Post by drwrestling on Jun 9, 2007 0:47:34 GMT -5
This week for That's My Story and I'm Sticking To It I'll be telling you what I think of the current state of TNA.
Before I start this column let me say this is not supposed to be a column burying TNA and I'm sure there are some die hard TNA fans reading this that will disagree with what I'm going to say in this column but remember this is not an attempt to bury TNA. If you agree or disagree you can send me an e mail and it's always cool to read feed back so you can always e mail me your thoughts about TNA or pro wrestling in general. Anyone notice the amount of former WWE wrestlers in TNA? Is it just Dr. Wrestling or does TNA seem like it's becoming a retirement home for WWE cast aways? Star power is good for any up and coming company but when older wrestlers that probably won't be wrestling in the next two years are getting more T.V. time then the younger wrestlers, TNA might want to think about the amount of time that those older wrestlers are getting during TNA's one hour of T.V. a week. It's been amount a month and a half since I've written a column about TNA and one of the reasons being is that the product in general is some what stable. That's why I've written mostly WWE columns recently because even though the WWE has been terrible the past few weeks atleast there's something to write about, even if it is how ridiculous it is that Vince is on T.V. every week. TNA seems like the storylines just don't have a logically connection from week to week and maybe the King Of The Mountain match will generate an interesting storyline. It might be that TNA tapes two or three weeks worth of T.V. and you can read it a head of time but even if you decide not to read the spoilers the element of surprise isn't there since it's not a live show. Another thing that might contribute to TNA's stale product right now is that almost every TNA show is at the Impact Zone and when a T.V. show looks the same week after week it doesn't create a fresh look to the product. That's another reason The King Of The Mountain match could help the product because the PPV will be in Nashville and that could give the PPV a fresh look instead of the Impact Zone.
TNA has certainly made alot of progress in the past five years going from just weekly PPV with no real way to promote the PPVs to a weekly T.V. show on national T.V. and three hours PPVs but it seems like TNA isn't trying to expand their audience. A good example would be that TNA caters too much to the "smart" internet fans and isn't really trying to get the general fan to watch their product. I know that some TNA fans will say "TNA isn't sports entertainment it's pro wrestling" but if you think about it to be successful on a national level pro wrestling has to be sports entertainment. A company needs characters and storylines to get to general fan to watch the show and if TNA doesn't get the general fan to watch the product they won't compete with the WWE. The reason I say this is that the internet fans are just a fraction of the total wrestling fan base and for TNA to get more of that fan base they will need to get the general fan to watch the product. There are some smart marks that don't consider a match to be a good match unless there's a bunch of high spots or a bunch of chops and that's mainly what TNA has presented since the company debuted. More recently TNA has tried to do some story telling but it still caters too much to the smart marks. I'm not trying to bury the internet fans but when "this is awesome" is chanted at almost every PPV after a high spot and there's a "fire russo" chant it shows that TNA needs to try to focus on expanding their audience.
TNA also needs to improve the booking of Impact because there are times that some of the wrestlers will wrestle on Impact and then they won't appear on the show for another 2-3 weeks. The fans have to see the wrestlers on a consistent basis if the younger stars are going to become established stars. Most of the X Division isn't seen week to week but instead just once every few weeks. That's one of the problems with TNA only having one hour of T.V. a week that they can't show case all the wrestlers in just an hour. The TNA PPV is next week and as of right now Senshi, Sonjay Dutt, and even former tag team champions LAX don't have a match at the PPV. That's just an example of why TNA needs to improve their booking and I'm not saying I have all the answers to make TNA a company that can compete with WWE but it would seem like common sense to showcase some of the younger talent of the company. There's also way too many WWE cast aways on the TNA roster and some of the former WWE wrestlers haven't been really been given a chance to show what they could do with a push. The Stieners shouldn't even be on the rosters and Scott Stiener is an example of one of the WWE cast aways that shouldn't have been signed. Rhino, however, is a wrestlers that was misused by the WWE and has all the skills to be a champion in TNA but he only had the title for two weeks when he could have been a good champion. TNA needs to book their talent better and the younger talent needs to get the spot light because they will be the wrestlers that will help carry TNA into the future.
TNA definitely has the talent to compete with the WWE and looking at the roster you have to wonder why there aren't already. A.J. Styles obviously carried TNA on his back during it's early years and he was one of the wrestlers that put the X Division on the map. Another TNA wrestler you have to be impressed with is Abyss because he's very agile in the ring and he can have good matches with anyone. He's probably the best heavy weight in wrestling today and he's put his body on the line many times in matches. I was also very impressed with the Chris Harris/James Storm match this past week on Impact and there should definitely be a rematch at the PPV. Christopher Daniels is another TNA star that has done alot for the company and deserves alot of credit for getting over as a heel because he was able to get the crowd to boo him despite having alot of wrestling ability. I've said it before and I'll probably say it again, Homicide has all the potential to be a major star in TNA and he could be a good X Division champion. Samoa Joe is obviously getting a push to be the next TNA Heavy Weight champion and he has the skills to be a good champion. Kurt Angle, Christain Cage, and Team 3D are also good talent on the TNA roster. The X Division also has alot of good young talent that could help TNA. The point is TNA isn't lacking the talent but TNA is lacking the booking and storylines to be a company that can compete.
