The Official TNA Discussion Thread

[Nedew]

If we are talking just paying bills, I can name off at least fifteen indies in my region that pay the talent, and all other bills. Are they above ECW then?

*facepalm*

They're above ECW financially speaking, yes. But not size-wise. Slagaholic wasn't talking size-wise, he was talking financially. As i said in the last post. This is nothing to do with size, popularity, whatever. This specific point is about money.

[Hyde Hill]

Ehm size wise they are also a lot bigger then ECW mainly due to their international exposure. In the US not so much but still bigger ratings wise. And you did contradict yourself money wise pointing out the indies that are profitable and at the same time saying that its easier to run a profit when you are small. Both are true bit given the fact that TNA is much much much larger then any indie and turning a profit that means they are doing a lot better.

And if you are so negative about TNA with that "historical" summary you have been reading too many smark boards.

[thommohawk]

I don't know why the comparisons to ECW - TNA is both bigger, more profitable, and more financially sound than ECW ever was or could ever hope to be. Yes, ECW was wildly popular and set a lot of trends, but that was thanks in large part to 2 things; the times and Paul Heyman. But the fact still remains that ECW died a long time ago, largely thanks to Paul Heyman. So the thing that made ECW was the thing that killed ECW essentially.

TNA have been going 7 years, they're already bigger than ECW ever was, much more financially sound, in a different time to the Attitude Era/ECW thing as well, sounds like sour grapes to me. Let ECW go and take comfort in the similarities that TNA do have to ECW, at least TNA will be in business years from now. And they'll have RVD soon, who knows maybe they'll hire Paul Heyman to take Vince Russo's position or maybe that's wishful thinking on my part since Bisch is there but stranger things have happened. Just remember anything can and sometimes does happen in life and pro wrestling lol.

[justtxyank]

TNA is definitely bigger than ECW. ECW barely had a national television show. The majority of their viewership came from tape trading, they didn't do much touring (any?) and it wasn't really until WOW Magazine started pimping them that they gained any national exposure with common fans after the invasion of WWF.

[Wrestling Century]

Here is something that I personally hate. Why do people chant the company's name? Can't they at least come up with a more creative chant? Just my opinion.

[Eisen-verse]

I gotta give it to TNA. They actually put a newbie over Mr. Anderson at their PPV. Even though he'll def. end up jobbing out to AJ Styles; however, maybe this is their chance to build a new superstar in the process.

Bravo.

[Eisen-verse]

Whoa.... I just realized.... (I haven't watched TNA for awhile now; since Hogan's debut).... BUT.... When did they drop the six sided ring?

[Franchise22]

. ECW barely had a national television show. .

Barely? Spike/TNN is hardly barely national tv since wwe was on that network shortly after....

[Franchise22]

is it me, or is TNAs ring smaller than wwe's? watching impact tonight it just seemed tiny.

[Johnny Fenoli]

Abyss: My precious...

[Slagaholic]

Disagree. It might be a big difference when it comes to the business world. However, in wrestling, companies aren't remembered for their amazing business skills. Companies are remembered for great storylines, innovations, and impact on the entire industry.
And if they don't last, they're remembered for failing.

Care to compare TNA with ECW?

ECW popularized hardcore in America, introduced lucha/cruiser/X-division style wrestling to America, introduced crash TV to the world of wrestling, and completely changed the way the indy scene is viewed.

Half the stuff you say ECW innovated wouldn't have been widely noticed if not for WWF and WCW adapting their technique and then after they bought em WWE going "oh yeah ECW was a huge influence on us!"

TNA has done....nothing. They have innovated one match type (Ultimate X), and that is it.
You sound completely unbiased.

"TNA was a glorified indy promotion that signed a bunch of washed up and/or drug addicted wrestlers, along with some talented cruiserweights, and got a TV slot on Spike TV before signing Hulk Hogan, who promptly ran the company into the ground."

The End...
The story of ECW must include it legitimately run into the ground by Paul Heyman as opposed to your psychic outlook's assertion.

And do me a favor, please explain how TNA could fail due entirely to poor booking.

And Vince McMahon lived happily ever after, being the victor of 3 wrestling wars in his lifetime.
Vince has been in far far more than 3 "wrestling wars"

[Tag01]

I'm so confused. Are Nash and Young faces now? is Samoa Joe? Who the hell am I supposed to cheer for?

[Slim Jim]

Barely? Spike/TNN is hardly barely national tv since wwe was on that network shortly after....

In addition to this, which channel is TNA currently aired on? :rolleyes:

[cappyboy]

I'm so confused. Are Nash and Young faces now? is Samoa Joe? Who the hell am I supposed to cheer for?

Good questions all. And I'm sure I don't have the answers. But I tell you what. I don't believe a word that comes out of Nash's mouth or a punch thrown by his fist these days. I still believe he, Hogan, and The Band are playing everyone for chumps. Like that bill of goods Hogan sold Abyss about the ring. Everyone's selling their part well. But that's all it is in my mind. Salesmanship.

As for Joe if I'm him I'm jumping on Google and finding out what the going rate is for a consistent portrayal. He's been all over the place since they quit having him carry that funky looking tribal knife. And if they aren't going to expand it any or have Joe acting all crazy, could we please knock it off with the Nation of Violence? That shtick is a shell of its former self and it wasn't all that strong to begin with.

[Eisen-verse]

Let me start this off by saying.... I am not a TNA-homer. I have barely watched their shows over the last couple years due to problems with them creatively; as well as the fact that I work most Thursday Night's right now. That being said, I was able to catch tonight's show and.....

I loved it.

I never thought I'd say this, but I really enjoyed watching the show from top to bottom.

The action is great. The storylines are stimulating. Overall, I'm really buying into what they did tonight. Now, I know there are a lot of people out there who bash them (I was one of them for a long time), but, TNA has a new consistent viewer in me (Especially when they move to Monday's).

So, yea, great work TNA.

[alden]

A good impact this week. Pope calling rick......well i know it will be edited so....pope is so great on the mic it is insane. I was never a fan of burke in ecw........he just never seamed to have IT........that one thing that would put him over. what a diffrence a gimmick can make. I am not sure if it is the gimmick or not but i am becoming a huge pope fan. He is getting a good but not insane push *he has lost a few matches* so it is not going to be a "goldberg" push. He is earning he sports i think.

I guess suicide is done.........unless they want to put chris under it again.....

and hogan giving abyss his hof ring??????????? Seams like a little bit of a slap in the face to what it was. I don't think we will ever EVER EVER see hogan in wwe again. He just took alot of credibility away from the hof........not that it had much to begin with.

[BHK1978]

I'm so confused. Are Nash and Young faces now? is Samoa Joe? Who the hell am I supposed to cheer for?

I would like to know that answer as well. I tend to agree with what Cappyboy said, I think that Nash is a heel and he and Hogan are playing us the fans for fools.

is it me, or is TNAs ring smaller than wwe's? watching impact tonight it just seemed tiny.

Not sure about the ring they use on televison, but I know for a fact the ring they use for house shows is really small. If I had to guess I would say the TV ring is smaller due to the fact that they hold the show in a TV studio and space would probably be limited.

Therefore, the ring is probably smaller to fit more fans into the building. I no way know this to be a fact, I am just guessing.

Whoa.... I just realized.... (I haven't watched TNA for awhile now; since Hogan's debut).... BUT.... When did they drop the six sided ring?

They dropped it shortly after Hogan joined the company. I read that Hogan, along with a lot of the other workers did not like the six sided ring. So they decided to go back to a traditional ring.

Abyss: My precious...

:D

[jesterx7769]

Overall good show, quick break down like I've been doing to share my thoughts but keep it readable :P

- Pope/ AJ: Flair and Pope mic battles are/will be good but I think they make AJ look like the third wheel. Also dont think Pope's ready to be feuding with AJ but on the other hand I like they are pushing home growns (Elijah never really counted)

-Jordan/Joe: Not much needs to be said, they are clearly doing something with Joe but did he really need to lose cleanly to Jordan? I think losing to someone like Pope or Daniels or even a returning Kazarian would have been better

-MCMG/ Generation Me, etc: Good match, really glad Kazarian is back as he is a favorite.

- Abyss/Jarrett: I actually thought this was one of the best TNA matches I've seen in awhile and made up for the Foley/Nash hardcore match. JJ is still fighting the man so we will see where that goes.

OMG, Rhyno, Homicide, Raven? Didnt even know they were still with the company, Raven hasnt been in TNA for 2 years. Looks like they are Bischoffs little goons so we'll see.

-Abyss: Wel...I'm glad it seems he will go back to being the monster, just at the cost of him being so dumb he believes its due to a ring, I liked where they were going with it until then.

-Invasion/beer money: Good for what it was, was never a fan of beer money or the british invasion workers but it looks like we are heading toward a good Global title feud so thumbs up.

- Daniels/Angle: Man did Angle win quick. His speech was a little long but it go the crowd over so thumbs up, however I didnt like the brawl. I thought for sure Anderson was going to swing the mic at Kurt when he got close enough (to cheat) instead he basically beat Kurt in a straight up fist fight but cant be too picky I guess.

Nash, etc.: Dont mean this in a bad way for E.Y. but man did he look small next to Nash! And I dont really care about a storyline where one out of four people has had a match in two months so w/e, Hall and Waltman have closed out about half the impacts now it seems since January

womens division: as i said before im not a big womens division fan but liked Daffney being psycho at the end (better than the same old) however no beautiful after gettin so much time last month? unless i missed them (which is very possible)

Overall Rating: 7.5/10, it was good, cant be too picky and there were only a few "errors"

[jesterx7769]

And yes TNA uses a smaller ring than WWE. WWE actually uses a larger ring than what is standard so it isnt TNA using a small ring, its WWE using a big ring (workers like RVD have commented on how it was tough at first adjusting to it)

[BHK1978]

OMG, Rhyno, Homicide, Raven? Didnt even know they were still with the company, Raven hasnt been in TNA for 2 years. Looks like they are Bischoffs little goons so we'll see.

Raven has been back for something like six months. He was in the whole Dr. Stevie storyline when Dr. Stevie was fighting Abyss.

I forgot all about the Angle vs. Daniels match. That is such a shame that Daniels was Main Eventing a few months ago and now he is a jobber.

[alden]

Raven hasnt been in TNA for 2 years.


raven came back a few month ago to feud with abyss and joined doctor stevie ;)

dang beat me to it

[Slagaholic]

Raven has been back for something like six months. He was in the whole Dr. Stevie storyline when Dr. Stevie was fighting Abyss.

I forgot all about the Angle vs. Daniels match. That is such a shame that Daniels was Main Eventing a few months ago and now he is a jobber.

I see him going full on Fallen Angel again just to give him something to do.

[ChrisKid]

Sounds like EY is turning face again (although he was a good heel)
Finally the Suicide rubbish maybe coming to an end

[BHK1978]

Sounds like EY is turning face again (although he was a good heel)
Finally the Suicide rubbish maybe coming to an end

That was what I wanted to ask people's opinion on, with Kaz coming back as himself does that mean the end of Suicide? What does everybody think on that subject?

[Vladamire Dracos]

That was what I wanted to ask people's opinion on, with Kaz coming back as himself does that mean the end of Suicide? What does everybody think on that subject?

He could work as both as himself and Suicide simultaneously, he wouldn't be the first wrestler to do double duty like that (perhaps the first to do so at that level though, I'd have to check on that). If they decide to go that direct though, the question becomes does Kaz he have the range in his repertoire to pull it off without the marks in the crowd catching on.

[thommohawk]

TNA is definitely bigger than ECW. ECW barely had a national television show. The majority of their viewership came from tape trading, they didn't do much touring (any?) and it wasn't really until WOW Magazine started pimping them that they gained any national exposure with common fans after the invasion of WWF.

You're seriously suggesting that a simple wrestling magazine handed more worldwide exposure to ECW than the WWF or any of the big companies (inadvertantly in WCW's case) did ?

I'm a simple wrestling fan from the UK, WWF is dominant over here as other wrestling companies didn't (and still don't) get anywhere near the same exposure (TNA still isn't shown live for example) and yet I knew of ECW before I watched them, but that was in large part thanks to the ECW video game and familiar sounding names from the WWF invasion in the mid 90's - familiar names like Rob Van Dam and Raven (Raven who I knew of from WCW at the time). So yeah I doubt that a magazine has more exposure than a major worldwide wrestling company.

Here is something that I personally hate. Why do people chant the company's name? Can't they at least come up with a more creative chant? Just my opinion.

ECW seemed to set the trend in the early 90's, now everyone has adopted it. Everyone except for WWE's audience, credit where it's due they've never chanted their own companies name. Anyway what do you suggest everyone else chant if not company initials ? If you can think of something more appropriate then please I'm sure we're all ears. If you can't think of anything more appropriate, then I guess there's my point.

[cappyboy]

Here is something that I personally hate. Why do people chant the company's name? Can't they at least come up with a more creative chant? Just my opinion.

Okay, setting my little "forgetting I'd heard of The Crucial Crew" bungle recently aside, here's my take on that phenomenon. If it's a one on one or tag team match, that probably shouldn't be going on. Chant the man's name or the team's as appropriate. But in a case like that Kazarian/Red/Gen Me vs Williams/Kendrick/Guns match, I have no problem with it. Chants have to be simple and compact. If the company's name is what fits that best, chant the company's name. Giving them your money to get in the door is great. But they need appreciation too. Chanting the acronym when it's too unwieldy to chant for talent is a good way to do that. It's one of the smaller things that was right in ECW and I'm glad that part of their legacy lives on.

The thing I don't get about that eight-man tag is what was Williams doing with three American partners like Kendrick and especially the Guns? I thought the British Invasion wasn't supposed to be too keen on Americans. They're playing Kendrick as a screwball loner so I guess I can see that kinda sorta. He's going to attach himself to whomever for whatever ends serve him and to heck with anything unrelated. But I especially don't get the Guns being with Williams. They aren't as solidly heel as Williams and their flamboyant personalities are classically American. I know World Elite has crumbled and all but still it struck me as an odd pairing.

[Hyde Hill]

I'm so confused. Are Nash and Young faces now? is Samoa Joe? Who the hell am I supposed to cheer for?

Young turned face last week and Nash just turned this week after his beat down a couple of weeks ago. Joe turned face leading up to his confrontation with AJ. That is their current status

[Hyde Hill]

That was what I wanted to ask people's opinion on, with Kaz coming back as himself does that mean the end of Suicide? What does everybody think on that subject?

I Like Kaz being back although they could have done more with it storyline wise and actually ending Suicide. Kaz in 2008 and before he left was an upper midcarder and was getting over well and was more over then Suicide ever was or ever could get, just hope they start calling him Kaz again. They can either A) have Homicide reveal it was Kaz all along or B) have a "new" worker use the Suicide gimmick C) Double duty for Kaz.

Anderson beat down Angle by focusing on the wound and he did swing the mic on the wound to lay him out. You could barely see it though due to shoddy camera work ( ,man TNA needs to work on that,).

So far the only guy that seems to be really getting lost in the shuffle/demoted push is Daniels lets hope he goes full on heel or face soonish to get his heat back.

Very entertaining Impact Angle/storyline wise still some of the matches needed more time imho. I would have done Daniels vs Angle as the long main event and closed out with that Anderson vs Angle stuff. And yey for full on Monster Abyss being back (hopefully) and getting the ,admittingly weird, rub from Hogan.

[brashleyholland]

I liked Impact this week, more good stuff from TNA.

Likes:

- Angle's promo

- Pretty much all the matches aside from Daniels being used as a jobber for no apparent reason. Is there noone else that Angle could have tapped out in short order?

- Pope on the mic.

- The Nash/Hall 'fight'. I always loved The Outsiders, so I find myself pulling for Hall and Nash whatever they do, moreso Hall for some reason. This whole thing *HAS* to be a swerve though, with Hall, Nash, Waltman and maybe even Hogan teaming up as another incarnation of the n.W.o. against the likes of Jarrett, Young, Abyss...heck, I wouldn't even be supprised to see Sting back in the rafters. My only gripe would be that none of the 'NWO' guys are great in the ring anymore, so it could work better with Nash, Hall, Waltman and a couple of younger guys going up against Hogan and TNA.

- Good to see them going somewhere with Terry and Magnus. I had the feeling that these two would be lost in the shuffle when Williams got the X-Division title, but it looks like they are going to give them the ball.

- The big tag match was a good TV bout.

Dislikes:

- The whole Hogan/Abyss thing. Did I really just see Hogan give Abyss a ring in order to turn him back into a monster? What, so he's going to be shouting "Form of a Moster!" or summoning Captain Planet to help him out. Abyss needed to 'snap' somehow...maybe he gets locked in a room and has the crazy beaten into him by Mick Foley, maybe he gets sick of Bischoff and beats him to a pulp in his office. But a magic ring? Seriously? Plus, it went on for way too long and some of the lines were awful. Including Hogan's "I was bigger than you could ever be". It may be true, but no need to rub it in :-p

- As I said before, Daniels jobbing. Unless he's going off TV and back under the Suicide hood, I'm not interested in seeing him wasted like that. If it was being used as a long running storyline that involves him getting crazy/evil after being unable to get a win for ages, then ok...but with the way TNA has jobbed out some guys inexplicably recently, I doubt thats happening.

