ROH Star El Generico Gets A TNA Tryout

[MB1025]

El Generico worked a tryout match for TNA tonight putting over The Amazing Red.

John Benoit sent word that Generico and Red had a good match and had the crowd "really into it", which is saying something for the last match on a taping.

Generico is still under contract to Ring of Honor. According to sources, ROH President Cary Silkin gave him permission to take the tryout. ROH has given permission to contracted employees in the past, including Bryan Danielson and Roderick Strong, to work dark matches for WWE and TNA.

TJ Perkins is also slated for a dark match tryout this week.

I got this from another site, but I am not sure if I can link or give credit to another wrestling website.


Anyways this would be a pretty big thing for TNA. It will be interesting to see what happens from this.

 

[X]

Wow great news, I've been a fan of El Generico for many years now and I'd love to see him get a fair shake in TNA. Unfortunately, it's TNA, so my gut reaction is always "Don't do it man! They have no idea what the fuck they're doing with anyone over there!", but Generico is such a fun and likable personality that I think he could get over huge with the TNA fans if given the opportunity to do his thing. He would be an instant boost to the X-Division if he came on board to TNA and match quality would undoubtedly improve with him aboard. Past that though, I'm not sure what they could do with him. I genuinely want him to be successful. I can't imagine they'd give him any kind of serious heavyweight push though.

This would be a pretty bad loss for ROH if Generico signed a deal with TNA, but we've come to be used to seeing ROH guys getting snatched up all the tie by the WWE and TNA.

 

[Joe's Gonna Kill You]

I fell the Same as X does I love El Generico and I think he's a really good wrestler and could help the X -Divison but recently the X-Division has not been used well so I'm not sure how he would be used. I would love to see him in TNA but I'm not sure if it will happen because numerous people have had tryout matches and not been signed. And Just a note on TJ Perkins he had his tryout match Yesterday against Shannon Moore, I heard that the match was quite good and Perkins also recently posted on his Twitter that he has another tryout match tomorrow against El Generico.

 

[Oracular Spectacular]

Good for Generico, but a huge part of me hope he doesn't get signed. For a few reasons.

1. Bad time to be an Independent wrestlers joining TNA. Especially with his gimmick. I highly doubt TNA will use him a whole lot, I could see him being like Amazing Red and wrestling like once or twice a month. Looks like even the X Division is going to be ruled by the Immortal storyline.

2. He is really close to being a legit title contender in ROH. I believe he has a world title match coming up and his match with Steen at Final Battle really put him over. He can sustain a long running feud which is somthing that is very valuable for a company like ROH, I would rather see him feud with Strong for the title.

If he does get signed I will say, Good for you. He deserves the pay day because he works his ass off in the ring.

 

[MB1025]

I also think the reason the X-Division hasn't been used well is because they don't have the talent they used to to keep it the big spectacle that it was. When they promoted Joe, Styles, and Daniels to the main event picture there really wasn't anyone to replace that talent. I certainly don't think an Ultimate X Match would be any good with Jay Lethal or Robbie E involved. It is a division that they need to build back up. It is not because they don't care about it, but just like the WWE's tag team division there just isn't enough talent there to do it at the moment. When you only have 2-3 tag teams ready for TV or only 2-3 X-Division wrestlers then you really can't talk about a division because it isn't a division. It is more like a small group wrestling for 1 belt. Signing El Generico would be a great start to building that back up.

 

[Post]

If anyone has seen any of the Generico/Steen battles over the past 6 months, then they would realize that this could be a great move for TNA.

Generico is talented and really tough. He deserves a shot.

But this has disaster written all over it for Generico. His gimmick does not stand a chance in TNA and his role will be limited because of his size and physique. TNA would mess it up.

He could end up in an Amazing Red type role, but I think a role like Shark Boy or Curry Man is more likely.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I like El Generico, I think he is pretty talented and have been lucky enough to catch him performing live on an indie card in the UK a couple of years ago. He would be an excellent addition to the TNA X-Division a few years ago, when alot of focus went into that division.

However, right now I could see TNA completely wasting Generico. He doesnt have a good physique, and with the X-Division not being a priority in TNA right now, he wouldn't get that much exposure or be treated properly and used as a joke character, like a Curry Man or Shark Boy (as Drewpost said). I hope this is a first step in trying to build the X-Division up again by signing up some fresh talent. Petey Williams next please!

As another poster has mentioned, El Generico deserves his shot, and I am genuinely happy that TNA are interested in him, his work in ROH certainly warrants a bigger league signing him up.

