Post by Talon Thorne on Apr 16, 2008 19:15:00 GMT -5
TNA 101
Fixing the Problems of TNA
By Talon Thorne
Hello TNAddicts. It is time once again for TNA 101. We will have a different tone for this column as I focus on what TNA needs to fix. I have been criticized about ignoring all the problems TNA has. This is a very important column for me so please give feedback one way or another
A Few Footnotes
„X I suggest everyone check out the Professor¡¦s Podcast that was posted late last week. It is pretty opinionated. While I don¡¦t agree with everything Newton says, I will say that it is entertaining. Maybe a bit too long however!
„X Speaking of Audio Podcasts, on the TNA Website there is a new TNAddict audio podcast posted by two of TNA¡¦s fans. To me it sounds scripted and really fake but it could be a good feature for the TNA website.
Let¡¦s get onto business:
These are the criticisms I always hear about the TNA Product
-TNA gloats about ¡§We are Wrestling¡¨ but don¡¦t offer enough wrestling on their TV Show
-The booking of TNA hurts the in-ring action.
-The storylines are either stupid, illogical or have too many holes in them
-There is too much comedy
-Too much goes on during iMPACT!
-There are too many gimmick matches in TNA
-Not enough clean finishes
-There isn¡¦t enough of the X Division
-There is no ¡§TNA Brand¡¨
-There are too many repetitive storyline or booking concepts
-There is no reason to buy a TNA PPV when I get everything on TV
-TNA is filled with WWE Rejects
-TNA doesn¡¦t know how to push their homegrown talent
-Mike Tenay and Don West are horrible announcers
Fans will say Fire Russo and get back to what you do best. Firing one of the greatest minds of the business is a horrible decision. Here is how I would fix the problems of TNA.
This is my gameplan:
-What is TNA Wrestling (We are Wrestling): TNA Wrestling delivers a distinct brand of high-risk, athletic entertainment. TNA¡¦s roster includes the biggest names in wrestling today, such as Kurt Angle, Booker T, Kevin Nash and Christian Cage, as well as the hottest new stars in the business: AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, Black Machismo, the Latin American Xchange and the Motor City Machineguns. TNA features the innovative six-sided ring and the high flying ¡§X Division¡¨, as well as the concept matches such as the high-wire spectacle ¡§Ultimate X¡¨, ¡§King of the Mountain¡¨, ¡§Six Sides of Steel¡¨, ¡§Lethal Lockdown¡¨, and ¡§Elevation X¡¨, considered to be the most dangerous match in professional wrestling. TNA Entertainment is a privately held company headquartered in Nashville.
-What is TNA Booking/Writing (Cross the Line): TNA features a very unique view on the wrestling business. TNA is often compared to the Attitude Era of wrestling featuring Crash TV style storylines. TNA ¡§Crosses the Line¡¨ with can¡¦t miss storylines, a distinct mash of good and bad and features current events into it¡¦s storylines. Anything can happen on TNA TV so don¡¦t turn your head or you will miss it.
Emphasizing the TNA Brand: TNA¡¦s brand is about the X Division, the Six Sided Ring, the Action, the no limits wrestling, and innovations of matches and concepts. Throw in women who can wrestle, the star studded heavyweight division and the interesting storylines and you come up with TNA. These should be what TNA¡¦s primary focuses are.
-Focus on wrestling
-Focus on the X Division
-WWE is the Entertainment Company. TNA needs to be the Sports Company or the Middle of the Line Company. While ROH, if on the national stage would be more of the Sports Company, they currently aren¡¦t involved in the main stream picture
-Focus on the Innovative Matches and Concepts of TNA
-Focus on the upcoming stars TNA has created, using stars other companies have created to put over your homegrown stars.
-Be original. Innovation is not the same as imitation. TNA imitates a lot of WWE concepts or storylines when they are perfectly qualified to be innovative and create their own.
We are Wrestling: TNA suffers from a lack of wrestling on TNA iMPACT! TNA should have the same amount if not more wrestling than Raw or Smackdown. The PPVs don¡¦t suffer from a lack of wrestling but the TV Show does. iMPACT is 1 hour and 28 minutes without the commercial break. 32 or more of the minutes should be dedicated to wrestling on-screen. The moment you acknowledge that TNA has better wrestling than any other company, the fans will recognize a big plus. You will get fans to tune in for the wrestling even if they don¡¦t like the storylines.
-Over 32 minutes of wrestling per iMPACT (not including commercial breaks)
-More clean cut finishes. Not as much interference and more clean matches would help the product immensely.
-Separate the wrestling and storylines more. At times the booking team¡¦s storylines take away from the actual wrestling due to swerves or un-needed interference. (For example: James Mitchell coming out in preparation for his announcement that he was Abyss¡¦ Father, or Tomko¡¦s interference at the end of the Kurt Angle vs Christian Cage Match). If these angles happened after the match instead of during it, the wrestling would be better and less convolutes. This is only the case sometime not all the time. Try your best to separate the actual wrestling from the storylines.
-Commercial breaks. TNA has 9 or 10 commercial breaks per episode which are about 3 and 1/5 minutes in length. TNA to me needs to either position the commercial break better of lengthen the time of the breaks while lessening the amount of them. Have the breaks take place before matches. The only matches that should or need commercial breaks are the lengthy ones (usually the hour matches and the main event). These matches should be 11 or more minutes. You don¡¦t want commercial breaks taking away from the action.
