TNA Rant

[#60]

This is a rant. you've been warned. I'd forgot that there was some wrestling discussion here. Most of you probably already know what I'm about to say but here goes.

TNA suuucks! Russo is an idiot and that ring is annoying. I could live with it though if they could just get some of the other stuff right. I was brought up on GCW, UWF and JCP wrestling. A 6 sided ring full of monkeys who no sell in a game of leap frog over tables and chairs is just stupid to me, no matter how wild it looks.

Sting is the man. Scott Steiner is the man. Jim Cornette is the man. Why he isn't booking, or even on TV more, is a mystery to me. Scott Steiner isn't quite as good as he was in the ring but what he lacks there he more than makes up for in his awesome interviews legit and psycho man vibe (which is actuall 100% worked...he's just that good enough of a professional to sell the whole thing). Also, he's a star heel who actually jobs when you tell him to every single time (again he's a total pro despite the gossip). I only wish he'd win a dang match every now and then. He hasn't won a match cleanly in years. He's being set up to get mauled by Angle and for what? The same thing happenned with Joe and it led to nothing.

Sting also has lost a step but he's far from useless. He took those tacs the other day like some of these other garbage wrestlers never would. He's also willing to put people over. He's never been otherwise. TNA has 2 established stars under the same roof who are open to losing matches and they've blown it each way. Sting never loses. BPP always loses, making each loss weaker.

The other guys out there are awesome in the ring but they don't get things like selling, building up to big time move, and "real" elements. No matter how many cages, tables, etc they rip out in some of those matches, I'm unimpressed. I wonder if they'll ever get it right...

 

[VCXZX]

While TNA doesn't totally suck, its not as great as it was in late 05/06. Vince Russo has completly turned this company around for the worse. He does suck yes. And if the rumors are true, he may be out of there sooner rather than later. He was said to be taken aback himself at the insane pacing of Impact, and that and other factors like Russo moving to Nashville from his native Atlanta may lead to his dismissal.

Russo isn't to blame solely. TNA has this policy where rather than adjust pay, they're REQUIRED to put as many wrestlers they can into 1 hour. That is very asinine.

As for Sting, I couldn't care less about him. He hasn't impressed me that much as of late. But he's not go-away/change the channel bad like 3-D and VKM who I rather see get wished well on their future endeavors.

Steiner though has been a very plesant surprise in TNA. His promos have been the promos that made him infamous in WCW. His insane, hilarious speeches are great and keep you from changing the channel. I guess he has more clout to say what he wants rather than WWE where he was just everyone else and had to read what Hollywood writers wrote. Plus his feuds with Joe and Angle have been handled better than his WWE feuds. I guess him and Kevin nash are 2 wrestlers who benefit more from "improv" than scripts, since Nash was just like Steiner in WWE when it comes to promos and backstage segments.

So a simple solution to TNA's downfall is to add an extra hour to Impact and increase the length of wrestling on their shows. And of course get rid of Russo.

 

[Punisher]

Yeah, Russo has really destroyed TNA, I'm afraid to say. Even when Jarrett was the champion all the time, at least the rest of the show was awesome. Now, we have Ron Killings in unfunny movie promos and Team 3D acting like idiots. Not to mention this horrible Abyss-Sting angle.

Though Steiner and Christian remain awesome, the rest of the show is really falling down.

 

[EinBebop]

Yet as with anything Russo, you can't hate on everything he's done. AJ Styles as a heel has been great, much better than the first time they made him heel in late '02 (even if I am terribly critical of the turn)> Christopher Daniels looks to be in line for a push. Like VCXZX, I really didn't care about Sting coming in, not excited to see the matches, but I think Russo's made his character interesting for the first time since his days hanging in the rafters. Christian is a far more effective champion that the first time around. Say what you will about the Nash/paparazzi stuff, but the X-division finally has characters people are interested in... now if they would only follow up with the wrestling.

And therein lies the real problem... Vince Russo has never been a fan of the art of wrestling, he's a fan of the spectacle. Vince Russo is probably more responsible for the state of 'sports entertainment' than any other single person.

And Vince is great at creating characters, even if not everything he does turns to gold (tv-star Ron Killings, Dudley-Goombahs) but if he were to leave today, he leaves behind more for another booker to work with than there was when he came in. The problem is, the longer that he's around, the more the core wrestling fans feel dissatisfied with 'wrestling-lite'.

At least Russo seems to have gotten the really stupid stuff out of him when he was younger, and understands a little better that fans want wrestling. I feel that he sees the athleticism as secondary today, which is far better than a decade where I think he considered it irrelevant. I might be overly optimistic, but I like to think that with a second hour, he would use that time to appease the core audience and give us a couple of great matches.

