TNA Without Hogan/Bischoff

[Evenflow DDT]

Sometime between late Oct and mid Nov Hogan and Bischoff's TNA contracts are coming to and end and I have not read any reports about them signing any new deals. So if they do leave what direction would you like to see TNA take?

Many of the new stars TNA signed in the last two years were mainly due to Hogan. Guys like RVD, Jeff Hardy, and Mr. Anderson all made their TNA debuts/returns under the H/B Regime. So clearly they served a purpose within TNA. Say what you will about Uncle Eric, but I'm pretty sure that he is the reason for the improved production value. They got rid of that god awful 6 sided ring (fans shit on gimmick matches but love a gimmick ring that "Gives TNA their identity. If thats where your identity comes from, thats sad), added more seats to the iMPACT Zone, and have even gone on the road more often. But Without H&B i see TNA slowly going back to the direction they were heading in '08 and '09 because even if they are gone its the same creative team.

I would like to see Sting will leave for good this time, the rise of Robert Roode, Crimson, Matt Morgan, Bully Ray and a possible rebirth of guys like The Pope, Sloppy Joe, and AJ Styles. Then they should a page out of ROH's book and stop trying to compete with WWE and just do their own thing because they will NEVER overtake The Evil Empire. No one will. Yes TNA is the 2nd biggest wrestling company in North America but its a DISTANT 2nd. TNA is an alternative not competition!

But Im sure without H&B there would be plenty of money to go around to hire fresh new talent especially if Sting and Flair go away as well. If they really wanna compete then I say take a page from WCW's playbook and throw money at some of Vince's mid-carders when their contracts are up instead of waiting for them to be fired. A signing of someone from a rival company makes more of an impact if they choose to come work for you instead of them signing because they need to pay their rent this month. Sign away guys like Swagger, Ziggler, Kofi, Rhodes or Dibiase. People who have name reconigion and have something to offer your company. It's a formula that works thats why WCW did it in the 90's. If you want mainstream fans then you need people mainstream fans know. AJ is great but how many people in your average WWE crowd know/care who he is?

As big of a fan of some of his older work Russo has to go. He has had the gig on and off again over the last 9 years and hasnt accomplished much. So who does TNA turn to? Heyman? Scott d'Moare? Jim Cornette? I dont have an answer to that. But it seems the same 5-10 people have been booking North American mainstream wrestling over the last 15 years. There has to be some fresh booking blood out in the indies. Or how about a guy like Raven? This guy has one of the best minds for the buisness in the last 15 years. (okay that was because im a Raven mark but so what lol)

Thoughts???

 

[Harthan]

TNA was at its best in eons in the brief period between the death of the Main Event Mafia and the arrival of Hulk Hogan. What made it awesome? AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, and Samoa Joe were main eventing. The veterans were tearing it up with new guys. TNA was doing what they should have been doing all along - using the veterans to elevate young guys (Angle vs Wolfe) and letting their own homegrown veterans run the roost. This is exactly what they need to return to with Hogan and Bischoff gone. Here are some general things that ought to happen.

*Roode as world champion. No question about it. Beating Angle on TNA's biggest stage will make Roode an instant main eventer. Let him run with this over a series of PPVs. It doesn't really matter who he feuds with. A heel Joe, perhaps, intent on reclaiming his top spot. Bully Ray for a month. Storm, looking to validate himself. I'd rather Storm not turn heel. Then again, these two have done damn near all there is to do as a team. Perhaps over time Storm might go heel and these two will take the E&C route. But the point here is that Roode should be champion for a good six months, dropping to another piece of homegrown talent looking to start a heel run.
*Utilizing the veterans judiciously - this is important. Angle shouldn't main event anymore. Let him work with up and coming rookies. He can win, if he must - a competitive match with Angle should do wonders for them anyway. The same goes for guys like Jarrett, RVD, Bully Ray, and so on.
*Keep the Knockouts together. The Knockouts are wildly fluctuating in quality from week to week, from what I've seen. They'll be awesome here, terribly there. Just keep them consistent, and try bringing in some new faces from the indies.
*Continue current direction with X-Division. It's great the way it is. Don't fuck it up. Tag team division too, though they could benefit from a new team or two.

The long and short of it is to focus on young guys, use veterans wisely, and don't book stupid shit. Keep it simple, keep the wrestling great, and they'll succeed in a post Hogan era.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Remain consistent with the existing story lines and follow through — give the company back to Dixie Cater, even if it's only done as an on-screen thing and Carter doesn't come back to return as an on-air character. Simple as that.

You can continue the same pushes you've been working, obviously tweaking a few to make up for the loss of Hogan/Bishoff, and keep moving forward.

Guys like Hardy will return to form, IMO, though it will take time, and until then continue to do what you are doing. Consistency is what builds success.

If I'm a betting man, my money is on both Hogan and Sting both bowing out, with Bischoff potentially remaining on board as an executive producer and backstage guy.

 

[obamartins]

"TNA was at its best in eons in the brief period between the death of the Main Event Mafia and the arrival of Hulk Hogan"

erm.....no it was not at least not IMO & based on the TV ratings from that period I have a good case. The lack of star power was really evident during that period & personally i found that period kind of boring compaired to when the MEM angle was in full swing.

Also guess what.....you know what is going to change if Hulk Hogan does leave? NOT A GOD DAMN THING in terms of the way the show is produced & booked. Vince Russo has to be removed or replaced for anything to change significantly.

Losing the star power of Hogan, Flair & Sting like some people are suggesting i don't care what anyone says is going to be very hard to replace.

Since people have a huge big boner for Paul Heyman let's take a page out of his playbook & keep at least one LEGEND who can make sporadic appearences that will do nothing but help TNA just like he did with Terry Funk back in the day with ECW & just like TNA currently does with Sting.

If Hogan, Flair, Nash & Foley are gone then at very least keep Sting.

Angle, Jarrett, RVD etc. are for most part a decade younger then those guys above (excluding Foley).

I think losing Sting in any capacity is gonna hurt to some degree becuase i feel he is a "TNA guy" & im sure they don't want him going to WWE to get the HOF & DVD treatment aswell as match against Undertaker that will draw HUGE while they sit & watch & say "damn we used to have that guy it sure would have been good if he could have put over Bobby Roode clean to help establish him....oh well"

 

[Depakote]

Get rid of Russo, Bischoff, Hogan, Sting, Flair, Jarret, Angle, etc. Bring in Paul Heyman. Give him everything he wants: complete control of the product. Let him hire and fire who he seems fit. You dont need the fossils of wrestling to help young guys get over; you need storylines and character development that people will give a shit about. Heyman turned chicken shit into chicken salad once before and he can do it again.

