TNA is getting it right

[Zeven_Zion]

the problem here is no matter what happens on the 10th or what the outcome of any of the storylines are people are going to say it makes no sense and is shit. the current wrestling fan base is so brainwashed by what the wwe has force fed them over the years that no other company is given a chance.

Yes the storylines are complex, that's the damn point. it makes u think. likeing it or dislikeing it is secondary. the 90's style of fast paced, in ur face action left no room for storytelling. lets remember folks that this is more or less a soap opera. it doesn't have to be a tale for the ages it just has to move things along until something new is thought of.

the fans of today would never have liked all the matches and storylines of old that they often quote because those feuds make u think. dusty roads and ric flair had an on again off again feud for damn near ten years. when hogan and andre had the historic match at mania 3 it was the end of a long feud that had played out all over the world for years, sorry kids vince didn't come up with that one.

the point is tna is working but not in the popular fashion, it's old school.

I completely agree. Do you know how long it's been since wresling has ACTUALLY made me go .. "Shit who might this be!". At LEAST some good 10 years.

I can agree and disagree with the fact that they are drawn out. They are, if you think about it. But at the same time the build up has been going on for a YEAR, that means that the pay-off cannot and will not be shitty. Either way, we're two weeks away from B.F.G. We've waited a LONG time to see the conclusion of the biggest storyline of 2010, and I expect TNA to make our waiting worth.

What I find funny is that every single person who watches and follows TNA's product can explain all of their storylines at the drop of a dime. The people who question it usually don't watch it, but come here and post saying that they've been watching it for two years. If that's the case, then their IQ must be below the zero point.

Bash Bischoff all you want but this storyline has EZ-E written all over it. He made TNA iMPACT be like one big season of an episodic TV show. You have a variety of different and interesting characters, you have heel turns, face turns, new people coming in, old ones coming back. You have mysteries, who did what and why. Plus the wrestling on iMPACT is always good. Not great, good. The matches are short - yes, but still enjoyable. Why should they give you 10 minute awesome ass matches? They do that at the PPV if you hadn't noticed. That's why you buy it, cuz it's better than iMPACT, not cuz it's just a PPV.

Plus, if you've DECIDED on not liking TNA, there's pretty much nothing that anybody can do to make you think differently. Your brain shuts off, you nit-pick and you bitch about the smallest things. Keep bitching, I just can't wait for BFG so I can give all of the idiots a major Fuck you.

 

[johnbragg]

We've waited a LONG time to see the conclusion of the biggest storyline of 2010, and I expect TNA to make our waiting worth.

OK. But there is a history in wrestling, and with Russo, and with TNA, of not delivering. Whatever happened with Joe's kidnappers? What was the big payoff of the year-plus MEM angle? Did the Joe-Nash tension ever lead anywhere?

Going back further into TNA history for some "edgy storytelling", what about the Christy Hemme (or maybe Gail Kim or Nidia) blackmail tape?

What if They/Deception is just Hogan turning on Dixie and Nash turning on STing for NWO 6.0 (Original, Fingerpoke-of-Doom reunion, NWO 2000, NWO-in-WWF, not even counting The Band?) Or a WWE Superstars invasion by Carlito, Burchill, Haas and Benjamin?

Given the history of this team and these players, aren't these both real possibilities? My chips are personally on Bob and Janice Carter, but I'm not betting the house on the outcome. TNA has a lot of chips bet on the cards they're not showing.

Do you know how long it's been since wresling has ACTUALLY made me go .. "Shit who might this be!". At LEAST some good 10 years.

I don't think its so much that they have us interested in the question. It's whether we believe that TNA has an answer to who this might be. Whether they are completing a story arc that TNA brass sketched out months ago, or whether Hogan, Dixie, Jarrett, Russo and Bischoff are sitting around a table right now asking each other WTF they are going to do at BFG.

it doesn't have to be a tale for the ages it just has to move things along until something new is thought of.

Uhh, excuse me, after six months of waiting for They, it better damn well feel like a tale for the ages. After at least six months of getting asked by our wives and girlfriends why Sting doesn't just, y'know, TELL PEOPLE WHAT HOGAN IS DOING that's so bad, it better be a pretty fucking epic reveal.

If BFG gives us TNA's answer to Rikishi running over Austin, TNA is in a world of hurt. I don't know if there's enough audience goodwill left for TNA to lose any, or if their core audience is just accustomed to disappointment and abuse and will stay loyal as long as the letters don't say W-W-E.