Cross the Line: To many fans the creative team is the worst part about TNA. At times I agree. However when fans claim ¡§Fire Russo¡¨ it makes me cringe knowing these fans don¡¦t know about how Russo is one of the most creative men in the business, when controlled. I personally like TNA¡¦s storylines, in essence. The execution of them at times reek but thinking about the storylines executed properly, you will see them for what they are.
„X Hire an Editor- Someone like Jim Cornette could do wonders for the TNA Booking/Creative Team. Someone to look over the script for the shows make sure everything makes sense and nothing has been done too man times before, you would have much better storylines.
„X Less is more- Concepts/Rules/ Storylines, they all apply here. If you see swerves every show, you aren¡¦t surprised. Feuding partners can only be done so much before it gets repetitive.
„X Be consistent- Stipulations need to be upheld. Title matches need to happen when they were told to happen. When an announcement is made, it should not change down the line.
„X More emphasis on athleticism or entertainment- Because TNA is closer to UFC, doesn¡¦t mean they should be completely different, it means they should learn for UFC. Sometimes feuds don¡¦t need over the top storylines but just heat between the two. Jeff Hardy vs Randy Orton had that. Samoa Joe vs Kurt Angle in 2006 had that. At times it just comes down to hate or competition.
„X More continuity in storylines- If Christian Cage turns on Sting, there should be a Sting vs Christian Cage feud one way or another. Allow pieces of history to be known during the shows such as when Sharmell referencing the Kurt Angle WWE Stalking Storyline of 2004. I like being a fan knowing what that is about.
Laugh out Loud: One thing TNA definitely isn¡¦t lacking is comedy. To this day the shows of TNA is filled with lightheartedness or comedy. Every other angle has humor in it. To me it at times is too much and makes TNA not seem important enough. The following stars of TNA are currently lighthearted characters or comedy characters: AJ Styles, Black Reign, Christian Cage, Curry Man, Rock N Rave Infection, Eric Young, James Storm, Black Machismo, Kevin Nash, Kurt Angle, ODB, Petey Williams, Shark Boy, Sonjay Dutt, Team 3D
„X Tone down severely on the humor at the shows focusing more on the serious parts of the show. Very much like the Global iMPACT! show
„X Comedy should be used only in three forms: Comedy Characters, Face Comedy or Comedy Against Heels
„X Comedy Characters: Guys like Curry Man, Shark Boy and at times Eric Young. These characters are supposed to make the audience laugh. Comedy Characters are the humor of the show and aren¡¦t supposed to be taken seriously.
„X Face Comedy: Characters like Christian Cage, Kevin Nash or Black Machismo are serious characters who make jokes to lighten the situation.
„X Comedy against Heels: Bad guys should never be funny unless its at their expense. For example the current scale angle with Team 3D. It makes fun of their characters. The actual heels aren¡¦t funny but the angles are. There are exceptions like AJ Styles
„X Keep the comedy to certain angles and characters like Curry Man and Shark Boy. Everything else on the show should be driven towards wrestling or storylines.
„X Give guys like AJ Styles, Kurt Angle, James Storm and Eric Young more serious characters focused of arrogance and inspiration.
The X Division: The X Division is what made TNA popular. It is the cornerstone of TNA because it is what TNA is about ¡§No limits, high risk athletic entertainment¡¨. TNA needs to once again focus on the division heavily. But to do that they need to take it in a different direction. One that is focused more on the wrestling of TNA.
„X Keep the Vince Russo storylines to the Heavyweight and Tag Team Divisions while allowing whoever books the Women¡¦s Division to book the X Division
„X Make the stars of the division to be focused on the athleticism and competition of the division like the old days. No over the top storylines, only in-ring action.
„X Add a few more faces to the division.
„X Give the division main event spots. The stars of the division aren¡¦t about star power but about wrestling ability.
„X Make the division more of a sports division. Separate it from the rest of TNA with unique division rules.
„X Like the days of FSN give the division a time limit concept. One on one singles matches are given 10-minute or 15-minute time limits where if there isn¡¦t a winner by the end, judges determine the winner. Championship matches or important X Division contests are given longer times like 30 minutes.
„X Make the X Division Title the ONLY TNA title that can change hands on a Disqualification. With the athletic focus, the champion has to be the best to remain champion.
„X Implement a rankings system. The number one ranked guy gets a title shot. When you beat someone you move up the ranks of the division.
„X 1 on 1 rankings matches can be called ¡§X Division Shootouts¡¨ while multiple man matches can be called Rankings Matches.
„X Rankings matches can determine rank by order of elimination. Look at Slammiversary 2006 as a perfect example.
„X Make the Destination X PPV the feature PPV of the X Division where the X Championship Match is the main event for the PPV.
„X Gimmick Matches, Grudge Matches and other non-normal matches aren¡¦t given time-limits.
„X These new rules would make the X Division different and make it stand out allowing it to be a TNA Branded Concept once again.
„X The X Division Title should be on equal grounds as the World Championship
The TNA Roster: The roster of TNA is the best roster of talent in the world bar-none. From what I understand, the morale is high in the company.
„X Once again offer anyone their release if they want it. TNA doesn¡¦t want anyone who doesn¡¦t want the company to succeed to be involved
„X Tell everyone they need to give 110% of themselves every time out to remain with TNA. If guys who couldn¡¦t step up before, still can¡¦t step up, they can leave TNA.
