4 Months Into TNA's "Soft" Reboot

[Rayne]

Are you saying Austin's character of a 'bad-ass' and Undertaker's 'deadman' character were easy to understand or mature? I don't think so, they seem pretty basic and a character which which is dark and creepy is very child-oriented. Every era has characters like that but they can still be aimed at adults.

It's not just the characters, it's the scenes they're written into.The amount of sex and graphic violence in the WWE has decreased drastically from fifteen years ago, when they were targeting an older market. Blood, which they used to practically buy wholesale from the Red Cross, is now a Big Thing. Weapons are physically impractical; you won't see someone being attacked with a bat or crowbar on WWE television- and have you ever seriously tried to wield a folding chair as a weapon?

And, yes, those characters were and are pretty easy to understand. Steve Austin rebels against authority. Undertaker is associated with death. There aren't really any complex attributes to the characters which a twenty-five year old could grasp that a thirteen year-old would not.

This still doesn't make sense. He's the only one that makes them a lot of money at the moment. You're saying they can make stars like that and only do so once a generation. If they can, why not make a star like that with all of the main-eventers? Their aim is to make money so why not try to make more? Also these "megastars" genuinely appear to be the better talents. Hogan, Austin, Rock and Cena can cut better promos than a lot of the people from their own generation, are more engaging towards the crowd and have/had some of the best matches. Is that what they do, make and break stars' general talent? It doesn't add up. I believe these stars created themselves.

Because you only get so much time to promote, and when everyone's a superstar, no one is a superstar. It's just not a commodity you can print out as many as you'd like. Making Daniel Bryan into a megastar would by definition reduce the amount of time John Cena has available to him.

It's exactly like a high school play. There's one Hamlet. Somebody has to be the star- the focus for the whole production. That doesn't mean there aren't other important roles. You need someone good for Polonius, and some lucky bastard gets to be Laertes. You also need somebody to play Marcellus and Bernardo, just standing around in the background and having an odd line or two to throw out. If everyone gets to be Hamlet, then the whole production gets muddled, and nobody is Hamlet.

So the reason why the WWE doesn't just mass-manufacture megastars is because the formula just doesn't work like that. There's only one match at the end of a PPV.

As to the WWE creating stars, they've built up a massive media machine dedicated to the promotion of a certain few people. (How those certain few are selected is the source of constant crying in the WWE forums.) The kingmakers at the WWE aren't just taking any shmuck off the street and turning him into a megastar; they're looking for people who are capable of being on the road 300+ days a year, doing media appearances the whole time while constantly keeping up a proper body image and fulfilling whatever other criteria makes 'a good wrestler'. You absolutely have to have your own amount of talent in order to make it as a John Cena. But there are plenty of guys with that level of ability who'd love the opportunity to be John Cena. Why don't they get it?

Because the WWE doesn't need another Hamlet right now. They make, and they break.

 

[Cereal Killer]

It's not just the characters, it's the scenes they're written into.The amount of sex and graphic violence in the WWE has decreased drastically from fifteen years ago, when they were targeting an older market. Blood, which they used to practically buy wholesale from the Red Cross, is now a Big Thing. Weapons are physically impractical; you won't see someone being attacked with a bat or crowbar on WWE television- and have you ever seriously tried to wield a folding chair as a weapon?

And, yes, those characters were and are pretty easy to understand. Steve Austin rebels against authority. Undertaker is associated with death. There aren't really any complex attributes to the characters which a twenty-five year old could grasp that a thirteen year-old would not.

So we can conclude that it's not the characters that drive a certain TV rating (for the most part) but the "scenes they're written into." Correct, and again, they still reach to the elderly fans sometimes. There's none of the sexual content and blood anymore but the violence still makes its presence here and there. Did you see what Brock Lesnar did to The Big Show at the Royal Rumble? They way he assaulted him with the steel chair is a small example of how they reach to a range of audiences. More towards my generation but still to the elderly in some ways.

Because you only get so much time to promote, and when everyone's a superstar, no one is a superstar. It's just not a commodity you can print out as many as you'd like. Making Daniel Bryan into a megastar would by definition reduce the amount of time John Cena has available to him.

So the reason why the WWE doesn't just mass-manufacture megastars is because the formula just doesn't work like that. There's only one match at the end of a PPV.

