Roode Awakening

TNA rushed it again at their latest TV tapings. Let’s backtrack a bit before we get to that...

The company spent a considerable amount of time preparing Bobby Roode for his title match with Kurt Angle at Bound For Glory. He had been pushed so strongly as the promotion’s next breakout star slash saviour that most fans felt it was a certainty that he would defeat Angle for the championship. Anyone who saw the match will know that didn’t happen.

I wrote two blogs on Roode’s main event chances and the decision to have Angle retain shortly before and after the pay-per-view. They’re available here and here. In short I thought Roode had the potential to make a difference to TNA’s stale main event scene and that the decision to have him lose made him look weak, as well as making the time and effort that had gone into his push ultimately pointless.

Since Bound For Glory TNA has continued the baffling booking with regards to their world championship. At the October 18^th IMPACT taping James Storm defeated Kurt Angle in a nippy little match to become the new TNA world champ. The result and the match itself had come out of nowhere: there was no build-up for ‘The Cowboy’s’ title victory. Shocking the audience is all well and good but in this instance it had come at the expense of another potential main eventer who should have been protected (Roode).

At last night’s IMPACT taping (which will air on November 3^rd in the United States) Storm lost the TNA world championship to Bobby Roode. That match should have been built to gradually over a course of months and been put on pay-per-view. Instead it was rushed through in three weeks of television.

James Storm would have made a fine TNA world champion had he been given the chance to establish himself in the role. As it is he only held the championship for six days and clearly only received it in the first place to facilitate a heel turn by his Beer Money tag team partner. A three or four month title reign for ‘The Cowboy’ would have allowed him to get over as a true main event star and restored some much needed credibility to the currently fairly worthless TNA strap.

Had Bobby Roode turned heel gradually by exhibiting signs of resentment and jealousy at his friend’s success the eventual heel turn would have been more impactful. A longer approach would have given fans the chance to anticipate the betrayal and resulting feud. The approach TNA has gone with feels like something that’s been thrown together in a very short period of time with no thought being given to the future.

Following Roode’s title victory it was announced that he would defend the gold against AJ Styles at Turning Point. AJ could have played a key role in the slower approach and it would have been nice to see him face Roode in a singles match on pay-per-view in which Roode used heelish tactics to gain a tainted victory, foreshadowing his heel turn. The match we’ll see in a few weeks should be fine but it won’t have as much meaning as it could have done.

The decision to put the title on either man is fine: both have qualities that will help them establish themselves as main event performers if they are given the company’s support. The decision to split them as a team is also a good one as the two men have achieved everything they can as Beer Money Inc. Fans like both men and can believe in them as world title competitors. The problem is simply that TNA did not devote anywhere near enough time to what should have been, from beginning to end, six months of programming. The writing team has made its job much harder by doing things this quickly.

The feud should be good. But it could have been so much better.

Leg Drops and Ankle Locks

Bound For Glory was yet another wasted opportunity. Bobby Roode should have dethroned Kurt Angle for the TNA world heavyweight championship. Instead TNA booked a screwy finish in which Roode broke the count by grabbing the ropes without the referee seeing. Meanwhile the semi-main event saw Hulk Hogan job to Sting and then save him from a post-match beat down from his Immortal teammates. ‘The Hulkster’ cemented his face turn by lamping Eric Bischoff.

Hogan making the save was an absolute waste of time. Not only did it render the months-long feud between the two veterans/dinosaurs pointless, it also deprived a young babyface the chance of rising up the ranks.

It would have been easy to book Hogan to try and save ‘The Insane Icon’ only to be bettered by Immortal’s superior numbers before a young babyface came out to even the odds and send the heels packing. But that would have deprived Hogan of the opportunity to get himself over, so it didn’t happen. Had someone other than Hogan and Sting been elevated there would have been some sort of reason for the match happening.

Presumably Hogan will now join forces with Sting to feud with Immortal. Great. Two fifty-somethings battling washed-up WWE stars and tattooed jobbers. What a lead feud that’s going to be!

While you could be forgiven for thinking that TNA’s lead heel is Eric Bischoff (he was treated as such in that post-match angle after all) that spot is actually inhabited by world champion and Immortal member Kurt Angle. With the Olympian having retained the gold against Roode and Hogan looking like he’s headed into a feud with the faction what are the odds that we see Hogan v Angle for the TNA world championship in the near future?

As much as I’d like to see a scenario in which Hogan and Sting endorse a group of young babyfaces (Fourtune would be the best candidates) Hogan’s recent comments regarding Roode make that look unlikely. Instead we’re likely going to get Sting and then Hogan facing Angle on TNA pay-per-views. With Angle still determined to compete at next year’s Olympic Games it’s possible he’ll need to drop the title in the next couple of months. That means there’s a very real chance we could see Hogan as TNA world champion before the year is out.

Should you be interested in a Hogan v Angle match I suggest you check out their clash at WWE King of the Ring 2002. Coming from a time before Angle’s body had fallen to pieces and Hogan had had his hip replaced it’s far superior to anything they’re likely to churn out these days.

That’s not going to stop TNA from booking it though.

Does He Really Know Best?

Could today be the day Bobby Roode wins his first TNA World heavyweight championship and becomes ‘The Man’ in TNA? Many fans hope so. With a match against Kurt Angle, who is still the promotion’s top worker despite his age and shoddy health, in the main event of TNA’s top annual pay-per-view it certainly seems like the perfect time to elevate a new star. Roode has the look, the verbal skills and the in-ring ability to become the top guy.

One man disagrees with that view: Hulk Hogan. In a radio interview given on Thursday (for Sirius Radio) Hogan buried Roode with the following statement:

“Nah, he’s not ready. He’s not the next guy. You know, they might think he is. Dixie Carter might think he is. The whole world might think he is. He’s not the next guy.”

Yep, Hogan indirectly acknowledged there is overwhelming support for Bobby Roode yet dismissed him as being unready. Why? Because, according to Hogan:

“This is much more than being a wrestler, this is crossing barriers, medias, you know media barriers, and entertainment barriers of all kinds. Getting your character down verbally has ninety per cent to do with getting over.”

Crossing media barriers is something a legitimate leading man needs to do for a wrestling promotion these days. It’s what Cena, Austin, Rock and Hogan himself have all done for WWE at one time or another. But the wrestler doesn’t just magically do it: it’s up to the wrestling company in question to help them get that chance in the first place. TNA needs to concentrate on becoming enough of a success that the US media approaches them and asks to feature their stars in papers on radio shows on on TV. For Hogan to insinuate that Roode isn’t capable of making enough of an impact in these areas isn’t just insulting and incorrect, it’s unrealistic too. Right now no star that isn’t already established as a name performer is going to get the chance to create a media career for themselves because nobody in the media cares about Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

Ironically this is the one area in which ‘The Hulkster’ is still capable of helping. He’s been one of the biggest names in wrestling since the early 80s and as such he can still drum up media coverage whenever he desires. Instead of using that platform to bury anyone who is not a proven draw he should be building up the younger talent such as Bobby Roode, because TNA desperately needs to establish such men as main event talents in order to survive and keep paying Hogan his exorbitant salary.

