The "Nobody Watches TNA Wrestling" Wrestling Thread

Status
Not open for further replies.
I loved this show. The opener was a fantastic showcase for Gabriel, and Young wasn't terrible. Thank God Gabriel is paired up with Matt because it gives him an instant fanbase, keeps his matches interesting due to the hot crowd, and makes them more lively. He and Matt have pretty good chemistry together, and I would love to see them become a regular team outside of this show. It'd be a good way to give Gabriel a spot on the main roster and give Matt something somewhat meaningful to do on SD, or at least more meaningful than teaming with Khali in pointless tag matches.

Daniel-san vs. Khali was a fine squash. Miz stacking the deck against him has gone perfectly so far, and Bryan's even getting a pop despite losing AND coming out to Miz's theme. The usage of the Pros's theme for guys has its ups and downs - it certainly gives guys like Slater and Gabriel an instant pop they otherwise wouldn't have, but it clashes terribly for some guys, like Tarver and Sheffield. Although at least for Skip, it works in a comedic way, with Tarver, it just flat out doesn't fit any part of his character or work as comedy.

Tarver-Slater was boring, it was the only match on the show that had zero heat, and the only thing I liked about the match was Cole giving us insight into Tarver's life. Dude lived in his car and worked three jobs to support his five kids - that's quite a bit more compelling than being Mr. 1.9 Seconds, which may explain all those kids.

Sheffield-Barrett was really boring at times, but had heat thanks to Jericho being awesome. The only part of this match in-ring that I liked was Barrett ducking a clothesline on the floor leading to him slamming Sheffield's back into the post. That, and the match ending. Where it truly shined was on commentary, with Cole and Josh bickering back and forth while Jericho complained about them not mentioning Barrett more, putting over the impact a forearm smash by hitting the announce table, and generally being really awesome.

Screens -














Quotes -
Josh - Young is questioning whether he should join the SES.
Cole - WELL HE HAS TO GET ALONG WITH HIS PRO!
Cole - Gabriel in the white trunks, Young in the black trunks.
Josh - That’s it? Nothing about his hair color!?
Cole - Darren Young calls himself MR. NO DAYS OFF - THAT’S HOW SERIOUSLY HE TAKES NXT!
Cole - THE ENTIRE CONTINENT OF AFRICA is proud of Justin Gabriel!
Cole - The pros have more pep in their step tonight - LOOKING TO IMPRESS THEIR ROOKIES!
Josh - YOUNG’S ABOUT TO GO TO SCHOOL…AND HARDY’S ABOUT TO GO TO SLEEP!
(on Khali-Bryan)Cole - I think Miz is teaching Bryan a lesson in RESPECT! GOOD LUCK, DANIEL BRYAN!
Josh - I know why you have such disdain for Bryan - YOU LIVE IN A BUBBLE AND HE HAS 11,000 FOLLOWERS ON TWITTER! That’s more than any other NXT rookie.
Cole - HE MEASURES THINGS IN HIS LIFE WITH HIS MANLINESS METER!
Josh - You should see your rating. It’s low.
Cole - YOU THINK I CARE WHAT HE THINKS ABOUT ME!?
Josh - Well, you follow him on Twitter, so clearly yes.
Cole - Daniel Bryan goes to bed at 8:00.
Josh - So? You go to bed at 8:30!
Cole - AND HE DOESN’T HAVE A TV!
Josh - Not everyone needs a TV, Michael.
Cole - WE’RE ON TV!
Josh - Valiant effort from Daniel Bryan.
Cole - Doesn’t matter.
Cole - He’s 0-4, where’s that on the Daniel Bryan Manliness Meter!?
Otunga - David Otunga’s a busy man. Being from Hollywood makes me a step above everyone else on NXT. I studied for three years at Harvard Law School - HARVARD LAW SCHOOL! Know who else studied at Harvard Law School? THE PRESIDENT! C’mon man, Google Me!
Cole - TARVER HAS A 100 FOOT LONG JUMP! Tarver has five children. He lived in his Ford Explorer for a while.
Josh - That’s a nice SUV.
Cole - He worked two jobs as a substitute teacher and at a warehouse to support his family!
Skip - I just wanna do what you say.
Regal - You keep talking.
Skip - I just wanna learn to listen.
Regal - Yes, but you keep interrupting…
Cole - Barrett said that QUOTE, HE WANTS TO MAKE UP FOR A MISERABLE DEFEAT LAST WEEK!
Cole - Skip’s a unique dude. He got the hat from his dad, the titanium chain from his mom, and he wears the vest because he QUOTE, LIKES IT!
Jericho - YOU CAN FEEL THAT SMACK ON THE BACK HERE! IT SOUNDED LIKE THIS! (hits the announce table)
Jericho - TALK ABOUT BARRETT!
Cole - We are!
Jericho - MORE!
Jericho - BREAK HIM IN HALF!
Josh - Do you know the story of the red rose Barrett has on this week?
Cole - No, I don’t!
Josh - He said it’s the red rose of England - he’s feeling patriotic!
Josh - You’re an expert, Michael.
Cole - Yeah, I didn’t have the one match like you.
Josh - Hey, I’m undefeated on SmackDown!
Cole - Yeah, and you were great on Tough Enough too.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
What show is Christian on?

