What'chu Gonna Do When the Wrestling Thread Runs Wild On You?!

[Nell2ThaIzzay]

Let's not lose or minds here...TNA's rating aren't going THAT high up. In fact, one could argue that all they've done is FINALLY reclaim the audience that left when they moved to Monday's...in addition to stabilizing an audience who tended to watch every other week or so.

I think that there is a certain amount of the wrestling audience that will just give in and watch Impact. You have the Hardy's, RVD, Anderson...eventually people are going to say "screw it" and tune in. Keep in mind, they won't necessarily CARE...they'll just watch because it's on. Kind of like WWE's attempt at ECW...no one actually saw the ECW title as being the same as the WWE title...they just watched it as a side dish to Raw. TNA has basically become the same thing. It's wrestling, it's on, we know a lot of the names...screw it.

At some point TNA needs to actually hook people...create something exciting...that MAKES SENSE and is WELL WRITTEN...that grabs more than just the core wrestling audience. A friend of mine is a middle school teacher, and many of his kids are wrestling fans, and have never heard of TNA. The time is coming when the money will run out...and between now and then TNA needs a hook...and a NEW superstar.

This is my TNA "fandom" in a nutshell. There's enough name talent there to interest me so finally I just decided to check it out. There's some stuff I like and even some stuff I like better than WWE, and im interested enough to wanna know how the stories play out, but in the end its wrestling on the side of WWE. I guess I might be one of those people who's more WWE fan than wrestling fan, but im a bit more knowledgeable of the business, and appreciative of the talent than most general fans (tho the perception of me around here isn't as such because I care more about the character and story aspect of the show than the in ring). But still, even the. TNA is secondary to me to WWE

 

[Lunar_Wolf]

My main beef with TNA are the storylines. Most of the time they make no sense what so ever. It's like they make **** up as they go along without thinking it through. It's a shame really, because they have the talent.

 

[Heretic]

Yeah, it's not JUST about the talent...you have to place your wrestlers in intriguing situations and be consistent.

WWE is not perfect here...they have pushed and depushed guys repeatedly over the past few years so that no one has really caught on. Also, they have cursed certain wrestlers (like Kane) so that few will ever take them seriously. Also, they put the wrong guys in situations (I mentioned before that Snooki should ABSOLUTELY be incolved with Zack Ryder in some way).

But TNA is worse. Heel? Face? You never know from week to week...and there is often no reason at all for the change. Storylines get dropped far from the payoff. The wrong guys get pushed to the moon. The complaints are endless, really. TNA has Cornette on their payroll, and opted to go with Russo instead. That shows me that Dixie just doesn't see that things need to be changed.

 

[Metallo]

Don't get me wrong...Carlito isn't the most trustworthy guy...and he wouldn't be a top guy in my fed until and unless he proved that he cared enough to make it happen. However, Carlito does bring charisma into the mix, and his presence would make a midcard, unknown TNA wrestler seem a bit more important.

He's sort of charismatic but a lot of guys are charismatic. There's nothing badass about the guy. Hernandez is a better investment on the marketing potential alone. The mans a beast. Andd people are impressed by that. And I can name several Hispanic stars who are just as charismatic or more so. WWE doesn't need him at all right now and really...TNA doesn't either.

I look at Sarita as more talented and more valuable than Carlito and she's a woman. Her DEBUT match was better than anything Carlito did in WWE in over 5 years. He's a babyfaced spoiled guy who never had to worry about whether or not he made it in another wrestling company because he always had daddy Carlos's company to fall back on. And when he's there he can get as messed up as he wants because when a wrestler can get stabbed to death down there and nothing happens I doubt anyone is going to care about Carlito getting high and phoning it in.

Carlito was a guy with a sense of entitlement because unlike most other 2nd or 3rd gen wrestlers his dad owned a company where he was guaranteed a spot. Unless he gets a SERIOUS wake up call he's never going to try as hard as most because...why should he? He's always got a place to fall back on. WWE gave him a great push early on and he just fell into a loooong rut to the point where WWE management had him called out on live tv over it. How sad is that?