Hogan himself will clash with Sting at Bound For Glory. Yes, two men with a combined age of 110 will be in the semi main event spot on the show. If their age wasn’t bad enough Hogan has a plastic hip and has stated he won’t take any bumps (he said “won’t” not “can’t”, which you could read something into). That would make booking him to provide simple interference a foolish decision, so naturally TNA has gone one better and booked him in a full match.

When asked about his bout with Sting Hogan confirmed that he won’t plan much out in advance. That’s worrying. Sting is known for needing several spots planned out meticulously in advance and freely admits he usually requires his opponents to carry him. Couple these drawbacks with Hogan’s mobility issues and this match looks set to be one of the most unpleasant debacles of the year. But then unpleasant debacles are a TNA speciality.

There will need to be a lot of stalling, run-ins and other distractions if Hogan v Sting is to be anything approaching bearable. Even then you have to wonder why the match is happening at all. Over a year has been spent hinting at this match. That two part timers  whose prime is decades in the past have warranted such hype for what is almost guaranteed to be an awful match is a colossal slap in the face to everyone else on TNA’s roster. TNA should have focused that time and attention on building up two prospective main event wrestlers (such as Bobby Roode) for a big collision and promoted the match as the clash between two young guys wanting to carry TNA into the future. Two new stars would have been created and Bound For Glory would have had a worthwhile main event.

Sting and Hogan could still have been involved by each championing one of the younger stars. Passing the torch? Putting people over? Giving the rub? All of that stuff that ‘The Hulkster’ and ‘The Stinger’ love to talk about.

The lack of opportunities for younger talent doesn’t just apply to the Hogan v Sting main event. The undercard features Rob Van Dam v Jerry Lynn (two men who’s most famous match against one another occurred in March 1999), AJ Styles v Christopher Daniels (a match that has been done to death by TNA over the last decade), and a bout between Bully Ray (a former WWE wrestler approaching 40) and Mr Anderson (another former WWE guy whom is not over as he was a few months ago). That there are so many older wrestlers and former WWE employees on the card is massively frustrating for viewers and, I imagine, for the wrestlers who aren’t booked on the show.

On a final note, Hogan was asked who he would pick as the next breakout star for TNA, the man the company should be getting behind and centring all its hottest angles on. Want to know what his reply was?

“If I had to bet money on anybody, and really be serious about betting money on anybody, I’d say Jeff Hardy’s the next guy if he keeps his act together. Well, I think he’s got a lot of shine to him. I mean he just doesn’t have five star matches, he shines outside the ring. He walks through the mall and people know who he is. He’s got a look, he’s got an air about him. He’s got the It Factor. That’s what you gotta have, man.”

Jeff Hardy, who has held both WWE’s world titles as well as TNA’s, is Hogan’s pick for the next breakout star. That Hogan still considers Jeff Hardy as someone who’s capable of breaking out of the pack rather than the bona fide main event talent he’s been for several years (when he can be bothered) says a lot about his view on the process of elevating talent. If someone like Jeff Hardy is still being thought of as a young prospect the true undercard talent in TNA stand no chance of progressing.

If I were Bobby Roode I’d be on the phone to Johnny Ace trying to negotiate a deal for Beer Money Inc. to move to FCW.

Hardy Constitution

Writing about Matt and Jeff Hardy is far more difficult than you might think. I’ve been postponing a blog on them for months, and have started this opening paragraph several times. I find it difficult to put into words my feelings for them without it sounding as though I hate everything about them. I don’t. I appreciate that both men have impressive bodies of work to their name, and that they played relatively large parts in the latter years of the WWF’s Attitude Era. Neither is without talent, it’s what they do, or don’t do, with their abilities that frustrates me.

The first time I remember being actively negative towards a Hardy brother was after Jeff’s arrest on September 11^th 2009. He was charged with possession of 262 Vicodin prescription pills, 180 soma prescription pills, 555 milliliters of anabolic steroids, and drug paraphernalia, as well as trafficking controlled substances (he plead guilty to these charges on Thursday 8^th September 2011, as well as the charge of intent to distribute controlled substances). The arrest came just weeks after Jeff’s latest run with WWE had finished (Jeff had opted not to renew his contract with the promotion). ‘The Charismatic Enigma’ had spent several months in a feud with CM Punk focusing on the opposing lifestyles the two men lead outside the ring. The entire situation was dripping with irony.

My initial thought was that Vince McMahon and his cohorts must have been extremely glad that Hardy’s arrest took place after he left the promotion. Then I thought that it served Jeff right, and I stand by that. It’s one thing for a wrestler to smoke weed after a match, but it’s quite another for them to be in possession of such large quantities of substances that can damage lives to a massive degree. Jeff was clearly not intending it all for personal use, and that is what I disliked about the situation: Hardy had just had just experienced the most financially rewarding period of his career and was living in a trailer. He was clearly fine for money but still felt the need to sell illegal substances. What was he going to get from that situation?

Days after Hardy’s arrest CM Punk cut a promo regarding the arrest on SmackDown. Jeff apparently still holds a grudge against Punk now. I can understand why, but what I can’t understand is why he has only lashed out at Punk over the matter. The promo took place long before Punk’s latest push, and everything he said was okayed by Vince McMahon. Shouldn’t Jeff lump at least some of the blame on Vince for asking Punk to cut the promo in the first place?

In case you’ve never see it before, here’s the infamous Matt and Jeff video in which they present their views on CM Punk (warning: it may put you off chips for life):

Yes, Jeff attempts to verbally trash ‘The Second City Saint’ for discussing his rampant drug problems while cearly “in no condition to perform”. I’ll get to Matt Hardy below, but his closing lines regarding Punk and Lita (it was rumored at the time that Punk was in a relationship with Lita, Matt
 Hardy’s ex-girlfriend) clearly stem from jealousy and whatever credibility they may have held are lost the moment the viewer notices the chip dangling from between Matt’s pudgy fingers.

That video provides a great insight into the life of a ‘Charismatic Enigma’. Based on what we see Jeff’s welcome to it.

