The Legacy Of TNA

[anonymous]

I have been reading the replies on this forum and the reaction to those replies by King Jake and have discovered that everything that anyone has to say in regards to quality moments of TNA is simply being shot down. If you notice, King Jake makes it a point to shoot down every moment of TNA that everyone is putting up. Every TNA moment in his eyes simply is not good enough or somehow does not compare to some sort of WWE moment. I really don't see how it is realistic or understandable to compare something like Brock Lesnar suplexing Big Show and destroying the ring to something like Samoa Joe winning the TNA title for the first time. It is all totally subjective, yet it is apparent from these posts that these moments are being made to somehow being finite and comparable to others. It is easy to say that Hogan slamming Andre was a great moment in wrestling history, but it was shown to us fans many times and has had enough time to allow that moment to sink in with the fans. Until Kurt Angle retires, I don't think that his jumping to TNA really sunk in with the fans because he is still active and has only been in TNA for two years. It is easier to look back on something once it is gone and time has passed because it holds more of a sentimental and nostalgic value. Joe is still champion, Angle and most of the former WWE wrestlers are still active in TNA, and so on so nothing really has had time to sink in in regards to TNA. Because of that, if TNA closed its doors today, then I believe that it will leave some sort of legacy. Fans will most likely remember the company that brought in Sting and so many former WWE wrestlers. There is no X Division or Cruiserweight Division in WWE programming, so that will be missed too because people would remember it and long for it because it wouldn't be on national television (so no ROH or indy promotion) anymore if TNA closed its doors. I strongly believe this because there are fans that love spotfest and WWE hardly provide spotfest with the exceptions being their gimmick matches which are few and far between. If TNA closed its doors today, everything that TNA has (and don't say that EVERYTHING is a copy of WWE or WCW because it's not) that WWE doesn't have that TNA does will most likely be missed (i.e. a strong Women's Division, having an actual X/Cruiserweight Division, pushing smaller guys like AJ Styles, etc). I am not talking about the stupid gimmick matches, characters or stipulations either. That is the legacy that TNA would leave behind.

 

[Afro-Ameri-Spawn]

I'm not sure how you can Honestly sit there and say that if TNA closed it's doors tomorrow that they would not have a legacy. If anything, in it's short time, TNA has garnered quite a bit more (with the time given) than WWE, WCW, and ECW had at this time.

1. The X Division- Until TNA came along with the X-Division, people thought that these titles and divisions were just for a bunch of guys who weren't big enough or charismatic enough to play with the heavyweights unless they were being squashed. But by TNA setting and backing up it's "No Weight Limit" label on the title, it made people believe in cruiserweights again. And having Samoa Joe reign in with a long title run was something that freshened up the division even more. Especially after seeing WWE slowly kill the cruiserweight division not once, not twice, but three times.

2. The strong style in the spotlight. Now while ECW had hardcore matches and moves, you really didn't see the return of the strong style until TNA brought it back. It made you believe that moves were really hurting and that they weren't just being sold. When a wrestler went down from a move, you actually thought there were down and out, instead of it just being a fluke injury the way it has been in WWE. The thing is that WWE has been bringing the strong style back itself, emulating TNA. Oh it's real, it's damned real.

3. The Return of Women's wrestling. Ever since, Medusa put the WWF Women's title in the trash upon making her debut in WCW, Women's wrestling has been on it's way down the toilet. TNA fished it out, gave it a new coat of paint, and has women's wrestling looking respectable again and not like it's one step away from being in a pool of jello in a strip bar.

4. Major Acquisitions. Sure TNA has signed alot of WWE castaways, but they have signed some that probably still has quite a bit of life in them and could have still had major runs in WWE, if they were let to do so. Signing Christian was pure genius. They took the man, let him run with the ball, and made WWE creative want to choke themselves for not seeing the potential that was within him all along. Being able to get Kurt Angle and Booker T was just dumb luck, but were major pulls anyways. Having these legit names to help build up their own stars and eventually put them over only give more credibility to their product down the road. Others just make for good role players.

