Stories swirling that Spike has canceled TNA? Other stories going around that Spike made an offer to buy into TNA, which the Carters turned down? (http://rajah.com/node/42510)
Talent not being paid on time? Or at all?
‘Nuff said.
Grade: Fail.
If only it was that easy – wait, it just might be.
Let’s get the good out of the way first: The Talent. TNA has some great talent. Arguably, the two best wrestlers in the industry work for TNA: Bobby Roode and Austin Aries.
Eric Young has easily been the best World Champion in 2014 (including WWE). He had a short, but memorable run and really helped to elevate the title after the piss pour Magnus run ruined anything the title may have stood for.
Now there is everything else.
Take what I laid out in the intro to this piece, and let it soak in. Think about it for a minute. None of that is good.
Now, take into account their ratings. Impact averages a million viewers or less, not large numbers in TV Land. In the modern landscape, with hundreds of cable channels, the ratings can keep a show on for years – but in decades past – even on cable – Impact’s ratings would have had TNA off the air in seconds.
What can we expect from a copycat company? A company that copies ECW, copies WWE and even worse, plagiarizes itself.
Examples wanted?
TNA Originals: Many years ago, when TNA was doing a ‘save the company’ angle, the TNA Originals rose up. However, they quickly changed that because it was too close to ECW Originals. ECW Originals makes more sense, simply because of the ‘rebirthed’ WWE Version.
TNA has in the past, and are right now, used ECW as fodder for feuds.
Copying the WWE, how about this, Dixieland? Dixieland is the Authority. Only Dixie is more annoying then Stephanie, because Dixie is poor at what she does and Stephanie is good at her role.
How about Eric Young’s rise to world champion? Think about it: Daniel Bryan wins the opening match of Wrestlemania, and goes on to compete for and win the World Title. That same week, Eric Young wins a Battle Royal to open Impact, goes on to compete for, and win the World Title.
At this point, you can just replace Hunter with MVP.
Plagiarizes itself? This is the easy one: How often does TNA do this storyline – A new faction rises to gain control and forces others to work together to fight for TNA?
Um, every Jeff Jarrett faction. Immortal? Aces and Eights? MVP? Main Event Mafia? It seems like this is the only storyline they know how to tell.
Earlier this year, I ripped TNA for their ill thought out MVP investor storyline. I’ll still rip them for what they are doing right now, because none of it is better.
TNA has the in-ring talent to do much better. Let’s face it; TNA has the talent to go head-to-head with the WWE.
What TNA doesn’t have is vision or any idea of what it wants to be. The fact that they polled the fans on the 6-sided ring proves that. Even if the polled was fraudulent, the fact that they lead the fans to believe they influenced the 6-sides return proves they have no vision.
How? Instead of making the decision themselves and showing the can make hard choices, they cover themselves by letting the fans do it. If it fails, they can blame the fans.
For those who don’t know, Panda Energy is the parent company of TNA, Jeff Jarrett still has a small ownership stake. The Carter family is the main force behind Panda Energy and TNA. If it wasn’t for Panda Energy, TNA wouldn’t exist, Jarrett has said so himself.
The problem here is no one seems to know what to do with a wrestling company. At times TNA feels like an afterthought. Unfortunately, too many times TNA feels like Dixie’s play toy.
I have no doubt the Carter family has put money into TNA and want it to succeed, but funding a company doesn’t lead to success, nurturing a company leads to success.
TNA is starting to feel like WCW toward the last years of its life – where no one know what to do, or even cared. The writing is one the wall, TNA could very well Fall.
What do they need to do? First, pull Dixie from the air. Second, end half the feuds they are doing. Third, higher professional wrestling people who know the industry and can put together a show. Hell, give the reigns of TNA to Tommy Dreamer; he’s proven he can put together a good product. Fourth, learn some new storylines – dump the faction crap.
At times TNA makes the massive mistake of believing that being different, equals better = 6-sided ring. At times they also seem like they want to reinvent pro wrestling, yet they don’t exactly have a grasp on what pro wrestling is.
Don’t get me wrong, I like TNA. I want it to succeed. I just want to see it excel and be bigger and better.
GRADE: D
I want to end on this note: a lot of people often comment on ‘thinking outside the box,’ yet they never say how to think outside the box. Here is the thing though, before you can think outside the box, you have to know what the box is.
Ace Masters.
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