ok for people who like to watch ring rusty wrestlers with little familiarity with each others work do a storyline that has nothing to do with the weekly show, often confusingly matched when shown to the weekly show... especially as half the wrestlers likely no longer work for tna and can't be explained as just working the night
well that one was better tied into the current weekly storyline than normal (although wrestlers who have left were still used out of timeline) - and the show still needed 25% of the time to be past ppv matches with a-listers who have left to fill the time.
the weekly show this week wasn;t bad... the wwe could easily have done the same sort of story as the multiple willows (and sold a shedload of umbrellas) - so you can't mark tna down for that.
if tna could afford cody / wade / ryback / sandow (who are all wrestlers who have not "peaked" like the usual crop of ex wwe names that trade on the past) then they would have a very viable total roster.
actually if ryback joined on a proper ppv where goldberg stared him down at the end, they would have a very traditional "few month build up" to another traditional ppv where there is a match for the rights to the "look" - and that might work as a box office taking ppv rather than the "made for tv" ones most are. tna could really build on that for weeks - but both ryback and goldberg would know that and so their fee would be impossible to cover!
of course this all takes money, and a tv slot, and regular not batched filming blocks months apart matches... to 1) keep the results of the build up weeks a shock, and 2) so they dont suffer ring rust and audience similarity. and that catch 22 is a problem... they cant do the regular recording format with money that only affords batched recordings... they cant attract a wider ACTIVE roster without the money, etc (their roster I like when you look through it, and it is quite large for 2.5 hours of tv a week, but it isn't being used in a way that keeps it all fresh each week.. and needs a bit of mixing up with some new names to keep "the next week" a shock rather than feel a repeat)
and even with the batch tv recordings, they dont seem to be able to film enough for 3 hours of new stuff a week (ie enough to film impact & the kids show)
the kids show xplosion i saw one of recently... and i can't see it being popular at all. kids will want a hero to follow... yet the show was made up of old matches with wrestlers long since gone... no kid will tune into see what happens next when they are not going to be there. pity because the roster has a lot of wrestlers who could easily knock out a "thunder" type second show to the "2hours" of impact... but recently, imapct has had to fill 15 minutes of the 2nd hour with a repeat from the week before...
ec3, the hardys, eli drake (replaced the mr anderson spot well) tyrus, and spud for the comic angle are all doing a great job. grado too is filling the clown moments well
abyss, crazy steve, rosemary have another clique that could easily have been big in wwe and come across well.
galloway & ashley play the big men well. but who else are they matched with?
bram as a character works (but not to carry a show)... but where is the american irish guy who puts cigars out in his hand? the 4 of them should be active at the same time.
shera comes over as a bit wet... like the brits he seems a "local content" for the overseas sales.. same with the new french pairing... and so they should be more central in the export edits of the show... are they? where are they half the time.. again lots of potential for the xplosion show. (djz & edwards, al snow would make "thunder" content matches easily) - the bro-mance again highlights the problem again.. who do they get to fight?
and i could list most of the rest of the roster as all viable characters, but the same location, all recorded in a few days just doesnt give them the content for the shows they could be making.
as i said, those 4 wwe names added to what they have could give them more content than they would know what to do with... at the moment they just seem to be too flat with the match build up... (the in ring stuff needs build ups)
but what is more likely, tna will bring in 1, lose 2, and end up with no flexibility in the story and too much invested in "one person" and nothing left for the rest.. as seen with the knockouts... what are they now, 3 in there? so each week it as to be a v b, or a v c, or a&b v c etc etc...
They could easily do it if they just put some preparation into it. The problem is very much the same one the WWE has. It's the same people in the same jobs and they've been doing that same job for many many years and they don't know any different. They don't know what to do that is fresh and different. If i was them i'd get out of that Impact Zone. I'd be filming everywhere outside it.
They could easily do it if they just put some preparation into it. The problem is very much the same one the WWE has. It's the same people in the same jobs and they've been doing that same job for many many years and they don't know any different. They don't know what to do that is fresh and different. If i was them i'd get out of that Impact Zone. I'd be filming everywhere outside it.
This is an old line of argument that was tested and found wanting. Even at the peak of their popularity, on-the-road tapings did not draw enough fans to break even and had no discernible impact on ratings or product quality. If they couldn't pull it off then, they certainly wouldn't stand a chance of pulling it off now. Even some NXT on-the-road shows are only drawing a few hundred fans, and that's with the might of the WWE promotional machine behind them.
