Look at TNA now I am impressed!!

[ncwriter2908]

I marked out for the NWO in this Hogan era. I liked Raven,Sting,Angle and the Mafia in the old TNA era, but now Bishoff is doing something he should have done to save WCW. He is slowly pushing the 50 and above club into secondary fueds. Sting/Jarrett while good is a secondary fued in the old TNA they would have main evented a PPV.

Anderson/Pope in a fued great, great, great...two guys with good mic skills and are decent in the ring. They will be able to do good promo's together.

RVD winning the championship was great. Aj's reign was getting stale. Also now I have no idea who RVD will face or if they will beat him or not. I think we all knew Pope would loose to AJ.

Jeff Hardy would be great but he has a short term deal and is risky. If he was here for along time and could get off drugs he would be great.

The Band needs to align with Hogan as his bodyguards.

TNA is finally ok now.....


They are still in no way even close to taking down the WWE in any fashion. I hate it. I love TNA but WWE is slaughtering them. I wonder how much internet sites like hulu, youtube, and other hurt tv ratings. You can just watch TNA there whenever ya want.. I do because i work on mondays or i watch the replay on thursday.

 

[ascott1984]

I have to say, i think the exact opposite. I was a hugh TNA and Hogan fan but I've now stopped watching because i find their product boring and predictable. Its like watching a forth brand of WWE at times in the sense of former WWE talent in WWE type storylines. Alot of what their doing makes no sense at all and storylines are being dropped without explanation. Samoa Joe can only go away and come back bad ass so many times beore i get bored. Alot of TNA orginal talent is going too waste languishing in meaningless and forgetful ten minute peroids, only AJ and Abyss are being pushed and perhaps benifiting from the Hogan and Flair rub.

 

[bluemagic_grind]

::blankstare:: you got to be kidding me! TNA is nowhere near impressive as far as a whole. U have Hogan, Ric Flair and the rest of the 80s stars taking up most of the TV time. Recycled story lines don't help and not giving the REAL wrestlers the proper time is killing me!R U SERIOUS!? Ur having a storyline on another company Hall of Fame ring where ya treat it as a belt! 3/4 of they roster is either there cuz WWE woodnt take they drug habits or cuz the work schedule is lighter. The production is stupid from announcers to the arenas they perform at... Dixie dnt know diddly bout pro wrestling.n hogan and da rest is gona make it WCW part 2...I c it

 

[Kliq]

I have to say, TNA has made my Monday night wrestling show of choice decision much easier; I'm going with TNA. Once Shawn Michaels left WWE, I had to search for a reason to keep watching. The WWE presents programming directed at children and very young adults, and they are not ashamed of that because that is their primary audience. TNA is the adult alternative. I'm not talking about blood, violence, and breasts, I'm talking about the maturity of feuds.

In the WWE you have a bunch of young guys cracking hardly believable childish promos. Your champion is one of the lamest characters WWE has ever had. He is a childhood hero to many children, but as an adult I am less than entertained. These stars that are main eventing are still midcarders in my eyes, they don't have the experience, the look, or the charisma of those who should be main eventing a PPV.

TNA has everything I'm looking for in a wrestling product. Classic superstars lending their star power to provide exciting feuds, incredible promos, and an overall feeling that this matters. The title is tossed around so carelessly in the WWE that it doesn't seem to matter. The TNA title is something the wrestlers in that company act as if it is their everything. Everyone puts on great matches. I prefer the more ground and pound type of matches to the X-Division, but there is something for everyone. The WWE's matches are very predictable and you can hardly distinguish one match from the other, just put two names on it and you could have them be any one.

Overall, I am also very impressed with what TNA is doing. They have the edge and the maturity to provide great feuds and great matches. When you watch TNA you feel like wrestling is cool again, not watching a couple guys who haven't done anything with their career fight over a once-distinguished title as on Raw and Smackdown. Shawn Michaels was the only 'cool' thing about the WWE, and now that he is gone my Monday night decision is made.

 

[geist inc]

I grew up with Shawn Micheals, Diesel, Razor Ramon, Golddust, Doink the Clown, IRS, Million Dollar Man, Virgil, Earthquake & Typhon, Yokozuna & many more. To start with let me point out, that yes I'm old I'm nearly 30.

Do I like the current TNA show, yes I do.