And "moving along until something new is thought of" is a grammatically awkward way of saying what TNA critics criticize them for--throwing crap out there without thinking it through, hoping to come up with a good answer
later and if they don't, well forget that angle let's just throw something else out there.

OK, that was grammatically challenging too. Let's say that TNA critics accuse them of not having a long term plan, which means that asking the viewers to believe in a long term plan is close to fraud.

Hmm, maybe Lost creator JJ Abrams should pitch his next project to the TNA audience.

A common thing about the They angle is, how awesome would it be if they turned out to be just voices in Abyss's head, no returning star or at least not in the flesh...

This wouldn't be a bad storytelling idea, if Chris "Abyss" Parks has the acting chops to carry off the breakdown when RVD pins him 1, 2, 3 and "They" are nowhere to be found. He couldn't really deal with it by going on a rampage and attacking random people, because he was already doing that. Maybe he could snap and "attack" Janice the board? A dive from the ring headfirst onto the spiked board? HE still wouldn't look half as bad as RVD did covered in leftover blood from the Twlight-on-Ice tour.

 

[Dzone]

Agree with OP TNA has nearly always got it right... but they just drop storylines too fast if no one is interested and they do over-hype *or don't hype at all --> Lethal winning X-division championship...* every match. I also dont like these gimmick matches almost every week, TNA doesn't need gimmick matches they have the talent already... USE IT!

EDIT *didn't know to quote this ... lol* Zeven_Zion: "What I find funny is that every single person who watches and follows TNA's product can explain all of their storylines at the drop of a dime. The people who question it usually don't watch it, but come here and post saying that they've been watching it for two years. If that's the case, then their IQ must be below the zero point." <-- too damn right... EDIT

 

[johnbragg]

So a guy disappearing and appearing from thin air, a man that is presented as a "dead man", a guy who shoots lightnings, a guy who is not a living human, makes more sense than a psychotic monster who brands people and attacks them with a weapon.

The Undertaker is the duckbilled platypus of wrestling. He is the last survivor, (with Kane) of an age of cartoon characters and completely child oriented gimmicks that make John Cena and Rey Mysterio look like Clint Eastwood and Lady Gaga.

He gets a pass because of seniority. He is still doing what he has been doing for 20 years now. He should not be used as an excuse for anyone else's stupidity, because no one else would get away with it.

Are you fucking kidding me? Are you telling me that there is NO WAY that a person can get a board with nails in it and fuck someone up, but IT IS possible to rise from the dead and shoot lightnings?!

In a limp defense of WWE Undertaker storylines compared to Abyss, at least the announcers in WWE sometimes remember to be afraid of the supernatural monsters. Tenay and Taz never seem worried that Abyss will start laying them out (or the audience) for no reason, despite being protected only by the same guardrails that Abyss tore up last Impact.

WE'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO ACCEPT IT AS REMOTELY REAL YOU DUNCE! It's special effects - just like The Undertaker.

In other words, whatever you do, don't think about it.

 

[johnbragg]

Several posters have argued that people critisize TNA's long term angles because they have no patience, have ADD, have been brainwashed by PPV-every-three weeks WWE storytelling.

Horsecrap.

Those criticisms are leveled mostly at the STing Deception storyline.

Which has been running since March, with zero story progression.

Since STing came out on March 4, what has been added to the story? Nash is on his side, Jarrett is not. Because Nash trusts Sting and Jarrett doesn't trust Nash.

If you had watched the March 4 Impact, and tuned in for the September 23 Impact, you missed nothing as far as the Sting Deception angle goes. No development, no updates, no hints, nothing.

No one is saying that the Abyss They angle is dragging, because it went in a few directions. Are They ECW? Nope. Are They Fourtune? Nope. They are Coming, so they're not here already. They Will Be Revealed--on 10-10-10. There have been chapters in that story. There will either be a huge reveal, or a huge letdown.

And can people please stop arguing that wrestling fans today don't have the IQ for long term angles, and compare that to the wrestling fans from the 1970s and 80s who couldn't tell that fake punches that didn't connect by four and six inches were real fights?

 

[Mustang Sally]

Oh my fucking gosh! How come every time someone tries to explain something good about TNA they have to bring up WWE.

