You are the TNA GM: How Do You Fix TNA?

[TheGamea]

so ive been thinking about this post for a while so basicaly since tna has it problems esp. in ratings etc. how would the IWC FIX or make TNA better lets play GM for a thread.

My thoughts was this I'd do a little of what Paul Heyman said and I'd do a little talent bulinding I'd find me two wrestlers that has average skillz in the ring but had grade A personalities as heels or faces (lets say a David Otunga and The Miz from WWE) I'd push them hard and let them take the TV title and maybe a strong heavyweight belt push.

2. I'd change everyone music period everone that has a song with no word as there entrance would get a song with words simple.

finally I read in a marketing book once that when running a company you be great at something ANYTHING, I think the one thing TNA is good at (and there a hole in the market for) is tag team wrestling look at the MCMG and Beer money 5 match tag team bouts CLASSIC! So therefore, I would have gave the belts to team 3D, let them go out in glory to set it up perfectly for another TAG TEAM tournament and build the tag team division as it was the heavyweights.

What would YOU do to build TNA?

 

[mr_dna]

I Take it Shut up Shop and give up isnt a option ??

If not first thing is Fire Eric,Hogan,Dreamer,3D,Hardy,Flair,RVD and the rest of the EV Guys.

Keep Foley

Build the ME Picture around Pope,Anderson,AJ,Morgan,Abyss, Angel.

Then Your Midcard around Younge,wolfe,williams,Kendrick,joe,lethal

They Have Tag teams right as it is and xdivision aswell as knockouts.

The Best thing a GM can do is Trim The Old and let everyone see the new . TNA will never be a sucess useing Druged up or Over 60s in there Main Event.

TNA used to be about amazing Wrestler & matchs being diffrent something fresh and thats what it needs to go back to .

 

[Poop Master Flex]

First and foremost I would completely ignore the existence of WWE because that is not the way to go. The most I would do is watch their programming but I wouldn't acknowledge their stars, shows, PPV's and I certainly would stop taking shots at them every chance I get. Whenever I hear people from TNA bash WWE it really just comes off as they're more interested in what WWE does then what TNA does and I feel thats a mistake. I'm not saying they are copying the WWE, but they obviously pay way too much attention to WWE and really that needs to stop. TNA needs to become themselves and not just another WWE (not saying thats what TNA is, but they certainly come off that way often). In other words, they need to establish their own identity and its impossible to do that when you constantly see guys like Hardy, Hogan, RVD, and Anderson.

Secondly they need to learn how to let things marinate and to build it over time. One thing that drives me nuts about TNA is their lack of ability to make me actually care for their wrestlers and storylines. Sure they often have good matches, but in almost every case I don't care about the match and thats what they need to do, slowly build their roster and storylines so people can actually get emotionally invested in the product. The big reason why things never get better in TNA is because they very rarely do anything that gives an emotional response. You can have the best wrestlers in the world, but they will all go to waste unless they can make people care for them. Sometimes I think the only reason people watch TNA is because they are emotionally invested in professional wrestling, but not the product itself.

Third, don't be afraid to push new faces and try new things. Having Jeff Hardy as champion is not a new thing (but I will commend for them at least attempting to give Hardy a heel turn when it would of been so easy to keep him face). Too often TNA feels like its in a time vortex where things never change. For example, the whole MEM storyline felt like a time vortex, it didn't matter what month you were in because it was always the same shit, no with Fortune and the Immortals it feels the same way as in this is the group running the show, its the same thing except with different guys. I hear alot of people say that this Immortals storyline feels fresh, well I'm pretty sure I've seen it before in TNA (2 years ago) and that swallowed TNA whole for a year, it makes me think its going to be the same thing and I'm not looking forward to it.

I understand its a little frightening to go down roads that you don't know, but if you don't try new things once in a while then the road that works becomes worn down, stale, and ultimately comes to a point where its undriveable. Storylines like the NWO were great, but that roads been driven down so much that its an extremely bumpy ride.

Lastly, change the whole business structure and start again. The whole company is run by idiots for the most part (Hogan and Bischoff aren't running anything they just have input) and they need to get people who are not only wrestling smart, but business smart. Their biggest problem is the people running the company and they need to do some serious shaping up backstage if they ever want to become bigger and more successful.

I could go on for days but those are the 4 main points I would start with.

 

[Rasha]

You know, you could have saved us a lot of time and just said "I'd turn TNA into the WWE." But since you didn't stop there, neither will I...

My thoughts was this I'd do a little of what Paul Heyman said and I'd do a little talent bulinding I'd find me two wrestlers that has average skillz in the ring but had grade A personalities as heels or faces (lets say a David Otunga and The Miz from WWE) I'd push them hard and let them take the TV title and maybe a strong heavyweight belt push.

I'm not arguing that TNA could use a fresh face or two, but putting those guys in the ring with the likes of Angle and AJ Styles will make them look weak. TNA prides itself on giving you the best in-ring action. Not only would you turn off the TNA fans, but you wouldn't get nearly as many new ones back as TNA would just become a poor man's WWE.

