Another week in wrestling, and once again, TNA steps into the role of WWE tribute band with some aplomb. I know I wrote this article last week, but if TNA can just copy stuff, well so can I. This weeks title is supposed to be ironic…
Following the title win of Eric Young last week, it seems as though TNA are NOT going to be stealing any more of WWE storylines, no wait, they are. But they will claim they are not, that they thought of them first, and it is hardly their fault that people watch WWE anyway…
Some storylines are pretty generic, worker dislikes boss, best friends fall out, that kind of thing. These are stories TNA could legitimately claim are pretty universal, and using them would not be copying anyone, these things just happen. Bearded underdog wins title against all odds however, is pretty specific. Another to follow that rule would be disgruntled ex champion walks out.
Now I cannot be sure whether TNA have decided that as everyone knows they ripped of the Bryan story, they should just continue to look for ways to do it, or whether they are just hoping no-one will notice.
Given that last weeks title win by Showtime probably got them more more attention than they have had since they signed Hogan, it is hard to imagine TNA not looking to take advantage, and keep repeating the excercise. This week, it was Samoa Joe’s non appearance that needed an explanation, and the one given was pretty much CM Punk.
This could actually work, but not in the long term. TNA are getting attention because of the obvious rip off, and if they keep doing it, they may get more attention. But long term, people will start turning off, because they know what is about to happen, they watched it three days ago on Raw.
I am pretty sure I have explained before, that I actually like TNA, and have done for most of the company’s life, and right up until they signed the Golden Moustache, I was someone who preferred TNA to WWE. As everyone probably knows, I am not a great fan of the Hulkster, but even then, I was prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Here is the thing though, that signing was the first of a series of mistakes the company made, it changed the company completely, and now they are no longer recognisable as the company that started out in 2002. Up until the Hogan signing, TNA were the wrestling company they needed to be.
They did not do what WWE were doing. TNA had the six sided ring, they had talent like AJ, Samoa Joe and Daniels who would put on some great matches. They had that X world cup tournament that brought in talent from around the world.
They signed some ex WWE talent in Angle and Christian, and both worked well in the company. Christian looked competent, and Angle looked like the best wrestler in the world. Complimenting this was some pretty decent established wrestlers, and with an ex division that could work below that top tier, the company made sense as an alternative to WWE.
Since the day Hogan signed however, TNA has declined fairly steadily, and while personally I might blame Hogan for everything, realistically, the blame can’t all be his. Signing a load of dead weight has beens, I am totally blaming him for, but most of them have since departed, and still the mistakes continue.
Recently, TNA seems to be messing up so badly, it is hard to fathom. Bringing Dixie Carter front and centre was a big mistake. Maybe one of the biggest the company has made.
The character of a powerful authority figure that people can hate is OK, it has been done before, and when done properly, works well.The problem is not with the character, but the person playing the character. Dixie Carter cannot play that part.
Cutting promos cannot be easy, and cutting promos in the Impact Zone probably takes real talent. With fans turning up to the show just because they were in Universal studios that day, and the queue for the Incredible Hulk ride was too big, many of them may not have seen any Impact before.
So I get it, cutting promos in front of an apathetic crowd can’t be easy. But it can’t be as hard as Dixie makes it look either. Magnus used ‘This is your champion speaking’ for a while. It gets attention, and lets everyone know this is a smug, not very likeable character from the start. Dixie opens with ‘Now listen darlin’, and nobody cares.
So TNA write Dixie off screen with a ridiculous story line, and replace her with MVP. I generally do not like swearing in my articles, but to be honest the phrase ‘not a fuck was given’ suits this scenario perfectly.
I will admit I probably missed the best of MVP in WWE, but he was still a mid card guy, who left to great shrugs. Nobody really cared then, and they wont care now.Bringing in MVP didn’t work (who could have known that?) so what do TNA do? They bring back Dixie who has obviously not worked on her promo skills during her time off.
So what could they have done to rectify these mistakes? Rockstar Spud. He works alongside Dixie, he can cut a promo, and he plays a character that is a bit naive . Have Dixie tell Spud to go out and pass on her message, then leave him to go do it. He can take bumps in the ring, he can be abused, and he can be ridiculed.
