Jan 4th- Monday Night Raw vs TNA iMPACT

[Grafix33]

Hello all....I'm new to this site and have been a Bret Hart fan since I was about 9 years old (i'm 34 now). So, first and foremost, let it be said and known that I am a true Bret fan.

I'm sure I'm gonna get some bad feedback for what I'm about to say...but it needs to be said.... here goes nothin'!......

....It seems difficult to continue the same degree of admiration for Bret Hart that I've always had. When Bret won his tag titles I was for him. When Bret won the King of The Ring, I was for him. When Bret won the Intercontinental Championship, I was for him. When Bret won the WW(F)E Championship, I was ALL for him. When Bret got "screwed" in Montreal, I was ALL for him and the stance he took against the WW(F)E, Vince McMahon, Shawn Michaels and HHH. When Bret vowed never to set foot on WWE soil again, I was for him.....even though he returned to do the Hall of Fame. He didn't "sell" out and appear at Wrestlemania that year as ALL of the Hall of Famers in years past, and since, have done. Brets origins were with the WW(F)E and showing up for the HOF, in my view, was the right thing to do.

Bottom line...Bret kept his integrity for some 12 or 13 years in refusing to work for Vince McMahon again. To me, turning down Vince McMahon's money and keeping his word never to work for WWE again, is what set Bret apart forom ANY other wrestler from past to present. Now, Vince McMahon finds himself with another wrestling organization slowing making it's name known to prime time. This organization, TNA, COULD HAVE had the potential, with the proper spark, to be a serious contender with the WWE.

Enter Bret Hart....there's no doubt in my mind that, with Bret's debut on 12/4/10, that the TNA "spark" will be estinguished before the fire catches. And while the Bret Hart "fan" inside of me lept with joy upon hearing of his return to Monday Night Raw, I could now help but ask myself, "Why, Bret? Why?"

Why help Vince McMahon squash the potential competition from the beginning? Why not call Bischof and ask the newer generation, "How can I help YOUR company." All these years, myself and countless others who have stood behind Bret Hart, have loved him for the sole reason that he kept his integrity. He stood up for what was right. He refused to bend...refused to be broken. If his fans meant/mean so much to him....why "sell out" now. I'm shocked that I can even THINK let alone WRITE these things about Bret Hart!!

When I think of the screw job, all the interviews, the books, with all of the WWE bashing, the death of his brother, the animosity between Bret, HHH, HBK, Vince and countless others, all I can say is......"Why Bret?"

Bret had a golden opportunity to stick it to WWE soooo good. NO-ONE could convince me that TNA would not have done ANYTHING to get Bret on board. If you're gonna return Bret, do it in a fashion that will make the fans LOVE you! None of this makes ANY sense at all to me. Call me nieve, but I don't believe Bret's return to WWE is right in ANY sense....will I still watch RAW over TNA on 12/4/09?? Bet your A$$ I will! I don't agree with Bret's decision, as it seems to go against EVERYTHING he has preached over the last 12-13 years, but like I said from the onset....I'm a Hitman fan to the end! I just never saw "the end" ending like this....

...My last hope...yes, i'm still holding out hope, that Bret has some "plans" of his own (apart from the script laid out for him by the WWE) for fans and the WWE! Here's his chance to stick it to the WWE and leave on HIS terms! I haven't seen Bret speak out on his return to WWE. I sure hope Bret has something up his sleeve. Remember wrestling fans, Bret has supposedly signed on to the WWE for just some time after Wrestlemania....I believe (I HOPE) Bret is scheming up something good....something even the Rock couldn't smell cooking! Can Bret end this once and for all, on HIS terms, and ride off into the sunset, having kept his integrity intact? Or will he be another Hogan type puppet of Vince McMahon and sell out COMPLETELY, collecting that last check, doing "the job" and selling out to his TRUE fans? I'm watch with the utmost anticipation!

Mikey G

 

[Motor City Jeezy]

To Mikey, the poster above me,

I'd quote you, but there's so much. In short, YES YES YES. You've posted excellent questions regarding the motivation Bret Hart has for returning to the WWE. I can't see him doing it for any other reason than to push the Hart Dynasty and screw DX out of the titles in the same fashion that he was screwed. Time will only tell, though. Monday is oh so close.

