Charlie Haas: "TNA don't protect their tag teams".

[a0161613]

Why did he and Shelton pick ROH?

We just wanted to take a look at one, where our styles are appreciated…..which is wrestling. We're not in the entertainment business, we're not wrestlers trying to be actors. We grew up wrestling, we grew up amateur wrestling, we grew up being fans of professional wrestling and that’s our passion. You look at the other organizations that are out there…..now they (WWE) want to drop the name wrestling from their company, one is not sure what mode they’re going in right now (TNA), so Ring of Honor…..I think a lot had to do with Jim Cornette. We worked with Jim back in OVW. If anyone knows anything about wrestling it would be him, especially when he is putting a show together. He knows how to put it together, he does it the old fashioned way. You book your PPVs and you work backwards…..it’s a formula that’s been around forever. Some people like to try to reinvent the wheel and that’s why you see its such a mix up in different organizations.

And another thing is that every championship in Ring of Honor means something. You don’t have 100 guys on the roster and they’re only gonna use 10 and the rest are going to sit in the back and hope to get noticed. If you’re not being used, you’re not on that roster. They have a smaller budget and that’s the way they gotta work so you gotta stay on top of your game every match, every internet PPV, so they don’t look to replace you. And that’s something that we like because we thrive off of competition. But when he (Cornette) said he wanted to put us back together and really help out the tag team division which we got there, we were really excited about it…..my whole thing is the tag team division didn’t need much help because every tag team in that division in my opinion is one of the greatest tag teams in the world today. There’s not a better tag team division in the world than Ring of Honor’s right now.

How different would things be if he and Shelton picked TNA over ROH?

We’ve talked TNA on and off. We just feel that ROH is in a good place right now. There’s gonna be some really big things coming up. It’s all about being in the right place at the right time. We feel that’s where we are. We love working for ROH…… I just think that is the right place for us.

I just don’t think they (TNA) protects their tag team division as well. When I mean not protect them…..they keep them on TV to keep their faces out there and their names out there but they’re not running a program around their tag team title. They have in the past but all of a sudden, they quit doing it. I thought the matches with Motor City Machine Guns and Beer Money were great but Alex Shelley gets hurt and they kind of just drop it. I know Ink Inc. had a little run with Beer Money but they’re not doing anything to elevate those titles or mean anything. If you’re not gonna run storylines around those championships and you’re not going to keep building teams and make people watch it, those titles are going to mean nothing and you can see that at WWE.

Quite intrigued by this one. I think he makes some good points. ROH have almost always had a great core of tag teams and a reputation for booking tag teams on a level of the world championship when the feuds demand it. And Cornette being involved is obviously a big draw for them personally.

In ROH they are big fish in a decent size pond. In TNA they may be just another team. In WWE, they would be the only team. I would have loved to have seen them in TNA. Without doubt, a tag team division with the Guns, Beer Money and the WGTT is a healthy division and it would have made the company better for it, chock full of potentially great matches.

Thoughts on Haas' comments?

 

[It's Damn Real!]

I actually agree with him to an extent. The way MCMG was handled, for example, (injuries aside) once they lost the titles was atrocious. They were dropped off the face of the earth, as though they never existed. When they did return, they completely avoided the obvious angle of going after their titles again because at that point Beer Money had already turned face again.

Part of the problem here, though, is that ROH is a "pure" wrestling company, whereas TNA is much more "sports entertainment". The model for both is drastically different, as ROH lets their ring work do the majority of the talking for them, whereas TNA actually uses more vocally talented talents to carry their feuds. The latter eats away at the amount of wrestling time that can be showcased on the program each week, which can take away from the in-ring depth of certain feuds.

 

[a0161613]

Don't forget IDR, that they were also hinting towards splitting up the Guns. It's a shame that TNA had no real depth in their division because it would have been good to see them face someone else. The Beer Money feud had been done to death, there would have been very little interest in seeing them face off again.

Had TNA had some foresight then Gen Me and Ink Inc would have been built as credible challengers for Beer Money and the Guns to face in new feuds. Instead we had Gunner and Murphy. It's this kind of thing that will turn off talent (and fans).

I think Cornette was a big draw for them to go to ROH but I can understand why from a business and work perspective, that they went to ROH.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

Haas is right and it's not just the Tag Division. Frankly, it's not just TNA. People are pushed and de-pushed ALL the time in both companies. I understand that not everybody can work at a higher level. I understand that pushing someone and seeing that he/they can't work the way you want them to is frustrating, but the thing that both WWE and TNA forget is that, once something doesn't work out, once you lift those guys, please don't simply drop them. They'll break. Put them down slow and steady and return them to their previous positions. Keep their relevance and in-character pride. Let them work their way up again.

He spoke about Championship relevance and that's another gaping hole in the business. Honestly, the only Championship in both TNA and WWE right now that has a spark of credibility and importance left is the TNA World Title. Any other belt is either thrown around and stuck on random people like a parasyte, or is completely neglected. Kazarian never defends his belt, Gunner defended it once and was then off TV for two weeks, the KO Tag Titles seem to have vanished again, the KO title is actually the most defended title in TNA perhaps. Don't even get me started on WWE's belts.

