[Official] TNA TV Shows Aftermath, Review & Ratings Thread

[Marty2Hotty]

Why on earth not? Say I'm a wrestling fan but I either don't have the means to watch TNA or it simply isn't shown. There's one way I'll be able to find out the results, and that is over the internet.

As I said, I'm a hypocrite because I don't watch WWE and I assume it's bad. I watched a show a few weeks ago and it confirmed my suspicions.

You can't judge a show based on reading "who won the matches". Russo doesn't book that way. He books the matches, books what happens, what happens to the characters, what happens during segments, what the characters says, what happened on Karen's Angle, who does run-ins.

It's sorta like someone scoring an NHL goal making the score 1-0, but it may be the most fancy looking goal ever... and you haven't seen it to make a comment on it.

I honestly don't care what you think of the show even after you watched it.. and I don't know if you're a typical "IWF" but if you are, then I'd prefer personally to not hear your opinion, lol. although you're free to express your opinion...

If you're one of those guys who gives star ratings to matches, then your "review" of the show will be different than mine. Russo fans liked the week before better.. There's actually a bit of inring action this week.. the tables match was pretty long but full of pretty good action

I just re-watched the show.. Key parts I liked was Booker T saying he drank the best champagne because he gets the best. I kinda fast forwarded most of the show the secondt time i watched it meaning it wasn't a "spectacular" show. I remember times early this year where I'd watch it a second time and had to watch the segments AGAIN because they were that good.

I didn't watch Sonjay's segment again. I re-watched MMG's promo.. Abyss making the save on Creed, after watching Creed win. I re-watched Kaz's interview with Karen.. which was really good.. good reality there...

I really loved the Curry Man/Shark Boy/Super Eric segments.. i was laughing. Curry Man is a little racist/stereotypical- making fun of asians.. but Daniels was funny. "I rike it". Shark Boy was really funny too. same with SE..

During the TNA U vids. Curry Man was actually very over with the fans...

I kinda re-wtched the Velvet sky matches.. and was happy that they BOTH got to get on the mic.. good to see ODB/Gail make the run-in..

i kinda fast forwarded the tables match and didn't want to re-watch the joe/booker segment again at the end.. nash didn't even say a word

I was told that Matt Morgan admired Nash on the mic because he was laid back..and not a typical wrestler yelling to get their point cross.. I marked out to Matt Morgan winning though.

It was a good show .. and i hope it gets better next week

 

[Y 2 Jake]

As I said, I'm a hypocrite because I don't watch WWE and I assume it's bad. I watched a show a few weeks ago and it confirmed my suspicions.

That's weird, because I always think that iMPACT is shit when I watch that. Although that's based off watching it as often as I can and not one episode in several years.

You can't judge a show based on reading "who won the matches".

Of course you can. You look at it and think ''I don't want to see that particular match'' That's judging.

It's sorta like someone scoring an NHL goal making the score 1-0, but it may be the most fancy looking goal ever... and you haven't seen it to make a comment on it.

But you can. There are lots of things in this world that you've never seen. But you can imagine what they're like, and you can talk about them. You can't give a proper opinion, but you can still discuss it.

I honestly don't care what you think of the show even after you watched it..

I'm sorry to hear that Marty. Because If I was going to do a review it would have been for you, and you alone. Not because I wanted to talk about it you understand.

and I don't know if you're a typical "IWF" but if you are, then I'd prefer personally to not hear your opinion, lol.

I have no idea what a typical IWF is like.

although you're free to express your opinion...

Thanks, how kind.

If you're one of those guys who gives star ratings to matches, then your "review" of the show will be different than mine.

I don't do star reviwes. Not my thing. My system is very simple. Good, bad or ugly. But of course our reviews will be different. Each week you state how good TNA is, and I state how bad it is. But the one thing we have in common is that we both dislike Raw. Difference being that I actually watch it, instead of skipping through it.

Russo fans liked the week before better..

So are you a Russo fan or TNA fan? Are you a sub section of the IWC?

There's actually a bit of inring action this week..

You would hope. It is a wrestling show after all.

I remember times early this year where I'd watch it a second time and had to watch the segments AGAIN because they were that good.

I think you might be in the minority there. But I agree that Booker's segments were very good this week.

I re-watched Kaz's interview with Karen.. which was really good.. good reality there...

It was good. But what's sad is that Kurt Angle's wife is better than a supposed main event wrestler.

I really loved the Curry Man/Shark Boy/Super Eric segments.. i was laughing. Curry Man is a little racist/stereotypical- making fun of asians.. but Daniels was funny. "I rike it". Shark Boy was really funny too. same with SE..

Oh how we laugh at the racism.

During the TNA U vids. Curry Man was actually very over with the fans...

Again I agree. But y'know this is TNA. That show was in the iMPACT Zone. Who doesn't get a reaction?

I kinda re-wtched the Velvet sky matches.. and was happy that they BOTH got to get on the mic.. good to see ODB/Gail make the run-in..

This showed how TNA is all out of ideas for their women's division. Same stuff every week, with the same females.

I was told that Matt Morgan admired Nash on the mic because he was laid back..and not a typical wrestler yelling to get their point cross..

More wrestlers should take a leaf out of Nash's book. Jim Cornette is a great talker. But once you've heard him speak a few times you realize he only has one volume.

I marked out to Matt Morgan winning though.

Yeah glad when he beat that jobber.

It was a good show .. and i hope it gets better next week

So do I. I hope it get's better and better each and every week. I'm optimistic that one week it's actually be good.

 

[Marty2Hotty]

WEll, Russo doesn't book matches like WWE does. WWE has people just wrestle boringly and win. Russo kinda has other stuff going ond uring and after the match to keep the viewer interseted. Theres' story.. so i dont think you can judge an entire of his shows based on the match results

I don't do star reviwes. Not my thing. My system is very simple. Good, bad or ugly. But of course our reviews will be different. Each week you state how good TNA is, and I state how bad it is. But the one thing we have in common is that we both dislike Raw. Difference being that I actually watch it, instead of skipping through it.

Why do you watch something you don't like? I have tried many times to sit through WWE and can't sit through it. So I dont watch it. It's not worthmy 15 mins. I don't praise TNA every week. SOmetimes they go an opposite direction. i"m very positive now because I really liek it now.. there will always be some parts i dont like but Russo always writes good shows but obviosly guys like meltzer/kellerand the majority may disagreee.

As for what fan am i. i'm a russo fan. and if the shows are his style, then i'm a huge tn fan.. that simple

Im glad you liked the kaz thing. it's real.. and it's also a story too. I want Karne to do the backstage stuff like that.. and i also want her involved in the storline as well.. she needs to come out live too, IMO

Again I agree. But y'know this is TNA. That show was in the iMPACT Zone. Who doesn't get a reaction?

when the shows suck the crowd is dead. especiallly if all you're doing is wrestling - two guys with no story fighting for 20 minutes. Impactzone can be hot if the show is hot

More wrestlers should take a leaf out of Nash's book. Jim Cornette is a great talker. But once you've heard him speak a few times you realize he only has one volume.

looking at MNW dvd, attitude gave cornette the mic for like 2 mins on raw in front of the camera to let him rant. That was pretty entertaining to me.. yeah, Cornette is pretty annoying character, but he wasn't on this week

Somteims he can be funny though

So do I. I hope it get's better and better each and every week. I'm optimistic that one week it's actually be good.

If you haven't liked TNA for a long time and have always been a naysayer (Same with wwe), why do you continue to watch?

 

[MisterRob]

WEll, Russo doesn't book matches like WWE does. WWE has people just wrestle boringly and win. Russo kinda has other stuff going ond uring and after the match to keep the viewer interseted. Theres' story.. so i dont think you can judge an entire of his shows based on the match results

You need to stop explaining what WWE does since you don't watch the shows and hence don't watch the matches. In essence you do nothing but read the match results, so you probably should take your own advice to King Jake and not judge an entire show and product based on something you haven't seen. I don't see how anyone can talk about WWE matches being boring and them doing nothing, and TNA's matches having other stuff going on, when WWE matches tell a story. Half TNA's matches are with wrestlers who don't even know how to tell a story in the ring, so there matches aren't anything but wrestling matches full of moves.

I find it entirely contradicting and confusing that you're always complaining about Russo not being given the ball and being held back booking-wise in TNA and yet everything to do with TNA.. their matches.. their storylines, their promos, you name it you mention how Russo's doing them as examples. Make sense? No, I didn't think so. You can't have both!

When the shows suck the crowd is dead. especiallly if all you're doing is wrestling - two guys with no story fighting for 20 minutes. Impactzone can be hot if the show is hot

Completely not true. The crowd at the Impactzone is entirely biased and always reacting, even when they shouldn't be. You can't even judge the good or bad of the show based on the crowd, because its basically a fixed crowd. You can judge the good and the bad by the ratings, and thats a very telling sign.

 

[Marty2Hotty]

In essence you do nothing but read the match results, so you probably should take your own advice to King Jake and not judge an entire show and product based on something you haven't seen. I

I dont really watch WWE anymore, but every time I try to watch it I get turned off becasue the matches/promos are SUPER cheesy.

The thing is, I don't even read the WWE spoilers so I don't read the reviews and don't really comment on it. All I know is I did watch the first few years after Russo left the company and there was a SUBSTANTIAL difference in the way the shows were booked. I'm just saying you can't read match results: "angle pins christian" on a show that Russo booked.

Are you telling me CM Punk vs Snitsky had a story? The hilarious thing was when I "watched" raw a few weeks ago, meaning fast forwarding teh show due to 1 minute i play the show it's lame, is i thought kane fought two matches. kane looks exactly the same as this snitsky guy

THe funny thing is I like TNA's roster better than each of WWE's three brands. TNA is just more exciting.

I think Russo has been held back for the most part in TNA, but I think a lot of the shows we are seeing NOW are more his type of show, compared to the stuff we saw a few months ago.

Quote:
When the shows suck the crowd is dead. especiallly if all you're doing is wrestling - two guys with no story fighting for 20 minutes. Impactzone can be hot if the show is hot

Completely not true. The crowd at the Impactzone is entirely biased and always reacting, even when they shouldn't be. You can't even judge the good or bad of the show based on the crowd, because its basically a fixed crowd. You can judge the good and the bad by the ratings, and thats a very telling sign.

I disagree with you. Sometimes, when TNA does a PPV, next night - impact 2 hours, next night 2 hours..

You'll see how little reactio the crowd gives to the wrestlers and somtimes there'd be so little amount of people there

I think the crowd reaction does show (often) how good a show is. I agree the ratings do tell a story... and I really want TNA's ratings to climb. I'm still shocked that WWEis still holding onto 3.4 ratings.. their shows suck in my eyes, but they have lost half the audience that the had when Russo was writing, so i guess it does show something

if the shows were actually really good, i think they'd be still holding onto mid 5-6s..

TNA.. i dont know what is needed. I think they just need to stay the course, let Russo continue his "magic" and one publicity stunt or two (huge ones) will get the masses to try the product and hopefully stay for the long haul if the product is really good

I think TNA has a good product right now and they are slowly growing.. so i guess that tells you something

I just want them at 1.5 at the end of the year with this same direction. There's no other direction taht will get them there, IMO. the've been at the same rating pretty much for a couple of years. wih a little increase every year..

 

[MisterRob]

I dont really watch WWE anymore, but every time I try to watch it I get turned off becasue the matches/promos are SUPER cheesy.

Compared to TNA's? Sharkboy impersonates Stone Cold Steve Austin (pure cheese), Super Eric? (extremey cheesy), Karen Angle and Kurt Angle? (pleease) You're so biased you keep contradicting yourself, such as the fact you fast forward through the shows, and haven't even watched the shows, and yet the matches/promos are "super cheesy". I don't enjoy WWE's product all the time, or even a lot of the time, but come on.

The thing is, I don't even read the WWE spoilers so I don't read the reviews and don't really comment on it. All I know is I did watch the first few years after Russo left the company and there was a SUBSTANTIAL difference in the way the shows were booked. I'm just saying you can't read match results: "angle pins christian" on a show that Russo booked.

This doesn't even make sense. Are you saying all Russo matches have ridiculous run ins or screw jobs so there's no clean victories that would be "someone pins someone".. because you may be right, there.

THe funny thing is I like TNA's roster better than each of WWE's three brands. TNA is just more exciting.

Obviously the greater viewing population doesn't agree.

I think Russo has been held back for the most part in TNA, but I think a lot of the shows we are seeing NOW are more his type of show, compared to the stuff we saw a few months ago.

I think you're assuming without any facts to base your opinions on.

I think the crowd reaction does show (often) how good a show is. I agree the ratings do tell a story... and I really want TNA's ratings to climb. I'm still shocked that WWEis still holding onto 3.4 ratings.. their shows suck in my eyes, but they have lost half the audience that the had when Russo was writing, so i guess it does show something. If the shows were actually really good, i think they'd be still holding onto mid 5-6s..

This is a silly statement because of so many obvious things, but one being that Russo's been in TNA for how long? He hasn't increased the ratings for TNA to an equal decrease of the ratings in WWE, so your comparison is entirely flawed. WWE's ratings decrease was for so many other reasons, one could write a book on it, then Russo's influence. Please. The WWE's landscape has entirely changed, even their direction, from the Attitude era when they were pulling 6's. They also don't have huge, proven stars and draws like the Steve Austin, the Rock, etc that they did back then.