 

[gd]

TNA does so have comedy. Have you ever seen Lacey "wrestle"?

Not recently. Watching here mount people from behind with her stick is always entertaining though.

Santino is a pain in the ass, so as a TNA mark, I'd love to see Santino get a 10 minute segment blasting Canada, only to have a payoff of the Hart Dynasty kicking his ass. He doesn't draw (anymore), and he's losing his funny bone.

It's because they haven't used him enough. He's by far the funniest thing they have at their disposal, so why not use him? I'd tune in to watch him over several things in TNA.

He was better off as IC champ.

Completely agree. I don't know why everyone on there thinks that his title reign was the worst thing that has ever happened.

Dixie is eye candy. Hogan is not. I'd rather watch a 2 minute Dixie segment, than Hogan taking 5 minutes to get his Rascal Scooter to ringside. Hogan needs to be kept to a minimum. If he's going to be a backstage guy, all of his segments should take place behind a desk, making matches for the night, and letting the guys who can still go, do their thing. If we get 10 minutes of Hogan on TV, I'd be upset, because that's 10 minutes we could have used on Wolfe/Daniels v. AJ/Angle, or AJ v. Angle, or Morgan and Hernandez...

There's definetly going to be more than 10 minutes of Hogan and it isn't all going to be backstage. At some poing he'll be in the ring talking about something for awhile and we'll probably see him a few more times as well. However, this has to be done. Hogan is the guy TNA has been advertising for months. I'm sure there are people out there who are really pumped to see him. Imagine how pissed they'd be if they hardly saw him at all.

Also, I'd rather watch a Diva's Match than a Dixie Segment.

No, no, no. Do not go "gimmick crazy". Everyone around here complains that TNA overdoes their gimmick matches, so they do not need to be overdone. KOTM has it's place, and it'd be crazy to throw together a Monster's Ball, and asinine to give us another Last Man Standing or Falls Count Anywhere. An Ultimate X to open the show would be a great idea. Maybe even a Tag Team Ultimate X. Who wouldn't enjoy a match between MCMG and the British Invasion, with the Ultimate X stip added?

KOTM may be overdoing it a little, but a few gimmick matches wouldn't hurt. Some type of X Division match is a must and a few other hardcore matches wouldn't be bad at all. People are always entertained by gimmick matches, especially on free TV. If there was one week to load up on 3 or 4 of them, this would be it.

I wouldn't go as far as "showcasing" the TNA KO Tag Titles, but a match for them wouldn't be a bad idea. A title change will keep people watching, so maybe this wold be the time to have Hamada and Kong take the belts. Just don't make an event out of it. Let them go for 5 or 6 minutes, have Hamada take some bumps, and then have them win the belts and leave. You can make it a huge thing the next week, when they win the rematch.

I think they could go up to 10 minutes and it'd be fine. It'd be a match unlike anything most people would see in the WWE, which is definetly a plus. And with the 3 hour show, they'll need some things to fill up time.

 

[Prince_Thomas]

Its simple.... Well maybe not for all of us.... But wwe is godzilla ok..... Tna is tokyo....idk what type of plans or people that dixie has lined up. It will never.. Eeevver.. Compare to the massive monster know as vincent kennedy mcmahon. This guy... This fuckin guy is a genious. You know it and I know it. Ever since he took over the reigns of the already huge fed. Its benn mostly all up hill. If there was no vinne mac, there would be no hulk hogan, which in turn makes 1/4/2010 nothing....and I'm sure this is just the typw of situation wwe creative has been salavating over. Imagine all of the matches and ideas they could come up with during a ratings war?? Nothing but good things in the future as iþ concerns me for the wwe. Who knows, maybe dx invades tna? Hey.. You never know, I'm a fan dammit!! I do give tna respect for trying, but that's ll it is. Just a nice try and n ego boost for vince.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

This thread is primarily directed towards the WWE fans.

We have a lot of very passionate WWE fans who outnumber the TNA fans. But I have seen the WWE fans routinely bash the TNA fans and bash the efforts of TNA in trying to be competition for WWE.

