title, and main evented with Kurt Angle two years ago on the biggest show TNA puts on. Now he's engaged in a repeat of a feud with Christopher Daniels. My point is it's better to just move on then to move backwards. Maybe he WAS TNA, but clearly he isn't right now.

So lazorbeak, you would rather have TNA keep the old WWE rejects and let go of their homegrown talent? Because I would personally rather have it the other way around.

Where did I say anything approaching this? I said they need to let go of stale talent. That includes WWE rejects that don't draw and have been doing nothing new creatively. Look at Austin Aries- he's a TNA alum, but he's doing something fresh and the crowd is behind him, he hasn't worked with everyone on the roster, and he's doing work that has people interested. There's plenty of talented guys out there who aren't just a nostalgia act that TNA would have more spots for if they didn't devote so much television time to guys that haven't changed what they do at all since 2005 or earlier. And WWE being a 2, formerly 3-branded behemoth is going to run through a lot of guys that never scratch their potential, or that could've done far more. I mean some guy that worked on Smackdown or ECW 3-4 years ago may have plenty of creative stuff left in the tank. So the term "WWE rejects" is not really fair- some of TNA's biggest names worked in WWE at some point.

[jwt13]

TNA IMPACT WRESTLING ANNOUNCES EXCLUSIVE TRAINING PROGRAM AT OVW Focus On Development Key To TNA

NASHVILLE, TN (November 7, 2011)– TNA IMPACT WRESTLING announces that they are entering into an exclusive relationship with Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), effective immediately, as the official training and developmental facility for TNA's current and future stars of TNA IMPACT WRESLTING. Former wrestling star and OVW owner Danny Davis will work closely with TNA SVP of Programming and Talent Relations Bruce Prichard in the development of the talent through training, live events, and weekly television production allowing talent to explore every aspect of the business.

"OVW is the best of the best as far as training and nurturing potential superstars. Their track record speaks for itself. Whether looking to develop brand new talent or to fine tune existing talent, OVW has the talent and program to fit our needs." says TNA's Prichard. "TNA is providing developmental talent the opportunity to hone their craft in an environment that will allow them to grow and prosper."

TNA talent will be arriving soon at the facility to begin an extensive training program with the industry's leading experts. The program is akin to a college scholarship program where talent is provided a scholarship style agreement with TNA to learn the craft. The talent to attend the program is selected by TNA's Prichard and TNA officials who will be monitoring the progress of each wrestler at camp and the live events.

Great Move by TNA imo

[bigtplaystew]

TNA tried to do the old WCW business model without the ridiculous contracts. Which, in theory, would have worked... in 1997. Wrestling's changed. TV's changed. The economy has changed.

They have been trying to focus on using established talent to headline their PPVs and TV shows, which common sense would dictate is a good idea. The problem is, they took the "younger alternative" and buried them to promote this established talent which made the product look like WWE's uncool younger brother: A foul mouthed, desperate, second class citizen by comparison.

In a world where mainstream wrestling fans consider WWE to be the all-powerful wrestling provider, their "rejects" seem like a low-rate option. So while TNA tried to be "different" from a presentation stand point, it looked stale because of the talent they chose to promote.


It seems like now they are changing the philosophy a bit. Granted, it's not a reverse turn around. It's still a work in progress and I'm not saying they are completely revolutionizing pro wrestling or anything. But what I hope I'm seeing is what they should have done all along: use good, established talent to put over new talent and create something fresh.

Guys like Angle and Hardy are PPV main eventers. Use them to elevate your guys that CAN work and actually DO something different instead of telling me you're doing something different.

This is what I saw with the Roode/Storm/Angle storyline that's been playing out. I really loved Roode and Storms match the week before BFG. Brilliant in-ring storytelling. Angle has allowed both guys to look fantastic with him. This allows TNA fans to feel o.k. looking at one of those two guys as top-level talent. Since BFG, they've been trying to do some different things here and there. They still have a way to go, but if they continue to improve they will have an incredible product.

Samoa Joe, AJ, Beer Money, Hernandez,x-division, etc. are all doing things that WWE doesn't give you. They really are the key to TNA's success in my opinion.

IF TNA sticks to that, they can put a compelling product out there that appeals to people who are sick of PG-era WWE.

[Jaysin]

Hernandez isn't the future of anything. He's awful.

[JackKnifed72]

Hernandez isn't the future of anything. He's awful.

Future Bouncer at Jimmy's Bar -n- Grill maybe...

Where's Homicide anyway? He still in TNA? They should of kept him when LAX split...

Mexican American s***s...their big flag gimmick s***s...and Sarita (Sarah Stock) is Canadian...which to my knowledge is neither Mexican or American...

Just Saying


:D

[JackKnifed72]

...Samoa Joe, AJ, Beer Money, Hernandez,x-division, etc. are all doing things that WWE doesn't give you. They really are the key to TNA's success in my opinion.

IF TNA sticks to that, they can put a compelling product out there that appeals to people who are sick of PG-era WWE.

Agree with you here (well maybe not on Hernandez but), however, this is a "slow growth" strategy that requires a long slow development of a whole roster that can put on great shows and eventually gets over with the mainstream wrestling public...

Roode/Storm are main eventing (they deserve it)

But they have hurt/buried/ruined so much of their home grown roster that they may have to start all over again...8 years after opening the promotion...that's not good


Plus they signed these former WWE names to bring attention to their promotion, only to have fans tune in to see what Kurt Angle or Jeff Hardy are up to and the fans get...
A Jeff Jarrett MMA challenge...
A Knock Out's Lock Box Challenge...
or Eric Bischoff feuding with his son...

:confused:

I'm one of those fans who has been rooting for TNA to 'make it' since their weekly PPV days, but is it any wonder they seem stuck in the same place they were in 2006?

[bigtplaystew]

Hernandez does pretty good stuff in the ring, man. You guys gotta check out some of the stuff he was doing down in Mexico. Really cool. For a guy his size he's actually very impressive.

Dont get me wrong, I dont think he's the lynchpin to TNA's success or anything crazy like that.

But he's part (albeit a rather small and insignificant part - but a part) of a group of guys on their roster who offer fans something WWE doesn't. Thats what my point was.

[Jaysin]

Hernandez does pretty good stuff in the ring, man. You guys gotta check out some of the stuff he was doing down in Mexico. Really cool. For a guy his size he's actually very impressive.

Dont get me wrong, I dont think he's the lynchpin to TNA's success or anything crazy like that.

But he's part (albeit a rather small and insignificant part - but a part) of a group of guys on their roster who offer fans something WWE doesn't. Thats what my point was.

He walks on his toes, can't talk on the mic at all, can't act at all, he can't even get facial expressions to look real, and after Homicide and him broke up all his flaws came running out of the wood work.

He needs a partner to hide his flaws and that partner isn't "I wanna be Chavo" Anarqia

[juggaloninjalee]

He walks on his toes, can't talk on the mic at all, can't act at all, he can't even get facial expressions to look real, and after Homicide and him broke up all his flaws came running out of the wood work.

He needs a partner to hide his flaws and that partner isn't "I wanna be Chavo" Anarqia

I agree with some of what you say here.

He can play 1 role and that is a hard thug. That is it though. He is very one dimensional and needs to be surrounded by better workers. He can be a valuable asset though to TNA if they don't expose his flaws.

[Hive]

What happened with Elijah Burke/The Pope and the pretty decent push he was given a while back? Why did they drop the ball on that? He seemed like a guy for whom the skies were the limit.

[bigtplaystew]

What happened with Elijah Burke/The Pope and the pretty decent push he was given a while back? Why did they drop the ball on that? He seemed like a guy for whom the skies were the limit.

Yes good point. LOL I forgot about him haha. He did seem to be getting a huge push and I really like the Pope character too.