I think TNA has a good product right now and they are slowly growing.. so i guess that tells you something.

Where's this growth?

 

[gg inferno]

Compared to TNA's? Sharkboy impersonates Stone Cold Steve Austin (pure cheese), Super Eric? (extremey cheesy), Karen Angle and Kurt Angle? (pleease) You're so biased you keep contradicting yourself, such as the fact you fast forward through the shows, and haven't even watched the shows, and yet the matches/promos are "super cheesy". I don't enjoy WWE's product all the time, or even a lot of the time, but come on.



This doesn't even make sense. Are you saying all Russo matches have ridiculous run ins or screw jobs so there's no clean victories that would be "someone pins someone".. because you may be right, there.




Obviously the greater viewing population doesn't agree.




I think you're assuming without any facts to base your opinions on.



This is a silly statement because of so many obvious things, but one being that Russo's been in TNA for how long? He hasn't increased the ratings for TNA to an equal decrease of the ratings in WWE, so your comparison is entirely flawed. WWE's ratings decrease was for so many other reasons, one could write a book on it, then Russo's influence. Please. The WWE's landscape has entirely changed, even their direction, from the Attitude era when they were pulling 6's. They also don't have huge, proven stars and draws like the Steve Austin, the Rock, etc that they did back then.




Where's this growth?

there's considerable growth. the video game is coming out in september, and it seems like every other tv there's a photo shoot for a new product. not to mention the expanding overseas markets.

 

[Marty2Hotty]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Marty2Hotty
I dont really watch WWE anymore, but every time I try to watch it I get turned off becasue the matches/promos are SUPER cheesy.

Compared to TNA's? Sharkboy impersonates Stone Cold Steve Austin (pure cheese), Super Eric? (extremey cheesy), Karen Angle and Kurt Angle? (pleease) You're so biased you keep contradicting yourself, such as the fact you fast forward through the shows, and haven't even watched the shows, and yet the matches/promos are "super cheesy". I don't enjoy WWE's product all the time, or even a lot of the time, but come on.

Well, that's your opinion of "cheesy". You can do things over the top and do it well/funny. I personaly find shark boy hilarious: "you need somethign catchy like Gimme a shell yeah". Super Eric fits Eric Young. The idea of this guy not being afraid of the pyro, the goofy looking outfit, and him not being EY - it fits his character. I want to see what happens to his character. The line "We come in piece, they leave in pieces". Curry Man, played by Daniels, is just hilarious. "They come in pisses". "It's pieces not pisses" - shark boy

I just love these guys interacting. To me it'sf unny

Kurt/Karen are done well... and I like "how" it's done. WWE can't do good comedy, good dialogue good matches.. in my eyes. The stuff the wrestlers in WWE say to each other is just so lame. If McMahon is backstage talking to HHH, it comes off as corny, and nothing amounts to it, and they take too long to get something simple across

The sb/curry man/ey segment was short and had so much comedy value on it.. WWE just can't do anything like that.. something like that, they can't even pull off...

I want these guys to have a more prominent role though..

Quote:
The thing is, I don't even read the WWE spoilers so I don't read the reviews and don't really comment on it. All I know is I did watch the first few years after Russo left the company and there was a SUBSTANTIAL difference in the way the shows were booked. I'm just saying you can't read match results: "angle pins christian" on a show that Russo booked.

This doesn't even make sense. Are you saying all Russo matches have ridiculous run ins or screw jobs so there's no clean victories that would be "someone pins someone".. because you may be right, there.

There may be run-ins... I think the best thing to summarize how Russo books vs "reading the results" is just watch Slamboree 2000. Hulk Hogan vs Kidman with Bischoff as referee AND Arquette vs Jarrett vs DDP. Results would read: "Hogan wins" and "Jarrett wins". But watch what actually happens and what happens at the end, and how the crowd reacts. I don't have to explain any further. Watch those two matches and then you'll know the way Russo books is much more than wrestler a pins wrestler b

Quote:
THe funny thing is I like TNA's roster better than each of WWE's three brands. TNA is just more exciting.

Obviously the greater viewing population doesn't agree.

That is true, but I hope it changes in the long run. Back then, i liked wwf atttiude over WCW.. and wcw killed wwf i the ratings.. but not for long

Quote:
I think Russo has been held back for the most part in TNA, but I think a lot of the shows we are seeing NOW are more his type of show, compared to the stuff we saw a few months ago.

I think you're assuming without any facts to base your opinions on.

This is funny. I brought this up on another board. Can you tell the difference between Russo's booking and WWE now's booking. If you can't, you're not "smart" enough to understand the business. I find it hilarious that the experts aka metlzer/keller like to give star ratings to matches, but they're not smart enough to easily realize the 'little touches' a Russo can bring to the table...

Anyways, reports (like they mean too much) indicate that Russo is gettin gmore praise backstage at TNA. Not sure for how long but I hope for at least a year - so that we can see growth

Quote:
I think the crowd reaction does show (often) how good a show is. I agree the ratings do tell a story... and I really want TNA's ratings to climb. I'm still shocked that WWEis still holding onto 3.4 ratings.. their shows suck in my eyes, but they have lost half the audience that the had when Russo was writing, so i guess it does show something. If the shows were actually really good, i think they'd be still holding onto mid 5-6s..

This is a silly statement because of so many obvious things, but one being that Russo's been in TNA for how long? He hasn't increased the ratings for TNA to an equal decrease of the ratings in WWE, so your comparison is entirely flawed. WWE's ratings decrease was for so many other reasons, one could write a book on it, then Russo's influence. Please. The WWE's landscape has entirely changed, even their direction, from the Attitude era when they were pulling 6's. They also don't have huge, proven stars and draws like the Steve Austin, the Rock, etc that they did back then.

Russo hasn't booked 2 straight years like he did in the WWF. He's been "there", but the direction kinda changes every few months. You haven't noticed? Obviously the shows have not been his vision for the past 2 years..

He has increased the rating to 1.2 a few times.. for a direction that typifies Russo. but he wasn't given a longer period of time to make it go up more.. I think the IWC has a lot of clout because TNA likes to read the "instant feedback" they get online. I think the IWC gives an flawed opinion of the show and gives a negative influence on the guys in charge.

Gilbertti can tell you that. He even mentioend in during an interview.. I think he was referring to that chris schultz guy's column...

The stars argument you are using on Rock/Austin is also flawed. Russo booked these guys every single damn week to get the fans cheering like hell. WWE is "attempting" to create stars by themselves without Russo and they suck at it. Look at the reaction a CM Punk/JBL gets.. NO reaction whatsoever. Yes, I watched their entrances like 4 weeks ago when i taped one Raw. The fans are not into the shows. There are barely any signs relevant to the actual content on the show bcause the fans aren't really interested.

The raitngs are down because the shows suck. the 3.4 audience is the core that shows that wwe is i guess "decent" enough in their childish writing, great production, wrestling-oriented stories and lackluster entertainment to hold onto that number.. the core. that number hasn't changed in years.. in fact it has went down a little bit every year

The reason Rock/Austin "drew" is because the writing AND performances of them were so damn good on a week to week basis. There's no writing to bring out the great performances of the talent WWE has there

Quote:
I think TNA has a good product right now and they are slowly growing.. so i guess that tells you something.

Where's this growth?

House shows every month, PPVs outside Orlando, making an actual profit (they weren't before), distribution of DVDs nation wide, Spike TV's assistance in exposing the product to more viewers. Hitting 1.2 three times in January (which I hope they'll get to again due to this current direction), a video game coming out, successful tours in UK and states around the US. They're slowly but surely growing and I want and expect them to continue

- what glenn said

Hey Glenn.. what are your favourite characters, stories, moments over the past few weeks on TNA (if you have been watching)?

 

[MisterRob]

Kurt/Karen are done well... and I like "how" it's done. WWE can't do good comedy, good dialogue good matches.. in my eyes. The stuff the wrestlers in WWE say to each other is just so lame. If McMahon is backstage talking to HHH, it comes off as corny, and nothing amounts to it, and they take too long to get something simple across

You don't watch WWE! I really think you should stop making opinions and judging what the WWE does when you don't even watch it..lol Watching it once a year, fast forwarding through everything, or watching it for a minute and then turning it off does in no way allow you to be able to be honestly make any statement about WWE not being able to do comedy, or what their dialogues like, or anything else. The quality of WWE, in every possible way, by far exceeds TNA and that certainly goes for promos and backstage segments. And I can make that opinion because I've watched both regularly. Where your opinions ring hollow.

There may be run-ins... I think the best thing to summarize how Russo books vs "reading the results" is just watch Slamboree 2000. Hulk Hogan vs Kidman with Bischoff as referee AND Arquette vs Jarrett vs DDP. Results would read: "Hogan wins" and "Jarrett wins". But watch what actually happens and what happens at the end, and how the crowd reacts. I don't have to explain any further. Watch those two matches and then you'll know the way Russo books is much more than wrestler a pins wrestler b.

Those are your best examples of a Russo match? I don't think I have to even say anything, they speak for themselves. Horrible.

Russo hasn't booked 2 straight years like he did in the WWF. He's been "there", but the direction kinda changes every few months. You haven't noticed? Obviously the shows have not been his vision for the past 2 years..
He has increased the rating to 1.2 a few times.. for a direction that typifies Russo. but he wasn't given a longer period of time to make it go up more.. I think the IWC has a lot of clout because TNA likes to read the "instant feedback" they get online. I think the IWC gives an flawed opinion of the show and gives a negative influence on the guys in charge.

Nope, I haven't noticed at all. You're just making excuses for him and TNA. If you're going to use .1 as some proof that they've been and are going in the right direction you've really got a skewered sense of perspective. I find it funny how everything good about TNA you're giving credit to Russo, and yet he hasn't been given control and others are booking and making the decisions, so wouldn't they get the credit?

The stars argument you are using on Rock/Austin is also flawed. Russo booked these guys every single damn week to get the fans cheering like hell. WWE is "attempting" to create stars by themselves without Russo and they suck at it. Look at the reaction a CM Punk/JBL gets.. NO reaction whatsoever. Yes, I watched their entrances like 4 weeks ago when i taped one Raw. The fans are not into the shows. There are barely any signs relevant to the actual content on the show bcause the fans aren't really interested.

Was Russo behind Steve Austin in ECW when he showed the entire wrestling business what kind of a star he could be and what kind of promos he could give? Far better then ANYTHING Russo could ever have written for him.

And I really find it hard to believe you watched anyone's entrance when you claim CM Punk and JBL get NO reaction. You must be deaf and you must be blind. If the fans weren't into the WWE shows then how would they sell out in every single city and arena they go to? How would they be doing 3.4 ratings? How would SmackDown have been the highest rated show (by three times as much as the next show beneath them) on their former network? Your arguments make no sense. You know how you tell the fans aren't into the shows? When the ratings fluctuate a few points here and there but never improves in YEARS. That's TNA not WWE.

The raitngs are down because the shows suck. the 3.4 audience is the core that shows that wwe is i guess "decent" enough in their childish writing, great production, wrestling-oriented stories and lackluster entertainment to hold onto that number.. the core. that number hasn't changed in years.. in fact it has went down a little bit every year.

And TNA hasn't improved their core audience at all! If WWE's shows truly sucked and everything you claimed they wouldn't be getting 3.4's which is a very good rating for ANY show. If TNA's shows were so good they wouldn't be in the 1's.

 

[Marty2Hotty]

MIsterRob, if you want me to tape Raw on Monday, and watch the entire show full 1.5 hours (excluding commercials), I'll do it and give my unbiased opinion on the show. I really doubt it'll make me go "HOLY SHIT WWE RAW IS AWESOME".

From what I have seen on all three brands, they have nothing that compares to what TNA has done (at their best). The only thing WWE has that surpasses TNA is the larger venues, more people sitting in the crowds and production values, and obviously the rating. That is it. Talent-wise, TNA blows them out the water. Same with writing, comedy, matches/action, dialogue.

Those are your best examples of a Russo match? I don't think I have to even say anything, they speak for themselves. Horrible.

Those aren't my best examples of a Russo match because he has written the entire WWF Attitude era. You can watch those Raws. I just used those as examples of what goes on during the matches. Your opinion of them being horrible is your opinion only. If you watch how much the fans were into it, they weren't dead like the crowds you see on Raw.

Nope, I haven't noticed at all. You're just making excuses for him and TNA. If you're going to use .1 as some proof that they've been and are going in the right direction you've really got a skewered sense of perspective. I find it funny how everything good about TNA you're giving credit to Russo, and yet he hasn't been given control and others are booking and making the decisions, so wouldn't they get the credit?

You don't get it that's why. If you can't tell the difference froM Russo's writing in the WWF to the SECOND he left - the time when they made Hunter and Stephanie "book" matches in late 99.. then you don't understand how Russo writes.. and just read off the meltzer opinions on how many "poles on matches" he books and how he killed wcw by putting the belt on Arquette..

Even Glenn said that when teh segments are colourful (see Shark Boy segments or even Thanksgiving) it's obviously Russo's work.