When Jeff returned to TNA in January of last year I was surprised, but I wasn’t unhappy. He had proven during the preceding years in WWE that he could perform at the highest level and be a tremendous asset to a roster. That’s not happened in TNA, but Jeff can’t be held responsible for that (nobody could make Vince Russo write an intelligible wrestling show).

What he can be held responsible for is his behavior at Victory Road on March 13^th. It was clear Jeff was “in no condition to perform” before, during or after this match. He and nobody else has to shoulder the responsibility of that debacle. He knew when he got up that morning he was wrestling in a pay-per-view main event. He knew his co-workers were relying on him to produce a match good enough to encourage repeat business for both the live audience and those watching at home. He knew that a lot of people had attended the show or tuned in at home on the strength of his announced match with Sting. He decided to drink or smoke or eat whatever it was that impaired his performance prior to the match, knowing full well he’d be letting people down. It was a show of complete contempt on Hardy’s part.

TNA did the right thing by sending Jeff home and asking him to seek help for his problems. Jeff didn’t do this until recently, knowing his court appearance was coming up. Nobody could make Jeff attend any sort of course or clinic, and he was already working as light a schedule as was feasible. TNA had done all they could to support Hardy. It boiled down to him not wanting to be helped.

Jeff returned to TNA at the August 25^th IMPACT taping (aired on September 8^th) and cut an unfocused, faux-humble promo in front of a crowd so disinterested they had to be coaxed into various pro-Hardy chants. He apologized, admitted he’d let everyone down and asked for one more chance. I’d like to believe Jeff feels genuine remorse for his treatment of the paying audience but I don’t. I believe he was playing the humble babyface role.

I hope the $100,000 fine, the (incredibly light) ten day prison sentence, and 30 months of probation suffice as a signal to the younger Hardy brother that he needs to change his ways before he ends up dead.

The feelings I have to Jeff are best described as disappointment more than anything else. He’s a talented performer who has worked hard to reach the position he’s at today. I’m not just talking about the crazy bumps he’s taken in stunt matches, but the work he put in during the latter half of the last decade with regards to his verbal ability and character: Jeff became a well rounded performer through hard work and he deserves to succeed, make a good living and retire with his health intact. Whether he can does it in TNA, WWE or elsewhere is irrelevant.

 My feelings towards the elder Hardy are probably best described as contempt.

For as long as I’ve been a wrestling fan Matt Hardy has come across in interviews (I’m speaking here of printed interviews (printerviews?) online and in magazines as opposed to segments on WWE television) as someone who thinks far too highly of himself. Any viewer would be able to tell you that Matt Hardy has only ever been a mid-card wrestler, but he routinely speaks of himself as though he’s a headline talent of the highest level.

The expansion of social networking sites has only made this more apparent. You need only look at Matt Hardy’s early entries to his YouTube channel or his Twitter account for multiple examples of what I’m talking about. A particular favorite example is the following tweet:

Hulkster & Jeff brought me in & the ratings keep growin-Coincidence?I think not! FACT! .. Dixie, u can thank ME & Jeff 4 the ratings jump-just saying

Posted in February this year this tweet was in reference to IMPACT’s rating going from its usual position in the 1.1 range to an almighty 1.3.The TNA locker room was understandably irked by this attitude and fans were puzzled. Hulk Hogan, Rob Van Dam and Matt’s own brother Jeff, all far bigger names than Matt Hardy, had all been with the company for a year at that point: for Matt to suggest he was a bigger draw than any of them was ludicrous. The weird thing is that he probably believes it.

 His most recent online escapades stand a good chance of becoming what ‘The Sensei of Mattitude’ is most remembered for in years to come. It started late last year when Matt began posting some really odd videos to his YouTube account in an attempt to gain his release from WWE. He wanted to go to TNA, be presented as a big star and hang out with his brother, so he posted a bizarre series of videos and exhibited odd behavior during the promotion’s UK tour. The insanity peaked when he was sent home to the States (due to the aforementioned odd behavior) and then posted videos claiming he was still on tour with the promotion in Britain.

Eventually Matt was released and joined TNA three months later. He worked there for under six months before being sent home, reportedly for his lax attitude towards timekeeping. When you’re a former prominent WWE star and even TNA doesn’t want you on TV you know things are bad.

On August 20^th, two months after TNA had sent him home, Matt crashed his car into a tree and was arrested on a DWI (driving while intoxicated) charge. TNA released him. Instead of doing the sensible thing and withdrawing from the public eye and sorting himself out Matt embarked on his most absurd attention seeking pranks ever.

Days after the August 20^th crash a fan commented on YouTube that the crash should act as a wakeup call to Matt. His response? The following:

When the side windows glass smashed into my face, arms, & neck, some of the blood that did felt almost angelic. I went from being afraid to? die to feeling like I was almost being reborn with some sort of an ABSOLUTE PURE LIFE-FORCE. It was the most amazing thing I’ve every experience, I felt like I’d just received the blood of an angel flowing inside me-I know this sounds crazy! Due to these, I only have urges to help people. And miraculously, all my vices are gone.

Amen Friends,

MATTHEW

Perhaps what Matt calls the blood of an angel is what the police call an impairing substance? Whatever the case Matt wasn’t finished. He followed up with a video which started with Hardy claiming he had just saved a bus full of school children before revealing that an “entity” had entered his house and trashed his stuff. We were then shown that various household objects had been strewn across the floor. The implication was that ‘Version 1.0’ had been possessed by this “entity” and been forced into wrecking his own house. Could that be the case? Erm… I’ll let you judge that for yourselves…

Matt’s next trick was a video consisting solely of the following text scrolling down the screen:

Goodbye world... My time here is almost complete... I only have a few hours and minutes... I loved you all... Regardless of how you felt about me... I'll miss you all... September 23, 1974-August 31,2011

Unfortunately some people did exactly what the attention seeking clown wanted and phone the police to report what they believed was a suicide attempt. They quickly located him and announced he was “fine”. The accuracy of that statement really depends on your use of the word “fine”. Personally I would say that a man who talks about angel’s blood flowing through his veins and posts stupid messages online knowing it will worry the handful of fans he has left cannot be considered “fine”. The police may disagree with me, but Matt’s sister-in-law doesn’t. Her evening was disturbed because of Matt’s stupidity, prompting her to write the following on Twitter:

When the cops show up to our house at 11 pm, for a "suicide call" the f--king joke is over @MATTHARDYBRAND. Stop trying to work the Internet.

I guess you got what you wanted @MATTHARDYBRAND. Everyone is talking about you, again. But it's not in a good way.