Right now though, unless dramatic changes are to be made in the X-Division, I just cannot see him being successful there. I hope I am wrong though.

I would love to see him hit the Brainbussstaaaahhhhh on Robbie E!

 

[Hardcore Murphy]

1. There are a lot of wrestlers in the indy scene that i would pick over Generico, like Davey Richards, Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, Homicide, Aries, Daniels ect.

2. Although Generico is good in the ring, he must be the least interesting wrestler with a mask EVER!

3. As for helping the X divison. The way I see it TNA have a good Tag Team divison and a decent Knockouts divison, A TV divison, and they also have good main eventers. But with these 4 divisons taking up tv time it leaves little or no time to the X divison.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

One - I love all the psychics we have in WZ. The guy hasn't signed the dotted line yet, and you all already know that TNA would "fuck this one up like they always do". You know, like they fucked it up with Anderson, Hardy, Pope, Lethal and just about any other guy they decided to push. TNA will fuck it up if the guy is worthless to the company, and so far, they've jobbed and misused the guys that can't raise their heads above low-card level (i.e Amazing Red), and put on halt the careers of guys they are not going to use RIGHT NOW (Joe, Pope, AJ), but could use in the future.

Two - The only problem that I have with Generico is his physique. I'm all for high-flyers beating people up on a daily basis, but Generico is probably the skinniest wrestler on this planet. He's the anorexic offsprting of Rey Mysterio and Sheamus. I find it hard to believe that he can defeat anyone via pinfall, not a roll-up.

Three - I like his style, I think he's exciting in the ring, has some cool moves, but I highly doubt he'll be anything more than just another guy on TNA's roster. Another comedy act, maybe. TNA isn't Ring of Honor. Just because El Generico was who he was in ROH doesn't mean he'll be the same thing in TNA. He's a great wrestler, but so is Amazing Red. Great wrestling is always a plus, but you need to have other skills to make it, and even though I doubt Generico has them, I hope he develops them.

TJ Perkins on the other hand is the guy I can see go big or at least top mid-card. The first time I saw TJP was at Final Battle and my God did he impress me. Kid's got the look, he's not too small, and he's awesome in the ring. I've never heard his mic skills, though. I really like the kid and I hope TNA signs him too. I see potential.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I've seen a few bootleg DVD matches of him in the past and he's pretty talented in the ring. Has a lot of energy and just a "good vibe" going on about him is how I guess I'd put it but I'm certainly no expert on the guy.

If he were to sign with TNA, I have a feeling that it probably wouldn't amount to very much. Generico's about 165 pounds soakin' wet so the only place to put him really is in the X Division. However, as we all know, the X Division is really no longer a relevant force in TNA and hasn't been for a few years now. He'd probably be relegated to Xplosion like Shark Boy and Amazing Red while making a few rare appearances on iMPACT! in which he's squashed in about 2 minutes or less.

Just because you're a big deal on the indy scene doesn't mean you're going to be a big deal in TNA. TNA's usually seen by 1.3-1.5 million people in the United States on a weekly basis so that's a big deal in the grand scheme of things. I dunno what his promo skills are but he definitely doesn't have any sort of "look" to speak of.

 

[X]

Just because you're a big deal on the indy scene doesn't mean you're going to be a big deal in TNA. TNA's usually seen by 1.3-1.5 million people in the United States on a weekly basis so that's a big deal in the grand scheme of things. I dunno what his promo skills are but he definitely doesn't have any sort of "look" to speak of.

TNA's audience really isn't that much larger than ROH's. Preliminary reports are that ROH's last iPPV, Final Battle, probably did more buys than the last TNA PPV in December, Final Resolution. That's pretty impressive if you ask me, and shows that TNA's audience is not nearly as different and larger than ROH's as some people seem to think. Shit ROH probably makes more on DVD sales than TNA has in years.

Generico, like any other great wrestler, can get over with any crowd if given the chance. Just like Mysterio, at the end of the day, size does not matter, a draw is a draw. Unfortunately TNA is run so poorly that most of us have little to no hope for TNA being able to recognize this talent in Generico and to use it properly. No, they're more focused on wasting 10 minutes on a PPV on Team 3D fighting eachother for the 13,000th time than letting young talent get over with their fans.

While I hope for nothing but the best for Generico, I hope he doesn't go to TNA. They won't use him correctly. He should take all the momentum he's built up over the last year with the feud with Steen and focus on a legit main event run in ROH, now is the time for him there.