Eric Young is loyal...but (and I could be wrong of course) I just dont see him ever drawing any money.

I wouldn't think Santino or Hornswoggle would ever be popular either but apparently they are. Eric's competent enough that if he was used right he could easily be a success in the same way those two are. And Eric Young actually had a pretty good serious run as the leader of the World Elite. Something Santino has never really had except going back to his EARLY days as the Milan Miracle who beat Umaga (WTF?).

Heck, just look at who TNA has let go...Daniels, Austin Aries (who, as far as I'm concerned should have been one of THE top stars in WWE by now) Kaval, Homicide...they could have a fun to watch and talented midcard but instead we have guys like Rob Terry and Robbie E.

To be fair Kaval ASKED for his release from TNA. They didn't plan to let him go. The same happened in WWE. The releases of Homicide and Daniels were big mistakes though. Robbie E is getting pushed because of this Jersey Shore nonsense. The same reason I have to see at that Jersey Warf Rat at Wrestlemania.

Rob Terry was getting pushed the same reason so many big pumped up guys before him got pushed. The business has had that mindset for like 30 years. Sad but true.

While the "main event" guys tend to be slower, more WWE style wrestlers (which is fine) they sell their matches with promos and angles. The X Division guys tend to get over more on the matches themselves. You could cut the less "exciting" wrestlers from the X Division (Eric Young, Shannon Moore, Robbie E) and put guys like Jeff Hardy and RVD in. This accomplishes two things...it frees up main event space for young guys, and it gives added interest to the X Division so that those guys can get over on big stars and headline Impact episodes so you dont have to have world title matches every single week like they were doing.

Guys like RVD really don't have to be in the X division, just in supporting roles. But he can work on the X Division and go back and forth as a utility star. He could still be in the main event scene just not dominating it at the expense of every young homegrown TNA wrestler. Besides at his age I'm not sure RVD could keep up with or take the grind of the X Division full time. Dipping his toe in from time to time is fine since he can give younger guys the rub.

As for Jeff Hardy I wouldn't mind him in the TNA main event if he was clean. When he's "on" and sober hes far too big to waste in the X Division.

The biggest issue with the main event is that it appears to be dominated by non wrestlers. When I think of opening segments to Impact that sell a match, I think of Hogan, Bischoff and Flair...which should not be the case. Having a main event level roster of Sting, Anderson and Angle, with guys like Morgan, The Pope, Joe etc stepping in from time to time to keep it fresh and figure out who you can build your future on is actually every bit as good as what WWE is offering.

They're trying to get their moneys worth out of those guys. I don't mind them opening the show as long as they don't dominate the whole show. Thats the problem with them now. Hogan and Bischoff can still cut some awesome promos when they're on point and they should be used as verbal ways to sell ppv's. They just shouldn't hog the spotlight.

If they are going to use Hogan and Bischoff in major segments to sell shows it should be alongside the actual talent instead of those two by themselves. Giving the rub by association. The reason we're seeing Hogan and Bischoff so much is because they are trying to redo the "heel authority figure" gimmick that WWE and WCW ran into the ground I remember when Raw became the "All McMahon" show a lot of times. Its an outdated concept that TNA needs to cut back on.

My main beef with TNA are the storylines. Most of the time they make no sense what so ever. It's like they make **** up as they go along without thinking it through. It's a shame really, because they have the talent.

Yeah, it's not JUST about the talent...you have to place your wrestlers in intriguing situations and be consistent.

WWE is not perfect here...they have pushed and depushed guys repeatedly over the past few years so that no one has really caught on. Also, they have cursed certain wrestlers (like Kane) so that few will ever take them seriously. Also, they put the wrong guys in situations (I mentioned before that Snooki should ABSOLUTELY be incolved with Zack Ryder in some way).