Here's why

I enjoyed routing for the original ECW, when Raw was war and Nitro spoiled the results of a pre taped show. When anything could happen in the next hour, Stone Cold would destroy Vinne Mack. The NWO would stomp a hole in the WCW locker room, and ECW would attempt a match that didn't result in someone falling through a table from the balcony.

But most of all the wrestlers actually cared about their work, now look at today's WWE and we see a different picture. Some wrestlers are there just to fall over, and be stuck a the bottom of the mid-card table. The Lightweight division is dead, as is the intercontinental title. We're left with the main belt and feuds between the same guys, only recently has new talent broken through.

Now look at TNA, I know those names of the people wrestling. I know Ric Flair, RVD, Hulk Hogan, Nash, Hall, Pac, The Dudleys, Taz, Sting, and now AJ Styles, Samoa Joe & many more. And I see they wrestle, yes the promos are long. But their trying to build a business, something WWE has already done.

It takes time to change, so perhaps we should all give them time. I'm sure we won;t be disappointed, unless we convince ourselves it's all crap. Don't hate the product until it's finished changing, because you never know what's been planned.

 

[Trill Co$by]

::blankstare:: you got to be kidding me! TNA is nowhere near impressive as far as a whole.

Come again?

U have Hogan, Ric Flair and the rest of the 80s stars taking up most of the TV time. Recycled story lines don't help and not giving the REAL wrestlers the proper time is killing me!

Yeah, I guess you haven't seen that Pope, Matt Morgan, Wolfe, Anderson, Styles, Joe, Doug Williams, Kaz, and Shannon Moore are all getting TV time and at best The Band is used for only 10 minutes of the total show. Abyss is a powerhouse and those guys always get pushed. Rob Terry is also one of those powerhouses, so that's a reason.

As for recycled storylines, that's all wrestling is nowadays. Name one time that you've seen any promotion do something original? Since wrestling's been around forever, I doubt you're going to find anything.

R U SERIOUS!? Ur having a storyline on another company Hall of Fame ring where ya treat it as a belt!

In Baseball, Football, Basketball, Soccer, or any sport the Hall of Fame is reserved for the best of the best. It's for people who revolutionized the industry, and so are the WWE & Wrestling Hall of Fames. The fact that TNA is actually glorifying the Hall of Fame is showing that there's respect for it...

3/4 of they roster is either there cuz WWE woodnt take they drug habits or cuz the work schedule is lighter.

And I guess the fact that most of the current TNA roster came from either the indy scene or NWA just doesn't seem to click in does it? I mean I haven't seen Doug Williams in WWE. And I damn sure haven't seen Homicide there, or Hernandez. Quit using the old ass excuses cause they just let everyone else know that you're going with other peoples' old rehearsed comments.

The production is stupid from announcers to the arenas they perform at... Dixie dnt know diddly bout pro wrestling.n hogan and da rest is gona make it WCW part 2...I c it

Again, the same old rehearsed comments... you've really gotta stop drinkin' the cool aid.

Dixie isn't running the promotion, nor did she create it. TNA was founded by Jeff Jarret and Jarret asked Dixie for support, in which Dixie agreed to do. Dixie, up until recently, has managed to keep herself out of the picture and has simply let TNA booking do what TNA booking decides to do.

And again, if you haven't been watching, the top guys in TNA right now are great workers. People like the Pope, Anderson, Styles, Joe, and Wolfe are all great workers who work the house shows, which in turn, makes their schedule quite similar to a WWE one. So obviously, they just love the business of wrestling.

 

[Mr_Ratings]

To all the TNA trashers...

WWE took decades before they could beat the NWA and become relevant.

TNA is in its 8th year.

Give it time.

 

[Phenomenal]

I have always been impressed with TNA when it comes to WRESTLING. I dont mind the other things, i dont take wrestling storylines as seriously as other people do. That's just ******ED. People need a new hobby if they get confused by wrestling storylines.

And oh yeah, GET RID OF ORLANDO JORDAN

 

[Caitiff]

In Baseball, Football, Basketball, Soccer, or any sport the Hall of Fame is reserved for the best of the best. It's for people who revolutionized the industry, and so are the WWE & Wrestling Hall of Fames. The fact that TNA is actually glorifying the Hall of Fame is showing that there's respect for it...

