Impact Wrestling/Xplosion; They Need to Re-Live the WRESTLING Era!

[Shadow of Darkness]

Being someone who is mad about pro-wrestling, i thought that in the year 2009, Paul Heyman would eventually take the control of tna creative department and we would be able to see a massive positive turning point in TNA's history. but as we know paul's demands were not granted by Dixie Carter (mainly the plan of firing all 40+ age wrestlers and concerntrating on YOUTH). In reply to that Dixie brought Hogan and Bischoff. now you cant ignore that Bischoff has made a lot of improvements in TNA's production and advertising. Hogan on the other hand gave a massive star power to them.

But still there is some thin that's missing in TNA and so they are not able to make their ratings pass 1.25; this brought me to think and suggest some clauses.

1. Vince Russo- No matter what this man does - good or bad - he always get the boos. i think he is not that bad but the fact is that there is no one to filter his thoughts and ideas. in WWE he had McMohan to filter the ideas a bit. even McMohan once said that out of russo's 10 ideas 1 should always be dashing. now, i know plenty of tna lovers want Dixie to fire russo and hier heyman; but let me be honest she would never do that because she feels that russo is a genius!(yes., that's what she said to a magazine back in april 2009). this brings me to my next point...

2. Paul Heyman- TNA needs this man at any cost, or otherwise the incredible talents of tna would go out. We dont need to discuss about heyman's achievements, as i would personaly consider him as the most genius booker.
Dixie needs to give him a chance. but heyman would only come if his proposals are granted which dixie would never allow.

then what to do?

well, my solution-

let bring out an 'antihero' revolt. let Paul Heyman Come and manage a single ppv(lets say Hardcore Justice) in Philidelphia. during the end paul gives a shoot promo in which he speaks about how tna is un-using the talented wrestlers and making them suck in the garbage can.

for next few weeks let AJ Styles win some terrific matches. say 5 matches on a road against TNA big names but still he does not get the chance to main event.
next week let AJ come out and speak how he is still not in the main event? while other flop ex-WWE guys in the main event picture makes him sick. he talks trash about several other things going in tna untill finaly when ssomr ex-WWE guys come to stop him and by beating him severly and making him bleed.

weeks later we see AJ returning and interfereing in almost every EX-WWE star matches and cutting terrific promos. he is joined by beer money, daniels, kazarian.

slowly they start to build a huge stable including many guys from X-Division and TNA originals. the total TNA roster is then divided into two groups.

the basic idea is to create another big nWo type of stable with only difference of having AJ and army as face and ex-WWE guys as heels. it would all lead to BFG where a "best of 7 match" series would take place between the two groups resulting in the victory of AJ and army, with AJ as the heavy-weight champ. after winning AJ will say that they are going to create their new show and none other than Paul Heyman would be the manager of their show. the show will be named as Xplosion Wrestling(bringing back the 6-sided ring). AJ will then throw the TNA world title and would bring up a new belt named as Xplosion World title.

there would be different ppvs for both the shows with both shows getting 5 ppvs each. The brands would only meet each other at Slammiversary, Lock down, and BFG.

thus both Paul heyman's and Dixie's condition will stay intact. creative control of Heyman's show would entirely be given to him. and he will also get only the wrestlers of less than 40 years of age. moreover there would be no drafts between the shows, keeping the rivalry between the brands intact.

so what do you say?

 

[thesaint1993]

To be honest i like this idea an would like to watch this unless it was booked horrible then i would fall a sleep like most thursday nights. i would hire you as a booker/creative writer

 

[FlairFan2003]

TNA needs a creative direction, they also need to stick with something long term and give it time to develop. Casual fans will tune in this week, see some things they like, and two or three weeks later they tune in and everything is different. Guess what, as a casual fan I wont be tuning in anytime soon, you lost me.

It seems like when they have a good idea they don't follow it up or stick with it. Why are we moving away from a long term Sting-Kurt Angle fued, two well known, established main event caliber stars that can still perform in the ring despite their age (Angle is well past 40, Sting is pushing 50) and we move away from this fued after a month or two, for what, setting up Sting vs Hogan - Hogan cant move in the ring, and realistically even if you are convinced that this is your money match, you can slowly build to this while getting people to tune in and watch Sting vs Angle.

