NWA Championship News

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

I still feel like they MIGHT either do a title change on the first or second show (the first taping) or at the least setting up a King of the Mountain match for Bound.

 

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The problem is that Jarrett will insist on winning a KotM match. He got taken off their last PPV that had a KotM because he refused to lose.

[2GOLD 0]

I still feel like they MIGHT either do a title change on the first or second show (the first taping) or at the least setting up a King of the Mountain match for Bound.

 

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The problem is that Jarrett will insist on winning a KotM match. He got taken off their last PPV that had a KotM because he refused to lose.

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I'm glad all I care about is the X division, cause the World title division makes my brain hurt.

[AnonymousBroccoli 0]

It's good they drew a hot crowd that was seemingly into TNA.  Anyone know how big the building was?  I think that's necessary to decide whether the draw was good or bad.

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The show was held in what's usually a wedding reception hall. There probably was about 600 people in there, and just about every seat was filled at one point or another (folks got up and wandered in the general seating section that I was in).

 

The crowd wasn't uber-hot, except maybe during the Petey Williams vs. Jerry Lynn match, and I could probably count the number of TNA chants on one hand. They didn't "fill the whole night", unless they were a local phenomenon on the opposite side of the room, where the SLAM! guy was sitting.

 

I don't think the whole match will be shown on TV, since there were some moments unique to the event that wouldn't make sense to a broad audience (as is usually the case at house shows). The usual cheap heat comments directed at Canadians would probably lessen Jarrett's heat to parts of the audience too.

[redbaron29 0]

Does anybody else think they did this just so they can start where they left off when the left FSN?

 

I mean think about it. AJ is the X division, and Jeff is back on top as the NWA champion. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t like seeing JJ on top no more then anybody else, but to fans who maybe haven’t followed TNA on the net or whatnot, this may be the booking committees way of getting those people to watch again.

 

If you are a casual fan and you are just flipping channels and you see TNA the first thing you might say is “oh I remember this….it was pretty cool” Then they start watching and realize that Daniels is the X division champion, and Raven is the World Champion and they immediately think “Wow I must have missed something.” They then feel like they are not in tune with the product, and would have to play catch up. Which will cause some people to turn it off

 

It’s the same feeling you get when you turn on a movie half way through it. You have absolutely no idea what is going on and will most likely turn it off until you can watch it from the beginning.

[TNABaddboi 0]

Does anybody else think they did this just so they can start where they left off when the left FSN?

I mean think about it. AJ is the X division, and Jeff is back on top as the NWA champion. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t like seeing JJ on top no more then anybody else, but to fans who maybe haven’t followed TNA on the net or whatnot, this may be the booking committees way of getting those people to watch again.

If you are a casual fan and you are just flipping channels and you see TNA the first thing you might say is “oh I remember this….it was pretty cool” Then they start watching and realize that Daniels is the X division champion, and Raven is the World Champion and they immediately think “Wow I must have missed something.” They then feel like they are not in tune with the product, and would have to play catch up. Which will cause some people to turn it off

It’s the same feeling you get when you turn on a movie half way through it. You have absolutely no idea what is going on and will most likely turn it off until you can watch it from the beginning.

 

In theory, this makes sense, but in actuality, when the last Impact aired on FSN, AJ was the World Champ and Daniels was the X Champ. So this isn't them picking up where they left off so much as them continuing there trend of having the "reliable" guys on top in each division when they get a new audience. Around the time Impact debuted, they switched all the belts within a week. Jarrett won the first KotM match 2 days before the first show, AMW won the tag belts on the first and AJ won the X title on the PPV after the first show. In the process, they cut the legs out from under Kazarian's "I'm the coolest" gimmick that was getting over and Kash/Hoyt time that wasn't given enough time to get over beyond residual heat from Kash's great heel work. So rather than going back to the way things were when they were last on TV, they basically are hitting the reset button again. I'm willing to bet the first Spike show starts with a six man tag, just like the first Impact and the first weekly PPV did.