5. Being able to get Sting. Now while Sting will never be looked at as being one of the greatest, mainly because never went on the WWE to further cement his status, he will always be remembered as the one man from WCW who turned down Vince McMahon's money. I mean look at the list of people who took the money. You had Hogan, Nash, Hall, Flair, Goldberg, Bischoff, hell any man who Vince assumed he could buy. But one said no. And that one was Sting. But TNA got him to say YES! And that, alone, cements quite a legacy for them.

Now I'm sure I could have sat here and name off plenty more, but just the small thing that I named are well worth their wait to make TNA a memorable entity if it closed it's door tomorrow.

 

[Crimson Bonez]

i dont see how ppl an say that you dont compare wwe in its 1st 6 years but wwe 5 decades of a promotion being compared to 1 thats ben for 6 years, if tna was around for 5 decades then im sure it would leave a bigger lagacy, for its time frame thats its ben astablished i thnk that tna is doing good i made my points in the beginning of the thread so i dont wana repeat them just thought id add this in seeing as though alot of ppl are saying that dont compare wwe in its 1st years but 5 decades of the promotion to 6 years off another

 

[ronbart]

i just joined 5 minutes ago, but i wanted to add my opinion. im only 16 years old, so i dont remember all 5 decades of wwe. i first started watching wrestling around 1995 and i watched monday nitro, not raw. ever since the purchase of wcw by wwe, ive been a wwe fan, but disappointed in the product. i feel that tna has proven itself over the last 6 years as a legitamite natinoal promotion. i feel that it will have a long lasting legacy, no matter how long the company lasts. i have no exmples or facts to prove or support this claim, but i can say this:

AS A WRESTLING FAN, I AM MORE EXCITED EVERY WEEK TO SEE IMPACT THAN RAW OR SMACKDOWN. IM DRAWN TO THE LEGENDS (STING, NASH, DUDLEYS) AS WELL AS THE YOUNG GROWING STARS (AJ, CHRIS SABIN, SAMOA JOE). IN RECENT YEARS, I HAVE BECOME DISAPPOINTED WITH WWE (have u seen what they call ecw? nuf said) AND AM DRAWN TO WHAT I SEE IN TNA. TNA HAS BROUGHT BACK WHAT I REMEMBER AS WRESTLING (before a cruiserweight liek rey mysterio won the world heavyweight title)

 

[agentsmith22]

I am a wrestling fan with no fanboy allegiance to any promotion in particular (other than NOAH which is jsut sensational). Anybody who says that either promotion doesn't have great memories (especially the idiots talking about how WWE, not F, hasn't had any good ones lately) is just completely biased with their anti-McMahon attitudes, and those talking about how TNA doesn't compare (Sting coming to TNA wasn't a huge moment in wrestling history? don't be foolish) is just brainwashed and sipping the E kool-aid. Yes I'm dissing a lot of marks because they have ruined the product in recent years. I truly believe wrestling on the whole is on an upswing (did you see RAW tonight? fantastic show!) and the E has definetly had some great moments. Shawm Micheals coming back at Summerslam for the first time aginst Triple H anyone? Guerrero and Benoit in the ring at wrestlemania? Cena's surprise at the Rumble? (proving that deep down fans respect him they jsut reallllly don't wnat to show it) ECW's One Night Stand 2005? Raw on Nitro and Vice Versa? all of the TLC's, etc etc. oh yeah and ric flair's send off INCLUDING the storyline build up to the match. TNA could do a send off for sting, but i doubt it will have the same effect and not do Steve Borden justice. His last match will probably not be in front of 70,000 people and carry the same emotion as ric's simply becase tna can't do that. So to shut up the dispute, TNA's legacy is growing, to compare it to the WWE now is just unfair so don't do it. As it stands today, if TNA closed down, I'd remember it as being another WCW, and that's from a non biased fan. Of course they have room to grow, and don't act like WWE started out perfect. The McMahons raided talent from all of the territories back when they had them, and built from there. So stop whining about TNA just using old talent. I respect the X Division, but there's something about and heavy hitting, high selling match that jsut hooks you in more. And the atmosphere in the impact zone is cheesy. Been to a TNA hosue show and it was completely different. almost ROH-like. K now im done. whew

 

[Y 2 Jake]

TNA fans decide what the memorable moments for TNA are and looking at this thread most fans point to the same events. So basically your answer lies there. If you do not agree with those moments maybe youre not as much of a TNA fan as you say or think you are.

