I started writing this over the course of the day, tabbing out, then tabbing back in and writing a little, then leaving and coming back. I ended up on a long tanged, and have included it on the bottom as depicted by the bold text. Basically, this is me verbally trying to express my most recent attempt of many to become a TNA fan, and a review of the show. I will continue to watch it for the next 3 weeks (4 weeks total) and post here if anyone appears interested in what I think about TNA.
Also, if this belongs in the iMPACT Review Thread, I'm sorry, but I felt this was more than a review, so if that's the case, feel free to close it and I will forget the idea. The idea being that I'd like to get into TNA and be a fan, and take the hour drive to watch an iMPACT taping every few weeks, but these are the reasons why I can't get into it, and I'd like some feedback.
First off, let me say. I have tried to watch TNA on several occasions, for long periods of time, especially once they got on Spike. Every time however, TNA just does not hold my interest. Wrestling really got my interest when I was in middle school (about 10-12 years ago) when the nWo first came out. Watching Hogan as a bad guy was just weird to me, so I started watching, and got sucked in.
Now I watch more casually, but something still drives me to watch Raw every week, and I usually skip SmackDown and ECW, simply because ECW sucks and I'm never home on Friday nights. I don't know if it's habit, or a desire to be a "hardcore fan" again, but I go through spurts of how frequently I watch.
Anyway, I read stuff by DI, who I happen to agree with about 80%-90% of the time, who also perks my interest more than anything actually. So, I tuned into iMPACT this week, and was pretty disappointed to say the least.
First and foremost, having the intros interwoven with the video game was just dumb. On top of that, graphically, the game looks hideous. I thought jaggies like that only existed on the Wii, but it looked like a buffed up PS2 game.
The first segment showed Angle, Booker T, and CC, cutting a promo. I don't understand why Booker T is talking like a ******ed version of his King Booker gimmick. It sounds so forced and unnatural as opposed to when he was in the WWE and trying to sound like royalty. Why? I don't get it. Then Christian comes out, and he starts talking like a normal person. WTF?
Then they have Joe cutting a promo. The guy talks so damned fast. He didn't sound cool, confident, and in control, he sounded freaked out. Isn't he the champ?
Then they showed Davari, or whatever his name is now, and he talked about how he came to this country blah blah, decent promo, but then he gets clobbered by the ref. HUH? He's not a comedic heel like Santino who has no credibility so getting beaten up by a ref would work. At least, I don't think he is. His promo seemed pretty serious, so what happened? On that note, why is the ref so buff ripping his shirt off? Is he a new ref who will become a Wrestler (in which case this would make sense), or an established ref who just beat up a performer. Why isn't he wrestling then? Why doesn't Earl Hebner tag with him in that case. Total loss of credibility in my opinion.
Also, since when is it acceptable for a ref to listen to the crowd to make decisions? If CC is claiming that his feet were on the ropes, then why not get a replay? They have screens in the building, so that made no sense to me.
From there, I kind of lost attention because I was pretty bored. I think AJ cut a shitty promo or something. The next thing I remember is ODB running around. Cool, panty shots, boob slapping, I like it. I've always thought the knockouts had the best performance value of the TNA roster since they came out, and since I started watching them (regardless of the fact that Velvet Sky and the other TBP lady can't cut a promo to save their life) I've enjoyed the majority of their work.
I got bored during the AJ and Christian match since the match seemed fake. While I know it is fake, it just felt fake. I didn't take notice of sell times (which has always bothered me about TNA), so that may have been it, but the constant "They just know each other so well that they keep telegraphing each others moves" got old fast and was way over-done.
Sting's Promo was great, as always, but what's with Jeff Jarret? I mean, the guitars are a good idea to tease him, but the music playing with no entrance is just dumb, at least in my book. I'm trying really hard to think of when that's been done in the past, but I just can't. Having a wrestler cue up another wrestler's music to draw heat with the fans is acceptable (think, Shawn Michaels queuing up Bret Hart's music when he was trying to get heel heat before his Hogan match). Teasing a comeback is also acceptable with promos and such, but to most people, entrance music means the person is there. Why would someone in the production truck randomly play the music? Does the production team have something against Sting? Is D-X in the production truck messing with Sting? It just makes no sense.
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I wrote this originally, and realized it's a large tangent. If you're curios about why I never got into TNA and why I've never cared about them, read it, otherwise, it's the end of the post.
Let me jump on a tangent first. I think TNA's best aspect and worst enemy are the fans. I've always thought this. TNA fans, and I mean hardcore fans, the ones who are there every week in the iMPACT Zone and the ones who wear TNA shirts to WWE Events and start TNA Chants at WWE Events. These people are not fans of the industry, but the kind of douche-bags that DI talks about (I think one of Raven's columns also mentioned that) that try to put themselves over at an event rather than enjoying the show.
I was at the WWE Survivor Series in Miami this last year, and I was sitting next to two guys who were wearing TNA Shirts (I think Team Canada shirts), and whenever the crowd got quiet, would start chanting "T-N-A... T-N-A." I told them they were a couple of idiots, and that nobody here gives a shit about TNA, because we paid to see the WWE. They gave up once the PPV got started, but it was still annoying. They're like these losers that go to Indy shows with an ECW Original, and chant "E-C-W... E-C-W" when they put someone through a table.
The second thing is, I really have a hard time taking the company seriously. The times I've tried to get into TNA, they had the Old Age Outlaws... I mean... VKM, going to the WWE Headquarters and shouting at the building at 1am or something ridiculous. Uhhh, don't these guys realize wrestling is scripted? What's the entertainment value of two old guys who can't give up their 15 minutes showing up at their old job. It came across as pathetic in my opinion, so I stopped watching TNA again.
Fast Forward. I went to WM in Orlando. I was at the Fan Axxxess, and right across the street, there is this pathetic TNA stand with a couple of cronies holding a belt. Wow, it was so pathetic. They were parked in the parking lot of a warehouse across the street, which they probably paid the owner $100 for the day to let them use.
Meanwhile, WWE has this HUGE setup, with a band, local TV stations, food, while TNA is renting out some guy's parking lot. It looked like they were trying to prove their worth. I mean, RoH does their shows before WM, but never anything at WM. It would have been one thing if TNA just had their live event, and left it at that, but that "HEY, WE EXIST TOO, DON'T FORGET ABOUT US," is just pathetic.
Then, I just read that Team 3D talked about the possibility signing with "the other guys." Why is it that WWE has to be a part of TNA, but TNA doesn't even exist to WWE? Can TNA stand on their own two feet? I'm not even talking about Russo hatred, which always seems to come up with TNA, I personally think the guy has had a lot of great ideas. It's just unfortunate that for every brilliant idea, there are probably 10 bad ones; I know I can think of several from the Attitude Era. It's also unfortunate that when you're trying to write TV once a week, that there is a much thinner filter for those bad ideas, so the really shitty ideas get remembered more than the bad ones. I mean, at least Russo didn't come up with The Shockmaster!
What I really want out of TNA is for them to be the Wrestling Alternative they claim to be, not those other guys at the party that nobody gives a shit about. I want them to be the party next door instead.
/end tangent
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