TNA News From The Torch

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

Here's TNA news from this week's Torch. Enjoy.

 

credit to wade

 

TOP STORY: TNA brought in Lex Luger. The weird thing about it is that, barring a jump in buyrates, getting Lex really does nothing to help the company. And even a buyrate increase may not help in the long run.

 

Reaction amongst the TNA wrestlers was mixed. Last week they talked of the pop that the announcement got, but there were wrestlers who quickly realized what a bad idea it was. Reaction to the move by fans on the internet was strongly negative, eliminating all but the "I wanna see how bad it will be" type buys. Wade says he didn't get any more feedback than a usual week of TNA would get, not that this says anything about the buyrate one way or the other. But the net crowd didn't care enough to spend ten bucks.

 

It did get people talking about TNA, but the talk wasn't positive. Announcing Luger probably got TNA a few more mentions on radio shows like John Boy & Billy, but all that does is say to people "hey, remember WCW Thunder, well it's back on PPV". TNA put out a statement defending their use of Luger, and some compared it to the situation with Kobe. If Luger was already working for TNA, like Kobe was already playing for the Lakers, that would be one thing. And Lex's legal problems are open and shut, unlike Kobe's. Cops came into his house and saw the drugs firsthand.

 

The only value TNA could have gotten from Lex in-ring would have been if he put over AJ Styles in the tag match. If nothing else, giving one of their young stars the rub could arguably be worth bringing Luger in. He brings some curiosity buys, a TNA regular gets elevated, hey why not.

 

But that didn't happen, and the booking of AJ Styles is another controversy coming out of the show. If Lex did bring any curiosity buys, unless the customers really were fans of Thunder, it seems hard to believe that any of them would be motivated to buy TNA again after the show they put on.

 

So at the end of the day, bringing in Luger got TNA plenty of negative publicity, and they delivered with a really bad show. Who are the ad wizards who came up with this one.

 

TNA NEWZ:

 

- There seemed to be more interest in seeing the Luger show among wrestlers than there was among fans. Wade talked to several guys in WWE who watched it. Most everyone agrees that Lex worked about as hard as he could during his match, which brought up the quality from "abysmal" to just "terrible". Wade rated the match *1/4 and the wrestlers mocked him for rating it that high.

 

Lex got to the show around 4 or 5. Regulars are supposed to arrive around 1. He hung out in Jeff's office most of the time and just said hi to a few guys. He didn't interact with the locker room at all. Some people thought it'd be a nice gesture if Lex shook a few hands and thanked some of the regulars for the opportunity to be on their show, but nothing like that happened.

 

- The way AJ Styles was booked on the show has a lot of people thinking that Dutch Mantel never watched TNA before he came in, has never seen AJ, and has no idea what AJ's already done in the company. He's the former NWA champion, X champion, has main evented numerous times, and was probably the co-MVP (with Jerry Lynn) for the first year of the company. And yet the angle of the match and the talk of the broadcasters was that Styles needed to prove himself for some reason. Better yet, he had to prove himself to Lex, of all people.

 

That booking would have been strange even if AJ had pinned Luger decisively, which he didn't. The finish saw Lex put AJ in the Torture Rack, Sting broke it up and hit Lex in the gut a few times with his bat, and AJ pinned Lex on a roll-up. Then Lex quickly sat up to show shock over being pinned, like he'd just been upset by Barry Horowitz. It made Styles look like a chump, it's upsetting to regular TNA fans to see one of their biggest stars treated like a joke next to Former WCW Superstar Lex Luger, and "the fact that decision-makers in TNA don't see this is a testament to how much trouble this promotion is in."

 

- Erik Watts and Goldylocks are not really dating.

 

- Jerry Lynn never signed a TNA contract, which is why he hasn't been around much. They wanted him to take a 40% paycut and he refused, and he's been badmouthing the company lately during interviews. Some people are applauding him for standing up for himself, considering all he did for the company the first year. But others are pointing out that it's not like Jerry has a lot of options, so he probably doesn't wanna burn this bridge. Elix Skipper is in the same boat as far as not signing the contract due to the paycut, although he wasn't making as much as Jerry was.