From my perspective I think memorable moments are obvious. It doesn't need a particular fan to point it out.

On another note .. if TNA were to drop off the planet after 6 years their memorable moments wont mean anything. They would be just another failed promotion that tried to break in but couldnt get it done. Same can be said for NWA, WCW, and WWE if they went down after 6 years.

Not true. There is no more WCW or ECW. But people still talk about them, as I'm sure people would do with TNA. But the difference is that both of those two promotions still generate discussion about individual moments, and as a whole promotion. TNA would only get people talking about how much potential it had, nothing more.

I have been reading the replies on this forum and the reaction to those replies by King Jake and have discovered that everything that anyone has to say in regards to quality moments of TNA is simply being shot down. If you notice, King Jake makes it a point to shoot down every moment of TNA that everyone is putting up. Every TNA moment in his eyes simply is not good enough or somehow does not compare to some sort of WWE moment.

When the options presented to me are things that have either being done before, or a minor alteration of a current gimmick, I have no choice. It's also what forums are for. Not everybody is supposed to agree. That was why I made the thread.

I really don't see how it is realistic or understandable to compare something like Brock Lesnar suplexing Big Show and destroying the ring to something like Samoa Joe winning the TNA title for the first time.

The ring breaking was a poor example. i stated that. But it will still be remembered long after Joe's title reign. I actually think the Angle/Joe cage match is the best one I've seen all year. And possibly if it wasn't the 30th match between the two it might leave more of a legacy, but it won't.

It is all totally subjective, yet it is apparent from these posts that these moments are being made to somehow being finite and comparable to others.

Shouldn't they be?

It is easy to say that Hogan slamming Andre was a great moment in wrestling history, but it was shown to us fans many times and has had enough time to allow that moment to sink in with the fans.

Maybe. But just maybe that match was suck a big deal at the time that it was always going to be one of those moments that people never forget. I couldn't say. I was watching wrestling at the time, but I was nothing more than a toddler.

Until Kurt Angle retires, I don't think that his jumping to TNA really sunk in with the fans because he is still active and has only been in TNA for two years.

I agree that the TNA debut of Angle will be remembered. I also think that the one defining moment in the hirstory of TNA will be when Kurt Angle dies. Because it'll happen when he's an active wrestler on TNA's roster.

It is easier to look back on something once it is gone and time has passed because it holds more of a sentimental and nostalgic value.

I agree. But I also think that you can see a future moment at the exact time as it happens.

Fans will most likely remember the company that brought in Sting and so many former WWE wrestlers.

WCW will always have got there first. Same with cruiserweights. It's not TNA's moment if somebody got there first. TNA are just keeping those things alive.

I am not talking about the stupid gimmick matches, characters or stipulations either. That is the legacy that TNA would leave behind.

If anything I think that is exactly what TNA will be remembered for.

1. The X Division- Until TNA came along with the X-Division, people thought that these titles and divisions were just for a bunch of guys who weren't big enough or charismatic enough to play with the heavyweights unless they were being squashed. But by TNA setting and backing up it's "No Weight Limit" label on the title, it made people believe in cruiserweights again. And having Samoa Joe reign in with a long title run was something that freshened up the division even more. Especially after seeing WWE slowly kill the cruiserweight division not once, not twice, but three times.

Like I said, it's WCW's moment. They got there first. Also for the past two years the X-Division has been nothing. A cruiserweight title, where they put a dozen wrestlers in the ring and let them do amazing bumps. Nothing more.

2. The strong style in the spotlight. Now while ECW had hardcore matches and moves, you really didn't see the return of the strong style until TNA brought it back. It made you believe that moves were really hurting and that they weren't just being sold. When a wrestler went down from a move, you actually thought there were down and out, instead of it just being a fluke injury the way it has been in WWE. The thing is that WWE has been bringing the strong style back itself, emulating TNA. Oh it's real, it's damned real.