 

[Dizzy]

Sometime between late Oct and mid Nov Hogan and Bischoff's TNA contracts are coming to and end and I have not read any reports about them signing any new deals. So if they do leave what direction would you like to see TNA take?

Well, watch September 29th's episode. It will take a TON of bad press from TNA and probably silence the doomsday believers, I'll just leave it at that instead of spoiling anything.

Many of the new stars TNA signed in the last two years were mainly due to Hogan. Guys like RVD, Jeff Hardy, and Mr. Anderson all made their TNA debuts/returns under the H/B Regime. So clearly they served a purpose within TNA.

RVD is definitely the guy who was Hogan's signing. Anderson and Hardy might have signed regardless.

Say what you will about Uncle Eric, but I'm pretty sure that he is the reason for the improved production value. They got rid of that god awful 6 sided ring (fans shit on gimmick matches but love a gimmick ring that "Gives TNA their identity.

THANK YOU. Someone has finally admitted it. Every "know it all 10%er" believes Bischoff somehow books the company when he has done nothing but been a character and a producer giving fans shows like Reaction and Xplosion. The 6 sided ring is pretty awful, I think I wouldn't mind it if it was bigger but I can see keeping it from a merchandise perspective but I agree, it looked terrible and wrestling was born and should die in a 4 sided ring.

If thats where your identity comes from, thats sad), added more seats to the iMPACT Zone, and have even gone on the road more often. But Without H&B i see TNA slowly going back to the direction they were heading in '08 and '09 because even if they are gone its the same creative team.

The gave TNA a much better televised presence. Going on the road, boosting ticket sales, etc. Creatively, I think they might add a few people or atleast I've seen some hints about it.

I would like to see Sting will leave for good this time

Agreed. Giving him a fun maniac character seems to be the final straw that he never did before in his career and character wise, he's done it all. He'll be working the UK tour and I expect him to retire.

th

the rise of Robert Roode, Crimson, Matt Morgan, Bully Ray and a possible rebirth of guys like The Pope, Sloppy Joe, and AJ Styles.

Agreed. I'd throw in Austin Aries as well. Plus there is about 4 wrestlers that haven't debuted and are in developmental.

Then they should a page out of ROH's book and stop trying to compete with WWE and just do their own thing because they will NEVER overtake The Evil Empire. No one will.

ROH? They want to compete with TNA. They never talk about WWE. I actually think TNA is focusing on their own product is why they rebranded to Impact Wrestling. cleaning away the mistakes and things they did under the TNA brand.

They haven't mentioned WWE, made any unnecessary shots and the product has been just overall better and the results from sponsors and more ticket sales just shows that is the way to go.

Yes TNA is the 2nd biggest wrestling company in North America but its a DISTANT 2nd. TNA is an alternative not competition!

I wouldn't call it distant. They draw like 1.9 million viewers without competition with NFL/NBA or Jersey Shore they draw about 1.6 million. WWE draws about 3 million. Ticket sale wise WWE and TNA are not that far off anymore, WWE is viewed in 150 countries internationally, TNA is viewed in 139 countries internationally, they still are the highest rated program in the UK and Ireland. So, I wouldn't call it distant. They simply are a 9 year company while WWE is an established 50 year product.

Besides, If TNA wasn't a form of competition, Gail Kim would be released instead of being withheld from going there and SmackDown would be moved to Thursdays instead of Tuesdays. WWE got some attention by TNA when they drew 3.5 million (which is equal to what RAW draws weekly) for Hogan's debut segment and totally took away WWE's audience with the Divas match. They couldn't do it consistently but they still caused a stir there.

But Im sure without H&B there would be plenty of money to go around

Hogan and Bischoff were paid exclusively by Spike TV. Flair signed with Panda Energy. So, TNA doesn't pay for their contracts.

If they really wanna compete then I say take a page from WCW's playbook and throw money at some of Vince's mid-carders when their contracts are up instead of waiting for them to be fired.

Nobody in WWE's midcard are worth money. AT ALL. Besides, TNA is losing Hogan/Bischoff, going on the road, pushing homegrown talent, building their own brand, less blood, less explicit words, doing "shoot" promos on real life situations like Hardy and RVD...Despite the fact they did it before Punk but..you catch my point. IF they hired WWE's midcard then that would add more fuel to a dying fire when it comes to marks, smarks and the IWC.

A signing of someone from a rival company makes more of an impact if they choose to come work for you instead of them signing because they need to pay their rent this month.

They already did that with Hardy.

Sign away guys like Swagger, Ziggler, Kofi, Rhodes or Dibiase. People who have name reconigion and have something to offer your company.

None of them can offer anything. TNA needs Tag Teams and they hardly have any in WWE to sign.

AJ is great but how many people in your average WWE crowd know/care who he is?

The problem is even if he was in WWE, nobody would care. He's generic as hell. The average WWE crowd knows Hogan is there (notice the cheer when Cena did the Hogan imitation during the Vince firing promo) they know about Beer Money, they know about Joe, they know about The Beautiful People and most know about Hardy being there. They just are too loyal to WWE to watch or support them.

AJ is not a draw in the TNA fanbase. The man's segment with Daniels drew 1.0 million viewers while Sting/Flair/Hogan's promo drew 2 million viewers. Both segments were back to back. How embarrassing is that?

As big of a fan of some of his older work Russo has to go. He has had the gig on and off again over the last 9 years and hasnt accomplished much.

He created the identity of TNA or what fans want it to be. Russo took over when Spike TV signed TNA and turned it into a legit company. He came up with the 6 sided ring, Ultimate X, X-Division matches, etc. He's a huge part of paving the company which is why he's never hired. He was like the 3rd person to make TNA what it is but he was pretty much kept in the dark due to the whole WCW thing which was extremely fresh. Ever wanted to know why people thought TNA would die every single year? There you go.

So who does TNA turn to? Heyman? Scott d'Moare? Jim Cornette? I dont have an answer to that.

