The State of Wrestling: The rights and the Wrongs

[Jatkuva]

I started thinking today about how upset I was that I missed Impact this week due to the direct TV ordeal, and how upset I was that I didn't miss RAW this week. I started thinking in general what I liked and what I didn't like about what was going on in current story-lines in both companies.

The Rights: TNA
1) Former WWE stars taking a back seat to TNA talent. Sure two weeks ago Jeff Hardy main evented against James storm, but it was part of the bound for glory series and it's not like any former WWE superstar has been champion since kurt angle was almost 9 months ago.
2)Austin Aeries as champion. The crowd is behind him, The face of the company that AJ styles should have been(more mainstream) Aeries has the potential to be the crowd is behind him 100% and he could really make this company.
3)Kurt Angle. He's been putting over talent and it's not taking a thing away from hes still putting on 5 star matches.
4)The rebuilding of the X-division. Zema Ion as champ, I like it we all really know he didn't mean to hurt sorrenson like he did. And TNA is using it in the right way and i think they will both really profit from it.
5)Bound for Glory Series-Usually each match delivers. There are some squashes here and there but i think they are using it right to rebuild Samoa Joe as a threat.
6)Storm vs. Roode- We all know it's coming, they will put it on one hell of a match and it will be great and doesn't have to be for the title cause of how well this has been built up.
7)TNA fan interaction- This really stood out to me at Destination X, Daniels just yelling at the fans for a while, and the same with Ion after he won the championship it really plays into the heel roles better cause you know your getting a ton of heat when you say something to the fans and they start a "transetion" chant while your giving an interview.
The Wrongs:TNA
1)Sting- I feel like throughout his entire career in TNA he has only worked championship matches, he had a great career in WCW but he walks in once every 4 months or so and they make the show about him.
2)The womens divison-It's really gone south, still better than WWE's but the quality of matches has gone far down and with WWE hiring sara del ray and supposably going away from the model type wrestlers, they will really need to make it shine if they want to remain better than WWE in that catagory.
3)Tag Team division-I'm okay with Kaz and daniels being champs they have good chemistry but who are they going to go against? The guns come back for a month, nothing happens out of it so shelley opts out, morgan and crimson is overwith. joe and magnus is overwith. Kurt and Styles are better single wrestlers.
4)Styles/Daniels/Dixie/Clarie/Kazz storyline- Sure great matches will come out of it, but as claries bad acting really made it dull and i just want to see it overwith, the payoff of the entire thing, As soon as possible.

The Rights:WWE
1)Daniel Bryan- Everything hes worked for how good of a in-ring work he is, is finally getting noticed.
2)Cm Punks title reign- It's been refreshing for having such a long title reign.
3)Smackdown money in the bank match-Not a lot of big names in it that sell ppv's but there is a lot of talent in the match and it should be entertaining given enough time.
4)Recent Hires-there have been some really good hires lately HHH is a way better VP of talent relations because he lived the business for all those years, While I feel John laurenitus made hires more on the idea of what he thought the fans wanted to see.
5)Chris Jericho. He puts on good matches, he draws. There letting him be more of the funny heel that we liked rather than trolling us.
6)Heath Slater, Getting TV time, being entertaining, drawing heat. Raw was a mess last week and I remember it being about 10:30 and thinking, Slater is not getting any tv time this week with two more matches still being advertised, I was actually re-leaved to see him come out and do his thing.
The Wrongs. WWE
1)AJ lee's current involvement in the WWE Championship. Don't get me wrong I like the storyline it would be still be exciting if neither of the two men held the title, but the problem is one of them does, and he's suppose to be what WWE may throw around as a loose term but I'm going to use it with the meaning it would have in a dictionary, A superstar. He is suppose to represent your company in and outside of the ring with the title of the company, and it's being overshadowed. And whats the overall payoff of this, the rumors are Cena vs. Punk II, great AJ doesn't need to be involved with it. Daniel doesn't need AJ. After MITB where does it go from here.
2)Raw. It was a joke last week. Smackdown has sort of be the building show where the stars have honed there craft since it's taped before they get to do there thing live on RAW and for what, to wrestle 2 or 3 minute matchs on a lackluster card. 3 hours of what we saw monday, I might just be calling direct Tv and asking them to take away my USA channel.
3)The revolving door that is the mid-card. The mid-card isn't going to produce any main event stars anytime soon when you come in and squash guys, only to get squashed yourself 6-7 months down the line from your debut by another guy that is debuting. Zack Ryder is over with the crowd, so you they had him win the title, lose it, get destoryed by kane, and then not do anything for a couple of months and win a battle royal. Next week, I bet he will lose to sandow once again.
4)Santino+The US championship, I love the guy, and thats why hes in the wrongs. Cause he has been mishandled by the WWE the fans actually like him and we know he can actually wrestle given the oppurtunity, he rarely defends the belt he wears. He has done whatever has been asked of him( a lot of it being embarrasing) for the company, push him, let him wrestle have him back off on the comedy bits a little, give him championship matchs, im not saying he needs the WWE title or WHC but he is a company man and deserves better.
5) Part time wrestlers. They all have they're ego's and never really put anybody over. The Undertaker is not excluded from this. I know he will never lose at wrestlemania and I'm fine with that, but have him wrestle two matches a year say he loses one to punk or bryan or shaemus it's better for business. The rock will get the championship because he of his ego, He needs to comment to at least a 3 or 4 month WWE schedule before he gets the title that includes working raws too live not via satalite. Honestly the best part timer might be Brock lesner because him not really caring about the business is what might actually be best for it, he doesn't care if he wins or loses, which allows him to put people over.
6)Punk vs. Bryan- They should have let these two have there match at over the limit. Ended it there for now build it up make it a great storyline where they always tease about the match but never have it until finally they have it at one of the big four, Would have made it that much more exciteing.

