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[triverse]

For weeks now, TNA Wrestling (and the "sport" in general) has been going downhill (long over hyped segments of talking that only hype MORE segments with talking and no action, or very little of it in a show (TNA recently did an episode of Impact that featured a whopping 10 to 15 minutes of actual wrestling out of about 1 and a half hours of actual air time- minus commercials).

Angles have been getting ridiculous and stupid, across the board in all companies for years now.  

Last night, we found out that TNA is dead.  Last night was the final episode of TNA Impact on Spike TV.  The last match of TNA was a 25 man battle royal.  

I wish I could say that I was sad to see TNA go but, well, it was to be expected, the product just wasn't that good anymore.  It lost it's focus and has finally been put down.

[meppi]

Eum, do you mean that they are actually done for or that they are changing their name/image or something?

I can't find anything about this on wrestling sites/boards... 

[triverse]

Can't pull one over on you can I, meppi? 

I don't want to ruin it for you but, definitely watch this weeks episode.  Things are going to be better if this is what Impact Wrestling is going to be like.

[meppi]

Well, I do have to say that I panicked for a moment or two.

Even though I've been getting frustrated by the path they have taken the last couple of months, Jay and Pope leaving doesn't help that much either btw, I'd still hate to see them go down like this.

If the rumors I've read are true and they are willing to stick by the changes, then I guess there's hope yet for TNA.

Heard that they will finally be going back to the all-wrestling, no BS in between (or at least as little as possible) route, which makes me very happy.
As I've mentioned before I really hate the retarded amount of soap opera stuff they were infusing into a single impact.
If WWE wants to go that way, fine let them. Vince made it clear more than once just how much he loathes wrestling.
And the WWE product shows just how much contempt he has for the wrestling business. Oh excuse me "action soap-opera" business I should say since the word wrestling is even banned there.  

So instead of sticking to Vince like his shadow and never being able to get out of it, TNA should instead be the anti-WWE and go balls to the walls wrestling. As little gaga in between and concentrate on pure wrestling with as few gimmicks as possible.
Just let the talent take the sport to a new level and not have them doing Russo's song and dance for 90 minutes in a 120 minute show.

I know he once said that we'd never see that happen in TNA and that the stories would always have more importance and more time allotted to them than the actual wrestling.
Well perhaps it's time for him to go back to the WWE where he should fit in just perfectly.

For me personally this is probably the last chance TNA has in pulling me back in.
I just hope they don't get cold feet again and jump back into their old routine whenever they hit a bump in the road.
This isn't 1996, nor is it 2006, so don't replay those years over and over again.
Even though I loved 1996's WCW and those years afterwards were my favourite period in wrestling, it's gone and not coming back.
No matter how hard they try to replay those days, it won't be the same, it can't be.
It can become just as great in a different way, but for that to become a reality a lot will have to change so I don't hope this is just another flavor of the month thing.

[triverse]

From what I have heard, this change to TNA is coming from Spike TV and Panda Electric, who are over riding Russo and other key "bookers" on the show.  Seems someone finally wised up and sees that TNA is turning into doodoo rather quickly.

I will start checking them out again, last week was my last episode since I heard they were revealing the network exec and such, I figured it was going to be a fluff off with some idiot dressed in a suit and such (which it was, but what an idiot!  And he got the sport jacket for 75% off!  Sorry, I don't want to ruin the show for you as that is a key part of the turn around and oh boy did it happen fast).

The Pope is gone?  Um, he was there in the battle royal.  So were some others that I thought were gone for good (like Robbie E).

Time will tell though if this is going to be a change that sticks or one that just gets pushed under the rug like oh so many other changes.  I have made some phone calls, checked in with some friends in Nashville and Texas and at both locations, they have said this is going to stick, it is not in Impact's hands (to the point that the company is leaving behind those three letters in an attempt to make the point that this IS a new company leaving the old ways behind and going in a new direction).

We will see though.

[meppi]

Well that's certainly a good sign I think.

The way things were going felt like they were stuck in the mud and no matter who put the gears in drive or reverse, they were still stuck.
The way you're describing it seems like someone else has towed them out of the mud and the tow truck is leading the way wether the car-wreck wants to follow or not.

The network guy was sadly spoiled for me, so I know which idiot you're talking about.
And I have to say he's without a doubt my favourite "idiot". 
Love Mick, always have, always will. Coudn't have picked a better person.
The run of impacts where he was in charge were some of the funnest times I'd had with TNA. Loved his crazyness.

