Well, in my personal case, the house show I went to in Thibodaux had the scheduled BfG series match switched:
IIRC, Styles/Anderson was supposed to be the match, but with Angle's DUI knocking him off the card, Styles got shifted to Devon and Anderson faced Hardy in a throwaway match. Also IIRC, the whole card was scrambled because of Angle, except for the KO match.
Yes, because we've already gone through one WWE "monopoly" on TV.
Seeing SOMETHING different, even if only in the wrestlers involved at times, is a GOOD thing. I can easily say that if TNA were to close down this week or month, I'd have no problem walking away from "new" wrestling for good.
Does it really matter? I doubt even the most die hard "it's still real to me" TNA fan has kept track of how many matches have occurred in the series and how many should be left.
Angle's rehab fucked a lot of TNA's plans up, I think, but then:
1. Angle going to rehab (court mandated or voluntarily) was inevitable and TNA just ignored it, thinking they could play the odds. He's been a total mess forever.
2. The BFG series is just not a workable idea. I like tournaments, but single elimination ones work because if you're paying attention, you're like "oh, cool, he won. He gotta face that guy in the next round. Should be a good one." A guy wins in the BFG series and unless you have a goddamned flowchart handy, you have no idea what that MEANS overall unless it's near the end and only 3 guys have a shot at winning. Even when they tell you the standings, it's like "OK, so he's gotta beat a few other top level guys and he'll get a title shot. Isn't that how wrestling works anyway?"
I just got my teaching license And I felt awful as I was doing it, because I was always planning as I went and writing my lessons on the fly. Clearly the best thing to do would be to write out several solid unit plans so I could know where I was going. Yet I look at WWE and TNA and they make me feel little better because it's reassuring to know that these multi-million and multi-hundred dollar companies frequently demonstrate even worse organizational skills than I had.
Ha yea. My original about "does anyone still care" was asked more out of ignorance. I only watch tna in passing and it seems like everyone is just waiting for it to die.
Plus any chance to mention Scott Steiner math is a bonus
You know what would make it acceptable? Split the BfG mass into two smaller groups. Six each, top two make the BfG finals. Then you're not stuck in a HUGE cluster, as each wrestler only needs 5 singles matches and maybe one six-man match for bigger points.
The main ended up being Sabin/Roode for the world title.
Also, Hardy/Anderson was a pretty good opening match that played the crowd real well. They wrestled for a set of backstage passes, if Hardy won the fans would get them, if Anderson won he'd wipe his ass with them. Or something like that. I'm pretty sure you can guess who won.
As a teacher, let me tell you that most of the time going on the fly is just as good as planning shit out. I've been doing it for six years... fake it til you make it, buddy.
IIRC, Stephen King mentions in his "on writing" book that he writes without a pre-made table of content. He has an idea, some characters in the world and a possible ending (which can change) as he writes the book on the fly, if you will.
They are so creatively bankrupt at this point, they might as well just fold the BFG series altogether.
What was the point of Sabin getting the title anyways for a lil over a month, only to drop it right back?
The end game was always Bully. He should have just steamrolled until you figured out who was gonna be your chosen one instead of throwing shit to the wall to see if it sticks.
Now guess what
AJ... isnt over Sabin... isnt over Storm... isnt over Abyss/Parks... isnt over.
They have effectively killed every babyface off.
Just like another promotion I had a strong affinity for.
I said this was going to happen in what April? May?
I have been teaching (7th grade world history) for 10 years and I have no exact lesson plan for what I am doing tomorrow until 8am. I mainly do improv. I have done this for so long that I have photocopies for the next 2 weeks of material that I don't need to plan anything out. If something runs short, bring out the next photocopy, do some review, or give the kids freetime.
Or just make it an actual round-robin tournament, instead of assigning confusing, and seemingly arbitrary point-values to the matches. It just goes by win-loss record, period. The wrestler with the best record wins. They could keep the standings up to date on their website, and show it every week on Impact, a la Sportscenter. Instead of a "games behind" column, it's "matches behind". You could lift a million angles from organized sports, with wrestlers starting fast, or getting hot late and making runs, or collapsing at the end. That it roughly follows the baseball season is a bit of serendipity too.
If two wrestlers end up tied, we have a sudden-death match. If three do, it's a triple threat, etc. This opens up all sorts of booking flexibility. If you want to book someone as a monster, they just plow through the field, no playoff necessary. If you want two guys to look strong, and set up something down the road between them, they tie.
I'd also lower the entrants to 10. That gives you 45 matches, and shaves off the deadweight in the field. You could run one match every Impact, house show, and PPV from June to September; saving the biggest matches for PPV, then Impact, then house shows. You could have the announce team cover the house show results on Impact when they go over the standings, with accompanying still photos. Maybe this would even give house show business a bump during the summer?
There are 66 matches needed to complete the Round Robin (not counting bonuses). Between house shows, Impacts, and Xplosions they've done 30 of them so far, which leaves 36 remaining.
It should be noted that this method is what led to the endings of Needful Things, Under the Dome and Desperation among others. He writes without an end game in mind and wants his characters to work things out on their own. Occasionally they don't.
What a difference a year makes. At this time last year, I was actually watching the show again, the talent was doing great and it seemed like they were making their peace with just being the best alternative they can offer.
Now, they're not just a car wreck, they're the goddamn police car pile-up from The Blues Brothers.
King may start off books that way - but once he does have an end game in mind, he can go back and organize things to tell the story he wants.
Starting stories without any end in mind doesn't work well for weekly TV. You may have some interesting ideas, but eventually people want a payoff and will turn it off once they realize none is coming. Exhibit A: The X-Files. Exhibit B: Lost. And if you want a wrestling equivalent: The Black Scorpion.
Bring back the 6 side ring, bring back the tunnel entrance, bring back Don West and the towel swinging black fan. Have a roster of only who was employed in 2005-2007.
Maybe then I could atleast attempt to give a shit about this promotion.
Or pull a Chikara, and instead have the Panda Energy panda come out, and literally shut the show down.
The only way to save TNA is to book Hulk Hogan to beat the winner of the Bound For Glory Series in a match where their title shot is on the line and have Hulk challenge Bully Ray to a Yappapi Indian Strap match for the TNA Title... and by saving it, I actually mean put it out of it's misery like putting sick kittens in a sack full of rocks and tossing in it in a river!
The problem with the Black Scorpion was they unveiled him.
Anybody could the Black Scorpion, had they not tried the unveil him. It was damn near 4 months of build-up.
It could have been any journeyman jobber who could work. Give Sting a good match and beat him clean as a sheet. Even if they did unveil the jobber, they could go "Its Jobber Jones!!! JOBBER JONES WAS THE BLACK SCORPION THE WHOLE TIME"
If they put it over strong on TV enough, that jobber would have been MADE in defeat.
WCW's braintrust wanted to go for shock value and they had nobody of a name who could pay it off.
I cite another blunder: Lance Von Erich
Dallas knew Lance wasn't a real Von Erich, so instead of blackballing him, they could have just said that his fabricated the story himself, because Waldo wasn't around, and aligned himself with the "NEW" Freebirds.
Well, Lance was 'blackballed' because he quit WCCW without notice and joined another promotion operating out of the Dallas area. So there was little to no chance of them bringing him back in.
As for the Scorpion - from the beginning the angle was based around the idea that Scorpion was some mysterious figure from Sting's past, with the implication that it was a former wrestling rival or partner out for revenge. That's why unmasking him was such a big deal, and why starting the angle without having anyone in mind for the payoff was such a disaster.
I'm so confused by this company. TNA in 2013 had that cool WCW 1997 feel going on for a while but quite abruptly turned into WCW 2000 in the matter of weeks. At least it took WCW YEARS to finally fall apart.