Heyman is a liar, crook and pretty much has no credit to run a company. He wants to be paid more than Hogan and more power than Dixie. Which is laughable for a guy who got fired from WWE and ran his own promotion into the ground. Scott is doing his own promotion which is why he left.

Cornette was the MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR reason for "Old" talent appering in TNA in 2005-2008. He had a huge pull backstage which is why Nash, Jarrett and Sting were consistently booked. He got fired and now changed his tune about the old guys there despite him being the guy who was told to give them a direction and told them what to do.

There is no reasonable person to run head of creative. Which is why he's still there. Dutch Mantell and the other guys they had with him made the show horrible, Dutch was called a racist by many talents which is why he was also fired.

When Dixie took over removed, Jarrett, Dutch and Scott, the product improved greatly in 2009. Pope debuted, Doug Williams was being used, AJ was champ, Joe and Daniels were being used, etc. TNA is entering that time again.

there has to be some fresh booking blood out in the indies.

Indies don't book shit. They have no idea about storylines, continuity, nothing. That's why they are in the indies.

Or how about a guy like Raven? This guy has one of the best minds for the buisness in the last 15 years. (okay that was because im a Raven mark but so what lol)

It's possible. I heard Dreamer is possibly on the verge of becoming a booker, we'll see.

Russo's summer of 2011 booking was outstanding, especially when it came down to pushing the new talent and Destination X.

The main two guys in charge of writing and booking are Russo and Matt Conway. Hogan is the guy (similar to vince) who gets the scripts and reads it over, tells Conway and Russo to take this or that out or add this or that in. Bischoff makes sure everything camera wise, graphic wise and road wise is set up properly.

At the end of the day, I can only say the issues and flaws TNA has is run ins, dirty tactics but once they eliminate that, there is nothing wrong with the direction, writing or booking. Everything has had a purpose.

I'm interested in what happens going forward. We very well may see every title holder be a homegrown star after BFG.

 

[Harthan]

"TNA was at its best in eons in the brief period between the death of the Main Event Mafia and the arrival of Hulk Hogan"

erm.....no it was not at least not IMO & based on the TV ratings from that period I have a good case. The lack of star power was really evident during that period & personally i found that period kind of boring compaired to when the MEM angle was in full swing.

Couldn't give a shit about ratings. I'm talking about quality, and that was some damn fine quality. Watch those PPVs. Styles vs Joe vs Daniels kicked ass, as did Styles vs Daniels the next month. Angle and Desmond pulled down consecutive ****+ matches. The cards were nicely rounded out. The booking was in general fairly logical (by TNA standards). I don't think the MEM angle was terrible but it never really went anywhere and the Frontline was an utter joke. I still think they ought to have given Morgan the world title in that time period, but whatever. Those few months post MEM were fantastic.

Also guess what.....you know what is going to change if Hulk Hogan does leave? NOT A GOD DAMN THING in terms of the way the show is produced & booked. Vince Russo has to be removed or replaced for anything to change significantly.

This would be entirely logical, if it wasn't bollocks. TNA underwent an enormous booking change the second Hogan set foot in the Impact zone. Stables formed, people turned, tag teams broke up, new ones formed. The place was in an uproar almost instantly because of his presence. Every storyline got thrown out the window. Hogan changed shit coming in, and things will change when he leaves.

Losing the star power of Hogan, Flair & Sting like some people are suggesting i don't care what anyone says is going to be very hard to replace.

Hogan's barely added to the ratings since he came in. TNA pulls like, what, 1.1-1.3 consistently? That's about what they pulled before Hogan. Sting took massive breaks from the company in the past without the ratings being hit. His total absence wouldn't change anything.

Since people have a huge big boner for Paul Heyman let's take a page out of his playbook & keep at least one LEGEND who can make sporadic appearences that will do nothing but help TNA just like he did with Terry Funk back in the day with ECW & just like TNA currently does with Sting.

If Hogan, Flair, Nash & Foley are gone then at very least keep Sting.

Angle, Jarrett, RVD etc. are for most part a decade younger then those guys above (excluding Foley).

I think losing Sting in any capacity is gonna hurt to some degree becuase i feel he is a "TNA guy" & im sure they don't want him going to WWE to get the HOF & DVD treatment aswell as match against Undertaker that will draw HUGE while they sit & watch & say "damn we used to have that guy it sure would have been good if he could have put over Bobby Roode clean to help establish him....oh well"

You're making the false assumption that Sting can actually keep doing this. He can't. He can't hold up in the ring anymore. His matches are just getting worse and worse and it's not working anymore. I'd love to see him put over Roode in a PPV main event, but Sting doesn't have any business in a TNA main event, because he can barely work it. TNA's not going to get anywhere hanging on to old guys and pushing them to the top. Push AJ, Daniels, Joe, Kazarian, Roode, Storm, Young, etc., etc. If Sting can hang around and help people get over, more power to him. But his time main eventing ought to over and his time in the ring period is coming to a close.

 

[SpecialFNK]

I think TNA could lose Hogan and not miss anything at all. I think TNA will get a chance to do better once he is gone, but I do think he has helped TNA in his time there.

I would like to see Bischoff stay. I think he could work really well in a similar role that he has now. a heel management/manager with power. he could be the voice of a heel group (similar to Immortal). he is good on the mic.

if Dixie was to get the company back from Hogan and Hogan was to leave, Dixie and Bischoff could still go back and forth.

if Hogan is gone, who would be the one in control of the company? would that mean Dixie would return to her old role as the one with power? or does someone new come in?
I really don't want to see Heyman. I don't think he would come anyway, but you know if Hogan is said to be leaving that fans are going to throw out Heyman's name.

 

[Depakote]

Heyman doesnt need to be an on-air personality to be what TNA needs. Thats one of the assumptions people seem to make about him. Look how much Russo influences the product yet has no on-air presence whatsoever. Replace Russo with Heyman. At the very least, replace Russo. Bischoff isnt bad as an on-air character, but TNA really needs to reinvent itself. It needs to distance itself from this image of being WCW 2.0. It needs homegrown talent. Heyman knows how to build a brand from scratch. He did it with ECW; he could do it with TNA. Dixie needs to stop being a mom and start being a businesswoman.

 

[jaceynightheat]

I'm a big Hogan fan but I think the best thing for him to do at this point in time is do Wrestlemania each year in someway.