„X The focus of the company should be primarily towards the homegrown talent or a rabid mix. It should never be primarily on the former WWE Talent.
„X The former WWE Talent should be used to help season the Homegrown Talent or help put them over.
The Announcers of TNA: I like Mike Tenay and Don West unlike many others. However there are some changes that need to be made
„X More emphasis on in-ring action.
„X Less talk during promos
„X Allow Mike Tenay to educate the fans. That¡¦s why he is called the professor.
„X Allow Don West to comment of the words of Mike Tenay, that¡¦s why he is the Color Commentator.
„X The announcers are supposed to sell stipulations, concepts, action, storylines or promos.
The Matches of TNA: TNA is well-known for many of their innovative matches. That¡¦s part of the TNA Brand. However like everything else, they need to improve on some things.
„X TNA has always used more gimmick matches than their opposition. To me that is fine as long as they use them effectively. I was completely fine with all the gimmick matches during the Team 3D vs X Division feud. All of them were different in their own way.
„X If you use many gimmick matches then differentiate them from one another. How is the Black Reign Workshop of Horrors different from a normal street fight. Are there different weapons?
„X Don¡¦t overdo certain gimmick matches. Ultimate X should at most be used 2 during a 12 month span. When it is used 3 times during a 6 month span, it doesn¡¦t feel as important.
„X Make sure gimmick matches are there for a reason and not there to be there. The Johnny Devine vs Black Machismo X Championship Match this year shouldn¡¦t have been a Street Fight. There has to be reasoning behind gimmick matches.
„X Make sure gimmick matches are clearly explained before hand and easy to understand. Matches like the Doomsday Chamber of Blood are way too complicated for an average fan.
„X Matches that should be more rare and important to TNA: King of the Mountain, Lethal Lockdown, Xscape, Ultimate X, Monster¡¦s Ball, Barbed Wire Massacre and Elevation X.
„X All gimmick matches should make sense. The Reverse Battle Royal portion of the Fight for the Right Tournament is stupid. TNA needs to change the tournament to match the Michael Shane Triple Chance tournament of 2003. It was the same thing as the current format just without the Reverse Battle Royal.
TNA Celebrity Involvement
„X TNA has always been known to use sports figures or celebrities. As long as they don¡¦t spend too much or take too much time away from other TNA stars I have no problem with them.
„X TNA Celebrities need to promote the company.
„X TNA needs to benefit from the celebrity involvement (media attention)
„X TNA celebrities or sports figures are not on the same level, wrestling wise than the TNA Stars. They should rarely beat the stars of TNA and they should rarely win a TNA Championship Belt.
TNA Midcard Title: The guys of TNA sometimes get lost in the midcard shuffle. With the X Division breaking away from the remainder of the ranks. TNA needs to give the midcard something to fight over.
„X Call it the TV Title
„X The Title would be a secondary title and mean less than the World Heavyweight Title, Tag Team Titles, Knockouts Title and X Division Title
„X Would be used as an equivalent of the United States or Intercontinental Championships
„X Represents the future or rising stars of TNA
„X Would be fought over every other week on TNA TV
„X Would not be contested for on TNA PPV (this would be different than other wrestling shows)
„X Would be contested by the likes of Robert Roode, Eric Young and James Storm
TNA Shows and PPVs
„X There needs to be more focus on building to PPVs from Television, not the other way around
„X Add a 1-hour show, Xplosion to TNA TV every Saturday Night. It should be in the place of the iMPACT Replay. This would be a mix of WSXtra and ECW for Smackdown. It would feature the lower card talent with a few big names. There could be Xplosion Xclusive storylines, matches and wrestlers. It wouldn¡¦t be just a throwaway show. This would allow TNA to spread their wings and allow their segments to grow.
„X Make iMPACT live starting this Summer. It would allow a more prestigious feel for the show and cut back on Spoilers. This would happen every other week.
„X More Special for TNA. I loved Global iMPACT and would love to see more specials down the line.
„X More local advertising for House Shows and PPVs
„X Lower the ticket prices or make PPV Packages for PPVs or House Shows
„X Slow down TNA iMPACT! Product. There is way too much going on. Let the segments breath a little.
Now that I have finished my improvements list, here is what I enjoy about the TNA Product.
„X Best wrestling on TV. Despite having less wrestling than most WWE shows, TNA has the BEST wrestling in my opinion
„X Every wrestler has a character. I love knowing that there is a difference between Jay Lethal and Petey Williams other than look and style
„X Humor. TNA has 10 times the comedy WWE has on all three shows, combined. While I would tone down the humor, I catch myself laughing on more than one occasion during the TNA shows.
„X The TNA Characters. From Rellik to Eric Young. Black Machismo to Abyss and Black Reign to James Storm, most of the characters are awesome
„X TNA PPVs- The reason I buy PPVs is the wrestling. I watch the TV Product for most of the storyline builds while I watch the PPVs for the big payoff. PPVs are supposed to have more wrestling than the TV shows.
„X The Innovative Matchtypes- I like TNA¡¦s match types, nuff said!
„X The TNA Brand- I could go on and list all the things I love and we would be here a long time. I love the X Division, the TNA Divisional Structure, the championship belts, the PPVs, the storyline style, the wrestling style and so much more.