 

[culantro]

I really like El Generico, but i don't think he would be used the right way in TNA, just because there's no time for the X division on the cards anymore, they prefer to present a 8 minutes brawl of the knockouts in the back, than to have a decent x division match on Tv, so as much as i like Generico, i don't really see a place for him in TNA right now...

but if he jumps to TNA it would be good for him paycheck speaking..

 

[Zeven_Zion]

TNA's audience really isn't that much larger than ROH's. Preliminary reports are that ROH's last iPPV, Final Battle, probably did more buys than the last TNA PPV in December, Final Resolution. That's pretty impressive if you ask me, and shows that TNA's audience is not nearly as different and larger than ROH's as some people seem to think. Shit ROH probably makes more on DVD sales than TNA has in years.

If the Internet is to be believed, Final Battle set new records for the company, the iPPV buys didn't top 1,500. I'm pretty sure TNA hasn't drawn under that mark for at least five years, if not more. Even if the dirt-sheets are wrong, Final Battle could have not possibly drawn more than any TNA Pay-Per-View. Not that many give a crap about Ring of Honor and it's ROH's fault, just like it's TNA's fault they can't go over the 1.1 mark to save their balls.

ROH is doing one thing, and is convinced that this is what everyone wants and that this is what wrestling should be, and refuses to live in 2011, and everyone else who says differently is a piece of crap and doesn't know squat about wrestling. There's a reason why TNA has been around for now nine years and has evolved to this point even though it hasn't moved up or down for about two-three years, and there's also a reason why ROH has been around for 9 years and it has iPPVs and is basically an incubator for future TNA/WWE wrestlers without any promise of becoming anything.

Generico, like any other great wrestler, can get over with any crowd if given the chance. Just like Mysterio, at the end of the day, size does not matter, a draw is a draw. Unfortunately TNA is run so poorly that most of us have little to no hope for TNA being able to recognize this talent in Generico and to use it properly. No, they're more focused on wasting 10 minutes on a PPV on Team 3D fighting eachother for the 13,000th time than letting young talent get over with their fans.

Size doesn't matter, physique does. A look does. Samoa Joe is fat, but he looks like a juggernaut and a guy that can whoop your ass even in real life. Generico is a Colin Delaney with a mask. That's it.

You have Rey Mysterio as an example, but Rey has muscles. Muscles and a beer belly, but muscles nontheless. You can probably believe that he can beat someone.

Generico isn't the second coming of The Rock. He's a guy that can wrestle. Guess what? TNA's filled to the brim with guys that can wrestle. That one-dimensional attitude that Ring of Honor has works great for Generico, but it won't cut it in TNA.

You're right, TNA wasted time with 3D, but you're scrapping an entire PPV because of one stupid match. TNA doesn't let young talent go over with the fans? Do me a favor, reach behind your back and pluck your head out of your ass, then go to TNA's website and see who the Champions are. Then I want you to see who the contenders are. I'm sick and tired of this "TNA doesn't let their guys go over" shit. Think for crying out loud.

El Generico is a fun guy to watch in the ring, but he won't succeed in TNA not because "it's ran poorly", but because that guy looks like shit, he probably talks like shit and won't be anything more than an X-Division flash in the pan. Not TNA's fault, Generico's fault. The IWC can hop on Generico, Danielson and all these other guys' balls all they want, but facts remain - you need to have a full package to make it or AT LEAST something you can do that nobody else can. I don't think Generico has either of those. Joe has, AJ has, Sydal has, Daniels has, Anderson has, Pope has, The Guns have. Some people just don't make it and Generico's gonna be one of those.

I'm expecting big things from TJ Perkins, though. I love that dude.

 

[MB1025]

TNA's audience really isn't that much larger than ROH's. Preliminary reports are that ROH's last iPPV, Final Battle, probably did more buys than the last TNA PPV in December, Final Resolution. That's pretty impressive if you ask me, and shows that TNA's audience is not nearly as different and larger than ROH's as some people seem to think. Shit ROH probably makes more on DVD sales than TNA has in years.

Generico, like any other great wrestler, can get over with any crowd if given the chance. Just like Mysterio, at the end of the day, size does not matter, a draw is a draw. Unfortunately TNA is run so poorly that most of us have little to no hope for TNA being able to recognize this talent in Generico and to use it properly. No, they're more focused on wasting 10 minutes on a PPV on Team 3D fighting eachother for the 13,000th time than letting young talent get over with their fans.

While I hope for nothing but the best for Generico, I hope he doesn't go to TNA. They won't use him correctly. He should take all the momentum he's built up over the last year with the feud with Steen and focus on a legit main event run in ROH, now is the time for him there.

