Howling To A Thursday Near You; The American Wolves Are Here

[ABMorales787]

The former ROH Tag Team and World Heavyweight Champions, Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards have officially debuted for TNA and are set for action next week on Genesis Part II. The tandem recently tried out for the WWE but were turned down in favor of fresher and... taller.... talent.

With TNA in desperate need to fill up it's Tag Team division (as well as the X Division and Knockouts), they've picked up the hottest team not signed to WWE. The tandem seems to be set to be babyfaces, brought in by a yet to be named new investor in TNA.

 

[Papa Pillman]

I really liked that Davey and Eddie seemed very much like themselves in this segment, and I like this storyline tease.

I just wish we would have gotten some clear confirmation on if we should expect a debut by the Wolves next week.

Also- TNA has wasted no time in adding Richards and Edwards to their roster page:
http://www.impactwrestling.com/roster/Wrestler-Roster

 

[bxbigshow]

My only problem with this is that it seemed inconsistent with Dixie's previous tweets. Those sounded as if she already signed The Wolves and when they show up she's talking tryout match.

The segment didn't work for me because of this...

 

[rbv13]

My only problem with this is that it seemed inconsistent with Dixie's previous tweets. Those sounded as if she already signed The Wolves and when they show up she's talking tryout match.

The segment didn't work for me because of this...

That’s just good ol' slack-jawed southern yokel Dixie for ya. She just can’t keep her kayfab and not pretend stuff straight on that tweedy bird contraption.

Seriously, I was sort of let down by tonight’s Impact. Matches were solid but all the filler shit just left me feeling ripped off. When it came to the Wolves I was expecting them to come in and bust some skulls not work some backstage segment. What the hell was up with EE? He looked like someone gave him a wedgie. He was also having a helluva time keeping a straight face. I was waiting for him to bust out laughing.

 

[Bischoff's Knob Slobberer]

I watch ROH on a regular basis and the Wolves are awesome! They should feud and whip the Bromans and start a feud with Bad Influence Asap. Put the belts on the Wolves ASAP!

The question I wanna know is, who were the teams in the one night only tag team pay per view?

So far I'm excited bout this "reset".

Any thoughts on the investor? Jim Cornette, Jim Ross, Paul Heyman, Jeff Jarrett, Stink (Sting)? Lots of intrigue here. My guess is Jarrett pulling a major swerve with him leaving TNA a few weeks ago.

 

[Kliq69]

I'm guessing the "investor"is Angle or Hardy or AJ. I think Sting is gone after next week, finally going to the big leagues.

It wouldn't be hard to make it seem like Angle or Hardy had the money to buy a stake in the company.

Now Jarrett is a possibility, but it would be a major letdown. He's a midcarder at best and TNA continually makes him out to be a much bigger name than he really is.

Jim Ross is a no, as is Heyman as they're both still under contract for Vince. Cornette is too much of a loose cannon and burned his bridge there. I'm just hoping whoever it is gives them a reason to take the old, ugly hag off of tv.

 

[zigglerlover2002]

I watch ROH on a regular basis and the Wolves are awesome! They should feud and whip the Bromans and start a feud with Bad Influence Asap. Put the belts on the Wolves ASAP!

The question I wanna know is, who were the teams in the one night only tag team pay per view?

So far I'm excited bout this "reset".

Any thoughts on the investor? Jim Cornette, Jim Ross, Paul Heyman, Jeff Jarrett, Stink (Sting)? Lots of intrigue here. My guess is Jarrett pulling a major swerve with him leaving TNA a few weeks ago.

In the tournament there was

Dudleys
Bischoff and brisco
Kaz and daniels
Magnus and joe
Generation me
Petey and dutt
The naturals
Chavo and hernandez

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Congratulations to TNA, in three years that's four good signings, (Aries and Bateman being the others), which is a big success story for the company considering how incompetent they tend to be and how they've let some water flow under the bridge considering only two months ago Davey knocked the company for having very little wrestling talent, but at least they've done what's best for business. While I won't be watching, I wish them the best, considering they've been cornerstones of ROH's product for seven and eight years respectively and did it all in the company.

 

[New Hot Fed]

The tall one doesn't seem that intimiating. Are they intense-types?

Also I hope that next week they're going to kick some ass.

 

[Randy Orton's Head Blood]

Interesting. I hope they debut on next weeks Impact, otherwise Dixie calling "new talent" showing up on TNA, only to not actually have them wrestle, kinda kills it.

Knowing TNA, I'd see them debuting, dominating over a few weaker teams before getting a title shot against the BroMans & winning. It's a shame that things would happen this fast, but you all know that it's totally possible.

 

[justinsayne]

This excites me, & gives me a reason to watch, that said I am still a little fearful of them getting Kenny King'd after their initial run though.

I also liked Dixie's tongue in cheek dig at WWE with the comment about them having a tryout match.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

I still haven't gotten a chance to see the whole segment, unless what TNA posted on YouTube is all that happened, but Richards just took to Twitter and is promising more changes. He says the Wolves are only the start.