I’ve not even mentioned the YouTube video in which Matt and Jeff use a tazer on Matt’s wrestler girlfriend Reby Sky, or the new DWI arrest Matt suffered yesterday. By now you should be getting the idea that this stuff is par for the course lately. Jeff may have addiction problems, but Matt seemingly has some far more serious mental health issues.

I’ll wrap this up by saying that I don’t dislike Jeff. As I said above the guy’s worked hard to get to where he is. He’s just developed some bad habits along the way and made some questionable choices regarding the extent to which he pursues his extracurricular activities. I may not believe he was genuine when he asked the IMPACT audience for a second chance, but I believe he deserves one (well, another chance – you can’t really call it a second one).

Matt doesn’t deserve a second chance. Anyone who so lightly uses the subject of suicide to get themselves a few hits on a website and become a talking point again deserves nothing but derision.

Unamazing Crimson

I've recently discovered (via Twitter) that TNA wrestler Crimson has a surprising number of fans. Yes, Crimson, the man who has failed to have do anything memorable since debuting for TNA on the last iMPACT of 2010. He has so many supporters that I feel compelled to write a short blog detailing why he’s nothing short of absolutely ordinary.
 
Let's start with his tattoos. I’ve nothing against tattoos, and feel they can enhance the look of a wrestler. Undertaker, CM Punk and Randy Orton all fully tattooed arms and it doesn’t detract from their main event aura (in the case of Punk he’s actually made it an integral part of his persona). My problem isn’t with tattoos in general, it’s with Crimson’s tattoos in particular. They’re dreadful. They’re so bad that they actually draw your eye when Crimson’s on screen.

No wrestler should have tattoos so bad that you’re unable to focus on their promos, matches, entrances or whatever else. But Crimson does. It’s a bad move. Either get something that doesn’t draw they eye or don’t get anything. Or, maybe, just don’t get into the wrestling business.
 
As bad as the tattoos are the promos are worse. Every interview I've seen the guy do has been a typically clichéd, unimaginative growling mess. In fairness the content isn’t his fault: the writing team are the one's telling him what to say. But at the same time he has to shoulder some of the blame as he's the one providing the half-hearted, generic delivery and emphasising odd parts of sentences.
 
The most obvious reason to dislike the guy is his incredibly basic ring style. He wrestles like a WWE mid-carder. There's nothing wrong with that, in and of itself, but it makes it impossible to take him seriously as a future centrepiece star, which is clearly how TNA want us to view him.

Bischoff and Russo (and possibly some others, though I suspect they are the main culprits) seem to want to recreate the Goldberg push with Crimson. It’s just not going to happen. It worked with Goldberg for so many different reasons: a winning streak in wrestling (on that level at least) had never been done before; Goldberg was (and is) a charismatic performer who managed to connect with crowds very quickly; his matches were kept short and his opponents never got in any offence; and WCW had a ridiculously high number of expendable talent under contract that could be sacrificed on a weekly basis without the need of repeats.

Crimson has displayed no charisma, is routinely booked in relatively lengthy matches against people who fight back, and TNA doesn’t have anywhere near the number of heavyweight jabronis it needs to build Crimson up through impressive displays of physical dominance. I’m not saying there’s not a role for him in TNA, but it isn’t his current one.
 
I’ve not forgotten that he's Amazing Red's younger brother either. This is why he’s been lumbered with the awful ring name of Crimson (and Amazing Red’s been released too – so it’s rendered even more absurd than it was already. In Vince Russo’s mind having Crimson be the younger brother of someone so much smaller than him is hilarious. To everyone else it’s just a stupid name that will be laughed at by mainstream media. Not that that matters: how often does anyone hear TNA mentioned outside of wrestling websites and magazines and their own TV shows?
 

Crimson could have meant something in TNA had a little thought and originality been applied to his debut and long term plans laid out in advance. As things stand right now he’s not said or done anything to warrant the praise he receives and I can’t see that state of affairs changing any time soon. He may well be a future TNA world champion, but in the grand scheme of things what does that actually mean? I’ll tell you what: nothing.

The Lies of a Nature Boy

I watched Ric Flair’s return to IMPACT the other night and was struck by what an embarrassment he is. Not just to himself or to TNA, but to the wrestling business in general. He’s even an embarrassment to wrestling fans. Would you show someone you know who’s not into wrestling footage of Flair in TNA as an example of how good wrestling can be? Of course you wouldn’t.

If you’ve not seen the episode in question you didn’t miss much. Throughout the course of the show Flair claimed to have wrestled Sting 1,500 times (a fallacy), told ‘The Hulkster’ in a backstage segment that they should go out and party (Hogan is 58, Flair is 62), jumbled his lines during a backstage shout-fest (“It’s Ric Flair I’m talking to right now and I wanna see him!” was the highlight), and challenged Sting to a match with retire stipulations (just a couple of years after his guaranteed last match ever against Shawn Michaels).

He clearly hasn’t wrestled Sting anywhere near 1,500 times. Even when touring schedules were at their worst Flair and Sting weren’t wrestling more than around 250 matches per year. It would have taken six years to reach the number Flair claims. Even interspersed over a longer period that number would have been impossible to reach. He also said Sting won, at most, two matches against him. That too is untrue.

The partying comment made me imagine an awful sitcom starring Hogan and Flair, in which they continually try to prove to themselves, each other, and anybody else unlucky enough to be near them, that they can “still go” by partying the night away and making themselves bleed hard way. As bad as such a sitcom would be I still think it would be an improvement on the nonsense IMPACT offers up on a regular basis. That doesn’t mean I want to see it though.

Flair jumbling his lines is nothing new. It’s a perfect example of why he shouldn’t be allowed to work without a script. Some guys (The Rock, ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, and CM Punk spring immediately to mind) excel without a script while others actually harm the product. If TNA insists on using Flair in a speaking role (and I’d like to be clear that while I dislike him in a speaking role it’s preferable to using him in a wrestling role) he should be told exactly what to say beforehand. If Flair can’t even cut a promo properly then there’s nothing he can do to help TNA.

The retirement comment was his worst offence. ‘The Nature Boy’ told Sting he wanted to wrestle him and that if Sting won Flair would guarantee him the match he wants with Hogan. If Flair won, then Sting would have to retire. Flair then talked about how this wouldn’t be a “phoney retirement” and that Sting would have to “go home and wish he’d never stepped in the ring” if he lost. Yeah that was going to happen. Honest.

Flair talking about retirement stipulations is always going to destroy a storyline’s credibility, solely because of how he has ruined the perfect send-off he was given by Shawn Michaels, Vince McMahon, and the entire WWE locker room and backstage crew at WrestleMania XXIV and the following evening’s RAW in 2008. I appreciate he loves the business but that was the best retirement he could have hoped for and it should have remained his final match. He has financial problems, yes, (all self-inflicted) but he could have taken a non-wrestling role in TNA. At his age he should be acting as a manager or spokesperson, not an active wrestler. 

