FourtyTwo

How long has their current TV deal got to run?  I can't imagine them getting a new one once it expires.

1 hour ago, garynysmon said:

This weekend, for the first time, I'm starting to think it may be time to give it all up.

I get no pleasure in saying that, seeing as Impact is the only show I watch on an even remotely regular basis. But there are too many people out there now who will never give it another chance, that's the bottom line. You can't run a company if the potential audience doesn't want to know.

That's exactly where I got to a few months back - it was the only thing I was watching regularly, but they just reverted to typical TNA style and started messing things up all over the place.

Do I miss not watching wrestling?  Yes.  Do I miss not watching TNA?  Not at all, going on how it was last time I watched, and BFG sounds like more of the same!

I had watched TNA back from when it was on a big delay on TWC, through all the thick and thin, and gave up on it recently with the last "reboot".

I try and keep up with the spoilers, just to see what a mess they're making of things, and sure enough BFG sounds like typical TNA.  I really don't know how / why it keeps going as it jut seems to lurch from one disaster to another, and the TV offering suffers from the way they record so much ahead of time, and yet still feels like an incoherent mess half the time.

The biggest problem was that when they were getting it right much of the time, no-one was tuning in to see it.  There was a year or two of good TV, well developed storylines and characters, and sensible booking - and yet as they'd destroyed so much goodwill beforehand, no-one gave a toss.

Sell the Broken Universe and video library to Vince (if he's still interested in either), and just be done with it.

Braun to turn on Miz mid-match, leading to an I/C title programme

3 hours ago, Liam O'Rourke said:

Right now, Strowman is the guy the top main event level superstars have to deal with that smashes through people until he gets stopped. Once he becomes the centrepiece, the dynamic changes. Not saying it's bad, but it's not going to be what it is right now, which is what's got him over to this degree.

I would agree that the dynamic changes, but the alternative come Monday is that he's lost to Lesnar, loses the aura and momentum, and needs to be "repaired" in some way to get people behind him again.  And in that scenario, there is a big shift in dynamic, as well as potentially pissing off fans who have gotten behind the push.

The only way out of this is, as others have said, some kind of controversial finish, but if Lesnar is off PPV duty until the Rumble, can you really justify keeping the belt on him that long without him being around?  As LaGoosh says, the alternative appears to be dropping the belt to Reigns - is that really a better option as thing stand now?

22 minutes ago, Liam O'Rourke said:

See, I think my perspective is a little different to most, in that I don't see this massive need to put the belt on Braun. It would be cool, and I'm not against it either, but to me Braun is a guy like Kane - he's the guy that gets the awesome build, but he's not the top star because his makeup make it impossible for him to be. The unstoppable machine is never the top guy, he's the guy that gets fed to the top guy. So much of Braun is that he's a product of great booking, being paired with Roman at the right time and being good in the role. I just don't know that if you strip that away and make him the centrepiece that he's got enough on his own as champion. Because what does he do once he's got it? The only new match he has that's top guy worthy is Joe.

For the feeding of the monster to the top guy to really be effective, don't you need the monster to be champion and the top guy to (at that point) be the challenger?  Otherwise, you end up with a situation where no-on cares about the next monster, as the top guy will just topple them as well.

Heel champ, face chasing = WM moment IMO.

Edit - or what Pat said

43 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

When do we think The Shield reunion will happen? Perfect booking would be they help Reigns win the strap (not necessarily this weekend), and then next night on Raw the theme hits. 

Are they going to tease this out until Mania?

Just posted the same thing on the Summerslam thread, without having read it here first. What sort of reaction would that get?

3 minutes ago, Philjax said:

His segments/matches got a lot of youtube views but that obviously hasn't transitioned into TV ratings or PPV buys. And he's a cunt.

 

Does anything TNA do translate into ratings / PPV buys?

18 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

Is there even an upside to Del Rio? I always wondered how much he brought in in terms of viewers etc. Even when he was with WWE I never really understood the continued push.

More to do with the desire to have a Mexican near the top f the company, to help brand awareness / positioning in that market, I would imagine.  Similar to Khali was used for historically, and Jinder at present.

I was going to suggest that they go with Dixie and Kurt leading a TNA invasion of Raw, but then realised how useless it would actually be.

So, on that basis, I fully expect it to happen, just so Vince can piss on their "grave" now the rebranding is going ahead!

Thanks - a few weeks more to wait then.

When is Impact due to start airing again in the UK, and on what channel?

 

I was thinking there's no reason that they can't work around another Goldberg win on Sunday, and maybe have Lesnar just destroy Goldberg on Monday night - full on brawl all over the arena.  Next week, Goldberg retires, hands the belt over and walks out head held high, and you can then run a PPV or two off a tournament.  Which would also coincide nicely with Balor returning to reclaim the belt he never lost.

 

I am not a huge fan of protecting people on their way out, I love the idea suggested of Reigns retiring Goldberg and Taker in successive nights. They are going to have to bite the bullet sooner or later and give Reigns a proper run with the title, they might as well do it now. My preference would be for Balor to chase for a while anyway. Get his rematch right off the bat but get screwed over starting an upper mid card feud before having another go at Reigns at Summerslam.

 

The only thing I hate about this scenario is that it would only leave post curb-stomp Rollins as number one contender for a while which would probably suck.

