The Official TNA / Impact / GFW Discussion Thread

[PeterHilton]

Oh shut up, if Cena's rap gimmick was such a roaring success then why did they change it ? Exactly. Stop splitting hairs just to big yourself up like you know jack all, you like to think you do but you really don't. You just like to talk a good game. See that's the thing about smarks they think they know the lot about wrestling and yet they aren't the ones producing and promoting wrestling oustide of their little TEW games I said it before, it's laughable.

 

I also said Cena got his monster push because of the brand extension creating opportunities for workers that otherwise stood no chance, Bradshaw is another success story too. But both had no chance in the Attitude Era. Bradshaw actually proved this as he was far from main event or entertaining back then, yeah he had the APA thing going on with Farooq but he wasn't nearly as entertaining as he was as the JBL character.....don't you feel like an insignificant ass now ? Yes, you do - you probably look like Zak Gowen in the real too, I'd feel significant if I looked like you as well. But of course I'm a smark too so I'm perfect, I don't think I know everything and I don't claim to be holier than thou - see the irony ? LOL.

 

Awesome.

 

The gimmick changed after he won the world title because they were transitioning him to be the face of the Raw brand. He needed to be more marketable. His superman push coincided with the family friendly thing.

 

He became Vince's new Hulk Hogan. Similar push. Similar character. Similar marketing.

 

He became the world champion with the rapper gimmick. You couldn't sell t-shirts to little kids with that gimmick, though. Simple as that.

 

The gimmick worked fine. You're mistaken.

[jesterx7769]

Seriously dude, if you just want to argue with people that will reach no end go take it into the WWE thread. I got sucked in early as others have but its not fair to the people talking about TNA. Your responses are getting more heated as it goes on including taking shots at one legged people which means the thread is probably on the verge of being closed which I dont think people talking about TNA want.

 

I don't like the move to Monday night but I understand why they are doing it. They know they aren't going to knock WWE off but they are hoping the "war" will generate ratings and get them to the point they can make money off their shows. However WWE is trying not to acknowledge them at all but TNA keeps poking hoping WWE will mention them which will help TNA more than hurt since the people that dont know TNA wil go online and look them up the moment Vince talks about them in a press conference/release

[PeterHilton]

I don't like the move to Monday night but I understand why they are doing it. They know they aren't going to knock WWE off but they are hoping the "war" will generate ratings and get them to the point they can make money off their shows. However WWE is trying not to acknowledge them at all but TNA keeps poking hoping WWE will mention them which will help TNA more than hurt since the people that dont know TNA wil go online and look them up the moment Vince talks about them in a press conference/release

 

Here's the thing:

 

The test run on Monday night seemed to show that there's an audience out there that will ONLY watch a Monday Night War type set-up. It seemed like a lot of the old time fans came back just for the one-off.

 

If you can get those people watching on a regular basis, TNA wins viewers just by showing up on Monday.

[thommohawk]

Hey guys I started off by talking about TNA.....I'm sure I got onto the whole Cena thing because of something stupid that someone said in trying to prove me wrong except they fail, cuz I'm never wrong since I'm a smark....yeah...whatevs.....exactly....so TNA ?

 

I'm all for the move to Monday, it had to happen eventually, and nothing but good can come of this as it's competition for market share. As for whether TNA is ready - it's called a snowball effect. The concept should be familiar, this will lead to other things and from there get bigger and bigger as momentum builds and it's a slow process with regular spurts of growth....this move to Monday means 1 thing straight away - RVD to TNA. And by default of course, growth for TNA.

[Bigpapa42]

I understand the move to Monday nights and all that... I get the reasoning behind... I'm not eveng oing to say its a bad move... But I think TNA just lost me as a regular viewer.

