The Official TNA / Impact / GFW Discussion Thread

[Self]

What are people's thoughts on the ranking system? Seems Bisch is still a fan of it it seems. I think it just limits creativity too much and doesn't work in a storyline driven fed.

 

I like it. It's Sportsy and different to what WWE are doing. It could provide a nice, rigid structure to hang their storylines off of, and judging by how anarchic and inconsistent their storytelling is right now, that might help get things on the straight and narrow.

[sebsplex]

I like it. It's Sportsy and different to what WWE are doing. It could provide a nice, rigid structure to hang their storylines off of, and judging by how anarchic and inconsistent their storytelling is right now, that might help get things on the straight and narrow.

 

Seconded. Apart from what Self mentioned, at least now, randomly having singles matches where the likes of Orlando Jordan go over the Pope and Samoa Joe would have some sort of worth. It should also end the random creation of #1 contenders for the World Title.

[Franchise22]

I like it. It's Sportsy and different to what WWE are doing. It could provide a nice, rigid structure to hang their storylines off of, and judging by how anarchic and inconsistent their storytelling is right now, that might help get things on the straight and narrow.

 

WWE does rankings, the power 20. it would be neat if it meant something though. Just fan service right now. i remember during my childhood, i loved the PWI rankings for each fed and overall singles and tag teams. *sigh* being a childhood fan was so much more "fun".

[jesterx7769]

lol thats kinda what I was thinking, uh what about WWE's powr rankings? The only way it would be different was if it was like ROH system where how you have to work your way up to #1 for a shot and all that.

[Self]

I'm pretty sure Bischoff is talking about a real 'legitimate' ranking system that would play into storylines, not a pointless little puff-piece like they have on WWE.com. That's what I was talking about at any rate.

 

Yeah, it's ripped off from ROH, but I'd rather they steal from them than WWE.

[TommyDreamerFan]

I'm pretty sure Bischoff is talking about a real 'legitimate' ranking system that would play into storylines, not a pointless little puff-piece like they have on WWE.com. That's what I was talking about at any rate.

 

Yeah, it's ripped off from ROH, but I'd rather they steal from them than WWE.

 

Hey, if it works steal it. Vince stole attitude from ECW anyways, and that worked out. Bischoff stole nWo from New Japan *shrug*

[Hyde Hill]

And I would be surprised if ROH was the first fed of any note that has used that system. Almost everything in wrestling has been done before.

[Hyde Hill]

Vince fears Dixie sign in the Wrestlemania crowd tonight. That is two ppv's in a row hehe. Look for it when Bret celebrates and goes to the top right corner.

[jesterx7769]

And I would be surprised if ROH was the first fed of any note that has used that system. Almost everything in wrestling has been done before.

 

What!? This is new to EB, I thought he created everything good in wrestling and will continue with original and awesome ideas? (but none of the bad, that's someone else's fault)

[Fleisch]

I was impressed with Destination X and last weeks Impact (not seen this weeks as it's not on until Saturday in UK). I am starting to see a little more forward thinking and a little less "just because" in the booking. It's nowhere near at a standard to compete, but improvements have been made and I actually managed to watch an entire Impact without switching off by the main event! That hasn't happened since Hogan and Bischoff "took over".

 

I want to see TNA succeed as an alternative to the WWE, and in order for that to happen, they need to drop the "Monday Night Wars" crap and just go their own route. They need to work on their own direction and leave anything WWE is doing alone, they need to be different, they need to have more action and Destination X showed alot more action (I was more entertained with Destination X than Wrestlemania this year). Bischoff and Hogan's dislike for WWE and need to "beat" them could end up being TNA's undoing.

[thommohawk]

It was Hogan and Bischoff's need that had no small part of being WCW's undoing, but it was also no small part to their huge success during the good times....it depends how one looks at it, either way you can't have one without the other. The difference here is ten fold however, this is a different era, one where WWE has had 10 years of pure dominance and they were already on top before this as the single biggest worldwide exposure wrestling company not to mention the oldest still functioning - so straight away this makes things extremely difficult for any company to compete. Especially straight away.

