PeterHilton

Eric isn't a writer and he's never been a writer. He's more big picture. And I sincerely doubt they've 'laid the foundation' for anything since they came in because - as has been mentioned - a lot of the storylines changed and evolved due to roster moves and - also mentioned before - many of the people involved in the storylines weren't even available when Eric and Hogan signed on. C'mon..I'm supposed to believe that Hardy turning heel is somehow related to him showing up on the first night and sitting on the top of the cage? And nothing happened with MEM. Nothing. It was a way to elevate...ummm...Morgan? Joe? Get Scott Steiner airtime? It died due to a lack of direction and fizzled out when people got bored. No one was elevated or helped in any way. Maybe. But I'd also say you're in the minority because even the writers who review the show for wrestling sites have not picked up on these 'clues.' And since nothing in the spoilers made it seem like they did any kind of comprehensive recap I still think people really won't pick up on it. DX was derivative. And yes the nWo was a rip-off of a Japanese storyline. That's not the point. MOST storylines are 'rip-offs'of something else. But you're ripping off the nWo using several of the exact same lead characters. In the same position. It's not just a rip-off..it's a BLATANT rip-off using several characters that are waaaay past their prime (Hogan, Sting) to re-create a story that was done to death a decade ago and then making it worse by tying the albatross that is Jeff Jarrett to it's neck. I didn't watch the new version of Rocky or Rambo. Why would I watch this? No. It's not. In both cases it's crap. I didnt want to see Cena vs Orton for the millionth time. I didn't want to see Trips vs HBK for the millionth time. And I certainly don't want to watch Easy Eric and Hollywood Hogan run wild on the goo guys...for the millionth time. What are they trying? Again..the only person seeing this complex mystery is you.Until I read some spoilers that indicate a story beyond "We're Taking Over!" then it's meaningless to suggest it's anything other than that.

True, but I think the authority figure/booker/GM character is simply a given part of the sports entertainment genre. It goes back to Jack Tunney as the President of the WWF...'someone' is obviously in charge. If anything, I'd just like there to be a twist on the 'evil authority' figure and have someone who treats the roster more like a sabermetrics GM using finance and statistics to make decisions that are based in cold, calculated logic instead of always siding with the heels for personal gain.

You said something similar when you posted that incredibly baffling fantasy booking a few pages back. Let me ask you something: 1) Based on TNA's previous booking or these types of stories (i.e Joe feuding with MEM for months and then joining them for no apparent reason) what makes you think the 'twits and turns' would make any more sense or be any more compelling than what's happened up to this point? 2) How exactly would these 'clues' that were allegedly left behind be picked up by the average viewer? 3) Wouldn't that type of storyline STILL be an nWo rip off? 4) Does a storyline that includes that many convoluted twists and turns actually make for a more enjoyable wrestling program? I mean...unless you're a giant fan of something like Lost ..how does a convoluted storyline with a million clues that the average fan can't pick up on that goes nowhere and has no pay off make TNA better? Was TNA better when the MEM was the central focus of the show? Good for you. As a longtime follower and viewer of TNA in all it's glorious ineptitude and as a longtime critic of Bischoff and Hogan and their inability to sacrifice their egos for the good of the company hey work for, I'm positivie that there's almost no way for this to go well. I read the spoilers and it already sounds awful. But it's good you're openminded. I just think that a lot of people reached the end of their ropes. Well, duh. It IS TNA.

lolwut this. The booking in this show was awful. Just awful. EV2 going over Fourtune was a terrible move and the only reason it's not getting killed more was because THEY was such a travesty. I also never want to hear another mention of what a genius Bischoff was or that he gets overly blamed for WCW's failure. The major hit against him is that he took one idea and ran it to the ground. So now what does he do? Join TNA...wait eight months...then do the same idea.

Hyde, the X Division being de-emphasized goes back a lot farther than when Eric and Hogan showed up. It's been happening for a while. And Impact's ratings have still remained fairly steady. Which, to me, means that the fanbase -while disappointed on message boards - still watches in basically the same numbers.

Has there been a giant DECREASE in ratings since the X Division was de-emphasized? No? then no one is really all that put-off by it.

Smackdown when Lesnar, Angle, Edge, Los Guerreros, Benoit, Rey, and Hogan were running around. Heel Rock...WGTT...Heyman ...lotta good stuff there. As an Era..Monday Night Wars but only because I was in Navy A school and wrestling was so popular we had weekly viewing parties ..RAW in one room and Nitro in the other. We were a bunch of young (ie drunk) guys about to be sent off to the fleet so things would get rowdy, and most nights would end with someone getting 'beat up' and having the nWo put on them in shaving cream.

Yeah, this. To take TNA from where it is to where it could be would take months of untying on these inane storylines. For the life of me I couldn't even remember what the main event of BFG was til I went to TNA's site.. I mean..shouldn't the biggest PPV of the year have the top face facing the top heel or something close to it?

Fantasy booking is a joke. I'm not a booker or a writer for that company. If I wanted to book for TNA i'd do a diary. I'm speaking generally about what TNA does that sets them back. They - on the whole - have screwed up more often than not. Look at what Stennick said because he's right: their strongest "eras" last a few weeks at a stretch. If they could just string together six months of quality shows, without the ridiculous over-the-top 'US VS THEM' storylines and concentrate on the fact that they have a ton of talented workers - both in the ring and on the mic - and take advantage of the fact that the E would never put their top matches on free TV while TNA can, then eventually I think TNA would attract a bigger audience more consistently. But they keep trying to re-create the nWo and create an instant wave of popularity and it just comes off as sloppy and haphazard. Cut the useless guys off the roster, do some more straightforward booking, pick the guys you're going to push and stick with them, and don't mention a single thing that happened before 2000..it'll be fine. Because they just need to trust the talent they have.