For the new guys TNA needs to push the right ones. I'm glad to see Matt Morgan doing well. But why is Gunner doing so well? He's pretty boring & looks like generic player # 2 from a wrestling arcade game.

I think Eric Young was on fire when he lead World Elite. Make him like that again.

 

[Justmatt972]

I'm glad to see great posts by pretty much everyone here with constructive criticisms and opinions instead of the usual "TNA will never be good" from the always going to be a live at home virgin WWE marks.

I think it is becoming clearer that TNA is in the right direction. The BFG series, although predictable at times, was a great idea. From it, we got to see Storm and Roode shine as singles guys, the emergence of Crimson (who needs more work and more back story to really sell us on who he is), we got to see Gunner more consistently (whose push seems rushed to me and still needs work on the mic and a story...went from Security last year to BFG series...). We also got to see Matt Morgan (before injury) and Bully Ray step up their game. All new faces from the usual vets taking spotlight. At times, I found myself more interested in the BFG series matches than the "main event" every week.

I guess my point is that we can see guys like Hogan, Sting, Flair are eventually taking steps back to let the new blood shine through and that is finally a step in the right direction for TNA. For those whowant ton see AJ pushed, I think TNA brass looks at him like WWE saw Angle right before he left... A guy whose card you can play when needed but under valued at present time. I would love to see AJ pushed too but new blood may have newer fans tuning in to see what's going on. I got into TNA early 2010 and fell in love with Beer Money and MCMG right away. It was new faces tha tmade me a fan and I think TNA finally gets it.

They'll never be WWE but at least they can be the best alternative out there and is seperting themselves from looking like another Vince brand.

I would love to see someone like Matt Morgan or Joe as TV Champ with a long reign to give it credibility. I love where the X Division is going and can't wait until MCMG and Ink Inc are healthy again bc that is why the Tag Team Division is stale. Injury bug hit that division pretty hard. A Hogan/Bischoff/Sting/Anle-less era would benefit them and show off the new talent but I say keep Flair. When he talks at least it's entertaining.

 

[New Hot Fed]

If Hogan and Bischoff leaves, I would be fearful that Dixie turns around and look at the guys who have experience doing that job of running a company, mainly Russo and Jarrett and that would be a scary situation returning to the usual TNA style of pushing a guy and then switching gear 6 months later pushing that individual down to midcard would continue. Whomever takes over would have to have the clear design of pushing TNA guys for a long time so they become stars and become the faces of TNA. Especially homegrown talent.

A positive is that we would probably see less of Gunner and Crimson.

 

[New Hot Fed]

I'm a big Hogan fan but I think the best thing for him to do at this point in time is do Wrestlemania each year in someway.

For the new guys TNA needs to push the right ones. I'm glad to see Matt Morgan doing well. But why is Gunner doing so well? He's pretty boring & looks like generic player # 2 from a wrestling arcade game.

I think Eric Young was on fire when he lead World Elite. Make him like that again.

World Elite were a bunch of jobbers. I could never take them seriously. They were supposed to be mad wanting to take over but British Invasion were young guys and were happy to be in TNA, so there were no reason for them to be mad. The rest of the guys were nobodies. And EY as leader just doesn't work, he's not enough of a talker.

 

[EastCoastFan]

I'm not sure where they go from here. Supposedly, Russo has been wanting to step down for a long time, but he's still there. They had Jim Cornette, but they chose to keep Russo and dump him and now he works for ROH. Paul Heyman was offered the book, but he wanted total control and Dixie wouldn't give it to him. Maybe if Jeff Jarrett can patch things up with his father ...

The way I always understood it (correct me if I'm wrong) was that for a long time, Dixie Carter was largely a hands-off boss and let Jeff Jarrett handle the wrestling part of the business - then Jeff got involved with Karen Angle.

What TNA needs more than anything else are: 1) a solid creative team and 2) a great marketing manager. They have a lot of good wrestlers. They don't need to get in a bidding war for WWE's guys (and they really don't need to sign every WWE castoff that gets "future endeavored").

 

[New Hot Fed]

If the rumours are true then I would have a few guys continue on this after BFG until the End of the year and then start fresh for 2012 with someone new.

 

[dadubay]

I agree with the guy who said that TNA was in a great period between hogan and the main event mafia. TNA really had a good thing going with Wolfe being put over and Samoa Joe consistently in the main event.

AJ Styles is extremely generic. I just dont see what people see in him. He had run his course in TNA. On the other hand, I dont get why you guys dont like Gunner. He seems like a strong midcard guy. I don't buy him as a main event threat yet but I like him. Bully Ray is good but this guy is just another JBL, someone who breaks out late because no one else is around.
Its time to give guys like Crimson, Jesse Neal, Alex Shelley, and the Pope strong pushes. Sting is on the way out but guys like Samoa Joe, RVD (who's pothead ass I hope leaves shortly after Hogan), Anderson, and Jeff Hardy as your foundation.

What about bringing a guy like Lance Storm into creative? He seems like a great wrestling mind. He is influenced by Paul Heyman being from ECW during their prime, and is someone fresh. TNA does not need someone from the old guard coming in and booking things. This is why I hope Jeff Jarrett doesn't take over creative.

 

[PunkNation26]

Gunner's push makes no sense to me. I see absolutely nothing in him that makes me want to watch one of his matches. I also hate seeing him using Brock Lesnar's F5. Those of you saying Angle shouldn't be in the main event are crazy. That's like saying you didn't want to see Shawn Michaels work.

I also agree that Heyman SHOULD be the new booker of TNA. Notice I said booker, NOT business manager. Heyman is shit with money, but a MASTER and booking matches. When he was booking Smackdown, it seemed like every show kicked off with a kickass 20 minute tag match or long match in general. The guy is brilliant.

Is it just me or has the whole "Immortal" storyline, stable been pointless and horrible to watch. I mean, there is basically no reason to hate Hogan. I mean nowadays when you think about Hogan, you just don't care , good guy or bad guy. Also, I don't understand what (in kayfabe) Immortal was trying to accomplish. It just didn't make sense. It also doesn't make sense that Angle joined Immortal because he was pissed at Dixie because she knew about Jeff banging Karen and didn't tell Angle.

Because last I checked, Jeff Jarrett was affiliated with Immortal, and therefore an ally of Hogan. So effectively, Angle was teaming up with Jeff because he was pissed that Jeff was banging his wife and he didn't know about it. TNA will be better off when Hogan is gone, that's for sure.

