The TNA workers probably aren't the people to latch the future of the promotion onto however, it will be very useful to have recognisable faces around too.

But hey, he's got 500 competitions lined up so he should be fine

Sabin, Kaz and Daniels are important types of guys to have on a roster. They can be plugged in immediately and give the thing some credibility. They can work, cut promos and run good feuds. They aren't long term top guys by any stretch but they provide a solid foundation and can help newer/less experienced workers get over. If the company is going to build its own stars, they need people to work with them. I think those guys would be important signings.

Yep, you're right. They're a great foundation, no question.

Some fairly big comments from AJ about TNA ..



He also said he would work for Jarrett's promotion as well.

From Dave Scherer of PWInsider


Whedon just exploded....

So that explains the tables matches every week.

I don't understand why it is assumed that Hemme must be working with the knockouts just because she's a woman. I mean, I'm sure she has input in the Samuel Shaw storyline.

The stuff I've read about Hemme was that she was going to have input in the comestic side of things, like wrestlers ring gear etc.

Problem is that whilst I agree with Kaz should stay, Daniels is 43 years old, he's approaching the end of his career, unless he decides to go Terry Funk/Ric Flair on us.

He can still work. I mean, RVD and Jericho are around that age and come back to WWE every few months to work with midcarders and help them get over. They have experience, credibility and name value. Daniels has that too (though on a lower level of course) so he could still do a job.

They could, but with the way TNA storylines are going at the moment, it'd be very difficult.

I was thinking of him doing that role in Jarrett's promotion tbh. I think he's run his course with TNA. He could still play a role but it doesn't look like they want him to do it.

Daniels is officially a free agent. There's said to be interest from Jarrett

From Wrestling Observer Newsletter


So why are the ratings down?

because vince russo isnt the booker and it looks like they dont have much of a budget for lighting.

I find these reports of TNA ratings from dirtsheets are always carefully phrased to make TNA ratings sound as bad as possible. The 1.42 number the previous week was a big gain, but of course they didn't describe it as such at the time!

TNA viewership is generally between 1.0 - 1.4 million viewers, but it varies a *lot* week to week. I would say a decline to under 1.0 million or rise to over 1.4 million for a month or two would be news. Anything else is just Impact's normal fluctuation.

Absolutely this in a nutshell.

there is no doubting that TNA is terrible right now though.

and thats coming from someone who defended TNA for over a decade now.

It's worse then terrible! ... Haven't watched for 3 weeks now!

(Im a big fan of Bobby Roode & Austin Aries but just couldn't stand it anymore! .... Boring & Bland that sums up TNA IMO)

Agreed, TNA is at a real downpoint right now. I think they're suffering partly because of their own ineptitude, but also because WWE have upped their game recently. Most people don't have the time to commit to watching 5 hours (or more) of wrestling a week. So if it's a choice between RAW and Impact, the decision - at the minute - is an easy one.

WWE has struck gold with Bryan. The Shield and the Wyatts are both hot properties. There's a lot of emerging talent such as Cesaro and the folks coming up from NXT. And there's enough nostalgic throwbacks to keep more casual fans (such as myself) invested.

What does TNA have? A half-hearted power struggle between MVP and Dixie Carter, which is laughable in itself. A guy who is most famous for doing ridiculous things and appearing on Animal Planet as their heavyweight champ, after defeating Magnus whose reign can only be termed a disaster. They've lost Sting, Hogan, Styles, Daniels, Kazarian and others. Aries is in the doghouse and is unlikely to last in the company, and certainly unlikely to get another monster push. Storm, Roode and Bully Ray are as competent as ever but wasted in their current roles. Angle's body is broken and it is clear he is counting down the days to a retirement match at Wrestlemania. Willow was an intriguing idea for Hardy but has been terribly executed. Spud, EC3 and the rest of the 'new blood' are all OK, but there's nobody there you can build a company around. And that is the problem. They have jettisoned nearly all of their most marketable performers, all at the same time as they rebranded their most marketable performer in Jeff Hardy.

The company is in a terminal decline and it is difficult to see if it can be halted. It will require time and another major rebranding, as well as a focused push of new talent. But are the current creative team up to the job? Is Dixie Carter up to the job? Is the talent there? By and large, the answer has to be no.

And before anybody accuses me of being a WWE fanboy, please look at my post history in the TNA and WWE threads. I have defended TNA to the hilt on inumerable occasions, but they are in a terrible state right now and largely indefensible.

Well, you guys are entitled to your own personal view of the product, but I disagree with the idea that "there is no doubting" the product is bad or that liking it is "indefensible". Everybody is entitled to their own opinion.

Personally, I've enjoyed Impact a lot more since Hogan left. Storylines make a lot more sense, matches and main events are (finally!) advertised a week in advance, and there's a greater variety of wrestling styles and angles. For example, you've got some pure X-div with Tigre and Sanada, some hardcore with Gunner / Storm, some soap opera with Anderson / Shaw, and plenty of (actually quite good) comedy with Spud / EC3 / Willow and Bromans. The main event scene has definitely suffered from Magnus / Joe failing to deliver, but is likely to improve with a worker like EY at its centre. The show has rarely been better balanced.

The thing they've lost is star power. Personally I don't care about that, and if it was necessary to cut that adrift to keep the company afloat then so be it.

and bubba ray as a forced heel? hummmmmmmm

From last weeks Observer

Doesn't sound too much like a burial.

I largely agree with what you've said. Those have been the high spots of the show - the X-Division, Gunner/Storm feud and The Wolves/Bro-Mans feud anyway.

But it all means nothing - nothing at all - if your main event scene is in dire straits. And it is. Eric Young is the TNA World Heavyweight Champion, a guy who last year got married in his underpants to ODB and inexplicably was built up over the course of a month tops to be a world title contender. He won the title off Magnus, a guy who up until Hogan heralded him as "the next big thing brother" was just another cog in the wheel, who got an arguably undeserved monster push.

wCw had a good mid-card and great cruiserweight scene up until its dying day. Even the tag-division wasn't bad. But it meant nothing in the grand scheme of things because the main event scene was a total shambles.

Aries, Roode, Storm and Hardy are clearly the top guys to build the company around, and TNA has failed in every regard. Hardy is the logical one due to his massive popularity and the fact he isn't over the hill yet. Roode and Aries both got huge rubs from their program together, and all parties benefited from the extended programs they had with Hardy, but that was over a year ago and the wheels have since fallen off (in regards to Aries though if reports are to be believed he is a total pain to work with). Storm had huge momentum after the BFG match with Roode but, again, it went nowhere, and he has now made an ill-advised heel turn to get Gunner over, which even a forklift truck couldn't manage to do.

The booking of Magnus has been atrocious. When he got the title, he looked like someone who wasn't ready to be champion. Instead of booking him stronger so that he grew into his role, he was booked like someone who didn't deserve to be champion. So why are we meant to buy into him as a main eventer? They should've had him beat AJ, Joe, Hardy and Sting strongly to make him seem like a force. Then have Eric Young fight him and lose barely, maybe with a screwy finish. Then they could build Young as the plucky underdog against the unbeatable heel champ and have a top quality PPV main event storyline. Instead, it was lacklustre the whole way through.

I've seen a few comments about Austin Aries that say he's in the doghouse, or that he's a pain to work with - what's the story here?

He seems to be hugely popular with the audience, he's an incredibly hard worker in the ring, and is certainly one the most watchable wrestlers TNA has. Yet he's been missing for weeks and hasn't been effectively used for ages. Has he upset the management in some way? What's he done?