UKFF Questions Thread V2

[dopper]

This is probably one of the most common questions asked on here, but a search for any of the key words brings up loads of topics, and I couldn't see an answer:

 

What is the best way to get tickets to see TNA at Universal Studios?

 

I'd appreciate any advice from anyone who has been before. For example if queueing up for hours on the off-chance is the only way I probably wouldn't bother, whereas if there is a sure-fire way of guaranteeing admission in advance I would want to do that.

 

Thanks.

[unfitfinlay]

Just a couple of quick ones:

 

Age old question, and plenty of needless threads I'm sure - but what is the actual gripe people have with the Invasion angle? Is it just not hanging on til Flair/Hogan/Goldberg etc showed up? Not looking for debate, just wondered what the accepted consensus was.

 

It was shite.

 

Going in they had three choices: Stump up to buy the big names out of their Time Warner contracts, book the WCW guys they DID have as strongly as possible to get them over as stars, or just bury lot of them after a month, pissing away hundreds of millions of dollars in the process. They went with the stupidest option.

 

This is probably one of the most common questions asked on here, but a search for any of the key words brings up loads of topics, and I couldn't see an answer:

 

What is the best way to get tickets to see TNA at Universal Studios?

 

I'd appreciate any advice from anyone who has been before. For example if queueing up for hours on the off-chance is the only way I probably wouldn't bother, whereas if there is a sure-fire way of guaranteeing admission in advance I would want to do that.

 

Thanks.

 

From: http://www.universalorlando.com/Shows/Impact-Wrestling.aspx

 

To receive priority entrance, please contact TVaudience@tnawrestling.com no sooner than one week prior to your select taping, once the show dates & times have been confirmed. You will receive an email confirmation which will allow you to enter the soundstage prior to those in the Stand-by line. Please note: Entrance to IMPACT WRESTLING does not include free entrance to Universal Studios Florida.

[air_raid]

Going in they had three choices: Stump up to buy the big names out of their Time Warner contracts, book the WCW guys they DID have as strongly as possible to get them over as stars, or just bury lot of them after a month, pissing away hundreds of millions of dollars in the process. They went with the stupidest option.

 

Add to that the fact that a load of WWF talent was drafted in representing "ECW" along with the newly arrived Tommy Dreamer and Rob Van Dam. Involving the Dudley Boys, Rhino et al heavily diluted the purity of what was supposed to be WWF v WcW, to the point only 2 guys that were actually from WcW were involved in the 10 man main event at Invasion. Admittedly the Alliance closed the Invasion PPV quite strong but SummerSlam was an absolute massacre where Edge, Taker & Kane, Rock and Jericho thoroughly trounced their Alliance enemies leaving only Austin in any credible position at the end, holding onto the WWF title on a DQ.

 

Before the end Test, Christian, Steve Austin and Kurt Angle had defected too and the Alliance was just like any other heel faction managed by Shane and Steph for fuck's sake. The two top singles guys involved on each side in the main event of Survivors 2001 which bought a head to the entire WcW invasion storyline were The Rock, Chris Jericho, Steve Austin and Kurt Angle. That says it all.

Edited May 30, 2012 by air_raid

[Forrest]

Looking at it from a WWE vs. WCW Dream fued stance, yeah, it was a disaster. But looking at it from a pure entertainment standpoint, I thought it was marvellous. Of course, it could have been so much more if they had got Sting, Goldberg, Hogan etc. and it would have been nice not to have a complete burial of WCW, but I enjoyed it. Every PPV that I have seen was great, and there was a multitude of stand-out matches. It wipes the floor with pretty much every big angle from the last 5 years anyway.

[Vamp]

Going in they had three choices: Stump up to buy the big names out of their Time Warner contracts,

 

Why does everyone oversimplify that to present it as a viable option? For a start you're going to have to offer considerably more than the Time Warner contracts, which were already stupid, because you're asking them to actually work ,what was to them at that point, a mental schedule. Many of them were pretty used to other benefits in their contracts too. But the bigger issue is that it's not just paying them more, it's paying your own roster more. IF these new guys come in on mental contracts than the likes of Austin, Rock and 'Taker are goign to get pissed and want more money so you're going to have to pay them as well, and keep on paying them. Adn heaven forbid you offer the WCW guys the other benefits they had to their contracts. Maybe they could have brought in one guy. But I always find it moronic how people never being up the flip side, it's not just a case of WWE wantign to brign them in, it's a case of these wrestlers wanting to actually go out on the road again for less money. DDP did and look his WWE career went. Even if the WWE did decide to be tits and dramatically increase the wages of their headliners for ever, over one angle that would always have only lasted about a year anyway, would you agree to go fron being able to relax at home for a massive wage to working five nights a week? Adn even if you decide to argue that the WWE could have offered them contracts without house show dates you're being an even bigger idiot, because than the otherh eadliners could ask for the same kind of cushy deal. Then no one of any worth is working house shows.

