Wow, I came home tonight, caught up on Impact, then read the LD and how all my favorite people viewed this episode and specifically, this Invasion thing. The gloves are off boys! I'm glad most people are anonymous, because there could have been blood! What's amazing to me is that whenever something happens, inevitably sides are taken and illogical arguments clutter an otherwise successful discussion. The last 20 pages of the LD had some of the most ridiculous arguments and went nowhere after a while. So I figured I'd chime in here and attack this thing head on.
1. The Nexus angle and the ECW angle are quite different. While Nexus can literally be traced back to the first eliminations, ECW guys started "invading" a few weeks prior to tonight with the culmination (which I guess means finally getting Foley) being the mayhem tonight. If you doubt where I'm coming from with Nexus, go back and watch the eliminations. Every guy had the same ending, a cryptic "you haven't seen the last of me" message. If you don't want to believe that these messages foreshadow the invasion, then at least look at the explanation given for the first attack. Nexus used everything that went wrong with the NXT concept as reasons behind being angry. It has a realistic feel to it, and it is certainly a new idea for guys that very few are aware of to invade to make a name for themselves. This is why I don't see as many similarities to the nWo as others do.
The TNA invasion is more like the nWo one in that it's established guys from another promotion invading. However, nWo was invaders seemingly from a rival company while ECW is a defunct company invading a new one. It's kind of like the Washington Senators (who moved to Texas in 1972) invading Major League Baseball today. It just lacks a lot of relevancy. However, I will give the thing a chance, because if it's short term, I can live with it. That is another reason why it does not compare to Nexus, because Nexus is clearly a long term idea that is growing by the week.
2. It seems that everyone was taking sides in regards to whether the ECW invasion will create stars. Some say that it doesn't need to while others claim that it is essential in any storyline. Again, if it is short term, it really doesn't have to, but at the same time, will it do a lot of good if the ECW guys get a "one off" and they all go over? If Dreamer beats Lethal, Rhyno beats Morgan, Richards beats Styles, and Foley beats Wolfe, will that help the young guys? You can't argue that the young guys would win because a One Nght deal would call for the guys to get their last hurrah in the sun and they aren't going to be jobbed out on such a show. Thus, is a short term hurrah worth having your top talent lose to old, fat men if that is where they are going with this?
3. I know this has nothing to do with the ECW invasion, but in regards to the Nexus which was discussed ad nauseum in the LD, people seem to be hung up on whether any stars will come from it. If you are worried about that and are asking "where are the personalities within the group?", then you are missing the entire point of the angle. That angle is about a bunch of young guys who were put through shit on a reality show and decided to ban together for the common goal of getting hired and now for a greater purpose. They are all on the same page and have shown that at every turn. Thus, they all need to have the same personality at this point (cold and calculating). They speak when necessary, but mostly, they make life hell for everyone around. As far as creating stars, they already have. The group is a star. They came on NXT, which got a .8 rating the week before and the show got a 1.11. Raw's ratings are also up recently, so it's pretty evident that the group, even with "nobodies" IS drawing viewers at a more substantial rate than anything else. I am interested to see if the ECW invasion garners interest in TNA in that way, so I will be looking for NEXT week's ratings to see if people tune in after hearing about it to see how it all plays out.
4. The only thing these angles have in common is the fact that they are invasions in a sense. I do have some problems with the TNA one, because it was quite clustered in the end. Also, I do wonder why a group attacking the biggest heel on the show would want to be stopped by anyone? Conceivably, people would WANT Abyss to get attacked. I mean, wouldn't you want the guy who wields a stick with nails in it to not be able to move, thus not be able to attack you with it? Also, if anyone had a problem with most of these guys, couldn't they have gone into the crowd and attacked them in the weeks leading up to this? All they did that made it worse tonight was, again, they attacked the biggest heel on the program. They attacked as faces and it should have been left as an attack on Abyss with security trying to fend them off as they got cheers from the crowd.
Conclusion, WHO CARES if it creates stars and WHO CARES how much it is like Nexus (which it's not at all). The thing is looking like a short term return of ECW guys. Let the people who like that sort of thing (not me) enjoy seeing their favorites of years past, and hopefully in a month or 2, we can move past this. Just don't use the cliched arguments of "it's TNA copying WWE" or "It's better than WWE because these guys are known whereas Nexus guys have no name recognition". These arguments are tired and have no merit. Get some new material, but in the meantime, watch both shows and do so with a positive outlook. You might just get some enjoyment out of it instead of always looking to criticize the company you are not a mark for.