[sheepy]

What happened with Elijah Burke/The Pope and the pretty decent push he was given a while back? Why did they drop the ball on that? He seemed like a guy for whom the skies were the limit.

Got injured when it looked like he was on the verge of something and then never recovered from losing to Anderson if IIRC. Burke a strange one as it's not the first time he's been on fire, got injured and then floundered (I was a really big fan of his when he was starting out in ECW).

Got to say, I really like the Roode / Storm storyline. Having only just seen how it played out on TV I think Roode's turn was fantastic and one of the best I've seen in recent times. He got a lot of heat from that match, it's now up to TNA to keep it going.

Hope they realise they can ditch PPVs and just focus on running TV supershows soon...

[Jaysin]

What happened with Elijah Burke/The Pope and the pretty decent push he was given a while back? Why did they drop the ball on that? He seemed like a guy for whom the skies were the limit.

He got hurt and lost all momentum.

Then they never tried to regain it. Burke is one of my absolute favorites and has been since the moment he walked out on Smackdown. I can't even explain why I instantly loved the guy. Might have something to do with his above average charisma.

and after meeting him, he's one of the nicest guys I have ever had the pleasure and honor of meeting.

I really hope they try and do something with him again, but there's a problem in TNA right now where there are so many people that SHOULD be in the main event, and there's just not enough space for them all. Sadly, there are some people in the main event that don't belong there. Luckily some of them have been weeded out(Jeff Jarrett I'm lookin at you buddy even though you're nice as hell)

[TakerNGN74]

Hope they realise they can ditch PPVs and just focus on running TV supershows soon...

They probably wouldn't stop running ppvs because its got to be a huge source of Revenue for them and not running pay per views would be dumb. Plus if they did that then they wouldn't be a legitimate company anymore IMO even though I don't consider them a legitimate company because I hate a lot of their business decisions. If you want an example they should have just given the belt to Robert Roode at Bound For Glory instead of having James Storm win it, hold it for eight days, and then loose it to Roode last week on Impact Wrestling.

If this was TEW their World Title's prestige would be in the toilet.

[bigtplaystew]

Great show last night. Impact has ben pretty solid the last several weeks. Far from perfect, but there's alot to like. Roode/Storm has produced great in-ring matches. I know Styles and Daniels have had 15 matches by now but I could watch those two do 15 more.

[juggaloninjalee]

TNA could have gotten to this point with the world title picture with better booking.

Roode beats Angle for the title at BFG.

1st Impact after BFG is Roode celebrating with Fortune in the main event. (Angle is hurt anyways)

2nd Impact after BFG Roode vs James Storm. Bobby Roode fearing losing the belt turns on James Storm.

3rd Impact after BFG Roode vs James Storm II. James Storm is too hurt to wrestle and Roode takes advantage of it showing just how greedy he is and how bad he wants the belt. AJ challenges Roode for Turning Point.

Now the only downfall of this scenario is that Storm isn't a former TNA World Champion. However if they were smart and that was a goal of TNA's have Storm win the belt at the next PPV after a 2 month reign for Roode.

Roode and Storm could be TNA's version of Rock vs Austin back in the late 90s. Obviously not as over in the main stream but it could be big among their fans. It's obviously not too late to do something like that either.

[ZMAN]

But with retarded booking, it makes the shows so unpredictable! You won't be able to see the big picture, brother.

[juggaloninjalee]

But with retarded booking, it makes the shows so unpredictable! You won't be able to see the big picture, brother.

It's ok to do what they did with Roode winning on Impact once every 5 or 6 years to give the promotion a feel of unpredictability.

The fact they do stuff like this so often though makes counter productive though.

I don't think I would be a great booker but I think I could book TNA better if I had complete control.

[juggaloninjalee]

- Below is the final card for Sunday's TNA Turning Point pay-per-view: (COURTESY OF NODQ.com)

TNA World Heavyweight Title Match
AJ Styles vs. Bobby Roode

TNA Tag Team Title Match
Ink Inc. vs. Mexican America

TNA X Division Title Match
Kid Kash vs. Jesse Sorensen vs. Austin Aries

TNA Knockouts Title Match
Gail Kim vs. Velvet Sky

TNA TV Title Match
Robbie E. vs. Eric Young

No DQ Match
Daniels vs. Rob Van Dam

Jeff Jarrett vs. Jeff Hardy

Crimson vs. Matt Morgan

Mr. Anderson and Abyss vs. Scott Steiner and Bully Ray

My thoughts of it are that it is decent. The tag match between Immortal and Anderson is kinda blah. Crimson vs Morgan has an ok build.

For once though it looks like they are trying to get the focus off of the veterans in TNA and that is the right thing.

[Jaysin]

TNA World Heavyweight Title Match
AJ Styles vs. Bobby Roode

TNA Tag Team Title Match
Ink Inc. vs. Mexican America

TNA X Division Title Match
Kid Kash vs. Jesse Sorensen vs. Austin Aries

TNA Knockouts Title Match
Gail Kim vs. Velvet Sky

TNA TV Title Match
Robbie E. vs. Eric Young

No DQ Match
Daniels vs. Rob Van Dam

Jeff Jarrett vs. Jeff Hardy

Crimson vs. Matt Morgan

Mr. Anderson and Abyss vs. Scott Steiner and Bully Ray

[Jaysin]

Tonight would be the perfect night for Chavo to debut. I know it won't happen, but I'd certainly like it :p

[steesh07]

TNA World Heavyweight Title Match
AJ Styles vs. Bobby Roode

TNA Tag Team Title Match
Ink Inc. vs. Mexican America

TNA X Division Title Match
Kid Kash vs. Jesse Sorensen vs. Austin Aries

TNA Knockouts Title Match
Gail Kim vs. Velvet Sky

TNA TV Title Match
Robbie E. vs. Eric Young

No DQ Match
Daniels vs. Rob Van Dam

Jeff Jarrett vs. Jeff Hardy

Crimson vs. Matt Morgan

Mr. Anderson and Abyss vs. Scott Steiner and Bully Ray

[matthew222]

TNA World Heavyweight Title Match
AJ Styles vs. Bobby Roode

TNA Tag Team Title Match
Ink Inc. vs. Mexican America

TNA X Division Title Match
Kid Kash vs. Jesse Sorensen vs. Austin Aries

TNA Knockouts Title Match
Gail Kim vs. Velvet Sky

TNA TV Title Match
Robbie E. vs. Eric Young

No DQ Match
Daniels vs. Rob Van Dam

Jeff Jarrett vs. Jeff Hardy

Crimson vs. Matt Morgan

Mr. Anderson and Abyss vs. Scott Steiner and Bully Ray

[sabataged]

I watched most of the PPV stream. It wasn't horrible but I just don't get a PPV feel from TNA like you do watching some WWE PPV's (not all).

The Daniels vs RVD and AJ vs Roode matches were good. The rest I could care less about. I just don't get why they have those three in the x division on a PPV. You can't tell me those are even 3 of the top 10 X Division workers they have. I would say Austin Aries is fine. I am not a big fan but he is good. The other two are horribad. Kash is 10 years past his time. Instead of having Robbie E (I liek the tandem with Rob Terry) and Eric Young fighting over some useless title like the TV title I wouldn't of minded this be the X Division title match. They fit that division if you ask me. Also I think Kaz and Daniels need to be in the X Division.

[BHK1978]

I watched most of the PPV stream. It wasn't horrible but I just don't get a PPV feel from TNA like you do watching some WWE PPV's (not all).