Yeah, According to Wikipedia (so take it for what it's worth) Lance quit WCCW without notice over a pay dispute and joined a promotion called Wild West Wrestling, which included a lot of other former WCCW guys. That's when Fritz announced that Lance wasn't a Von Erich. Wild West folded and most of the guys came back to WCCW on good terms - except for Lance, since Fritz was pissed over how Lance had left.
There's a new Triple H DVD coming out, and the verbal blowjobs are REALLY getting out of hand. He's now the "Michael Jordan of WWE" and a "Hall of Fame human being".
King does occasionally have an endgame set, particularly with the Dark Tower series. The hints were there in the very beginning. Of course, the ending is very much a love it/hate it deal with fans (I personally love it, though didn't care so much for the additions SK put in after getting hit by that van...or the confrontation between the Crimson King and Roland)
That's comforting advice. The other students in my cohort were always going on about how they were spending every spare second working on their lesson plans and had completely abandoned their social lives, which is a lifestyle I just don't think I can assimilate myself too, even if that's what it takes. Then again, it seems people love nothing more than to talk about how busy they are and how hard they're working, so maybe I was just being a little more honest with myself about how life works after the bell rings.
I didn't find a job this semester, but I saw enough in my student teaching to appreciate how tough you have to be to do it. Congratulations on being six years in! Good luck on returning for another round.
I totally agree on the Scorpion. They could have made a new top heel if they'd put a good worker (maybe someone like Brad Armstrong or Terry Taylor) under the mask and let him continue to torment Sting and escape unmasking. In the meantime they could have booked him strong against jobbers, moved him into new feuds, and let him be a lingering menace in a slow-burn angle against Sting. Kane is a perfect example of how this could have worked. Imagine if Taker had unmasked Kane immediately after Badd Blood, and it was revealed that the whole thing was just Isaac Yankem playing mind-games. I don't think a 15 year career would have been in the cards for the Artist Formerly Known as Fake Diesel. Instead they maintained the character and have gotten a lot of mileage out of it.
I loved Wolves of the Calla as a stand alone novel and loved the ending as well. Hated, like you, what he did to the Almighty Crimson King. What a let down. Also wasn't to happy the way RF went out. It was a mixed bag and really with King didn't rush to finish it after the accident. Overall though, still a fantastic series. The first 4 books (especially the 4th) are pretty awesome.
It's great to hear this stuff. In my student teaching it felt like there was so much pressure to spend every second preparing. I totally failed to do so, and I seemed to get by alright by working on the fly, but I felt somewhat guilty about it.
At this rate in 20 years the HHH stories are going to be more exaggerated than Hogan's accounts of his heyday. At least pretend like you're not blowing yourself, dude.
"You could lift a million angles from organized team sports, with wrestlers starting fast, or getting hot late and making runs, or collapsing at the end. That it roughly follows the baseball season is a bit of serendipity too."
Call me crazy, but if that was the case, I'd love to see TNA recreate the final day of the 2011 MLB season.
I have nothing against Bully, but in my humble opinion it's harder to run a guy who was known as a midcarder for nearly 15 years as your top heel. It looks bush league to old WWE fans (casual fans. AFAIK, smarks like him).
They should've stuck with Aries as their guy. He's a fresh face, he looks like a more athletic Rick Rude, he's a great wrestler, and he's the best example of TNA's wrestling style. Bully's great, but he should be at the cusp of world champion under someone else.
Its harder to run a guy who was known as a midcarder for nearly 15 years as your top heel IN THE SAME PROMOTION.
JBL.
People look at his reign on top fondly now, but going through it, it was terrible. The promos came towards the endonce he obviously got comfortable in the role..
Bully leaving the WWE and going to a smaller promotion like TNA is cool in my book. He reinvented himself. Took damn near 5-6 years but it was done. He couldnt have done it day one stepping into TNA, so it was a progress. I will also say he never got the high profile wins once he split the team but his promo work kept him over in the midcard.
You look at the roster top to bottom and see who was going to lead this Aces and 8s stable. Im not saying Bully fi exactly given the storyline built up but they did their finest storytelling tying it all together through those youtube clips.
A poster on the BoD said that they thought it could have been Abyss in a Tyler Durden type role and I would have bought it completely. Given the Parks persona he had, could have thrown off he scent and obviously he had the chops to play it off. So whomever gave that idea all those months back. I salute you, cuz that was probably the best angle I have ever heard.
But given the options they had:
Roode (heel, could have used them as hired goons but ultimately didnt fit) Hardy (face, more of a loner) Aries (who was the champ before Hardy) Sting/Hogan (both had just been the heads of the last two factions MeM and Immortal respectively)
Bully felt like the best choice and needed the belt to solidify his status.
On a smaller note, getting rid of the six-sided ring was a bad idea, too. It's weird, but it's not a goofy concept at all. They can't beat WWE at their own game, they have to do everything in their power to be different.
Come to think of it, they're not playing WWE's game. With Sting, Bischoff and Hogan it looks more like WCW. They're better of ripping off ECW, at least you'd get more of the 18-34 demo.
C'mon. The size of the ring did not bring in or lose any fans. A 4 sided ring or a 6 sided ring, if the product is good then people will watch. No one person will lose interest because they changed the size of the ring.
What is seemingly innocuous can be symptomatic of the disease.
Die hard wrestling fans (or just TNA fans) will watch the show if the production is poor, if the angles go nowhere and if they can't book the show properly. Just running a wrestling company is preaching to the choir.
With that in mind, at no point were they encroaching in on WWE's audience. Ultimately, they've failed at gaining an audience. It's sad because while I'm ambivalent to TNA, I wanted them to succeed.
The six-sided ring was at least unique to wrestling (I think). It's one step towards a casual fan catching it while flipping through the channels and going, "wait, what's this?" but Bischoff and/or Hogan canned that. At a point I think they were trying to cultivate a legitimate women's division, but they're really not much better than the Divas. The X Division shit was a smart thing to promote, but you'd have slugs like Jarrett remaining the primary focus... or something stupid, like the Aces.
Most egregious of all, they'd get guys like RVD and Hardy and... what? If they couldn't figure out a way to utilize and promote them in a way that gets attention, then maybe their downfall is deserved.
...So anyway, yes, a six-sided ring won't *keep* people watching, but it was an intriguing premise that didn't matter anyway because they tried too hard to be WWE Lite.
TNA defines the phrase "two steps forward, one step back". Or maybe it's "one step forward, two steps back". I can't really tell any more.
I loved BSG, loved it like crazy, until the last 2/3 episodes. Hell, up until the last like, 15 fucking minutes I still had /hope/ that they weren't just gonna go "...and then all the baddies dies and everyone else just chilled. The end."
Yeah, that's how you keep an audience's attention: a drawn out, convoluted tournament that requires hiring a monkey trained in arithmetic in order to keep up. It's like watching wrestling, but you have to be in a fantasy football league just to make sense of it.
RIP, professional wrestling. TNA tried being a wrestling show for a good year. All hail Sports Fucking Entertainment. Spike piledrive me into the concrete, please.
I do understand what you are saying and I respect your opinion. But here is where I am coming from: From 2007 up to fall of 2009, TNA was awful to watch because of Vince Russo having his hands all over the show. The six sided ring was still there. It was not until October of 2009 when Desmond Wolfe made his TNA debut and for the remainder of the year of 2009, TNA was putting on grest wrestling matches with guys like Wolfe, Kurt Angle, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels. Those guys put on grest matches in a six sided ring and in a normal sized ring. Good talent and a good product always finds a way. The ring did not matter. That was my point.
I loved the crowds from 2005-2006. They always did these odd things, like starting a chant for Abyss that went "Woaaahhh Abyyyssss, woaaaahhh, Aaabbyyyssss".
