The Wrestling Thread

[MrMichael]

I bet Vince's reaction to the Bischoff/Hogan news was interesting. Vince knows that Hogan's pulling power transcends wrestling like no other.

I really have no idea whatsoever how this is going to work out.

[Joe King]

Interestingly though, I thought he and Russo has big issues?

Bischoff I don't mind so much, he at least has a wrestling mind.

They do. Russo wanted him to drop the title to Jarrett Even I wouldn't drop the title to Jarrett. Give some credit to Hogan there.

Bischoff is anything but a wrestling mind. He's got a Hollywood/business mind although he would improve the tv production of TNA, which is fairly amateur.

Aye, just been reading up, apparently its thought there might be more.... Flair? Goldberg?

This could either be a huge boost for them or a complete disaster. I just instinctively shudder at the idea of Hogan and Nash back together.

It's WCW again!

[johnly]

They do. Russo wanted him to drop the title to Jarrett Even I wouldn't drop the title to Jarrett. Give some credit to Hogan there.

Bischoff is anything but a wrestling mind. He's got a Hollywood/business mind although he would improve the tv production of TNA, which is fairly amateur.



It's WCW again!

Impact will move to Mondays now so we can have a reprise of the Monday Night Wars

Vince's reaction was probably quite humourous. He probably thought he could drag hogan back whenever he wanted. Clearly not the case. The big names that TNA have here will give a ratings spike, but after the novelty wears off, what then? This is a company that is looking at pushing young stars and now is bringing in these oap's?! We'll see how this pans out

[Joe King]

Impact will move to Mondays now so we can have a reprise of the Monday Night Wars

Vince's reaction was probably quite humourous. He probably thought he could drag hogan back whenever he wanted. Clearly not the case. The big names that TNA have here will give a ratings spike, but after the novelty wears off, what then? This is a company that is looking at pushing young stars and now is bringing in these oap's?! We'll see how this pans out

TNA for me, despite recent times, always differentiated itself from WWE as it gave younger, unfavoured stars opportunities by it X Division or TNA title. This is quite the desperate move from Carter.

[johnly]

TNA for me, despite recent times, always differentiated itself from WWE as it gave younger, unfavoured stars opportunities by it X Division or TNA title. This is quite the desperate move from Carter.

That's TNA's best quality, the X-Div and those who progress to the title (AJ and Joe) If they focus on that, they will get people talking. Maybe have Hogan run the show like a GM. front and centre every week, gives the older fans a chance to cheer him then bring out the young guns.

This is WWE's problem. Having DX in a triple threat with Cena is lame, (let Legacy in there, it's going to help the eventual Dibase turn when Orton gets jealous of him being close to the title) and Taker vs Show and Jericho will only be ok if Jericho wins and eventually drops to Punk, who seems to have Vince backing him on screen.

I think DX are due to split, leading to HBK leaving after Mania. They need to push the young talent. Its like any sport, when your top guys are getting older, bring in those in reserve who have the talent to break through

[Joe King]

[johnly]

hmmm seperated at birth? Although if we had The Game in our side, we'd never lose. He'd never job to Sunderland!

[MrMichael]

lol...... "Jones slips it past Skrtel into the path of Bent who races clear, only the keeper to beat.... *stadium lights go out*.... music hits, "Its time to play..." *lights back on* "Oh my god, is that... yes King, it is, that's THE GAME, stalking Darren Bent.. oh and he's got him set up.... what a hellacious pedigree on Bent, vintage Triple H".

That could work actually

[johnly]

lol...... "Jones slips it past Skrtel into the path of Bent who races clear, only the keeper to beat.... *stadium lights go out*.... music hits, "Its time to play..." *lights back on* "Oh my god, is that... yes King, it is, that's THE GAME, stalking Darren Bent.. oh and he's got him set up.... what a hellacious pedigree on Bent, vintage Triple H".

That could work actually

"and if you're not down with that. We got two words for ya BEACH BALL!" I'll get my coat

[johnly]

After today could we sort out some kinda swap deal to exchange Voronin and HHH? I feel it may be for the best

[Joe King]

So MrM - Monday nights?

[MrMichael]

lol, I'm not convinced they'll do it. TNA does need a second show, would allow them to take more time with storylines and focus on better/longer wrestling, but I just don't see the upsides of going up against RAW on Monday.

