The Official TNA / Impact / GFW Discussion Thread

[Stennick]

The Shield isn't "Main Eventing". They don't have a world title, they didn't screw the "Huckster's" daughter and they don't heavily appear as much as A&8's. I'm not saying that stables aren't regular on Pro Wrestling, they are, it's part of it, but look how many years and tv shows and PPV's Vince had to do all of that in 30 years and how much limited time Eric had in comparison and his MAIN focus are always invasion stories. I maintain my argument.

 

The Shield have beaten The Undertaker, they have beaten Randy Orton, Sheamus, Chris Jericho, Daniel Bryan and Kane they have attacked John Cena and The Rock. They have not lost a match ever nor has it ever looked like they were even about to lose a match. They are in fact main eventing.

 

Your argument doesn't even work. Are you saying that because Hall and Nash showed up in May and worked one segment of TV a month for roughly three months before the debut of Hogan as the third guy that they weren't "Main Eventers"? Of COURSE they were and if you say otherwise you're only kidding yourself. The Shield are very much main eventers.

 

The Nexus attacked Vince McMahon and feuded with John Cena for months after that resulting in numerous pay per view main events. They were as main event as it got as well and guess what it was ANOTHER invasion angle.

 

The original ECW invasion started way back in 1996 in September of 1996 just one month after the nWo feud started. It never hit main event status but for months they showed ECW wrestlers on WWF tv as well as WWF wrestlers invading ECW. This was yet another invasion angle.

 

The WCW invasion angle is well noted. Then came the ECW invasion angle. Then came the SUPER alliance invasion angle. That ended at Survivor Series of 2001.

 

The nWo debuted in Febuary of 2002. So just three months after the Alliance invasion angle stopped, the nWo invaded.

 

Then you had the Nexus angle. Then you had the Corre angle.

 

So by my count in the same time span as Eric Bischoff has done the nWo Vince McMahon has ran at the very least five separate invasion angles. ECW in 96, then the Alliance, then nWo, then Nexus and then of course The Shield.

[Stennick]

So now let me show you (with numbers, stats and history) why you're completely wrong about the only thing Bischoff doing right was the nWo. Eric Bischoff created the nWo for all intents in purpose in May of 1996 so lets look at what he did before that.

 

Since there were no head to head tv ratings or even comparable tv shows lets look at buyrates. If you go back and look at WCW buyrate numbers in 1993 and then compare the increase or decrease in 1994 they increased EVERY single ppv buyrate in 1994 compared to its 1993 buyrate. In fact they had two pay per views that year do over a million buys.

 

So in Bischoff's first year running things he's already improved upon the previous regimes numbers. Lets see where 1995 takes us. In 1995 the ONLY pay per view to get a lower buyrate in 1995 than the previous regime got in 1993 was Starrcade and thats because it was shown on a Weds night and not on a weekend. In 1996 in the pay per views before the nWo were introduced that leaves us with Super Brawl and Slamboree and again both of those shows did better business than they did in the previous regime as well.

 

So now Bischoff has been running the show two and a half years and all but ONE of his pay per views have been more successful than the previous regimes. I can't go any further in pay per views because the one trick pony that you think he is starts to show up.

 

So now lets look at tv ratings for the first year of WCW Monday Nitro. Before Hulk Hogan shows up as the third man of the nWo Monday Nitro had been on the air for right around 10 or 11 months. In that time period before the nWo debuted WCW defeated WWF Raw 21 times to 18 times. So before the nWo even showed up Bischoff was ahead on points in the Monday Night Wars.

 

WCW as a company since its formation had never made money. Bischoff took over and in 1994 they broke even, he then proceeded to make them a profit in 1995 and 1996. Which the nWo angle was only truly a part of 1996 for four months.

 

So explain to me how a guy can come in and every pay per view he's a part of has more buys for two straight years than the previous regimes. Explain to me how this guy can have a years worth of television on a brand new wrestling show and not only beat the WWF but beat them more weeks than the WWF beat them. Explain to me how this one trick pony broke even two years before that pony, and then made a profit the year before this pony as well as the year it was formed with four months left to go in the year.