All in all though, a good show. Really enjoying TNA at the mo!

[cappyboy]

Young turned face last week and Nash just turned this week after his beat down a couple of weeks ago. Joe turned face leading up to his confrontation with AJ. That is their current status

At least, that's what we're supposed to believe it is. EY and Joe I can believe are truly face now. But I'm highly suspicious of Nash's. Really all three could snap back heel real sharp and it wouldn't surprise me. But Nash is the only one I believe is really planning to.

[Hyde Hill]

That's why I said current status hehe. BTW those two new video packages where cool although the women's one was a bit long in the tooth. I always said they should use those more as the guy that makes those is great.

One of my personal favs:

LAX Highlight pac. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdxPaztLfH4&feature=related)

PS anyone know the name of the song? As its not Hardcore by filthee that was their entrance song.

[jjohns44]

The way WWE treated Angle when he did promos, I'm glad the fans at least got behind him to deliver a really good promo. If it were WWE, they'd be chanting 'WHAT' after every line. They know how to ruin good promos.

[haloed]

Just popping in to say that I'm enjoyed the last Impact as well. The only thing I really didn't care for was Daniels jobbing to Angle, but atleast it was to Angle.

Any ideas on what they're doing with Joe getting abducted !?! though?


And I read that a student from Team 3D's wrestling school is going under the Suicide mask now.

[Hyde Hill]

Jesse Neal or a new guy?


BTW Bisch has opened a facebook and is asking what you want to see on TNA feel free to chime in, you can prolly recognize my post.

Link: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=310203093797&topic=12677&start=30&hash=d66accff9ecf1f3d1bb0943017226ad4#topic_top

[haloed]

Jesse Neal or a new guy?


A new guy, apparently he is Japanese from I what I read.


Of course I read awhile back that TNA was getting a new young Japanese talent from New Japan (? is that who they have an agreement with) that would be coming over to learn in a TNA ring.

I read the Impact spoilers from both tapings and they used Suicide in a Xplosion or Dark match and they used a Japanese wrestler that wasn't named as well. Not sure if they are the same person or not. Although I'm sure that a talent already affiliated with a Japanese promotion wouldn't train at Team 3D's school but I could be wrong.



Also seeing the big X Division tag team match brought back good memories of WCW using there awesome cruiserweight division. I hope we continue to see atleast one X division match per Impact.

[jwt13]

Kiyoshi (Spell Check) is going under the mask from what I hear

[cappyboy]

Kiyoshi (Spell Check) is going under the mask from what I hear

Sounds like a better use of him than World Elite ever was. Kiyoshi is one of those guys who would really benefit from a rebirth in the art of managing. He's got the skills to be a real threat but it doesn't seem like he has the personality skills to be much as himself in an entertainment minded company. Perhaps the pre-established Suicide shtick will be good for him.

Oh and now that Kazarian is out from under the mask, am I the only one hoping they do a triple threat between Kazarian, Daniels, and Suicide? I don't know how they'd set it up in storyline terms. But it seems like it would be a fun in a nod to the smarks kind of way.

[BHK1978]

Sounds like a better use of him than World Elite ever was. Kiyoshi is one of those guys who would really benefit from a rebirth in the art of managing. He's got the skills to be a real threat but it doesn't seem like he has the personality skills to be much as himself in an entertainment minded company. Perhaps the pre-established Suicide shtick will be good for him.

Oh and now that Kazarian is out from under the mask, am I the only one hoping they do a triple threat between Kazarian, Daniels, and Suicide? I don't know how they'd set it up in storyline terms. But it seems like it would be a fun in a nod to the smarks kind of way.

I would like to see that Triple Threat match myself.

Does anybody know if Kiyoshi can speak English? I don't ever remember him speaking on tv. If he can't or his English is not that good then I agree with Cappy, he is a prime canidate for a manager. Also, that is why he would make a great Suicide.

[alden]

I prefered koshi as the muta gimmick. I am a mutta mark so who knows.......I think koshi is a good wrestler but needs something more then the world elite which seams dead now by the way. I think the suicide gimmick is going to be intresting.......I guess the company will put people under it to just give them something to do. I wonder if they will ever have mutlipte people under the mask at the same time.....There is no rule that the same person has to do it all the time.

[Hyde Hill]

That soon to debut Japanese wrestler is indeed from their working relationship with New Japan and is called Kazuchika Okada. Here is his wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazuchika_Okada

Could be either he or Kiyoshi will go under the mask but I don't really rate Kiyoshi at all anyways compared to other people on the roster.

[haloed]

I prefered koshi as the muta gimmick. I am a mutta mark so who knows.......I think koshi is a good wrestler but needs something more then the world elite which seams dead now by the way. I think the suicide gimmick is going to be intresting.......I guess the company will put people under it to just give them something to do. I wonder if they will ever have mutlipte people under the mask at the same time.....There is no rule that the same person has to do it all the time.



I agree with alden on Kiyoshi going back to being Muta's protege so to speak and them pushing that fact and yes they'd need a manager. Muta had one in his NWA/WCW run where he went without getting pinned for however long it was. He was awesome, I'm not sure Kiyoshi could be that, haven't seen enough of him to be sure but I would atleast like to see it tried.

And being under the Suicide Mask is indeed a great way to keep a talent that has nothing going on busy.

Oh, I like Cappy's idea about the triple threat match between Kazarian, Daniels, and whoever is Suicide now. Heck throw in Homicide since he was suppose to know who Suicide was at one point.

[Hyde Hill]

Bisch has opened a facebook and is asking what you want to see on TNA feel free to chime in, you can prolly recognize my post.

Link: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=310203093797&topic=12677&start=30&hash=d66accff9ecf1f3d1bb0943017226ad4#topic_top

Bisch is still answering questions on a variety of topics and it has been confirmed to be him. Get in quick before he stops just like Russo did.

[Hyde Hill]

Dammit wrong link that\s the discussion board he is only reading that atm, here is the face page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Eric-Bischoff-Controversy/310203093797

Yeah I got 2 questions answered.

[ChrisKid]

Is Big Rob heading for a face turn because he could just destroy the Brits and then become a world championship threat or feud with some big guy

[ChrisKid]

Just looked on wikipedia it turns out he is now face

[Hyde Hill]

Like that is an answer? At the moment he has either turned or is in the middle of one. And while I do not dislike Rob I feel there is a lot more talent out there more worthy of air time.

[Hyde Hill]

Lol getting into a discussion with Bisch about OJ's mic skills, who wants to help supply me with some ammo? I am not saying the dude is horrible but just think the time he is getting could be better used elsewhere.

[ECW 2.0]

I love how eric is putting all of the smarks in there place and showing them really how little they know about wrestling it really makes me happy:)

[Johnny Fenoli]

I love how eric is putting all of the smarks in there place and showing them really how little they know about wrestling it really makes me happy:)

Like what for example? I looked for a minute, but there was too much where's goldberg crap....

[jesterx7769]

I read a summary of it on the one of the wrestling news forums, I like that he isn't kissing ass. If he doesnt like something he's just like "Good point!"

edit: Also Stone Cold just got a twitter which could be interesting

[Tag01]

That was what I wanted to ask people's opinion on, with Kaz coming back as himself does that mean the end of Suicide? What does everybody think on that subject?

Thank God. Love Kaz, HATED suicide. Hated. Hated hated hated....

[masterded]

Thank God. Love Kaz, HATED suicide. Hated. Hated hated hated....

I like Kaz sometimes but he has got to be one of the most inconsistent wrestlers around. I can't think of a single time Kaz was under the Suicide mask that he didn't end up with multiple botches. I don't think being out of the mask is going to help with that.

[alden]

It is the style. It is a big reason i don't like a spot monkey. It is hard to not screw up atleast a few big spots. Can you name a pure spot monkey who does not screw up atleast one spot in every match?

[masterded]

It is the style. It is a big reason i don't like a spot monkey. It is hard to not screw up atleast a few big spots. Can you name a pure spot monkey who does not screw up atleast one spot in every match?

Yeah, but most of them mess up in the air or during a tricky transition, not setting something up on the ground or doing basic moves. I mean it is one thing to botch jumping onto the ropes and another to botch putting someone on your shoulders.

[Eisen-verse]

Thank God. Love Kaz, HATED suicide. Hated. Hated hated hated....

100% agree with you there. Kaz has the looks, has the build, and really does a great job of setting himself apart. Placing someone with his kind of looks under a mask is just simply stupid.

As for Suicide, in THEORY he could have been great. However, I didn't like the way they portrayed his character. Too childish, too "clean". Give him more of a darker look (colors wise with his in-ring attire) and really let him just be this crazy psycho & I'm sure he would have gone over pretty well. There was where TNA dropped the ball back then. A) putting Kaz under a mask and B) not creating Suicide's character to really have any weight.

[masterded]

100% agree with you there. Kaz has the looks, has the build, and really does a great job of setting himself apart. Placing someone with his kind of looks under a mask is just simply stupid.

As for Suicide, in THEORY he could have been great. However, I didn't like the way they portrayed his character. Too childish, too "clean". Give him more of a darker look (colors wise with his in-ring attire) and really let him just be this crazy psycho & I'm sure he would have gone over pretty well. There was where TNA dropped the ball back then. A) putting Kaz under a mask and B) not creating Suicide's character to really have any weight.

The big problem with Suicide is that he is a freaking Video Game character. From a game that sucked (You know it is bad when you count punches and counters as moves and still end up with less then 200 moves) and he is a character with one of the worst origin stories of all time. Then you (you as in TNA) talk about him being a dark character and then saying he wrote his theme songs lyrics, which sound like bad poetry a kid trying to get attention might come up with in middle school.

[Hyde Hill]

Yep Kaz at the time was around the uppermidcard and Suicide never got past midcard. If they where going to do it much better to put an undercard wrestler or a "new" signing under it and then have him revealed and then move on.

[Tag01]

The big problem with Suicide is that he is a freaking Video Game character. From a game that sucked (You know it is bad when you count punches and counters as moves and still end up with less then 200 moves) and he is a character with one of the worst origin stories of all time. Then you (you as in TNA) talk about him being a dark character and then saying he wrote his theme songs lyrics, which sound like bad poetry a kid trying to get attention might come up with in middle school.

Yea, lame all the way around.

[PeterHilton]

Yep Kaz at the time was around the uppermidcard and Suicide never got past midcard. If they where going to do it much better to put an undercard wrestler or a "new" signing under it and then have him revealed and then move on.

I actually thought it would've been interesting to run a multiple personality storyline with Daniels: Suicide, Curry Man, Fallen Angel, and then finally just 'Daniels'

[Hyde Hill]

In my still to be finished TNA diary I had both Kaz and Daniels come out to save Suicide from being unmasked -> instant mystery. Too bad that in real life the dirt-sheets would probably figure out who was signed to play the role. But any fan not into dirt-sheets would be intrigued.

Spoiler on the diary highlight to read:

At Bound for Glory he would be unmasked as being Sean Waltman how is that for irony? Getting past his X-Pac heat and given his life style.

[ColtCabana]

Thank God. Love Kaz, HATED suicide. Hated. Hated hated hated....

I had heard Kiyoshi was going to take over the mask from Kaz.

[BHK1978]

I actually thought it would've been interesting to run a multiple personality storyline with Daniels: Suicide, Curry Man, Fallen Angel, and then finally just 'Daniels'

I would have loved to see that happen. In fact I wish TNA would do that right now, as they don't seem to have anything else for Daniels to do at the moment.

[Hyde Hill]

Well Bisch has been hinting on his facebook that he does have plans for him, all in due time. Seeing is believing though.

[cappyboy]

I actually thought it would've been interesting to run a multiple personality storyline with Daniels: Suicide, Curry Man, Fallen Angel, and then finally just 'Daniels'

They still could. Just crack Daniels over the head well enough and away he goes. Confused over who he really is because he's played so many characters over the years. And then when he's back to himself Daniels could have a showdown with whomever cracked him to begin with. That could make a great blowoff match to put on Bound For Glory. A shame everybody including Mick Foley himself hates the old Lost In Cleveland amnesia angle from early 90's WCW. Daniels would be a good candidate for a modern version of it.

Maybe they could even do a Suicide vs Suicide feud along the way through Brother Hilton's idea. One where you have the "real" Suicide upset at Daniels for thinking he's someone who already exists. It sounds sort of comedic and yet could be entirely reasonable within this context.

[EddieFnG]

Suicide I've heard is still doing house shows, but it's some young Japanese guy (Not Kiyoshi)

[Hyde Hill]

That soon to debut Japanese wrestler is indeed from their working relationship with New Japan and is called Kazuchika Okada. Here is his wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazuchika_Okada

Could be either he or Kiyoshi will go under the mask but I don't really rate Kiyoshi at all anyways compared to other people on the roster.

Then it is probably him aka Kazuchike Okada that they have on long term loan from NJPW.

PS TNA sign front row during the EC! First sign of change! lol.

[cappyboy]

As for Suicide, in THEORY he could have been great. However, I didn't like the way they portrayed his character. Too childish, too "clean". Give him more of a darker look (colors wise with his in-ring attire) and really let him just be this crazy psycho & I'm sure he would have gone over pretty well. There was where TNA dropped the ball back then. A) putting Kaz under a mask and B) not creating Suicide's character to really have any weight.

I don't know I'd say this was his problem at all. If you'd gotten what you wanted from Suicide, I'd probably have spit the bit. I'm not usually too fond of dark gimmicks unless they ham it up. Just a visceral reaction. Dark material and I have never really mixed that well.

The big problem with Suicide is that he is a freaking Video Game character. From a game that sucked (You know it is bad when you count punches and counters as moves and still end up with less then 200 moves) and he is a character with one of the worst origin stories of all time. Then you (you as in TNA) talk about him being a dark character and then saying he wrote his theme songs lyrics, which sound like bad poetry a kid trying to get attention might come up with in middle school.

None of this helped to be sure. But the real problem was how inconsistently he was used in the beginning. They spend all this time hyping him up and when they debut him, it doesn't appear they know what they are doing with him. You can talk about "Oh Kaz was injured then" or whatever. I'm just talking what someone would see with their own eyes. The whys and wherefores aren't particularly relevant. They built the guy up and then he didn't do anything worthy of it. They did finally get into some of the Who Is Suicide stuff. And it was fairly good. Especially the stuff with the Guns and Lethal Consequences. But they promoted Suicide like they were going to go big and then they ended up going home.

I wouldn't say he was a Glacier level failure. But it would have taken a pretty massive repair job on Suicide to have made the initial hype campaign worthwhile. Probably more repair than just fixing the issues you two raised. Actually, I'd say how Suicide's been done is pretty decent considering the failure to capitalize in the beginning. He's never been worthy of the Dark Savior talk. But he's carved a better niche out than a lot of hype-flops have over the years.

[thommohawk]

Who really cares about the Suicide gimmick/character ? I for one never did, Kaz is/was much better off as himself...I do like the idea of Daniels having an identity crisis of sorts - I'd love to see a Kaz/Daniels feud based around the X Division title and the apparent death of the Suicide character which they both played - throw in a red herring or two and a swerve or three and you have an oddball train wreck type feud between 2 uber talented and underrated wrestlers. Definitely do that where Suicide threatens to be unmasked and both Kaz and Daniels come out to try rescue him, then Suicide is unmasked to be revealed to be Sean Waltman, who most people know never played Suicide, could be a good way to kill off the character too to have Waltman don the suit for the lolz, think of it as the Suicide character evaporating into nothing. This is of course all theory and it'll never happen but I'd also even tie it in to the Band/Hogan angle with Waltman claiming he played Suicide for the past year which we all know not to be true but Waltman aptly prompting the question of can anyone disprove him? no. Scott Hall on the other hand, I don't quite know yet lol, maybe have him, Nash and Hogan swerve to form the original nWo but give them a new name cos The Band name just sucks.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm loving the Angle/Anderson feud and the Bisch/Hogan stuff. It looks like they've signed a new wrestler from WWE but I don't know who, probably RVD, speaking of which when he shows up on the live Impact - have him feud with Raven right away and link ECW into it and RVD's almost 2 year reign as Champion, give both an opportunity to promote TNA and bury WWE - good starter feud, and then tease, hint and build to an eventual lengthy feud between RVD and AJ Styles, because that's the one everyone wants to see but TNA shouldn't pop the cork right away like they did with Angle/Joe. In fact how good would it be to have AJ/RVD feuding for a whole year without ever locking up and then at Bound For Glory there you go, 5 star match!

[DaMegaFish]

Am I the only one who think Kaz looks like a putz in nearly every picture? I think the mask was doing the man wonders honestly...