2. I'd change everyone music period everone that has a song with no word as there entrance would get a song with words simple.

Who decided that themes need words? Just because the WWE has them doesn't make it right. Most of the best themes in history were instrumentals. TNA certainly needs music improvements, but just adding words isn't the answer.

finally I read in a marketing book once that when running a company you be great at something ANYTHING, I think the one thing TNA is good at (and there a hole in the market for) is tag team wrestling look at the MCMG and Beer money 5 match tag team bouts CLASSIC! So therefore, I would have gave the belts to team 3D, let them go out in glory to set it up perfectly for another TAG TEAM tournament and build the tag team division as it was the heavyweights.

You were halfway to a good idea, but then you suggested making Team 3D the champs. That's the opposite of greatness.

What would YOU do to build TNA?

I'd only make a few changes:

1. Get rid of Reaction and make Impact! a three-hour show with elements of Reaction mixed in. They need more time to flesh out certain storylines and feuds but fans aren't going to watch a one-hour promo show with no wrestling. You could almost argue for a second show at this point, but try this first.

2. You were right that they need to improve some of theme songs, but it's not about adding lyrics so much as having just better quality melodies. I'd especially focus on Samoa Joe's theme as it's opening is just comically bad. The rest of it isn't too awful, but the intro ruins it.

3. The TV Title should be taken of AJ immediately and moved down the roster to where mid-card guys can use it and benefit. It's a waste on him right now and he should be in the World Title scene.

4. Stop having a random Abyss vs. ??? feud every month. Abyss is boring and shouldn't be on his own in storylines. Keep him as an enforcer/executioner for Immortal and cut his TV time by about half. If nothing else, just give us a couple months of a reduced role.

5. Finally... take this show on the road. It's time. We've all read the threads about the tourists and the Cancer Crew, and those are legit points. You also are losing the benefit of a live crowd by having it be either a bunch of locals who take it for granted or tourists who are there for the novelty. Going to another city and getting the energy from a crowd seeing TNA live for probably the first time, having waited for days for the night to come, is something you can't put a price on. It feeds into everything you do and makes your product look exponentially better.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

Well I would say firstly there should be NO MORE turns for the next six months. Basically people turn in TNA at the blink of an eye and so the fans cannot invest themselves in a character. So there is no sense in having wrestlers turn so frequently.

Secondly I want this Immortal storyline to be the main storyline in TNA for at least the next 2 years at the very least. Yes, its not a pathbreaking storyline but it is the kind that works. Like Bischoff said in an interview people relate with a power struggle. Well TNA has fucked up too many power struggles in the past by either not planning them properly or ending them too soon or too anticlimatically. Don't do it here TNA.

Thirdly this is the roster that TNA should go forward with bar a few exceptions like EV2 and Robbie E and Orlando Jordan. Cut them and please do not hire anyone else. The roster is a pretty good one and actually comparable with even WWE's.

And finally I would hire a few good road agents. The ME of Turning Point was pretty shit. It seemed like Hardy and Morgan were just doing a few random moves before one of the two said "Hey its time for the go home sequence". Seriously, that match was absolute shit. Good road agents would help plan out the matches in a better manner.

 

[wrestlingxp]

I would call Vince, beg him to get us out of debt and to buy our company and bring someone in who knows what they were doing.

And if I were Vince, I would buy the company, possibly thru a third person, build it up as a serious competitor and never let anyone know otherwise and try to replicate what WCW was to WWE. Remember, way before anyone knew any different, Vince was helping pay ECW's bills, the original ECW with Paul Heyman, and no one was the wiser...

That's what I would do.

 

[jaceynightheat]

Things I'd do to help TNA.

Ignore the existence of WWE. It does nothing to bring it up, talk about yourself instead.

Fire Bischoff, Kaz, Jesse O'Neal, Chelsea & a couple others.

Have Hogan go back to a face, no reason for a big name to be heel if they can't wrestle & put over a good guy. So just have him be their commish as a good guy.

Stop Flair from wrestling.

Actually use the X Division & TV titles to help boost people who need it. AJ Styles doesn't need a secondary title.

Separate Immortal & Fortune Let Hardy, Abyss, Jarrett feud with Pope, Morgan, Joe. Have Fortune go after others. Since I fired Kaz, replace him with Desmond Wolfe.

 

[Stagger Lee]

TNA needs to go back to its roots. They brought Hogan and Bishoff in to give the company a little national exposure and they accomplished that. Now that they are on the map more prominently than ever before, and now that they have guys like Hardy (who I honestly don't care for), and Anderson, they have a chance to at least compete with the big boys. But they will never do this as long as they keep rehashing the same old storylines over and over, and as long as they let those idiots from ECW get any TV time.