 

I want to see TNA succeed. I would love to see another Monday Night War, with each side spurring the other on to bigger and better. But that "hope of something better" is basically all that's kept me going since Hogan took over. I have seen zero that makes me think TNA is "getting better" - at least what I consider "better", as I know that's very subjective. Which is not to say its all bad or anything, but I honestly feel like the two months or so of Russo right before the Hogan era was better... and given that I didn't think that was amazing, its not a great reflection. On Thursday nights, TNA got me as a viewer by default - rarely was there something else on to watch instead. On Mondays, that's no longer the case. WWE Raw tends to range from painful to watchable, much like I find TNA does... I simply have more faith in the WWE being on the positive end than I do with TNA.

 

I hope this works out for TNA. I truly hope they succeed, and leave Vince scrambling. But they now have to win my viewership. Good luck.

[Hyde Hill]

A well channel surfing and I think its called Tivo or dvr? And while I am in agreement that the last pure Russo months where better right now TNA is in a state of flux so I am giving them time to get out of that and if it is still Nasty Boys in the ring and Foley/Flair/Hogan/Bisch/Hall/Pac for a very large part out of it then I am outta there.

 

Except if they sign RVD lolz.

[thommohawk]

Oh well keep a good thought lol, and keep the faith too....I've got all the faith in the world in Bisch and Hogan.....I mean just look in the last 2 months they've signed Ken Anderson, Ric Flair, Jimmy Hart, Nasty Boys (all names peeps know of) and they gone live on Monday which has now extended to every second Monday with a taped show in the Mondays between....and I'll call it now the signing of RVD in the next week or two....so as you can see TNA is growing like crazy under Bisch and Hogan, and they've suddenly become more interesting away from the actual wrestling too, speaking of which the wrestling is still great. You also have to remember where they were a few months back, with TNA homegrown talent topping the card, 6 sided ring etc and yet they never broke 1.1 million viewers on taped shows on a Thursdays....look at them now. Moved to Mondays, going live every second Monday, roster improvements, major star power - at what cost ? 6 sided ring and a slight shift in focus ? I'll take it every day of the week....some perspective is needed here, yeah Nasty Boys suck but so does John Cena but they are both big names.....

[Bigpapa42]

A well channel surfing and I think its called Tivo or dvr? And while I am in agreement that the last pure Russo months where better right now TNA is in a state of flux so I am giving them time to get out of that and if it is still Nasty Boys in the ring and Foley/Flair/Hogan/Bisch/Hall/Pac for a very large part out of it then I am outta there.

 

Except if they sign RVD lolz.

 

Channel surfing occasionally, maybe. PVR, yes. I will PVR it and will try to watch it afterward. But I tend to PVR a lot of stuff on Sunday/Monday, which means it wont' be a priority. And my PVR auto-deletes after a few days, so if I don't get to it in time, so be it. I may still see it, but I won't go out of my way to make an effort. If TNA had convinced me in the past 6 weeks, or manges to in the next month, then maybe. But otherwise, I see what I see and miss what I miss.

 

I've given the Hogan-era the benefit of the doubt. They are just doing very little to convince me. As I said, its not all bad. But there's just so much that bugs me. Did we really need 3 Mr. Anderson promos last night? Not only did the Nasty Boys match get 12 minutes, but they went over, meaning we get another one down the road. I just don't see things "improving"... and again, realizing that my idea of "getting better" won't be the same as yours or the next person, and obviously not the same as Hogan and Bischoff.

 

thommohawk, did you really just compare the Nasty Boys to John Cena in terms of popularity? Seriously? Wow.... You may want to re-examine what what your criteria is for a "big name" in the wrestling business.

[PeterHilton]

I've given the Hogan-era the benefit of the doubt. They are just doing very little to convince me. As I said, its not all bad. But there's just so much that bugs me. Did we really need 3 Mr. Anderson promos last night? Not only did the Nasty Boys match get 12 minutes, but they went over, meaning we get another one down the road. I just don't see things "improving"... and again, realizing that my idea of "getting better" won't be the same as yours or the next person, and obviously not the same as Hogan and Bischoff.

 

 

I actually feel very similarly. I actually like big chunks of what they're doing. I agree with most of who they've decided to push ( Dinero, Morgan, Wolfe, ), I like AJ with Flair, I love that Angle is being used as a real central part of the shows..