I'd like to hear your guys current opinions on the state of wrestling, whats right and whats wrong. Honest opinions, from those that watch both shows and aren't fan boys and weather you agree with me, or disagree, or If i missed something.

 

[IT Factor]

Wow! Nice topic. I think you hit most of the bigger rights/wrongs in wrestling. Both WWE & TNA are doing their fair shares of both and need improvement. As of late, I've really preferred TNA to WWE simply because the energy of Impact Wrestling has been full of life whereas WWE seems like a dragging routine show. They are simply going through the motions and their shows reflect that. They manage to do the occasional storyline that catches my attention, but, the whole AJ interaction with Punk/Bryan has been one of the biggest failures as of late. I'm hoping she'll either turn completely and side with Bryan or be dropped completely. It takes up entirely too much airtime when WWE has alot of talents not being used or not used correctly.

 

[smizzy]

First of all, great opening post. You put a ton of effort into it, and that's how you can begin a discussion! I will keep my post simple and highlight the WWE's biggest problem.

WWE's main problem is lack of a strong farm system which is comparable to MLB baseball teams. In fact I'm going to go into detail on this on another thread. Basically, WWE has no new superstars thar are able to step up in a time of need because they failed to build up their system.

 

[GrandSword]

Nice little post, good for discussion I want to add a few things on your points

6)Storm vs. Roode- We all know it's coming, they will put it on one hell of a match and it will be great and doesn't have to be for the title cause of how well this has been built up.

I really think this feud needs to be for the title. It was the title that made Roode stab his best friend in the back for. The title is TNA's main focus which compared to WWE is awesome to see. Roode couldn't win the belt. Storm did in under two minutes, this jealousy made Roode snap and has led to this blood feud. When Storm did't win the title at Lockdown he left for a few months, now he is back but is indeed for the belt. For Storm to take it from Aries would not allow the storyline to come full circle.

The Wrongs:TNA

1)Sting- I feel like throughout his entire career in TNA he has only worked championship matches, he had a great career in WCW but he walks in once every 4 months or so and they make the show about him.

Like it or not Sting is the biggest star TNA has ever had. The guy is TNA's Undertaker. When Taker comes back he is in a big storyline. Same with Sting. They need to use his time wisely and so he returns and it is either to fight the top heel in the company (which he put over btw) or to bring in this new storyline about Aces and 8s. Sting is their first Hall of Famer and they need to promote that by keeping him in a top storyline. I think it is one of TNA's "rights" to be honest. I know you've mentioned this in the wrong's of WWE about Taker and the Rock but i think if you have a big talent that is on borrowed time due to their age and injuries they need to be in a top feud to get the most money out of their appearances as you can.

2)The womens divison-It's really gone south, still better than WWE's but the quality of matches has gone far down and with WWE hiring sara del ray and supposably going away from the model type wrestlers, they will really need to make it shine if they want to remain better than WWE in that catagory.

I'm not too sure about this statement my man. Did you see the match between Gail and Tessmacher on Thursday? Tessmacher has come up in leaps and bounds and although she hasn't got anything extraordinary in her offence, her ring work is better than Velvet Sky's. Gail has put over a new talent who is very attractive which equals ratings in my eyes and with a strong roster of Gail, Tara and Mickie James supporting this I think the KO Division is doing well.

3)Tag Team division-I'm okay with Kaz and Daniels being champs they have good chemistry but who are they going to go against? The guns come back for a month, nothing happens out of it so shelley opts out, morgan and crimson is overwith. joe and magnus is overwith. Kurt and Styles are better single wrestlers.

Although there doesn't seem to be much opposition for Kaz and Daniels at the moment, they are in a very high profile storyline, which means the tag belts by association are worth more than they have been in a very long time. Which also means the Division is looking good and whoever beats them will go over big time.

4)Styles/Daniels/Dixie/Clarie/Kazz storyline- Sure great matches will come out of it, but as claries bad acting really made it dull and i just want to see it overwith, the payoff of the entire thing, As soon as possible.