TNA needs to come up with a plan... a script... and stick to it. They have so many people flip-flopping from heel to face and from group to group that it makes everything look like they are just throwing darts from week to week. How many times has Matt Morgan gone from heel to face to heel to face in the last 12 months? One minute he's attempting murder on national television, the next he's preaching about the dangers of concussions? Give a guy an identity and let him work with it to see how it plays out.

TNA is afraid to stick to the script. They brought Taz in originally to mentor Joe. How'd that all work out? Get Taz out of the booth and give him a role as a manager/mentor. If I never hear "LET THE PIGEONS LOOSE!!" again, it will still be too soon. That has to be the worst line in the history of wrestling (and wrestling has had plenty of awful lines).

Abyss had a story where he joined forces with Hogan and used Hogan's HoF ring to channel his own inner Hulkster (yes, that is a terrible storyline). However, Abyss ended up turning on Hogan and then started letting us all know that "they" were coming. And who did "they" end up being? The very same guy that he turned on in the first place... Hogan. Who came up with this idea? Whoever it was needs to be fired yesterday.

TNA needs people who know how to tell stories. REAL wrestling stories, not "he's good, now he's bad, now he's good!" They had something going with some of their previous 'true-life' stories involving JJ and Angle and even further back with Rhino and his battle with alcohol. Maybe it's time to go back to that formula. Go back to making things personal between people so the emotions seem real. You don't need blood in every match, either. That only lessens the impact. Save the blood for special events or for genuine hardway accidents like when Anderson took the chair to the back of the skull a month ago.

The whole show just reminds me of them trying to cram 5 hours of stuff down my throat in 2 hours. Go back to the basics, go back to quality wrestling, and get some stories that work. THAT is how I would fix a very broken TNA. Despite what the crazy dedicated fans on these boards may think, I think TNA is in danger of folding very soon.

Oh yea, and before any of this takes place, they need to get the hell out of the Impact Zone and those awful fans. I can almost hear them chanting now... AW-FUL-FANS! AW-FUL-FANS! AW-FUL-FANS! They are idiots.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

Secondly I want this Immortal storyline to be the main storyline in TNA for at least the next 2 years at the very least. Yes, its not a pathbreaking storyline but it is the kind that works. Like Bischoff said in an interview people relate with a power struggle. Well TNA has fucked up too many power struggles in the past by either not planning them properly or ending them too soon or too anticlimatically. Don't do it here TNA.

Did you not watch WCW? If not, all is forgiven. The nWo storyline had two major problems. 1. It ended up with too many members. After a while, the shock of someone new joining the group completely faded away. 2. The storyline went on far too long. Instead of using the brilliant nWo storyline as a platform into the mainstream and creating big name superstars, it rode the faction/angle beyond it's expiration date. WCW couldn't identify when enough was enough, and it really hurt the quality of the product. If Immortal goes on for that long, with how big the group already is, the same thing will happen.

TNA needs to focus much more on it's in-ring talent. Guys like A.J., Beer Money, Generation ME, The MCMG's, Mr. Anderson, Jay Lethal, Matt Morgan, Desmond Wolfe and even Amazing Red (even though he's kind of a spot monkey). TNA's problem isn't the in-ring product. The problem stems from a lack of coherent/competent booking. It's far too erratic, and chaotic.

Are these guys mainstream draws? No, of course not. But I don't believe they ever will be if TNA continues down this path. Hogan, Bischoff and Russo are all about right now, this moment. They know they have an expiration date, so they want this to work out as quickly as possible (the company becoming a big draw). They are reaching, even grasping at straws. I firmly believe the only way for TNA to have long-term success is for them to build a quality product, across the board.

People not watching TNA has nothing to do with exposure. TNA suffered from a lack of exposure prior to Hogan, Bischoff, Ric Flair, etc. But now, people know the company is there. People are not watching, I think, because the product isn't worth investing your time in. Building a quality product may take longer than Hogan/Bischoff would like, and they might not even be around to see the high-point of TNA. But if TNA really wants to succeed, it needs to plan for the future, not just for the "now."

 

[Fazmo]

Fixing tna isn't too hard. It's better than www because each show is not hour after hour of promo with some celeb promoting something or with stupid storylines (though Santino is highly amusing).

What tna need to do is keep Flair out of the ring as the heel manager and use someone like Sting as the face manager to generate some rivalry.

Then get rid of raven, Richards and dreamer so the guys with talent can actually get some ring time.

They then need to push the fast innovative style of AJ and the MCMG's as a base format for the show. RVD and Hardy's style still fits whilst Joe, Angle, Anderson, Pope, etc all have good move sets to work opposite each other and can then compete against the more agile wrestlers for a clash of styles.

TNA's tag division is awesome and Kendrick could be tagged with someone (poss EY) to make a further team in the division.

Daniels could also be brought back and the knockouts are used much better than the diva's.

A turn towards an MMA style from some of the wrestlers may also help stem the loss of fans to things like UFC.

TNA have evrything they need and ust need to package it right with good merchandise to take the WWE fans and become mainstream.

 

[Aaron]

The problem with TNA isn't in the talent. They have that in spades. TNA's problem lies with management, specifically Dixie Carter. I'm not sure she should be running a laundromat, much less a wrestling organization.

