CSR: "They" Didn't Draw You In

[ABMorales787]

This idea comes curtesy of our rather childish friends at CSR. Who in a recent edition of their show gave their thoughts on Bound For Glory and of course it's ever controversial main event. After discussing the happenings and how Jeff can't pull a heel character (even though we haven't seen it yet) and all that, they said that perhaps the reveal of "They" would have gone a lot better had they not teased it with Abyss' 10/10/10 prophecy. We obviously know the idea behind it was to advertise the event and draw attention, but according do CSR, TNA was wrong in assuming it would draw people in.

I believe that CSR was wrong. The idea behind Abyss' 10/10/10 prophecy did indeed draw attention to the event and sparked the curiosity of non-fan's of TNA. As I recall, several members of this forum joined in the Live Discussion of the show, saying that they were curious to the angle and decided to tune in. (Don't deny it, I know who you are.) Now that's a bit of proof right there. But obviously 4 or 5 people aren't enough to claim the CSR boys are wrong. That's why I ask everyone reading this.

*If you saw BFG, did the "They" angle make you want to see the whole show?

*If you didn't see BFG for some reason, did "They" give you curiosity and made you search for results?

Stick to the subject here. The questions are clear. We don't need to discuss how BFG was a letdown or how people are so critical of TNA or how the CSR boys tape each other in their sleep or anything that isn't the questions I placed in bold.

Thank you.

 

[TheTheDude]

I did not see BFG because I live in the 1990s and dont have pay per view capabilities at home, but i honestly wish there was somewhere around here where i could go to watch TNA ppvs.

I wanted to see who They were, I won't lie. I was actually expecting something much worse than Hogan and Bischoff.

 

[jccool420]

The They angle did create interest... But I do think that if it was a surprise and came out of nowhere, it would have had a better effect...

The way they presented the angle made many people think They would be an outside force, so anything other than that was a letdown...

It is a double edge sword though... They created more interest in the PPV and probably got more buys for the PPV, BUT did they please those viewers?

I like TNA and buy all the PPVs anyway, so I wasn't too disapointed...

If They were never mentioned for all this time and we got the Hogan, Bischoff, JJ, Hardy heel turn out of the blue TNA would have really shocked their core fanbase and it may have been seen more positively...

Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing how things play out from here...

 

[El_Rey_del_Martinete]

I disagree with CSR on that the "They" angle didn't draw interest. I actually watched the entire PPV because of it. I do however agree with them that the "They" unveiling ruined a great main event and Jeff's turn was unexpected but also anti-climatic. I don't think Hardy will be able to carry the angle and we'll see either Hardy turning back or the entire angle getting scrapped within the next three months.

 

[thebrownmenace]

If I'm being completely honest I have to say that I really did not care much for Abyss' whole 10/10/10 deal. I've never really been a fan of Abyss, and my disdain for him has grown ever since he started mimicking Hogan I decided to simply ignore him. I wanted to see BFG because of the great matches on the card and up until the main event, the event was more than decent. The triple threat match had the makings of being up there with matches like The Rock vs Undertaker vs Angle or HBK vs Benoit vs Angle, but instead we got the big reveal of "They".

As far as the Chair Shot Reality guys saying that Jeff Hardy cannot be a viable heel, I think that they were referring to an attempt the WWE made to turn him during 2002 where HBK superkicked him or something. It is hard for me to see him as a heel, especially knowing just how awful he is on the mic. Just go back to his little in ring speeches after he won the world title for the first time; they are just painful to watch. Add the fact that the rest of "They" is made up of Hogan, Bischoff, Jarrett and Abyss and it really just leaves one with a throbbing headache. I really hope, for TNA's sake, that this angle gets better over time, but up to this point this angle seems to have done more bad than good in my eyes.

 

[alistahr]

Fact is.. who the hell are these two clowns anyways?

CSR is a horriblw "show" with the lowest , crappiest production values

stop giving these idiots attention, their opinion doesnt matter at all

 

[Gelgarin]

They certainly did draw interest, but to be frank I think it was more of a case of helping to negate the effects of a poor overall build than successfully hyping the PPV to an extra level.

If you look at BFG cards over history they have always given the impression of being considerably more stacked than this years iteration. Title matches have been the subject of long builds and epic feuds (Angle/Sting, Sting/Joe and Sting/Styles) and have provided a major event that people did not want to miss.

This year we had three faces in a triple threat who had no heat or history with one another (that we were supposed to remember). Name value is of course attractive, but for me the match was a long way away from what a top show main event should be. Because the build for the main event was a failure, the "They" angle stepped in to fill it's shoes.