And I really find it hard to believe you watched anyone's entrance when you claim CM Punk and JBL get NO reaction. You must be deaf and you must be blind.

JBL gets nothing. if there's any reaction, i can barely hear it. they dont sell out any arenas anymore wit the exception of wrestlemania

 

[MisterRob]

MIsterRob, if you want me to tape Raw on Monday, and watch the entire show full 1.5 hours (excluding commercials), I'll do it and give my unbiased opinion on the show. I really doubt it'll make me go "HOLY SHIT WWE RAW IS AWESOME".

I wouldn't ever believe your review anyway as I don't trust you could ever be unbiased at all.

From what I have seen on all three brands, they have nothing that compares to what TNA has done (at their best).

This is the most ridiculous statement I've heard in years on any board and just proves my own statement above to be true.

The only thing WWE has that surpasses TNA is the larger venues, more people sitting in the crowds and production values, and obviously the rating. That is it. Talent-wise, TNA blows them out the water. Same with writing, comedy, matches/action, dialogue.

You're dreaming. Another thing WWE has over TNA is star power. You cannot compare the main event roster in the WWE like John Cena, Undertaker, Edge, Batista, Triple H, Randy Orton, Jeff Hardy, and the list goes on.. with the main event roster of TNA and claim they have bigger, better stars when you look at the wrestling busines itself. TNA has WWE rejects in Kurt Angle, and Booker T who by know means draw even close to the same as the top guys in WWE and the RATINGS prove it. The fan base proves it. Then you have Christian who was nothing but a mid card performer in the WWE and is by no means seen in the wrestling business as a huge star. Then you have the rest of the top stars; Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, and who else? Sting's past his prime and done. That list doesn't compete with WWE for star power in any way. The only thing TNA has that could ever be seen as "better" then WWE in any possible way is the actual wrestling that happens in the ring, and even that is opinion as the two have completely different styles in how they do wrestling and put together matches.

You don't get it that's why. If you can't tell the difference from Russo's writing in the WWF to the SECOND he left - the time when they made Hunter and Stephanie "book" matches in late 99.. then you don't understand how Russo writes.. and just read off the meltzer opinions on how many "poles on matches" he books and how he killed wcw by putting the belt on Arquette..

I can tell the difference between Russo's writing, I don't think you can. You're giving credit to Russo where you don't even have fact to back up that he actually deserves the credit because you're only guessing he's behind it with no knowledge behind the scenes or any other way of knowing what he wrote and what he didn't. Assumptions don't add upto fact. If you want to see true Russo writing then all you have to look at is WCWthe only example of him being let free all on his own (which he has never been in WWF or TNA) and everything you praise Russo for in TNA are exactly the things that were horrible in WCW as the product was pure crap under Russo in WCW. Crash tv, constant title switches, constant shoot promos that people hated, storylines that made no sense, convoluted matches with run ins and everything else in the book that failed miserably. Its as simple as that.. without people guiding Russo's creativity and writing ability and keeping him balanced he's got nothing.

They dont sell out any arenas anymore wit the exception of wrestlemania

I like how you ignore the actual points that prove you wrong and try to twist the facts into some obscure way of making your biased opinion seem true, when it clearly doesn't add up. Go look at actual numbers, show them here, and then come back and repeat that claim of yours. The WWE's numbers are as good as any other sports franchise around; they have a huge fan base.

 

[Marty2Hotty]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Marty2Hotty
MIsterRob, if you want me to tape Raw on Monday, and watch the entire show full 1.5 hours (excluding commercials), I'll do it and give my unbiased opinion on the show. I really doubt it'll make me go "HOLY SHIT WWE RAW IS AWESOME".

I wouldn't ever believe your review anyway as I don't trust you could ever be unbiased at all.

So it doesn't matter then. What do I have to lie about? I actually looked forward to watching Raw a month ago because I hadn't seen it in so long, but the stuff was so bad. LIke HBK/Jericho were talking to each other like children. I just couldn't sit through any of it. It hasn't changed at all. Even Jericho's re-debut (which someone told me to watch on youtube) was atrocious

Quote:
From what I have seen on all three brands, they have nothing that compares to what TNA has done (at their best).

This is the most ridiculous statement I've heard in years on any board and just proves my own statement above to be true.

Okay... I don't have a great knowledge about WWE today. But i'll try to "run-down" each roster for you and you can tell me whether you think its ridiculous.

WWE Raw: Cena, JBL, CM Punk, Batista, Kane, Snitsky, Santino?, Kingston?, HBK, Jericho
WWE SD: Triple H, Undertaker, Edge, Chavo, i think that's about it, Hardy Boys?
ECW: Mark Henry, jobbers, jobbers

I dont watch enough to know anymore, but if that's the entire roster, that's pretty damn pathetic.

TNA:: Kurt Angle, Karen Angle, Christian, Rhino, Dudleys, VKM, Kaz, Kevin Nash, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Booker T, Tomko, Matt Morgan, Abyss, MMG, Super Eric/Shark Boy/Curry Man, Machismo/Dutt, Petey Williams, Scott Steiner, Sting, Beer Money, all knockouts: Velvet/Angelina, Gail Kim, Christy Hemme, etc.

To me, that's just a much more exciting/entertaining roster TNA has.. Look how pathetic WWE's roster is compared to TNA (although a lot of TNA is recognizable names)

Tell me how WWE has a better roster and I'll debate you on it

Quote:
You don't get it that's why. If you can't tell the difference from Russo's writing in the WWF to the SECOND he left - the time when they made Hunter and Stephanie "book" matches in late 99.. then you don't understand how Russo writes.. and just read off the meltzer opinions on how many "poles on matches" he books and how he killed wcw by putting the belt on Arquette..

I can tell the difference between Russo's writing, I don't think you can. You're giving credit to Russo where you don't even have fact to back up that he actually deserves the credit because you're only guessing he's behind it with no knowledge behind the scenes or any other way of knowing what he wrote and what he didn't. Assumptions don't add upto fact. If you want to see true Russo writing then all you have to look at is WCWthe only example of him being let free all on his own (which he has never been in WWF or TNA) and everything you praise Russo for in TNA are exactly the things that were horrible in WCW as the product was pure crap under Russo in WCW. Crash tv, constant title switches, constant shoot promos that people hated, storylines that made no sense, convoluted matches with run ins and everything else in the book that failed miserably. Its as simple as that.. without people guiding Russo's creativity and writing ability and keeping him balanced he's got nothing.

Your entire paragraph shows why you DONT know how Russo writes... You want to use WCW as his only example, yet you won't use his WWF run where he wrote for 2/1/2 years as an example? buddy, the shows instantly went down as SOON as he left the company. If you can't see that, then you DONT know how Russo writes, and you're just following meltzer and saying he killed wcw with his writing. great job for believing everythign wresstlecrap/meltzer says...

watch his wwf run, then watch teh three shows immediately after he and ed left. Tell me if you see the difference, if you dont, you dont get it and i feel sorry for you. I challenge meltzer/keller to do the same. If they can't tell the difference between HIS writing and the shows after AS SOON as he left, then they dont know shit.

I'm not talking about ratings because we all know what he did.. i'm talking about the actual way the shows are booked.

Quote:
They dont sell out any arenas anymore wit the exception of wrestlemania

I like how you ignore the actual points that prove you wrong and try to twist the facts into some obscure way of making your biased opinion seem true, when it clearly doesn't add up. Go look at actual numbers, show them here, and then come back and repeat that claim of yours. The WWE's numbers are as good as any other sports franchise around; they have a huge fan base.

Raw ratings for 1999:

1999

Date Rating
January 4, 1999 5.7
January 11, 1999 5.5
January 18, 1999 5.6
January 25, 1999 5.5
February 1, 1999 5.9
February 8, 1999 Not On
February 15, 1999 5.9
February 22, 1999 5.5
February 29, 1999 6.3
March 8, 1999 6.4
March 15, 1999 5.8
March 22, 1999 6.4
March 29, 1999 6.5
April 5, 1999 5.8
April 12, 1999 6.3
April 19, 1999 6.1
April 26, 1999 6.0
May 3, 1999 6.4
May 10, 1999 8.1
May 17, 1999 6.4
May 24, 1999 7.2
June 7, 1999 6.7
June 14, 1999 6.7
June 21, 1999 6.0
June 28, 1999 6.8
July 5, 1999 6.2
July 12, 1999 5.97
July 19, 1999 6.3
July 26, 1999 7.1
August 2, 1999 5.9
August 9, 1999 6.4
August 16, 1999 6.6
August 23, 1999 5.9
August 30, 1999 4.2
September 6, 1999 4.4
September 13, 1999 6.0
September 20, 1999 6.1
September 27, 1999 6.8

Raw ratings for 2008:

Date Rating
January 7, 2008 3.2
January 14, 2008 3.6
January 21, 2008 3.5
January 28, 2008 3.9
February 4, 2008 3.6
February 11, 2008 3.4
February 18, 2008 4.0
February 25, 2008 3.5
March 3, 2008 3.5
March 10, 2008 3.6
March 17, 2008 3.6
March 24, 2008 3.42
March 31, 2008 3.9
April 7, 2008 3.3
April 14, 2008 3.2
April 21, 2008 3.0
April 28, 2008 3.3
May 5, 2008 3.2
May 12, 2008 3.3
May 19, 2008 3.2
May 26, 2008 3.1
June 2, 2008 3.1
June 9, 2008 3.0

I dont have the exact numbers of the attendacne, because i dont know what you want. you want information on each show being a sell out or not.. i can't find that information, but i do know i have read reports that wwe can't sell out raws like they used to.

 

[MisterRob]

WWE Raw: Cena, JBL, CM Punk, Batista, Kane, Snitsky, Santino?, Kingston?, HBK, Jericho
WWE SD: Triple H, Undertaker, Edge, Chavo, i think that's about it, Hardy Boys?
ECW: Mark Henry, jobbers, jobbers

I dont watch enough to know anymore, but if that's the entire roster, that's pretty damn pathetic.

TNA:: Kurt Angle, Karen Angle, Christian, Rhino, Dudleys, VKM, Kaz, Kevin Nash, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Booker T, Tomko, Matt Morgan, Abyss, MMG, Super Eric/Shark Boy/Curry Man, Machismo/Dutt, Petey Williams, Scott Steiner, Sting, Beer Money, all knockouts: Velvet/Angelina, Gail Kim, Christy Hemme, etc.

To me, that's just a much more exciting/entertaining roster TNA has.. Look how pathetic WWE's roster is compared to TNA (although a lot of TNA is recognizable names)

Tell me how WWE has a better roster and I'll debate you on it

Your logic is so entirely flawed it's amusing. First of all WWE is an entity, the three brands aren't separate companies. The three brands are one company, and that means all three brands combined are one ROSTER. To compare TNA's roster to WWE's roster you have to compare WWE as a whole to them and their entire roster kills TNA. Secondly, your three rosters don't even make sense and aren't even full rosters.

WWE Raw: John Cena, Kane, CM Punk, JBL, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, Batista, Randy Orton, Kofi Kingston, Ted Dibiase Jr, Cody Rhodes, Cryme Tyme, Mickie James, Beth Phoenix, Santino, Rey Mysterio to name some.

Note - the top tier of the roster on RAW blows TNA's top tier away. The mid-card talent on RAW with some great young and up coming talent is just as good as any of TNA's mid card talent.

WWE SD: Triple H, Edge, Undertaker, Big Show, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy (he seems to be on the show enough), MVP, Carlito, the Great Khali, Shelton Benjamin, Umaga, to name some.

Note - Once again the top tier of the roster is far better then TNA's and with Shelton Benjamin, Brian Kendrick now getting a push, Ron Killings debuting, their mid card is just as talented and interesting as anything TNA's mid card offers.

I'll give you ECW by itself, but comparing ECW's roster to TNA's roster isn't even a valid argument or comparison. ECW isn't the main roster, its basically their C show and feeder for the WWE rosters AS A WHOLE. And even with that said, even with ECW having a nothing roster compared to TNA.. even with ECW having HALF the size of TNA's roster.. they're still beating TNA in the ratings. That alone proves any point I'd need to ever make.

Your entire paragraph shows why you DONT know how Russo writes... You want to use WCW as his only example, yet you won't use his WWF run where he wrote for 2/1/2 years as an example? buddy, the shows instantly went down as SOON as he left the company. If you can't see that, then you DONT know how Russo writes, and you're just following meltzer and saying he killed wcw with his writing. great job for believing everythign wresstlecrap/meltzer says...

watch his wwf run, then watch teh three shows immediately after he and ed left. Tell me if you see the difference, if you dont, you dont get it and i feel sorry for you. I challenge meltzer/keller to do the same. If they can't tell the difference between HIS writing and the shows after AS SOON as he left, then they dont know shit.

This shows how little you, the Russo mark, know about what you're trying to argue. WWF's ratings did NOT drop immediately after Russo left. It took a YEAR after he left to begin to drop significantly. I've always watched WWF, from Russo writing to after he left, and the only reason the ratings have dropped so significantly from the Attitude era is because the Monday Night Wars ended, WCW eventually folded and there was no competition or excitment as there was during the Attitude era, and slowly Austin left.. the Rock followed.. and so on and so on and so on. You claiming Russo was THE reason for the success of the WWF during that time and THE reason for its decline up until now is so ridiculous I don't even have to explain any further.