Short version, you want to fix TNA? Find someone who knows what she or he is doing and have them buy it.

 

[fenfool]

First thing, I'd eliminate Bichoff, Hogan & Russo from the picture entirely. Hopefully this gets rid of overbooking, unnecessarily long promos and swerving the talent as much as the fans. You can't change everything instantly, so taking what you have to work with: Clarify the TV title. It will be defended every iMpact, 10 minute time limit. AJ can keep this one for a while, we want to see him in the ring, this puts him in there every week. Give him some challengers, I would put Jay Lethal, maybe Doug Williams, a few others in the mix. He defends it more and more, nobody can beat him, the title starts to mean something. Next for the tag team division...I'd put Rhyno and Abyss together (give them their monster characters, and a mouthpiece to manager them, they could make a nice team) and throw them in the mix. They have both been floundering a bit as of late, they are part of your roster, this could give them some meaning, or at very least give some of the other teams someone to work against. Rebuild the X Division...clarify it a bit, say the title matches are always no DQ, no count out, something to make it somewhat different from other titles without going to weight class. You need to show who would compete for this title...maybe have an Ultimate X #1 contenders matchHave both members of MCMG's in the match, as well as Gen Me, Kazarian, Amazing Red...show us some people who have some X Division-worthy talent.

In general, stop overbooking...too many swerves and your audience stops caring. I picture Russo giggling uncontrollably every time there is a heel turn for no apparent reason. Start announcing a couple of matches for the next week's show...give the fans a reason to tune in, other than the show is on, maybe something will happen. Tell us Samoa Joe will take on Mr. Anderson, Gen Me will go against Beer Money...a little promotion could go a long way. TNA has a ton of talent, and while new talent is always nice, but they need to use what they have better, and show off the ones who can really go. People love hearing Flair talk, but let his stable do the wrestling. Let your audience know who is in what division, what they are fighting for, what they bring to the table...give meaning to what they do. Stop dropping angles for no reason, having everyone turn on each other every other week, squashing someone you are trying to build up...basically, simplify the booking, and make sense. That's a good start.

And I agree with one of the first posters, their theme music is mostly awful. Give them something distinct, memorable...the only themes that stick out to me at all are Somoa Joe, Kurt Angle & Jeff Jarrett. Stop using knockoffs of their past music!!!! It sounds so cheap...you can do better.

 

[TheBWO]

First (or maybe not exactly "first"), but take TNA on the road each week, serving maybe 4-5k auditoriums. I've read about TNA's house shows, and whatever you do--DO NOT LOSE THAT with the fans. If it's the experience that everyone has complimented TNA for, then keep it that way. Make people WANT to come to the show to get up close to their heroes, foes, etc., and with word of mouth, IWC, and anything else to help, within maybe six months to a years time, they can move up to bigger places (c'mon....the first Nitro was held at Mall of America for Christ's sake,....and look where ultimately it ended up before downfall).


Get rid of EB, Hogan, ---they had their day in the sun, they made history, they did "controversy" as EB so brags every month....time to let new guys put a spin on angles, stories, etc. Have them accept it, and find a good trade school within the area repairing air conditioners and enroll them.

Shut down the EV2 story. It was good.....for about two weeks.....and time's up.

Promote Pope, Jay, Desmond, --elevate them to badass level, either by way of a highspot, taking out someone higher, or whatever the case is. Lord, if they can promote Hardy to that level, then why not someone else.

Develop more on the X division, and focus that angle each week. ---tourney, six man tag, Ultimate X, ---the weapons are there, time to USE them and leave their mark in the industry.

Keep the knockouts hot----and by that I mean, get women who can wrestle aside from looking good. The knockouts are above the divas----keep them that way. Keep the matches worth watching (i.e. like I said, keep them hot).

STOP angles after two months and move onto something else. Revisit the angle (maybe) six months down the road as "unfinished business" if need be, but put the two (or three, or however many) in different angles for a few months.

That's the best I can do on my lunch hour

 

[CAPT SPAULD1NG8]

first thing i would get rid of hogan and bischoff, and vince russo and hire paul heyman and give him all creative rights just like he wanted. after that i would do alot of releases. i would release sting, kevin nash, mick foley, rob van dam, jeff hardy, ric flair, team 3d, and all the EV2 guys. the only veteran that i might keep is angle due to the fact that he still performs at tp level and he helps put guys over. also i wouldnt have jeff jarrett as on on air character. then i would release the wrestler that have no reason to be on the roster like robbie e., and brian kendrick. then i would get rid of the knockout tag team title and the tv title. i think doing this will put back prestige to the x divison title. i would have the x division pretty much be the focal point of tna. tna used to be total nonstop action. now and days its been total nonstop talking. a few weeks ago i watched an episode and they didnt have a match for an entire hour. so i would cut alot of gimmick matches and not have 6 story lines going at once. and finally i would cut the amount of ppv's tna has in a year. i would cut them to maybe around six to help really build up story lines. the shows i would keep would be bound for glory, slammaversary, lockdown, genesis, final resolution, and destination x.

