Is TNA the worst wrestling promotion in history?

[Coffey]

It's sad that they've been on POP for two weeks and had a "PPV" and nobody even bothered to bump this thread

 

I did actually check out the new show that was the debut show on POP. I saw Mike Bennett & Maria debut & I said "why?" I saw a bloated Matt Hardy in the main event & it just felt like he shouldn't be there. James Storm went back & they reunited Beer Money & it felt like a reset. Even Eric Young looks worse.

 

I think they have some talent. I like EC3 & Rockstar Spud. As for an entire show though, it's tough to sit through.

[artDDP]

According to Dave they actually pay their talent a lot more than NXT.

[fakeplastictrees]

I think its silly that TNA allowed WWE to 'catch-up'. Now at any point-in-time, WWE would have been able to out bid TNA at every step-of-the-way. I am under no delusion. When WWE didn't give two shits about bringing in guys like Zayn, Owens, Cesaro, etc. TNA could have been reasonable with wages and those guys MIGHT have had a run in TNA. Fast forward to 2016 and no 'legends' want to go to TNA and no hot indy acts are dying to go there either. The only way TNA can get people to come in is if the company tosses that person a Bellator style Rampage contract and/or grossly over pay.

[thebrainfollower]

So Meltzer is reporting that TNA is up for sale with Panda no longer funding them.

 

This has GOTTA be it right?

[Grimmas]

So Meltzer is reporting that TNA is up for sale with Panda no longer funding them.

 

This has GOTTA be it right?

TNA will never die. Something will happen to save their asses.

[fakeplastictrees]

TNA will never end. It will always be around in some form. Even if its just some mark buying the name and all the rights just to give cred to his/her new promotion to give the upstart some quasi history. Its bullshit, but its going to happen. This reminds me of when StrikeForce was making deals until The Sharks decided to get out of The StrikeForce business. I hope JJ stays as far away from the full out purchase of TNA as possible, because in all honesty there is nothing that any promotion can do with the TNA name that it can't do for itself with good marketing and common sense.

 

I'm surprised Corgan has sat down with Rick Rubin and gone on Tidal on pro wrestling. Can you imagine that shit? Corgan, Rubin, ICP, Wale, etc. all banding together to purchase TNA as a way to push their music and other ventures.

[goc]

Panda hasn't been funding them for at least a year now. They have enough TV money to stay alive and everything I've read isn't that they are trying to sell the company, just find outside investors to pump money into them because they have enough money to stay alive but not grow.

[Strummer]

Bobby Roode and Eric Young both gave their notice and are finishing up with the company tonight. Can't see WWE having any interest in Young given his age and look. Maybe Roode.

[supersonic]

Meltzer's sources do not have any confirmation, but are concluding that at least one is WWE bound.

[fakeplastictrees]

I don't want to see either in WWE. If WWE were to pick up one of them, Young would be the best pick. Young has shown over the years that he can be a comedy babyface, sympathetic babyface, Jericho-lite heel, chickenshit heel, and everything within the pro wrestling spectrum. The guy can promo and work and has proven to be pretty damn consistent over the years as far as in-ring performances are concerned. Roode is no slouch, but if I was WWE and I wanted a veteran talent to work with the younger guys, it would be Eric Young.

[Grimmas]

I don't want to see either in WWE. If WWE were to pick up one of them, Young would be the best pick. Young has shown over the years that he can be a comedy babyface, sympathetic babyface, Jericho-lite heel, chickenshit heel, and everything within the pro wrestling spectrum. The guy can promo and work and has proven to be pretty damn consistent over the years as far as in-ring performances are concerned. Roode is no slouch, but if I was WWE and I wanted a veteran talent to work with the younger guys, it would be Eric Young.

Roode would be great to pair with someone doing nothing to make another solid team on the main roster. A Roode-Swagger or Roode-Darren Young, etc... would all be good JTTS teams

[kjh]

I'd think both would be brought into NXT rather than go straight to the main roster. NXT needs a constant influx of name indy talent if they are going to continue drawing on the road when their top stars get called up. They've already lost Sami Zayn and will likely lose one or two more after WrestleMania.

