More greatness from Lance Storm

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

How I'd Book Impact

 

February 9, 2007

 

I figured with all of my complaining about how TNA is booked I could at least offer my two cents on what I would do if I were in charge. I’m not going to get into who I would push or not push and why, or even offer any specific angles I’m going to talk more about show structure and general direction than anything else, because that is one of the biggest problems I have with the current show.

 

We hear all the time the complaint that TNA needs to be 2-hours. I won’t dispute that the show could benefit greatly from an additional hour but they don’t have it so there is no point complaining about it they need to make the best use of the hour they have. In a 1-hour TV program you have approximately 44-minutes of content and 16 minutes of commercial time. This week’s TNA show had approximately 6 ½ minutes of actual match time air on the show, which means that fans actually saw more than twice as many commercials minutes as they did wrestling minutes on a wrestling program. This to me is crazy and I would NEVER have less match time that commercial time on the program. I would aim for closer to 20 minutes of match time as a show minimum.

 

There are those out there that will say you can’t build enough angles, or tell enough stories with so much of the show dedicated to matches but I disagree. I think the problem is they are currently trying to tell too many stories in one show, and over looking the fact that some stories can be told in the ring.

 

I would break the show into 4 10 to 12 minute segments. If commercial breaks require it, some segments would span commercial breaks, 3 of those segments will almost always feature matches. One of those segments each week would be devoted to the X-Division, and I would focus less on “Story Lines” with the X-Division and give it more of a pure wrestling feel. You can book some angles along the way but predominantly it would be about competitive high-end action. I would also keep these finishes as clean as possible. I think most of the appeal to the X-Division is the action so by simplifying the angles here will allow for more story based stuff elsewhere. There are a lot of “spot junkies” out there, this will give them there fill, and by giving the X Guys 8-10 minutes of actual bell to bell ring time they will be able to get their personalities over more during matches.

 

The other main Segment each week would focus on the Heavy Weight Title. As far as I’m concerned if your Championship program isn’t the focus of your show you have the title on the wrong guy. You make the NWA Title important by featuring that program. This segment may not always be a match but it needs to be strong and important. You also almost NEVER beat your champion, he needs to be strong, you cant’ be Mr. Nice guy and try to protect all of his challengers. If you have a match for this segment give it serious time 12-15 minutes and trim minutes from the least important segment which won’t need to be a match segment anyway.

 

The 3rd segment would alternate each week, featuring your #2 and #3 angles, either the Tag Title picture or a featured non-title program. This should also feature a 6-10 minute match. I would avoid trying to get 2 or more angles over with one match, each segment would be more strictly focused on the one specific angle. I find when you book a match between 2 guys with unrelated angles just to have their respective angles run together to avoid a finish, both issues get watered down. You want to focus and paint vivid pictures for the audience to follow.

 

The 4th Segment would vary depending on the rest of the show. If the NWA Title segment featured a match, their extra minutes would come out of this segment and the minutes left could be evenly spread out on the show and would consist of the needed interviews, video packages, PPV plugs, angle re-cap, and DVD release information type stuff. The interviews and recaps would remind fans of the angles and talent not featured on this show. If there wasn’t a match involved in the title segment, this segment could highlight a shorter strong win type match for someone needing a clean win on TV or involve a minor underneath angle, and still get the other recap and video stuff covered.

 

With this structure, there will be weeks where guys aren’t on the show, but I think that will make when they are on the show mean more. This format will only be able to feature 4 strong angled matches for PPV purposes but I think if your top 4 angles aren’t selling the show a weak 5th and 6th angle won’t do it either. You still announce and plug the other matches and when possible slide them into that variable 4th segment.

 

With the show set up this way we get 3 matches per show with an average length of 8-10 minutes, which would give fans 25 to 30 minutes of wrestling, and still allow 8 to 13 minutes for promos, angle recaps, etc. Before you math majors out there tell me that that only totals 38 minutes, I’m allowing for ring entrances etc, which take time as well. If there is a need once in a while for 2 strong talking, non-wrestling segments we are still left with 2 10-minute matches and more wrestling minutes than commercial minutes.

 

With this you still need to book all of the angles, but you’ve got a structure and format that is easy to follow and gives 3 current programs time to focus each week. Fans need to care about and remember what they see; if you do too much it just all blends together and becomes forgotten. I think it far better to feature and get over 10 guys than cram 35 people on to one show and have most of those get forgotten in the shuffle.

 

Lance Storm.

[Chazz 0]

He can certainly talk the talk, but let's see him do that on a weekly basis.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Better Lance than the buffon they've got in charge now.

[Mecca 0]

Lance actually wants to put the focus on wrestling.......Russo and Jarrett would go apeshit to Dixie and get him fired.

