Improve TNA

[Sparky]

I am 90% sure this hasnt done before. and if it has it was AGES ago.

All these people on the forum complaining about TNA and how it sucks. well how would you improve it? here is what i would do.

Stop employing ex WWE talent
Becouse when they come to TNA they are 96% always a shell of their former WWE self. This is not really a way to build your company by hiring WWE Rejects. the only exceptions are people who choose to go there. but stop hiring the ones who have been fired.

Hire Mick Foley
Oh wait nevermind.

New Champion
Get the title off of Samoa Joe, the guy is overrated. there is a lot of wrestlers who would be better suited with the title. Samoa Joe is not going to make people watch TNA.

Drop the Super hero shit
No Really, its pointless and ridiculas. good wrestlers? Maybe but not really entertaining with the gimmicks they have. Its a waste of talent and a waste of time.

Stop doing ladder matches
well not all together but stop using them as much as they do. you lose interest if they happen all the time.

Better storylines
And not the same stuff for this long. some storylines are ok but others on the other hand are boring and Not worth paying attention to.

and my last for now and its only my opinion

Four sided Ring
Its easier for people to watch. not all the time but have the six sided rings for PPVs only that way people that aint used to watching TNA will understand easier. and not find it confusing.

Oh shit and...

Better Anouncers
The people they have now are boring. Well together anyway. One of them is ok but the other is dreadful. they need somebody good.

Ok your turn. debate mine or discuss your own way.

 

[DJ]

Get Rid Of The Angles.
Ever since Kurt Angle joined TNA it has been going down hill.I used to feel awesome when I Picked up Powerslam and read about it.But now....its hard to read or even WATCH TNA.Every 10 minute theres something to do with Kurt F'N Angle or his bimbo of a Wife.

Give More Time To the X Divison
My impression of TNA's X Divison at the present time.

"If you go 2 minutes come check out the X Divison!"

Give these guys a least 7 minutes and it would tear down the house.Also get back to serious gimmicks!I don't want superheros!I don't want Rip-Offs!I don't want Americans pretending to be foreign.

Push The Guns.
They are your most over team.For the love of god this team is loved worldwide and you job them out?That makes zero sense.Why job them anyway?Because they won't blade?They don't want to cut themselfs?So your going to ruin them for something that happened months ago?Please.

 

[donutman]

I am 90% sure this hasnt done before. and if it has it was AGES ago.

All these people on the forum complaining about TNA and how it sucks. well how would you improve it? here is what i would do.

Stop employing ex WWE talent
Becouse when they come to TNA they are 96% always a shell of their former WWE self. This is not really a way to build your company by hiring WWE Rejects. the only exceptions are people who choose to go there. but stop hiring the ones who have been fired.

Hire Mick Foley
Oh wait nevermind.

lol, first step was to stop hiring ex wwe employees. Then 2nd step was to sign Mick Foley, ex wwe employee. I thought that was hilarious.

I feel the only way to truly improve TNA is to scrap everything. Get rid of the ridiculous 6 sided circus ring, get rid of Tenay and the fat guy, hire new writers, and more importantly, stop trying so hard to get the attention of WWE because TNA is not even on their radar. Whatever happened to VKM? Exactly.

 

[Sparky]

lol, first step was to stop hiring ex wwe employees. Then 2nd step was to sign Mick Foley, ex wwe employee. I thought that was hilarious.

the only exceptions are people who choose to go there. but stop hiring the ones who have been fired.

Didnt read that bit did you? Yeah didnt think so.

I feel the only way to truly improve TNA is to scrap everything.

I wouldnt say everything. there are some things that can stay. the wrestlers. tha matches minus the ladder matches all the time.

hire new writers,

the ones they have now are ok they just need to try harder and originallity wouldnt hurt either.

and more importantly, stop trying so hard to get the attention of WWE because TNA is not even on their radar.

Yeah thats why they wont get rid of carlito. and why they gave him that tiny small push to make him happy then cut him down to nothing. they did that so when they do let him go, he wont be worth anything to TNA. TNA is on the WWE's radar.

 

[donutman]

Mick Foley is still a Ex WWE Employee any way you look at it. They're letting Mick go, who has done more than Carlito has ever done or ever will do. If they were worried about TNA, they would have tried to hold on to him instead of letting one of their biggest legends walk.

Also, I didn't mean scrap the wrestlers when I said scrap everything. Although some of their guys could use a makeover. And I do feel that the Ultimate X match is extremely corny. Go up there and grab a big red X? Really? Are you serious? Why not replace the "X" with a title so its no longer a joke.

 

[WWE_OWNER_2008]

Also, I didn't mean scrap the wrestlers when I said scrap everything. Although some of their guys could use a makeover. And I do feel that the Ultimate X match is extremely corny. Go up there and grab a big red X? Really? Are you serious? Why not replace the "X" with a title so its no longer a joke.

Very good idea. I enjoyed the first Ulitmate X match, but it is getting a little corny with just an X. Titles are always better.

Also, I think hiring Russo couldn't be too good of an idea... look @ WCW... i mean look @ what WCW was.

 

[14-Year Old Virgin]

SCRAP WWE WRESTLERS

Like Mr. Madden said in his latest writings, TNA will NEVER get on the WWE's radar doing it the way they are doing it. Kurt has lost the spotlight and now is fighting for HIS gold Medal. Are you serious? They make it sound like it has more prestige than the TNA world title. Maybe it does in the real world, but this is entertainment. I don't wanna see a couple of guys beating the crap out of each other for a Gold Medal. Do it with the TNA World Title. Mick Foley's credibility as a Legend will go away forever going to TNA. Ex. NASH. Nuf said.

