They popped because Booker T and Nash returning were complete surprises, with the exception of the minority of fans who read spoilers on the internet. TNA might start getting reactions like this if they stopped telling their fans to EXPECT A HUGE SURPRISE THIS THURSDAY NIGHT!!!! As it is, every TNA 'surprise' over the past year has had massive amounts of foreshadowing; they don't know how to just pull something out of nowhere for shock value.But why did they mark out for Booker T and Nash? You heard the pops. Was it because of the possibility of them working with someone, or because they heard their classic theme songs, they saw their entrances, remembered of how it used to be when these guys were around? Was it because they're such great assets to the company, or was it because it was a blast from the past. The excitement was generated by the music, the entrance, the lights, the fact that they're back in WWE, not the possibility of them wrestling Jack Swagger.
If John Cena walked into the Impact Zone unannounced, I'd shit myself. Not because I'm a John Cena fan (I get why he's popular, but he doesn't do it for me personally), but for two reasons. One, it's something that people wouldn't expect. (Go back to yesterdays post about the difference between expectations, surprise, and shock.) Two, and this is the biggie- I'd be more shocked that TNA didn't spoil their own surprise before it happened.
Because Jay Lethal and AJ Styles are nobodies. People could give a shit about Sting wrestling Jack Swagger; you bring up that name just to make a ridiculous comparison. (Another one of those logical fallacies.) There are plenty of people who would want to see Sting work with Undertaker, Triple H, or any other main eventers who were around for the Monday Night Wars. (We're running out of those fast.)Zeven_Zion said:And here's a fun thought. If WWE fans are so excited about Sting being in WWE to wrestle someone he never wrestled before, why are they not equally as excited to see Ric Flair wrestle Jay Lethal or AJ Styles. Why are they not excited to maybe see Sting vs Jeff Hardy or Sting versus Mr.Anderson? Are wrestlers only good when they're in the WWE? Is that why people turn on former WWE wrestlers for going to TNA? The same wrestlers they praised? This is where the brainwashing comes from. "If it's WWE, it's good. If it goes to TNA, it's bad". Look around the forums, it's always been like that.
It's not "brainwashing", again; it's that no one gives two shits about Jay Lethal, AJ Styles, or anyone else in the TNA midcard, because they haven't been given a reason to give a shit about them. That's brainwashing of a sort- they call it 'marketing'.
Are you trying to validate what I said here about you liking TNA because you dislike the WWE, or what? Seriously, this is a paragraph I would have left out of your argument if you're trying to disagree with me here, because I don't think you could have illustrated what I was trying to say any better.Zeven_Zion said:OR I can't stand the WWE's bromidic, boring, repetitive product, infested with half-assing wrestlers who don't know what the hell they're doing in the ring - so they're told to "slow down", and don't know the first thing about cutting a promo - so their promos are scripted word for word. God am I wrong for not liking it.
My mistake, he did. However, you stretched the hell out of his argument to make your own point. Here's his point (I hope, otherwise it's not that clear): Hulk Hogan is a commodity. It's like going to see Kiss at a local bar; they're an arena band. You go to see them for the show, and Hulk Hogan is no different. TNA, right now, isn't producing "the show", they're producing WCW Saturday Night. It just looks low budget. That's what he means when he's saying that TNA doesn't know how to market Hulk Hogan, because besides his name and image, what is he really offering these days?Zeven_Zion said:He didn't say that? Let's rewind.
"Hulk Hogan hobbling down to the ring in TNA...meaningless. Hulk Hogan hobbling down to a WWE ring, in red and yellow with "Real American" blasting through the arena...HUGE."
Don't, however, take this as a validation of your "lights and pyro" theory. That's like saying that because Kiss is best in an arena, that Kaki King and Herra Terra (free plugs! Look them up folks!) are best seen in an arena.
Another example: I love baseball. But I could give a shit about the minor leagues; I could give a shit about the Japanese corporate leagues. Does this mean I've been "brainwashed" by Major League Baseball? Does that mean I'm not a 'real' baseball fan, because I wouldn't give a shit if Derek Jeter signed with the Hanshin Tigers?
Image does count; however, you're stretching this and trying to say that image is the only thing that matters to people who aren't 'real' wrestling fans like.... oh, you probably consider yourself to be?
Flair just looks awful these days. He has for the past decade, so don't think this is a TNA/WWE thing. He's cutting the exact same promos; go back and watch his Evolution days if you want examples. I'm not sure if anyone wants to see Flair wrestle anymore, however. If I wanted to watch someone that old fight, I'd go to a nursing home and tell the residents that only one person can see their family that day.Zeven_Zion said:Flair on the other hand is even better than he was in the WWE, and Foley is the same except for a theme song.
Wow. Get over yourself, kid.Zeven_Zion said:See, I used to be a WWE fan, a mark just like the rest and I hated TNA for absolutely no reason other than the fact it's not WWE. I loved Foley in WWE, but when I found out that he went to TNA the first thought that crossed my mind was "fucking traitor". I know for a fact that the majority of this forum thinks the exact same way about all the WWE guys who got fired/left and went to TNA, because they act in the same ignorant fashion I did.
Fortunately, I did what a lot of WWE fans can't do. I gave TNA a chance. I looked past the IWC remarks about TNA being a spot-fest, a hillbilly company, TNA this, TNA that, and I started enjoying it to the point where WWE's product looked stale, boring and couldn't match TNA's. I don't like WWE, because it's not as good as TNA.
Just because someone doesn't like TNA doesn't mean that they have the exact same thinking that you do. That is an incredibly ignorant and narcissist statement. (Look it up.) That might be the cause of your problems here; you aren't responding to what people who disagree with you have to say, you're responding to your own personal ghosts.