------

I've used the term 'core audience' twice, which leads me to my own WWE rant: they are on the slow path to death, because they are alienating the 'core audience', the wrestling fans. WWE used to fight for the best wrestling talent out there. Now they've redefined what 'talent' is: bodybuilders with some acting skill, and a little bit of agility.

The core audience doesn't care about the new stars... occasionally a naturally talented guy comes around by accident, or a young guy who doesn't initially impress us demonstrates a heart for wrestling and continues to improve dramatically... but really, who are the core audience tuning in to watch? Shawn Michaels. Chris Benoit. Booker T. Finlay. Guys in their forties; their days are numbered.

There's a lot of acclaimed indy talent out there, but WWE doesn't want them. I've become an indy fan myself in recent years, and I've never heard of most of the guys in Ohio Valley. What talented indy guys has WWE brought in in recent years? London and Kendrick (students of Shawn Michaels), Harry Smith (second-gen'er), and CM Punk... who has met and seems to continue to face resistance, despite all the fans wanting to embrace him. Punk is an anamoly, the exception to the rule.

Thanks to TNA and WSX, WWE has a chance. Unchallenged, WWE would continue to try to develop their own talent to the time of their death. With competition, Vince's aggressive nature will set in, and he'll be looking to hijack the new stars that have emerged in rival companies.

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Final thought on Steiner: I don't think his 'psycho vibe' that #60 referred to is worked. I watched his shoot interview, and he definitely came off as something like a jer, and not very smart. Dumb, mean, and over-muscled are quite a combination for psycho. You did hit the head on one thing... he mentioned in his shoot that he really hated the scripted nature of WWE, and it would certainly explain a lot of his failure in WWE. I do agree he's been surprisingly entertaining in TNA. And if he's got any great matches left in him, Kurt Angle's certainly the guy to bring it out.

His shoot interview was great, however, because it was so bad. Every time he got asked a question about his time in a company or working with a wrestler, the answer was either that it was great, 'it was the s**ts', or he didn't remember. If the interviewer was lucky, Scott would elaborate without being prodded to do so. If I ever watch it again, I'll have to turn it into a drinking game.

 

[VCXZX]

Yes Heel Styles and Christian have been great on TNA as of late. I would dare say that Christian is my favorite champ at the moment in either wrestling company.

And while the PCS skits have been very amusing, they really should increase the ringtime of the x-division competitors and that would help get them more over than their current state.

And I do agree that Russo is more of a sports-entertainment guy than a wrestling guy. In fact when he left the WWE, a few months later, wrestling became bigger than sports-entertainment and for a while it was a pleasure to see more in-ring action than 20-minute promos. Of course somewhere down the line that changed.

Hopefully WHEN Russo departs, TNA goes through a similiar stage. They have the talent, yes to make it happen. Too bad Angle/Joe the big money feud is all but done. Lousy Russo.

 

[Tapout]

Yes Heel Styles and Christian have been great on TNA as of late. I would dare say that Christian is my favorite champ at the moment in either wrestling company.

Wow, really going out on a limb there.

 

[EinBebop]

Wow, really going out on a limb there.

I'm not sure if you're being serious or sarcastic. Christian's a perfectly acceptable champion, and many people are not impressed with the three WWE champions for whatever reason. It's all a matter of taste.

 

[Tapout]

I'm not sure if you're being serious or sarcastic. Christian's a perfectly acceptable champion, and many people are not impressed with the three WWE champions for whatever reason. It's all a matter of taste.

My point exactly. So yes, that was sarcasm. Stupid internet with its no voice inflection.

 

[#60]

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Final thought on Steiner: I don't think his 'psycho vibe' that #60 referred to is worked. I watched his shoot interview, and he definitely came off as something like a jer, and not very smart. Dumb, mean, and over-muscled are quite a combination for psycho. You did hit the head on one thing... he mentioned in his shoot that he really hated the scripted nature of WWE, and it would certainly explain a lot of his failure in WWE. I do agree he's been surprisingly entertaining in TNA. And if he's got any great matches left in him, Kurt Angle's certainly the guy to bring it out.

His shoot interview was great, however, because it was so bad. Every time he got asked a question about his time in a company or working with a wrestler, the answer was either that it was great, 'it was the s**ts', or he didn't remember. If the interviewer was lucky, Scott would elaborate without being prodded to do so. If I ever watch it again, I'll have to turn it into a drinking game.

O he's definitely a jerk and a roid monster, but legit crazy? Nah. He has a heap of people fooled though. I think he was partially in character for that shoot anyway. Alot of wrestlers didn't let the guard all the way down in their first shoot.