 

It just wasn't that great of an option for the company, nor the wrestlers involved.

[unfitfinlay]

Going in they had three choices: Stump up to buy the big names out of their Time Warner contracts,

 

Why does everyone oversimplify that to present it as a viable option? For a start you're going to have to offer considerably more than the Time Warner contracts, which were already stupid, because you're asking them to actually work ,what was to them at that point, a mental schedule. Many of them were pretty used to other benefits in their contracts too. But the bigger issue is that it's not just paying them more, it's paying your own roster more. IF these new guys come in on mental contracts than the likes of Austin, Rock and 'Taker are goign to get pissed and want more money so you're going to have to pay them as well, and keep on paying them. Adn heaven forbid you offer the WCW guys the other benefits they had to their contracts. Maybe they could have brought in one guy. But I always find it moronic how people never being up the flip side, it's not just a case of WWE wantign to brign them in, it's a case of these wrestlers wanting to actually go out on the road again for less money. DDP did and look his WWE career went. Even if the WWE did decide to be tits and dramatically increase the wages of their headliners for ever, over one angle that would always have only lasted about a year anyway, would you agree to go fron being able to relax at home for a massive wage to working five nights a week? Adn even if you decide to argue that the WWE could have offered them contracts without house show dates you're being an even bigger idiot, because than the otherh eadliners could ask for the same kind of cushy deal. Then no one of any worth is working house shows.

 

It just wasn't that great of an option for the company, nor the wrestlers involved.

 

Seriously? I'm pretty sure that, done properly, a WCW vs WWF war could've lasted for years.

 

There were obvious drawbacks to buying WCW guys out of their contracts but also a lot of incentives to do it. The WWF made something like $8 Million dollars from the Invasion Pay Per View, and that was a "B" Pay Per View with fucking Rhyno and the Dudleys in the Main Event. How much more money would they have drawn with a Goldberg or a Sting involved? More than enough to offset the increased costs of bringing them in surely. Politics might've been a problem, but then, they brought everybody but Sting in later on anyway and it didn't cause any major problems. Come to think of it, they actually bought Flair out of his contract the DAY AFTER the storyline ended, which is so dumb I might I blocked it from my mind.

 

It may not have been perfect but it would've been far better and far more profitible than what they ended up doing, which was bury the Invaders after a month and put the entire focus on Vince vs Shane and Stephanie. As Air Raid said, by the end the Alliance could've just been any other heel faction.

[dopper]

This is probably one of the most common questions asked on here, but a search for any of the key words brings up loads of topics, and I couldn't see an answer:

 

What is the best way to get tickets to see TNA at Universal Studios?

 

I'd appreciate any advice from anyone who has been before. For example if queueing up for hours on the off-chance is the only way I probably wouldn't bother, whereas if there is a sure-fire way of guaranteeing admission in advance I would want to do that.

 

Thanks.

 

From: http://www.universalorlando.com/Shows/Impact-Wrestling.aspx

 

To receive priority entrance, please contact TVaudience@tnawrestling.com no sooner than one week prior to your select taping, once the show dates & times have been confirmed. You will receive an email confirmation which will allow you to enter the soundstage prior to those in the Stand-by line. Please note: Entrance to IMPACT WRESTLING does not include free entrance to Universal Studios Florida.

 

Thanks very much for that.

[simonworden]

I always feel the problem could have been solved by waiting with the invastion angle and starting it a bit later on. What is sad is that although there was no Nash, Hall, Hogan, Goldberg, Flair,Steiner within18 months of the invasion finishing all these guys turned up. with Goldberg being the one that makes it more than a year.

