What If Fan Votes Still Helped Decide Title Shots?

[Rasha]

Last year, Desmond Wolfe received a surprising majority of the fan votes back when TNA was polling to determine who fans wanted to receive a World Title shot. If this system was still around today, who do you think would be getting the votes? Would the legend status of Kurt Angle carry him, or would the recent push of Mr. Anderson reflect in the votes? Would TNA loyalists be pushing for AJ Styles to go after the title? Or, like Wolfe last year, would someone more surprising be the top vote-getter?

Just curious what you guys thought. Personally, I think Angle would get the votes with Styles in a close second. And in third, I'd bet that we'd see Rob Van Dam. As much as TNA has tried to make Anderson a top guy, I don't think it's caught on yet. I don't really see any dark horse like Wolfe pulling off an upset again at this time. Robert Roode is getting love from the IWC, but I don't think it's quite what Wolfe had after his TNA debut.

 

[TNA cross the line]

personally i thought the rankings system was just awful they tried to make it look a little like mma imo. i hate mma this is prowrestling not mma we dont need a ranking system i dont see how there could be long world title fues with a ranking system i was glad to see it desolved after THEY were revealed at Bound For Glory. plus with the fan voting system im sure some die hard TNA haters took the chance to rank shark boy #1

 

[Poop Master Flex]

I didn't really have a problem with the fan voting thing they did, but if they're going to do it they have to really commit and LISTEN to what the fans are trying to tell them, not just have it there for a novelty like they did.

For example, like said Desmond Wolfe was constantly at the top of that ranking system. If I was TNA and saw that over 50% of the fans wanted Desmond Wolfe as the #1 contender I would have thought "hey fan's are really behind Wolfe maybe it would be an idea to put him in the main event picture and build him to a legit threat for the title". What did TNA do? They put him in 1 title match with RVD and got squashed in 5 minutes never to be seen in the main event again. The fans were telling TNA to put Desmond Wolfe at the top of the card and TNA basically told the fans to go fuck themselves and they're going to do what they want.

I don't have a problem with TNA doing what they want but they really shouldn't act like they actually give a crap about fan opinions because they obviously don't, they obviously think they know better, I'm not saying they don't but listening once in a while always helps.

I don't have an issue if they brought back the ranking system, just do it the right way. If they aren't going to listen to who the fans want in the main event then they shouldn't pretend like they care.

 

[Rasha]

No offense to the two responders, but I think you missed the point of my thread. Maybe I wasn't clear; not looking for a critique of the voting system or whether or not it should be brought back. I was more just using it as the base for an idea of, IF IT WAS still around, who would be getting the most fan votes at the moment. Sorry for being confusing!

 

[BearJew13]

Personally, I liked the idea of having fans vote for their favorite superstars to wrestle for the title. It gives fans a sense of appreciation such as "thanks for watching our product, this is us giving back to you, wanting to hear your opinions on the next contender." As WWE can take a page out of TNA's book in this particular situation, I think TNA got it wrong. It could prove to be disastrous having a heel champ and a heel contender or face champ vs. a face contender. Also, if TNA creative wanted to have two superstars feud over the title but the rankings wont allow it, the feud might never work out and be scrapped. Nevertheless, I think that anyone like Angle, Anderson, RVD, or AJ would get the majority of votes due to their immense popularity. Also I can see Robert Roode getting a lot of votes due to his look, work ethic, skills in the ring, and on the mic.

 

[cpac4]

I personally dont like it...hell, I hate it even in baseball, for the allstar game. I REALLY liked what TNA was doing months ago, when they had a power rankings list that they were going by. I thought that was such a good idea, and it really kept me watching week after week, with big interest. I have no idea why they seemingly have broken away from it. It made wrestling seem like more of a real sport. I even BOUGHT a payperview when they were doing it. Something I have NEVER done, for any wrestling event.

