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

[IANdrewDiceClay]

All I know is that a television show I used to enjoy has several of their characters missing because they have left (not fired, walked out) because the working environment is unfair in regards to pay and to safety. There's no Alex Shelley anymore who was their best young wrestler. No Konnan, who was excellent at getting an act over. No Dutch Mantell who is obviously a big asset if you see him on WWE is no longer there. No El Generico because they wouldnt offer him a deal after a tryout. They brought in Chris Masters and Cliff Compton for several tryouts and told them they'd rather use locals guys (their words, not mine). No X-Pac because they false advertised him and sent him home. All this isn't from some newsletter. Its straight from their mouths. A consistent flow of negativity regarding a company I used to regularly watch from people I liked on Impact. I dont want to support a company who my favourite acts leave because they are being treated like shit. And the thing is, TNA never wins these lawsuits. Daffney, Konnan, R-Truth all got settlements from them. Scott Steiner is suing them for all sorts of allegations. You have women getting cocks stuck in their face and the company not acting until the network gets involved. It sometimes even rolls over into what I'm viewing, like when people paid $40 for a PPV only for Jeff Hardy to be sent out pilled off his nut. My whole point is, if its a poor work environment, thats fair enough. When the TV show and business suffers because of it, I suffer as a fan and I lose faith in the promotion.

Edited July 6, 2013 by IANdrewDiceClay

[Duke]

I disagree with that, Duke, I think the BFG Series has given the product a real lift.

 

Of course, if you only tune in periodically, then something like a series and its momentum is lost on you. So you also need the main event feuds to have momentum, and I agree that it's that area that's lacking since the reduction of PPVs.

 

I still think the solution to that is to turn one Impact into a Night Of Champions and build to title defences on those shows; a mini-PPV in between each actual one.

I watch every week. I've previously loved the BFG series, but I'm not bothered about this one. Probably because I don't care about anyone who's in it. Or maybe it's because last time, rather than using it to do something interesting, they gave it to Jeff Hardy and turned Austin Aries heel.

 

Probably that I don't care about any of them though.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

I am recommending this One Night Only PPV, though. I think its on Challenge at the weekend. Its really good so far. Haven't read to spoilers since they were published months ago, so have no idea who is on it. There's been a wrestler we haven't seen in ages on all the matches so far. Quiet enjoying this.

 

<-- click on 'spoiler' to show/hide the spoiler

Bob Holly!

 

[close spoiler]

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Edited July 6, 2013 by IANdrewDiceClay

[Mr Butternut Squash]

Yeah, I might have to check out the One Night Only ppv. The Jokers Wild one was quite enjoyable. The fact that it exists in its own little bubble helps it I think. Taz will be on top form for it as well .

[Sphinx]

As much as Ian mentions Alex Shelley, I'm completely with him on that. He was one of the hottest prospects and was a natural.

 

How about TNA going to these halls and ballrooms and putting on an underground image? It seems like it's been done a lot, but when it's coupled with good production values it works. They don't want to take it in as much of a hardcore direction as ECW, but more focussed on 'this is where the REAL pro wrestling is' like Ian said. That's partly why Angle is a great figurehead for them. I don't think it should look completely dingy but even Raw Is War had that kind of simple, gritty set-up. I agree that TNA looks too much like SmackDown.

 

I think they should be making more of a campaign of how this is real wrestling, more exciting, less restricted, the future, whatever. They had 'This is wrestling' but I mean for it to really be visibly different or a bit more cocky. Like basically saying 'you wouldn't see this anywhere else'. There's a lot of people who don't dig Cena and I think they could be turned onto TNA. TNA are trying to beat WWE at their own game and it's never going to work. Even their Hall of Fame shows the massive gulf between the two companies.

[pryko]

sign Scarlett Bordeaux for me to wank over.

This would make TNA the greatest company on earth if they put her on tv every week

[King Pitcos]

How about TNA going to these halls and ballrooms and putting on an underground image? It seems like it's been done a lot, but when it's coupled with good production values it works.

With good production values, it doesn't work. Nobody is buying TNA as an underground company. For them to pass themselves off as an underground company, they'd have to be a lot smaller than they already are. Which they might have to do, depending on how bad the money situation is, but it'd seem like a massive step backwards.