Yes. They're glorifying the WWE Hall of Fame. Let me say the key words again, just to make sure you understand the point he was trying to make. "Double-U Double-U E Hall of Fame." Do you understand that, or do I need to try again in phonetics?

That's where TNA goes wrong, every single time. As much as I sometimes dislike it, Vince McMahon more or less ignores past fueds between his wrestlers, if those fueds happened in other companies. Case in point, it was never mentioned during the Mankind/Vader fued that Vader is the one who squeezed Foley's ear off of his head. (I know it dind't exactly happen like that, but they never referenced it at all.)

TNA, in almost every third sentence, has to make a reference to WWE. It's coming off less like a serious promotion, and more like WWE's wingman. ("Wingman," for those who don't know, is a term for that guy, or girl, who talks up someone, in the attempt to get that person laid.)

You notice that, when Jeff Hardy, Gail Kim, and Christian went back to WWE after being in TNA, TNA was never mentioned. There were no references to the titles Gail Kim and Chrisitan held in "that other company." The simple reason for that is, there's nothing good that can come of it.

Should wrestling companies acknowledge that their talent has experience before the company they work for? Depends entirely on how it's done. WWE is usually wrong in ignoring it, but sometimes right. TNA is ALWAYS wrong for just heaping on the praise for things that were done in WWE.

Right now, the only thing that TNA does right is they present their product as though it might almost be a real sport. A lot of what TNA does allows me to more easily suspend my disbelief than I would with WWE's product. However, since they have to, for all intents and purposes, blow WWE at least 5 times a show, it's hard for me to take the company seriously.


Mr. Ratings: WWE wasn't "trying to beat" anyone until the 1980's, when Vincent K. McMahon more or less stole the company from his father. And, for all intents and purposes, he did, more or less beat everyone else within 6 years. WCW was, at that time, the last company standing, other than WWE.

Yes, ECW came along, but they were never competition to either of the two remaining juggernauts. ECW, back then, was basically what Ring of Honor is today. It was a glorified indy fed that somehow got popular outside of their local territory. In the grand scheme, ECW really didn't matter. "But, Rob. Both of those guys stole ECW talent." Your point is? I lived right outside Baltimore during the late 1990's. Until they got a show on TNN, I had never seen a single ECW match. In fact, I'll go as far as to assume that most of the people who rant about how great ECW was had never seen an ECW match or show while it was still its own company.

But, since WCW was on Saturday nights, at the time, and WWE was on Mondays, they never came into direct competition with one another. It wasn't until WCW had a more established roster, and a larger built in audience, that they decided to take the next step, and walk into a direct fight with WWE on Monday nights.

"What's your point, Rob?" Simply this: On Thursday nights, before the changeover, TNA was pulling a 1.3 rating. And, to be blunt, a lot of those viewers were people like me, who watch both TNA and WWE. They never gave themselves a real chance to cultivate their own viewer base, and they've now lost over half of their audience in the last 2 months. That tells me, point blank, that half of TNA's audience is like me in this regard. And, I'd be willing to bet that most of the combined two hour ratings come from people like me, for the unopposed hour.

 

[trendkiller]

Yes. They're glorifying the WWE Hall of Fame. Let me say the key words again, just to make sure you understand the point he was trying to make. "Double-U Double-U E Hall of Fame." Do you understand that, or do I need to try again in phonetics?

That's where TNA goes wrong, every single time. As much as I sometimes dislike it, Vince McMahon more or less ignores past fueds between his wrestlers, if those fueds happened in other companies. Case in point, it was never mentioned during the Mankind/Vader fued that Vader is the one who squeezed Foley's ear off of his head. (I know it dind't exactly happen like that, but they never referenced it at all.)

TNA, in almost every third sentence, has to make a reference to WWE. It's coming off less like a serious promotion, and more like WWE's wingman. ("Wingman," for those who don't know, is a term for that guy, or girl, who talks up someone, in the attempt to get that person laid.)

You notice that, when Jeff Hardy, Gail Kim, and Christian went back to WWE after being in TNA, TNA was never mentioned. There were no references to the titles Gail Kim and Chrisitan held in "that other company." The simple reason for that is, there's nothing good that can come of it.

