TNA is a mind boggling failure

[Scott Free]

Is that really all? I dont know, I guess its just totally hard for me to accept that. I mean WCW did well for all those years, right? It CANT just be people saying "eh its not WWE, I dont like it..." I mean. they HAVE a host of WWE guys. Big name WWE guys. Shit, Mick Foley was a huge star during an immensely popular period of wrestling.

WCW did well all those years, well, which years ? The NWO period ? When WWE Lemmings jumped ship because they expected a take-over by Hall and Nash ? Or before that, when they had better talent, better storylines and were playing second fiddle to a mediocre Pre-Attitude era RAW ? You'd have to be more specific.

I refuse to belive people are that simple. There just has to be more to it. Its not like they are even on during competing times. So they could easily share the market. People just plain ol dont like TNA. What the fuck.

Actually, people ARE that simple. Not their fault really, it's years and years of conditioning by expert market research and PR groups carefully orchestrated to sell you a product as the answer to all questions. Vince McMahon learned early enough in his career that it's not what you offer, but HOW you offer it.
To give you a rough example, WCW would do something like, "Here it is, Ladies and Gentlemen, the greatest thing since sliced bread." and plop it on TV without any further do. Vince likes the build-up, the spectacle, the fireworks and sizzle, huge media screens and over hyped commentators, he could present anything using this machine and more likely than not, people will buy it, so that's what they are being conditioned to expect and that's what they are brainwashed into wanting. TNA cannot compete with the spectacular production values and media machine of the WWE, and like it or not, that's what driving the ratings, doesn't matter who is on their show.

 

[BIGJUICYNIPPLES]

yeh tna is complete piece of shit, and no wonder why,

their main event scene has a 50 year old sting a realy realy annoying mick foley, a fat samoan with a penis (tatto) on his face,a kurt angle who saids he's gonna end your career in every promo he does, and they have pretty much no young talent,

so tna's future is ment to be samoa joe and aj styles, both of witch have become sooooo stale i cant watch another aj match because he is doing notihng new and is booring me to death, i cant help but not wanna watch a 300 pound guy completly out of shape guy bouncing around a ring, and then after that who esle is there so called young talent???? i realy cant think of any that are good,

they also need to fire nash and steiner i meen they are completly burring there own careers they look like old men trying to be HIP and just completly failing.

 

[Scott Free]

Wow, the hurt my head, anyways, I'm currently watching tonight's broadcast of TNA, after listening to A.J and Jarret cut the opening promo, my room mate and I came do the conclusion that the writing for TNA is Just terrible, on top of the fact that the audience could give less of a shit about anything that's going on.

The combination of those two thing makes for a really lame T.V broadcast (I'm watching Sting and Cactus cut a promo right now, AUDIENCE IS ******ED) it really seems to kill the vibe of the broadcast, the sting, Foley promo is great, no one in the audience seems to care that Foley is punching himself in the head, and beating the shit out of sting, you don't roll out of bed and see that shit every day. Foley couldn't even get a cactus jack chant going, that's just sad in my opinion.

I know its a free universal studios audience, but DAMN, its bad.

Yet, I bet if they had the same, exact show on a live RAW with all the sizzle, Cactus would have had a huge audience reaction. Again, the WWE makes sure they get the right audience response, if they don't, they'll edit that in.
Production values, TNA has very few of those.

 

[Rusty]

NorCal, try and watch TNA. If you really don't want to put yourself through the pain and torture that is TNA iMPACT, then let me explain what is wrong with the company. I watch iMPACT most weeks. It's shown on a fucking Saturday night here. And guess what, apparently iMPACT is the most watched wrestling show in Australia. AHEAD of Raw, Smackdown and ECW. Yes, I'm now ashamed to be Australian.

But anyway, WCW was a success, but not for a long time. People got sick of the same old boring names. Hulk Hogan wasn't in his prime anymore. NWO was made up of guys who weren't in their prime anymore. Eventually, people got sick of the same old veterans. The WWF was beginning to build their company around guys who were young, and fresh. Eventually, people wanted to see the new guys such as The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Both are now 2 of the most recognized superstars in the history of professional wrestling. The WWF won the Monday Night Wars, but it was because of it's youth talent.

Right now, guys like Triple H, Shawn Michaels and Undertaker are still in the main event, but eventually and hopefully soon, they will pass the torch to guys like Randy Orton and John Cena. You know why John Cena is such a big draw? Because he's in his prime. He's young. He's fresh. The same goes for Orton. People want new faces on the show. TNA currently has Mick Foley, Kurt Angle, Sting, Scott Steiner, Jeff Jarrett and Kevin Nash on their roster. Every single one of those names are now past their prime. Angle and Sting are still good, but they are still past their primes.

