http://triblive.com/mobile/6315036-96/tna-ring-fans
Maybe you'll stop getting questions soon...
About the juggernaut that is TNA? Doubtful.
http://triblive.com/mobile/6315036-96/tna-ring-fans
Maybe you'll stop getting questions soon...
About the juggernaut that is TNA? Doubtful.
12 years and counting brother!
ReplyDeleteIn all seriousness, if you had taken bets back in 2002, I highly doubt you would have many people take 12 years. So, good for them, I guess.
ReplyDeleteAww TNA the little engine that could and probably shouldn't have.
ReplyDeleteNobody has correctly called the death of TNA yet...though many, many men have tried.
ReplyDeleteThey've almost died about 500 times.
ReplyDeleteI remember people back in 2004 saying they were over with when Fox Sports Cancelled them. Before that I'm sure but when Fox Sports cancelled them they considered that the nail in the coffin. 12 years and 10 years on the same network has its merits.
ReplyDeleteWell, everything looks bad if you remember it.
ReplyDeleteI think that a three sided ring will put them over the top.
ReplyDeleteI think the bigger problem is that I don't know how they can appeal to anyone else. I'm speaking in very general terms here and I could be way off base, but I feel like the two groups of people who attend WWE events are parents who bring their small children (like pre-teenaged kids) and the hardcore fans.
ReplyDeleteThere doesn't seem to be too many people in the audience who are high school/college aged and are just casual wrestling fans. In theory, the tech savvy teenaged/early 20's casual wrestling fans with discretionary income would be the ideal market to target and who WWE needs to get to buy The Network, but I don't know how many of those people watch WWE nowadays.
This reminds me of when he reported that the Triple H thing with Curtis Axel was the start of some long concussion angle until it wasn't.
ReplyDeleteWe've got live notes from the Orlando Social Secuirty office from yesterday, where Dixie was said to be applying for food stamp benefits. She assured everyone there (who were said to have no idea who she was) that "everything is fine", and that TNA would have a game changing announcement soon. In an interesting side not, Crazy Steve and MAnik work at the office as janitors to supplement their income, and it is said many others in TNA are doing the same. Dixie apparently was able to sign Homicide by promising him a year pass to Universal, which is how most talent is getting paid these days, which is fine by Davey Richards, who is said to be a big Simpsons and Harry Potter mark. He is said to be homeless, but we are not sure, but doesn't care, because he can ride as many rides as he wants. We will have more on this story in next weeks Observer, along with a look at Stardust and how the gimmick came to be,
ReplyDeleteThey are bringing in Brian Cage as well.
ReplyDeleteMeh, TNA has done Rhino vs. Abyss too many times already.
ReplyDeleteIWA-MS is still running shows. I'm not surprised TNA is still kicking.
ReplyDeleteBelieve it or not, fresh week to week content that gets 1+ million viewers a week is something cable networks lust for.
ReplyDeleteWhat is a Benoit truther?
ReplyDeleteI agree voting on the ring change is rather silly, but his arguments against the six-sided ring were almost Hogan/Bischoff-esque: "people won't know what's going on; those millions of lapsed wrestling fans who would have watched a four-sided ring will just change the channel." Just like going to a four-sided ring didn't skyrocket ratings, I don't think going back to six will kill them.
ReplyDeleteAs for chanting WWE, back-to-back W's only seem to roll off Lana's tongue well, and the implication that WWE doesn't sell itself as an attraction at least equal to the "individual talent" is laughable.
I thought I was reading fucking Faulkner with Labar's prose in that article.
ReplyDeleteI mean, at least try to write something coherent.
Is Dave Meltzer a Benoit truther? His news item over the weekend that on this day seven years ago Nancy Benoit was killed, probably by Chris Benoit, was odd to me.
ReplyDeleteI get the sarcasm, but cost is a huge factor. TNA isn't a cheap program to put on, especially when it's live. It's obviously much cheaper to run a COPS re-run.
ReplyDeleteTNA getting 1 million viewers might not be as cost-effective as COPS re-runs getting a fraction of that. I should've mentioned that point.
I don't know that that means. That's why I'm asking.
ReplyDeleteWish I could upvote this more.
ReplyDeleteI think a levitating ring would put them over the top.
ReplyDeleteBecause it levitates.
I'll leave now.
I took it to mean he's of the belief that Benoit and his family were murdered by someone who wasn't Chris Benoit. Which is definitely true. That Kevin Sullivan is a real scoundrel.