The argument form TNA fans will likely be that the promotion wanted to get an angle across, but that’s a poor excuse because the match didn’t need the retirement stipulation. It’s a gimmick for the sake of adding a gimmick. If this were an isolated incident it wouldn’t be a big deal, but as TNA does it all the time it can’t be overlooked. It’s an ongoing problem within the promotion and ought to be addressed. They could have included another storyline development here, or put a young wrestler who could use the chance to progress in Flair’s role.

Basically, Flair is a hypocrite and long past his prime. I’m not saying he has no use in the modern wrestling business but I am saying that use is not active competition. Nor is it unscripted promos. The business and the expectations of viewers have changed since Flair’s heyday. He and TNA need to come to terms with that and adapt how ‘The Nature Boy’ is used, before he completely destroys his legacy.

Fantasy Booker: TNA part two

How would I run TNA? That’s the question this blog is answering. In part one I talked about how I’d reorganise TNA backstage. I came up with a small list of WWE talent I’d try to hire when their contracts are up for renewal, talked about who I’d lay off from the current roster, and detailed the management positions I’d want to fill. In this part I’ll discuss the creative direction of the company and the roster I’d want to put together.

Let’s start with that roster. Over the last several months TNA has laid off several wrestlers that it really should have kept hold of, all of them from the X Division. That’s an aspect of TNA’s programming that WWE (the market leader) is unable to compete with, meaning it should be far more prominent than it currently is. In order for it to be as good as it can be the company needs to ensure that it has top talent under contract. Kendrick, Kazarian and Austin Aries are all good, but three men aren’t a division.

The Knockout’s Division is another area TNA should be heavily promoting because WWE offer little competition. The aim shouldn’t be to try and topple WWE: no rival wrestling company is ever going to accomplish that. The aim should instead be what Paul Heyman has suggested: trying to attract 10% of WWE’s fanbase. TNA needn’t even directly compete with RAW or SmackDown: IMPACT currently airs on a different night to WWE’s two main shows and there’s no reason for that to change. By pushing the X performers and Knockouts to the fore TNA is offering something that isn’t seen on WWE.

So who would I hire? I’m going to go back to the list format that I enjoy so much:

Kevin Steen

Jack Evans

Amazing Red

Low Ki

Colt Cabana

Gail Kim

Sara Del Ray

Serena Deeb

Kenny Omega

Generation Me (Max and Jeremy Buck)

The Super Smash Brothers (Player Uno and Player Dos)

Jessie McKay

Mercedes Martinez

‘Skullcrusher’ Rasche Brown

Obviously I’d need to be very lucky to get everyone on this list, but it’s not impossible. They are ordered roughly in order of preference. Steen and Evans are the ones I would be most keen on signing: Steen has become incredibly popular in the last two years (he trended on Twitter during a recent episode of RAW based on his name being shown on a sign), and Evans got himself over during his recent appearances with TNA thanks to his entrance routine and sharp ring work. Low Ki won NXT 2 based on a public vote. Why WWE allowed him to leave after the public had essentially told them they wanted to see more of the guy is a mystery to me. I’d hire all three and use them in the X Division.

The rest of the list is made up of people that I think would work well in TNA. The emphasis is clearly on the X and Knockout Divisions, for the reasons I gave above: they help to distinguish TNA from the competition. For the record, the reason the Kings of Wrestling aren’t listed above is because it’s generally believed that they have agreed to terms with WWE. I would extend offers to them if they were available because I think they would make an excellent addition to the tag ranks and, later, the singles ranks too, but I don’t believe they’re available right now.

I’d also look to hire two new referees too. That TNA currently only has three officials (and that they are all related to someone else in the promotion) doesn’t feel right to me, and gives the company a small time feel. I’d also have a list of talent I’d like to sign at some point in the future, as and when vacancies arise on the roster: Jay and Mark Briscoe, Rhett Titus, Kenny King, TJ Perkins, Lance Hoyt, Jimmy Rave, Johnny Gargano, and Dave Mastiff. Obviously the talent department would be more involved in scouting fresh talent: these are a few names I feel should be born in mind for six or twelve months in the future.

Assuming I managed to sign everyone I wanted that would give TNA the following roster:

Male singles:

AJ Styles

Alex Shelley

Amazing Red

Austin Aries

Bobby Roode

Brian Kendrick

Brutus Magnus

Chris Sabin

Christopher Daniels

Colt Cabana

Douglas Williams

Eric Young

Frankie Kazarian

Jack Evans

James Storm

Jeremy Buck

Jesse Neal

Jessie Godderz (developmental contract)

Kenny Omega

Kevin Steen

Kurt Angle

Low Ki

Matt Morgan

Max Buck

Mr Anderson

Okada

Player Uno

Player Dos

Robbie E

Rob Van Dam

Samoa Joe

Shannon Moore

‘Skullcrusher’ Rasche Brown

Tony Nese (developmental contract)

Zema Ion

Knockouts:

Angelina Love

Brooke Tessmacher

Cookie

Gail Kim

Jackie

Jessie McKay

Madison Rayne

Mercedes Martinez

Mickie James

ODB

Rosita

Sara Del Ray

Sarita

Serena Deeb

Tara

Traci Brooks

Velvet Sky

Winter

Thirty-five guys. Eighteen women. What would I do with them? This may take a while...

The first thing to do is sort out who’s in the top roles. The top babyface and the top heel would be Mr Anderson and Samoa Joe respectively. Anderson’s strength is clearly his verbal ability, which has allowed him to form a bond with the TNA audience (essential for a top babyface). His ring work’s not the best but it’s good enough, and the rest of the roster’s so talented that he would look good anyway. Joe deserves one final crack at becoming the unstoppable monster heel he should always have been in TNA. His first year with the promotion was good, but as I’ve written before it all fell apart when he was booked as Angle’s debut feud. If he’s booked in short decisive matches and goes over everyone he comes up against for a lengthy period he should once again be viewed as a killer.

In the “resident veteran” role I would have RVD. The guy’s in his forties now, he cannot be presented as a youngster any more. No matter how innovative and different his style may be he’s been around the business a long time and fans know that. The veteran role doesn’t rule him out of title reigns, it just means he’ll be expected to help make stars more often than wrestle in the main event.

