Is Bischoff The Reason For The Current Change in TNA's Product?

[Shadow of Darkness]

Okay i expect some heated arguments regarding this thread.

Now according to reports Bischoff is main reason for demoting Vince Russo from the spot of Creative Head to merely a writer. He also prompted Bruce Prichad to that spot.. There was much discussion carried out on internet from 11th October 2011, when it was reprorted that "Spike TV Now Working Through Bischoff in TNA". The reason for this was when Spike lost faith in Dixie after she failed to keep her promise of signing Nash & Booker T, thus bringing back MEM to fight against IMMORTAL. The result we saw was Fortune turning Babyface and carrying on a impact-less fued with immortal, that gave no rise in ratings. Spike gave Dixie time but she failed and so they pushed Bischoff.

Well the Aftermath is quiet fruitfull TNA pushed its HOME-TALENTS and every one seems to be enjoying the product.

As said by Angle Bischoff, Prichard and Hulk Hogans are the current Creative heads and bookers in TNA, while Russo and Ferrera writes the show, which is filtered by them.

Now it seems that Bischoff is starting to get more powers like he used to get during his WCW Glory days.

your views guys...

 

[Lowdown]

I'm curious what source you got this from. I never read any articles to support your accusation. Mind you, I'm not attempting to prove you wrong in your thread. But I never really read a column that said that Spike TV lost faith in Dixie Carter. On top of that, is there proof that Bischoff is the sole reason for the changes in TNA yopu speak of?

 

[ECWcyrus]

Not sure how accurate this is. I could be wrong, but Ferrara left in 2010, Hogan just said recently in an interview that he wasn't really sure his role in TNA at the moment, he just kinda pitches ideas to creative

Bischoff is a producer and has greatly improved the production side of things. needless to say, the product has improved greatly over the past couple months.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

... what reports?

I'm generally well informed when it comes to TNA related dirt stuff and I've never read a report about any of this. Could you cite a source, please?

But even if this is all true, then good for Mr.Bischoff. The changes are all positive, more people are learning to enjoy the product and the core audience is enjoying it even more. If that's any indication of Bischoff's view on the product I hope he gets even more power in order to have his ideas play out, because so far they've been great and I don't oppose any of them.

 

[czar76]

I would love to see a source on this. Not trying to call u out but most reports say Bisch is only a producer. He has said it himself. That being said the show does have a Bischoff feel to a point. I would give more credit to Prichard as he is head of creative according to many reports. Problem is no one really knows. Hell I think most of the staff are unsure(just my opinion). Tna has improved lately and the show does flow much better but time will tell.

 

[yoshi_doce2006]

I heard a report that Spike was not happy with Dixie about not being able to sign Nash or Booker. I also read that Bischoff was promoted to Executive Producer mainly due to his good relationship with Spike TV. This was about 6 months ago. I haven't heard anything since about Bischoff gaining even more power, would love a source to fill in the blanks.

 

[three count bout]

Some of this did sound slightly familiar so I did a quick google search and found
http://www.pwsforums.com/threads/182572-RUMOR-Spike-TV-s-Relationship-with-Dixie-Carter

I don't know how much Bischoff has contributed specifically, and to paraphrase Rayne I also don't know if anything he's done has led to increased revenue. But I do know the show has been better the last few weeks which is a positive. Creative seems to have an idea on who they want to showcase and I think that's a huge step in the right direction. I'm not so concerned about who's ushering in the changes as much as the fact that changes are happening.

 

[Rayne]

TNA/IW right now isn't a Bischoff operation. It's just not his way of running a company.

All the important shit you need to know about Eric Bischoff, you can understand by reading the title of his book, "Controversy Creates Ca$h". That's been his M.O. in professional wrestling for his whole career. Say or do something that causes a strong emotional reaction in your audience. Stoke that reaction; profit. He tried it in 2010 with TNA, overhauling a promotion which at the time had a very passionately devoted audience. The problem was, people didn't want to see Bischoff get his comeupance, they just didn't want to see Bischoff. The old fans left, replaced by newer ones.

The product now isn't focused on promoting aggravating authority figures, or about doing something provocative for a reaction. It's classic professional wrestling; a bad guy that you want to see the good guy overcome. There aren't any subplots about corporate dominance; no one gave a shit if Dixie lost her company or not.