I'm beginning to think I need to revise my MITB predictions. If Christian hasn't been featured on Raw or SD in the month or so since ECW has gone off the air, there's no way he'll suddenly take MITB in two weeks. McIntyre FTW.

Also, with last night's Impact rating, it's the lowest ratings for TNA since November 2006. :lol:
 
The WWE added a clause in the Wellness Policy about chairshots to the head. They've outright banned them as well as any dangerous strikes to the head, which is kind of pointless considering there's an Elimination Chamber, TLC, and MITB PPV dedicated to beating the crap of your opponent with solid objects.
 
Good lord.

Mysterio challenged Punk to make their match a "Street Fight" at Mania. Punk said Rey would face Gallows first, and he'd get the street fight match if he could beat Gallows. If Rey loses at Mania, he'll have to accept Punk as the "savior". Luckily, Gallows beat Rey - we won't be getting a street fight for that one, which is great because it'd be pointless with both HBK/Taker and Vince/Bret being NoDQ. I'm personally hoping for the rumored Hair vs Mask match.

Related to SD and Rey/Punk for the spoilerphobes.
 
[quote name='JJSP']The WWE added a clause in the Wellness Policy about chairshots to the head. They've outright banned them as well as any dangerous strikes to the head, which is kind of pointless considering there's an Elimination Chamber, TLC, and MITB PPV dedicated to beating the crap of your opponent with solid objects.[/QUOTE]

What falls under dangerous strikes to the head? Sheamus's big boot? Sweet Chin Music? Big Show's KO Punch?
 
WWE quietly added a clause to their "Impact" concussion testing policy to ban chair shots to the head in January, according to WWE spokesman Robert Zimmerman in an email to Hartford Courant reporter Daniela Altimari.
WWE has published an updated .pdf of their "Impact Concussion Management Program" on their Corporate website that includes the following items:
WWE has eliminated using folding metal chairs to "strike" an opponent in the head. The WWE penalizes through fine and/or suspension the following:
- The intentional use of a folding metal chair to "strike" an opponent in the head.
- Any blow to the head that is deemed an INTENTIONAL act
- The Fine and/or Suspension will be directed by the EVP of Talent Relations (John Laurinaitis).

- that's the exact wording taken from the PWTorch.
 
[quote name='JJSP']WWE quietly added a clause to their "Impact" concussion testing policy to ban chair shots to the head in January, according to WWE spokesman Robert Zimmerman in an email to Hartford Courant reporter Daniela Altimari.
WWE has published an updated .pdf of their "Impact Concussion Management Program" on their Corporate website that includes the following items:
WWE has eliminated using folding metal chairs to "strike" an opponent in the head. The WWE penalizes through fine and/or suspension the following:
- The intentional use of a folding metal chair to "strike" an opponent in the head.
- Any blow to the head that is deemed an INTENTIONAL act
- The Fine and/or Suspension will be directed by the EVP of Talent Relations (John Laurinaitis).

