Skip to main content

Let's talk about....TNA

Let’s talk about….TNA

I keep odd hours.

It drives my wife nuts, since she’s more of a 9-5 type person. I, on the other hand, am not – I work nights, sometimes past midnight organizing comics and such. I tend to sleep from about 6 AM until 1 PM, and start my day from there.

About a week ago, I stopped off at McDonald’s at about 1 AM. Early enough to beat the bar rush, but still able to get what passes for dinner. Along the way, I decided that I desired some horrific, yet awesome, apple pies and put those on at the end. Until I was told they didn’t serve apple pies at 1 AM, and would I prefer something else?

I chose a cinnamon thing. But that’s not my point.

My point is, the choice was made for me in this particular instance. One wasn’t available, so I settled for the other. No big deal, the earth still turned.

Obviously, there’s no need to rehash the news of the past week. It looks like TNA will be without television within the next few months, at least on Spike. Considering the anemic attendance that seems to be a staple of their house show circuit, I would have to believe that losing TV is a pretty big blow, possibly of the lethal kind. I’ll leave that to others more skilled to sort out.

But here’s my question for this week: Is the world of professional wrestling better or worse without TNA?

Now, I will be upfront about something from the jump here. I don’t watch TNA on a regular basis. I will seek out strongly reviewed matches for viewing, or particularly well-staged shots of Miss Tessmacher’s very fine posterior, but I am not a week to week viewer of the promotion. As aforementioned, I work nights, and TNA has never struck my wrestling bone enough to consider making them appointment television for myself. I watch enough wrestling as it is.

But here we are, on the edge of the WWE becoming the only place to watch televised wrestling outside of the syndicated ROH show and the local indie promotions on public access. We have lived through this scenario before, after the folding of WCW (some detractors of TNA’s on-air product say we never stopped living through it), and we’ve seen that Vince doesn’t have any real desire to compete with himself at this point, but rather simply wants to make certain that his competition is crushed before him, much the better to hear the lamentations of their women.

I fear several things may become true, as is my right as an alarmist member of the IWC with only speculation and no proof to back those things up:

1.       We will have further homogenizing of the North American product, as NXT churns out wrestlers whose only unique traits will be contained in their hairstyles and choice of trunks.

2.       Even basic cable will be hesitant to try out any professional wrestling on their networks that does not contain the WWE seal, after the relative failure of WCW and TNA.

3.       Directly relating to number 2, it will become much more difficult to start a new promotion that could someday challenge the McMahon empire – who would invest in professional wrestling if there’s no one that wants it?

4.       Wrestlers will be out of a job in the most Darwinian sense – it will either be indies/ROH, WWE, or bust. There won’t be a North American safety net for those wrestlers.

Point by point: as to 1, there is probably little doubt as to this becoming true. Recently, WWE went out and signed 3 wrestlers with international reputations – KENTA, Prince Devitt, and Kevin Steen (allegedly on that last one). Their ‘development’ will be fascinating to watch for those of us who have seen their matches already – I suspect that Kevin’s moveset, as an example, will have to be slightly altered due to the WWE not being a current fan of the piledriver. It would seem that outside of those who attempt to distinguish themselves with ringwork in NXT (Mr. Zayn comes to mind), the WWE has more of vested interest in creating the character than creating the wrestler. Part of that seems to come with making sure the previously learned wrestling gets thrashed out of the character in exchange for a variety of interchangeable offensive weapons and a unique finisher. The idea that wrestlers could get over on a unique moveset along with a unique character has most definitely been minimalized over the last several years.

Points 2 & 3 are obviously related to financial matters, but I find them most relevant in many ways. How do you sell the product if no one wants to buy it? To challenge the McMahon’s at this point, a large amount of cash must be infused to elevate a promotion to the league necessary to be a part of that competition. In other words, if you want to make your promotion seem like a big deal, you gotta put some bucks on the table; who in their right mind would invest money in any professional wrestling company right now? WWE is losing money like crazy, and they’re the SUCCESSFUL ones! No cable company is going to give enough money to keep a national challenger to Vince afloat right now.

But it’s number 4 that truly gives me pause.

We’re long removed from the territories. However, less choice for the wrestler is worse for everyone. It’s a domino effect. When the WWE can control everything about what ‘wrestling’ is, with no visible alternative, the current and next generation is the one that is hit the most. Kids today who watch WWE and say to themselves, ‘This is what I want to do when I grow up’ will be exposed to that homogenized style because they have no alternative.

TNA existing allows people who never would have made it in the current environment of the WWE national exposure. It allowed AJ Styles the chance to go out and put on great professional wrestling matches on a cable channel that most of the country can watch. That is a net positive for wrestling as a whole and as an art form. Wrestling is at its best when allowed different forms and structures, and TNA provided that in many ways. It gave the wrestlers who maybe needed a few more years before they were ready for Vince-land a chance to hone their style as an individual. It allowed wrestlers to earn a living as professional wrestlers, which in turn allowed them to become extremely strong at their craft, which in turn allowed the fans even better matches to watch. How many wrestlers might we lose, how many great matches might have already been lost, if wrestlers who weren’t right for the WWE couldn’t make a living at wrestling? How many would give up before their time, not because they wanted to, but because they had to – after all, it’s hard to devote most of your time to something that doesn’t feed your family.

Does TNA have problems? Of that, I have no doubt. I can remember how quickly Scott turned on them after they had no idea how to finish the Aces and Eights angle, and in talking to folks about their storylines, I can reasonably ascertain that mistakes have been made to a huge degree in that promotion. But TNA provides an important service to professional wrestling as a whole. Even just by existing, they increase the talent pool in wrestling enough to help the cream rise to the top. They give wrestlers who may have the skill but not the look that the WWE needs, they give them the chance to go out there and put on a show to the best of their abilities. And perhaps we're being alarmists, and everything will work out just fine and dandy, although I somehow am skeptical of that happening. 

