Am I the Only One Who Notices TNA Blatantly Stealing WCW Storylines?

[Azane]

Wrestling stories repeat, even the CM punk is just Stone Cold rehashed with a little more straight edge.

TNA plays out like WCW because it's the same people setting up, without learning from the mistakes.

 

[Cosmic Hate]

Didn't they steal the Network idea from ECW? Because I remember a while back on TNN when ECW was parodying their troubles with their channel by making a plot about "The Network."

 

[Trill Co$by]

Oh look, some TNA mark who makes assumptions and is a douchebag for really no reason...let's see how much fun I'll have with this.

Not really because if someone from TNA goes and rants about WWE, I will and have stood up for WWE as well... it's more me being someone who just doesn't care, as long as it's great television.

Vince McMahon was his filter. Besides I was more referring to Hogan and Bischoff.

And Kiefer Sutherland had Fox filter a lot of 24's scripts. It's still considered one of Kiefer's best endeavors (even if I beg to differ). And Hogan & Bischoff are perfectly capable of booking great shows.

Like I said, for 3 years, WCW was on top from about 95/96-98/99.

Had AOL sold the company to Bischoff, I'm pretty sure that WCW would still be around and there would be even more great storylines made by Bischoff and Russo. Fortunately, they've been signed by TNA for just such a reason.

Can you not fucking read bro? No I didn't say fire him, I said for them to stop letting him have creative input. Of course keep him on the roster, for them to say "we have Hulk Hogan". Hogan was never really a creative mastermind. He either had Vince or Bischoff to push him, and in WCW most of the success of that tandem came from his name value that he established with Vince behind him.

Hogan Knows Best had Hulk Hogan and it did terrible... Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling had Hogan and it too did terrible. His name is legendary but if he's not doing anything but showing his face, then what's he there for?

1. What does that have to do with me

2. CM Punk kind of has brought in a new era, he now has more input and a louder backstage voice due to his value as the biggest star in wrestling now, which means guys like Ryder get screen time. Meaning he has input on storylines. See, unlike your beloved TNA, changes are actually happening. Guys like Edge and Batista and Jericho are gone, and guys like Ziggler, Del Rio, Miz, Kingston, Sheamus, etc. are stepping up. Unlike TNA which is running the same tired ass Angle vs. Sting feud we have already seen. Angle and Sting are like the Taker and Michaels of TNA. Notice how WWE never would make HBK and Taker feud for the belt. That's because they legitimize their younger talent.

Are Gunner and Crimson not the top two in the BFG series? Has Matt Morgan not been pushed to the moon since coming to TNA (and falling short, cause he's garbage)? Or what about the fact that TNA's taking time to develop them through the under card scene to give all their championships relevancy. Curt Hennig never won a world championship, and he's still one of the all time greats.

Countless? I think they reunited all of 3 times. The first time in 06, it made for good TV, their feud with the McMahons. Then after that, they were a casual tag team, and occasionally funny. But the thing is, they don't keep bringing DX back under a different name. I've watched TNA on and off since 07 and as long as I can remember watching, there's been an nWo like stable.

And their runs in the 2000s, resembled nothing of their heel runs in the 90s.

So TNA runs a stable heavy promotion... and? It's not entirely a bad thing. In fact, these said stables in TNA often feature under carders trying to work with main eventers, and in the end, the under carders usually come out looking better.

Nexus was the only one that resembled a former storyline. SES was a fresh idea, and honestly I'm surprised they didn't do the Straight Edge Savior thing sooner.

Tying CM Punk to Nexus was probably a last minute decision because they had nothing else for the leftovers of Nexus, and it legitimized Nexus.

Barrett was the perfect choice for Nexus. And he led Corre, because again, it gave them something to do besides be released.

Straight Edge Society was nothing more than Right To Censor... only less successful.

You got me on this, but I'm just saying. TNA is shameless with the copying. I know Goldberg is Bill's last name, which adds to my point of TNA shamelessly copying/rehashing (They could have named him anything other than a color, not that I have a particular problem with it, but it shows that they were blatantly copying Goldberg).

Actually, in terms of storyline, Crimson was brought in as Amazing Red's big brother. If you followed TNA like you claim to, then you'd see that naming someone by a different shade of red isn't entirely that far of a stretch. The fact that he's on a streak right now just shows that the company is high on him.

Lol who rants about reviving nWo? Unlike Rock and Austin and DX who the fans NEVER got tired of (and all of them left because of wanting to leave/injury, not being forced to end like nWo), fans got so tired of nWo that it was actually apart of the downfall of WCW. It was the same shit. Nobody was asking for a nWo revival. Don't know what Obama has to do with this, but I'm actually in favor of the health care bill.

Obviously I fucking meant the World Title belt. Do you really think I went through every title's history in TNA, all to come u-

Nevermind. Just know I was referring to the World Title belt, in which Samoa Joe and AJ Styles I guess could be counted as homegrown in the aspect that they gained fame in TNA, but they still had minor stints in WWE before that.