Oh yeah, because that's so much worse than you endlessly pontificating about your Corvette being sucked into a black hole that one time.
Let me tell you something, Andy: NOBODY CARES about your Corvette, and NOBODY CARES about black holes. Everyone laughs about it behind your back, even that pygmy amputee you call a calligraphy teacher. Your life is DULL, Andrew!
In the last year... he's been mostly useful. Figurehead GM in the vein of Jack Tunney/Gorilla Monsoon: I'm fine with that. Lets him enjoy a little more spotlight, but hopefully doesn't override the actual wrestlers/wrestling.
On the other hand... him and Sting getting the first "victory" over A&8, when no one else seemed to have any chance: BAD. BAD HOGAN.
I don't have a problem with this. They are going for AJ vs. Bully I'd wager. That's fine with me. Have the Aces lose a Lockdown match against the Mafia in a Losing Team Disbands match at Bound For Glory and have Styles win the title from Bully.
So TNA after BFG would have AJ as World Champion and Aces would be gone. Works for me.
Okay... I'll list what's wrong with this so far, beyond just the post above.
1: The BfG Series was apparently so poorly timed/scheduled/run, that only HALF of the matches were completed. I'd put this on par with the 2011 series, where the wrestlers had varying amounts of matches, some getting nearly twice as many as others.
2: Unless last Thursday's AJ "turn" was a one time only thing, they've either abandoned the "No One" AJ push (which was seriously flawed already, but that's another point), or Russorific booking at its FINEST.
3: AJ/Bully might have worked fine, if AJ's not been quite the afterthought since his return. Now, I'd rather see about half the field win BfG OTHER THAN AJ. Not good, TNA.
4: Aces are damn near dead already, since Devon was apparently more expendable than Knux or the bitches. (No, not Brooke.) They've been mishandled pretty much since shortly after Bully won the world title, with a few exceptions.
I could go on, but it's making me actually angry at how TNA's mishandled the last couple months. And I'm trying to keep a little hope that TNA can maybe, by some miracle, pull a miracle out their ass and come into and out of BfG with SOMETHING to hold my interest.
Aside from them running out of time to do all the matches, which is totally a fuck-up but in the end who cares— I mean, are fans actually keeping track of this?— to me the bigger fuck-up is that the babyface they've set up to win this is AJ-freakin-STYLES.
Jesus Christ, this is exactly why TNA remains in the shitter. They spend a year building up this heel champion (because, ya know, all TNA has done for 10 years is run with cheating heel champions), and they also have this huge tournament designed to put ANYONE on the roster over strong to face said heel champion...and who do they go with? A guy who's been around forever and has never gotten over outside of the hardcore TNA audience, has no breakout potential, and whom THEY DON"T EVEN HAVE UNDER CONTRACT past September. Also, let's say AJ wins it and let's say he does sign a one-year extension with TNA— does anyone, even the most hardcore AJ supporters, think this does jackshit for TNA's growth? Is anyone going to become more interested in TNA because Aj Styles, who again has been there forever and is coming off a horribly botched run as "Emo AJ", is now the champ?
It's their mistakes from last year all over again. They run with a heel champ for a year, have things all set up to build a round a young babyface star in either James Storm or Austin Aries...and instead Jeff Hardy gets a token 3 month reign that nobody cares about. And now Storm is pretty much a lost cause, and Aries has been dicking around as a midcard heel all year. (Which, let's be honest, is probably where AJ will end up this time next year if TNA's still in business— a midcard heel.)
So rant summary, the problem with TNA is that the BFG Series should have revolved 100% around getting over a new superface that could win the title and give fans something new to look forward to.
Now, all that said, Magnus is the guy who's actually in the lead, right? If Magnus does actually win this thing then GOOD ON TNA. Magnus should be the guy who beats Bully and gets a long run as champ. He's not the greatest wrestler in the world or the most over, but at least he's something new.
On that one, I look back to his return at Slammiversary. Losing clean to Angle? Really? That should've not just been a warning, but a clear signal that things were about to hit the shitter,
I think what AJ's character was missing was the Peter Parker emo strut from Spiderman 3. His music hits, he struts to the ring, does a little dance, spins around, lays someone out and struts back up the ramp.
I disagree with the Magnus = Sabin line. I think people can rally behind Magnus as a good champ, and it (intentionally?) puts the MEM back into an "champions" club... if we count Rampage's UFC titles that is.
They'll respond in that AJ will get the token "hey that guy we've been watching for 10 years won. Good for him. Ehhh...what else is on?" reaction. But will anyone really care enough to stay totally invested in the saga of champion AJ, the guy who can't talk, has no consistent character, and who's been booked as a midcarder for a decade?
Magnus is a barely over unproven draw. Well, then tehy need to GET HIM OVER. He's at least a blank slate. He doesn't have the stink of mediocrity on him. At the least, he has potential to break out. And if he doesn't, well then they're probably in the same spot they'd be in with AJ Styles anyway, drawing the same exact ratings and PPV numbers.
No One AJ laying out Storm with the Magic Hoodie Clothesline: Good. No One AJ taking the cheap shot at Angle, then getting part of Aces with the same hammer: Also good. No One AJ becoming "just another roster member" since Slammiversary: BAD.
AJ's just another face who won't get over huge, and therefore allow Hogan to keep the spotlight as the actual face of the company because "these guys just aren't getting over, brotha."
Again, AJ as champ has zero chance to move the needle. And it's not like the bottom's gonna drop out because they run with an unproven guy as champ. Sabin had the belt for a month and shit stayed exactly the same.
And as for teh Magnus-Sabin comparisons, to me it's not even close. Sabin's been portrayed as a lucky skinny little bitch who flippitty flops around. Magnus at least is A) a big dude, and B) Has gotten the Angle/Sting endorsement. That already puts him in a way better position than Sabin to draw.
No I don't expect them to ever be able to right the ship. If John Cena walked into Dixie's office tomorrow I doubt TNA could right the ship.
But I again think there's a CHANCE for something with Magnus, where there's zero, absolute zero chance, for anything to grow with another Styles push.
And, I ask this honestly because I can't confess to watching everything TNA, is Magnus really a guy who "can barely work"? I remember him having a good series with Joe last year and at BFG. And everytime I catch him on Impact he seems pretty impressive— nice variety of power moves, isn't clunky or anything. I definitely think Magnus-Bully could be a fun power brawl, especially since you KNOW there's gonna be tons of run ins and crazy spots in that match anyway. (Same as there would be if it's Styles-Bully— that main event is gonna be 50% run-ins.)
And again, AJ as champ has zero momentum either. By December the belt will either be back on Bully, or Roode or another heel, and AJ will again take his rightful place in teh midcard.
Magnus as champ could tank, in the sense that fans don't rally behind him. But there's a potential for break-out that doesn't exist with AJ, and so I really think they should go all in on that. And Christ, TNA should grow a set of balls and actually go the extra mile to make someone new. Magnus is a big tough dude who is fine in teh ring and whom doesn't have that "TNA mediocrity" stink on him yet. Build up some heels and have him mow them down. And if the fans are turning on Magnus after a few months and it's not working, he could drop the belt to Roode or whoever Styles would have lost it to anyway. And I'm guessing they'll still be around their same .9-1.0 rating even if Magnus "bombs."
TNA has spent 10 years going with the "safe bet" of has-beens. It's time they go all-in on someone with potential, or else the whole Bully heel push is just a gigantic waste of time.
It's baffling that they had this tournament on the books for months, no one involved in it has gotten hurt, and they still didn't book the thing out to properly conclude on the show they wanted it to end on. The whole thing should've been booked out from Day 1, but obviously that's not the case.