 

[EinBebop]

My point exactly. So yes, that was sarcasm. Stupid internet with its no voice inflection.

I figured as such. The problem is, it wouldn't have surprised me if you were serious. Playing devil's advocate, many people consider Christian to be an overrated midcarder. I think Cena's underrated, I think Penguin is something of a Lashley fan, and I have a friend who thinks Batista has been a great champ. Not being especially familiar with your own leanings, I wasn't really sure which way you were going.

 

[Tapout]

I figured as such. The problem is, it wouldn't have surprised me if you were serious. Playing devil's advocate, many people consider Christian to be an overrated midcarder. I think Cena's underrated, I think Penguin is something of a Lashley fan, and I have a friend who thinks Batista has been a great champ. Not being especially familiar with your own leanings, I wasn't really sure which way you were going.

Where have you seen Christian called an overrated midcarder? I though the only person to hold that opinion was Vince McMahon, and as we all know he's insane at this point. Lashley has a ton of potential and one day will be a great champion. Right now though he's basically ECW's only option after putting all their eggs in the RVD basket. I've all but given up on Cena and Batista.

 

[Condiment King]

I still like TNA the best out of all the mainstream wrestling these days because I like the most performers out of their roster. That and despite the fact that Impacts can be almost infomercials sometimes, the pay per views remain very entertaining.

The most frustrating thing with TNA is how crowded the main event is. People can't really be elevated because of someone coming in (Kurt Angle) or a return of someone (Scott Steiner). Do I enjoy seeing Sting and Steiner in main event matches when it could be AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels? Absolutely not.

AJ Styles has been elevated a bit with his feud with Rhino, but still, he hasn't really chased the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in forever. Christopher Daniels hasn't even seen that much; however, I am holding out hope that his current vignettes running are signs of him moving into the main event. Besides, Daniels is even older than Styles and he's seen much less acclaim in TNA. This despite the fact that Daniels has more charisma and comparable ability. I would enjoy seeing Daniels as a heel again, and I am really loving AJ Styles as a heel (although many moments are unintentionally comedic).

Sting is just over the hill. I really wished that Sting would have just ended his career with his match with Jeff Jarrett at Bound for Glory. I thought even giving Sting and Jarrett the main event at Bound for Glory was too much, especially considering how easy it would have been to have simply written Christian Cage retaining the title until then, turning heel, and losing to Samoa Joe.

Samoa Joe is way overdue for a lengthy title reign. He was set up as the #1 guy and then it was just completely botched by rushing the Joe/Angle feud. In my opinion, Samoa Joe should have taken the title, been the #1 guy and champion for a lengthy time, and then gotten into a feud with Angle over the championship. That way Angle could have been a completely obvious face, got clean wins, dramatically turn heel, and built up the match much like Sting/Hogan in 1997. However, Vince Russo just doesn't have the patience for that type of thing.

Robert Roode is being completely wasted in this feud with Eric Young, who becomes more and more legitimately annoying with each passing day. While Paparazzi Productions has been entertaining, the X Division has been less entertaining with 0 matches and charisma than it was with tons of great matches and no charisma. Not to mention, the X Division has lost AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, and Samoa Joe and have done really nothing to compensate. That is, outside of bringing in Austin Aries as goofy Austin Starr for no reason. Besides, even with the X Division stars having characters, the only ones who have really been able to incorporate it into matches has been Alex Shelley and Austin Aries.

Oh and this whole thing has only exposed how Chris Sabin might be the least charismatic of anyone in the X Division. He's fine with heelish poses and faces, but he cannot cut a heel promo if his life depended on it. That and the writing sucks. Also, I don't care about old Jerry Lynn or his feud with Mr. Sabin.

The Latin American Exchange has been great. Unfortunately, since their feud with AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels, their matches have gotten progressively worse. LAX has managed to carry AMW and Team 3D alright, but it still isn't nearly as entertaining. Konnan began as someone whose promos were unintentionally hilarious and now I think he's grown into someone who is actually very good at the mic, which is especially showing in this Team 3D feud. But maybe that's because no one else in this feud is any good with the mic.

Also, with Styles & Daniels breaking up, AMW breaking up, and the newly Franchised Naturals being abruptly scrapped, the tag division is starting to wear a bit thin as well. The Naturals are bland, yes. However, I could have seen where AMW's face turn could have kept going a little. I really don't see the point in breaking them up. Chris Harris and James Storm will never do anything as singles wrestlers, especially when guys better than them aren't.