The Daniels vs RVD and AJ vs Roode matches were good. The rest I could care less about. I just don't get why they have those three in the x division on a PPV. You can't tell me those are even 3 of the top 10 X Division workers they have. I would say Austin Aries is fine. I am not a big fan but he is good. The other two are horribad. Kash is 10 years past his time. Instead of having Robbie E (I liek the tandem with Rob Terry) and Eric Young fighting over some useless title like the TV title I wouldn't of minded this be the X Division title match. They fit that division if you ask me. Also I think Kaz and Daniels need to be in the X Division.

I did not see the PPV at all but I read about it, leading up to the PPV itself I felt like the show was just sort of thrown together. So, I had a funny feeling that the PPV would end up decent at best.

What are they even doing with Kaz? The only time he seems to be on T.V. is to come out and rescue other wrestlers. I can't even remember the last time he had an actual match on television. So yeah I agree with you, I think he should be more involved in the X Division.

[Nedew]

It was a decent PPV, i mean, it was certainly better than some they've done in the past. I know that doesn't exactly sound like a ringing endorsement, but at least they're improving? :p

Steiner was crazy over in his match. I mean, ridiculously. He told them to shut up and they chanted his name even more!

[The Final Countdown]

I still can't get over the fact that they didn't announce the main event of the PPV until the last minute before the go-home TV show.

[Hashasheen]

I still can't get over the fact that they didn't announce the main event of the PPV until the last minute before the go-home TV show.

Nothing new. Both the WWE and TNA pull crap like that all the time. It's a problem with their short-sighted booking.

[Slagaholic]

Flipped on Impact catching the end of the main event. I have to say the end was one of the best endings to an Impact I can remember. Roode rules.

[Sambo Italiano]

I liked the PPV and was really glad to see Roode retain, because title reigns often end just after they begin. I just feels like TNA has given six months of storyline away in three weeks and most of it was on free TV.

[matthew222]

You know what?

I love Scott Steiner and Bully Ray just talking lol dont care for them wrestling but all they have to do is talk and I laugh lol

[Jaysin]

As over the top and as ridiculous as his gimmick is, I love Robbie E.

This guy gets so much hate, but he's damn entertaining in my eyes.

[Slagaholic]

Impact has definitely gained direction since Brother Love took over. Do I like the direction? Eh not crazy over it. Especially with the knockouts car wash segment last week. But **** at least it's a direction and not twirling around like deflating balloon. But it seems at least you have a general idea of what to expect each week.

[ChrisKid]

As over the top and as ridiculous as his gimmick is, I love Robbie E.

This guy gets so much hate, but he's damn entertaining in my eyes.

He's one of the only reasons i watch TNA

[liontamer]

I don't know which company it wil be in, but for some reason I see a robbie e and zack ryder tag team in the future.

And I've been enjoying impact as well, although I'm not sure about the way in which they brought dixie back in.

[TakerNGN74]

To anyone who watched Final Resolution what was the ending to the pay per view? According to the results on Gerweck.net the ppv ended right after the Iron Man Match was over and nothing happened after that match. I am wondering if whoever submitted the results to Gerweck left something out or if TNA is really that stupid and would end a pay per view that way.

Not to mention I hate Iron Man matches ending in a tie its really overdone now and the fact that there was no sudden death overtime really thows me for a loop.

[nucleardonkey]

To anyone who watched Final Resolution what was the ending to the pay per view? According to the results on Gerweck.net the ppv ended right after the Iron Man Match was over and nothing happened after that match. I am wondering if whoever submitted the results to Gerweck left something out or if TNA is really that stupid and would end a pay per view that way.

Not to mention I hate Iron Man matches ending in a tie its really overdone now and the fact that there was no sudden death overtime really thows me for a loop.

That's exactly how it ended. AJ was in the ring yelling, Roode was up the ramp celebrating, and the crowd was chanting "5 more minutes" as they went off the air.

[TakerNGN74]

That's exactly how it ended. AJ was in the ring yelling, Roode was up the ramp celebrating, and the crowd was chanting "5 more minutes" as they went off the air.

Alright thanks for letting me know, I thought it was odd when I read the results on Gerweck. I could have gone to other sites to see if their results ended the same way that Gerwecks did but I elected to come in here and ask someone who actually saw the event.

I scratch my head at a lot of things that TNA does but now that you have confirmed for me that that was indeed how the PPV ended I just don't know what to say anymore. I want to like them me and my friends always say we want to like TNA because they have guys on their roster that we want to watch. However we don't watch it because of their horrible booking and until the booker is removed or the company has a major shake up I will probably remain as someone who doesnt watch them because of their horrible decision making.

Just to be clear too I am a WWE fan and I am not saying that WWE is perfect because they are far from it. However if I had to choose one over the other WWE wins because I grew up watching them. I loved TNA when it was on Wednesdays on PPV I watched it from the first show up until they got their deal with Spike and I watch it every once in a while (I am not home on Thursdays so I don't get to see it often) but everytime I watch it I ask myself afterards why I bothered to watch. I figure from now on I will read the results to the shows but thats it until something drastically changes.

[nucleardonkey]

Yea it was kind of bogus the build of the match was perfectly done and then completely undone by the finish. They should have had Roode cause AJ to get counted out at the last minute then have Roode run off if they're building to what I think they're building to, Roode vs. AJ vs. Hardy vs. Storm at Genesis. Or had it go sudden death with Roode getting a cheap roll up victory. Either way AJ still looks strong because he held his own with one leg and Roode gets over as a cowardly heel.

The problem with TNA is they keep showing these signs of brilliance like they could actually do something right then they drop the ball in a big way. The Bobby Roode heel turn could have been a massive story that would have made Roode and Storm both legit main eventers while also re-establishing AJ as a main star and setting up Kaz, Daniels, and Joe as future main eventers. Instead they had to hot shot a quickie James Storm title run followed by an even more hot shotted Roode heel turn and abysmal feud with AJ that really did nothing for either man.

The weekly PPVs were amazing because the focus was where it should be, on the wrestling. The stories were there solely to give them a reason to wrestle and almost everything made sense. I think it's a combination of burn out on the writer's parts seeing as with a few exceptions they've had the same head writer from the inception until just recently and then of course said writer (Russo) getting too much freedom.

I really only watch for the originals because no matter what ridiculous thing Russo comes up with from the opening bell until just before the finish AJ, Roode, Joe, Daniels, Storm, The Machine Guns, Aries, and Angle are going to put on a match the rivals and most of the time even surpasses any WWE main event.

[TakerNGN74]

I wish they would do things more long term because if that was the case I might be able to tolerate them. However it seems that whenever a guy gets a title reign and its just getting good they end it. Their title reigns have no longevity to them (you could agrue that WWE doesnt either with having the WWE title change hands 8 times in 78 days over the summer) but every promotion is guilty of doing that at times because WWE has done it before. However it seems like ever since the era where Jeff Jarrett was always the NWA Champion every time you turned around and he had long title reigns, it really seems like they dont think long term anymore because all their titles not just their world title change hands way too often. In TEW terms if you were to run TNA and do that all of the titles' prestige would be in the toilet but of course they can get away with it because its not TEW obviously. To me though it just makes the titles look like crap when they change hands so often. Like I said WWE is guilty of doing this at times but it seems like TNA has been doing this for the last two or three years. It seems like they don't have faith in anything and from a company standpoint that is a huge problem that should be dealt with.

[nucleardonkey]

Yea, for as much hate as Jeff Jarrett seems to get the single best period in TNA's history was when he and AJ were trading the NWA title back and forth. Sadly as far as the big two are concerned none of their championships mean anything at this point in time and nothing short of a solid year long run with regular defenses will change that.

It's like they're purposely devaluing their championships with things like the current design of the WWE title, Eric Young walking around with the old TNA world title after finding it in a trash can and no one saying anything about it, then titles changing hands sometimes 2 or 3 times a month. You'd think they'd figure it out when RVD's 23 month TV title reign and Samoa Joe's 21 month ROH world title reign put each of them on the national map in a big way while also making the titles meaningful.