I really don't think it matters at this point who you put the title on at this point in time with where the company is. No one is going to turn business around at an appreciable level with the angles that they're running.
So, have him spend his title reign having matches with guys who are better than him. Joe/Styles/Roode/Aries/Daniels/Kaz/Angle. Magnus vs any of those guys should be a really good match. Does it matter whether the burden is on Magnus or his opponent? (Especially since Magnus would be teh face, therefore spending the match selling and making fiery comebacks.)
I mean, Cena's whole first title reign was about him being carried by better veteran opponents, like Jericho, Christian, Angle, etc.
It's not like Magnus needs to main event a PPV carrying Crimson to a 4-star match.
What are we missing here? They did the whole series so well and competent last year, among other things, and now it's a giant bumbling clusterfuck. Angles are being dropped left and right...is it all because of the sudden pay cuts? Hogan and Bisch were there last year and it was fine. Was an email from Panda saying "cut $______.00 out of your budget please" all it took to make everything dissolve into complete shit?
Trying to run with AJ Styles YET AGAIN as champion is, to me at least, settling for mediocrity. Styles is the definition of same old shit that hasn't worked before and won't suddenly start working now— especially with how awful his character/story has been this year.
When I say Magnus isn't the greatest wrestler or most over, I mean because he A) Is fairly new, so obviously doesn't have the experience yet. But the tools are there. And B) It's not like he's gotten some giant push from TNA and had it rejected by the fans— he's as over as he should be based on the booking.
My main point in all this is that TNA running with another year of either WWE rejects or a heel on top is TNA settling for the same mediocre shit they've been doing their entire existence. They absolutely need to pick a new guy, give him a face push, and fucking run with that person for awhile.
James Storm absolutely should have been that guy last year. They changed direction, put the title on Aries, and then promptly fucked him up too. Those guys are out. They're not gonna go with Joe. So in my opinion, the right move here is a rocket push for Magnus and see if he catches on.
Or, ya know, AJ Styles. Cause I'm sure that'll put asses in the seats.
have they not been doing anything on house shows? always have before
ReplyDeleteCome on Scott, it's not like they're going to shoot those matches in a empty TV studio where the winner has to climb a pole and grab a turkey.
ReplyDeleteI blame the dirt sheets that Bischoff hates so much. IT'S ALL DAVE'S FAULT.
ReplyDeleteWell, in my personal case, the house show I went to in Thibodaux had the scheduled BfG series match switched:
ReplyDeleteIIRC, Styles/Anderson was supposed to be the match, but with Angle's DUI knocking him off the card, Styles got shifted to Devon and Anderson faced Hardy in a throwaway match. Also IIRC, the whole card was scrambled because of Angle, except for the KO match.
Does anyone really care about TNA at this point?
ReplyDeleteYes, because we've already gone through one WWE "monopoly" on TV.
ReplyDeleteSeeing SOMETHING different, even if only in the wrestlers involved at times, is a GOOD thing. I can easily say that if TNA were to close down this week or month, I'd have no problem walking away from "new" wrestling for good.
Does it really matter? I doubt even the most die hard "it's still real to me" TNA fan has kept track of how many matches have occurred in the series and how many should be left.
ReplyDeleteNice edit.
ReplyDeleteThat's true... but it's still disappointing. There are still "decent" matchups left most likely, ones that'll be dropped.
ReplyDeleteAngle's rehab fucked a lot of TNA's plans up, I think, but then:
ReplyDelete1. Angle going to rehab (court mandated or voluntarily) was inevitable and TNA just ignored it, thinking they could play the odds. He's been a total mess forever.
2. The BFG series is just not a workable idea. I like tournaments, but single elimination ones work because if you're paying attention, you're like "oh, cool, he won. He gotta face that guy in the next round. Should be a good one." A guy wins in the BFG series and unless you have a goddamned flowchart handy, you have no idea what that MEANS overall unless it's near the end and only 3 guys have a shot at winning. Even when they tell you the standings, it's like "OK, so he's gotta beat a few other top level guys and he'll get a title shot. Isn't that how wrestling works anyway?"
I just got my teaching license And I felt awful as I was doing it, because I was always planning as I went and writing my lessons on the fly. Clearly the best thing to do would be to write out several solid unit plans so I could know where I was going. Yet I look at WWE and TNA and they make me feel little better because it's reassuring to know that these multi-million and multi-hundred dollar companies frequently demonstrate even worse organizational skills than I had.
ReplyDeleteHa yea. My original about "does anyone still care" was asked more out of ignorance. I only watch tna in passing and it seems like everyone is just waiting for it to die.
ReplyDeletePlus any chance to mention Scott Steiner math is a bonus
You know what would make it acceptable? Split the BfG mass into two smaller groups. Six each, top two make the BfG finals. Then you're not stuck in a HUGE cluster, as each wrestler only needs 5 singles matches and maybe one six-man match for bigger points.
ReplyDeleteStupid booking. Hardy vs. Devon would have been a good enough match for a house show co-main event.
ReplyDeleteThe main ended up being Sabin/Roode for the world title.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Hardy/Anderson was a pretty good opening match that played the crowd real well. They wrestled for a set of backstage passes, if Hardy won the fans would get them, if Anderson won he'd wipe his ass with them. Or something like that. I'm pretty sure you can guess who won.
Clearly if Dave weren't pointing out how stupid they were, no one would notice.
ReplyDeleteAlso, they're a wrestling promotion. FAKE THAT SHIT.
ReplyDeleteSomeone tell Bischoff Pat Patterson really didn't win a tournament in Rio De Janerio.
In TNA's case, they've ALWAYS been like that. Catch them at a good time, and it's fun. Start in at a bad time... and it's death.
ReplyDeleteWWE USED to be a lot more "long-term"... but there's one casualty of the "Monday Night Wars/TV is more than a vehicle to promote house shows" booking.
As a teacher, let me tell you that most of the time going on the fly is just as good as planning shit out. I've been doing it for six years... fake it til you make it, buddy.
ReplyDeleteHere's something different.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22EHOmtWNwI&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D22EHOmtWNwI&nomobile=1
It's different, so it's a GOOD thing! ;)
But it's... not wrestling.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'd like to hear #1-7.
It's...different from wrestling. Which makes it good.
ReplyDeleteIIRC, Stephen King mentions in his "on writing" book that he writes without a pre-made table of content. He has an idea, some characters in the world and a possible ending (which can change) as he writes the book on the fly, if you will.
ReplyDeleteNow you have me following Simpsons Youtube links. Damnit.
ReplyDeleteBut hearing Ralph Wiggum's nuggets of nowledge (fresh from the nose, most likely) is never a bad thing.
They are so creatively bankrupt at this point, they might as well just fold the BFG series altogether.
ReplyDeleteWhat was the point of Sabin getting the title anyways for a lil over a month, only to drop it right back?
The end game was always Bully. He should have just steamrolled until you figured out who was gonna be your chosen one instead of throwing shit to the wall to see if it sticks.
Now guess what
AJ... isnt over
Sabin... isnt over
Storm... isnt over
Abyss/Parks... isnt over.
They have effectively killed every babyface off.
Just like another promotion I had a strong affinity for.
I said this was going to happen in what April? May?
I have been teaching (7th grade world history) for 10 years and I have no exact lesson plan for what I am doing tomorrow until 8am. I mainly do improv. I have done this for so long that I have photocopies for the next 2 weeks of material that I don't need to plan anything out. If something runs short, bring out the next photocopy, do some review, or give the kids freetime.