Five years ago I’d have put Kurt Angle in the company veteran role, but in 2011 I don’t think he should be wrestling more than half a dozen times per year: due to the hard hitting style he has worked over the last decade his muscles are atrophied, leaving him looking scrawny and ill. It’s in both his and the company’s best interest to decrease his in-ring presence. The reason I wouldn’t release him is that he can still make a valid contribution. Those half a dozen matches a year would translate into highly rated episodes of IMPACT and increased pay-per-view purchases if built up and presented correctly. Not all of them would need to be twenty minute classics, IMPACT matches in particular could easily be ten minute tag team affairs which allow Angle to take it easy and come in at the finish.

Instead of being a permanent member of the roster I’d have him as the promotion’s on-air authority figure. With Hogan and Bischoff released and Dixie Carter not suited for the role Angle is the only talent with the required verbal skills and aura to work in the position.

Those are the key on-screen roles. On the first week of television Angle would be required to cut a fairly information-heavy promo explaining that Hogan, Bischoff and the rest of Immortal are gone; he’s in charge; the Global and Television titles are officially retired (they’re worthless; more on this below); and that the Bound For Glory points system has been cancelled. That points system is boring to follow and, more importantly, is difficult to care about. If fans were genuinely excited by a list of men appearing on their screens after every other match I’d keep it going, no matter my personal feelings on it. But that’s not the case. The idea behind it seems to be that it gives matches a meaning to happen. Matches already have a meaning to happen: winners are viewed as being better than losers. Winners are rewarded for multiple wins with title shots. Not everything needs to be etched in stone.

I’d essentially be booking a reboot episode of IMPACT, only I’d be breaking form TNA’s established policy of announcing weeks in advance that “everything will change”. I’d kick off my first show in charge with an X Division match and have Angle cut the above promo later in the show. That way the show starts in a lively manner and showcases the sort of product I want people to associate with TNA. I’d be establishing a new status quo and kicking off some fresh feuds to run with. TNA currently makes far too big a deal out of who’s in charge and it’s tedious. I’d focus more on presenting athletic, competitive matches. If people want storylines about who’s in charge they can get them from WWE.

At the start of my first IMPACT (assuming I were to take over tomorrow) Angle would still be recognised as the (heel) champion. I would book him to successfully defend the title in a match against Mr Anderson at the September pay-per-view before dropping it to RVD in October. He could then begin his part time ring schedule for the company and concentrate more on establishing himself as the authority figure (let’s settle on a title for him: commissioner) and gradually becoming a babyface.

Van Dam’s reign would last until the January or February pay-per-view to allow the title to stabilise and regain some of the credibility it’s lost through switching hands so many times this year (six at time of writing).The intention would be to have RVD make pay-per-view defences against the likes of AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and Matt Morgan before losing the championship to a babyface Mr Anderson. The plan would then be to have Anderson hold the title until next year’s Bound For Glory and lose it to Joe, who would have spent a year going over everyone and establishing himself as the most unstoppable force in TNA. At that point Jow could gradually segue into the lead babyface role and enjoy a very lengthy title run.

The heavyweight division (for want of a better term) will feature a reduced cast in order to free up time for the X and Knockout divisions. Mr Anderson, RVD, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Colt Cabana, Matt Morgan, and Rasche Brown,] would be the guys in the singles ranks. This gives us a nice core of guys to focus on with the option of moving guys like Steen, Roode and Magnus into singles roles later on.

Anderson, as previously stated, would be the top babyface. The decision to keep the title off him at first not only allows Van Dam to help restore a bit of credibility during his reign, it also makes fans hungry for another Anderson victory and allows a title chase storyline to be written. That would be a rarity in TNA as their current approach to title switches is so frantic that you never feel a babyface has accomplished anything when winning the world title.

Styles would remain with Fourtune and Daniels would split from the group, providing a mid-card feud that’s going to deliver in the ring and engage long-time fans. Yeah, it’s been seen before but not for a while. It would also have the added plus of getting Daniels set up as a main event heel, ready to challenge Van Dam and Anderson once the Styles feud has concluded. AJ is over enough that he can go months without being in the main event, so long as his matches are long enough to let him show what he can do.

Rasche Brown is a big, intimidating force and a very good worker for a big man. I’d spend three or four months building him up and allowing him to beat everyone he faces. Similar to Joe, yes? That’s intentional. After three or four months I’d move him into a feud with Joe and have him beaten decisively in under five minutes. The goal would be to make Joe look strong. Brown could then take a few weeks off and return in a new role, forming a tag team or acting as an enforcer for a heel.

Joe, as lead heel, would be unstoppable. He’d be instructed to sell very little and would be pushed as the most dominant force in wrestling. I’d start the push by having him beat a “local performer” (that seems to be what jobbers are referred to as these days) in a quick, brutal match, followed by a promo in which he would blame the fans for turning him soft and making him care too much about pleasing them. He’d say he’s done worrying about fan approval and state that he’s out for himself, finishing by saying his goal is the TNA world title, and he’ll decide when he takes it back.

Each of TNA’s divisions (X, Knockout, “heavyweights”, tag team) would work well getting an average of two in-ring segments a week. This would mean that not everyone would be appearing in the ring to cut promos or wrestle on a weekly basis, but that’s okay as those not appearing before the crowd could be featured in brief backstage segments, keeping their faces on TV and ensuring they’re not overlooked by fans.

With the releases I’d be making the once enjoyable TNA tag scene would end up a little depleted. The promotion would be left with Beer Money, the British Invasion, the Motor City Machine Guns (when Sabin’s back at least), and Ink Inc. I’d be bringing back Generation Me and introducing The Super Smash Brothers, and I imagine I’d end up debuting Tony Nese and Jessie Godderz as a team. I think this would make for a decent basis for a tag division.

I would not be emphasising the tag team ranks too strongly because Ring of Honor has built itself a reputation for tag wrestling and it looks as though WWE wants to begin pushing doubles acts again too. There’s too much competition for it to be worthwhile competing.

I would attempt to take the Knockouts Division back to the heights it was at a few years ago, and would leave that task in the hands of Scott D’Amore. He is often cited as the creative force behind that original success and it would be foolish not to try and involve him again. The new women signed to contracts would allow the roster to be deep enough to keep the Knockout Tag Team belts around (TNA does not currently have enough women to justify tag titles and a singles title for its women’s division).

I would offer broad guidelines but otherwise leave it up to D’Amore. Those guidelines would be to put the title back on Mickie James as soon as possible, build ODB and Jackie as a heel tag team, reunite the Beautiful People, move Winter to a valet role with the British Invasion, and (should she agree to return) gradually build Gail Kim up for a meaningful heel turn and program with Mickie James for the Knockouts’ championship. Sarita and Rosita, Del Ray and Deeb, Tara and Tessmacher, the Beautiful People, and Jessie McKay and Mercedes Martinez would make a good Knockouts tag scene with everyone else focusing more on the singles gold.