Whatever anyone thinks of their boss in real life, they generally wont say it, because sometimes that person just stops being your boss, and you stop getting paid. If that same boss however sends some lackey to pass on a message, the lackey may get a more honest response, because they cant sack you.
Wrestling companies might try to copy real life sometimes, you know, give us something to relate to?
So now we have a situation where MVP runs the wrestling side of the company, and Dixie appears whenever she feels like it. This week, she appeared to let everyone know she was totally against EY being champ, and she invented beards. Even mentioning beards was a mistake, she is saying we did not copy WWE.
OK, but even if we accept that, you just confirmed that EY becoming champ was a back office decision, and nothing to do with ability,luck or the ten year struggle EY referenced last week.
Now I already knew that, cos I am smart, but I still want to believe that some of this is real, and I don’t need the owner of the company pointing out it is not.
We also have MVP as the face authority figure. This idea works well when that face authority rights the wrongs of the wrestling world. Restarts matches when the heel has cheated, brings in guest referees to make sure its called down the middle, that kind of thing.Essentially, the authority figure is there to make sure everything is done fairly.
MVP however, is currently running feuds with three wrestlers, two of them are accusing him of holding them down.This works perfectly if they are obviously being given chances and coming up short.
If Austin Aries had lost three title matches in three weeks, then accused MVP of holding him back, Aries (who is the heel here)would look bad.If Kenny King had lost three X division title matches recently, this would also have worked.
Unfortunately, neither Aries or King have been on TV for a while, so their claims appear to be legitimate. Which makes MVP- the face– look bad. Another stupid mistake.
Even when TNA make good decisions, they somehow manage to turn that around. Cutting PPVs from 12 to 4 was not a great idea, it was brilliant. It was what they needed to do to distinguish themselves as different. It gave the company a chance to show the world how good things could be again.
Given that TNA PPV’s were losing money hand over fist, the decision might have been a financial one, but handled correctly could have been the best thing to happen to the company.
So, four PPV’s a year, thats one every three months. three months to do a decent build, you could build whole storylines in that time easily. You can use the time to build things long term, and not have to stop feuds after every monthly PPV.
You can have, for example, Bobby Roode and Bully avoid each other for three months, go undefeated, then meet at the PPV.That would be too obvious though. Why not have three of your four PPV’s within a 4 month period, then only have one in the next eight months…that sounds like a great plan.
That way we can say some episodes of Impact are ‘free PPV’s’ – the most stupid thing Tenay has ever said – and we can give title matches, monsters ball matches, table matches, whatever we want, away for free.
We all know the WWE way, a four week build to a PPV, with a lot of tag matches on the go home show, the PPV itself, then some repeats of the PPV matches next night on Raw. Wrestlemania is different, but generally thats how it works. For me, this formula is a bit tired, and TNA had the chance to do something with it.
Not having the PPV every three months, and not having a slower longer build to matches is another stupid mistake, but it is still something that TNA could change. I get the dates are part of an agreement for overseas deals and PPV distribution, but deals can be renegotiated.
If you go sell your idea to these companies, and explain why you think it is a good idea, and do it well enough, they might agree with you. If you give them a reason to believe you might be right, you may even make more money on the deals.
I know this is another rant, and I appreciate that it is another go at TNA, a company I keep saying I am a fan of. But this has gone on for far too long. And WWE are in rebuild mode, and I needed something to write about.
After last week, I was tempted to just transcribe the MFX podcast, and get my own back, but its over 2 and a half hours, and that was way too much work.
As always I would highly recommend the above mentioned podcast which is available on this very site. Not many podcasts can boast the dazzling array of special guest stars that MFX can, and it is well worth the listen. SLTDwrestling.com also has fresh new articles on a regular basis, and these are also well worth a read. Even Duckmans…
Following me on twitter is highly not recommended over the next few weeks as the football season draws to a close, unless the mighty DFC win the league, then it may be fun. @GrantCookDFC would be the place to go for that if you dont mind the possibility of mucho swearing… Comments are always welcome below, I may or may not respond to them all, but rest assured i do read them all, and hold them dear to my heart.
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