For starters unless you work for TNA or TNA releases these types of numbers we will never know what their buys are.


Also and here is the big one. If The ROH audience was just as big or very close to the audience of TNA they wouldn't be getting the boot from HDNET in April. HDNET is in 60 million homes and they can't even stay on a channel that carries practically nothing of any importance. I am not knocking the product because those wrestlers bust their ass and deserve to make money. I am just using this as a point. They don't have the money, marketing, or star power to compete with TNA. Those are the same reasons why TNA can't compete with the WWE.

 

[X]

If the Internet is to be believed, Final Battle set new records for the company, the iPPV buys didn't top 1,500. I'm pretty sure TNA hasn't drawn under that mark for at least five years, if not more. Even if the dirt-sheets are wrong, Final Battle could have not possibly drawn more than any TNA Pay-Per-View. Not that many give a crap about Ring of Honor and it's ROH's fault, just like it's TNA's fault they can't go over the 1.1 mark to save their balls.

I'm basing this off of what Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez were saying on the Observer radio show in the month of December. From their sources TNA PPV buyrates keep plummeting and plummeting to the point where it really isn't that hard to believe an iPPV could do as many buys as one of their PPVs does. I didn't say anything about Final Battle drawing more than "any TNA PPV ever" though, nothing of the sort.

ROH is doing one thing, and is convinced that this is what everyone wants and that this is what wrestling should be, and refuses to live in 2011, and everyone else who says differently is a piece of crap and doesn't know squat about wrestling.

What do you mean "refuses to live in 2011"? If anything ROH are the ones who have adapted to modern times, delivering what their fans want---hot in-ring action, and no childish soap opera bullshit. This is why they've been able to consistently draw large crowds to their shows all over the parts of the country they run, there's an ROH fanbase that's going to show up for the shows and buy the DVDs regardless of how people are being pushed and utilized. If anyone's living in the past, it's TNA, trying desperately to push stars of the 90s in hopes they will draw now, but they don't, ever, because nobody gives a flying fuck about Tommy Dreamer or Team 3D in 2011.

There's a reason why TNA has been around for now nine years and has evolved to this point even though it hasn't moved up or down for about two-three years, and there's also a reason why ROH has been around for 9 years and it has iPPVs and is basically an incubator for future TNA/WWE wrestlers without any promise of becoming anything.

Huh? Your description of TNA in the first part about maintaining a consistent audience over the years, that perfectly describes ROH's growth over the last few years as well. ROH also doesn't have anywhere near the financial funding that TNA has.

Size doesn't matter, physique does. A look does. Samoa Joe is fat, but he looks like a juggernaut and a guy that can whoop your ass even in real life. Generico is a Colin Delaney with a mask. That's it.

And yet Joe hasn't been relevant in the slightest bit for the last 3 years in that company and has been misused time and time again. Which is why many of us think they'd also screw up Generico if he were to join their company.

Generico is much more than a "Colin Delaney with a mask", he's an extremely likable babyface that gets over huge with any audience he's been given the chance to connect with, much like Joe did in ROH. There's a reason Final Battle did so well and a very large part of that has to do with the main event of the show, which was El Generico vs. Kevin Steen. Generico has been a consistent draw for ROH for sometime now, so writing him off as another Colin Delaney is ridiculous (especially considering Delaney has achieved a modicum of success in CHIKARA).

You have Rey Mysterio as an example, but Rey has muscles. Muscles and a beer belly, but muscles nontheless. You can probably believe that he can beat someone.

You think Rey's muscles is what made him a legit main-event draw? Are you drunk? It was his in-ring work and character that got him over as a main event draw, ANYONE can be a main event draw, regardless of their size, if they have the talent. Rey proves this, and not because of his mini-roid muscles, but because of his dedication, exciting in-ring style, and marketability. Generico is no Mysterio, but to claim he would be incapable of being a major player in a company like TNA that built itself on similarly small-sized luchadors like Styles, Lynn, Daniels, Homicide, Red, etc is a bit presumptuous. Again if you have the talent and are given a fair shake, you can be successful on any part of the card regardless of your size.

Generico isn't the second coming of The Rock. He's a guy that can wrestle. Guess what? TNA's filled to the brim with guys that can wrestle.

Yep, but they sure as shit are not filled with guys who can wrestle who are also extremely likable and easy to get over with your fanbase. Take MCMG for example, they aren't exactly bastions of charisma or the second coming of The Rock but they're extremely likable guys who got themselves over with their hard in-ring work and dedication. Generico could do the very same thing in a company like TNA if given the chance.

