OAO 10/26 Impact Thread

[cd213 0]

I like that, just like they said, no one you would expect. Remember this is only for a bye in the tourny. Doesn't mean he is going to be #1 contender. I like the whole "Anything can happen" idea. Nothing wrong with that.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

OK I'll give Hoyt props for the moonsault. That was an impressive visual.

 

Tha Van Hoytinator, not so impressive looking.

[cd213 0]

Damn, I can't believe Hoyt pulled off a Van Terminator! That wasn't that bad of a match.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

Hoyt really got after it there.

[razazteca 0]

I would of gone with Abyss vs AJ for the final 2 since they work great together. I don't like the ideal of HOYT being the bastard child of WWE i.e. he looks like Test, does HBK/RVD moves, and had the stupid back tatoo too low.

[Hank Kingsley 0]

You know what, it'd be fine if they just keep it like that interview. He can mention "personal things" but wouldn't have to delve into them.

[cd213 0]

Not a bad interview. Didn't go into it too much. Now we don't see him for a while and we don't have him shoved down our throughts.

[razazteca 0]

Remember when Christian got a response like that when he 1st showed up? Will Kurt Angle be able to get this same response in 5 months?

[cd213 0]

Remember when Christian got a response like that when he 1st showed up? Will Kurt Angle be able to get this same response in 5 months?

 

I think he can because the fans have a respect for the man unlike most wrestlers today. The fans in WWE wanted to cheer for him. Remember the bigger the boos, the more they want to cheer for the person.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

Angle's different than Chrisitan.

 

Everyone sees Angle as a top guy. Christian's main problem was winning the title so quickly. Is there any reason that Chrisian should be looked at as more of a main eventer than...say...Jarrett?

 

The two of them are upper midcard heels...that's just what they're kind of stuck with.

 

Angle isn't seen that way.

[Downhome 0]

-I hate the way they are doing the tourney. Why does TNA make up these wacky matches that are so hard to follow for some people? Seriously TNA, what the fuck?

 

-Lance Hoyt vs. Abyss was way better than it had any right to be.

 

-I know that some of you will never admit this, but I believe that JJ will get over as a face in a big way. I'm fine with it also, as long as he stays away from the title, at least for a good while at the start of this new direction for him. If they go into all of his personal problems and use that as the excuse for his heelish actions all this time, and then explain all of the sacrifices that he made in order to keep TNA alive, I think it'll work on the TNA fans.

 

-I'm still very much into the Joe/Angle deal.

 

-This was the first TNA show in a while where I thought that they would really benefit from a two hour long show, but that might just be because of the crazy tourney they were working with tonight.

[Guest Hotbutter Spoontoaster]

Well, even though the Reverse Battle Royal/Regular Battle Royal matches were weird and crazy, at least I couldn't pick out the winner or even the final two straight away, like most predictable WWE Battle Royals.

[razazteca 0]

Remember when Christian got a response like that when he 1st showed up? Will Kurt Angle be able to get this same response in 5 months?

 

I think he can because the fans have a respect for the man unlike most wrestlers today. The fans in WWE wanted to cheer for him. Remember the bigger the boos, the more they want to cheer for the person.

Can they keep the Kurt vs Joe feud strong where both wrestlers look good afterwards or is this just a setup to make Jarrett look good when he gets his vaniety belt back in 7 months? Will both Joe and Angle end up in the midcard fighting with Rhyno and Christian over who gets to be #1 contender again?

[RedJed 0]

I thought the three stage deal to build the tournament wasnt bad at all really. It was different, gave the show some backbone in that there was something going on, and hell, even Lance Hoyt came out of it looking better than he ever had. Was the "inside out" premise of the first part a little hokey? Sure, but it was different and really didnt "expose the business" or anything.

 

Naturals-LAX was weird but made sense at the same time. Weird in that the title contenders they have been trying to build up so much were moreless squashed, but I think this is a cause and effect situation. The fans moreless werent buying the Naturals as anything much than a joke, and as such, more work needs to be done creatively to give them more effectiveness on top (whenever that time comes). I like the idea they stood up to Douglas and my guess is this will lead to giving them more edge and character. Plus a feud with the Duds might not be too bad.