[Slagaholic]

At least this cheap finish works within the frame of a storyline. And I can't really complain at seeing Roode and Styles go at it again in the future assuming Hardy doesn't win the belt at Genesis. If he does...all bets are off and the entire reign is ruined.

Is it just me or has it been like a year since Daniels got a clean win?

[Sambo Italiano]

All these short title reigns make me think that creative in TNA and WWE are suffering from some sort of wrestling attention defecit disorder. If Randy Ortons babyface turn had been followed by an 8 month title reign he might be as well known as Cena. The same goes for CM Punk, Samoa Joe with the TNA Title, Jeff Hardy with the WWE Title and countless others.

It's not the only way to make a star but it's very effective.

[The Stallion]

Anybody else interested in seeing this new TNA-India project that they have going on? Reading some of the spoilers it seems pretty awesome for the most part.

[Wrestling Century]

Anybody else interested in seeing this new TNA-India project that they have going on? Reading some of the spoilers it seems pretty awesome for the most part.

I would watch it, but I highly doubt that there will be any way to watch it in America.

[The Stallion]

I would watch it, but I highly doubt that there will be any way to watch it in America.

Oh yea, your absolutely right. I'm just saying it would be pretty cool to see it considering the spoilers sound really good.

[LoNdOn]

I just found out that the TNA event in London at the end of the month will be the tv taping for two episodes of Impact.

[cappyboy]

I just found out that the TNA event in London at the end of the month will be the tv taping for two episodes of Impact.

Now this is something I wish the smaller companies would do. Go ahead and have your mile wide live shows. But when you put them on the DVD, present them as multiple smaller shows. Would be so much more comfortable watching their DVD's and create the illusion of being a better value if you got two or three "episodes" per DVD than one PPV-length monster show. Even if all the content had been from a PPV length show when performed live.

[Jaysin]

Now this is something I wish the smaller companies would do. Go ahead and have your mile wide live shows. But when you put them on the DVD, present them as multiple smaller shows. Would be so much more comfortable watching their DVD's and create the illusion of being a better value if you got two or three "episodes" per DVD than one PPV-length monster show. Even if all the content had been from a PPV length show when performed live.

I'm really confused as to what you're saying. London said they're filming Impact. What's that have to do with DVDs?

[sabataged]

I watched the stream of Genesis tonight. It was pretty horrible. Even when there are good matches the endings are horrible. They can go through as many bookers and agents as they want. It's not working

[Astil]

Now this is something I wish the smaller companies would do. Go ahead and have your mile wide live shows. But when you put them on the DVD, present them as multiple smaller shows. Would be so much more comfortable watching their DVD's and create the illusion of being a better value if you got two or three "episodes" per DVD than one PPV-length monster show. Even if all the content had been from a PPV length show when performed live.

This is actually a pretty good idea, Brother Cappy.

[Jaysin]

Kurt Angle from Busted Open radio

The next main eventers: "AJ Styles was there for a while. And then we pulled him down which I didn’t agree with. Now we got AJ up there, Jeff Hardy is here, Robert Roode, James Storm. We’re starting to get to a point where these guys are going to start full time and Kurt Angle and Sting can dwindle off and retire. That’s what we need to happen and that’s what’s happening now and I’m glad because I don’t want to leave TNA and leave an open spot there. I cant wrestle forever. As a matter of fact I am already talking retirement. It’s about making guys and putting them in my spot and making sure they are secure there before I leave."

[Astil]

Kurt Angle from Busted Open radio

The next main eventers: "AJ Styles was there for a while. And then we pulled him down which I didn’t agree with. Now we got AJ up there, Jeff Hardy is here, Robert Roode, James Storm. We’re starting to get to a point where these guys are going to start full time and Kurt Angle and Sting can dwindle off and retire. That’s what we need to happen and that’s what’s happening now and I’m glad because I don’t want to leave TNA and leave an open spot there. I cant wrestle forever. As a matter of fact I am already talking retirement. It’s about making guys and putting them in my spot and making sure they are secure there before I leave."

Angle on Samoa Joe: "We have not done Joe justice. Whether it had to do with an attitude problem an attitude change. In wrestling you have to play by the rule book. Joe was a little bit of a rebel. I think that might have hurt his cause. I believe Joe is rational. I think we can still make Joe a big star again. I think Joe is a full time main eventer. I think we need to do it now because if we don’t do it now it will never happen."

Angle on Jeff Hardy: "We were all concerned about Jeff and his welfare. We wanted Jeff to come back. We love Jeff. He is the coolest guy in the world. I have so much respect for him because he can go anywhere he wants. WWE would hire him like that even after everything that’s happened. If he wanted to, and he got released by TNA, WWE would hire him like that. You know why? Because he makes money. He sells merchandise, more than anyone else in this world. So God bless him he could go back to the WWE if he wants, but he wanted to come back here and he wanted to prove to everybody that he could be the wrestler and that he could stay clean."

"Came back and he humbled himself. Apologized to all of us in the locker room for an hour. Told us the whole deal. Told us the whole deal about his brother. Told us about everything about his story and said, 'Listen, all I'm asking is for one more chance.' And he was so humble and had so much humility. It was like 'Ok you know what, you got your chance, you got more than your chance, We’re happy you’re here.' Jeff right now in his life is the best role model a man can be for any kid. Seriously! If I wanted my kid to be anybody right now, it would be Jeff Hardy. My kid wears his shit. And I’m like 'are you kidding me? You don’t have the singlet like Daddy, you got Jeff Hardy crap.' He is the epitome of what a wrestler and a role model should be. And he is a good guy. He will take time to say hi to everyone."

He also said a bunch on TNA 2011 and how there where "too many chefs in the kitchen. A good read, which is rare because usually Kurt's interviews are ... odd to say the least.

[brashleyholland]

He also said a bunch on TNA 2011 and how there where "too many chefs in the kitchen. A good read, which is rare because usually Kurt's interviews are ... odd to say the least.

As long as he's not bleating about quitting wresting to get himself killed in a real fight anymore, then it's all good by me.

[BHK1978]

What happened to Mr. Anderson? I do not recall seeing anything about him leaving or getting hurt once again. However, it seems like he has been off T.V. for some time.

[Wrestling Century]

What happened to Mr. Anderson? I do not recall seeing anything about him leaving or getting hurt once again. However, it seems like he has been off T.V. for some time.

Indeed. I looked on Wikipedia and it says that his latest match so far (or at least his latest PPV match so far) was at Turning Point 2011. I haven't heard anything about him and I haven't seen him on Impact for a few months now. I also haven't heard anything about him on any dirt sheets, which is...strange to say the least.

[cappyboy]

What happened to Mr. Anderson? I do not recall seeing anything about him leaving or getting hurt once again. However, it seems like he has been off T.V. for some time.

Maybe someone with taste figured out what an overrated mimic he is. And maybe just maybe TNA - Anderson = reason for me to fire the DVR up on Thursday night again.

[BHK1978]

I found the following on a website (No I am not going to cite which one because I am not working for the damn AP.)

As most have noticed, TNA Impact Wrestling star Ken Anderson has not appeared on TNA TV since the November 15th, 2011 edition of Impact Wrestling.

To update his status with the company, F4WOnline.com is reporting that the reason why Anderson has not appeared in any capacity for TNA since November is because the creative team reportedly has nothing for him right now.

More on this story as it continues to develop.

I guess this was just an odd coincidence that I posted what I posted.

Cappy, do not get me wrong I am no fan of him either. I do not dislike the guy, I just do not like him either. I guess from your post it is safe to say that you do not like him.:D

[sheepy]

Quite like the principle of rotating the more popular stars in and out of the roster - keeping people fresh and nice and healthy. Should it be done more often?