 

They don't want to take it in as much of a hardcore direction as ECW, but more focussed on 'this is where the REAL pro wrestling is' like Ian said.

 

I think they should be making more of a campaign of how this is real wrestling, more exciting, less restricted, the future, whatever.

TNA have tried that campaign a million times. It never works, because if there was any significant portion of the audience who really had the mindset of an "I want my wrestling more REAL and mo' LEGIT and without the company holding the wrestlers down and limiting their MOVESET" divvy, then ROH would be bigger than it is. That sort of shit can work at an actual underground level, but it does nothing for a company at TNA's level. Furthermore, that sort of criticism aimed at WWE has gone very quiet the last while. The success of the likes of The Shield, Bryan and Punk has forced all but the most retarded indie wrestling fans to stop doing the "WWE ruins the talent from the indies n holds them down." People who care about "workrate" and technical wrestling are very satisfied with the style of wrestling that WWE provides. TNA used to take popular indie wrestlers and give them a bigger stage. WWE does that now. Anyone who used to moan about it but still isn't happy with how WWE does the in-ring aspect is the sort that will always just stick with the indies anyway.

 

At this stage, the only people that need an alternative to WWE that TNA can conceivably provide is the "PG Sux n Cena sux" attitude era clingers. And TNA has been trying to appeal to that crowd since 2010. And judging by posts from guys like Magnum and Loki, TNA are largely succeeding on that front. But it's not increased their fanbase to any important degree and they're actually doing worse off than they were before that. And they're kind of stuck with it now, I think. Even if TNA cut all the big names and went back to trying to hook the workrate dollar with AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe main events on PPV, the fanbase who used to love that shit cares more about Seth Rollins, Paige and Sami Zayn now. WWE has a dozen or more wrestlers on the roster who are more "the future" than Chris Sabin is.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

I think Spike would chuck them off the air if they downgraded the production to make it look more "underground". You just cant do bingo hall wrestling on TV anymore. The Impact Zone was tiny. Its shocking how small it is. But they always made it look bigger than it was and lit it up to look presentable. If you go to smaller arenas, you have to tart it up. I doubt Spike is putting something on TV that looks like Global Wrestling. Ring of Honor is unwatchable by its own fanbase these days. Even they want the production values to be upgraded. That silver curtain they have ... fucking hell.

Edited July 6, 2013 by IANdrewDiceClay

[Sphinx]

Sorry, I didn't mean bingo halls. I mean, again like you said, how they did ECW One Night Stand and made it look presentable - which was a ballroom.

 

I think I've put my message across pretty badly (change). I don't mean underground in the sense of looking like ROH or indies, I mean more akin to how Raw Is War had a layout that looked less flashy than WCW. TNA looks like WWE-lite to the majority of people who see it. If it's presented differently, it's more likely to find it's own identity and own USP.

 

I really liked WWE's advert for their network. That's what I'd consider to be the right balance of an 'underground' feel in the sense that dubstep is in the mainstream, but is considered an alternative type of music and has it's origins as an underground genre. From what I remember, WWE hired a different media team to work on that advert and I imagine it probably cost them a fair bit. However, something like that can be produced where it feels current, relevant and still different to what WWE are doing (they've not done anything like it since). I don't think the 'this is wrestling' campaign hit hard enough. It basically just amounted to text saying it. They had an intro to Impact years back where it said 'welcome to TNA, the future of professional wrestling' but that doesn't hit hard enough. They've had the talking heads which is fine, but I think it needs to look and feel different so it doesn't come across as WWE-lite first and foremost. I think they should be a bit cockier in their approach. Perception is reality, and I think they could drill home 'why would you watch anywhere else?', 'where else would you see this?' and that their top guy is a legitimate athlete compared to the guy on the other show. Fuck, maybe they have done that already but I've not really noticed it enough.

 

Maybe they need to take that step back to move forward. I think it's a step back if it's perceived as a step back. They were standing still which is as good as stepping backwards anyway, and now they actually do seem to be stepping backwards without it being their intention. WWF were the top dog in town before WCW snapped up a load of high profile ex-WWF wrestlers, created nWo and started beating Raw in the ratings war so my comparison here isn't going to be great, but WWF offered the alternative to WCW when WCW were all over them. They had their finger on the pulse and created an alternative that resonated with popular culture at the time and helped win the war. Viral marketing and a greater online presence would go a long way but clearly that's not easy to achieve.