 

There is no evidence to support the fact that if Bischoff didn't bring in the nWo he would have been a failure. All of his pay per view numbers were higher than the previous regimes and they were for the most part either increased or consistant from year to year during his regime. His tv ratings were increasing before the nWo started and he was the only man to not only turn a profit for the WCW, but he was also the only man to ever beat Vince McMahon at anything in pro wrestling. You can use the excuse that he had money backing him, or he had this or that. However you CAN'T say he was a one trick pony. He did a ton of things right long before the nWo could have been thought of.

 

Bischoff was not just the nWo he was so much more than that. If anything the nWo is what killed him. He stopped giving a damn about beating Vince every week and started wanting to be one of the boys expecting the ship to steer itself. Anybody who says the only thing that made Bischoff successful was the nWo is delusional and is making a widely inaccurate speculation off of person shortsightedness.

 

Numbers don't lie he was more successful at running WCW than anyone before or after him and he was doing it two years before the nWo arrived.

[tristram]

100% correct stennick. CAn't believe I've waded into a forum to defend Eric Bischoff, but Bischoff's impact on WCW came well before the N.W.O was introduced. There was a very successful period prior to the NWO. They just needed one hook story to be implemented, and it so happened to be the NWO that would elevate them to another level.

 

WCW from say '93 to mid '98, and even in some parts into '99 had a lot going for it. Unfortunately, it also had a lot of political issues both in the promotion itself and behind the scenes (to the point where it no longer was viable on the network it had helped support). You can look through many a PPV and see incredible matches. There's no doubt in my mind certain wrestlers needed to be elevated quicker, and there's no doubt in my mind that there was a certain element of banging their head against a brick wall in terms of turning over their main event, but there's no doubt in my mind whatsoever that Eric Bischoff's period in WCW was ultra successful. Most businesses will judge you against YTD prior figures, in most categories (financial, buy rates, TV ratings, merchandise) Bischoff would have continually stacked up year in year out. And those trends were well in place before the NWO.

[Self]

Caught a bit of TNA on Challenge TV on Sunday Night. I'm not sure if I was watching a shortened, highlighted version of the show, but I found the format insufferable. Between the fun X-Division three way, and a women's match, there seemed to be a dozen highlight packages and backstage interviews.

 

I gave up during the Brooke vs Mickie match. ODB was the ref, and I think there was a story going on, but the match was stupid. Both fighters more concerned with the ref than their opponents. I like women's wrestling, but it bored me enough to go to bed.

 

Don't like the Ref-Cam in the X-Division match either. My little brother was watching with me, and his "this is fake" comments all came with that silly close up.

 

Ending on a brighter note, I saw a bit of a Mr. Anderson promo. I like him. Glad they're using him again.

[Rickymex]

Caught a bit of TNA on Challenge TV on Sunday Night. I'm not sure if I was watching a shortened, highlighted version of the show, but I found the format insufferable. Between the fun X-Division three way, and a women's match, there seemed to be a dozen highlight packages and backstage interviews.

 

I gave up during the Brooke vs Mickie match. ODB was the ref, and I think there was a story going on, but the match was stupid. Both fighters more concerned with the ref than their opponents. I like women's wrestling, but it bored me enough to go to bed.

 

Don't like the Ref-Cam in the X-Division match either. My little brother was watching with me, and his "this is fake" comments all came with that silly close up.

 

Ending on a brighter note, I saw a bit of a Mr. Anderson promo. I like him. Glad they're using him again.

 

Sadly you missed the Bad Influence vs Greatest It Factors promo war and the AJ Styles vs James Storm match which was pretty nifty in establishing AJ as a heel.

[Derek B]

@Self: TNA has to add extra content to their UK broadcasts as the US has far more commercials than we do. All the extra time is filled with hype videos for stuff, which is less than ideal. I recommend watching the show on Youtube if you can, as it's a much better paced show when you don't have to worry about ad breaks and filler.

[Teh_Showtime]

Re: Paul Heyman

 

I would also like to bring up that he was in charge of creative for Smackdown during the start of the brand split.

 

2002-2004 SD was ten times better than any overrated attitude era year in my opinion, and it had Heyman all over it.

[Rickymex]

Re: Paul Heyman

 

I would also like to bring up that he was in charge of creative for Smackdown during the start of the brand split.

 

2002-2004 SD was ten times better than any overrated attitude era year in my opinion, and it had Heyman all over it.