I guess, after all this, what I’m trying to say is that I wish that TNA would get its shit together already, because losing them would actually be a blow to the North American wrestling. I know that many people have been anticipating this deathknell for quite some time, and the grave-dancing may soon begin. Hopefully without being seen as too much of an apologist for them, I must ask the question – isn’t the world of professional wrestling still better off if TNA exists?

Much like my world would have been better if I got my apple pies.

Rick Poehling
@MrSoze on twitter

Comments

  1. That reminds me of something I hated in hockey before the shoot out rule. When I heard something like "The teams battled to a 3-3 OVERTIME tie." Um... EVERY TIE GOES INTO OVERTIME! Talk about redundant!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is the SNME where Blazer gives a creepy-in-hindsight promo. "I'm gonna go airborne! From the top rope, from the ringpost, from the rafters if I have to!"

    ReplyDelete
  3. I kind of take issue with your idea of TNA as a "territory that teaches unique skills." TNA really hasn't created anybody that the WWE would really want. The majority of their guys came in fully-formed, whether from WWE or ROH. The only guys they really grew themselves are Beer Money, who they wasted. TNA hasn't contributed really anything to the wrestling landscape. The AJ/Daniels/Joe group would have same level of fame if they'd just stayed in ROH. TNA's just been a squatter with a time slot, ruining chances for other promotions to get there own shows by showing just how incompetent an Indy can be.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Is this to distinguish from the double countout IN the ring, where both men are out on the mat for a count of 10? Rarely is the finish used.

    ReplyDelete
  5. "I work nights, sometimes past midnight organizing comics and such. I tend to sleep from about 6 AM until 1 PM"

    Staying up late organising comics and then not getting up again until the afternoon isn't work, it's college.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hard to argue with that, especially your last line.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The squatter with a time slot comment is so up vote worthy. Exactly. They were just the worthless sponge of a company that moneyed their way into two hours on Spike.

    I don't get the no alternative stuff. TNA only took 15 months after WCW's death to start. This opens up the landscape for welcome changes.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow, that's indeed so rare that I never thought about it. (I stick by my overtime tie thing though) :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. "Next time on NPP"

    ReplyDelete
  10. "It gave the wrestlers who maybe
    needed a few more years before they were ready for Vince-land a chance to hone
    their style as an individual. It allowed wrestlers to earn a living as
    professional wrestlers, which in turn allowed them to become extremely strong
    at their craft, which in turn allowed the fans even better matches to watch. "

    If going to the WWE where you stated before that style is homogenized (which it is) is the goal, and TNA talents going to WWE would have their movesets changed... then what's the point for TNA?

    They already have NXT.

    This doesn't make any sense. Its only a minor league feeder system on a different channel by your words, rather than a true alternative.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Eh that's only. 0.4 Meekin on unsettling personal life details.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh, it's at MOST a 0.4. I'm just saying that there's no shame in saying "Yeah, I'm between jobs right now". I mean, THIS ECONOMY.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I never 'got' Bad News Brown. Who is this fat guy and why is he talking about sharecroppers?

    ReplyDelete
  14. And it's a feeder system that doesn't work. So... Fun!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I'm actually shocked that they protected Brown's finisher here. Every single other wrestler in the company, Hogan just took their finisher and kicked out. At least he dodged the ghetto blaster in this case.

    ReplyDelete
  16. He's only sweet because his blood is 100% proof. If I understand Catholicism correctly. Which I don't.

    ReplyDelete
  17. A feeder system where everyone is on food stamps seems like an oxymoron.

    ReplyDelete
  18. It was a dumping grounds for has-beens, but now with the youth movement, its a dumping grounds for never-will bes...


    Although I can't be upset at ECIII

    ReplyDelete
  19. EC3 is one of the only things I genuinely like about that show.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I find this also intriguing. How long does it take to organise some comics anyway?


    Unless I've entirely misread things and his life is like Seth Rogen in Funny People, 'organising comics'.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Your first two sentences are the exact same thought I had when I read that line in Scott's review. Give me the choice between having Bad News's or Samoa Joe's career and I'm taking Bad News every time.

    ReplyDelete
  22. EC3 is absolutely tremendous.


    "YOU CAN'T WRESTLE!" "YES I CAN"
    "YOU SUCK!" "I'M VERY GOOD"


    He and Rockstar Spud have been for me like a glittering oasis in a shit desert, this past year or so.

    ReplyDelete
  23. That's awesome...what a great show to have as your first. I'm sure there were a lot of brutal squashes for Superstars/Challenge, but as an 11 year old, I'm guessing you didn't care...

    ReplyDelete
  24. I actually went to a TNA house show last year. Spud is even smaller than he appears on tv. I can't believe how much he's grown on me since than.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Let's keep in mind that this was probably written BEFORE TNA screwed up Joe 6 ways from Sunday, and he seemed like a sure thing. But then, TNA did what TNA does.

    ReplyDelete
  26. I'm always amazed at the I'm going to type something up about my life in this article...:reads it over:... yep no chance anyone is going to jump on this or find it weird :Publish:

    ReplyDelete
  27. Im a fan of Rockstar Spud as well.


    Its terrible he is soooooo small but he plays his role so well as Dixie's right hand.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Good point. It's been so long since TNA started screwing up Samoa Joe, I've practically forgotten he was once a sure thing...

    ReplyDelete
  29. Yep, but hey, gotta keep the WWE castoffs strong, amirite??

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment