Is Impact* the best wrestling promotion in history? *(Now TNA again, 2024)

[strobogo]

Was fully on board for the TNA rebrand, but then seeing Dolph Ziggler was the "biggest signing ever" brought me back to the worst of TNA immediately.

[Autistic Dragon]

10 minutes ago, strobogo said:

Was fully on board for the TNA rebrand, but then seeing Dolph Ziggler was the "biggest signing ever" brought me back to the worst of TNA immediately.

1. They moved away form the "biggest signing ever" promotion awhile ago. They've started hyping a "series of signings" in the coming weeks.

2, The live crowd went nuts.

3. Nemeth v Moose could be legit fire. Nemeth was always great at selling for big guys like Moose.

[strobogo]

Do not give a fuck at all. Been sick of Ziggler for a decade now. Was hoping he'd just stick to stand up but now he's doing NJ and TNA and fuck that.

[Autistic Dragon]

Well sorry, but you not liking him doesn't change the fact that he's a recognizable talent who can still go.

[strobogo]

He's also a dude that has been groanworthy for most of the past decade or so, and has been entirely in the WWE system for 20 years and TNA signing him and immediately putting him in the main title slot is very much the bad TNA.

[Autistic Dragon]

Was he groanworthy or was the material WWE stuck him with groanworthy? Because he assuredly was not the one writing the angles he was tasked with carrying out.

And him taking a shot at the top champ is clearly an attempt to capitalize on his name recognition. You don't bring in a guy like Nemeth to feud with Johnny Swinger. Ya know?

[strobogo]

Are we really pretending  Dolph fucking Ziggler in 2024 is some underutilized talent 

[Autistic Dragon]

No. I'M acknowledging that Nick Nemeth is a talented wrestler who was brought in to put eyes on the product and eventually put Moose over. You on the other hand, are pretending like he's some over the hill curtain-jerker who's randomly been elevated to the main event.

The man was World champion in the industry leader. Of course when he moves to a smaller company like TNA they're going to put him in the main event. It''s a common sense move that any other company their size would make.

[Ma Stump Puller]

39 minutes ago, strobogo said:

Are we really pretending  Dolph fucking Ziggler in 2024 is some underutilized talent 

To be fair that's always been the excuse used for him lol. 

I think the issue is less about him being a name-value (which let's be fair he IS a name-value hire that can at least work) and more about Ziggler being a horrible Shawn Michaels impersonator for the last 10 years

 

 

[C.S.]

No matter how much you all like TNA, it's a fourth-string, fourth-rate promotion whose "glory days" - if they ever existed - were at least a decade and a half ago. By that metric, Dolph Ziggler is absolutely a perfect signing for them.

Yes, Dolph was an "over the hill curtain-jerker" in WWE, but he still has something to offer a smaller promotion and can definitely still "go."

However, if you think Dolph is putting over a nobody like Moose, I don't see that happening - unless "putting over" means Moose looking good in a competitive loss to a real star. That will happen. Dolph will bump his ass off like a pinball for Moose, but in the end, Dolph will win and Moose will lose.

[Autistic Dragon]

How disengaged from the non-WWE sphere of wrestling do you have to be to call Moose a nobody?

[C.S.]

59 minutes ago, Autistic Dragon said:

How disengaged from the non-WWE sphere of wrestling do you have to be to call Moose a nobody?

My bad. TNA ratings are on fire with Moose and they have a major TV deal because of him. Yup, huge star, the biggest, Dolph will get a major rub sharing the ring with him. Oh wait...

[Autistic Dragon]

2 minutes ago, C.S. said:

My bad. TNA ratings are on fire with Moose and they have a major TV deal because of him. Yup, huge star, the biggest, Dolph will get a major rub sharing the ring with him. Oh wait...

You know it's amazing how many people come to this thread specifically to shit on the company. If you don't like oyu could just not come to this thread.

And Moose is in pretty big demand on the indies. He's been in Ring of Honor. Just because he's never been on WrestleMania doesn't make the guy a nobody.

[sek69]

8 minutes ago, Autistic Dragon said:

And Moose is in pretty big demand on the indies. He's been in Ring of Honor. Just because he's never been on WrestleMania doesn't make the guy a nobody.

WWE brain is a helluva thing my dude. 

I watched most of the show last night, and it was easily the best looking Impact/TNA show I've seen in years (to be fair I haven't exactly been watching every week). The production seemed a lot better, and all the talk of Anthem investing more money to make them not look so indyriffic seems to be legit.

A lot of the show seemed like a reset booking wise though. Some of it was inevitable (Trinity leaving), but putting the title back on Moose seemed like them doing a DC Comics level retcon.

[C.S.]

10 minutes ago, sek69 said:

WWE brain is a helluva thing my dude. 

I don't have "WWE brain" - which you very well know - but okay...

I'll take @Autistic Dragon's advice and step out of this thread, even though his assumptions about me are baseless.

No, I didn't enter the thread with the express purpose of "shitting on TNA" or whatever. I like to read various threads, and sometimes I respond. Nothing more to it than that. 

[SirEdger]

Honestly, I would have expected here more outrage about Dana Brooke copying Toni Storm's Timeless character to show up in TNA than a possible Nic Nemeth vs Moose feud.

[sek69]

1 hour ago, C.S. said:

I don't have "WWE brain" - which you very well know - but okay...

I'll take @Autistic Dragon's advice and step out of this thread, even though his assumptions about me are baseless.

No, I didn't enter the thread with the express purpose of "shitting on TNA" or whatever. I like to read various threads, and sometimes I respond. Nothing more to it than that. 

You know what, on reflection that wasn't the best term to use. I don't know if there's a blanket term for folks who don't know TNA hasn't been the mess Russo and Dixie left it in for a long time, but then it's been so difficult to follow them on the series of Z tier channels they've been on it's hardly the fault of the viewer.  TNA has been a constantly entertaining product for a while now, and it's nice a place like it exists for people to be able to refresh their character/get a change of scenery. I feel like it was taken for granted that you could do that in the territory days to keep people from getting stale, and it's nice to have the modern day equivalent to David Von Erich getting to heel it up in Florida.

 

 

[C.S.]

1 hour ago, sek69 said:

You know what, on reflection that wasn't the best term to use. I don't know if there's a blanket term for folks who don't know TNA hasn't been the mess Russo and Dixie left it in for a long time, but then it's been so difficult to follow them on the series of Z tier channels they've been on it's hardly the fault of the viewer.  TNA has been a constantly entertaining product for a while now, and it's nice a place like it exists for people to be able to refresh their character/get a change of scenery. I feel like it was taken for granted that you could do that in the territory days to keep people from getting stale, and it's nice to have the modern day equivalent to David Von Erich getting to heel it up in Florida.

I wasn't going to keep posting in this thread, but since I got a notification that you replied, I'm taking that as an invitation. 

Anyway... No, no, I definitely realize TNA has improved by leaps and bounds from its Russo/Dixie days. I was probably too harsh referring to as a fourth-rate promotion, or whatever I said. But it's definitely not what I'd consider a "major league promotion." That's not a knock on TNA or its talent, just a fact of life. In terms of reach, it's not WWE, AEW, or even NJPW.

TNA, like you said, is a welcoming place for people to refresh their characters and then move on to something bigger. It typically isn't a career destination or a goal - even though I'm aware some wrestlers consider it as such and keep renewing their contracts. I don't want to use the old "big fish in a small pond" chestnut because that feels really dismissive. Instead, I'll say if those wrestlers are happy there and feel creatively fulfilled, more power to them. But for the other 95% of wrestlers, TNA is like an airport and they're just passing through.

I think that's probably a plus for the viewer, because there's always an influx of new talent and most of them don't stick around long enough to get stale. Kind of like what NXT was at first.

[sek69]

I'm interested in how their deal with AAA works out. They've been trying to get a foothold in the US forever, and even TNA's limited reach is miles better than anything AAA has been able to muster on their own.

[El-P]

13 hours ago, Autistic Dragon said:

And Moose is in pretty big demand on the indies. He's been in Ring of Honor. Just because he's never been on WrestleMania doesn't make the guy a nobody.

This. Threads reeks of so many people in "tell me you don't actually watch TNA without telling me you don't actually watch TNA" mode.

I wonder if they thought they could actually get Mercedes at some point, which is why they made the announcement, and then moved away from it when they could not. Nemeth is an interesting case, because it's obvious he's one of those "fuck WWE, I'm gonna hustle like crazy now and go everywhere". Now, how his work is gonna look outside of WWE, that's always the question (hey Metallik, how it's been going ?). As far as Nemeth fatigue, well, one great thing about not watching WWE is that I have none, and people acting like the guy should go away because they're tired of him, well, here's a tidbit for ya : don't watch. Won't be too hard since you weren't watching TNA to begin with. 

12 hours ago, SirEdger said:

Honestly, I would have expected here more outrage about Dana Brooke copying Toni Storm's Timeless character to show up in TNA than a possible Nic Nemeth vs Moose feud.

I did not even thought of this. But really, when I saw her I was like "Who the fuck is that ?". It took the announcer to tell me she was Dana Brooke. She has.... changed. Of all the people being fired from WWE, that's not who I would have picked, considering her rep (of, you know, not being good at all after years and years). Then again, TNA has worked wonders for some people, so, who knows. But they just lost Deonna. That's a hard one talent wise, you just can't replace someone like that talent wise.