 

The other main difference is that last time it was real, this time it's a work angle for storyline speaking of the MNW things.....and everyone was 10 years younger and much hungrier for success but now they are more experienced. Basically it'll take TNA a good few years I'd say to even get close to compteting with WWE and even then they might not get there, it'd be nice to think otherwise as they do have the better in ring product and they aren't nearly as annoying but I can only hope that WWE's fans flock to TNA due to the watered down WWE product but that's not too likely.

 

All I know is I much prefer TNA these days as opposed to the WWE. And as for the TNA haters - if TNA were to cease to exist and end tomorrow as a television property you'd be saying it was the best thing ever and how nobody "got it" and how it should come back if they could - pretty much like what happens now with all good tv shows that get cancelled due to low ratings. Take Terminator Sarah Connor Chronicles for example, good show some filler but good overall, slated to hell and back unfairly when it was on in that second season and yet now it's gone those same people all say it was awesome....yeah make your mind up before it's too late folks! Some of us get it already and are way ahead of you.....trouble is there's not 10 million of those, and it's the exact same thing with TNA. Except low TV ratings alone won't kill TNA.

 

Oh and I disagree with cappyboy about Anderson and Bischoff especially, for me Bischoff brings a certain edge and dynamic about TNA that just wasn't there before. Maybe it's nostalgia or maybe it isn't but either way for me he works. It's Hogan and Bubba that should get off camera so much for me, but again I understand with Hogan, Bubba not so much but probably Hogan's doing like with Orlando Jordan. Note to Hulk: Just because he's your buddy and his first name is shared with the city you produce your show out of doesn't mean he's a good signing and deserves a midcard slot over the talented workers there not least of which Samoa Joe!

[PeterHilton]

And as for the TNA haters - if TNA were to cease to exist and end tomorrow as a television property you'd be saying it was the best thing ever and how nobody "got it" and how it should come back if they could - pretty much like what happens now with all good tv shows that get cancelled due to low ratings.

 

No..no I wouldn't.

 

I'd say that based on the quality of their product for the majority of its existence, it was lucky to exist for as long as it did.

 

Also, what an incredible waste of talent.

[Hyde Hill]

OJ is Bischoff's project btw not Hogan. He is the Nasties and the Band. Also the whole Monday night thing is to raise public awareness for TNA, which is/was one of their major flaws, not their need to destroy the E. Yes they want to be no1 in time but for that to happen we are talking years and years.

 

Thommohawk I assume you are talking about the blind haters that pervade the IWC not the informed critics we mostly have here.

[brashleyholland]

Also the whole Monday night thing is to raise public awareness for TNA

 

According to ratings, it isn't working...

[Hyde Hill]

Don't know as we don't have the DVR figures etc. And don't know what we can glean from that. I think more people are aware of TNA they are just not watching which is step 2 and a problem.

[Remianen]

Traci has been gone for a while now and Bisch is working on renaming and or rededicating the Global title. What is with the cutting of Sharky? He is a sympathy jobber and you do need those guys. He generates more sympathy then Yang and Funaki and is a better wrestler then them imho. As an undercard worker used once in a blue moon for a squash he is fine. Brutus is also fine in the tag scene.

 

If Shark Boy is on a PPA contract, fine. However, if he's on a written, there is little to no sense to keeping him on if you're going to use him "once in a blue moon". Especially not when you can bring in any of a thousand different workers from the indies who would work for sweatshop wages, just to have a chance to work on TV.

 

And before you say it, TNA is not in WWE's league financially. They're not generating profit at anywhere near the same level. Lemme give you an example. Microsoft Game Studios, at any given time, has over a dozen titles in development or in the planning stages (with money invested in them). How many of those titles actually see a store shelf? Very few. Does that make it okay for Cheyenne Mountain to have a dozen titles in development? Why not?