[Reznor]

Going in they had three choices: Stump up to buy the big names out of their Time Warner contracts,

 

Why does everyone oversimplify that to present it as a viable option? For a start you're going to have to offer considerably more than the Time Warner contracts, which were already stupid, because you're asking them to actually work ,what was to them at that point, a mental schedule. Many of them were pretty used to other benefits in their contracts too. But the bigger issue is that it's not just paying them more, it's paying your own roster more. IF these new guys come in on mental contracts than the likes of Austin, Rock and 'Taker are goign to get pissed and want more money so you're going to have to pay them as well, and keep on paying them. Adn heaven forbid you offer the WCW guys the other benefits they had to their contracts. Maybe they could have brought in one guy. But I always find it moronic how people never being up the flip side, it's not just a case of WWE wantign to brign them in, it's a case of these wrestlers wanting to actually go out on the road again for less money. DDP did and look his WWE career went. Even if the WWE did decide to be tits and dramatically increase the wages of their headliners for ever, over one angle that would always have only lasted about a year anyway, would you agree to go fron being able to relax at home for a massive wage to working five nights a week? Adn even if you decide to argue that the WWE could have offered them contracts without house show dates you're being an even bigger idiot, because than the otherh eadliners could ask for the same kind of cushy deal. Then no one of any worth is working house shows.

 

It just wasn't that great of an option for the company, nor the wrestlers involved.

That could all be 100% spot on - I have no idea, I don't involve myself with all the business stuff and inside goings on.

 

But really, what does it matter? We're not accountants, whether it was economically efficient or not, it was still the only way an invasion angle would have been any good. As fans, we wanted to see WWFs top stars vs WCWs top stars.

 

Putting a bunch of relative no-mark midcard WCW duffers up against the long established WWF superstars was never going to capture the fans imagination.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Putting a bunch of relative no-mark midcard WCW duffers up against the long established WWF superstars was never going to capture the fans imagination.

It did though. The Invasion PPV drew 770,000 buys for a a B PPV. Also the shows leading up to Invasion were brilliant. All of this without Sting, Goldberg and all them. You could have done the Invasion without the stars and it would have ticked over until the names became available. People were into the idea of an Invasion storyline. There was a million ways to do it and they picked the unthinkable option of killing it dead.

Edited May 31, 2012 by The_BarbarIAN

[Loki]

The Invasion angle was, in some respect, the last hurrah for the boom era of wrestling. You had a vast audience for WCW that were, many of them, quite separate from WWE. They were interested in what would happen to their heroes, and so the WWE had an opportunity to hook them into their own product.

 

As entertaining and fun as the Invasion was in some respects, and although it popped a couple of really big PPV numbers, it also destroyed that opportunity. I think Scott Keith said it, but it's true that a vast number of wrestling fans walked away from watching wrestling following the death of WCW, and have never tuned back in. Both shows, going head to head, were pulling what, 4.0 to 5.0 plus in 1999. 12 months after the end of Nitro, Raw was struggling to pull that on its own.

 

Had they bought out the contracts of the big stars like Nash, Hogan, Goldberg, Flair and Sting they could have booked huge cross-promotional matches for years, appealing to both WCW and WWF fans. Hell, they could have kept WCW going as a separate entity with its own TV show (Smackdown) and done the brand split properly.

 

They didn't, they made WCW into a joke and then buried it. And by the time they actually DID bother to bring in those stars, that audience had gone, never to return.

[Vamp]

Hell, they could have kept WCW going as a separate entity with its own TV show (Smackdown) and done the brand split properly

 

They couldn't. They tried shopping a WCW product around to other networks and they got told to get fucked. The brand was pretty much dead in the water by that point. If they went to network executives and said "we're thinking about ditching the WWF branded show you've paid for and giving you a WCW one instead" they'd probably think you were taking the piss.

 

But really, what does it matter? We're not accountants, whether it was economically efficient or not, it was still the only way an invasion angle would have been any good. As fans, we wanted to see WWFs top stars vs WCWs top stars.

 

That's not what I said though was it? I'm saying it's not the easily available great option that people so often pretend it is.

 

I think Scott Keith said it, but it's true that a vast number of wrestling fans walked away from watching wrestling following the death of WCW, and have never tuned back in. Both shows, going head to head, were pulling what, 4.0 to 5.0 plus in 1999.

 

That's hardly a fair comparison though is it? WCW's brand was stronger in 1999 than it was in 2001.

 

Had they bought out the contracts of the big stars like Nash, Hogan, Goldberg, Flair and Sting they could have booked huge cross-promotional matches for years, appealing to both WCW and WWF fans.

 

They tried to bring in Sting after his contract ended, he still wasn't interested. I should imagine Sting doesn't want to make the jump because of the schedule more than anything. That's probably what appeals to him about TNA. Sting wasn't and seemingly still isn't interested. He's out. Do you expect Nash to be interested in coming in when he's getting free money? Maybe Hogan would have brought people in, although his nostalgic run relatively near to that point didn't exactly do killer business anyway, but could you imagine trying to keep him branded as a WCW guy anyway? Not going to happen. He'd have jumped to the WWF side. Would Goldberg have made the jump earlier? I'm not sure. He's on record as not really having much of a love for pro wrestling and seeing it more as a job, he's getting paid a fair bit to sit at home and he was seemingly always a little reluctant (quite rightly too) to trust the WWE when it came to handling his character. Flair would have come, but he's not the other names and the WWF probably wouldn't have had him working matches at that point anyway. Would he have brought over the WCW fans? Maybe. Not all of them, some of them probably gave up when Nitro died as it was seen as an excuse to move on. A proportion of the final Nitro audience were never going to make the jump.