When TNA hinted at a possible NWO return and the chance that they would oppose, not support Hogan, with Bischoff backstabbing Hulk, that might have seemed like re living the past but it was interesting. So it was dropped almost immediately with no explanantion. When AJ Styles is getting good heat with his re vamped chracter alongside Ric Flair what do they do, separate them and have Styles, one of their homegrown talents (unlike Angle & Sting) revert to his old, bland, character. You build a super heel group headed by Flair to oppose the Hogan lead forces of the good guys and though it seems a bit like 1988 having Hogan and Flair oppose each other, the bad guys are getting major heat, so of course you split them up. Beer Money is way over with fans, so much that they easily could switch between fan favorite and heel, so of course you bust them up. You spend so much time promoting Hogan as the face of the good guys (which by the way you need if your good guys ae going to consist of the drugged up Jeff Hardy, who eventually went heel, and the always unreliable RVD) then immediately switch him to rulebreaker.

Then you let Nash and Mick Foley go when you're hurting for star power, plus you invested a lot into Foley's character being a major part of TNA storylines.

Hot shotting angles and matches only works when you have a large audience to begin with and it draws casual fans back in. Constantly hot shotting angles (which Russo is known for) confuses and alienates your loyal fans and completely turns off casual fans who cant follow the product at all.

As far as a "youth movement" is concerned, youth only sells when it is given time to grow and mature working alongside recognized star power. If WWE kept The Miz wrestling other unknown mid carders he would be almost worthless to them, put him in forefront and let him work with HHH, Cena, etc - even if he has to lose some matches, people notice him and he can take off. Years ago Undertaker caught on originally because he was paired successfully with Jake Roberts and matched against the likes of SuperFly Snuke, Dusty Rhodes, and eventually Hogan. TNA needs to do something similair witha roster of talented but largely unrecognizable people. Work them into spots with Sting, Angle, The Dudleys, Flair, RVD, etc, the only people on your roster anyone outside of the most loyal TNA fan actually cares about.

Its a misconception that "older guys" have to job out to "younger guys" to get them over. The Miz has probably lost more than he's won vs Cena but he is still over with WWE fans, Sting and Lex Luger know all about getting over with fans as unknowns, their associations on screen with Ric Flair made their careers, but Sting wrestled against Flair for more than two years before he eer won a meanigful match against him. Luger had big money making runs vs Flair in 88, 89, and 90, wrestling him as both a fan favorite and a heel, never beat him in a World Title Match though, but he still became a hugely successful star who main evented where ever he went for a decade. It's not so much about winning the match as how you perform and entertain in the fued that gets your character over with fans. Plus, most fans are turned off when their long time favorites are beaten by veritable unknowns. We tune in to see our favorites win, not be embarassed by guys we don't know.

So if TNA will STICK with one game plan, mix in younger talent with established guys but build the brand around the veterans, then they could both increase their audience and establish something for the long term as some of those younger guys hopefully take off and become stars of their own. The current formula of changing directions with the wind and relying on nothing but guys at the end of their careers fighting each other in confusing, convuluted, hard to follow stories will not build heir brand, and only occassionally will it temporarily increase their ratings.

 

[ramblinroy682]

I agree with Flair Fan in that they do switch and change angles, characters, heels, faces way to much. In the last 12 months, Kurt Angle has been good, bad, good, bad, so many times I cannot count. Hell, Look at Anderson he went from tweener, to face against Hardy, to Heel, to Face against Immortal, to joining immortal, to feuding with Immortal and Bully ray. It's hard to keep up.

A face/heel turn should mean something. It shouldn't be expected so often. Fans need the chance to build up feelings for a character either good or bad. That way when the switch occurs it sets a personal feeling with the change. TNA has done too many switches and that leaves the fans feeling flat. Joe has switched so many times I don't really care what he does. I don't invest in following him, because in two weeks times he will be doing something different. They are so ratings hungry they look short term for ratings spikes instead of doing a slow build.

Personally, I think going back to the wrestling era like the original poster said is a true need. But, it doesn't mean more factions. The NWO was great. It was great because it hadn't been seen before. You can't recreate it now, because of non-competes and internet rumors.