We've already seen Kurt Angle win multiple World Championships, the same goes for Sting. So why do we want to see it again? The same goes for someone like Triple H, which is why he doesn't draw as the WWE Champion. I know you're a Triple H fan NorCal, but it's a fact. TNA does have some good young guys, don't get me wrong. I enjoy watching AJ Styles and Samoa Joe wrestle, but they are being overshadowed by the guys who are too selfish to give up the main event spotlight. Do you see what I'm getting at here? Wrestling fans want new faces, especially in the main event. It may have worked for WCW for a while even without fresh faces, but look where WCW is now. You cannot build a company around veterans who are past their prime.

THAT is only part of the problem with TNA.

The production value sucks, the camera angles suck, the 6 sided ring is... well, it looks cheap. The commentating is awful. The storylines are just so bad. TNA's replay videos and video packages absolutely suck. The overall booking of the weekly iMPACT is terrible. TNA gives away pay per view matches for free. For example, a few months ago they put on AJ Styles vs Booker T in the main event. A match we've never seen before. A few months later, they expect people to pay for the match, when we saw that same match with a clean finish on iMPACT prior to the pay per view.

Kurt Angle is booked like a babyface, involved in handicap matches and everything. He's supposed to be TNA's top heel. Samoa Joe threatens to kill Booker T and Scott Steiner with a knife. He takes Booker T's wife away from him, mysteriously. Joe is meant to be a top babyface. Half the superstars move between heel and face on a weekly basis. Nobody knows who they are meant to cheer for. They think by having the Motor City Machine Guns do constant spot after spot, people call them 5 star classics. iMPACT usually has at least 45 minutes contiously consisting of video packages, interviews and backstage segments. You think I'm joking? Think again. TNA's biggest show and pay per view of the year, Bound for Glory, had a main event of Sting vs Samoa Joe (c) for the TNA World Title. Joe was the face, Sting was the heel. Guess who won? Sting, again. A heel won the World Title in the main event of the biggest show of the show.

TNA expects me to know what Elevation X is. I've never watched a TNA PPV in my life, so I still don't know what Elevation X is. It's a match type, but TNA didn't explain the rules of the match to me. Kurt Angle is built as strong as God, if not stronger. Same goes for Awesome Kong. Apparently it's a requirement to have a tattoo to become a Diva in TNA, because almost every girl has one. Rusty doesn't like tattoos on women. TNA has a superstar named Suicide. Shark Boy is a wrestler who is a direct rip off Stone Cold Steve Austin. Jay Lethal has the exact same gimmick as Randy Savage. Title belts usually change hands on free TV, but hardly ever on pay per view. I am not over exaggerating anything in this post, by the way. TNA has a title called "The Legends Championship". It's purpose? It has none. A few weeks ago, the iMPACT main event was Eric Young (a regular mid-card) vs. a member of Kurt Angle's security.

I could go on and on for days if you really want me to NorCal. But yeah, those are just some of the problems with TNA.

 

[wolvdog316]

Its really simple. While TNA does have past star wrestlers, people are tired of seeing the same shit. Sting has been on tv since, what, 1988? 21 years. Foley, since 92? Dudleys since 90's. Steiner, since 1988 or so. We are talking about 20 plus years. Angle started I dont even know, so Ill go with 10 years or so, sue me I'm tired lol.

People are tired of seeing them. And while you say yes Angle, Dudleys, Steiner, Nash, Sting, Foley WERE big names, nobody gives two shits now. People want to see the rising stars. And ECW gives them that.

However, it's not just that. It's also the storylines. Whoever is running TNA, and you can quote me Disco, "are fucking inept" at creating anything close to drama, excitement, or even wrestling at this point.

The storylines don't make sense, period. Samoa Joe loses, finds himself, and now he cuts people with a giant fucking machette? Sting is a face, but he is leader of the #1 heel group, yet they play him as a face :| The foley tries to turn semi heel :| against the supposed leader of the heel faction, but who is actually a face. Then you throw in in Jap tag titles or chinese, Austrian who gives a fuck, to try to make it appear your global.

You got a member of the #1 group in TNA, Nash, walking around like he just had 10 different kind of surgeries last week, and if his hair goes anymore gray, he might be mistaken for a great grandpa.

You have a fake ass Kane running around pretending he's mankind, to a guy everybody knows was WWE/ECW. You had one of your top talents hide behind a fucking mask in Curry Man, only to save your even more ******ed ass Suicide character, whose DEBUT was 9 years after his debut in a VIDEO GAME.

You get rid of Petey Williams, yet you keep Kaz? Who nobody gives two shits about.

You have the worst fucking announce team in the history of this business. Mikey Tenay is the worst announcer in the fucking world.

They STILL haven't moved from Studio Florida. WCW moved in what 3-4 years? This is year 7, and your STILL there. I know, you worked your way up to there. Isn't that such a remarkable goal?

They call a 1.4 a remarkable number. Why don't you just tell the world your a bunch of lousy lame fuck idiots whose ambitions are so low that a midget couldn't walk under them.

You put the tag titles on a fucking NFL player that couldn't stay out of trouble, only to find out AFTER you did that he can't wrestle. Or even be touched.

Nobody who hasn't watched TNA over a course of a year could tell you which PPV is your big one. Even WCW had Starrcade.

Your main star, your future is a fat ass samoan. Your next star, AJ, gets put in bullshit angles so fat fuck Joe, or Old as shit Foley can go chase the title.

You make the most fucking mind boggling statements known to man. Like comparing a PPV of your shit company to WM. Nobody is talking about the "other ppv" lol what? WM outdrew and outsold ALL your shows combied for a year. WWE did that in 4 fucking Hours.

You have, currently most of the same guys WCW had, WHEN THEY WENT UNDER. Sting, Booker, Steiner, Nash, Jarrett. These guys were on top in WCW and they COULD NOT DRAW the last 2 years. Add in Russo, Mr fucking Overrated, and you throw in a dash of nobody gives a crap Jarrett and you wonder why they can NOT beat a ECW show?

 

[wolvdog316]

And in the past, they have had some of the dumbest most gimmick ridden matches in the history of this sport.

A reverse battle royal....on a PPV? WHO THINKS OF THIS SHIT. I know, lets take a battle royal, but put them outside. And the object? To get IN the ring.....SERIOUSLY?

And the poster was right, they build Angle up to be a god. In fact, it wouldn't suprise me if someday soon the whole TNA roster is ordered to lie down in the ring, while Angle moonsaults on them and scores the pinfall on all of them at once.

TNA had it for a while. They were the buzz, they had talent, and people were making noise for them. Then they bring in Angle and its been down here from there.

Yeah, lets bring in a WWE guy, and let him just destroy our home grown talent, semi fat crap Joe. Headbutt him while our guy stands there and just bleeds.

I could go on and on, its laughable really. If Russo is in charge of TNA, I have to believe he is still working for Vince. Nobody can be this dumb. Nobody gets lucky this many times to look so horrible, on a weekly, monthly, yearly basis.

 

[ghettodan]

A reverse battle royal....on a PPV? WHO THINKS OF THIS SHIT. I know, lets take a battle royal, but put them outside. And the object? To get IN the ring.....SERIOUSLY?

LOL the funniest thing about their "reverse battle royals" is when you have random jobbers just standing around outside the ring not fighting but also not trying to get into the ring making an already ******ed concept of a match even worse.

Who ever thought up the idea for that type of match should have their nuts ran over by a car.

 

[tbp82]

I've got to add my two cents even though this thread will never get anywhere because you can tell from reading the post that people aren't looking at this subjectively. The only person here who makes logical sense is the one saying TNA is not a failure. TNA booking is bad. But, they have survived. When WCW and ECW were bought by Vince no one thought another wrestling company would ever even pose enough threat to Vince to be even mentioned in a thread like this. WWE is beating TNA because they are WWE. Sorry the loyalists argument is true. The WWE is to wrestling like Tiger Woods is to golf. People watch golf when Tiger Woods is on if he isn't then they don't..........The casual fan is the fan who drives the ratings. WWE has the brand name the tradition and the money TNA does not. I know some people can't understand that and that is because you love wrestling and see it as more than a business and you don't want to accept that people can be that simple but.........they are.

 

[Rome]

Yet, I bet if they had the same, exact show on a live RAW with all the sizzle, Cactus would have had a huge audience reaction. Again, the WWE makes sure they get the right audience response, if they don't, they'll edit that in.
Production values, TNA has very few of those.

WWE also has a monumental amount of cash, and a loyal fan base who will chant whatever the hell Vince says to chant because they're lemmings who do what they're told. There's a reason they're called "marks".

 

[Y 2 Jake]

WWE also has a monumental amount of cash, and a loyal fan base who will chant whatever the hell Vince says to chant because they're lemmings who do what they're told.

Maybe they chant because they want to. It's probably the reason the first Cena booes started to happen. They didn't like him, they booed. Sure people picked up on it and then they started following. But isn't that the same as when people chant ''TNA, TNA''?