4tune vs EV2 isn't making any sense especially because EV lost almost half their stable and FOURtune has too many people, get rig of Morgan and Williams and they have the PERFECT stable.

Abyss is making promos look so fake! The promo is suppose to make things look more realistic and give you more of an in depth look at what's going on. RVD takes time off after 6 months? And the story was he got ripped to shreds in a shit load of places. I've had stitches rip back open after 3 weeks so why wasn't there a drop of blood shed yesterday on Impact?

Now the Sting Nash Burke thing is VERY intriguing. I love the way they mad a huge deal about that big breasted chick. Motor City vs. Gen. Me has been electric. Two young athletic teams going at it, you don't get much better.

The World Title picture is making me mad. Angle has done wonders for TNA for the past 4 years and he's been faithful so YES he deserves to be in the mix, but Jeff and Anderson? WTH?! What about AJ? Joe hasn't seen a World Title shot in forever. So why not the originals who broke their backs making TNA what it is today? The Storylines aren't great right now.

You make some good points. The reason I'm answering is to address only the first line of your post. (the second sentence, anyway)

The reason people mention WWE every time TNA does something is TNA's own doing. They've done everything possible to take over the #1 spot from WWE. They have Eric Bischoff who is constantly referring to WWE, in his on-air promos and his Internet dealings. They've watered down their own identity by hiring ex-WWE people and pushing down guys who started with TNA.

In other words, every damn thing they've done has been with WWE in mind. Given that, I see nothing wrong with people bringing up WWE as a counterpoint to TNA's efforts.

 

[The Shadow Lynx]

I have to laugh at the people who disagree with the thread creator.The majority have said something along the lines of TNA arent getting it right and i barely watch TNA> How would you know they arent getting it right if you barely watch ?

Pro wrestling forums and the IWC in general ha become a major bitching zone in 2010 !! Im neither a fanboy of WWE or TNA !! I watch both and can honestly say i dont think any of the 2 companys are particularly great at the moment.

The only 2 postives i can honestly say ive enjoyed recently is the arrival of Del Rio to Smackdown and the Generation Me edgy turn theyve had and amazing match ups with the Machine Guns.

I just eel the writers are struggling to come up with new ideas.I mean do we really want to see an all diva NXT season ? An all knockouts PPV ?

 

[manstis1804]

This is an example of people who have ADD... You cannot wait to see how the storyline plays out, so it is automatically labelled as "being bad"... This is what happens when the WWE has been running for nearly ten years without any competition... Now people like Manstis1804 have had all of their hardwire reworked for what "pro wrestling" should be...

There used to be a time when storylines were told over a long period of time... However, the WWE started running PPV's every two weeks, and we started to get all of these "simpleton" storylines from the WWE... Now everybody thinks that ALL wrestling companies need to act like the WWE... Storylines should be wrapped up in a maximum of 6 weeks... WTF!!???

This is the very reason that I watch TNA... The payoff for these storylines may not even be that great, but at least I have actually been intrigued by them... At least the Deception angle and the "They" angle have made me think, and also made me excited for the payoff... When is the last time that you can say the WWE actually made you "think"??? Exactly...

It really all comes down to "brand loyalty"... Anyone on here who is under twenty years old thinks that the way that the WWE does things right now is the "norm"... Anyone who lived through and appreciated the Monday Night Wars knows that the current WWE product is NOT the "norm"... As a result, MANY fans have stopped watching... Don't believe me? That sure was a great 2.8 rating that Raw did this past Monday...hahaha...

Here is to hoping that TNA can deliver with their two BIG storylines at BFG... And even if you don't TNA, your still better than the Miz, Nexus, R-Truth... etc...

I enjoy long angles, but these are barely even angles. I'm saying they drag on because no new ground is broken. I don't see how these thigns made you think, they don't give you anything but "hey man, you're playin politics dude" or "THEY ARE COMING". There's really to nothing to sink your teeth into, just two empty mysteries that probably involve EVEN MORE authority figures drama and/or former WWE competitors, the only things that TNA ever considered "BIG".

 

[RVDisTNA]

How the hell does TNA have a great tag division and x division? Its like people just regurgitate what Mike Tenay shoves down your faces. TNA has 3 good tag teams, and one of them is in a faction so they're not tagging often. We're lucky if there's one x division match per week, and its always a 4 minute afterthought. As for great factions, there's on freaking faction that is decent, feuding with one that completely blows. I don't know if this is low standards or accepting everything the announce team and Dixie and Hogan and Bischoff and Flair and Jarrett and all the other people who talk too much tell you. Ever hear the phrase "don't piss on my leg and tell me its raining"? TNA has unzipped its proverbial drawers and are whizzing on your leg right now.

