@chadsmart & @my123cents on Twitter
Last week on From the
Rafter’s radio (past episodes available on iTunes) a question was asked whether
TNA would get four straight weeks of a rating of at least 1.5 or higher by the
end of 2013. Today on the My123 Cents Facebook page, I asked what does TNA need
to do to get more people watching. Based on the answers received, I got the
feeling a lot of people haven’t watched Impact much in the past 6-9 months as a
lot of the criticisms don’t apply to the current product. Being a fan of TNA
and wanting to see them succeed, I felt I should address some of the answers
and try to clear up some misconceptions about TNA.
GET RID OF ANYONE FANS
ASSOCIATE WITH WWE/WCW/ECW: Two
years ago I would have agreed with this assessment. Back in 2007 when I was
living with my cousin, after watching the Victory Road pay per view, he thought
Vince McMahon owned TNA because of all the ex-WWE guys who were on the show.
Today, while there are still several ex-WWE/ECW/WCW guys on the roster, I feel
for the most part they are being better utilized.
Of all the ex-guys, Mr.
Anderson is the only person I can think of that I would cut due to just not
being a fan. I also think Kurt Angle needs to freshen up his act as he’s very
repetitive these days. Sting is being used in a way that helps elevate younger
talent. Bully Ray has reinvented himself and created a completely different
persona separate from Bubba Ray Dudley. Devon has been used to help mentor
newer talent. Jeff Hardy is arguably the most popular guy on the roster and
seems to be motivated and trying to re-establish his reputation after a couple
of down years. Chavo Guerrero is still relatively new to TNA but after the way
he was used for the last couple years in WWE, I’m hoping he wants to show what he’s
capable of inside the ring. Rob Van Dam, while a step slower than he was in his
prime is still popular and can put on good matches.
I do wish TNA would not
relay on putting titles on ex-WWE guys as soon as they come into the company.
For the most part though, established guys are being used to help establish the
next generation. That is something I think a lot of fans overlook. If TNA
didn’t use any established stars, a lot of fans wouldn’t see the homegrown
talent as being very good because they haven’t been in the ring with anyone of
note. I once had a friend ask me why he should care about Jerry Lynn appearing
on a local indy show because “Lynn didn’t do anything important when he was in
WWE.” While I think wrestlers
should be able to cement their stature based on their work, there is a section
of the fan base that doesn’t care how good a match guys have, if they haven’t
heard of at least one of the wrestlers in the match, even though they’re on TV
the wrestlers are on the same level as the local indy wrestlers who wrestle on
the weekend in front of 30 people.
In a perfect world, TNA’s
roster could exist of only guys they’ve made but this isn’t a perfect world. So
TNA uses ex-WWE who fans know as a way to draw an audience and bring in
wrestlers who may have wrestled in WWE but didn’t achieve much success and
(hopefully) uses them in a way to make them bigger names.
DITCH HOGAN AND ALL THE
GUYS OVER 50. FOCUS ON THE YOUNG GUYS: I believe Sting is the only other TNA
roster member who is over 50. I just looked up Stings age and was surprised to
find out he’s 53. Sting is definitely no spring chicken but he’s also not a
broken down relic. To repeat myself from the last section, Sting has been used
to help elevate newer talent and he’s not embarrassing himself in matches.
Hogan if the General Manager but what separates him from a WWE GM is rarely
does he get 20 minutes of in-ring talk time. I feel TNA has done a good job of
relegating Hogan to backstage segments, which help propel the storytelling
aspect of the show. Even though I wasn’t crazy about Hogan taking out three
Aces and Eights members at Bound For Glory, the reaction from the crowd showed
fans still like seeing him do his act. Hogan isn’t dominating the show and, say
it with me, he is being used to help put over new talent. When he says Matt
Morgan, Joey Ryan or Austin Aries are the new generation that tells fan to pay
attention to these guys.
I also wonder how many of
the fans who complain about the use of ex-WWE guys are the same ones clamoring
for Steve Austin to come back to fight CM Punk or cheer every time The Rock and
Mick Foley show up on WWE TV.
GET RID OF THE DUMB
STORYLINES: I don’t think that’s TNA
specific. I’m trying to think of all the ongoing storylines in TNA and the only
one I would throw into the dumb category is the ODB/Eric Young story. The main
reason I think it’s dumb is because once Vince Russo was fired, I was hoping
the Knockout division would regain some focus and importance. Instead Eric
Young is one half of the Knockout Tag Champions. Other than that, since the
Claire Lynch story was ended all the stories in TNA make sense, are logical and
put an emphasis on either being champion, wanting to be champion or wanting to
be in TNA. Even though I don’t understand why TNA has a camera in the Aces and
Eights hideout, the story being told is the A&8s want to be in TNA and will
do whatever they need to to get a spot on the roster.
Compare TNA to what’s going
on in WWE. If fans aren’t watching TNA because of dumb storylines yet continue
to tune into RAW every week, well maybe it’s not the storylines that are dumb.
THEY NEED TO CHANGE THEIR
BOOKING STYLE: Again, anyone who has
watched TNA in the last 6-9 months should have seen a change in booking style.
Stories have logical advancement and a focus. 90% of what happens on Impact has
a reason for happening. Instead of throwing random guys into a match or having
the same match week after week, there is purpose and story advancement to the
majority of each segment on Impact.
HIRE YOUNGER GUYS. SIGN
MORE INDY TALENT: There are several
wrestlers on the Independent level I would like to see get a shot at national
exposure. However, there are several factors into bringing them into TNA. First
off, TNA can’t just sign every talent that’s out there and have them appear on
Impact. That roster should remain at a level where everyone can be properly
utilized and honestly, that’s one of TNA’s problems. There are several
wrestlers already on the roster who don’t get airtime for weeks or month at a
time. Bringing in more wrestlers would only add to the problem unless TNA cuts
several talents. In which case fans would probably complain TNA cut the wrong
people.
Even if TNA is interested in
talent, the talent may not be interested in TNA. If talent as heard WWE may be
interested in signing them in the future, they will be less likely to take a
TNA offer and not being available when WWE calls. If they are top-level indy
talent, being able to control when and where they work could be more enticing
then having a company dictate where you’re going. Money could also be factor.
Someone who works every weekend could potentially make more money working
indies and selling merchandise than a TNA position pays. Would it be worth
bigger exposure to take a pay cut?
FINAL WORD: After
looking at the reasons fans seem to not like TNA, I think a lot of people need
to take another look at TNA. And I don’t mean tune in for ten minutes and as
soon as you see someone you don’t like change the channels. I mean actually watch
an entire show for a few weeks. Learn the story lines and see the action in the
ring. I will make a challenge to anyone. Watch TNA for a month. If after a
month, you think WWE is better than TNA, well, I don’t know what I’ll do. Plus,
I’m still skeptical that with the Thanksgiving episode of Impact next week that
we’ll see AJ Styles in a turkey costume again. Seriously though, today’s TNA is
not the same TNA that a lot of fans claim to hate. I honestly believe that if
you are a wrestling fan, I said wrestling fan not WWE fan, and you can’t enjoy
Impact, then the problem isn’t with TNA.
