TNA Makes a Good Decision

Written by Chris Vining
November 30, 2003

The TNA debate rages on for the Killer Canary. I promised feedback from active and former TNA wrestlers regarding my previous TNA “Jumping the Shark” column and I will deliver. I have withheld the names as not to jeopardize their future with the company. Speaking of TNA management, I still haven’t received any feedback from them about my column. The same thing goes for Jeremy Borash, Bob Ryder, and Mike Tenay. I thought Ryder would have a comment since he was a columnist for so long, but I guess not. I did receive my first piece of negative feedback from a fan about the column, and I wanted to address that as well. I tried to convey that I am not anti-TNA, in fact I am a fan. I have supported the federation through merchandise sales, even if their PPV isn’t usually available to me. And just to give credit where credit is due, they have come up with two of the best ideas to ever grace professional wrestling.

When I heard that Jeff Jarrett would be facing Dusty Rhodes in a Lumberjack Strap match I wasn’t impressed. When I heard that nine of the lumberjacks would be fans, well that got my attention. While I’m sure the fans were given instructions on what not to do (like get in the ring) I had to admit that the idea is genius. What wrestling fan hasn’t wanted to be able to be a part of the show, and have an impact that affects the outcome of the match? I don’t think that Dusty Rhodes was the best opponent, as I would rather have seen Raven in this match, but the idea was pure gold. I would have paid good money (if I had any) to take a leather strap and level Jarrett across the bridge of the nose. I was at the 2003 Royal Rumble and saw Tommy Dreamer hit Chris Jericho with a Singapore cane across the nose and even from the upper deck you could see the agony on Jericho’s face. I think a strap, especially with a little bit of a metal buckle, would do some even better damage. I have never liked him, dating back to his early WWF days. To answer a question I saw in another column, I have no idea why Internet writers don’t rip Jarrett apart for having a stranglehold on TNA similar to HHH has on the WWE. Jarrett deserves to get the same treatment.

The second genius idea from TNA will change wrestling history. To quote the TNA website’s columnist Bill Banks “If you’ve been keeping up with the news here on NWATNA.com, you know that the new Video on Demand option for our fans is right around the corner. Here’s the deal – in the next few weeks, NWATNA.com will be launching a new area comprised of all of the Pay-Per-Views since the inception of the company. For a minimal fee, you will be able to watch the TNA Pay-Per-Views ANYTIME and ANYWHERE from the comfort of your PC screen. Without a doubt, many in TNA are excited about this new addition to our website, as fans anywhere in the world will be able to watch our Pay-Per-Views with the click of a button (as long as they have a high-speed connection). This is huge news for our entire international fan community, who email us en mass each week wondering when they will have the opportunity to watch TNA. With this new feature, TNA will in effect be worldwide. We’ll be sharing more news about this exciting venture in the next week or so, but the buzz surrounding it is already at a fever pitch.”

Once I realized the potential for this idea I almost went ballistic. Not only could I get the weekly TNA PPV, I could see every second of action I have missed. I was instantly flooded with questions about cost, bandwidth issues, are they able to be downloaded, ability to get single matches versus an entire show, and many others. This will put all of TNA history at our fingertips! The potential is amazing. Imagine if the WWE did this. We could burn CDs of greatest matches, complete angles, bad gimmicks, or anything else we wanted. DVD sales would be nonexistent if the WWE did this, TNA is showing true genius with this idea. I really can’t give them enough praise for this plan. This is just another example of forward thinking that will only help them in the long run. The only negative I see is the lack of future DVD sales. There could be other issues depending on how the pricing works out. If a regular live TNA PPV is $9.95 and TNA charges on a per-show basis then they will be fine. If they charge monthly and only see one show will I still have access to get the shows I didn’t see online? I am sure it will take a while to iron the bugs out of the system, but if they do this right TNA will be able to gain so many viewers worldwide that the WWE might just be forced to offer something similar. Couple this plan with the number of WWE wrestlers who have expiring contracts within the next six months, and TNA could get very big, very fast.

And now onto the Feedback
(I don’t have the name of the person who sent this to me since they never provided any.) I can't believe any of this can't wrestling "FANS" just sit back and shut up, it sounds like they're trying to make up everyone else’s mind. What TNA is trying to do is get fans attention because Hogan is huge in Japan, Australia and a lot of people still like him. You just seem to think that wrestling fans are going to wake up and think Ohh I'm going to book a TNA show, not likely you see TNA isn't only trying to get fans attention but CABLE NETWORKS attention and they think signing Hogan will seem to get there attention and a smart choice in many ways because Hogan fans will watch TNA and see X - Division stars and others and don't judge too many wrestlers because usually the writers fault.