TNA only has 3 tag teams??? MCMG, Beer Money, Gen Me, Ink Inc., Team 3D, London Brawling... Theres six legit tag teams. Unless you want to count Sting/Nash or Jordan/Young? then theres 8.

 

[RVDisTNA]

You make some good points. The reason I'm answering is to address only the first line of your post. (the second sentence, anyway)

The reason people mention WWE every time TNA does something is TNA's own doing. They've done everything possible to take over the #1 spot from WWE. They have Eric Bischoff who is constantly referring to WWE, in his on-air promos and his Internet dealings. They've watered down their own identity by hiring ex-WWE people and pushing down guys who started with TNA.

In other words, every damn thing they've done has been with WWE in mind. Given that, I see nothing wrong with people bringing up WWE as a counterpoint to TNA's efforts.

Well, of course if you say something good about TNA you have to bring up WWE. WWE is top dog right now. They are IT when it comes to wrestling promotions. They're like the NFL. A new football league can start up today and do things 20 times better than the NFL but it would still fail because because people are just so inclined to watch the standard NFL. Same with WWE.

So its only fair that when TNA does something right, you have to point out why you enjoy what TNA is doing as opposed to WWE.

 

[Rayne]

I have to laugh at the people who disagree with the thread creator.The majority have said something along the lines of TNA arent getting it right and i barely watch TNA> How would you know they arent getting it right if you barely watch ??

That's easy. If people aren't interested in watching, TNA isn't getting it right. Judging by audience numbers (~3.5 average for RAW, 0.9-1.1 average for TNA), there's quite a lot of the audience that isn't interested in watching TNA.

Television is about ratings; if you aren't convincing your audience to watch, you are doing something wrong. You can have all the 5-star matches you want, if people aren't interested in watching the product, something is wrong.

I want to be interested in TNA. I still try to give them a chance. But every time I turn on the TV on a Thursday night, I find my intelligence insulted. As much as I want there to be a viable second promotion to compete with the boring and uninspiring WWE of today, I'm not willing to pretend I'm an idiot in order to do that. I'm expected to completely forget about things that happened a few months ago in favor of today's stories. The top storyline right now is a writer's trick I learned way back in high school. (Explained in detail here).

It's not just about the people who are currently hooked on TNA, and TNA's current junkies just don't get that it's not all about them. A company that wants to grow needs to convince the rest of the audience to watch. TNA is failing to do that. These forums are an archetype example of this in action; instead of trying to promote the positives of TNA, TNA's current fans deride anyone that complains about the product as puppets of Mark Madden and WWE fanboys. They promote the same adversarial attitude that hasn't been working for TNA since January 4th.

 

[The Prince of Phenomenal]

That's easy. If people aren't interested in watching, TNA isn't getting it right. Judging by audience numbers (~3.5 average for RAW, 0.9-1.1 average for TNA), there's quite a lot of the audience that isn't interested in watching TNA.

WWE has been around for 50 years TNA for 8 there is no way TNA will be as big as WWE but there are allot of promotions that are older then TNA and they don't have the same success so TNA must be doing something good

 

[Rayne]

WWE has been around for 50 years TNA for 8 there is no way TNA will be as big as WWE but there are allot of promotions that are older then TNA and they don't have the same success so TNA must be doing something good

Within eight years of its inception, WCW was beating WWE in the ratings. It's been done, and recently at that. As far as "a lot of promotions that are older than TNA", who are we talking about? IWA Mid-South? CZW? Can you name one with access to the finances that TNA does? Hell, can you name one promotion that operates on a bigger scale than high school gymnasium cards with any substantial time frame lead on TNA?

TNA has had ample opportunity to convince the broader audience to watch, but they haven't been able to keep them watching. On television, ratings = success, and TNA's ratings have been flat all year, despite a major push to increase them.

Professional wrestling has been begging for a second promotion ever since WCW closed its doors. Someone was bound to leap into the niche they left behind, and to TNA's credit, it was them. To their detriment, they haven't done a thing with that opportunity.