Whether or not this was deliberate on TNA's part is open to interpretation. One could certainly argue that the main event was under-built because TNA did not want to over hype a match they wouldn't deliver on, although personally I'm not sure about this. TNA certainly did show signs of being more interested in the swerve than on anything else on the PPV, and once again the merit of that mostly comes down to your own personal point of view. Personally part of me thinks that advertising a surprise is regressive, and that Bound for Glory would have been more effective if "They" had come unannounced and without the three months of prolepsis. I am quietly confident that I'm veering off topic, but I'm really interesting so who cares.

To give the direct answer I was trying to subtly build to, yes the "They" angle did garner interest, but a lot of this was because the card didn't. We've had big revels promised for major shows before, but traditionally they'd still get thought of as additional components to the show, and not the main selling point. Prior to this show people were talking more about the impending swerve than about who would win the world title. (actually all the dirt sheet drones were mostly mouthing off about how it was 100% definitely going to be Kurt Angle, and are now mouthing off about how everyone knew Hogan was going heel that night anyway - fuckers)

Unique promotion strategy or one wall of the house being forced to take the whole weight of the roof because the other one wasn't build properly... nobody outside of TNA can possibly know. We're not going to get numbers so I doubt we'll ever get an answer. The house thing makes a nicer metaphor though so I'm going to go with that.

 

[FPSRussia]

At first, I really enjoyed CSR, they seemed like they knew what they were talking about.

As time went on, they started going the ways of Kevin Kelly, bashing anything that doesn't follow their views, not to mention that hideous woman they enjoy so much, she may have an alright body, but jesus, photoshop her face.

That being said, they're constantly contradicting their selves, bashing TNA for being too predictable, too boring, yet the moment they do something nobody expected, they find something else to bitch about, I wouldn't be surprised to see Kevin complain over a fatal 4 way involving Jesus, God, Satan and George Washington.

Last time I checked, fans don't throw trash in the ring when something is boring, they throw trash in the ring when they are pissed off, there is a reason CSR record in their mothers basement.

 

[J.Diesel]

The "They" angle did make me want to see more of the show. I didn't buy BFG because I have basic shit cable, so I stole and watched a live stream. But honestly if I were able to get PPV this was the first time I had any interest in wanting to pay for a TNA ppv.

There was alot of hype for the "They" angle. The whole 10/10/10 has been advertised like 6 months in advance. There was alot of speculation from everyone on who "they" were.

I had a feeling we were going to be shown who they were after the Abyss vs RVD match but that didn't happen. So that kept me tuned in until the end because I honestly wasn't too excited for the Main Event. Don't get me wrong it was an awesome Main Event until the finish, Im just not a big fan of triple threat matches.

So yes, The "They" angle did keep me tuned in through the whole PPV and like I stated I would of even purchased if I could have.

 

[The Viper Orton]

It wouldve worked 10 times better without advertising it with abyss. However go with "Deception" I mean more build up than that, and maybe after jeff takes the title. Sting comes and says it at the end of the ppv in 2 to 5 words something catchy or just come down from rafters and point at them!!

I mean abyss teasing bob and janice was insane build up that if something not really that big happend I would be dissapointed. And I was, however for one reason, I'm not a fan of jeff hardy or rey mysterio and whatever both of them do just doesn't work for me. Anderson wanted this, he will get booed for if he joined abyss and hit RVD, Hardy, and Angle. Anyone in TNA would, cause no one will cheer unless they watch the show for him!

 

[Thesage1989]

Fact is.. who the hell are these two clowns anyways?

CSR is a horriblw "show" with the lowest , crappiest production values

stop giving these idiots attention, their opinion doesnt matter at all

they actually have a pretty entertaining show and has good links with the wrestling world so just keep quite son and i do agree with them however i would have to hear about how the heel turn goes cause it very unbelievable right now

 

[Nikeo]

I am not a TNA fan so when if I can concede that the idea of turning Jeff Hardy heel with Hogan and Bischoff to be a very intelligent booking decision, you must understand how much it pains me.

The turn, which I'm surprised many people didn't pick up on, mirrored Hogan's own in many ways. Ignoring the limp-in, the build-up to the turn on the night and all that the sheer fact that in his entire career Jeff has never played a heel character (for longer than a week or two towards the end of his initial WWE run anyway) in his career. While Jeff certainly does not possess the mic skills of a Hulk Hogan, his facial expressions at BFG gave what I think is a preview to a fairly interesting heel character, with Bischoff as a mouthpiece Hardy won't need to talk.