Heard Jim Ross bury TNA this week on a podcast, said when he was head of WWE talent relations he was sick in hospital once and he sat in his hospital bed doing payroll, because there were no circumstances under which the boys couldn't get paid. Ouch.
This time around I agree that TNA need to go totally out of their way to pick up Barrett, Sandow, Ryback if he gets released and especially Rhodes. Actually you know I think Alex Riley could have an EC3 type revival of character if they gave him a shot. He may not be quite as talented and age is against him compared to EC3 but he could still have a few years and could do way more than he was ever given in WWE (I read a lot about Cena holding him down but who knows if that's the truth or not!)
TNA I've only recently had another look. I loved the old TNA back in 2005 and 2006, went off it a lot but stuck through the Russo comeback years after that and thought 2012 was their best year ever with stuff like Bobby Roode as champ and Aries etc. I didn't think I'd look again after how comically bad things seem to have gotten with the mass of lost names from the roster, payment problems and all kinds of things. I see from looking that there are positives in the TV but they need to expand with a few names like those above and create more of a buzz. Also Matt Hardy's recent character is absolutely awful.
This time around I agree that TNA need to go totally out of their way to pick up Barrett, Sandow, Ryback if he gets released and especially Rhodes. Actually you know I think Alex Riley could have an EC3 type revival of character if they gave him a shot. He may not be quite as talented and age is against him compared to EC3 but he could still have a few years and could do way more than he was ever given in WWE (I read a lot about Cena holding him down but who knows if that's the truth or not!)
TNA I've only recently had another look. I loved the old TNA back in 2005 and 2006, went off it a lot but stuck through the Russo comeback years after that and thought 2012 was their best year ever with stuff like Bobby Roode as champ and Aries etc. I didn't think I'd look again after how comically bad things seem to have gotten with the mass of lost names from the roster, payment problems and all kinds of things. I see from looking that there are positives in the TV but they need to expand with a few names like those above and create more of a buzz. Also Matt Hardy's recent character is absolutely awful.
I know TNA has overdone it, And i know it is same old.....BUT, If you get those guys, Go and get them all and bring them in as team and have them actually kick ass, Keep them from becoming the NWO, You could even make them faces hating on WWE
Matt Hardy was in a wheelchair because of his beating in the cage match from Sunday, but he wants one more match with Jeff Hardy, but said he needs six weeks to recover from the last match. He proposes the loser gives up the Hardy name. Jeff agreed to the match. Fans started a "Yes" chant and Jeff acknowledged Daniel Bryan. Reby Sky and Jeff were arguing. Matt recovered suddenly got out of the wheelchair and attacked Jeff.. Matt then said the match would be in one week, but it won't be at the Impact Zone, it'll be at the ring at his house.
I wonder how many people started watching slammiversary on challenge last night, which began with a 9 minute collage of the match backgrounds... and then after it immediately repeated the same 9 minutes again, switched it off......
I wonder how many people started watching slammiversary on challenge last night, which began with a 9 minute collage of the match backgrounds... and then after it immediately repeated the same 9 minutes again, switched it off......
They may not care anymore, the other (of 2) original programme Challenge showed, VGN, was axed the other week, with it's makers being told there was no issue with ratings, but Challenge told them they've decided against having original shows on the channel.
VGN might have something more to do with Sky who own challenge and effectively control what they show and commission... sky and itv announced stakes in Ginx soon after the VGN news to launch a new esports channel... i.e. VGN, made by ginx was no longer needed because Sky had bigger plans within it's channel family and investments.
tna impact isnt really "original" programming as it is not exclusive to them nor made "for" them (only adapted, while british bootcamp by tna was original programming and may well be toast - as might be xplosion which i think was primarily made for our market but failed to take off in an amercian slot)... VGN was a direct commission show for challenge and original programming. Sky decide what goes where on its various channels and they smelt duplication (while it's makers were moving from a video game review channel to an esports channel)
I wonder how many people started watching slammiversary on challenge last night, which began with a 9 minute collage of the match backgrounds... and then after it immediately repeated the same 9 minutes again, switched it off......
Yeah, what was all that about? Slammiversary was ok once it got going, but nearly 20 minutes of pure filler? Good job I'd recorded it and simply kept fast forwarding until something actually started...