 

but the "mistakes" they've made are just so glaring that it stops me from being invested.

[Nedew]

Watching the announcement video, couple of humorous Hulk gaffes. Having to clarify that Bob Carter's not dead, calling Dixie Disney...

 

Interesting how he made the point about "from a wrestler's point of view... not the corporate, business point of view, which i realise now is the most important...", maybe he realises he played the politics a bit too much back in the day.

[thommohawk]

thommohawk, did you really just compare the Nasty Boys to John Cena in terms of popularity? Seriously? Wow.... You may want to re-examine what what your criteria is for a "big name" in the wrestling business.

 

Dude you have a brain yes ? Please engage it before you post.....I said Cena sucks just like the Nasty Boys do, and yes I said they both big names, which they are. Unlike say Nigel McGuiness, who I'd heard of but never seen until he came to TNA as Desmond Wolfe (and he's my hero lol i think he's brilliant) - but he isn't a big name. Or a real draw. Yet. That's my point. It's star power.

[Bigpapa42]

I actually feel very similarly. I actually like big chunks of what they're doing. I agree with most of who they've decided to push ( Dinero, Morgan, Wolfe, ), I like AJ with Flair, I love that Angle is being used as a real central part of the shows..

 

but the "mistakes" they've made are just so glaring that it stops me from being invested.

 

Yeah, its so hit and miss. Its feels... muddled... not well planned... I don't know a better way to describe.

 

There is some stuff that I'm not a huge fan of but I understand - like putting Flair with Styles. But other stuff... I just don't see the reasoning...

 

Dude you have a brain yes ? Please engage it before you post.....I said Cena sucks just like the Nasty Boys do, and yes I said they both big names, which they are. Unlike say Nigel McGuiness, who I'd heard of but never seen until he came to TNA as Desmond Wolfe (and he's my hero lol i think he's brilliant) - but he isn't a big name. Or a real draw. Yet. That's my point. It's star power.

 

Engaged my brain... and I still don't see the comparison. Hate Cena all you want (I'm no huge fan), but the guy is easily the most recognizable active wrestler in terms of mainstream exposure. Non-fans recognize him. Whereas the Nasty Boys are a moderately successful (four notable title reigns) tag team that hasn't been consistently active in a major promotion for nearly 15 years. See why I think there's a bit of difference there? And if having a couple of appearances on Hogan Knows Best makes the Nasty Boys "stars", then I would argue a 10-second cameo for McGuiness/Wolfe plus being the champion for 18 months of the third biggest wrestling promotion in the US does the same.

[lazorbeak]

Awesome.

 

Pete, don't bother arguing with it: just view profile, add to ignore list, and move on.

 

I like the move to Mondays, but I just have to wonder what TNA does differently than WWE at this point. Yes they have some great workers, but their product gets more similar to WWE by the day.

[PeterHilton]

Pete, don't bother arguing with it: just view profile, add to ignore list, and move on.

 

I like the move to Mondays, but I just have to wonder what TNA does differently than WWE at this point. Yes they have some great workers, but their product gets more similar to WWE by the day.

 

I don't know that they need to be different to be successful. Not 'reinvent the wheel' different, anyways. That seems to be part of the problem with the writing team actually; they're trying to do too much.

 

Sure they killed the six sided ring, and the X Division is a joke but they do have one thing going for them that means a lot to me as a fan: If you line up the rosters side by side TNA has more guys I'm willing to pay to watch wrestle.

 

That's huge. If they could present a coherent product TNA could be very successful on Monday nights.

[jesterx7769]

I hate they ruined Williams and got rid of him, the canadian destroyers is definitley the type of different they need. I remember the first TNA I watched (waaay back now) I saw Styles do his springboard reverse DDT and was amazed.

[Comradebot]

You know what annoys me about TNA?

 

Their recent and utter lack of Scott Steiner. So what if he's a way over the hill steroid junkie? He cut the best promos in wrestling history.