There's a reason they're called "marks".

They and we are all marks.

 

[Low_Ki]

Going back to the whole free tickets thing, it is stupid on TNA's part to be giving away free tickets to their weekly Impact show.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I can understand why. They fear that they won't sell, but when you have a Kurt Angle, a Sting, A Cactus Jack (Mick Foley) guys like that would make a killing in the Indy's. If people would pay good money to watch them in the Indy's, why not just slap on a small price tage so that you get some revenue on a weekly basis? I'm no Financer but that is just common sense surely.

 

[finneycom1]

I've got to add my two cents even though this thread will never get anywhere because you can tell from reading the post that people aren't looking at this subjectively. The only person here who makes logical sense is the one saying TNA is not a failure. TNA booking is bad. But, they have survived. When WCW and ECW were bought by Vince no one thought another wrestling company would ever even pose enough threat to Vince to be even mentioned in a thread like this. WWE is beating TNA because they are WWE. Sorry the loyalists argument is true. The WWE is to wrestling like Tiger Woods is to golf. People watch golf when Tiger Woods is on if he isn't then they don't..........The casual fan is the fan who drives the ratings. WWE has the brand name the tradition and the money TNA does not. I know some people can't understand that and that is because you love wrestling and see it as more than a business and you don't want to accept that people can be that simple but.........they are.

I dont think that the argument is so much that TNA is a failure. I dont think they are a "failure." It's just, as a wrestling fan, it pisses me off to see what lame-ass writing they have. Here's the deal: TNA has the "ball", they just aren't running with it. There is no reason why this company is not blowing ECW out of the water.
As far as the "loyalists" thing goes. I agree, there are alot of fans that will choose ECW over TNA, b/c it carries the WWE name. But overall, that is NOT TNA's biggest obstacle. TNA's biggest obstacle is TNA. Even if TNA was bought out by WWE, if they kept the same stupid six-sided ring, same storylines, same show, it would still only beat out ECW by a couple of points in the ratings.
To put it in simple terms: If by some weird reason, TNA, keeping everything the same, would draw the same numbers as Raw, I would still choose to watch Raw over TNA. Not b/c I am a loyalists, b/c WWE writing is far superior that TNA's. But that will never happen b/c of TNA's writing and storylines. I have a couple of buddies at work who used to be fans back when the Monday Night Wars was at the highest level. Then, when TNA struck their deal with Spike, they asked me, "Hey, did you see that new wrestling show on Spike? I think I may catch it when it comes on next, see what that's all about." The day after, they came up to me and said, "That was the worst wrestling program I have ever seen!" This is coming from casual wrestling fans wanting to get back to watching it again. This is the problem: TNA turns people off that WANT to be fans!!!

Do I think TNA is a failure: NO. Do I think they could do a better job? Absolutely!!

 

[Y 2 Jake]

They give away free tickets because the fans are the only thing they have. See all the talk of how many people are watching the show.

You don't want your show to be empty, that's not good for the HD cameras. They pick up on that stuff.

Wait, I thought TNA was free to get into. iMPACT annyway. Don't tell me they're giving you free tickets to get into Universal Studios. I'm joking. But I'm not when I say they're doing something wrong when they can't sell out PPVs. A smaller venue maybe, they're cheaper if anything.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

I love how people bash TNA when really they probably couldn't even do half of what there doing.

I'm 100% certain I could come up with some shit storylines. 110% in the event of a mathmatical impossibility.

I mean hell WWE didn't become big in 5-6 years now did they.

No they didn't. But how many years was it from when Vince McMahon started to buy up all the territories? Because that's the WWE we know today.

It's 7 years now btw.

Left the company grow for a change people.

See above. 7 year. My daughter is 6 in two weeks. She's growing, expanding and learning quicker than a company that's run by people who've been involved in wrestling for years.

They push there guys along with the guys from WWE. I mean AJ Styles Joe and Daniels are all part of the Lethal Lockdown. You got Jarret the founder of TNA in it also so that's 4 TNA Stars there(I know Joe came from ROH but didn't have his WWE Connections...) Then on the other side you got Angle...Booker T...Nash and Scott. 4 WWE guys....so see both are being pushed.

I think that could be another wrestling urban myth. It's like people saying that Triple H haters always bring up him marrying Stephanie McMahon, it doesn't really happen. I don't think many people begrudge TNA using established stars. They object to them doing nothing with them.

 

[D-Man]

I am a loyal wrestling fan TO THE CORE. I watched WCW, even when they were shitting on my favorite wrestling program the WWE(F). When WCW would give away WWE's storylines on live TV, I would STILL tune into Raw. Honestly, I would even watch GLOW if it was still on TV!!