With that in mind, here are some comments that Dixie Carter made about their head to head with Raw:

- In an interview with the UK Sun newspaper, TNA President Dixie Carter talks down the ratings battle against World Wrestling Entertainment, saying:

"How I define success is just being there... Just the fact that we are there on Monday night is a huge success for us. It makes the exact statement that we want to make. This is a marathon not a sprint. The ratings, quite honestly, are irrelevant.

"Our success is being there and the quality of the show we put on. That's how I'll assess it as far as that specific night goes. But the real winner on Monday January 4 is the wrestling fans, because this truly is the classic David and Goliath set-up. We have Goliath bringing out the biggest guns that they could possibly bring.

"And we're trying to put our best foot forward. You'll see a lot of surprises and a lot of great showcasing of TNA's top talent. The bottom line is that the fans are going to win that night and wrestling is going to win that night."

What this thread really gets at is competition, and is really directed towards the very passionate WWE fans on here. Do you feel that competition from TNA is truly a bad thing for the WWE?

Do you think competition will make the WWE better? Why or why not?

If you want to see the WWE improve and at its peak, do you feel that supporting TNA is in your best interests? Why or Why not?

Lastly, do you agree with Dixie Carter in that "wrestling and its fans will win on Monday"? Or do you feel that this is something you aren't in favor of since it will take away some viewers from WWE that night?

 

[Coco]

I love that the WWE has some competition. As a result, you feel that the WWE is attempting to actually give you something worth tuning in for. It's been ages since it seemed like they really cared whether the people watch or don't watch. Yes, there have been sporadic angles here or there that hooked me. But what the WWE has really failed to do over the last... *counts on fingers*... few years is TRY to hook the fans, to tell us something can't be missed. No matter how good parts of WWE may have been over the last few years (Punk-Hardy, Jericho-Mysterio, Michaels-Taker... to list a few bright spots), WWE puts little effort into making us feel that the best of their product (Be it Raw, SmackDown, or ECW) is important. It's one of the major faults of the WWE. Big title bouts on SmackDown or ECW are by and large ignored by the hype machine and we're led to believe very little is worth investing our time and emotion in. That changes this Monday as we have the blowoff to two major feuds and Bret Hart's return after twelve years. Sure, the feuds could be better and it's odd that one of the 90s top attractions is supposed to hook us in 2010... but the fact that they're trying is major progress. I don't think anyone can deny that WWE needs someone to keep them on their toes like this.

Supporting TNA is in everyone's best interests as a result of that.

As for the remark that "wrestling is going to win that night", I believe she's talking about fans of both WWE and TNA. Competition will bring out the best of both companies and fans of either (or both) organization(s) will (hopefully) be satisfied that they invested their time in Monday's show(s).

 

[Uncle Sam]

It's all well and good for both companies until TNA gets its ass handed to it in the ratings. I'd be amazed if TNA breaks, ooh, let's say 1.7. I'll even change my user title to "I really was amazed".

So the loser is me really. I enjoy watching TNA as it is. Not only is TNA going to make little to no progress, but it's in danger of losing the qualities which make me enjoy watching it. So I'll be cynical and say wrestling won't be the winner tomorrow night.

Even if TNA does 'succeed', it'll still be ages until it get what I want: better production values.

 

[TNA]

Even tho i'm a huge TNA fan, Hart coming bk to da WWE is much bigga dan hogan to TNA. Its da people dat Hogan brings to TNA that i'm excited bout.

 

[hatehabsforever]

Is it just me, or do comments of this nature simply paraphrase the old expression "It's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game."

Of course Dixie Carter would come out and spin the fact that TNA is going to get destroyed in the ratings by the WWE, by saying she's just happy to be there. Let's be realistic. If TNA were true competition for TNA and could actually challenge WWE ratings wise, or even be in their ballpark, she'd be singing a totally different tune. She's saying it's not about ratings because she knows she's going to come a distant second. The ratings are irrelevant? This coming from the same woman who has been running her mouth for weeks about TNA challenging WWE head to head.

The wrestling fans will win that night? That may well be true, but I doubt she really cares too much about the wrestling fans winning. She wants to put out a superior product and defeat WWE in the ratings. And because she knows she won't do it, she's coming out with a lot less bravado.