But TNA is worse. Heel? Face? You never know from week to week...and there is often no reason at all for the change. Storylines get dropped far from the payoff. The wrong guys get pushed to the moon. The complaints are endless, really. TNA has Cornette on their payroll, and opted to go with Russo instead. That shows me that Dixie just doesn't see that things need to be changed.

Answer: Vince Russo and Dixie Carters unwillingness to fire Vince Russo is the reason for all of that. He's the lead creative writer and I see the same style that he used in WCW.

The real question is WHY does Dixie Carter continue to keep Russo on. Its more than her being clueless. Because I'm sure people have told her how talentless Russo is. I doubt Cornette bit his tongue on that when he left. I mean one look at Dixies Twitter should tell her what people think of Russo.

My question is is Russo THAT good of a salesmen of himself? Does he have a silver tongue? I've never liked him but he must give a pretty convincing pitch of himself if he's still employed. Sad to say but I think anyone here could do his job better than he does.

 

[BlackLantern]

Ive always liked Eric Young, will he ever be a top guy or "draw" probably not...but he has always entertained me and the TNA crowd loves him like no one else

 

[Metallo]

I think Eric could get over in WWE as a comedy act. He's a better "serious" character than Santino was in WWE and if Santino's ridiculous act could get over there I don't see why Eric's couldn't. They give the guy sh** to work with. Its a testament to his comedic talent that it turns out as good as it does.

Even The Pope couldn't save the garbage Russo gave him to work with Thurdsay.

 

[Hunter Rider]

The match would have been pretty slow in the early 90's. but I think the one thing that could have helped that is that Sting would have been athletic enough to bounce around and give it some life. Certainly more than Taker vs Hogan because even though Hogan was still in his prime he wasn't the pure athlete Sting was back then. Hogan did certain things better though.

That's a fair point, Sting's athletic style may have helped liven things up. for me Taker was let loose in 96 via the Mankind feud, it showed what a good worker he was outside the restraints of his gimmick.

I would have loved to have seen Sting vs Hart when they were younger. I feel like WCW botched it in the late 90s. For one thing it was WCW, second Stings character had changed, and Bret just wasn't used right. If Sting had jumped to WWE in 1992 though I would have been right there.

Vince would have been smarter to pay Sting a massive sum and push him as his new babyface star instead of Luger. It might not have worked because the times were changing but I think Sting stood a better chance of working in that same role than Luger. Sting was a big guy, but he was much faster and brought something Hogan and Luger didn't in his energy and agility. I could always tell Luger just wasn't genuine in that role. Even The Narcissist gimmick fit him better.

I think by the time Sting and Bret faced each other both guys were so worn down by the climate in WCW that they just didn't have the match in them that the feud deserved. Vince would have known how to book that as a huge dream match, WCW often struggled with the presentation aspect of the business.

I agree, if Vince was so intent on keeping up the type of main event lead he had via Hogan, then Sting was a much better bet. Luger always looked arrogant and was much better as a heel. Sting was the ultimate babyface and a great athlete, he had the hero element of Hogan, the colourful look like Warrior and was miles better in the ring than both.

As for Sting vs Warrior...that story writes itself if Sting had come to WWE. They started out together and were very similar but then they split up and began to diverge in a lot of ways. Still similar but becoming more different as time went on.

They both had a meteoric rise and reached the top of their respective companies at the same time. Both world champions five years after getting into the business. No other tag team can say that. Hogan can't even say he did it in five years. It really is quite cool when you think about it. I'd have loved to have seen that match.

Indeed, WCW again had the chance to do something with this but didn't pull it off, in fairness though Warrior was so far gone by 98 that it wasn't fully their fault.

He's sort of like Taker that regard. Trying to evolve. A lot of guys don't do that until they are forced to (Hogan). Sting seems to be trying to stay ahead of the curve.

