Impact wrestling thread - It's a Don West tribute thread now!

[IANdrewDiceClay]

The Bully Ray vs Hogan match isn't happening now. That's been pulled. I imagine not getting paid on time has convinced Hogan not to cripple himself for this lot. Its probably going to be Bully vs AJ Styles for the belt. I dont know what else you will do. Everyone has faced everyone else a million times. What do you do with Sting? There are no heels for him to wrestle. What do you do with Roode? Put him against Aries or Hardy for the 100th time? All I can see is a heel Sabin vs. Hardy, but who would possibly care about that. Having Angle wrestle Magnus is something else they could do, but Magnus isn't getting over with the people at the arenas. I can see them doing Mike Knox vs Samoa Joe, which would be fun for me (who likes them both) but they've done nothing with Knox. Garrett and Wes will probably wrestle for the tag belts.

 

There's no marquee matches anymore. Everyone has wrestled everyone else. Its 5 weeks away and I couldn't predict a card at the minute. The best money is that the heavily pushed portion going into it will be some kind of contract signing between Rampage and Ortiz. Which would be rotten.

Edited September 12, 2013 by IANdrewDiceClay

[PowerButchi]

And the best thing is, despite having absolutely no upper card heels out of Bully Ray, they've turned Mr Anderson.

Edited September 12, 2013 by PowerButchi

[IANdrewDiceClay]

For fun, here's the roster as it stands. I've highlighted the ones who I either dont expect to wrestle or shouldn't be anywhere near a "TNA WrestleMania".

Abyss/Joseph Park - face

AJ Styles - face

Austin Aries - face

Bobby Roode - heel

Bully Ray - heel

Chavo Guerrero - fuck knows

Chris Sabin - turning heel

Eric Young - face

Hernandez - face

Jay Bradley - tweener in the sense that nobody gives a toss either way

Jeff Hardy - face

Kenny King - heel

Knux - heel

Kurt Angle - face

Magnus - face

Manik - face

Mr. Anderson - face

Rampage Jackson - face

Rob Terry - face

Rockstar Spud - ???

Sam Shaw - face

Samoa Joe - face

Sting - face

Tito Ortiz - heel

Zema Ion - heel

 

Christopher Daniels and Kazarian - heels

Garett Bischoff and Wes Brisco - heels

Gunner and James Storm - faces

Jessie Godderz and Robbie E - heels

 

What do you do with that? This is a serious question, I have no idea what you do with that roster. Considering Sting has wrestled everyone, Angle has wrestled everyone, Anderson has no value left and Bully and AJ are pretty much set, what can you do with it? The thing with having a small roster and no PPVs is that everyone wrestles everyone all the time.

 

TNA's PPVs used to be so easy to put together. People used to have a go but looking back TNA had it so easy a few years back. The formula used to be a quick paced X Division match where someone falls off something, a womens bout and exciting tag match, a legends match and a main event for the title. That sent people home happy, even if nobody bout it. You have the likes of Daniels, Jay Lethal and Amazing Red flying about for ages, mixed in with The Guns vs Beer Money, then Awesome Kong was over so she'd keep the pace going, Mick Foley would do something, then Sting would come out and Kevin Nash. Then you'd have Kurt, AJ and Joe or someone in the main event. The thing with the likes of Foley, Flair, Steiner, RVD and Nash is that they always got a reaction. For all the faults of having them around, they at least made an impact when you did an angle with them, which isn't the case with Jay Bradley and Magnus. The combination of famous old blokes and young talent is much better than the alternative of what its currently at. NWA Hollywood in large (empty) arenas.

Edited September 12, 2013 by IANdrewDiceClay

[PowerButchi]

There's only eight heels there as well who aren't emboldened, and that's counting Zema Ion. And none of them other than Bully Ray are top-line. Absolutely shocking. No depth whatsoever. And the even better, you can't even let most of the top line faces face off as they're in a fucking stable together!

Edited September 12, 2013 by PowerButchi

[Arch Stanton]

What are they doing with Joseph Park? I hoped that they had some long term booking idea for the direction of that character but it appears that isn't the case. He's just there now.