 

- The TNA office seems sure that Hogan's knee surgery was a necessity and couldn't wait until after the PPV. "Why would he go through the big angle in Japan and get everything started just to back out?" asked somebody. There's talk now that Hogan and TNA are discussing an overseas tour together, but as of now the PPV is the only set date he'll be working.

 

- TNA announced new pricing for the shows. You can now order a month's worth of shows for the same price as a WWE PPV, $34.95. If there happen to be 5 Wednesdays in the month, you'll get the 5th show for free. Not all cable companies will be offering this deal yet, though.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

- Jerry Lynn never signed a TNA contract, which is why he hasn't been around much. They wanted him to take a 40% paycut and he refused, and he's been badmouthing the company lately during interviews. Some people are applauding him for standing up for himself, considering all he did for the company the first year. But others are pointing out that it's not like Jerry has a lot of options, so he probably doesn't wanna burn this bridge. Elix Skipper is in the same boat as far as not signing the contract due to the paycut, although he wasn't making as much as Jerry was.

Oh, Jesus H Fucking Christ, guys! PAY THE MAN WHAT HE WAS ORIGINALLY MAKING! He was only THE MVP of TNA for the first 6 months, and elevated AJ Styles from average-yet-talented mid-carder to superstar (for TNA) status. This is a slap to the fucking face of Lynn, and I wouldn't be surprised if he said "fuck it" and just worked other indies, RoH, and toured Japan.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Why do we even talk about the Torch and the so and so who's name I can't tell you rumors?

[Guest Jay Z. Hollywood]

- Jerry Lynn never signed a TNA contract, which is why he hasn't been around much. They wanted him to take a 40% paycut and he refused, and he's been badmouthing the company lately during interviews. Some people are applauding him for standing up for himself, considering all he did for the company the first year. But others are pointing out that it's not like Jerry has a lot of options, so he probably doesn't wanna burn this bridge. Elix Skipper is in the same boat as far as not signing the contract due to the paycut, although he wasn't making as much as Jerry was.

Oh, Jesus H Fucking Christ, guys! PAY THE MAN WHAT HE WAS ORIGINALLY MAKING! He was only THE MVP of TNA for the first 6 months, and elevated AJ Styles from average-yet-talented mid-carder to superstar (for TNA) status. This is a slap to the fucking face of Lynn, and I wouldn't be surprised if he said "fuck it" and just worked other indies, RoH, and toured Japan.

Jerry burned his bridge with ROH a LONG while ago, why do you think he's only been on one show ever?

 

Jerry and Zandig have bigtime heat, so CZW's not an option.

 

IWA:MS had to cancel one of his bookings for them because they couldn't pay his price.

 

MLW is dead. XPW is dead. Wildside pays jack shit, so he'll never go there. SoCal has never shown an interest in flying him in, to the best of my knowledge.

 

Lynn literally has NO other option in the US.

[bob_barron 0]

What happened with ROH and CZW Jay? I'm just curious.

[Guest Jay Z. Hollywood]

Honestly, Bob, I don't know. I do know that Lynn has never liked the RF video crew, and there was some riff that made him and ROH part ways permanently, I'll try to find out.

 

I DO know that the reason Lynn doesn't work in CZW because the 3 shows he did work in mid-2002, Zandig treated him like crap. Same thing with CM Punk. If you're not one of "Zandig's boys" you get the shaft.

[Guest ToddRoyal]

Lynn has said in an interview (I can't remember where) that the reason he never came back to ROH is because of the booking regarding his second show.

 

Apparently RF wanted to fly him back in for Crowning a Champion, and Lynn agreed. RF later called back and said that they couldn't afford Lynn's ticket/booking fee and were going to book other people. Jerry understood and accepted another booking. Apparently RF called back later and said they wanted to use him after all, and wanted him to break his other booking. Lynn refused, and they've never worked together again.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

In which case, TNA has him by the balls, and it's a shitty move to tell him to accept almost HALF of what he used to make when he deserves at least 50% more. I'm not talking pay him the same amount as, say, a Raven or an AJ Styles, but damn near close, since he was around since the beginning.