Should wrestling companies acknowledge that their talent has experience before the company they work for? Depends entirely on how it's done. WWE is usually wrong in ignoring it, but sometimes right. TNA is ALWAYS wrong for just heaping on the praise for things that were done in WWE.

Right now, the only thing that TNA does right is they present their product as though it might almost be a real sport. A lot of what TNA does allows me to more easily suspend my disbelief than I would with WWE's product. However, since they have to, for all intents and purposes, blow WWE at least 5 times a show, it's hard for me to take the company seriously.

You fail.

There is more than one Hall of Fame in wrestling, and the one that is an ACTUAL Hall of Fame - not just The McMahon Playground - is the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. Where, incidentally, both Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan are inducted.

http://www.pwhf.org/

How do we know it's a REAL Wrestling Hall of Fame? Well, neither Koko B. Ware nor Bob Uecker are in it.

I suggest your read up on your wrestling next time, before you start spouting shit out of your ass.

 

[SydTinDad]

"NOW IAM IMPRESSED!"

WITH WHAT.........................MEDIOCRE WRESTLING? SUB PAR MIKE SKILLS? A DUMB BRAUD WHO KNOWS NOTHING IN THE FRONT OFFICE? I HAVE HAD NUGGETS COME OUT OF MY RECTUM I FIND MORE INTERESTING TO LOOK AT THAN TNA WRESTLING.

THE ONLY THING WORTH ANYTHING IN TNA IS THE ENTRANCE MUSIC OF THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE AND THINKING ABOUT HOW MUCH I WOULD LOVE TO BANG MADISON, VELVET AND LACY AT THE SAME TIME.

PEOPLE, I AM ACTUALLY IMPRESSED...................... WITH YOU COLLECTIVE LEVEL OF ******ATION. IF BRAINS EQUATED TO ACTUAL KNOWLEDGE, YOU WOULD BE VEGTABLES.

 

[Storm316]

TNA is so impressive they did .5 cable rating last week. I'm sorry, the proof is in the pudding. Nobody is watching it. They are doing lower numbers than ECW did when it was only shown in 2 cities, and they are on a nationwide major cable channel.

I have seen nothing in TNA that indicates what they are doing makes me want to watch them over WWE. Gratuitous blood is for a promotion that knows it needs SOMETHING for the people to tune in and watch.

I was trying to give TNA a chance, but back to back weeks of having the ladies in the final segment doing a ridiculous "lock box" promotion, and having to watch Ric Flair juice his 90 year old blood all over the ring in not entertaining.

 

[BrooklynBanger]

I can say that I've given TNA about 6 months so far. I started watching in October when I was finally able to afford cable. I've always been a wrestling fan in general since I watched WCW and ECW in their prime days and still watch the WWE. I watched before Hogan took over and the current regime, and as honest as I can be without any specific bias, here's my thought so far:

I'm not really impressed so far. The show has had its entertaining moments, and I think everyone can agree on the most entertaining points:

1. Mr. Anderson - Then again, we all knew he was good in the ring and the mic. Maybe he has a lot more freedom now to do more, but he still had charisma no matter where he was, and wrestling with Kurt Angle can certainly clean up the sloppy habits that got him booted in the beginning.

2. Rob Van Dam - I, and I know a lot pf people, were happy to see him back. Maybe RVD does see TNA as the minor leagues, but he's making the most out of the opportunity there. I'm still a little confused why they gave him the title after only 4 matches, but he has a host of new guys to show off his skills.

3. D'Angelo Dinero - Although I'm not a fan of his finisher (double running knees to the back? Really?) his mic skills are amazing and he definitely has a hold on the crowd. People say Vince dropped the ball on Elijah Burke, but it happens once in a while. Once upon a time, Eric Bischoff dropped the ball on Steve Austin and Paul Levesque.

All of the other storylines obviously have their debates. I can say I thought Ric Flair, as good as he looked wrestling wise against Abyss, looks flat out awful physically. He's balding, his hair is thinning, he's bleeding way too much, and he can barely get up anymore, let alone take all those backdrops. (I cringed whenever he landed from those especially high ones) A.J. Styles is trying his best to be the top heel, but I feel like Anderson is stealing the spot due to the mic work and Styles not being the natural jerk that Anderson comes off as. Even Sting, while being brushed behind Styles, comes off much more heel-ish than Styles does. It's not a knock on Styles as a wrestler; he just hasn't come off as the Ric Flair cocky heel that people want to see get beat.

