The Official TNA / Impact / GFW Discussion Thread

[PeterHilton]

I'm not showing blind loyalty. Blind loyalty would be saying TNA is good when I know it isn't. I don't care if TNA is good or not as long as it entertains me. TNA entertains me, therefore I'll defend it.

 

I would say "defending it" is blind loyalty. You admit they make mistakes.

 

Why stand up for TNA when really all your agrument boils down to is : "hey i know it's a mess but I like it."

 

(which btw is perfectly fair and far more respectable than "TNA is GREAT>WWE EB IS E AGENYUS. everything is perfect!100000X betterr " etc)

[Bigpapa42]

The following week. It wasn't 10 minutes, but Hogan also didn't miss his cue either which extended the original beatdown.

 

At the time it looked like they killed RVD's momentum. But last night he got the biggest pop of the night anyway. His momentum transcends crap booking...at least for now.

 

Had to look it up. Remembered it slightly when I read the recap. Completely blocked that week from my memory.

 

The problem is that momentum doesn't transcend booking for long. Look at Wolffe - came in with tons of momentum because of his initial feud with Angle and the match quality. Now? Gone and done. Sting had tons of momentum and popularity leading into Starrcade '97... crap booking killed it. Same with Goldberg when they ended the streak. No degree of popularity will sustain a worker forever through crap booking.

[Slagaholic]

I would say "defending it" is blind loyalty. You admit they make mistakes.

 

Why stand up for TNA when really all your agrument boils down to is : "hey i know it's a mess but I like it."

 

(which btw is perfectly fair and far more respectable than "TNA is GREAT>WWE EB IS E AGENYUS. everything is perfect!100000X betterr " etc)

 

Because it's fun to do.

[sebsplex]

I find TNA's entire concept of 'heel' to be a bit suspect. It seems like Hogan & Bisch came in and just arbitrarily decided who should be heels, without listening to the fans or indeed common sense.

 

Yeah, there's been a good dose of that. I think the brief Sean Morley vs Daniels 'feud' highlighted that best. Seriously, why would you expect a pro-TNA crowd to root against one of their signature stars and cheer for an aged rehash of Val Venis? It's like; "It's the new Monday Night Wars! Cheer guys that were released from the company we don't want you watch as they go over guys you've been watching for years."

 

I understand 'wiping the slate' for a fresh start, but some wrestlers were pulled out of solid pushes, storylines, characters, etc to be slotted into weaker or in-consequencial positions.

 

They seem to be positioned as heels. In a recent 6-man, they were paired with Brian Kendrick, while the Young Bucks were with Kazarian/Red (I forget which). In their promo at Destination X Shelley said something to the effect of "I know people are saying we have an attitude lately" which sort of implied they're heel-esque. However, as I said, they either don't want to work heel, or they don't know how. They just do their regular moves regardless. Creative don't book them strong enough for it to matter, and the spot-acular X-Division doesn't lend itself to a typical babyface-heel divide anyway. I could be wrong on this, but I've sensed on several occasions that they're supposed to be heel.

 

I've always kinda dug MCMG's allignment, it kinda makes them unique to me. They lean more towards the heel end of the scale, but in a somewhat subtle way. They like to be cheered and when everything's going well, they bath in the crowd adulation and 'try' to reign in their more heelish tendancies, I get the sense they're 'playing' the babyface role rather than actually assuming it. When the chips are down or things aren't going their way, they can be selfish, cynical, cowardly and whiney yet entertaining jerks. They're often the first to bail from a post match mele that doesn't involve them and the last to run to the aid of others (like abandoning the Front Line during the MEM feud because it wasn't really 'doing anything for them'). Despite how over they are with the crowd, their act doesn't really change a great deal. Shelley's mannerisms in the ring remain c0cky and calculated, etc.

 

Whether this is all deliberate or down to the fact that they can't really play effective roles beyond their usual schtick is open to argument of course.

 

He wasn't a heel in the Main Event Mafia?

 

Not as such. Sting was more heel by association rather than an out and out heel as the key part of his involvement in the creation of the MEM was his desire for respect. The main crux of his beef with Angle (beyond Angle wanting control of the group), was the fact that he soon became disillusioned with the Mafia's methods of gaining respect via brutal beatdowns, stealing victories, etc. Before being kicked out of the group, he was clear in his desire to push the group back in the 'right' direction and achieving respect the 'right' way, appealing to Nash to prevent the group becoming a vehicle for Angle's ego and an advantage in his quest to secure the World Title. So he always seemed to be portrayed almost as a face who'd fallen in with the wrong crowd.

