It's Damn Real!
The undisputed, undefeated TNA &
I know, I know, its water under the bridge. Gideon nailed it in Minority Report when he quipped to John Anderson
you dig up the past, all you get is dirty. But theres reason getting a little dirty here might be worth it in the long-run. Hear me out a second
I was just reading another report this morning chronicling ROHs seventh annual Top Prospects tournament regarding the latest entrant and it got me thinking again about what a blown opportunity TNAs original Gut Check was. The concept, on paper, made a lot of sense. It seemed like a nice way to blend a reality competition style with wrestling in a way that could allow TNA to create some new stars. Unfortunately that on paper success just didnt translate to the screen, for a variety of reasons. Contestants almost never earning victories certainly being one of the main culprits, as well as having to always wrestle against established TNA talent in order to show their worth, instead of wrestling against each other. Sure, they changed that later on, but the damage was already done. Not to mention the ultimate goal was a TNA contract something that didnt really guarantee them much success. But more on that in a bit
Considering the potential the Gut Check concept had on paper, why not rekindle the idea with a few tweaks to see if you can get better results the second time around? I think we can all agree TNA needs a lot of new talent to refresh the brand, especially in the Knockouts, X and tag team divisions, and its improbable to assume they can just go out and sign free agents to fill those holes. The business just doesnt work that way anymore. Theres a dearth of established stars available to sign for just money, which means, like in most sports, you have to develop them yourselves. The way I see it, theres no shortage of competitors who would embrace the opportunity especially those already scorned by WWE having been dropped from their developmental system before getting to emerge into the light at the end of the tunnel.
But again, it needs to be tweaked. The old format didnt work. The revisions they made to it toward the end helped, so in keeping with that spirit, heres what I suggest:
Gut Check: Tag Team Tournament, Gut Check: X Factor, and/or Gut Check: Knockout Punch (Ill leave it up to someone more clever than I to work the titles into something presentable for television).
For Gut Check: Tag Team Tournament, the entire thing should be treated as an opportunity to a group of say 6-8 independent tag teams to come in and wrestle in win-and-youre-in elimination-style matches to advance in the bracket. 1 faces 2, 3 faces 4, 5 faces 6 and 7 faces 8. The winners of 1-2 face the winners of 7-8, and winners of 2-3 meet the winners of 5-6 in a semi-final. The winners of each of those contests would then face one another in the final round the winner of which is then given a shot at the TNA World Tag Team championships. Regardless of who is holding them. An instant vault to being the #1 contenders. Whether they get that opportunity right away, or at the next PPV, or whatever is a logistical issue Ill let the bookers deal with.
The way I see it, if you cant sign existing talents with built-in equity already (like reDRagon or War Machine), you can at least try to build up some equity in lesser known independent competitors by allowing them to do what they almost never did in the original Gut Check format win matches along the way.
For Gut Check: Knockout Punch and X Factor, the same format applies, except not in a tag team. Go with singles competitors. The winner of the tournament gets a shot at the Knockouts/X Division title. Same as above. Again, if you cant entice a top free agent to sign, you can build up some equity and fanfare in a lesser known by exposing them to your television audience for a few weeks before they get that championship title shot, winning matches along the way to build up their credibility and believability.
The only thing separating my idea from ROHs Top Prospects tournament is that the ROH Top Prospects tournament dangles an ROH contract at the end of the stick, whereas Im dangling an opportunity to compete for a title. Its a minor tweak, but a meaningful one far better than a simple contract, which is what the original Gut Check format promised anyway. Frankly, a contract doesnt do as much for establishing some credibility (especially if the competitor rarely wins) as an actual title shot would anyway.
These cant all run at once, as its probably too much for two hours a week, so pick a division you think you need the most help with right away and start with it first. Maybe this becomes a yearly thing where you can target a struggling division and attempt to build at least one new star for it using this model.
Bombs away!
I was just reading another report this morning chronicling ROHs seventh annual Top Prospects tournament regarding the latest entrant and it got me thinking again about what a blown opportunity TNAs original Gut Check was. The concept, on paper, made a lot of sense. It seemed like a nice way to blend a reality competition style with wrestling in a way that could allow TNA to create some new stars. Unfortunately that on paper success just didnt translate to the screen, for a variety of reasons. Contestants almost never earning victories certainly being one of the main culprits, as well as having to always wrestle against established TNA talent in order to show their worth, instead of wrestling against each other. Sure, they changed that later on, but the damage was already done. Not to mention the ultimate goal was a TNA contract something that didnt really guarantee them much success. But more on that in a bit
Considering the potential the Gut Check concept had on paper, why not rekindle the idea with a few tweaks to see if you can get better results the second time around? I think we can all agree TNA needs a lot of new talent to refresh the brand, especially in the Knockouts, X and tag team divisions, and its improbable to assume they can just go out and sign free agents to fill those holes. The business just doesnt work that way anymore. Theres a dearth of established stars available to sign for just money, which means, like in most sports, you have to develop them yourselves. The way I see it, theres no shortage of competitors who would embrace the opportunity especially those already scorned by WWE having been dropped from their developmental system before getting to emerge into the light at the end of the tunnel.
But again, it needs to be tweaked. The old format didnt work. The revisions they made to it toward the end helped, so in keeping with that spirit, heres what I suggest:
Gut Check: Tag Team Tournament, Gut Check: X Factor, and/or Gut Check: Knockout Punch (Ill leave it up to someone more clever than I to work the titles into something presentable for television).
For Gut Check: Tag Team Tournament, the entire thing should be treated as an opportunity to a group of say 6-8 independent tag teams to come in and wrestle in win-and-youre-in elimination-style matches to advance in the bracket. 1 faces 2, 3 faces 4, 5 faces 6 and 7 faces 8. The winners of 1-2 face the winners of 7-8, and winners of 2-3 meet the winners of 5-6 in a semi-final. The winners of each of those contests would then face one another in the final round the winner of which is then given a shot at the TNA World Tag Team championships. Regardless of who is holding them. An instant vault to being the #1 contenders. Whether they get that opportunity right away, or at the next PPV, or whatever is a logistical issue Ill let the bookers deal with.
The way I see it, if you cant sign existing talents with built-in equity already (like reDRagon or War Machine), you can at least try to build up some equity in lesser known independent competitors by allowing them to do what they almost never did in the original Gut Check format win matches along the way.
For Gut Check: Knockout Punch and X Factor, the same format applies, except not in a tag team. Go with singles competitors. The winner of the tournament gets a shot at the Knockouts/X Division title. Same as above. Again, if you cant entice a top free agent to sign, you can build up some equity and fanfare in a lesser known by exposing them to your television audience for a few weeks before they get that championship title shot, winning matches along the way to build up their credibility and believability.
The only thing separating my idea from ROHs Top Prospects tournament is that the ROH Top Prospects tournament dangles an ROH contract at the end of the stick, whereas Im dangling an opportunity to compete for a title. Its a minor tweak, but a meaningful one far better than a simple contract, which is what the original Gut Check format promised anyway. Frankly, a contract doesnt do as much for establishing some credibility (especially if the competitor rarely wins) as an actual title shot would anyway.
These cant all run at once, as its probably too much for two hours a week, so pick a division you think you need the most help with right away and start with it first. Maybe this becomes a yearly thing where you can target a struggling division and attempt to build at least one new star for it using this model.
Bombs away!