Coach Bob Knight to TNA?

[A.J.]

From TNA Mobile:

"TNA is in talks with coach Bobby Knight....more details to come."

The following was just issued on TNAWrestling.com:

TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING OFFERS COACHING JOB TO BOB KNIGHT

Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling is offering its first-ever Head Coaching job to Bob Knight, the all-time winningest Division I men’s basketball coach known as much for his coaching genius as his fiery temper, who resigned Monday in the middle of the season as the Texas Tech coach.

“TNA Wrestling was shocked, like the rest of the sports world, to hear Coach Knight resigned,” said Jeff Jarrett, co-founder of TNA Wrestling, who was a high school and junior college basketball player in Tennessee before becoming a professional wrestler. “Coach Knight is a sports icon and we’d be thrilled and honored to have him join the ranks, to further build TNA Wrestling into a national power, much like he did for Texas Tech.”

Knight, 67, has been a head coach for 42 years at three Division I schools: Army, Indiana and Texas Tech. Knight won three national championships, including his 1976 Indiana team that went undefeated, a feat no team has done since. In 1984, he coached the U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal in Los Angeles.

TNA Wrestling has a lighter schedule than college basketball which should appeal to Coach Knight, Jarrett said, and TNA not only endorses chair-throwing, but has an endless supply of steel chairs.

In addition to Jarrett, the TNA Wrestling roster also features Kevin Nash who, during his high school basketball career in Michigan had an in-home recruiting visit from Knight. Nash, though, ultimately played at the University of Tennessee, then professionally in Germany.

TNA Wrestling delivers a distinct brand of high-risk, athletic entertainment. TNA’s roster includes the biggest names in wrestling today, such as Kurt Angle, Booker T, and Christian Cage, as well as the hottest new stars in the business: A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe and the Motor City Machineguns. TNA features the innovative six-sided ring and the high flying X-Division, as well as concept matches such as “Ultimate X,” “King of the Mountain,” “Six Sides of Steel,” “Lethal Lockdown” and “Elevation X,” considered the most dangerous match in professional wrestling.

TNA Entertainment, LLC is a privately held company headquartered in Nashville, TN. For more information, visit www.tnawrestling.com. TNA programming is available in over 100 countries. “TNA iMPACT” airs every Thursday night on Spike TV (9:00 �" 11:00 PM, ET/PT). Spike TV is available in 96.1 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks.

I have to say I am kinda shocked that TNA would try and pull a stunt like this, but then again Coach Knight is big time when it comes to national media and that again would put TNA in the media. But I dont really see the need to have Coach Knight on TV I mean sure he has done some crazy shit in the past, but what can he do in TNA? I guess coach up some guys or a tag team that needs like like the franchise, but i still don't like the move. I be ok with it if they did for an appearance here and there but anything more is pointless. But hey this will get TNA some media attention and that what they want.

 

[Slyfox696]

I don't care in what capacity it happens, Bob Knight in TNA would so totally make me ejaculate in my pants. Not to mention, he could take aside some of the under performing workers and rip them a new asshole and maybe motivate them.

Bob Knight in TNA would rule so much ass it's not even funny.

 

[brahma62]

I think it genious. I mean we all know he knows how to speak on a microphone, we've seen it plenty of time so imagine what kind of manager he could be? Maybe they are gonna bring in an Athlete gimmick such as MVP in WWE and knight would be their manager or "coach". And imagine the exposure they would get. You know sportscenter will pick it up, one of the greatest coaches of all time, sportscenter will pick it up, and it will get people to tune in what is gonna happen. Hopefully they land him

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

I REALLY don't see Bobby doing this. I'm from Indiana and have been following Knight my whole life...and I really think that his only interest is basketball. Unless they paid him a fortune (even then I really doubt), I just don't see Coach Knight taking a step back (it would be viewed as a step back by the sports media and the basketball community) into professional wrestling.