 

TNA has the money thanks to Panda. They have the money to bring in Luger and Sting. Why not spend the money on somebody that WON'T pull a shitload of political powerplays, that WON'T think twice about putting somebody over for the good of the company, and that WILL put on a good match?

 

I'm also left wondering why D'Lo is gone.

[Guest MikeSC]

In which case, TNA has him by the balls, and it's a shitty move to tell him to accept almost HALF of what he used to make when he deserves at least 50% more. I'm not talking pay him the same amount as, say, a Raven or an AJ Styles, but damn near close, since he was around since the beginning.

 

TNA has the money thanks to Panda. They have the money to bring in Luger and Sting. Why not spend the money on somebody that WON'T pull a shitload of political powerplays, that WON'T think twice about putting somebody over for the good of the company, and that WILL put on a good match?

 

I'm also left wondering why D'Lo is gone.

No D-Lo is baffling. I've never heard of him being a jerk. I've never heard of him having personal demons. He seems to be over with crowds.

 

Why doesn't anybody WANT the guy? It's like the moment Russo leaves after booking him, D-Lo just falls off the face of the earth.

-=Mike

...D-Lo would be a better champ than JJ

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

D'Lo's on an All Japan tour right now.

[Guest MikeSC]

D'Lo's on an All Japan tour right now.

That's an odd fit. D-Lo doesn't seem like an AJPW kind of guy. His style is just not right.

 

Plus, I figure he'd be a little hesitant about engaging in a "drop a guy on his head"-fest that AJPW seems to end up becoming.

-=Mike

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

http://www.puroresufan.com/ajpw/results/road03.php

 

10/10/03:

Gigantes, Buchanan & D-Lo Brown beat Keiji Muto, Arashi & Tomoaki Honma (14:11) when Brown used a frog splash on Muto.

 

10/11/03:

D-Lo Brown beat Masayuki Kono (5:56) with the Lo Down.

 

10/14/03:

TAKA Michinoku , Gigantes & D-Lo Brown beat Keiji Muto, Tomoaki Honma & Masayuki Kono (15:03) when Brown used the Lo Drown on Honma.

 

10/15/03:

TAKA Michinoku & D-Lo Brown beat Toshiaki Kawada & Ryuji Hijikata (12:43) when Brown used the Lo Down on Hijikata.

 

10/16/03:

The Gladiator, Gigantes, Buchanan & D-Lo Brown beat Keiji Muto, Satoshi Kojima, Arashi & Masayuki Kono (19:56) when Brown used the Lo Drown on Kono.

 

10/17/03:

TAKA Michinoku, Gigantes & D-Lo Brown beat Keiji Muto, Arashi & Kaz Hayashi (14:37) when TAKA used a super kick on Hayashi.

 

10/20/03:

TAKA Michinoku , Gigantes & D-Lo Brown beat Keiji Muto, Tomoaki Honma & Kaz Hayashi (16:08) when Gigantes used a chokeslam on Honma.

 

10/21/03:

TAKA Michinoku , Buchanan & D-Lo Brown beat Toshiaki Kawada, Ryuji Hijikata & Masayuki Kono (15:33) when Brown used the Lo Down on Hijikata.

 

10/22/03:

TAKA Michinoku , Buchanan & D-Lo Brown beat Keiji Muto, Arashi & Masayuki Kono (16:57) when Brown used the Lo Down on Kono.

 

10/24/03:

Gigantes, Buchanan & D-Lo Brown Keiji Muto, Arashi & Tomoaki Honma (18:15) when Buchanan used a diving guillotine drop on Honma.

 

10/26/03:

AJPW World Tag Team Title: Keiji Muto & Arashi © beat Buchanan & D-Lo Brown (24:26) when Muto used a moonsault press on Brown (2nd defense).

 

 

Also once 11/22 hits he'll be in the Real World Tag League.

[Guest TDinDC1112]

All Japan is basically a glorified indy group now, so I don't know if we can say that someone doesn't fit.

[Guest TDinDC1112]

Why do we even talk about the Torch and the so and so who's name I can't tell you rumors?

Get a clue.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Why do we even talk about the Torch and the so and so who's name I can't tell you rumors?

Get a clue.

Really what's the point?