This is where TNA can REALLY capitalize. Make belts important again. All of them. They're there for a fucking reason. Belts have not been important for YEARS. Here's a nice way to show the fans that you're not a crack joint.

 

[a0161613]

While I dont agree with your point about no belts having credibility Zion, you are right about TNA having this problem.

I dont think it helps that they have so many people on the roster. Theres only so many people that they can push at any one time and with only two hours a week, sometimes entire divisions can go AWOL due to nothing more than a lack of attention. I swear it costs them a lot of fans because there's is little continuity, to the point where you may only see talent once or twice in a PPV cycle. There's no exposure for your character, how are people supposed to buy into your storyline/feud/title/PPV match if they dont see you.

Of course there is the flip side to that and that over-exposure that we see with Immortal, Angle at the moment, Jarrett in the old days, which is bad for business and suffocates the amount of TV time left for other talent.

 

[MoeIsBetter]

@Numbers I think ur right but I think their doing that on purpose too. Look at Lost when it was on TV. Every episode helped further the story but not every episode was about the same character. Last weeks TNA showed this. Less Anderson, Morgan, Steiner, etc. IMO, this is the BEST way to do things.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

@Numbers I think ur right but I think their doing that on purpose too. Look at Lost when it was on TV. Every episode helped further the story but not every episode was about the same character. Last weeks TNA showed this. Less Anderson, Morgan, Steiner, etc. IMO, this is the BEST way to do things.

Yeah, I guess that's correct too. I like that they don't constantly focus on just ONE thing, i.e WWE and their constant love for Cena. But still, the roster's pretty big. There's a few people that can go and won't hurt the program at all. Murphy, Dreamer and Rob Terry and Scott Steiner (once he's done with Morgan) are a few guys that come to mind immediately.

 

[MoeIsBetter]

Agreed. Where it will have its biggest pay off is PPVs. If they can make EVERY match mean something, WIN.

 

[ABMorales787]

Considering the fact that the Tag Team Champs are embroiled in a feud that transcends the titles, I say Haas is wrong. Just look at the air-time Roode got this week. Sure, the title's took a back seat for a bit to say teams aren't protected in TNA? They are always consistent. Just because there's a bit of a creative bump does not mean they aren't properly utilized.

 

[Hardcore Heathen]

I Agree with Haas slightly but how much Tv time is he getin for ROH? Oh no wait they lost their TV Deal. WGTT Woulda been great but i think hes just annoyed he cant be pushed as singles competition while shelton can. Permanent Tag team or Inevitable Break up in TNA/WWE Resulting in firing? East choice.

 

[.]

TNA don't look after their tag teams but then again if you compare it to WWE then it certainly is better. TNA seems to be breaking up it's teams all of a sudden. There was a split between the MCMG teased, Ink Inc. seems to be also on the verge of going as Shannon is teasing being a heel and Generation Me have split up already(Or have they? They seemed to be getting along on last nights show.). With all these teams gone who do you have left? Beer Money? There's also some news floating around about them but I'm not at liberty to say. If these teams are all gone who's left? Orlando Jordan and Eric Young?

An example you can take here which proves Haas's claim perfectly is The British Invasion: A great team that was great tag champs and worked perfectly together. When they split what happened to Rob Terry? He won the Global title and was built like a freaking monster which was great an suited him. What happened to Magnus? For a while, nothing at all until he and Desmond Wolfe formed the highly entertaining team of London Brawling but all that ended once Desmond Wolfe left TNA with an illness that is still undisclosed. What happened to Douglas Williams? He had the most success: he won the x-division title twice and the tv title following an excellent feud with AJ Styles. Suddenly this team reforms and in a great way when they beat the shit out of every other team in the Lockdown tag cage match. What has happened to them since? Jack shit. They have appeared on Xplosion but that's it.

 

[wrestlingfan4life]

He makes a good point when he says TNA dosent protect there tag teams because Shelley comes back from injury and now Sabin is hurt so the guns have to reunite in a month minimum it is stupid very very stupid.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

He makes a good point when he says TNA dosent protect there tag teams because Shelley comes back from injury and now Sabin is hurt so the guns have to reunite in a month minimum it is stupid very very stupid.

How is this TNA's fault? Did Dixie grease up the ropes Sabin springboarded from?

 

[Post]

I can definitely understand both sides of the argument here.

Over the past several years, the tag team division has been an area of pride for TNA. They have had many great teams and memorable tag matches and moments. They did something that WWE could not do in sustaining a strong tag division that garnered a great deal of interest.

TNA's tag division is experiencing a transition. I fully expect them to recover and keep tag team wrestling relevant. A few down months does not mean that they don't protect their tag teams.

Charlie Haas is in ROH, the land of tag teams...great. I watched ROH religiously when it was on HDNet, and in the past few months their tag teams have been good. The Kings of Wrestling, Haas/Benjamin, the Briscoes, the All Night Express, The American Wolves (still team sometimes) are great to watch. They put on exciting matches and really entertain.

But, IMO as there tag team division is on the rise, their singles mid card and main event scene has taken a hit and has not been very good since Tyler Black left. It seems like they are pushing "stars" that are not worthy.

So really, it's all relative. TNA has showed that they can sustain a great show at all levels---mid-card to tag teaming to main event. They will recover and be just fine.