WWE

[greenwichvilla]

The problem with TNA is that I can't keep up with who are the heels and faces!

January 4th TNA is doing a 3 hour live iMPACT!, on Monday night, going head to head with Monday Night Raw. This coincides with Hogan's first TNA appearance. He's bringing 'back up' I think it's fairly safe to assume that 'back up' will mean The Nasty Boys, Brutus Beefacake, Jimmy Hart and possibly Goldberg. I believe Bischoff is already part of the gang.

TNA has an awful long way to go to be able to compete with WWE on Monday Nights. In American terms, iMPACT! pulls on average, a 1.0 and Raw around 4.0  

Compare this to an average of 6.0 during the Monday Night Wars. It shows WWE isn't doing as well on television as it once was.

But is TNA going to make an attempt at taking on WWE? Hogan's making all the right noises to suggest they're going to make that attempt. But they're a long, long way off. WWE may see this as a threat, which would make Raw a better show, and god knows it needs it. It's been pretty dire of late.

[TheTimVilla]

Of course TNA is going after WWE. That's why they're dragging all the old names up. If they bring those names back a) it will become stale very quickly and b) it will be a clusterfuck.

TNA should be looking to Joe, AJ, Daniels, Matt Morgan, Wolfe, MCMG, etc. NOT the stars of the 80s. It's bad enough they've got Rhyno, 3D, Nash, Scott Steiner, etc.

[Guy M]

Yup, I'm with you on this one Tim. Their attraction in Hogan is obvious. It's a no-brainer when it comes to getting the company advertised on a world-wide scale. But Brutus...? He was over in the 80s (in both senses of the word) and that's where he should stay. Unless they decide to bring him back as the Zodiac so I can just laugh at him again of course.

Steiner needs TNA more than they need him, but I like what they've done with the dispansion of the MEM and him still wearing the gear. It's almost like they're taking the piss out of him onscreen of feeding off his former glory.

I think you do Team 3D a disservice tho. TNA's awesome tag-team division is due in no small part to their willingness to put other teams over. Their matches might be a bit predictable (the main accusation I'd level at most of WWE's non-PPV matches) but they've given a massive slice of credibility to Beer Money, MCMG and others. And on a slight tangent, if MCMG were in WWE, they'd have been inexplicably split up LONG ago.

I actually quite like TNA's "product". I think they do a much better job of convincing the audience to stay tuned. WWE's recap after every ad break of what happened in the previous segment actually encourages people to turn off and come back as they choose. TNA's shows are high on wrestling output, much fewer recaps and much less opportunity for the viewer to get distracted by something else.

That said, I still make time to watch (with the aid of Sky+) ECW every week and only bother to catch a bit of TNA now and again. I'm a full on McMahon-mark to be honest!

[shaunyh]

I wouldn't mind seeing Goldberg at TNA to be fair.

[evalast1910]

The problem TNA have is they have a good problem. WWE has gone to TV-PG so if TNA were smart they would go to a more hardcore ECW style mixed with the X-Division and they would be on a winner but they wont.

[Guy M]

He wasn't that good when he was in WCW but you've got to admire the way they built him up over the course of the first year, even if his wrestling skills didn't improve massively.

Fans never really took to him in WWE, but seeing him in the ring with Stone Cold and Benoit (who'd won the Rumble the previous night) in Hershey after RAW had gone off the air in January 2004 gave me a completely different perspective on him. Austin and Benoit both seemed to really like the guy and if I remember correctly, he came back out so he could congratulate Chris and to say hello to the family of some seriously ill kid from the area who had been a big fan of his for years. Basically the sort of stuff that gets forgotten when the press focus on the negative aspects of wrestling.

I'd be VERY surprised if there were any US sportsmen or entertainers who spend more time doing charitable work than your top-level wrestlers, the Tribute To The Troops and their work with Make-A-Wish foundation being perfect examples.

[greenwichvilla]

WWE does a lot of stuff like that.

John Cena is an ambassador for them and is their most wished for celebrity.

[greenwichvilla]

Bret Hart has signed a short term contract to appear in a non-wrestling role from Janurary through till Wrestlemania.

[Guy M]

Saw a new post on this thread and thought "Please don't let it be another young wrestler passing away". VERY pleasantly surprised by the news. Am guessing they may go for a standard GM again for a while.

Which website do you use for your wrasslin news greenwich? I tend to use ewrestlingnews but am always open to suggestions.

[evalast1910]

wrestleview.com  

the best!

[TheTimVilla]

Lordsofpain.net - no popups, and not too slow.

However, they all share.

It's a good move in my view. Especially, if he starts on 4th Jan, when TNA go mental.

[greenwichvilla]

I have the PW Torch app on my iPhone which is really good, they also have a website pwtorch.com

Read there recently that Edge is due to return in the first quarter of 2010, I'd say the smart money is on a face retun for him and he'll be fueding with Jericho.

I have no idea what Bret's role will be in WWE, he hates Michaels and HHH so couldn't see him doing anything with them, people are saying he may manage the Hart Dynasty, makes sense but would restrict him to Smackdown, when surely it would make more sense to have him on Raw? Especially leading into Mania. I'm very happy to see him back though, one of my all time favorites, if you haven't read his book, I'd highly recommend it.

[TheTimVilla]

Maybe that's why DX have both belts? Shift them to SD? Move Hart Dynasty to Raw? Even if they stay on Raw, their storylines don't have to overlap.

I'll check pwtorch, but I'm sure they all share news. For example, I read about Bret Hart on lordsofpain and I bet Andy & Guy read it on their sites too.

[OCD]

Not a bad shout Tim - they'll be building for a HBK-Undertaker Wrestlemania match.

Bret will be feuding with Vince though.

[TheTimVilla]

HBK sent a challenge out to the Phenom on last week's Raw...