That one-dimensional attitude that Ring of Honor has works great for Generico, but it won't cut it in TNA.

One-dimensional attitude? Huh? What the hell is one-dimensional about El Generico? He' the exact opposite of what you think of as the stereotypical ROH star---technical wrestling experts with no personality. Generico has an exciting in-ring style that would get over anywhere and he has tons of personality. He's a fun, goofy character far unlike the majority of ROH's former and current stars who are were/are always serious and stern technical wrestlers like Roderick Strong, Nigel McGuinness and Bryan Danielson.

You're right, TNA wasted time with 3D, but you're scrapping an entire PPV because of one stupid match.

No I'm just using one example of literally thousands over the past few years in TNA to help prove my point that TNA has no fucking clue what their fanbase wants or what wrestling fans in general want to see in the year 2011. Here's a hint: It sure as fuck is not Bischoff, Hogan, and washed up ECW guys.

TNA doesn't let young talent go over with the fans? Do me a favor, reach behind your back and pluck your head out of your ass, then go to TNA's website and see who the Champions are.

Sorry, are you trying to prove some point here? Because you failed to. Let's see who their current champions are....Mr. Anderson, a character they can't decide if he's face one week or heel the next, Jay Lethal a guy that they waited to pull the trigger on for literally 5 years by which time his heat had all but bee gone, Beer Money who have been stuck in a holding pattern for 2 years now and are basically scraping the exact same ground they were 5 years earlier in AMW and Team Canada, should I continue? TNA loves to sign great young talent, and then completely fucking waste them by doing nothing with them for so long that they lose all the heat they'd built up before they came to the company in the first place.

I've been watching TNA steadily since 2006 and I've seen the same pattern over and over again. TNA signs a great indy talent, gives them an initial push getting all of their fans hopes up, and then buries them for several years before picking them up again and going "Oh yeah, we still have this guy employed, let's see if we can get him to work" at a time when their heat is already gone. Glaring examples of this would be Nigel McGuinness and Samoa Joe.

Then I want you to see who the contenders are. I'm sick and tired of this "TNA doesn't let their guys go over" shit. Think for crying out loud.

But they DON'T let their young talent get over with their fans on their own, not usually until it's long overdue. It took TNA almost 5 fucking years to realize that MCMG were one of their most popular acts and should be tag champ, FIVE YEARS. And by that point nobody even cared anymore, it was just "Oh, look, they FINALLY gave MCMG the belts, better late than never I guess".

Sure they'll send out some great young wrestlers to go out there and work an exciting match and get over with their fans, they do that all the time. The thing is though, they NEVER capitalize on that. Take Generation Me for example, where the fuck have they been since their feud with MCMG ended? They should be in that top heel tag team spot that Beer Money is in right now, they were getting great heat because of their feud with MCMG and they got over huge with TNA's fanbase in the year 2010 because of their work in that feud. But what does TNA do? Nothing. They have an Ultimate X match in March and then put them on the shelves for months at a time before feeding them to MCMG again in the fall, and instead of getting them over by having them beat MCMG and creating some new stars, TNA decides instead to just stick them in the background as Victoria's backstage buddies, killing their heat, again. Just one example of a never-ending pattern of ineptitude that TNA has showed year in and year out.

El Generico is a fun guy to watch in the ring, but he won't succeed in TNA not because "it's ran poorly", but because that guy looks like shit, he probably talks like shit and won't be anything more than an X-Division flash in the pan. Not TNA's fault, Generico's fault. The IWC can hop on Generico, Danielson and all these other guys' balls all they want, but facts remain - you need to have a full package to make it or AT LEAST something you can do that nobody else can. I don't think Generico has either of those. Joe has, AJ has, Sydal has, Daniels has, Anderson has, Pope has, The Guns have. Some people just don't make it and Generico's gonna be one of those.

As I said before, Generico is far more personable and marketable than technical guys like Roderick Strong or Danielson were to TNA, but that's irrelevant not because Generico isn't good enough to be a draw for them but because TNA doesn't know what the fuck to do with any of their wrestlers. All those wrestlers you just named have been ruined by TNA over the years as well, despite having all of the necessary tools you think they need to be successful. AJ is STILL recovering from the blow to his character and heat that the years of 2007-2009 were where he was treated like a fucking joke. Joe is still trying to recover from being mired in the midcard doing NOTHING for the last 2 years, nowhere near the main event scene. The Pope was looking to be a new big face for TNA, but they never pulled the trigger on him and now he's circling the drain, on the verge of a heel turn.