In terms of fresh storylines and young superstars, the companies aren't extremely different. TNA has a lot of young guys that are untested, hungry and care about the business, while the WWE, while it also has young guys as well, is the corporate giant with hard-tested rules to get over that are time-tested and true. TNA has more flexible rules (the lax schedule and drug policy) that may serve the talent more, but maybe they lack the formula that the WWE created and perfected (Which is why Hogan and Bischoff have been working to create that). The plots are as they always been: face champ vs. heel group, injured face vs. mouthy heel, one-man tag team champion, power structure vs. legend; it's just that different wrestlers breed different results.

Overall, I'll always watch both shows, and without any negative feelings toward either, I still enjoy WWE more right now. TNA hasn't hooked me in the way WCW and ECW did in their primes. I honestly don't care about the lack of "adult" storylines; it's wrestling, and the only real difference is that the WWE has children-friendly storylines, but all that means is that there's less cursing, less sexual innuendo and less blood. We don't need it if the wrestling in the ring is good. I've been to the live shows and I'm always entertained and I vastly enjoy what I pay for regardless.

Last thing: I'm new, and this post isn't to downgrade anyone who prefers either one. Just my opinion and there are no insults directed at anyone.

 

[Mr_Ratings]

Catliff - WWE didnt get in position to take over until the 1980s. It still takes time to create a successful wrestling company.

Its gonna take time to convince the WWE Fanboy/Yes Man/Mark/Jock Holder ( the stubborn lil fucks that they are lol ) that competition is good and PG is bad for the wrestling business.

 

[No Gimmicks Necessary]

Just wanted to add a couple of things.

You fail.

There is more than one Hall of Fame in wrestling, and the one that is an ACTUAL Hall of Fame - not just The McMahon Playground - is the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. Where, incidentally, both Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan are inducted.

http://www.pwhf.org/

How do we know it's a REAL Wrestling Hall of Fame? Well, neither Koko B. Ware nor Bob Uecker are in it.

I suggest your read up on your wrestling next time, before you start spouting shit out of your ass.

Although, that Hall of Fame exists it is clearly not the one being referenced on TNA TV- it's the WWE Hall of Fame. Weeks ago during a commentary Taz said he had "been present for Hogan's induction" (and he was only present at Hogan's WWE induction). Not to mention during this week's Impact sit down interviews with Flair and Abyss and after the match they had the WWE symbol on the rings was visible at various points. Plus, during those interviews Flair had mentioned he received his ring in a ceremony in front of 18,000 people. The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame draws no where near that number for their inductions. And quite frankly if you're going to base a feud around Hall of Fame rings (which i'm not saying TNA should have) your better off using the WWE Hall of Fame anyway for the simple fact that the vast majority of the wrestling viewing public doesn't know a Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame independent of Vince McMahon even exists. I'm not putting the PW Hall of Fame down, those are just the facts. Basically what I'm getting at is I hope you haven't deluded yourself into thinking that Abyss and Flair have been feuding over something they haven't been. Whether you like it or not (and there are fair arguments on both sides) they've been battling over WWE Hall of Fame rings- simply no debate on that.

To all the TNA trashers...

WWE took decades before they could beat the NWA and become relevant.

TNA is in its 8th year.

Give it time.

I can see your point, but i believe your historical analogy is not really applicable in this situation. First of all, when Vince Sr. first broke away from the NWA in 1963 he did not actively compete against the member territories, and in fact a relationship between the WWWF/WWF existed until the early 80's. So they weren't "beating" the NWA (which was a governing body of several companies, not just one), but with no direct competition one can not fairly say they were "losing" either. So that's my first problem. Then when Vince Jr. did start his expansion of the WWF and started competing with the NWA and running shows within others territorial borders and broadening its television presence it only took a couple of years for that brand to really assert its dominance on the national level. And it did so because the circumstances were vastly different and to me that is really the second problem with your likening of TNA-WWE to WWF-NWA. Conditions were so incredibly different that such comparisons, at least on such a direct level, are invalid.

