The Official TNA / Impact / GFW Discussion Thread

[MasterJ]

Something tells me that Vince is going to shoot back by doing another ECW ppv and try to have the last moment with ECW but I could be wrong. Anyone thing that any legal actions will be taken?

[Jaysin]

I think when they air the commercials for the dvd, they should just air clips of the crowd chanting "**** you Vince" through the whole commercial. That was a fun chant.

[TracyBrooksFan]

what made the chant better was Simon Diamond in the ring encouraging us the crowd to get louder with the chant.

[Stennick]

I was starting to believe that TNA was on the right track. They had gotten their feet grounded and they were moving in a solid direction. Then came the t.v ratings spike (well compared to their other ratings its a spike) and then every board I go to people are actually saying they enjoyed this show. I understand the thought of "enjoying it for what it is" but now people on other boards are saying "well Sabu can still go, Snow, Dreamer, Raven" their starting to name off guys that should stick around. TNA was overcrowded before and its still overcrowded. I hope TNA doesn't look at the ratings and the 30 year old males that are laying praise to their favorite rebel promotion and say "lets pull the trigger guys".

 

I think a lot of the praise comes from just how bitter ECW fans are with what Vince did to their little promotion that could. After seeing it die a slow, painful death and then continue on in zombie form for three years must have been very hard for them to deal with. So seeing the "real" ECW out there for the first time in five years, no matter that most of these guys were done five years ago. I think its like when TNA does something mildly good people over react because its so unexpected.

 

I think thats where the praise comes from and honestly I think the T.V ratings spike has nothing to do with ECW and has everything to do with they were telling consistent, logical, straight forward pro wrestling stories on a weekly basis with interesting characters. When you put on a consistant show for months at a time the ratings increase. Vince and company where putting on a better show than WCW for about five months maybe a bit longer (arguably) before they EVER came close to beating WCW in the ratings. I'm not saying their close to beating the WWE in the ratings but it shows that in pro wrestling or television in general you can't just put on four good shows and expect a massive spike in ratings. It takes months and months of very good shows to win over fans.

 

I fear that after about two or three months of hard work and consistent story telling they blew their load with this ECW stuff and those 1.2 that tuned in might not tune in next week. If the rating drops by a lot next week I think its safe to say that people were not interested in this ECW stuff. They drew a huge audience and either that audience was there to see ECW or they were there to see TNA after hearing the shows they had been putting on. They saw a national television program dedicate a months worth of television to a long forgotten wrestling promotion thats been dead and buried more times than Jason Voorhees and they pulled a Miz "Really........REALLY". There won't be able to be any logic behind "well they left because ECW left". You KNOW that they will have Dreamer or Raven or somebody on the show next week. Their not going to forget about this after that. Or even if they don't ECW fans will tune in with hopes of getting some sort of ECW action. So if its ECW fans powering the rating it should stay right around the same, if its people who were tuning into TNA to see what the praise was about then we might see a drop.

 

I should have learned by now to have zero faith in TNA's ability to keep focus on one thing for more than a month or two. Even without the ECW storyline the other big story is Jeff Jarrett, Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, Sting and Kevin Nash.....so we've gone from 96 to 99?

 

Guys like Joe are sitting at home (maybe deserved maybe not), Wolfe is on a B show that most of the nation doesn't even have access to. I keep hearing about this young talent but the more I tune in the more I see 1995-1999 over and over again. I think it was extremely bush league of TNA who try so hard to be a national promotion and a "global" force to present us four weeks of ECW television. The WWE could air a blank screen for two hours in the RAW slot and draw a 3.0, TNA can't and I think I'd rather see that blank screen than Axl Rotten and the Gangsta's on my television.

[Hyde Hill]

Its crazy that I've seen more praise for this pay per view than I've seen for all of TNA. I think it goes to show you how powerful nostalgia is for ECW. They had a very passionate fanbase and anytime they do something with this name that passion comes out one way or another.

 

Although in all due honesty the pay per view was ok. It was about as good as most ECW pay per views were. A few good matches and the rest having random brawling by guys that the top guys didn't want to touch then or now.

 

I fear this praise that everyone is giving this show is going to make TNA think "hey this whole ECW thing is a good idea" just like Vince did. He did the book, he did the DVD, then brought it back for a pay per view, brought it back again and then decided to make the whole brand ECW. We saw how quickly that got out of hand.

 

Without Paul this ECW thing needs to stop here and if Paul were here I'm sure he wouldn't be interested in continuing ECW.

 

Well TNA has been praised lately plenty as well. At least in this thread, generally online is another thing though. And agree with the sentiment that this should be the end of it. Maybe a storyline at most and then finito.

 

And yeah Stennick TNA has had an alarming pattern of doing stuff like this. They put on a string of good shows but they do not get an instant ratings increase, so then they wheel out the nostalgia and the ratings are higher for a short while but then quickly fall, making them lower the nostalgia level and go for good shows again. For some reason they do not realise that it is not the nostalgia that is drawing but the string of previously good and fresh shows. Then possible new fans tune in and give them a chance and get confronted by the nostalgia again and quickly tune out.

