Damn It, I Got My Hopes Up About The New TNA!

For the past six months I've tried to refrain from venting my criticisms of TNA wrestling. I figured that although I like to think of myself as not being a part of this so-called 'Online Wrestling Community' in the purest sense of the word; I use the internet to find out about what's going on in the world of pro-wrestling, but I hate to associate myself with those who rant about things that they simply know nothing about. So in this article I open myself up for allegations of being a hypocrite, but I don't care, I have some things that I have to say.

When Hogan and Bischoff walked in the TNA doors and onto our screens on the 4 January this year, I was immediately excited. They were two people who knew the business inside out and had been there and done it. Some would argue that only for lack of a little bit more savvy in the business that we could be watching WCW Nitro today instead of RAW. We'll never know. The early stages of the new regime I found encouraging. I was delighted with the signings of Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam. These are without doubt two of the most entertaining men in pro-wrestling, even if some argue that all Hardy does is take bumps. I was also extremely excited with the arrival of Ken Anderson, a man who I believe is the best fully active wrestler on the microphone in the world today.

I know how some people complained about the arrivals of Hall and Waltman, and even Ric Flair as an in ring competitor. I think that if used properly, all of these can only bring a positive effect by possibly bringing in new fans. Never underestimate how many Flair fans there are out there. Even the short term use of Sean Morley and the Nasty Boys was probably strategic, to get some wrestling fans who had stopped watching interested once again.

I apologise that that was a long intro, but it brings me to my point. Despite the promising signs, I think that the angles have already started to go stale whenever Hogan is involved, and with Bischoff's potential as an on-screen character, he hasn't been used properly. Hogan as the man running the show doesn't work. Too many wrestling fans despise Hogan these days, so to have him as a babyface running the company is a bit ridiculous. In my opinion, whoever is running the show should never be the face, after all, who likes their boss? An Impact zone that is controlled by Eric Bischoff (on screen) in a power hungry and corrupt style that he does so well would definitly work on TNA. I don't really know what they would do with Hogan if this were to happen, but to be honest, I couldn't care less. Hogan is boring, has been since about 98.

I assume, judging by the wrestlers that have been signed this year, that Hogan and Bischoff have a big influence on who is signed by the company. I think they have been making too many mistakes. Why would they release Chris Daniels and effectively have Shannon Moore take his spot? Moore is an entertaining performer but it must be considered a backward step from Daniels. Orlando Jordan is a solid in ring performer and has potential to be a success, but I don't think there is anyone who wants to see this Bisexual gimmick on TV. If we take the fact that TNA has been using a lot of storylines similiar to past WWE storylines, I think that they should look again before using Jordan's gimmick because if they look they'll see that it was dropped almost immediately when he tried it out in the WWE. It jsut reminds me of the earlier years of Goldust, and I hated Goldust, Dustin Runnels hated Goldust, I think everyone hated Goldust!

by the way, I doubt this article will read well as I havent structured and all my thoughts are coming to me at once!

Vince Russo who we are lead to believe is the head creative writer for impact. Russo is not as bad as people make him out to be, but he seems to be burned out, which can happen when there isn't much other creative influence. Bischoff admits it happened to him towards the end of his time in WCW. The signs coming from Russo where he seems to be suggesting that he wants time off supports the idea that he is under pressure and stuggling. The storylines are living proof. The story's are pushed at the fans and are rarely developed properly, Anderson for example just seems to be jumping from feud to feud as if he's working his way throught the babyfaces for no apparent reason. A good solid angle for him would be good. Jeff Hardy is just existing in the main events and doesn't really have a story. Even RVD's title win was a bit stupid. Why put the title on him on impact the night after a PPV? Surely it takes away from AJ that a man can beat him in his second match of the night. It also takes away from The Pope who couldnt beat Styles in his only match the night before.

I think that TNA needs to bring in a creative writer and give Russo some time to regroup. In theory, the money spent on bringing in Hogan would be better spent on Paul Heyman as a creative influence and Jim Ross as an announcer/talent relations officer. Heyman would freshen things up and with the way TNA has been booked recently, he would have free reign to bring in some of the edgy ECW storylines. It shouldnt be understated how much Ross adds to the onscreen product and he admits that Heyman always brought the best out in him.... why not reunite their Announcing Partnership.

In terms of new talent, I would prefer to see more good young wrestler brought in and givin a chance, back to babysteps. The Monday Nights thing was ridiculous in retrospect. The WWE are currently introducing great new talent through the NXT show like Bryan Danielson and Wade Barrett. Both of these could be huge on TNA and surely there are more great young wrestlers out there. It would be a breath of fresh air rather than more of the 90's stars such as hall and Waltman. By the way, Hall is one of my favourites ever, but sadly he's past it now.

Right, well sorry about the unstructured rant, I meant for this to turn out like a decent, well thought out article... things didn't really go the way I'd planned... remind you of anyone (Brother)?