 

[Depakote]

Gunner should go back to being a security guard or whatever he was doing before they allowed him to wrestle. Angle can work in the main event, but does he really need to at this stage in his career? Shawn Michaels didnt need the main event stage for his last run. Angle should start slowly phasing himself out of the main event like Michaels did. Have Angle put Roode over and then start taking a back seat to younger guys who know how to stay sober.

Heyman absolutely should be in complete and total control of the creative direction of the company. Vince Russo should never be allowed to work in professional wrestling again in any capacity whatsoever. But lets face it: the real person keeping TNA from going anywhere is Dixie Carter. She's a gullible, naive mark with no knowledge of the wrestling business whatsoever (or any business for that matter) so she's surrounded herself with con artists who've destroyed everything they've touched in the business. She's a sexually repressed bored house wife with nothing better to do with her time other than spend her daddy's money. She treats the guys in the locker room like theyre all her pool boy love toys, letting them keep their jobs no matter how poorly they clean her pool. And I'm sure they all shower her with attention and flirt with her and kiss her ass because they like collecting their paychecks without any real accountability for their terrible performance. TNA will never go anywhere with her at the helm.

 

[Dizzy]

If Hogan and Bischoff leaves, I would be fearful that Dixie turns around and look at the guys who have experience doing that job of running a company, mainly Russo and Jarrett and that would be a scary situation returning to the usual TNA style of pushing a guy and then switching gear 6 months later pushing that individual down to midcard would continue. Whomever takes over would have to have the clear design of pushing TNA guys for a long time so they become stars and become the faces of TNA. Especially homegrown talent.

A positive is that we would probably see less of Gunner and Crimson.

For the very last time, they only did that because AJ and Joe are terrible draws and cannot be the top face of anything.

There is a reason why Anderson, Angle, Sting and Hardy shared the title through out 2010-11. They actually get people to like them naturally. Joe and AJ do not.

Pope was heavily pushed but he got injured and he also is not committed full time to wrestling.

It has nothing to do with pushing someone and sending them to midcard purposely without reason. They have found good talent to push and they will stick with them until proven otherwise, there is a reason they are pushing Gunner, Crimson, Roode, Storm and Aries.

Taking over? Hogan and Bischoff were never in charge. Hogan was acting as the special creative enforcer for TNA basically reading what Russo and Conway wrote and booked before it made it's way to TV and making sure it looks good for TV. Bischoff worked on his character on screen and produced Impact.

People wanted them gone, now Hogan is leaving, It's still not good? Seriously?

 

[New Hot Fed]

For the very last time, they only did that because AJ and Joe are terrible draws and cannot be the top face of anything.

There is a reason why Anderson, Angle, Sting and Hardy shared the title through out 2010-11. They actually get people to like them naturally. Joe and AJ do not.

Pope was heavily pushed but he got injured and he also is not committed full time to wrestling.

It has nothing to do with pushing someone and sending them to midcard purposely without reason. They have found good talent to push and they will stick with them until proven otherwise, there is a reason they are pushing Gunner, Crimson, Roode, Storm and Aries.

Taking over? Hogan and Bischoff were never in charge. Hogan was acting as the special creative enforcer for TNA basically reading what Russo and Conway wrote and booked before it made it's way to TV and making sure it looks good for TV. Bischoff worked on his character on screen and produced Impact.

People wanted them gone, now Hogan is leaving, It's still not good? Seriously?

The only reason why they had RVD, Anderson, Sting, Hardy champ is because they are closed mind idiots and only go for talent that are known from the larger public. It's the thing that made them fail in WCW. The WWF had nobody, they turned around gave the ball to Austin, Foley and Rock and they destroyed WCW on the long run. Hogan and Bischoff and their established stars mentality got beat. And they are repeating the same mistakes.

Also the ratings was not worse when AJ and Joe were champ. Hell if anything Joe got the best buyrates in company history with 50 thousand buys at one point.

Also I don't know why you brought all these guys in the discussion, I was only talking about that guy Gunner and Shaun of the Red.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

The only reason why they had RVD, Anderson, Sting, Hardy champ is because they are closed mind idiots and only go for talent that are known from the larger public. It's the thing that made them fail in WCW. The WWF had nobody, they turned around gave the ball to Austin, Foley and Rock and they destroyed WCW on the long run. Hogan and Bischoff and their established stars mentality got beat. And they are repeating the same mistakes.

Yeah, what's wrong with you TNA? You actually push people who the audience knows and loves? What's wrong with you? See, that's not how you make money. You make money by pushing people nobody knows and/or cares about, not well known wrestlers. Well known wrestlers have the potential to bring in new viewers. Not all draw ratings but they do sell merchandise. Or they sell tickets. Everyone has his own little area of expertise. That is bad. You need to stick with the IWC darlings and watch your ratings melt. You need people who cannot draw half a point, don't sell merchandise and don't sell tickets when you tour. And don't forget to fire Hogan and Bischoff!

You're something special my friend. "The WWF had nobody". Really? Are you implying that Austin, Foley and Rock were nobodies by the time they got their big breaks? Rock was there for about a year, year and a half. It took Austin a year to go into his Austin 3:16 phase, and two more years until he beat Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania and really got going. Mick Foley on the other hand was never a real nobody. Austin too, for that matter. They both went through WCW and ECW to go to the WWF, but that's not the point.

The point you're trying to make is that while WCW relied on famous stars, and WWF beat them by relying on their own stars, correct? Well, that's wrong. WWF didn't beat WCW. WCW beat WCW with their repetitious crap and poor management. What the WWF did was steal WCW's approach toward wrestling, steal from Heyman as well and form the Attitude Era.

Now, I'm not saying that Austin, Rock and Foley had nothing to do with its success. They do. But they're not the reason. There are other factors involved.

That being said, there's absolutely nothing wrong with any company pushing and showcasing their most famous wrestlers as the top talent. It works business wise. Don't believe me? Look at how the people reacted to Jeff Hardy's recent return. The majority of audience didn't care what he did, they just wanted him back. That's a draw and that's a person that has to be marketed as hard as possible. Yes, even with his legal issues. The Huntsville crowd didn't seem to give two fucks about that, did they? Of course they won't. They're fans. You're a mark. I didn't say "s"mark because you're not actually smart, as I will prove later on in this post.