 

See...I don't get this at all. Sting has never ever worked as a heel, he's been put over as the defender of TNA for his entire run there, and really the only reason he's a "heel" is because hes' going after Hogan...a character that quite a few people in the audience are rooting against.

 

Sting returning to feud with Flair and AJ because he felt betrayed that AJ turned heel after Sting "passed the torch" would've made far more sense.

 

I don't have a problem with Sting feuding with Hogan, and although I agree that (and wouldn't mind seeing) feuding with Flair and AJ would have also worked really well given the type of champ AJ has developed into since Sting 'passed the torch'. Still, I really like the idea of Hogan/Sting given the background of both men. I kinda assumed Sting's attack on Hogan was intended as 'defending' TNA when it happened. Heck, the last time Sting and Flair were actually in the ring together I believe was the final episode of Nitro, so it would be kinda symbolic as a starting point to stop Hogan 'killing' TNA, blaming him as being the biggest of the many causes behind WCW's demise... something along those lines. Both men have their supporters of course (including a fairly split crowd), but in general neither man is really the true heel or face, it just depend which cause you support - Hogan's new era or Sting's defense of the 'real' TNA. The following feud spirals out of control, too many others get involved, again taking Sting's cause and contorting it into something else. Sting buries the hatchet with Hogan, dispelling any heels who are profitting from the conflict, fighting for themselves rather than the cause, yadda, yadda, eventually to genuinely establish Hogan in the role he's supposed to have in TNA.

 

Instead though, Sting had to manhandle Dixie Carter to try to force his heelness and beat up RVD with a bat, then Hogan... basically trying to hammer home that "YOU SHOULD BE BOOING STING!" when really the jury is still out, both in character and probably in real life for many, as to where Hogan's true agenda lies. I'm happy to give TNA more time to tell the story, but their return to the erratic booking behaviour that they seemed to have got well away from prior to Hogan's arrival, is making it difficult as I'm not sure whether much of this will matter in 2 weeks time.

 

On the flipside though, I'm enjoying the Bischoff/Jarrett feud despite there being a couple of portions to it that we could have done without. I appreciate that it's taking up more time than it should be, but as a concept, it's perfect. Bischoff's in power and lauding it over the deposed Jarrett at every opportunity. It feels so true to his character, literally revelling in driving him out of the company he built and playing further on JJ's sympathy pops and general popularity in the Impact! Zone. I also think it's contributing to an interesting divide between Hogan and Bischoff's priorities, making it more of a shame their more subtle segments and interactions are being completely buried by the fact that both men seem to have their hand in virtually every other feud or storyline on the show and shift up and down the heel/face meter by the minute.

[shawn michaels]

I swear that EB is looking more and more like a smark that still hasn't learned how to play TEW.

 

And by smark i mean the right defenition,not those i've seen in this forum. A smark is a guy that thinks he his a guru on wrestling, that thinks he knows everything about the business,including backstage knowledge. But when you have a conversation with him, you see that he is no more then a mark wiht only a couple more of things learned. And by God...EB should quickly learn how to play TEW. I think he's not paying attention at the dirt sheet atm. And Hogan? Well, he's still asking who are the other 11 guys that Vince is sharing is money with...pathetic...

[Slagaholic]

Someone's conceited...

[Slagaholic]

Last night's Impact did a .86

[jesterx7769]

Last night's Impact did a .86

 

Yay I like you for posting the real number and not .9 like I thought people would do! Up from a .84.

 

RAW's rating is down quite a bit which people are making a big deal about but I imagine its b/c this is a weak RAW, people say how its so important as the last RAW before WM but nothing really happens the week before WM.

[Bigpapa42]

Was last night a live Impact? If next week is taped, that could hurt...

[jesterx7769]

yeah last night was live, spoilers of tonights taping are ongoing.

[Bigpapa42]

yeah last night was live, spoilers of tonights taping are ongoing.

 

That's probably not going to help the ratings next week. I can't imagine Spike is too pleased with ratings that low at this point.

[Linsolv]

Declaring no-replay is a bad idea, IMO. The replays have been getting great ratings.

[jesterx7769]

yeah but they are trying to get people to watch on Monday, if they show replays every Thursday then the move to Monday doesn't really matter.