 

Where would we be without his math promo, the "I'm Hungry" promo, or him reminding us about Hiro-Jima and the time The Pearl Harbor bombed the Germans.

[jesterx7769]

You know what annoys me about TNA?

 

Their recent and utter lack of Scott Steiner. So what if he's a way over the hill steroid junkie? He cut the best promos in wrestling history.

 

Where would we be without his math promo, the "I'm Hungry" promo, or him reminding us about Hiro-Jima and the time The Pearl Harbor bombed the Germans.

 

The 100% cut ties with him I think last week I read (or the week before)

[Slagaholic]

So because some other company makes a bad decision means TNA gets to make worse decisions? Also TNA doesn't have the exposure WWE does so it's not a very good comparison anyway.

What's so bad about Sheamus? Is he not over as a heel? This BS where you have to build a guy up for months before putting them in the main event picture is silly. Pope is probably one of the 5 most over faces with TNA fans, plus he has a gimmick and the charisma to get him over with casual fans.

 

I just listed alternatives: Morgan/Styles could be a pay per view main event if Angle and the other guys also have something to do.

Morgan is in the middle of a heel turn, don't you think they should take the tag titles off him before putting him in a Heavyweight Title Match? Working a Hernandez/Morgan program will get both wrestlers over and then in some PPV down the road have them both involved in a 3 or 4 way match for the title. From there you can do whatever you want with them since they're solidified as main eventers. You can't just toss Morgan in the main event, have him lose yet again in a very short period of time (he wouldn't beat Styles the first time around) and then expect him to sell tickets if he's in another main event. Have him turn full on heel, drop the titles, have him battle Hernandez for a few months, and then go from there.

[Slagaholic]

I've given the Hogan-era the benefit of the doubt. They are just doing very little to convince me. As I said, its not all bad. But there's just so much that bugs me. Did we really need 3 Mr. Anderson promos last night? Not only did the Nasty Boys match get 12 minutes, but they went over, meaning we get another one down the road. I just don't see things "improving"... and again, realizing that my idea of "getting better" won't be the same as yours or the next person, and obviously not the same as Hogan and Bischoff.

I agree with you on Mr. Anderson, but I gotta say I kinda like the Nasty Boys going over, albeit not in 12 minutes. I feel like the Nasty Boys and Dudleyz will be going at it consistently until they have a big time hardcore match to blow off the feud. That's the only reason I think the Nasty Boys went over.

[PeterHilton]

What's so bad about Sheamus? Is he not over as a heel?

 

No. He isn't.

 

I mean..he's marginally over in that the audience knows they "should" boo him, but not really..

 

The Pope however IS over and TNA should ride him for all he's worth because, with their booking, that won't last long.

[Astil]

No. He isn't.

 

I mean..he's marginally over in that the audience knows they "should" boo him, but not really..

 

The Pope however IS over and TNA should ride him for all he's worth because, with their booking, that won't last long.

 

I disagree. The live RAW I went to people were chanting for AND aainst Sheamus. He was hot. Maybe it's not being conveyed on TV but he's getting crowd reaction big time.

[PeterHilton]

Well Raw just ended with Sheamus destroying the two biggest faces in the company. And the heat was exactly what I would call 'deafening'

 

So, no...it's not coming across on TV.

[Hive]

Orlando Jordan has no business going over Samoa Joe. Wtf was that about? Why Hogan brought him in is beyond me...

[Hyde Hill]

plz warn if you are going to spoil some of us like surprises. Best to put them in white text using colors and then say highlight to read like so:

 

This is a spoiler

[Self]

I actually watched last week's Impact... well most of it. I turned off after the pretty damned cool AJ/Flair/Joe verbal confrontation. In my defence, I genuinely thought that was the end of the show.

 

1) Where's Sean Morley?

2) Why does Orlando Jordan have the same gear and haircut as The Pope? If they're trying to make Pope into a star, they shouldn't have a doppleganger dress exactly like him.

3) I like Mr. Anderson. He's such a colossal jerk.

 

Needs more MCMG/Young Bucks action though.