[cappyboy]

Who really cares about the Suicide gimmick/character ? I for one never did, Kaz is/was much better off as himself...I do like the idea of Daniels having an identity crisis of sorts - I'd love to see a Kaz/Daniels feud based around the X Division title and the apparent death of the Suicide character which they both played - throw in a red herring or two and a swerve or three and you have an oddball train wreck type feud between 2 uber talented and underrated wrestlers. Definitely do that where Suicide threatens to be unmasked and both Kaz and Daniels come out to try rescue him, then Suicide is unmasked to be revealed to be Sean Waltman, who most people know never played Suicide, could be a good way to kill off the character too to have Waltman don the suit for the lolz, think of it as the Suicide character evaporating into nothing. This is of course all theory and it'll never happen but I'd also even tie it in to the Band/Hogan angle with Waltman claiming he played Suicide for the past year which we all know not to be true but Waltman aptly prompting the question of can anyone disprove him? no. Scott Hall on the other hand, I don't quite know yet lol, maybe have him, Nash and Hogan swerve to form the original nWo but give them a new name cos The Band name just sucks.


You know, I'd have no problem with this solution to the Suicide character. Could be a fitting end to him considering how they dropped the ball on making him really relevant in the beginning. My one hope would be that they'd do the Suicide vs Daniels part of Chris' identity crisis first. There would be too many fun "what the?!" moments to come out of that to let it go undone.

[TheOmniWarrior]

How was the Kendrick vs Kazarian match?
I watched alot of TNA, up to the part with Bischoff/Jarrett angle but it wasnt really keeping my attention tonight.

[BHK1978]

How was the Kendrick vs Kazarian match?
I watched alot of TNA, up to the part with Bischoff/Jarrett angle but it wasnt really keeping my attention tonight.

It was all right but it was very short. Kind of a squash match in favor of Kaz.

[TheOmniWarrior]

Does Kendrick have a single win in TNA? From the results ive heard since Kendrick debuted (and I may have missed 1 or 2) it seems to me they brought in Kendrick as a jobber

[BHK1978]

Does Kendrick have a single win in TNA? From the results ive heard since Kendrick debuted (and I may have missed 1 or 2) it seems to me they brought in Kendrick as a jobber

That I am not sure of, I miss a lot of TNA due to the fact there are other stuff on TV that I watch. So I really can not give you an answer on that one. It seems he has lost everytime I have seen him fight.

Hyde could probably tell you the answer.

[Hyde Hill]

That I am not sure of, I miss a lot of TNA due to the fact there are other stuff on TV that I watch. So I really can not give you an answer on that one. It seems he has lost everytime I have seen him fight.

Hyde could probably tell you the answer.

Lol am I really the only guy that watches TNA and has a good memory lol joke o course I understand my rep.

And yes he does he sneaked the win in the 3 vs 3 match with him and the Guns on one side and The Bucks and Red on the other side.

Also I don't think he was brought in as a "pure" jobber ala shark boy but as another good hand for the X-Division.

[BHK1978]

Lol am I really the only guy that watches TNA and has a good memory lol joke o course I understand my rep.

And yes he does he sneaked the win in the 3 vs 3 match with him and the Guns on one side and The Bucks and Red on the other side.

Also I don't think he was brought in as a "pure" jobber ala shark boy but as another good hand for the X-Division.

I consider you our resident expert on TNA.:D

You know I did see that three on three match and forgot all about it.:o

Where is Shark Boy now? Last I heard he was still doing house shows for TNA, I was wondering if that was still the case.

[Hyde Hill]

Yep and he is an occasional ref as well. He is their sympathy jobber ala Funaki atm so don't expect to see much of him. Thanks for the praise. (I guess lol.)

[jesterx7769]

Decent show overall, nothing I hated but nothing that made me jump for joy. It was what I expected being a segway to the PPV and March 8 event. Kind of getting bored with some of their storylines so hopefully the wrap them up soon.

[justtxyank]

Lol am I really the only guy that watches TNA and has a good memory lol joke o course I understand my rep.

And yes he does he sneaked the win in the 3 vs 3 match with him and the Guns on one side and The Bucks and Red on the other side.

Also I don't think he was brought in as a "pure" jobber ala shark boy but as another good hand for the X-Division.

I like Kendrick a lot. It disappoints me that he has been losing like he has. I guess this is TNA doing a little WWE though. Kendrick was pretty high up on the card for a stint there with The E, so the new regime is probably not wanting to push the idea that ANYONE who comes from WWE is a star in TNA.

[Dragonmack]

I watched the first half, and I have to say it was hard to watch. AJ Styles becoming Ric Flair lite was kind of interesting, but watching Flair do a promo now is just painful. He used to deliver some of the best promos in the business but now he can't seem to even complete a coherent sentence. And that whole segment of the hall of fame ring and Abyss was just dragged on.

The Beer Money - Hernandez/Morgan tag feud was about the only interesting thing I saw out of that first hour of programming.

Frankly TNA now is looking more and more like WCW near the end, and that isnt a good thing.

[masterded]

Decent show overall, nothing I hated but nothing that made me jump for joy. It was what I expected being a segway to the PPV and March 8 event. Kind of getting bored with some of their storylines so hopefully the wrap them up soon.

Yeah it was an okay show. I would have liked a Pope run-in for the save instead of the whole the ring gave him power to break the handcuffs thing. Though that is more about me not liking Abyss as a face at all. A crazy masked monster works as a heel. A stupid (like a child) big guy in a mask just isn’t a face I can get behind.

[Tag01]

I thought the show was ok, but the stuff with the ring went on too long and was a little over the top. Kaz-Kendrick wasnt bad but was way to short. It was a number one contender's match to start the Kaz-Williams fued, so I don't think Kendrick is going to be jobbing necessarily.

I like the development they're doing with Abyss though. I thought the giant scared child thing was good but had run its course. To see him turn into a confident powerhouse is interesting.

The future Hernandez-Morgan fued doesn't interest me much. Honestly, I wish they had gone with Morgan as Flair's understudy. I think he's a better heel and I could really see him with his persona and in ring style becoming a very good slimy bad guy. I love AJ but this gimmick just doesn't suit him, i'm afraid.

Is no one going to report Samoa Joe missing to the authorities?

Man, did the World Elite go out with a whimper. I don't like Big Rob as a champion, he has never showed much in the ring even if he has the look. Hopefully he'll improve quickly.

I like the Tara/Daphnee fued.

One of my biggest complaints is the roster size relative to TV time in TNA. Scale it back, add a second show, add another hour, something! And please let MCMG's have the Nasty Boys airtime.

[jesterx7769]

Almost forgot to do a brief rundown like Ive been doing as it helps me view the overall show.

- Flair/AJ/Abyss/Hogan opening: Went on WAY too long, dont like how they are trying to prove people wrong by having AJ be "strong" on the mic, I originally liked him having a manager to protect his mic skills and let him shine in the ring but so much for that. As someone else mentioned Flair's promos are hard to sit through. Didnt like the end to it as Flair and AJ take off their jackets then leave, would have been better if Flair said lets fight, then hogan and Abyss took their jacks off first then Flair left, but w/e not a huge negative.

-Nastys/Team 3: Thought we were done with this... seemed like it came out of nowhere also and as we find out later in the show neither the Nastys or Team 3D are considered a top tag team in the company

- Foly/Bischoff storyline: Getting on the really dumb and boring line. This needs to be wrapped up within the next month seriously. I get it. Bischoff likes playing with Foley, last week it made sense, this week it didnt. Eventually Foley will probably take Bischoff out, I just hope it gets there soon.

-Jarret/Bischoff: Decided to do this now instead of when it occured. This is the exact same thing as Foley, last week it made sense as I like the idea of JJ going through some type of gauntlet but this week was just stupid. JJ will probably get the better in the end but just like Foley, wrap it up.

-ODB/Daffney: I wouldnt mind Daffney so much if it seemed the womens division mattered. The beautiful people storyline was so dominant (and i actually didnt mind it as the backbone of the division) and now it has been gone for the past two weeks. Negative isnt on the match as much as the division as a whole. While I hate to say it, they just need to get rid of the division and focus on quality shows for the head to head wars instead of trying to squeeze womens matches in.

-Morgan/hernandez storyline: I like they are going to break them up and are planting the seeds but I dont like the direction of Morgan, I would rather have them swap roles. I thought Morgan was going to be king baby face, backbone of TNA, the bluepring and all that, and now hes a definant tweener at best. Beer Money has been left aside until now so I will wait and see where they go with them before commenting too much.

-Kaz/Kendrick: Pretty short match but liked Kaz before and he came out good, hit the leg drop, dropkick, and his finisher which were all good moves. Kendrick just seems out of place.

-Anderson/Kennedy: This was my favorite part of the show. I didnt know what they would do with the match when I first saw it as I could see Kennedy getting the belt so Terry/Brutus could feud, but could also see Angle costing kennedy the match and keep Kennedy as a main eventer. Well thats what they did and I think it did a great job of improving both storylines which was rare on this episode.

-The band: I havent been interested in this since day one and this episode was a HUGE let down on this storyline. After letting us down last week I was expecting a brawl this week and it wasn't. Once again, this needs to be wrapped up soon either at the PPV or soon after Monday. I am really really hoping it doesnt become a full fledge nWo rip off (its about 80% of the way right now) as that might stop me from watching.

-Wolfe/Abyss: Wow these matches are short. Dissapointed Wolfe lost after getting a push last month but atleast it was for a bigger cause.

-Abyss/Hogan/Flair/AJ: In closing on this storyline, I dont get it and I really dont care about it. Hogan and Flair in the ring...dont care, they both look so old and I really, really, just dont care. Also, why is Abyss part of this? Like many have said the ring is dumb and I agree and disagree with the whole mentoring thing (NXT anyone?)

-Closing thoughts: WHERE WAS THE POPE? whether you like him or not (i personally dont like him being the #1 contender) but seriously, where was he? they had a decent promo last week then gets shoved aside this week for the hour of Abyss and Hogan, shouldnt Hogan be helping Pope beat AJ and Flair since um, hes actually fighting him!?

Samoa Joe anyone? Guess he's dead, oh well.

I guess TNA stands for Total Nonstop Angles there must have been only 30-40 minutes of wrestling.

Overall it was a filler show with not much positive and not much negative, alot of things to be picky about but right now nothing stands out as being better than WWE. Out of the two hours, pretty sure Eric Bischoff was on an hour and twenty of it.

[MattitudeV2]

-Closing thoughts: WHERE WAS THE POPE? whether you like him or not (i personally dont like him being the #1 contender) but seriously, where was he? they had a decent promo last week then gets shoved aside this week for the hour of Abyss and Hogan, shouldnt Hogan be helping Pope beat AJ and Flair since um, hes actually fighting him!?


Pope is selling his injuries after his beating last week.... I'll admit I'm not looking forward to Hogan and Flair battling in a TAG MATCH IN 2010... SOMEONE CALL THE RETIREMENT HOME!!!

[cappyboy]

Almost forgot to do a brief rundown like Ive been doing as it helps me view the overall show.

- Flair/AJ/Abyss/Hogan opening: Went on WAY too long, dont like how they are trying to prove people wrong by having AJ be "strong" on the mic, I originally liked him having a manager to protect his mic skills and let him shine in the ring but so much for that. As someone else mentioned Flair's promos are hard to sit through. Didnt like the end to it as Flair and AJ take off their jackets then leave, would have been better if Flair said lets fight, then hogan and Abyss took their jacks off first then Flair left, but w/e not a huge negative.

I can see where you're coming from but I'm not 100% I agree. From the perspective that A.J.'s trying to learn how to be a marquee caliber champion and not just that of a high indy, I was cool with this segment.

-Nastys/Team 3: Thought we were done with this... seemed like it came out of nowhere also and as we find out later in the show neither the Nastys or Team 3D are considered a top tag team in the company

By far the worst thing I've seen the Nastys do the past couple months. I knew we'd need to see more of this feud before it was wrapped up. But this so looked like the wrong way to advance it. Knobbs is either hurt or selling an injury and Sags appeared to be dialing it down to Knobbs' level out of solidiarity. So the stench that others have been complaining about with them really came through. Would have much preferred to see the match teased and the Nastys somehow weasel out. Preferably with Jimmy Hart's help. There didn't seem to be much point in him being there. Did like them remembering the Jesse Neal/Team 3D bond and using it in the ending. But that pyscho biker look of Neal's has gotta go. Doesn't fit a face gimmick at all. Too over the top.

- Foly/Bischoff storyline: Getting on the really dumb and boring line. This needs to be wrapped up within the next month seriously. I get it. Bischoff likes playing with Foley, last week it made sense, this week it didnt. Eventually Foley will probably take Bischoff out, I just hope it gets there soon.

I guess I can go along with that. I did kinda like the mustard stain on the suit though. That seems like Foley being Foley but still trying to play Bischoff's game.

-Jarret/Bischoff: Decided to do this now instead of when it occured. This is the exact same thing as Foley, last week it made sense as I like the idea of JJ going through some type of gauntlet but this week was just stupid. JJ will probably get the better in the end but just like Foley, wrap it up.

The worst thing about the Bischoff stories here is Bischoff. He's just so slick and oily it's hard to stomach him. The main thing I wanted to see here was for Easy E to order some food from where Jarrett was making it and have Jeff mess up the order on purpose.

-ODB/Daffney: I wouldnt mind Daffney so much if it seemed the womens division mattered. The beautiful people storyline was so dominant (and i actually didnt mind it as the backbone of the division) and now it has been gone for the past two weeks. Negative isnt on the match as much as the division as a whole. While I hate to say it, they just need to get rid of the division and focus on quality shows for the head to head wars instead of trying to squeeze womens matches in.

I kinda like the idea of getting a second Knockout storyline going. But you're right about the Beautiful People. Their exclusion the last couple does seem kind of inexplicable considering its supposed to be the marquee storyline of the division. But then TNA seems kinda sketchy in general about how they progress stories since Hogan came on board. I'm sure the Beautifuls will be back next week. The Knockouts are too good of a dividing line between what TNA and WWE are to sluff them off to the sidelines for too long.

-Morgan/hernandez storyline: I like they are going to break them up and are planting the seeds but I dont like the direction of Morgan, I would rather have them swap roles. I thought Morgan was going to be king baby face, backbone of TNA, the bluepring and all that, and now hes a definant tweener at best. Beer Money has been left aside until now so I will wait and see where they go with them before commenting too much.

I'm not too sure I like the notion of Morgan turning either. One of the main reasons I care about him at all is pretty markish. He reminds me of this guy I hang out at the bar with during football season and watch my Browns with. As such, I want to be able to like Morgan. I agree. Turn Hernandez. Let him be all ticked off by the fact that everyone seems to think he has to have partner to be effective. Let him get all pissy that we don't believe in him as his own man. That would be more interesting at this stage than Morgan's ego getting out of hand again. That feels like a regression for Matt. He does it well but it's a regression.

-Kaz/Kendrick: Pretty short match but liked Kaz before and he came out good, hit the leg drop, dropkick, and his finisher which were all good moves. Kendrick just seems out of place.

You know, I gotta disagree here about Kendrick feeling out of place. To me the guy who feels out of place is Kazarian. Now admittedly the last time he got to be on screen as himself on a regular basis Cox was still being greedy with Spike and keeping in the gated community of digital. So I haven't see much of Kazarian as Kazarian. But based on the last couple weeks, I don't get why I'm supposed to care about him in the least. It feels like he's getting shoved down my throat. The longer it takes them to develop what a Kazarian in 2010 actually is, the less I'm going to be able to accept him.

-Anderson/Kennedy: This was my favorite part of the show. I didnt know what they would do with the match when I first saw it as I could see Kennedy getting the belt so Terry/Brutus could feud, but could also see Angle costing kennedy the match and keep Kennedy as a main eventer. Well thats what they did and I think it did a great job of improving both storylines which was rare on this episode.

I can't say this at all. I actually fell asleep during Anderson's promo's Thankfully it wasn't a deep sleep and I got to see Angle waffle him into the most entertaining match I've ever seen Anderson put on. I didn't really want Anderson vs Terry match. But him being unconscious and getting squashed by the big lump of nothing kinda made up for it. If Terry had to defend the belt successfully, at least it happened in a way that made Anderson look like the chump that he is. Now if they can just find someone more interesting to put the Global belt on.

-The band: I havent been interested in this since day one and this episode was a HUGE let down on this storyline. After letting us down last week I was expecting a brawl this week and it wasn't. Once again, this needs to be wrapped up soon either at the PPV or soon after Monday. I am really really hoping it doesnt become a full fledge nWo rip off (its about 80% of the way right now) as that might stop me from watching.

As long as we're expected to believe they and Nash are on opposite sides, I'm going to have a hard time caring too. It seems far too obvious that Nash is playing Young and all of us for fools. The sooner they just reveal that fact and get on with it the more interesting they can be.

-Wolfe/Abyss: Wow these matches are short. Dissapointed Wolfe lost after getting a push last month but atleast it was for a bigger cause.

Meh, I guess. I wasn't too big a fan of this match at all. Whoever put this together did a horrible job in selling the notion that Abyss should be able to beat Wolfe so quickly. In a hard-fought PPV length match, okay. I could buy that. But this match felt far too rushed for who was in it and why. Nothing wrong with the execution. But the planning. IG!!