Booker T is where he belongs. I never liked him and his Gimmick is the same as in the WWE. Couldn't they have come up with something original? LOL Oops, stupid me, were talking about TNA.

Announcer (One)

Mike Tenay has to go. He sounds so FAKE the way he talks. Like he's reading it from a script. Don West at least has the excitment in his voice like he is really getting into it while Tenay sits there sounding like a robot. Absolutly HORRIBLE annoucing.

Go back to what got TNA to be TNA.

Even though I may seem like a TNA hater, I am FAR from it, I am a frustraited TNA fan that is seeing the same thing the WWE did years ago. They have MASSIVE talent in the TNA ROSTER. Styles, ROODE, Abyss, Storm, MCMG, Jay Lethal (NOT BLACK MACHOMAN-CHISMO), Sonjay Dutt, Petey Williams (NOT LITTLE PETEY PUMP. WHAT THE HELL WAS TNA THINKING), and MORE. These guys gave their BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS to this company and they are being swept under the carpet for BOOGER T, Angle, STING, RHYNO (WOW, This guy is TERRIBLE), Cage, TEAM 3-D and others.

This past iMPACT didn't even show the Tag Champs or even mention them. TNA is missing the Boat. The talent will be leaving TNA for the WWE and then you will have nothing but people getting fired from WWE for sucking, SUCKING UP TNA ONLY.

LEAVE MENTIONS OF THE WWE OFF THE AIR

Why? There is a solid reason the WWE does NOT mention TNA. Because TNA consistantly reminds the fans of WWE programming by copying their storylines and making mention of current WWE stars. Like HHH, and VKM. Think about it, Me as a Fan of BOTH WWE & TNA, I am seeing OLD STORYLINES from the WWE on TNA, I might as well change the channel and see what TNA will be doing NEXT WEEK, or YEAR. I am willing to BET that the WWE is LOVING every minute of them DESPERATLY trying to get the WWE to make mention of them. Because, Until the WWE does, TNA will NEVER get noticed by the world wide community. What I mean by that is, not everyone visits wrestling websites, Blogs, and such to even know about TNA. The Video Game may help the cause, but some people may say, WTF is TNA?

Like the GREAT would say. To be the man, you gotta beat GOLIATH. I love TNA, But I am getting tired of this focus all around WWE storylines and wrestlers. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

 

[klunderbunker]

While there's a lot of ways to fix it, I'm going to focus on just one. Stop using such long, drawn out storylines and feuds. This has always been TNA's biggest problem. They don't know when to let something end. Take for example Angle/Styles. This was a great feud when it started out because it built up for months with a tried and true backstory: Angle got jealous of AJ getting attention from his wife. No problem there. That angle has been done 100x over the years and it always works. Angle and AJ put on a good match. Time for a rematch? Sure. They put on a better match. One more time because its split? Ok, but end it there. This feud has just gone on too long. What was the point of the gold medal again? Karen isn't even a factor anymore. They've both beaten each other cleanly more than once. I'm not a fan of Disco's, but one thing he said I agree with completely: When one guy cleanly beats another, the story is over. Why should they fight again if there's no title involved? No reason at all. The same thing is going on with Booker and Joe. Why are they feuding so long? What are tehy even fighting over? And what does Sting and Jarrett have to do with it? That's the first two things I'd do to fix TNA: Shorten the lengths of feuds, and stop over complicating things.

 

[Uncle Sam]

I actually did this thread a long time ago. Was very, very popular too. I know I was a fantastic TNA mod Sparky, but you should really try something knew or you'll always be, erm, modding in my shadow.

Anyway, my number one suggestion:

Keep at least SOME feuds short and sweet​

I can't remember the last time they didn't do a feud where the following didn't happen, with the exception being Sting/Storm where nothing happened. They have a decent first match, then about five others where they either keep adding gimmicks or add an extra person or even another couple of feuders to it. Case in point, Styles/Angle.

The only time TNA employ short feuds instead of recycling the same thing over and over is when, well, I was going to say when they think it'll be a failure, but I've got a better way of phrasing it. When Sting is involved. Daniels and Storm suffered from that problem.

 

[WrestlingFan78]

I would improve TNA in a few ways...

1. Get rid of the 6 sided ring. Enough of that gimmick.
2. Fire Russo and Mantel. TNA need someone who knows how to get small promotions and new stars over. It's been said before, but TNA should hire Paul Heyman. Give him full creative control, just not control over the check book.
3. Get a new set for the Impact Zone. There should only be ONE ramp not two,, it's aesthetically confusing.
4. Hire better music producers. With a few exceptions, the entrance music in TNA blows.
5. Drop "Curry Man" and bring back "The Fallen Angel". While your at it, drop all that "Superhero crap". It was done well once, with the Hurricane, and shouldn't be done again.
6. Hire better looking "Knockouts". No disrespect, but Angelina Love, Awesome Kong, ODB, Moose and some of the rest either look manly or like trailer trash. The reason they get ratings is that the rest of the show happens to suck a lot more.
7. Less Kurt Angle, No Karen Angle. Make Kurt's appearances mean more by showing him less. BTW, there is a reason Karen wasn't used in the WWE, she has no talent.
8. Make Samoa Joe a killer again, not a fool who can be played. And drop "Samoa" from the name. Samoa Joe sounds too much like a corny gimmick name.
9. Stop making AJ Styles a stupid, hick fool. Make AJ the "Phenomenal One" again.
10. Hire new announcers. Keep Teney as kinda a Mean Gene type, who only does in-ring interviews. Hire Kevin Kelly or someone who knows how to get the stories over, while also doing the play by play. Maybe give JB a try at it. Hire a new color guy who knows how to put the bad guys over. Shane Douglas comes to mind.