 

[Heater41]

I have been thinking about this for a while. In my opinion, TNA changes their story lines too often, doesn't finish stories and is beginning to look way too much like WCW.

Obviously, I would have to start with what I have and evaluate the talent backstage. I would talk with each member to decide the best direction of their character.

Then, I would begin building a storyline and working with independent federations. The storyline? Outside of "Immortal", the entire roster would be tired of what is going on, come out and quit! Give some of the long worked members a chance for a break and to heal. Immortal members would have to carry the story for the next few months where they would wrestle independent talent from other federations (the federation names would be mentioned). During that time Dixie could be showed in vignettes speaking with independent owners in regards on how to get her company back.

The independent talent could refuse to do what "Immortal" asks because they are not "under contract" and force Hogan and Bischoff's hand.

The culmination would be a Dixie regains control match vs. she puts up $5,000,000 between Jeff Hardy and a current wrestler not signed to TNA or any other major company. Jeff Hardy gets cocky as does Hogan and Bischoff and agree to the stipulation. During the main event of the PPV Jeff is in the ring waiting for his opponent when Dixie comes down with, none other than Matt Hardy! Matt defeats Jeff and regains control for Dixie and all the past TNA talent returns in an in ring celebration.

 

[MaxPlastic]

1) Fire the production team. Not the camera guys, but the guys telling the screens which cameras to play. The angles are terrible
2) Cut shorter promos. You can't spend the first 30 minutes of your show cutting a promo for a story no one cares about in the first place. The Thursday before last, there had only been one match in the first hour. If you told more effective, more compelling stories, you wouldn't need ReAction, which is a failed concept anyway
3) Reign in creative and the input that the wrestlers have. I know TNA give their guys more input and control, and that is a good thing. But they can't have all the control, you need people from the outside looking in, as well. There needs to be a good medium
4) Either beef up the Women's Division, or nix it. The hookers on TV right now are Nitro Girls that hold belts
5) Shoot taped shows at other arenas. They've started touring more, so I think it would make them look great if we didn't see the iMPACT! Zone every week
6) It seems like they've got too much going on, which leaves me with no firm grasp on any storyline. Bring Xplosion to American TV and put some of the storylines on there. Maybe move the entire X Division to Xplosion to create a different 'brand.' I know that sounds like Raw and Smackdown, and sometimes two 'brands' seems superfluous, but honestly I know every storyline going on on both those shows and I'd rather watch Xplosion than ReAction anyway. They can take the time needed to set stories up. Hell, maybe instead of that just nix ReAction and make iMPACT! three hours long. This comment seems a little contradictory to statement 2, but that's alright
7) And finally... It's obvious there are a lot of wrestlers from other promotions on the show. We get that. But don't acknowledge any other promotion. Period. I don't care if it's WWE, ROH, Chikara or even old promos like WCW, or ECW. Hell, you shouldn't even mention OVW, SMW or even Jim Crockett Productions! Your wrestlers are on TNA now and that's the ONLY promo that should matter. Ignore the rest

 

[ilapierre]

If there is a problem its the crappyness of the Impact Zone set. It makes it look like about 300 Orlando greasepigs are the only ones watching the show. I would also replace Mike Tenay as the lead commentator, but keep him there as he's extremely knowledgeable and has a tremendous grasp on wrestling history. But none of this should change until the number one problem is fixed.

The major problem with TNA is...the IWC smarks. They invent up that there's a problem with TNA and then spread bullshit lies in threads like this to justify their anti-TNA, pro WWE stance. That is all that's wrong with TNA. If you wanted to make TNA worse, all you would need to do is bring in a GM to run the show. That is the stupidest concept in the history of wrestling, a GM, it's beyond boring, contrived and just plain stupid. Everyone knows Vince owns WWE and that he's really the GM. Never in the history of WWE has their GMs been the least bit entertaining. Presidents, like Tunney, Monsoon, JJ Dillon, Bischoff have been entertaining and credible. But I hated Heyman's role, i hated Bischoff's role in WWE, I hated Stephanie's, and we all know Michael Cole is being set up to be the new heel GM backer of Nexus. John Cena will take over the leadership of Nexus, cat is out of the bag, who cares, the angle is boring and so is John Cena. The most unlikely main eventer ever after Samoa Joe. The GM angle is dumb, in fact the whole brand split is ridiculous because WWE does not have enough talent for two different brands. Bret Hart must have been so embarrassed taking part in such a contrived and pointless concept. So my point is a GM in TNA would definitely make TNA so bad that WWE fans might start liking it. Actually, no, they would find something wrong with it because it doesn't have the McMahon's stamp of approval on it and it would ultimately threaten WWE (although it really wouldn't, WWE loyalists would be scared it would come to eventually unless they criticize it enough on internet forums sitting around in their boxer shorts all day).