[Slasher]

Eric Young is more versatile and could do a decent job in any of the many roles the WWE could find for him but I think when it comes to selling Vince someone's value I think Roode has a better case. In the very least of least scenarios, Vince has the generational thing to fall back on with Roode and Rick Rude. Young is a guy he has to start completely from scratch with and at that age, maybe not worth it for Vince.

[Grimmas]

In the very least of least scenarios, Vince has the generational thing to fall back on with Roode and Rick Rude.

Pardon?

[The Chief]

There's precadent here. If WWE has interest in either one, they would probably get a James Storm type spot in NXT. I see all 3 of those guys as equals when it comes to star power.

[NotJayTabb]

I know the word is that TNA are paying him more, but I wonder how James Storm feels about leaving NXT to reform Beer Money only for Roode to likely go the other way

[The Thread Killer]

I know the word is that TNA are paying him more, but I wonder how James Storm feels about leaving NXT to reform Beer Money only for Roode to likely go the other way

 

If he's smart, I can't see Storm being too upset. He still made the right call. With James Storm I think the bottom line came down to money and working conditions. With TNA he is apparently making better money guaranteed, and has to work less dates, which means less chance of injuries and more time to heal his body from wear and tear. From everything I read, he made the right decision for himself and his family. As much as TNA is a joke, if Storm thinks he is going to get his paycheck every couple of weeks (which with TNA is no safe bet) then he probably made the right call. I am sure he is sad to see Roode and Young go, but it probably won't change his mind about his decision to sign with TNA.

 

I know there are a lot of guys out there who grew up watching WWE, and their ultimate goal is to make it there (and nowhere else will do.) To me the problem is that the landscape there is so fickle. That's what would terrify me if I was a wrestler in my prime. It's not like a normal job, or a sport. If you're a baseball player, and a team signs you, and you can hit a ton, you're going to play and when contract time rolls around, you're going to make money. You control your own fate, as long as you can deliver. Storm is a top guy, no doubt. But if somebody (like say, Kevin Dunn or even worse, Vince) decide you don't have "it" then you're going to be the next Zack Ryder and spend the best years of your career on Superstars, it doesn't matter how good you are. People who have way less talent than you are going to rise above you or stay above you, and there is very little you can do to stop that.

 

One of the few glaring exceptions of somebody who rose above that would be Punk or Danielson, but I'd say they would be the exceptions to the rule, in my opinion.

 

I would guess that a lot of the guys in NXT (or especially the guys who are thinking about going to NXT) see how NXT guys are treated once they get "called up." It's a huge risk, because if you're a decent worker like Storm, you take a pay cut to go to NXT, you get saddled with a shitty gimmick when and if you go to WWE, and end up getting mis-used or released, that ends up hurting your chance to make a decent living in the long run. In some cases you can lose your identity and marketability after you leave.

 

I saw an interview with New Jack of all people. We all know he is notoriously full of shit, and quite possibly insane. However, he said when the WWE bought the ECW library and then ended up restarting the brand, a lot of guys signed deals with the WWE where they got as little as $10,000 for the rights to their names. Then they were used briefly in the new ECW (if at all) and then released. But then they can't legally use their names anymore. I remember when Balls Mahoney had a brief run in TNA, he had to call himself "Kahoneys." Seriously. New Jack said he wouldn't sign the deal, because he knew he'd never make it in WWE, and in his words "ain't nobody going to pay 25 cents to come and see Jerome Young." Not to compare James Storm to New Jack, but there are some parallels when discussing the risks somebody who is already established takes when going to NXT or TNA.

 

What if Storm goes to NXT, does a few months, and then makes it to WWE. They don't use him right, he gets released...what does he do then? Go back to the indies as James Cox? He loses money on that deal, big time. I can't stomach TNA, but I don't want to see them go out of business because of all the guys it would put out of work who will never make it in WWE. (Except for Dixie Carter and Bob Ryder. I would enjoy seeing them out of work and embarrassed by failure.)