-Abyss/Hogan/Flair/AJ: In closing on this storyline, I dont get it and I really dont care about it. Hogan and Flair in the ring...dont care, they both look so old and I really, really, just dont care. Also, why is Abyss part of this? Like many have said the ring is dumb and I agree and disagree with the whole mentoring thing (NXT anyone?)

Taken at face value I rather agree. But taking the long term view I do of AJ it works for me. As long as folks like Joe and Daniels can bring him around to himself in the end, I have no issue with this storyline.

[CQI13]

May 14th, Dixie Carter will be in Monroe, NJ answering fan questions (probably close to 2 hours I'm guessing) in a YouShoot event.

KayfabeCommentaries.com for more details.

Here's the link:

http://www.kayfabecommentaries.com/YS_LIVE_Site_Page.html

[jesterx7769]

She's actually one of the most positve things about TNA. She's been very cool and personable to fans. I got to meet her real briefly before the PPV in Detroit (Plymouth) Michigan as she was walking around the seating area before the show shaking hands and answering questions from fans.

[tristram]

I don't know if this has already been posted...

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i231/MackemRoid/1264711987712.gif

[BuddyGarner]

I've been watching TNA for the past few weeks and my main problem is that there are way too many angles per matches and there hasn't been a real main event. This results in me fast forwarding through most of the angles cause I'm like isn't there going to be a match yet?

[djthefunkchris]

I've been watching TNA for the past few weeks and my main problem is that there are way too many angles per matches and there hasn't been a real main event. This results in me fast forwarding through most of the angles cause I'm like isn't there going to be a match yet?

I don't know if that will EVER (Match ratio vs. Angles) get better, but you might want to stop fast forwarding, as the angle's have been getting better and better (IMO), and the show's are actually coming together. There is the little thing's where it doesn't seem like some people are meldling with other's (Like the Knockouts seem to be all by themselves, a promotion of their own almost), but things climax to a head by the end of the show there is at least an answer, or a match that has been pretty much been in the works the whole show (angle's), and by the time it happens, you should be able to tell by crowd re-action (somewhat... TNA crowd is still a turn-off), it's been made into a Main Event.

I know ending with an angle or whatever seems to always happen, but they are getting alot better in the "making scense" department.

Take my opinion for what it's worth, but I kept trying to watch before, and I couldn't keep them tuned in.... However, I find myself looking forward to TNA every thursday night now.

I just hate that they are going to Mondays' because I won't be able to watch them (or Raw for that matter). Oh well.... Maybe I will find out what this "TIVO" stuff is all about one day.

[dcxbox]

mondays will be interesting.

monday nights start off with ROh on hdnet
then its tna vs wwe
then wrestlicious :takedown (debuts this monday march 1st) after raw

[Wrestling Century]

I have a question. Why did Christian leave TNA?

[jesterx7769]

Money and Prestige, pretty obvious.

[Hyde Hill]

Short answer: Money! Edit: And yeah prestige.

Long one: Not happy with creative because he wasn't the no1 player anymore because of Angle and Booker.

[Blackman]

OMG, The Steiner Brothers are reuniting on a WPW card, and they're set to face the team of...

Scott Hall & Heidenreich.

ahahahah :tranen:

WHAT A TEAM!!!!!

I mean, they really fit. Their skillsets are so alike! :p

[Wrestling Century]

What is WPW? I want to see that match.

[Bigpapa42]

Short answer: Money! Edit: And yeah prestige.

Long one: Not happy with creative because he wasn't the no1 player anymore because of Angle and Booker.

I do wonder how much of an effect that really had. I mean, he headed back to the WWE where he was clearly not going to be a top star. If even the WWE told him in negotiations that he was going to headline the ECW brand for them, how much does that really mean? To me, it could've been moreso that being the no10 star in the WWE meant more than being no3 in TNA.

[Hyde Hill]

Well that was what was rumored at the time the short part is the main part.

BTW one of my Q's and Bischoff's answer made headlines on PWI and 411! I was the one who asked if the ppv buyrates where up. There was more to the Q but still Yeay! lolz.

[PeterHilton]

I do wonder how much of an effect that really had. I mean, he headed back to the WWE where he was clearly not going to be a top star. If even the WWE told him in negotiations that he was going to headline the ECW brand for them, how much does that really mean? To me, it could've been moreso that being the no10 star in the WWE meant more than being no3 in TNA.

Beyond that, I don't see how Christian could've been completely happy with his run in TNA. He was another victim of Jarrett's propensity to focus the shows on himself regardless of what fans actually wanted to watch.

Christian won the title, had a mini-feud with Monty Brown (on his way out of the company) then spent two months in a feud with Abyss that was definitely portrayed on TV as being 'less important' than the JJ/Sting mega-feud.

So Christian was RED HOT when he signed with TNA, even HOTTER when he won the belt a few months later, and then nothing more than a subplot a few months after that when JJ wins the title back (because he was never really booked as THE man in TNA) and then he really is nothing more than a footnote a few months later when he turned and helped JJ beat Sting for the belt.

At least if you're a jobber to the stars in the E, you're making more money and jobbing to bigger stars than Jeff frickin Jarrett. :rolleyes:

[Hyde Hill]

One of the many improvements over the years in TNA no more spotlight hogging by Double J.

[haloed]

Well that was what was rumored at the time the short part is the main part.

BTW one of my Q's and Bischoff's answer made headlines on PWI and 411! I was the one who asked if the ppv buyrates where up. There was more to the Q but still Yeay! lolz.


I think the more interesting answer was what would of happened if WCW had been the one buying WWF. Not say Bischoff would of followed through with his answer but he definately had a good answer.


I also find it interesting that Bischoff would take John Cena, Randy Orton, and Chris Jericho from WWE if he had the chance. Even though he claims Jericho can't Main Event.

[PeterHilton]

I also find it interesting that Bischoff would take John Cena, Randy Orton, and Chris Jericho from WWE if he had the chance. Even though he claims Jericho can't Main Event.

To be fair though, it's not as if the WWE has ever treated Jericho as a bonafide, franchise level, let him run with the ball, main eventer either.

He's treated FAR better than he ever was in WCW, but his character is more of a storytelling device for the top faces to play off of and a transitional champion.

Never quite gotten that Triple H/Rock/Cena treatment though..

[Hyde Hill]

I think the more interesting answer was what would of happened if WCW had been the one buying WWF. Not say Bischoff would of followed through with his answer but he definately had a good answer.


I also find it interesting that Bischoff would take John Cena, Randy Orton, and Chris Jericho from WWE if he had the chance. Even though he claims Jericho can't Main Event.

Man one of the biggest mistakes on the net atm. He said that at that time Jericho couldn't main event. It was taken out of context and changed into could never is not main event. The rest of the interview they put him over as a great talent.

[Hyde Hill]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQmW44dlVKE&feature=related

Where it is taken from starts at 3.33.

[jesterx7769]

I asked about Sting and Monty Brown, we'll see if any response is made.

[PeterHilton]

You're right about this particular misquote, but Eric in general comes off as a self satisfied prick who refuses to admit a single mistake any time he talks about the WCW/nWo era.

I mean..when he's asked about 'losing' the Monday Night Wars he inevitably comes back with some variation of 'Turner/Time Warner lost the war' or 'if it hadn't been for corporate policy' or 'there were decision made that were out of my hands' yada yada yada

So I've completely stopped caring about his perspective on things from that time period.

He had a big hand in taking the hottest, most popular, most talent laden wrestling company in the history of the industry and running it straight to sh*t. So he loses all crediblity by blaming that failure on AOL?Time Warner.

[Hyde Hill]

Yeah I asked about Monty too and got the standard we have a great roster at this time and need to focus on them answer. Totally agree with that statement as they do need to prune the roster before bringing others in. RVD is the only must sign though.

And yeah EB does tend to put too much blame on others, but the whole Time Warner and after that AOL merger really did hurt them in a lot of ways.

[jesterx7769]

The problem I have with him is he likes to talk as much as possible and all of his answers are right (when talking about that time) but of course his answers are right, its all in hind sight! As an example from today when asked about if WCW would have bought WWE he says how he would have kept them going for feuds and business, of course he is going to say that b/c it is the popular answer! He probably would have buried people to smite Vince.

[Hyde Hill]

Well so far on his facebook he has been pretty straight shooting and not pulling punches I really like it. I am just wondering where all the Schaivone, Bagwell, insert random jobber/midcarder WCW talent fans are coming from?

I know every talent that has ever been on tv has probably got at least one fan but still.

[Wrestling Century]

I have a question: Does Monty Brown still wrestle, or is he retired?

[Hyde Hill]

Kinda unknown. He is booked for a signing coming up somewhere and last year he wrestled shortly for an indy.

[jesterx7769]

Pretty sure he retired, thats why he left WWE. But I loved him, he was one of the people that made TNA different, he was super charismatic and The poooounce was a cool finisher, it was like an uber spear. Alot of what made TNA is gone which makes me sad :(

From TEW terms, they came off as DAVE compared to SWF, now they are a Sports entertainment TCW that gets the people SWF doesnt want to negotiate with.

edit after Hyde: I mean retired as in doesnt do it full time.

[Wrestling Century]

Monty is one of my all time favorite wrestlers, but yet I've never seen him wrestle since leaving WWE. His finisher, The Pounce (was that its official name?) looked like it could legitimately knock someone out IMO.

[jesterx7769]

Yeah it was the name, I dont know about knock someone out but I thought it looked like it could actually crack a rib compared to a normal spear, youre coming off the ropes, hes coming off the ropes, when a normal spear is just someone running from 10 feet away from a standing start.

Also loved how Abyss got to use both his finshers more back then as he seemed to always do it into tacks (seems like theyre just not bringing the black hole slam back as devastating) of course the canadian destroyer, and AJ did a lot more of his flash moves back then, like Sabans finisher as well and this may just be b/c I zone out during MCMG but i havent seen him do it in awhile.

[Hyde Hill]

Highlights:

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

Kick ass promo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEqEas9hUAI

And to be fair lowpoints:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZInbDzjOdjU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXZOgzE5KMI&feature=related

Monty Brown + Sabu + Ring Ropes = fail lol.

[PeterHilton]

And yeah EB does tend to put too much blame on others, but the whole Time Warner and after that AOL merger really did hurt them in a lot of ways.

How? I mean..yes there were corporate considerations that may have changed the product, but I find it hard to believe that AOL/TW had anything to do with driving the nWo into the ground, botching Sting/Hogan at Starcade, wasting Bret, wasting Goldberg, burying the midcard talent, burying Flair and the Horsemen, incomprehensible booking, etc.

All those things had more to do with WCW's failure than anything Time Warner did.

[PeterHilton]

Love Monty too. Another guy who got shafter because Jarrett wouldn't give up his spot.

[masterded]

Monty left because his sister died and he wanted to take care of her kids or something like that right? So it seems not only was he entertaining but an actually good person too.

[Hyde Hill]

How? I mean..yes there were corporate considerations that may have changed the product, but I find it hard to believe that AOL/TW had anything to do with driving the nWo into the ground, botching Sting/Hogan at Starcade, wasting Bret, wasting Goldberg, burying the midcard talent, burying Flair and the Horsemen, incomprehensible booking, etc.

All those things had more to do with WCW's failure than anything Time Warner did.

Let's not get into the whole decline of WCW and how and why thing as there are so many factors involved in that its a whole separate thread and yes EB was a major factor in it.

[Hyde Hill]

Monty left because his sister died and he wanted to take care of her kids or something like that right? So it seems not only was he entertaining but an actually good person too.

He left because of family matters yeah. What those exactly where I haven't been able to find.

[Blackman]

What is WPW? I want to see that match.

World Pro Wrestling. it's in august i believe. Read it on 411.

And monty brown frickin' owns. that promo was kinda funny, though a little off at times. But the 'pounce' was awesome.

i wanna see Monty vs Raven again!

[rd_dbacks01]

Monty left because his sister died and he wanted to take care of her kids or something like that right? So it seems not only was he entertaining but an actually good person too.

He left WWE because his sister died. I think he left TNA because his contract was up and WWE put in an offer.

[masterded]

He left WWE because his sister died. I think he left TNA because his contract was up and WWE put in an offer.

Yeah, I should have been clearer and said left wrestling and not just left.

[thommohawk]

How? I mean..yes there were corporate considerations that may have changed the product, but I find it hard to believe that AOL/TW had anything to do with driving the nWo into the ground, botching Sting/Hogan at Starcade, wasting Bret, wasting Goldberg, burying the midcard talent, burying Flair and the Horsemen, incomprehensible booking, etc.

All those things had more to do with WCW's failure than anything Time Warner did.

WCW reached the absolute high that it did thanks largely to EB, but the downfall was largely down to him and his arrogance as well as WWE's much improved product - the bullet that killed WCW though from a creative standpoint was the departure of EB and the hiring of Vince Russo as head booker as that's when ratings really began to tank and talent really got wasted. Really when you think about it the only good to come out of WCW was their rise to the top, but once they got there from the position they were in at around 1997-1999 they just pissed it all away through poor booking essentially, starting with the nWo mismanagement. Though I imagine it's difficult to book a product when your top stars have total creative control over their character, and some have crazy ever rising contracts which they didn't deserve.

[Slagaholic]

One thing The Death of WCW got right was the assertion that Jamie Kellner ultimately is what killed WCW. This is the man that also canceled Animaniacs and Freakazoid, he is made of evil.

Bischoff didn't do it, Russo didn't do it, the booking did not cause WCW to go out of business.

[PeterHilton]

One thing The Death of WCW got right was the assertion that Jamie Kellner ultimately is what killed WCW. This is the man that also canceled Animaniacs and Freakazoid, he is made of evil.

Bischoff didn't do it, Russo didn't do it, the booking did not cause WCW to go out of business.

I'm sorry but that is completely wrong imo. And the ending of that book is a total cop-out.

Bischoff did do it. Russo did do it. The booking did actually cause WCW to go out of business.

You can't blame a TV executive for making a sound business decision. It wouldn't have mattered who was in that position; the fact that WCW had lost more than half their viewing audience, was losing more than a million dollars a week, and had buy rates that were dipping below a 1 means that any TV executive in their right mind would've taken heat for NOT cancelling the show.

The people running WCW were responsible for giving TBS and AOL/TW all the reason in the world to kill the company.

If WCW was still turning a profit, still getting good ratings, and still doing good PPV numbers then no one at Turner would've been able to justify cancelling the show, bias towards wrestling or not.

[PeterHilton]

WCW reached the absolute high that it did thanks largely to EB, but the downfall was largely down to him and his arrogance as well as WWE's much improved product - the bullet that killed WCW though from a creative standpoint was the departure of EB and the hiring of Vince Russo as head booker as that's when ratings really began to tank and talent really got wasted. Really when you think about it the only good to come out of WCW was their rise to the top, but once they got there from the position they were in at around 1997-1999 they just pissed it all away through poor booking essentially, starting with the nWo mismanagement. Though I imagine it's difficult to book a product when your top stars have total creative control over their character, and some have crazy ever rising contracts which they didn't deserve.

Mostly agree with you. I just think the downward momentum was so bad that I'm not sure Russo did anything more than hasten the descent.

He was awful...but really even if the booking was great they were so upside down financially that good booking may only have extended the life of the company a year or so.

Don't know..it's an interesting what if.

[justtxyank]

The contracts are what led to it being cancelled. They were losing so much money because they had way overinvested into their workers. I think Greg Valentine was still earning decent money until like 2000. They had tons of workers under good money contracts despite not using half of them. If that weren't the case, even with their decreased ratings, they still would have been a good entity to have around.

[justtxyank]

Mostly agree with you. I just think the downward momentum was so bad that I'm not sure Russo did anything more than hasten the descent.

He was awful...but really even if the booking was great they were so upside down financially that good booking may only have extended the life of the company a year or so.

Don't know..it's an interesting what if.

I think people are unfair to Russo. By the time he got there, WCW wasn't just a sinking ship, it was the Titanic after it had already gone vertical, preparing to split in half. He was in a tough spot. They wanted him to radically change things to right the ship so he tried.

Another think people forget is that network executives really put the pressure on Bischoff to tame the product in like 1998 I think.

[Moe Hunter]

I can't say this at all. I actually fell asleep during Anderson's promo's Thankfully it wasn't a deep sleep and I got to see Angle waffle him into the most entertaining match I've ever seen Anderson put on. I didn't really want Anderson vs Terry match. But him being unconscious and getting squashed by the big lump of nothing kinda made up for it. If Terry had to defend the belt successfully, at least it happened in a way that made Anderson look like the chump that he is. Now if they can just find someone more interesting to put the Global belt on.
Having seen the show now... Cheers for letting me know to just skip past your posts now. Previously you'd been admitting "he's not for me", but this, really? You never saw his matches against Undertaker, Batista or HBK? Or somehow you hate him more than anyone ever hated Triple H in 2002/3 or Cena in 2005/6.

[CQI13]

Have to remember that even getting half of what WWE was getting, they were still the highest rated show on TNT (at least Nitro was). Kellner made a deal somewhere where HE personally benefitted. The video library alone was worth well over $3-5 million.