TNA can be great. Dixie Carter and TNA should now do the things needed to make it great.

 

[Uncle Sam]

1. Get rid of the 6 sided ring. Enough of that gimmick.

It's not like every match is a cage match or something. It's a hook, something to make the show unique. It's also slightly more practical for the cruiserweights with the tighter ropes and more choices.

2. Fire Russo and Mantel. TNA need someone who knows how to get small promotions and new stars over. It's been said before, but TNA should hire Paul Heyman. Give him full creative control, just not control over the check book.

Eh, I question how far people know who's booking anyone. Russo gets credited for everything, whether people think it's bad or if they're Marty2Hotty.

3. Get a new set for the Impact Zone. There should only be ONE ramp not two,, it's aesthetically confusing.

Sort of agree with this, although it's not that important. It may even be useful on such a small set; heels can hardly flee through the crowd.

4. Hire better music producers. With a few exceptions, the entrance music in TNA blows.

Isn't it just Dave Oliver? That may be WWE. But yeah, agreed.

5. Drop "Curry Man" and bring back "The Fallen Angel". While your at it, drop all that "Superhero crap". It was done well once, with the Hurricane, and shouldn't be done again.

Agreed, but the Hurricane comparison is unnecessary. I don't care that it's repetitive, I care that it's shit.

6. Hire better looking "Knockouts". No disrespect, but Angelina Love, Awesome Kong, ODB, Moose and some of the rest either look manly or like trailer trash. The reason they get ratings is that the rest of the show happens to suck a lot more.

No, they get higher ratings because they're the most unique part of the show: women that can actually wrestle. If you don't buy that, ever heard of the saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"?

7. Less Kurt Angle, No Karen Angle. Make Kurt's appearances mean more by showing him less. BTW, there is a reason Karen wasn't used in the WWE, she has no talent.

Kurt isn't as overexposed as people think, but his matches shouldn't be on free TV every week. As for Karen Angle, I think she's fantastic. Keep her.

8. Make Samoa Joe a killer again, not a fool who can be played. And drop "Samoa" from the name. Samoa Joe sounds too much like a corny gimmick name.

Agreed. Except for the "Samoa" bit.

9. Stop making AJ Styles a stupid, hick fool. Make AJ the "Phenomenal One" again.

Done.

10. Hire new announcers. Keep Teney as kinda a Mean Gene type, who only does in-ring interviews. Hire Kevin Kelly or someone who knows how to get the stories over, while also doing the play by play. Maybe give JB a try at it. Hire a new color guy who knows how to put the bad guys over. Shane Douglas comes to mind.

Agreed.

 

[Luksa]

I don't have to be a 20 year viewer of TNA and WWE to objectively determine which one is better. I'm not American, don't live close to Japan, on the contrary, in the corner where I live, no noise about WWE or TNA is heard.

With that being said I would start my comment about TNA and WWE.

First, I watched WWE for over a year. When I heard about TNA, I said "small company, no big deal. Watching them is just a waste of my time."
But then WWE was getting slower and slower every week and in my view the only thing which keeps it above water are the Legends like Undertaker, HHH, Michaels and a few dozen more of them.
Still that doesn't help them, because as I was saying, their matches become slow-paced, disorganised and boring as death itself.

Back to TNA, because this should be a post about TNA.
TNA became the No.1 a while later when I realised it has much more to offer than WWE. They are fast, their matches are quick-paced. 4 sided ring or 6 sided one, it doesn't change a thing. More important is, that they got passion, something VKM lost... Just look at the show, the attendance may be poor, but those are dedicated fans and more importantly, the atmosphere could be felt through the TV-machine.
Well you enumerate many TNA faults. With some of them I could agree, their feuds are a bit lengthy (mostly with Kurt/AJ which I hope is at the end now), maybe they are even copying some things from WWE, but as I see both companies now, WWE sits on their eyes. TNA is getting stronger and stronger each passing day. They got the power of how the storylines are being told, because they have just one show a week, there is plenty to tell and although it can be a bit overwhelming sometimes, it's better than the crap WWE presents.

So pluses:
+ Faster, quick paced wrestling.
+ Some of the buildups are just incredibly writen (scratch Jeff's arrival with the guittar)
+ Wrestlers here have a sense of humor, maybe it's because they have bigger freedom.
+ The storylines are being told by the best, although it may not be a new idea, they can deliver in fashion

Minuses:
- Sometimes feuds are a bit long
- I don't really enjoy watching Knockouts fight, but I suppose they are needed for some fans.
- Lack of legends; but as it turns out, this could be also a plus, because the new stars can be born. Old stars like Nash, Sting or 3D can help with that.

You talk about commentators. It would be tough to find a team like JR and King, Hayes may be out of their possibilities and Don with Mike are doing what's in their's power.

So this is my view, because it really needed a bit of appreciated tone at least from one guy. Maybe you disagree, but you're a bunch of people who followed wrestling from the time of it's birth. Right now, the situation looks like this in the eyes of outlanders and though WWE still hold the banner high, it may fall in any minute.

Thank you for reading, enjoy your evening.
And of course I'm looking forward any soulful comments.

 

[etc]

1)Stop having a million friggin skits backstage, there way too over the top and most of the time dont serve a damn purpose. The Impact! on August 28, 2008 was such a turn off and I shut it off 1 hour into the show.

