The Official TNA / Impact / GFW Discussion Thread

[Bigpapa42]

Promise you're not holding your breath...I want to read the rest of your TCW diary :-p

 

Nah, won't be holding my breath. But I'll be more than happy to be proven wrong on this. I would prefer not to see Hogan as not still driven by his ego, but I see what I see.

[tristram]

This is directed at anyone bitching about there not being enough wreslting on TNA. I fully do believe in Russo's train of thought that it doesn't really matter what the promotion is doing so long as it's entertaining.

 

****, the highest rated WWE segment was The Rock and Mankind's this is your life segment. In fact, when vince gave away Christian/RVD for the IC title in a ladder match and Brock Lesnar vs Kurt Angle 60 minute iron man match for the Undisputed Championship on free tv ratings? THEY ACTUALLY WERE POOR! AND THIS WAS WELL BEFORE THE E GOT STAGNANT!

 

And I'm not a TNA mark, though I am a fan. I've never been bored watching their shows since Hogan took over, and if I have any complaint, it's that I'm to over-stimulated! So much **** flying at you at once, they really need to learn to pace themselves and not burn out the crowd.

 

Also it was fine for this time, but I *NEVER* want to see Flair or Hogan in a match again... Okay maybe Hogan, but only on PPV, only with a kick ass storyline, only with a worker that can carry him, and only if it's done to put over the worker. I can only see Hogan wrestling in TNA if it's ala Terry Funk "I'm an old man, I don't got what it takes anymore" gimmick.

 

I agree with your basic sentiment. Professional wrestling has evolved enormously over the past 25 years. The entire environment has changed. Heck, you only need to look at the proliferation of fast food restaurants to realise that because of concepts like globalisation and the increased delivery of multimedia and the variety that brings that people quickly change views unless they are constantly invigorated by something new. Such as it was there were times when wrestlers wouldn't 'turn' for 10 years, now they swerve every which way but how. Its all about media capitalisation, and about ensuring the product is always changing, always hard hitting, always developing conflict and impact that prevents the viewer from switching channels. There is nothing worse than to have a hundred cable TV channel options at your disposal and alternatively sitting and watching a bloke in a choke hold on the mat, unless it has suspense captivation delivered by superior psychology and the energy of the characters and crowd.

 

But you are also right that the ... I guess, crash TV nature of things that goes on today can burn out a crowd, and I don't think anyone really has hit the balance of the constant need to view something because its important, exciting, and changing everything we know, versus crowd energy maintenance.

[Stennick]

The ratings are in TNA did a 1.0 and RAW did a 3.4.

 

Talk about a huge downturn they lost half their audience from their last monday night show

 

That being said I think Spike T.V was ok with a 1.0 and the true indication of how they did will be revealed next week. I'd say with everything they threw out there this week they need to atleast maintain this rating next week. I would think their offifcial start to the monday night wars would garner them a similar rating. I mean they were up against Bret Hart on the 4th and did twice this number. Strange...

[sabataged]

The ratings are in TNA did a 1.0 and RAW did a 3.4.

 

Talk about a huge downturn they lost half their audience from their last monday night show

 

That being said I think Spike T.V was ok with a 1.0 and the true indication of how they did will be revealed next week. I'd say with everything they threw out there this week they need to atleast maintain this rating next week. I would think their offifcial start to the monday night wars would garner them a similar rating. I mean they were up against Bret Hart on the 4th and did twice this number. Strange...

 

I would say anything above a 1.0 should be considered a success at this point as they move their audience to Mondays. Just wait until Monday night football comes back around.

[alden]

The important part of the raitings is that raw lost more viewers then tna lost.......that is a good think for tna. They knew they were going to loose viewers........they knew they were not going to beat raw.....that is YEARS away. But they did not get destroyed either.

[Hyde Hill]

Also factor in that Jan 4th had an unopposed hour and was way way more hyped then this one. RAW seems stacked next week so two weeks from now will be a good test.

 

Plus don't forget the DVR's and people not knowing about the move although like bigpapa said not sure if anything can be gleamed from the DVR numbers. Would still like to see them published though.

 

Edit: Yip they changed the name from stars to roster on their TNA page. Ok so its not wrestlers but still an improvement.