 

[The Prince of Phenomenal]

Within eight years of its inception, WCW was beating WWE in the ratings.

will it was a part from the NWA since 1982 "under the names Georgia Championship Wrestling and Jim Crockett Promotions" it was WCW in 1988 so it had a fan base before becoming WCW
and it took them 14 years to beat the WWE and that lasted 2 years and then WCW said bye bye . so if TNA not beating the WWE let them stay i'm all for it

As far as "a lot of promotions that are older than TNA", who are we talking about? IWA Mid-South? CZW? Can you name one with access to the finances that TNA does? Hell, can you name one promotion that operates on a bigger scale than high school gymnasium cards with any substantial time frame lead on TNA?

TNA doesn't have allot of money Bob carter does own it but doesn't put allot of money in it like Ted Turner with WCW and TNA made that deal happen why didn't ROH that started the same year as TNA didn't have that deal

look TNA is far from perfect and will never be perfect i enjoy it and that's what matters to me and i'm sure by time more ppl will enjoy it

 

[Rayne]

will it was a part from the NWA since 1982 "under the names Georgia Championship Wrestling and Jim Crockett Promotions" it was WCW in 1988
so it took them 14 years to beat the WWE and that lasted 2 years and then WCW said bye bye . so if TNA not beating the WWE let them stay i'm all for it

WCW co-opted all of that history. They essentially rebooted in 1988.

TNA doesn't have allot of money ya Bob carter owns it but doesn't put allot of money in like Ted Turner and TNA made that deal happen why didn't the other promotions like ROH they started the same year as TNA why didn't they have that deal
look TNA is far from perfect and will never be perfect i enjoy it and that's what matters to me and i'm sure by time more ppl will enjoy it

I already gave TNA credit for being able to sign on a money mark. The best way to get ahead in any business is by using someone elses money. But, if you had read my initial post, you would have noticed that my entire point was that it's not about the fans that are currently watching TNA. As a company that's trying to grow, it's about creating interest amongst the fans that aren't already watching TNA, which they have been trying and failing to do all year. I really don't care that you enjoy it. They are getting an average 1.0 every week, so obviously, some people enjoy it. What they aren't doing is convincing anyone else to watch. Hence my point, summarized again- their ratings are flat, despite trying very hard all year to convince people to watch (and spending the money required); something is wrong.

Television is about ratings. A lot of people enjoyed Firefly, too- what happened to that?

 

[The Prince of Phenomenal]

I already gave TNA credit for being able to sign on a money mark. The best way to get ahead in any business is by using someone elses money. But, if you had read my initial post, you would have noticed that my entire point was that it's not about the fans that are currently watching TNA. As a company that's trying to grow, it's about creating interest amongst the fans that aren't already watching TNA, which they have been trying and failing to do all year. I really don't care that you enjoy it. They are getting an average 1.0 every week, so obviously, some people enjoy it. What they aren't doing is convincing anyone else to watch. Hence my point, summarized again- their ratings are flat, despite trying very hard all year to convince people to watch (and spending the money required); something is wrong.

Television is about ratings. A lot of people enjoyed Firefly, too- what happened to that?

i c ur point and ur right TNA did all they could to get some new fans and they didn't why?
simply because the WWE owns the market when it comes to wrestling and allot off WWE fanboys refuse to watch TNA because they are loyal to the WWE or too young to watch TNA BUT ur point is very REAL TNA needs to change some things and do something big to attract new fans and what they are doing now is ok to survive but not enough to do that

 

[Rayne]

i c ur point and ur right TNA did all they could to get some new fans and they didn't why?
simply because the WWE owns the market when it comes to wrestling and allot off WWE fanboys refuse to watch TNA because they are loyal to the WWE or too young to watch TNA BUT ur point is very REAL TNA needs to change some things and do something big to attract new fans and what they are doing now is ok to survive but not enough to do that

Ugh. And like I said earlier, every time someone brings up TNA's failure to bring in new viewers, people blame it on WWE fanboys. It's the world's most popular position when it comes to someone disagreeing with them- "everyone who disagrees must be a mindless puppet of someone bigger than them". It can't possibly be that people just aren't entertained by what TNA is offering.

The WWE owns the market simply because no one is offering anything more interesting to a broad audience right now (which I find terribly sad- the WWE is pretty uninspiring right now.) That is very changable, but TNA is currently writing for the people that are already watching, and not writing for the audience they need to attract.