With regards to Sid's specific questions:

Of course I do not feel that competition from TNA would be a bad thing. In fact it would be a very good thing. I just don't see it happening any time soon, and certainly not tomorrow night. With or without Bret Hart.

Competion from TNA would probably make WWE better. It did before when WCW challenged WWF over a decade ago. But TNA is nowhere near where WCW was when the Monday Night wars were waged. And they may never be. Ane this argument is null and void with regards to tomorrow night because plausible competition is just not there yet.

I don't feel I need to support TNA to make WWE better. This is an IWC generated fallacy created by desperate TNA fans who want to see TNA succeed, so they try to sway passionate WWE fans away with backhanded logic. I will support TNA when they catch my interest and earn my viewership, not because I want to do it to intimidate Vince McMahon or anyone else in the WWE. I think it's ridiculous, as I stated in another thread, to watch TNA tomorrow night and miss an epic return by Hart, to send a message to WWE. I would like to see TNA establish it's own identity, and build a product that will compell me to watch. Like WCW did before. Not try to take the fast track by re-hashing the nWo or recycling "WWE rejects". Because this won't work.

Of course wrestling fans will win on Monday night. Because while I feel that TNA is not competition for WWE yet, passionate TNA are excited about tomorrow night and that has to be a good thing for them. Some WWE fans will watch TNA this week (whether it be during commercial breaks, or Thursday's re-broadcast, or via recording TNA), also a good thing. I would love to see some competition between the two organizations as fans would win if this were to happen. It's just not going to happen tomorrow night.

 

[HBK-aholic]

I don't think it's a bad thing for the WWE, but it will quite probably lead to TNA getting their asses handed to them. I expect TNA to do quite well at first, not as good as WWE, but a ratings increase - a mix of Hogan, and people who think TNA 'deserves' to win simply because it's different. Much like what happened with the UK Christmas #1. But after a while, the better show will prevail, which is, and always has been the WWE. I was never a WCW fan, but that was of such a higher quality than TNA is; it isn't 'competition' in the same sense, so I don't think this is bad for WWE.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

Let's see who here can come the closest. Use your intuition and overall good judgment on what you feel each show will do in the ratings and tell us who and what segments we feel are planned for Monday will increase or decrease viewers and help or hurt the competition.

Let's examine what we know:


TNA will run for 3 hours and air from 8-11 PM this Monday on Spike TV.



The segments we already know in advance for TNA will be:

- Angelina Love has re-signed with the company. We can expect Lacey Von Erich to be kicked out of the Beautiful People and given her pink slip from the company.

- Knockouts Title- Tara vs ODB

- Sarita & Taylor Wilde vs. Hamada & Awesome Kong for the Knockouts Tag Titles

- Steel Cage Asylum for the X Division Title

- Hulk Hogan will appear



We can also likely expect or in the very least keep an eye out for:

- The NWO being reformed or attempted to be reformed with Hogan, Hall, and Nash. I don't think it's going to happen, though, but it will be teased.

- An appearance from Eric Bischoff and possibly an on-camera appearance from Vince Russo.

- Dixie Carter to appear on camera

- An appearance from Shannon Moore (according to his Twitter account)

- An appearance from Jeff Hardy is being rumored, as well





WWE will air from 9-11 PM this Monday on the USA Network


What we know:


- Bret Hart as Guest Host

- Unified Tag Team Titles- DX vs JeriShow

- Kofi Kingston vs Randy Orton



What we can speculate:

- Interaction between Bret Hart, Vince McMahon, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H

- The Hart Dynasty to appear

- Hornswoggle segments kept to a bare minimum, if at all, or even attacked by the Harts

- Legacy to split up

- Melina to drop the Divas Title




What my Ratings Predictions are:


WWE Raw - 3.7

9-10: 3.8
10-11: 3.7


TNA iMPACT - 1.7

8-9: 1.9
9-10: 1.7
10-11: 1.5


In essence, I don't expect WWE to do that much better than they normally do, because whatever positive they receive from Bret Hart will be neutralized by Hogan and company being on TNA.

Likewise, TNA will get a bump from Hogan and the other surprises for being on the show, from what they usually do, but aren't going to get the numbers they would have gotten sue to Bret Hart being on Raw.



