The Official TNA / Impact / GFW Discussion Thread

[K-Nection]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Blackman" data-cite="Blackman" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25170" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>See, this kind of wishful thinking is why we're all here to play TEW. <img alt=":p" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> TNA closing does McMahon no favors as he has learned in his WCW buyout. He needs to be finding a way for the TNAs and the ROHs to stay open.</p>

[Mootinie]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="K-Nection" data-cite="K-Nection" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25170" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>TNA closing does McMahon no favors as he has learned in his WCW buyout. He needs to be finding a way for the TNAs and the ROHs to stay open.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> TNA has never, ever, not even for a single day been competition. WWE never even so much as made an attempt to counter-program when TNA went to Monday Nights. WWE's competition now is everything that is on television on Monday Night, not a Thursday Night television show that struggles to break the top 150 on cable and certainly not a wrestling promotion that's struggling to draw over 500 in its hottest market.</p>

[CQI13]

And the product itself (with some preferring NXT, SD, etc).

[Blackman]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="CQI13" data-cite="CQI13" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25170" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>And the product itself (with some preferring NXT, SD, etc).</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> As what's been said years ago and repeated by many, TNA used to start off as a company that had the potential to be a threat. But it devolved and conformed to the norm imposed by WWE and became just an inferior product instead of 'something different'. It was Dixie and friends just "having fun" and getting paid, and that was the only thing the workers were there for.</p>

[K-Nection]

TNA has never, ever, not even for a single day been competition. WWE never even so much as made an attempt to counter-program when TNA went to Monday Nights. WWE's competition now is everything that is on television on Monday Night, not a Thursday Night television show that struggles to break the top 150 on cable and certainly not a wrestling promotion that's struggling to draw over 500 in its hottest market.

 

Whoa...I never used the word "competition." They would be considered a low budget alternative right now at best. I just said it would do McMahon no favors if it closed.

[Warhawk8492]

I still think TNA can pull through somehow. The industry needs them. They are the TV-14 alternative to the PG crap that WWE churns out. I have liked TNA better than WWE for years and will defend them to my dying breath.

[Greylocke]

Whoa...I never used the word "competition." They would be considered a low budget alternative right now at best. I just said it would do McMahon no favors if it closed.

 

There are still quite a few "low budget alternative" left, so TNA dying doesn't really change things in any major way. It doesn't affect WWE one way or another. Does them no favour, sure, but no harm either. Really, the only people hurt by this are TNA's poor employees (and quite frankly, going by how often we've heard reports about TNA workers receiving bounced paycheques or late payment, some of them might even be better off!).

 

Really, at this stage, ROH, PWG and LU (and hell, even NXT) all stand out as bigger "alternative" in terms of product compared to WWE. Without the financial status and TV presence it used to have, TNA's existence means less to the industry than those other companies in my view.

[Kitarzu]

How many of those low budget alternatives have national coverage and weekly schedule than WWE? 2+1: TNA, ROH and Lucha Underground who is a seasonal show.

 

Losing one of them is bad for the wrestling industry in general, whatever the product is. The only good thing of the potential closure TNA will be Dixie Carter out of the wrestling business.

[Greylocke]

<p>I don't know.....when your company's brand has been sullied to the point where the potential new owner is thinking of getting rid of it and rebuilding from scratch, that "national coverage" (which hasn't translated in terms of ratings btw) may harm the industry more than it helps. In the same way the shady deeds from McMahon and Cater has done more to damage the business' reputation compared to Ian Rotten and Rob Black thanks to the national media attention.</p><p> </p><p>

Anyway ratings indicate that WWE has dominated the industry for so long that the popularity of wrestling in US literally rises and falls with the WWE's popularity. ROH, LU and TNA can get all the national coverage they want, but they're simply not drawing in any significant new fansbase that aren't already wrestling fans. Literally the only good thing that that comes out from more smaller "alternatives" existing is that they provide more places to work and thereby more potential new workers. But again, given how reports indicates the way TNA treats its employes, I'm not sure keeping a company like that around is a good way to encourage young budding workers.</p>