I dont have the exact numbers of the attendacne, because i dont know what you want. you want information on each show being a sell out or not.. i can't find that information, but i do know i have read reports that wwe can't sell out raws like they used to.

Then you shouldn't make statements about attendance you can't back up.

 

[Marty2Hotty]

I bet you someone can find the attendance numbers. I read it on many reports when I was reading reports on how wwe was doing that all numbers were down.

I watched a bit of Raw. Jericho was with a guy that wasn't over. Mickie James beats a girl to no reaction and some woman with a fake brit accent started a "i hate you" promo. Very cheesy. Dibiase/Rhodes the tag champs get ZERO reaction from the fans. They punched out Michael Cole for the win.

That's about all I managed to get through, with the exception of a LONG package on Edge/Vickie Guerrero which just screams "this is cheesy". There are ways to do angles like that and do them in an entertainining manner.. and there are ways to do it like WWE. Russo is the king of writing sports entertainment... WWE is not

Your logic is so entirely flawed it's amusing. First of all WWE is an entity, the three brands aren't separate companies. The three brands are one company, and that means all three brands combined are one ROSTER. To compare TNA's roster to WWE's roster you have to compare WWE as a whole to them and their entire roster kills TNA. Secondly, your three rosters don't even make sense and aren't even full rosters.

They're three separate shows. Combine all three rosters and they still don't hold up with TNA's roster in my eyes

WWE Raw: John Cena, Kane, CM Punk, JBL, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, Batista, Randy Orton, Kofi Kingston, Ted Dibiase Jr, Cody Rhodes, Cryme Tyme, Mickie James, Beth Phoenix, Santino, Rey Mysterio to name some.

Note - the top tier of the roster on RAW blows TNA's top tier away. The mid-card talent on RAW with some great young and up coming talent is just as good as any of TNA's mid card talent.

Your little additions to the Raw roster don't do the show justice. in my eyes, TNA wins.

Are you kidding me? The top tier blows TNA away? Cena is good and was funny but so is Christian and AJ (when he was). Kane is a goof that is doing an outdated Russo gimmick and they can't even pull it off 10 years later. he has no mask and looks like that snitsky guy. CM Punk = Jobber with no reaction. JBL: bradshaw with ZERO reaction. HBK/Jericho: not as cool as they were back in the day and used terribly.

Does not come even close to blowing TNA's roster away. The only guy that's new since Russo left was Cena.. and he's been there for a while. I find TNA's roster way more entertaining: Booker T, Kurt Angle, Sting, Nash, AJ, Joe, Christian, Rhino, Dudleys, Shark Boy/Curry Man, Lethal/Dutt, Knockouts - these guys are more entertaining to watch.

Keep in mind that both our discussion are our opinions only

WWE SD: Triple H, Edge, Undertaker, Big Show, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy (he seems to be on the show enough), MVP, Carlito, the Great Khali, Shelton Benjamin, Umaga, to name some.

Note - Once again the top tier of the roster is far better then TNA's and with Shelton Benjamin, Brian Kendrick now getting a push, Ron Killings debuting, their mid card is just as talented and interesting as anything TNA's mid card offers.

I haven't seen Ron debut. Tell me when he 'redebuts'

HHH, Hardys, Undertaker, Big Show, Edge = all Russo characters, except Big Show and UT who were there elsewhere or veterans. These are big names, but the usage of these guys just leave me no interest in watching the show. I've tried... I prefer TNA's roster again... they just have more enjoyable characters and talent.. stars and young/upcomingstars

As for ECW. i dont care.. i probably dont know anyone there except Mark Henry and big daddy v... but you can combine all three brands, and i'd prefer TNA..

This shows how little you, the Russo mark, know about what you're trying to argue. WWF's ratings did NOT drop immediately after Russo left. It took a YEAR after he left to begin to drop significantly.

Ratings won't drop halfway in one year... it takes time. the one year statement was even confirmed by Russo. He told McMahon that they had one year to continue having high ratings/success before it drops

I've always watched WWF, from Russo writing to after he left, and the only reason the ratings have dropped so significantly from the Attitude era is because the Monday Night Wars ended

This confirms how clueless you are. You can't even tell the Russo writing from when he wrote for 2 years and the time after he left. There's nothing more to say. If you, meltzer, or keller can't tell the difference, you guys don't get it or understand the way a wrestling show is written.

To go back on talking about TNA and this week's ratings:

TNA Impact scored a 1.11 cable rating on 7/24, a 0.83 in M18-49, a 0.58 in P18-49, a 0.71 in M18-34, and an average audience of 1.5 million viewers. The show did quarter hours of 1.11, 1.04, 1.05, 1.06, 1.14, 1.19, 1.11, and 1.17.

Quarterlys, Demos are up - to please the net who keeps dissecting this rating.

1.11 is a huge jump from .89

 

[Just-Dun Biased]

I quite enjoyed last weeks iMPACT! I thought all the matches were given good time and some decent angle advancement. With that being said, the Sonjay/Val skit was dire. Also i found the Curry Man/Shark Boy/Super Eric angle funny. If they can contain the silliness to one segment like that, then it can be quite amusing. Imo, they better be careful with Taylor or the fans could start to turn on her.

 

[MisterRob]

I watched a bit of Raw. Jericho was with a guy that wasn't over. Mickie James beats a girl to no reaction and some woman with a fake brit accent started a "i hate you" promo. Very cheesy. Dibiase/Rhodes the tag champs get ZERO reaction from the fans. They punched out Michael Cole for the win.

That's about all I managed to get through, with the exception of a LONG package on Edge/Vickie Guerrero which just screams "this is cheesy". There are ways to do angles like that and do them in an entertainining manner.. and there are ways to do it like WWE. Russo is the king of writing sports entertainment... WWE is not.

As I said before, any review you give is certainly not true to the WWE product or what actually happened on the show as you are the most biased person I've seen on the boards. How you could possibly say Mickie James's match got no reaction baffles the hell out of me.. the match was quite good and Jillian Hall looked impressive with a ton of moves that put the TNA Knockouts to shame. Then when the woman "with the fake brit accent" attacked Mickie James there was quite a reaction, and she didn't say anything at all about "I hate you" in her promo. This proves that if you're watching something you obviously drift out to your own imaginary world and make up what happens while its happening. You keep claiming everyone gets no reaction, I think you should turn your television off mute.

They're three separate shows. Combine all three rosters and they still don't hold up with TNA's roster in my eyes

You're blind.

The only guy that's new since Russo left was Cena.. and he's been there for a while. I find TNA's roster way more entertaining: Booker T, Kurt Angle, Sting, Nash, AJ, Joe, Christian, Rhino, Dudleys, Shark Boy/Curry Man, Lethal/Dutt, Knockouts - these guys are more entertaining to watch.

Huh? Cena's the only guy that's new since Russo left? What the hell product are you NOT watching? Randy Orton, Batista, CM Punk, Cena, and I could go on and on..

TNA's top tier of stars is far WORSE for being nothing NEW, so your argument is done. I've seen them for ages in the WWF and WCW; Kurt Angle, Booker T, Sting, Kevin Nash, Christian, Team 3D, Rhino. This proves that you actually enjoy WWE quite a bit as this roster of stars (minus the forgettable Sting) is a WWE roster. The only TNA born talent that's anywhere near the top tier of TNA is Samoa Joe and AJ Styles.. wow.

Keep in mind that both our discussion are our opinions only

Yes, and your opinion is clouded by man love for Russo.

HHH, Hardys, Undertaker, Big Show, Edge = all Russo characters, except Big Show and UT who were there elsewhere or veterans. These are big names, but the usage of these guys just leave me no interest in watching the show. I've tried... I prefer TNA's roster again... they just have more enjoyable characters and talent.. stars and young/upcomingstars

This is another case of your flawed logic and views. Triple H is NOTHING like the character he was back in the Attitude era, and he gets far bigger a reaction then ANYONE in TNA. The Hardys are nothing like the TAG TEAM they were during the attitude era and you can watch those old shows and matches and see, without any possible doubt, the huge evolution both Matt and Jeff have taken separately. And they're both far bigger then Russo ever made them. Undertaker is not a Russo creation, he was there long before Russo came as he'll be there long before Russo was gone, so stop giving crazy credit to Russo for things that he doesn't deserve at all. Much like Edge who is nothing at all like the character he was in the attitude era; he's so completely different and the best heel in the business now. All of those talents blow TNA's top guys away and the ratings prove it.

Ratings won't drop halfway in one year... it takes time. the one year statement was even confirmed by Russo. He told McMahon that they had one year to continue having high ratings/success before it drops

Yes, yes.. once again you know Russo personally. You were there behind the scenes during conversations with Russo and McMahon. I'm impressed by your insider knowledge, really. I'm also impressed by Russo's claim to predicting the future.

This confirms how clueless you are. You can't even tell the Russo writing from when he wrote for 2 years and the time after he left. There's nothing more to say. If you, meltzer, or keller can't tell the difference, you guys don't get it or understand the way a wrestling show is written.

I don't read or listen to anything Meltzer or Keller says and I know nothing about either so I can't speak on that topic. The important thing isn't whether I can tell what Russo is writing and what he's not, it's that if Russo's writing for TNA right now, the ratings show no one's impressed. And if you're going to come back with the same routine you've done nine times over the past few days, I'll pass.

Quarterlys, Demos are up - to please the net who keeps dissecting this rating.

1.11 is a huge jump from .89

No, 1.5 or 2.0 is a huge jump from .89 some three years ago. 1.11 is not a huge jump from .89 over the span of three years. I really don't see how you're arguing a 1.11 rating when its been that for YEARS.. its not like it just jumped to 1.11 for the first time ever. And that is all I have to say about that.

 

[Marty2Hotty]

MisterRob.. I have priased WWE in the past. I think in late 2002 where Heyman was writing. I liked some of the stuff he did. It's not close to Russo's calibur but they were watchable. I think I praised WWE"s first 3 hour show in 2005 where AUstin stunned all McMahons. But in all honesty, the WWE's product now is just atrocious. My brother said WWE is just much slower and TNA is just more entertaining/fun to watch

He said something funny. He was like "I don't htink fans watch WWE fully, they probably leave the TV on and do something else" I was laughing because I was like that doesn't really make sense, but i do believe that people may watch it because they have nothing else better to do , because the showsaren't great and you need to have a pretty low IQ to watch WWE IMO

Okay, that brit accent girl.. i didn't see what happened,. My brother left the TV on, i was doig something else. Mickie James won the match to no reaction and then when I came back they were doing a 3 minute replay on this new girl attackig her. After the replay, they spent 1 minute on her looking at Mickie James. My brother was like "why aren't they cutting away?" lol.. it's just so long,tedious, boring, and "I've seen that before". Russo just doesn't write that way that makes you bored, insulted. He makes wrestling enjoyable for the masses

Quote:
They're three separate shows. Combine all three rosters and they still don't hold up with TNA's roster in my eyes

You're blind.

I'm not allowed to have an opinion different than yours? I htink TNA's roster is just more exciting to watch and they have acquired a lot of recognizable names to complement their young talent.

Huh? Cena's the only guy that's new since Russo left? What the hell product are you NOT watching? Randy Orton, Batista, CM Punk, Cena, and I could go on and on..

Cena was over. I think Batista is a dork and shoved down our throats like Brock Lesnar, but he's nowhere near "over" like a Rock/Austin. CM Punk gets no reaction. Orton was over i think but he doesn't get much of a reaction either. the reactions to their wrestlers now are just so minute that it's not even funny anymore.. Compare WWE"s biggest stars in 2008 with the mid carders that Russo wrote in attitude and you'll see a huge diffference.. the reactions i mean

TNA's top tier of stars is far WORSE for being nothing NEW, so your argument is done. I've seen them for ages in the WWF and WCW; Kurt Angle, Booker T, Sting, Kevin Nash, Christian, Team 3D, Rhino. This proves that you actually enjoy WWE quite a bit as this roster of stars (minus the forgettable Sting) is a WWE roster. The only TNA born talent that's anywhere near the top tier of TNA is Samoa Joe and AJ Styles.. wow.

That's your opinion. I've seen HHH, Michaels, and Jericho for ages... I've seen Undertaker, JBL for ages.. I've seen Hardy's for ages.. what's your point here. I do like seeing big stars in TNA used well - key note here. You can have all the stars. Hell, you can put the TNA roster booked by WWE now and I wouldn't like them because they'd be used poorly

I remmeber seeing Paul London formerly on TNA< and he was on Raw on the one i watched. ZERO reaction. Nobody gave a flying fuck .