- that's the exact wording taken from the PWTorch.[/QUOTE]
I wonder if shots to the head with a title belt be considered intentional? If so then Jericho will be fined for what he did to Edge on Smackdown last Friday. Another one that is going to be interesting is when people push others into the ring post.
 
You know, if McIntyre actually takes MITB, that's the surest sign ever that they've just given up on listening to the fans. I mean, honestly, they'll go ahead and trumpet that they've moved two guys up to the main event scene, and it'll be Sheamus and McIntyre. I haven't seen Smackdown in a while, but does McIntyre even get a reaction now? I still remember seeing him come out and it wasn't even a good or bad reaction... there was just *nothing*. That's, you know, bad.

I don't want to be 'that' fan, but there are a ton of other guys that should've moved up instead of them. Christ, at least Hogan's friends have been career mid-carders for the most part.

Oh, and speaking of pushes, how in the fuck is it even possible that the Hart Dynasty can't even get pushed when BRET HART is around? It's been brought up before, but c'mon.
 
The Hart Dynasty is too busy with Cryme Tyme to get pushed.

From The Smart Marks Forums:

In the past 8 months and 1 week, Cryme Tyme and the Hart Dynasty have had, on TV;
- 9 tag team matches
- 3 six man tag team matches
- 2 intergender six person tag team matches
- 1 three way tag team match
- 1 four way tag team match
- 2 singles matches
Click to expand...

I like both teams, but I've been sick of the feud for a while. And apparently, Undertaker got sick of it too, judging by his actions on this past Friday's Smackdown.
 
Man... I should have trademarked Fatt Hardy. I started using that term at least a year ago. Now, on The Smart Marks Forums, it's not only turned into a regular reference, but there's a whole meme about Hardy loving volcano tacos.
 
[quote name='guyver2077']ok.. so why were the impact ratings so low?

Im sure Steve Austin had something to do with it.[/QUOTE]


Because the internet fans saw the results already and the casual fans saw Impact start off with Nasty Boys/Team 3D and quickly changed the channel.
 
[quote name='guyver2077']ok.. so why were the impact ratings so low?

Im sure Steve Austin had something to do with it.[/QUOTE]

If next week's Impact ratings are the same or lower, are you going to blame Pete Rose, too? ;)
 
Raw had Austin hosting, the Bret/Vince signing, HBK/Jericho, HHH/Orton, and Cena/Show.

Impact had Hardy/Styles.
 
TNA should have waited until after Wrestlemania to move to Monday nights. Every Raw is going to be stacked to help promote the biggest PPV of the year.
 
TNA should have stayed on Thursdays where they were unopposed. Why split the audience if no one was watching your show in the first place?
 
Question for you guys. The wife and I are heading to Vegas for a few days at the end of the month. I was looking at things to do (mostly shows) and saw that there is a WWE taping of Smackdown on March 30th at the Thomas and Mack Center. I have never been to a live wrestling event before.

For those of you that have, can you describe what the environment is like? We've gone to several sports events like NBA and NHL and those were great. I always got the impression that wrestling shows were kind of... how you say... skeezy? So I'm a little hesitant to bring her and have beer and popcorn thrown in her hair and some chode try and grope her in blackouts. Perhaps WWE events are a step above? I'd like to know.

Also, is there a way to find out what actual matches will be scheduled for that day? The WWE page just gives you a generic list of the Smackdown roster and says basically "some of these people might show up".
 
Because competition is better for both companies. It took WWF(E) 2 years to get their shit straight after getting their ass kicked by WCW.
 
[quote name='Eltis']Question for you guys. The wife and I are heading to Vegas for a few days at the end of the month. I was looking at things to do (mostly shows) and saw that there is a WWE taping of Smackdown on March 30th at the Thomas and Mack Center. I have never been to a live wrestling event before.