 

The Ruthless Aggression Era was probably the best era WWE had. You had a lot of the technical guys like Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, and Kurt Angle having great matches with every one. Lesnar was destroying every one and becoming the face of Smackdown. Taker was still around. Batista, Randy Orton, Edge, and Batista where becoming main eventers. Raw and Smackdown both had different identities and feel.

[shawn michaels]

The Ruthless Aggression Era was probably the best era WWE had. You had a lot of the technical guys like Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, and Kurt Angle having great matches with every one. Lesnar was destroying every one and becoming the face of Smackdown. Taker was still around. Batista, Randy Orton, Edge, and Batista where becoming main eventers. Raw and Smackdown both had different identities and feel.

 

It was the greatest Era WWE had, except for one thing...John Cena!

[Rickymex]

The funniest thing is that Cena's character was very similar to this years Punk. Someone who wants respect and will beat it out of Olympic Gold Medalists, Latino Heroes, Phenoms, Giants, and even go up against The Beast.

[Teh_Showtime]

It was the greatest Era WWE had, except for one thing...John Cena!

 

can you manifest your hate for him somewhere else please?

 

I quite liked his SD run

[Stennick]

It was the greatest Era WWE had, except for one thing...John Cena!

 

You didn't even like Cena when he was actually interesting huh? Your hate runs deep young man.

 

*Cuts to a room full of people sitting in chairs. ShawnMichaels82 steps up to a podium softly speaking*

 

"Hi I'm Shawnmichaels82, I have a Cena hatred problem. I haven't hated Cena in the last five minutes"

[Rickymex]

You didn't even like Cena when he was actually interesting huh? Your hate runs deep young man.

 

*Cuts to a room full of people sitting in chairs. ShawnMichaels82 steps up to a podium softly speaking*

 

"Hi I'm Shawnmichaels82, I have a Cena hatred problem. I haven't hated Cena in the last five minutes"

 

Since this is the TNA thread I vote to end the WWE conversation.

[shawn michaels]

You didn't even like Cena when he was actually interesting huh? Your hate runs deep young man.

 

*Cuts to a room full of people sitting in chairs. ShawnMichaels82 steps up to a podium softly speaking*

 

"Hi I'm Shawnmichaels82, I have a Cena hatred problem. I haven't hated Cena in the last five minutes"

 

I never liked the man, especially since he began that hip hop gimmick. I hate hip hop, so do the math. But yeah, let's move the discussion to the wwe thread or end it, lol.

[Stennick]

You're from Portugal if I remember correctly. Do either the WWE or TNA do any shows in Portugal? I hear about European tours and UK tours but I never hear about them doing anything in or around Portugal.

[Jaysin]

I finally decided to give TNAOnDemand a chance...so much content for so little money...

 

Now if only the player didn't keep stopping

[Fleisch]

Right I'm not responding to any of the crap about WWE posted in here because this is the TNA forum. I'm not interested in anything WWE is doing right now - if I was I'd go read the WWE thread.

 

I enjoyed the vast majority of Impact this week. The Bad Influence/Aries & Roode match deserved a better ending, but hopefully it leads to a 3 way match against Chavo & Hernandez (who I hate as a tag team) with Bad Influence coming out on top. Also hoping that it'll be the last time we see Chavo and Hernandez as a tag team. I'm tired of all this stereo typical Mexican shit, especially from 2 men born in Texas (yeah it's their heritage... I get it - Latino and all that).

 

Sting and Angles partner was obvious once the camera panned back to the remaining 5 Aces & Eights members beaten down backstage... only one guy in TNA capable of carnage like that on his own! Before that I thought it was just going to be Jeff Hardy returning. Gail Kim is turning into an evil vicious bitch and it's coming across really well - her attack on Tara shows that TNA have some big plans for Gail. AJ Styles brooding is starting to run it's course, I hope they pull the trigger on which way his character is going to go - but with that said it is pretty cool to see him with a bit of a darker personality. Kenny King and Sabins confrontation was good. King is not too bad on the mic. A little clumsy maybe but I think he'll improve that.