[TheOmniWarrior]

Im confused about something?
Why is TNA pushing abyss? Hes boring in the ring and on the mic.
And for some reason they have him main eventing one of impacts biggest nights?

[cappyboy]

Having seen the show now... Cheers for letting me know to just skip past your posts now.

You're welcome. When it comes to Anderson, I have to say I'm shocked it's taken until your post to get this. I must be an entire jukebox of broken records about him by now.

Previously you'd been admitting "he's not for me", but this, really?

Sorry, dude. I call em as I em. I'd much rather see Rob Terry squash an unconscious Anderson than see Anderson trying to be competitive. And that whole microphone from the sky thing bores the crap out of me. So yeah. Really.

You never saw his matches against Undertaker, Batista or HBK?

Probably not. I've been a very inconsistent viewer of WWE for the better part of a decade now. And even if I did, whatever entertainment I got out of the match would be due to the other guy. The guy's a talented mimic. I'll give him that. But it would probably taking someone throwing a chapter and verse quote back at me to remember a single interesting move I've ever seen Anderson perform. I could see guys just as exciting in the ring in old black and white reels from the 50's.

Or somehow you hate him more than anyone ever hated Triple H in 2002/3 or Cena in 2005/6.


Probably right in that same ballpark. I mean it's no secret how little love I have for Jeff Hardy either. But yet, I'd much rather watch Jeff than I would Anderson. At least Jeff's being Jeff and feels real. If Anderson could do that, maybe I could quit making posts like you're responding to. But so far the only place it seems like he's seen fit to be more than a mimic is Youtube where only diehards like us would even know about it.

[Slagaholic]

I'm sorry but that is completely wrong imo. And the ending of that book is a total cop-out.

Bischoff did do it. Russo did do it. The booking did actually cause WCW to go out of business.
No it didn't.

You can't blame a TV executive for making a sound business decision.
Cancelling one of your highest rated shows because of content is never a sound business decision.

It wouldn't have mattered who was in that position; the fact that WCW had lost more than half their viewing audience, was losing more than a million dollars a week, and had buy rates that were dipping below a 1 means that any TV executive in their right mind would've taken heat for NOT cancelling the show.
3 of the 4 things you noted had nothing to do with the decision to cancel WCW programming. If Bischoff had bought WCW he would have been taking on the losses. AOL/Time Warner would only be giving them air time. And at the time WCW was canceled as far as cable TV goes, they were whuppin ass. As far as WWF went, they sucked ass. But AOL/TW weren't looking at WWF's ratings, only WCW employees were.

The people running WCW were responsible for giving TBS and AOL/TW all the reason in the world to kill the company.
It was CONTENT that got WCW cancelled, to compete with WWF they had to get more "edgy" but Jamie Kellner and by proxy AOL/TW weren't going that way. WCW was not cancelled for it's ratings. It was cancelled for content.

If WCW was still turning a profit [...] then no one at Turner would've been able to justify cancelling the show, bias towards wrestling or not.
Why do you keep talking about WCW turning a profit having to do with the decision to cancel the show? Bischoff was ready to buy the company, Turner would have been off the hook for a vast majority of the losses.

If WCW was [...] still getting good ratings [...] then no one at Turner would've been able to justify cancelling the show, bias towards wrestling or not.
What do you think the average rating is for the primetime Monday Night timeslot on a cable station? Significantly lower than Nitro's ratings even in early 2001.

If WCW was [...] still doing good PPV numbers then no one at Turner would've been able to justify cancelling the show, bias towards wrestling or not.
What, pray tell do PPV buyrates have to do with a cable station's Monday Night Primetime slot? Nothing. AOL/TW wouldn't care about WCW's buyrates if they sold WCW.


All the reasons you gave do not apply to AOL/TW's decision to cancel WCW programming.

[PhenomenalPat]

According to several websites and her own twitter account, Awesome Kong and TNA have officially parted ways when Kong was granted her requested release.

It's certainly a loss to the division...but with Sarita, Wilde, Tara, Hamada and the the soon to return Nikki Roxx they still have some talent. Wish Melissa was still there tho.

[jesterx7769]

I'm not really holding out hope for the womens division right now anyway. And kinda how they let Bubba go, if Kong and Bubba's legal thing goes forward they dont want to be associated with Kong either

[Hyde Hill]

Lets just hope its a work because all in all she is an attraction. Guys if you want to discuss the reasons WCW went under start a new thread. In general if you read both Controversy Creates cash and The Death of WCW you get the best picture possible from both sides of the coin. As usual the "truth" is illusive and in the middle eg a combination of all factors.

[jesterx7769]

I'm assuming you guys saw Impact gets 3 hours later this month? SHould be interesting to see if they use that time for more Bischoff on tv or to show other talent that hasnt been getting time as of late

[brashleyholland]

I'm assuming you guys saw Impact gets 3 hours later this month? SHould be interesting to see if they use that time for more Bischoff on tv or to show other talent that hasnt been getting time as of late

I thought it was an hour of that TNA Epics show then a two hour Impact?

[Hyde Hill]

Yep Brashley is correct. Or are they getting more some day other then the 8th?

[PeterHilton]

From what I understand, it's an hour long episode of Epics centered around the X Division (like an episode of Forensic Files probably) followed by Impacy.

[Moe Hunter]

I can understand not getting Kennedy having not seen any of his high profile feuds. Speaking of that logic, man I hate Yoshi Tatsu. What's he supposed to be, some asian guy? His whole arm tassle thing is a joke, is he trying to be Ultimate Warrior?

:P

[djthefunkchris]

I can understand not getting Kennedy having not seen any of his high profile feuds. Speaking of that logic, man I hate Yoshi Tatsu. What's he supposed to be, some asian guy? His whole arm tassle thing is a joke, is he trying to be Ultimate Warrior?

:P

Honestly, you have to admit that Kennedy/Anderson does come off as "trying" to hard. His promo's feel forced and his ring work is average. I actually like him though.

I don't dislike Yoshi, but that music has to go.

[liontamer]

Anyone know if TNA is replaying the show on thurs again like when they had the other mon show?

torn between watching 24 and TNA on Mon.

Also confused why TNA is going on at the exactsame time as Raw. Thinking I'd overlap with 30-60 min unnopposed before/after Raw

[jesterx7769]

Pretty sure I read the rerun will be on Saturday.

[Moe Hunter]

Honestly, you have to admit that Kennedy/Anderson does come off as "trying" to hard. His promo's feel forced and his ring work is average. I actually like him though.

I don't dislike Yoshi, but that music has to go.

Absolutely he is, and I'd definitely say it's not working great for him in TNA so far. Plus, maybe it's just me not being American, but I don't care AT ALL about his whole "Soldier's Medal/Tags" storyline.

How about running a simple program where Anderson keeps mocking Angle for losing to AJ, and Angle plays up the whole "you talk big but I wrestle big" idea and fights him to shut his mouth?

But then, this is TNA where 90% of the show is taken up by incredibly boring people and stories. Seriously - Bischoff, Hogan, 3D, Nasty Boys, Hall, Waltman, Jarrett and Abyss... Completely unwatchable for me right now.

[BHK1978]

Absolutely he is, and I'd definitely say it's not working great for him in TNA so far. Plus, maybe it's just me not being American, but I don't care AT ALL about his whole "Soldier's Medal/Tags" storyline.

No it has nothing to do with you being from New Zealand. I am an American and I really could care less about that dumb storyline as well. To me that storyline would have worked well back in the past, pre-Attitude era, but now a days it comes across as hokey, at least to me it does.

[cappyboy]

No it has nothing to do with you being from New Zealand. I am an American and I really could care less about that dumb storyline as well. To me that storyline would have worked well back in the past, pre-Attitude era, but now a days it comes across as hokey, at least to me it does.

I can certainly understand that. I'm the segment of the audience they are trying to play to with that and I'm not even sure how I feel about it. On the one hand, I love how old-school the storyline is. But I question the timing. I can't deny that Angle is in theory the best man in today's world to be playing face in a story like this. But last year at this time he was deep in the throes of being don of the Main Event Mafia. Seems rather abrupt for him to be doing such an uber-face storyline right now. I try to roll with it while it's on my screen. But I don't know. Really feels like they should make Angle more conclusively face first.

[Hyde Hill]

well he has been acting like a face since after BFG, they just never really gave him a face moment so to speak. Just acting like a good guy and Wolfe being a "badder" guy if ya catch my drift. Still Anderson vs Angle and AJ vs Dinero/Abyss should be good programs.

[spikedave]

Seems like Kong is gone from TNA if her twitter page is anything to go by

Quote:
I'd like to thank @tnaDixie and all of the employees at TNA for wishing me the very best in my future endeavors.

[Hyde Hill]

Yeah that was a couple o days ago but it seems TNA are still trying to convince her to stay. Scroll back for the comments.

[cappyboy]

well he has been acting like a face since after BFG, they just never really gave him a face moment so to speak.

That's what I mean. Sure Angle's playing face now and has been since the fall of the MEM. But he could all to easily revert to the heelish ways he had going prior to BFG at any time. What is there to cement him to the face side of the ledger. This feels more like something a pre-Flair AJ Styles or a face of the division team like Beer Money should have been doing. Beggars can't be choosers and at least TNA Creative is throwing my slice of the fanbase a bone. But I don't know that either Angle or Anderson is the right choice for their spots in the storyline.

[TheOmniWarrior]

does anyone know if
http://thesportscourier.com/content/tna-impact-3410-results-spoilers
is complete results?
I mean for a two-hour show to only have 2 matches... I have to have missed something? Is TNA maybe getting an hour only on thursday?

[ECW 2.0]

does anyone know if
http://thesportscourier.com/content/tna-impact-3410-results-spoilers
is complete results?
I mean for a two-hour show to only have 2 matches... I have to have missed something? Is TNA maybe getting an hour only on thursday?

thats not all im sure they have been doing at least four matches per show or more

[Hyde Hill]

Yeah the amount hasn't really been the problem, more the time that is given to them.

[jesterx7769]

It's a sad day for TNA :(

http://pwinsider.com/article/45615/tna-knockout-released.html?p=1

[Hyde Hill]

Will be missed because she was a true TNA girl through and trough and was good in skits etc and had a seemingly good personality.

PS what is it with Playboy and getting fired?

[TracyBrooksFan]

that sucks Traci is gone :(

[jesterx7769]

RVD Has Signed Woo!

[Hyde Hill]

Oh I will be so Marking out! It is on! Woohoo!

Lol I listened to that interview via link and hoped he was referring to Van Dam. One the one side Whoohoo RVD and on the other sad the cat is out of the bag. If J Hardy's court case goes well and he decides on TNA they will have 3 legit main event talent that everybody knows and can still go in the ring.

[b0shey]

Hogan is a moron spoiling that RVD signed with TNA, it would have been so much better if it was a surprise... but guess hogan got a boner from that signing he just had to spoil it... not that i give a flying F@ck anyways.

According to sources, people within TNA are said to be "fuming" mad that the RVD news leaked out. - TNA should strip him of his booking power for that.

[Hyde Hill]

Could be he didn't know about the camera's or forgot. Still it can be argued to be a smart move as the most of the IWC will tune in to see him appear and the marks won't know so will be surprised. Personally would have wished he kept it a secret for a bigger mark out moment. Have been saying all along he is their must sign.

[b0shey]

http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/stories/Video_Hulk_Hogan_Says_RVD_Has_Signed_With_TNA.shtm l

The video speaks for itself.

[jesterx7769]

I'm thinking he was just being an idiot and forgot the camera was there or wasn't thinking they would be posting the video. If he meant to leak it on purpose he would have just said RVD's name so IMO its obvious he just slipped up like an idiot.

[Self]

Rob Van Dam is one of the few remaining free agents that will actually making a difference in the ratings. What's the point of him being on the show if you don't announce it beforehand? Out-of-the-blue surprises mean bugger all difference to ratings. I for one am much more likely to watch Impact on Monday now, than I was before.

Strip him of his booking power? Hell, they should give Hogan a damned medal if he was the only one who wanted to announce it ahead of time.

EDIT: Haven't seen the video, so my comment may be utter bull. Announcing RVD = Good in my opinion.

[jesterx7769]

Rob Van Dam is one of the few remaining free agents that will actually making a difference in the ratings. What's the point of him being on the show if you don't announce it beforehand? Out-of-the-blue surprises mean bugger all difference to ratings. I for one am much more likely to watch Impact on Monday now, than I was before.

Strip him of his booking power? Hell, they should give Hogan a damned medal if he was the only one who wanted to announce it ahead of time.

EDIT: Haven't seen the video, so my comment may be utter bull. Announcing RVD = Good in my opinion.

I think announcing it before hand is def. the right move, but it seems like it could have been more climatic. If they just signed him yesterday, they totally could have made a hype video to show on Impact tonight during a commercial break ala Kurt Angle and I would have flipped.

[Hyde Hill]

Like I said the IWC who is really into these kind of things are now more inclined to tune in and the marks will flip once he turns up or the hype video plays. The only thing Hogan did was make the iwc people who where going to watch anyways like me mark out a bit less when he shows up.

A hell why are we over analyzing this RV mother.... D !!!!!

[thommohawk]

I think that the ones who are complaining about Hogan spoiling the RVD thing is the same as those who complain about the spoilers rather than complain about themselves for viewing them. If you wanted to go in cold and surprised, especially now it's live every other week, then for god's sake stay off the internet because someone will spoil it. Same with games too, people posting what happens in a game's ending or whatever just days after it releases and it's the same thing, blame yourself if you wanted to be surprised for putting yourself in the position for it to be spoiled for you in the first place. This is the internet we're talking about. And the Hogan/RVD thing, no names were mentioned on the radio and yet the video is out there on the net now which totally gives the game away.

Besides here's a great idea, instead of calling Hogan a tool and Bischoff an anti christ - why not revel in the news that Mr Monday Night is going to Monday Nights - for TNA and not WWE's watered down product. ;)

Jeff Hardy, RVD, AJ Styles, Kurt Angle, Mr Anderson.....to name but a few - TNA is really the place to be. Especially after Wrestlemania if HBK and Undertaker do end up retiring, I still think they might go to TNA. Jim Ross could be a massive surprise on Monday too, purely my speculation though!

[Hyde Hill]

I think that the ones who are complaining about Hogan spoiling the RVD thing is the same as those who complain about the spoilers rather than complain about themselves for viewing them. If you wanted to go in cold and surprised, especially now it's live every other week, then for god's sake stay off the internet because someone will spoil it. Same with games too, people posting what happens in a game's ending or whatever just days after it releases and it's the same thing, blame yourself if you wanted to be surprised for putting yourself in the position for it to be spoiled for you in the first place. This is the internet we're talking about. And the Hogan/RVD thing, no names were mentioned on the radio and yet the video is out there on the net now which totally gives the game away.

Besides here's a great idea, instead of calling Hogan a tool and Bischoff an anti christ - why not revel in the news that Mr Monday Night is going to Monday Nights - for TNA and not WWE's watered down product. ;)

Jeff Hardy, RVD, AJ Styles, Kurt Angle, Mr Anderson.....to name but a few - TNA is really the place to be. Especially after Wrestlemania if HBK and Undertaker do end up retiring, I still think they might go to TNA. Jim Ross could be a massive surprise on Monday too, purely my speculation though!

luckily that kind of smarkiness doesn't happen here (much) which makes this a great board.

JR has signed a temporary contract extention.

On spoilers it depends, generally people on here will hide the spoilers and the good news sites will make them clear so you can avoid them and still keep up with the news you do want to know.

Still something as massive as RVD signing would be hard to miss hehe.

And if TNA trims some of the fat ( I am looking at you nasties lol) on the roster they have a kick ass one.

[jesterx7769]

I dont think RVD and reading spoilers are really related. I personally dont read spoilers bc i watch/dvr the shows. Signings however, I would like to know about it, just like people want to know if Favre is coming back before week 1. To me it just came off as very anticlimatic and I doubt it was planned that way unless like someone said TNA wanted to keep it under wraps until Monday and Hogan wanted it out, but Jimmy Harts reaction seemed honest (to me) I'm not even upset Hogan leaked it, but I would have rather him just say the name on the radio. This is all nit picking though b/c RVD is AWESOME!

[lazorbeak]

Hogan is a moron spoiling that RVD signed with TNA, it would have been so much better if it was a surprise... but guess hogan got a boner from that signing he just had to spoil it... not that i give a flying F@ck anyways.

According to sources, people within TNA are said to be "fuming" mad that the RVD news leaked out. - TNA should strip him of his booking power for that.

Wait, what? Hogan's a moron for leaking that one of the biggest free agents in wrestling not named GOOOOOOLDBEEERG is going to be on TNA television? Am I missing something here?

Also Hogan didn't even 'leak' the story, he just strongly hinted it and Spike put the information in print. So yeah, Hogan should be stripped of the book because Spike TV put something up on Twitter? Seems like that's the least of his problems. Putting up a watchable program is more of a priority.

[sabataged]

Nothing on topic here...just saying I got my TNA Lockdown Tickets today!