2) Stop jumping from storyline to storyline. How long has the stupid Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt and SoCal Val love triangle been going on? One week we have Jay crashing the Karen's Angle set and beating on Sonjay then the next week hes in a tag team with Creed facing random people? This fued has gone on waay to long and either cut it off now or end it cause nobody gives a shit.

I use to be a big fan of TNA like 3 months ago and didn't mind much about WWE cause it was getting stale but now that WWE's IMO in their "A" game I just can't find a reason to recommend TNA like I would have maybe 1 year ago.

 

[abrahamclark]

.......

Ok your turn. debate mine or discuss your own way.

I basically agree with every single thing you said. I don't agree about not highering old WWE talent, I just think they should use them more wisely. I honestly only watch TNA, still, so I can see these old WWE guys.

Last nights episode with Sting's segment was amazing, IMO.

As for some other changes:

I like the idea of the four-sided ring (steve austin even suggested that), I also think they should change up the announcing.

The superhero gimmics make me want to puke and the rock n rave infection is horrible. The old WWE impressions is the dumbest idea I've ever seen. The Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt feud would be amazing if it wasn't for the stupid macho-man elizabeth mimick. Who ever is thinking up these stupid ideas needs to be fired immediately.

Some other changes:

- Get out of the very small arena and move to something that they can sell out and make look bigger.

- Change the entire set.

- Begin to seperate the Knockout Matches and the Male matches. They should consider a one hour show that is just for woman, and then only utilize them once or twice on the male show. I get too confused watching their show-- the mix it up too much.

- Change their slogan (cross the line), change the stupid title of the show every week (what is it a freakin sitcom??), change their music and opening video (the video is cool but its old and they need to remake their image).

- Focus more attention on the middle-card titles, maybe even add another one (WWE should do this too)

- No more stupid backstage skits or interviews! Do good in ring/outside of ring interviews, skits, etc... WWE can usually pull off a good backstage segment but TNA acting ability is much lower than WWE (and WWE's is nothing to write home about). They should probably even consider putting their entire roster through intense acting course work.

- Utilize Cornette a little more, it was more entertaining when they were.

- Suspend their creative team and bring in new guys.

- Create a saturday morning show for kids.


Overall, the show needs a complete rehaul. I'm sure I missed a number of things in there. Some segments of the show are good, which makes me think they are having creative conflicts and some of the writers are good while some are absolutely idiotic. I hope they fix it up soon because I had high hopes for the company and I think they may be facing a very bad end if they don't shape up.

 

[Goblin_08]

X Division:

TNA should focus the X Division on Petey Williams, Christopher Daniels and Kazarian because at the moment there the best the X Division has to offer and supported by Lethal, Dutt, Creed and Daivari it would make it more solid. These men can steal a show when there given the freedom and the length of match to do so, so give them time.

Stupid Gimmick Matches:

For example at Hard Justice Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt’s match was called a “Black Tie Brawl and Chain Match” when surely a plain old Leather Strap match would have been more logical and a lot more interesting to the paying fans.

Pay Per Views in Orlando:

In my opinion I would only stage the “Big 3” being Lockdown, Slammiversary and Bound for Glory outside of Orlando as it gives these PPV’s a special feel as they are the company’s biggest 3 it would make sense.

Impact:

Give Impact more match time and less promo time as no1 wants to see Promo after Promo after Skit after Interview, well at least the crowd doesn’t want to + give the X Division more time, because I guarantee they will get the crowed psyched up and into the show more than a crappy Matt Morgan Squash match.

Roster:

TNA needs to rid the company of:
Booker T
Kip James
Matt Morgan

As personally I feel these guys will do nothing for the product in the long run and I know Bookers a big star but his in ring work has been nothing special since his much hyped arrival.

+ they need to give there top talents longer contracts as there losing major players to WWE, Gail Kim was the best the Knockout Division has and she’s gone.

That’s just my opinion though.

 

[MisterRob]

The biggest thing TNA needs to do to improve is do a better job promoting themselves and advertising themselves to the masses to get people watching, and to get themselves out there. They could learn a Lot from WWE's promotional machine. It doesn't matter how good your show is (and there's isn't good at all, in my opinion) you have to get people interested in even taking a look at the show, or being aware the shows there to watch.

Put the spotlight back on the X division and make it a thriving, competitive, unique division once again. Right now the X division is buried. It's meaningless, and they need to focus on what makes TNA unique and start developing things like the X division that can draw in people who want something different.

Total Nonstop Action. Make the name of your product actually refer to the product you're giving, because the shows right now should not be called Total Nonstop Action. Instead of focusing on a thousand directions, crazy gimmicks, nonensical storylines, get back to the basics. Sometimes less can be more.

Develop the main event to be something that actually draws more ratings then the Knockouts, which it should be doing(and is a key problem when its NOT). They need to develop main event characters people want to see, people want to watch, and people will pay attention to. They really need to revamp Samoa Joe, Kurt Angle and Bookert T in my mind as characters.

Use Christian Cage better!

The writing and the booking needs an overhaul desperately, I don't even think they know the direction they want to go half the time. I don't even really need to mention the horrible gimmicks, the unecessary segments, etc. They definitely need to book and write their shows to better build towards their PPVs. They have great PPVs, but the build to them is always bad I find and their buyrates suffer because of it.

Get rid of talent like the Rock N' Rave Infection (or whatever the hell they're called), talent that should not be getting a push with television time and be getting developed because they're awful and going nowhere.. instead they should use the time they have in their two hour show to improve and develop good talent and their storylines more. There's no reason to give EVERYONE segment and tv time when half of them are wasted talent who people don't even want to see.