ReplyDeleteOr just make it an actual round-robin tournament, instead of assigning confusing, and seemingly arbitrary point-values to the matches. It just goes by win-loss record, period. The wrestler with the best record wins. They could keep the standings up to date on their website, and show it every week on Impact, a la Sportscenter. Instead of a "games behind" column, it's "matches behind". You could lift a million angles from organized sports, with wrestlers starting fast, or getting hot late and making runs, or collapsing at the end. That it roughly follows the baseball season is a bit of serendipity too.
ReplyDeleteIf two wrestlers end up tied, we have a sudden-death match. If three do, it's a triple threat, etc. This opens up all sorts of booking flexibility. If you want to book someone as a monster, they just plow through the field, no playoff necessary. If you want two guys to look strong, and set up something down the road between them, they tie.
I'd also lower the entrants to 10. That gives you 45 matches, and shaves off the deadweight in the field. You could run one match every Impact, house show, and PPV from June to September; saving the biggest matches for PPV, then Impact, then house shows. You could have the announce team cover the house show results on Impact when they go over the standings, with accompanying still photos. Maybe this would even give house show business a bump during the summer?
I actually have :-(
ReplyDeleteThere are 66 matches needed to complete the Round Robin (not counting bonuses). Between house shows, Impacts, and Xplosions they've done 30 of them so far, which leaves 36 remaining.
See? We're both right!
ReplyDeleteNumber eight
Damn... that's just BAD. I know they don't run a old school territory schedule, but 30 matches in this time isn't good.
ReplyDeleteIt should be noted that this method is what led to the endings of Needful Things, Under the Dome and Desperation among others. He writes without an end game in mind and wants his characters to work things out on their own. Occasionally they don't.
ReplyDeleteWhat a difference a year makes. At this time last year, I was actually watching the show again, the talent was doing great and it seemed like they were making their peace with just being the best alternative they can offer.
ReplyDeleteNow, they're not just a car wreck, they're the goddamn police car pile-up from The Blues Brothers.
There are no PPVs from June to September anymore. Just sayin'. EVERYTHING'S FINE.
ReplyDelete(Also I think 8 works better than 10 but that's just me)
King may start off books that way - but once he does have an end game in mind, he can go back and organize things to tell the story he wants.
ReplyDeleteStarting stories without any end in mind doesn't work well for weekly TV. You may have some interesting ideas, but eventually people want a payoff and will turn it off once they realize none is coming. Exhibit A: The X-Files. Exhibit B: Lost. And if you want a wrestling equivalent: The Black Scorpion.
Depends on whether or not they hire Russo again.
ReplyDeleteBring back the 6 side ring, bring back the tunnel entrance, bring back Don West and the towel swinging black fan. Have a roster of only who was employed in 2005-2007.
ReplyDeleteMaybe then I could atleast attempt to give a shit about this promotion.
Or pull a Chikara, and instead have the Panda Energy panda come out, and literally shut the show down.
Don't get me started on the death of long-term booking thanks to the Monday Night Wars.
ReplyDeleteFor as fun as that time period was, it did a lot of long term damage to THE BUSINESS, for me at least.
Completely agree. Sometimes, his endings don't live up to the rest of the novel. I do disagree with the ending to Needful Things though.
ReplyDeleteThe only way to save TNA is to book Hulk Hogan to beat the winner of the Bound For Glory Series in a match where their title shot is on the line and have Hulk challenge Bully Ray to a Yappapi Indian Strap match for the TNA Title... and by saving it, I actually mean put it out of it's misery like putting sick kittens in a sack full of rocks and tossing in it in a river!
ReplyDeleteThe black dude swinging towel guy was awesome.
ReplyDeleteIf he swung two towels u know the match was a classic
What's funny is, if you stop watching X-Files at the end of season 6, you'll be ok.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with the Black Scorpion was they unveiled him.
ReplyDeleteAnybody could the Black Scorpion, had they not tried the unveil him. It was damn near 4 months of build-up.
It could have been any journeyman jobber who could work. Give Sting a good match and beat him clean as a sheet. Even if they did unveil the jobber, they could go "Its Jobber Jones!!! JOBBER JONES WAS THE BLACK SCORPION THE WHOLE TIME"
If they put it over strong on TV enough, that jobber would have been MADE in defeat.
WCW's braintrust wanted to go for shock value and they had nobody of a name who could pay it off.
I cite another blunder: Lance Von Erich
Dallas knew Lance wasn't a real Von Erich, so instead of blackballing him, they could have just said that his fabricated the story himself, because Waldo wasn't around, and aligned himself with the "NEW" Freebirds.
He had the heat, they might as well went with it.
Well, Lance was 'blackballed' because he quit WCCW without notice and joined another promotion operating out of the Dallas area. So there was little to no chance of them bringing him back in.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Scorpion - from the beginning the angle was based around the idea that Scorpion was some mysterious figure from Sting's past, with the implication that it was a former wrestling rival or partner out for revenge. That's why unmasking him was such a big deal, and why starting the angle without having anyone in mind for the payoff was such a disaster.
I'm so confused by this company. TNA in 2013 had that cool WCW 1997 feel going on for a while but quite abruptly turned into WCW 2000 in the matter of weeks. At least it took WCW YEARS to finally fall apart.
ReplyDeleteThat I didn't know about Lance.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Scorpion though. It was still 90, anybody could have been booked to be his mysterious partner/rival from the past.
Yeah, According to Wikipedia (so take it for what it's worth) Lance quit WCCW without notice over a pay dispute and joined a promotion called Wild West Wrestling, which included a lot of other former WCCW guys. That's when Fritz announced that Lance wasn't a Von Erich. Wild West folded and most of the guys came back to WCCW on good terms - except for Lance, since Fritz was pissed over how Lance had left.
ReplyDeleteI still remember his problem with the Stand, and his solution was to "blow up half the characters he created".
ReplyDeleteRandom threadjack:
ReplyDeleteThere's a new Triple H DVD coming out, and the verbal blowjobs are REALLY getting out of hand. He's now the "Michael Jordan of WWE" and a "Hall of Fame human being".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08rVRKq7gKY
"What a giant clusterfuck this promotion is becoming."
ReplyDeleteWait, there was a point where this promotion wasn't a giant clusterfuck?
King does occasionally have an endgame set, particularly with the Dark Tower series. The hints were there in the very beginning. Of course, the ending is very much a love it/hate it deal with fans (I personally love it, though didn't care so much for the additions SK put in after getting hit by that van...or the confrontation between the Crimson King and Roland)
ReplyDeleteCrimson King was so disappointing.
ReplyDeleteThat's comforting advice. The other students in my cohort were always going on about how they were spending every spare second working on their lesson plans and had completely abandoned their social lives, which is a lifestyle I just don't think I can assimilate myself too, even if that's what it takes. Then again, it seems people love nothing more than to talk about how busy they are and how hard they're working, so maybe I was just being a little more honest with myself about how life works after the bell rings.
ReplyDeleteI didn't find a job this semester, but I saw enough in my student teaching to appreciate how tough you have to be to do it. Congratulations on being six years in! Good luck on returning for another round.
Now Scott, don't be harsh here. We should let this play out and see where it goes.
ReplyDelete"He's now the "Michael Jordan of WWE""
ReplyDeleteDave Batista, I love you dude, but.......no.
Yeah, I think people just like to bitch. Being busy is almost a badge of honor, which is kind of screwed up. Give me efficiency and free time any day.
ReplyDeleteAnd I echo jvc - my course reviews are virtually identical regardless of how much effort I've put into the class.
Exhibit C: Battlestar Galactica. Thank goodness DS9 avoided this pitfall.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree on the Scorpion. They could have made a new top heel if they'd put a good worker (maybe someone like Brad Armstrong or Terry Taylor) under the mask and let him continue to torment Sting and escape unmasking. In the meantime they could have booked him strong against jobbers, moved him into new feuds, and let him be a lingering menace in a slow-burn angle against Sting. Kane is a perfect example of how this could have worked. Imagine if Taker had unmasked Kane immediately after Badd Blood, and it was revealed that the whole thing was just Isaac Yankem playing mind-games. I don't think a 15 year career would have been in the cards for the Artist Formerly Known as Fake Diesel. Instead they maintained the character and have gotten a lot of mileage out of it.