My favorite thing about TNA is that none of the shows are boring. There is always something going on, even if it is illogical. You might hate the TNA Product, but why do you still watch it?
iMPACT! Report Card
¡§Alligator Honeymoon¡¨
February 21, 2008
Action
„X The Kaz vs Rellik match was okay. I liked how the announcers mentioned that this wasn¡¦t the same Rellik who faced Kaz before. I also liked Rellik¡¦s new mannerisms like he was a monster from Jeepers Creepers. Looks like this will lead to a Rellik and Black Reign vs Kaz and Eric Young tag team match.
„X I expected more from the X Division 3-Way Match. I remember 2005 where the X Division Matches had cool moves that were connected and others inverted. This was just a series of moves. Couldn¡¦t they have saved the Scott Steiner stuff until after the match. This match didn¡¦t need the interference. It appears that it will be Black Machismo vs Petey Williams for the X Title at Destination X.
„X The Brother Ray vs Shark Boy and Curryman was the same thing we got last week. So the Stunner is now called the Chummer.
„X Roxxi Laveaux has new entrance music! I hate commercial breaks during the middle of matches. Another thing I hate is how Mike Tenay knows the names of the moves one moment and forgets them the next. Once again two friends are fighting.
„X The Booker T vs Kurt Angle Match was a solid heavyweight encounter which saw more interference. It was also given some pretty good time to work itself out. After the match Angle and Roode fought with Booker, Christian Cage and Samoa Joe. Kevin Nash came down and challenged Kurt Angle to a match the following week.
„X 37 minutes of wrestling with about 8 of those going to commercials
Entertainment
„X I really enjoyed the Jay Lethal tribute. It was a heartwarming moment that TNA needed. SoCal Val is really hot!
„X Did you Rellik is killer spelled backwards? Eric Young and Mike Tenay don¡¦t let us forget it.
„X I really enjoyed the segment over Samoa Joe¡¦s contract. Jim Cornette took extra precaution to prevent the signing from being interrupted. Joe said he wouldn¡¦t sign if he didn¡¦t win the World Title at Lockdown, and if he couldn¡¦t do that, he didn¡¦t belong in TNA. Interesting!
„X So Karen is using AJ to get back at Kurt. Poor AJ I feel bad for him. I guess this would be a good way to turn him face. These were quarky segments.
„X The Rhino and Mike Tenay interview was just there
„X I did like the Curry Man-Shark Boy Interview. That was pretty funny. Anyone would recognize Christopher Daniels¡¦ voice though.
„X This Abyss¡¦ angle could be okay to refresh the Abyss character as long as the mask stays on. If Abyss loses his mask he loses a lot of his character.
„X AJ took Karen to an Alligator Pit. HA That¡¦s what Karen deserves. AJ is kinda funny and makes me want to cheer for him.
„X I really wanted Joe to tell Cage to shut up during their interview. The shift has focused to Christian Cage more than Samoa Joe, not a good thing?
„X The final Honeymoon segment was once again okay. He was once again the funny heel with face elements.
Grade: C+
Overall Thoughts: There was some okay wrestling but once again too many backstage segments. The same TNA Problems occurred but at least we built towards Destination X
Show Rating: 1.1
Thank you for joining me again, please leave feedback!
Hey Professor, I enjoyed your Podcast. Here are a few comments about it.
„X How old are you? You have a very distinguished voice (as my wife says).
„X One of my biggest gripes about your podcast is that it is a bit too long for me. I would personally enjoy it if you shortened it to about 15 minute podcasts.
„X I personally am looking forward to the World¡¦s X Cup. I am very unfamiliar with International Wrestlers but do know of a couple.
„X I look forward to seeing Tiger Mask, Jonny Storm, Mistico or many others to come to TNA and allow the X Division to be on the forefront of TNA.
„X Jeff Hammond was the NASCAR Driver who hit the ¡§Pit Stop¡¨ Elbow. This was at Against All Odds I believe. As for the match, to me it was a train wreck of a match. The announcer Jimmy Spencer was horrible. I like how NASCAR was kept at a minimum.
„X I agree that TNA iMPACT wasn¡¦t the worst TV show for 2007. I was always entertained by TNA TV throughout all of 2007. At times for ECW, Smackdown or Raw has been so boring that I fell asleep. While the TNA TV show may be illogical at times, I have always been entertained. That should count for something.
„X I hate it when people use the terms ¡§smarks¡¨ and ¡§marks¡¨. To me the term is derogatory towards the people called marks. I refer to them as the IWF and MWF (Internet Wrestling Fans and Mainstream Wrestling Fans)
„X Jim Ross is far from the worst of the Announcers. He isn¡¦t the best announcer but he is still good. To me the worst announcer in wrestling is Jerry Lawler, because he screams ¡§puppies¡¨ every women¡¦s match.
„X I liked the Vince McMahon murder angle. That to me is what I like in wrestling, the storylines and the controversy. I do agree that the angle should not have overlooked the deaths of Sherri or Chris Benoit.
„X The Blindfold Match you were referring to was Jake Roberts vs Rick Martel from Wrestlemania III I believe. There are definitely worse matches than the Blindfold Match from Lockdown
„X I do agree that TNA was the weakest of the three promotions in 2007. There were so many mistakes made and money lost. With that said TNA had many great moments from 2007. 2007 was a year TNA needed to experience to become a better company.
„X I love the Black Reign gimmick. People complain that he isn¡¦t scary but don¡¦t understand he isn¡¦t supposed to be scary but disgusting or creepy.