Then look at Sting. Sting is 52 years old and he's a major, major part of the company. He's been like that since the day he came to TNA.

Kurt Angle is by far the greatest in-ring performer today. Not Punk, not AJ, not Richards, not Cena, not Orton. It's Angle. He's tremendous in the ring, he's respected, well known and he can work the stick as well as anybody. Heel or face. Again, I'm talking about him as a performer, not person. I'm not debating morals here.

So what you're suggesting is that TNA should drop Kurt Angle, drop Jeff Hardy, drop Sting, Anderson and so on ... and replace them with ... who?

Here's what you're forgetting. Austin, Foley and Rock worked for the WWF because the WWF had something TNA doesn't - exposure. The WWF wasn't pulling 1.1's. They were pulling much more than that. Often times they doubled their present ratings.

Even if TNA was to scrap every well known wrestler OR stick them in the mid-card, and replace them with AJ, Joe, Daniels, Roode and Storm - mark my words - it will not do anything for the company. It will kill it. Why?

.. because you're confusing your personal preference with what a business should do. That, if you didn't know, makes you an ignorant idiot who doesn't know the first thing about running a successful corporation in an economy in distress, marketing a product that is no longer perceived as cool and entertaining but rather a childish program due to your main competition giving society that particular notion because said competitor is the only link between mass media, society and pro wrestling and very much dictates society's opinion on pro wrestling in general. WWE is childish - wrestling is childish.

TNA should keep on doing research, they should keep watching the numbers, they should pay special attention to who draws what, when and in what circumstance and if that person happens to be a famous wrestler - that's fine. If he happens to be a less known wrestler - that's fine as well. When it comes to making money you do what's good for business. So if giving the title to Hulk Hogan proves to be a ratings draw and a PPV draw (theoretical situation), Impact Wrestling would be stupid not to capitalize on that opportunity and gamble by giving the belt to AJ Styles instead because he does the cool flips and only shows a spark of personality when he's allowed to do a little shooting.

You don't want famous wrestlers at the top of the company because you don't like them. And just because you don't like something does not mean that Impact Wrestling is flushing itself down the drain because they don't fit your idea of the perfect pro wrestling company.

Also the ratings was not worse when AJ and Joe were champ. Hell if anything Joe got the best buyrates in company history with 50 thousand buys at one point.

Yes, the ratings did drop when AJ Styles was Champion. Look it up, don't talk out of your ass please. It's a well known fact. TNA was pulling solid ratings up to September 20th, when Styles won the TNA World Title. They'd pull a lot of 1.1 and 1.2's and a good amount of 1.3's. After AJ won the belt, TNA pulled a rating above the 1.2 mark only once, as opposed to the rest of the year when they did that 24 times.

Source: http://www.gerweck.net/tv-ratings/2009-ratings/

Now, as far as Samoa Joe's reign goes - Samoa Joe won the World Title at Lockdown, 2008. That was on April 13th. He lost the belt at Bound for Glory that same year. October 12. That's about 6-7 months. Before he won it that year iMPACT had not scored a rating below the 1.0 mark, not even once. After he won it they went below 1.0 eight times. Mind you, before Joe won they would score a 1.2+ three times. That never happened after Joe won it. Well, it did, actually. In December ... after he no longer had it anymore. The ratings went up to their normal 1.1-1.2 ratio.

Source: http://www.gerweck.net/tv-ratings/2008-ratings/

And Joe drew the highest PPV buy-rate? Well, looking at the ratings that smells of bullshit, doesn't it? Did Joe draw them or did Kurt Angle draw them? Eh?! You know, Angle, that famous wrestler that came from the WWE?




See, this is why I fucking hate discussing wrestling with boneheaded morons such as yourself. You don't have the facts, you don't have the numbers, you don't have any solid information to back any of your claims up, yet you jump from a TNA thread to a TNA thread acting as if you do. Well guess what, Jack, you don't. You're just another IWC hogwash spewer, another pathetic little basement booker who confuses subjectivity with what should be happening.

You want AJ Styles and Samoa Joe to be World Champions or at least in the Main Event? I do too. Well, maybe not Joe, I don't like him ... but that doesn't mean TNA is ******ed for not pushing my favorite wrestlers.

TNA is a business company, and they do things that are good for business. By that I mean showcasing people the live crowds get behind and pushing members of the TNA roster who have something to offer. Name recognition, ratings, merchandise sales, ticket sales - whatever. AJ Styles and Samoa Joe have none of those. But men such as Jeff Hardy, Mr.Anderson, Kurt Angle and Rob Van Dam even have some if not all of those in Kurt's case.

That's why they're being showcased, that's why they're holding belts, that's why they're in the major storylines and that's why they're so valuable for a growing company such as TNA which has to prosper and do the impossible in order to draw in biased, brainwashed and completely ignorant dummies such as yourself, while also pushing and marketing young and promising wrestlers such as Crimson, Gunner, Austin Aries, Bobby Roode and James Storm.

TNA was pushing famous wrestlers back in 2002 and is doing it until this very day as well. That model has gotten them from being a flea-infested company in Tennessee only available through PPV in 2002 to a growing, flourishing entity, taping around the country, signing the biggest stars in this industry, touring the world, being broadcasted in over 150 countries around the world and overall showing nothing but positive movement toward becoming a large force in pro wrestling in the coming years.

They didn't do all of this by building their company around AJ Styles or Samoa Joe. They didn't do it by only pushing homegrown talent and avoiding any brushing with former WWE/ECW/WCW wrestlers. They certainly didn't do it by listening to random marks on the Internet. They did it by doing the exact opposite of that and it brought them nothing but success.

Thank you for being a part of "Zeven's TOAST: Totally Owning A Stupid Troglodyte". Itssoeasy123, WWEisLife2, New Hot Fed, MisterRob and every other dumbass - this all applies to you as well. Have a nice day and go fuck your respective selves.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

TNA without Hogan & Bischoff, in my opinion, is a great step in the right direction.

Generally speaking, Hogan & Bischoff have been the centerpieces of TNA since their debut on January 4th of last year. It hasn't been as bad in 2011 but in 2010, it seemed that virtually every show was woven around Hogan especially. He's been in the middle of all the major angles so, by proxy, TNA devotes of time to whatever he was doing and everything else felt like filler. Now that's changed to a significant degree over the past couple of months.