ReplyDeleteI loved Wolves of the Calla as a stand alone novel and loved the ending as well. Hated, like you, what he did to the Almighty Crimson King. What a let down. Also wasn't to happy the way RF went out. It was a mixed bag and really with King didn't rush to finish it after the accident. Overall though, still a fantastic series. The first 4 books (especially the 4th) are pretty awesome.
ReplyDeleteIt's great to hear this stuff. In my student teaching it felt like there was so much pressure to spend every second preparing. I totally failed to do so, and I seemed to get by alright by working on the fly, but I felt somewhat guilty about it.
ReplyDeleteAt this rate in 20 years the HHH stories are going to be more exaggerated than Hogan's accounts of his heyday. At least pretend like you're not blowing yourself, dude.
ReplyDeleteYou don't get it. The point of Sabin winning the title was... uh... um... title changes are awesome, right?
ReplyDeleteYeah, because it's always nice to compare teaching children to companies that are falling apart at the seams.
ReplyDeleteNothing makes for a great education like teachers that can't be bothered to prepare for class. Busy work FTW!
ReplyDeleteThey're driving through the mall as we speak.
ReplyDeleteI'm more surprised they got Undertaker to do this.
ReplyDelete"You could lift a million angles from organized team sports, with wrestlers starting fast, or getting hot late and making runs, or collapsing at the end. That it roughly follows the baseball season is a bit of serendipity too."
ReplyDeleteCall me crazy, but if that was the case, I'd love to see TNA recreate the final day of the 2011 MLB season.
Why wouldn't Batista think that? He owes his entire career to HHH.
ReplyDeleteI have nothing against Bully, but in my humble opinion it's harder to run a guy who was known as a midcarder for nearly 15 years as your top heel. It looks bush league to old WWE fans (casual fans. AFAIK, smarks like him).
ReplyDeleteThey should've stuck with Aries as their guy. He's a fresh face, he looks like a more athletic Rick Rude, he's a great wrestler, and he's the best example of TNA's wrestling style. Bully's great, but he should be at the cusp of world champion under someone else.
Okay, Ill say this.
ReplyDeleteIts harder to run a guy who was known as a midcarder for nearly 15 years as your top heel IN THE SAME PROMOTION.
JBL.
People look at his reign on top fondly now, but going through it, it was terrible. The promos came towards the endonce he obviously got comfortable in the role..
Bully leaving the WWE and going to a smaller promotion like TNA is cool in my book. He reinvented himself. Took damn near 5-6 years but it was done. He couldnt have done it day one stepping into TNA, so it was a progress. I will also say he never got the high profile wins once he split the team but his promo work kept him over in the midcard.
You look at the roster top to bottom and see who was going to lead this Aces and 8s stable. Im not saying Bully fi exactly given the storyline built up but they did their finest storytelling tying it all together through those youtube clips.
A poster on the BoD said that they thought it could have been Abyss in a Tyler Durden type role and I would have bought it completely. Given the Parks persona he had, could have thrown off he scent and obviously he had the chops to play it off. So whomever gave that idea all those months back. I salute you, cuz that was probably the best angle I have ever heard.
But given the options they had:
Roode (heel, could have used them as hired goons but ultimately didnt fit)
Hardy (face, more of a loner)
Aries (who was the champ before Hardy)
Sting/Hogan (both had just been the heads of the last two factions MeM and Immortal respectively)
Bully felt like the best choice and needed the belt to solidify his status.
best = lesser of a thousand evils.
You're completely right, I just wouldn't have run that shitty angle in the first place.
ReplyDeleteJeff Hardy, who I dislike BTW, should be TNA's John Cena. Simple as that.
Aries should have been the Edge or Punk to his Cena. Guys at the top of the food chain who are perennially feuding.
I have nothing against stables, but A&8's is a total bust and even though Bully's great as the leader, you can't polish a turd.
I just miss the days of a stacked, layered card and TNA could have offered that. 3 main events per PPV and an entertaining undercard.
See in the midst of all that Aries/Roode business last year, they were setting up for the An8s and we were all excited.
ReplyDeleteSeeing that it went this way with no good ending in sight is a travesty.
But I agree, Jeff Hardy should have run roughshod over the company once he committed to being clean after Victory Road 2010.
The way they brought him in was just bungled as fuck.
He was stuck in after that X Division escape match with the birdcage cold as fuck with no hype, you couldnt even tell it was him.
This was arguably the #1 face of the top promotion in the world and they brought him in to beat up Homicide?!
*cornette face*
I have said it before and I will say it again.
TNA is terrible.
On a smaller note, getting rid of the six-sided ring was a bad idea, too. It's weird, but it's not a goofy concept at all. They can't beat WWE at their own game, they have to do everything in their power to be different.
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it, they're not playing WWE's game. With Sting, Bischoff and Hogan it looks more like WCW. They're better of ripping off ECW, at least you'd get more of the 18-34 demo.
C'mon. The size of the ring did not bring in or lose any fans. A 4 sided ring or a 6 sided ring, if the product is good then people will watch. No one person will lose interest because they changed the size of the ring.
ReplyDeleteWhat is seemingly innocuous can be symptomatic of the disease.
ReplyDeleteDie hard wrestling fans (or just TNA fans) will watch the show if the production is poor, if the angles go nowhere and if they can't book the show properly. Just running a wrestling company is preaching to the choir.
With that in mind, at no point were they encroaching in on WWE's audience. Ultimately, they've failed at gaining an audience. It's sad because while I'm ambivalent to TNA, I wanted them to succeed.
The six-sided ring was at least unique to wrestling (I think). It's one step towards a casual fan catching it while flipping through the channels and going, "wait, what's this?" but Bischoff and/or Hogan canned that. At a point I think they were trying to cultivate a legitimate women's division, but they're really not much better than the Divas. The X Division shit was a smart thing to promote, but you'd have slugs like Jarrett remaining the primary focus... or something stupid, like the Aces.
Most egregious of all, they'd get guys like RVD and Hardy and... what? If they couldn't figure out a way to utilize and promote them in a way that gets attention, then maybe their downfall is deserved.
...So anyway, yes, a six-sided ring won't *keep* people watching, but it was an intriguing premise that didn't matter anyway because they tried too hard to be WWE Lite.
TNA defines the phrase "two steps forward, one step back". Or maybe it's "one step forward, two steps back". I can't really tell any more.
Always? I'll bet you that you've never seen anyone do so before or will ever again.
ReplyDeleteI loved BSG, loved it like crazy, until the last 2/3 episodes. Hell, up until the last like, 15 fucking minutes I still had /hope/ that they weren't just gonna go "...and then all the baddies dies and everyone else just chilled. The end."
ReplyDeleteI hate it when a UFO crash makes me late for work.
ReplyDeleteYour last paragraph is TNA in a nutshell. They do both of those, and more.
ReplyDeleteHoly fucking shit.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's how you keep an audience's attention: a drawn out, convoluted tournament that requires hiring a monkey trained in arithmetic in order to keep up. It's like watching wrestling, but you have to be in a fantasy football league just to make sense of it.
RIP, professional wrestling. TNA tried being a wrestling show for a good year. All hail Sports Fucking Entertainment. Spike piledrive me into the concrete, please.
