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Lance Storm commentary on TNA

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TNA Needs Mr. Spock

October 27, 2006

 

I’m going to go on a bit of a rant today because I’m about to lose my mind and I need to vent. Before I get into this I want to point out that I very much want TNA to succeed, I am a huge supporter and fan of most of the guys who work there. None of the comments that follow are meant to belittle their talent or work ethic. I think TNA has so many talented people, which I think is the root of my frustration and anger. There is so much potential and talent in this company yet every time I watch Impact, read a PPV report, or what have you, I find myself more frustrated and bewildered than entertained.

 

This is why this week’s commentary is titles TNA needs Mr. Spock. I have no idea if Leonard Nimoy likes wrestling, or even knows jack shit about it but I’m beginning to think he could do a better job of booking this show, than those currently doing so because at least Spock would bring logic to the table when booking. I know booking a weekly show and trying to drive monthly PPV buys isn’t easy but there is so much stuff going on that makes no sense what so ever.

 

FOR EXAMPLE:

 

The Booby Roode hottest free agent gimmick after disbanding Team Canada was a good idea, but thus far has made no sense what so ever. Let me start by saying I’m a big fan of Roode’s work. He was one of the first guys I noticed when I first started watching TNA on Spike. Team Canada gets disbanded and Bobby Roode is labeled the hottest free agent in TNA. Great. He then starts interviewing managers because everyone wants to represent him. Again, great. This creates a nice pop for TV getting to see the great managers from the past and shows that the Industry is hot for Bobby Roode. Then at last months PPV they proceed to book him in the Pre-Show (Dark) Match. If Roode is a hot commodity why can’t he get booked on the PPV? If you don’t have a place for him on the PPV, LEAVE HIM THE HELL OFF THE SHOW! At least if he’s left off fans can surmise that he is so busy interviewing managers that he is not taking bookings until he has confirmed his representation. Booking him in the pre-show makes him look like an under card guy!

 

Now the best part: After interviewing almost every great manager in the history of the business he hires Traci. What a let down. Again this is not to slight her but how she has been portrayed thus far on TV. The last I recall seeing Traci she was the girl who went to the ring with Matt Bentley and bounced. Her claim to fame was that she bounced her boobies, and she managed a guy who for the most part lost mid-card matches. If this isn’t bad enough he announces that he’s signed with his new manager and will debut her on the PPV and guess what. They aren’t on the PPV they are again on the pre-show. I guess that’s what happens when you sign with the girl who bounces. He got to choose any manger he wanted and he signed with one who could not get him booked on PPV. If that isn’t bad enough EVERY SINGLE other ‘wrestling’ member of Team Canada got booked on the PPV, including the one who got fired 2 weeks previous. That’s right the guy who lost a loser gets fired match, and was fired from the company got booked on PPV over the “Hottest Free Agent in Wrestling”. That is one sweet manager he’s got there!!!

 

Speaking of Eric Young, last weeks Impact drove me nuts. Eric lost a Loser get fired match, and appears on the show 1 or 2 weeks later (I cant’ remember if it was 1 or 2 weeks). I know he was just wandering around outside but still; HE’S ON THE F’N SHOW. I just finished reading The Death of WCW, and one of the things that killed WCW was booking over stipulated matches and the continued non-honouring of those stipulations. Why are fans going to give a shit about stipulation matches if they are NEVER honoured? To make matters worse, if that is in fact possible, while poor Eric is in the parking lot, JB informs him that he is booked on the PPV against Larry Zybisco. Young is of course shocked by this news because apparently TNA books guys who don’t work for the company (remember HE WAS FIRED!) in PPV matches without even contacting them to inform them of their interest in booking them again. This was 3 days before the PPV and NO ONE from TNA called Eric Young to tell him they booked him for the PPV. What would TNA have done if Eric hadn’t “inadvertently” found out he had a PPV match?

 

I also just finished reading a spoiler from the latest Impact TV Tapings and I cant’ make any sense what so ever of what I read. Apparently they are doing a #1 Contenders tournament to see who gets the next title shot at Sting. Isn’t this what win lose records are for? Isn’t there a Championship committee or at least someone in TNA Management (we hear so damn much about them) who ranks people in the company? You have Joe who is Unpinned and Unsubmitted, not to mention he’s been running around with the title belt for a few weeks. You have Christian who again is Unpinned, Unsubmitted and was never really beat for the title when he last held it. There is also “Arguably the greatest wrestler alive today” Kurt Angle in the company, not to mention the former champion who should be deserving of a rematch. With all these worthy contenders at their disposal TNA management couldn’t narrow it down closer than 18 people and had to have the most non-sensical match I’ve ever heard of, to set up a tournament.