And last: get new announcing! TNA's announcing is utterly horrid. Both West and Tenay are terrible and do nothing for the product, but if anything bring it down. That's one of the main things in my mind that needs to be changed, announcing is very important on a wrestling show and TNA's makes me want to change the channel.

 

[FromTheSouth]

I am a TNA fan, but the product obviously needs some improvements. Here is what I would do.


1. Cut down on gimmick matches.

A lot has been said here already. I agree with most of it. The last PPV had 80% of its matches gimmicked. I love ladder matches, but I'm tired of TNA's weekly ladder match. It gets old. I like ice cream, but I don't eat it every day.

2. Focus

We all know (except for TNA's writers) who is over. The Guns, LAX, AJ/Kurt, etc. The superhero thing is a guilty pleasure of mine, but from the way it seems on here, mine alone. The last Impact! did the right thing. It focused on Joe/Nash, AJ/Kurt, and the burgeoning stable feud, as well as the Knockouts. That is a good base to start from. They are finally ending the fight over Val, and that's good.

3. Lose the six sided ring.

The attack angles screw up a lot of moves, and slow down too many matches. Keep the ring around for Lockdown only. Sometimes, less is more.

4. Put the belt on AJ.

AJ is the best wrestler in the world. You can argue with me if you want, and I'm sure your opinion is just as valid as mine. But no one has a more exciting moveset, sells better, or makes you want him to win more than AJ. He would be a much better underdog champ than CM Punk.

5. Use Mick Foley right.

Put him the X division. What would make the X division resurge more than Mick? The X division has the solid, exciting wrestling that draws the hardcore fan, and Mick is a legend with the IWC.

 

[D.Miller]

Rock N' Rave Infection: Jesus Christ, I literally can't stand every single one of them. They are the most annoying set of unit I have ever laid my eyes on. Hemme needs to get her ass in the Knockout Division and stay her ass there because this "Rock N' Rave Infection" shout instantaneously allows me to just switch the channel and then I end up forgetting to return after she's done her horrible shouting. Not to mention, the stable is a waste of time. They're annoying, they're dull and boring. I don't watch them and I can likely voice for other people. TNA needs to seriously split the crap in half.

Don West: No one can ever interpret the acoustic bleeding their ears receives when Don West in commenting through that headset. It is the most scorch-sounded, car-run-over-a-dog voice I have ever heard. West's voice is completely terrible. He knows how to hype events up and all but his voice is what just doesn't cut out for the occupation at all. It's horrible to hear and downgrades the product in my opinion. Mike Tenay, his voice is fine with me. He's pretty good.

Presentation/Set/Arena TNA needs an alteration in that area. The ring shape gets to me sometimes but I get use to it again. The arena is so small though, the titantron is so low in production value, it just needs a change. As for the tunnels, I think there should only be one. Yeah, I like it but I think it should be upgraded too. They should definitely get into a bigger impact zone but people forget it's all about the money. If they don't have it, we'll have to satisfy with what they have for now in that area.

Sound of Audience: Too shallow. I don't like how it's so low when those fans are helling. Maybe they should turn up the mic a bit in the audience, make the sound a bit louder. Or maybe it'll take a larger audience for a larger reception. Refer back to Presentation/Set/Arena.

X-Division State: Everyone argues how the X-Division differentiated TNA from the WWE and I'm inclined to agree. Why did they have Team 3D eliminate it? Well only stupid writers know why? Because they don't know what they are doing. They are ridding the element that made TNA spectacular from the get-go. An intelligent decision would be to reinstate it.

Gimmicks: I can't argue that I just love The Machismo, Jay Lethal, a rehash of Macho Man or not. He's very entertaining to me. Super Eric? Got what does that gimmick do for him really? He was much more legimitimate as himself when he started to receive a push. Put him back that way. Shark Boy? Funny for a while, but the more you think about the gimmick, stupid. Curry Man? Well he's a good funky, funk and you sure do need some guys like that. Can't really hate on him but I want Daniels back now.

Storylines: Some play out too long indefinately and some pace in a nonsensical fashion. Can't deny I love the Angle/Styles angle, sure keeping TNA afloat right now in my opinion. TNA needs some new writers though. Paul Heyman. Hell, maybe Foley can help in that area, he's an author.

I'm sure some of the opinions in here I haven't listed, accord with some of mine.

 

[anonymous]

I would improve TNA in a few ways...

1. Get rid of the 6 sided ring. Enough of that gimmick.
2. Fire Russo and Mantel. TNA need someone who knows how to get small promotions and new stars over. It's been said before, but TNA should hire Paul Heyman. Give him full creative control, just not control over the check book.
3. Get a new set for the Impact Zone. There should only be ONE ramp not two,, it's aesthetically confusing.
4. Hire better music producers. With a few exceptions, the entrance music in TNA blows.
5. Drop "Curry Man" and bring back "The Fallen Angel". While your at it, drop all that "Superhero crap". It was done well once, with the Hurricane, and shouldn't be done again.
6. Hire better looking "Knockouts". No disrespect, but Angelina Love, Awesome Kong, ODB, Moose and some of the rest either look manly or like trailer trash. The reason they get ratings is that the rest of the show happens to suck a lot more.
7. Less Kurt Angle, No Karen Angle. Make Kurt's appearances mean more by showing him less. BTW, there is a reason Karen wasn't used in the WWE, she has no talent.
8. Make Samoa Joe a killer again, not a fool who can be played. And drop "Samoa" from the name. Samoa Joe sounds too much like a corny gimmick name.
9. Stop making AJ Styles a stupid, hick fool. Make AJ the "Phenomenal One" again.
10. Hire new announcers. Keep Teney as kinda a Mean Gene type, who only does in-ring interviews. Hire Kevin Kelly or someone who knows how to get the stories over, while also doing the play by play. Maybe give JB a try at it. Hire a new color guy who knows how to put the bad guys over. Shane Douglas comes to mind.