 

The Jarrett thing, well this much is clear - he probably will stay off TV for awhile. Interesting that he basically admitted the oversaturation of him in the company may have fucked things up, even professtionally (meaning for the company) or was I hearing that just the way I wanted to? In any regard, TNA can try this and do the whole James Gang alliance thing with him, but I dont think its still going to fly, not unless he is off TV for a LONG time, there is a very slow build to him as a face, he has a heel against him right off the bat that people REALLY hate, he's kept away from the title until the end of time (they almost need to do an angle where Jarrett publicly claims he will never EVER wrestle for the title again due to a love for his family blah blah blah) and most importantly, they return to Nashville.

 

Angle/Joe stuff continues to be tremendous and the booking of it so far has been so simple yet so effective.

 

Show went extremely fast watching it, which is a good thing but a sign two hours is needed to a ridiculous level.

[TNABaddboi 0]

I would of gone with Abyss vs AJ for the final 2 since they work great together.

 

I get the feeling that they are setting it for Abyss and AJ to meet in the finals on the primetime debut in a showcase match. There are three matches next week and then the winners will have a three-way to see who faces Abyss on the 16th. AJ and Abyss is as good a match as TNA can put out there in front of their hypothetically bigger audience.

 

That said, I thought this show was a mix bag. I really liked Christian's promo on Sting (he's been really good since he turned heel), though I think I would have let Sting have his celebration moment before Christian interrupted. The LAX-AMW brawl was intense, but might have been more effective if it came after a more competitive match with the Naturals. The stuff with Nash, Starr and Shelley was pretty good. I like where that storyline is going so far and I think when Shelley and Starr face each other eventually, it'll be a great match. And in the meaning, they'll have good matches as a team. Good stuff all around there. The tournament was as bad as it sounded in the spoilers execution wise, but it produced a good Abyss-Hoyt match. I actually would have liked to see those guys get five more minutes. They were building a nice little match there. The Joe-Angle pull apart wasn't as effective the third time, so they'll probably have to start doing something else with them eventually, and the Jarrett promo was a very good first step to making Jarrett a face again, which I think will work. Once upon a time, after all, Jarrett was the biggest face in the company (at the beginning of the S.E.X. angle). And it was good to see them finally promoting the house shows on TV. I don't know why they haven't been doing that already...it's another little thing that makes them seem like a big time company. I guess they were encouraged by the Detroit gate.

[cd213 0]

I think one of TNA's main problems is that there is no clear cut heels. The only wrestlers we know that are heels are:

 

Christian Cage, Kazarian, and LAX.

 

Abyss is supposed to be heel but he gets face pops. AMW are now face due to their actions last night. Bentley is starting a new angle, so right now it's unknown what his deal is. Kevin Nash and his crew are heels, but the fans like them.

 

With 5 wrestlers all together being heels, that isn't that good.

[TNABaddboi 0]

I think one of TNA's main problems is that there is no clear cut heels. The only wrestlers we know that are heels are:

 

Christian Cage, Kazarian, and LAX.

 

Abyss is supposed to be heel but he gets face pops. AMW are now face due to their actions last night. Bentley is starting a new angle, so right now it's unknown what his deal is. Kevin Nash and his crew are heels, but the fans like them.

 

With 5 wrestlers all together being heels, that isn't that good.

 

I think the problem is actually that they spent too much time trying to develop heels, but give you real reason to like the big babyfaces. Ok, Sting "rid" us of Jarrett. But what has any other face done to make you like them. Even Styles and Daniels....they're over because they're good workers, not because we have a compelling reason to like them.

[razazteca 0]

Being a good worker should be the MAIN reason to cheer for a wrestler. You can try to build up someone as the greatest thing on the planet though interviews, vigettes, skits, video packages but when they make it to the big stage it becomes a total letdown and you get someone like Monty Brown, Bobby Roode, James Gang, Naturals who are all average in and out of the ring.