TNA stars: you're kinda forgetting Abyss. and they are pushing a lot of the guys like Kaz, Beer Money, and giving roles to people who previously never had roles. I think the shows should get better in the upcomin weeks and hopefully upcoming months, because i want them at 1.5 by the end of the year with this direction (which they can EASILY do, IMO)

Quote:
HHH, Hardys, Undertaker, Big Show, Edge = all Russo characters, except Big Show and UT who were there elsewhere or veterans. These are big names, but the usage of these guys just leave me no interest in watching the show. I've tried... I prefer TNA's roster again... they just have more enjoyable characters and talent.. stars and young/upcomingstars

This is another case of your flawed logic and views. Triple H is NOTHING like the character he was back in the Attitude era, and he gets far bigger a reaction then ANYONE in TNA. The Hardys are nothing like the TAG TEAM they were during the attitude era and you can watch those old shows and matches and see, without any possible doubt, the huge evolution both Matt and Jeff have taken separately. And they're both far bigger then Russo ever made them. Undertaker is not a Russo creation, he was there long before Russo came as he'll be there long before Russo was gone, so stop giving crazy credit to Russo for things that he doesn't deserve at all. Much like Edge who is nothing at all like the character he was in the attitude era; he's so completely different and the best heel in the business now. All of those talents blow TNA's top guys away and the ratings prove it.

Oh really? HHH isn't still "the game", hittingpeople with sledgehammers? (maybe not, i haven'ts een it), he looks the same, has the same type of theme, sprays the water from his mouth. Same shit.. 10 years later. Val Venis went back to his pornstar gimmick many times. Hardcore Holly is still Hardcore Holly. Edge is still going by that stupid nickname and not calling himself Adam Copeland.. i can't take the actinga nd promos seriously, bedause it's so poorly done

HHH's reaction. Okay, you're talking about a guy who's already establisehd. better reaction than TNA. I'm not bragging about TNA's reactions.. although they are pretty good as they're in the same arena every few weeks.. Keep in mind that thye have a huge arena..

Hardys.. i dont care what they have done. I'm sure it hasn't been interesting. the "buzz" is certainly not with the WWE anymore so i dont care about their product or their show. It's poorly written and their content insults me the first minute i tune in

You consider Edge to be a great heel. TO me, he's cartoony and cheesy. Watch their wedding package.. and watch any soap opera angle that Russo writes.. the dialogue - i feel my iq dropping watching wwe

Quote:
This confirms how clueless you are. You can't even tell the Russo writing from when he wrote for 2 years and the time after he left. There's nothing more to say. If you, meltzer, or keller can't tell the difference, you guys don't get it or understand the way a wrestling show is written.

I don't read or listen to anything Meltzer or Keller says and I know nothing about either so I can't speak on that topic. The important thing isn't whether I can tell what Russo is writing and what he's not, it's that if Russo's writing for TNA right now, the ratings show no one's impressed. And if you're going to come back with the same routine you've done nine times over the past few days, I'll pass.

It does matter whether you can see he's writing or not because you have stated that he has been there for 2 years, yet you couldn't tell just by watching that he doesn't book that type of show for the most part. If you can't tell his writing from the shows immediately after he left WWF, then you dont really know how he writes

Quote:
Quarterlys, Demos are up - to please the net who keeps dissecting this rating.

1.11 is a huge jump from .89

No, 1.5 or 2.0 is a huge jump from .89 some three years ago. 1.11 is not a huge jump from .89 over the span of three years. I really don't see how you're arguing a 1.11 rating when its been that for YEARS.. its not like it just jumped to 1.11 for the first time ever. And that is all I have to say about that.

For TNA, it'd be a pretty good jump in one month with one consistent programming. I am not content that they stay at this rating which is why i'm hoping this direction will be given sufficient time to prove teh critics wrong. they can reach the 2s and 3s in the long run with this. I'm willing to bet on it.

Basically TNA was recently doing a direction that made the rating slowly drop. Although there have expectedly been some online "criticism" as of late due to some good entertainment, the ratings have slowly risen again and IMO can only go higher. Everything is up in just one month. In six months with one consistent direction, I expect it to shatter their previous record. TNA Just has to stay the course and I want EVERYONE on the IWC to just be patient and positive if things are showing growth.

 

[MisterRob]

MisterRob.. I have priased WWE in the past. I think in late 2002 where Heyman was writing. I liked some of the stuff he did. It's not close to Russo's calibur but they were watchable. I think I praised WWE"s first 3 hour show in 2005 where AUstin stunned all McMahons. But in all honesty, the WWE's product now is just atrocious. My brother said WWE is just much slower and TNA is just more entertaining/fun to watch.

Paul Heyman writing blows Russo away in my opinion. That's why Russo's ground breaking ideas and the change in the business that he supposedly was behind, the Attitude Era, was nothing but a stolen concept from Heyman's ECW. And that's not arguable, the facts are written in history.

Okay, that brit accent girl.. i didn't see what happened,. My brother left the TV on, i was doig something else. Mickie James won the match to no reaction and then when I came back they were doing a 3 minute replay on this new girl attackig her. After the replay, they spent 1 minute on her looking at Mickie James. My brother was like "why aren't they cutting away?" lol.. it's just so long,tedious, boring, and "I've seen that before".

You're making comments and statements on something you didn't watch, I get it. Everyone gets it. But please tell me ONE single fresh, new idea that Russo himself has come up with in TNA? Something that's never been done before. Something that's proven, by facts, that Russo wrote?

Russo just doesn't write that way that makes you bored, insulted. He makes wrestling enjoyable for the masses.

Blatantly false claim. The "masses" don't watch TNA they watch WWE.

That's your opinion. I've seen HHH, Michaels, and Jericho for ages... I've seen Undertaker, JBL for ages.. I've seen Hardy's for ages.. what's your point here. I do like seeing big stars in TNA used well - key note here. You can have all the stars. Hell, you can put the TNA roster booked by WWE now and I wouldn't like them because they'd be used poorly.

My point was proving that YOU had no point. You were claiming WWE is nothing new and things you've seen before, I was proving that TNA's main event scene and their TOP STARS are nothing new either. And TNA's big stars aren't used well, hence why they aren't drawing any new ratings or bringing any new viewers in.

TNA stars: you're kinda forgetting Abyss. and they are pushing a lot of the guys like Kaz, Beer Money, and giving roles to people who previously never had roles. I think the shows should get better in the upcomin weeks and hopefully upcoming months, because i want them at 1.5 by the end of the year with this direction (which they can EASILY do, IMO)

I didn't forget Abyss. Abyss is a side show attraction, used once in a while. Kaz is not a main event star, no matter what TNA wants to try to force him to be. Beer Money are mid carders thrown together because TNA's tag team division has nothing, much like WWE.

Oh really? HHH isn't still "the game", hittingpeople with sledgehammers? (maybe not, i haven'ts een it), he looks the same, has the same type of theme, sprays the water from his mouth. Same shit.. 10 years later. Val Venis went back to his pornstar gimmick many times. Hardcore Holly is still Hardcore Holly. Edge is still going by that stupid nickname and not calling himself Adam Copeland.. i can't take the actinga nd promos seriously, bedause it's so poorly done.

HHH is the King of Kings. And since when did Russo come up with the Game? Russo left right before Triple H broke away from DX and the entire Helmsley-McMahon era BEGAN.. so his characters nothing at all like what he was during Russo's time in the WWF. Your examples in Val Venis and Hardcore Holly aren't even valid because they're not even constants on any of the rosters now, so whats your point? They have nothing to do with the product we see every week on RAW or otherwise. Edge never went by Adam Copeland in his career, so whats your point? His character is nothing even remotely close to the character he played in Attitude Era. He's the Rated R Superstar, a conniving, cunning heel who will do anything to be champion... not at all some guy with a trenchcoat and shades who had too much rage inside of him.

I'm not bragging about TNA's reactions.. although they are pretty good as they're in the same arena every few weeks.. Keep in mind that thye have a huge arena..

They have a huge arena? Really? How many are usually in attendance at this said "huge" arena?

You consider Edge to be a great heel. TO me, he's cartoony and cheesy. Watch their wedding package.. and watch any soap opera angle that Russo writes.. the dialogue - i feel my iq dropping watching wwe.

Everything about the Kurt/Karen Angle soap opera has been horrible. So disagree with you wholeheartedly.

For TNA, it'd be a pretty good jump in one month with one consistent programming. I am not content that they stay at this rating which is why i'm hoping this direction will be given sufficient time to prove teh critics wrong. they can reach the 2s and 3s in the long run with this. I'm willing to bet on it.

Basically TNA was recently doing a direction that made the rating slowly drop. Although there have expectedly been some online "criticism" as of late due to some good entertainment, the ratings have slowly risen again and IMO can only go higher. Everything is up in just one month. In six months with one consistent direction, I expect it to shatter their previous record. TNA Just has to stay the course and I want EVERYONE on the IWC to just be patient and positive if things are showing growth.

You don't get it, do you? Why are they going in the right direction? What's different, specifically, about the direction of the past few weeks compared to the past few months.. or the past year? Seriously, tell me. You don't seem to get the fact there is no growth in the ratings! There is no change! In 2006 TNA's ratings fluctuated between 0.8 and 1.2. That's right, 1.2! In 2007 TNA's ratings fluctuated between 0.8 and 1.1. In 2008 TNA's ratings have fluctuated around the same average of 1.1. So nothing's changing at all, they're going through the EXACT same cycle they have for years now.. up and down, nothing more. That destroys any praise you can give Russo right now. That destroys any argument about going in the right direction. If they want to go in some kind of new, right direction then they SHOULD! They in fact NEED to. But explain to me, beyond mere imaginary hope and false claims, how they are, right now, going in the right direction and how its any different then what they've been doing for several months.

 

[Marty2Hotty]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Marty2Hotty
MisterRob.. I have priased WWE in the past. I think in late 2002 where Heyman was writing. I liked some of the stuff he did. It's not close to Russo's calibur but they were watchable. I think I praised WWE"s first 3 hour show in 2005 where AUstin stunned all McMahons. But in all honesty, the WWE's product now is just atrocious. My brother said WWE is just much slower and TNA is just more entertaining/fun to watch.

Paul Heyman writing blows Russo away in my opinion. That's why Russo's ground breaking ideas and the change in the business that he supposedly was behind, the Attitude Era, was nothing but a stolen concept from Heyman's ECW. And that's not arguable, the facts are written in history.

Read my sig, I findi tufnny that you're an IWF lol.. Russo is just so much better a writer in how he scripts the shows, develops characters, they're not in the same league. That's my take. ECW failed. WWF, w/ Russo succeeded. I'm just a huge fan of Russo's shows.

You're making comments and statements on something you didn't watch, I get it. Everyone gets it. But please tell me ONE single fresh, new idea that Russo himself has come up with in TNA? Something that's never been done before. Something that's proven, by facts, that Russo wrote?

If I say it, you're going to reply all pissed. VKM was pretty cool. Abyss/Sting was a nice story. In WCW, he tried a lot of new things. In TNA... I dont know.. they're trying new things like the terrordome.. all the little changes in matches.. Rough Cuts.. (not sure that's his thing), interview segments with Karen to emphasize reality. It's not "never before seen", but it's kinda combining real life interviews along with story...

If they let him really do something different, I think he'd do more, but it has to go through Jeff. I'm sure Russo would do much more shoot-promo-story and make it much more interesting and never before seen. I'm sure Keller and Meltzer will go "it's too confusing"

Quote:
Russo just doesn't write that way that makes you bored, insulted. He makes wrestling enjoyable for the masses.

Blatantly false claim. The "masses" don't watch TNA they watch WWE.

WWE lost half the audience Russo had and grew

Quote:
Oh really? HHH isn't still "the game", hittingpeople with sledgehammers? (maybe not, i haven'ts een it), he looks the same, has the same type of theme, sprays the water from his mouth. Same shit.. 10 years later. Val Venis went back to his pornstar gimmick many times. Hardcore Holly is still Hardcore Holly. Edge is still going by that stupid nickname and not calling himself Adam Copeland.. i can't take the actinga nd promos seriously, bedause it's so poorly done.

HHH is the King of Kings. And since when did Russo come up with the Game? Russo left right before Triple H broke away from DX and the entire Helmsley-McMahon era BEGAN.. so his characters nothing at all like what he was during Russo's time in the WWF. Your examples in Val Venis and Hardcore Holly aren't even valid because they're not even constants on any of the rosters now, so whats your point? They have nothing to do with the product we see every week on RAW or otherwise. Edge never went by Adam Copeland in his career, so whats your point? His character is nothing even remotely close to the character he played in Attitude Era. He's the Rated R Superstar, a conniving, cunning heel who will do anything to be champion... not at all some guy with a trenchcoat and shades who had too much rage inside of him.

Russo turned HHH heel before he left. He left right before the wedding with Steph, he had a script of the steph/hhh wedding being different. Edge is more like the Rated R Jobber to me; he hasn't done anything to make me see him as a main eventer except teh writers trying to shove this guy down our throats "he's been here for 11 years, please cheer/boo him"

Everything about the Kurt/Karen Angle soap opera has been horrible. So disagree with you wholeheartedly.

Sometimes, it's entertaining as hell. Sometimes it's bad. .like the split screen interviews. But the wedding segment with AJ was funny. Even the AJ/Karen stuff back in the day were hilariosu to me...

Kurt lookingfor his belts in his thong had some hilarious moments last year

Quote:
For TNA, it'd be a pretty good jump in one month with one consistent programming. I am not content that they stay at this rating which is why i'm hoping this direction will be given sufficient time to prove teh critics wrong. they can reach the 2s and 3s in the long run with this. I'm willing to bet on it.