So TNA hasn't put the world title on all of their younger guys, they've still managed to build up a lot of talented stars that have become house hold names. Hell, in terms of WWE vs. TNA, TNA's managed to create a tag team division that means something. For crying out loud, Machine Guns vs. Beer Money was all the rave last year...

There's more than one way to grow a talent than by giving someone the top title.

But that's the thing, a superstar doing promos like Punk hasn't been done before. In fact, before Punk's promo, this match was just another Cena vs. Heel match. Cena would face him in Chicago with a hostile crowd, win, get booed, and either ADR would have cashed in that or the next night and we would be seeing ADR vs. Cena at SS.

Punk's promo made this feud a big deal. I doubt we would have the title unification, or if he would have even signed an extension, if he didn't raise his stock with the promo.

This isn't about "WWE's honor". This feud is only relevant because of Punk's involvement.

On the Cena side, the MITB ppv was centered around "If you don't keep the title in the WWE, you're fired." Which in short terms is just another "Cena protecting the WWE's honor" storyline. It's escalated to something else, and it's making extremely great television, but as far as Cena's side goes... that's what MITB was all about.

Ironically, I wasn't even gonna respond to anyone in this thread until this exact comment.

Awesome

But Michael Cole is hilarious on commentary, CM Punk has rejuvenated the business (to the point of your beloved TNA trying to capitalize with footage they probably would have never looked at if it wasn't for his recent run), and Evolution made two main eventers, made Flair relevant again, and made HHH look stronger. None of the nWo rehashes have done that for TNA.

Right because Kazarian was totally all over TNA's big time pay roll before Fortune came along, Gunner is totally not being built up as the power house of Immortal, and Planet Jarrett/Team Canada didn't build up Petey Williams back in the day before he left.

No, unlike me, you are so desperate to find an alternative to WWE, and TNA is easy to flock to, considering ROH is a completely different style and can't be found on TV as easily as TNA.

Because it doesn't matter if it's WWE, TNA, or ROH... good wrestling is good wrestling. Who cares if there's rehashed stories? Every single detective show has rehashed plots, and so does every sitcom put on television. It's just how the world is.

I'll leave you with this, the fact that Angle and Sting are still main eventers after all these years in TNA says alot. TNA has no John Cena or Randy Orton or Batista or Miz that they turned into a superstar from beginning to present.

What would draw more, Cena vs. Orton or Styles vs. Joe?

Weren't Triple H and Undertaker the biggest talked about match heading into Mania this year? Weren't HBK and Taker the biggest talked about matches in last year's and the year's before that mania? Didn't Triple H squash Sheamus at Wrestlemania 26? Didn't Cena run through Nexus like they were nothing?

As for the Cena v. Orton or Joe v. Styles... it really depends on the field. Had Joe vs. Styles taken place in a WWE ring with the amount of room they were given to work back in 2007, then Joe vs. Styles would be one of WWE's greatest matches right now. Had Orton vs. Cena taken place at Hard Justice 2007, then you'd be asking the same question and expecting me to say Joe v. Styles.

 

[TheHitMark-SirJoseOle]

Hey guys, is it just me, or does the OP just come off as laughingly ironic with the way he is ripping on TNA copying all of WCW's storylines? I mean if you look at his signature, "Verne MacMillian"....isn't the likeness of this spoof character the same as that guy that owns the company that used to be called the WWF, and in the mid 90s this company did a series of skits spoofing Ted Turner?

Sorry OP, but you created a shitstorm on this thread and whether or not I agree personally with every TNA fan or WWE fan for that matter, if you want my opinion you weren't looking for critical thinking or discussion you just wanted to create the umpteenth WWE vs TNA thread. It sounds like if anyone is doing the blatant stealing of ideas it's actually you, by making yet another thread involving TNA that denigrates into this splintered debate amongst fans.

But yeah I still find it funny that you would have a signature ripping on TNA and exaggerating their "plagiarizing" when Vince McMahon himself has actually done what your signature is implying....

 

[Gore Illa]

Hey guys, is it just me, or does the OP just come off as laughingly ironic with the way he is ripping on TNA copying all of WCW's storylines? I mean if you look at his signature, "Verne MacMillian"....isn't the likeness of this spoof character the same as that guy that owns the company that used to be called the WWF, and in the mid 90s this company did a series of skits spoofing Ted Turner?

Sorry OP, but you created a shitstorm on this thread and whether or not I agree personally with every TNA fan or WWE fan for that matter, if you want my opinion you weren't looking for critical thinking or discussion you just wanted to create the umpteenth WWE vs TNA thread. It sounds like if anyone is doing the blatant stealing of ideas it's actually you, by making yet another thread involving TNA that denigrates into this splintered debate amongst fans.

But yeah I still find it funny that you would have a signature ripping on TNA and exaggerating their "plagiarizing" when Vince McMahon himself has actually done what your signature is implying....

Actually the signature is a play on how everytime a wrestler comes to TNA who was previously in another company, they give them a stupid name, which is why the sig features people who at the time of the sig being made, were kayfabe "not employed" by the WWE (Cena, Michaels, HHH, Punk, McMahon).

And this was not a WWE vs. TNA thread. It was to show how repetitive TNA is, more specifically about them stealing WCW storylines without even trying to put a twist on it.

