Is TNA Trying Too Hard to Swerve its Fans?

[Genius_Deadman]

before anyone goes psycho on me for being a TNA hater, it's something i thought of last night after watching Impact. i don't know too much of AJ Styles/Bully Ray being a legit injury or not for several reasons:

they kept the cameras rolling throughout the whole segment when you'd think "hey this is real, let's cut this out of the show".

they followed Fortune to the back w/ Styles and Kaz called AJ's wife and the cameras followed him, even though Kaz said to back off.

Bully Ray kept kicking Styles after it, selling his heelness (when if it was legit, you'd think they'd all be like "wow, break kayfabe")

the reason i ask this is because the ref did the "X" hand symbol with his hands, which is universal to marks/smarks alike to a legit injury happening. do you think TNA is trying too hard if it was a work? i mean, what if something really happens and the ref throws that sign and they think it's a work?

just a curious topic

 

[AntiChristDeicide]

This is definitly a work, they can't afford to lose A.J. Styles after what happened with J. Hardy. Anyways yes they tend to try to hard to swerve ihe fans, but in the case of A.J. Styles its a work.

 

[Fargo]

The tables collapsed, nobody got hurt. In one of the closeups AJ was holding his eyes shut too hard. That wasn't the part about the show that bothered me, it was that crap with the Pope and the knife.

 

[ptsheridan]

Yeah, the whole "ref holding up his hands with an X thing" used to be symbolize wrestlers getting legitimately hurt, and it sometimes still does, but because of the so called "smart marks" out there, they used the X to trick them into thinking there really is an injury.

 

[RD_21]

Yeah, the whole "ref holding up his hands with an X thing" used to be symbolize wrestlers getting legitimately hurt, and it sometimes still does, but because of the so called "smart marks" out there, they used the X to trick them into thinking there really is an injury.

What make me laugh a little bit is do you think they had a backup plan if AJ got REALLY hurt? Like do a Y signal or start the hammer time dance.

All joke aside, TNA is trying too hard and that's their main problem. Russo think it's cool to blur the line. It's fine once or twice but when you do it on a regular basis the fans start to second guess everything instead of just enjoying what they see and that's not a good thing in my opinion.

 

[WZMember####]

I am sure the WWE has thrown up the X Symbol when it wasnt exactly needed before. Stuff like that has happend on Smackdown before and Smackdown is taped. I dont think its just TNA or even just WWE. I think a lot of companies have caught on to the fact that the fans know about the X symbol so they use it to their advantage. Its not like every week someone slips and falls and a TNA ref is throwing up the X symbol.

Even though I have read spoilers (dont worry I wont spoil) I always fully believe that both TNA and WWE always does something in order to set us up. It has to lead to something. Always.

What did we see? We saw AJ the "leader" of Fourtune get taken out. A TNA Original. We saw Beer Money and Kaz upset. We saw Bully Ray prove a point and Flair get the upper hand over Styles.

What else did we see? We saw fans in the crowd upset and worried. We saw fans reacting to a major face not moving and possibly being hurt as he was wheeled out.

What will Fourtune do without Styles?

How or Who will Bully Ray and Flair strike next?

 

[coolant]

I mentioned something like this in the previous post about why they had AJ injured in the first place.

If ya notice they also showed the ref give the "X" signal prior to the Hardy/Sting match. They made it look like he gave it while the camera was trying to pan away. Also, people keep mentioning that nobody knew Hardy's condition prior to him going out. Well, if one has ever seen behind the scene footage of the backstage area prior to a wrestler's entrance, they would know that there are stage hands and directors back there cuing him when to go out. So, you can't say no one knew what was happening until he got to the ring.

Yes, they are trying too hard. And its absolutely laughable. If AJ was legitamately injured and they wanted to write it into the storyline as having Rey injure fine. But throwing the "X" up...ON TV...thats what convince that both Hardy and now AJ are works.

They will eventually "Cry Wolf" one too many times and I fear that people will be indifferent when something trully tragic happens...AGAIN! Do I have to mention a name?

 

[bigbootydaddyV]

there was a big difference in the X during the Hardy match and the AJ match... on AJ the camera was clearly on the ref and trying to show it whereas during Hardy it was when the camera panned away leading me to think one was legit the other a work... I actually thought that last night about using the X when it is supposed to be for serious injuries but i figure if something went wrong in segments where they are using it as a work then they would have a backup symbol for the refs to use and I'm ok with that, it's actually better that they blur the line on the X for them so ppl don't know when someone is actually hurt or if it is a work... when done properly it's what ppl want, only time it is an issue blurring those lines is when you go overboard and try to work EVERYONE including other wrestlers etc

 

[Serious Mozzarella]

There's never been anything wrong with blurring the line between kayfabe and reality. Both the WWE and TNA do it all the time. It really isn't anything new. Remember when the set collapsed on Vince McMahon, and he was like, "PAUL! OH PAUL!" referencing HHH? The same deal.