ReplyDeleteWell obviously Spike must be getting some good out of it considering TNA has been on there for nearly 10 years and counting.
ReplyDeleteI think he tried.
ReplyDeleteLol, no way. He definitely hired the Zodiac and Braun the Leprechaun to do it.
ReplyDeleteMore fresh guys the better.
ReplyDeleteMan, looking over TNA's list of TNA Heavyweight Champions (after the NWA split) is just....sad. Their WWE thing came right down to copying their only Cena/Orton/Edge get the title plan. So much Styles, Sting and Angle in the champions list.
How about a 1 sided ring?
ReplyDeleteObviously. If it wasn't working out it would've been canceled long ago.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts are that a Spike TV exec might pull a 2001 TNT and run the numbers and decide to cancel the show because there are cheaper alternatives. I'm not saying that will happen today or tomorrow, but it's always a possibility. When Ink Master, a show that is likely much cheaper to produce, does almost as good and sometimes even better ratings than TNA, costs can always be an issue.
Until then though TNA isn't going anywhere as long as that TV deal is in place.
I can't believe there's so many ECW revival promotions out there....god, let it fucking go. Remember Hardcore Justice 2010 and how old everybody looked FOUR YEARS ago? Steve Corino looks like a grandpa these days.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is, if you've read the Observer, less is more is not usually my strong suit. But perhaps a step back and really gathering the facts type of approach might be better suited. Tune into this afternoons breaking new podcast where Bryan, Todd Martin and I argue about this idea and more.
ReplyDeleteRaven should definitely book.
ReplyDeleteI think Jarrett's GFW not being able to negotiate with Spike is dramatically helping TNA. If Jarrett could offer Spike a cheaper program with NJPW and AAA affiliations TNA would be out the door and on Bravo TV or something in the fall. As it stands though, TNA's ratings went up a lot this past week and I really think the fans are buying into the new stars, which takes time, as opposed to blowing millions a year on Hogan, Sting, Styles, etc.
ReplyDeleteAnother false alarm/opinion piece.
ReplyDeleteI get that people can't stand the current state of TNA Wrestling- with REALLY good reason- but as long as they have that TV contract, they'll still be around.
Now, if we ever hear that Spike is cancelling their TV, then they're really in trouble.
I have never heard this proclamation of TNA dying before, good one bad writer guy
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure of Benoit's wrestling skills.. He'd probably choke.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure where TNA can go with the championship. Lashley isn't going to be very credible in the long term. It sounds like they are going toward a "hardcore"/"ECW revival" type audience which of course he will never work for. It seems like it'd be best to get the title onto Bully Ray and transition him to being a heel again but he is so far away from the title right now in storylines that I just don't see how it's going to work.
ReplyDeleteI feel like trying to fantasy book TNA is just this clusterfuck of like logical spaghetti cords. It used to be really easy to point out what they were doing wrong and how you could fix it, now it's just....I dunno man, do something different.
A ring held up by magnets.. Yeah BITCH!! Magnets.
ReplyDeleteJarrett has nothing to offer Spike TV at this time or anytime until he starts putting a roster together. All he has is himself, his wife (who looks terrible these days), Hermie Sadler and a database of 500 wrestlers.
ReplyDeletePartnerships with wrestling Feds mean nothing unless you can put shows together with them immediately which GFW can't. Hell I don't think Toby Keith has even announced that he is helping Jarrett fund GFW.
The six sided ring helped them out with luring in the channel flippers. "Hey I saw some really different wrestling...it was in a ring that had six sides instead of four" - i mean, easy enough concept to understand. I'm surprised that they were so quick to get rid of it.
ReplyDeleteI think he's just playing a really involved scenario on EWR and this whole thing of getting a TV show is a rib.
ReplyDeleteDRINK OF WATAH FOR THE WORKING MAN!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, everybody on this page, much love and happiness for you all.
I started watching TNA back in 2005 because I was flipping through the channels and saw Jeff Hardy wrestling on some wrestling show on Fox Sports Net in NY.
ReplyDeleteThe ring shape is irrelevant to me and I'd imagine most people as well.
Because his downside guarantee probably isn't that much. In the WWE, if you're not working, you're not earning. It isn't like one of those WCW deals that were being handed out like candy.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying he's applying for food stamps, but I can't imagine being on that rung of the roster is that much fun if you're serious about being a wrestler. And you don't get to that run without being somewhat serious.
Fairly poor writing style used here. Comes off like a bitter fan than a journalist.