[Linsolv]

Come to think of it, the ratings being up at all is good. Because of their incredibly bad PPV just 24 hours ago.

[TommyDreamerFan]

Come to think of it, the ratings being up at all is good. Because of their incredibly bad PPV just 24 hours ago.

 

Doubt it, I still don't think TNA built up much of a new fanbase to order the PPVs and the only people that would are folks like me who have a history with it.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

I think we all agree this weeks impact was good, wasn't great, but it was good. Certainly it was a step in the right direction.

 

An .86 rating. Okay, not bad. Hopefully they went down as low as they could and from here it'll begin slowly creeping back to a 1.whatever. Like I said a low rated wrestling show really isn't that bad so long as it's higher then anything Spike could put in that time slot, and I'm fairly certain that even a .8 is fairly high for Spike. Plus Spike is getting this programing at a steal no?

 

Okay so we don't have to worry about the Network saying "F this noise!", I believe anyway, and so long as Panda Energy has money to burn (and I haven't heard any reports that say otherwise) we don't have to worry about their financial backer saying "F this noise!"

 

As long as TNA continues to head in this direction, like they did last monday, I have nothing but faith and hope in them.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I really am ticked you guys coming down on the push of Rob Terry. So long as he's committed to improving his in-ring skills, you'd be retarded if you run a Entertainment/angle based promotion and not push him as a midcard act if not uppermidcard. HE'S HUGE! In TEW Terms his Looks/Star Quality thing would be like a A*!

 

In that same breath, sure they could be pushing Christopher Daniels but... Good god his look nowadays is bland as all hell. Plus it doesn't help that the tights he wears, I swear, it looks like he's wearing an adult diaper in the ring. He should just full on return to The Fallen Angel gimmick, it's hardly stale anymore.

[shawn michaels]

Someone's conceited...

 

Yes?

 

Edit: Why the hell am i stuck at 95 posts? that was my post count yesterday...

[PeterHilton]

Plus Spike is getting this programing at a steal no?

 

No. But TNA does have a three year deal, so realistically there wasn't a chance of Spike ever dropping Impact unless there was a catastrophic drop in ratings.

 

I really am ticked you guys coming down on the push of Rob Terry. So long as he's committed to improving his in-ring skills, you'd be retarded if you run a Entertainment/angle based promotion and not push him as a midcard act if not uppermidcard. HE'S HUGE! In TEW Terms his Looks/Star Quality thing would be like a A*!

 

He's f'n awful in the ring, he has almost zero charisma, and TNA actually has several guys under contract that look just as impressive and are ten times as talented. He's a waste of time. Total garbage.

[PeterHilton]

Yes?

 

Edit: Why the hell am i stuck at 95 posts? that was my post count yesterday...

 

Post in the Dog Pound don't count as they aren't considered an addition to the community.

[shawn michaels]

Post in the Dog Pound don't count as they aren't considered an addition to the community.

 

 

I was just curious,but thanks for the info.

[shawn michaels]

Yay I like you for posting the real number and not .9 like I thought people would do! Up from a .84.

 

RAW's rating is down quite a bit which people are making a big deal about but I imagine its b/c this is a weak RAW, people say how its so important as the last RAW before WM but nothing really happens the week before WM.

 

I agree on this one. But still, and getting back to TNA, .86 is still very low. If they booked well they could be much better.

[nucleardonkey]

I agree on this one. But still, and getting back to TNA, .86 is still very low. If they booked well they could be much better.

 

Even if the put on the best show ever and everyone agreed 100% that it was an amazing show it still wouldn't do much better than the show before it.

 

It takes a string of good shows to raise ratings. So far TNA put on two good shows in a row and I believe last week was the beginning where it began at a .84 and now another good show later they are at a .86. If they keep the pattern of good shows then next week could possibly be .88 or something along those lines and then so on.

 

Yes on Thursdays they were pulling 1.0 but that was a different era and now that the adjustment period is over the new era is starting it's climb.

 

Sadly however we may never see the end of Bubba on TNA. The only bleak point of the show is when his fat face is seen on TV.

[liontamer]

Just a response to the Rob Terry comment. I like the push, however it's too quick IMO (like with Eric young). It wasn't all that long ago he got squashed - in under a minute if I recall correctly- by Hernandez, and also lost a 3v1 match with Hernandez, and now he's got a title and a winning streak. Just seems to sudden.