Hey I'm with you here, it's a little cringeworthy and I'm not sure why this Claire woman is on our screens. But this whole thing has brought the most deserving employee on the TNA roster Christopher Daniels into the spotlight and for me this is worth it. Daniels for years has been over looked even though he is amazing on the mic and in the ring.

The Rights:WWE
1)Daniel Bryan- Everything hes worked for how good of a in-ring work he is, is finally getting noticed.

Daniel Bryan is so good it's scary. I have been a BIG fan of his for over 10 years but the fact that he is the most over guy in the WWE just blows my mind and I hope he gets a feud with Cena soon. He is so good. I just wish Punk would stop stealing his material.

2)Cm Punks title reign- It's been refreshing for having such a long title reign.

The reign's length is a good thing, but it just needs something. He has had solid defences against good talent, but it is missing soemthing liek a Brock Lesnar type storyline. Heyman needs to challenge Punk on Brock's behalf. Begin a strong mic feud before introducing Lesnar into it for the matches. Punk needs something special the way Austin and McMahon brought in big money. I was appalled that Cena stole Punk's feud with Lauranitis. Cena really screwed Punk there. That was his feud, it should have been Punk to reap the benfits of it. (Please note that it was Vince that decided Cena to have it not Cena hismelf but you get what I mean)

The Wrongs. WWE
1)AJ lee's current involvement in the WWE Championship. Don't get me wrong I like the storyline it would be still be exciting if neither of the two men held the title, but the problem is one of them does, and he's suppose to be what WWE may throw around as a loose term but I'm going to use it with the meaning it would have in a dictionary, A superstar. He is suppose to represent your company in and outside of the ring with the title of the company, and it's being overshadowed. And whats the overall payoff of this, the rumors are Cena vs. Punk II, great AJ doesn't need to be involved with it. Daniel doesn't need AJ. After MITB where does it go from here.

I think the AJ story is actually really refreashing. The WWE a very sexist company, ell the prowrestling industry is sexist.. or maybe I'm reading too much into it. Men's Tennis players get paid more than the women's... Any way, for AJ a women o be in a top storyline and gettingt he opportunity and doing a great job with it is really great to see. It is something new and that's all us wrestling fans are after. Hopefully creative keep her strong or go ina direction with her, whoever she aligns with keeps the story strong.

2)Raw. It was a joke last week. Smackdown has sort of be the building show where the stars have honed there craft since it's taped before they get to do there thing live on RAW and for what, to wrestle 2 or 3 minute matchs on a lackluster card. 3 hours of what we saw monday, I might just be calling direct Tv and asking them to take away my USA channel.

After all the reviews on this site this week, I decided not to watch Raw for the first time in a long time. I usually watch it, grown and fast forward through most of it, but this last week I just deleted it off my DVR. I really hope Raw gets better soon leading upto Summerslam. Besides Punk/Bryan it has lost it's way since Extreme Rules.

5) Part time wrestlers.

I spoke about this above with the Sting comment. Just on Brock Lensar though, hopefully in the later part of the year they start to use him more and more, because he "return" came with some much promise, but WWE have yet to see the pay-off besides the Cena match. I heard Cena was meant to be carried out and take time off after he won with the chain shot. That didn't happen, once again, Cena keeps the spotlight and even does a promo after the match...

I'd like to hear your guys current opinions on the state of wrestling, whats right and whats wrong. Honest opinions, from those that watch both shows and aren't fan boys and weather you agree with me, or disagree, or If i missed something.

Right: NXT. The tag teams of Jake Carter/Corey Graves and The Ascension are just awesome. I love these two new teams! We get some good wrestling, and bringing through of some new exciting characters that find more interesting than most of the roster of Raw and SD. Richie Steamboat, Seth Rollins, Leo Kruger, Bray Wyatt, Kassius Ohno and the above tag teams are just awesome for me and I can't wait for them to replace some of the dead weight on Raw and Smackdown.

Wrong: John Cena continues to hog the spotlight over the WWE titles. This has been talked about all over these boards with the fact that the WWE title is not defended in the main event, but Cena's feud is, only really benefits Cena. As I said above Cena really screwed CM Punk in the Johnny Ace feud. Is Vince paying him back for allowing Rock to go over him at WM perhaps? If Vince is crying foul about new stars not being created, maybe it is the fact that Cena keeps getting any feuds or storylines of note and others are left with nothing. That si why I think the AJ stuff is good because she making something very entertaining out of smething that may originally not been much for her. Sheamus, Orton and Punk wont go to the next level if Vince keeps ioving Cena everyting and the rest of roster nothing to work with.

Right:WWE and TNA promoting top talent that aren't all 6 foot 6 and 300 pounds of muscle brother. Guys like Aries, Bryan, Punk, Ziggler, Storm, Roode are being given an opportunity because of their talent not because of their size. It's great to see as the cream is rising to the top, especially in TNA as instead of the glass ceiling their is the Cena Ceiling in WWE.