I don't think anyone though has been so successful at such a drastic reinvention of themselves, and arguably managed to get even more over than they were with their already massively over main event gimmick.

I think so. Everyone wants too look "cool" instead of creating a unique character. It doesn't have to go back to New Generation era WWF cartoonishness but I'd like to see more guys bring a spash of color to their looks and personalities.

Agreed, colour does not equal goofy, it's all about how you present yourself whilst not looking like you have come off the Orton press at Titan towers.

If they are going to do a Latin American stable why not bring back Homicide and just do LAX? Thats what i don't get.

Who's the new guy they are using?

It was the first thing I though of. Wouldn't be the first time a comic book idea has influenced wrestling. Cody saw himself as so perfect that even the tiniest scratch would drive him insane. Makes sense. I do have to wonder if it was done that way on purpose. I know Cody is a comic book fan

So is Rey I believe, it makes you wonder if both are having a lot of input in their angle. It also makes me wonder where they are going with Rhodes.

Terence!!!!

Say whatou want about John Cena the performer, but Cena the person is an awesome human being. Here's a video of the guy taking the time to visit some kids

[YT]JnSjkoCin5M[/YT]

Class act!

 

[BlackLantern]

I think Eric could get over in WWE as a comedy act. He's a better "serious" character than Santino was in WWE and if Santino's ridiculous act could get over there I don't see why Eric's couldn't. They give the guy sh** to work with. Its a testament to his comedic talent that it turns out as good as it does.

Even The Pope couldn't save the garbage Russo gave him to work with Thurdsay.

I loved him as a heel during the whole World Elite bit, I bought him as a heel

but EY, to me, is Showtime Eric Young...the dude afraid of his own pyro

 

[Heretic]

The real question is WHY does Dixie Carter continue to keep Russo on. Its more than her being clueless. Because I'm sure people have told her how talentless Russo is. I doubt Cornette bit his tongue on that when he left. I mean one look at Dixies Twitter should tell her what people think of Russo.

My question is is Russo THAT good of a salesmen of himself? Does he have a silver tongue? I've never liked him but he must give a pretty convincing pitch of himself if he's still employed. Sad to say but I think anyone here could do his job better than he does.

We all agree that Dixie really doesn't know the wrestling business. When Russo went to WCW, a fiction was created that Russo and Russo alone was responsible for Stone Cold, DX, The Rock etc. Dixie is probably aware of this fiction and believes it to be true. Futher, she probably also believes that Russo was responsible for the things in WCW that worked...even though he wasn't even there when they happened. Remember, she didn't watch it, and doesn't know wrestling...so she could very well think that the NWO and Goldberg were Russo creations. She DOES know that people think Russo is a no-talent, and she seems to not like confrontation, so she likely never even discusses why she keeps him.

Of course, all of what I just typed is speculation...but I can't figure any other way that she would continue to lose money with Russo.

 

[NDX]

EDDIE ****ING EDWARDS!

That is all.

 

[Hunter Rider]

am i the only one who dosent see putting morrison and ziggler into an angle with snooki as a depush??? As bad as the storyline may be, snooki is a "big" celebrity, not to mention the match has trish stratus in it. I feel like WWE is actually trying to do morrison and ziggler a favor....as well as assure themselves there are two wrestlers who can deliver during the match.

Both guys have gotten unlucky this year just as Punk has, but I don't think this is the end of the world for either, I just don't think that Snooki needs to wrestle, they could have just had her in the corner of JoMo and Trish as they face Dolph and Laycool.

 

[Metallo]

I loved him as a heel during the whole World Elite bit, I bought him as a heel

but EY, to me, is Showtime Eric Young...the dude afraid of his own pyro

I shouldn't find him funny...but I do. I think the guy has some comedic talents. He's never going to be a main event star...just look at him...but I think there could always be a niche for Young. Ye can do the serious when he has to as well.