(oh a reply on the ginx facebook site to a question about potential "wider games coverage" ginx said "Immediately we're focusing our limited resources towards producing the eSports shows the channel needs" - which kind of confirms my guess in #5614 above why vgn was culled)
Yeah, what was all that about? Slammiversary was ok once it got going, but nearly 20 minutes of pure filler? Good job I'd recorded it and simply kept fast forwarding until something actually started...
possibly the best tna ppv for some time (not a high benchmark to beat).
hardys destroyed a lot of stuff under each other....
bromans & decay had a great match
the title match looked "heavy" as it should do with "big" men
a lot of it looked painful - when tna often suffered with badly timed clear airshots... so camera work and the selling (or slightly off throwing... hardy into the side of the keyboard/railing & steve onto jessie)
that was a ppv that looked like it was a proper pay per view.
Its a miracle, TNA remembers continuity for more than 2 months at a time Mentions of option C at Destination X in last nights impact, surprised they even remember heh
the show was quite competent... the hardys cage match, with drop off ladder positioned on top top, onto the other hardy laid out on one table with another open table on top of that table shows they are doing stuff wwe wouldnt dare go near.
i think a lot of people shown that match would be tempted to watch tna (even if they don't like it for long).. it was a real "this is how it should be"
ominous that the new challenge station ids dont have a dedicated "wrestling one" at the moment... sky may well shift it to another channel if it is simplifying the station to repeated game shows.
The WWE would never dare do that stuff because it's a kids show and they try to pretend they are a real sport.
TNA seem to accept that it is professional wrestling. It's a show. It's meant to be over the top. The fans in the audience want to see things like that, they want to be shocked and stunned. That's what professional wrestling should be.
And with the WWE's ladder matches and TLC matches, it's very predictable. We all know someone's going through the gimmicked ladder. We all know the wrestlers will stagger and land on the ladder, which would never happen in real life. It's all very choreographed to the stage where the fans know what's gonna happen. Someone climbs the ladder slow just enough to get their leg pulled. One guy sets the ladder up but then gets taken out so someone else can climb it, the person that brings the tables out never seems to go through the table. themselves. Fans want different and regardless of people's opinions, at least TNA is trying to be different. They are putting the effort in.
Comments
Can't even use her as a trainer because she is useless
ok for people who like to watch ring rusty wrestlers with little familiarity with each others work do a storyline that has nothing to do with the weekly show, often confusingly matched when shown to the weekly show... especially as half the wrestlers likely no longer work for tna and can't be explained as just working the night
the weekly show this week wasn;t bad... the wwe could easily have done the same sort of story as the multiple willows (and sold a shedload of umbrellas) - so you can't mark tna down for that.
if tna could afford cody / wade / ryback / sandow (who are all wrestlers who have not "peaked" like the usual crop of ex wwe names that trade on the past) then they would have a very viable total roster.
actually if ryback joined on a proper ppv where goldberg stared him down at the end, they would have a very traditional "few month build up" to another traditional ppv where there is a match for the rights to the "look" - and that might work as a box office taking ppv rather than the "made for tv" ones most are. tna could really build on that for weeks - but both ryback and goldberg would know that and so their fee would be impossible to cover!
of course this all takes money, and a tv slot, and regular not batched filming blocks months apart matches... to 1) keep the results of the build up weeks a shock, and 2) so they dont suffer ring rust and audience similarity. and that catch 22 is a problem... they cant do the regular recording format with money that only affords batched recordings... they cant attract a wider ACTIVE roster without the money, etc (their roster I like when you look through it, and it is quite large for 2.5 hours of tv a week, but it isn't being used in a way that keeps it all fresh each week.. and needs a bit of mixing up with some new names to keep "the next week" a shock rather than feel a repeat)
and even with the batch tv recordings, they dont seem to be able to film enough for 3 hours of new stuff a week (ie enough to film impact & the kids show)
the kids show xplosion i saw one of recently... and i can't see it being popular at all. kids will want a hero to follow... yet the show was made up of old matches with wrestlers long since gone... no kid will tune into see what happens next when they are not going to be there. pity because the roster has a lot of wrestlers who could easily knock out a "thunder" type second show to the "2hours" of impact... but recently, imapct has had to fill 15 minutes of the 2nd hour with a repeat from the week before...
ec3, the hardys, eli drake (replaced the mr anderson spot well) tyrus, and spud for the comic angle are all doing a great job. grado too is filling the clown moments well
abyss, crazy steve, rosemary have another clique that could easily have been big in wwe and come across well.
galloway & ashley play the big men well. but who else are they matched with?
bram as a character works (but not to carry a show)... but where is the american irish guy who puts cigars out in his hand? the 4 of them should be active at the same time.
shera comes over as a bit wet... like the brits he seems a "local content" for the overseas sales.. same with the new french pairing... and so they should be more central in the export edits of the show... are they? where are they half the time.. again lots of potential for the xplosion show. (djz & edwards, al snow would make "thunder" content matches easily) - the bro-mance again highlights the problem again.. who do they get to fight?
