New Head of Creative is...

[BrianFNPillman]

A guaranteed ratings bump. If Chris Sabin, who hardly anybody knows and as a singles competitor since his latest return, honestly nobody really cared for can bump the rating to a 1.31 then a known name such as Hogan who still has a huge fan following and easily gets the biggest week to week pops could make it even higher.

How am I being a tough guy? I was merely pointing out how old and banged up and basically incapable of putting on a match Hogan is by this point, if his back is so messed up he can't hit the leg drop what use is he really?

They had a chance to capitalise on Hogan when his debut spiked the ratings and they failed, his match with Flair was dreadful. I just don't see it anymore. He comes out, spouts catchphrases that were out of date 10 years ago and still acts like he's king shit. Hardy, Angle, Bully Ray and hell even a broken down aging Sting are just as much of a draw as Hogan is right now.

I will place a 'loser never goes near Wrestlezone again' bet that Hulk Hogan doesn't have a title match in TNA in the next twelve months.

The thing is, you can't blame anyone for speculating that. While the "TNA is going out of business" is pretty ridiculous once you get past the initial reports, Hogan taking to Twitter and talking about training and getting back in shape, while maybe a total work to build social media interest, isn't completely impossible. Bishoff's at the helm now creatively, it wouldn't surprise me if Bully Ray got the title back and Hogan was the one to finally topple the Aces and 8's single-handedly once and for all.

 

[Gelgarin]

Yes I can blame someone for speculating that. I'm blaming you for speculating it right now.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Very well then, answer this; why should that work for TNA in 2013 if it didn't work for WWE in 2002, with a better roster and more roads for publicity

WWE managed to bring a lot of young guys through during that time though, two in particular have gone on to achieve mainstream success, ala John Cena and Brock Lesnar, not to mention Smackdown rose during that time to be better than Raw most weeks because that is where the young talent was coming through. I'm not saying that'd happen if TNA tried it but they screwed up in 2010 when they got attention but promoted The Band, The Nasty Boys, AJ Styles' horrid Ric Flair protoge angle and I'm sure I'm forgetting other piss poor booking which I have since blocked from my brain forever.

The funniest part is that if it was Heyman people would be saying he would save the company from going out of business Heyman takes money from his parents to run his business = creative genius. Dixie does it = money mark. Heyman legit didn't pay guys for a long time, some never got it at the end, but no one holds it against him. Meanwhile Dixie cuts or doesn't renew some redundant people and the company is doomed.

While I'm sure TNA would be no better off financially had Paul been given the power, his track record as a booker still speaks volumes and considering his plan in theory was to build the company around Bryan when he was released by WWE for the tie incident, yeah... that probably would have done well. Although his "if your forty-years-old and over you're gone" theory was stupid.

I was merely pointing out how old and banged up and basically incapable of putting on a match Hogan is by this point, if his back is so messed up he can't hit the leg drop what use is he really?

He hit the Leg Drop against Sting after that match with Flair! And his match with Sting in Philidelphia, the mark capital of pro wrestling got a great reaction throughout. When Hogan hulked up the place was going insane.

 

[Gelgarin]

While I'm sure TNA would be no better off financially had Paul been given the power, his track record as a booker still speaks volumes and considering his plan in theory was to build the company around Bryan when he was released by WWE for the tie incident, yeah... that probably would have done well. Although his "if your forty-years-old and over you're gone" theory was stupid.

What track record as a booker?

 

[ヒュー　G.　レックション]

Garret can finally stop being held down and get that main event push he's busted his ass for!

 

[The Butcher]

Nepotism is as big a part of pro wrestling as the DDT. Randy Savage and Lanny Poffo, Mike Graham, Erik Watts, Greg Gagne, the Von Erichs, the Harts, Stephanie and Shane McMahon-- all promoter's kids, all received pushes, and all were title holders. Some have it/get it and work their way up, some don't. It is what it is.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

Really isn't all that upsetting. Those who already hate TNA will continue to do so and those who defend the company will be even more aggressive in doing so.

Bischoff has had success in the wrestling business, so anything's possible.

It's probably not a big deal anyhow. I'm guessing he had a lot of stroke prior to this move, if it's real.

 

[Tastycles]

Who exactly would TNA have to hire in their creative department for the IWC to believe that they know what they're doing?

 

[Gelgarin]

A genetic experiment consisting of Paul Heymon's business acumen, Jim Cornette's talent relations skills and Gabe Sapolski's creative flair.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Who exactly would TNA have to hire in their creative department for the IWC to believe that they know what they're doing?

KB. Maybe Gelgarin.

 

[The Butcher]

KB. Maybe Gelgarin.

Well if that's the case, add Mr. Tito and John Canton to the list.

 

[Joe's Gonna Kill You]

The only time Hogan will be wrestling is at BFG which means there's no way he's wrestling for the title because there's this thing called the BFG Series that they put a decent amount of time in.

 

[Gelgarin]

I consider Vince Russo to be the greatest booker of our generation; consider TNA originals holding the world title to be wasteful and and consider quite a large portion of popular indy wrestlers to be a bit shit.

No way in fuck would the IWC be OK with me.

 

[The Butcher]

There's nobody that the IWC would be okay with, even one of our own. It seems that most folks are circling TNA like vultures right now, on this board and elsewhere. Any choice would get criticized. It's like everyone planned a mass trolling of TNA marks, and nobody told me ahead of time.

 

[Lee]

Who exactly would TNA have to hire in their creative department for the IWC to believe that they know what they're doing?