[RedJed 0]

Not that I expected them to, but during last night's Impact Best of show, there was no mention of the title change from Tenay or West (who did lead-in segments of all the matches in studio). What I am really curious about is how long this was planned ahead of time to give the title to Jarrett again. Something tells me this was a serious hot shot booking move that might have not even been planned days before.

[I like Forums 0]

This might backfire... judging from the Unbreakable crowd, Jarrett's next PPV appearance could possibly prove that there is something worse than X-Pac Heat.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

Question to die-hard TNA fans, whether you hate JJ or not...

 

Don't you feel its a major slap in the face by TNA to goat you into the "new direction", by making you pay money for a pretty good PPV featuring new top stars in the main and title match, only for them to go back to Square One at an indy show?

 

I think it's kinda BS.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

I think it's a definite slap in the face. Interest in TNA has picked up tremendously ever since Jarrett lost the title, as top-to-bottom the cards have been enjoyable, but now with Jarrett back in the main event and holding the NWA World title, we're right back at the position where many TNA fans left. Well, let me rephrase that: where many of the paying TNA fans left.

[cabbageboy 0]

Oh the TNA booking is perhaps even more stale than WWE. Nobody really thinks of it that way, but WWE in 2002 had some different guys headlining than right now. NWA: TNA though? It's the same shit with Jarrett as world champ, AMW dicking around in the tag division, AJ Styles lurking around with the X title.

 

I think that's why I've never felt the huge need to watch TNA, whether it be the weekly PPVs or on FSN. There's just no real storyline developments, no serious changes.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

So you must've missed the entire first half of 2003 then, eh?

[Ravenbomb 0]

FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!

[cabbageboy 0]

Yeah, actually I did, haha. Once I saw Russo and Paul Bearer on my TV screen I pretty much stopped getting the weekly PPVs until for some reason I can't recall I tried them out again and saw some cool stuff like that X tourney with Juventud/Sabin in the finals.

[Silence 0]

Yeah, actually I did, haha.  Once I saw Russo and Paul Bearer on my TV screen I pretty much stopped getting the weekly PPVs until for some reason I can't recall I tried them out again and saw some cool stuff like that X tourney with Juventud/Sabin in the finals.

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Then, Mantel came along and shit like Lex Luger and Jeff Jarrett vs. Sting and AJ Styles (the match with Luger no-selling almost ALL of Styles' offense) and Jarrett's boring group with Don Callis in it were fed to any fan that still watched the weekly PPV's.

[Guest Gary Busey]

Yeah, this was hot shot for the most part. The entire build that Jarret got at the last PPV was pointing towards a program with Hardy at BFG. The only thing that matched with the title change was that Jarrett made a throwaway comment about being champ before the the debut on Spike.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Yeah, actually I did, haha.  Once I saw Russo and Paul Bearer on my TV screen I pretty much stopped getting the weekly PPVs until for some reason I can't recall I tried them out again and saw some cool stuff like that X tourney with Juventud/Sabin in the finals.

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You missed the best ringwork and angles TNA has had to this day (IMO on the ringwork, but I'd bet money angle-wise), as well as the turning point where they began losing everything (4/30/03 Destiny) and the first AJ Styles non-X main event. Russo was actually GOOD in his role, though not as good as he was as a face in the DOA role (IMO, of course), and while the whole show seemed to revolve around him hating Jeff Jarrett, there was plenty of other stuff to keep your mind occupied as well. The video packages definitely got better during this period, too.

[Michrome 0]

I still think you're romanticizing a period that really wasn't even good, but I think it's been debated enough. I don't think anything in that period comes remotely close to Joe/Sabin.