[sabataged]

Hogan is a moron spoiling that RVD signed with TNA, it would have been so much better if it was a surprise... but guess hogan got a boner from that signing he just had to spoil it... not that i give a flying F@ck anyways.

According to sources, people within TNA are said to be "fuming" mad that the RVD news leaked out. - TNA should strip him of his booking power for that.

Wouldn't you want to leak something like this? Then tease his debut for the next couple of weeks so people tune in wanting to see him. I thought that was how this works?

[Moe Hunter]

Besides here's a great idea, instead of calling Hogan a tool and Bischoff an anti christ - why not revel in the news that Mr Monday Night is going to Monday Nights - for TNA and not WWE's watered down product. ;)
So he can play backseat to 80 minutes of Nasty Boys, 3D, Abyss, Hogan, Bischoff and The Band? Woohoo! Yeah, 10% Match Ratio is where it's at - RVD is sure to be better off there than in a place where they actually had him wrestling.

Jeff Hardy, RVD, AJ Styles, Kurt Angle, Mr Anderson.....to name but a few - TNA is really the place to be. Especially after Wrestlemania if HBK and Undertaker do end up retiring, I still think they might go to TNA. Jim Ross could be a massive surprise on Monday too, purely my speculation though!
Jim Ross is still suffering from his latest Bell's Palsy attack, otherwise he'd be on WWE TV right now. I *highly* doubt HBK or Undertaker would go to TNA. If they retire, it's because they're old and broken down and realise it's time to stop. I get the strong impression that they're both still going simply because WWE needs them and their star quality on the shows.

Neither of them would have *any* incentive whatsoever to go to TNA. "Reduced schedule" means nothing because they already have that. Panda can pay Sting/Angle level money, I guarantee they wouldn't match what WWE is paying HBK or Taker. Less exposure to the public, crappier videogames (and again, far less revenue from the games - as JR recently mentioned there's a lot of money to be had in being in SvR)...

So why exactly would either of them go from the absolute top of the business to a movie studio lot in Florida, where not even the fans in attendance pay to see them?

[sabataged]

Jeff Hardy, RVD, AJ Styles, Kurt Angle, Mr Anderson.....to name but a few - TNA is really the place to be. Especially after Wrestlemania if HBK and Undertaker do end up retiring, I still think they might go to TNA. Jim Ross could be a massive surprise on Monday too, purely my speculation though!

There is no chance in hell Taker or HBK leave for TNA...they already have part time schedules making like 3 times as much as they would in TNA and are two of the locker room figure heads. They have been in WWE so long they get to do what they want. Why would they leave? That's completely ridiculous

[alden]

if taker does not become an agent of some kind i would be shocked.

[sabataged]

if taker does not become an agent of some kind i would be shocked.

Ya I think he will take some time away then come back as a Road Agent or whatever...

[alden]

haha anderson making fun of kurt for being injury probe? wow....hello mr. kettle have you talked to mister pot?

[tristram]

The only way HBK or Taker ends up in TNA is this.. Taker was big time on Bret Hart's side in the whole screw job thing, if, some way, some how, VKM screws Bret again and its seen as nothing more than a ploy to stroke his ego, then maybe Taker goes. HBK? The only way it happens is if he gets truly angered by having to stand in the same ring as the Hitman and ... well, I don't know, is forced to job to him?

I would say 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% of either of those things happening.

I think they now probably have enough established stars as such, they now just need to work on ways to start building foundations around the likes of Styles (which they are doing), Samoa Joe (which I don't think they've done well for a while), and a few of their X Division type athletes of the day such as Lethal or MCMG. And, of course, IMO the best worker in the business today, Kurt Angle. Now more screwey endings, resist the temptation to 'mass swerve' everyone with constant turns, keep some good logical plot lines going to the big events and find ways to get the right talents over.

Oh, and more Velvet Sky, because she's hot as hell.

[Hyde Hill]

Again a very, very story driven Impact and it was overkill. Hope they don't keep this up or I will maybe need to break my word that I would keep watching no matter what if they brought in RVD. Although to be fair most of the angles where pretty good for what they where.

[djthefunkchris]

Again a very, very story driven Impact and it was overkill. Hope they don't keep this up or I will maybe need to break my word that I would keep watching no matter what if they brought in RVD. Although to be fair most of the angles where pretty good for what they where.

They have always "overkilled" in my opinion, but these storylines are making alot more sense (to me). I can get behind TNA right now, without much of a problem.

I might even be home for the first monday, and get to see Hogan/Flair match, support TNA, and be off on Tuesday as well. First time all year without taking leave!

[Self]

Watched 3/4 of Impact (the last bit hasn't been uploaded to my regular haunt yet) and... I don't hate it. Tag Match was a little short. X-Division Title got a little buried. I had a massive urge to punch that blubbering sycophant Abyss in the face... but I liked Pope's promo. I loved Wolfe's promo. I enjoyed Kennedy's whole deal. Anytime I see MCMG vs Bucks is a plus.

Not too bad. Looking forward to seeing the last 20 minutes or so. They got me excited about the Main Event.

[thommohawk]

There is no chance in hell Taker or HBK leave for TNA...they already have part time schedules making like 3 times as much as they would in TNA and are two of the locker room figure heads. They have been in WWE so long they get to do what they want. Why would they leave? That's completely ridiculous

Well first off, even on their current WWE reduced schedules they're still working hard as when they are on WWE television they are in a different city every week so even WWE's limited schedule is a lot more toil and work than TNA's at full load. Secondly, they've made their fortune and name from wrestling so I doubt their rep and finances come into it nearly as much. Thirdly, they've both been at WWE for more around 20 years and now they're both in their twilight and have achieved all they possibly can at WWE and yet they can both have an impact on the wrestling industry IF they go to TNA and achieve something meaningful for the business and that's healthy competition. And finally, rewind a year, did you see Hogan and Bischoff coming into TNA, or Ric Flair, or Jeff Hardy or Rob Van Dam ? Or did you see Bret Hart coming back to WWE and making up with Shawn Michaels ? If you're honest you have to say no. The point is that anything can and will happen. Especially now Impact is going live head to head with Raw. And it's doubtful I grant you, but it's not as beyond the realms of possibility as you might like to think I can assure you.

And to be honest I firmly believe that TNA could actually be an attractive proposition for both Taker and HBK for all of the implications that it brings especially given their current status with their current company. And let's be honest here, who wouldn't pay good money to see AJ Styles vs Shawn Michaels vs Kurt Angle at Bound For Glory - or Taker vs Sting?

[justtxyank]

I'm so excited RVD is back! I will definitely watch TNA on Monday.

[justtxyank]

Even though I think Thommohawk is kind of a fool, he does have one point.

In the 90s I would have told you there was no way Bret Hart would go to WCW. There was just no way. He and Vince were tight, he was the flagship of the company, etc. In 1990 I think you would have said Hulk Hogan would never be in WCW either.

I think it is incredibly unlikely that HBK or Taker ever work for someone else, but you never know. With HBK it is even more unlikely because of HHH. The biggest thing with Taker is that the E is willing to keep him around in whatever role for as long he wants. It's not the E that takes him off tv or talks about his retirement.

[thommohawk]

Even though I think Thommohawk is kind of a fool, he does have one point.

That was below the belt! ;) And besides that, of course, everything I say has a point because hey I'm right hehe. :rolleyes:

[dcxbox]

There is no chance in hell Taker or HBK leave for TNA...they already have part time schedules making like 3 times as much as they would in TNA and are two of the locker room figure heads. They have been in WWE so long they get to do what they want. Why would they leave? That's completely ridiculous

wasnt it reported during one of the financial reports that taker earned over 10 million in a year with contract + merchandise and shows. so i dont see him going to tna, even though in tna he could work even less dates than he does now, but as of now tna doesnt have the sales that wwe could generate for his merchandise.

[jesterx7769]

Impact thoughts this week as I've been doing (they're decently sized but help me view the overall show so too bad :P )

- Opening: At first I was dissapointd Flair and AJ were opening the show again since it seems they always do but I liked this one. No one rambled and it set up the main event, so overall it was good.

- Wolfe segment: Good, I said it before that they should use these new guys in angles to briefly show to them to people to try to get them also. Chelsea is also smoking.

- Bischoff/Jarret (will also include the Morely match): I liked it. Two weeks ago I said I liked running Jarret through a type of gauntlets, then last week i felt they dropped the ball, but this week was good with the no DQ match, afterall, JJ wanted a match so he got it. I was worried at first him cleaning toilets was gonna be the same as last week but glad they made it good.

tag team match: yay MCMG's, I knew Beer Money would win but I liked peple get their time and the "car crash" like match is old TNA style so I liked it. much better than a slow dudleys/nastys match like we've been seeing.

Foleys' etiquette: didnt really like these segments. I know, I know Foley will get the better of it in the end but these were supposed to be funny and they just werent to me.

Pope Promo: Same as Wolfe, love it. People who dont know Pope wont know Pope by wrestling alone so get him in front of the camera for at least a minute a show. He's charismatic and people mark out for him. Love it.

British Invasion: Here is my problem with it. I dont have a problem with the story line (i actually like it) or Big Rob whos a physical steroid guy freak, but what I'm worried about is as soon as I care about them they will drop them or the storyline since they dont seem as important as the rest of the roster. However, its good for what it is now and I liked how it was short and sweet. Once again, lots of people getting brief tv time, I like it.

Anderson/Angle: When I first saw Andreson come out I liked it, this feud has gone all over the place angle/match wise and I like it. However his promo went on too long and wasnt funny "i broke my neck, i broke my neck" i get it. I liked Angle actually came out to fight as it seems his personality and liked Anderson got the better this week since theyve been trading off and on and the olympic slam was an in your face thing that Anderson has been doing. Started off slow, finished strong.

Hogan/Abyss: Too long, and I thought Abyss was a B.A. now?

Beautiful People: Finally, only took three weeks to even show them on tv again. As i say every week I'm not a big womens wrestling fan but from a writing stand point this was a good storyline. Plus Lacey von Erich is super hott. Glad this is still going as I see it as a solid three month storyline thing if done right and is much more risque than WWE. BTW props for Angelina for taking that whipping and those marks, had to sting.

BTLS/Angle/Bischoff on Hogan: This was awful all around. 1) Dont try to break Kayfabe with Hulk Hogan by using his real name. hes mother f'n Hulk Hogan the biggest star EVER in wrestling. And what is with Hogan getting injured in this match? We went from him teaching Flair a lesson to this is an awful decision and people dont think he will survive, literally. I guess he should just put his HOF ring back on since it has secret powers. Also, whats with Hogan being called out and an under dog? He made this match!

The Band: Will Nash PLEASE finally join them on Monday or get them off my tv.

Tomko/Jarrett: Good news, this got some time. bad news, it was with an out of shape Tomko who probably wont be a star and if Jarrets so injured probably should have lost but I guess he finally got one over on Bischoff. A guitar shot ending would been better since I loved that :)

Title Match: Well, like many people on here said they were worried AJ would turn into some sorta mini Nature Boy and the robes and figure 4 made me worry to now. Eventually I see AJ turning back face as they've been building but I just hope this whole Flair thing doesnt turn people off of him. As far a the match, had some very good action and spots over all acting like its tag match (since it pretty much was) only thing I didnt like was the ref telling AJ not to attack the leg, um its a wrestling match? but it set up the chair shots which was good, despite Pope being able to hang on and the ref made a judgment call? Um...are you serious? This isn't MMA. This was a good match until the last minute and it actually really frustrates me. Post match beatdown did a good job of setting up Monday and I like how Wolfe is continually used as in TEW terms, in a supoort role during these attacks the past weeks instead of just walking to the back.

Other thoughts: Unless I missed it, still no word on Samoa Joe. Glad Sting is back and it looks like he will debut/return on Monday (hopefully with RVD) not to much wacky questions or thoughts so thats good.

Overall show: 8.5/10, great show hyping Monday, saw some decent in ring work, nothing that bad on the show except the last minute refereeing in the main event. If their shows are consistently like this I think they will draw more viewers on Mondays.

edit: Much less Bischoff on this show, very nice. I think he should appear in small doses in order to make him more important, like uh oh, here's Eric to lay down the hammer/settle the argument.

[Moe Hunter]

Beautiful People: Finally, only took three weeks to even show them on tv again... Glad this is still going as I see it as a solid three month storyline thing if done right

It's pretty easy to have a long storyline when you only have an "episode" once a month :P

[tristram]

Even though I think Thommohawk is kind of a fool, he does have one point.

In the 90s I would have told you there was no way Bret Hart would go to WCW. There was just no way. He and Vince were tight, he was the flagship of the company, etc. In 1990 I think you would have said Hulk Hogan would never be in WCW either.

I think it is incredibly unlikely that HBK or Taker ever work for someone else, but you never know. With HBK it is even more unlikely because of HHH. The biggest thing with Taker is that the E is willing to keep him around in whatever role for as long he wants. It's not the E that takes him off tv or talks about his retirement.

I don't know if I would have said there was no way. For a number of a reasons. Firstly, the fact that clearly there were issues with Hart and Michaels. A very, well... simmering tension. Secondly, from what I understand Bischoff tried to recruit Hart to be in the original nWo concept, but couldn't quite jag him due to Hart's loyalty, but none the less, the seed was sewn. Thirdly, because the WWF was in a dead set dogfight and struggling financially and had to dump some fuselage to get through.

I don't see Taker and HBK having the same tensions with anyone on the roster, except in HBK's case with Bret Hart. I haven't heard TNA actively target either. And the WWE has a mountain of cash and has in the past tended to reward these type of workers with life behind the scenes deals, not only for loyalty reasons, but to protect them from causing a spike in ratings by appearing on the oppositions product. While the WWE didn't protect Flair or Hogan, they had both spent a lot of time competing mainstream against the WWE and Taker and HBK, aside from some work in AWA, a tiny bit of WCW in its infancy, and a little bit of WCCW, never really had competed as major stars against the WWE.

[Hyde Hill]

Well Morley and Roxxi are gone. Shame Roxxi got injured when she did and Morley got so much airtime etc and is now gone. He was a decent hand but overpushed and they needed to trim the roster. So him going CMLL instead of sticking with TNA is a blessing in disguise.

Next up hopefully: Nasties, OJ, Terry, Neal, Stevie, Kiyoshi, LVE.

Phase Out: Nash and 3D.

[Hyde Hill]

Updated hopeful roster: Still big but should work.

Main Event:

Angle
Styles
Joe
Daniels
Hardy
RVD

Upper Midcard:

Morgan
Hernandez
Abyss
Wolfe
Dinero
Anderson

Midcard:

Young
Homicide
Rhino
Kaz
Red
Tomko

Undercard:

Moore
Shark Boy

Tag Teams:

Hooliganz (Kendrick + London)
Motor City Machine Guns
Beer Money Inc.
British Invasion (Magnus + Williams)
Generation Me
Lethal Consequences

Women:

Kong
Tara
Hamada
ODB
Wilde
Sarita
Daffney
Love
Rayne
Skye

Occasional Wrestlers/Personalities:

Foley
Jarrett
Flair
Hogan
Sting
Raven

Backstage Interviewers:

Borash
Hemme

Announce crew:

Tenay
Taz

Other:

Bischoff
So Cal Val
Penzer.
The referees.

[dvdWarrior]

Morley leaving surprises me. Not so much that I'm surprised that he's leaving, mind you, it just seems odd that he was able to pin one of the top faces of TNA in their "match" on Impact last night. Always makes me scratch my head when a guy comes in, pins one of the top guys in the company, and then leaves.

Doesn't seem like it'd make much business sense.

:confused:

[jesterx7769]

I wouldnt classify daniels as a main eventer considering how little hes been used or pushed, and Hardy shouldnt be on the list right now. I would def say Pope is a ME (after all hes facing AJ for the title at the PPV) and Wolfe/Abyss have also been used in ME roles recently but understand why you dont consider them yet.

[jesterx7769]

Morley leaving surprises me. Not so much that I'm surprised that he's leaving, mind you, it just seems odd that he was able to pin one of the top faces of TNA in their "match" on Impact last night. Always makes me scratch my head when a guy comes in, pins one of the top guys in the company, and then leaves.

Doesn't seem like it'd make much business sense.

:confused:

Its because he wants to work for CMLL in Mexico. When TNA only had 1/2 tapings a month this wasn't a problem, but not with the live Mondays they decided to part ways.

[Tha Black Phenom]

Son of a...

Even when Angle and Christian Cage were ruling TNA with an iron fist I didn't feel like watching. But now, Angle, Annnnnderson, and Mr. Monday Night himself.... I has all I can takes and I can't takes no more, I'll have to start checking this out again.

[brashleyholland]

Morley leaving surprises me. Not so much that I'm surprised that he's leaving, mind you, it just seems odd that he was able to pin one of the top faces of TNA in their "match" on Impact last night. Always makes me scratch my head when a guy comes in, pins one of the top guys in the company, and then leaves.

Doesn't seem like it'd make much business sense.

:confused:

Agreed. I remember reading that Hogan owed him dates from the Australia tour...knowing that he was only there for a set number of dates, it seems weird that he gets to pin JJ then leave.

