Meltzer TNA notes from F4Daily

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Thinks Thursday’s IMPACT will do a .9.

 

Says the final quarter should be up from what it usually is.

 

Bryan referenced the Jarrett/Steiner vs. Cage/Sting deal to being similar to the old Horseman teases, where Sting’s partner would turn on him and join the Horseman. Dave said that TNA has it’s timetable for everything, and everything is booked out to February.

 

Bryan asked Dave about TNA’s booking, saying that he heard they had everything booked out for the year at the start of the year, and presumes they didn’t have it set for Christian to drop the NWA belt in June. Dave confirmed that, and said that, while they have their plans set out, they can change if things don’t work out.

 

Dave thinks the bottle thrown at Jarrett turned out to be good heat because they got the two biggest audiences for TV the next two weeks.

 

When Jarrett held the title the last time and fans hated it, TNA knew it was the wrong kind of heat, but this time they feel it’s the right kind of heat.

 

Bryan likened it to a DX skit that starts out funny, then it gets bad and is bad for so long that turns funny. Says that Jarrett started off with heat, then it turned into the “go away” heat, and he had that heat for so long that it turned into the good heat.

 

Dave comments that if you’re on top for so long that, even if fans hate you being on top, you end up getting accepted on top.

[2GOLD 0]

So basically, Jarrett has went to the HHH school of being a heel?

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

You know what...that actually makes sense to me.

 

I don't want Jarrett on top any more than anyone else...but I think that's correct.

[Fro 0]

I agree that it's went all the way around. People want to see Joe kick Jarrett's ass, so yes, I'd say it's good heat again.

 

If he has the title for too long it could easily turn into "go-away heat".

[Timmy8271 0]

If joe doesn't beat Jarrett at the ppv and jarrett breaks his streak, It will turn into the "wrong kind of heat" all over again.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

That's an understatement.

 

But TNA hasn't done wrong by Joe at any turn in his first year in the company. They know he's their best asset and he's signed for the next couple years. Joe's second year in TNA WILL be the year of Samoa Joe.

[uhftv 0]

it kind of makes sense if i were a regular tna viewer. but i go out of my way to avoid any glimpse of jarrett on tv. and i've watched since their 1st show years ago. so i dont like him on top and hes all over the show even when he doesnt have the title, just like HHH, so it doesnt matter if he's the champ or not.

[luke-o 0]

Well it makes sense to me, and i like that. Im sick of people telling me, "im not watchin TNA because of Jarrett." I just think thats stupid.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

It's not stupid when you vehemently dislike a wrestler that not only has a shitload of political clout backstage, but also plasters his vanilla ass all over the show.

 

Jarrett was interesting as the rebellious heel, because he was actually doing something that he hadn't done a whole lot before (as far as on-screen goes): take shit from nobody and just keep going for the belt. Then he got the belt and retained interest from November '02 (when he won it) until April '03 at what SHOULD have been TNA's biggest feud blowoff in its first year: DESTINY. But no: he fucking buried 5 people in one match by no-selling shit that even HULK FUCKING HOGAN would've jobbed to and pinning Raven clean. Then he smothered himself all over the program week after week - even during the World X Cup shows, which were designed to showcase nothing but X-Division talent - and it got to the point where a lot of fans just stopped watching and stopped going to the shows.

Interest picked back up not because of Jarrett, not because of Sting, and not because of Christian Cage. It is my honest opinion that interest in TNA picked back up in the last year due in a LARGE part to Samoa Joe. He's different than anything else that's going on in wrestling right now, really. Why? Because he's an unstoppable monster of a wrestler that doesn't rely solely on his size to win. He's fast. He's strong. He's tough. And then there's the biggest part to it: he can actually WRESTLE. If Jarrett goes over Joe, even with a screwjob, it'll be obvious that TNA doesn't even know what it's doing. Joe isn't a Monty Brown, where the odd charisma and push are the entire basis of his heat. Joe gets heat because Joe is GOOD, and the fans know it. Even if he'd lost here and there in good matches, he'd still be looked at as a huge challenge to any and all opponents, simply because of how good of a wrestler he is.