 

EDIT: That's if they want to gain ground on WWE. If they're happy with existing, then that's too drastic an approach and they'd be better reverting back to smaller venues and focusing on better booking and regaining fan's trust.

Edited July 6, 2013 by Sphinx

[midlandsfirst]

Yeah, I might have to check out the One Night Only ppv. The Jokers Wild one was quite enjoyable. The fact that it exists in its own little bubble helps it I think. Taz will be on top form for it as well .

 

Watching it now

 

Sorry to disappoint you but there is no Taz - its Tenay and JB

 

Edit - Well what a shit waste of 2hrs40mins

 

The audience totally KILLED this show - there were points during the main event where there was deathly silence as they just sat on their hands.

 

<-- click on 'spoiler' to show/hide the spoiler

Shark Boy winning hardcore gauntlet match beating them with a giant fish???? Chasing gunner round the ring with it by his arse as if it was biting him? Even kids would have been insulted at that! Gunner and Crimsons look of terror looking in the bag to see a fish....you would have thought it was a bloody mutated six legged, two headed beast the way they oversold it. Come on, its a bloody fish! Sloppy presentation with JB on commentary (obv dubbed over later with current storyline references) as well as being at ringside at the same time announcing the entrants for the gauntlet. Talking of which how annoying was Tenay saying before each entrant - "announce it JB". At the start they really built up the mystery partner for Brother Runt saying it could be someone returning for it to turn out to be Jeff bloody Hardy. Complete anticlimax. Only plus for me was Val looked particularly hot in the ring before the main event....

 

[close spoiler]

");document.close();

 

Rapidly losing patience with TNA lately.... A&8 dragging on...same old, same old...

 

Steve

Edited July 7, 2013 by midlandsfirst

[wrestlingmad]

Joey Ryan Interview. Makes some interesting comments.

 

Former TNA Wrestler Joey Ryan spoke for the very first time with ITRLive concerning this time in TNA following his release from the company. Below is an extensive recap:

 

How he got in to TNA:

Through David Lagana. I worked with David Lagana in a few places actually Ring of Honor, NWA Hollywood and then he booked me for Ring Ka King in India. Then he got hired to be a writer in TNA and they were looking for guys. He suggested me to Al Snow and Al Snow saw footage of me and decided to make me a GutCheck contestant.

 

It kind of happened quickly. They called me up and Al Snow asked if I would be interested and I said yes. He said, "Alright, I'll see you next week". There wasn't anything I had to sit on really.

 

On TNA GutCheck:

They literally don't tell you anything. I was the second ever guy to do GutCheck. The first GutCheck was Alex Silva. There was that whole thing where Ric Flair changed his decision on Alex Silva. You see, I don't know how much of that is really a shoot or not. I think they brought me in particularly to be a "No" because they just needed somebody from the indys to make this seem more legitimate and told "no". I think that was a work on their part.

 

I think when I wrestled and I had a good match against Austin Aries, thank God I had to wrestle Austin Aries, then I came in and did my promos and stuff like that, even before I was in front of the judges, they weren't telling me I was going to get a "No", but I had a few people telling me things. Like Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan came up to me and said, "Hey, we like your look, we think you are good. No matter what happens out there, we want to do something with you hopefully down the line". They were hinting that I was going to get a "No" vote.

 

I was already going in there portraying a heel character so I knew going into this that I wasn't just going to go out there, be told "No" and walk away with my tail between my legs. I'm going to be adamant about it. I was going to be myself, a guy who has been told "No" for the last 12 years by major companies.

 

After I did that promo, there was talk of me going around. They were saying to themselves, "How can we use this guy?" Before that, there was nothing planned for me.

 

Backstage following the GutCheck segment:

Well I don't know if they do this anymore but there were cameras all over the place. Everyone was still filming me. I had an argument with Al Snow in the back. Was it a worked shoot? I don't know. He was yelling at me, I thought it was pretty intense. I knew cameras were on too so I wasn't sure.