Surely they could have just got someone like Rhyno, Wolf...or even three or four midcarders to jump JJ and achieve the same effect?

[Hyde Hill]

I wouldnt classify daniels as a main eventer considering how little hes been used or pushed, and Hardy shouldnt be on the list right now. I would def say Pope is a ME (after all hes facing AJ for the title at the PPV) and Wolfe/Abyss have also been used in ME roles recently but understand why you dont consider them yet.

Yeah its more where I want to see them middle/long term then where they are atm hence the hopeful part.

[Hyde Hill]

Agreed. I remember reading that Hogan owed him dates from the Australia tour...knowing that he was only there for a set number of dates, it seems weird that he gets to pin JJ then leave.

Surely they could have just got someone like Rhyno, Wolf...or even three or four midcarders to jump JJ and achieve the same effect?

Yep and beat Daniels, TNA was kinda jumping the gun/putting the horse before the carriage here. Giving him wins/exposure before he had signed long term, probably in hopes that it would help convince him to sign long term. Still as I said before he was a decent hand but didn't have any upside that any of the current talent already has so not sad to see him go. More miffed about Roxxi.

[Self]

Watched the last part of Impact. Awful Main Event. Ruined the show for me. Wolfe had a good promo hyping it. Pope had a good promo hyping it. I fast-forwarded much of Abyss' blubbering, but I assume he hyped it too. That's fine. Talking is good if it ends with a satisfying match... but the match sucked. Wolfe and Abyss just disappeared.

Didn't mind the ref stoppage finish. Better they did it on a Submission than for punching in the corner.

[Basmat01]

From what I have read Morley wanted to work in Mexico and was going to continue to work for TNA BUT because they are moving to monday nights Morley couldnt do both. so pretty much it was one or the other and he choose Mexico.

[PeterHilton]

I have a new favorite youtube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/scotthalltv

Scott Hall is a mess, but at least he owns it.

[Wrestling Century]

Do any of you guys think that TNA will sign Goldberg? I hope that TNA signs Goldberg.

[Stennick]

Goldberg has said he's got little interest in signing with TNA. He's doing three or four different television shows for like the Speed Channel and some other niche cable networks. He's done wrestling and honestly I don't think he's got much name value. He was a big deal for one year 12 years ago.

[Self]

I just wish the folks in charge would remember what made Goldberg special for that year. That win streak was awesome. If TNA could really get behind someone and actually push them in the Goldberg fashion, it would be a step in the right direction.

I liked Goldberg. Had no problem with the Spear + Jackhammer ultra-squash formula.

[jesterx7769]

He has lots of money now (search for things on his car collection) and would be a waste since the only people that would like him would be WCW fans after WWE burried him so quickly. I think the value of Sting brings in anyone Goldberg would bring in (old WCW fans that refused to watch WWE) so they have that base covered.

Unfortunately Goldberg as a whole is nothing special (never was) and if TNA (or WWE for that matter) wanted to they could easily create a new Goldberg by giving a big muscular guy a 100 win streak and as much as I dont like that idea I would rather see Matt Morgan get 100 straight wins (remember WCW used alot of house shows in that streak) than them sign Goldberg for alot of money

On a different note, Monday should be awesome with RVD and Sting appearing, that is I'm assuming RVD debuts Monday as I dont see why he wouldn't with how big a night it is unless his contract isn't completley official by then

[lazorbeak]

While Goldberg's peak year was over ten years ago and I absolutely agree he'd serve absolutely no purpose aside from completing the transition from TNA to WCW circa 1998, it's also not true that he is no longer a big deal or that Sting fills the same role. Yes, Sting was a huge deal in 1997, but he practically disappeared after WCW outside of his yearly BFG title wins for TNA. Comparatively, Goldberg is currently on a pretty highly rated reality show, has acted in a number of TV and film roles, and was a world champion in WWE. Goldberg has done a far better job staying in the public's mind and would probably be the biggest "name" signing TNA could make. That said, TNA doesn't have room for him on the roster, he's 43 years old, and he's never been a great wrestler.

[Hyde Hill]

I have a new favorite youtube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/scotthalltv

Scott Hall is a mess, but at least he owns it.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheOutsiderScottHall#p/u

Some of his older stuff is here.

[Hyde Hill]

Thing with golberg is what do you do with him? If ,and that is a big if, TNA signs him he probably will be on a light schedule. In order to be an attraction he needs to be Goldberg eg a very dominant wrestler. And then he needs to lose to someone. Once that is done you need to a) follow up on the one that won and b) either release him or build him up again. Also age is a big factor in that he doesn't have any long term value and while Goldberg is still a big name TNA now has enough big names from the past and if Jeff comes back present as well. So for a short run with him beating other old guys and then having a high profile loss to say Morgan, sure why not depending on the cost. Otherwise don't bother.

[Moe Hunter]

the only people that would like him would be WCW fans after WWE burried him so quickly...
Unfortunately Goldberg as a whole is nothing special (never was)

Hold on. I don't think you can have it both ways. Either Goldberg was nothing special, OR he was buried. I don't think going toe to toe with Triple H, and suffering Evolution beatdowns is burial, unless somehow Goldberg is supposed to be much better than Triple H. I don't think beating Jericho, The Rock and Brock Lesnar can be considered burial. If anything, WWE continued to book him much better than he deserved for his talent.

[jesterx7769]

The nothing comes from he isn't as legendary as people make him out to be. It is the streak that had meaning. I agree I misspoke with the "nothing" as it was exaggerated and I should have just said highly over rated. He was never known for ring work, or charisma, or any other major feud/storyline it was the streak. which i said i would rather see TNA give someone else a streak than focus on a streak from 10 years ago

He has remained a "big name" b/c there are so very few wrestlers from a major promotion not working. Who else is there right now that could realistically work? And Goldberg is really close age wise to not being considered anymore.

By buried in WWE, I mean they never gave him a full chance and he wasnt really there for very long. He was only there for his one year contract. To me it always seem like, "lets give the WCW guy a brief run to make it seem like we dont have bad blood with WCW, but lets make sure its brief since were not really pushing any other WCW talent" I agree buried was exaggerating, more like, tossed aside but the way people talk about him is as if he just left WWE whiched lead me to exaggerate.

[brashleyholland]

lets give the WCW guy a brief run to make it seem like we dont have bad blood with WCW

Why would they care? They'd bought WCW by that point right, so why would it matter if they had bad blood with WCW?

Admittedly, I didn't see a whole lot of Goldberg post-streak. As far as I'm aware though, he was a bit of a one-trick poney. As far as him going to TNA, I can't see the benefit. Having him go on a 'streak' in TNA is just rehashing another decade-old angle.

I can't think what WCW fans he'd bring to TNA that Hogan, Nash, JJ, Flair and Sting haven't already.

[PeterHilton]

Why would they care? They'd bought WCW by that point right, so why would it matter if they had bad blood with WCW?



Wow. Either you know nothing about Vince McMahon or you didn't watch the E during the InVasion.

Pretty apparent they went out of their way to prove the the WWE wrestlers were better than the WCW "stars" they brought in.

[jesterx7769]

They cared b/c of the WCW fans and probably realized in that year without Goldberg or other big WCW talent doing well (no Sting, Booker T losing title to Angle then losing to Rock in that first year, Hogan had JUST returned) all WCW fans hadn't turned into WWE fans. I dont know what the ratings were back then or PPV buys but WWE was probably hoping that by buying WCW they could retain 3/4's of those ratings/PPV buys and were dissapointed when they didnt. Alot of people were critical of the invasion angle after they got their brief run in the beginning then quickly lost to WWE workers. I was big into other wrestling forums back then and knew alot of WCW fans that were turned off by WWE and to me Goldberg seemed like a way of trying to get those people to turn into WWE fans and latch onto people like Triple H (hence pairing him with Flair and finally beating Goldberg)

[tristram]

To me, Goldberg started to develop better skills the more his 'streak' went on. And, also in the matches he was allowed to work with the likes of Bret Hart. Matches where he was given beyond the standard 2 minute burial of his opponent. Sadly, of course we know what happened in the end with Bret Hart, but there was some decent mat wrestling and some nice pieces of psychology developing in Goldberg's actual wrestling which was masked because we kept seeing squash matches. He could wrestle some decent matches, the match he had with DDP in 1998 I thought was very, very good, but having said that everytime DDP stepped onto PPV around that period he'd pull off an awesome match. If you put him with someone who genuinely gets a rub out of winning against him, who is a great worker, and who, despite losing starts to highlight some of the fighting 'babyface' type qualities that a character like Goldberg needs to develop to add layers to his character, someone like a DDP, someone like a Benoit, someone like a Jericho, provided you have pushed them hard as well leading into the match then I suspect you have room to move beyond the streak. Give him a genuine reason to lose, IE he got out mat wrestled, or in the case of say a DDP, the People's Champion, the man who gives his all night in night out and everyone knows it and respects him for it, DDP stays the distance, and all of a sudden Goldberg post streak is recoverable and can be developed in many different ways because you have added to his character.

The problem with the streak is how it ended, and instead of making a massive thing out of the guy who beat him, they do the whole finger poke of doom thing which coincides with a night where they come up with a flawed, stupid and all manner of mercy killing storyline to keep him away from the arena where he's arrested for sexual harrassment. In truth, I don't think anyone had any real idea what to do with him to end his streak and beyond that, which is very disappointing because he should have been one of their key players.

[tristram]

Why would they care? They'd bought WCW by that point right, so why would it matter if they had bad blood with WCW?

Admittedly, I didn't see a whole lot of Goldberg post-streak. As far as I'm aware though, he was a bit of a one-trick poney. As far as him going to TNA, I can't see the benefit. Having him go on a 'streak' in TNA is just rehashing another decade-old angle.

I can't think what WCW fans he'd bring to TNA that Hogan, Nash, JJ, Flair and Sting haven't already.

lol - ask wrestlers like DDP and Lance Storm about that. You know, DDP who goes from cornerstone of WCW to a gimmick of inspirational positivity guru, who.. as everyone knows, was married to Kimberly Page one of the hottest chicks of the 90s, so what do you do? Disguise him as a man after Taker's horse face wife, and then... then... job him to her. As far as Storm goes, basically turn him into a comic joke with no credibility. Aside from Ric Flair who genuinely benefited from going to the WWE, not many received career longevity by going to Connecticut.

Goldberg was a one trick pony because he was booked as a one trick pony. Imagine if you take a genuine great NWA/WCW superstar like Ricky Steamboat or Great Muta or Sting and say fellas, you've got 1 to 2 minutes max every night, I want you to do the spear and jackhammer, and thats it, how else can you be made to look? When they needed to pad out matches on Pay-Per-View he had some decent qualities to him. Not outstanding, but enough coupled with the massive popularity and star quality to make something more of him, far beyond a one trick pony.

[jesterx7769]

Agreed, the ending was probably the worst way to end it and not much came after it (for either party) I wasn't dissapoined at the cheating aspect as it kinda seemed like you had to cheat to beat him, just in retrospect looking at the post-defeat action they could have def. done more and i agree with you it seemed like they didnt know what to do w/him since he didnt have the streak to fall back on

edit: Actually, a cool ending would have been losing to Flair, showing it took "The dirtiest player in the game" to beat this monster man beast that is Goldberg, and I dont think anyone would look bad losing to Flair after a low blow. Better than a cattleprod.

[brashleyholland]

Wow. Either you know nothing about Vince McMahon or you didn't watch the E during the InVasion.

Pretty apparent they went out of their way to prove the the WWE wrestlers were better than the WCW "stars" they brought in.

Yes....which was my point. He said that they gave Goldberg a push in WWE to show that they (WWE) didn't have bad blood with WCW.

My point: Why would the WWE care if anyone thought they had bad blood with WCW? They'd bought, burried and killed the company by the time they'd brought Goldberg in. So why would they push Goldberg to prove that there was no bad blood? That was my point.

[jesterx7769]

Anyone have spoilers or ideas on what will be on the first 5 minutes of Impact on Monday due to their promo video?

I imagine it's either going to be 1) Sting returns 2) RVD Debuts or 3) The Hogan/Abyss vs. Styles/Flair match to open the show (which personally I would rather see 1 or 2)

[PeterHilton]

Yes....which was my point. He said that they gave Goldberg a push in WWE to show that they (WWE) didn't have bad blood with WCW.

My point: Why would the WWE care if anyone thought they had bad blood with WCW? They'd bought, burried and killed the company by the time they'd brought Goldberg in. So why would they push Goldberg to prove that there was no bad blood? That was my point.

Ah..I misread.

[brashleyholland]

Goldberg was a one trick pony because he was booked as a one trick pony. Imagine if you take a genuine great NWA/WCW superstar like Ricky Steamboat or Great Muta or Sting and say fellas, you've got 1 to 2 minutes max every night, I want you to do the spear and jackhammer, and thats it, how else can you be made to look? When they needed to pad out matches on Pay-Per-View he had some decent qualities to him. Not outstanding, but enough coupled with the massive popularity and star quality to make something more of him, far beyond a one trick pony.

Could he have been booked as anything else though? I guess we'll never know.

To me, someone like say, Flair, is great because they *can* be booked in a variety of ways. He could make almost anyone look good, can work with big guys, small guys, have technical masterclasses or wild brawls.

It's a case of what came first, the chicken or the egg? Was Goldberg one-dimentional because he was booked a certain way, or was he booked a certain way because he was one-dimentional?

[brashleyholland]

Ah..I misread.

It's all gravy. :)

I just watched the final PPV of the Invasion last night for the first time (Survivor Series 2001?) and yeah...not great :-p

[cappyboy]

It's a case of what came first, the chicken or the egg? Was Goldberg one-dimentional because he was booked a certain way, or was he booked a certain way because he was one-dimentional?

I'll field this one. In any way most of us have are capable of observing first-hand, he was one-dimensional because he was booked a certain way. Could be it was the only dimension he had. But in general, we'd only be able to know that secondhand from folks who were there in WCW at the time. So I'd be more comfortable saying the former until reliable inside voices said otherwise.

[Hyde Hill]

Anyone have spoilers or ideas on what will be on the first 5 minutes of Impact on Monday due to their promo video?

I imagine it's either going to be 1) Sting returns 2) RVD Debuts or 3) The Hogan/Abyss vs. Styles/Flair match to open the show (which personally I would rather see 1 or 2)

I would go for option 2 as it seems to also be a dig to how stories get released etc and TNA where not too happy that Spike confirmed the rumor that Hogan had started.

[brashleyholland]

I'll field this one. In any way most of us have are capable of observing first-hand, he was one-dimensional because he was booked a certain way. Could be it was the only dimension he had. But in general, we'd only be able to know that secondhand from folks who were there in WCW at the time. So I'd be more comfortable saying the former until reliable inside voices said otherwise.

The next logical question then would be: If he was actually capable of more, why was this ability never showcased? The streak was a great gimmick, but when it was over, why didn't we see anything new?

NB: I realise that this isn't a perfect world and we don't always see guys given an oppertunity to showcase their full potential. That said, I do see Goldberd as having the kind of 'pull' to make it happen. Maybe he was happy being what he was?

[Moderndaywarrior]

Goldberg was a one trick pony because he was booked as a one trick pony. Imagine if you take a genuine great NWA/WCW superstar like Ricky Steamboat or Great Muta or Sting and say fellas, you've got 1 to 2 minutes max every night, I want you to do the spear and jackhammer, and thats it, how else can you be made to look? When they needed to pad out matches on Pay-Per-View he had some decent qualities to him. Not outstanding, but enough coupled with the massive popularity and star quality to make something more of him, far beyond a one trick pony.

I would say yes and no....he was booked in quick matches which makes it hard to do alot but also when he did do longer matches he didn't show a whole alot of range outside of what he did in short matches unlike say, a Magnum T.A. who got a similar Jesus push but could deliver in a longer match.

Ironically,now that i think of it, 90's WCW was 80's MACW.WCW 2.0.....Goldberg was their "new"Magnum T.A., the N.W.O. was their "new" Four Horsemen... strangely enough their "new" Sting was still Sting.....

[tristram]

Could he have been booked as anything else though? I guess we'll never know.

To me, someone like say, Flair, is great because they *can* be booked in a variety of ways. He could make almost anyone look good, can work with big guys, small guys, have technical masterclasses or wild brawls.

It's a case of what came first, the chicken or the egg? Was Goldberg one-dimentional because he was booked a certain way, or was he booked a certain way because he was one-dimentional?

Because that's how he was booked.

If you look at some of his Pay-Per-View matches, they're quite controlled in contrast to his Monday Nitro squashes. When he was repeatedly given the likes of Mean Mike Enos or Glacier to beat down in half a minute flat, that's what he did. When he was asked to bide some time, that's what he did. As I say, look at his PPV match with DDP. It's a very, very good match. And, then jobbing him to Nash, and diong next to nothing with Nash aside from the finger poke of doom and some comic routines, how on earth can he progress beyond that with any surety?

To me he could easily have been Brock Lesnar. You know he's hella strong, but he can give you some minutes and work a decent match. Nothing outstanding, but you can vary the inputs and outputs.