See, I've moved house and through sheer procrastination haven't sorted out the T.V yet and the sheer effort of downloading has meant I haven't watched wrestling (bar BFG) in about two months. Based on the little I have seen and what I've heard about Raw, there has been nothing to get me to tune in. I'm a WWE loyalist but there's nothing going on that I deem as interesting enough to make me go to the effort of watching the show.

TNA, on the other hand, is doing something different and unique. They've turned arguably the most over face of the last three years and given him a role that he's never played before. Hell, even the team they've given him (besides Abyss, perhaps) are perfect for picking up whatever slack Hardy will leave behind him.

"They", for me, while not a surprise as I genuinely did see it coming; was a complete success of an angle and I am motivated to actually watch a wrestling product again. That's hard for a WWE loyalist to admit.

Though if the last seven years are anything to go by, TNA'll fuck it up completely within a month.

You're better off ignoring the CSR guys, btw. They're two idiots who seem to have the opinion that watching wrestling for ten years instantly makes you relevant in the wrestling world. It doesn't. Their opinions are stupid and cliched and generally reflect those of (in my opinion) the worst segments of the IWC.

 

[the420something]

I'm a little different. I had my theories about who "they" were. I didn't order BFG, the only thing I was interested in was the tag-team title match, and maybe to see if Brian Kendrick was involved with lethal lockdown. Finding out that Jeff turned heel was why I bought the replay the next day, And boy was I entertained. (Exception being RVD vs Abyss). I thought TNA Jeffro has been trying to channel some kind of blend of WWE Jeffro, Raven and Sting. So I was excited about one of the biggest faces of my lifetime go heel, with a world title. I bought it I literally paid about 50 bucks to see Jeff win the world title and be apart of something major. and for the record I still don't think all this "deception" is over.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

I didn't see BFG, but I'll admit I did want to see who "They" were and even though I always check TNA's results if I didn't see it, I was curious into seeing who they were (even though it was as clear as day who it was (except for Hardy)).

A lot of the reason for that wasn't because I was interested in finding out who they were, I wanted to see who would be dominating TNA programming for the next while and hoping for the best. They had so much build that it was obvious that these guys are the ones who will be steering iMPACT and PPV's for a long time to come so of course I would want to see who they were.

I agree with CSR on this and don't feel it will work, but Hardy being heel is fresh and even though I don't think he'll pull it off I'll at least give him a shot. I really think that They happening in the main event at your biggest PPV of the year was a mistake and really should have been reserved for mid show (and maybe even have Hardy win by deceptive means and leave a cliff hanger for iMPACT to see if he joins), your biggest main event of the year should have a great match (which it had) with a solid finish (which they didn't).

 

[marker]

I personally was more interested in the deception angle than they, but both these angles made me to watch BFG. Without them, I would not watch it.

What's more, now I am even more interested in upcoming Impacts than before, but this is another topic.

 

[realdealasshole]

Coming from a guy who hated the way bound for glory ended so much, that I have given up on watching TNA completely for a very long time, I must say the Chair Shot Reality guys are clowns. No one takes them seriously. Or no one should anyways. These are the guys that said that Edge does a ten times better spear than Rhyno. Are you kidding me?

In any case, they are no less clowns in this scenario. As bad as the they storyline ended, they need to face reality and realize this caused interest.

 

[Rckstrtmmy]

The thing is everyone thought it was going to be some combo of Hogan/Bischoff and someone in the main event. Especially when nothing at all happened until the main event. It would have had more of an effect without the 10-10-10 thing. I agree that it drew interest but if you're going to have that much buildup you better drop a fucking bomb on everyone and they really didn't. Having Jeff Hardy turn was OK since he was the least likely to but Angle and Anderson have already proven that they can be awesome main event heels so it would have been wiser to go with one of those guys and keep Hardy the babyface of the company.

 

[tRKOj]

I agreed with the CSR guys that it was an awesome match but was ruined by a shit ending with nWo 2.0 but I didnt agree with wat they said bout promoting it with 10/10/10 stuff I was never a huge TNA fan but it got me watching they finally had a good storyline that grabbed my attention and made me want 2 watch.

I honestly like CSR it gives me something entertaining 2 watch when i'm bored so really yall stop bashing them if u dont take em seriously dont watch em the sad thing is that most of yall that say their clowns and that they dont know anything still probly watch the damn show!