[thommohawk]

I enjoyed the show, it's the start of the Monday Night Wars II and obviously both WWE and TNA each took a small share of the other's usual audience on the night. Again there's way too much negativity for TNA, WAY too much! You have to have perspective folks and look at the positives - TNA on Mondays, LIVE every other Monday, RVD in TNA, one of the most over wrestlers in the world in TNA now (Jeff Hardy), Ken Anderson in TNA, Sting return, X Division etc....lots of things to be positive about.

 

But the negatives aren't exactly without merit either, Hogan/Bubba/BROOKE I could happily do without being on my TV set. And regarding the nonsensical booking I have two points of contention that I noticed - Samoa Joe abduction not being promoted hardly at all in the last month, as is it's a major storyline not being told ?! And secondly, unless I missed it, but last time I checked Beer Money were the most over fan favorite tag team in all of TNA by far and yet this week they are heels ?? When did the turn happen and more to the point WHY ?! With Sting I get it, but Beer Money I do not.....

 

Has to be said though, that for all TNA's faults and WWE's few pro's these days, TNA still has by far the better product in my honest opinion. Though I may have to start watching Smackdown again....

 

But it also has to be said that for how many people knock TNA publicly, they still keep on growing. The other thing to remember is TNA is 7 years old, 7 years old and look where they are now and some of the talent they have - that's crazy and one hell of a meteoric rise if I ever saw one! And clearly it's still going on.....

[cappyboy]

Ehm happened on last weeks Impact non title match-up Terry basically squashed him in what I thought was bad booking. Not the idea of the match itself but the Squash part.

 

And I wouldn't count that. You call that a blow-off? I don't. I call that a building block to get Terry to the blow-off and prep him for his bid at securing justice. You said it yourself. NON-TITLE. What reason other than just pure pride is there for Williams to not just live with having gotten squashed if it saves him for another day? That settles nothing. That's not Terry giving Williams the one he owes him. That's just the company making Terry prove he deserves the chance to get Williams back. If TNA takes your response for an answer, that would be the truly bad booking.

[Hyde Hill]

Wasn't sure if you had seen it. And yes I was unhappy with it on more points then just the squash. It could get a blow off but we shall see.

[Franchise22]

The important part of the raitings is that raw lost more viewers then tna lost.......that is a good think for tna. They knew they were going to loose viewers........they knew they were not going to beat raw.....that is YEARS away. But they did not get destroyed either.

 

good point UNTIL the last sentence. Yes, they did get crushed. 1.0 and 3.4 are not close.

[Hyde Hill]

Destroyed is losing a lot of your fanbase by the move. They lost some as the last three ratings before it where in the 1.2-1.1 range.

[Tag01]

The Beer Money turn was definitely the thing that irked me the most. They were super over! And that was the clunkiest, most pointless turn ever! They just decided they were going to be *******s last Monday?

 

It's more frustrating given how great I thought the Sting turn went. I could have done without the Main Event restart, but the entire thing with him just brutalizing people with the bat really was great.

[Self]

I have to say, looking at the ratings for March 8th and January 4th, that I'm surprised. I know the hardcore internet wrestling community often has definite divide between WWE & TNA fans, but I thought that amongst casual viewers there was less brand loyalty and more of a general "I like wrestling shows, so I watch wrestling shows" mentality. I figured at least half of the folks who watched TNA Impact on Thursday nights, also watched RAW on Mondays. So I'm surprised that on Monday both shows pretty much kept their typical viewership. I'm surprised that both shows do indeed have their own, fairly unique, audience.

 

Looking at other shows with similar genre's... Family Guy & South Park for example. Sure, there's some hardcore loyalists on t'internet fighting for each show's dominance, but I reckon at least 50% of their audience is like me. They like adult cartoon comedy, so they watch both. CSI & Law & Order, same thing. If you like procedural cop shows, why wouldn't you watch both? Why does wrestling have such a war-like mentality?

 

WWE may not consider TNA a threat, but here's proof that there is 0.98 of a rating point's worth of extra wrestling fans out there (minus the dvr figures). If WWE could lure them in, they could potentially increase their audience by almost 30%... without having to get people over the always tricky "it's wrestling" hurdle.

[CQI13]

Not sure I agree with your assessment Self. I can definitely see where you're coming from though.