@RichardsWesley:

The landscape is changing in @IMPACTWRESTLING @TheEddieEdwards and myself are only the beginning. Stay tuned, BIG changes coming! #clearit

 

[MINISTRYrising]

Well TNA have taken a step in the right direction by signing the Wolves. They are hands down the best team on the Indys along with the Brisco's (who are another team I would love to see in TNA) and while signing Richards and Edwards is not going to fix all of TNA's problems it will certainly improve the Tag team division and I don't see it taking very long for TNA to put the Titles on the Wolves.

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

I've been seeing a lot of improvements in Impact's programming for the past weeks and I'm considering starting watching weekly much thanks to this signing. They are a tremendous team and I'm sure they're going to get over really fast. I for one, am hoping that they show WWE that they could have been very good assets. Also like the fact that they are using their independent names and really looking forward for their debut.

Unfortunately the TNA's tag team division is very weak at the moment, but I can see them starting to get some new interesting teams to mix with this two great signings. I wouldn't be surprised at all if they repackaged Kenny King into a tag team or if they put ECIII and Spud as a team to go after the belts. The real goal is to watch The Wolves v. Bad Influence - that will be fantastic. This are four good signings in a year, with Spud and ECIII being the other two and hopefully Shanna being the fifth.

 

[Lowdown]

This looks to be a good thing for TNA. I'm a little bit more interested in this mystery investor that's on the horizon. From the looks of things it's gonna be Dixie's new clan of henchmen against the majority of the faces. As far as the Wolves go, I liked their work in ROH, so hopefully they can be successful on a bigger scale. Time will tell though.

 

[mlp420]

Congratulations to TNA, in three years that's four good signings, (Aries and Bateman being the others), which is a big success story for the company considering how incompetent they tend to be and how they've let some water flow under the bridge considering only two months ago Davey knocked the company for having very little wrestling talent, but at least they've done what's best for business. While I won't be watching, I wish them the best, considering they've been cornerstones of ROH's product for seven and eight years respectively and did it all in the company.

Indy wrestling fans are a bunch of bitter ass psychos. I hope that rumor about TNA trying to raid ROH is true.

Anyway, The Wolves are already on Twitter pushing this new angle, boasting about the TNA landscape changing and trading words with Bad Influence and Bro Mans. Good to see they're into this TNA run.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

Oh boy! A mystery investor? So his boys will go against Dixie's boys? That sounds like ... like ...

STABLE WARS! NOT AGAIN!

They could dig out Johnny Cash and have him be the investor, I still won't be as pumped as they want me to. I'm .. I can't .. I .. it's like another one? With the brawls and the clusterf ... I can't .. I c....

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Indy wrestling fans are a bunch of bitter ass psychos. I hope that rumor about TNA trying to raid ROH is true.

This would be logical, if ROH was an indie.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

This would be logical, if ROH was an indie.

Then it's logical, because they are.

They have no national television deal, are largely unknown to the televised wrestling audience, lack major sponsorships, etc.

Take it from someone who works in an industry, for a company that put major stock into the recognition and popularity of their clients/stars. It matters, and it's what separates the "bigs" from the "littles". There's a system in place called the Davie Brown Index (DBI) that measures these things. It's integral to anyone working in marketing. The guys on ROH's roster could walk down the street of any major metropolitan city and no one would bat an eye. The same can't be said of a good portion of the WWE roster, and a small portion of the TNA roster. Granted, TNA can't lay claim to the same level of stardom as WWE, and their performers' DBI scores would be less than the scores of WWE's performers, but they would still be higher than anything ROH could produce, aside from Maria Kanellis, who would undoubtedly score higher than any of the actual wrestlers in ROH. In fact, the only wrestlers on ROH's roster that might even score at all, in any measurable manner, are ones formerly associated with TNA, like AJ Styles and Jay Lethal. Why? Because TNA isn't an independent federation. They are, for all intents and purposes, a big league.

But this is getting too far off topic. This thread isn't about whether or not ROH are considered an indie federation or not. It's about the Wolves, who are no longer part of ROH, or the indies by definition. You not liking that does not make it untrue.

 

[Papa Pillman]

But this is getting too far off topic. This thread isn't about whether or not ROH are considered an indie federation or not. It's about the Wolves, who are no longer part of ROH, or the indies by definition. You not liking that does not make it untrue.

Not to further the slightly off-topic debate, but I think that what Dragon Saga is referring to is the fact that an "independent" federation usually indicates a company that is being funded out of pocket by a single independent owner/investor or small group of them. This applied to ROH when it was in the hands of Gabe, Rob Feinstein, Cary Silkin, etc.

Now ROH is owned, funded, and operated by a multi-billion dollar telecommunications company, that operates more local TV networks than any other company in the US, and airs ROH on its networks as one of its properties. Therefore it is technically, by definition, NOT an independent company. But this is nitpicking, as in the normally accepted view of the wrestling landscape it is looked at as a territory or upper-minor-league entity, making it continue to be viewed and referred to as "independent wrestling".

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Not to further the slightly off-topic debate, but I think that what Dragon Saga is referring to is the fact that an "independent" federation usually indicates a company that is being funded out of pocket by a single independent owner/investor or small group of them. This applied to ROH when it was in the hands of Gabe, Rob Feinstein, Cary Silkin, etc.