Seriously, I could go on and on here man. I have put so much hope, time, and effort into being a TNA fan for so long, but they've broken me down over the years to the point where I just have no faith whatsoever in their ability to do anything other than occasionally have great wrestling matches because of great workrate. Feuds, drawing, angles, storylines, all of these things I have no interest in with TNA because they've fucked them up again and again and again too many times for me to give a shit anymore.

You'll see man. I was like you once, always defending TNA, always looking at the positive side of things for the company. After awhile though, there's only so much shit you can shovel through with a smile before you realize no, it's not going to get any better and no this company is not being run by anyone with a semblance of an understanding of how to book a successful and entertaining wrestling promooton.


PHEW. That was a long post. Feel proud Zeven, you're the first person to coax me out of my wrestling-posting hibernation for many, many weeks and get into an actual debate.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

I'm basing this off of what Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez were saying on the Observer radio show in the month of December. From their sources TNA PPV buyrates keep plummeting and plummeting to the point where it really isn't that hard to believe an iPPV could do as many buys as one of their PPVs does. I didn't say anything about Final Battle drawing more than "any TNA PPV ever" though, nothing of the sort.

This bolded part just proves that me debating anythign with you is pointless, because you're absolutely brainless. Total Nonstop Action is a Private company. They don't release any sort of numbers, other than ratings, to the public. Therefore Meltzer and Alvarez are pulling things out of their asses in order to have simpletons believe it and base information off of their idiotic and quite frankly idle opinions about TNA and pro wrestling in general.

What do you mean "refuses to live in 2011"? If anything ROH are the ones who have adapted to modern times, delivering what their fans want---hot in-ring action, and no childish soap opera bullshit. This is why they've been able to consistently draw large crowds to their shows all over the parts of the country they run, there's an ROH fanbase that's going to show up for the shows and buy the DVDs regardless of how people are being pushed and utilized. If anyone's living in the past, it's TNA, trying desperately to push stars of the 90s in hopes they will draw now, but they don't, ever, because nobody gives a flying fuck about Tommy Dreamer or Team 3D in 2011.

Modern businesses try to have a broad product which provides a lot of different things for the customers. It's what TNA tries to do. They havea bit of everything in their program. Coca-Cola isn't making just one type of beverage. BMW isn't making just black BWM's. The businesses grow. They evolve. They expand. It's what WWE did, it's what TNA is trying to do, and it's what Ring of Honor refuses to do because they're so caught up into this whole "we're what wrestling is all about" schtick, that it has left them in the financial shitter for the last nine years. ROH lives in some other age, not in the future. They do ONE thing, stick to it, and that's it. If McDonalds made just one type of burger, I'm sure Ronald McDonald wouldn't be so jolly these days.

Your argument about TNA "pushing" people from the past is completely inaccurate, much like everything else you stated so far and went on to mess up. TNA never pushed Team 3D(as singles wrestlers), they never pushed Tommy Dreamer. They simply gave them a spot on the card. The only stars from the 90's TNA pushed are Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam. Hardy was in his prime back then, but he's been a star since then, and while his value is not in his wrestling ability or his mic skills, he sells dolls and panties. He is who he is in TNA for the same reason John Cena is who he is in WWE. He's insanely popular, and he sells merchandise. Van Dam on the other hand has never been a huge star, but he's a great athlete who barely lost a step after all those years. Personally, I felt like his run with the belt was stupid and unnecessary. TNA realized that, took the belt off him and that was that.

Huh? Your description of TNA in the first part about maintaining a consistent audience over the years, that perfectly describes ROH's growth over the last few years as well. ROH also doesn't have anywhere near the financial funding that TNA has.

Is ROH growing, or is it limiting the damage? Excuse me, but TNA manages to maintain a consistent audience of a million viewers every week. I don't know about ROH's audience, HD-Net does not work with Nielsen so I can't comment on their ratings, but the fact that ROH's record breaking iPPV barely tops 1.000 tells you something.

ROH doesn't have TNA's financial funding. True. And whose fault is that?

And yet Joe hasn't been relevant in the slightest bit for the last 3 years in that company and has been misused time and time again. Which is why many of us think they'd also screw up Generico if he were to join their company.

True, Joe has been off and on for quite a while and I blame a lot of it on TNA. They always try to give him a persona only to revert back to basics and make him a bland ass-whooping machine. But what about all the guys who used to job and be pretty much a blip on the radar TNA built up since January 4th and made something out of? Jay Lethal, Kazarian, The Pope, the list goes on.