 

But I know several people who LOVE any and all Law & Orders. But they'll only watch CSI:Miami (or won't watch CSI). I for example, can take or leave Seinfeld. I watched it when it was on, but I wasn't crazy about it. Curb Your Enthusiasm did absolutely nothing for me except make me want to turn it off.

 

More on point, if ROH was on mainstream TV, not sure I'd watch that, even if I did watch TNA or WWE. Partially because there are other things to do, and partially because I don't feel the production values would be very good.

[justtxyank]

Finally watched it last night.

 

I have to say, I LOVED the Sting heel turn. I loved the segment with him beating the crap out of RVD and I don't think it hurt RVD at all. It was totally understandable that he took that beating after being cheap shotted repeatedly. In fact, I thought RVD came out of it looking good because everytime Sting gave him a chance to breathe he got up and tried to defend himself.

 

Even the segment with Sting putting his hand on Dixie's throat was masterful at making him a heel, though I am STUNNED that Sting agreed to do that.

 

This is the first attempt at turning Sting that I think actually worked and I hope they book him well going forward.

 

So what didn't I like about that part? Why in the world would security be holding Hogan back while Sting beat on RVD? Why wouldn't they go stop Sting? Also, Hogan took two bat shots to the midsection after RVD got walloped repeatedly in the stomach, legs, back throat, etc., so were security and medical personnel worried about Hogan instead?

 

I hate Abyssamania. So dumb. But I thought Hogan had a lot more energy in the ring then I remember from his last few matches. He and Flair didn't embarrass themselves.

[thommohawk]

Even the segment with Sting putting his hand on Dixie's throat was masterful at making him a heel, though I am STUNNED that Sting agreed to do that.

 

This is the first attempt at turning Sting that I think actually worked and I hope they book him well going forward.

 

I think it also helps that this Sting turn as in the actual swerve and his actions have been booked right and 100% heel tactics whereas before it was in WCW dark days and he'd cost someone the title and high five Hogan or something - in other words they didn't change his disposition too much before...now they have and it worked. So far. But this is Sting and TNA we are talking about, I'll be surprised if the heel heat lasts. I hope it does though because it's compelling entertainment and besides Sting vs RVD as well as Sting vs Hogan should draw very well or rather would draw well - but again this is TNA. Same wrestlers headlining a WWE event and it'd be crazy money....as it's TNA however nothing seems to stick which is a little worrying.

[justtxyank]

By the way, I have been an enormous mark for RVD since his days in ECW and I remember being devastated when he got hurt and didn't go get the ECW World Title.

 

That said, man it's crazy how over he is. LOL. The E blew it with him for so many years, I just don't get it. From day one when he jumped to the E people swooned for RVD. Everybody loves him. Does he not draw well despite his popularity? I know he's not a great talker, but so what? If the E could push Jeff Hardy as big as they did, it sucks that RVD never got that run. I'm so glad he's back and I will commit to watching TNA as long as he is around.

 

Another thing I want to say about last night, I love Scott Hall. He just cracks me up every time. "Hogan's not the one running the Shizzow." LOL "I'll be the one that looks like Elvis." HA! He's just got such great delivery. I hope he makes a real effort this time, because while he can't give much as an in ring worker at this point, I think if TNA gives him a shot to become an announcer like he wants he could be a valuable asset.

 

Sting vs RVD at Lockdown should be a lot of fun. Sting vs Hogan at Bound for Glory seems like a lock to me at this point.

[cappyboy]

Wasn't sure if you had seen it. And yes I was unhappy with it on more points then just the squash. It could get a blow off but we shall see.

 

It had better. Terry doesn't have much to recommend him to begin with. At least if he's given a proper blow-off with Williams, we can have a bit more closure when they figure it out and Terry can have had a moment in the sun.

[djthefunkchris]

RVD was getting the biggest push in a long time, with holding both title's at once. He lost them at once because he was pulled over by the police with drugs in possession. They couldn't push him after that, and that's how that went...

 

Otherwise he was set up pretty sweet before that happened (IN the WWE).

[justtxyank]

RVD was getting the biggest push in a long time, with holding both title's at once. He lost them at once because he was pulled over by the police with drugs in possession. They couldn't push him after that, and that's how that went...

 

Yeah I know that, it just seems silly.

 

Otherwise he was set up pretty sweet before that happened (IN the WWE).