As far as predicting the "increase and decrease in viewer" segments, a lot of that prediction is going to come down to common sense on what we know draws and doesn't draw, and also highly depend on what the other show is running at the time. So a lot of guess-work will be done.

With that in mind:


Raw segments that will (+) viewers

Bret Hart and Vince/Shawn interaction
DX vs JeriShow
Legacy splits up
Hart Dynasty segments (this night only for obvious reasons)
If Maryse wins the Divas Title from Melina (expected match due to Melina's reported injury)


Raw segments that will (-) viewers

Hornswoggle segments if done outside of DX involvement
Divas Matches
Kingston vs Orton
John Cena appearing via satellite (since Cena is not live in the arena)
Santino Marella segments
Chavo Guerrero / Jillian Hall segments
DX tries to push merchandise




iMPACT Segments that will (+) viewers

Hulk Hogan appearances
Eric Bischoff appearances
An appearance from Sting
NWO tease
Jeff Hardy appearing
Steel Cage Asylum for X Division title
Kurt Angle wrestling
AJ Styles wrestling (if he is NOT against a WWE Main Eventer ... otherwise he will lose viewers)
Awesome Kong wrestling
Dudley Boyz wrestling


What is the very best thing TNA could possibly do to increase viewers?

Find some way in Hell to bring Shane McMahon to the show and appear.




iMPACT segments that will (-) viewers

Knockouts Title: Tara vs ODB
Jeff Jarrett and Mick Foley appearances
Matt Morgan
Desmond Wolfe
The World Elite
Rhyno
Hernandez

Your turn. I need you to explain your reasoning as well in your posts on some of your thoughts. You can explain the ratings predictions, or segments that will (+/-) viewers, or both. But you need to explain some of your thoughts and elaborate a little. Thank you.

 

[Kanye South]

Of course WWE needs competition to succeed. Just look at what has happened. Total Nonstop Action signs Hogan and makes some noise in WWE's ear. WWE, in response, creates a gold segment with Vince and Shawn this past Monday, and signs Bret Hart for a couple of months, presumably leading up to a WrestleMania match of some sort. Now, if that little bit of awesome came from TNA just signing Hogan and talking shit, imagine what the WWE would do if TNA became real competition? Competition is the best thing that could happen for the WWE right now.

If Vince's wellfare ever got threatened by TNA, then he could easily buy out half the roster's contracts. If any WWE fan wants to see new and creative storylines, then supporting TNA is the best thing you can do right now. Leave your TV on TNA and stream Raw or something, I don't care as long as TNA gets the ratings.

I'm not TNA's biggest fan, but I know supporting it will get Vince to quit fucking around with stupid shit like Chavo, Hornswoggle, and Jillian. I feel that wrestling will truly win that night because both companies will be putting on their best.

Competition makes Vince think. That's what WWE fans need right now.

 

[El Gato]

I seriously hope people aren't allowed to type like that here...

Simply put, Bret is going back to WWE for two reasons: 1. simply the money. Who says no to money? You can talk about pride and ego and all that all you want but at the end of the day, if a dude shows up with a briefcase of cash, suddenly your morals take a turn. Especially if you have a lot of medical bills. 2. Bret Hart is a mark for himself. He wants to be remembered and have a legacy in this business. Right now WWE, over the years, and Bret himself, due to bitterness in interviews and what have you, has pegged himself as a cry-baby. So, I imagine this is a way for Bret to go out as "the good guy" and a Legend. Dude thinks he's a real life hero...

My big thing is this: You take the Bret Hart segment out of RAW, you still have the same boring RAW that you've had since back when the GM crap started. In-between Bret Hart segments, you're still getting a crappy Diva match, you're still getting Hornswoggle, you're still getting backstage D-X "antics" and trying to sell merchandise. You're still getting "Vintage!" Michael Cole on commentary. Nothing is going to change except instead of a high off marijuana Timbaland backstage with the Bellas watching a midget get duct taped to a skateboard, you'll get Bret Hart talking about being screwed and probably laying the foundation for a WM street fight with sixty+ year old McMahon.