As for company champions, I adore Christian and think he is miles better than all the other champions. I hate John Cena. I think Batista is alright but only passable in the ring and on the mic. I think Bobby Lashley has zero charisma and his matches aren't that great either. I can see why some fans might cheer Cena, Batista, and Lashley but I just don't like them at all. Whereas someone like Christian is glorious on the mic and has above average matches as well. I like some wrestlers in WWE but basically the ones that everyone here says they like: Ken Kennedy, CM Punk, Shelton Benjamin, Charlie Haas, King Booker, Finlay, etc.

Whew.

 

[#60]

I just don't get some of the hate towards the old guys here. Remember, it's not on them. They're still capable of more. They seem to get lumped into these overbooked, overhyped messes. Based on what I've seen from Sting and BPP in the ring lately, they could definitely rip out some better matches if they'd just put minutes over promos and skits and video packages.

They also could teach these young guys a thing or 2. No matter how many moves some of these guys can do, they'll never excel if they don't incorporate selling and emotion into their matches imo.

 

[James Bester]

Wrestling-wise, TNA has the best roster of any company out there. It just sucks that it has to be booked the way it is.

Kurt Angle, Christian Cage, Scott Steiner, A.J. Styles, and Samoa Joe have been booked perfectly with Vince Russo on board. But they're pretty much the only ones. That's the reason you hear Angle and Joe complimenting Russo so much during interviews. Along with Styles, Steiner, and Cage, they're the only ones recieving the correct treatment. But aside from them, the rest of the roster is booked terribly. Abyss's character has been pretty much destroyed(Whoever thought that James Mitchell should be taken away from his role needs to be shot), Sting's washed up, Raven and Serotonin come out and do the same exact crap every PPV pre-show, Team 3D all of a sudden became an extended family of Italian gangsters, the X-Division has become a laughing-stock, Lance Hoyt is in a feud with baseball players, VKM and Ron Killings are just terrible and need to leave wrestling for good(the sad thing is that they actually want to leave but can't), and every other wrestler just sits on the sidelines watching TNA fall into Hell.

Even if Vince Russo does miraculously leave, it'll take forever to fix all of the crap he's done to TNA.

 

[RAINMAN]

TNA needs some improvemnt but it still has good stuff that are watchabile. Don`t know what to make of the hate for sting? I like his feud whit abyss, althougth it is starting to drag out. It`s not like he main event every PPV. And when he does there nothing worng whit that just as long he don`t win all of them. TNA have a better tag division then all 3 WWE shows put together but they are not taking advantage of it.

And now here some Info on TNA I found on the net.

* TNA has made some major changes to their Rosters.

TNA stars removed:
Simon Diamond
David Young
Elix Skipper
Jackie Gayda
Norman Smiley

TNA stars moved to the side:
So Cal Val
Jim Cornette

TNA stars added:
Mr. Backlund
Jackie Moore
Jerry Lynn

 

[PhatMan]

You know I wouldn't be surprised if Russo is a secret Worker for Vince all these years. Think about it Russo leaves the WWE and goes to WCW what happens? It turns into crap and Vince buys it ending WCW and WWE's Competion. Now he goes to TNA he gains their trust leaves and this is hired back as a writer. What happens TNA is turning into a piece of crap I mean cmon people even TNA Marks gotta admit TNA just like WWE has its flaws.

 

[#60]

You know I wouldn't be surprised if Russo is a secret Worker for Vince all these years. Think about it Russo leaves the WWE and goes to WCW what happens? It turns into crap and Vince buys it ending WCW and WWE's Competion. Now he goes to TNA he gains their trust leaves and this is hired back as a writer. What happens TNA is turning into a piece of crap I mean cmon people even TNA Marks gotta admit TNA just like WWE has its flaws.

This reminds me of when people thought the same thing about Hall and Nash in 1998.

 

[PTurkey]

TNA stars removed:
Elix Skipper

I still can't believe TNA never gave Skipper anything after that Frankensteiner from the top of the cage. Elix gives one of the most memorable moments in TNA history, and he got nothing from it. No title reigns, no decent pushes, just a lousy tag team partner and a decent manager. TNA completely wasted Elix and that's something I have beef with in TNA that's not on Russo's head.

 

[EinBebop]

I still can't believe TNA never gave Skipper anything after that Frankensteiner from the top of the cage. Elix gives one of the most memorable moments in TNA history, and he got nothing from it. No title reigns, no decent pushes, just a lousy tag team partner and a decent manager. TNA completely wasted Elix and that's something I have beef with in TNA that's not on Russo's head.

Indeed. How about if last fall, Daniels were to have defended the title in a triple-x triple threat? In the dying days of WCW, Skipper was one of the few reasons I'd tune in. Sad to see him fade into obscurity.