 

The increased interest in TNA had little to do with the world title. It was just that they started booking somewhat logically for the first time in company history, and also let Joe do his thing. Raven had 2 shitty world title matches, I don't think Jarrett is much worse, but both suck.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

Part of the reason that Styles, Jarrett and AMW are always at the top of those divisions has to be because the company keeps having to hit the reset button. A little over a year ago all 3 were reset at the top of their spots when Impact debuted on FSN. Now they're hitting Spike.

 

At least they turned AMW heel. I've been asking for that for a year now.

 

On Styles...He's clearly a placeholder champion for Joe. Meltzer wrote that they thought about putting the title on Joe at Unbreakable...but with them heading to TV it would be hard to explain why a guy twice everyone elses size is the champion of what looks like a cruiser division. He also said that the plan seems to be Joe/Liger at BFG...which is awesome for Joe...but leaves me wondering if we're heading towards Styles/Daniels...again.

 

Of Jarrett...I've got nothing. If Brown doesn't pounce him and pin him on the first Impact...I've just got nothing.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

I still think you're romanticizing a period that really wasn't even good, but I think it's been debated enough.  I don't think anything in that period comes remotely close to Joe/Sabin.

That's arguable, since if you look at the thread about the OnDemand TNA matches, I go into detail about why I didn't think Joe/Sabin was as good as people cracked it up to be. A good match? Of course, but I've seen matches from both men that I'd call better and/or more entertaining. One of which was Sabin's debut in TNA on 4/30/03 in the 4-team elimination X-Division tag bout. Was it a spotfest? Hell yes it was a spotfest, but a damn fine spotfest that came to a nice close (despite the interference which was part of a bigger angle involving the X-Division champion Kid Kash). That was when I was most interested in TNA, and also the only time that TNA actually had PAYING fans in attendance besides the Heel Section.

The increased interest in TNA had little to do with the world title.  It was just that they started booking somewhat logically for the first time in company history, and also let Joe do his thing.  Raven had 2 shitty world title matches, I don't think Jarrett is much worse, but both suck.

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I think Jarrett is much worse. Raven at least puts people over when he beats them, but JJ? He buries people, and does so worse than HHH. Where's Ron Killings? Exactly. That was three years ago.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

You know I'd never though I'd see the day where a wrestling promotion would stake its heart and soul upon the main eventership of Jeff fucking Jarrett.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

You know I'd never though I'd see the day where a wrestling promotion would stake its heart and soul upon the main eventership of Jeff fucking Jarrett. 

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Well, that's what you get when Jeff fucking Jarrett is Jeff fucking Dixie. Allegedly.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Tenay on WOL says there were six to eight reasons why they changed the belt, some of which he can say now, some of which will become clear later on:

 

Wanted to position NWA champion for the best possible matches and the best drawing feuds for the next year or so.

Add the most recoginzable name to the belt

Add the dynamic of Jarrett and AMW to the top scene

Tell the people that the title can change anywhere, and that house shows do count.

 

Tenay also said that almost nobody knew the change was going to happen, including most of the locker room. Says that the rumors of Spike TV wanting the title change or that Jarrett made a power play were created by people who wanted an excuse for being caught out.

[Guest Biggles]

Wanted to position NWA champion for the best possible matches and the best drawing feuds for the next year or so.

 

Bad choice then. There are people who put on better matches, have more potential for feuds and storylines, and haven't already defended that belt against most of the roster anyway.

 

Add the most recoginzable name to the belt

 

They should have waited a couple of weeks and given the belt to Nash on his return then.

 

Add the dynamic of Jarrett and AMW to the top scene

 

Putting Jarrett and AMW together would have immediately become a part of the top scene anyway.

 

Tell the people that the title can change anywhere, and that house shows do count.

 

I'd be ok with that, sort of, were it not for the timing. With so many big shows coming up, Spike debut, BFG, it's just a waste. Show people that House Shows count in some other way, not like that. And, TNA don't even run sodding house shows so why bother making people think they count? They've not even been charging people to watch their own shows so why try and increase attendances at house shows, which they don't evne run?