[Kitarzu]

<p>They already did a rebranding and we know what happened. Thanks Carter, Hogan, Bischoff and Spike. Spike, formerly Spike TV and TNN, we love wrestling!</p><p> </p><p>

I have hopes in Billy Corgan of changing things for the good, since he looks a responsible owner since his days at Resistance Pro. The problem is in how much damage Carter has done and how many lies she told along the years. Unluckily the situation seems close to the point of non return, thanks to her now clear incompetence.</p>

[K-Nection]

<p>You know how you can rake in a fanbase nowadays....have a damn cohesive story with a big blowoff and a lead off into your next direction. Find me a company that books like that and they should be the one to thrive. The only company I see that books like that is Chikara but they are so over the top the standard viewer can't wrap their head around it.</p><p> </p><p>

The fact that these bigger companies continue to insult the intelligence of the viewer like "Lets push Roman Reigns because the audience hates him!" or "Lets bring in New Japan guys for no good reason" or my favorite "Lets hold a tournament just to have that guy drop the belt a week later (or same night in some cases) after he wins."</p><p> </p><p>

No company out today is immune to any of these criticisms. If they really have their hand on the pulse then they need to just tell cohesive stories with great matches. Sorry for the long post it's just I'm getting to the point that I can't digest it well anymore because these companies are changing their own directions either in post editing or an hour before they go live.</p>

[Greylocke]

<p>The funny thing is, both WWE and TNA managed to create a child/surrogate company that seemed to have grasped the concept of coherent storyline/booking, but their respective parent companies continue to be a mess. They might not be ground-breaking or terribly creative, but they're solid and consistent and get the job done. Booking-wise, Ring Ka King's quality blew TNA's out of the water, and it's a real shame it wasn't continued after the first season.</p><p> </p><p>

Likewise for NXT vs WWE.Not that they're perfect by any means, and I've voiced my complaints about them before (mainly that they seem to be putting zero efforts in packaging most of their characters with an actual gimmick beyond "that guy/girl who worked very hard to get here and is living his/her dream" or "that big indie/foreign star who is very good at wrestling"), but at least none of their storylines have been outright insulting the viewer's intelligence. I may not be too interested in most of the guys they choose to push other than Nakamura, but their booking clearly gets the job done and the crowd consistently reacts well to their blow-off matches.</p>

[Rone Rivendale]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="K-Nection" data-cite="K-Nection" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25170" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>You know how you can rake in a fanbase nowadays....have a damn cohesive story with a big blowoff and a lead off into your next direction. Find me a company that books like that and they should be the one to thrive. The only company I see that books like that is Chikara but they are so over the top the standard viewer can't wrap their head around it.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I would direct you to WCPW then</p>

[Jaysin]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Rone Rivendale" data-cite="Rone Rivendale" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25170" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I would direct you to WCPW then</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Lucha Underground does this and doesn't suck in the process. <img alt=":p" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png"></p>

[Blackman]

<p>So apparently there was a new event called "Total Nonstop Deletion". I watched most of it through youtube (by accident) and I must say it was pretty inventive. I had some laughs and the production values were pretty good.</p><p> </p><p>

Again, it seems to be catered towards people with ADD, as I couldn't handle the sudden narrative flips. But it's good that there were no real dull moments.</p>

[Rayelek]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Blackman" data-cite="Blackman" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25170" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>So apparently there was a new event called "Total Nonstop Deletion". I watched most of it through youtube (by accident) and I must say it was pretty inventive. I had some laughs and the production values were pretty good.<p> </p><p> Again, it seems to be catered towards people with ADD, as I couldn't handle the sudden narrative flips. But it's good that there were no real dull moments.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> It was a bit too over the top for my taste, but credit to TNA for taking the risk.</p>

[milamber]

Total Nonstop Deletion was fun but disappointing. They did the best they could with a limited budget but the lack of big name cameos really hurt it.