You can't doom Generico of failing in TNA because they misused Samoa Joe, therefore they'll misuse El Generico. That's simply ignorant. While they misused some people, they also utilized others in a great way. That's what happens in pro wrestling. Some make it, others don't. Unlike WWE, Ring of Honor and TNA respect their employees' PERFORMANCE and push them accordingly. Joe lost a lot of steam after 2007-08, part of it is TNA's fault for giving him crappy gimmicks, but the other part is his fault.

Generico is much more than a "Colin Delaney with a mask", he's an extremely likable babyface that gets over huge with any audience he's been given the chance to connect with, much like Joe did in ROH. There's a reason Final Battle did so well and a very large part of that has to do with the main event of the show, which was El Generico vs. Kevin Steen. Generico has been a consistent draw for ROH for sometime now, so writing him off as another Colin Delaney is ridiculous (especially considering Delaney has achieved a modicum of success in CHIKARA).

I called him a Colin Delaney in a mask because of his physique, not his drawing power, don't put words in my mouth, or ... don't type words in my posts. I know he's likeable, I like him. Santino Marella is likeable too, in fact, more likeable than WWE's top babyface - John Cena, and that guy is complete and utter shit, and will never be something more than a comedy jobber. Get my point?

You think Rey's muscles is what made him a legit main-event draw? Are you drunk? It was his in-ring work and character that got him over as a main event draw, ANYONE can be a main event draw, regardless of their size, if they have the talent. Rey proves this, and not because of his mini-roid muscles, but because of his dedication, exciting in-ring style, and marketability. Generico is no Mysterio, but to claim he would be incapable of being a major player in a company like TNA that built itself on similarly small-sized luchadors like Styles, Lynn, Daniels, Homicide, Red, etc is a bit presumptuous. Again if you have the talent and are given a fair shake, you can be successful on any part of the card regardless of your size.

I never said Rey's Muscles made him a legit main-event draw. Again, don't make stuff up. I simply said that Rey's physque made him a more believable performer. It's hard to pull it off when you're Rey's size, or Matt Sydal's size.

TNA build itself on those guys, but they were a part of a division that was MADE for them. Jerry Lynn was never TNA Champion, Daniels was never TNA Champion, Homicide was never TNA Champion. Only Styles was, and for a good reason. Styles is not a stick with a mask on top of it. He's kind of like RVD. RVD's not huge, he's not small either, but he can move like a cruiserweight. AJ's like that but much quicker and straight up better.

One-dimensional attitude? Huh? What the hell is one-dimensional about El Generico? He' the exact opposite of what you think of as the stereotypical ROH star---technical wrestling experts with no personality. Generico has an exciting in-ring style that would get over anywhere and he has tons of personality. He's a fun, goofy character far unlike the majority of ROH's former and current stars who are were/are always serious and stern technical wrestlers like Roderick Strong, Nigel McGuinness and Bryan Danielson.

And you honestly believe that a "fun goofy character" with a "likeable personality" can go in a ring, in a big match situation, against the likes of AJ Styles, Mr.Anderson, Matt Morgan or any other main eventer, and sell Pay-Per-Views? Are you kidding me?

Look, kiddo, perception is reality. If a potential TNA fan who has never seen TNA checks it out, sees the Main Event and watches as the best Total Nonstop Action can provide is a pigmentally challenged skeleton with a mask, I'm pretty sure that's the last time he'll even consider watching that show again. You and I know he's a great wrestler and he can tear it up with any wrestler. Problem is, he doesn't scream Main Event to me. He screams Indy Scene 4 Life.

No I'm just using one example of literally thousands over the past few years in TNA to help prove my point that TNA has no fucking clue what their fanbase wants or what wrestling fans in general want to see in the year 2011. Here's a hint: It sure as fuck is not Bischoff, Hogan, and washed up ECW guys.

TNA has no clue what their fanbase wants? Okay. Let's assume they don't. Then why is it still alive? One would figure that if TNA doesn't know what they're doing, people would tune out, they'll lose their viewership, and with that their TV Deal (much like Ring of Honor) and they'll die before you can say "Old Guys".

Wrestling fans in general. First of all, stop chewing on that "washed up ECW" guys crap as if it's still alive. They're all gone except for RVD, and they guy can run circles around half of Ring of Honor's roster. Second of all, I think it's fair to say that wrestling fans have no fucking CLUE what they want. TNA, WWE, ROH, any company out there should never listen to what smarky Internet goons say about their product, and do everything they want. They shouldn't listen to me, to you, to any person on this forum or any fan out there, because we're all different people, with different tastes, you like flippy shit, I like a whole package of everything, some other people like the old guys, others hate them, some want the spot-fests, others like hardcore matches, some want Hardy all the way, others hate him, yada yada yada.