Until next week
That's My Story and I'm Sticking To It
Dr. Wrestling
If you have comments or questions e mail me drwrestlingallpro@yahoo.com
Before I start this column let me say this is not supposed to be a column burying TNA and I'm sure there are some die hard TNA fans reading this that will disagree with what I'm going to say in this column but remember this is not an attempt to bury TNA. If you agree or disagree you can send me an e mail and it's always cool to read feed back so you can always e mail me your thoughts about TNA or pro wrestling in general. Anyone notice the amount of former WWE wrestlers in TNA? Is it just Dr. Wrestling or does TNA seem like it's becoming a retirement home for WWE cast aways? Star power is good for any up and coming company but when older wrestlers that probably won't be wrestling in the next two years are getting more T.V. time then the younger wrestlers, TNA might want to think about the amount of time that those older wrestlers are getting during TNA's one hour of T.V. a week. It's been amount a month and a half since I've written a column about TNA and one of the reasons being is that the product in general is some what stable. That's why I've written mostly WWE columns recently because even though the WWE has been terrible the past few weeks atleast there's something to write about, even if it is how ridiculous it is that Vince is on T.V. every week. TNA seems like the storylines just don't have a logically connection from week to week and maybe the King Of The Mountain match will generate an interesting storyline. It might be that TNA tapes two or three weeks worth of T.V. and you can read it a head of time but even if you decide not to read the spoilers the element of surprise isn't there since it's not a live show. Another thing that might contribute to TNA's stale product right now is that almost every TNA show is at the Impact Zone and when a T.V. show looks the same week after week it doesn't create a fresh look to the product. That's another reason The King Of The Mountain match could help the product because the PPV will be in Nashville and that could give the PPV a fresh look instead of the Impact Zone.
TNA has certainly made alot of progress in the past five years going from just weekly PPV with no real way to promote the PPVs to a weekly T.V. show on national T.V. and three hours PPVs but it seems like TNA isn't trying to expand their audience. A good example would be that TNA caters too much to the "smart" internet fans and isn't really trying to get the general fan to watch their product. I know that some TNA fans will say "TNA isn't sports entertainment it's pro wrestling" but if you think about it to be successful on a national level pro wrestling has to be sports entertainment. A company needs characters and storylines to get to general fan to watch the show and if TNA doesn't get the general fan to watch the product they won't compete with the WWE. The reason I say this is that the internet fans are just a fraction of the total wrestling fan base and for TNA to get more of that fan base they will need to get the general fan to watch the product. There are some smart marks that don't consider a match to be a good match unless there's a bunch of high spots or a bunch of chops and that's mainly what TNA has presented since the company debuted. More recently TNA has tried to do some story telling but it still caters too much to the smart marks. I'm not trying to bury the internet fans but when "this is awesome" is chanted at almost every PPV after a high spot and there's a "fire russo" chant it shows that TNA needs to try to focus on expanding their audience.
TNA also needs to improve the booking of Impact because there are times that some of the wrestlers will wrestle on Impact and then they won't appear on the show for another 2-3 weeks. The fans have to see the wrestlers on a consistent basis if the younger stars are going to become established stars. Most of the X Division isn't seen week to week but instead just once every few weeks. That's one of the problems with TNA only having one hour of T.V. a week that they can't show case all the wrestlers in just an hour. The TNA PPV is next week and as of right now Senshi, Sonjay Dutt, and even former tag team champions LAX don't have a match at the PPV. That's just an example of why TNA needs to improve their booking and I'm not saying I have all the answers to make TNA a company that can compete with WWE but it would seem like common sense to showcase some of the younger talent of the company. There's also way too many WWE cast aways on the TNA roster and some of the former WWE wrestlers haven't been really been given a chance to show what they could do with a push. The Stieners shouldn't even be on the rosters and Scott Stiener is an example of one of the WWE cast aways that shouldn't have been signed. Rhino, however, is a wrestlers that was misused by the WWE and has all the skills to be a champion in TNA but he only had the title for two weeks when he could have been a good champion. TNA needs to book their talent better and the younger talent needs to get the spot light because they will be the wrestlers that will help carry TNA into the future.
TNA definitely has the talent to compete with the WWE and looking at the roster you have to wonder why there aren't already. A.J. Styles obviously carried TNA on his back during it's early years and he was one of the wrestlers that put the X Division on the map. Another TNA wrestler you have to be impressed with is Abyss because he's very agile in the ring and he can have good matches with anyone. He's probably the best heavy weight in wrestling today and he's put his body on the line many times in matches. I was also very impressed with the Chris Harris/James Storm match this past week on Impact and there should definitely be a rematch at the PPV. Christopher Daniels is another TNA star that has done alot for the company and deserves alot of credit for getting over as a heel because he was able to get the crowd to boo him despite having alot of wrestling ability. I've said it before and I'll probably say it again, Homicide has all the potential to be a major star in TNA and he could be a good X Division champion. Samoa Joe is obviously getting a push to be the next TNA Heavy Weight champion and he has the skills to be a good champion. Kurt Angle, Christain Cage, and Team 3D are also good talent on the TNA roster. The X Division also has alot of good young talent that could help TNA. The point is TNA isn't lacking the talent but TNA is lacking the booking and storylines to be a company that can compete.
Until next week
That's My Story and I'm Sticking To It
Dr. Wrestling
If you have comments or questions e mail me drwrestlingallpro@yahoo.com