[TNABaddboi 0]

Being a good worker should be the MAIN reason to cheer for a wrestler. You can try to build up someone as the greatest thing on the planet though interviews, vigettes, skits, video packages but when they make it to the big stage it becomes a total letdown and you get someone like Monty Brown, Bobby Roode, James Gang, Naturals who are all average in and out of the ring.

 

Being a good worker is the main we (as in the IWC) cheer a wrestler, but it's never been the main reason the audience at large cheers a wrestler. Hogan was never the best wrestler and by the time Austin got to the big time, his best days as a worker were behind him. The audience at large is cheering for the character. They can relate to this person or they think this person is funny or whatever the case may be. But the most over guys are not usually the ***** generals.

[razazteca 0]

Wasn't that the mentality that killed WCW and sent WWE down the drain for the past 5 years?

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

A wrestler needs something to carry the load when the bells rings. It can be talent, charisma, personality or anything else, but he does need something. The problem comes when a wrestler is not only lacking in one area, but also lacking in any other area to where he can't make up for it. Hogan was never the best in-ring worker, but he had the charisma to make up for it. Benoit will never be confused with The Rock in terms of charisma, but had the in-ring talent to make up for it. A wrestler need not excel in one area if he is good enough in another to make up for it.

[razazteca 0]

A wrestling company need not excel in one area if it is good enough in another to make up for it. There is no need to go overboard with the storylines when the company's current collection of talent is stacked on the worker side. With people like AJ, Daniels, Joe, Killings, Abyss, the company can have a great tv product that will KEEP the fans watching every week. What got me frustrated over the past couple of months with Impact was all of the buildup for the storylines that involved people like Larry Zybrisko, Slick, Hebner, Jarrett, D'More who pretty much had nothing to bring to the tv product other getting their face on tv everyweek. Now why were they wasting time on these people, who they get over, and was the resulting PPV match at best average and when it was over did it help anybody in the big picture?

 

What worries me about the current direction with the tv product of Impact is that the focus has gradually shifted to the main eventers whose primary skills is that of the storyline based wrestling. It looks like the current booking committee has forgotten about the X Division and when it is on tv it has become one big embarressing joke. They took the best of the division (AJ, Daniels, Joe) moved them up in the card and forgot to build up new stars. What happened to Petey Williams and the most spectular move in the company in the Canadian Destroyer? Why were Sabin, Lethal, Dutt given the stupid Jackass gimmick? Why put Kevin Nash in the division when he is only out for himself? The whole Nash/Shelley/Starr angle is better off in the tag division then in the X division because all he is doing is making everybody else look bad with his comedy. Instead of making the whole X division look like shit Nash could be working the tag division as the manager to Shelley/Starr and be feuding with the James Gang since they haven't been doing shit. Since Nash came back to work TNA the only person that got over by working with him was Alex Shelley due to the awesomeness that is the Pappirazzi cam exclusive interviews. Poor Johnny Devine didn't do shit in or out of the ring, Sabin could not match Nash on mic, Dutt looked like a fool as usual, and Lethal has'nt done anything worth remembering by working with Nash. And again WTF was up with the Jackass backstage comedy skits that was poorly conceived and why were they bringing toys to the ring?

 

The X Division is about spectular jaw dropping moves in fast paced matches where 6 man tags is where they shine! There is no need for gimmicks other than emulating their favorite japanese wrestlers that they worship from tapes that they trade on the internet. If they can't talk get them some eye candy knockout girl or have them form a stable with somebody who can talk (Jerry Lynn can get the job done)....hell reform Raven's Flock again. They always teased it all of these people dressing up faux punks from Cassidy Reilly, Shannon Moore, Spike Dudley, Maverick Matt. Again I ask where is Petey Williams and the Canadian Destroyer? He should be at the top with Senshi getting tv time having 10 minute matches that gets people talking about how awesome the division is.

[TNABaddboi 0]

A wrestler needs something to carry the load when the bells rings. It can be talent, charisma, personality or anything else, but he does need something. The problem comes when a wrestler is not only lacking in one area, but also lacking in any other area to where he can't make up for it. Hogan was never the best in-ring worker, but he had the charisma to make up for it. Benoit will never be confused with The Rock in terms of charisma, but had the in-ring talent to make up for it. A wrestler need not excel in one area if he is good enough in another to make up for it.