 

And as for the TNA haters - if TNA were to cease to exist and end tomorrow as a television property you'd be saying it was the best thing ever and how nobody "got it" and how it should come back if they could - pretty much like what happens now with all good tv shows that get cancelled due to low ratings. Take Terminator Sarah Connor Chronicles for example, good show some filler but good overall, slated to hell and back unfairly when it was on in that second season and yet now it's gone those same people all say it was awesome....yeah make your mind up before it's too late folks! Some of us get it already and are way ahead of you.....trouble is there's not 10 million of those, and it's the exact same thing with TNA. Except low TV ratings alone won't kill TNA.

 

I concur with Peter. However, I think you're trying to use ECW as some kind of precedent and it's not. ECW's ideas were used/co-opted to fuel the biggest boom the industry has seen. TNA's contribution doesn't come close to that. You're trying to use 'Firefly' logic with that Terminator reference and it too fails. You might want to find out the definition and importance of 'trending' in TV programming and how that pertains to the cancellation of that particular show. And you know, you can support a promotion's continued existence in ways other than just sitting in front of the tube every week. How many TNA pay per views have you purchased consistently? How much merch do you own? How many events have you attended? You admit that low TV ratings won't kill TNA....but I'm sure those other things could.

 

So where is this fanbase that "gets it"? I'm not seeing it reflected in any meaningful metrics.

[Hyde Hill]

As far as I know Sharkey is on ppa and he also refs. A lot of TNA's workers are on ppa's which allow them to work for smaller companies as long as TNA is ok with it but the contracts are binding so not in a TEW sense where WWE could just pick them up. Not saying TNA is anywhere near the E financially on its own. But all the dying rumors etc is such bs.

[PeterHilton]

But all the dying rumors etc is such bs.

 

The idea that TNA is going to die at any second because of a months worth of crap ratings is ridiculous. But this stuff..

 

And you know, you can support a promotion's continued existence in ways other than just sitting in front of the tube every week. How many TNA pay per views have you purchased consistently? How much merch do you own? How many events have you attended? You admit that low TV ratings won't kill TNA....but I'm sure those other things could.

 

So where is this fanbase that "gets it"? I'm not seeing it reflected in any meaningful metrics.

 

That's all really meaningful. TNA has a lot of work to do. And when all of your eggs are in one tenuous basket (the TV deal with Spike) you kind of have to expect there to be doubts about the company's existence.

[Stennick]

The difference here is ten fold however, this is a different era, one where WWE has had 10 years of pure dominance and they were already on top before this as the single biggest worldwide exposure wrestling company not to mention the oldest still functioning - so straight away this makes things extremely difficult for any company to compete. Especially straight away.

 

You realize that even when the WWF was caving in around itself in 1996 and bankrupcty looked like a forgone conclusion that to the "mainstream" the WWF was STILL wrestling. WCW packed 50,000 people into an arena for Monday Nitro, set record ratings, pay per view buyrate records and yet the WWF was still seen as pro wrestling to the main stream media. Tack that on with WCW being percieved as a complete joke in 1993 when Bischoff took over and you have basically the same forumla as you have with TNA. The situations are very similar. WCW was operating out of Disney Studios, struggling to pull any sort of real audience what so ever after several regime changes while the WWF was coming off of an incredibly successful decade and was starting to fade a bit. Sound like anything you've heard before? It should because thats exactly whats going on today. TNA is packed in a small production studio trying to revive a product few know about and even fewer respect while the WWE is coming off of the Attitude era with "high" numbers but less than half of what they were doing ten years ago.