I think TNA needs to focus on building well-rounded stars as heels or faces. For example, take Bobby Roode make him a heel singles star. Give him a year as a heel. No shockers, no swerves, nada. Give him the TV title. Put him in a feud against AJ Styles for three months. Let him do the things heels do to win. Cheat, grab tights, interfere, pay off cronies, but keep it simple. Fans will begin to boo him for his underhanded tactics and for beating the hero. After 3 PPV's and the gimmick match blow off like settling the score in the Cage, then move him on to a feud with someone else, like Matt Morgan, James Storm, or Chris Daniels. (As I'm writing this there are not many true faces to think of) At the next PPV, I would have a triple threat match for the TV Title where Roode drops the title to Morgan, but ends up feuding with the other non winner. This may be a good Spot to feud with a guy like Anderson. Go a couple of months, and have him win the feud. Then move him into the World Title Picture. Have Sting put him over as the next great heel. Give him a world title reign for few months.

After that first feud, you begin the process with a face. I would think a fresh push for a guy Morgan. As mentioned above, he would win the TV Title in the 3 way match. Give him a few months as that champion. Eventually, feud him with the 2 heel in line, where he then begins to become the contender for the World Title. Have him eventually get a run with the title.

If you continue this basic process, you can have alternating heel face pushes. Once you establish 6 stars or so, then you can have feuds that don't revolve around a belt. If you push several folks at once, then you can elevate the one that the crowd is getting behind.

WCW did this a lot. Sting won the TV Title. Dropped it. Gained Momentum and Won the US Title. Dropped it. Gained Momentum. Challenged for the World title, didn't win. Feuded with a heel again. Won the feud, Challengd for the Title again. Won it, defended and then feuded with challengers. He faced Cactus Jack, then Muta, then Flair, etc. Slow processes are the way to go.

 

[czar76]

Bischoff made it clear in an interview a few months back that TNA would be trying out different formats over the summer to see what worked and what didn't. i do agree that the programing changes way to much to keep casual fans on board and confuses the loyal ones. Hogan should leave. He has done little to improve anything. The fact that he is likely going to wrestle again is sad. The only real build up to a match TNA has done is Hogan/Sting. There are only a few ways to handel this match, 1. Have a normal match that will be slow and boring, 2.A complete squash that isn't really a match with run ins and so on, 3.It's all a swerve and someone else will take Hogan's place. None of these ideas are woth the time they are putting into it.
I am a loyal TNA supporter. I want them to do well but the current direction is not the way to go. Get Hogan, Flair, Sting, out of the main spotlight and focus on the younger guys. They are putting much more light on younger talent but they are still in the background behind Hogan and company.
I watched this every week on Nitro in the '90's. It worked for a while but then it went south fast. The rest is history. This does not need to happen to TNA but I am afraid that it will if serious changes are not made.

 

[ABMorales787]

You know what TNA really needs? A border to keep the people from Cloud City up in the clouds dreaming. Talk about Paul Heyman as if he were some revolutionary figure TNA hasn't been able to tap into yet. Get it through. He's no different than Eric Bischoff, Vince Russo or anyone else. And for the love of freakin' God, if WWE's own brand split is beyond idiotic, why bring the fucking concept to TNA? Stick the Xplosion brand up your ass. It doesn't need to exist. And 40+ wrestlers should not be fired. Why? I don't know. Ask the millions of still existing Hulkamaniacs and people who tune in just to see Ric Flair flip out.

 

[StraightEdgeRevenge]

I honestly hope no one in TNA reads stuff like this and assumes it is the right thing to do. Firing anyone over 40 is extreme, disrespectful, and rather stupid. I only started watching TNA because of guys like Sting, Flair, and Hogan/bischoff. I would probably stop watching if they were gone. TNA is headed in a great direction right now, rather than sitting around being a booker or writer why not just enjoy the show?

 

[Shadow of Darkness]

Dont get me wrong StraightEdgeRevenge i am just giving you my view to rescue some of TNA original talents who are overshadowed by veterans and ex-WWE guys.

and note my words Killjoy WWE brand split was good untill 2004, after which the wrestlers from both brand started appearing on both shows. So talk after you do research.!

 

[mlp420]

Wow, as soon as I read "Paul Heyman", I knew exactly where the rest of the post was going. Yes, Paul Heyman is a well respected man who's regarded as a good booker by the IWC and his peers in the business alike. But most of his supporters seem to think he's the only person in the world that knows anything about wrestling. Any time Heyman is brought up some people go ''They better give Heyman whatever he's asking for if they know what's good for them!", as if he's the only man in the whole world capable of presenting a good wrestling product. In fact, I think there's some people who will never give TNA a shot unless they bring him in, regardless of what's going on with the product.

 

[mlp420]

Dont get me wrong StraightEdgeRevenge i am just giving you my view to rescue some of TNA original talents who are overshadowed by veterans and ex-WWE guys.