When I first heard about TNA, I was excited that WWE was finally going to get some competition. I was also happy because it was another night during the week where I could watch more wrestling. I turned it on and got my first taste of wrestlers like Samoa Joe, AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels. Even though they were smaller than the superstars I was used to watching, their wrestling ability completely made up for it. The matches were fast-paced, exciting, and different.

Fast forward to present day, and SO many things about the product changed. As a matter of fact, all of those changes are the reason why turning the program on makes me absolutely sick to my stomach. It is an insult to the business of professional wrestling. I think my childhood friends made better storylines when we were 13 years old and wrestling in an empty grass-lot across the street from their house. At least WE had RELEVANT ORIGINALITY!!!

A six-sided ring?!? Reverse battle royals?? Swinging from rope like apes during matches?? PPV's with eight total matches and SIX of them being ridiculous gimmick matches?? What the fuck is the Motor City Machine Guns theme music?? Why does every wrestler walk into the ring, walk towards the camera and give a ridiculous body gesture or hand symbol to the camera instead of the acknowledging the fans that came to see them perform?? Why is your top heel-stable lead by a babyface?? Why is one of your top babyfaces acting like a heel?? How can you create a "Legends Championship" and have it held by someone that has no business being associated with the word "Legend"?? What the fuck is a Shark Boy or a Curry Man?!?!? Why do wrestlers mimic characters from 20 years ago (Jay Lethal, Consequences "Apollo" Creed)?? Why does every promo (either in the ring or backstage) last 20 minutes??? Why does the top tag team hold a championship belt from a JAPANESE ORGANIZATION?!? Why do your have announcers on your show that scream all the time, get into a verbal feud on television, show no emotion towards the product, have terrible acting skills, and are complete and utter ROBOTS??!!

It doesn't matter what your ratings say, how much money you make from year to year, what television program was dumb enough to put your show on their station, or what talent you have on your television program. If you can actually disgust a DEDICATED wrestling fan like myself from watching your program, you have become a miserable failure. After all, pro-wrestling is about entertaining the people who watch it, right?

TNA... you're a disgrace.

 

[Jack bruce]

Going back to the whole free tickets thing, it is stupid on TNA's part to be giving away free tickets to their weekly Impact show.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I can understand why. They fear that they won't sell, but when you have a Kurt Angle, a Sting, A Cactus Jack (Mick Foley) guys like that would make a killing in the Indy's. If people would pay good money to watch them in the Indy's, why not just slap on a small price tage so that you get some revenue on a weekly basis? I'm no Financer but that is just common sense surely.

Ummm yeah they do house shows, where you do have to pay ever been to one, and tna has to if im not mistaken there in contract in universal studiosm, or somethin like that and they cant put a price on something that is in the same place every week, and expect to fill it up in fact didnt vince do that and almost went backrupt.

 

[Rome]

I am a loyal wrestling fan TO THE CORE. I watched WCW, even when they were shitting on my favorite wrestling program the WWE(F). When WCW would give away WWE's storylines on live TV, I would STILL tune into Raw. Honestly, I would even watch GLOW if it was still on TV!!

When I first heard about TNA, I was excited that WWE was finally going to get some competition. I was also happy because it was another night during the week where I could watch more wrestling. I turned it on and got my first taste of wrestlers like Samoa Joe, AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels. Even though they were smaller than the superstars I was used to watching, their wrestling ability completely made up for it. The matches were fast-paced, exciting, and different.

Fast forward to present day, and SO many things about the product changed. As a matter of fact, all of those changes are the reason why turning the program on makes me absolutely sick to my stomach. It is an insult to the business of professional wrestling. I think my childhood friends made better storylines when we were 13 years old and wrestling in an empty grass-lot across the street from their house. At least WE had RELEVANT ORIGINALITY!!!

A six-sided ring?!? Reverse battle royals?? Swinging from rope like apes during matches?? PPV's with eight total matches and SIX of them being ridiculous gimmick matches?? What the fuck is the Motor City Machine Guns theme music?? Why does every wrestler walk into the ring, walk towards the camera and give a ridiculous body gesture or hand symbol to the camera instead of the acknowledging the fans that came to see them perform?? Why is your top heel-stable lead by a babyface?? Why is one of your top babyfaces acting like a heel?? How can you create a "Legends Championship" and have it held by someone that has no business being associated with the word "Legend"?? What the fuck is a Shark Boy or a Curry Man?!?!? Why do wrestlers mimic characters from 20 years ago (Jay Lethal, Consequences "Apollo" Creed)?? Why does every promo (either in the ring or backstage) last 20 minutes??? Why does the top tag team hold a championship belt from a JAPANESE ORGANIZATION?!? Why do your have announcers on your show that scream all the time, get into a verbal feud on television, show no emotion towards the product, have terrible acting skills, and are complete and utter ROBOTS??!!