 

The other main difference is that last time it was real, this time it's a work angle for storyline speaking of the MNW things.....and everyone was 10 years younger and much hungrier for success but now they are more experienced. Basically it'll take TNA a good few years I'd say to even get close to compteting with WWE and even then they might not get there, it'd be nice to think otherwise as they do have the better in ring product and they aren't nearly as annoying but I can only hope that WWE's fans flock to TNA due to the watered down WWE product but that's not too likely.

 

You say the WWE has better in ring action than TNA? I say how do you figure? Because they put on ONE good match a show? Where is their X Division, where are their top "wrestling" stars. Where is Joe, where is the X Division? Instead we got Hogan vs. Flair in the MAIN EVENT in 2010 your argument for better in ring talent is a false one. The WWE has plenty of guys that have some in ring talent. HHH would wrestle CIRCLES around 90 percent of TNA's roster.

 

All I know is I much prefer TNA these days as opposed to the WWE. And as for the TNA haters - if TNA were to cease to exist and end tomorrow as a television property you'd be saying it was the best thing ever and how nobody "got it" and how it should come back if they could - pretty much like what happens now with all good tv shows that get cancelled due to low ratings. Take Terminator Sarah Connor Chronicles for example, good show some filler but good overall, slated to hell and back unfairly when it was on in that second season and yet now it's gone those same people all say it was awesome....yeah make your mind up before it's too late folks! Some of us get it already and are way ahead of you.....trouble is there's not 10 million of those, and it's the exact same thing with TNA. Except low TV ratings alone won't kill TNA.

 

If TNA folded today I would say it had flashes of potential in its eight year history surrounded by utter failure at every level. TNA has provided nothing that other promotions have not provided and better. If I cared about in ring action I'd watch ROH, if I want storytelling I watch WWE, TNA on very few occasions put the two together and when they did their peak was much lower than the WWE's. AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle never would be compared to Shawn vs. Taker of last year, or even Shawn vs. Flair from the year before. TNA put on some good wrestling matches that I couldn't ever be bothered to watch because the "story" for those matches happening was to mind numbingly stupid. If you "get it" because you're way ahead of your time as a wrestling fan and TNA is offering a product that will be the future of wrestling as you suggest then sometime between now and then I will be referring to myself as a FORMER wrestling fan.

[GatorBait19]

I believe WCW had one of the highest ever rated segment in the monday night wars when Goldberg beat Hogan for the title

 

so it shows ratings mean something, but it isn't everything

[brashleyholland]

Don't know as we don't have the DVR figures etc. And don't know what we can glean from that.

 

It doesn't matter what we can glean from that because DVR figures mean nothing. The only reason people talk about things like DVR numbers is because their live numbers aren't good enough. It's classic spin. People have been recording things since the 80's, all of a sudden DVR numbers count? Nah, not having that.

 

Spike TV isn't interested in DVR numbers because they can't use them to sell advertising. It wouldn't matter to them, or TNA, if 10 million people DVR'd it every week. They're not watching live, which is the whole point of ratings in the first place.

 

 

I think more people are aware of TNA they are just not watching which is step 2 and a problem.

 

If people are aware of it and making an informed decision not to watch, then that's even worse than not being aware of it in the first place.

[thommohawk]

Stennick you might be there already mate, as for your comment on HHH wrestling rings (pub intended) around 90% of the TNA roster and WWE having better in ring product that is just completely false. TNA has consistently better in ring product than WWE does, or do you skip all the MCMG matches (hell even the knockouts are somewhat watchable!) and rather watch what's her name who used to have the mole on her face and who sings awfully flop around the ring or Hornswaggle take away every facade of legitimacy that the WWE had....WWE for the most part is boring outside of a handful of superstars and even fewer matches in the year. TNA on the other hand is the polar opposite. As for saying you'd say you wouldn't lament TNA's absense were it to implode, it's easy to say that now and I'm sure Terminator haters would have said the same thing about that program when it was on. Yet look at them now.....