And really. I think TNA loses any credibility it has left if this move is made. By making this deal, TNA is admitting that it can't compete and it needs cheap, non-wrestling involvement in order to have any chance. They can't establish themselves in-house. That will serve to be a problem in the long run.

 

[Father:_Polley]

winningest is a word??? who knew.

i think it's a good publicity move for TNA. i mean the worst that can happen is he can say he's not interested in a move to wrestling. other than that, a famous coach won't do them any harm.

as for steamboat's comments, wwe used kevin federline last yr and had him wrestle. if i'd my choice of cheap non-wrestling entertainment, i'd go for the nationally reknowned coach over britney's backup dancer

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

winningest is a word??? who knew.

i think it's a good publicity move for TNA. i mean the worst that can happen is he can say he's not interested in a move to wrestling. other than that, a famous coach won't do them any harm.

as for steamboat's comments, wwe used kevin federline last yr and had him wrestle. if i'd my choice of cheap non-wrestling entertainment, i'd go for the nationally reknowned coach over britney's backup dancer

That's a good point, but WWE last year and TNA currently are at two entirely different levels. TNA is trying to form for itself a base legacy. And right now, it's not doing much to show that it is legitimate in and of itself. It's full of cheap promotional crap. A short list:

1. Pacman Jones - the media is all over him, so why not add him in whatever capacity possible? And why not put the tag titles on him?

2. Drinking Championship - no explanation needed as to why this is a terrible move in TNA.

3. Stone Cold Sharkboy - See number 2.

4. Bobby Knight - Adding him doesn't make ANY sense other than to get a cheap ratings boost. At least with Pacman, he is a professional athlete, so he could at least be trained and used in some fashion. However, Bob Knight is a retired basketball coach in his 70s. He knows JACK about wrestling (i'm assuming). So, he wouldn't even be legitimate in a training role.

WCW competed with WWF because it was a legitimate contender. They had solid wrestlers (most coming from WWF...but legit wrestlers nonetheless) and the nWo phenomenon. The six-sided ring...the parodies of Austin...the signing of celebrities...and especially the announce team...are not going to put TNA over the hump.

 

[mtg712]

i think it would be kind of a mistake for this too occur. ill spit a few names off and you guys tell me if they kinda match up with this situation. master p... ok... david arqutte... ok... maybe not as far as the last one but this situation reminds me of when wcw brought in those people to "increase media coverage" but in the end they really didnt do much. how about when wwe brought in kevin federline. it didnt do much either. what i think knight wants to do is just go home and relax. tna isnt home for knight. there was hype when tna brought in pacman jones but in the end it didnt really equate to much in terms of ratings or ppv buy rates.

 

[Father:_Polley]

to be honest, i think it's just TNA saying they're after someone to make a headline for promotion. after 42 yrs the guy'll want a break. a lot of what they need is publicity and that'll get them more money.

ok, a lot of gimmicks are worse than a khali vs snitsky match (well...maybe. i hope to never find out), but i think they're starting to realise that not all media attention is good for business - pacman jones being a disaster. and hopefully they can use the 'drinking championship' to bring in a mid-card belt and kong can crush shark boy (literally).

 

[klunderbunker]

This jsut doesn't work on almost any level you put it on. TNA has got to stop trying to get their name out there. They're turning into the wrestling version of Paris Hilton: Famous for being famous. But in this case it's jsut known for having every media name being brought into the company. Knight is a huge name in sports, but come on, in wrestling? Wrestling is it's own world and it doesn't need someone from another sport coming in. It works once in awhile, like Tyson in WWF, but this is jsut wrong and won't help TNA other than for maybe a month, and it won't be at all what they think it will be. It'd be a huge payout, which could be used for countless other things.

 

[awb25mn]

Wow i can't believe Bob Knight is seriously considering doing this. But it would be funny to hear Don West say...BOB KNIGHT IS THROWING CHAIRS JUST LIKE HIS OLD DAYS AT INDIANA

If Kinight does decide to this, I just hope TNA does it right and it doesn't turn into a pacman jones boring storyline