We all agree that Dixie really doesn't know the wrestling business. When Russo went to WCW, a fiction was created that Russo and Russo alone was responsible for Stone Cold, DX, The Rock etc. Dixie is probably aware of this fiction and believes it to be true. Futher, she probably also believes that Russo was responsible for the things in WCW that worked...even though he wasn't even there when they happened. Remember, she didn't watch it, and doesn't know wrestling...so she could very well think that the NWO and Goldberg were Russo creations. She DOES know that people think Russo is a no-talent, and she seems to not like confrontation, so she likely never even discusses why she keeps him.

Of course, all of what I just typed is speculation...but I can't figure any other way that she would continue to lose money with Russo.

Obviously she doesn't know the business but I think there's more to it than that. I think a lot of people don't want to clue Dixie in because they don't want to rock the boat or they want to get a paycheck (Hogan, Flair, Bischoff, Prichard, etc.). Hogan should despise Russo as much as anyone but money can make strange bedfellows. But I think other people have voiced their concerns with Russo to her.

But the numbers don't lie and a lot of Russos ideas in TNA have been failures right in front of Dixie Carters eyes. I'm sure Russo has sold her a bag of lies on his credentials but clearly he's not doing in TNA what he CLAIMED he did in WWE and WCW is a shining example of his incompetence. Even she can't ignore that. I think Russo blamed other things for that and for whatever reason I don't think Dixie Carter WANTS believe how bad Russo is. Bischoff and Prichard have better track records than Russo and I think that if push came to shove she'd fire them before she ever fired Russo. Thats why I say I think theres' more to it than her being clueless on the business. I think Russo is one of those guys that is very good at selling himself and makign excuses. Even Vince McMahon tried to hire him back in the early 2000's.

 

[Metallo]

That's a fair point, Sting's athletic style may have helped liven things up. for me Taker was let loose in 96 via the Mankind feud, it showed what a good worker he was outside the restraints of his gimmick.

Mankind, like Taker was an off the wall but entertaining gimmick being used by a very talented man. Those two were made for each other. You had a man who didn't feel pain vs a man who relished it. I loved that. It made for the one kind of opponent that Taker could go the distance with. I definitely agree it was the first feud where Taker could really up his game and show what he was capable of. Before Foley he had mostly worked with big lumbering giants.

I think by the time Sting and Bret faced each other both guys were so worn down by the climate in WCW that they just didn't have the match in them that the feud deserved. Vince would have known how to book that as a huge dream match, WCW often struggled with the presentation aspect of the business.

By the late 90's they didn't know how to promote anything much less a dream match. Hogan vs Goldberg could have been so much bigger than it was. I think the last big rivalry they handled well was Sting vs Hogan at Starrcade. The hype was off the charts for that.

I agree, if Vince was so intent on keeping up the type of main event lead he had via Hogan, then Sting was a much better bet. Luger always looked arrogant and was much better as a heel. Sting was the ultimate babyface and a great athlete, he had the hero element of Hogan, the colourful look like Warrior and was miles better in the ring than both.

Thats one of those "What if" moments aint it?

Indeed, WCW again had the chance to do something with this but didn't pull it off, in fairness though Warrior was so far gone by 98 that it wasn't fully their fault.

Between Warriors lack of focus and WCW's incompetence it would have been a disappointment. They had Sting and the Warrior team up against Hogan and Hart and they f***ed it up. that says everything.

I don't think anyone though has been so successful at such a drastic reinvention of themselves, and arguably managed to get even more over than they were with their already massively over main event gimmick.

Takers biker gimmick wasn't as over as The Crow Sting but I do think Taker did some of the best work of his career. He was cutting some awesome promos after years of either not talking much at all or talking in a scary voice. The only other person I can think of that even comes close is Hogan going heel in 96. He helped start another wrestling boom. He didn't do it alone but it was one of the ingredients.