Like most of the time, I'm a week behind so I'll be watching last weeks impact this evening.

[triverse]

Your time schedule is why I was being so vague about the details.  Don't want to ruin it for you.  Believe me, the before part of the show and the after the reveal of Mick, is like night and day.  It is like someone switched the channel or something and you didn't notice.

The show just picked up and ran after Mick came in.  Sure they brought in some talking segments but they were more adjusted to the new format, they were on topic, they were similar to ReAction than the old style of the show (a big plus).  This new run is like they finally figured out how to inegrate ReAction into the regular show. 

Of course next week will be the true test of this as it will be the first episode to be fully done in this new style.  I hope there is some power behind this change, not just a gimmick (like bringing in Hogan and Bischoff who really didn't get to do much other than drag in more "friends" that were thankfully dropped soon after).

[meppi]

Well I just finished watching 5.5.11 Impact and I have to say that this was an episode that I enjoyed the most in a long long time, even though it was the last one of the old style.

They certainly seem to be setting this up in a promising way, at least if I read it correctly.

That "What the hell? Goldberg's coming?!?" killed me at the end. 

The way they let the release of Jay be discussed openly gives me hope that we'll see him again really soon.
And how they play on the fact that certain younger stars have been ignored over and over again with Eric emphasizing how they just aren't big and strong enough for the main show and thus playing the bad corporate guy in the back to a tee, shows me that the change that is supposedly coming will address a huge portion of the problems that have been dragging down TNA for a long time.

Unless I'm reading too much into it and they used it again as a throwaway storyline and nothing more.
But I really doubt that somehow.
Very hopeful for what is gonna happen in the upcoming weeks.

It's a great feeling to actually be looking forward to watching wrestling again.

[meppi]

Just saw a little bit of the new Impact.

Have to say that I really like the new look and all.
But one thing that stood out for me is how it seems to be the exact same thing with a different wrapping.

The whole Hogan is in New York along with Mick Foley is the same old thing they have done in the past and doesn't make any sense either since Mick just came in to make sure Impact gets back on track.
Why would he all of a sudden not be there only a week later?

I really hope that this is just a way to transfer from the old style to a brand new one, but I'm afraid that won't be the case at all and the booking will remain the same.

I remember Russo saying in the past we'll never see a wrestling show where the storylines take a backseat to the actual wrestling.
While this makes perfect sense for him to say, since it's basically his job that would be on the line, that really worries me.

There's a reason why I can't watch WWE anymore.
And Vince hating wrestling is only part of it. The show (now officially) not being about wrestling any longer, but being an "action soap opera" is the thing I despise.

I've recently started watching New Japan Pro Wrestling and I have to say I've been enjoying it so much more.
A bit of backstory is good and well to set up a feud, but the way things have evolved over the years into something that every single wrestler needs to have a stupid storyline that needs to be followed to the letter is what really is turning me off from the western shows.

I'd like to see TNA go the NJPW road and treat the sport as an actual sport, where the competition in and of itself is the main focus to have matches. Not because a Mexican group wants to take over the US, or because someone took donations for needy children and bought pitbulls with the money to have dogfights with. 

[triverse]

I have to say, the new look is nice and all (blue is an obvious choice since that is clinically proven to stimulate the part of the brain that urges us to buy stuff) but the storylines, well, I can't say they are good at all.  It is rather stupid, spoilers below if you haven't watched the rest of the show.

First up, they bring in Chris Harris for the recent PPV to team up with Matt Hardy to go against Beer Money (which James Storm, former America's Most Wanted tag team partner with Chris Harris, is a member of).  They then go NO WHERE with that storyline (the matches that could have come out of this single event could have been awesome and would have been an AWESOME way to transition Storm into a singles wrestler (he never has had much success in the singles division) unlike how they handled the whole Team 3D situation.  A major missed opportunity here.

This last week, episode #1 of the reboot as I call it, they put Robert Roode in a position of getting injured (continuing a storyline from WEEKS ago where Flair got hurt).  This essentially has broken up Beer Money for the foreseeable future (much like they did the Motorcity Machineguns awhile back).  Horrible booking.  Both BM and MMG were at the height of their popularity within teh confines of TNA (I mean, non TNA fans around here recognize both logos for those tag teams).

Sytematically eliminating the X-Division, one match at a time.  They did this, more than likely, so that Foley can come in this week, or next, and state that the "Network" wants the X-Division and it is staying (even though the main stars of that division just got pummeled and look weak now).  Other than that happening, they are probably doing this to build up interest in the division, maybe drop Rob Van Damme out of the Heavyweight Title run and put him in the X-Division chase, maybe even give him a run with that title for awhile.