All true.Instead of worrying about whether or not someone is "an original" let's talk about what they're doing now with the company and what they bring to the table. For instance: Daniels was a longtime TNA guy. But he hadn't been interesting in months and -outside of doing Daniels/AJ for the umpteenth time - didn't look like he had anything on his plate. So losing him wasn't that big a deal. By the same token, Hardy is a big name and had a ton momentum coming in, but he's been bland as a character and hasn't really delivered in his matches either. After BFG, if it were me, I'd have him job out to someone who needs a little boost in an extended program. Book better shows. That's it. you can maybe do a better job of not signing guys just for the sake of signing them, and I think that having a more adult product is a plus, but in the end...Book Better Shows.

Meh...ratings don't agree. Also..you named 6 guys and 4 of them don't actually work for TNA. I don't really see anyone in the current X division outside of Jay Lethal that have the same potential that guys like AJ, Joe, and Daniels did. And - as has been mentioned earlier - Lethal should've been elevated beyond the XDivision by now

Saying 'while granted its there both on the back burner right now they atleast still have an x-div and a womens div' is circular logic since I could say the same thing about the WWE's cruisers and Divas. The fact they EXIST does not make them a difference maker. TNA is far more similar to the WWE than it is different. That was their decision. And it's been that way since Hogan came aboard. And again--it was their decision. Pointing out minute differences like the tag division and a little more emphasis on the in-ring product won't change that. And I'm not saying it's a bad thing...I just think that it's something that TNA fans should maybe look at and not try to fight so hard. Because the shows lately aren't terrible...when the writing is good it's still really good TV.

Really? Who? Other than AJ and Jarrett..who's been there since basically the beginning? Really? What? What's in TNA's product that's so different from the WWE besides the slightly more PG 13 language? Their wrestling style used to set them apart and now that rarely gets showcased.

But I think that guys like Pope, Morgan, Angle..etc ..are all wildly entertaining. And I'm pretty sure you enjoyed OJ's gimmick while it lasted. Shannon Moore is a retread. He's incredibly bland and generally sucked in WWE so it's not a shock he sucks in TNA That's a case of TNA adding a wrestler for no real reason.

ummmmm...Daniels was released months ago and has been working for ROH since then And based on their ratings, I don't really think the majority of TV fans care one way or the other about the X Division. Again..that time is gone. Net fans - in a lot of cases - are fooling themselves when they talk about 'what people want.' If TNA starts getting 2's by continuing to push Jeff Hardy, Ken Anderson, Angle, and featuring Hogan...who's to argue? TNA has more talent on their roster then at any time in their history. They can potentially put on PPVs that feature more "name" wrestlers (top to bottom) than the WWE has. If they have to push the 'WWE rejects' over AJ to get that crossover success, then so be it.

You guys are still arguing the 'WWE rejects' thing as if it makes a difference. Look at that roster...there ARE no TNA originals. Mainly because TNA got rid of them years ago. As a matter of fact, TNA has pretty much got rid of everything that made them stand apart from the WWE. Also...years ago. They have done a good job taking guys like Pope, Anderson, and Morgan and using their full potential. And guys like Steiner and the Dudleys haven;t reinvented themselves, but they definitely have brought a lot to the company. But they brought just as many guys who were total busts and/or added nothing to the company: Test, Rikishi, OJ, Val Venis, Dustin Runnels...i mean the list goes on and on and on... In the end though the argument doesn't matter because if you take out those "WWE rejects" i don't really see anyone on the roster - other than AJ - that you can really call a homegrown STAR anymore. TNA shifted their focus a long time ago. They're "Sports Entertainment" now. People still worried about how the 'originals' are being treated have really missed the boat. That time is gone.

Lotta really ridiculous stuff in this thread lately.

I actually have been enjoying Sheamus' recent promos. He's not earth-shatteringly good, but he's solid and he work's he crap out of that Irish accent schtick. He's solid; not great but he definitely doesn't make me want to change the channel.

yup the Danielson/Daniels/Low Ki three way on their first DVD is still one of my favorite matches of all time

To each their own. I love early ROH and just about anything they did during Danielson/Punk/Joe's time there.

On Homicide: I actually think he's done his best work in ROH. And since I think most TNA fans are internet wrestling nerds at heart, i think they view him as mostly "ROH" too.

Only to you, Hyde. Only to you. ...

Meh...I just thought Monty was at his best when he upped the intensity level and acted like a kook. Sticking him with a name like "Cor Von" and a theme song that was all "Smooth, smooth, smoooooooth" didn't really play to his strengths imo.

Monty was given the awful awful name Marcus Cor Von And yeah.if they won't even let Mr. Perfect's kid keep his name...a name that has just as much history as Orton or Dibiase..then I don't know why they wouldn't change AJ Styles as well. I have a feeling there'd be a lot of market research done to see if the name has enough value to keep it in tact.

He's definitely lost a step, which is why he's tradeable. NE's offense doesn't "need" a big target but it ran at an incredibly high level when Moss was at his best. The worst part of this - for Moss - is that he did EVERYTHING a WR could do that first season in NE, helped that offense break all kinds of records, as one of the big reasons they went 16-0 in the regular season, caught what should have been the game winning TD in a Super Bowl to cap a 19-0 season ( a perfect milestone for his HOF career) and then it all goes away on that wacky Eli Manning drive to give the Giants the win. Moss will probably never win a SB and now NE looks like they'll be reloading for next year and beyond