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...