 

The match is a reverse Battle Royal, where guys have to try to get into the ring. Once 7 guys manage that it’s now a regular Battle Royal and those 7 have to throw each other out. (The order determines the bracketing) When you get down to the last 2 they have a regular match and the winner gets a bye in the tournament. Can someone explain to me why they thought it necessary for someone to get a bye in the tournament and thus make this match even more confusing? Don’t answer that, it was rhetorical. If this isn’t good enough neither Kurt Angle or Joe were in the match and thus for some reason not considered top 18 talent in TNA (keep in mind that Frankie Kazarian and Lance Hoyt are in the match so they must be ranked higher than Joe or Angle).

 

I could go on but I think you get my point. Creative direction in TNA is atrocious, and while I admit booking isn’t an easy job it isn’t rocket science either. To make matters worse they actually have a guy in the company who has a strong track record in booking solid wrestling television. TNA employs Jim Cornette, who booked OVW, SMW, and contributed creatively in WCW for a number of years (the years that tended to make the most sense I might add). I am not even a full-blown Cornette supporter. We had creative disagreements while we worked together in OVW and I also disagreed with some of what he did in SMW when I worked for him. Jim Cornette is, in my opinion, a little old school and not overly innovative, but his shows make sense, you never have to ask WHY, and matches and titles feel important. That is what wrestling is all about. Give me some wrestlers I can care about, make me believe they don’t like each other, and then book them in a match so I can see them fight. When you want someone to build you a cart that rolls, you don’t always need someone with ground breaking innovative ideas, you need someone smart enough to put 4 F’N wheels on the damn thing so it rolls.

 

That’s my rant for this week,

Lance Storm

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He's looking into it too deeply. Bobby Roode was on the preshow so people would have some incentive to watch it and subsequently buy the PPV. Joe and Angle weren't in the match because it was already announced that they have a PPV match.

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So is Mr. Can-I-be-Serious-for-a-Moment suggesting that he join the TNA booking commitee? You see this is what happens when there is a committee. One person comes up with a brillent idea that gets pushed for a few weeks and everything is going good then due to jealously and inner fighting the brillent idea loses its course and eventually crashes looking like shit on tv.

 

There is no Volcan logic in TNA. The company does not need Mr. Spock its more like TNA needs the Captian to take control of the ship and stop outsourcing jobs to the wrong people.

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Russo's done a good job thus far, everyone was gushing over the build to BFG, maybe we should wait and see how Impact plays out, before we declare that TNA's booking sucks.

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Russo's 'good job so far', in booking the month of TV prior to BFG included:

 

Not bringing Sting in to the tapings to build for the BFG main event.

 

Justify that, please.

 

Disregarding building BFG in favor of next month's PPV

 

Did they do anything at all on the last Impact before BFG to build up the tag title match? LAX did angle, but it was to build to next month's PPV.

 

Having a You're Fired match where the loser didn't get fired two weeks before BFG where the main event was a guy supposedly retiring if he lost

 

They just told us not to take their stipulations seriously, when the main event of their so-called biggest PPV ever was a stipulation match.

 

Putting Kurt Angle on TV for free and the segment then bombing

 

Shouldn't something that major be on a PPV so people have to PAY MONEY TO TNA to see it?

 

And we haven't talked about their insane world title tournament, which literally reeks of Russo.

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The thing is, Joe and Angle wasn't announced for the PPV yet, and it has the result of either making them or the Championship look like crap when they're not in the chase for the title. It's obvious they're going that route, but why not have Joe and Angle just fight to the back and take each other out of the equation? Besides, there should be no contrived tournament. Christian should get the shot, on the basis that he never actually lost the title, and Sting would want to have a match with him after Cage screwed him out of the title once before. Oh, and people will say that they're building to it, yet they're hotshotting their biggest match to date with less than a month of build up? Storm is right on all counts. And hiring Russo as the booker when they have Jim Cornette right there makes no sense.