TNA can be great. Dixie Carter and TNA should now do the things needed to make it great.

1. The six sided ring has been pretty synonymous with TNA now for a while. Unless there is some sort of large majority that wants it out, I don't see any reason for it to go. This is one of those opinions that makes me wonder why fans cannot just take an indifferent stance when it comes to things that TNA does. I personally find it to be more nitpicking than anything else.
2. In the end of the day, it is Jeff Jarrett that makes the final call. For the most part, I would get rid of Russo, but I would keep the idea that he has of trying to get everyone over and giving everyone a character instead of some vanilla or bland chracter. Of course, Russo goes overboard with that idea and just gives some of these wrestlers random gimmicks.
3. Once again, this comes off as nitpicking than anything else.
4. I think that AJ Styles said the same thing in an interview. The music to some of these entrances is totally generic.
5. My problem with "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels is that he is an awesome performer, no question there, but that gimmick has really run its course during that time. I personally never felt that he was going to go any higher as "The Fallen Angel" if he kept going with it. If he brings it back though, it may become fresh again. Like it or not, Curry Man is over with the fans.
6. This is the most backwards and uneducated thing that I have ever heard. This is like saying that WWE should only hire huge bodybuilder type of wrestlers. The reason that the Knockouts gets the highest ratings on a consistent basis is that they are different, interesting, and entertaining as shown via their ratings. This is an example of a fan trying to spin a negative on something positive like the TNA Knockouts Division.
7. The statement about Karen Angle not being used in WWE is a ridiculous statement. You, me or anyone else do not know why WWE did not use Karen Angle. Maybe she did not want to be on the road so much, who knows. It is this type of assuming that makes IWFs come off as totally unknowledgable and uneducated. Also, look at most of the women that come from the Diva Search, they tend to for the most part do not have much talent. I have noticed a lot less Kurt Angle actually, and Karen Angle only gets the Karen Angle segment.
8. Samoa Joe has been his name for a long time and that name is synonymous with that person/character. This is yet another example of nitpicking. I honestly do not believe that more people will tune in because Samoa Joe drops the "Samoa" part of his name. Also, at what expense would you make Samoa Joe a killer again? It was easier to do because it was the X Division with lower card wrestlers. I am not saying that you are wrong in this but how should TNA go about this without ruining every one of Samoa Joe's opponents' credibility?
9. While it is inconsistent, they have been doing that. For example, before Sting ruined the moment at Hard Justice, AJ came back to the ring to kick Angle's ass even more after he beat them. I will say though that they need to make AJ consistent at it.
10. I wouldn't hire new announcers, but tell Tenay and West to announce differently. For example, if you watch Global Impact, they did a really good job at announcing even making the event mean more by mentioning that wrestling outdid boxing at the Tokyo Dome (this is just an example). These two are actually capable of announcing without overhyping the product and yelling, but are told to announce a certain way. Contrary to what it may seem like, Tenay is actually very knowledgable about wrestling.

TNA can be great, but I feel that the opinions where a fan, critic, or pundit would change one character or one small aspect of TNA come off as unknowledgable. Saying that Samoa Joe needs to drop the "Samoa" from his name is as useless as me saying that CM Punk needs to drop the "CM" from his name as far as getting more viewers is concerned (I like the "CM" in CM Punk by the way, I am just making a point). Are you making a wrestling product that appeals to the masses, or you and you only? I feel that that is one of the biggest problems with Internet Wrestling Fans that tend to bash TNA.

 

[WrestlingFan78]

The reason the "Knockouts" get higher ratings is that when people are channel surfing, regular, non-wrestling fans stop to watch chicks go at it. Then when the curiosity is filled, or they realize they chicks look like dudes, they turn away. While it's true that over all TNA has a better womens division, it should be said that they are only better because they put more emphasis on it. And they are smart to do so, for the curiosity factor I said before. No "Knockout" in TNA is better in the ring or on promo than Natalya Neidhart, or more skilled and powerful than Beth Phoenix, or more popular than Mickie James and now with Gail Kim back in the WWE, it is a lock that the WWE has better woman "wrestlers and performers" on the roster. If the WWE put more emphasis on their "Divas division now, they would have the best womens division in pro wrestling. TNA should use the curiosity and sampling that the "Knockouts" division gives them to promote Impact to the channel surfers. I know they are trying to do that, but they are not doing a very good job.

 

[Davi323]

I am a casual TNA watcher, at best, and there are several reasons why I simply cannot watch their programming regularly. If I were going to improve TNA, here is what I think needs to happen:

First, improve production quality. TNA's production quality pales in comparison to WWEs. Its kind of a catch-22, but, they need to drastically improve their production values to attract a bigger TV deal, to get them more noticed...but, they need the money from a new TV deal to pay for the increased costs in improving their production quality. Right now, TNA comes off as a very minor league operation in comparison. TNA fans might be proud of the company, but its kind of like the Canadian Football League. You might love it, but when you compare a CFL game on TV to an NFL game on TV, the CFL game looks like crap in comparison. Sure, there are good players in the CFL, and their teams have a devoted fan base, but, when compared to the "big" league, it just looks second or third rate. That's TNA's production quality right now.