„X For some reason I couldn¡¦t hear the podcast after this but it might be just me.
Fixing the Problems of TNA
By Talon Thorne
Hello TNAddicts. It is time once again for TNA 101. We will have a different tone for this column as I focus on what TNA needs to fix. I have been criticized about ignoring all the problems TNA has. This is a very important column for me so please give feedback one way or another
A Few Footnotes
„X I suggest everyone check out the Professor¡¦s Podcast that was posted late last week. It is pretty opinionated. While I don¡¦t agree with everything Newton says, I will say that it is entertaining. Maybe a bit too long however!
„X Speaking of Audio Podcasts, on the TNA Website there is a new TNAddict audio podcast posted by two of TNA¡¦s fans. To me it sounds scripted and really fake but it could be a good feature for the TNA website.
Let¡¦s get onto business:
These are the criticisms I always hear about the TNA Product
-TNA gloats about ¡§We are Wrestling¡¨ but don¡¦t offer enough wrestling on their TV Show
-The booking of TNA hurts the in-ring action.
-The storylines are either stupid, illogical or have too many holes in them
-There is too much comedy
-Too much goes on during iMPACT!
-There are too many gimmick matches in TNA
-Not enough clean finishes
-There isn¡¦t enough of the X Division
-There is no ¡§TNA Brand¡¨
-There are too many repetitive storyline or booking concepts
-There is no reason to buy a TNA PPV when I get everything on TV
-TNA is filled with WWE Rejects
-TNA doesn¡¦t know how to push their homegrown talent
-Mike Tenay and Don West are horrible announcers
Fans will say Fire Russo and get back to what you do best. Firing one of the greatest minds of the business is a horrible decision. Here is how I would fix the problems of TNA.
This is my gameplan:
-What is TNA Wrestling (We are Wrestling): TNA Wrestling delivers a distinct brand of high-risk, athletic entertainment. TNA¡¦s roster includes the biggest names in wrestling today, such as Kurt Angle, Booker T, Kevin Nash and Christian Cage, as well as the hottest new stars in the business: AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, Black Machismo, the Latin American Xchange and the Motor City Machineguns. TNA features the innovative six-sided ring and the high flying ¡§X Division¡¨, as well as the concept matches such as the high-wire spectacle ¡§Ultimate X¡¨, ¡§King of the Mountain¡¨, ¡§Six Sides of Steel¡¨, ¡§Lethal Lockdown¡¨, and ¡§Elevation X¡¨, considered to be the most dangerous match in professional wrestling. TNA Entertainment is a privately held company headquartered in Nashville.
-What is TNA Booking/Writing (Cross the Line): TNA features a very unique view on the wrestling business. TNA is often compared to the Attitude Era of wrestling featuring Crash TV style storylines. TNA ¡§Crosses the Line¡¨ with can¡¦t miss storylines, a distinct mash of good and bad and features current events into it¡¦s storylines. Anything can happen on TNA TV so don¡¦t turn your head or you will miss it.
Emphasizing the TNA Brand: TNA¡¦s brand is about the X Division, the Six Sided Ring, the Action, the no limits wrestling, and innovations of matches and concepts. Throw in women who can wrestle, the star studded heavyweight division and the interesting storylines and you come up with TNA. These should be what TNA¡¦s primary focuses are.
-Focus on wrestling
-Focus on the X Division
-WWE is the Entertainment Company. TNA needs to be the Sports Company or the Middle of the Line Company. While ROH, if on the national stage would be more of the Sports Company, they currently aren¡¦t involved in the main stream picture
-Focus on the Innovative Matches and Concepts of TNA
-Focus on the upcoming stars TNA has created, using stars other companies have created to put over your homegrown stars.
-Be original. Innovation is not the same as imitation. TNA imitates a lot of WWE concepts or storylines when they are perfectly qualified to be innovative and create their own.
We are Wrestling: TNA suffers from a lack of wrestling on TNA iMPACT! TNA should have the same amount if not more wrestling than Raw or Smackdown. The PPVs don¡¦t suffer from a lack of wrestling but the TV Show does. iMPACT is 1 hour and 28 minutes without the commercial break. 32 or more of the minutes should be dedicated to wrestling on-screen. The moment you acknowledge that TNA has better wrestling than any other company, the fans will recognize a big plus. You will get fans to tune in for the wrestling even if they don¡¦t like the storylines.
-Over 32 minutes of wrestling per iMPACT (not including commercial breaks)
-More clean cut finishes. Not as much interference and more clean matches would help the product immensely.
-Separate the wrestling and storylines more. At times the booking team¡¦s storylines take away from the actual wrestling due to swerves or un-needed interference. (For example: James Mitchell coming out in preparation for his announcement that he was Abyss¡¦ Father, or Tomko¡¦s interference at the end of the Kurt Angle vs Christian Cage Match). If these angles happened after the match instead of during it, the wrestling would be better and less convolutes. This is only the case sometime not all the time. Try your best to separate the actual wrestling from the storylines.
-Commercial breaks. TNA has 9 or 10 commercial breaks per episode which are about 3 and 1/5 minutes in length. TNA to me needs to either position the commercial break better of lengthen the time of the breaks while lessening the amount of them. Have the breaks take place before matches. The only matches that should or need commercial breaks are the lengthy ones (usually the hour matches and the main event). These matches should be 11 or more minutes. You don¡¦t want commercial breaks taking away from the action.