What you're seeing now is a product different than anything we've seen Bischoff offer in the past, and totally against the structure of his typical style. As the old board cliche goes, I of course can't know Eric Bischoff isn't writing the majority of the show now, but I'd certainly place money on that fact.

 

[Krossbreed]

sounds like b.s. to me we need a source. But i must say tna is way better since russo stepped down...there feuds are longer and i must say james and angle matches and promos were well paced with good supporting storylines and videos...tna usually just rushes stuff but the james storm feud with angle felt fresh. tna is doing good they just gotta continue to slow the pace down and stop turning there guys face or heel without a longterm plan behind it.

 

[TheMainEvent]

I do recall reading an article in December about Prichard taking over creative after the December PPV and Russo was going back to writing with Bischoff as teh Executive Vice PResident working with Spike TV and sort of overseeing the overall production of Impact.
I can honestly say that I have noticed a difference in pacing, pushes, and presentation on Impact since the begining of the year. I dont know if those are attributed to the changes in positions or not but whatever it is I like how TNA is going a bit better as of late. I thoroughly enjoyed the last two episodes from England and wish they could get out of Impact Zone soon. The setup and design of the England set looked great, I loved the guardrails as they looked modern and distinctly different from WWE.
I dont care who's in charge as long as homegrown guys are getting pushed and things stay logical.

 

[harrythem]

I can see a few of Bischoffs traits on Impact and, for me, that's not exactly a bad thing.

The main one I notice is that PPV's, although there to make money (how much/little they make is up for debate) they seem to be filled because they have to be. Impact, however, seems to be getting solid writing, and is a lot more interesting to watch then the PPV's, which was quite often the case with the Bischoff led WCW. Is this a bad thing? To me, no. PPV's are dying across the board in wrestling, if less and less people are buying them then it makes sense to concentrate on putting out a better TV product to get more eyes on the whole package and, when/if you get the numbers up high enough, a PPV push could be on the cards.

Either way TNA seems to have a proper direction and, a few apart (mainly Garrett Bischoff) they're pushing the people they should push.

Hell, they've made Bully Ray one of the best things in wrestling in 2012, and I never thought I'd say that!

 

[Fenris]

As said by Angle Bischoff, Prichard and Hulk Hogans are the current Creative heads and bookers in TNA, while Russo and Ferrera writes the show, which is filtered by them.

You'll have to source me on this one as Ferrara left TNA over a year ago, Bischoff is strictly in Production, Hogan WAS simply a creative consultant under Russo who was recently demoted in place of the professional moron Brother Love.

To answer your questions regarding Bischoff being responsible? No. If he had that responsibility IW would be alot better than it currently is, Pritchard and Russo no doubt wouldn't have jobs and IW wouldn't currently look like 2007 TNA meets Smackdown. I was a WCW fan from the 80's until it closed and witnessed the entire Bischoff era and TNA/IW would be a very, very different product from production to gimmicks to feuds to creative writers if Eric had the power "rumor(read: Dave Meltzer talking out his ass, that's where all this originated)" claims he has.

 

[Chess]

Not sure whether Bischoff is the reason for the improvement in TNA recently, in fact I would I highly doubt it going by his past. Bischoff has a history of pushing the older more established stars whereas TNA are now using the younger and more deserving guys. What I will credit Bischoff for is getting his damn son Garrett on TV prior to receiving any real experience as well as getting him in a major storyline with Hogan, now that is just ridiculous. Next I guess we will see Nick Hogan come in and form a tag team with Garrett that will plow through their opponents.

The only good thing that I have seen Bischoff do since his return is to improve the production values and add that documentary feel to some of the shots, although I really have had enough of seeing conversations through half open doors. SHUT THE DOOR GODDAMMIT!

 

[Serious Mozzarella]

The entire premise of your argument is incorrect, so there's no use even making an argument to the contrary. I think TNA's ratings are simply floating because people aren't as interested in Hogan, Flair, and Bischoff as they used to be. The storylines are mediocre, the wrestling is nothing interesting enough to see a spike in ratings, and the WWE simply looks better to the average viewer (and that means a lot).

It was silly to promote TNA as a rocket ship blowing up to be legitimate competition to the WWE in the first place, but he's absolutely not responsible for any detriment to the company.