2. New announcers. Sorry, but, Mike Tenay and Don West should spend more time calling matches, and less time telling fans EVERY 30 seconds how great TNA is, and how they are the best athletes in wrestling, etc. The constant self-promotion turns people off, not on to your product.

3. Stop name-dropping. As long as TNA constantly mentions WWE on TV, they will never be considered as competition. If you want to be taken seriously, stop unintentionally reminding fans that TNA isn't WWE. TNA fans already know you aren't the WWE, they already know that Team 3D was the Dudley Boys, they know that Booker T was with the WWE, they know about Kurt Angle, they know about Christian Cage, they know already. Just shut up about it and let your product speak for itself.

4. Stop signing ex-WWE guys. I will grant that you needed to do that at first, in order to take advantage of the name recognition. You were just starting out, it made sense. You have been around long enough now though, that you should be making your own stars, not simply signing guys Vince McMahon fired, and then proclaiming them to be the "single hottest free agent on the market!!!". Booker T is not, and will never be the "single hottest free agent on the market!!!" so drop it already.

5. Reduce the gimmick matches. Look, you guys have done a decent job, within the TNA fanbase, of getting certain guys names out there. But, when you have them in these insane gimmick matches all the time, you increase their chances of getting hurt, which could reduce the length of their careers. You need guys that are gonna be around as established TNA veterans for 10-15 years, not simply WWE veterans going to TNA for one last chance at glory (*cough*MickFoley*cough*) You need your own versions of HBK and the Undertaker, guys that seem to have been around forever. You can't do that when they are forced to retire by age 30 because of injuries from having to do gimmick matches week in and week out.

6. Maybe this is part of the raising production values aspect, but if you want to be taken seriously, you can't have your TV show taped in a place that holds 500 people, and your PPVs need to sell out 10-15k arenas, not leaving 5k arenas half filled.

7. Heavyweights. Seriously. Its great that TNA has such quality athletes, but, most of them are small. I am not saying you need to have Batista sized wrestlers, but, wrestling is a circus, and everyone loves the heavyweights. Wrestling fans LIKE to see large muscular men. Your wrestlers on average are going to be no bigger than the WWE's midcarders. You can't compete with 300lb Behemoths with guys that weigh 210. You may have amazing athletes, but, if you want to generate more of the casual fans, you need to have bigger wrestlers. That's just the way it is. heavyweight matches generally draw more than cruiser or middleweight sized matches do. Maybe it takes away a little from what you are trying to do with the X-Division, but if you ever want to compete realistically with the WWE, you need WWE sized heavyweights. Samoa Joe simply isn't going to cut it.

8. For the ex-WWE wrestlers you do currently have on the roster, don't just give them a slightly different name, and have them simply continue the exact same gimmick they had in the WWE. All you are doing is trying to cash in on the recognition they got wrestling for the other guys. You can't simply live off of the reputations of ex-WWE wrestlers. Its fine, if its just one or two guys...but when half of your roster are ex-WWE guys with slightly different names, it indicates a total inability to be creative. Don't get me wrong, Jay Lethal amuses me at times as Black Machismo, but, really, its just a guy playing off of a highly successful gimmick...from 1990. Black Machismo isn't even playing off of his own reputation, he has to play off of the reputation of Randy Savage to get pops.

9. Do whatever it takes to convince Jeff Jarrett to just go away. I know he helped get the company started, but seriously, Jeff Jarrett sucks.

10. Better writers. Your storylines make absolutely no sense most of the time. Hell, put 1000 monkeys in a room, give them typewriters. They will come up with better storylines than what you currently offer.

10.

 

[Tim]

One thing they need to do is stop using so many gimmick matches. When was the last time you saw a TNA show that didn't have a gimmick match? They're good occasionally, but not every fucking week!

They also need to get rid of random character gimmicks like Curry Man. Christopher Daniels is a good wrestler and entertainer. urry Man is stupid. Wy would they change his gimmick? they didn't need to. These type of gimmicks further no one, and CUrry Man has done nothing.

New announcers seems to be one of the most foremost things. I tried to watch TNA once. I hated the announcers. They need to actually call the matches properly, and promote the wrestlers more than just the company itself.

A four sided ring. The six sided ring, while unique, was good for a little while. But it gets confusing and makes it look more fake. You can see that a four sided ring makes the wrestling flow much smoother, and it could be easier for the wrestlers to actually wrestle in.

The X Division is one thing that TNA has that is better than the WWE, so they need to showcase this more as it's more energetic and entertaining wrestling than the WWE has at the moment. Except Tna has sort of allowed this to drift into the background, which is not helping at all.

 

[Kenny_D_312]

TNA Has too many ares to improve. Dare I attempt to fix them all with 1 post? Lets give it a shot:

1. Video Game entrances, No more!
I understand you are advertising the game coming out soon, but are you fricken kidding me? LAME. People like to see actual highlights from actual matches, not Video Game Highlights.

2. Beatiful people, NO MORE KIP JAMES!
Call me crazy, but kip james being with the beautiful people doesnt make sence. He has already done the Gay gimmick in WWE...we all saw how well that worked out with chuck and billy...obviously not to well...