Meanwhile, over on TNA, it's not Hogan's name that is the draw. It's the fact that a "reset" button is being pressed and we're going to see all new things. Even if it wasn't Hogan, we have still had a ton of rumors flying around. Rob Van Dam, Ric Flair, a 4-sided ring, Vince Russo fired, new camera work, new production, the nWo, etc. All of that is more enticing to me than one or two Bret Hart skits.

 

[DeadMan2010]

I Seen the Montreal Screw job & after that i never would of thing that Bret will ever return to the wwe Monday night raw will be a dream come true for me to see bret return to comfront vince & Shawn for the first time in 12 years. Thats bigger than hulk hogan joining tna. And even bigger than the return of the outsiders,rvd, jeff hardy Angelina love. With all these has beens washed up old wrestlers in there 50's & 40's are killing tna. And changing the 6 sided ring is destroying tna. After all these debuts will kill the young talent who made tna, tna. The nwo were only cool when they were young. Now you have Scott hall FAT. Kevin Nah who looks like SANTA CLAUSE. And Hulk Hogan Who Cant Even WALK.

I Dont know about you guys but Bret "The Hitman" Hart returning im going to watch raw not tna.

 

[The English Poster]

Im backing the WWE here. Although TNA have more components I think WWE is the clear winner because its Bret Hart. If Hulk was returning to the WWE and Bret was going to TNA I think TNA wold get the ratings.

 

[The English Poster]

I think TNA will regret going head to head with WWE because they will get dominated in the ratings war. But if they go back to thursday broadcasts they will do very well. Thats if they keep Hogan RVD Wolf pack and so on. Im looking forward to both show but will watch WWE.

 

[Kenny Powers]

Of course more than likely WWE will trounce TNA in the ratings. We have to remember though if it wasn't for TNA we wouldn't even be having a Monday Night War again. We probably wouldn't even seen Bret Hart in a WWE ring again, if it wasn't for TNA competing with Vince.

I don't think it's a dumb move, they are letting their place be known. The sad thing is that this is the day and age of real fighting with UFC and MMA. Pro Wrestling isn't as popular as it once was. I think that TNA has a fighting chance to compete with WWE and make wrestling relevant again.

Maybe WWE can get rid of the whole sports entertainment bullshit, and become a legit pro wrestling company again too. Both shows are going to be awesome, something exciting that wrestling fans haven't seen in a long time.

 

[El Gato]

I like how TNA gets made fun of for their old wrestlers, yet the big draw for RAW is Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels & Vince McMahon. How does that work? Seems biased to me.

 

[Blue Chipper]

Do you think competition will make the WWE better? Why or why not?

If you want to see the WWE improve and at its peak, do you feel that supporting TNA is in your best interests? Why or Why not?

Lastly, do you agree with Dixie Carter in that "wrestling and its fans will win on Monday"? Or do you feel that this is something you aren't in favor of since it will take away some viewers from WWE that night?

Competition will undoubtedly make the WWE product better. Just look at the Monday night wars. When WWE and WCW was in tight competition, it is usually said to be a time when WWE was improving immensely. As WWE fans, we should definitely advocate competition between WWE and TNA, because if WWE sees that TNA is a legit competitor, like WCW, they will pull every rabbit out of their hat to make their show number one, thus making it more entertaining. Monday will be a very special and interesting day for any wrestling fan, so needless to say I think everyone will win. Do I think TNA will beat WWE in terms of ratings? Absolutely not. Do I think they'll have an entertaining show? Absolutely.

 

[Blue Chipper]

I want to see Bret Hart more, for two reasons. One, I have seen Hulk Hogan a lot be it in WWE programming, the media, his tv show, or elsewhere. Whereas, Bret Hart has gone unseen for quite some time, and never appeared on a wrestling show, save the HOF induction which really doesn't count, in an extremely long time.

Second, I want to see the backlash from the Montreal screw job. Who doesn't? I want to see how he reacts, if he is full of forgiveness or bitterness. I want to see if they'll mend it and forget the incident, rather storyline wise, or for real.

Additionally, I'm more partial to WWE.