That's another thing that pisses me off. When people say TNA originals are being "overshadowed". What does that even mean? Does John Cena overshadow a lot of the young guys on the WWE roster? Yeah he does, because he's more over than they are. So should the WWE get rid of John Cena to help those guys get over? WWE had their big youth movement last year right? Why didn't they just get rid of Cena, Orton, HHH, Edge, Punk, Mysterio, Undertaker, ect. so that guys like Kofi, Evan Bourne, Morrison, Sheamus, Drew Mcintyre and Wade Barret would have been the top guys by default? That's the crazy idea people keep calling for TNA to do: "Having real stars makes it hard for our indy faves to get over! Get rid of them!!!"

 

[Shadow of Darkness]

Well, with THE YOUTH MOVEMENT starting in TNA/IW i would want you all to give a sart to this idea.

it has been reportedly said and proclaimed that IMPACT WRESTLING can never compete against WWE. But hey that true unless we give this company a chance to do so.

hiring paul heyman wont do a day-night miracle but atleast he can keep things fresh. he can make a "anything can happen" atmosphere in the SHOW.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

Well, with THE YOUTH MOVEMENT starting in TNA/IW i would want you all to give a sart to this idea.

it has been reportedly said and proclaimed that IMPACT WRESTLING can never compete against WWE. But hey that true unless we give this company a chance to do so.

hiring paul heyman wont do a day-night miracle but atleast he can keep things fresh. he can make a "anything can happen" atmosphere in the SHOW.

TNA already has that, and it's one of their worst traits for some people. They will literally do anything and you have no fuckling clue what it will be. When it comes to AJ vs Roode, if AJ and Roode shook hands aftet 20 minutes of wrestling for AJ to turn heel and "swerve" everyone, you'd be shocked but not that much because it is something TNA would do.

Heyman is a bullshit artist. An even bigger one than Bischoff. At least Bischoff has a track record of success, he's a smart business man and he has a great mind for wrestling. Heyman's got a bald head, a greasy ponytail and a whole lot of barking and no biting.

Fact - Heyman had his own TV show where he could produce his vision of wrestling. Fuck the money, no company started with a shit load of cash. In the end, TNA outlasted ECW. ECW was bought eventually by McMahon and turned into a joke. That's as good as Heyman is. To me he's no different than Cornette or any other wrestling persona who has no solid proof of actually being good at what they do. Heyman has his positives, he's a wise guy, but Heyman is a booker, he's not an owner.

 

[itssoeasy123]

TNA already has that, and it's one of their worst traits for some people. They will literally do anything and you have no fuckling clue what it will be. When it comes to AJ vs Roode, if AJ and Roode shook hands aftet 20 minutes of wrestling for AJ to turn heel and "swerve" everyone, you'd be shocked but not that much because it is something TNA would do.

Heyman is a bullshit artist. An even bigger one than Bischoff. At least Bischoff has a track record of success, he's a smart business man and he has a great mind for wrestling. Heyman's got a bald head, a greasy ponytail and a whole lot of barking and no biting.

Fact - Heyman had his own TV show where he could produce his vision of wrestling. Fuck the money, no company started with a shit load of cash. In the end, TNA outlasted ECW. ECW was bought eventually by McMahon and turned into a joke. That's as good as Heyman is. To me he's no different than Cornette or any other wrestling persona who has no solid proof of actually being good at what they do. Heyman has his positives, he's a wise guy, but Heyman is a booker, he's not an owner.

I agree (ain't that something) with you Zion. I think Heyman is a con man and a manipulator, who paints himself as this all mighty genius when quite frankly he just talks about the little amount of success he actually has. He never made any stars, never was a big mainstream promotion, and quite frankly, ECW didn't really do anything besides make "hardcore" wrestling famous, and it currently resides in CZW and indy promotions.

People think TNA should bring in Paul Heyman, I don't think anybody wants Paul Heyman in TNA, especially the respected veterans who probably felt disrespected of Heyman saying he would "chop everyone's head off if they we're over 40 years old." It's just painfully obvious that Heyman has no clue what the fuck he's doing, or saying these days. Getting rid of everybody over 40 would be a mistake of Heyman's part, because who are you going to us build up young talent?

I think TNA should stick to what their doing now, and continue to book towards the future. Bobby Roode being Champion is a great step towards the future. Just book from there and they won't need Paul Heyman.