 

[Lucha-Libre is wrestling]

It was a experiment that had to many holes for it to really work.
1. Wrestling is script.
2. TNA tapes its shows 3 days before it airs.
3. The fans may keep voting for the same guy over and over. ( see #1)
4. What happens if the wrestler that wins the voting gets injured. ( Desmond Wolf )
5. It limits story-lines. ( see #1 & #4)
6. The voting system may not be legit. (see #1 & #2 & #3)
The fan voting sounds good on paper, but not everything that you put on paper pans out on the screen.

 

[Atreyu]

prob RVD or Jeff Hardy
just based on popularity and who tna want there

 

[GrandSword]

No offense to the two responders, but I think you missed the point of my thread. Maybe I wasn't clear; not looking for a critique of the voting system or whether or not it should be brought back. I was more just using it as the base for an idea of, IF IT WAS still around, who would be getting the most fan votes at the moment. Sorry for being confusing!

For your hypothetical to work though it would need to include almost the entire roster not just the ten guys TNA think you SHOULD vote for. Last time they had guys like Rob Terry in the selections while guys like Hernandez, Shelley, Sabin etc. were left out.

I would love to see Alex Shelley or Chris Sabin fighting for the title, or ataleast in matches with Kurt Angle, they are great wrestlers and need to be puushed much higher than they have been just like Wolfe was.

Angle has been in TNA for almost five years and the only time these two guys have been in the ring with him were in some gauntlet cage match where he took them out with the Angle slam in 5 secs...

To answer your question the votes would probably go like this if you only get one vote and TNA didn't mess with it:

1. Styles
2. RVD
3. Roode
4. Storm
5. Angle
6. Morgan
7. Samoa Joe
8. Pope
9. Shelley
10. Anderson

 

[Rayne]

Fans never got a chance to help decide title shots. That was clear as day when Desmond Wolfe got something like half the vote, Sting got less then 1%, and Sting gets the title shot. It was a method to gauge fan reaction, and that's about it. In addition, it's an awful gimmick to decide how your story runs.

Definitely for the best. It's a nice idea in theory, but the collective consciousness of the fanbase has no idea how to create entertaining booking.

 

[AntiChristDeicide]

Good idea on paper, but the problem would be that if you give fans the possibility of voting for who they want, you could wind up with Orlando Jordan wrestling Kurt Angle for the title. No offense to Jordan, but no way he should get a title shot.

 

[Clem]

TNA's treatment of Desmond Wolfe was a prime example of the system not working.

I hoped that their top ten rankings would've had alot more structure. It shouldn't have been just Kurt Angle having to work his way through them, EVERYONE should've been trying to claw their way up that ladder or even just to get onto it! Unfortunately it was just another lame angle that disappeared as quick as it appeared.

 

[TheGamea]

Last year, Desmond Wolfe received a surprising majority of the fan votes back when TNA was polling to determine who fans wanted to receive a World Title shot. If this system was still around today, who do you think would be getting the votes? Would the legend status of Kurt Angle carry him, or would the recent push of Mr. Anderson reflect in the votes? Would TNA loyalists be pushing for AJ Styles to go after the title? Or, like Wolfe last year, would someone more surprising be the top vote-getter?

Just curious what you guys thought. Personally, I think Angle would get the votes with Styles in a close second. And in third, I'd bet that we'd see Rob Van Dam. As much as TNA has tried to make Anderson a top guy, I don't think it's caught on yet. I don't really see any dark horse like Wolfe pulling off an upset again at this time. Robert Roode is getting love from the IWC, but I don't think it's quite what Wolfe had after his TNA debut.

this post along with mine remind me of how much TNA picks up sumthing RUNS with it for a month and then drops it on its face...now Im not one of those ppl that bad mouth TNA, becuz ima a WWE mark... I used to like TNA but I havent watched an episode since the fortune flip...I know that was only about 4 shows ago but it say a lot becuz I just to mark out for wwe and tna and thought TNA was better becuz of the storylines...NOW im just disappointed about all of these built ups to be dropped in wrestling keyfabe black hole...