 

As much as I'd love to see Storm in WWE and do well, he probably can sleep at night knowing he made the right call for his family.

[Robert S]

Apparently (according to Dave Meltzer) TNA will be evicted from their offices at the end of the month and the offices will move to the merchandising warehouse.

[cm funk]

And apparently (again according to Dave) the tv guide channel is already losing patience with them and thinking about pulling the plug. Eerily similar to what happened with Destination America....

 

I'm done predicting death for TNA because they're some sort of unkillable zombie promotion......but how many B and C level crappy cable channels can they bounce around on before people realize that the brand is toxic?

 

Dave also says there is at least one and possibly more interested buyers for taking the company off of Panda's hands (I would guess a network, and Toby Keith was long rumoured, but that's just speculation on my part) but the sticking point is Dixie losing controlling interest and not having final say creatively. He thinks they may be warming up to it because they are totally strapped for cash, struggling to stay afloat, and Dixie might have to bite the bullet if she wants to keep the company alive

 

Still amazing to me that TNA has outlived WCW (from Turner to Vince)......

[C.S.]

Dixie might have to bite the bullet if she wants to keep the company alive

 

Any chance that this is the sword she dies on and she'd rather see TNA go out of business than lose control? What a gross legacy that would be.

[The Thread Killer]

At this point, I am becoming convinced there is going to be nuclear Armageddon. After which, Keith Richards will buy and continue to run TNA.

[fakeplastictrees]

What I don't understand about DA and POP is this: what are they expecting from TNA. Sure we are all geeks and 'know' what is going on behind-the-scenes, but surely exes at DA, POP, and any of these other 3rd rate cable companies have some sort of clue other than 'its cheap to produce'.For some acquisition like this, I imagine even the most out-of-touch TV exec runs this by his/her child(ren). "Hey Johnny! Guess who mommy is working with now? Bram! Oh don't know him? What about Aiden O'Shea? No? Jade? The Decay? Well SURELY you know Al Snow and Gregory Helms?" TNA doesn't pass the children test and there is no way someone just doing a little bit of research could expect anything else from TNA other than what they are currently getting. Any company putting money into TNA is a true investment of time over anything else as TNA for the last two years has actually been moving in the right direction as far as on-screen project is concerned, but its all too little too late. They pissed everyone off and no one has faith in the brand anymore. Dixie wouldn't let JJ buy her out, Heyman never worked for TNA because of her, she didn't fire Russo ( but everyone else got the boot), started working with Russo again under the nose of Spike TV, wouldn't let Court Bauer come in and have a meaningful role, etc.

 

At the end of the day its all bullshit. TNA can move into the warehouse, move to another network, throw money at Chris Hero, Carlito, Matt Sydal, etc. to come in and it will all mean absolutely dick because there is ONE person who needs to go and she is NOT moving.All jokes aside, who has been worse for wrestling overall in the last ten years, Dixie Carter or Stephanie McMahon? I think that may be a thread unto itself.

[MikeCampbell]

Any chance that this is the sword she dies on and she'd rather see TNA go out of business than lose control? What a gross legacy that would be.

 

 

It looks like that's how it's going to end up, just like the end of ECW.

[El-P]

All jokes aside, who has been worse for wrestling overall in the last ten years, Dixie Carter or Stephanie McMahon? I think that may be a thread unto itself.

 

I'd say Stephy, still, because Dixie's influence is irrelevant. I don't think her being out of the way would change much for TNA anyway. I mean, that promotion has been a joke for day one, but at least he got some guys some paydays. Stephy shaped the WWE has we know it now when she got the head of creative back in the days. The product still suffers from that formula.

[kjh]

The DA deal made sense because TNA Impact was still making close to a million viewers on Spike TV, despite several time slot changes towards the end of their run on the station. The PopTV deal made a lot less sense, given that Impact had already been a ratings failure on DA and it sounds like Dixie Carter promised ratings that they should have known she couldn't deliver.