[Warhawk8492]

I was a big fan of Total Nonstop Deletion. Very fun to watch.

[sheepy]

<p>Sounds like last nights ONO was worth watching (even getting the first 4* rating I can remember seeing from Impact Wrestling in the past 12 months).</p><p> </p><p>

Really hope this is the start of things to come with Jarrett back in charge of creative. If we get anywhere near to the TNA of the late 2000s, pre Hogan era, then count me in.</p><p> </p><p>

On a tangent - is it time to change the name of this thread to "Official Impact discussion" yet?</p>

[Editor6]

<p>Well, looks like the Hardys are gone:</p><p> </p><p>

<a href="http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/809957-breaking-news-the-hardys-not-re-signing-with-tna-backstage-news-on-matt-and-jeff-feeling-disrespected-by-tna-officials-their-tv-future-and-more" rel="external nofollow">http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/809957-breaking-news-the-hardys-not-re-signing-with-tna-backstage-news-on-matt-and-jeff-feeling-disrespected-by-tna-officials-their-tv-future-and-more</a></p><p> </p><p>

"Sources are reporting The Hardys agreed to terms on a new TNA deal back in December, but requested a few minor changes, and were simply waiting for the finalized offer.</p><p> </p><p>

The deal was supposed to be for 1-year, but weeks and weeks passed, with Matt constantly checking in, but they were consistently given the run around.</p><p> </p><p>

Eventually Matt and Jeff’s lawyer informed Impact Wrestling officials that they wanted a creative control clause written into their new deals, but that was shot down immediately. One source claims the Hardy’s lawyer told Ed Nordholm of Anthem Sports & Entertainment there was interest from other companies and he responded by saying, “Well, tell them to go to WWE then.”</p><p> </p><p>

This set Jeff Hardy off, who at that point said he was no longer interested in re-signing. Matt continued talks, but when they sent a new contract last week it was now a 2-year deal and terms had been snuck in which stated they’d receive 10% of all his profits outside of Impact.</p><p> </p><p>

Matt’s lawyer said he’d be a fool to sign, so he informed the company he wasn’t interested in doing so, but would still come to the tapings to write off his characters. However, he was told he was crazy to think they’d want him on TV without a contact.</p><p> </p><p>

Impact Wrestling officials are reportedly trying to get their tag titles back."</p><p> </p><p>

And Matt just sent a series of tweets confirming his departure. Their hottest act in years, gone. Someone pull the plug.</p>

[K-Nection]

How dumb can TNA be at this point? The Hardy's are the only thing that has kept them relevant in 2016....Well I can't wait to see Broken Matt vs. Bray because that would be some epic promo work.

[Blackman]

The act is so hot that it could just continue just like that in another company. Well... all except WWE, who would never allow that. But considering the decisions TNA made in the recent past, I'm not surprised this happened. Quite frankly I couldn't care less.

[CQI13]

When something is so over the top, I'm skeptical. And whenever anything gets out, it's because someone wants it to get out.

 

I have no knowledge of wrestling contracts, but why would they ask for 10% of the profits from other sources? The "Broken" character is Hardy's, not Impact's right?

 

Not saying that the new owners can't be this dumb, but it just seems...odd.

[K-Nection]

The act is so hot that it could just continue just like that in another company. Well... all except WWE, who would never allow that. But considering the decisions TNA made in the recent past, I'm not surprised this happened. Quite frankly I couldn't care less.

 

Honestly WWE has shown more signs of letting people be what made them popular over the past year....

 

They didn't change a lot of guys coming into the fold such as AJ, Shinsuke, Samoa Joe, Austin Aries, Eric Young. It would be moronic of WWE to try to alter the Broken Matt Hardy character since it is so well known. They have let lesser known workers keep there original gimmicks lately.

[The Dynamite Sid]

I agree with Blackman. At best I believe we would only ever see a facsimile of the Broken Hardys characters in WWE. If one of their real sticking points was Creative Control then I doubt WWE is where they'd want to be. That is, after all, why they left in the first place