But thanks for assuming things bro.

 

[Dizzy]

LOL, reading trough this thread i remembered Abyss is a TNA Grandslam champion.

Jeez.

Anyway, about this thread, i can't say much about it, because like it was said here before, much stables/storylines were done before , so it's natural that they rewash them in some way. Although, i do have to admit that there are a lot of similarities to WCW stables and more in TNA currently.

The similarities are because Hogan/Bischoff/Jarrett believe in story telling. Building a huge angle, having it evolve in a verity of ways and it ending.

I'm not trying to start the WWE vs. TNA crap again but let's look at the factions WWE has had.

2006-2007: Spirit Squad
2007-2008: ECW Originals, WWE superstars.
2008-2009: The Vince McMahon stable, La Familia.
2009-2010: Legacy
2010-2011: Nexus, The Corre, S.E.S.

WWE has produced a big stable EVERY year. This guy is being a troll on purpose to get attention.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

What I don't understand here is why this matters? Almost every major story line in pro-wrestling over the last 20 years is a re-hash or re-take of a story that preceded it.

So again, what does it matter whether or not the story is a re-hash or a re-take so long as it's entertaining and/or well executed?

 

[Dizzy]

What I don't understand here is why this matters? Almost every major story line in pro-wrestling over the last 20 years is a re-hash or re-take of a story that preceded it.

So again, what does it matter whether or not the story is a re-hash or a re-take so long as it's entertaining and/or well executed?

Because it's like this dude.

TNA: Re-hashes or Re-takes a storyline from the past, It's WCW all over again. They will die and won't learn from mistakes.

TNA creates a brand new storyline: It sucks, disappointing, going nowhere, etc.

WWE: Re-hashes or Re-takes a storyline from the past, It's ignored. Thrown under the rug.

WWE creates a new storyline: It's amazing, interesting, going down in history, epic, won't be forgotten.

Nexus attacking Raw was the "omg best storyline evah" ...but was taken from WCW's nWo. Now, nobody cares, remembers or even likes the Nexus 7.

Cena gets fired and blackmailed by Wade Barrett in 2010. Cena gets fired, blackmailed by Vince McMahon in 2011...Not re-used right?

Cody Rhodes starts bagging people's heads....Now, I remember The Beautiful People and Maryse doing the EXACT same gimmick....That's totally original right?

Ted Dibiase going through a losing streak....Re-used from MVP's losing streak. Nobody mentions it

See the obvious pattern? I know I do not have the greatest memory but I remember shit, WWE fans seem to "forget" and ignore.

 

[GameOver]

Why do these threads come up all the time..

Your not the only one.. but your certainly need to add WWE into the mix of stealing storylines if you gonna do this..

Pretty sure this Punk leaving with the title angle was done in RoH back in 05.. Pretty sure DX was a rip off of the NWO..

and just about everything done in wrestling has been done.. everyones is copying from something/someone.

Atleast talk about TNA's bad writing and bookings than all this stuff about rip offs..

DX was not NWO they were two different things, sure they were both based on rebellion but that's where it stopped. The Cliq was a force b4 Hall and Nash ever returned to WCW and HBK and Triple H were doing DX b4 Hogan turned heel just an FYI, it just wasn't officialy DX until later and DX really didn't try to take over the company they were just anti establishment when they were face's and anti face's when they were full fledged heels. NWO was anti everyone and was just rediculous once it split into 2 factions.

Punk leaving with the title is more of a Ric Flair leaving WCW with the world title and coming to WWE claiming to be the real worlds champ which was done in 1990.

but yeah everyone steals everyone else's idea, just a matter of who can do it better at the time.
agree on the last point, except the obvious rip offs of what one or the other doing the previous week. and vice versa, that's just called lazy writing on both's parts

 

[Brian in Austin]

It's easy to make a connection between The Network and The Board of Directors. Two faceless, nameless entities that were not introduced in either company before appearing out of nowhere applying huge changes to the on-air product. Firing people, hiring people, that sort of thing.

And Triple H takes over for Vince. Bischoff and Hogan take over for Dixie. Triple H is not the real owner, Vince is behind the scenes. Bischoff and Hogan are not the real owners, Dixie still is. The only difference is the execution. H&B snatched it off of Dixie's hands, HHH did not.

So if I were to act like you I would go ahead and say - WWE is ripping off TNA. It doesn't matter if the execution is different. It doesn't matter that the two situations are MILDLY similiar. WWE is copying TNA and that's that.

WWE is so pathetic, copying a smaller company like TNA.

And yet, WWE continues to be more successful. Go figure!!! LOL

 

[Melina]

I don't see what the big deal is.

I work for a business in which we hire writers on a regular basis. So if I hired a writer based on his writing style, I would be an idiot to request that person to do something opposite.

TNA hired Vince Russo to write/book like....Vince Russo, so that is what they are getting. Of course naturally since he also did this for WCW, a lot of TNA is going to feel like WCW of old, its just Russo's booking style.

Not to say I am a Russo fan (far from it), but I don't consider it that big a deal, Russo is just doing what Russo does even if it is rehashing some of his earlier work.