 

As for my contritbution to TNA, I tune in! Dude I live in the UK, we don't get their PPV's on time or their TV shows on time, but we do get them for free. Just like we get most of WWE's PPV's free not that I watch any of them these days bar Wrestlemania. Point being I tune in and that's more than enough to know I'm doing my bit and recognizing their positive and few negatives with perspective because I pay attention unlike a lot of people....what about you my friend? What's your contribution besides negativity? Nothing I bet.

 

And that's another thing about people not paying attention, I was reading a recap of TNA the other day and he was hating on TNA at the part where Denero breaks Hogan out of the cuffs with the key and he said oh but Dinero happened to have the key....and yet if he'd been paying attention he'd know that AJ had the key on him, got beaten up by Dinero at which point the key obviously dropped and Dinero picked it up! What do you know, maybe Russo was right after all - people don't pay attention cos it's not spoon fed! lol

 

But seriously, I don't get what they're doing (or not doing) with Samoa Joe, nothing makes sense on that one no matter which way one looks at it. One of their top stars is hauled off into the back of a van and kidnapped as part of a storyline and yet they aren't promoting it at all in the 2 months since it happened ? Strange.....I'm expecting Joe to return repackaged though and maybe we'll get an explanation, because at the moment it's like come again ? And AbyssaMania ? Please!!

 

But on a positive note they have awesome talent, always have done, and how funny is Ric Flair at the moment? I think he's hilarious, I was howling the last week when he was whoo-ing constantly bopping around in his wheelchair sticking it to the fans and trying to wheel himself at 100mph lol!

[PeterHilton]

If TNA folded today I would say it had flashes of potential in its eight year history surrounded by utter failure at every level. TNA has provided nothing that other promotions have not provided and better. If I cared about in ring action I'd watch ROH, if I want storytelling I watch WWE, TNA on very few occasions put the two together and when they did their peak was much lower than the WWE's. AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle never would be compared to Shawn vs. Taker of last year, or even Shawn vs. Flair from the year before. TNA put on some good wrestling matches that I couldn't ever be bothered to watch because the "story" for those matches happening was to mind numbingly stupid. If you "get it" because you're way ahead of your time as a wrestling fan and TNA is offering a product that will be the future of wrestling as you suggest then sometime between now and then I will be referring to myself as a FORMER wrestling fan.

 

Somebody add the rep function to this board already, dammit !

[PeterHilton]

Stennick you might be there already mate, as for your comment on HHH wrestling rings (pub intended) around 90% of the TNA roster and WWE having better in ring product that is just completely false. TNA has consistently better in ring product than WWE does, or do you skip all the MCMG matches (hell even the knockouts are somewhat watchable!) and rather watch what's her name who used to have the mole on her face and who sings awfully flop around the ring or Hornswaggle take away every facade of legitimacy that the WWE had....WWE for the most part is boring outside of a handful of superstars and even fewer matches in the year. TNA on the other hand is the polar opposite. As for saying you'd say you wouldn't lament TNA's absense were it to implode, it's easy to say that now and I'm sure Terminator haters would have said the same thing about that program when it was on. Yet look at them now.....

 

Your opinion. TNA is such a mess that I don't give a sh*t what's happening. Which = boring.

 

And guess what? A lot of people don't give a crap that Terminator was cancelled. Not a lick.

 

What's your contribution besides negativity? Nothing I bet.

 

Why would someone contribute to a prodcut they don't like?

 

What do you know, maybe Russo was right after all - people don't pay attention cos it's not spoon fed! lol

 

It's Russo's job to make a product that's easy to understand and relate to. Even if it means he has to 'spoon feed' people. That's his job. He's a writer.

 

Saying his stuff is "too complex" to be understood by the common fan is a masturbatory bullsh*t excuse for the fact that his writing is crap.

[joose2001]

Hadnt seen this posted so thought Id add it for you TNA fans

 

According to Pwinsider.com, sources within TNA have confirmed that Consequences Creed has been released from the company.

 

Source : PWinsider and 411mania