I reiterate- I really, really want TNA to succeed. Competition is good for the wrestling industry, as it forces all companies involved to step up their game, which is great for us fans. But at the same time, I'm not willing to pretend I like a product that I don't.

Don't take any of the back and forth personally; a lot of what you say I'm using to respond to the TNA diehards in general, who espouse a lot of the same ideas. And you do happen to be more open to other ideas than a lot of other people on this board, who are completely adversarial to anyone who is dissatisfied with TNA's current product.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Hey, everyone's entitled to their opinions. As for me, I have to vehemently disagree with TNA getting it right. There are a few bright spots going on and there are some wrestlers in TNA that I do enjoy watching, but I probably don't enjoy at least a good 90% of what I see each week.

Fortune vs. EV2.0 - This is a feud that I simply do not care about. When I look at a lot of the members of Fortune, they're just so far above and beyond the guys of EV2.0 talentwise that I just don't see EV2.0 as even remotely being a legitimate threat. I've said it lots of times, and I meant it every single time, that the vast majority of guys that came out of ECW are extremely overrated and a lot of them make up EV2.0. I get that TNA has, in some ways, tried to make Fortune seem like this dominant faction but it just doesn't work when you put them up against a faction including the likes of Tommy Dreamer, the Full Blooded Italians and Stevie Richards.

X-Division - The X-Division is what ultimately put TNA on the map but has been an extremely pale shadow overall of what it used to be over the course of the past 2 years. For the most part, since this time roughly 2 years ago, it's been one forgetful and mediocre championship run after another. The only wrestler in TNA that's really been worth a damn as far as the X-Division Championship scene goes has been Douglas Williams. I thought he was a good champion and actually made the X-Division in and of itself have some degree of relevance.

Fortune - Fortune in and of itself is a good concept, but I feel that TNA has kind of dropped the ball with them. For example, during a time when Fortune needs wins in order to gain credibility, they've lost a lot of matches against wrestlers outside of EV2.0. Beer Money is no longer TNA World Tag Team Champions. Don't get me wrong, the Guns deserved to win them and I'm not complaining that they did, but it just seemed to set a tone for other things. Douglas Williams lost the X-Division Championship a week ago, which I don't think makes much sense. Fortune needs credibility and losing a championship only hurts them. That's especially true when the guy that wins the title from Williams, namely Jay Lethal, hasn't been on TNA television for a while. Matt Morgan is supposed to be "The Enforcer" of Fortune but he's lost every match he's had since becoming a fully fledged member of Fortune. He lost to Anderson, he lost to Pope, he lost to Brian Kendrick. Brian Kendrick beat him after landing only one move on him. Morgan's a joke as the muscle of Fortune. A.J. Styles is carrying a title that means absolutely nothing and is booked to where he needs the help of half the locker room to keep from losing his matches. Fortune does not look like this big bad faction to me. It's got too many guys involved that wind up losing too much of the time.

Knockout Division - The Knockout Division is no better than the Divas of the WWE. Sadly, it's been that way for a long while now and it's a shame because the Knockout Division was one of the better things going in TNA a year and a half ago. They had a legitimate and competitive women's division filled with women that could actually wrestle. It still does have some good women that can wrestle, but they're not used very often and/or they're not treated seriously. Honestly, if it weren't for the entrance of The Beautiful People, I probably wouldn't even watch anything that went on.

Tag Team Division - This is the one guaranteed bright light in TNA. TNA has demonstrated consistently that they have a very good tag team division. It's gotten a little stale at times, but the quality of the teams has always been consistent. The Best of 5 Series between Beer Money and the Motor City Machine Guns was one of the top happenings in tag team wrestling in many years. Generation Me is a young, hungry team that are usually quite fun to watch and they're slowly coming along in building promo skills, Ink Inc. has always been a pretty solid team.

Abyss & "They" - Abyss no longer acts like some mentally challenged 10 year old, but he still comes across as quite corny at times. His little S&M dungeon segment last week, for example, was just the latest. Overall, he was pretty good this week but I'm just not into the guy and I don't particularly care who "They" are. TNA's played the "surprise" or "things are about to change forever" cards too many times in the past with the results being pretty big letdowns, so they've lost me with this.