If they did I know which show I'd watch tho

[MrMichael]

Lance Storm usually talks a modicum of sense (why nobody's persuaded him into booking I'm not sure), and is a pretty big critic of TNA (well, of Russo mostly). His comments about Hogan/Bischoff -

I’ve been meaning to get a commentary up for a while, but I haven’t had anything jump out at me that I absolutely needed to talk about. That is no longer the case with Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff signing with TNA. This is a pretty damn big story and I’ve already been flooded with email asking me what I think about the whole thing.

Believe it or not I’m pretty optimistic about the situation. This doesn’t appear to be the most common view as most people I’ve talked to point out that this is just the next step toward employing all the people responsible for the down fall of WCW and there will soon be a huge influx of Hogan’s buddies from the 80s. While that is of course a possibility, I’m choosing to look on the bright side for TNA and hope for the best.

Considering my past views of TNA, this optimistic approach may seem like a new direction for me, but I don’t think that it is. I’ve always wanted TNA to succeed and I’ve always maintained my support of their extremely talented locker room. My complaints of TNA have always been directed towards TNA’s creative team (Primarily Vince Russo) and the fact that they (he) somehow manages to book a show so infuriating and nonsensical that I’ve had to completely quit watching despite many of my favourite performers being featured on the show.

So while there are some potential down sides to the addition of Hogan and Bischoff to TNA, there are several potential up sides as well, and I’m going to keep my fingers crossed for more of the latter and less of the former.

The biggest upside, at least from my perspective is the potential demotion or firing of Vince Russo from the top spot as the driving creative force in TNA. There is existing heat between Hogan and Russo, and Russo was fired by TNA once in the past in hopes of acquiring Hulk Hogan, so a future parting of the ways is a definite possibility. Say what you want about Eric Bischoff and the demise of WCW, but Eric Bischoff is an extremely competitive guy who has no doubt learns from past mistakes, and I’d take him over Vince Russo as the driving creative force any day of the week.

Hulk Hogan has as much name value as anyone in this business so his presence should draw more attention to the company and get more people checking out TNA. TNA needs more viewers and Hogan’s name might get them some much needed exposure. Add to that the probable reduction in Vince Russo’s creative control and the product will almost certainly improve. As long as TNA maintains and features their talented young stars like, AJ, Daniels, MCMG, Beer Money, etc. (you know all the guys and girls I mean) and we don’t see The Nasty Boys as TNA Tag Champs, Brutus Beefcake as the Legends Champ and Hulk Hogan as TNA Champ, this can only be a positive move.

Only time will tell whether this will be the case or not but at least for now Hogan and Bischoff have created enough buzz to get me interested in checking out TNA once again, something I haven’t done in several months.

There is supposed to be one more huge announcement coming out of this with the leading possibilities (at least based on Internet rumors) being: Impact moving to Monday Nights to restart the Monday Night wars, and Shane McMahon joining the company. I could see the move to Monday nights as a possibility, but do not believe for one second Shane McMahon resigned from WWE to join TNA. Shane joining TNA would be the ultimate F-You do his Dad, and while a fight between father and son big enough to make Shane say F-You is always possible, you don’t resign and give 3 months notice after a F-You kind of fight.

One other possibility for the big announcement that one of my students joked about today, that I liked the sound of, is that TNA is going to switch to a 4-sided ring. I can hear Mike Tenay’s pitch now about how the New 4-sided ring is so much more dangerous than the old 6-sided ring because the corners of this new ring are so much sharper. No more obtuse angled corners in TNA we’ve got straight up right angles here in TNA. Maybe they can base a concept PPV on it.

[johnly]

Lance Storm makes some great points. The Impact Players were awesome! Lets have them 2 against Jerishow

Really enjoyed Impact this week. It's still got a few flaws, but was a solid show. Raw could get messy tonight with Ozzy and Sharon. Oh dear

[johnly]

Ozzy f'd up last night, but was to be expected. Called Evan Bourne, Evan Brawn, bless him. Sharon mispronounced Kofi's name too.

Raw wasn't bad, DX's schtick on commentary was fun. But its still not clicking 100% There's 'something' missing.