We did get a look back at Sting from the early 90's though, which was pretty sweet but it is probably going to hit a snag soon and be a fudge up like usual.

I believe they pulled the trigger too soon.  They should have waited till this week, or the week after the next PPV to make the changes.  Not right in the middle between PPV's, which most of the storylines that got started, that don't concern Immortal, were quickly forgotten.

Could this be a transition period?  Could this be leading up to Russo leaving in June (just a few weeks away) and someone new coming in (rumor has it that Heyman has grown interested in being able to pull the strings in wrestling again)?  Who knows.  I do know, Impact Wrestling may be the quickest come and go wrestling company in recent years (other than WSX which lasted 1 episode, though they recorded a whole season of about 12 episodes, only the first ever aired).

[meppi]

Even though this topic was created as a joke, it might just turn out to be the way things work out within the next year or so. :-/

Just read that Mick Foley might actually have been fired for real, even though we all thought it was just another stupid Russo brain fart.

The longer this shit goes on the less I care if the company makes it or not.

Just when I thought to myself, "hey, this is a pretty damn good match between Brian Kendrick and Kazarian", what do they do? Have Abyss run in and ruin one of the most decent things I've seen in the past months on TNA. Fracking hell.

First Jay Lethal and now Mick?

Screw this company!  

After reading an interview Eric Bischoff did a week or two ago, I have no hope for the new "wrestling matters" rebranding.
He basically said that the new name and look is just that, a new coat of paint.
And that people who expected the content or structure of the show to change misunderstood what they were trying to do. :-/

So the slim hope that we might have had of them having come to their senses and turning this company around into an actual wrestling company instead of a wannabe WWE soap opera with more moronic storylines, written by people who don't care as long as they can fill their own pockets, was pretty much just thrown out of the window.

Perhaps now that Mick is no longer there they can replace him with that disgusting excuse of a human being Bubba the lovesponge, I'm sure that will be good for the company.

At least I'll always have New Japan Pro Wrestling, All Japan, Zero1 and Noah to watch if I want quality wrestling the way is should be.  

[meppi]

Well credit where credit is due.

I'm a bit behind with following TNA, but I've just finished watching Destination X and I'm very pleasantly surprised.

I've been saying it for months how Austin Aries is the best thing TNA has going for them and one of my favourite wrestlers word wide without any doubt.
So imagine my surprise when he actually became Heavyweight champion!

If there's one person who truly deserves it at this point it's him.
I really hope he'll get the run he deserves and makes others step up their game as well.

[TerrierChad]

I've been half tempted to start watching TNA again but I always end up falling out with it eventually. I seem to jinx it. Every time I started watching it when it gets good again it goes downhill after a few months. Will probably stick to watching Raw and ROH.

[meppi]

Can't really blame you as it certainly has been a road with lots of ups and down, and the downs seem to go really low...
I'm hoping with Russo finally gone and things finally starting to look somewhat fresh, this will be the one that doesn't come tumbling down.

The current push for new x-devision guys certainly is something I approve and welcome with open arms. Even though some of them just aren't at the level I'd like them at this point.

I tried watching wwe again last week, but I just can't stand it anymore.
Even though there's certainly talented people there, the whole overscripted, pg friendly circus atmosphere rubs me the wrong way.
Tried to watch roh a couple of years ago, but couldn't get into it.

You should try to find some matches from new Japan pro wrestling and all Japan Pro Wrestling as well with Kenny Omega, Davey Richards, Prince Devitt and Fujita jr Hayato.
Every single one of these guys put on a show like no other.
There are lots of others of course Like RyuSuke 'Funky Weapon' Taguchi, but as you get more into it, you'll find your own favourites soon enough.

[TerrierChad]

I'm a bit of weirdo but I have really enjoyed WWE since it's turn to PG again Then again, my favourite WWE time frame was the New Generation era so that probably explains it. I did enjoy the Attitude era but I think it went too over the top with the sex and violence at times and it overshadowed the wrestling too much for me. It was fun mind you but I prefer current programming to be honest. I'm currently watching Raw from the very beginning through YouTube. I just like colourful things I think

All this been said, I am and always will be a WCW guy at heart. That's what got me into wrestling. Watching Worldwide on Channel 5 every Friday night. Fair enough, in hindsight there was plenty of crap in the company about that time but it provided some great memories and is thus why Kevin Nash is one of my top 3 wrestlers of all time along with Triple H and Bret Hart. It's just a shame I can find any streams of full episodes of Nitro any more. I started watching that from the very beginning about 18 months ago and got to Road Wild '97 and all the YouTube/Dailymotion channels I used got taken down and nothing has come back in it's place <_<

Edit: I may try some Japanese wrestling. I used to watch some back in the days of The Wrestling Channel and I did enjoy it. I preferred watching WWE but it was still fun.