For those of you that have, can you describe what the environment is like? We've gone to several sports events like NBA and NHL and those were great. I always got the impression that wrestling shows were kind of... how you say... skeezy? So I'm a little hesitant to bring her and have beer and popcorn thrown in her hair and some chode try and grope her in blackouts. Perhaps WWE events are a step above? I'd like to know.

Also, is there a way to find out what actual matches will be scheduled for that day? The WWE page just gives you a generic list of the Smackdown roster and says basically "some of these people might show up".[/QUOTE]



You guys will be fine. There's security out the ass and WWE is the family friendly wrestling company. They probably won't announce the matches because it's a TV taping and it would probably give away storylines.
 
Bahaha...This is, by far and away, one of my favorite titles for a pro wrestling thread.

And a lot of the blame should be shouldered by this person:



And Dixi, too, for not knowing what the hell she's doing but yet still doing it.

P.S. I watched Raw last night. It's a solid show--for a pro wrestling show with little to no wrestling.
 
[quote name='pimpster4183']Because competition is better for both companies. It took WWF(E) 2 years to get their shit straight after getting their ass kicked by WCW.[/QUOTE]

Competition isn't really better for both companies. In the long run, competition is going to be good for one company and bad for the other. Just ask WCW. Or ECW. Or any of the old territories. I'm sure they all would have preferred to exist in a world without competition from the WWF/E.

In the short term, however, competition is good for consumers and the industry as a whole. But it's not intrinsically good. It's good because it has the potential to force the players to create a better product. But at the end of the day, it's not competition that helps the industry - it's the better product.

Not surprisingly, you don't need competition to create a better product. It helps it along, but it's not a necessity. TNA was free to make a shit hot wrestling show on Thursday nights (or any other night than Monday for that matter) and pull higher ratings than RAW. They did not. And the move to Mondays isn't going to magically transform their product.

The main purpose in moving to Monday and restarting the Monday Night War is to steal some of the WWE's audience away (which completely ignores the viewing habits of the public in a DVR era, but I digress...). Any eyes watching TNA on Mondays are not watching WWE - at least, not fulltime. That's how TNA plans on "winning".

If they're a success on Monday, that can help secondary goals like appealing to a wider base of advertisers or appearing to be a legitimate wrestling organization in the eyes of the general public. But you'd be lying to yourself if you thought that they were moving to Mondays in order to help both companies or the business in general.
 
[quote name='Eltis']Question for you guys. The wife and I are heading to Vegas for a few days at the end of the month. I was looking at things to do (mostly shows) and saw that there is a WWE taping of Smackdown on March 30th at the Thomas and Mack Center. I have never been to a live wrestling event before.

For those of you that have, can you describe what the environment is like? We've gone to several sports events like NBA and NHL and those were great. I always got the impression that wrestling shows were kind of... how you say... skeezy? So I'm a little hesitant to bring her and have beer and popcorn thrown in her hair and some chode try and grope her in blackouts. Perhaps WWE events are a step above? I'd like to know.

Also, is there a way to find out what actual matches will be scheduled for that day? The WWE page just gives you a generic list of the Smackdown roster and says basically "some of these people might show up".[/QUOTE]

You'll be fine. These days, it's mostly parents and their kids.

In the Attitude era, you were fine as long as you weren't in the nosebleed section (which would have a fight break out almost every commercial break between matches)
 
[quote name='JJSP']Raw had Austin hosting, the Bret/Vince signing, HBK/Jericho, HHH/Orton, and Cena/Show.

Impact had Hardy/Styles.[/QUOTE]
Hey now, Impact also had Hall/Nash...
 
I keep forgetting to mention this...

I was at Best Buy a few days ago and saw the deluxe version of Rey Mysterio's latest DVD ("Littlest Big Man" I think) on clearance for 12.99. Seems like a fair price even if you have zero interest in the bonus items.

