F4W/WON Notes - September 9th - 15th

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

When it comes to booking, Heyman is by far one of the best when it comes to hiding a workers flaws while accentuating their strengths. You can knock Heyman's business sense, but for booking, he knows how to get the most out of the least better than most. Heck, he had people who should have known better convinced that Public Enemy were one of the all-time great tag teams.

[The Truthiness 0]

Heyman would have had fans begging for a Joe vs Angle match, and would have held it off for a year. Heyman had to book the way he did because one bad week of shows could have been their last. Also he didn't have the in-ring talent necessary to make a PPV worth while, so it was basically a two hour television show that you had to pay for.

 

If you think Heyman and ECW was nothing more than swearing, TNA and garbage matches, well I can tell you never watched ECW in it's heyday.

 

Actually I watched a lot of ECW shows, and have been too some. The shows was awesome when I was 17, but none of that shit holds up today. Like I said, Heyman let guys curse, showed some TNA, shooted on the Big two and let guys do what they want in the ring. From 1995-1998 it was good, but after that the company became garbage. Raven and Dreamers feud was the best thing the company ever produced, and that was mostly because of them two, Heyman had little to do with it. Actually, a lot of the succesful gimmicks that came out of ECW, was Raven ideas. All of Paul's "success", has mostly came from leeching off of other people.

 

He came in to ECW, seen the plan Eddie Gilbert had laid out for the company and ran with it, plain and simple. If Gilbert and Gordon didn't have a falling out, we probably wouldn't even be talking about how "genius" Heyman is today. Well the guy died too, so that also might have something to do with it.

[luke-o 0]

Wait, your older than 17?

[The Truthiness 0]

Forget you.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Nothing terribly interesting about TNA in the new F4W outside of the PPV review, so no rush to get that thread going.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Why was Truthiness's "Fuck you" comment edited? He was baited by luke-o, of all people. It's LUKE-O! That "fuck you" was valid.

[RedJed 0]

Why was Truthiness's "Fuck you" comment edited? He was baited by luke-o, of all people. It's LUKE-O! That "fuck you" was valid.

 

I dunno, because we aren't here to play to such immature bullshit?

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Oh I agree, but if he's gotta be dealt with, so should luke-o. Or let both have it out at each other.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

From the latest F4W:

 

Salinas quit after hearing they were going to split LAX and she had also got a role in an Italian film, and went with the film.

 

Jackie lost four teeth at the house show in London, Ontario on Saturday night during a collision spot.

 

Nothing else of note, other than covering the PPV.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Sometimes I assume people are being sarcastic. The internet isn't always easy to get the context right, ya dig?

[luke-o 0]

I was being sarcastic, I didn't think he'd take the bait.

[Joseph2112 0]

You know, this whole thing with TNA and nobody knowing they exsist, I don't know if I buy that. After all the time that they have been on air, I have to beleive that the majority of wrestling fans have at least checked it out once or twice. I always thought that was a built in excuse for guys with big egos to throw out there when things haven't gone exactly as planned. I say 80-85% of wrestling fans have checked out TNA at one time or another. On the other hand I have nothing at all to back that up, so what the hell do I know. I would be interested in your thoughts.

[Diadem 0]

From the latest F4W:

 

Salinas quit after hearing they were going to split LAX and she had also got a role in an Italian film, and went with the film.

 

Jackie lost four teeth at the house show in London, Ontario on Saturday night during a collision spot.

 

Nothing else of note, other than covering the PPV.

 

Salinas off to shoot more Bondage porn? More epic nipples? Excellent!

 

Jackie lost four teeth in a DP with Storm/Roode sounds more likely. I'm assuming James is the rough type after drinking a few...

[Diadem 0]

You know, this whole thing with TNA and nobody knowing they exsist, I don't know if I buy that. After all the time that they have been on air, I have to beleive that the majority of wrestling fans have at least checked it out once or twice. I always thought that was a built in excuse for guys with big egos to throw out there when things haven't gone exactly as planned. I say 80-85% of wrestling fans have checked out TNA at one time or another. On the other hand I have nothing at all to back that up, so what the hell do I know. I would be interested in your thoughts.

 

Comparing TNA to WWE is like this. You go to the store to buy toilet paper, Now on one hand you have Charmin and its snuggly bear on the front. Next to that is the plain store brand, clear package, nothing exciting. While both may be effective, one is more expensive. Ask yourself this, would you rather wipe with satin smoothness or sandpaper?

[LuckyLopez 0]

I'm not sure if that metaphor is apt but I'm pretty sure it doesn't apply to the question. Your metaphor suggests that the consumer sees both products and chooses the superior one. Which would seem to support Joseph's belief that TNA isn't "invisible" to fans like many claim.

 

A better metaphor might be to take a product like "Kleenex" or "TiVo." Those are brand names but are routinely used to describe a product. The brand has grown large enough and present enough that when people are speaking of tissues they often say "Kleenex" regardless of whether they are using them. There are other brands of tissues and quite possibly ones that you'd prefer or appreciate just as much. And you might even grab them. But "Kleenex" remains the most present idea for many and thus will be what most go for.

 

I'm not even sure that's a very good metaphor but I couldn't think of a better product. Point is, it seems undeniable that WWE is a force that no other wrestling company can match in terms of cultural relevance. Its been around forever, its responsible for all of the culturally significant terms and people (Hogan, Austin, Rock, "Lay the Smackdown", "Wrestlemania", crotch chops, etc). It is a multi million (billion?) dollar machine that just keeps rolling along and has held the world of wrestling (at least in America) for at least 20 years. WCW challenged it once but when that was done WWF/E was the sole survivor and that just increases the idea of it. It has the biggest stars by pure virtue of them being stars of the biggest company. It has the best production values which makes all other wrestling look worse in comparison. It routinely forces its way into the mainstream with folks like Trump and Mayweather.

 

WWE is an idea and a machine. Its why they can launch ECW at 10 PM on Sci Fi and draw better ratings than WSX on MTV or TNA on Spike. The WWE brand carries weight and the one thing WWE has always done well is promote. TNA on the other hand has never been good at promoting, but even if they were better they'd still be fighting an uphill battle to become known and to be seen as more than just a "bush league." While wrestling fans that are really clued in may know about TNA that doesn't mean that the millions of WWE fans who follow it and not much else are. They may know the name but whether they know where to find it or watch it is another thing. But for "casual fans", no, I don't know that they do know TNA. But I'm also not sure how much of that is TNA's fault since I think WWE is just a juggernaut that can't be topped any time in the foreseeable future.