[meppi]

Ah I can understand that.

I missed the whole New Generation era, as well as the Attitude one thanks to TV in Belgium being rather pathetic however you try to look at it.
Thanks to Pay-tv I did get to watch WCW just after the nWo had formed up till 1999 I think.
Absolutely loved that company, well Nitro at least as I never saw Thunder.

Watched WWE for a couple of years around 2004 I think. But it just got worse and worse to the point where I couldn't stand it anymore. Then Carl told me to watch TNA, which didn't immediately click with me as I was used to the huge spectacle environment of WWE shows.
But with the Main Event Mafia at the time, it made me think about the nWo period. And the matches were top notch, so I stuck with them and sadly watch them get worse and worse over the years.
So I really hope that can keep on improving like they have done this year so far.
Had about 2 TB worth of classic WCW shows till my cat dragged my HDD of the table and broke it.

[TerrierChad]

Same here. Didn't get WWF on free TV until 2000 which is when I started watching it so my viewing is from collecting videos of the older eras plus watching the shows on-line.

I have to admit that 2003-2005 was not a great time to be watching WWE. There were some good moments here and there but they were trying too hard to recreate the Attitude Era. It just didn't work sadly.

I started watching TNA again around Bound for Glory last year. Part of what put me off again was I really didn't buy Bobby Roode as a world champion. I just find him really vanilla. Always been a James Storm man you see so I was really disappointed to see him hold the title for only a week or two. That along with yet another attempt to rechristen the Knockouts as athletes and not sex objects around that time made me facepalm too. They slag off the Divas in the WWE and then proceed to do exactly the same things they are criticising the WWE for when it comes to the women. It's a shame because when I was really into TNA (pre-Angle) one of the main reasons I watched TNA was because of their women's division.

[meppi]

Yeah, last years really was not a good time to start watching TNA...
It was then that I nearly stopped watching myself and when I dug a bit deeper into the Japanese side.
NJPW, AJPW, Noah, Zero1. Although I have to say I really disliked a large part of AJPW with the focus on that one group "Voodoo Murders" and certain western wrestlers who really didn't have a place there, but were pushed because they once were WWE stars long ago.
The main problem I have with guys like that is that you see the Japanese wrestlers having to come down to their level so to speak. This isn't meant as a slam against the other guys as that's how they have been trained to wrestle.
But compared to the incredible stuff you see from them, it's all the more clear how rigid and fake the whole "WWE style" looks when mixed in.
This isn't something you'll see with the people I mentioned in my previous post though.
The Voodoo Murders got disbanded and several of them fired after one of the members suffered a stroke during a backstage fight with them and the others didn't try to stop the incident.

What I love about the Strong Style of wrestling is how just about everything is a lot more believable.
This of course means that it's quite a bit more dangerous as well, and serious injuries do happen from time to time.
But instead of watching it and clearly being able to see behind the curtain as to how everything is choreographed like a ballet piece, it's much closer to a sport and the outcome is much much harder to predict, which is how I personally feel wrestling should be like.

A good example of what I mean would be this:

NJPW BOSJ XVIII: Prince Devitt vs Fujita "Jr." Hayato

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5I4CS-gku5U

[meppi]

Well I finally was able to watch Hardcore Justice this past week and I have to say that the ladder match is without a doubt my favourite US match I've seen this year.

I'm not a fan of the end result, but I understand why it had to go down like that.

It starts at around 22minutes of the first video and continues into the next one:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xssajq_tna-hardcore-justice-2012-part-4-6-hq_sport

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xssass_tna-hardcore-justice-2012-part-5-6-hq_sport

The title match with Roode vs Aries was great as well.
I was afraid we'd get the ending with 2 referees counting different falls, from the moment a second ref entered the ring. And for a bit it seemed exactly that.
But it just goes to show that they really are starting to get what the fans want and played upon that terrible idea and pulled a fast one on us giving us a worthwhile ending to the match.

So happy to see them finally getting back on track.