Cross the Line: To many fans the creative team is the worst part about TNA. At times I agree. However when fans claim ¡§Fire Russo¡¨ it makes me cringe knowing these fans don¡¦t know about how Russo is one of the most creative men in the business, when controlled. I personally like TNA¡¦s storylines, in essence. The execution of them at times reek but thinking about the storylines executed properly, you will see them for what they are.
„X Hire an Editor- Someone like Jim Cornette could do wonders for the TNA Booking/Creative Team. Someone to look over the script for the shows make sure everything makes sense and nothing has been done too man times before, you would have much better storylines.
„X Less is more- Concepts/Rules/ Storylines, they all apply here. If you see swerves every show, you aren¡¦t surprised. Feuding partners can only be done so much before it gets repetitive.
„X Be consistent- Stipulations need to be upheld. Title matches need to happen when they were told to happen. When an announcement is made, it should not change down the line.
„X More emphasis on athleticism or entertainment- Because TNA is closer to UFC, doesn¡¦t mean they should be completely different, it means they should learn for UFC. Sometimes feuds don¡¦t need over the top storylines but just heat between the two. Jeff Hardy vs Randy Orton had that. Samoa Joe vs Kurt Angle in 2006 had that. At times it just comes down to hate or competition.
„X More continuity in storylines- If Christian Cage turns on Sting, there should be a Sting vs Christian Cage feud one way or another. Allow pieces of history to be known during the shows such as when Sharmell referencing the Kurt Angle WWE Stalking Storyline of 2004. I like being a fan knowing what that is about.
Laugh out Loud: One thing TNA definitely isn¡¦t lacking is comedy. To this day the shows of TNA is filled with lightheartedness or comedy. Every other angle has humor in it. To me it at times is too much and makes TNA not seem important enough. The following stars of TNA are currently lighthearted characters or comedy characters: AJ Styles, Black Reign, Christian Cage, Curry Man, Rock N Rave Infection, Eric Young, James Storm, Black Machismo, Kevin Nash, Kurt Angle, ODB, Petey Williams, Shark Boy, Sonjay Dutt, Team 3D
„X Tone down severely on the humor at the shows focusing more on the serious parts of the show. Very much like the Global iMPACT! show
„X Comedy should be used only in three forms: Comedy Characters, Face Comedy or Comedy Against Heels
„X Comedy Characters: Guys like Curry Man, Shark Boy and at times Eric Young. These characters are supposed to make the audience laugh. Comedy Characters are the humor of the show and aren¡¦t supposed to be taken seriously.
„X Face Comedy: Characters like Christian Cage, Kevin Nash or Black Machismo are serious characters who make jokes to lighten the situation.
„X Comedy against Heels: Bad guys should never be funny unless its at their expense. For example the current scale angle with Team 3D. It makes fun of their characters. The actual heels aren¡¦t funny but the angles are. There are exceptions like AJ Styles
„X Keep the comedy to certain angles and characters like Curry Man and Shark Boy. Everything else on the show should be driven towards wrestling or storylines.
„X Give guys like AJ Styles, Kurt Angle, James Storm and Eric Young more serious characters focused of arrogance and inspiration.
The X Division: The X Division is what made TNA popular. It is the cornerstone of TNA because it is what TNA is about ¡§No limits, high risk athletic entertainment¡¨. TNA needs to once again focus on the division heavily. But to do that they need to take it in a different direction. One that is focused more on the wrestling of TNA.
„X Keep the Vince Russo storylines to the Heavyweight and Tag Team Divisions while allowing whoever books the Women¡¦s Division to book the X Division
„X Make the stars of the division to be focused on the athleticism and competition of the division like the old days. No over the top storylines, only in-ring action.
„X Add a few more faces to the division.
„X Give the division main event spots. The stars of the division aren¡¦t about star power but about wrestling ability.
„X Make the division more of a sports division. Separate it from the rest of TNA with unique division rules.
„X Like the days of FSN give the division a time limit concept. One on one singles matches are given 10-minute or 15-minute time limits where if there isn¡¦t a winner by the end, judges determine the winner. Championship matches or important X Division contests are given longer times like 30 minutes.
„X Make the X Division Title the ONLY TNA title that can change hands on a Disqualification. With the athletic focus, the champion has to be the best to remain champion.
„X Implement a rankings system. The number one ranked guy gets a title shot. When you beat someone you move up the ranks of the division.
„X 1 on 1 rankings matches can be called ¡§X Division Shootouts¡¨ while multiple man matches can be called Rankings Matches.
„X Rankings matches can determine rank by order of elimination. Look at Slammiversary 2006 as a perfect example.
„X Make the Destination X PPV the feature PPV of the X Division where the X Championship Match is the main event for the PPV.
„X Gimmick Matches, Grudge Matches and other non-normal matches aren¡¦t given time-limits.
„X These new rules would make the X Division different and make it stand out allowing it to be a TNA Branded Concept once again.
„X The X Division Title should be on equal grounds as the World Championship
The TNA Roster: The roster of TNA is the best roster of talent in the world bar-none. From what I understand, the morale is high in the company.
„X Once again offer anyone their release if they want it. TNA doesn¡¦t want anyone who doesn¡¦t want the company to succeed to be involved
„X Tell everyone they need to give 110% of themselves every time out to remain with TNA. If guys who couldn¡¦t step up before, still can¡¦t step up, they can leave TNA.
