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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2013 9:32:37 GMT -5
Get rid of Hogans, Eric's son and Sting. That would make the show at least tolerable for starters. Trim down the roster even more.
Re-introduce the 6-sided ring. That was a huge part of TNA's appeal back in the day.
Actually try to push guys that are younger than 40. And please make sure that when anyone TNA related talks about the company, that *AJ Styles* (insert similar guys) isn't mentioned as the future of TNA. He's been there for 10 years and is over 35 already.
Find a way to attract some bigger indy names instead of having WWE snatch them and put in NXT while TNA is bringing in Jesse from Big Brother.
Less Bellator cross promoting their fighters who aren't gonna wrestle in TNA on a semi-regular basis (or ever). No one cares about a guy that will be a special ref or an enforcer without real in-ring activity. None of these guys is Mike Tyson or Floyd Mayweather to at least attract fans with their name value.
Stop the huge secret revelations so often. TNA is unable to live up to the hype 9 of 10 times once we find out what or who the big secret is.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2013 9:35:27 GMT -5
A lot of good ideas -I'll second a new announce team.
These guys have no clue how to BUILD drama and tension in a match. Non-stop yelling doesn't mean excitement, it means they think we can't hear them.
The announcers are new viewers entry way into the product and it is important they don't mess it up by falling coming off inauthentic and cheesy - which they do right now.
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kidglov3s
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
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Post by kidglov3s on Aug 5, 2013 9:39:44 GMT -5
--Get rid of the BFG Series. I was all for it when it first started but after seeing 3 of these series I am done with it. Just go back to having a #1 contender match a couple of months before the PPV. There really aren't 12 serious contenders anyway, more like 3-4. I say if you're not going to get rid of the BFG series simplify it to a single or double elimination tournament that plays out over no more than a month. It's unnecessarily complicated and locks up the title scene for too long. I'm all for a new announce team (maybe Borash and Jarrett?) but please keep Striker away from any wrestling show I might be at risk for watching. I think the Bellator synergy could be a positive, but there's a way to use these guys and its not as anchors in the major angle or big surprises.
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EyeofTyr
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Post by EyeofTyr on Aug 5, 2013 10:28:06 GMT -5
Gradually whittle down the roster. Not these random and abrupt departures.
You know why mid-90's WWF was looked at the way it was? Because of all of it's top talent jumping ship before they could elevate other guys and bring them up to their level. Just because you push somebody doesn't make them instantly a credible top tier talent. Just because all of the top level is gone doesn't mean guys automatically move up or the level below them somehow become that top talent.
It's basically the same issue WWE is suffering through and has been.
I'd take about a year with it, having the older talent or the more useless talent putting over the other guys. And, I don't mean getting squashed by them either. I mean the other talent besting these guys in an exciting storyline & legitimate contests.
I'd force myself to only bring in five people tops that year, save for freak occurrences, and plan to remove two people at least for every one person hired onto the roster. Forcing me both to avoid making this year pointless in terms of getting rid of the bloated roster and to actually, you know, use the guys.
Vaguely similar to the idea WWE's had for a while, but hasn't been great at executing, I'd treat it like a TV show in terms of the roster. There would be a core cast that would always be featured on the show, namely the top talent and a few guys on the rise. With a select few of them in matches, ideally keeping matches with them in it fresh for fans & give them a reason to buy PPVs, and the rest in some kind of segment to keep their faces present, rotating this group each show so guys get some time off but familiar faces are formed for the audience.
Then I'd have a lower tier group that's essentially playing the same role to a lesser extent, the "side cast". They'd rotate out a lot more, more sparingly have their own storylines, usually involved in some minor way with the main cast's storylines. And, it would be a bigger pool of guys than the main cast above them. Primarily featuring the guys from this group that I feel have potential and could start their climb up into the main cast.
Below them would be the "extras". Their role on the show is rather superficial, usually there to be a partner to somebody or the one to eat falls for the other guys, or bodies for segments. They'd rotate out more, making the majority of them not all that important and faceless. With only one or two at a time reappearing more often if I feel they have potential to move up from this role to start to draw attention to them.
I'd divide up the casts too, putting a few main cast members in each division to keep them all relevant. And, treat the other titles less like lower tier titles and more like different divisions in a legitimate sport. Put over that just because you're a World Champion, it doesn't mean you can beat the World Tag Team Champions in a tag match with some joe shmoe you just met. Put over that the Knockouts Champion is just as capable in the ring as the World Champion, she's just the top of her gender specific division. Emphasize how the X-Division has no rules and how the people in that division can do things that the World Champion might not be able to do, treating it almost like how Japan treats the Heavyweight & Junior Heavyweight divisions.
From there, I'd do basic story telling, nothing too crazy or filled with twists or mysteries. Stuff you'd see from FCW or NXT or the Rock 'n' Wrestling Era. Modernizing would be needed, in some cases, but classic arcs that the audience could get behind. Clearly defining roles so that the audience gets to know the main cast & the side cast better, understand their motives, their mindsets, their feelings. So, that when I do eventually do a twist or a swerve, while it might surprise them, it makes perfectly logical sense from a character progression standpoint. None of them turning on a dime thing or sneeze & you've got the next, big monster stable.