ReplyDeleteI do understand what you are saying and I respect your opinion. But here is where I am coming from: From 2007 up to fall of 2009, TNA was awful to watch because of Vince Russo having his hands all over the show. The six sided ring was still there. It was not until October of 2009 when Desmond Wolfe made his TNA debut and for the remainder of the year of 2009, TNA was putting on grest wrestling matches with guys like Wolfe, Kurt Angle, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels. Those guys put on grest matches in a six sided ring and in a normal sized ring. Good talent and a good product always finds a way. The ring did not matter. That was my point.
ReplyDeleteOh, I agree. The basis has to be solid. I was talking more from a marketing standpoint.
ReplyDeleteI loved the crowds from 2005-2006. They always did these odd things, like starting a chant for Abyss that went "Woaaahhh Abyyyssss, woaaaahhh, Aaabbyyyssss".
ReplyDeleteMaybe with the BFG Series cockup it's time to go to a no-PPV model that keeps TNA nice and cheap.
ReplyDeleteDude, do you ever say anything else than that? Every day with the f***ing UFO crash whining.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he means Michael Jordan with the Wizzards where he just got to play because he owned the team.
ReplyDeleteI doubt he's as big an asshole as Michael Jordan.
ReplyDeleteHey, if you saw a UFO crash on the way to work, it'd be all you'd be talking about for a while, too.
ReplyDeleteHey, our educational system seems to have the same issue at the moment. At least in some areas...
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, because that's so much worse than you endlessly pontificating about your Corvette being sucked into a black hole that one time.
ReplyDeleteLet me tell you something, Andy: NOBODY CARES about your Corvette, and NOBODY CARES about black holes. Everyone laughs about it behind your back, even that pygmy amputee you call a calligraphy teacher. Your life is DULL, Andrew!
Whatever is going on behind the scenes has royally fucked this company up.
ReplyDelete...Brother!
ReplyDeleteOne time.
ReplyDeleteONE. TIME.
For about five minutes. May the 16th, 2005.
They weren't a giant clusterfuck!
But nobody asked them if they were!
And they coulda told them.
They coulda told them...
Well there was a point a couple of years ago when I actually looked forward to watching Impact every week...
ReplyDelete...And then the Orange Goblin showed up...
In the last year... he's been mostly useful. Figurehead GM in the vein of Jack Tunney/Gorilla Monsoon: I'm fine with that. Lets him enjoy a little more spotlight, but hopefully doesn't override the actual wrestlers/wrestling.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand... him and Sting getting the first "victory" over A&8, when no one else seemed to have any chance: BAD. BAD HOGAN.
Michael Jordan as an owner/figurehead is pretty horrible actually
ReplyDeleteI've never once heard him say a bad word against anyone in public. He even has glowing words for Devon while he did the Deacon Batista stuff.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about that.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a problem with this. They are going for AJ vs. Bully I'd wager. That's fine with me. Have the Aces lose a Lockdown match against the Mafia in a Losing Team Disbands match at Bound For Glory and have Styles win the title from Bully.
ReplyDeleteSo TNA after BFG would have AJ as World Champion and Aces would be gone. Works for me.
this will be the 2nd time AJ has come out as the saviour of TNA...
ReplyDeletedidn't work in 09, wont work now.
Okay... I'll list what's wrong with this so far, beyond just the post above.
ReplyDelete1: The BfG Series was apparently so poorly timed/scheduled/run, that only HALF of the matches were completed. I'd put this on par with the 2011 series, where the wrestlers had varying amounts of matches, some getting nearly twice as many as others.
2: Unless last Thursday's AJ "turn" was a one time only thing, they've either abandoned the "No One" AJ push (which was seriously flawed already, but that's another point), or Russorific booking at its FINEST.
3: AJ/Bully might have worked fine, if AJ's not been quite the afterthought since his return. Now, I'd rather see about half the field win BfG OTHER THAN AJ. Not good, TNA.
4: Aces are damn near dead already, since Devon was apparently more expendable than Knux or the bitches. (No, not Brooke.) They've been mishandled pretty much since shortly after Bully won the world title, with a few exceptions.
I could go on, but it's making me actually angry at how TNA's mishandled the last couple months. And I'm trying to keep a little hope that TNA can maybe, by some miracle, pull a miracle out their ass and come into and out of BfG with SOMETHING to hold my interest.
What if they went a different route and had Magnus win the strap?
ReplyDeleteAside from them running out of time to do all the matches, which is totally a fuck-up but in the end who cares— I mean, are fans actually keeping track of this?— to me the bigger fuck-up is that the babyface they've set up to win this is AJ-freakin-STYLES.
ReplyDeleteJesus Christ, this is exactly why TNA remains in the shitter. They spend a year building up this heel champion (because, ya know, all TNA has done for 10 years is run with cheating heel champions), and they also have this huge tournament designed to put ANYONE on the roster over strong to face said heel champion...and who do they go with? A guy who's been around forever and has never gotten over outside of the hardcore TNA audience, has no breakout potential, and whom THEY DON"T EVEN HAVE UNDER CONTRACT past September. Also, let's say AJ wins it and let's say he does sign a one-year extension with TNA— does anyone, even the most hardcore AJ supporters, think this does jackshit for TNA's growth? Is anyone going to become more interested in TNA because Aj Styles, who again has been there forever and is coming off a horribly botched run as "Emo AJ", is now the champ?
It's their mistakes from last year all over again. They run with a heel champ for a year, have things all set up to build a round a young babyface star in either James Storm or Austin Aries...and instead Jeff Hardy gets a token 3 month reign that nobody cares about. And now Storm is pretty much a lost cause, and Aries has been dicking around as a midcard heel all year. (Which, let's be honest, is probably where AJ will end up this time next year if TNA's still in business— a midcard heel.)
So rant summary, the problem with TNA is that the BFG Series should have revolved 100% around getting over a new superface that could win the title and give fans something new to look forward to.
Now, all that said, Magnus is the guy who's actually in the lead, right? If Magnus does actually win this thing then GOOD ON TNA. Magnus should be the guy who beats Bully and gets a long run as champ. He's not the greatest wrestler in the world or the most over, but at least he's something new.
I definitely think Magnus is the right move. It's someone new who doesn't have the stink of a decade of shitting TNA booking all over him.
ReplyDeleteStyles as the savior/champ would be a joke at this point, especially considering how awful the Emo AJ stuff was.
On that one, I look back to his return at Slammiversary. Losing clean to Angle? Really? That should've not just been a warning, but a clear signal that things were about to hit the shitter,
ReplyDeleteBingo.
ReplyDeleteBut i think playing hot potato with the title at this point is just bad at this point.
AJ is the choice but a decade of start stop title reigns tells me they dont have the confidence in him.
Magnus will be another Sabin. A barely over unproven draw.
At least people will respond to AJ.
Wait, you mean you don't remember when Crow Sting lost clean to Luger at the Great American Bash before Starrcade?
ReplyDeleteI think what AJ's character was missing was the Peter Parker emo strut from Spiderman 3. His music hits, he struts to the ring, does a little dance, spins around, lays someone out and struts back up the ramp.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with the Magnus = Sabin line. I think people can rally behind Magnus as a good champ, and it (intentionally?) puts the MEM back into an "champions" club... if we count Rampage's UFC titles that is.
ReplyDeleteThis guy gets it.
ReplyDeleteI have been echoing this same shit for months while people have been clamoring that this direction was the right thing.
"they will fuck this up by October"
Its barely September.
They'll respond in that AJ will get the token "hey that guy we've been watching for 10 years won. Good for him. Ehhh...what else is on?" reaction. But will anyone really care enough to stay totally invested in the saga of champion AJ, the guy who can't talk, has no consistent character, and who's been booked as a midcarder for a decade?