ReplyDeleteGamesmaster mastering the game of murder
ReplyDeleteHe's really annoying. All the WZ guys are pretty bad.
ReplyDeleteI'd be curious to find out just what exactly a "10 Items or Less" match is.
ReplyDeleteForgive me if I'm getting too personal here, but this is more out of curiosity.
ReplyDeleteYou say there is a 9 year age difference. Without knowing either of your ages, do you find there to be any generational differences between you two (like maybe she's really into social media stuff and you're not) or something along those lines?
I'm almost 27 and I've never really dated anyone much younger than me (probably because the idea of dating someone who is 19 is just frightening) but I'm also not that far off from a time where dating someone 10 years younger than me would mean that they're of post-college graduation age.
I remember in the old tape trading days looking for the Foley vs Funk King of the Deathmatch show and ordered it off of Ebay. Didnt realize it was IWA-MS and not the IWA in Japan. Was not happy.
ReplyDeleteThose Mike D'Antoni teams were so much fun. It's really a shame they got screwed in the WCF against the Spurs.
ReplyDeleteAs a Knicks fan, I think I'm the only person in NY who defended D'Antoni until the bitter end.
Fuj and Para having a civil discussion on a disagreement....guess the truce really did work!
ReplyDeleteTerrible article and I'm no big fan of TNA either. I will say Impact has been a bit better lately.
ReplyDeleteI know this was directed at parallax, but I would chime in that it's not necessarily age but maturity level as a whole. If they are still in "party mode" and you're kind of done with it then you'll get sick of that real quick.
ReplyDeleteNot too personal at all... and you nailed it pretty closely. She is 27 and I am soon to be 36... she is absolutely obsessed with social media, particularly Facebook and will spend hours looking at her own profile to ensure it is perfect. Also having fun in general is still very important to her... hanging out with friends, going out etc... she has trouble with certain things that I consider being adult traits like making a decision and sticking to it... also not changing plans or canceling on people etc... there are some specific traits that she has that I attribute to all millennials like not wanting keep score so everyone wins.
ReplyDeleteBare in mind these are pretty minor annoyances... but they get frustrating at times and have lead to some friction.
I hope that answers your question.
i think now it's his chair shot reality cohort josh isenberg, so apologies there; labar isn't a nutjob, he's just a bad writer. isenberg maintains that there is a deeper truth behind what happened with the benoits, that something happened that we are unaware of, and that Vince McMahon is keeping it a secret. he kept it vague the only time i heard him talk about it on csr, but that was enough to keep me from going back to wz.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember the name of The Brain's group, but it would be awesome if Narf Poit Wrestling was on national television.
ReplyDeleteThat's more like it.
ReplyDeleteIn some ways the ring shape is irrelevant to me too. My issue with TNA's 4 sided ring is that it's just so small. I don't mind TNA sticking with a 4 sided ring if they just make the ring bigger.
ReplyDeleteBut how do they work?
ReplyDeleteOr make it a Shampoo + Conditioner, to make it twice as good.
ReplyDeleteTJ: "Let's Make A Deal" Jeff Jarrett/NJPW Edition - http://pwinsider.com/article/86456/full-details-on-gfws-deal-with-new-japan.html?p=1
ReplyDeleteI'll take that comparison.
ReplyDelete:laughs out loud:
ReplyDeleteThat made my day.
Yeah, you're right, it just happened by accident. The threads feel more chat related than anything else.
ReplyDeleteThey didn't get screwed. Spurs rightfully beat them.
ReplyDeleteI didn't want to get to the # 2 spot where he would have had a chance to come back quickly, plus I was tired.
ReplyDeleteThey're thinking of going back to the stinking playpen ring, brother? That could work... bring it back and use it as an opportunity to belittle Hogan at the same time.
ReplyDeleteYeah, once the MVP storyline has happened, the show seems to be breezing by with decent content.
ReplyDeleteSeems like TNA's big thing at the moment is when they tour someplace they'll hire local talent on a short term basis in a attempt to boost ticket sales. Seems like a pretty smart move.
ReplyDeleteMVP has been killing it on the promo side.
ReplyDeleteI will give him that much.
Well, that was Hogan's idea to get rid of it I think. That was when the death slowly happened.
ReplyDeleteI can't picture TNA on Bravo in the slightest. I know what you're going for, but that just doesn't sound right.
ReplyDeleteI was referring to the 2007 playoff series where Amare and Boris Diaw were suspended for Game 6. Just saw that it was the Western Conference Semi's and not the WCF. That's garbage.