 

Everyone seems to hate on Aces & Eights because of their members, I personally think each member (except Wes Brisco) fits in the group well. Brisco just doesn't come across as anything more than a kid playing a character in a school play. I've given him the benefit of the doubt at first - was even optimistic but no improvement. He's not cool, he's not menacing and I think he needs to either work on his character or Aces & Eights need to drop him. Garrett Bischoff has a look about him that fits the group if nothing else but Brisco, absolutely zero charisma and limited in ring skill. DOC & Knux are just bad ass and I think they would be a devastating tag team - my pick as future tag champions.

 

Magnus is another guy I rate highly and I don't think it will be long before he gets some gold. I also think he's a future World Champion. His match with DOC wasn't bad, both guys showed some decent in ring skill, and D-Lo losing his cut and being told he now had to start as a prospect again was a good turn in the story. I thought it was a bit weird that Matt Morgan wasn't on the show, especially given his #1 contender match last week. The other plus point was that Hogan didn't hog the camera time this week. All in all though it entertained me.

[Rickymex]

I enjoyed the vast majority of Impact this week. The Bad Influence/Aries & Roode match deserved a better ending, but hopefully it leads to a 3 way match against Chavo & Hernandez (who I hate as a tag team) with Bad Influence coming out on top. Also hoping that it'll be the last time we see Chavo and Hernandez as a tag team. I'm tired of all this stereo typical Mexican shit, especially from 2 men born in Texas (yeah it's their heritage... I get it - Latino and all that).

 

It's going to be a fatal four way tag team match between The Greatest It Factors vs Bad Influnce vs Los Stereotypicos vs Storm and ?????.

 

It will probably be Samoa Joe as he doesn't have anything oing on right now but it could always be Magnus.

[Fleisch]

It's going to be a fatal four way tag team match between The Greatest It Factors vs Bad Influnce vs Los Stereotypicos vs Storm and ?????.

 

It will probably be Samoa Joe as he doesn't have anything oing on right now but it could always be Magnus.

 

Storm and Magnus would be a pretty cool pairing. Not a massive fan of Samoa Joe these days so hope it's not him.

[Jaysin]

Nash has been saying Magnus will be a star in TNA or somewhere else if they're not careful. Angle has also praised Magnus over the years.

 

I love Magnus. I'm glad other people have been getting behind him.

[Rickymex]

He's also very popular in Mexico where apparently he increased the amount of females in the audience. I was watching some of his AAA matches online and the announcers just keep mentioning how his looks get the chicas all bothered up

[Jaysin]

He's also very popular in Mexico where apparently he increased the amount of females in the audience. I was watching some of his AAA matches online and the announcers just keep mentioning how his looks get the chicas all bothered up

 

On TNA Today or Spin Cycle, can't remember which it was, but one of those web shows hosted by Borash, but forever ago he talked about how American and Mexican women can't get enough of him, but back in England, he wasn't really bothered. He thought it was hilarious.

 

Then he started wearing a beret and calling himself Mag Daddy...I love it haha

[Rickymex]

I believe he's dating Mickie James right now.

 

But seriously this dude has everything to be a star in any company. If WWE doesn't pick him up I will be baffled.

[The Final Countdown]

I like Magnus too; I could very easily see him as a world champion down the line.

 

Was I supposed to feel sorry for James Storm when he got beaten down? Because I didn't. He got what he deserved.

[Rayelek]

It seems like everyone and everything is trying to make it out that Magnus is World Championship material without actually putting him in the title picture. Not that people on here can do that, obv, but every time he's in the ring, I hear it at least once, that he's going to be a World Champion some day. So let's see him get pushed like it, maybe? If TNA in 2013 is the house that AJ Styles built, then let's make TNA in 2020 the house that Magnus added on to, lifted up, etc. Right now is the perfect time since some of their most over guys are wrapped up in the tag team division (Roode, Aries, Storm, maybe Chavo) and Jeff Hardy is who knows where again. So instead of Sting getting the World Title shot against Bully Ray at Slammiversary, give it to Magnus and give him his shot. Let Sting and Bully wrap up their feud in a non-title match. Or ideally, on a smaller PPV, which they don't have anymore, but that's not terrible.

 

Also, I wish they'd make up their mind about what they're calling stuff on the air. I heard a ridiculous mix of Impact Wrestling and TNA for what the company was called, and that's really irritating. That, and seemingly not having enough time/personnel to address all of the titles that they use (Knockout Tag Titles, primarily, but also the TV Title somewhat) are my only real complaints with TNA right now though.