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HTQ,

 

 

Russo's 'good job so far', in booking the month of TV prior to BFG included:

 

Not bringing Sting in to the tapings to build for the BFG main event.

 

 

Easy, the videos built up Sting and made him seem mysterious again, the month of videos of Sting was better than anything they did prior with him.

 

 

 

Disregarding building BFG in favor of next month's PPV

 

Did they do anything at all on the last Impact before BFG to build up the tag title match? LAX did angle, but it was to build to next month's PPV.

 

 

What would have them do? You can only do so many pull apart brawls. They faced each other on Impact for christ's sake.

 

 

Having a You're Fired match where the loser didn't get fired two weeks before BFG where the main event was a guy supposedly retiring if he lost

 

They just told us not to take their stipulations seriously, when the main event of their so-called biggest PPV ever was a stipulation match.

 

 

Okay, this is true, but when has anyone taken wrestling stipulations seriously? The Eric Young segments are harmless fun.

 

 

Putting Kurt Angle on TV for free and the segment then bombing

 

Shouldn't something that major be on a PPV so people have to PAY MONEY TO TNA to see it?

 

 

An Angle/Joe segment wasn't going to draw any addition buys. But by putting it on free TV, a buzz gets built which leads to more people watchinh Impact and hopefully more people buying the PPVs. People bitched and moaned when Impact was nothing but squash matches, and then they bitch and moan when you but good, hot segments on Impact. Which do you want? What if all the Austin/Vince segments had been on PPV?

 

 

 

And we haven't talked about their insane world title tournament, which literally reeks of Russo.

 

 

Which hasn't even aired yet, so no one has any idea on how it's going to play out.

 

 

...

 

 

And hiring Russo as the booker when they have Jim Cornette right there makes no sense.

 

 

Russo drew more money in a YEAR than Cornette has drawn in his life.

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Where is the logic in the last segment before BFG running an angle that doesn't even build towards BFG? Would it not make sense to build towards the PPV happening in three days time?

 

What would have them do?.

 

Maybe have Styles and Daniels talk about the match upcoming at the PPV. Did they do even that?

 

...but when has anyone taken wrestling stipulations seriously?

 

The company using one to build up the main event of their biggest PPV of all time. Explain the logic in devaluing stipulations when the draw of your biggest PPV main event ever is a guy having to adhere to the stipulation of retiring if he loses?.

 

An Angle/Joe segment wasn't going to draw any addition buys. But by putting it on free TV, a buzz gets built which leads to more people watchinh Impact and hopefully more people buying the PPVs. People bitched and moaned when Impact was nothing but squash matches, and then they bitch and moan when you but good, hot segments on Impact. Which do you want? What if all the Austin/Vince segments had been on PPV?

 

Then why have as the last segment on TV before the PPV? If it wasn't going to draw buys, as you claim, why not put it elsewhere and end with something that actually built towards the PPV in three days? It created quite the buzz. 100,000 less people watched that Impact and the segment drew a miserable 0.76 rating. Yay for BUZZ~.

 

The first ever Joe/Angle confrontation should have been something special, and it would have made sense, and money, to tease it going into the PPV so people would have to PAY MONEY to see the first ever stand off between the two. Instead, it gets turned into just another pull-apart brawl that we've seen a million times.

Russo drew more money in a YEAR than Cornette has drawn in his life.

 

Russo helped kill a national wrestling promotion. For all the good he did in the WWF, he has fallen flat on his face every time since.

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Where is the logic in the last segment before BFG running an angle that doesn't even build towards BFG? Would it not make sense to build towards the PPV happening in three days time?

 

Since both will be at BFG, it does build to BFG plus it gets people to tune in next week. TNA needs to build a larger television audience, first and foremost, before they have any chance of getting more buys.

 

 

The company using one to build up the main event of their biggest PPV of all time. Explain the logic in devaluing stipulations when the draw of your biggest PPV main event ever is a guy having to adhere to the stipulation of retiring if he loses?

 

Everyone knew Sting is winning anyway, it was a foregone conclusion.

 

Russo helped kill a national wrestling promotion. For all the good he did in the WWF, he has fallen flat on his face every time since.

 

Other than time in WCW were he has a miserable working environment and had his legs cut out from hime at every turn, when has he had another real chance? I seem to remember the SEX angle to be quite good.