TNA World Heavyweight Championship - I like that TNA has put more emphasis on the title situation over the past few weeks than it did prior to No Surrender. It was put on the backburner pretty much in favor of the Fortune/EV2.0 stuff. I'm not all that wild about them vacating the title for 2 months and having yet another tournament and all, but the stuff they're doing with Anderson, Hardy and Angle has been pretty solid in general over the past few weeks.

 

[The Prince of Phenomenal]

Ugh. And like I said earlier, every time someone brings up TNA's failure to bring in new viewers, people blame it on WWE fanboys. It's the world's most popular position when it comes to someone disagreeing with them- "everyone who disagrees must be a mindless puppet of someone bigger than them". It can't possibly be that people just aren't entertained by what TNA is offering.

The WWE owns the market simply because no one is offering anything more interesting to a broad audience right now (which I find terribly sad- the WWE is pretty uninspiring right now.) That is very changable, but TNA is currently writing for the people that are already watching, and not writing for the audience they need to attract.

I reiterate- I really, really want TNA to succeed. Competition is good for the wrestling industry, as it forces all companies involved to step up their game, which is great for us fans. But at the same time, I'm not willing to pretend I like a product that I don't.

Don't take any of the back and forth personally; a lot of what you say I'm using to respond to the TNA diehards in general, who espouse a lot of the same ideas. And you do happen to be more open to other ideas than a lot of other people on this board, who are completely adversarial to anyone who is dissatisfied with TNA's current product.

i hate when ppl think that there opinions are better then anyone else's but ur very very right about the "TNA is writing for the people that are already watching, and not writing for the audience they need to attract" i only enjoy it because i don't feel like a 10 year old when i watch them ya their storylines doesn't make sense but that's Russo for ya don't get me wrong he's a great wrestling mind but only when he has a boss to shut down the idiotic ideas after bound for glory TNA needs to think how they want their product and put ideas and fallow them through no matter how stupid it is when u show something fallow it through "cough Joe's kidnapping cough" start taking impact on the road or just get out of the impact zone those fans are idiots and we will see maybe it gains more viewers.
btw i don't take anything personnel when discussing something as long as u don't insult me.

 

[TheAbsolute1]

You make some good points. The reason I'm answering is to address only the first line of your post. (the second sentence, anyway)

The reason people mention WWE every time TNA does something is TNA's own doing. They've done everything possible to take over the #1 spot from WWE. They have Eric Bischoff who is constantly referring to WWE, in his on-air promos and his Internet dealings. They've watered down their own identity by hiring ex-WWE people and pushing down guys who started with TNA.

In other words, every damn thing they've done has been with WWE in mind. Given that, I see nothing wrong with people bringing up WWE as a counterpoint to TNA's efforts.

I think you're right. TNA is it's own company and if it wants to see any respect then they better break away from the WWE. I go to TNA to see something different ya know? It's a ripe company so i get to see some loose cannon stuff, but when i was watching the other day i coulda swore I was watching WWE's ECW with Tommy up there talking about a rival company. TNA is dissapointing.

 

[manstis1804]

TNA only has 3 tag teams??? MCMG, Beer Money, Gen Me, Ink Inc., Team 3D, London Brawling... Theres six legit tag teams. Unless you want to count Sting/Nash or Jordan/Young? then theres 8.

No, I said 3 GOOD tag teams. Guns, Beer Money, and GenMe (who I don't really like yet but people seem to and they are crazy athletic). I don't consider 3D or Ink Inc. as good teams because they contain 4 of my least favorite wrestelrs, London Brawling had one promo on impact then their match got cancelled...so things aren't looking up for them Sting/Nash aren't going for tag team gold, they'e not part of the "tag team division". Jordan and Young don't really count since they're never on Impact. TNA's undercard title "divsions" only consist of the champs and challengers getting tv time, so its pretty annoying when they go on and on about the greatness of said "divisions" when they're pretty mediocre and barely have any focus put on them, the Guns and Beer Money's awesome feud being the one notable exception that I can't think of.

 

[radec]

well the world tittle picture is crap.. i mean if this is angle's last match it should be a 1 on 1. and why kennedy and jeff? they've been in the company less than a year and the originals are eating crap.

talking about originals, EV2 is a peace of shit and lost all there matches and fortune is completly dominate. They should just end the fued all together. Had ptential and gone to waste.

the storyline are nuts.

the KO and tag division are great!

 

[Wolf Pac]

I disagree. TNA is predictable and just ripping off that's done in the past.