 

Once the cameras cut, Eric Bischoff approached me and told me, "That was incredible! That's what the segment should be! That's what live TV is all about!" He has a producer's mind. He was the one who came up to me and was the most vocal about it all.

 

On Taz backstage following the GutCheck:

Taz is kind of a hard-ass. I think he knew but I don't think he liked me right off the bat because of that. He's a prideful person, he is very proud of his wrestling and I was bad-mouthing his wrestling. I think he got to the point where he realized that I was doing anything I could to get a job.

 

On signing with TNA:

I actually got a call from Bruce Prichard the next day saying, "We got a contract for you". I signed it and faxed it back to them. At that point, I don't really know if they knew where the storyline was going to go at that point. They just wanted to capitalize on any hype that happened.

 

On teaming With Matt Morgan:

Don't know, it was a little hard to pull off because Matt is this unstoppable monster. I'm just this small guy. Matt would just look stupid if I just keep costing him all of these wins. I don't think it went the way they planned it. I don't know if this didn't go the way they planned or if they just didn't think about how long they could keep this up. It just gets to the point where you think, how long is Matt going to stick with this guy that isn't winning.

 

We were tagging against Chavo and Hernandez. I think they used me as a fall guy to keep Matt Morgan protected.

 

On the negative rumors about TNA contracts:

I had a great contract. I got a monthly salary and a bonus whenever I did wrestle. So yeah, I had a great contract. They said, "Hey, I want to pay you" and I said, "Great, I like getting paid".

 

On his release from TNA:

I knew there had been some office cuts and to be honest, I knew after the Matt Morgan stuff as they used me so sparingly. I think I did a PPV match that was unannounced. I did the referee stuff with the Knockouts. Then I did the random X-division 3-way match so. When I wasn't being used, I was at home collecting paychecks, so I kind of knew that this was too good to be true. They are paying me to sit at home for months now.

 

Part of me said, I know Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff like me so there's some pull there so maybe they are waiting to come up with something for me. I got the hint myself when I was just sitting at home getting paid.

 

On being notified of his release:

Al Snow called me and said "This isn't anything against you or your work, this is just budget cuts". I know they are on the road now and that's much more expensive. I think they are just trying to make the company as profitable as possible.

 

It was a decision they had to make. They had to cut guys without affecting the current storylines. I'm not bitter about it. I understand why. I don't have anything bad to say about anyone there. It's just a business thing.

[Big Bully Busick]

Without giving too much away...The rebranding of Suicide has to be the most pointless thing I have seen in a long time

[Loki]

Pragmatic stuff from Joey Ryan there, sounds like he understands the game he's in.

 

"PG Sux n Cena sux" attitude era clingers

 

That's right, I've been really vocal on this forum about my hated of Cena

 

All I know is that a television show I used to enjoy has several of their characters missing because they have left

 

Completely agree with this though. There was some stuff going round in the dirtsheets a few months ago about how TNA recognised they had too many "big" contracts and that was restricting the rest of the card. One thing I always liked about TNA was the fairly healthy turnover of the roster, with people coming in and out, but in the last couple of years it's been mainly "out". Not being able or willing to get performers like Kong back, or Shelley, is a bit shit.

 

Perhaps in retrospect, as much fun as the Hogan/Bischoff era has been, it's not really helped the company move forward at all. They could go back to the less star-packed heavyweight division, with more flippy floppy indy guys as X Division and more Knockouts, and probably not suffer in their business, and then at least they'd have some new talent.

[AshC]

Without giving too much away...The rebranding of Suicide has to be the most pointless thing I have seen in a long time

Well no, it makes plenty of sense, marketing-wise. Remember, when they brought his figure out, they couldn't even stick his name on it, due to the obvious connotations.

 

[pgi86]

Without giving too much away...The rebranding of Suicide has to be the most pointless thing I have seen in a long time

Well no, it makes plenty of sense, marketing-wise. Remember, when they brought his figure out, they couldn't even stick his name on it, due to the obvious connotations.

 

The re-naming of the character makes a lot of sense but the way they did it (show him unmasked and then just have Hogan announce that he's changed his name) didn't make any sense.

Edited July 8, 2013 by pgi86