It doesn't matter what your ratings say, how much money you make from year to year, what television program was dumb enough to put your show on their station, or what talent you have on your television program. If you can actually disgust a DEDICATED wrestling fan like myself from watching your program, you have become a miserable failure. After all, pro-wrestling is about entertaining the people who watch it, right?

TNA... you're a disgrace.

Six sided ring? Guess what? You remembered it – and it differentiates them from their competition in every other circuit who use a traditional four sided ring.

Reverse battle royals? God forbid they try something new! Oh the nerve! What a disgrace to try things wrestling fans may or may not like.

Swinging from ropes in an ultimate X match? God forbid they try something new! Oh the nerve! What a disgrace to try things wrestling fans may or may not like.

PPV's with eight total matches and SIX of them being gimmick matches? As if the WWE never ran it's course with "gimmick" matches either, eh? What the fuck is the Survivor Series again? Oh that's right – one giant gimmick established as a PPV event.

Why does every promo (either in the ring or backstage) last 20 minutes? Um – sorry pal – have you ever heard Randy Orton cut a promo? How about HHH? You wanna talk about "twenty minute" promos – see the biggest names in WWE for more information. Jericho runs bits that last 12 and 13 minutes.

Why does the top tag team hold a championship belt from a JAPANESE ORGANIZATION? Because TNA partners with the Ikebukuro West Gate Park [IWGP] out of Japan – an internationally respected wrestling federation that Vince McMahon doesn't own...

Why do your have announcers on your show that scream all the time, get into a verbal feud on television, show no emotion towards the product, have terrible acting skills, and are complete and utter ROBOTS? Todd Grisham, Mike Adamle, Michael Cole... do I really need to go on?

 

[D-Man]

Six sided ring? Guess what? You remembered it – and it differentiates them from their competition in every other circuit who use a traditional four sided ring.

You're right about one thing, it differentiates itself. But it doesn't mean it's a good idea. It's shit.

Reverse battle royals? God forbid they try something new! Oh the nerve! What a disgrace to try things wrestling fans may or may not like.

By all means, try new things. I'm all for it. But when they look like crap, confuse the audience, and DON'T WORK, you should probably stop using them. At leasdt other organizations LEARN from their mistakes... and believe me, they've made plenty.

Swinging from ropes in an ultimate X match? God forbid they try something new! Oh the nerve! What a disgrace to try things wrestling fans may or may not like.

Should I repeat myself, too?

PPV's with eight total matches and SIX of them being gimmick matches? As if the WWE never ran it's course with "gimmick" matches either, eh? What the fuck is the Survivor Series again? Oh that's right – one giant gimmick established as a PPV event.

Once again, I'm all for gimmick matches when they serve the CORRECT PURPOSE. But if they're overused, it makes the product stale.

Why does every promo (either in the ring or backstage) last 20 minutes? Um – sorry pal – have you ever heard Randy Orton cut a promo? How about HHH? You wanna talk about "twenty minute" promos – see the biggest names in WWE for more information. Jericho runs bits that last 12 and 13 minutes.

I don't think you understood me... 20 minute promos are great from people who know how to cut a promo. And, WWE only has 2-3 promos throughout their programming. TNA has one before and after every damn commercial. <YAWN>

Why does the top tag team hold a championship belt from a JAPANESE ORGANIZATION? Because TNA partners with the Ikebukuro West Gate Park [IWGP] out of Japan – an internationally respected wrestling federation that Vince McMahon doesn't own...

Do I give two craps if they own another promotiion?? My favorite part is that the team holding the IWGP belts is more important than the team that holds it's own promotion's belts. Smart thinking, Russo.

Why do your have announcers on your show that scream all the time, get into a verbal feud on television, show no emotion towards the product, have terrible acting skills, and are complete and utter ROBOTS? Todd Grisham, Mike Adamle, Michael Cole... do I really need to go on?

They fired Adamle because he sucked. Maybe they should try that with Don West. And you're seriously comparing Grisham and Cole to Tenay and West?? If you see TNA's announcers as being better than you don't need me to cut you down... you're doing it to yourself.

 

[Rome]

You're right about one thing, it differentiates itself. But it doesn't mean it's a good idea. It's shit.

Subjective.