[Chazz 0]

If Storm was placed in charge of Creative and ratings and buyrates either stayed the same or sank, you'd be making excuses for him left and right to give him more time. He'd certainly not be subject to the same level of scrutiny that Russo is.

[Mecca 0]

If Storm was placed in charge of Creative and ratings and buyrates either stayed the same or sank, you'd be making excuses for him left and right to give him more time. He'd certainly not be subject to the same level of scrutiny that Russo is.

 

Because we know where this story ends with Russo.....he thinks it's 1998, he refuses to change.

[razazteca 0]

Let's look at the facts the old guard (Jarrett, Sting, Angle, Nash) are they on name value and really can't cut it in the ring anymore why expose their weakness or aggravate their old injuries on throw away matches on free tv. It's sad that TNA is stuck in the old WCW mindset of overexposing the elderly so by focusing on storyline the company can hide the fact that the guys can't go anymore. To bad the by-product is asking the younger talents to tone down their matches to make the old guys look good. To bad these storylines are starting to overlap each other using the same dramatic devices to invoke shock value and not getting any true emotional links to the wrestlers. Furthermore having too many stories going on at the same time you got the audience getting spoon fed lil bits and pieces of emotional garbage that they are become indifferent to what is going on. How many ways can you rename a street fight? Well lets see how about we label each match based on where the wrestlers come from! thats it thats the ticket! Why are they having 3 gimmick matches on PPV to begin with? Lockdown isn't going to happen for a few more months right? Bah who cares lets give Abyss a background story and give him a Prison match and let's forget the whole deal about the thumbtacks or hardcore matches in general, ok. Team 3D lets give them a background story about Bubba's "real" family and lets make him Itallian and forget everything about being a studdering redneck or table matches, ok. Rhyno gets no background story or anything cause Sting, Angle, Nash took up all of the tv time so lets give him a chain match for the hell of it! And because we need eye candy on tv and PPV lets have Kip James pretend to be Jericho and call Christy Hemme every bad word in the english laguage and never reveal who is going to defend her "honor"! And because you can't just bust one nut at a time TNA is going to give you the tv fan the chance to see Eric Young get laid.....no word if Robert Roode is still employed or not. And there still is more behold AMW's split up as their girlfriends Gail Kim and Miss Tennessee have a catfight! Lost in the shuffle is the X Division where young wrestlers who still have passion for the "sport" are stuck being Kevin Nash's pawns in comedy skits....oh and Jerry Lynn is going to learn them some respect or something.

 

It might of worked if they focused on 3 storylines but TNA is hell bent on getting everybody on tv on a weekly basis.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

I agree with every word that Lance Storm said.

 

...

 

TNA had more viewers this week than in the entire history of the company.

 

...

 

What the F do we know?

[eirejmcmahon 0]

Download the PPVs and watch any of the matches that are worth a damn, ignore the shit-fest that is the rest of their programming.

[luke-o 0]

Didnt lance say he was boycotting TNA?

 

Well that lasted long...

[Mecca 0]

Didnt lance say he was boycotting TNA?

 

Well that lasted long...

 

That really has nothing to do with watching the show after his last report.......he's just talking about how to book the show something you could easily derive from watching a TNA show 6 weeks ago.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

TNAhad more viewers this week than in the entire history of the company.

It would be more accurate to say they have more tracked viewers than in the history of the company. Neilsen have now begun to tracking college students in dorms, which has helped the ratings for Impact, and Raw as well, because their are now viewers being counted that weren't before, so on the surface it like more people are watching when it's simply more people being counted.

 

Of course, none of this takes away from the fact that these TV ratings haven't translated into increased PPV buys.

[luke-o 0]

That really has nothing to do with watching the show after his last report.......he's just talking about how to book the show something you could easily derive from watching a TNA show 6 weeks ago.

 

Well i got the impression he was refering to thursdays show, which is what made him write the peice.

[Mecca 0]

That really has nothing to do with watching the show after his last report.......he's just talking about how to book the show something you could easily derive from watching a TNA show 6 weeks ago.

 

Well i got the impression he was refering to thursdays show, which is what made him write the peice.

 

Looked more like a response piece to me because I'm sure he got tons of emails to it from Russo/TNA fans that were saying things like "oh you think you could do better huh?"

[Guest Grifter]

I've read both things that I've agreed and disagreed with. For example, in the "comments" thread, HTQ posted a link to a forum that was, basically, a Russo love-fest. Actually it probably could've just as easily been a bunch of TNA marks and they just like everything. Over at DVDVR, there is a thread asking if Umaga is better than Samoa Joe...with a lot of people actually saying "yes."