ReplyDeleteMagnus is a barely over unproven draw. Well, then tehy need to GET HIM OVER. He's at least a blank slate. He doesn't have the stink of mediocrity on him. At the least, he has potential to break out. And if he doesn't, well then they're probably in the same spot they'd be in with AJ Styles anyway, drawing the same exact ratings and PPV numbers.
Where do you go 3 months from BFG with Magnus as your champion?
ReplyDeleteYou have returns with Bully then what?
AJ Style's new finisher is the calf-killer. Who have they established as having great calfs? Bully Ray. Can AJ kill the ultimate calf?
ReplyDeleteAnd you say TNA has no long term planning!
No One AJ laying out Storm with the Magic Hoodie Clothesline: Good.
ReplyDeleteNo One AJ taking the cheap shot at Angle, then getting part of Aces with the same hammer: Also good.
No One AJ becoming "just another roster member" since Slammiversary: BAD.
At least with AJ you have something.
ReplyDeleteIm not saying he is the answer to TNAs prayers but he is the lesser of a thousand evils at this point.
After teh returns with Bully? Short feud with Anderson. Roode. Aries. Daniels and Kazarian.
ReplyDeleteHell, maybe they bring in Steen and set him him as a big heel monster.
There's enough heels to throw at Magnus til next year's BFG.
AJ's just another face who won't get over huge, and therefore allow Hogan to keep the spotlight as the actual face of the company because "these guys just aren't getting over, brotha."
ReplyDeleteAgain, AJ as champ has zero chance to move the needle. And it's not like the bottom's gonna drop out because they run with an unproven guy as champ. Sabin had the belt for a month and shit stayed exactly the same.
And as for teh Magnus-Sabin comparisons, to me it's not even close. Sabin's been portrayed as a lucky skinny little bitch who flippitty flops around. Magnus at least is A) a big dude, and B) Has gotten the Angle/Sting endorsement. That already puts him in a way better position than Sabin to draw.
Roode? Aries? Daniels? Styles? Joe? (Impact main event "friendly" match) There's options.
ReplyDeleteThat was a great point when we were looking at "Crow AJ". Now, all it is is a cute little footnote.
ReplyDeleteWith AJ you have all those matches and all have some sort established history.
ReplyDeleteAgain, Im not saying AJ is the greatest hoice, but its the best choice they have.
They run Magnus at their big PPV against a fresh Bully, its gonna tank harder than it would usually tank.
Magnus as champ wont last until December let alone BFG 14.
ReplyDeleteTNA might not even last that long.
At this point u go with the safe bet.
AJ
Furthermore.
ReplyDeleteYou put a guy that can barely work in your biggest show, with a guy who can work up to the level of his opponent?
Also this is TNA... they bungled Jeff Hardy TWICE
They fucked up Samoa Joe.
They fucked up James Storm.
You expect them to right the ship with Magnus?!
No I don't expect them to ever be able to right the ship. If John Cena walked into Dixie's office tomorrow I doubt TNA could right the ship.
ReplyDeleteBut I again think there's a CHANCE for something with Magnus, where there's zero, absolute zero chance, for anything to grow with another Styles push.
And, I ask this honestly because I can't confess to watching everything TNA, is Magnus really a guy who "can barely work"? I remember him having a good series with Joe last year and at BFG. And everytime I catch him on Impact he seems pretty impressive— nice variety of power moves, isn't clunky or anything. I definitely think Magnus-Bully could be a fun power brawl, especially since you KNOW there's gonna be tons of run ins and crazy spots in that match anyway. (Same as there would be if it's Styles-Bully— that main event is gonna be 50% run-ins.)
And again, AJ as champ has zero momentum either. By December the belt will either be back on Bully, or Roode or another heel, and AJ will again take his rightful place in teh midcard.
ReplyDeleteMagnus as champ could tank, in the sense that fans don't rally behind him. But there's a potential for break-out that doesn't exist with AJ, and so I really think they should go all in on that. And Christ, TNA should grow a set of balls and actually go the extra mile to make someone new. Magnus is a big tough dude who is fine in teh ring and whom doesn't have that "TNA mediocrity" stink on him yet. Build up some heels and have him mow them down. And if the fans are turning on Magnus after a few months and it's not working, he could drop the belt to Roode or whoever Styles would have lost it to anyway. And I'm guessing they'll still be around their same .9-1.0 rating even if Magnus "bombs."
TNA has spent 10 years going with the "safe bet" of has-beens. It's time they go all-in on someone with potential, or else the whole Bully heel push is just a gigantic waste of time.
problem is that Magnus' best matches are all against people better then him (like Joe
ReplyDeleteIt's baffling that they had this tournament on the books for months, no one involved in it has gotten hurt, and they still didn't book the thing out to properly conclude on the show they wanted it to end on. The whole thing should've been booked out from Day 1, but obviously that's not the case.
ReplyDeleteI really don't think it matters at this point who you put the title on at this point in time with where the company is. No one is going to turn business around at an appreciable level with the angles that they're running.
So, have him spend his title reign having matches with guys who are better than him. Joe/Styles/Roode/Aries/Daniels/Kaz/Angle. Magnus vs any of those guys should be a really good match. Does it matter whether the burden is on Magnus or his opponent? (Especially since Magnus would be teh face, therefore spending the match selling and making fiery comebacks.)
ReplyDeleteI mean, Cena's whole first title reign was about him being carried by better veteran opponents, like Jericho, Christian, Angle, etc.
It's not like Magnus needs to main event a PPV carrying Crimson to a 4-star match.
What are we missing here? They did the whole series so well and competent last year, among other things, and now it's a giant bumbling clusterfuck. Angles are being dropped left and right...is it all because of the sudden pay cuts? Hogan and Bisch were there last year and it was fine. Was an email from Panda saying "cut $______.00 out of your budget please" all it took to make everything dissolve into complete shit?
ReplyDelete"He's not the greatest wrestler in the world or the most over, but at least he's something new"
ReplyDeleteThis statement just screams "settle for mediocrity".
Agreed. Most of the major players from last year are still around this year with the exception of Bruce Prichard.
ReplyDeleteNicely done
ReplyDeleteTrying to run with AJ Styles YET AGAIN as champion is, to me at least, settling for mediocrity. Styles is the definition of same old shit that hasn't worked before and won't suddenly start working now— especially with how awful his character/story has been this year.
ReplyDeleteWhen I say Magnus isn't the greatest wrestler or most over, I mean because he A) Is fairly new, so obviously doesn't have the experience yet. But the tools are there. And B) It's not like he's gotten some giant push from TNA and had it rejected by the fans— he's as over as he should be based on the booking.
My main point in all this is that TNA running with another year of either WWE rejects or a heel on top is TNA settling for the same mediocre shit they've been doing their entire existence. They absolutely need to pick a new guy, give him a face push, and fucking run with that person for awhile.
James Storm absolutely should have been that guy last year. They changed direction, put the title on Aries, and then promptly fucked him up too. Those guys are out. They're not gonna go with Joe. So in my opinion, the right move here is a rocket push for Magnus and see if he catches on.
Or, ya know, AJ Styles. Cause I'm sure that'll put asses in the seats.
And on top of that they rarely tell you the standings or the implications of each match towards those standings. The whole concept is just ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteIt's not just like being in a fantasy football league, it's like being in a fantasy football league where you can't check your score.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bound_for_Glory_Series
ReplyDeleteThe results of these tournaments, especially 2011, make for a good laugh.
I'm really hoping that a guy in a panda suit winds up being TNA's grim reaper.
ReplyDeleteWhich doesn't change the fact that last time I checked, Magnus isn't over
ReplyDeleteputting a belt on him won't change that
MY CALLIGRAPHY TEACHER IS A SAINT. HOW DARE YOU.
ReplyDeleteYou're just jealous,
*cries*