 

[Blue Chipper]

Well, it's been hyped because it's TNA versus freakin' WWE. I don't believe people are expecting anything astronomical in terms of in-ring product, I think they're expecting the same product. It can live up to the hype, because the hype we gave it is in terms of the actual competition as opposed to what's actually going to happen. We didn't presume anything about the in-ring product, thus, I don't think we over hyped this event in the slightest, because it is a big event, but not the big event as in pay-per-view quality, top-notch matches, as in "a historical moment".

 

[Shazam!]

WWE has proved plenty of times that it can put on a great show when it really tries, examples are the shows leading up to wrestlemania. I expect to be fully entertained tomorrow night.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I've got no problem at all with TNA competing with the WWE. Competition can not only mean an overall improvement of product quality, but it can also be just downright fun for the viewers.

However, I will not be supporting TNA tomorrow night because, quite frankly, I've got no interest in watching Hulk Hogan. It's got nothing to do with any particular loyalty to the WWE. It's not really got anything to do with Bret Hart to be perfectly honest. There's very little going on in TNA right now that I personally enjoy. With the exceptions of AJ Styles and the Wolfe/Angle feuds, TNA is just boring and stale to me right now. They haven't done anything over the past several weeks to get me interested in watching them tomorrow night. Just constantly plugging Hulk Hogan and saying he's coming to TNA isn't exactly some big thrill for me. I've little interest in the supposed storyline that's going to come from Hogan's presence, namely a power struggle with him and Dixie Carter on one side against Mick Foley and Jeff Jarrett on the other. I do hope that Hogan does mean what he says about helping TNA make it to the next level and I hope that he's able to help pull it off. But, there's hardly anything going on in TNA right now that I care about and Hulk Hogan's presence is among those things that just doesn't interest me. I mean, I've seen the guy. I've seen him a lot in one way or another over the past 25 years and I just don't think it's anything all that special to be perfectly honest.

That's not to say that the WWE doesn't have faults or anything. Both companies need improvement in some areas but, quite frankly, I care a lot more about some stuff going on in the WWE than I do about almost anything in TNA right now. Bret Hart's appearance on Raw is just the icing on the cake for me. I've seen the guy once in the last 10 or more years and I'm anxious to see him again. I'm anxious to see as to exactly what role he's going to have in the WWE. Is it just a storyline with Vince? Could he wind up being Raw's general manager eventually? Could he wind up involved somehow in something with HBK? There are just a lot of unknowns that I'm excited about.

I know that Hogan is essentially going to "run" TNA. That's all well and good. Maybe what he winds up doing will re-ignite my interest in TNA and maybe it'll bring more viewers to the company. But, as of right now, Hogans words are just that. They're just words from a guy that I'm just not personally excited about.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

Looks like another shot has been fired as this rumor has now been confirmed via Dixie's Twitter account:

Partial source: F4Wonline.com

"Heard Jeff Hardy is going to crash the party tomorrow. Everyone is welcome!!! Gonna be fun."

I'd like to get everyone's opinions on a couple things.


How do you anticipate Jeff Hardy actually being used, and what would you like to see him do on Impact?

What I see him doing is actually cutting a worked shoot promo against CM Punk and giving WWE a taste of their own medicine with the worked shoot promos that were done against him.

I would also expect some insider and smarky comments to come into play against the WWE and possibly the way they treat superstars behind the scenes, to take advantage of Jeff being there.

One has to speculate on whether this is going to lead to a contract for Hardy and TNA once again. TNA always provided the schedule, in my view, that is more agreeable to Jeff's desired schedule. I think the WWE's work load is simply to much for him, as he wants more private time for personal things than what WWE seems to be willing to give him.

But what do you forsee Jeff Hardy doing on Impact tomorrow, and what would you like to see out of him?

If you would like to see him wrestle, who would you like to see him wrestle?

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

What this does is let the WWE know that TNA is coming out with guns blazing. Jeff Hardy has a HUGE cult following. Most of the regulars know my disdain for his wrestling skills and his ability to have a good match without him dying, then coming back to life by winning the match. But he draws viewers. That's all that matters at this point. Hardy is a man who appeals to an audience that the WWE is trying to get. Children. Uh oh.

It's not a HUGE deal, but it's enough to have Vince look at TNA and go... 'Guess they're serious.' And I highly doubt we'll see Jeff back in the WWE ever again. But this is a good thing for TNA.