3. Get some new champions!
Petey Williams has an awesome finisher (which i must say, he needs to stop attemping every second) but you need a champion with some more charisma. for the X division...may I recomend...Homicide? He has some moves. This whole Petey Vs. Consequences Creed thing just isnt doing anything for me. At least Homicide could make a match slightly more exciting, and would have more fanbase.
Dont even get me started on the tag titles...beer money? seriosuly? They should change the name to the Team Hillbilly Titles. Seriously, they both like they belong in a trailor by a river. Give the titles to BG and Kip. Bring them back together, they made an awesome team in WWE, and did well in TNA. DONT FIX WHATS NOT BROKEN!!!!!
Taylor Wilde...fun to look at, not so fun to watch. Look at her awesome kong match...They made it way to obvious that she was going to win, but why has she had the title so long? Kong would demolish her. If you want a good wrestling match, use the knockouts as wrestlers, not managers...(hemme, Jacqueline, Angle, Kahn, Val, Salinas) this would bring a lot more contenders to the Knockout division.
TNA World- Joe has charisma, but shouldnt be champ. contender-yes, champion-no. Cage, Angle, Styles, Booker, Abyss....just a few that I think would be better off with the belt (not in a team...*coughchristianabysscough*)

4. Use Superstars to their potential!
Matt Morgan is a fricken Beast! use him more against bigger opponents...I would love to see a morgan rhyno or abyss match. Powerhouses sell. Morgan vs people HALF his side, not very entertaining. Hernandez is another that needs to seperate from the tag division. He has a lot of potential as a singles superstar I believe.

5. End some of these useless fueds!
Lethal vs Dutt?
Beer Money vs LAX?
Angle vs Styles?
Creed vs Williams?
Prince Justice Brotherhood vs Bad Guys?

These have all been going on too long! Especially the 1st one. Who would want to fight over val anyways? Like i said before i think LAX would be better off singles competitors, only teaming occasionally. I get the angle vs styles fued, but its getting old. How many people actually think AJ has Kurts medal? its getting ridiculous. All in all i LOVE the Prince Justice Brotherhood. NOT! what the hell is this? Hurricane and rosey. that was entertainment. these guys just suck.

6. NEW GIMMICKS!!!!
And thats the fishy line...ARE YOU FRICKEN ******ED?!?!?! Stone Cold=Charisma Shark Boy=Slit his throat and let him drown in his own "career" Machismo needs to get past the macho man stage. He has a lot of potential, but i am getting sick of hearing the macho man voice. Kip, no more gay fashion consultant or whatever the hell you are. its old news!
Abyss mental patient? just let him whoop ass and get out, not come save everyone. I dont think I have seen a match with him since hes been back. I hate the Consequences Creed gimmick too. Maybe team up him and lethal, do like a cryme time thing if you are trying to take some from WWE.

7. Use Matt Morgan/Abyss like Big Show, Great Khali
They are big! Make them hard to beat. Make them a powerhoouse and a force eto be rackoned with.

I am done for now. I will post more after awhile if I feel up to it. let me know what you think

 

[Slack]

Ok first, hire Bo Oates for booker. He has experience booking wrestling and has been connected with wrestling all of his life. His dad is Jerry Oates and his uncle is Ted Oates of the Oates Brothers.

Now as someone who lived in trailer parks, i have never seen a woman there that looked like Tracy Brooks.

I disagree with getting rid of the 6 sided ring. NWA-GCW uses a 6 sided ring and it doesn't take away from the wrestling in the least.

I only half agree with the announcing team. Don West is a great hype guy, but he shouldn't be the color commentator. I would actually give that job to Disco. Yes that's right, for some reason I think Disco could be a very good color commentator.

The problem that I see isn't that they use ex WWE guys, but that they use ex WWE gimmicks. Vince McMahon would bring in stars from other organizations and use them. Hogan and Michaels were both AWA guys, HHH, Austin, Benoit, Guerrero, Mysterio and a few others were from WCW, Van Dam and Dudleyz ECW and so on and so on. So there is nothing wrong with that. The problem is when you basically use the same or similar gimmicks that the WWE used. The Prince Justice Brotherhood, is a lesser version of Hurricane and Rosey. The Guns coming to the ring in masks and then taking them off. WWE did this, twice. Yep don't forget Al Snow use to do the same thing. The Lethal/Val thing seems too much like the old Savage/Elizabeth thing. Copying stuff from the WWE is small indy like. Now I have no problem with Russo or any of the TNA bookers, but if all they can do is rehash gimmicks from the WWE, then they need to bring in new folks.

And I agree with the getting rid of the video game entrances. If I want to see video game style entrances, I would find and join an efed that uses that poser software and just watch that. Hell give Don West a little "home shopping network" segment on the website and let him hype the products and maybe even offer them for sale before they hit the store.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

- Hire Writers With Ideas: Because for a new promotion TNA really isn't doing anything that isn't instantly forgettable. Even something absolutely awful or offensive would work. For example, Katie Vick, terrible angle. But people remember it. I'm not sure how TNA will get noticed unless they have an angle that will get people talking.

- Less Comedy: There's a place for comedy. But there's no need for it in main events. I couldn't care less about the superheroes, they're mid card, and they're not moving. But if you're depending on Kurt Angle to sell your PPV then make him serious. He's a great comedian, but only utilize that fact if he's in a mid card match.

- Higher Production Values: A PPV should have a unique look. WCW did it easily, palm trees and shit. Re-using your iMPACT ramp on PPV makes your PPV look like iMPACT.

- Less Gimmick Match: TNA have a talented enough roster that every other match doesn't need to be a gimmick match.

- Know When To Stop: Black Machismo worked. It established a personality for a bland X-Division guy, but surely he's past that now. As are all of the other wrestlers with wacky gimmcks. They're a good place to start but if they hang around longer than they need to they undo all the hard work they did.

It really wouldn't take much to improve TNA to be honest.