 

Yeah. I don't really watch TNA anymore because not only is the timeslot awful (some people actually have to get up to go to work in the morning, SpikeTV execs), but because I can't stand Jeff Jarrett, and I still see that he's a big part of the shows. Well, that...and there's no true direction for more than half of the company.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

Go easy on JJ, it's 2006. He's still terrible, but it could be worse.

 

Jarrett's ultimate suck reign was squeezed in between Russo's two WCW tenures, from Jan-Mar 00.

 

He single-handedly had the power to:

 

Kill Scott Hall's heat, mock him, and work a shitty PPV main event that Hall should've had to himself.

Take out Funk numerous times with a guitar.

Take out Piper on Nitro with a guitar.

Take out Nash on Thunder with a guitar.

Take out Rhodes on various TVs with a guitar.

Take out Flair & Crowbar numerous times with guitars.

Take out Vampiro, in both matches that Jarrett stunk up, and with guitar shots in promos that Jarrett had nothing to do with.

Take out Booker with guitar shots and beat him in main events.

Take out Kidman with guitar shots.

Take out The Mamalukes by feeding them to nWo 2000 (JJ and Harris Boyz) and embarassing them.

Take out Disco in the same way.

Pin World Champion Sid Vicious numerous times in Main Events (at least twice a month).

 

This is in a 2-month span, mind you. And by take out, I mean "pin in the main event or break a guitar over their head" and not have them booked strongly to rebound.

 

He single-handedly destroyed Vampiro, Booker, and Kidman's heat in a one month swing after they were starting to have good matches with each other. "HMMM, my angles suck and I'm killing buyrates? Who's working hard? I KNOW~! I'll have matches with them, go over with my silly 1987 guitar finish, and never let them get any revenge!"

 

He defended the US Title 3 times in 3 months when they *8* hours of TV every week.

 

He brought the Harris Boys into the nWo, where they were unstoppable, doing run ins during cruiser matches and at one point delivering their finisher to 9 wrestlers in 2 minutes. Think about that.

 

It could always be worse.

________

 

And then of course Russo came back and put the belt on Double J to "KICK OFF A NEW WCW". Please. TNA stinks of Jarrett and shitty WCW and that's why it'll never be anything but a free-ticket show to a bunch of Orlando marks until Jeff and his hee-haw ass are out of there. Mark-ass Dixie Carter can keep LOSING MILLIONS to look good in front of the boys, but that doesn't make the company any less of a joke.

 

Maybe if Jeff brings out a couple more "HEY YALL FANS YA WANT ME TO PICK THAT THERE PARTNER ON DOOR #1? OR DOOR NUMBA 2? YUCK YUCK." gems he'll be more over. He looks like an aged used-car salesman who wouldn't even be working Heat if he was in the WWE and didn't fuck up that situation.

 

Just wait. He's gonna PIN JOE. That's what Jarrett does.

[Guest droptoehold]

I've never had a reason to post anything in here.

I dont hate TNA, or really Jarrett. Sledge said some

of the most truthfull sht ive seen.

 

*applause*

[hyperchord24 0]

great post, utsu

[GODSON 0]

Yeah. I don't really watch TNA anymore because not only is the timeslot awful (some people actually have to get up to go to work in the morning, SpikeTV execs), but because I can't stand Jeff Jarrett, and I still see that he's a big part of the shows. Well, that...and there's no true direction for more than half of the company.

 

I can say the same thing about Raw. DX vs.McMAHONs taking up too much time and Edge vs. Cena. Nobody else have a direction either.

 

Or how about the internet darling show Smackdown. Oh how awesome is the Fit Finlay matches is blah,blah,blah. That show have no direction what so ever. Rey is a champion-loser who just found out his opponent for the ppv. Give TNA two hours everyweek you will get matches better than Finlay/Booker/Lashley/Rey matches without the boring atmosphere.

 

And how about ECW. No need to diss that crap. They change direction every week.

 

By your standards you don't like nothing on tv.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Go easy on JJ, it's 2006. He's still terrible, but it could be worse.

 

Jarrett's ultimate suck reign was squeezed in between Russo's two WCW tenures, from Jan-Mar 00.

 

He single-handedly had the power to:

 

Kill Scott Hall's heat, mock him, and work a shitty PPV main event that Hall should've had to himself.