ReplyDeleteI have a newsflash for you. I work as a caseworker for the state, specializing in Medicaid benefits. I just came across an application for a person who named their child Rikishi.
ReplyDeleteSo you just mention 2 shows that featured the same guys putting on the same match.
ReplyDeleteNash shouldn't have flopped so fucking hard.
ReplyDeleteAnd this is coming from a Spurs fan.
LaBar.....one of 2 guys in wrestling I hold grudges against.
ReplyDeleteYeah, he's been fine on the mic thus far, thought his promo from last week got a little winded.
ReplyDeletenever heard of this dbag but i see he's local
ReplyDeleteHopefully that kid will grow up to make a difference.
ReplyDeleteNot only that but Wolfe/Angle 1
ReplyDeleteI can also add XXX/AMW,
Storm/Harris Texas Death match
Joe/Angle 1/2
AJ/Daniels Ironman
AJ/Angle 1/2
Thats off the top.
Interesting. I always thought the traits you described applied more towards people who are actually a couple of years younger than me. My mom's a teacher assistant at an elementary school and a lot of the stuff she tells me about the way the school caters towards kids now is something I don't understand. When I was a kid, I don't remember any of that stuff. Also, I don't remember the not wanting to keep score thing until after I was out of high school.
ReplyDeleteSame thing with the social media stuff. While I have a Facebook/Twitter/Instagram, I'm not nearly as attached to it as the kids a few years younger than me. I still keep in touch with a lot of the people I went to HS with and they seem to be similar to me with the social media stuff-- have it but aren't attached.
While it's not the same thing, at my job, a lot of times we get interns from local high schools who have to do an internship to graduate (another thing I don't remember from when I was in HS) and they don't seem to have any basic social skills. It's as though they don't know how to communicate and are addicted to their phones and all that. I understand they're just kids but 1) most people at my job aren't all that old and 2) there's a difference between being shy and not having social skills.
Kids these days.
Why do you hold a grudge?
ReplyDeleteI think being live with the fans antagonizing him, causing the promo botch during that first promo was cool.
ReplyDeleteIt only got the fans hotter at them. So points for the heat
I watched a whole game of soccer yesterday, so I'm pretty numb towards NBA flopping at the moment.
ReplyDeleteI liked how he finally went crazy. I thought it was a nice touch for him that he basically "need to get this way, fuck this, it's gonna happen."
ReplyDeletei would think that "crime time" would still be considered infringing on a trademark
ReplyDeletei'm gonna wrestle as "stoan cold steev awstin" or "the rawk"
I'm paranoid about being investigated, audited, whatever it's called. I've had Medicaid For The Disabled for 3 years or so. Get all kinds of fun stuff. It's all legit but I still worry.
ReplyDeleteepisodes of total divas coming to the network
ReplyDeleteall their financial woes will be answered
Have they released it worldwide yet?
ReplyDeleteBoulder Freeze Sam Houston and The Slab.
ReplyDeleteIt was a great save when he showed exasperation when he got tongue tied during his promo on Impact last week.
ReplyDeleteIt made the promo he cut last week.
Wade Keller is a more fun parody but I discussed that on the VIP hotline yesterday, it's also in the back issues of the torch (our back issues go back 26 years, available to all VIP members) blah blah VIP blah.
ReplyDeleteWell, LaBar took $20 bucks from me so I could get a photo with Nash. Then Nash is in a crappy main event match who then screws Punk out of the WWE title at SS a week later.
ReplyDeleteIt was still fine, you could just hear the tiredness in his voice.
ReplyDelete"Where is Corey Graves?"
ReplyDeletehe died on his way back to his home planet
(of pittsburgh, where he's known as sterling james keenan)
I'm 34 and my wife is 24. I would say that maturity is the key. She had a weird childhood where she was basically the parent and her mother was the child. (Things like being forced to have a job at 16 to pay the light bill.) So she doesn't really act like a 24 year old. I don't think I could be with her if she did.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on moving to #2.
ReplyDeleteIt's hilarious Labar thinks he's best friends with Kevin Nash.
ReplyDeleteTNA should be on the fight network or whatever it's called.
ReplyDeleteGood one, parody account.
ReplyDeleteBut Hogan took them to the top, Jack!
ReplyDeleteIt's as bad as Farva (RIP) doing Steen/Punk parodies.
ReplyDeleteBring back the ... Ummm... Hexagonal Circle??
ReplyDeleteNetflix appeals to a much wider audience. It factors in.
ReplyDeleteKinda unbelievable, isn't it?
ReplyDelete