 

It looked like they were setting up Magnus to be a top guy, which made sense on paper but he's failed to catch on fire. I think that looking at that roster their best bet would be to really get behind Samoa Joe again. He's one of the best in the ring, good on the mic, can get the fans into his matches. They should position him as the Mafia's top man (with Sting's endorsement). A feud between Joe and Bully would interest me.

[pryko]

I'm guessing Mr Anderson is leaving then

[King Pitcos]

A feud between Joe and Bully would interest me.

Has there ever been a fatty vs fatty top feud in a major US promotion? It worked a treat over here.

[bAzTNM#1]

A feud between Joe and Bully would interest me.

Has there ever been a fatty vs fatty top feud in a major US promotion? It worked a treat over here.

Wouldn't call it a *top* feud but Vader vs Yokozuna was hyped for a few months early in 1996.

[AshC]

They had a cracking Raw match as well. But I digress.

[Loki]

Joe - Bully is a main event that'd get me interested again. Joe's been looking better recently and, though he'll never fulfil the early promise, is definitely someone who can be a main eventer for them once the expensive contracts have buggered off.

 

If you were to wrap up the Aces and 8s storyline, and get rid of Hogan, my top guys would be something like this

 

Faces

Hardy

Angle (if healthy)

Styles

Magnus

 

Heels

Bully

Roode

Daniels

 

I'd try Hernandez as a top level heel, nobody really likes him as much as they are impressed by his size, so give him a manager and push him as a rising heel.

 

And they need some fresh blood. From somewhere. Morrison or MVP or the like - good tv stars to freshen up the mix.

 

I'd also consider... bringing back squash matches. If they're going to insist on touring, grab a couple of local guys for each show and start making your stars look like stars. Have Knox totally fuck up some jobbers for a few months. Have Joe slapping the taste out of people's mouths. Reduce the number of times your mid-top level stars face each other.

[ColinBollocks]

I'd try Hernandez as a top level heel, nobody really likes him as much as they are impressed by his size, so give him a manager and push him as a rising heel.

Hernandez has the Morgans about him; good look and athleticism, but can't seem to put it together to become a proper star. It shows how thin the roster is that this isn't too daft, though.

 

Joe is an odd one. No matter how TNA treat him (and how rubbish and out of shape he gets), the people in the arenas always react to him like he's a star - very rare for a bloke that hasn't had that WWE exposure.

[Slapnut]

The BFG Series matches were really good this week. I would've liked to see Magnus win, but it's been obvious for a while that AJ would be facing Bully Ray at Big Friendly Giant. However, the good news is that AJ is going to be cutting another shoot promo on Dixie Carter next week after his last one went down so well.

 

Also, it seems Rampage and Tito Ortiz are gone from TNA, at least for the time being.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

The Anderson and Bully Ray match was excellent. Probably the best match Anderson has ever had. Anderson was like fucking Steamboat in this. His selling was fantastic. Which makes absolute sense if Anderson is leaving, but that's how it always does. Amazing how people tend to hit their top form when their contracts are due.

 

With Tito and Anderson gone, the Aces and 8s are now Bully Ray, Mike Knox, Garrett Bischoff and Wes Brisco.

Edited September 13, 2013 by IANdrewDiceClay

[FLips]

I thought Anderson did a great job last night at selling, but I still think he's the pits and because of that couldn't get behind him at all. Couldn't care less who won that match.

 

When Dixie showed up and said Rampage and Tito were gone I was howling. Aces and 8s started as the NWO B Team and have somehow ended up as a Z Team.

[King Pitcos]

Not having seen him much in years, probably since he was having a three-way feud in TNA with Jeff Hardy and someone else (Sting? Elijah Burke?)... How would Anderson fit into the WWE show now? I know everyone says he's shit these days, and his bridges are all in cinders anyway so he'd never be allowed back, but I wouldn't mind seeing him on Raw and Smackdown. His physique can't be much worse than the likes of Kofi and CM Punk, and he's always had a bit more about him than most of the WWE midcard have.