[nucleardonkey]

Quite like the principle of rotating the more popular stars in and out of the roster - keeping people fresh and nice and healthy. Should it be done more often?

I think it should....imagine WWE right now if Cena would take a couple of months off between title reigns and completely disappear. WWE would actually have a main event roster instead of just having Cena and Orton with a bunch of supporting characters to help keep them over. It stops the fans from becoming completely burnt out on someone.

[Rone Rivendale]

I guess no one has noticed that Cena is not in the main event right now. His only iMPACT (haha) on Raw lately has been to support Ryder and be turned heel by Kane.

Back on topic, I have always been a fan of Anderson (Still randomly do the KENNEDY..... KENNEDY sometimes). I wouldn't mind seeing him back as soon as possible.

[Moe Hunter]

I think it should....imagine WWE right now if Cena would take a couple of months off between title reigns and completely disappear. WWE would actually have a main event roster instead of just having Cena and Orton with a bunch of supporting characters to help keep them over. It stops the fans from becoming completely burnt out on someone.

Cena and Orton haven't been champions in months. Orton's not even on the show at the moment. CM Punk and Bryan Danielson are the champs right now.

[Self]

Cena isn't the Champion, but he's still one of the main focal points of every single episode of RAW. I'd wager he still gets more screen time than Punk, and has worked more TV main events in the past few months.

Rotating the main event rosters is cool. Although I can't exactly blame WWE for not doing it with their most bankable guys, who can still go.

[nucleardonkey]

Cena and Orton haven't been champions in months. Orton's not even on the show at the moment. CM Punk and Bryan Danielson are the champs right now.

CM Punk may be the champ but before this past week when was the last time he was in the final segment of a RAW? The focal point of RAW recently has been Kane/Cena when in reality it should be switched. Kane and Cena would a great mid program story to keep Cena alive on TV, keep the ratings strong after the divas match, and lead up to the Punk/Laurinitis confrontation to close the show.


History should show that a good anti-authority storyline is an instant ratings grabber when done right and CM Punk and John Laurinitis have the chemistry to really do something magic.

[BHK1978]

I went to the TNA House Show tonight in Worcester tonight. I missed the first two matches of the evening because my friends and I got up there late, I also kind of blame TNA for it. After all what wrestling show starts at 7:30? Most shows start at the top of the hour either 7 or 8.

They drew a pretty good crowd, if I had to guess it was about 300 people or so. The card wasn't held in the actual Centrum or whatever they call it now. It was held in the same building but just not in the main arena (which they would have not even come close to filling so it was a wise choice on there part.).

I missed Brooke and ODB taking on Rosita and Sarita. I also missed the Eric Young match (I did not catch who he was taking on.), which sucked because I am and always have been a huge fan of Eric Young so I thought it would be cool to see him wrestle in person once again.

The show itself was not that great to be honest. It seemed like the matches were very short. Maybe it is because I have become spoiled by seeing ROH and Dragon Gate shows over the past year, but I really wished they would have allowed the matches to go longer.

SoCal Val was doing the ring announcing and I must say you looked great, I couldn't hear a word she was saying but that didn't matter to me.:D

The intermission was horrible, it was 20 minutes of Don West yelling over the microphone about the great deals he had in store for us. I mean I understand it is his job but the guy would not shut the you know what up. I found it to be really annoying, mainly because I hate in your face sales people.

The biggest pops of the night were for Jeff Hardy, Mr. Anderson and RVD. I thought the main event was going to be pretty good because it was Daniels vs. Jeff Hardy but it was nothing special. I saw Daniels last year (at least I think it was last year) facing off with Mike Bennett (Once again I think it was Mike, my memory is not what it used to be I guess.) for a ROH show and that match was great. So I guess I expected more out of Daniels and it just was not there. Granted this was a house show, so there was no real reason to put on a great show, but I just thought it would be better after I had heard how great TNA house shows usually are.

I really wished Velvet Sky was on this card but sadly she was not...;)

[codey]

So I just tuned into TNA for the first time in quite a while, and I gotta ask, how long have they been running shows in actual arenas like this?

[BHK1978]

So I just tuned into TNA for the first time in quite a while, and I gotta ask, how long have they been running shows in actual arenas like this?

Hardly ever, the only reason why they were in an arena tonight was because it was shot on their U.K. tour.

[Jaysin]

I went to the TNA House Show tonight in Worcester tonight. I missed the first two matches of the evening because my friends and I got up there late, I also kind of blame TNA for it. After all what wrestling show starts at 7:30? Most shows start at the top of the hour either 7 or 8.


The TNA house show I went to started at 6:30. The WWE house shows I went to started at 5:30, 6:30, 7:00. I thought it was weird the first few times, and then sorta gotten used to it.

[D-Lyrium]

Yeah baby, how much of a huge deal did we make TNA look? :p

I have to wonder how many of those tickets were actually paid for, but given that it's England I'd assume most of them. Any pro wrestling show over here will sell, because we've got bugger all else. Hopefully it will add weight to my one-man Twitter campaign to make Gabe Sapolsky bring DG:USA to England. ¬_¬

[juggaloninjalee]

Yeah the arena looked packed on Impact last night. Is anyone else growing tired of James Storm losing to Roode? He loses to him every other week it seems.

Also that was my first time seeing Mark Haskins. He seems decent. How come he is never used (or so it seems)? Has he ever gone by any other name?

[Blackman]

Mr Anderson was scheduled to appear at the Belgian house show a couple of weeks ago, so unless they lied to us about it he's still on the roster. Perhaps only working house shows.

[D-Lyrium]

Yeah the arena looked packed on Impact last night. Is anyone else growing tired of James Storm losing to Roode? He loses to him every other week it seems.

Also that was my first time seeing Mark Haskins. He seems decent. How come he is never used (or so it seems)? Has he ever gone by any other name?

He's a young British guy, was in a very decent tag team in several British indies. I think TNA discovered him on their European tour last year.

[Bigpapa42]

That Haskins botch was ugly.

Loved the crowd and them using an actual arena. Nice work on that one, Brits.

Haven't watched through the entire episode yet but made it most of the way through. There was something like 4 or 5 segments about Garrett Bischoff's trainer. Granted, two of those were really short segments, but still... that's overkill. TNA still doesn't get moderation at all. Half the time I watch, I feel like whoever is writing TNA now (looking at you, Paul Bearer) thinks my IQ is lower than my age and they need to absolutely bash into my head any key point they want to get across. TNA has always been that way and its always annoyed me.

Even worse was that the "mystery reveal" was someone they had already hyped as being on the show. That's just stupid.

[juggaloninjalee]

That Haskins botch was ugly.

Loved the crowd and them using an actual arena. Nice work on that one, Brits.

Haven't watched through the entire episode yet but made it most of the way through. There was something like 4 or 5 segments about Garrett Bischoff's trainer. Granted, two of those were really short segments, but still... that's overkill. TNA still doesn't get moderation at all. Half the time I watch, I feel like whoever is writing TNA now (looking at you, Paul Bearer) thinks my IQ is lower than my age and they need to absolutely bash into my head any key point they want to get across. TNA has always been that way and its always annoyed me.

Even worse was that the "mystery reveal" was someone they had already hyped as being on the show. That's just stupid.

That botch was ugly. Reminded me of Brock Lesnar at Mania against Angle.

Is Percy Pringle writing TNA shows now?

The Hogan reveal thing was stupid because we all knew for weeks Hogan would be on the tour. So Bischoff saying he wouldn't be there was lame! TNA needs to really think about their shows and remove the stuff that makes no sense.

[Jaysin]

That Haskins botch was ugly.

Loved the crowd and them using an actual arena. Nice work on that one, Brits.