13 hours ago, sek69 said:

I watched most of the show last night, and it was easily the best looking Impact/TNA show I've seen in years (to be fair I haven't exactly been watching every week). The production seemed a lot better, and all the talk of Anthem investing more money to make them not look so indyriffic seems to be legit.

Production wise, yes, it looked really good. And the change of look makes it fresh. As far as the Show went, I'd say it was pretty much an IMPACT big show from the last few years. Which says a lot about how good they've been on average, but I clearly have seen shows with better stuff. I've gotta say I was not overly impressed with Hammerstone. He's fine. He had a very good match with Alexander, but a dead horse would have a very good match with Alexander. I dunno, I don't get the hype about the guy at all. Again, he's *fine*, not a knock on him, but. He still doesn't strikes me as special though, and that's working against Alexander, so you won't get any better than this.

13 hours ago, sek69 said:

A lot of the show seemed like a reset booking wise though. Some of it was inevitable (Trinity leaving), but putting the title back on Moose seemed like them doing a DC Comics level retcon.

I agree. I was kinda bummed about MK Ultra losing the tag titles, these two are so cool together. Decay being back almost feels like a nostalgia act now. It was cool and all for long time fans, but I dunno. Jordyne winning was expected, Gisele is soon gonna be there too I think. Trinity had a super fun run there. I really would have liked Shelley to jumpstart the rebranding era, but if they want big bad heel Moose vs big time babyface Nemeth, I do understand, although I was not a fan of the decision. Moose is a surefire trooper, and a damn good worker, and he's now aligned with a new heel faction. He's also really identified with the company. But yeah, kinda reset booking feeling of sorts too, although Sabin keeping the X-division and ABC keeping the tag titles is nice continuity.

Overall, to me the show kinda felt like "just another IMPACT PPV" with better production (although it was always good), and not that much newsworthy happening, Nemeth being kinda "oh, ok" rather than "OMG !". The upcoming tapings with Ospreay and Okada actually sound more intriguing, really.

So, TNA is back. Hard to kill indeed.

[NotJayTabb]

21 minutes ago, El-P said:

I did not even thought of this. But really, when I saw her I was like "Who the fuck is that ?". It took the announcer to tell me she was Dana Brooke. She has.... changed. Of all the people being fired from WWE, that's not who I would have picked, considering her rep (of, you know, not being good at all after years and years). Then again, TNA has worked wonders for some people, so, who knows. But they just lost Deonna. That's a hard one talent wise, you just can't replace someone like that talent wise.

 

I think a change of scene will work wonders for Dana Brooke. She's at the stage now where she's developed into a perfectly solid wrestler, not an elite worker but also not going to embarrass herself or look lost. The problem was she was absolutely stale in WWE as just JTTS Dana Brooke. Going to TNA to reinvent herself feels like a step in the right direction, even if on first impression it looks like a knock-off of Toni Storm's gimmick.

[El-P]

7 minutes ago, NotJayTabb said:

I think a change of scene will work wonders for Dana Brooke. She's at the stage now where she's developed into a perfectly solid wrestler, not an elite worker but also not going to embarrass herself or look lost. 

Ok. I mean, it's not that I take anything I hear for granted anyway, but it's true I really haven't heard lots of good around here (and elsewhere, really). Then again, it happened before that I watch someone I only heard bad things about and I go "WTF are people smoking, that guy is perfectly fine".

7 minutes ago, NotJayTabb said:

The problem was she was absolutely stale in WWE as just JTTS Dana Brooke. Going to TNA to reinvent herself feels like a step in the right direction, even if on first impression it looks like a knock-off of Toni Storm's gimmick.

The idea I got from her name was that she was... a perfume ?! I have no idea where they are going since she has had no vignettes. But TNA have been very good developing characters and letting performers developing their own. 

[levimcdaniel]

I am excited to see Dolph away from WWE, and TNA is a perfect place with the rebrand hype. It will give him a chance to showcase himself with more freedom and I believe his most exciting matches and character development days are ahead of him. This will be exciting.

[El-P]

The guy is already everywhere. NJPW, TNA, now GCW too. It's obvious he's one of those guys who really wanted to do something else while he still could.

[KawadaSmile]

TNA did some great numbers at Hard to Kill, in attendance and actual gate. Like, I know people like to make fun of it, but it does seem like a mostly healthy place for wrestlers to get some reps, reinvent themselves and booking isn't really dumb as it used to be not too long ago.

Like, I get you'd want to put Nemeth against a bigger dude just so he could bump around like a maniac, but I'd much rather see him wrestle Shelley. 

My main gripe with that dude, other than his in-ring skills, is that he ALWAYS wants to be an 80s hard rock guy. Remember when WWE did those Southpaw Regional Wrestling skits, and everyone had ridiculous gimmicks yet faithful to the spirit of the times? He just played himself. That is telling.