 

I think a lot of the people said Umaga was better simply because they want to go against the grain. You get that a lot over there. I think even more people said Umaga was better simply because he was booked better than Samoa Joe this last year. That says a lot about TNA's writing. WWE, whom we all know isn't really known for their spectacular writing, causes internet fans to say ridiculous things such as Ekmo is better than Joe.

 

I'm in the same boat right now as "Hail" bps21. I agree with every word that Lance Storm said and I'm not even a Lance Storm fan! At least with his way, you'd have a format for the show. The way Impact plays out right now, despite the fact that they tape more than one week at a time, it's almost like they don't know what they're doing going into the studio. What do the writers do on their off days if they're not writing? You can't tell me that they write things like "Joe debuts a girlfriend, well sort of. Then Angle puts her in a move. Joe gets sympathy, Angle gets heat" and then they re-read it, other people read it and no one says "this shit don't make sense."

 

Russo is frustrating. I think he suffers from the "Drew Rosenhaus syndrome." No one had ever heard of Rosenhaus but when all the controversy of Terrell Owens was being shown on every station, suddenly Drew became a household name. Russo is sort of in the same boat. Just a few years ago, how common was it for fans to know the names of the writers? Most fans know who Russo is now. A lot of that might be because he put himself on TV but people know he was in WWF during the "Attitude" era and people know he was involved with WCW during it's dying days. So, I guess since people know of him, he becomes like the default go-to-guy when you need a writer. It's just too bad no one talked Dixie or whomever out of it.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

You can't tell me that they write things like "Joe debuts a girlfriend, well sort of. Then Angle puts her in a move. Joe gets sympathy, Angle gets heat" and then they re-read it, other people read it and no one says "this shit don't make sense."

Have they even mentioned her since she made the one appearance?

[Guest Grifter]

I'm not sure if they even acknowledged whom she was on the initial appearance. She just stood beside Joe earlier in the show when he cut a promo. Outside of that, she may have been in a replay or two to build up Angle/Joe but, no, I haven't heard about her again since. Maybe she'll return for the FABULOUS women's division that's on the horizon. Unless TNA get a working relationship with Shimmer, that's going to be another carbon-copy WWE rip-off.

[David Blazenwing 0]

Unless TNA get a working relationship with Shimmer, that's going to be another carbon-copy WWE rip-off.

 

That would be the greatest thing ever. Well, besides TNA actually getting their act together, anyways. *agrees with Lance Storm on how to book Impact*

[cabbageboy 0]

I might be one of the few who quite enjoyed Russo's lousy WCW work, mostly because I recall how truly horrible it was before he got there. Let's face it, Russo's work looked like Shakespeare compared to the nightmare crap in WCW from May-October 1999. That stuff was the worst wrestling TV of all time bar none, unless you'd care to count the Jan.-April 2000 dreck after Russo was removed and Sullivan was booking.

 

Russo is a fun change of pace booker when your show is horribly boring. His stuff might be horrible too, but I'll give him credit for trying a bunch of stuff and making things interesting. I don't think anyone can accuse Russo of booking boring TV. TNA went from Russo lite to Russo himself, so there's not a huge change of pace. As far as Storm's comments, I mostly agree with him that there simply isn't any wrestling on the show. Impact has become too fringe for its own good. Russo strikes me as someone who would sit around writing wrestler fan fics if he wasn't an actual booker, as in he dreams up wild fictional storylines but fails to realize that sometimes wrestlers need to just go out and wrestle. It's what they are paid to do.

[uhftv 0]

Lance Storm, who did he ever beat?

 

Vince Russo beat Goldberg in a cage for the title. Hello!!

[Si82 0]

Vince Russo beat Goldberg in a cage for the title.

It's easy to do when you're the booker.

[Twisted Intestine 0]

Vince Russo beat Goldberg in a cage for the title.

It's easy to do when you're the booker.

 

Woooosh. That's the sound of things flying over your head.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Vince Russo beat Goldberg in a cage for the title.

It's easy to do when you're the booker.

 

Woooosh. That's the sound of things flying over your head.

 

What are you talking about? I thought it was Russo's awesome MMA background that helped him gain the victory over Goldberg.

[uhftv 0]

I can picture Storm or anyone saying what he said to money men in tna or any potential investors in wrestling and feeling bored and uninterested while theyd be more into Russo and his carnival of freaks. But thats all a matter of presentation rather than content which has always been a problem in the business on who eventually becomes creative heads.

[Guest LividLiquid]

Vince Russo beat Goldberg in a cage for the title.

Vince Russo beat Goldberg in a cage for the title by getting speared through a cage wall.

[Dandy 0]

Vince Russo beat Goldberg in a cage for the title.

Vince Russo beat Goldberg in a cage for the title by getting speared through a cage wall.

 

Yes, but it was his unparalleled ring awareness that put him into position for that victory.