TNA has the talent, the personnel, and a good direction. All TNA needs is stability. They do not ridiculous changes like firing Bischoff and Hogan like so many of you numnuts are proposing. Like hiring Paul Heyman, the guy ran ECW into the ground. He never had one tenth the success Eric Bischoff had in the business. WWE is where its at today because of stability. WCW is where its at today because of lack of stability. So is ECW. There is no one better not named McMahon and successful alive than Hogan and Bischoff to put together legitimate competition for WWE and that's why so many WWE loyalists and Hogan bashers keep up their whining about the so called problems with TNA. They know that if they tell a lie long enough people will come to believe the lie and it'll be truth. It's a simple tenet of propaganda. They just want to see TNA, the company they don't like fail so the company they love, WWE, will succeed. They know nothing better and will make up a company's problems no matter what was being put out. These are the same asswipes who find stuff wrong with the Attitude Era and complain about it not being as good as the PG era. They have no credibility, they are dumbasses who don't know any better and grew up in their adult life watching parental guidance childrens programming. But they seem to come on here a lot like the big, overgrown babies they are and give their dumbass opinions on stuff they know nothing about. They'll say things like, TNA does have the talent but its not being used properly, or that Bischoff and Hogan kill everything. But all they are really doing is repeating everything that's already been repeated which validates the company they love and detracts from the company threatening it. They're idiots. They have no idea how to be objective and it seems like the dumbest opinion of all always prevails on this site. That's why i try not to be so objective anymore, because postesr here only seem to listen and agree with me when i post something considerably subjective like this. There's smart, objective posters on here who get eaten alive by WWE loving smarks, and too few and far between. Some of the really smart ones are oddly 19-25 and have an incredible grasp on the stuff I grew up with 10-20 years ago. Some are my age and are stupid as crap. There's no rhyme or reason to it, just a lot of dumbasses on her trying to validate the four to six hours of crappy WWE wrestling they watch each week.

 

[Rayne]

Ho boy, do I love these threads.

What do we mean by "fix TNA"? The worst that they are guilty of this year, from a viewership standpoint, is "not improving". From a fiscal standpoint, we only have conjecture, but seeing as wrestlers have been holding out after being unsatisfied with the offers they've received, and that TNA hasn't bragged once this year about paid viewership, I have my doubts that that picture has improved either. (I do not think the company is "going bankrupt", as some people would have you believe.)

TNA cursed themselves by hiring Hulk & Eric. It's not that they are performers who are well past their prime (they are, but that's just my opinion and not consequential to my argument), but by hiring them, TNA forced themselves to raise their game to meet expectations, which they haven't done. Hulk & Eric promise a certain amount of glitz and glamour. Before Hulk & Eric, TNA could get away with silly shit like Kurt Angle + Samoa Joe vs. Team 3D in an entirely predictable PPV main event. Expectations were lower.

However, in modifying the TNA product to look more "mainstream" (I mean in production values and arena set-up, in this instance), they have simultaneously led people to expect the product to meet the expectations promised by the new design. (If you're telling yourself that a studio set doesn't alter expectations, don't kid yourself for a second. The first thing they tell you in media is "the image is everything", and it's absolutely true.)

For many people, TNA hasn't met those expectations, and the amount of new viewers expected hasn't materialized. TNA isn't writing for new fans while keeping old ones watching, which they should be doing; they're writing to get reactions out of the fans they already have.

So what would I do to "fix" TNA? You can't go back. The genie is already out of the bottle, and the idea of a controlled diminishment of expectations is, while fairly commonplace in other sectors of business, looked at as COMPLETELY INSANE in television. What I would do is stop writing for the boys in back; stop writing for the people in Orlando; and write for the person who's flipping through the channels during a break in RAW or MNF. Don't assume they saw the Monday Night Wars; those were over a decade ago and are old news. (*cough* nWo rehash *cough*) Find performers who engender a response in those channel flipping fans.

TNA's writing should focus on having more fans in six months then they do today. The whole "they" storyline was quaint in that the writing team proved they could write somewhat coherent, linked storylines over the course of time, but what did it do to bring in new viewers? Give people a reason to get invested, and Hulk & Eric, the past year stands as evidence that it's not you.

 

[acstylez]

First step. Fire Taz, Morgon, Hogan, team 3D, Robbie E and Cookie. Bring Sharkboy, Sonjay, Jack Evans, Teddy Hart, Pac, Matt Bently, Paul Birchill, and Jd Michaels.


Step 2. Advertise, the hell out of my roster with High-light video's that would broadcast, on multiple sports, soap opera, and cartoon shows.


3. Make adjustments, to the creative team. As well as the booking.


4. Use the women as sexy appeal and wrestlers. Sign Trina Michaels, Awesome Kong, Sara Delray, Traci Brooks, and Serelda. Have Traci Manage Kaz as a Debra type manager.


5. Use the X Division a whole lot more.


6. Create a Dx style faction with Trina Michaels, Matt Bently, Jd Michaels, Kaz, Eric Young, and Sharkboy. Add Rob Terry to Immortal.