Then there’s the X Division. I would want this to be the attraction of my TNA. IMPACT should routinely feature the X Division stars in prominent spots (the opening match is a good position for X Division matches as it allows the show to start with a bang and gets the crowd excited and lively early on) and treat them like stars. The X Division title’s prestige needs to be regained through meaningful title matches amongst men who compete in a meaningful division. That can happen by increasing the amount of time X Division matches get and by focusing on establishing a deeper roster. The recent feud between Brian Kendrick and Austin Aries has been rushed into a little quickly (I’d have built up to it more gradually) but now that it’s started I’d stick with it and put the X Division title onto Aries in the next couple of weeks. I would perhaps have Kendrick win it back and then drop it to Aries again to keep the feud alive, but I’d want ‘A Double’ coming out of that feud with the gold, the plan being to build the X Division around him during the rest of 2011 and early 2012.

Something I’d be aiming to accomplish with TNA is to have everyone on the roster doing something. Obviously not everyone would be in the main event. Not everyone would be winning. But I would try to ensure that every member of the roster has a gimmick or storyline going on to help set them apart from everyone else and give them the opportunity to connect with the fans.

I would encourage wrestlers to pitch their own ideas and storylines. That would not only make less work for the booking team but it would also mean that people would be doing something they believe in, making for a more passionate performance. There would be several key performers that I would be building the company around in both the short term and the long term, not necessarily the same guys across each time frame.

By this time next year the intention would be for the X Division to be the most talked about aspect of TNA programming and the in-ring highlight of every wrestling fan’s week. Is there a danger it would overshadow the TNA World title division? Yes, but that just makes the heavyweight guys work harder! The X Division wrestlers would be tasked with providing the quality wrestling matches of IMPACT, with those involved in the “world title division”(I still don’t like that term) being more involved with storylines. That’s not to say the world title performers wouldn’t need to provide great matches, more that they would be there to concentrate a little more on the soap opera aspect of the business.

I like the idea of guys being introduced to the company via the X Division, making a name for themselves there and then moving on to the World title scene. Obviously this wouldn’t work for everyone (Matt Morgan couldn’t have started out in the X Division for example) but it works as a template. Men like Kevin Steen, Kenny Omega and Low Ki could all follow this path. I’d also introduce an unwritten rule that once you’ve held the world title you don’t go back to holding the X Division title. As good as I want the X Division to be it’s the mid-card, and former world champions should constantly want to get back to the top, they shouldn’t be content to sink back to the middle of the roster and pick up a lesser championship.

Short term I would build the division around Austin Aries. He’s witty and intelligent enough to represent the X Division, and TNA in general, very well in mainstream media appearances, and his gimmick and wrestling ability are strong enough for him to be credible as a heavily featured performer. ‘A Double’ would be the X Division performer to watch until March or April next year at which point he’d drop the title (if he had it) to one of the men I see carrying the X Division in the long term. This would free Aries up to work feuds with slightly bigger men, testing him out as a main event performer and potential TNA World champion.

In the long term I’d be building the X Division around Amazing Red, Brian Kendrick and Jack Evans, with revamped gimmicks. I’ll start with Red. I believe TNA had the right idea when they had him wrestling under a mask as Sangriento, they just went about it in the wrong way (as they always do). Instead of wrestling as both characters he should have wrestled as one with attributes of both: have him wrestle as Amazing Red whilst wearing a mask. Getting him to work in Mysterio-style ring-trousers and a black and red mask would give TNA its own original masked wrestler to market without the hassle of trying to promote one man as two characters. With a suitably flashy entrance (lots of fireworks, red lighting and an entrance video filled with high-flying moves, perhaps some sort of trap door for him to enter the stage through) I think Red would stand out nicely.

Brian Kendrick works best as a heel, so he would become the division’s top antagonist once Aries received his promotion. I would perhaps add some flashy ring jackets and more trunks to his collection (I only ever see him wearing white) but other than that I would leave him mostly unchanged.

Jack Evans would become the central babyface of the X Division. His performances on TNA programming at the time of Destination X show that fans are willing to get behind the guy. I don’t understand why TNA haven’t exploited this by signing him and pushing him as a big star. I’d build on the dancing he already does during his entrances by giving him suitably hip hop entrance music and a female dance troupe. His immediate future would see a feud with a heel Low Ki, and I’d aim to have him work at least one pay-per-view with Aries too.

The rest of the X Division would consist of Low Ki, Kenny Omega, Alex Shelley (until he can reform the Motor City Machine Guns), Robbie E, Okada, Frankie Kazarian (yeah, I’d reintroduce his first name), Zema Ion, the Super Smash Brothers, Generation Me, and Kevin Steen. That’s a strong roster with several guys who would be promoted to the heavyweight division long term (Steen, Omega, and Low Ki) or used simultaneously in the tag ranks (the SSB and Gen Me). The key to the X Division’s success would be to keep adding fresh talent to the division every four to six months. That would avoid it becoming stale as it has in recent years.

As I discussed earlier, the tag team scene would not be a heavily promoted area of the show because other companies are capable of providing something similar. The tag scene I’d be offering would be built around Beer Money and the British Invasion. Beer Money work fine as they currently are: they’ve gotten themselves over with TNA fans and their verbal skills are good enough to allow them to stay at the top of the division and carry feuds with less experienced teams.

The British Invasion would get a little more attention. Within eighteen months I’d want to split the team and move both men into the singles ranks. In order to do that I’d need to start presenting both men as stars now. I’d replace their tights with trunks, give them a far more serious attitude, and book them to win a lot more. As I stated above I’d add Winter to their act as a valet, possibly with a new name. For a year I would make them the top heel team in the company and then gradually move them into their respective singles roles over the following six months.

The tag team undercard would consist of the Super Smash Brothers (yes, them again), Generation Me (and them), Ink Inc., and the Motor City Machine Guns. That’s a decent six team division, with the option of pairing guys making up the numbers in the X and heavyweight divisions for brief runs together. If it seems that there’s not much going on in the tag team division: good, that’s the intention. Remember, it’s not supposed to be the liveliest part of the show. It’s a good way of utilising guys you’ve got no other plans for and for introducing inexperienced men to the roster.

The Knockouts division would, on the other hand, be something I’d want people to tune in for. For the next year the top spots would go to the Beautiful People, Mickie James, Sarita, Rosita and ODB. A central storyline across the first month or so would be the reformation of the Beautiful People (easily the most over act the Knockouts division has ever produced, and it’s produced a lot of successful acts), which would be a nice “feel good” story for fans to follow. The reunion of the two would be held off and built up until fans are desperate to see it, and then be interrupted by Sarita and Rosita (who would have the Knockout tag titles by this point), setting up a Sarita and Rosita v the Beautiful People feud for the rest of the year.