Take out Funk numerous times with a guitar.

Take out Piper on Nitro with a guitar.

Take out Nash on Thunder with a guitar.

Take out Rhodes on various TVs with a guitar.

Take out Flair & Crowbar numerous times with guitars.

Take out Vampiro, in both matches that Jarrett stunk up, and with guitar shots in promos that Jarrett had nothing to do with.

Take out Booker with guitar shots and beat him in main events.

Take out Kidman with guitar shots.

Take out The Mamalukes by feeding them to nWo 2000 (JJ and Harris Boyz) and embarassing them.

Take out Disco in the same way.

Pin World Champion Sid Vicious numerous times in Main Events (at least twice a month).

 

This is in a 2-month span, mind you. And by take out, I mean "pin in the main event or break a guitar over their head" and not have them booked strongly to rebound.

 

He single-handedly destroyed Vampiro, Booker, and Kidman's heat in a one month swing after they were starting to have good matches with each other. "HMMM, my angles suck and I'm killing buyrates? Who's working hard? I KNOW~! I'll have matches with them, go over with my silly 1987 guitar finish, and never let them get any revenge!"

And he still couldn't get over as a main event player.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

No, actually, I don't. There's nothing going on in televised wrestling right now (I added the word "televised" because I don't have the income to buy tapes of Japan and RoH and other indies after bills and booze) that captures my interest. I hate Cena, like Edge but not enough to sit through the rest of Raw to see him, am never home on Friday nights to catch SmackDown, and the "new" ECW is an abomination on XPW levels. The few times I do sit down to watch, it's always with my girlfriend and sometimes with her and her older brother, who both watched from the start of the Attitude era until the InVasion, and they watch and see faces they remember seeing then...and don't want to watch anymore because the stars of that era are boring now.

 

And then comes TNA. Here's a company that has so much to offer, more than WWE does to the point where it hurts, and what do they do? Jeff Jarrett (never-was) vs. Sting (washed up) in the main event. They have the hottest young star in the entire sport, Samoa Joe, in their ranks, and while I like them giving him the slow build over the course of a year to the main event, it's almost a foregone conclusion that Jarrett will beat him via nefarious means. Wrestling isn't fun when you know what's going to happen without reading the dirtsheets.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

So I guess WORLD CHAMPION Jeff Jarrett gets the night off oh, the PAY PER VIEW.

[razazteca 0]

He single-handedly destroyed Vampiro, Booker, and Kidman's heat in a one month swing after they were starting to have good matches with each other. "HMMM, my angles suck and I'm killing buyrates? Who's working hard? I KNOW~! I'll have matches with them, go over with my silly 1987 guitar finish, and never let them get any revenge!"

You could replace those names with Monty Brown, Rhyno, Christian and replace the HTM guitar finish with the even weaker finish of the Stroke that has the slowest setup in the history of wrestling.

[Timmy8271 0]

I can't wait till jarrett pins Joe. It will be like when Jarrett pinned raven in nashville. The marks will cry and i thrive on mark's tears.

 

Great post sledge by the way.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

Wouldn't Jarrett pinning Joe be akin to when the AWA refused to put the World title on Hulk Hogan?

[Zack Malibu 0]

If Jarrett, who in his mind is looking to become not only a babyface character down the road, but endear himself to the fans, beats Joe, he'll have killed off any chance of the second portion of that thought happening.

 

Jarrett WILL put over Joe, but it won't be solely for the benefit of getting Joe over.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

If Jarrett puts Joe over, I'm watching again.

[tigeraid 0]

Jesus, there's no way he won't put Joe over. IMPOSSIBLE.

 

I hope.

 

However, is it maybe possible we'll see a screwjob finish at Hard Justice, and slowly build up to another main event Jarrett vs Joe and Bound for Glory? It's supposed to be TNA'S Wrestlemania, and what better place for Joe to win the strap...

 

BTW, am I the only one who thinks Steiner has been booked incredibly well so far in TNA? Especially against Joe... (Well, other than the botched finish to their PPV match.)

[Astro101 0]

Let's just say I hated that Steiner came into TNA. Now, I don't mind seeing him on my tv and I love him versus Joe.