 

It's just really boring and naiive to assume that the reason that the dream scenario didn't work out is because the WWE wern't prepared to stump up the cash. Hardly anyone ever thinks about the fact that people were getting paid a hell of a lot to sit at home. The money wasn't the only incentive not to go to the WWF which had a far harder schedule than they were used to anyway.

 

The Invasion PPV drew 770,000 buys for a a B PPV. Also the shows leading up to Invasion were brilliant. All of this without Sting, Goldberg and all them. You could have done the Invasion without the stars and it would have ticked over until the names became available. People were into the idea of an Invasion storyline. There was a million ways to do it and they picked the unthinkable option of killing it dead.

 

This is probably a fair point. Maybe they could have done better with what they had I say maybe because I can't think of many big changes I would have made off the top of my head. Other than leaving Stephanie out of it. It's worth mentioning though that whenever people fantasy book the scenario they don't work within the confines the WWF gave to themselves. That's where the interest in that fantasy booking is if you ask me. That's why I don't really understand the "let's be Jim Cornette" approach. With all due respect to people who do that and enjoy it, that's nto the real challenge. Keeping up the momentum from Invasion with what the WWF had (whether that was a self imposed limit or not) is the hard bit.

[Sphinx]

Jim Cornette's DVD o booking the Invasion was pretty shit. It can be interesting listening to him, but his ideas were wank. He reeled his cards off pretty nonchalantly, saying 'well, I've not had much time to book this' or 'I'd probably do this'. There were a lot of criticisms, but not much conviction in his own ideas. If I remember correctly, he bought people out of Time Warner contracts too.

[unfitfinlay]

Hell, they could have kept WCW going as a separate entity with its own TV show (Smackdown) and done the brand split properly

 

They couldn't. They tried shopping a WCW product around to other networks and they got told to get fucked. The brand was pretty much dead in the water by that point. If they went to network executives and said "we're thinking about ditching the WWF branded show you've paid for and giving you a WCW one instead" they'd probably think you were taking the piss.

 

That was the original point of the Invasion angle though: To use WWF TV to repair the damage to the WCW brand name so that they could eventually restart it as a going concern with TV shows, Pay Per Views etc, of it's own.

 

Incidentally, I'd also question whether networks would've been so quick to turn it down if they'd the big stars involved.

 

They tried to bring in Sting after his contract ended, he still wasn't interested. I should imagine Sting doesn't want to make the jump because of the schedule more than anything. That's probably what appeals to him about TNA. Sting wasn't and seemingly still isn't interested. He's out. Do you expect Nash to be interested in coming in when he's getting free money? Maybe Hogan would have brought people in, although his nostalgic run relatively near to that point didn't exactly do killer business anyway, but could you imagine trying to keep him branded as a WCW guy anyway? Not going to happen. He'd have jumped to the WWF side. Would Goldberg have made the jump earlier? I'm not sure. He's on record as not really having much of a love for pro wrestling and seeing it more as a job, he's getting paid a fair bit to sit at home and he was seemingly always a little reluctant (quite rightly too) to trust the WWE when it came to handling his character.

 

Everybody there (except maybe Sting) would've came if the money was right, and it easily could've been. Sure, they were getting paid loads from Time Warner but could've made a lot more from Pay Per View bonuses alone. As mentioned before, if the Invasion Pay Per View could draw 770,000 buys without the genuine WCW stars (and The Rock, for that matter) then how much could they have drawn with them?

 

For what it's worth, I don't think buying the WCW guys out would've been the best option, just better than what they did do. Ian's right, they could've made it work without the big names just by protecting the people they did have, instead of burying them. DDP for example got a massive reaction when he debuted, and then got fed to the Undertaker and his missus for no apparent reason. If they'd protected the bulk of them and made a concentrated effort to get them over as legitimate stars, they'd easily have been able to keep it going until the likes of Nash, Steiner, Goldberg etc, were available.

[Halitosis Romantic]

Jim Cornette's DVD o booking the Invasion was pretty shit. It can be interesting listening to him, but his ideas were wank.

 

To be fair, that's because his ideas tend towards the wank end of the spectrum constantly.