Haven't watched through the entire episode yet but made it most of the way through. There was something like 4 or 5 segments about Garrett Bischoff's trainer. Granted, two of those were really short segments, but still... that's overkill. TNA still doesn't get moderation at all. Half the time I watch, I feel like whoever is writing TNA now (looking at you, Paul Bearer) thinks my IQ is lower than my age and they need to absolutely bash into my head any key point they want to get across. TNA has always been that way and its always annoyed me.

Even worse was that the "mystery reveal" was someone they had already hyped as being on the show. That's just stupid.

Paul Bearer isn't writing TNA, Bruce Pritchard/Brother Love is.

[juggaloninjalee]

Paul Bearer isn't writing TNA, Bruce Pritchard/Brother Love is.

That's what I thought. The Paul Bearer thing threw me off completely.

Where is good ol Percy Pringle these days?

[Bigpapa42]

Paul Bearer isn't writing TNA, Bruce Pritchard/Brother Love is.

I thought Paul Bearer seemed "off" when I typed it... but I couldn't be bothered to double-check. Regardless, its someone new and I find it odd that no matter who seems to be doing the creative stuff, some of the same issues carry over.

[juggaloninjalee]

I thought Paul Bearer seemed "off" when I typed it... but I couldn't be bothered to double-check. Regardless, its someone new and I find it odd that no matter who seems to be doing the creative stuff, some of the same issues carry over.

Maybe it is because some things are still the same...

Vince Russo is still writing things. Whoever is producing the show is the same. So if the people editing, producing, and directing are all the same you will have these slip ups.

I wonder if Tazz and Tenay are included in the booking meetings. If they knew Hogan was going to be a secret why would they hype him being in the arena and coming up next? If they are included maybe they should be kept in the dark about everything so they don't give things away that are coming up. To me that would be the best approach to take with all announcers and commentators for wrestling. It would seem more real anyways.

[bigtplaystew]

That's what I thought. The Paul Bearer thing threw me off completely.

Where is good ol Percy Pringle these days?

somewhere having something he shouldn't be eating.

[BHK1978]

The TNA house show I went to started at 6:30. The WWE house shows I went to started at 5:30, 6:30, 7:00. I thought it was weird the first few times, and then sorta gotten used to it.

Honestly the last time I went to a WWE house show had to be around 1994 or so. They used to come to Providence (the closest city near me) what seemed to be like every other month back in the mid 80's to the early 90's, but then they cut it down to like twice a year if that. So I just stopped going, so yeah I guess I really do not know what the normal time for house shows to start is.

Mr Anderson was scheduled to appear at the Belgian house show a couple of weeks ago, so unless they lied to us about it he's still on the roster. Perhaps only working house shows.

When I saw their house show two weeks ago he was on the show so I think you are right he is probably just working house shows for now.

I wonder if Tazz and Tenay are included in the booking meetings. If they knew Hogan was going to be a secret why would they hype him being in the arena and coming up next? If they are included maybe they should be kept in the dark about everything so they don't give things away that are coming up. To me that would be the best approach to take with all announcers and commentators for wrestling. It would seem more real anyways.

I wonder if it was a case of them trying to mislead the audience into thinking it was someone else that was Garrett's trainer. I know when I heard them say it I was like, "Oh good maybe Hogan isn't his trainer and they are going to bring in someone else. After all they wouldn't be that dumb to hype Hogan and then have him show up as the secret trainer.", well obviously I thought wrong and they were that stupid...:D

[D-Lyrium]

I honestly thought Paul Bearer was dead...

[juggaloninjalee]

The last thing I heard he was managing Kamala for the last time on the indy scene before Kamala had his foot amputated or something because of his diabetes? Could be wrong but that is what I heard.

[nucleardonkey]

I believe last weekend he made an appearance for NWA presenting someone with a new title belt. Other than that I haven't of him doing anything.

[The Stallion]

Watched some of the highlights of the London show and I have to say it looked really good. It looked like a real pro-wrestling show. TNA really needs to move out of the Impact Zone and start taking it on the road. I know its more expensive, but it brings so much more to the product. Plus, nobody pays to come to the Impact Zone so TNA is losing out on money anyway. While they may not be able to sell out the bigger arena's here in the US, some of the smaller arenas that ECW use to visit should be easy for them to sell out. By the way, the arena looked packed in London.

[Fantabulous]

Completely agree on how great the presentation of the show looked in London. It looked professional, like a real promotion rather than the gameshow look the Impact Zone has. The problem is that, as you alluded to, is the cost. Spike are the ones who front the money for taking Impact on the road and they're not economically viable to keep doing. They're money losers in that they don't make a difference in the ratings and I don't believe the gates are enough to cover what Spike put in. Again, agreed on how the show looked away from the Impact Zone and it would look much better being like that more often, but it's just not happening.

[Jaysin]

Watched some of the highlights of the London show and I have to say it looked really good. It looked like a real pro-wrestling show. TNA really needs to move out of the Impact Zone and start taking it on the road. I know its more expensive, but it brings so much more to the product. Plus, nobody pays to come to the Impact Zone so TNA is losing out on money anyway. While they may not be able to sell out the bigger arena's here in the US, some of the smaller arenas that ECW use to visit should be easy for them to sell out. By the way, the arena looked packed in London.

They actually couldn't use their real set because they'd have to give refunds to people because too many tickets were sold.

I don't think that's a bad thing at all.

[juggaloninjalee]

They actually couldn't use their real set because they'd have to give refunds to people because too many tickets were sold.

I don't think that's a bad thing at all.

Maybe they should get rid of the original set and go with how they ran it there. It looked less cheesy I think.

[liontamer]

Completely agree on how great the presentation of the show looked in London. It looked professional, like a real promotion rather than the gameshow look the Impact Zone has. The problem is that, as you alluded to, is the cost. Spike are the ones who front the money for taking Impact on the road and they're not economically viable to keep doing. They're money losers in that they don't make a difference in the ratings and I don't believe the gates are enough to cover what Spike put in. Again, agreed on how the show looked away from the Impact Zone and it would look much better being like that more often, but it's just not happening.

I would assume they charged the crowd and made a killing. if they can't make enough in the states, what doo you think about more tours. Maybe canada, Japan, Mexico etc. Makes them look more global as well and then because they are in the states less more folks might fork over some cash.

[D-Lyrium]

So, rumour has it that Dave Lagana has replaced Vince Russo at TNA. The Lagana in part is quite reliable, no idea about the Russo out bit. Let's hope so?

[Jaysin]

I just read that too. I'm hoping Against All Odds starts to leave behind the usual run ins and crappy finishes.

[Macca316]

I'd imagine at this stage the ppv will have been scripted, would they have enough time to change it? i'd say things wont likely change till the next set of tapings?

[Jaysin]

The reason I said tonight is Russo supposedly isn't there, but Lagana is

[Jaysin]

THANK GOD MAGNUS AND JOE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mag Daddy and Joe are awesome together.

Crimson definitely has a good look and some nice intensity, but he needs some fine tuning before I get invested in him.

[Wrestling Century]

According to F4WOnline.com, Jesse Sorensen got a neck injury in that opening match, which caused the early finish of the match. I hope that he's okay. :(

[Jaysin]

Dixie, Hogan, and Angle have been tweeting about it. Hogan is asking people to say prayers for him. Hopefully it's nothing too bad...

[Candyman]

So Sting doesn't count when Bully Ray or Jeff Hardy have a legimate clean pin, and instead tries to revive the ref...but when Robert Roode is making the pin, and Sting doesn't want to count, he does?

Huh.

EDIT: And didn't we already see that finish at SummerSlam 1997?

[D-Lyrium]

Dixie, Hogan, and Angle have been tweeting about it. Hogan is asking people to say prayers for him. Hopefully it's nothing too bad...