They also had the Spanish version of SvR 2010 for PS3. It caught my eye because it features Rey Mysterio on the cover. I thought it was some sort of BB exclusive until I checked the back and saw that it was all in Spanish. Probably not worth the $60 as a novelty item but I live in a very white area, I'll be looking for it to go on clearance. I wonder if the commentary is by Hugo Savinovich and that other Spanish announcer.
 
Carlos Cabrera, represent.

Actually, I don't know spanish, so I don't know if he's still around.

Eltis, wrestling shows are interesting anymore. Some of the best times I've had in recent years wasn't enjoying myself, but seeing little kids get all excited about seeing their favorite guy from TV, or be in awe of, say, the size of the Undertaker.

The worst times I've had at wrestling shows were when I was sitting around smart marks who would take a dump over the show while it was going on. I get it - I was that major league asshole once, so I'm not throwing stones that are too big. But at this point it's not about the show, for me - I know I'm not really going to dig the wrestling. But when I see people (they don't even have to be kids, they can be the lesser-educated yokels from around the way who think this is all real) just enjoying the hell out of themselves, then I kind dig the atmosphere more.

That all said, I haven't been to a WWE show since 2006 it appears - Cyber Sunday.
 
My lower level tickets for Unforgiven 08 set me back $100 a piece after all the bullshit fees from Ticketmaster. IIRC, nosebleeds were running about $40 while ringside were $200. Being in LA your prices might be higher; I certainly wouldn't expect it to be cheaper than Cleveland.
 
I haven't gone to a PPV since Invasion (in Cleveland!), and they were $40/50/75/100/200. We got $50 seats and wound up on the first balcony of the Gund.

To keep with the idea of competition being good for wrestling, that really only applies if we agree that TNA is competing. Had they built up to a 2.0-2.5 rating first, moving to Monday would be great. They're trying to build a cannon to take down Raw with a slingshot, a Nerf Ball, and Hulk Hogan's gimpy left arm.
 
I think part of TNAs problem, too, is that they're gunning for the wrong demographics. They want to beat WWE, but a large part of WWEs audience is now too young to actually give a shit about Hulk Hogan or any of the older guys.

What TNA is doing is appealing to two groups, smarks/IWC and people who have moved away from wrestling. If the past two weeks have shown anything, it's that those people aren't biting.

Let's be fair... look at the amount of merchandise Cena moves. Think about the people that buy those Cena shirts, who are obviously a huge part of WWEs current fanbase. If they know Hogan, do they care? Do they care about or recognize Hall, Nash, and X-Pac? At least TNA did the smart(ish) thing and put their champion with the old guy that WWEs current fanbase will at least recognize.

They thought Hogan was a magic bullet, and they were wrong. The writing is atrocious, but a show built around Styles, Joe, Hardy, Anderson, Angle, Daniels, Beer Money, and RVD is something I'd watch. Hogan, Bischoff, Foley, Nash, Hall, THE fuckING NASTY BOYS?

No, thanks.

Whether they, or we, like it, wrestling has moved on from the 80's and 90's. To a ton of WWE's current fanbase, the Attitude Era IS 'back in the day'. And we, who watched people like Hogan growing up either don't care, or just think it's sad now.

Sorry, that was a runaway thought train of a post.
 
I went to Unforgiven in 2008 in Cleveland and our seats were only $20 or so and we had a pretty good spot, not even in the top section of the arena. I guess it just depends on demand because it seems like the PPV I went to was quite a bit cheaper than the one JJSP is talking about and it was year's later.
 
[quote name='JJSP']Hmm, anyone know how much PPV tickets usually are? Summerslam's in LA this year.[/QUOTE]

I went to SummerSlam last year at Staples Center and paid $100 for floor seats. I think the first 5 rows were about $250, since you got those collector's chairs. I'd imagine the prices would be the same this year. I'm going with my friend Jed. If you go, we should meet up there.

I watched Impact this morning. Think about this. In 2 consecutive weeks, they have given away the returns of Hogan and Flair, and Hardy vs. Styles. Neither match made them a single cent. Both were on free TV, and they don't charge for tickets to Impact. Brilliant.