 

Agreed, but if you could protect Goldberg on the way out, whilst building Lesnar back up into a monster, and work your way out of the conundrum of a part-time champ, then it works quite well.  If you don't protect Goldberg, then you end up with one of two scenarios - a part time champ when Lesnar wins on Sunday, or Lesnar losing any kind of monster aura he has after 2 losses to a 50 year old and no revenge possible.  If you go with a Lesnar win, you also have the ending of Wrestlemania being as damp as dishwater when Orton is posing on the turnbuckle with the belt to zero reaction, as they surely wouldn't end the biggest show of the year with Lesnar destroying / retiring Goldberg?

I just don't see a way to protect Lesnar without him winning the belt AND have the pop at the end of Mania they will be looking for unless they have him destroy Goldberg the following night.

I guess you could have him do it prior to a match versus Reigns, and then you have a battered Goldberg losing to a spear (and have Reigns do a Jackhammer to complete the turn), but if Goldberg wins on Sunday, you need Lesnar to destroy him Monday.

Unless of course, Goldberg is sticking around longer than people think?

I was thinking there's no reason that they can't work around another Goldberg win on Sunday, and maybe have Lesnar just destroy Goldberg on Monday night - full on brawl all over the arena.  Next week, Goldberg retires, hands the belt over and walks out head held high, and you can then run a PPV or two off a tournament.  Which would also coincide nicely with Balor returning to reclaim the belt he never lost.

 

 

Bless Triple H, like, but Seth Rollins is such a waste of time. Granted, WWE never do him any favours, like most on their roster, but he's awful as a heel and, it turns out, even worse as a babyface. The whole injury fluke they worked into the angle should have really elevated sympathy for Rollins, but it's impossible to not want to see him getting smashed to bits again. Firmly hope Triple H and Joe batter him.

 

Only read the spoilers, but the one thing that jumped out to me was the references to the time before he joined up with HHH.  Everyone clearly knows and remembers that joining up with HHH was what broke up the Shield, so given it's an unsanctioned match, is there any chance of Shield involvement? 

 

I would say no given that Reigns should be focused on Undertaker and Ambrose on Corbin. You never know with WWE though.

 

I was thinking the same thing, but guess they could work round it with the running order of the show?  Although I can't envisage them putting Reigns - Taker on earlier than Rollins - HHH, the Ambrose - Corbin match will surely be early on?  Unless they play it into a show long angle, and have them turn them all heel by reuniting to get over HHH, then help out Reigns against Taker.

You have Rollins falling flat when pushed as face or heel, Reigns being booed and Ambrose stagnating - a reunion of sorts would make sense for them all right about now.

Bless Triple H, like, but Seth Rollins is such a waste of time. Granted, WWE never do him any favours, like most on their roster, but he's awful as a heel and, it turns out, even worse as a babyface. The whole injury fluke they worked into the angle should have really elevated sympathy for Rollins, but it's impossible to not want to see him getting smashed to bits again. Firmly hope Triple H and Joe batter him.

Only read the spoilers, but the one thing that jumped out to me was the references to the time before he joined up with HHH.  Everyone clearly knows and remembers that joining up with HHH was what broke up the Shield, so given it's an unsanctioned match, is there any chance of Shield involvement? 

Steiner coming back would be gold.

I would love it if he rocked up in his MEM gear, looking for Sting, Angle etc claiming the group was still together!

I know, I was jokin about as 'hottest free agent' is his current gimmick

Dixie would probably believe the gimmick though, and try and get him to join

Double J, Double M, A Challenge.

That's the money, right there.

 

Why is everyone convinced that Undertaker v Shane is happening?  In my head, I have a scenario where next eek, Taker comes out and refuses to be involved in the match, leading to Shane fighting someone else in the cell (Wyatt?) and Vince putting Taker in a match against someone else (Cena?), where if Taker loses, he has to retire.

If Taker can just turn down the match with Shane, why would he have to put his career on the line against Cena?

 

I think I agree with the points that this is probably a holder for Cena or a replacement if he can't make it. In the meantime though, I don't see it sells one ticket, one buy or one network sub. I do enjoy it when WWE gets desperate enough to start throwing shit at walls though so we'll see.

 

I would question as to when WWE have applied logic to their booking recently for the reason why they can make him put his career on the line versus Cena but not make him face Shane, except for the fact that I genuinely hadn't thought of it from that point of view.

I just don't see the match happening personally, so the two options are (a) Shane having a representative in the match or (b) Taker refusing to do it and having a different match.  Maybe the career on the line was a step too far for the booking, but I can definitely see a scenario where Taker turns down Vince, and ends up facing someone else.

Long, long time lurker, first time poster here.

Why is everyone convinced that Undertaker v Shane is happening?  In my head, I have a scenario where next eek, Taker comes out and refuses to be involved in the match, leading to Shane fighting someone else in the cell (Wyatt?) and Vince putting Taker in a match against someone else (Cena?), where if Taker loses, he has to retire.

Gives a storyline reason for a retirement, as well as introduces more belief that Shane will win.

I also wonder on the current status of Rollins, and wonder if the title match could descend into a series of heel run ins for HHH, only for Ambrose and a returning Rollins to come to Reigns' aid, and end Mania with a Shield reunion as faces - about the only way I can see a Reigns victory getting a pop!