The ECW reunion stables have gotten way boring now, it's been overused many times now. Fourtune is just another Main Event Mafia and it's funny how a group that's meant to be 4 has 6 wrestlers in it. This Four Horsemen ripoff act more like NWO than they do Four Horsemen. TNA are so desperate to make a good stable that will go down in the history books like a DX, NWO, Evolution. Unfortunately for TNA, they just fail and need to be more original when creating groups.

Even though "They" seems obvious at this point which sucks, I do like how they're building suspense for their reveal at BFG. But the branding angle a few weeks ago was a bit too far and stupid. Carlito had a point when he said it didnt make sense.

I do like the Triple Threat for BFG, however with 3 babyfaces, all you will get is each man complimenting each other as the build up for the match, just like this weeks Impact which is lame.

I do like the direction of the MCMG - GenMe feud though. Good to see GenMe being used for good now.

They need to do something with Desmond Wolfe though instead of wasting him away with Brutus Magnus. He gave them a 5 star match when he debuted and this is how TNA treats him.

 

[mrbooker]

I disagree. TNA is predictable and just ripping off that's done in the past.

The ECW reunion stables have gotten way boring now, it's been overused many times now. Fourtune is just another Main Event Mafia and it's funny how a group that's meant to be 4 has 6 wrestlers in it. This Four Horsemen ripoff act more like NWO than they do Four Horsemen. TNA are so desperate to make a good stable that will go down in the history books like a DX, NWO, Evolution. Unfortunately for TNA, they just fail and need to be more original when creating groups.

ECW has gotten dull but how the hell is Fortune "just another Main Event Mafia" MEM were all ex WHC, fortune has one active wrestler who has been a heavyweight champ in AJ, and no one else in the group has even been close to a world title.

Im not going to judge Fortune because this is their FIRST FUED all stables minus the NWO (which is the greatest stable ever in wrestling) have never gotten super popular over their intro feud NONE DX, The Nation of Domination, Evolution, the Ministry of Darkness etc... none of these stables reached got over with their first feud.

TNA isnt going the just have Fortune go and shyt on Anderson, Hardy, Angle, Pope, MCMG, Joe, etc... without being sure they will be able to gain mega heat, this EV2 thing is nothing more then elevating Fortune, to the next step, What people need to look at is what is TNA going to look like after BFG, honestly once Fortune gets ride off EV2 im pretty sure they well be the main point of Impact once this "they", and "deception" thing happens

hell if anything Fortune might be TNA's only hope against they. We will know if TNA got it right 30 days from now once all the fog has cleared from BFG, and the aftermath occurs, Is TNA getting it right with building the hype absolutley, but the resuts will determine if they got it right, its a shame that hogan or bishoff need to remain netural or else everyone will scream NWO rehash which i can't understand , trust me as a huge NWO fan i understand current stables cant live up to it but their is no need to think every stable is trying to copy it.

 

[hatehabsforever]

It's an interesting notion to suggest that TNA is "getting it right." Personally I totally disagree with this statement, but I guess it really comes down to what happens at the upcoming Bound For Glory PPV on 10/10/10.

TNA has some potentially interesting storylines developing. If they can pull them all together, with the identity of "them" being the glue to hold it all together, TNA may be well on their way to cracking the 1.5 ratings barrier in another 6 months time or so. There are many things happening, lots of loose ends (Samoa Joe kidnapping, deception angle with Nash and Sting, etc.,), and if Dixie Carter can do something with all of this to change TNA forever, to change the landscape of professional wrestling as we all know it, TNA may in fact be getting it right. Finally. And I really hope this is the case.

Of course, there's the distinct possibility that this is all a bunch of bullshit, that the "they" storyline doesn't live up to expectations, that it doesn't tie up all of the loose ends, and in the end is a clusterf**k of convoluted storylines which leaves the TNA faithful unfulfilled and the WWE hopefuls stupified. And if this happens, safe to say, the notion that TNA is getting it right will certainly not be the case.

I really believe that in the next couple of weeks, TNA will reach a crossroads. Either they finally put up, and prove the naysayers like myself wrong, or they shut up, which could have apocalyptic consequences for the organization. It should really be interesting to see how it all plays out. I really hope for one result from all of this. Unfortunately I anticipate a result totally divergent from this. Hope I'm wrong. TNA better be getting it right this time, they're running out of second chances, at least they are for me.