It's TNA's job to find an identity, find out who they are, where they want to go, follow that direction, be consistent in their attitude and actions, and if they chose the right way, fans will flock, if they didn't, they'll end up at the same spot they are currently or like Ring of Honor.

YOU don't want to see Bischoff and Hogan, I'd put Ric Flair in there too, where I think they're both great on-screen personas when they don't drag their promos for thirty minutes. YOU think of them as "old guys who killed WCW", and that's how the smark thinks, I think of them as guys who can advance a storyline through mic work and have helped many a storyline over the last year.

Sorry, are you trying to prove some point here? Because you failed to. Let's see who their current champions are....Mr. Anderson, a character they can't decide if he's face one week or heel the next, Jay Lethal a guy that they waited to pull the trigger on for literally 5 years by which time his heat had all but bee gone, Beer Money who have been stuck in a holding pattern for 2 years now and are basically scraping the exact same ground they were 5 years earlier in AMW and Team Canada, should I continue? TNA loves to sign great young talent, and then completely fucking waste them by doing nothing with them for so long that they lose all the heat they'd built up before they came to the company in the first place.

See, you make an ass out of yourself with every word. Would you mind watching TNA before you coment on it?

"Mr.Anderson, a guy they can't decide if he's face or heel". Absolute ignorance. Mr.Anderson has been a babyface for MONTHS now, with no hints of a heel turn. He's a bit of a tweener, he's a hot head. That's his character. He never did anything heelish ever since he turned face.

Jay Lethal is no longer a Champion.

Beer Money - sure, they haven't done anything huge for a while BECAUSE THEY ARE A FUCKING TAG-TEAM! What? Do you want them to win every title in the company? Beer Money are uncontested, right now, in THEIR DIVISION. They reached the highest highs, and in-fact, they're even more important now than they were before, because they're a part of the biggest faction in the company alongside Kazarian, Flair and AJ Styles. They're relevant, not just another tag-team.

I've been watching TNA steadily since 2006 and I've seen the same pattern over and over again. TNA signs a great indy talent, gives them an initial push getting all of their fans hopes up, and then buries them for several years before picking them up again and going "Oh yeah, we still have this guy employed, let's see if we can get him to work" at a time when their heat is already gone. Glaring examples of this would be Nigel McGuinness and Samoa Joe.

Wolfe/Nigel has been misused terribly. Some of it might be due to his "bad attitude" backstage, but still, HBK had a shittier attitude and he was WWE's top guy for years. Joe on the other hand has just sunk in one place.

You gave glaring examples of guys they misused, but ONCE AGAIN I SAY, how about the indy guys they DIDN'T misuse? Did you eradicate them from your thoughts for the sake of sounding smart? Cover all your bases when you talk.

Not every indy wrestler they sign can make it big. It's a business, and they need to do SOMETHING. Talk, wrestle, draw money, sell dolls, sell T-Shirts, SOMETHING. Some of these guys they signed can do only one of those things, others can do it all. THe ones that do it all make it, because it's good for the company since they're talented and go over with the fans, and good for business since they "draw", others don't make it. It's not TNA's fault some of these guys blow.

El Generico in TNA will be fun. He'll have good matches, he'll be a colorful persona. I'm not debating that. Generico has his pluses. But to say that this guy can make it big, and in "big" I mean Main Event big, is laughable. He's a good wrestler, a fun attitude, antagonizes all the 20 abbs ken-dolls out there, so on and so forth. He reminds me of Eric Young. EY is likeable, he's funny, goofy and he can wrestle too, but he's a comedy act. Some indy guys just bury themselves with those gimmicks. It flies in ROH but if you ever go to TNA/WWE your tapes will show your goofy side and they'll think this is what you're all about, and they'll stick you as a comedy character.

 

[Slapjack3k]

I think if he went to TNA he'd simply replace the Suicide character. Have some entertaining X-division matches, but ultimately end up jobbing to most of the roster.

Final Battle was the first wrestling show I spent money on in 10 years and his match with Steen was amazing. The guy can wrestle, nobody will dispute that. However here's the thing.

He's a canadian wrestler pretending to be a Mexican luchadore. Doesn't that decapitate any promo work if he has to try and mumble spanish with the odd english word in? Again I look to Suicide, who had a voice dubbed over him. I like the guy, but TNA wouldn't have anything for him and his gimmick kinda limits him into the Suicide jobbing role.