Fractured C1 vertebrae apparently. Ouch. (C1 is the very very top vertebrae, just under the skull in line with where the nose is. That's gotta hurt like a bitch).

[liontamer]

that's actually pretty life threatening. How did he do that? on his tour (is that still going on?)

[Self]

Last I heard he couldn't move his legs. Could move his arms and had feeling in the legs, but couldn't move them. He just caught a knee to the top of the head when Xion moonsaulted at him. Freak accident. Bad times.

[Bigpapa42]

Hoping Sorensen is okay. Sounds nasty.

I've been giving TNA another shot and actually watching Impact the last few weeks. I have to be honest, they aren't really winning me back.

[Jaysin]

that's actually pretty life threatening. How did he do that? on his tour (is that still going on?)

His match with Zema Ion. Jesse did a dive onto the outside that looked rough and then Zema Ion did his own dive and his knee landed on Jesse's shoulder/neck area from what I understand.

[nucleardonkey]

His match with Zema Ion. Jesse did a dive onto the outside that looked rough and then Zema Ion did his own dive and his knee landed on Jesse's shoulder/neck area from what I understand.

That's pretty close. Zema did a moonsault from the top rope to the floor but either he came up short or Jesse was too far back and instead of Jesse catching Zema like normally both of Zema's knees landed flat on the top of Jesse's head and he crumpled immediately to his stomach and didn't move again after that. It was scary but you gotta give it up to both of them, Jesse for showing so much recovery already (according to sources he's moving his arms and legs and will fully recover), and to Zema for not breaking character at any point during the whole thing it really made him look even more despicable as a heel.

[DeadCeleb]

Bring on the celebration!

VINCE RUSSO IS GONE!

[Bigpapa42]

I honestly don't expect the Russo move to change much. Its always amost impossible to know who is making what decision within TNA. But as far as I'm aware, the last time that Russo had full control creatively was late 2009, which was one of the best periods they've had since I started watching back in 2008. Pritchard has been there since the fall, apparently with oversight, and while there are some improvements, I still watch and see stuff like 5 segments on the same topic in one episode, a "surprise" reveal being someone already hyped as being on the show, and the wonderful Garrett Bischoff being a key storyline. Some fans like to point to the good things they are doing and say that its looking up, but there are always some good things going on, along with the typical crap. And the typical crap in TNA still seems to be there to me. I expect no change to that.

[Wrestling Century]

I honestly don't expect the Russo move to change much. Its always amost impossible to know who is making what decision within TNA. But as far as I'm aware, the last time that Russo had full control creatively was late 2009, which was one of the best periods they've had since I started watching back in 2008. Pritchard has been there since the fall, apparently with oversight, and while there are some improvements, I still watch and see stuff like 5 segments on the same topic in one episode, a "surprise" reveal being someone already hyped as being on the show, and the wonderful Garrett Bischoff being a key storyline. Some fans like to point to the good things they are doing and say that its looking up, but there are always some good things going on, along with the typical crap. And the typical crap in TNA still seems to be there to me. I expect no change to that.

Indeed. IMO TNA was beginning to become a real alternative to WWE right before Hogan came in. They were holding excellent PPVs, having excellent storylines and excellent matches at the tail end of 2009. But then they tried to compete with the WWE, got creamed in the ratings and got way worse. They still haven't reached/matched their 2009 heights as far as story and match quality goes, IMO.

[Bigpapa42]

Indeed. IMO TNA was beginning to become a real alternative to WWE right before Hogan came in. They were holding excellent PPVs, having excellent storylines and excellent matches at the tail end of 2009. But then they tried to compete with the WWE, got creamed in the ratings and got way worse. They still haven't reached/matched their 2009 heights as far as story and match quality goes, IMO.

Early 2009 didn't do much for me. You had the whole Main Event Mafia storyline dominating everything. Dont' get me wrong - I love me a good stable. But it has to go somewhere. It didn't. It kept the old guys on top and elevated no one.

Late in the year, you had Nigel come in and become an immediate impact player in his feud with Angle. Styles held the belt. It wasn't perfect, but they were moving forward. Then Hogan and Bischoff came in, you had the completely senseless Montreal rehash angle with Hogan and Angle on the first night, then crap like the ring of power Abyss storyline, guys getting built up and then buried (hello Jay Lethal and now the Pope), the ring swallowing people, Knockouts becoming zombies... Just so much crap. I wish I could watch it and just enjoy the good while ignoring the bad but I can't. I've said a thousand times that I really realy want TNA to succeed because I really want a genuine alternative to the WWE but they aren't and I have stopped expecting them to ever be.

[mizzou24]

following in the footsteps of wcw they are.. cramming a bunch of useless shit that doesn't make sense half the time.. sigh :( u think the people in charge would have learned the first time. who knows maybe it will get better but i agree i have stopped thinking it will as well.

[juggaloninjalee]

So I was thinking last night while watching Impact...

One thought of mine was when and why did TNA quit bringing in International talent? I liked when they did that and had the tournament of teams basically.

Then I began to think about the things I loved about WCW and ECW. One of the things was that they brought in really talented international stars.

WCW - Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio Jr., La Parka, Juventud Guerrera, Chavo Guerrero, Alex Wright, Ultimo Dragon, Silver King, and El Dandy. They could all put on good matches.

ECW - Rey Mysterio Jr., Taka Michinoku, and Masato Tanaka. Can't think of any others off the top of my head.

Point is I really feel like TNA could bring in some MORE international talent that is better than Garrett Bischoff for example. I feel like it would draw at least some interest. Weren't they going to bring in El Zorro? I thought I remember hearing that but haven't seen it.

[D-Lyrium]

Point is I really feel like TNA could bring in some MORE international talent that is better than Garrett Bischoff for example. I feel like it would draw at least some interest. Weren't they going to bring in El Zorro? I thought I remember hearing that but haven't seen it.

Psychosis for ECW too, surely? :p

And isn't Garrett Bischoff American?

[juggaloninjalee]

Psychosis for ECW too, surely? :p

And isn't Garrett Bischoff American?

Yeah Bischoff is. I mean having international talent to use instead of a kid who should wrestling at your local indy show.

TNA using their X-Division is a positive if you ask me and some international guys can always spice that up as well as the tag division because the tag division is kind of weak to me.

None of the tag teams in TNA get me excited to watch them.

[steesh07]

I really wish they'd sign Spud, such a good fit for the X - Division

[Hashasheen]

Yeah Bischoff is. I mean having international talent to use instead of a kid who should wrestling at your local indy show.

TNA using their X-Division is a positive if you ask me and some international guys can always spice that up as well as the tag division because the tag division is kind of weak to me.

None of the tag teams in TNA get me excited to watch them.

TNA seems to be cultivating several tag-teams in RKK. The Bollywood Boys (the Sihra Brothers from Canada), the Sheiks (Shawn Daivari and Arya Daivari), Guerrero/Hart are looking pretty good and would really benefit the tag-team division if they get transferred from RKK to TNA at the end of the year.

[BHK1978]

Am I the only one who outright refuses to watch the Hogan-Bischoff segments?

I mean I could care less about that whole thing.

One thing I do find funny about TNA fans is for years I have read, "I wish TNA would push new wrestlers." TNA then begins pushing Garrett Bischoff, Gunner, Crimson, and Zema Ion. Next we hear from TNA fans, "No not those guys, TNA should be pushing better new talent." It is almost as if TNA is damned if the do, damned if they don't.

You can't complain about them not pushing new talent and then when they do push new talent you complain that it is the wrong talent to push.

Granted I am being a hypocrite to a certain extent because I am not a fan of the Garrett Bischoff push. It does not really bother me in the sense that I do not think he is talented enough to get the push he is getting. Because I really do not care about that one way or the other. It just comes across to me as yet another nepotism much like the Erik Watts or HHH pushes or any countless other nepotism pushes we have witnessed over the years.