It wouldn't surprise me at all to see Hogan & Bischoff leaving. They've both milked TNA for big salaries for the better part of 2 years, they've kept themselves within the public eye and have used their association with TNA as a launching point for various projects that they both have on the side. I'm not saying that to slam them or anything like that. Like many wrestlers or wrestling personalities, Hogan & Bischoff are looking out for #1 first and foremost, we just happen to have seen them practice that a lot more for ourselves. Bischoff & Hervey have at least one show on TruTV that's averaging about 1.2 million viewers and I'm sure they've got other stuff in the works. Hogan's Micro Championship Wrestling drew nearly a million viewers for it's debut this past Wednesday. Don't know if it'll do that again. Some may have tuned in out of curiosity so I won't be surprised if that number drops next week. He might also have some other television projects going on, I've read he has his own video game in the works, etc. I guess the point is that, if what I've read is true about them leaving soon, they have other stuff on their plate that's more important to them than remaining with TNA.

 

[Rayne]

I'm always extremely suspicious of the last-minute, "oh by the way our contracts expire very shortly" line. We usually don't find out the length of a performer's contract, and the dirt sheets are pretty poor with keeping up with the details that they DO get on contract length. Whenever someone's imminent contract expiration comes up, they seem to have a big match right on the horizon.

But let me play devil's advocate. (Before I do, personal opinion: Hogan reduces his appearances drastically but still appears for the TNA/IW banner, Bischoff initially pulls back from the spotlight to focus on production, but is a fame ****e mark for himself who will return as a central figure in the ongoing TNA/IW story.) Let's say Hulk + Eric ride off into the sunset. What changes for TNA/IW? A couple segments become more watchable? The numbers aren't going to jump, the numbers aren't going to nose dive. It just wouldn't matter. Neither man brings anything that TNA/IW wasn't getting along without, and the wrestling fans that claim they aren't watching because of them aren't going to start watching TNA/IW suddenly.

It wouldn't matter if they left. All that would happen is we'd remember the Hulk + Eric era as one of dashed hopes and disappointment.

 

[New Hot Fed]

Yeah, what's wrong with you TNA? You actually push people who the audience knows and loves? What's wrong with you? See, that's not how you make money. You make money by pushing people nobody knows and/or cares about, not well known wrestlers. Well known wrestlers have the potential to bring in new viewers. Not all draw ratings but they do sell merchandise. Or they sell tickets. Everyone has his own little area of expertise. That is bad. You need to stick with the IWC darlings and watch your ratings melt. You need people who cannot draw half a point, don't sell merchandise and don't sell tickets when you tour. And don't forget to fire Hogan and Bischoff!

You're something special my friend. "The WWF had nobody". Really? Are you implying that Austin, Foley and Rock were nobodies by the time they got their big breaks? Rock was there for about a year, year and a half. It took Austin a year to go into his Austin 3:16 phase, and two more years until he beat Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania and really got going. Mick Foley on the other hand was never a real nobody. Austin too, for that matter. They both went through WCW and ECW to go to the WWF, but that's not the point.

The point you're trying to make is that while WCW relied on famous stars, and WWF beat them by relying on their own stars, correct? Well, that's wrong. WWF didn't beat WCW. WCW beat WCW with their repetitious crap and poor management. What the WWF did was steal WCW's approach toward wrestling, steal from Heyman as well and form the Attitude Era.

Now, I'm not saying that Austin, Rock and Foley had nothing to do with its success. They do. But they're not the reason. There are other factors involved.

That being said, there's absolutely nothing wrong with any company pushing and showcasing their most famous wrestlers as the top talent. It works business wise. Don't believe me? Look at how the people reacted to Jeff Hardy's recent return. The majority of audience didn't care what he did, they just wanted him back. That's a draw and that's a person that has to be marketed as hard as possible. Yes, even with his legal issues. The Huntsville crowd didn't seem to give two fucks about that, did they? Of course they won't. They're fans. You're a mark. I didn't say "s"mark because you're not actually smart, as I will prove later on in this post.

Then look at Sting. Sting is 52 years old and he's a major, major part of the company. He's been like that since the day he came to TNA.

Kurt Angle is by far the greatest in-ring performer today. Not Punk, not AJ, not Richards, not Cena, not Orton. It's Angle. He's tremendous in the ring, he's respected, well known and he can work the stick as well as anybody. Heel or face. Again, I'm talking about him as a performer, not person. I'm not debating morals here.

So what you're suggesting is that TNA should drop Kurt Angle, drop Jeff Hardy, drop Sting, Anderson and so on ... and replace them with ... who?

Here's what you're forgetting. Austin, Foley and Rock worked for the WWF because the WWF had something TNA doesn't - exposure. The WWF wasn't pulling 1.1's. They were pulling much more than that. Often times they doubled their present ratings.

Even if TNA was to scrap every well known wrestler OR stick them in the mid-card, and replace them with AJ, Joe, Daniels, Roode and Storm - mark my words - it will not do anything for the company. It will kill it. Why?

.. because you're confusing your personal preference with what a business should do. That, if you didn't know, makes you an ignorant idiot who doesn't know the first thing about running a successful corporation in an economy in distress, marketing a product that is no longer perceived as cool and entertaining but rather a childish program due to your main competition giving society that particular notion because said competitor is the only link between mass media, society and pro wrestling and very much dictates society's opinion on pro wrestling in general. WWE is childish - wrestling is childish.

TNA should keep on doing research, they should keep watching the numbers, they should pay special attention to who draws what, when and in what circumstance and if that person happens to be a famous wrestler - that's fine. If he happens to be a less known wrestler - that's fine as well. When it comes to making money you do what's good for business. So if giving the title to Hulk Hogan proves to be a ratings draw and a PPV draw (theoretical situation), Impact Wrestling would be stupid not to capitalize on that opportunity and gamble by giving the belt to AJ Styles instead because he does the cool flips and only shows a spark of personality when he's allowed to do a little shooting.

You don't want famous wrestlers at the top of the company because you don't like them. And just because you don't like something does not mean that Impact Wrestling is flushing itself down the drain because they don't fit your idea of the perfect pro wrestling company.



Yes, the ratings did drop when AJ Styles was Champion. Look it up, don't talk out of your ass please. It's a well known fact. TNA was pulling solid ratings up to September 20th, when Styles won the TNA World Title. They'd pull a lot of 1.1 and 1.2's and a good amount of 1.3's. After AJ won the belt, TNA pulled a rating above the 1.2 mark only once, as opposed to the rest of the year when they did that 24 times.