However, I will agree and say TNA needs to be given some time. Although .5 at 4 months in to the new regime is not ideal and things definitely could be better TNA shouldn't be written off as a failure. It's not necessarily the easiest thing to happen upon a concept that is going to resonate with the audience and generate and sustain mass interest and it can take a while. But in the coming months if TNA doesn't achieve more substantive gains the more and more the finger must be pointed directly back to TNA itself and the powers-that-be.

 

[InuJoshua]

Catliff - WWE didnt get in position to take over until the 1980s. It still takes time to create a successful wrestling company.

Its gonna take time to convince the WWE Fanboy/Yes Man/Mark/Jock Holder ( the stubborn lil fucks that they are lol ) that competition is good and PG is bad for the wrestling business.

I agree that competition is good, (although WWE doesn't consider TNA as legit competition, so there's no benefit in the WWE yet,) but saying that PG is bad for the wrestling buisness is... a little sketchy at best.

It seems most people forget that when most of us got into wrestling, (during the Hogan era,) that in itself was a PG era without the rating. It seems that we look at differently because those are our childhood memories. WWE is creating new ones with a new generation, and if you look at it objectively, today's PG era has much better wrestling than the PG era of the past did. Plus, the storylines today, no matter how childish they seem, are still more adult than most of the storylines during the mid 80's to early 90's, (when did Ultimate Warrior or Hogan ever punt anyone's skull?)

Some might not like PG, and that's understandable, but to say it's ruining the wrestling business, especially when it essentially created wrestling as it is today, makes no sense to me.

 

[Ferbian]

PG is bad for the wrestling business.

Erh.. what?

WWE is doing just fine right now, their PG product, while a lot of people might hate it, is a bullet proof success thus far, WWE is pulling off some very decent ratings that TNA can't compete with, and probably won't compete with for quite a while.

And get this, TNA isn't PG, therefore it's quite obvious that while TNA might not be considered properly established just yet to be taken into consideration that their product might never function without PG, it still shows the fact that their product, while it's not incredibly impressive, it has it's up and downs here and there, which WWE's PG show also has, as of late I think WWE has pulled off some great shows, and that's still working under a PG rating.

PG doesn't make a bad product, the booking and storylines does, and that has nothing to do with PG, if you ask me, PG is actually the better product of the blood filled thing that is TNA, and the blood empty thing that is WWE.

And to answer OP, I don't think as of late that TNA has done anything to really impress me to the point where I'd be a regular viewer, other than streaming some clips here and there to get an understanding of the product they put out there, and as of late, I haven't enjoyed it as much as I have enjoyed WWE, so I'm not impressed.

 

[mister_b1LL]

I've been impressed with the way TNA has been doing things post WrestleMania. When Impact moved to Monday nights the program just wasn't as good as what Raw was producing (I surprised even myself when I typed that). Then Michaels leaves and all of a sudden TNA is bursting with activity. RVD is now TNA Champion, my dear Madison Rayne is Knockouts Champion, Hardy is showing his full potential like he used to in WWE before he left, and other guys, like The Pope, Mr. Anderson, and Desmond Wolfe are really showing a lot more than when I started watching consistently the day Hogan took over.

I don't care if the ratings are horrid, because despite nobody watching, TNA is still providing great quality programming that is so much better than what Raw is putting out. It's like what a critic said about Gilmore Girls when it was still on; TNA Impact is "...the best show you're not watching."

I'm still for WWE and my picks are always SmackDown and NXT (well at least until NXT is finished and SmackDown moves from MyNetwork). But every Monday night, I'm crossing the line to TNA Impact.

 

[Charismatic Edge]

I think TNA is doing better. They hit a wall last year. If they can properly groom some more young guys likes the MCMG or Jay Lethal then they would really have the ship steering in the right direction.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I haven't been all that impressed with TNA in 2010. It started out horribly with all the various Hogan croanies coming out of the woodwork. It's great to see that the Nasty Boys and Sean Morley are gone because they were just an absolute waste of space, but we're still stuck with Bubba The Love Sponge, Scott Hall, Sean Waltman. At least, however, the show hasn't revolved around them.

Hulk Hogan is featured in just about every other segment on most episodes of iMPACT! and he's spent much of this year shoving Abyss up the audience's collective ass in an attempt to make him the top face in the company. It's been an absolutely horrible thing to watch due in large part to Abyss himself. Abyss has been horrible for a long time now, but it's even more so. I don't know how many segments I've seen on iMPACT! over the past few months of Abyss handcuffed to a top rope while Hogan gets the snot beaten out of him or vice versa only for Abyss to just "hulk up" and clean house. Just really really weak stuff.