If AJ Styles were really hurt, the dirt sheets would know about it, and I think that makes it more okay to blur those lines. The companies know that if a star was legitimately hurt, we would know where to look to find real information.

To conclude, this has been going on since the mid-'90s. It's nothing new.

 

[yoshi_doce2006]

Let's put it this way, Fourtune was created to be this generation's Four Horsemen. Then I ask, would Jim Crockette Jr, as badly as he mismanaged his talent at times, EVER write into the angle "Alright, now Terry Funk is going to put Ric Flair through a table and put him out of action for a week or two to show how bad he is."? Big NO on that one, because it is a stupid move.

Fourtune has been completely mismanaged and as usual with TNA the message got lost as to what Fourtune was, who they are. Fourtune is the future of TNA, the ones I feel could bring TNA to the forefront and make them take off as a company, yet once again TNA screws it up.

So no, I'm not surprised that they threw up the X, had AJ taken out, or that they screwed that up even worse by having Bubba kick him after. What TNA should have done was have Beer Money and Kaz run down as Bubba was about to do the Power Bomb and beat him and Ric Flair within an inch of their life, then stand on the ramp throwing up the Fourtune sign over their corpses. Then too that is the smart thing to do, put Fourtune over as dominant before and during Lockdown then attack the Champion in mass in the next edition of IMPACT, turning them heel by default, just like when the Horsemen were being cheered before they broke the leg of Dusty Rhodes. Leading to AJ winning the belt.

TNA screws up so much that when they finally do something right that is when everyone is shocked, and that is coming from a TNA fan.

 

[coolant]

I don't totally have a problem with them blurring the line between kayfab and reality. My point was that at some point fans and other wrestlers will be indifferent because they think that they are "Crying Wolf".

The "X" signal being used on TV was merely what got me to thinking about Hardy. My biggest point was the fact that he made it to the ring in the first place. There is too much production staff backstage that there is no way he would have made it to the ring without being noticed had he been trully intoxicated.

 

[yoshi_doce2006]

It was noticeable, TNA even tried sending out more smoke to make it less visible as he came down the ramp. Unfortunately Hardy damn near fell off the ramp if i remember correctly so it didnt work. I was watching it live and I knew something was off. From what I understand Bischoff was in the production truck going nuts trying to find him before finally finding him in the bathroom corner out of it.

My question in that situation is simple, did Bischoff run into the hallway and throw up the X camera so that the production crew could send people to carry Hardy's dead ass to the Gorilla Position?

 

[WZMember####]

So no, I'm not surprised that they threw up the X, had AJ taken out, or that they screwed that up even worse by having Bubba kick him after. What TNA should have done was have Beer Money and Kaz run down as Bubba was about to do the Power Bomb and beat him and Ric Flair within an inch of their life, then stand on the ramp throwing up the Fourtune sign over their corpses. Then too that is the smart thing to do, put Fourtune over as dominant before and during Lockdown then attack the Champion in mass in the next edition of IMPACT, turning them heel by default, just like when the Horsemen were being cheered before they broke the leg of Dusty Rhodes. Leading to AJ winning the belt.

So, are you saying they should of skipped the spot all together?

I mean, call it "ripping off WWE" if you want but Bubba putting people through tables like that is somewhat a signature of his and he has been known to do it off the ramp before. I think TNA wanted to give us that cool moment from the Bubbas past to prove he was serious and then show that AJ was hurt to prove its not something you get up from.

But...are you saying that Fourtune should just stopped it? And prevented anything from happening thus having TNA Critics questioning why Flair (or Immortal) would even want Bully Ray on their side if he can't handle Styles?

 

[iwinulose]

hmmmm, that would be an interesting predicament. on the other hand, refs tend to whisper things to wrestlers (in or out of the ring) so im sure the ref would say something and the other guy would lay off, or if it was the middle of the match it would be a quick end (if the injury was legit).

 

[yoshi_doce2006]

So, are you saying they should of skipped the spot all together?

I mean, call it "ripping off WWE" if you want but Bubba putting people through tables like that is somewhat a signature of his and he has been known to do it off the ramp before. I think TNA wanted to give us that cool moment from the Bubbas past to prove he was serious and then show that AJ was hurt to prove its not something you get up from.

But...are you saying that Fourtune should just stopped it? And prevented anything from happening thus having TNA Critics questioning why Flair (or Immortal) would even want Bully Ray on their side if he can't handle Styles?

Bubba could have given a huge fight against Fourtune, proven his toughness without burying AJ. But in the end Fourtune should have been able to put down Bubba, and quite convincingly. Bubba fights them off for a couple minutes before being overwhelmed that puts Bubba over as a tough bastard and puts Fourtune over as a dominating faction. Win Win.