On a related note, I really hope we get Aj vs. RVD vs. Hardy in an Ultimate X match for the world title at, say, Sacrifice.
 
[quote name='Matt Young']I watched Impact this morning. Think about this. In 2 consecutive weeks, they have given away the returns of Hogan and Flair, and Hardy vs. Styles. Neither match made them a single cent. Both were on free TV, and they don't charge for tickets to Impact. Brilliant.[/QUOTE]

Not to mention Impact's worst ratings in years.
 
[quote name='Matt Young']On a related note, I really hope we get Aj vs. RVD vs. Hardy in an Ultimate X match for the world title at, say, Sacrifice.[/QUOTE]

Add Pope to that too.
 
TNA also might have bit themselves in the ass with the huge push they're giving the returning Jeff Hardy. With all this court stuff surrounding him it's kind of a big risk to throw him in the main event picture right away with a push when he could end up in jail soon if he's found guilty from the drug charges.

They should have also stayed on Thursday nights and worked on majorly improving their product before jumping the gun to Monday nights so soon. Even with their show on Monday, they were getting 1.0 and above ratings for the Thursday night replay which pretty much proves that a potential half of their audience would rather watch RAW and stick with TNA on Thursdays. The replays have now stopped playing though in hopes to get that audience on to watch Monday, which of course didn't happen given their rating for this week.

So yea, I'm not hating on TNA or anything. I enjoy the product, and I even enjoy seeing some of the older guys like Hall and Pac back. Anyone seen Hall's Youtube show "Last Call with Scott Hall"? Guy's hilarious! And hate on the Nasty Boys all you want, but Jimmy Hart is still great. :razz: But yea, when forced to choose between iMPACT or RAW, I would definitely have to go with RAW right now. However I do believe that if Bischoff joined without Hogan it would have ended up being entirely different than what it is now, for the better. Bischoff's great and can do loads of good, but whenever Hogan is mixed in with him things just don't go too well.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']
But when I see people (they don't even have to be kids, they can be the lesser-educated yokels from around the way who think this is all real) just enjoying the hell out of themselves, then I kind dig the atmosphere more.
[/QUOTE]

This is one of the reasons I love going to a local indy show. Just as fun watching the audience as much as the matches.
 
To add to the rumored Randy Savage blacklisting...

There was some disappointment from the Poffo family as Randy Savage contacted both WWE and TNA about sending some kind of message to be read at his father Angelo Poffo's funeral. TNA worked with him while WWE ignored the message.
Click to expand...
 
I never realized until I just read his Wikipedia page that Skip Sheffield is former Tough Enough contestant Ryan Reeves.

Also, I realized earlier that every single champion in WWE is a heel. Not that I'm complaining, since I generally like the heels more and think heels make better champions, but this is the first time I can remember all the belts being held by wrestlers of the same alignment.
 
[quote name='JJSP']Add Pope to that too.[/QUOTE]

Pope already has a title shot next month so that wouldn't work. Probably somebody that's never been in an Ultimate X like Wolfe.
 
[quote name='Matt Young']I never realized until I just read his Wikipedia page that Skip Sheffield is former Tough Enough contestant Ryan Reeves.[/QUOTE]

Did he have the nickname "silverback" way back then? I thought dude looked familiar.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']Did he have the nickname "silverback" way back then? I thought dude looked familiar.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, he called himself that. I'm a bit surprised you guys didn't recognize him.

After he was released from his WWE contract, he won the OVW title as the Ryback character.
 
Thank you Pimp, Sporadic, and Myke. I told my wife about it last night and she seemed passively interested. I'm not terribly excited myself since I really don't follow Smackdown, but I would like to go to a show just to see what it's like live while stuffing my face with cheese-drenched nachos.

Regarding watching people enjoy the hell out of themslves... I concur. An old "smart" mark like myself can only envy the purity in that.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
bread's done
Back
Top