Jack-Hammer
YOU WILL RESPECT MY AUTHORITAH!!!!
For me, right now, really the thing that seems wrong with TNA is that, again to me, it's starting to go backwards.
Beginning about this time last year, maybe a little before, TNA started making some good steps forward by putting emphasis on fresher talent. Wrestling content overall started to mean more, older veterans that were still left in TNA were no longer being made the focus of the company, the outdated faction wars storylines that'd long since been the primary angle in TNA had finally fizzled out, etc. In all honesty, since Vince Russo left TNA, the overall booking of the company & its product have dramatically improved.
Throughout this year, TNA's continued to make good progress and put out and overall pretty good product, better than it's been in years in my opinion. I think TNA has been at it's peak, overall, during the BFG Series. Since the BFG Series ended, however, I think TNA has started to go backwards a bit. For instance, you know that the Aces & Eights angle is ultimately leading up to another full blown faction wars storyline. For nearly 6 months, TNA has invested in this angle and it's really become the focus of the company over the past couple of months. Heading into BFG, the biggest TNA show of the year, it's really felt like the only really relevant happening and that sucks if you're someone that's just not into it. After BFG, Aces & Eights is only going to become an even bigger presence and focus in TNA.
Also, over the past little while, Hulk Hogan had had MUCH more emphasis put on him than he has at almost anytime this year. Adding Sting to the mix and you've got Hogan & Sting in the center of what feels like the only significant angle going on in TNA as they head towards their biggest show of the year.
The tag team scene, which used to be TNA's crowning jewel, is on the same level that the WWE's has been for most of the last half decade, at least. Whatever progress TNA had made with the X Division with Austin Aries as champion is gone with the wind as the X Division now feels every bit as irrelevant as ever. The TV title picture might show some signs of life as Joe has only just gotten the title, so it's too soon to tell one way or the other on that yet. Unfortunately, for Austin Aries, he's been booked to come off as pretty irrelevant all in all during his run as champ. His program with Jeff Hardy continues to be lackluster and we're just barely a week before BFG and, like everything else in TNA, he's taken a backseat to the Aces & Eights storyline. As I said, TNA has invested a lot of time in this feud but I just don't see the money to be perfectly honest.
I was excited about TNA's Gut Check concept when it first started but it's quickly dissolved into a showcase for mediocre developmental TNA wrestlers that either aren't nearly ready for the big time or will never be ready for the big time. Each week, aside from Joey Ryan, it's been one lackluster performance after another. The allure of Open Fight Night, for me, has faded. There's nothing really bad about it, but there's nothing really good about it so it's just kind of there. The Championship Thursday thing does nothing for me. Listening to four to eight guys bitching to the GM as to why they should have a title shot just isn't riveting television for me. While #1 contender matches are quite common, they're vastly more entertaining.
I've been enjoying TNA much more than I have in quite a while. Right now, it just feels to me like they're going backwards and, as a result, are losing a lot of momentum that they've spent more than a year building. i
Beginning about this time last year, maybe a little before, TNA started making some good steps forward by putting emphasis on fresher talent. Wrestling content overall started to mean more, older veterans that were still left in TNA were no longer being made the focus of the company, the outdated faction wars storylines that'd long since been the primary angle in TNA had finally fizzled out, etc. In all honesty, since Vince Russo left TNA, the overall booking of the company & its product have dramatically improved.
Throughout this year, TNA's continued to make good progress and put out and overall pretty good product, better than it's been in years in my opinion. I think TNA has been at it's peak, overall, during the BFG Series. Since the BFG Series ended, however, I think TNA has started to go backwards a bit. For instance, you know that the Aces & Eights angle is ultimately leading up to another full blown faction wars storyline. For nearly 6 months, TNA has invested in this angle and it's really become the focus of the company over the past couple of months. Heading into BFG, the biggest TNA show of the year, it's really felt like the only really relevant happening and that sucks if you're someone that's just not into it. After BFG, Aces & Eights is only going to become an even bigger presence and focus in TNA.
Also, over the past little while, Hulk Hogan had had MUCH more emphasis put on him than he has at almost anytime this year. Adding Sting to the mix and you've got Hogan & Sting in the center of what feels like the only significant angle going on in TNA as they head towards their biggest show of the year.
The tag team scene, which used to be TNA's crowning jewel, is on the same level that the WWE's has been for most of the last half decade, at least. Whatever progress TNA had made with the X Division with Austin Aries as champion is gone with the wind as the X Division now feels every bit as irrelevant as ever. The TV title picture might show some signs of life as Joe has only just gotten the title, so it's too soon to tell one way or the other on that yet. Unfortunately, for Austin Aries, he's been booked to come off as pretty irrelevant all in all during his run as champ. His program with Jeff Hardy continues to be lackluster and we're just barely a week before BFG and, like everything else in TNA, he's taken a backseat to the Aces & Eights storyline. As I said, TNA has invested a lot of time in this feud but I just don't see the money to be perfectly honest.
I was excited about TNA's Gut Check concept when it first started but it's quickly dissolved into a showcase for mediocre developmental TNA wrestlers that either aren't nearly ready for the big time or will never be ready for the big time. Each week, aside from Joey Ryan, it's been one lackluster performance after another. The allure of Open Fight Night, for me, has faded. There's nothing really bad about it, but there's nothing really good about it so it's just kind of there. The Championship Thursday thing does nothing for me. Listening to four to eight guys bitching to the GM as to why they should have a title shot just isn't riveting television for me. While #1 contender matches are quite common, they're vastly more entertaining.
I've been enjoying TNA much more than I have in quite a while. Right now, it just feels to me like they're going backwards and, as a result, are losing a lot of momentum that they've spent more than a year building. i