 

Maybe I am wrong and it is the nostalgia that is drawing and then wearing off but that means that using it does not deliver any sustainable growth.

[TracyBrooksFan]

off to Impact tapings tonight

[20LEgend]

When will people know the buy rates?

[Stennick]

Well never really, TNA doesn't release their buyrates so it'd be pure speculation. Most of the time they average 10k and honestly I'd bet they do less than that this time since their core base wasn't going to rent a ppv that had nothing to do with TNA. Lets face it ECW fans are "smart" no pun intended so they most likely just streamed it......not that I would do something like that

[Slagaholic]

It sounds like The Whole F'n Show is F'n good.

[jwt13]

It sounds like The Whole F'n Show is F'n good.

 

r u kidding? Jeff Hardys opponet was f'n Shannon Moore and some the the match times were way too short but the end sounds good

[TracyBrooksFan]

The show was AWESOME LIVE

[TheEffect]

Personally RVD is getting pushed too quick.

Too many people deserve to be TNA world champion and tbh he's pretty ****.

[Self]

Personally RVD is getting pushed too quick.

Too many people deserve to be TNA world champion and tbh he's pretty ****.

 

Not sure if I'd use the words "pushed too quick". He's a star. He has a genuine connection to the fans. He's different to everyone else. He can still go. I'd push him pretty hard as a unique attraction... but I wouldn't have made him Champion either. If I were running TNA, I'd have one of my homegrown babyfaces holding the belt. Not an ex-WCW/WWE guy.

 

Although with the whole EV2.0 thing, it kinda works to have an ECW guy holding the strap.

[TheEffect]

Not sure if I'd use the words "pushed too quick". He's a star. He has a genuine connection to the fans. He's different to everyone else. He can still go. I'd push him pretty hard as a unique attraction... but I wouldn't have made him Champion either. If I were running TNA, I'd have one of my homegrown babyfaces holding the belt. Not an ex-WCW/WWE guy.

 

Although with the whole EV2.0 thing, it kinda works to have an ECW guy holding the strap.

 

Personally I think they should have had him defend the title at Hardcore Justice, as it would entice TNA fans to watch instead of just ECW and/or Hardcore Fans.

[Slagaholic]

Personally I think they should have had him defend the title at Hardcore Justice, as it would entice TNA fans to watch instead of just ECW and/or Hardcore Fans.

 

Not a single soul in the world would have paid for Hardcore Justice that didn't simply because the TNA World Title was on the line. Not to mention that it would be taking a giant **** on their top 10 contenders idea a months into it

[TheEffect]

Not a single soul in the world would have paid for Hardcore Justice that didn't simply because the TNA World Title was on the line. Not to mention that it would be taking a giant **** on their top 10 contenders idea a months into it

 

Good Point.

[sebsplex]

I think its like when TNA does something mildly good people over react because its so unexpected.

 

To be fair, the same criticism could be levelled against the reaction to the WWE Nexus storyline.

 

They saw a national television program dedicate a months worth of television to a long forgotten wrestling promotion thats been dead and buried more times than Jason Voorhees and they pulled a Miz "Really........REALLY". There won't be able to be any logic behind "well they left because ECW left". You KNOW that they will have Dreamer or Raven or somebody on the show next week. Their not going to forget about this after that. Or even if they don't ECW fans will tune in with hopes of getting some sort of ECW action. So if its ECW fans powering the rating it should stay right around the same, if its people who were tuning into TNA to see what the praise was about then we might see a drop.

 

I'm far from being a defender of all things TNA, but this looks like you're trying to address the balance of over-praise Hardcore Justice has been receiving. A months worth of television? I guess that would be true if imagined the Beer Money/MCMG best of 5 series, or the knockouts haven't been on TV at all and perhaps Mr Anderson/Matt Morgan was some rehased ECW feud? Throw in AJ winning and renaming the Global Title in a mini-programme with Rob Terry also involing Kaz, Eric Young being crazy, humping Pope dollas and throwing mannequins around, Flair/Lethal, Abyss stating 'they' is nothing to do with ECW, Joe/Hardy, etc as well as the Nash/Hogan/Sting storyline you later knock in your post. If you want to argue that's all junk you don't care about, fine, but it still happened. If anything, TNA probably came closer to underpromoting it.

 

I think Hardcore Justice basically did what it said on the tin. It was enjoyable, it featured many of the wrestlers that fans from ECW would have hoped to see and it served as a good send-off/nostalgia show for anyone who emotionally invested in it. In terms of quality, it was certainly no ONS and even ONS2 was arguably a better show provided you cared for the increased WWE involvement in it.

 

Kinda meh on the logic standpoint. Given the premise the ppv was formulated on, I don't really see why much issue with workers disappearing into the night, especially when several weren't even featured on Impact at any point. Raven, Rhino and Richards all had roles on TV before Hogan turned up and made a few cameos following that, Team 3D have always featured heavily, RVD is the World Champ and Dreamer's involvement this far has been focussed on building this event. As for guys like Axl Rotten Scorpio, etc, I doubt that many former ECW fans would really want to see them again week in and week out on TV, enjoying them for one night is something rather different.