 

They built up the storyline good for his break from the BI, I just wish he could have actually won some matches before claiming a title.

 

But yeah, the guy looks like a freak of nature, as long is he isn't on roids, I'd push the rap out of him. If he is on roids, and with that look it wouldn't be surprising, then that's a risk TNA needs to decide if they are willing to take given the PR backlash that may come down the line.

[jesterx7769]

I think next week will be a better truth as far as ratings. This is planned on being the first week without a replay so maybe some people will tune in Thursday and not see Impact and make more of an attempt to watch Monday so we'll see if they can get back to the 1.0 mark.

 

With the last two ratings being so low (the old Saturday 11 PM slot averaged .7) there's of course no way they are getting pulled/cancelled but like I said before if I'm in the upper ranks of the company and after paying big money to Hogan/Flair/Bischoff and making the move to Monday and by December they arent pulling a 1.5 (or close to it regularly) I couldn't help but ask what was the point?

 

To touch on Terry, I think he is just so bland and stereotypical. I dont really think he's awful in the ring as much as people say he is, his matches are only one minute long what do you want him to do? But he's just a big roided (before everyone says he's clean I'm guessing this was a big reason he was released from WWE in 08 as thats when they starting crack down more on those guys and a dev. guy isn't worth having issues over) dude going "Grrr I'm a big wrestler!" seems so overdone and blah especially with how hes been booked as the Global champion. Do I hate him? No. Do I like him? No. I just see him as a very bland typical big bodyguardesque old school stereotyped wrestler. I think a big part of his push is him being Welsh and them trying to stay strong in the UK and I would actually like to see Morgan getting his type of dominating push instead while keeping the British Invasion as a solid Midcard stable as they seemed good.

[liontamer]

Here's the breakdown I found at http://www.tnastars.com/2010/03/23/tna-impact-ratings-322-full-breakdown/

 

iMPACT! Ratings (3/22): Full Breakdown

Added on Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 at 6:48 pm to Latest News by Joe

 

Partial Source: Pro Wrestling Torch

 

Last night’s live edition of TNA Impact did a 0.9 cable rating which was rounded up from a 0.86 with 1,200,00 viewers. While still under what the series was doing taped on Thursday nights, the number is up from last week’s abysmal 0.84 cable rating.

 

The quarter-hour ratings for last night’s TNA Impact fluctuated throughout the show before peaking in Q6 and steadily dropping for the final two quarter-hours and over-run.

 

The show opened with a 0.79 quarter-hour rating with Eric Bischoff and Jeff Jarrett, which was the next-to-lowest quarter-hour rating on the show.

 

The show built to a 0.93 quarter-hour in Q3 with the Lockdown announcement featuring Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Sting, and A.J. Styles.

 

The audience level then dropped 18.3 percent to a show-low 0.76 quarter-hour rating in Q4 featuring Rob Terry vs. Tomko.

 

After the show bottomed out, the audience rebuilt to a 0.97 quarter-hour rating in Q6 with the end of Jarrett-Foley, RVD and Jeff Hardy in-ring, and Bischoff and Hulk Hogan backstage.

 

After the show peaked in Q6, the audience steadily declined to an average 0.85 quarter-hour for Q8 and a 0.81 over-run rating for the end of Beer Money vs. RVD & Jeff Hardy.

 

--------

Kind of surprised the main event lost viewers given the overness of RVD and to a lesser extent Hardy, not to mention that Beer Money are pretty over.

 

 

Also here's a comparative link I found with a Raw/Impact Comparison (haven't found a raw ratings brekdown anywhere theough. Will update if I do)

[brashleyholland]

If he is on roids, and with that look it wouldn't be surprising, then that's a risk TNA needs to decide if they are willing to take given the PR backlash that may come down the line.

 

Just a quick note. Roids does not equal muscles. You can have a body like Rob's without 'roids'. You can't have a body like Stiener's without 'roids'. Also, when people say 'roids', alot of the time they're getting it confused with HGH (human growth hormone). Steriods are used for a variety of things; repairing internal tissue damage, for example. In some cases they can help you *lose* weight.

 

The three guys below were all on steroids at the time...no Big Rob look-a-likes here :-p

 

http://www.mmatko.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/sakaruba-gracie.jpg

 

(Royce)

 

http://www.cdn.sherdog.com/_images/news/2006_12/6380.jpg

 

http://www.fcfighter.com/PICTURES/UFC36/barnett-belt.jpg