Exactly how much of the company's time does it take to promote?

I agree with you, you can only have one main attraction, or Hamlet if you will, but it's still possible to have a superstar on a closer level on the ladder. This is what you had previously said:

Next to John Cena, is Randy Orton. The line descends from there.

That is the order in the roster hierarchy but whoever is number three is number three by far. You've got your Hogan's and Cena's as your A's, Hart's, Michaels', Flair's, Orton's and Undertaker's as your B's and all the other main eventers like Jericho, Benoit, Bryan, Del Rio and Sheamus beneath. See the last three? They're considered to be the next bunch after Cena and Orton but aren't considered to be effective draws or as popular. In the latter half of the Ruthless Aggression period, active main eventers included Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Batista, Rey Mysterio, Edge, and of course, John Cena and Randy Orton. That's a lot of popular stars and good draws. If you can have that many then you can have that many now. Like you said, you need that top main eventer and if everyone is a megastar, they're all just the same but with the current roster they would need more on Orton's level at least. Why aren't they there?

Maybe because they're not good enough. Don't say it's because the WWE doesn't need them. What would happen if Cena and Orton happened to be injured? They need those stars ready and two elite stars isn't enough.

But there are plenty of guys with that level of ability who'd love the opportunity to be John Cena.

Who?

 

[three count bout]

I really enjoyed the most recent episode of Impact and I think a lot more of the guys I personally enjoy have the spot light on them and are being featured regularly. It's cool that Joes being booked to prominence again and he and Magnus have history that could be exploited to make a nice dynamic during their fued.

Joe looks noticably more motivated and it's showing in his matches, promos, and backstage segments and that's great because the unmotivated version of him looks like a guy that's collecting paychecks. Joe has had to deal with some crap in the last few years but all in all he remains one of the most over and loved guys on the roster and that's something they should be utilizing not running from.

Austin Aries has proven that he can really get the crowd behind him when he catches momentum and as much as I love that Joes getting booked toward the top again in 2014 Aries definitely needs to flirt with the world title. He's just too charismatic and too good a worker who can actually engage the crowd to not be near the main event. I'm happy when he comes down to the X Division as he always makes it better and relevant but he's too good a talent to ignore.

I have enjoyed MVP he's a great speaker who has relayed many of the concerns of the IWC and fans of Impact and you can already see some of the small steps TNA is making to find it's former individual footing. He's a great kayfabe "investor" and not a horrible wrestler to have on hand. I think keeping the wolves by him is a nice touch as it allows them to be showcased often and provides a platform for people who may not be familiar with their indy work.

The tag teams will get a shot in the arm with the Wolves here as we saw last week with Bad Influence and if Beer Money should reform that's three prime teams. Even though Dixie is probably getting too much screen time (which may cease soon) having Hogan, Sting, Aj, and Hardy gone has enabled the roster to step up and get some valuable time to establish themselves.

 

[IT Factor]

While there are some things I have liked about TNA's "soft reboot", there are just as many things I haven't liked. First and foremost is match duration/screwy endings! Main event bouts are lucky to be 10 minutes at the very most. And usually the whole Russo booking effect comes into play with just about every match ending in some weird screwy way that makes no sense nor does it add to the storyline. In short, TNA is not capitalizing on what could make them stand out as different or unique. They aren't showcasing WRESTLING and they aren't taking advantage of not being PG. In other words, anything that might set them apart from WWE. TNA needs to start taking chances and stop copying anything that they think makes WWE successful. If you aren't standing out, you're just blending in and TNA has been kind of blending in lately. They have all the potential with talent and yet their shows do not reflect that.

 

[Reflection]

It is good to see that they have started correcting the mistakes that they made, and dropping from screen the characters that did more harm than good. But it is a very long road till they get to the level of 2006-09 TNA again. Unlike then, they neither have so many talented stars, nor do they have that much money to spend and make gambles. They will have to play it safe, with very little margin for error, and thus the climb up will take longer than it did the previous time. But I hope the best for them, and I hope that they will become an alternative to WWE again someday. With Jeff Jarrett's new promotion coming up next year, I'd like to see pro wrestling as a whole become more entertaining and enjoyable.