By all means, try new things. I'm all for it. But when they look like crap, confuse the audience, and DON'T WORK, you should probably stop using them. At leasdt other organizations LEARN from their mistakes... and believe me, they've made plenty.

You say that as if the majority of TNA fans do not enjoy the Ultimate X match &#8211; which they do. I haven't seen a "Beer on a Pole" or "Fish Market Street Fight" match since they first used them &#8211; seems to me as though they're learning just fine.

Once again, I'm all for gimmick matches when they serve the CORRECT PURPOSE. But if they're overused, it makes the product stale.

Subjective.

I don't think you understood me... 20 minute promos are great from people who know how to cut a promo. And, WWE only has 2-3 promos throughout their programming. TNA has one before and after every damn commercial. <YAWN>

Bullshit. Watch Randy Orton open RAW and buy a stop watch. A promo isn't only a backstage interview &#8211; it's any piece of promotional speech a wrestler uses to promote his match &#8211; hence promo.

Do I give two craps if they own another promotiion?? My favorite part is that the team holding the IWGP belts is more important than the team that holds it's own promotion's belts. Smart thinking, Russo.

They don't own IWGP &#8211; they partner with them. Big difference. WCW partnered with a Japanese promotion in their day as well. Were you bitching about them doing it too?

They fired Adamle because he sucked. Maybe they should try that with Don West. And you're seriously comparing Grisham and Cole to Tenay and West?? If you see TNA's announcers as being better than you don't need me to cut you down... you're doing it to yourself.

Actually &#8211; they promoted him. He started off as a ring-side interviewer &#8211; promoted to announcer &#8211; and then promoted to GM of RAW.

Yes, I am seriously comparing Grisham and Cole to Tenay and West. Grisham and Cole provide absolutely 100% no personality to a broadcast. They're both two of the most vanilla flavored white bread losers in the business. Can you even recall a single "oh my god" moment from either of those two clowns? Todd Pettingale v 2.0 and 3.0.

 

[klunderbunker]

I don't think it's WWE loyalty. I was raised on nothing but WWE. I watched WCW during the mid 90s simply because it was better. I'd watch Raw during commercials. I wouldn't say TNA is a huge failure though. They're miles ahead of what ECW was in that they're not going away anytime soon. With ECW, they were surviving month to month. While TNA isn't as good as their marks say it is, it's not as bad as its detractors say it is either.

Impact isn't ready to go head to head with a show like Raw yet and TNA knows it. Even if they went against ECW, ECW would likely win. WWE is a much more established company with a much bigger budget for talent and advertising etc. Yes, TNA has Sting and Foley and Angle. That's likely why they're at the level they're at. The problem is, aside from them, their show isn't that strong. AJ and Joe are big names, but that's about it. TNA could eventually get as big as Smackdown, but Raw is probably never going to happen. By having the show on Thursdays, it prevents direct competition with WWE, which is the last thing TNA wants right now.

TNA getting the ratings that they're getting is a great sign. More ratings means more advertising money as more companies will want to buy time on the show. MOre money means more expansion and growth. It will eventually allow them to spread out into touring etc. Norcal, I highly recommend you check out another Impact as it's miles ahead of what it was. Don't go into it expecting Raw level stuff because that's not what you're going to get. What you will get is a good two hour show. Sure some of it is a bit out there, but not nearly what it used to be.

 

[D-Man]

Rome, I can go line for line with you, quoting you up and down again if I want. The bottom line is that we should agree to disagree. If the opinions of only you and me were the only ones that mattered in this business, this would be different circumstance. All I can say that is truly 1,000,000% accurate is the fact that millions of wrestling fans can't be wrong.

It didn't take the WWE 7 years to build their television ratings points by 0.5%. They grabbed them MUCH quicker for one reason... smarter business.

Once again, I will not go back and forth with you, so I will try to state something that we can both agree on... WWE is far superior than TNA from a business standpoint.

TNA doesn't have the right muscle, and it is hurting them.

 

[HHHDiedForOurSins]

I'm amazed TNA has survived all these years. As a wrestling show, the writing, the ratings they draw with the talent they have available, it is a failure on every level except the fact that it's managed to remain in business this long.

The fact that Kurt Angle, Sting, Mick Foley, Booker T, Kevin Nash, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Scott Steiner, Dudleys etc struggle to outdraw Jack Swagger, Finlay & Mark Henry shows you that something is wrong.

I've listened to TNA fans for years talk about how TNA's ratings are low because people don't know it exists/lack of marketing, that is bullshit, I'd say more than 90% of the people who watch WWE are aware of TNA and know that it's on TV, they just can't accept the reason that TNA gets a quarter of WWE's ratings is because most people CHOOSE not to watch it, not because they're unaware of it.