Basically TNA was recently doing a direction that made the rating slowly drop. Although there have expectedly been some online "criticism" as of late due to some good entertainment, the ratings have slowly risen again and IMO can only go higher. Everything is up in just one month. In six months with one consistent direction, I expect it to shatter their previous record. TNA Just has to stay the course and I want EVERYONE on the IWC to just be patient and positive if things are showing growth.

You don't get it, do you? Why are they going in the right direction? What's different, specifically, about the direction of the past few weeks compared to the past few months.. or the past year? Seriously, tell me. You don't seem to get the fact there is no growth in the ratings! There is no change! In 2006 TNA's ratings fluctuated between 0.8 and 1.2. That's right, 1.2! In 2007 TNA's ratings fluctuated between 0.8 and 1.1. In 2008 TNA's ratings have fluctuated around the same average of 1.1. So nothing's changing at all, they're going through the EXACT same cycle they have for years now.. up and down, nothing more. That destroys any praise you can give Russo right now. That destroys any argument about going in the right direction. If they want to go in some kind of new, right direction then they SHOULD! They in fact NEED to. But explain to me, beyond mere imaginary hope and false claims, how they are, right now, going in the right direction and how its any different then what they've been doing for several months.

The fact that you can't tell me makes me think you don't get it at all. Watch the show and the way it's booked. Now, the main eventers come out, talk to each other with beter dialogue. Before, they'd just show a match and maybe do one segment at the end.

The flow is better. Pre-tapes have more intrigue, backstage segments are more colourful.. guys are getting more character. They hit 1.2 three times in January and dipped for the next few months. They're at 1.11 again.

The "Cycle" TNA goes through is letting Russo go with a direction 2-3 months tops, go to a wrestling-oriented direction that drops the rating, and then when it gets super low, they go back to Russo again.

I want them to stick with Russo and so hopefully I can prove you wrong by the end of the year with them possibly getting 1.5.. and then 2.0 the next year.. I really want this to happen but it wont happen if TNA keeps listening to the IWC (which I think is happening as Russo did email me once saying Dixie sometimes pays too much attention to the internet)

They're going in the rigth direction now because I'm really enjoying the shows. When I really enjoy the shows, I'm very confident the masses are as well... This was the exact same case WWF had during teh ATtitude era where they were getting their asses kicked by WCW.

The IWC seems to think Yugi Nagata vs Kurt ANgle for 30 minutes can draw a new audience in North America. I can tell them and will bet anything that this stuff won't draw new viewers here.

Russo even said that its' 50/50 wrestler/entertainment. he said he believes its 70% entertainment/50% wrestler, but he'll say 5050... I think his writing makes it enjoyable for themasses, and he has proved that in the WWF, and hasn't gotten a long run since leaving the WWF to replicate his success, which is why i'm hoping he can be given a long period of time to turn TNA around

THe ratingsa ren't spectacular for TNA, but IMO, their product is miles ahead of the WWE in terms of creativity, entertainment and enjoyment...

(WWE Raw's crowd was dead.. for their top stars...totally dead. compare the reaction and passion the have now with what they had when Russo was writing)

 

[MisterRob]

Read my sig, I findi tufnny that you're an IWF lol.. Russo is just so much better a writer in how he scripts the shows, develops characters, they're not in the same league. That's my take. ECW failed. WWF, w/ Russo succeeded. I'm just a huge fan of Russo's shows.

You don't know me personally so try not to label me. I'm not an IWF as I don't know who Wade Keller is and I've never listened or read Meltzer. I make my own opinions and my own views based on the facts in front of me and the products I watch. I use to watch ECW and ECW was ground breaking and revolutionized the modern world of wrestling LONG before Russo came and took ECW's "attitude" and pushed it as his own. Its as simple as that. Its not me being a fanboy of Paul Heyman like you're a fanboy of Russo, its me stating a FACT. All you have to do is compare the two, the style, the writing, the characters that WWF became during the attitude era, or even blatantly as clearly as storyline: such as Steve Austin being crucifixed on a cross by the Undertaker on WWF television.. right after Sandman was crucified by Raven in ECW. Turn away and close your eyes to pretend it isn't so all you want, that doesn't make it any less true.

If I say it, you're going to reply all pissed. VKM was pretty cool. Abyss/Sting was a nice story. In WCW, he tried a lot of new things. In TNA... I dont know.. they're trying new things like the terrordome.. all the little changes in matches.. Rough Cuts.. (not sure that's his thing), interview segments with Karen to emphasize reality. It's not "never before seen", but it's kinda combining real life interviews along with story...

I don't get pissed over the internet, thanks. Although I will admit your dieHARD love for Russo is somewhat annoying when its for all the wrong reasons and goes beyond common sense. The VKM storyline was awful and that's exactly why it flopped and they got rid of it. It wasn't a success in any way. His time in WCW where he tried new things; where he used nothing but crash tv, non-stop shoot interviews (which are more annoying most of the time then entertaining), constant title switches, and ridiculous storylines was one of the worst times in WCW's history for booking and writing. That's not me, that's not the IWF saying so, that's people in the very wrestling business who say that. Wrestlers themselves on countless interviews have said that. If the people in the very business you're writing for have an extremely poor view of you.. and unlike YOU they do know what they're talking about, and they do know the man.. then that's telling you something.

If they let him really do something different, I think he'd do more, but it has to go through Jeff. I'm sure Russo would do much more shoot-promo-story and make it much more interesting and never before seen. I'm sure Keller and Meltzer will go "it's too confusing".

Tell me.. who do you think shoot promos are geared towards? Is it the casual fan who wouldn't have a clue that he's even shooting? No, it's geared towards the IWF who know the insides of wrestling and would catch the shoot. Good job.

WWE lost half the audience Russo had and grew.

Your logic, like always is flawed. WWE is STILL one of the top rated shows in ALL of television. Do you understand that? How can you say a show that's doing better then EVERYTHING else on television is doing poorly? Your logic makes no sense. Even if ratings have dropped from the crazy numbers they were during the Monday Night Wars, their ratings still blow away almost everything else. You know why their ratings were in the 6's during that time, which was insane compared to ANY television show out there? Because of the MONDAY NIGHT WARS. Because the wrestling business was booming at an all time high. Russo was a part of that, there's no denying it.. he was there, just like everyone else, but stop OVERSTATING his contribution. I don't have a problem with Russo (even if I'm not a fan of his work alone), my problem is you giving him crazy credit he doesn't deserve. Simple as that.

Russo turned HHH heel before he left. He left right before the wedding with Steph, he had a script of the steph/hhh wedding being different. Edge is more like the Rated R Jobber to me; he hasn't done anything to make me see him as a main eventer except teh writers trying to shove this guy down our throats "he's been here for 11 years, please cheer/boo him".

Who cares if Russo turned HHH a heel, in theory, right before he left. The following years that developed him as a heel, that changed his character into something entirely different then what he was, weren't written by Russo. That was my point. But yes, a multiple time World Heavyweight champion and a multiple time WWE champion, and the man who won a match to "retire" Undertaker, and the face of Smackdown as its top heel is a Rated R Jobber. That makes a whole lot of sense. That's exactly the proof I'm talking about that makes it clear you're entirely biased towards TNA and Russo beyond reason or truth.

Sometimes, it's entertaining as hell. Sometimes it's bad. .like the split screen interviews. But the wedding segment with AJ was funny. Even the AJ/Karen stuff back in the day were hilariosu to me...

Kurt lookingfor his belts in his thong had some hilarious moments last year

Your opinion, I thought it all sucked. So did the ratings for it.

The fact that you can't tell me makes me think you don't get it at all. Watch the show and the way it's booked. Now, the main eventers come out, talk to each other with beter dialogue. Before, they'd just show a match and maybe do one segment at the end.

The flow is better. Pre-tapes have more intrigue, backstage segments are more colourful.. guys are getting more character. They hit 1.2 three times in January and dipped for the next few months. They're at 1.11 again.

I do watch the show and I think "been there, done that". I don't know what dialogue you're listening to, but I don't see anything impressive about the dialogue of TNA's promos. Take AJ Styles pathetic, impassionate speech a few weeks ago to Angle and Team 3D. I cringed.

The "Cycle" TNA goes through is letting Russo go with a direction 2-3 months tops, go to a wrestling-oriented direction that drops the rating, and then when it gets super low, they go back to Russo again.

Give me proof of this "cycle" TNA goes through with Russo. And saying "you know how Russo writes" and can magically pick and choose which things you see that he's done isn't proof. It's speculation, as is all of your arguments and opinions. So this entire statement is unproven.

They're going in the rigth direction now because I'm really enjoying the shows. When I really enjoy the shows, I'm very confident the masses are as well... This was the exact same case WWF had during teh ATtitude era where they were getting their asses kicked by WCW.

I'm glad you're really enjoying the show, and I mean that. But the masses aren't and the ratings prove it. So, we'll see in a few weeks if there's any growth beyond the countless cycle TNA goes through every single year.

The IWC seems to think Yugi Nagata vs Kurt ANgle for 30 minutes can draw a new audience in North America. I can tell them and will bet anything that this stuff won't draw new viewers here.

Can't be any better then Samoa Joe/Booker T wrestling to a ridiculous ending where they're both heels and nothing makes any sense because I'm assuming it was a Russo booked match.

Russo even said that its' 50/50 wrestler/entertainment. he said he believes its 70% entertainment/50% wrestler, but he'll say 5050... I think his writing makes it enjoyable for themasses, and he has proved that in the WWF, and hasn't gotten a long run since leaving the WWF to replicate his success, which is why i'm hoping he can be given a long period of time to turn TNA around.

As much as he's proven anything in WWF under Vince McMahon's influence and watch, he's unproven everything in WCW and TNA. So, it comes down to what are you going to believe? A successful time for him when (and its not debatable) everything he did had to go through Vince McMahon's influence and he didn't have free reign in any possible way.. or his failures when he was completely given free reign and no one else was an influence on the product but him? Exactly.

(WWE Raw's crowd was dead.. for their top stars...totally dead. compare the reaction and passion the have now with what they had when Russo was writing)

Why do you have to lie to try to prove your point? Seriously. You don't WATCH Raw so there's one strike to your credibility in this statement. For two, I and the masses do watch Raw and the crowd was in no possible way dead. I'm not going to keep restating what I've always pointed out.

 

[MarkMaddenSuperFan]

I have to say that the booking in TNA is pretty bad. The feud between Samoa Joe and Booker could have been so great. Watching the two interact on the mic and in the ring, you can tell there is a definite chemistry there that draws.

I love the idea of Joe beating the crap out of Booker until his wife pleads with him to stop. But involving Sting in the angle really confuses things as fans don't know who to cheer for. I'm not down on Russo like most fans are but this really does seem to fit his philosophy of "shades of gray" as opposed to "black and white" (aka heel/face).

Say what you will but there is NO way that Vince would allow these two to be booked like this in the WWE. Like most fans, we're really hoping that TNA creative gets their act together and makes a serious run at the WWE.

 

[Marty2Hotty]

MisterRob.. first, after watching the last month of TNA, and "trying" to watch Wwe. I just got to say that WWE just doesn't have the flow, writing, character development, intriguing stories and creative level as TNA and Russo's calibur. NOT EVEN CLOSE.

I just watched TNA this week and here are my thoughts for this thumbs up show. The only thing I didn't like was some of the matches being a little too long and boring. You can't start off a wrestling show by doing a 15 minute match, in my opinion. THis show did start with Booker T in his locker room, which was great.. but then the christian/rhino vs beer money match was pretty long.. at least in my eyesl I'm afraid the casual viewers may be bored and change teh channel..

A lot of the young guys got pushed this week. and TNA did a tremendous job at continuing each character's development, pushing stories, hyping Hard Justice.. just a good job. Booker holding the belt is cool, as to the casual viewer, he's the champion and not "that fat goof" Samoa Joe. I'm just kidding by the way, he's a good wrestler, and has an interesting story going for him


here's my write up


"TNA Impact! 7/31/2008 - Good show.. great comedy - quite a bit of wrestling.

- The show did start off a little show and did have quite a bit of wrestling to start. Enough to possibly turn off the casual viewers. However, overall, I did find the show intriguing/entertaining enough to give it a "Thumbs Up"

- Started off with a Booker T segment in his locker room. (i'm typing this whole thing out based on my memory of the show) Great booker T stuff. JB was funny wanting some champagne

- I liked the TNA Video Game intro and the video game entrances for the wrestlers that were in the game.

- The show starts off with Beer Money vs Christian/Rhino. The match was like 12 minutes long. 3D/Devine interfered a bit. 3D gets the 3D on Christian. Christian is angry and sets up a match at Hard Justice

- Key pretapes that were entertaining:

- Maple Leaf Muscle is back. Talked about all the workout he did before breakfast. Talked about Creed thinking he's a superhero, and references Batman and says Arnold Scwarzenneger is the greatest villian as Mr Freeze. He does some Arnold impressions - extremely funny. and asks what has Creed done. Very entertaining.

- Creed ends up winning the match after Petey tries the Canadian Destroyer and Creed gets the pin. Rhaka Khan tries to interfere a bit. Creed almost let it cost him. Petey did do some good insults on him. Hermie Sadler did commentary here.