 

The ratings argument is a bit of a dead end, since it runs into the same problems as trying to work out whether Hogan brought in a bunch of new fans when he arrived who replaced all the ones who left because he turned up. You simply can't prove it either way. I guess the Whole F'N Show special is TNA's way of trying to grab any curious ECW fans who give the promotion a look afterwards.

 

I completely agree though that they need to leave this show as a one off special and if necessary, fade away from it and move any former ECW'ers who remain involved into storylines or feuds that don't revolve around a dead promotion. However TNA have shown in the past that they see value in offering closure or further developing old storylines, like The Band, like Wolfpac Sting, (sadly the WWE have left them a lot of material with their horrible treatment of a few subjects from ranging ECW to the NWO) so there's always going to be that element of doubt that they'll rush through something drastic. My fingers are crossed that they won't.

[alden]

So i just watched hardcore justice. It was decent but i have to admit the first one night stand was a better show. I felt it had more of a ecw fell then this show did. To me this was just a show with ecw talent. The crowd was way into it though. Maybe it was styles........i so wanted a few real o my god's. I was also praying for an old school dudleys interview. I mean one that really makes the people go crazy but they are not heels right now. I want one last get the crowd almost rioting interview. I think they can still do it.

[Stennick]

Roderick Strong is backstage in a dark match with TNA tonight. Wouldn't that be crazy if they lose Black and Strong before the end of the year? Then Richards retires in December....sheesh.

 

Also RVD is supposed to be taking some time off soon so might we be seeing a championship change soon? Although really I'm thinking it will be after BFG because he's obviously not taking August off. What would be the point in taking Sept off if he's coming back in Oct. They'll need Sept and Oct to build for BFG. I doubt they'll let him take off their "biggest ppv of the year". So maybe he loses the title at BFG and takes time off after that?

[SaySo]

Roderick Strong is backstage in a dark match with TNA tonight. Wouldn't that be crazy if they lose Black and Strong before the end of the year? Then Richards retires in December....sheesh.

 

Also RVD is supposed to be taking some time off soon so might we be seeing a championship change soon? Although really I'm thinking it will be after BFG because he's obviously not taking August off. What would be the point in taking Sept off if he's coming back in Oct. They'll need Sept and Oct to build for BFG. I doubt they'll let him take off their "biggest ppv of the year". So maybe he loses the title at BFG and takes time off after that?

 

RVD taking time off already. How long has he been back for? Soo much for a light schedule.

 

He doesn't have to take the belt off of him, just not wrestle a # amount of house shows. Only have him when it matters, TV and PPVs.

 

That would suck for ROH, but this could mean a push for Chris Hero eh.

[Stennick]

Thats what I thought is that some of these TNA guys get a lot of time off. At some point TNA has got to stop being everybody's thing they do in Orlando to their full time job. I'm not ripping RVD maybe he's banged up, maybe his wife has a problem, who knows honestly. Maybe it was planned all along. Just in general so many TNA guys take so much time off and even with the house shows they work about half the schedule WWE guys do.

[Slagaholic]

Do they really work half the schedule WWE guys do? How many shows does a Raw or Smackdown worker have a week? They do more travel for sure, but I'm pretty sure RVD has more matches per month than the average WWE worker.

[TracyBrooksFan]

i dont want to give nothing away from the match but i have a feeling RBD did get hurt.

[Stennick]

Do they really work half the schedule WWE guys do? How many shows does a Raw or Smackdown worker have a week? They do more travel for sure, but I'm pretty sure RVD has more matches per month than the average WWE worker.

 

Aren't those guys on the road six days a week? I'm not exactly sure what the schedule is anymore and I don't know RVD's schedule. I just assumed RVD didn't go to a lot of the house shows and what not. Maybe I'm wrong.

[crownsy]

Aren't those guys on the road six days a week? I'm not exactly sure what the schedule is anymore and I don't know RVD's schedule. I just assumed RVD didn't go to a lot of the house shows and what not. Maybe I'm wrong.

 

no way is that accurate. most non-untouchable M/E guys in the E have 4 nights of work a week.

 

For instance, at the end of august there in boston for Raw and Smackdown. That week they are doing 3 house shows. one in cohasset on the 27th, on somewhere out west on the 28th, and one right near me at the melody tent on the cape the 29th. The melody tent seats 400 people at best.

 

So yea, i mean, John Cena's not working the melody tent, But according to our tickets Kofi, Dolph, Miz, drew, Morrison and Punk are for sure, and some other talent is "To be announced"

 

So while guys like Cena, Randy and Jericho ect may have a reduced workload Ala TNA, on the average, the E guys do more house shows.

 

I think overall, Stein's point is a valid one. TNA already has a reduced workload, yet they have a undeniable history of letting guys take long breaks. Seems kind unreasonable, and seems to lead to them being looked at as "that fed you go to to semi-retire"

 

EDIT: err ment to qoute the post above Stien saying that the TNA crew does more house shows, that is what i was saying is less accurate.