Agreed, colour does not equal goofy, it's all about how you present yourself whilst not looking like you have come off the Orton press at Titan towers.

Its one thing I like about Del Rio. The gold and white ring gear is different from a lot of guys.

Who's the new guy they are using?

He's some indie guy named Matt Barela. I looked him up on Wikipedia and apparently he used to work at OVW.

So is Rey I believe, it makes you wonder if both are having a lot of input in their angle. It also makes me wonder where they are going with Rhodes.

Good point. I didn't even think about that. I know Rey is a big superhero fan so its possible. I think WWE would give him a lot of freedom to come up with his own ideas for storylines right now to keep him happy.

Both guys have gotten unlucky this year just as Punk has, but I don't think this is the end of the world for either, I just don't think that Snooki needs to wrestle, they could have just had her in the corner of JoMo and Trish as they face Dolph and Laycool.

I feel the same way. Morrison should have faced The Miz at the Rumble instead having his title match on Raw. Snookie could still accomplish what WWE wants of her if she's just in Trish and Morrisons corner. With her in the match it makes the whole thing even more silly. She's not a wrestler or even an athlete.

I don't even like Laycool but its just gonna be lame to see the top diva heel act in WWE having to take a few shots from Snookie. McCool's a whole foot taller than her

 

[The Sage]

EDDIE ****ING EDWARDS!

That is all.

I can't believe it.

 

[NDX]

I can't believe it.

I knew he would win the title at some point, but I didn't expect it now. It was the outcoming I was hoping for, but surprised to see.

 

[Dr. Evil]

So Eddie Edwards is the new ROH World Champion. I don't know how I feel about that yet.

 

[Metallo]

I remember when Hogan shaved in WCW and he looked strange as hell to me. Wasn't that around the time he did those "Assault" movies for TNT? Him dressing in all black was pretty funny considering he'd eventually do that when he turned heel.

Then I remember sometime around 1999 or so when he started using his real name while competing. That was also strange.

 

[Lantern Venom]

I always forget how good Cena is in real life.

)

As much as I dislike Cena on the air, he seems to have his actual life in much better shape than Hogan or Austin did in their salad days.

 

[Project862006]

I Nominate Rebecca Black sing National Anthem at Mania

 

[bullets]

I Nominate Rebecca Black sing National Anthem at Mania

Never! No one replaces Bieber

 

[Darkness Falls]

beiber vs black @ Mania..... BOOK IT

 

[Hotwire]

Never! No one puts Bieber in a corner.

Fixed that for you.

 

[Slushy]

Seeing that picture Kane52630 posted of Hogan brings back memories of him in the "Darkside". It was a censored version of him being heel, acting heelish, but doing it in a face way. It was really weird. I haven't seen anything like that before or after that. I'm guessing the plan back then was for Hogan to go heel, but they did the "Darkside" run to test the waters before pulling the trigger on it one year later.

 

[Metallo]

SIR OLIVER HUMPERDINK PASSES AWAY

By Dave Scherer on 2011-03-20 09:47:20
pwinsider.com

We are sad to report that on his Twitter account Percy Pringle announced this morning that Sir Oliver Humperdink passed away last evening after battling cancer. We want to send our condolences along to his friends and family.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Sucks to hear that about Sir Oliver Humperdink.

I was watching a ROH DVD and I thought this about Nigel McGuinness:

Concerning the WWE losing out on Nigel McGuinness: He had agreed to a WWE contract, but failed a physical so the WWE took away that contract. He later agreed to a TNA contract, passed a physical and signed with TNA. That might be rare in pro wrestling, but it happens all of the time in the legit sports such as the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB.

In those sports, it's "this player has agreed to terms with this team, pending a physical." Should that player fail a physical, the team re-negs on that offer. He agrees to terms with another team, passes a physical and officially signs. I didn't think at the time that the WWE removing their offer to him was a big deal, since it happens all of the time in pro sports.