And that's it. I create the oppertunite to advertise and show up the WWE using pure wrestling. I could offer sexual content and intresting storylines. And make TnA a young guys company. Thus fixing the major problems if wrestling.

 

[SydTinDad]

EVERYONE is missing the most important thing here.................ITS A TAX WRITE OFF!

Let me explain. Moma and Papa Panda Energy (Dixie's mommy and daddy) could give a shit less. It's a tax write off. And in all actuality, it does not take alot of money to run TNA because of it's inferiority structure to the "E". Dixie doesn't give a shit about being competitive as long as Panda foots the bill. She is a silly little girl who got her parents to buy her a company because she was too stupid to contribute anything to Panda's hierarchy, and isn't hot enough to earn fame and money on her back.

Dixie knows nothing about wrestling except for what she reads and once Panda decides that they need a new tax shelter option or write off, TNA goes on the market and Vince is first in line to swoop in.

Good night TNA. Your fate was sealed once you brought in Hogan and his drinking buddies. It's just a matter of time before you are in a pine box.

 

[CuddleBuns84]

If I ran TNA:

1. Fire the excess! I don't need that many people running the show. It's making the organization insane. Too many hands in the cookie jar, not enough cookies. It's getting old. I need some new ideas, and classic ideas, and I need to implement them. I can't do that with most of the staff there.

2. Replace the 40s and over guys, with new recruits out of the indy circuit. I don't care if people like RVD. I can't build a winning program for 5 to ten years with him. I need new guys to establish themselves.

3. Lower the WWE employee staff. I don't care what they did for the attitude era, If I wanted to be the WWE, I would work for the wwe. Need to established the company as TNA wrestling. Not Jeff Hardy needs work, or Jeff Jarrett doesn't want to work for Vince show.

4. 40 stop territory. I can't get fans, if I don't leave Orlando. Orlando hasn't been big since Shaq was there, so why would I want people to fly across the nation to see my show. If I can get 4 states, and ten shows in each one, I can develop a good loyal clientele. Not also that, but I can't do the impact zone. It's lame, it's boring, I need better. So, TNA needs it own territory.

5. Establish an employee pension and healthcare plan. Yes, I know it's not quite wrestling. But, if I get a retirement and health-care for the performers, it can get me some strong recruiting abilities for new talent. If a ROH star wants to jump to the WWE, he or she might think twice with a small company and it's good benefits.

6. 6 pay per views a year. Not 12, not 13, but 6. One month doesn't cut it. I need to build that up. with 6 to 7 weeks of build up for pay per views. It's a good idea in my opinion. Not also that, but maybe move the pay-per-views on a different date. A Monday night Pay-per-view perhaps.

7. Marketing. Enough said.

8. Less Backstage crap. If the crowd can't see it, then it doesn't help me. A brawl where only the camera can see it, just takes away from the live experience.

9. Focus on the live experience, not the TV show. The TV averages 1.0 ratings. I want people leaving a TNA event in joy, and in belief they got their money's worth.

10. X-division, and Tag Team Titles are treated like big deals. I mean, I don't want to see a 160lb man, take on Matt Morgan, I want to the lighter weights in their class, and the heavier weights in theirs.

11. Be TNA, and only TNA. No need to be anything else.

 

[Wrestlefan27]

I wouldn't fire anybody, I'd just use them in different capacity from how they're being used right now.

Eric and Hulk are fine as long as they're not on camera. Keep "management" off camera. When Vince shows up, you know something big is about to go down. It should be the same way. The wrestlers should be the focus of the show.

The older wrestlers that came in from other organisations should be putting over the TNA originals. Instead they're being rocketed to the ME picture. It would have been a great angle if the TNA guys were resentful of all the "new" talent and they presented a united front. They could have contrasted/showcased all the things that made people love TNA to begin with, superior in-ring talent, the X division, the Knockouts, and unique gimmick matches.

Don't go overboard with gimmick matches, don't turn faces/heels before the audience gets invested in a character, don't give away PPV caliber matches for free on Impact, give feuds time to develop, bring back some of the fired Knockouts like Roxxi, Kong, and ODB. They don't all have to be sex symbols.

Cut back on the swearing and toilet humor in all the promos. These guys think they're clever but they really just come off as not having any class. They're like trashy teenagers.

Cut back on promo time and show more wrestling. Remember the days when guys were given a minute before the match to cut a promo? Go back to that. ME guys obviously get a bit more time, but ten to 15 minutes should be MORE than enough time.

Use older established guys to put over the younger guys. I don't understand how this is so hard. We "smarks" seem to know it as if it's Booking 101 and most people are in agreement. Why is it so hard to implement in reality?

 

[DForce]

First off, I'd fire all dead weight talent, especially WWE rejects. Plus I'd take the position that anyone is expendable, like Kevin Nash. I'd even cut my own salary to better the product. Then with the savings from eliminating wasted salaries I'd hire a better production team: producers, directors, camera persons, audio technicians, and especially writers.