- Rock n Rave Infection pretape was extremely entertaining as well. Lance Rock wanted Lauren to meet him at his hotel room, like rock stars would do. Christy Hemme was not annoying and was very entertaining. She's super sexy, and I want more of a role for her. She sings to end the pretape

- Match starts with Rock n Rave teaming up with Devine (who has a badass theme) vs Curry Man, Shark Boy and Jay Lethal. Curry Man is funny in the ring (as well as out), Lethal ends up getting the win, gets on the mic and wants to propose to Val again. Val said she lost the ring. Lethal was pissed.

- JB is at the back with a CWT guy. JB says that guy gets to interview all the top guys. CWT guy says JB gets to interview a lot of crazy characters. JB says if you meet everyone, they're very normal people. UNTIL Super Eric jumps in (hilarious) and talks about how to retrieve the ring. He uses a "Heroes" quote about "retrieve the ring, save the love" or something.. Heroes had some stupid quote like that throughout season 1 that amounted to nothing. Eric had a "brain freeze" and went away. Very funny. Reaction of CWT guy was okay too.. Very entertaining and I was cracking up at ALL the justice of brotherhood segments.

- Booker T comes out in his suit... six sides are up. Calls out JOe. Joe is angry and he comes out. Before, Nash talked to Joe. Booker tries to leave when Joe pulls out his weapon. Nash is blocking the exit. Joe beats the crap out of Nash. Sharmell comes out and Nash carries her away. a Bat drops down from the ceiling and Booker uses it to nail Joe. Booker T's theme plays as the segment ends.

I kind of like the way they're using Sting as the "mysterious" guy who is using his "presence" while not actually being there to leave an impact on his story. My brother called Sting the "TNA cheerleader". He usually goes "I love TNA, this is my home.. WHOOO". This is a little twist.

- AJ Styles is in the ring. (I miss goofy AJ). He's talking on the mic, believing in Sting. Totally serious and no comedy - I'm personally not a huge fan. I've noticed that Russo has done a tremendous job in bringing out "talent" in guys that you normally don't see it in.

Daniels as Curry Man is showing his comedy. We never see that from him, and he's absolutely hilarious. Eric YOung, back in the day, just showed his goofy face and in 2005 all he did was follow Jeff Jarrett around and didn't do anything. As Eric YOung and Super Eric under Ru$so, he is extremely funny. Same with Dutt, and AJ Styles back in the day was solid gold comedy. I kind of miss that.

AJ talks about believing in Sting and finally the lights go out. AJ looks up and Angle is already in the ring. He does the Olympic Slam three times on AJ Styles and his theme plays. Later, AJ Styles wants to set up a Last Man Standing match for Hard Justice. He's really angry and serious (I miss entertaining AJ. So many great moments - he needs a DVD released with bonus features showing all the comedy this guy has done...)

- Shark Boy and Curry Man go to the beautiful people. Curry Man asks ANgelina "action action action" - funny, like Borat's "sexy time". Shark Boy wants a full cavity search, and wants the ring. Curry Man after leaving comes back and asks the beautiful people if they want to know if he's delicious. Shark Boy also wants to stomp a fishing hole in their asses if they piss him off again. Some really good exchanges. Beautiful People didn't take the ring.

- Shark Boy and Curry Man later go to LAX for the ring. Salinas gets in their face. Curry man says he speaks their language. Shark Boy says Curry Man doesn't even speak his language. Curry Man tries to talk and communicate with LAX. Very very funny. I was cracking up. Super Eric finds a breakthrough in the case.

- Karen's Angle - Kaz.. Kaz talks about beating Christian in a Ladder Match and getting a title shot with Angle being one of his biggest accomplishments. He took every opportunity and lived up to expectations. He said he has departed from TNA.

- They DID follow up on the promise of Tomko crashing Karen's party. It really sucks if it's true that Tomko is gone. They showed the cameras after the segment was filmed.

This led to Matt Morgan coming out. He killed this jobber - very well done. He then got on the mic and said Tomko liked to scare girls. He said Tomko can't hear him right now because his head is too far up Kurt Angle's ass. Great stuff here. Tomko comes out and they play his video game entrance - really cool.

Morgan/Tomko scuffle. Security guards pull them apart. If mantell was booking, that's all that would happen. Tomko leaves and then charges back in the ring and nails Morgan from behind. HE charges to the ropes and MOrgan dropkicks Tomko. He does his "hellavator" move on Tomko and whoo hoo.. Morgan wins that brawl!! They play his theme....

Super Eric shows that Dutt stole the ring. My brother laughed at the "to be continued..." logo because you never see that in pretapes. Very funny exchanges with Curry Man and Shark Boy. They said same time next week. Very entertaining stuff here.

Team 3D cut a promo backstage and say they like being around jackasses and beer money are. They accept the 8 man tag next week.

Joe is looking for Sting. They cut to Taylor Wilde Rough Cut. Very well done, showing footage of her training. They had interviews with Jacqueline, ODB, Angelina Love, and Traci said they're gunning for her belt.

Taylor Wilde/Gail Kim vs The Beautiful People.

Great action. (the only stuff i fast forwarded were the first match, a bit of the creed/petey match, and quite a bit of the six man tag)

Lots of good action here. Gail dropkicks Taylor onto velvet for the pin. team work win. Beautiful people attack. Gail helps out. I forgot to mention earlier that Angelina mentioned something about "she's gonna help" on the pretape or somethign to that extent. That she is Awesome Kong. Doubleteam on Awesome Kong. Awesome Kong gets the advantage. ODB comes out and Roxxi comes out with a chair. Awesome Kong backs off with the beautiful people, and Traci is watching from the stage.

They cut to Joe in the back upstairs and they focus on a crow at the top to end the show.

I think it was pretty well balanced and entertaining. Some of the matches were a little too long and boring, but this was made up with a lot of intrigue and I really enjoyed the Kaz stuff and Curry Man/Shark Boy/Super Eric entertainment. I want Karen back in-the-ring. Joe said it wasn't Booker who nailed him last week because he was facing Booker and the person that hit him hit him from behind. My brother speculated Kevin Nash. But I guess we have to find out.

Lots of intrigue, some good comedy, good action, great entertainment... some storyline advances, and great utilization of most characters on the show. Nash was only there for a few talk segments, but we finally got to hear from Shark Boy a little more now.. so I'm happy. Also great to see the women main event the show. Russo used to talk a lot about jealousy in the WWF when Chyna/Sable got a lot of the spotlight. Angle's only appearance was nailing AJ in the ring. I just read this thread and yeah, the Dalvari Bashir segment was VERY interesting and I loved everything he said.. My brother agreed with what he said about us living off fantasies on the television, etc.. lol... very intriguing...


Thumbs up."

 

[MisterRob]

MisterRob.. first, after watching the last month of TNA, and "trying" to watch Wwe. I just got to say that WWE just doesn't have the flow, writing, character development, intriguing stories and creative level as TNA and Russo's calibur. NOT EVEN CLOSE.

I don't believe you've even tried watching WWE, as every post you make contradicts another. So I can't hold any trust in this opinion at all.

I just watched TNA this week and here are my thoughts for this thumbs up show. The only thing I didn't like was some of the matches being a little too long and boring. You can't start off a wrestling show by doing a 15 minute match, in my opinion. THis show did start with Booker T in his locker room, which was great.. but then the christian/rhino vs beer money match was pretty long.. at least in my eyesl I'm afraid the casual viewers may be bored and change teh channel..

The introduction of Impact annoyed me right off the bat. Why in the hell can’t TNA come up with their own gimmicks and personalities? Why is everything just a washed up version of something from the WWE/F? Booker T is playing King Booker without the crown… its ridiculous and it doesn’t even fit his character because he’s not playing a King or any kind of royalty, etc, so it makes no sense. Booker’s a really bad speaker. I thought it was a very poor way to open the show as the Booker T segment did nothing to make me interested and wanting to watch the rest of the show, and I doubt it would the casual fan, either.

Whatever happened to Robert Roode’s quest to become World champion? He just suddenly gave that up entirely and now he’s settled for becoming a Tag Team champion with James Storm… What’s the motivation behind that? Why does Roode want to be a tag team champion and is no longer aiming for what, really, he should be going for? The team of Beer Money is fine, but I think they could do more with both characters (especially Roode) then tossing them in a tag team to get by a few months in the tag team division. Instead of pushing older, past their time, stars from other promotions in their main event scene they really should push some of their home grown talent like Roode who is totally ready for the main event and be far more interesting in that role to me and use the older, experienced talent to be tossed into a tag team to help put over both the partner they’re given and opponents like the Tag Team champions LAX. Guys like Kevin Nash could be far more value right now helping a young talent get his chance and being a partner to someone like James Storm then he is in the horrible storyline he has going with Samoa Joe which is entirely taking away from the main event and Joe as champion. Joe doesn’t need anybody, that’s what’s killing his title reign.. the convoluted atmosphere that’s surrounding he and Booker T’s feud.

I really don’t like how the tag team division, aside from LAX and Team 3D (who aren’t even really in the tag team division right now it seems) are made up of just singles wrestlers who they have no place or time for right now so they’ve tossed them together. Christian and Rhino is another example. Instead of following in the bad example of the WWE with thrown together tag teams I really think TNA needs to get back to where they once were, with a thriving division of actual tag teams to be developed. Its such a shame to me to see stars like Christian, Rhino, Robert Roode, James Storm not in feuds that can actually help their singles career and help elevate them more then just a dying tag team division. On that note though I thought the match was great and I don’t see how it was long and boring in any way. This is the kind of opening match you want for a show; draws the viewers in with an exciting and entertaining match and showcases what the shows suppose to be about: wrestling. Entertainments a part of things, but this is wrestling, to say there’s too much wrestling baffles me. If you don’t want to watch WRESTLING then why are you watching WRESTLING. Sports Entertainment is something Vince McMahon invented because he’s always been trying to take wrestling beyond WRESTLING and turn it into something else; why does TNA or any other wrestling promotion want to follow Vince McMahon’s vision and future? Why not build your own around what the business should be: wrestling! That’s another reason why TNA is just another watered down version of WWE.

But the short praise for the match itself is once again ruined by a staple of TNA; the run in. Why can’t any major match ever be done without a run in? Not to mention it made absolutely NO sense that Rhino was about to score the pin fall only for Roode to pull the referee out and throw him down. Instead of being knocked out and the finish of the match being the usual second referee shenanigans… the referee, Earl Hebner is back up soon afterwards and involved in trying to get Jackie away from interfering. If he’s not knocked out why wouldn’t he have disqualified Beer Money the second he got up? Roode manhandled him, you can clearly see the heels interfering, is the referee stupid? You have to literally throw away all logic and any common sense to watch TNA’s product. Especially since Hebner goes back in the ring and COUNTS THE THREE to give Beer Money the win. I laughed out loud, and that’s finding things funny for all the wrong reasons.

If Christian/Rhino don’t win that tag team match at Hard Justice then they’ve literally been buried in this feud against Team 3D, etc, as they’ve lost every match in the past month.

- Maple Leaf Muscle is back. Talked about all the workout he did before breakfast. Talked about Creed thinking he's a superhero, and references Batman and says Arnold Scwarzenneger is the greatest villian as Mr Freeze. He does some Arnold impressions - extremely funny. and asks what has Creed done. Very entertaining.

- Creed ends up winning the match after Petey tries the Canadian Destroyer and Creed gets the pin. Rhaka Khan tries to interfere a bit. Creed almost let it cost him. Petey did do some good insults on him. Hermie Sadler did commentary here.

The Petey Williams promo and match were good, but seriously, is there a reason why he couldn’t have done the Mapleleaf Muscle gimmick without changing himself physically to look like a Scott Steiner clone? That just ruins it for me and takes away from something that actually could‘ve seemed fresh otherwise. Consequences Creed has potential, but Williams made that match in my mind. I also found it funny when Creed stole the upset victory and was leaving the camera passed the crowd and a woman was clearly putting her thumbs down at Creed. Great stuff for the fan favorite!

- Rock n Rave Infection pretape was extremely entertaining as well. Lance Rock wanted Lauren to meet him at his hotel room, like rock stars would do. Christy Hemme was not annoying and was very entertaining. She's super sexy, and I want more of a role for her. She sings to end the pretape

- Match starts with Rock n Rave teaming up with Devine (who has a badass theme) vs Curry Man, Shark Boy and Jay Lethal. Curry Man is funny in the ring (as well as out), Lethal ends up getting the win, gets on the mic and wants to propose to Val again. Val said she lost the ring. Lethal was pissed.

The Rock N Rave Infection is entertaining? I don’t think so. That entire segment was horrible and probably lost any viewers the tag team match before hand could’ve gained. Why in the world are they pushing the Rock N Rave Infection with promo time and development when they could be using it on a ton of other people who aren’t being used properly: like the Motorcity Machine Guns or Johnny Devine! The Rock N Raven Infection all should be fired and let go of TNA not pushed; no one gives a crap about any of the three of them. You want to talk about ZERO reaction, they got it!