and i could list most of the rest of the roster as all viable characters, but the same location, all recorded in a few days just doesnt give them the content for the shows they could be making.
as i said, those 4 wwe names added to what they have could give them more content than they would know what to do with... at the moment they just seem to be too flat with the match build up... (the in ring stuff needs build ups)
but what is more likely, tna will bring in 1, lose 2, and end up with no flexibility in the story and too much invested in "one person" and nothing left for the rest.. as seen with the knockouts... what are they now, 3 in there? so each week it as to be a v b, or a v c, or a&b v c etc etc...
This is an old line of argument that was tested and found wanting. Even at the peak of their popularity, on-the-road tapings did not draw enough fans to break even and had no discernible impact on ratings or product quality. If they couldn't pull it off then, they certainly wouldn't stand a chance of pulling it off now. Even some NXT on-the-road shows are only drawing a few hundred fans, and that's with the might of the WWE promotional machine behind them.
TNA I've only recently had another look. I loved the old TNA back in 2005 and 2006, went off it a lot but stuck through the Russo comeback years after that and thought 2012 was their best year ever with stuff like Bobby Roode as champ and Aries etc. I didn't think I'd look again after how comically bad things seem to have gotten with the mass of lost names from the roster, payment problems and all kinds of things. I see from looking that there are positives in the TV but they need to expand with a few names like those above and create more of a buzz. Also Matt Hardy's recent character is absolutely awful.
I know TNA has overdone it, And i know it is same old.....BUT, If you get those guys, Go and get them all and bring them in as team and have them actually kick ass, Keep them from becoming the NWO, You could even make them faces hating on WWE
That could be entertaining, so yay for that.
They may not care anymore, the other (of 2) original programme Challenge showed, VGN, was axed the other week, with it's makers being told there was no issue with ratings, but Challenge told them they've decided against having original shows on the channel.
Which presumably isn't good news for TNA.
http://www.skysports.com/more-sports/other-sports/news/29876/10315692/sky-and-itv-combine-to-launch-ginx-tv-uks-first-24-hour-esports-channel
this i bet was why VGN was let go
tna impact isnt really "original" programming as it is not exclusive to them nor made "for" them (only adapted, while british bootcamp by tna was original programming and may well be toast - as might be xplosion which i think was primarily made for our market but failed to take off in an amercian slot)... VGN was a direct commission show for challenge and original programming. Sky decide what goes where on its various channels and they smelt duplication (while it's makers were moving from a video game review channel to an esports channel)
Yeah, what was all that about? Slammiversary was ok once it got going, but nearly 20 minutes of pure filler? Good job I'd recorded it and simply kept fast forwarding until something actually started...
possibly the best tna ppv for some time (not a high benchmark to beat).
hardys destroyed a lot of stuff under each other....
bromans & decay had a great match
the title match looked "heavy" as it should do with "big" men
a lot of it looked painful - when tna often suffered with badly timed clear airshots... so camera work and the selling (or slightly off throwing... hardy into the side of the keyboard/railing & steve onto jessie)
that was a ppv that looked like it was a proper pay per view.
you know i was just thinking how tna dodged a bullet with sting going to wwe... as it turned out he only had one major match left in him...
i think a lot of people shown that match would be tempted to watch tna (even if they don't like it for long).. it was a real "this is how it should be"
ominous that the new challenge station ids dont have a dedicated "wrestling one" at the moment... sky may well shift it to another channel if it is simplifying the station to repeated game shows.
TNA seem to accept that it is professional wrestling. It's a show. It's meant to be over the top. The fans in the audience want to see things like that, they want to be shocked and stunned. That's what professional wrestling should be.
And with the WWE's ladder matches and TLC matches, it's very predictable. We all know someone's going through the gimmicked ladder. We all know the wrestlers will stagger and land on the ladder, which would never happen in real life. It's all very choreographed to the stage where the fans know what's gonna happen. Someone climbs the ladder slow just enough to get their leg pulled. One guy sets the ladder up but then gets taken out so someone else can climb it, the person that brings the tables out never seems to go through the table. themselves. Fans want different and regardless of people's opinions, at least TNA is trying to be different. They are putting the effort in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdoW2YeJd_I (spoilers)
OMG I'd go with stupid.
Plus
Whenever the TNA thread pops back up I assume they've finally gone bankrupt.
This looks amazing BTW. This is what pro wrestling should be. I want the stupid to *burn*