Shane.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

In all honesty I see 3 guys the IWC wouldn't shit on:

Jim Ross
Jim Cornette
Paul Heyman

None of them will ever work for TNA (or in Cornettes case ever again) so no one is good enough.

Me personally? Whoever does a good job, I will at least give Bischoff a chance.

 

[The Butcher]

In all honesty I see 3 guys the IWC wouldn't shit on:

Jim Ross
Jim Cornette
Paul Heyman

None of them will ever work for TNA (or in Cornettes case ever again) so no one is good enough.

Me personally? Whoever does a good job, I will at least give Bischoff a chance.

The Heyman critics have already started the show themselves. As you said, Cornette was already there, so between leaving there and ROH in a huff, he'd get little love. You may be right about JR, but he's basically a non-entity these days- essentially a member of the IWC himself, just with a higher profile.

I would hope that a no name gets a shot. Bringing back guys like Heyman, Cornette, or even Bischoff is akin to recycling coaches/managers in sports. Sometimes it's best for a team to admit that it's in rebuilding mode and to get a young coach to facilitate that.

 

[shattered dreams]

IWC culture is part of the declining industry. Non-wrestling fans already gave up on the shows and even if they watch a good episode the chances they tune in even the next week is absurdly low. The remaining wrestling fans keep destroying themselves from the inside with a culture of negativity which moderately amusingly stems from a wildly misguided attempt to be faux experts.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

The Heyman critics have already started the show themselves. As you said, Cornette was already there, so between leaving there and ROH in a huff, he'd get little love. You may be right about JR, but he's basically a non-entity these days- essentially a member of the IWC himself, just with a higher profile.

I would hope that a no name gets a shot. Bringing back guys like Heyman, Cornette, or even Bischoff is akin to recycling coaches/managers in sports. Sometimes it's best for a team to admit that it's in rebuilding mode and to get a young coach to facilitate that.

Perhaps you are right but of known guys those 3 would definitely get more love than anyone else. I would be all for a no namer myself but Bischoff might do alright.

 

[BrianFNPillman]

He hit the Leg Drop against Sting after that match with Flair!

Heh, I'll eat humble pie and say I missed that. I was out of the loop with Impact for a while when they were offline in the UK apart from their minute of so clips they host on Youtube, not that it's an excuse mind.

I consider Vince Russo to be the greatest booker of our generation

Vince Russo is ok when he has a filter; it's when he's allowed to be an uninhibited, unrestrained maniac that I think the shitstorm comes out i.e. The whole Ric Flair/David Flair/Stacey Keibler storyline in WCW's dying days were he wanted David and Stacey to be having it away while Ric Flair turned out to be both their Dads and Ric was the father of Keiblers baby (Or was it Russo) in some super incest storyline...That wouldn't have been good.

His push for Chris Harris when the world still cared about Harris though, that was ok.

Onto the main point, while I agree Jim Ross is probably the smartest choice for a man to lead creative in TNA I don't think it would make a fat load of difference. After going back, having a think, not getting caught up in the media storm of "FUCK YOOOOOOOOOOOU BISCHOFF" is it really going to matter? I mean Bischoff as the head of creative? Does it matter?

Isn't there still a creative team? And a booking committee? And if Bischoff has been producing for so long then surely he's been using some pull for some time now? And more than not, it's not like he'll get every idea put through because someone who still has a soul left in TNA might point out it's bad for business. And even if none of that factors in, there's still going to be the same amount of political bullshit going on that was around when Jarrett was ruling the roost.

So yeah, they could hire Jim Ross, but factor in everything else and we might just get a slightly better product. But not much.

I keep up with Cornettes articles in FSM, and he talks a lot about how instead of having committees for everything they (TNA/WWE) should go back to the old model of running a wrestling show where you have one guy booking the shows and another running creative and everyone works around that.

 

[Miko]

Mark Madden would be perfect for the job

 

[Tastycles]

Mark Madden would be perfect for the job

Gee, I'd sure love to be a woman working for Mark Madden.

 

[Gelgarin]

I've never really got the whole 'Russo is better with a filter' argument... I mean there's a degree of truth to it - but there's a degree of truth to it for everyone, and almost everyone demands a filter considerably more than Russo.

Once again you have to put aside anecdotes and subjective assessments and simply look at records and experience. Very few people out there have booked a weekly wrestling broadcast single handedly for an extended length of time - Vince Russo has.

Even fewer people have undertaken such a challenge and been successful; again, Vince Russo has. Vince Russo wrote TNA pretty much by himself between the years of 2006 and 2011; otherwise known as the most successful years in TNA's history. Russo worked for TNA from 2006, where the average rating was a 0.89 and left in 2011 when the rating was at an all time high of 1.16.

Now obviously this is a child like assessment of the ratings, and attributing everything to Russo is ludicrous, but the point I am making is that Vince Russo has booked a highly successful wrestling broadcast by him self, which is something that almost nobody else has done.

Paul Heymon couldn't do it. Jim Ross wouldn't know where to start. Jim Cornett couldn't even book Ring of Honour, and most of this forum could book Ring of Honour.

Russo has the credentials and the experience; your favorite booker doesn't.

 

[Tastycles]

People keep saying Jim Ross. I know he has a great eye for talent, and no doubt he'd be an asset to TNA, but has he got any creative experience whatsoever?

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

Gee, I'd sure love to be a woman working for Mark Madden.

Well he treats them so respectfully in his articles I'm sure he'd be a gem to work under. Assuming they don't suffocate.