Christopher Daniels has got to be the most misused and underutilized talent in TNA. Sure, some people might find Curry Man entertaining, and yes he can get over with Curry Man… but the man is stuck in a comedy role going nowhere, at the bottom of the barrel, when he’s one of the best talents TNA HAS. What a waste. The man could single handedly be carrying the rebirth of the X Division as the Fallen Angel if they gave him the chance, or having top feuds in the main event (a feud with Joe would be far more entertaining then Booker T), but instead he’s tossed in a comedy with Sharkboy and Super Eric. Horrible. The only way I could ever see the Curry Man gimmick being a positive is if it’s a long term storyline based around Christopher Daniels being fired on TNA television. He got hired as the Curry Man to get his job back, then later on people can mysteriously start to get attacked and hurt and no one knows whose doing it. Finally its revealed to be Daniels who tells the world how awful a time it was to have to play Curry Man just to be a wrestler in TNA and the Fallen Angel returns to reap revenge on TNA as a whole which leads to a main event push. That’s only the way I’d ever justify the Curry Man gimmick in TNA and the misuse of Daniels as a wrestler. He could be SO much more.

The match was fast paced and fun (I enjoyed Devine most of all) but overall forgettable. The whole Lethal/Val stuff is old news and I’m not interested at all, especially Lethal pretending to be Macho Man. He needs a fresh change.

- JB is at the back with a CWT guy. JB says that guy gets to interview all the top guys. CWT guy says JB gets to interview a lot of crazy characters. JB says if you meet everyone, they're very normal people. UNTIL Super Eric jumps in (hilarious) and talks about how to retrieve the ring. He uses a "Heroes" quote about "retrieve the ring, save the love" or something.. Heroes had some stupid quote like that throughout season 1 that amounted to nothing. Eric had a "brain freeze" and went away. Very funny. Reaction of CWT guy was okay too.. Very entertaining and I was cracking up at ALL the justice of brotherhood segments.

Super Eric must be geared towards kids because I can’t see how anyone with the mind of an adult could possibly find that stuff amusing or funny. But, on a plus side, its far better then the HORRIBLE search for Elvis crap.

- Booker T comes out in his suit... six sides are up. Calls out JOe. Joe is angry and he comes out. Before, Nash talked to Joe. Booker tries to leave when Joe pulls out his weapon. Nash is blocking the exit. Joe beats the crap out of Nash. Sharmell comes out and Nash carries her away. a Bat drops down from the ceiling and Booker uses it to nail Joe. Booker T's theme plays as the segment ends.

I kind of like the way they're using Sting as the "mysterious" guy who is using his "presence" while not actually being there to leave an impact on his story. My brother called Sting the "TNA cheerleader". He usually goes "I love TNA, this is my home.. WHOOO". This is a little twist.

- AJ Styles is in the ring. (I miss goofy AJ). He's talking on the mic, believing in Sting. Totally serious and no comedy - I'm personally not a huge fan. I've noticed that Russo has done a tremendous job in bringing out "talent" in guys that you normally don't see it in.

In another thread I explained my thoughts on the whole Booker T/Joe and Angle/Styles segments on this show. I will say that its entirely obvious it wasn’t Sting who attacked Joe from behind and that it WAS Kevin Nash, so I don’t know why people keep talking about how intrigued they are. Its nothing new and its really nothing interesting. This entire part of the show was CHEESY.

The intense, serious AJ Styles is though far better then the old comedy crap he was doing months ago. Hopefully they're taking him in the right direction now.

- Karen's Angle - Kaz.. Kaz talks about beating Christian in a Ladder Match and getting a title shot with Angle being one of his biggest accomplishments. He took every opportunity and lived up to expectations. He said he has departed from TNA.

- They DID follow up on the promise of Tomko crashing Karen's party. It really sucks if it's true that Tomko is gone. They showed the cameras after the segment was filmed.

Karen’s Angle should stay and Karen should remain doing these segments and stay AWAY from the ring or any other part of TNA television. Kaz and Karen are both horrible actors though and this segment proved it; it also proved for me how boring and uninteresting Kaz is as a personality. This segment did nothing for making me sympathize with Kaz or care whether he was leaving or staying.

Tomko is a great asset I think and its a shame if he's leaving because I, personally, think its a loss of a really good talent who has a lot of potential. After this I turned Impact off and didn't watch the rest of it, I just couldn't take anymore TNA. If this is an example of Russo written/booked TNA then TNA's going to be dead by the end of the year.

Overall - Despite the occassional good bit here and there (strictly matches), Thumbs down!

 

[Marty2Hotty]

I don't believe you've even tried watching WWE, as every post you make contradicts another. So I can't hold any trust in this opinion at all.

Trust me. I have tried. YOu know two guys who get zero reaction? That rhodes and ted dibiase guy. I heard their promos and they were atrocious. Fans are like "are these guys heels? are we supposed to boo these lame promos?" lol. There's a goofy guy with Jericho too that is lame as hell. Damn, wwe sucks ass

I disagree w/ your Booker T statement. TNA's Booker T as a heel is my favourite Booker T character ever. I saw his old segments with King Booker/Batista on SD where absolutely nothing happened. That pissed me off. This guy is hilarious in his locker room and strong on his in-ring promos, etc. Entertaining too.

I can't answer your question on Roode giving up trying to become World Champ. I wanted his "Wallstreet" gimmick to do more. But he's stuck in a tag team with that hillbilly James Storm. I'm not a "huge" fan of these guys.. they were cool whipping everyone though.

I'm sure TNA can do something entertaining with these guys in the long run though.

Tag team division:

Yeah, I'm not sure about Christian/Rhino as a team either. You liked the match, which is good. I thought it was kinda long. I mean it was 6:15PST and the match was still going. It got exciting near the end when 3D started to get into it. I like WRESTLING for the characters, the action, the hype, the stories, the soap-opera element, and the theatrics

Stop assuming that pro wrestling is there "solely" for the in-ring product because it has NEVER been solely about that. It's boring if it was.

WWE can't do entertainment, and they can't do wrestling. So I watch TNA to be entertained by a product I once loved. I hate your talk on "wrestling should be wreslting" = typical IWF talk that I have been hearing for the past 5 years.

The run-in helps the feud.

I don't think he needs to look like Scott Steiner - Petey. He was Maple Leaf Muscle before, but they put him in a program with Steiner until he got injured, so I think they're leaving him like that for the mean time. He's very edntertaining and the Arnold impressions are gold. Creed wins!

Rock n Rave.. yeah, i find them entertaining now. Lance "Rock". All their references are rock-star related and they're pretty funny. Rock's promo on the lead singer being the most badass is grea.t I want to see more segment/entertainment from these guys.. They built MMG last week and they cut a good promo last week. Divine has gotten more airtime since Russo has gotten back in the picture.. he's more involved, booked in matches, etc

Curry Man: extremely funny and entertaining. He's pretty over, and I think he's doing an absolute tremendous job. If he just came out and wrestled, the IWC wil be content because the IWC has a hard-on for Curry Man. But I like his interactions with Shark Boy and the toher wrestlers. Very very funny. "action action action" with ANgelina Love. Total great television humour...

Shark Boy was great too, as was Super Eric.

I am intrigued with Dutt/Lethal> Dutt's "Guru-ites" is pretty funny and Dutt being an ass is good TV, it's a soap opera angle done Russo style and not lame and played out like that edge/vickie bullshit.

The CW guy was talking to JB. i liked the part where jb says the wrestlers are just like normal people and then Super Eric jumps into the picture. Kinda reminds me of the Blue Blazer gimmick where Owen would go "who is that masked man"...

Remember Hurricane Helms.?? That is proof at WWE not knowing how to write shit with these types of gimmicks. they didn't do jack shit with this guy except have him come out, say his line and wrestle. Super Eric has story, has good comedy and is always doing something funny/interesing... that's the difference between WWE and Russo

The finding Elvis sutff was SUPER lame, I agree. I would bet that the stuff wasn't Russo, and would be pretty upset if it was.

I wish someone could confirm this with me. Glenn should call up Vince and go "yo vince did you write that Super Eric bullshit?"

Vince would probably say, "that wasn't me, man.. that was dutch and jeff"

I wish Glenn coudl confirm this.. because I'm willing to bet Russo wouldn't write anything that lame (for the most part at least0

--

As for who attacked Joe.. being Kevin Nash.. I think that's a great story man.. You're saying it's obvious and this story is fun to predict. How is it going to play out? Is Nash working with Booker T secretly?

I think they're doing a good job. Joe is always with Nash.. Nash has gained JOe's trust.. it's been going on for a while.. damn

The intense, serious AJ Styles is though far better then the old comedy crap he was doing months ago. Hopefully they're taking him in the right direction now.

There's nothign really different about AJ right now characgter-wise than another wrestler. It's okay that he's reverting to serious AJ, but he provedd a while back that he can do comedy. I loved the guy during the "summit" and the thanksgiving segments. those were extremely funny and kudos to Russo for bringing out that talent in him that we all haven't seen.

Same applies to Daniels because throughout his career he's been this boring, serious wrestler that talks about "fallen angel" BS.. now he's hilarious doing a japanese character and saying/doing a lot of great/funny segments...

I disagree with Kaz/Karen being bad actors. I think they both did a tremendous job. Why do you watch a show just to bitch and whine about it?

I chose to watch Raw (or fast forward rather) due to having the channel again finally. It was boring and I"m probably never going to watch another one again unless someone from anotehr board says "marty you gotta check out this - we haven't seen this before" - they did with a Joey STyles/JR promo and i wasn't impressed, because it was corny

KI hope Tomko didn't leave because he's cool.. i like his acting playing the serious guy to AJ's goofyness back in the day, and he's cool.

If this is an example of Russo written/booked TNA then TNA's going to be dead by the end of the year.

The funny thing is it'll probaly reuls in their highest ratings if this keeps up by the end of the year. The ratings haven't shown that they're "dead". .They're MORE dead if they let a Cornette, Jerry Jarreett or Dutch Mantell write the shows

OVer the past month alone they went up from low .9s to 1.1. Imagine what would happen in 6-7 months.. I predict a 1.5

But knowing TNA< they'll take him off after reading the bullshit replies they get on IWC and revert back to .8-.9 again.

 

[MisterRob]

I disagree w/ your Booker T statement. TNA's Booker T as a heel is my favourite Booker T character ever. I saw his old segments with King Booker/Batista on SD where absolutely nothing happened. That pissed me off. This guy is hilarious in his locker room and strong on his in-ring promos, etc. Entertaining too.

Well, I'll accept this as proof you never watched the WWE, because sorry to tell you everything Booker T's doing right now is EXACTLY the same as King Booker in the WWE. So, I'm glad you find WWE stuff entertaining.

WWE can't do entertainment, and they can't do wrestling. So I watch TNA to be entertained by a product I once loved. I hate your talk on "wrestling should be wreslting" = typical IWF talk that I have been hearing for the past 5years.

No, of course WWE can't do entertainment.. that's why they're the biggest wrestling company in the world and have been forever. That's why their ratings triple TNA's. And my talk on wrestling should be wrestling isn't IWF talk, its the talk of a WRESTLING fan.

I am intrigued with Dutt/Lethal> Dutt's "Guru-ites" is pretty funny and Dutt being an ass is good TV, it's a soap opera angle done Russo style and not lame and played out like that edge/vickie bullshit.

Oh, Duttt/Lethal/Val is completely lame and totally played out. Its been done a thousand times before made even worse because you have lame characters involved now.

The CW guy was talking to JB. i liked the part where jb says the wrestlers are just like normal people and then Super Eric jumps into the picture. Kinda reminds me of the Blue Blazer gimmick where Owen would go "who is that masked man"...

Remember Hurricane Helms.?? That is proof at WWE not knowing how to write shit with these types of gimmicks. they didn't do jack shit with this guy except have him come out, say his line and wrestle. Super Eric has story, has good comedy and is always doing something funny/interesing... that's the difference between WWE and Russo.

Another example of the unoriginality of TNA, thanks. Every character they have is a rip off of one from WWE. Great stuff! And the Hurricane was by far more entertaining then Super Eric, and that's saying something for a super heroic gimmick. The Hurricane's segments with the Rock were better then anything Super Eric or Russo have done with the character.

Same applies to Daniels because throughout his career he's been this boring, serious wrestler that talks about "fallen angel" BS.. now he's hilarious doing a japanese character and saying/doing a lot of great/funny segments...

Personal preference obviously. The Christopher Daniels character could've been used in so many different ways and taken him to great lengths if used right, where as the Curry Man character is one dimensional and will keep him stuck exactly in the role he is.

I disagree with Kaz/Karen being bad actors. I think they both did a tremendous job. Why do you watch a show just to bitch and whine about it?

I watch the show in hopes that TNA will actually turn around and finally put out something good, begin to go in the right direction so I can become a fan again and get behind them like I'd like to. But everytime I watch the show I'm extremely disappointed by the crap they put out.

OVer the past month alone they went up from low .9s to 1.1. Imagine what would happen in 6-7 months.. I predict a 1.5

You seem to have an extremely short term memory. I already put this argument to rest; over the last few years they've constantly fell to .9s and come back to 1.1's. Its nothing new, its not something that breeds hope, its just the same cycle all over again. I don't have to imagine what'll happen in 6-7 months because all I have to do is look at history. And if TNA starts going in the right direction they better be doing better then a 1.5 in 6-7 months. ECW has done 1.5 and their product is pathetic.