 

They sure did. And then Styles and Daniels vanished so they could run a major angle to build towards next month's PPV.

 

An angle that also made out LAX to be huge heels. An angle that made people want to see them get their asses kicked even more.

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Since both will be at BFG, it does build to BFG plus it gets people to tune in next week. TNA needs to build a larger television audience, first and foremost, before they have any chance of getting more buys.

 

Getting the same people who are already watching to tune in next week is not as important as getting buys for your PPV in three days.

 

Other than time in WCW were he has a miserable working environment and had his legs cut out from hime at every turn, when has he had another real chance?

 

Hah. Russo was restricted much more in WWF. He had free reign in WCW, that was his "real chance", and he ran the top wrestling company in the world into the ground.

 

An angle that also made out LAX to be huge heels. An angle that made people want to see them get their asses kicked even more.

 

But not specifically by Styles and Daniels. And since it was an angle being set up for after the PPV, they know they're not going to.

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Other than time in WCW were he has a miserable working environment and had his legs cut out from hime at every turn, when has he had another real chance?

 

Hah. Russo was restricted much more in WWF. He had free reign in WCW, that was his "real chance", and he ran the top wrestling company in the world into the ground.

He forget the part where Russo blamed Standards and Practices for not letting him call Rhonda Singh fat.

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It's pointless to argue with you, HTQ, you'll just drive it into the ground, but I think a wait and see attitude would do everyone good. I like Russo, you don't, let's move on.

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Im not sure why you post in the TNA thread when you seem to hate the company so much.

 

I can agree with some of the things that Lance said, but it wont stop me watching the company.

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Im not sure why you post in the TNA thread when you seem to hate the company so much.

I don't hate the company. I'd love nothing more than for TNA to thrive, survive and provide viable competition for WWE. The problem is that TNA continues to make a seemingly non-stop series of mistakes and blunders, ones that a lot of people, even ones here, can see coming. They make the kind of mistakes that, not only are ones that anyone with a brain know to avoid, but ones that a company in their position simply cannot afford make. Now, if pointing out those mistakes makes people think I hate TNA or gives people the impression I think TNA can't do anything right, then that's their problem not mine. TNA does do some things right; the Chris Sabin vs. Sen Shi match at BFG was pretty good for one, and, as ass backwards as it's been at times, they've done a decent job of promoting Joe vs. Angle as something big. The problem with TNA, and the most frustrating part about TNA, is that they can do so much better than they are doing. They have the in-ring talent, no one can deny that. The problem is management. As long as the management keep making mistakes that a blind man can see coming, then people will point them out. If that upsets you so much, then either stop reading when people point out those mistakes, or start praying for TNA, because they're the ones screwing up something that could be so much better.

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Guest Hotbutter Spoontoaster

hey HTQ, "Senshi" is spelled "Senshi", not "Sen Shi". there's no space. just lookin' out for a brotha.

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Russo's 'good job so far', in booking the month of TV prior to BFG included:

 

Not bringing Sting in to the tapings to build for the BFG main event.

 

Justify that, please.

 

Disregarding building BFG in favor of next month's PPV

 

Did they do anything at all on the last Impact before BFG to build up the tag title match? LAX did angle, but it was to build to next month's PPV.

 

Having a You're Fired match where the loser didn't get fired two weeks before BFG where the main event was a guy supposedly retiring if he lost

 

They just told us not to take their stipulations seriously, when the main event of their so-called biggest PPV ever was a stipulation match.

 

Putting Kurt Angle on TV for free and the segment then bombing

 

Shouldn't something that major be on a PPV so people have to PAY MONEY TO TNA to see it?

 

And we haven't talked about their insane world title tournament, which literally reeks of Russo.

 

A f'n men.

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Ive been really enjoying TNA in recent months. I mean really liked it, i looked forward to watching the shows despite already knowing the results. They do make some stupid mistakes, but i can seem to look past them, im not going to judge this tournament thing untill i see impact next saturday.

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As far as all the talk about Russo...Konnan pretty much confirmed, on WOL the other night, that Dutch/Jeff are writing the show right now and Russo's just an idea man.

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Lance pretty much said everything I have to say negative about TNA. I really do want TNA to succeed and to one day, hopefully, be a 'WCW' to WWE.

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