Source: http://www.gerweck.net/tv-ratings/2009-ratings/

Now, as far as Samoa Joe's reign goes - Samoa Joe won the World Title at Lockdown, 2008. That was on April 13th. He lost the belt at Bound for Glory that same year. October 12. That's about 6-7 months. Before he won it that year iMPACT had not scored a rating below the 1.0 mark, not even once. After he won it they went below 1.0 eight times. Mind you, before Joe won they would score a 1.2+ three times. That never happened after Joe won it. Well, it did, actually. In December ... after he no longer had it anymore. The ratings went up to their normal 1.1-1.2 ratio.

Source: http://www.gerweck.net/tv-ratings/2008-ratings/

And Joe drew the highest PPV buy-rate? Well, looking at the ratings that smells of bullshit, doesn't it? Did Joe draw them or did Kurt Angle draw them? Eh?! You know, Angle, that famous wrestler that came from the WWE?




See, this is why I fucking hate discussing wrestling with boneheaded morons such as yourself. You don't have the facts, you don't have the numbers, you don't have any solid information to back any of your claims up, yet you jump from a TNA thread to a TNA thread acting as if you do. Well guess what, Jack, you don't. You're just another IWC hogwash spewer, another pathetic little basement booker who confuses subjectivity with what should be happening.

You want AJ Styles and Samoa Joe to be World Champions or at least in the Main Event? I do too. Well, maybe not Joe, I don't like him ... but that doesn't mean TNA is ******ed for not pushing my favorite wrestlers.

TNA is a business company, and they do things that are good for business. By that I mean showcasing people the live crowds get behind and pushing members of the TNA roster who have something to offer. Name recognition, ratings, merchandise sales, ticket sales - whatever. AJ Styles and Samoa Joe have none of those. But men such as Jeff Hardy, Mr.Anderson, Kurt Angle and Rob Van Dam even have some if not all of those in Kurt's case.

That's why they're being showcased, that's why they're holding belts, that's why they're in the major storylines and that's why they're so valuable for a growing company such as TNA which has to prosper and do the impossible in order to draw in biased, brainwashed and completely ignorant dummies such as yourself, while also pushing and marketing young and promising wrestlers such as Crimson, Gunner, Austin Aries, Bobby Roode and James Storm.

TNA was pushing famous wrestlers back in 2002 and is doing it until this very day as well. That model has gotten them from being a flea-infested company in Tennessee only available through PPV in 2002 to a growing, flourishing entity, taping around the country, signing the biggest stars in this industry, touring the world, being broadcasted in over 150 countries around the world and overall showing nothing but positive movement toward becoming a large force in pro wrestling in the coming years.

They didn't do all of this by building their company around AJ Styles or Samoa Joe. They didn't do it by only pushing homegrown talent and avoiding any brushing with former WWE/ECW/WCW wrestlers. They certainly didn't do it by listening to random marks on the Internet. They did it by doing the exact opposite of that and it brought them nothing but success.

Thank you for being a part of "Zeven's TOAST: Totally Owning A Stupid Troglodyte". Itssoeasy123, WWEisLife2, New Hot Fed, MisterRob and every other dumbass - this all applies to you as well. Have a nice day and go fuck your respective selves.

Wait you wrote all that, basing your whole argument of ratings on what exactly? I'm saying TNA putting the belt on RVD, Anderson, Sting, Hardy and Angle have not mad move them an inch on ratings. That's what i'm saying TNA has been between 1.0 to 1.2 for years regardless on who was on top. So bringing these so-called established stars has done nothing. NOTHING. No ratings, no buyrates. Nada. Zero. And you go into a rants saying what the rating when Joe had the belt was 1.0. Am I freakin to a toaster here?

Hell if only AJ and Joe and the others have had a sustainable push! But everytime they pushed them, they took the ball of them a few months later, Hell a few weeks later! And most of the time they were badly pushed. With no support whatsoever. Why? Because TNA has NEVER supported their homegrown talent.

And what i've been saying with Austin, Rock and Foley was that they were groomed and nurtured by the WWF. They did not come in the company as already made stars. Austin and Foley were nurtured but them into becoming stars in the WWF. While all the WCW was doing was taking Ted Turner's checkbook and stole talent from other places. And then the WWF created Rock and Kane and so forth. Of course WCW would have been stupid to not use the Hogan and Savage and Nash and Hall and Luger and so forth but after a while the industry grew and the old guys could not keep up and instead of giving the ball to their young talent that were ready to take the torch, the very guys that could have saved the company, they kept using the old guys again it came to bite them in the butt. While the WWF was coming with new acts, fresh talent, new ideas. With a shoestring budget, far less wrestlers and only a few guys, the WWf prevailed. Hell just look at 1999. Vince had nowhere to turn to and again he used one of his mid-carder in HHH and turned him into a champ and main eventer by promoting the Hell out of him and focusing his whole show on him. THAT'S HOW YOU BUILD A NEW STAR. Not giving him a small push, the belt and then downgrading him in three months like TNA has always done. Vince always prevails because he gives the chance to new guys to what they have. He doesn't work on reputation and if the guy is known or not.

And so what if the WWF had more visibility that TNA has had, TNA hired the big stars and it has never worked for them. NEVER. They are a little more known but again it doesn't get result. Hell they don't even bother using those stars to put the homegrown talent over so they too can become stars. AJ being pushed in early 2010 and Roode being pushed are huge anomalies.

Never change Zeven_Zion i've been a lurker for a while and i've never seen worst poster on message board than you. You call posters that disagree with you idiots on a regular basis and your arguments and opinions don't make sense and i've never seen a blind TNA apologist like yourself. Sometime it seems your work for management and it has been worse since Hogan/EB took over. That you can't seem to see their flaws and the mistakes that have been made in wrestling and not realising that these problems are occuring right now in TNA is baffling. We have seen this story before and it keeps happening everytime guys like Russo, Hogan and EB are involved. This promotion is a mess.

 

[PunkNation26]

The only reason Bischoff didn't go bankrupt in WCW like Heyman did in ECW was that Bischoff was playing with someone else's money. You have to call Bischoff shitty with money if you call Heyman shitty with money.