[Bigpapa42]

Am I the only one who outright refuses to watch the Hogan-Bischoff segments?

I mean I could care less about that whole thing.

One thing I do find funny about TNA fans is for years I have read, "I wish TNA would push new wrestlers." TNA then begins pushing Garrett Bischoff, Gunner, Crimson, and Zema Ion. Next we hear from TNA fans, "No not those guys, TNA should be pushing better new talent." It is almost as if TNA is damned if the do, damned if they don't.

You can't complain about them not pushing new talent and then when they do push new talent you complain that it is the wrong talent to push.

Granted I am being a hypocrite to a certain extent because I am not a fan of the Garrett Bischoff push. It does not really bother me in the sense that I do not think he is talented enough to get the push he is getting. Because I really do not care about that one way or the other. It just comes across to me as yet another nepotism much like the Erik Watts or HHH pushes or any countless other nepotism pushes we have witnessed over the years.

You are definitely not the only person who skips those segments, BHK.

As for fans never being happy, that happens in the E, too. I think its just the nature of hardcore fans to an extent. I remember when the WWE was first pushing the likes of The Miz, Sheamus, and Jack Swagger to the top... On a site I frequents, the exact same posters who had been slamming the WWE for not building anyone new were then slamming the E for picking those specific talents.

[The Final Countdown]

Am I the only one who outright refuses to watch the Hogan-Bischoff segments?
I do the same thing. Thank you, DVR!

[Jaysin]

Zema Ion is amazing. I've been lucky enough to watch him from almost the beginning of his career though. Same with Gargano, Madison Rayne, Hailey Hatred, and Derrick Batemen.

[Basmat01]

When I watch Garrett Bischoff the first thing I think of is David Flair.

I dont think their is an issue with bring in new talent, I think the issue is that they dont know what to do with the mainstays. I mean Joe is in a put together tagteam but really didnt do anything for 1 1/2 years before that. AJ really reach his peak years ago in TNA and the one thing going for him is that his been there from the start.

[Self]

I really wish they'd sign Spud, such a good fit for the X - Division

Everyone should hire Spud. He should be on every show. Every single one.

[BHK1978]

Zema Ion is amazing. I've been lucky enough to watch him from almost the beginning of his career though. Same with Gargano, Madison Rayne, Hailey Hatred, and Derrick Batemen.

I agree, he was just one of the newer talents that came to my head when I brought that up. On another site that I go on I have read where people have complained about him. Not so much about his wrestling and more about his gimmick or lack thereof.

Which I can understand, because the guy is the number one contender for the X Division title and we as the viewers know next to nothing about him. All I know about his in-ring character is he is supposed to be cocky and he carries a can of hairspray with him to the ring.

Now this is not his fault as he is trying to get his character over with what limited time that is afforded to him. I wish TNA would allow him to do more, maybe spend more time on him promo wise and cut back on Garrett's promo time. Which I know will never happen because Garrett is involved in a storyline with Hulk and his father and Zema is involved in a storyline with AA.

[JackKnifed72]

Which I can understand, because the guy is the number one contender for the X Division title and we as the viewers know next to nothing about him. All I know about his in-ring character is he is supposed to be cocky and he carries a can of hairspray with him to the ring.


Had an opportunity to see Shiima Xion (Zema Ion's name before he joined TNA) at about a half dozen indy shows in 2008-2009...The kid is awesome... and to shed light on his character, atleast his indy gimmick anyway, he was billed as a Filipino fashion model who, whilst in Mexico, met midget-wrestler Chucky who trained Shiima to become a pro wrestler...So then it was "semi-androgynous fashion model turned arrogant heel wrestler" ... don't get a chance to watch TNA very often but seems he's more or less working the same gimmick now

[cappyboy]

Had an opportunity to see Shiima Xion (Zema Ion's name before he joined TNA) at about a half dozen indy shows in 2008-2009...The kid is awesome... and to shed light on his character, atleast his indy gimmick anyway, he was billed as a Filipino fashion model who, whilst in Mexico, met midget-wrestler Chucky who trained Shiima to become a pro wrestler...So then it was "semi-androgynous fashion model turned arrogant heel wrestler" ... don't get a chance to watch TNA very often but seems he's more or less working the same gimmick now




So in other words, a Filipino version of Brilliant White? :)

[Jaysin]

According to ewrestlingnews.com, Brian Kendrick is gone from TNA.

Kinda bummed, but at the same time I really hated that guru gimmick. I wish he had just played The Brian Kendrick again.

[ChrisKid]

According to ewrestlingnews.com, Brian Kendrick is gone from TNA.

Kinda bummed, but at the same time I really hated that guru gimmick. I wish he had just played The Brian Kendrick again.

same

[Killagy]

Ugh.....ugh.......ugh......UGH......OH MY ******* GOD!!!

*Vomits everywhere*

......G-guys.....ugh......t-there's.....t-there's......OH GOD!!!

*Vomits again*

........Ugh......I'll let the link below to the 24Wrestling article tell you.....Never thought in my life I'd hear something as horrible as "Hulk Hogan" and "S--"

*Cuts off abruptly as he releases another torrent of vomit*

Read the damn article! x.x

WARNING!!! THIS MAY KILL ANY APPETITE, ABSOLUTELY RUIN YOUR DAY, OR GIVE YOU A LIMP PECKER FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!!! READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!!! (http://www.24wrestling.com/there-is-a-hulk-hogan-sex-tape/)

[Self]

I'd watch it.

[Target Practice]

According to ewrestlingnews.com, Brian Kendrick is gone from TNA.

Kinda bummed, but at the same time I really hated that guru gimmick. I wish he had just played The Brian Kendrick again.

Hey, but at least with Kendrick gone, that's more potential promo time for Garrett Bischoff!


...what do you mean that's not awesome? :P

[juggaloninjalee]

Im glad Kendrick is gone. Wish the Motor City Machine Guns would leave TNA. I'd get more enjoyment out of seeing them at the local indy shows and in other bigger Indys.

[angeldelayette]

According to ewrestlingnews.com, Brian Kendrick is gone from TNA.

Kinda bummed, but at the same time I really hated that guru gimmick. I wish he had just played The Brian Kendrick again.

When I went to the BFG Fan Fest, he signed my autograph book as The Brian Kendrick. He seemed like a really good guy. Hope he heads back to the 'E.'

[BHK1978]

I read an article on another website where Animal said (I am paraphrasing here) that Sting was not in the same league as HHH, Steve Austin, or the Rock. And that Sting will never be considered a legend or icon until he joins the WWE.

Okay I agree that Sting is not at the same level as Rock and Austin but then again not many are. In fact, I think only Hogan is at their level you could say Flair as well but Flair is not a household name to those outside of wrestling.

However, HHH?

Really?

Sting was at one time the face of WCW. HHH was just someone that was shoved down our throats because of who he married.

[dvdWarrior]

I read an article on another website where Animal said (I am paraphrasing here) that Sting was not in the same league as HHH, Steve Austin, or the Rock. And that Sting will never be considered a legend or icon until he joins the WWE.

Okay I agree that Sting is not at the same level as Rock and Austin but then again not many are. In fact, I think only Hogan is at their level you could say Flair as well but Flair is not a household name to those outside of wrestling.

However, HHH?

Really?

Sting was at one time the face of WCW. HHH was just someone that was shoved down our throats because of who he married.

Sounds to me like Animal's angling for a run as WWE Champion. Or not. Either way.

Also...

Maybe it was just me, but 'Abyss's brother' on Impact really reminded me of Penn (of Penn & Teller Fame). Curious to see where that storyline might be going.

:)