 

OMG AMW makes funny faces when they have to job. I honestly wouldn't care if they didn't report completely based on personal biases. It's funny how they constantly bend a story to make who they like look good or justified or the guys they hate look like an ass.

 

I also don't care much for the Observer either as Melzter seems to grow more insane by the day.

[SinToxic 0]

I don't get it. Japan always loved big gifted american wrestlers, and giving like 8 clean wins to D'lo and not Gigantes (Malice) is absurd. 2 cold Scorpio, although older than D'lo is better than him in everything and I don't remember him ever pinning Muto.

[Guest Devin]

Lynn charges more then Styles, or pretty much anyone on the roster not named Jarrett. He asks for the same amount as Raven, $1,500 per appearance.

[Michrome 0]

And he's nowhere near as good as he used to be.

[syxx2001 0]

Some people thought it'd be a nice gesture if Lex shook a few hands and thanked some of the regulars for the opportunity to be on their show, but nothing like that happened.

 

Yeah. Lets bad mouth him behind his back and expect him to be friends when he arrives. ITS THE AMERICAN WAY!

 

I wish they would take their heads out of their ass and leave the man alone.

[Guest MikeSC]

Some people thought it'd be a nice gesture if Lex shook a few hands and thanked some of the regulars for the opportunity to be on their show, but nothing like that happened.

 

Yeah. Lets bad mouth him behind his back and expect him to be friends when he arrives. ITS THE AMERICAN WAY!

 

I wish they would take their heads out of their ass and leave the man alone.

Never heard of ANY of the TNA guys saying ANYTHING bad about him.

-=Mike

[syxx2001 0]

but there were wrestlers who quickly realized what a bad idea it was.

 

Not really, but still.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

I wouldn't pay Lynn anywhere near what I'd pay Styles. Not even close.

 

It was the Super X Cup that did it too...Juvi/Hart and Sabin just exposed Lynn for being incredibly overrated with his punch/kick/punch/kick offense. If they moved him out of the X division it would be better...but they've never tried it.

[Guest TDinDC1112]

Jerry Lynn IS and has always been overrated as far as what he is "supposed" to be. His offense is so stale, and he's always supposed to have been this high-flying cruiserweight or X-wrestler, when he really should be with the "heavy weights." Kind of like Benoit. He's small, but not a high flyer.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Agreed. But I don't think any of you can deny that he DOES make a match watchable, regardless of who his opponent is. He just has this damn good sense of ring psychology (nowhere near Raven's, but very good nonetheless) that makes most people take notice of his matches.

 

And I think he's toned down his moveset over the years. I remember when he'd go balls out in ECW, regardless of the opponent. 'Ranas, planchas, tilt-a-whirl headscissors, etc. Now? Mostly punch/kick with some powerbombs and a TKO.

[Guest MikeSC]

Agreed. But I don't think any of you can deny that he DOES make a match watchable, regardless of who his opponent is. He just has this damn good sense of ring psychology (nowhere near Raven's, but very good nonetheless) that makes most people take notice of his matches.

 

And I think he's toned down his moveset over the years. I remember when he'd go balls out in ECW, regardless of the opponent. 'Ranas, planchas, tilt-a-whirl headscissors, etc. Now? Mostly punch/kick with some powerbombs and a TKO.

Ironically, he was overrated in ECW, too.

-=Mike

...Val Venis > Jerry Lynn

[Guest Coffey]

Val Venis > A piss-fuck ton of wrestlers

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Oh, I definitely DO think Lynn's overrated, but I don't think he's half as bad as some people here have made him out to be.

[eirejmcmahon 0]

There was a time there when Jerry was one of the very few things worth watching on the show.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

The downfall for Jerry Lynn was when they started bringing people into the X division who could wrestle and not just spot.

 

A Lynn led match was better than a Kid Kash/Red spot match every week.

 

Now it's the other way where Sabin and Daniels are in Lynn's spot in the division...and they're both better and more fun to watch.

[Tim Cooke 0]

"The downfall for Jerry Lynn was when they started bringing people into the X division who could wrestle and not just spot."

 

And these wrestlers are?

 

And the matches are?

 

Every TNA X-Division match I have seen has been a spotfest.

 

Tim