[tristram]

I would say yes and no....he was booked in quick matches which makes it hard to do alot but also when he did do longer matches he didn't show a whole alot of range outside of what he did in short matches unlike say, a Magnum T.A. who got a similar Jesus push but could deliver in a longer match.

Ironically,now that i think of it, 90's WCW was 80's MACW.WCW 2.0.....Goldberg was their "new"Magnum T.A., the N.W.O. was their "new" Four Horsemen... strangely enough their "new" Sting was still Sting.....

In his short matches he came to the ring, snarled, got in a kick, then it was spear and jackhammer time.

In matches where he was allowed to execute more variety because he had more time, he did alright. Nothing outstanding, but alright. Got by with working the crowd for wont of a better term, but still, could take you down to the mat and use some good moves. Had some decent martial arts variety to him as well. Not Benoit, Jericho league, but decent enough to hold his own.

[tristram]

Agreed, the ending was probably the worst way to end it and not much came after it (for either party) I wasn't dissapoined at the cheating aspect as it kinda seemed like you had to cheat to beat him, just in retrospect looking at the post-defeat action they could have def. done more and i agree with you it seemed like they didnt know what to do w/him since he didnt have the streak to fall back on

edit: Actually, a cool ending would have been losing to Flair, showing it took "The dirtiest player in the game" to beat this monster man beast that is Goldberg, and I dont think anyone would look bad losing to Flair after a low blow. Better than a cattleprod.

Good thinking on Flair. Someone who needs the rub, can legitimately wrestle, and because of a lengthy push up the card themselves its no disgrace to lose to, infact, perhaps even he can take something from. Nash was not the guy, unless they really run with Nash-Goldberg, which they didn't.

[PeterHilton]

To me he could easily have been Brock Lesnar. You know he's hella strong, but he can give you some minutes and work a decent match. Nothing outstanding, but you can vary the inputs and outputs.

I think you're giving Bill too much credit or Brock not enough. Goldberg could be carried to a watchable match...but he's nowhere near Brock in the ring.

Great look, great persona, decent amount of charisma...the gimmick was great but that monster push wouldn't have worked if Goldberg didn't play it so well.

I agree with Hyde though; Bill Goldberg really isn't bringing anything to the table if he goes to TNA. Of course...that didn't stop them from signing some of those other 'names' on the roster.:rolleyes:

[cappyboy]

The next logical question then would be: If he was actually capable of more, why was this ability never showcased? The streak was a great gimmick, but when it was over, why didn't we see anything new?

NB: I realise that this isn't a perfect world and we don't always see guys given an oppertunity to showcase their full potential. That said, I do see Goldberd as having the kind of 'pull' to make it happen. Maybe he was happy being what he was?

You'll get no argument here about the next logical question. All I can say in answer is that there are a lot of things in that period that should have happened and didn't. For all I know you may have answered it with your final question.

[tristram]

I think you're giving Bill too much credit or Brock not enough. Goldberg could be carried to a watchable match...but he's nowhere near Brock in the ring.

Great look, great persona, decent amount of charisma...the gimmick was great but that monster push wouldn't have worked if Goldberg didn't play it so well.

I agree with Hyde though; Bill Goldberg really isn't bringing anything to the table if he goes to TNA. Of course...that didn't stop them from signing some of those other 'names' on the roster.:rolleyes:

Oh God no, I wouldn't bring in Goldberg now. To me, Goldberg's long term star value drops big time by the way he was booked in WCW. He's like Kevin Arnold, you can do whatever you want and you can try as many different career alterations, but at the end of the day in your main field of expertise you're always going to be the man with the streak, and once that's done... what more is there? He would add nothing at all to their situation, plus, I feel he'd decrease the value of their brand "Bobby Lashley" style in that I don't think professional wrestling will ever be his main priority again.

Bringing Goldberg back now to me would be the equivalent of WCW bringing in the Ultimate Warrior. Don't get me wrong, I popped big time when Warrior showed up, but there's not much beyond the initial reaction that they can really do and it ends up being a great big embarrassment for all concerned.

[cappyboy]

Oh God no, I wouldn't bring in Goldberg now. To me, Goldberg's long term star value drops big time by the way he was booked in WCW. He's like Kevin Arnold, you can do whatever you want and you can try as many different career alterations, but at the end of the day in your main field of expertise you're always going to be the man with the streak, and once that's done... what more is there? He would add nothing at all to their situation, plus, I feel he'd decrease the value of their brand "Bobby Lashley" style in that I don't think professional wrestling will ever be his main priority again.


Okay. Color me confused here. What does Fred Savage's character on The Wonder Years have to do with your point about Goldberg?

[lazorbeak]

So much bad armchair booking here. Goldberg wasn't able to follow up after his loss to Nash because he hurt himself on TV and WCW had to find some excuse to remove him. I don't care who you put over him having him lose and then disappear isn't exactly going to keep the crowd hot.

Good thinking on Flair. Someone who needs the rub, can legitimately wrestle, and because of a lengthy push up the card themselves its no disgrace to lose to, infact, perhaps even he can take something from. Nash was not the guy, unless they really run with Nash-Goldberg, which they didn't.

Ugh, no. Flair, in the worst shape of his life, fifty years old, is going to beat Goldberg with a low blow? Why not just tell every mark in the audience to just leave? There's a reason Flair wasn't booked as an active wrestler during this time period in WCW, and the idea that a guy like him who would receive almost zero rub from ending the streak should've been the guy to do it is just a bad idea.

Nash was the right choice: he got a big win out of it, have him go from tweener to heel turn, re-unite the NWO, all of that was fine. Right up until the point when they put the belt on Hogan AGAIN. Nobody wanted to see that either by that point.

[Hyde Hill]

I agree with Lazor, but this is becoming a rebook wcw thread guys so lets not go there.

In short Goldberg can possibly be useful for TNA but only if handled very very well and if he doesn't cost too much and his heart is in it. Since 2 and 3 are very unlikely and 1 is very hard to do it wouldn't be a smart move even if he is willing to return to the ring.

[PeterHilton]

I believe he's saying that no matter what Fred Savage does, he's 'Kevin Arnold.'

No matter what Bill does...he's going to be 'Who's next Goldberg.'

I see the connection. I think one of the main reasons Goldberg can't bring more to the table is that he never wanted to. I saw a ton of interviews with him at his height of popularity and later whn he started appear in movies and you could just tell he didn't have the passion for the business that others have.

The very definition of a guy who went into wrestling because his 'real career' fell a little short.

[PeterHilton]

I agree with Lazor, but this is becoming a rebook wcw thread guys so lets not go there.



Well this wouldn't keep happening if TNA didn't have such a WCW in its dying days feel. :p

[Hyde Hill]

let's not go there either. :p:p

[jesterx7769]

I;m just excited for tomorrow, I'm hoping they really cut out silly/trying to be cool or smart and just put on a great show using the talent and storylines in place.

[PeterHilton]

I;m just excited for tomorrow, I'm hoping they really cut out silly/trying to be cool or smart and just put on a great show using the talent and storylines in place.

BWAHAHAHA...wut??

It's TNA. It's going to be a hit or miss clusterf--- of overbooking, with several turns, a few big name appearances, and at least one match so good that it will make you wish the WWE would let their own workers go w/o all the restrictions of working a "WWE style."

I mean ..don't be surprised if you see a match that net fans will call a free tv MOTY candidate, but the show ends with Hogan turning on Abyss and forming a 'new nWo' with Nash, AJ, Flair, Foley, and OJ.

[Bigpapa42]

Haven't seen it mentioned here. But it looks like the final Thursday Impact did a 1.1 rating. So they're basically back down to pre-Hogan ratings. Moving to Monday's better give them a bit of a boost, or they've essentially killed all the momentum they had to start the year.

[PeterHilton]

Haven't seen it mentioned here. But it looks like the final Thursday Impact did a 1.1 rating. So they're basically back down to pre-Hogan ratings. Moving to Monday's better give them a bit of a boost, or they've essentially killed all the momentum they had to start the year.

Yeah...that's horrible news for TNA. I saw that.

But honestly, nothing much has changed even with all the changes.

TNA has ALWAYS had talent. But the storylines have also ALWAYS been painful to follow.

They brought in a crapload of 'names' but haven't really done anything to tak advantage of them.

The Flair/AJ partnership and the Anderson/Kurt feud are the only thing that has been presented in a clear and understandable manner. Everything else? Same hot mess as before.

[jesterx7769]

I agree, its bad news b/c it shows people weren't interested enough to stick around, now hopefully that changes but by the numbers its a fact right now.

A lot of the problem seems to be relying on the old talent too much, I know you need old talent but this is how I see Monday, if you watched WCW or WWE or event caught TNA for a bit, is Hogan and Flair in the ring really going to make you watch? Or would Angle vs. Sting/RVD (just for example) make you tune in? While I agree they need the "old names" on the show, it seems theyve just used them too much which has turned people off, I mean how many times did Scott hall and Waltman close TNA since the new year? Half the time? Then when you dont use some guys that the TNA fans that kept the company alive get upset you lose both new viewers who dont stick around for Hogan/Hall/Nastys and old ones who are upset people like Joe/Daniels aren't being used.

Is it hard? Hell yes it is, theres a reason there hasn't been a number two company for about 10 years. I just hope this Monday move can be the spark they need to get their ratings about 1.5 consistently

edit: Two other things that stick out to me that I've thought for awhile. The name, while TNA is getting more popular they really to get away from the "dirty" name, when i mentioned it to my girlfriend she asked me if it was porn and mentioned the tits and ass. Ignorant? Yes. But how do you expect people to react when they don't know you? I'm sure there are parents out there that would much rather have their kids watch WWE than give this new TNA thing a try. Ignorant? Yes, but once again they know WWE, they don't know TNA, and wrestling already has a bad image. I know someone will probably say "then what do you want them to be called!?" just replace the N with a W, Total Wrestling Action, TWA doesn't give off such a bad image.

2) Russo. Now my reason is not that he sucks b/c I have no idea what parts of TNA he writes and which parts he doesn't...which is the problem. A lot of people give him a bad wrap for WCW and that reputation hurts by having someone there especially when even if Russo is writing gold for TNA right now, no one knows it and it comes down to "I didnt like what he wrote then and buried a company I like why would I watch him now?" Ignorant? sure, but once again why do you expect people to give it a try when you send out so many negatives before they even see an episode? Kinda the same boat with Bischoff, sure people know him, but alot of WCW fans dont like how he ran WCW at the end and your WWE fans dont like him since he was the "bad guy from WCW" he obviously knows alot about the business but it just helps create negative energy and obviously his name isn't drawing people in after two months (short time I know I'm not saying hes a bum fire him)

[PeterHilton]

Here's the worst part: The show peaked with the first quarter-hour with a 1.31. the show dropped consistently throughout the remainder of the show with the final quarter-hour drawing a show-low .93 rating.

For those who don't remember, the final quarter hour featured a world title match between four of TNA's 'hottest young stars' (AJ/Pope/Wolfe/Abyss) and a bloody brawl with Hogan and Flair.

So no one is getting over. Not the names. Not the young guys.

Try reading the recaps sometime to get an idea of how much of the show is dedicated to skits and angles: they are just giant blocks of text with a two minute match to break things up every once in a while.

The booking is bad.

I fully expect for the Monday night move to produce a nice bump for the ratings, but it won't match the 're-launch' from a few months back. And if they can't keep the momentum in the following weeks- no matter how many RVDs and Jeff Hardys they add - it won't matter.

[Hyde Hill]

Lol TWA has always been my fav for a name change as well. And if they ever are going to do it now is the time. Or just ad the w as in TNAW presents Impact etc.

[Tag01]

I TEW I notice that when I take over an org there is a lot of upheaval at the beginning: turns, firings, new guys, title changes, etc. Often the way the roster is built isn't exactly what I want. But after some time things gel and the direction I'm going in is clear. I don't know if this is what will happen with TNA or not. But I hope so; it's pretty bad right now. It reminds me of dying WCW in the sense that they're always trying to do to much, do to many turns, big shockers, etc. I think they'd benefit from actually simplifying. The stories themselves are not necessarily so bad; they're just using too many angles and making too many twists and turns. Cultivate the stories more slowly, and let the ringwork tell some of it.

Some of the examples of things I like right now in TNA: (1) Angle-Anderson. Anderson might be a Rock knockoff but he;s a good one, and I enjoy his schtick. It works for me, and his fued with Angle is the best thing going right now. (2) The Hernandez-Morgan dynamic. They're slowly building towards a turn and the angles they've used have been perfect. The in ring work is telling the story well also. Once they fued, the winner will be ready to go to the top of the roster.

The problem with TNA is the main event picture. Could Jarrett vs. Bischoff be any more of an irritating, confusing waste of time? If Bischoff is so evil, why is Hogan still with him? What's the point of The Band vs. Nash/Young? I think if this big cluster actually shakes out with some clearly drawn battle lines then TNA will be in a much better position. Monday Night is the PERFECT opportunity to clear ALL of these things up, but I'm not holding my breathe.

[PeterHilton]

I TEW I notice that when I take over an org there is a lot of upheaval at the beginning: turns, firings, new guys, title changes, etc. Often the way the roster is built isn't exactly what I want. But after some time things gel and the direction I'm going in is clear. I don't know if this is what will happen with TNA or not. But I hope so; it's pretty bad right now. It reminds me of dying WCW in the sense that they're always trying to do to much, do to many turns, big shockers, etc. I think they'd benefit from actually simplifying. The stories themselves are not necessarily so bad; they're just using too many angles and making too many twists and turns. Cultivate the stories more slowly, and let the ringwork tell some of it.

Some of the examples of things I like right now in TNA: (1) Angle-Anderson. Anderson might be a Rock knockoff but he;s a good one, and I enjoy his schtick. It works for me, and his fued with Angle is the best thing going right now. (2) The Hernandez-Morgan dynamic. They're slowly building towards a turn and the angles they've used have been perfect. The in ring work is telling the story well also. Once they fued, the winner will be ready to go to the top of the roster.

The problem with TNA is the main event picture. Could Jarrett vs. Bischoff be any more of an irritating, confusing waste of time? If Bischoff is so evil, why is Hogan still with him? What's the point of The Band vs. Nash/Young? I think if this big cluster actually shakes out with some clearly drawn battle lines then TNA will be in a much better position. Monday Night is the PERFECT opportunity to clear ALL of these things up, but I'm not holding my breathe.

Here's the thing (and I hate that I'm starting to sound overly negative because I'd love to see TNA succeed) : you made a lot of great points, but everything you've said that's a problem FOR YEAAAARRRRRRSSSS.

It's not like this stuff all just cropped up because of the new regime.

Too many angles and too many convoluted and pointless plot twists? See almost every episode since Impact went to two hours.

What's the point of The Band vs Nash and Young? See What's the point of The Maffia vs The Frontline.

Pointless Jarret story that no one cares about? See Pretty Much TNA's Entire Existence

Even the good stuff...like 'the Hernandez/Morgan break up' has been repeated ad nauseam. TNA has it's tag teams break up and feud constantly and BOTH guys were already in a position to main event LAST YEAR.
(you pushed them down the card to move them up the card???wtf??)

It's so frustrating. So incredibly frustrating.

[cappyboy]

edit: Two other things that stick out to me that I've thought for awhile. The name, while TNA is getting more popular they really to get away from the "dirty" name, when i mentioned it to my girlfriend she asked me if it was porn and mentioned the tits and ass. Ignorant? Yes. But how do you expect people to react when they don't know you? I'm sure there are parents out there that would much rather have their kids watch WWE than give this new TNA thing a try. Ignorant? Yes, but once again they know WWE, they don't know TNA, and wrestling already has a bad image. I know someone will probably say "then what do you want them to be called!?" just replace the N with a W, Total Wrestling Action, TWA doesn't give off such a bad image.


You know it's funny. Ring of Honor has the name to be successful in the mainstream but not the product or profile. TNA has the product and is working to build the profile but one of the crappiest names possibly for attaining true number two status. Especially where the acronym is concerned. If the two promotions could somehow just swap names, TNA could push forward and RoH would have the cult fed name that still describes them quite well.

[jesterx7769]

You know it's funny. Ring of Honor has the name to be successful in the mainstream but not the product or profile. TNA has the product and is working to build the profile but one of the crappiest names possibly for attaining true number two status. Especially where the acronym is concerned. If the two promotions could somehow just swap names, TNA could push forward and RoH would have the cult fed name that still describes them quite well.

Lol TWA has always been my fav for a name change as well. And if they ever are going to do it now is the time. Or just ad the w as in TNAW presents Impact etc.

lol I am actually surprised the first two people to comment on a name change agree with me! There are def. bigger problems but as I mentioned its just one more thing giving viewers a reason Not to tune in, if people tune in and don't like the product fine on to stage two of making a better product. but WWE gets over 3.+ for their ratings and TNA cant even get 1.5 once (i think they might have done it once) when theoretically if you like wrestling you like WWE, if you like wrestling you should want to watch it more on tv and TNA is clearly lacking those cross over viewers, internet fan or not its in your tv guide