„X The focus of the company should be primarily towards the homegrown talent or a rabid mix. It should never be primarily on the former WWE Talent.
„X The former WWE Talent should be used to help season the Homegrown Talent or help put them over.
The Announcers of TNA: I like Mike Tenay and Don West unlike many others. However there are some changes that need to be made
„X More emphasis on in-ring action.
„X Less talk during promos
„X Allow Mike Tenay to educate the fans. That¡¦s why he is called the professor.
„X Allow Don West to comment of the words of Mike Tenay, that¡¦s why he is the Color Commentator.
„X The announcers are supposed to sell stipulations, concepts, action, storylines or promos.
The Matches of TNA: TNA is well-known for many of their innovative matches. That¡¦s part of the TNA Brand. However like everything else, they need to improve on some things.
„X TNA has always used more gimmick matches than their opposition. To me that is fine as long as they use them effectively. I was completely fine with all the gimmick matches during the Team 3D vs X Division feud. All of them were different in their own way.
„X If you use many gimmick matches then differentiate them from one another. How is the Black Reign Workshop of Horrors different from a normal street fight. Are there different weapons?
„X Don¡¦t overdo certain gimmick matches. Ultimate X should at most be used 2 during a 12 month span. When it is used 3 times during a 6 month span, it doesn¡¦t feel as important.
„X Make sure gimmick matches are there for a reason and not there to be there. The Johnny Devine vs Black Machismo X Championship Match this year shouldn¡¦t have been a Street Fight. There has to be reasoning behind gimmick matches.
„X Make sure gimmick matches are clearly explained before hand and easy to understand. Matches like the Doomsday Chamber of Blood are way too complicated for an average fan.
„X Matches that should be more rare and important to TNA: King of the Mountain, Lethal Lockdown, Xscape, Ultimate X, Monster¡¦s Ball, Barbed Wire Massacre and Elevation X.
„X All gimmick matches should make sense. The Reverse Battle Royal portion of the Fight for the Right Tournament is stupid. TNA needs to change the tournament to match the Michael Shane Triple Chance tournament of 2003. It was the same thing as the current format just without the Reverse Battle Royal.
TNA Celebrity Involvement
„X TNA has always been known to use sports figures or celebrities. As long as they don¡¦t spend too much or take too much time away from other TNA stars I have no problem with them.
„X TNA Celebrities need to promote the company.
„X TNA needs to benefit from the celebrity involvement (media attention)
„X TNA celebrities or sports figures are not on the same level, wrestling wise than the TNA Stars. They should rarely beat the stars of TNA and they should rarely win a TNA Championship Belt.
TNA Midcard Title: The guys of TNA sometimes get lost in the midcard shuffle. With the X Division breaking away from the remainder of the ranks. TNA needs to give the midcard something to fight over.
„X Call it the TV Title
„X The Title would be a secondary title and mean less than the World Heavyweight Title, Tag Team Titles, Knockouts Title and X Division Title
„X Would be used as an equivalent of the United States or Intercontinental Championships
„X Represents the future or rising stars of TNA
„X Would be fought over every other week on TNA TV
„X Would not be contested for on TNA PPV (this would be different than other wrestling shows)
„X Would be contested by the likes of Robert Roode, Eric Young and James Storm
TNA Shows and PPVs
„X There needs to be more focus on building to PPVs from Television, not the other way around
„X Add a 1-hour show, Xplosion to TNA TV every Saturday Night. It should be in the place of the iMPACT Replay. This would be a mix of WSXtra and ECW for Smackdown. It would feature the lower card talent with a few big names. There could be Xplosion Xclusive storylines, matches and wrestlers. It wouldn¡¦t be just a throwaway show. This would allow TNA to spread their wings and allow their segments to grow.
„X Make iMPACT live starting this Summer. It would allow a more prestigious feel for the show and cut back on Spoilers. This would happen every other week.
„X More Special for TNA. I loved Global iMPACT and would love to see more specials down the line.
„X More local advertising for House Shows and PPVs
„X Lower the ticket prices or make PPV Packages for PPVs or House Shows
„X Slow down TNA iMPACT! Product. There is way too much going on. Let the segments breath a little.
Now that I have finished my improvements list, here is what I enjoy about the TNA Product.
„X Best wrestling on TV. Despite having less wrestling than most WWE shows, TNA has the BEST wrestling in my opinion
„X Every wrestler has a character. I love knowing that there is a difference between Jay Lethal and Petey Williams other than look and style
„X Humor. TNA has 10 times the comedy WWE has on all three shows, combined. While I would tone down the humor, I catch myself laughing on more than one occasion during the TNA shows.
„X The TNA Characters. From Rellik to Eric Young. Black Machismo to Abyss and Black Reign to James Storm, most of the characters are awesome
„X TNA PPVs- The reason I buy PPVs is the wrestling. I watch the TV Product for most of the storyline builds while I watch the PPVs for the big payoff. PPVs are supposed to have more wrestling than the TV shows.
„X The Innovative Matchtypes- I like TNA¡¦s match types, nuff said!
„X The TNA Brand- I could go on and list all the things I love and we would be here a long time. I love the X Division, the TNA Divisional Structure, the championship belts, the PPVs, the storyline style, the wrestling style and so much more.