I don't see that myself.

3. The Return of Women's wrestling. Ever since, Medusa put the WWF Women's title in the trash upon making her debut in WCW, Women's wrestling has been on it's way down the toilet. TNA fished it out, gave it a new coat of paint, and has women's wrestling looking respectable again and not like it's one step away from being in a pool of jello in a strip bar.

That must be why TNA is currently pushing The Beatuful People more than any of the other females, because of their wrestling talent.

Also after 6 months or so TNA has run out of challengers for the women's title. So yeah it was good for a couple of months. But it's on the slide already.

5. Being able to get Sting. Now while Sting will never be looked at as being one of the greatest, mainly because never went on the WWE to further cement his status, he will always be remembered as the one man from WCW who turned down Vince McMahon's money. I mean look at the list of people who took the money. You had Hogan, Nash, Hall, Flair, Goldberg, Bischoff, hell any man who Vince assumed he could buy. But one said no. And that one was Sting. But TNA got him to say YES! And that, alone, cements quite a legacy for them.

TNA got Sting because they pay him half a million a year to wrestle 4 times a month in his home town. That's all. He's doing it for the money. He's so out of touch with wrestling that he didn't know that Kurt Angle was the enforcer in the 2006 BFG main event.

TNA's legacy is growing, to compare it to the WWE now is just unfair so don't do it.

Not, when that is the point of the thread.

As it stands today, if TNA closed down, I'd remember it as being another WCW, and that's from a non biased fan.

But without anything truly worth remembering. The pinnacle of WCW would probably be the n.W.o. Where is TNA's moment like that? New company, with no new ideas. That's TNA.

Of course they have room to grow,

I agree.

and don't act like WWE started out perfect. The McMahons raided talent from all of the territories back when they had them, and built from there. So stop whining about TNA just using old talent.

Difference being that WWE got main eventers from other promotions to come from them and work as mid carders. TNA (for the most part) has wrestlers that WWE don't/didn't need.

 

[SpiralHands]

I have to say I agree with the claim that TNA would not leave a mark on the wrestling business if it collapsed, but then again I think it would. Although on the face if it theres nothing much match wise that stuck out in the past 6 years, theres alot of signings and the development of new talent. I mean they signed Kurt Angle and Booker T. I dont know about the Booker T signing but the Kurt one is definatly a moment that wouold stick out in wrestling history. However TNA with this and the development of new talent like Joe and the X Division as well as new cocepts like 6 sixed ring and Ultimate X TNA would only leave a small mark on the idustry.

 

[Golden Standard]

Funny to say tna has good moments earlier years. But also funny is tna will be around for a long time. Mainly cause wwe has no interest to buy them out like wcw/ecw. Also cause in time tna will be good and one day like wcw up to wwe's level. It will happen trust me. This is just a phase tna going through in their early years. WCW went through it too so tna will be fine they will be around a good amount of time.

 

[ImpactPlayer27]

TNA has done some new things, this is true. It has brought out some great innovative matches and has wrestlers that have done moves that make people wonder how they do it or why we haven't seen the WWE's guys do them. The 6 sides of steel while in some ways no different than a normal steel cage match, it has its memorable moments to it. AJ vs Abyss, AMW vs Triple X are some examples.

However in terms of innovation, nothing can beat or compare to Ultimate X. Some of the craziest moments in TNA came from that match alone. It took what the ladder matches did and took it to a new level which in almost all of the Ultimate X matches have drawn the reaction of "This is Awesome" from the crowd which in all wrestling, shouldn't reactions like that be what it's all about?

Then there's the tag team division. It brings some hope to what is being considered a dying art. We've seen teams like AMW, Triple X, LAX, The Motor City Machine Guns and others, bring back memories of what tag team wrestling used to be about.

And finally, we have the X-Division, that's brought stars such as Christopher Daniels, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Jay Lethal, Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, Petey Williams and others into the light.

This is the legacy TNA has brought forth and despite the state it's in right now, it's what brought us to watch TNA in the first place. Whether or not it has left an impact or would if it ended remains to be seen.