Now ROH is owned, funded, and operated by a multi-billion dollar telecommunications company, that operates more local TV networks than any other company in the US, and airs ROH on its networks as one of its properties. Therefore it is technically, by definition, NOT an independent company. But this is nitpicking, as in the normally accepted view of the wrestling landscape it is looked at as a territory or upper-minor-league entity, making it continue to be viewed and referred to as "independent wrestling".

Right, so it's a semantic argument we're having, really. They're not an "independent", but they are a minor-leauge, or a farm system, really, as the stars they create often do (as well they should) use the company as a springboard to one of the "big two" — WWE or TNA. Because the big two have national television contracts.

But fair enough — they aren't "indy", in the sense of being independently owned and operated, but they are "indy" in the Draconian sense.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Then it's logical, because they are.

They have no national television deal, are largely unknown to the televised wrestling audience, lack major sponsorships, etc.

Take it from someone who works in an industry, for a company that put major stock into the recognition and popularity of their clients/stars. It matters, and it's what separates the "bigs" from the "littles". There's a system in place called the Davie Brown Index (DBI) that measures these things. It's integral to anyone working in marketing. The guys on ROH's roster could walk down the street of any major metropolitan city and no one would bat an eye. The same can't be said of a good portion of the WWE roster, and a small portion of the TNA roster. Granted, TNA can't lay claim to the same level of stardom as WWE, and their performers' DBI scores would be less than the scores of WWE's performers, but they would still be higher than anything ROH could produce, aside from Maria Kanellis, who would undoubtedly score higher than any of the actual wrestlers in ROH. In fact, the only wrestlers on ROH's roster that might even score at all, in any measurable manner, are ones formerly associated with TNA, like AJ Styles and Jay Lethal. Why? Because TNA isn't an independent federation. They are, for all intents and purposes, a big league.

But this is getting too far off topic. This thread isn't about whether or not ROH are considered an indie federation or not. It's about the Wolves, who are no longer part of ROH, or the indies by definition. You not liking that does not make it untrue.

IDR, you're a lot smarter then this shit, please stop trying to make sense of stuff you aren't all that familiar with and stick with what you know dude, stick with your Thursday night soap opera.

The definition of an independent wrestling company is that it is independently funded - ROH is funded by a multi-million dollar corporation. Hence, not independent. It falls into the regional category because it doesn't have a national TV deal, because in 2002 it unlike TNA didn't have an investor pumping millions up its ass to gain very little back. It went month to month and grew to the point it could be sold to the present owners.

And while I can agree certain ROH stars utilize it as a stepping stone to WWE such as CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins and Antonio Cesaro, the idea they utilize it as a stepping stone to TNA is laughable. Samoa Joe left ROH because TNA offered him "x" amount of money and the promise he could continue working for ROH - which he details in his ROH Straight Shootin' DVD with CM Punk - he left ROH entirely after TNA offered him MORE money. He's a business man and it was business.

Then you got guys like Kenny King who TNA have wasted, Christopher Daniels who due to creative having little for him had to form a tag team and go it his own, The Wolves who it took seven and eight years to leave ROH, which if you think they haven't had offers in that time you're insane. Once again, enjoy Davey on the roster, cause last month he didn't even know who the fuck else was there.

As Kevin Steen said in an interview you can find on YouTube; "nobody wants to sign for TNA", for guys like Austin Aries who had to make videos crying about how WWE wouldn't sign him and about how ROH fired him and about how he was going to retire until TNA gave him a second chance, it's the final destination and it doesn't reek many rewards.

In 2006, guys may have been jumping from ROH to TNA to better themselves, in 2013 the only reason someone would jump is money - if TNA could afford it on their steep wage bill - and if their bridge was burn't and ROH fired them e.g. Davey Richards.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

You must have missed the post just before the one you posted, because I already retracted the independent comment after Pillman pointed out something I wasn't considering — which was that the term was being applied in a literal sense, not a Draconian one.

They are "independent" in that they are not considered a big league promotion. They do not own a national television deal, do not own major sponsorship partnerships and are largely used as a stepping stone to one of the two big league promotions in the United States — those being TNA and WWE. I don't give a shit what one guy from ROH says about TNA, so Kevin Steen's quote is irrelevant. He does not speak for trends. He speaks for himself. He doesn't want to go to TNA. Good for him. Loyalty can be a good thing, and I'm sure he makes a fine living there anyway.

But at the end of the day, when the sun sets, TNA are a big league company, and ROH are not. It's that simple. There's no debating this. There's no grey area to question. TNA have a national television deal and corporate sponsorships. They are syndicated both in the U.S. as well as overseas, and have run other wrestling promotions as a parent company due to their size and reach.

I don't care how upset you are with TNA, or how much you love ROH. Your personal feelings don't change facts. It goes WWE > TNA > Everyone else.

 

[Metal Head Mike]

Being a long time fan of The American Wolves. I'm glad to see them take a step to the next level. I think they bring something back to the Tag Division which seems stale right now. But TNA needs more than just one team to rebuild the division. Hopefully more Tag Teams will come and TNA will create more teams within the ranks soon