My favorite thing about TNA is that none of the shows are boring. There is always something going on, even if it is illogical. You might hate the TNA Product, but why do you still watch it?
iMPACT! Report Card
¡§Alligator Honeymoon¡¨
February 21, 2008
Action
„X The Kaz vs Rellik match was okay. I liked how the announcers mentioned that this wasn¡¦t the same Rellik who faced Kaz before. I also liked Rellik¡¦s new mannerisms like he was a monster from Jeepers Creepers. Looks like this will lead to a Rellik and Black Reign vs Kaz and Eric Young tag team match.
„X I expected more from the X Division 3-Way Match. I remember 2005 where the X Division Matches had cool moves that were connected and others inverted. This was just a series of moves. Couldn¡¦t they have saved the Scott Steiner stuff until after the match. This match didn¡¦t need the interference. It appears that it will be Black Machismo vs Petey Williams for the X Title at Destination X.
„X The Brother Ray vs Shark Boy and Curryman was the same thing we got last week. So the Stunner is now called the Chummer.
„X Roxxi Laveaux has new entrance music! I hate commercial breaks during the middle of matches. Another thing I hate is how Mike Tenay knows the names of the moves one moment and forgets them the next. Once again two friends are fighting.
„X The Booker T vs Kurt Angle Match was a solid heavyweight encounter which saw more interference. It was also given some pretty good time to work itself out. After the match Angle and Roode fought with Booker, Christian Cage and Samoa Joe. Kevin Nash came down and challenged Kurt Angle to a match the following week.
„X 37 minutes of wrestling with about 8 of those going to commercials
Entertainment
„X I really enjoyed the Jay Lethal tribute. It was a heartwarming moment that TNA needed. SoCal Val is really hot!
„X Did you Rellik is killer spelled backwards? Eric Young and Mike Tenay don¡¦t let us forget it.
„X I really enjoyed the segment over Samoa Joe¡¦s contract. Jim Cornette took extra precaution to prevent the signing from being interrupted. Joe said he wouldn¡¦t sign if he didn¡¦t win the World Title at Lockdown, and if he couldn¡¦t do that, he didn¡¦t belong in TNA. Interesting!
„X So Karen is using AJ to get back at Kurt. Poor AJ I feel bad for him. I guess this would be a good way to turn him face. These were quarky segments.
„X The Rhino and Mike Tenay interview was just there
„X I did like the Curry Man-Shark Boy Interview. That was pretty funny. Anyone would recognize Christopher Daniels¡¦ voice though.
„X This Abyss¡¦ angle could be okay to refresh the Abyss character as long as the mask stays on. If Abyss loses his mask he loses a lot of his character.
„X AJ took Karen to an Alligator Pit. HA That¡¦s what Karen deserves. AJ is kinda funny and makes me want to cheer for him.
„X I really wanted Joe to tell Cage to shut up during their interview. The shift has focused to Christian Cage more than Samoa Joe, not a good thing?
„X The final Honeymoon segment was once again okay. He was once again the funny heel with face elements.
Grade: C+
Overall Thoughts: There was some okay wrestling but once again too many backstage segments. The same TNA Problems occurred but at least we built towards Destination X
Show Rating: 1.1
Thank you for joining me again, please leave feedback!
Hey Professor, I enjoyed your Podcast. Here are a few comments about it.
„X How old are you? You have a very distinguished voice (as my wife says).
„X One of my biggest gripes about your podcast is that it is a bit too long for me. I would personally enjoy it if you shortened it to about 15 minute podcasts.
„X I personally am looking forward to the World¡¦s X Cup. I am very unfamiliar with International Wrestlers but do know of a couple.
„X I look forward to seeing Tiger Mask, Jonny Storm, Mistico or many others to come to TNA and allow the X Division to be on the forefront of TNA.
„X Jeff Hammond was the NASCAR Driver who hit the ¡§Pit Stop¡¨ Elbow. This was at Against All Odds I believe. As for the match, to me it was a train wreck of a match. The announcer Jimmy Spencer was horrible. I like how NASCAR was kept at a minimum.
„X I agree that TNA iMPACT wasn¡¦t the worst TV show for 2007. I was always entertained by TNA TV throughout all of 2007. At times for ECW, Smackdown or Raw has been so boring that I fell asleep. While the TNA TV show may be illogical at times, I have always been entertained. That should count for something.
„X I hate it when people use the terms ¡§smarks¡¨ and ¡§marks¡¨. To me the term is derogatory towards the people called marks. I refer to them as the IWF and MWF (Internet Wrestling Fans and Mainstream Wrestling Fans)
„X Jim Ross is far from the worst of the Announcers. He isn¡¦t the best announcer but he is still good. To me the worst announcer in wrestling is Jerry Lawler, because he screams ¡§puppies¡¨ every women¡¦s match.
„X I liked the Vince McMahon murder angle. That to me is what I like in wrestling, the storylines and the controversy. I do agree that the angle should not have overlooked the deaths of Sherri or Chris Benoit.
„X The Blindfold Match you were referring to was Jake Roberts vs Rick Martel from Wrestlemania III I believe. There are definitely worse matches than the Blindfold Match from Lockdown
„X I do agree that TNA was the weakest of the three promotions in 2007. There were so many mistakes made and money lost. With that said TNA had many great moments from 2007. 2007 was a year TNA needed to experience to become a better company.
„X I love the Black Reign gimmick. People complain that he isn¡¦t scary but don¡¦t understand he isn¡¦t supposed to be scary but disgusting or creepy.
„X For some reason I couldn¡¦t hear the podcast after this but it might be just me.