 

I agree wholeheartedly with this.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

TNA did a 0.76. The wacky reverse battle royal was the lowest-rated segment on the show, which is actually surprising since train wrecks often bring the rating

 

F4W Online

[razazteca 0]

People don't like change or brilliant ideas apperently.

[Downhome 0]

I do not understand the ratings for TNA here lately. I've enjoyed the shows quite a lot over the past month, and since Russo has been brought on board, even if a few things here and there are obviously "Russoish", the shows have had a certain kind of flow that they had been lacking before. Not to mention that Kurt f'n Angle was brought in.

 

I'm sure someone will respond thinking they know it all, but come on. There's no excuse why the ratings haven't at least went up a little bit.

 

EDIT:

 

It looks like they did go up after he showed up from the previous two weeks or so, but only from a .7 to a .8 or so. The ratings have pretty much remained stable. They haven't went up though, at all, and that's got to be viewed as a huge letdown for TNA right now.

 

I'm hoping that they go up once they hit their new time slot. One would have to think that they would at least start to average around a 1.0 once that happens, since it'll be airing about two hours earlier.

[GODSON 0]

I have a few reasons why ratings are low:

 

1. TNA have established a reputation among wrestling fans and other viewers,it might be a little too late to change their minds. I think people already decided if they like TNA or not. It's a similar situation to early 90's WCW. The WCW product from 91-93 was actually pretty good but they was losing more money than TNA is right now. At that point, the fans look at WCW as a low budget,southern wrestling company(that's why people like Rick Scaia never like WCW or TNA). The fans made up their minds and will not even give them a second chance. Even half of the internet smarks don't watch/like TNA which is kinda sad. TNA have to step up their production game BIG TIME and maybe more people will pay attention?

 

2. Taped shows usually do bad in ratings,look at ECW ratings as an example. They doing only 1.6 with WWE hype machine/money around them.

 

3. The timeslot is a problem,plain and simple. How can you grow in that timeslot? Going back to number 1,it might be too late to move into the 9pm slot because the fans already made up their minds. TNA should of sign with WGN when there was a buzz around the company and got that two hour Monday Slot,live every other week from 8-10. I seriously think the company would be in a better position,not on a competition level but in general.

 

4. WWE brainwash most wrestling fans and it's extremely hard to build a strong tv audience.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I don't know if the "live versus taped" ratings thing holds water. I'm pretty sure there are stats that show when RAW was taped a lot back in the day, the effects of being live had a negligible effect on the ratings. I mean, the average fan isn't going to check taping results to see if they should tune in or not. They're either going to watch it or not, not say "Well, this week is taped so I don't care." Plus, broadcasting live is a lot more expensive than airing a taped show...TNA just doesn't have the funds to be live all the time.

 

I think the timeslot move should give them a decent boost. Right now I try to watch, and I fall asleep in the middle of the show because it's on relatively late, even if I know something big is happening at the end of the show.

 

I don't think you can really blame WWE for TNA's woes...I'm sure if Vince wanted to, he could really hurt TNA by luring away some of their wrestlers, etc. I think WWE fans are still wrestling fans deep down...if they like the show, they'll tune in and watch, just like they did with WCW Nitro.

 

TNA needs to step up their game in terms of production, announcing, and storylines. The announcing is particularly grating and makes TNA seem so bush league...if something big happens, let the moment speak for itself. We don't need Don West and Mike Tenay screaming about how awesome it is non-stop.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

The numbers for each quarter:

 

It opened at a .82

Fell to a .74 for the battle royal

Jumped to a .77 for the final quarter, which featured Kurt Angle and everyone else

 

F4W Online

[luke-o 0]

Ive never found the commentary to being annoying, i do find Don West annoying when he says "right there" all the time.

 

"that was a great dropkick right there"

"hes coming down the ramp right there"

"hes going for the muscle buster right there"

"hes right there right there"

 

etc.