 

Jarrett will put over Joe. He may book himself over his head, but deep deep down, he's a smart business guy that will make the right business decision. Well...there's always that small percent of my feeling that isn't hope. And if JJ pins Joe, I'm hoping for an Impact riot.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

BTW, am I the only one who thinks Steiner has been booked incredibly well so far in TNA? Especially against Joe... (Well, other than the botched finish to their PPV match.)

Elaborate on the botched finish remark.

[Timmy8271 0]

He might put over joe down the line but i still think he will beat joe at the ppv. It will be some type of screwjob.

[tigeraid 0]

BTW, am I the only one who thinks Steiner has been booked incredibly well so far in TNA? Especially against Joe... (Well, other than the botched finish to their PPV match.)

Elaborate on the botched finish remark.

 

I still have yet to understand why the power slam finished the match (and by all means, if you've heard or understand why, tell me...) but Steiner apparently was supposed to crotch himself on the ropes and instead fell early and landed on his feet.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

BTW, am I the only one who thinks Steiner has been booked incredibly well so far in TNA? Especially against Joe... (Well, other than the botched finish to their PPV match.)

Elaborate on the botched finish remark.

I still have yet to understand why the power slam finished the match (and by all means, if you've heard or understand why, tell me...) but Steiner apparently was supposed to crotch himself on the ropes and instead fell early and landed on his feet.

I don't remember off hand why they didn't have Joe use the choke, but with what has happenen since I think it was so they could prolong the feud and I suspect they are saving the choke out finish for their second match. And it wasn't the muscle buster because Steiner, due to his injuries, didn't feel physically up to taking the move.

[tigeraid 0]

I don't remember off hand why they didn't have Joe use the choke, but with what has happenen since I think it was so they could prolong the feud and I suspect they are saving the choke out finish for their second match. And it wasn't the muscle buster because Steiner, due to his injuries, didn't feel physically up to taking the move.

 

Oh I know the muscle buster was out of the question. And I understand that the match needed to have a "quick, surprise" pin to prolong the feud. But that's typically done with a roll-up or schoolboy or something... just felt odd to me, I guess

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

I don't remember off hand why they didn't have Joe use the choke, but with what has happenen since I think it was so they could prolong the feud and I suspect they are saving the choke out finish for their second match. And it wasn't the muscle buster because Steiner, due to his injuries, didn't feel physically up to taking the move.

 

Oh I know the muscle buster was out of the question. And I understand that the match needed to have a "quick, surprise" pin to prolong the feud. But that's typically done with a roll-up or schoolboy or something... just felt odd to me, I guess

It's not really odd that they used the powerslam given that Joe uses it a lot.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

IIRC, the powerslam finish was because Steiner's neck is too banged up to take the Musclebuster, and TNA officials felt that Steiner being choked out or forced to tap would ruin his "badass motherfucker" image. Thus, the powerslam.

 

Re: tigeraid

Yes, Jarrett is a businessman. Of course he'd do the right thing and put Joe over. Just like he put Raven* ove...oh, wait. Just like he put Killings** ove...shit. Uhhh...just like he put Chris Harris ov...damn. Just like he put AJ Styles*** ove...FUCK. Just like he put Monty Brown**** ove...I'm running out of names that, at one point, were viable main event contenders.

 

*April '03. Destiny. A turning point in TNA whereby they alienated some of their most diehard fans for nearly an entire year. Raven was beaten - SQUASHED - simply because he hadn't signed a deal. No "draw" finish, which would have been remotely acceptable. Your basic face/heel feud over the title goes "heel gets best of face - heel wins title - face fights back - face regains title." Raven was THE most interesting thing TNA had going for it for months, and they fucked it up to appease JJ's ego.

**Killings has NEVER, to my knowledge, been put over Jarrett definitively to the point where one could go "The Truth is Jarrett's equal."

***AJ Styles was made to be Jarrett's bitch for the summer of '03, as well as Russo's lackey for the overall Russo/Jarrett feud that had no true ending, and only won the belt in the cage match because of Russo interfering to give AJ time to get up.

****I, like many others, didn't want Brown in the main event at all. But that didn't stop him from getting over at a main event level during that big push of his back in '04 and early '05, but they fucked it up - again - to appease JJ's ego.