The singles title would be put back on Mickie James for the foreseeable future. A James v ODB and Jackie feud would be started immediately, which would involve Tara and Brooke Tessmacher in supporting roles. By the time that feud ends Gail Kim would hopefully be back in the company and would make a natural choice for the next challenger to James’ title.

While those women are taking the lead roles I would introduce the audience to the new batch of women I’d have signed: Sara Del Rey, Serena Deeb, Jessie McKay, and Mercedes Martinez, supported by the rest of the division to form a solid undercard. Long term I’d expect to have Serena and Del Ray established as two of the top Knockouts in the division, alongside the current mainstays. As with the X Division a new wrestler would need to be introduced every six months or so to stop things getting stale.

An immediate goal would be to make the Knockout tag team titles mean something again. The belts were first introduced at a time when the division had considerably more talent depth than it does now and they have failed to mean anything for pretty much their entire history. By building the Knockouts tag scene around Love and Sky (as noted above, the division’s most over act) along with talented workers like Sarita and Rosita, Tara and Tessmacher and McKay and Martinez (who’d debut in matching outfits as a team) the belts should mean something again fairly soon.

The Knockouts championship needs to retain its position as the premier women’s title in wrestling. The short term plan of pitting Mickie James against ODB, Gail Kim, and then either Deeb or Del Ray (or perhaps both in a three way feud) should ensure that the title is taken seriously. Longer term I would like to have the belt on a heel Sara Del Ray and run a storyline in which she issues challenges to the top workers from all over the world, allowing women to be brought in from Japan, Britain, Mexico and various areas of the United States to work matches with her. This would not only be a simple storyline to follow, it would be a natural way to introduce a new woman to the ranks by having them shockingly beat Del Ray for the title.

Finally we come to the TNA world championship division a.k.a. the heavyweight division (a term I dislike but can’t seem to stop using). The world title itself would need to be presented as the most meaningful in wrestling, which would be achieved with longer title reigns and a direction to all champions that they carry the title with pride and celebrate when winning it as if it’s a true achievement: when was the last time that happened in TNA?

I spoke above about my plans for the title, the idea being to have Samoa Joe leave Bound For Glory 2012 with the gold. A feud with AJ Styles over who’s ‘The Man’ would follow Styles’ feud with Daniels, and could last a fair amount time with various singles and tag matches between Joe and AJ’s Fourtune pals. I would then move him on to a feud with Rob Van Dam, after ‘The Whole F’n Show’ has lost the world title to Anderson.

This brings me nicely to Mr Anderson. He would be the face of TNA for a year: no more, no less. Bound For Glory 2012 would be designed as Joe’s night and would see him gradually turning babyface afterwards.  Joe would very much be the centrepiece of TNA following that show. Anderson is good enough to keep things ticking over for the next year, but he’s not a long term figurehead. Part of the problem is that he will always be associated with WWE. He’s been accepted by the fans which makes him a good choice as a placeholder while another act is built (or rebuilt in this case) for the fans to connect with. He cannot be in the role for longer than that without the promotion losing credibility.

Looking further into the future than Bound For Glory 2012 there are numerous people who could be prepared for world title runs: Brutus Magnus, Colt Cabana, Austin Aries, Bobby Roode and Kevin Steen all have the skills to rise to the top, whilst RVD and AJ Styles would always be considered for brief, transitional reigns.

So how would all of that be fitted into one TV show? Quite simply, it wouldn’t be. Not on a weekly basis anyway. But that’s okay, because not everyone needs to be on TV every week. I think as long as the central performers of each division (as specified above) has a presence on each episode of IMPACT, either in an in-ring promo, a match, or a prominent backstage segment, they’re getting enough exposure.

IMPACT would feature a big main event each week. This could either be a match for one of the company’s championships or a match that advances one of the hottest feuds. Where possible I would announce these bouts in advance in an attempt to increase ratings (though it’s important to note that I would discontinue the current practice of debuting people against big name opponents – such matches should be saved for pay-per-views). The rest of the show would feature a minimum of three other bouts and at least one in-ring promo segment to advance a storyline or showcase a pushed act. Those on the undercard would be featured every other week, or every third week. That would allow them enough TV time to be seen as regulars whilst ensuring those getting heavily pushed retain their top spots.

Xplosion is a different story. I recently watched an episode that consisted entirely of backstage promos, recaps, and video packages. I don’t know if this is normal but it wouldn’t happen on my watch. Those individuals who aren’t in the top spots (Robbie E, Madison Rayne, and Ink Inc. for example) would wrestle on Xplosion. That should be the point of the show: to showcase the undercard talent whilst briefly recapping the events of the more important IMPACT. I’d much rather watch three matches than a lengthy video package showing Chris Daniels talking to a woman at Comic Con (that actually aired on the Xplosion episode I saw). Yes it shows TNA had a presence at Comic Con, and that’s great, but it should have been a minute long at most.

This brings me to someone I should have discussed much earlier: Eric Young. I am not a big fan of his, but I so appreciate that he’s over and capable of creating a very successful comedy segment with no apparent rehearsal time. He is currently being used in video packages highlighting his attempt to become an actor/reality TV star. That’s a good use of him. Each week I’d send him out somewhere with a camera crew to record enough material to be edited down to two one and a half minute video packages. Why two at one and a half minutes? Because that keeps his fans watching to find out how his latest shenanigans end. He’d wrestle rountinely on house shows and make an in-ring appearance once or twice a month on Xplosion. I can’t imagine him getting a match on IMPACT, but backstage appearances would definitely happen for him.

At the same time as taking this new creative direction I would be increasing TNA’s media presence. The standard approach of TV, radio and newspaper interviews would be a must and would be left in the hands of the media director I mentioned in part one. The WWE approach of having stars bombard towns with media appearances before a big TV taping or pay-per-view seems very successful and would be something I’d be keen on emulating. In order to grow TNA has to start turning its performers into household names and getting them into the public consciousness. Paying them properly would be good too: that’s something I’d entrust to the talent relations department.

That, I think, is everything covered. Short of writing scripts for every episode of IMPACT from now until forever I don’t feel I can go much more in depth on the subject, but hopefully I’ve provided you with enough information to clearly demonstrate the direction I’d take the company in. Feedback is more than welcome (preferably to my Twitter account, @ThatDaveGuy) and I’m interested in what anyone has to say. Please don’t tell me I’d be worse than the current product though. Because that’s clearly untrue.