WWE isn't perfect by any means, but the likes of Cena, Orton, Edge, Hardy, Punk etc are in their primes and are marketable, sure you can have your veterans like Taker & Shawn Michaels, but you can't have them dominate every minute of TV time like TNA does with their older guys. Mick Foley and Sting aren't draws in 2009, I think that will be proved by the PPV buyrate for their next show, you know the one Foley said "more people are interested in than Wrestlemania", well, we see about that when the numbers for both shows come in.

I was a fan of TNA around 05 time when they were actually an alternative to WWE, with AJ, Joe, Daniels, Sabin etc having great matches every week, but now they're outright copying WWE and trying to be "sports entertainment", and IMO they're failing horribly. I don't care about anyone on their roster now that Christian & Gail Kim are gone, Joe & AJ have been raped as characters time and time again, Nash & Steiner are a walking embarassment, Booker doesn't even try anymore, and TNA has took one of my favorite wrestlers of all time, Kurt Angle, and made him a joke.

I hope TNA gets better, and their next PPV actually looks decent compared to the last 3-4 I saw which were shit, but if they don't drastically improve, I doubt whether they'll even still be around in 5 years time.

 

[Scott Free]

Kurgen,
I see what you are saying, and I will agree to some, SOME, extent. But I think you are missiing the point. I have been a wrestling fan for 20+ years and most of those have been loyal to WWE. But, I dont think that anything that McMahon and Co. throw at me is just "the shit". What, I believe, he is saying, is that with the names they have, they should be blowing ECW out of the water.

Names alone aren't going to do it. In 1994 WCW signed Hulk Hogan, it didn't get bigger than that, they even had Flair, and STILL lost in the ratings to the WWE. Having the big names and not having the fan base ain't going to get you nowhere. You know the WWE isn't "the shit", and I know it, I'm pretty damn sure a lot of people here know it too, but guess what ? We're not the target audience. When WCW finally got their ratings,their product started to become boring and predictable to me, how many NWO beatdowns can one watch ? So I checked out RAW, guess what ? The show that was losing in the ratings was actually better ! So I figured quality has nothing to do with ratings, it's more about the masses and their fickle trends, they decided NWO was "cool" so they went with WCW, the WWE came up with Attitude, they switched back, they are like sheep and that's the target audience.

Have you actually sat down and watched a broadcast of "The Impact Zone"? It is shit, pure, downright, stinky shit. The angles are pure trash that look like they were thrown together in about 10 minute before airing. Keep in mind, this is coming from a guy(me), who has seen everything from wrestling plumbers, nuns, trash-men, clowns, friars, man-bulls, hockey players, and voodoo doctors.

Funny, all the bad angles and gimmicks you mentioned where early WWE ones, why do you feel TNA should be better than the WWE was at about the same age ? I watch TNA, and I agree with you about them just going off the chart with crap. They also have some good stuff, if you managed to live through the Goon and Brooklyn Brawler, you might survive Suicide and Brutus Magnus, if you had branded the WWE as shit when they were doing those lame gimmicks and ignored them, they never would have gotten to Bret Hart and HBK, give TNA the same chance.

 

[crymetyme]

TNA is such a failure because it tries to hard to have 80% of their talent (about 35 superstars and 10 knockouts) appear each and every week. They also give some wrestlers (i.e. MEM, Foley, etc.) too much time for promos (half the show) and others 2 minutes to work a "back and forth" match WTF? TNA's angles also don't make sense, Cena SR. must have meant TNA specifically when he went on his tirade about storylines not making sense. How can those Japanese guys not understand Kurt Angle one week (no speak english), then align themselves with Sheik Bashir the next (do they speak Arab?) Also, Christopher Daniels last night had the one..two..three, but because after Double J reviewed the tapes, Kurt Angle kicked out and was awarded the victory? That was the first time I ever heard of the rule that a kickout at 2 7/8 count constitutes a victory.
The main reason why TNA is an epic fail is because on average, 6-7 minutes is dedicated to the main event. Really? On a two hour show the main event is only 6-7 minutes! On ROH (1 hour show), the women's matches last 6-7 minutes, maybe more.

 

[Scott Free]

The problem with TNA is that it's ******ed.

There's many variations of ******ed, like having a 25 Divas Battle Royal when you don't have 25 Divas and have to drag back retired or fired Divas to make the number and all that so you can have a grown man dance around the ring in drag as "Miss Wrestlemania" could be considered ******ed. Except, typical WWE Lemmings would label that as "hilarious", I don't know why, but they like that word.