Next, I'd fire Midway and have AKI (or EA) develope TNA video games with the same gameplay as WWE's No Mercy for N64. Speaking of WWE, I wouldn't allow my talent to speak negatively about the WWE, rather pay homage.

Finally, I'd nullify all storylines and strip every champion of his or her championship, create weight classes, set up a tournament for each weight class' championship, and allow rivaries to develope during those tournaments. To terminate some of the talent, I'd add the stipulation that those that lose in the first round of the tournament will be FIRED!

My philosophy would be to create stars of the future, not leech off stars of the past.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Firstly, I just want to put out that I'm not saying that I could do a better job than what's been done already. It's easy for us to sit and critique everything because there's no risk on our parts. We have absolutely nothing to lose by putting out our hypothetical arguments and suggestions. That being said, I'll give it a shot though I think most of my ideas have already been stated to one degree or another.

Most of the problems any wrestling company will have lies within the management and creative team and that's where TNA's biggest problem lies. They have loads of talented wrestlers on the roster and they can only do what they're ultimately told to do by the higher ups. I think that TNA needs to do a lot of house cleaning. There's a great deal of dead weight on the roster that TNA simply doesn't need or have completely failed to do what TNA hoped they'd do when they came to the company. Talent that I believe needs to go include Tommy Dreamer, Rhino, Brian Kendrick, Rob Terry, Kyoshi, Mick Foley, Eric Bischoff, Hulk Hogan, Team 3D, Eric Young, Kyoshi, Orlando Jordan, Christy Hemme, Hamada & Robbie E. I'm sure that I've listed some wrestlers that some obviously won't agree with, namely some of the bigger named stars. However, TNA brought in these big names in the hopes that they'd be able to draw and that's simply not been the case. I'm going by the assumption that guys like Hogan, Bischoff, Foley and others make large salaries compared to most others on the roster and, if that is indeed the case, I see it as being money that's been thrown away. I might be willing to keep some of them on if they'd take a pay cut and maybe some others I listed as talent enhacement.

I'd also go out looking for a new creative team. I think the TNA product overall has been lackluster, even downright shitty at times over the course of this year. I'm not a fan of most of the stuff out of Vince Russo. It seems to me that the only "big angle" he's capable of doing involves the faction take over/power struggle storylines and TNA has done more than enough of those already. I'd reach out to former wrestlers that've had a lot of experience and knowledge like maybe Kevin Sullivan, perhaps Dutch Mantel. I'd most definitely make a firm offer to Jim Ross to come on board as head of the creative team. He simply has too much knowledge to linger in limbo.

I think that TNA, to some degree, needs to get a little more in touch with its roots. I'd at least attempt to bring some focus back to the X-Division as it's what ultimately put TNA on the map in the first place. It wouldn't be an endless array of spotfests either. One reason I've started to become fans of wrestlers like the MCMGs, for example, is that they started to incorporate wrestling into their matches instead of their matches being just one big spot after another.

I'd also retire the TNA Television & Knockout Tag Team Championships as they're little more than props at this point. The TV strap has just been cursed with mediocrity since its inception when Booker T used it and it's just been dying a slow, agonizing death ever since. Even AJ Styles hasn't been able to elevate the prestige of the title. It's time to put it out of its misery. As for the Knockout tag titles, there's just no need for them. They're hardly ever used and the Knockout tag champs rarely even make appearances on TNA television anyhow. I think with less titles on the roster, you've most definitely got to go out there and work your ass off to show that you deserve a top spot.

I know that there are a lot of details that I haven't gone into. It would take such a long time to go over them and, as I aluded to earlier, I'm not exactly experienced in running a wrestling company in the first place. However, I do think that the changes I suggested do at least sound reasonable if nothing else.

 

[Geeker]

There's not much I can say that hasn't already been said.

I think Bischoff has great intentions in the wrestling business, but honestly I think he'd be better off-stage. I think his presence only makes the company look like wCw, which a lot of people liked but there is a reason it went under.

nWo didn't help anything either and with this new faction of Immortal, too many people are seeing resemblances. It's almost as if they have run out of ideas and are trying to recycle old ones.

Getting rid of Flair would be my number one priority. I don't like flair, never have. I don't have any respect for him and he's so old now that he doesn't belong in the ring anyways.

Hogan is nice to have on the show as a face. He has no business being a heel.

The one major thing that TNA has over WWE is a good tag division. They need to push that to be more of a major attraction.

Either give the legends/global/television title to someone else (actually use it) or drop the belt all together.

In all honesty I'd love to see a hardcore division again.

Get rid of all the people that are obviously over the edge. (Old people that just don't have it in them any more).

Expand storylines. They give up on them too quickly.

TNA's absolute biggest issue is that they don't have any money. They need to do something about that and soon. Their only source of income is PPVs and Merchandising. They need to do something to convince more people to pay for things.

There's probably more that I could think of but I am pressed for time.