My Response: I am a fan, and I covered both sides of TNA in my article. I have gotten responses back from sources inside TNA who are annoyed with the ridiculous way Hogan was booked. It was thrown together and wasn't a well thought out plan. That is what I have a problem with. Now they are trying to bring in big names to cover their mistake. When WCW needed ratings they went out and signed the biggest WWE/F stars. They had better ratings, but many of the young talent they missed out on showing have become superstars. The entire point was that TNA started with word of mouth (or Internet) because of the talent that is now getting pushed aside. Maybe some TV exec will see Hogan, Piper, Dusty Rhodes, Sting, and Jim Duggan and have an 80's flashback. "Hey these guys are top stars and deserve a show,” he will say. They don't deserve it because they can't wrestle, regardless of how popular they are. That is my point.

Their Response: I received your message and I can agree but I was also getting at that TNA may just want to use them to show off their real talent and then they get rid of the oldies and I'm not exactly saying that Hogan will open up execs eyes but they will know that Hogan was in 2 big companies and think they're onto something and also Hogan apparently has connections or so says his auto bio. I know none of them can wrestle but in a way I just want to see how a storyline goes out between him and Jarrett considering their past but I don't want to see Hogan with the Heavyweight title maybe he could share the tag belt to push a younger superstar. I'M SORRY IF MY OTHER COMMENT CAME OUT AS IF I'M A COMPLETE HOLDER OF THE PAST because I love seeing AJ Styles and Michael Shane and I think the X division is the best thing they have going for them. Hopefully they can just use Hogan shortly after WMXX and then drop him after Bound for Glory

Take this for what is it worth. The writer seems to have all the bases covered, but you can’t have it both ways.

I am not going to divulge the names of the wrestlers who answered my emails about TNA. I don’t want to jeopardize the careers of wrestlers who were nice enough to give me a response, so I am using fake names. I send out my column to approximately two dozen current and former TNA wrestlers. Some were one or two show guys, others have been in the company for the long haul. I will say that my email buddy Shark Boy was curious to see if I got any response from anyone in TNA. As I stated earlier I failed to receive a response from anyone in TNA management. Now on with the feedback…

From Skull
I agree with you on several points. It has seemed like the company has taken a new direction since Dutch took over the booking. I haven’t liked it. Instead of a well balanced show it now seems like most shows are a clusterf*ck. You never know if you will get a push or could sleep through the show and not miss anything. I don’t mind the big names coming in. The more people who watch, the more people get to (hopefully) see me in action. That means getting booked for more shows, being able to command more money, and more job security. If it is $ in my pocket I won’t complain, but things have seemed to slip recently.

From Diamond Dust
I lost my respect for TNA a while ago. When they kept teasing Raven with the title and then gave it to A.J. I was disappointed. I have nothing against AJ, but Raven puts himself on the line every match. Jarrett is TNA’s version of HHH, which was obvious when he won the title back. Hogan has no place in TNA, not now, not ever. To borrow a quote from the WWE, he should get the F out.

From Funky G
I am tired of people thinking what we do is easy. If you think you could do better than try it yourself. TNA is one of the best places I have ever worked. As long as I have a company that will give me a chance then I will keep my opinions to myself. I’m not the type to pass judgment regardless of what I may think.

From Crazyhorse
You are pretty much on the ball with everything you said. I think the X-Division was always more of a way to draw attention than to be the driving force of the company. The ECW faction kinda fell apart due to issues beyond TNA’s control. It would have been good, but if ECW was so great then why did they go out of business? They had talented guys, but they didn’t have enough cash coming in. That is the danger with big names. When you spend more on one guy than half of the roster then he better bring in viewers.

From The Stalker
I generally think that most Internet writers try to do more harm than good. I understand your opinions, and you seem to know your stuff. I don’t have a contract with TNA at the moment, but I would work for them again if asked. The main problem TNA had was when they wanted guys locked into contracts. It worked out well for some guys, but others felt TNA wanted too much from a company that still had some work to do to make it to the big time. I think that the X-Division was the best part of the show, at least until all the good feuds ran out. It has gotten better recently, but it isn’t as good as it once was. I think the biggest issue right now is the lack of continuity with booking. Half of the matches look like they were decided by throwing darts. I heard that Dutch Martel took over booking, which made no sense to me. Things appeared smooth until he came in. From what I have heard from friends still working in TNA he has screwed things up massively.

It seems that everything isn’t as happy as it seems down in Nashville. As I have said before I do think that TNA is a first rate federation, but they could use some tweaking. The hiring of Dutch Martel seems like a questionable at best decision, and the use of older, more famous, talent seems to be a bone of contention among past and present talent. I don’t think that TNA is in trouble, in fact I think they are doing better than anyone expected of them. I just hope that they can give he fans what they want and still be a success. As always send any thoughts, questions, or comments to Killer.canary@cox.net.

This has been an original column from CCOLINV ENTERPRISES. For information of where to find my columns across the net visit my homepage The Killer Canary. If you know someone looking for a sports or wrestling writer for a magazine, newspaper, or website, and is offering some cash for columns, then email me. Until next week ”Quote the Canary Nevermore”.

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