 

I don't mean to imply he was "weakly pushed" prior to the ECW relaunch run, but he had been with the company for a while and had never been pushed as a serious world title threat despite being one of the company's most over workers. I don't get why RVD wasn't headlining for the E.

[thommohawk]

RVD wasn't headlining for WWE because Vince loves to promote his own creations at the top of his shows....and rightly so....Randy Orton, John Cena, Jeff Hardy all fall into this category. RVD, Benoit, Tommy Dreamer, Sabu, Goldberg, Booker T all those guys while top talent elsewhere do not. Hence why those guys were never really at the top of the card. CM Punk on the other hand, isn't strictly a WWE made talent, but he IS talented and over not to mention he never headlined for a rival company like the others did. Not really.

[CQI13]

Dreamer & Sabu should NEVER be mentioned as people who Vince should have pushed heavily. They are not top talents. Certainly useful as pieces of the roster, but not someone that should be headlining WWE. And Benoit, well, never really liked him from a superstar standpoint (by that meaning the complete package). He was BORING on the mic, and pretty small. Not top belt material in WWE.

[Nedew]

Dreamer & Sabu should NEVER be mentioned as people who Vince should have pushed heavily. They are not top talents. Certainly useful as pieces of the roster, but not someone that should be headlining WWE. And Benoit, well, never really liked him from a superstar standpoint (by that meaning the complete package). He was BORING on the mic, and pretty small. Not top belt material in WWE.

 

Benoit had intensity though, which more than made up for lack of size. Like Tazz, or even Angle.

[Self]

Not going to argue about whether RVD getting batted upside the head made him look 'weak', but I have to say I don't like the idea of Van Dam getting hotshotted into an immediate feud. This might just be me, but I don't want to see RVD in 'feuds'. I just want to see RVD kick ass and be awesome. I want to see hint 'Shine' for a while. In the ring, RVD is a beautiful, unique snowflake. A Special Attraction. As soon as he starts getting involved with sneak attacks and swerves and backstage beatdowns and interacting with Bischoff and Hogan and Flair... He becomes just like everyone else on Impact. RVD should be special.

 

On the Benoit note, I was never a huge fan either (just not the sort of guy I relate to) but I agree with Nedew on the intensity factor. That, and the selection of talent he could have awesome matches with, made him worthy of the top-spot. For a while at least.

[djthefunkchris]

I don't get why RVD wasn't headlining for the E.

 

I agree with the rest, but I although I have no real answer for this that I quoted, I have my own thoughts.

 

Not everyone can be "Main Event"... The best I can do is give you an example.

 

If I have Batista, Cena, Rock, Austin, Sting, Hogan, HBK, Undertaker, etc... Let's say 10 pluss guys with that kind of Overness, I'm not able to make them all "Main Event". It would help me alot more if I choose 4 for Main Event, 4 for Midcard, and 2 for lower card push. They are all making me money, but now they all have a way to help me with the rest of the roster, and they aren't just fighting each other all the time.

 

I don't know if that makes sense to you or not, but historically the WWE has always had people I would consider Main Event material in their undercards. People like Randy Savage, Honky Tonk Man, Jake the Snake, etc. List goes on and on, although some may have eventually headlined, most were put lower on the card and alot of times they stole the show (HBK ladder match).\

 

I know it's an old saying, and sounds like a "Cop-Out", but really, that's one of the WWE's most traditional playbook rule. Everyone can't be on top, and you have to have interest in the lower card to make the top look that much better. The better your undercard looks, the better the top looks.

 

Right now in the WWE, I think we have alot of undercard nobodies (for example), with only a few sticking out, which doesn't help the top look all that great. People like Morrison, "R" Truth, etc. stand out, but they do look like mid-carder's, and they are closest to the top, which makes Cena and the rest look a bit weaker then if they felt like Main Event for example, if you had Jeff Hardy, Christian, RVD, CM Punk, Jericho, Big Show, etc. all midcard, that would make the upper card look alot tougher. As it is now, they all "feel" like they should be Main Event or are Main Event and thus although they are really lower card workers in comparison, they make the top feel a bit more weak.

 

I don't know if you follow or not, but in my opinion your undercard needs a few people that could be Main Event without a problem, to keep the uppercards feeling stronger. That being said, you don't want a bunch of jobber's on the uppercard either, lol.