While I respect Ric Flair and all he's done, I'm just tired of seeing him come out, spill a couple of pints of blood whenever he's out at the ring and just generally get beaten up. Watching him wrestle Abyss for the WWE HOF rings was just...just so ridiculous. While that match was going on, Raw is featuring a triple threat match between Randy Orton, Batista and Sheamus. So my choices were to watch a competitive match featuring three big names in the WWE or watch the world's biggest neurotic 10 year old beat up a 61 year old man. Needless to say, I'll choose the former any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

The TNA tag team division is in shambles with most of the teams in TNA being wasted to get Matt Morgan over. I've heard on this Monday's iMPACT there'll be a tag match between Beer Money & the Motor City Machine Guns. Yep, you heard right, TNA's putting the Guns back on iMPACT! for their monthly job fest. We'll see 'em again probably in early to mid June whenever TNA needs to job them out to someone. The Dudleyz are tired and stale as is Beer Money, even though I still do like them.

The mid-card division in TNA is in slightly better shape than it was. Last week, we got to see the "Prince of Punk", TNA has really come up with some lame nicknames for some of these wrestlers, get yet another X Division title match. It's nice to see the X Division being featured more than it was, but it would also be nice if we didn't see the same two X Division wrestlers go at it every week. Oh, I forgot, Brian Kendirck is running around there somewhere as well. Yeah, he'll put my ass in a seat everytime. "The Freak", another lame nick, Rob Terry is winning 90 second squash matches while carrying a title that simply no body cares about and you've already got TNA marks calling this guy the next Bill Goldberg.

The Knockout Division has become pretty much pointless, it's almost on par with the Divas in the WWE. The Knockout title seems to change hands every other week, most of the best workers in the division have left, are about to leave or are hardly used on television. The Knockout tag titles are worthless and pointless, they're just around so someone can carry a championship.

It's nice to see RVD with the TNA World Championship, but it's going to take a lot more than that for me to be impressed with the overall product TNA is putting out. The fact that iMPACT! featured a few IWC dream matches and had a title change on live television isn't nearly enough to get me excited. Overall, the TNA product was better in 09 than it's been thus far in 10.

 

[AttitudeAJM]

TNA is a lost company at the moment. They prematurely moved to Monday nights when there was no proof that they could sustain an audience in an unopposed time slot. On top of this they have proceeded to do nothing more than rehash the same storylines that eventually tanked WCW.

An interesting point to make is that TNA doesn't tour. Any good wrestling promotion needs to rely on consistent cash flow from live gates. WCW at its height was selling out house shows with nothing more than mid card talent. TNA each week continues to flush money away by giving a product away for free. While I like the fact that RVD is champion, it was essentially wasted in a desperate attempt at ratings. In one night they wasted nearly 6 months worth of matches.

The other common argument is that WWE is stealing their ratings. This is something that has yet to be proven. TNA was losing ratings on Thursday nights before moving to Mondays. The WWE has not seen a sharp rise in ratings so those fans are simply not watching. The other interesting note is that they are well below the Spike TV ratings average for a prime time slot and they are eating up two hours of programming.

 

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My feelings on TNA vary tremendously from week to week. Some episodes of Impact are very good and some are very bad. The overall product at the moment can be summed up in one word: inconsistent.

I look at the TNA roster and I just can't wrap my head around things as they are. On paper, TNA should be blowing up the ratings. As far as talent goes, TNA has a perfect mix full of wiley veterans such as RVD, Jeff Hardy, Jeff Jarrett and Kurt Angle and fresh, young superstars in the making like Desmond Wolfe, Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin and The Pope. And let's not forget that TNA also employs 3 of the biggest names in wrestling history in Hogan, Flair and Sting. Yet something's not clicking here.

TNA has the potential to play on the level of the WWE, but the storylines and angles seem to be thrown together on a whim. I see too much of WCW in what TNA is doing right now and that's not a good thing for the future. You cannot sustain a successful company with the "shoot first apologize later" attitude that Hogan, Bischoff and Russo bring to the table.

Is TNA impressive? Sometimes. But they sure as hell have the potential to be so much more than impressive sometimes.