I would bury TNA in kayfabe. In the sense that I would have the roster treat this like a TV drama and not insult the audience's intelligence with all of this worked shoot crap. No more "shooting on people". And, while acknowledging there are other companies out there, no more mentioning the WWE or anyone affiliated with it by name. It's free advertizement for the competition, the fans shouldn't care about it, they should be caring about us, we should be treating ourselves as the premier wrestling company, so that they will too. Probably goes without saying already, but no more of this insider lingo crap either.
As for all of their other woes...I don't even know where to begin. But the chopping block would definitely see a lot of the backstage staff going to it, uprooting all of the venomous and political bullshit going on back there. Focusing on trying to put over we need people with professionalism about the job and that aren't going to be petty. Taking time to focus our bottomless purse on worth while causes, like getting health insurance for the main cast & the side character cast. Drug testing to put an end to all of the crap that's going on backstage, steroids, growth hormones, pills, and any hardcore recreational drug use.
Oh, and get a new announce team. One that looks the part of, and would call it more like, a sport. While getting them to emphasize the plot points going on in the matches they're calling and turning off their mics during segments.
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SOR
Unicron
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Post by SOR on Aug 5, 2013 10:34:35 GMT -5
Actually try to push guys that are younger than 40. Age: 31
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ratetankmark
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Post by ratetankmark on Aug 5, 2013 10:41:58 GMT -5
Actually try to push guys that are younger than 40. Age: 31 He's still younger than 40.
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EyeofTyr
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Post by EyeofTyr on Aug 5, 2013 10:43:28 GMT -5
That's his point.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2013 11:05:21 GMT -5
Actually try to push guys that are younger than 40. Age: 31 see ya in a month when he loses the belt and is back fighting Zema Ion and Trent Barreta in threeways
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Ben Wyatt
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Post by Ben Wyatt on Aug 5, 2013 11:28:09 GMT -5
Instead of a list of things, Ill just go with the main one;
TNA needs to focus on being an alternative to WWE. Not become WWE-lite. Don't book striaght out of 1999 WCW. Be something different. They had an awesome X-division/KO Division. They had the 6 sided ring, which was something totally unique. They have to stop trying to competee with the WWE and just focus on soldifying their niche
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Banecat
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Post by Banecat on Aug 5, 2013 11:44:51 GMT -5
Bring back The Beautiful People. This was the best stable in the past decade (with Lay-Cool and Fourtune in close seconds) hands down. TBP should have been the ones taking over TNA not Immortal, A&8s or whatever.
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EyeofTyr
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Post by EyeofTyr on Aug 5, 2013 11:53:08 GMT -5
Bring back The Beautiful People. This was the best stable in the past decade (with Lay-Cool and Fourtune in close seconds) hands down. TBP should have been the ones taking over TNA not Immortal, A&8s or whatever.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2013 11:57:20 GMT -5
Bring back The Beautiful People. This was the best stable in the past decade (with Lay-Cool and Fourtune in close seconds) hands down. TBP should have been the ones taking over TNA not Immortal, A&8s or whatever. Yeah... LayCool wasn't a stable, they were a tag team.
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kidglov3s
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
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Post by kidglov3s on Aug 5, 2013 12:10:56 GMT -5
Yeah... LayCool wasn't a stable, they were a tag team. They were a dynasty, an empire, but like Icarus they flew too close to the sun.
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Post by Andrew is Good on Aug 5, 2013 12:17:19 GMT -5
1. I'm actually fine with some of the MMA guys. I understand what Spike is doing, and I'm ok with it. So, I would bring in a guy like Josh Barnett, somebody who is a professional wrestler and a fighter. Or I would at least try to convince Spike and Bellator that it was a good idea. I would try to find fighters who were also pro wrestlers and use them. I could have a bit of leverage with Bellator, simply because TNA is the biggest vehicle to help promote the show, and having a guy like Josh Barnett, who can both wrestle and fight, I'd have him in squash matches and basically do a gimmick similar to that of Kazushi Sakuraba and Katsuyori Shibata from New Japan, basically doing the MMA gimmick as a professional wrestler. I'd also resign Kid Kash and Ivelisse Valez and try to convince Bellator to use them, and start up having women in their company, as it's been gang busters for UFC. Ivelisse trains in MMA, and maybe she could at least start a career.
Use your resources. Spike maybe more apt to put some money into the company if you show them you'll play ball, while also getting some positive aspects of this deal to help yourself out.
2. I was thinking of changing up when the X-Division title would be cashed in, but then one needs to figure out who would be a title contender when everyone is fighting for the BFG main event against the Champion. So maybe instead, I would try and have a best of the super juniors style tournament around January or February, simply so I can have each time of the year mean something, and make sure something is always going on. This way, I could try to bring in some top guys from the indies and focus a pay per view based on indy dream matches. The reason is because only the hardcore base buys pay per views anymore, so this might be a great idea to help with pay per view buys by having indy style dream matches by having one night shots for certain guys, who might be used down the road as well.
3. Steal an idea from Court Bauer is next on the list. The idea of having seasons of Impact Wrestling in certain cities. I would try and find a spot where I could tape Impact every week, and have that as the home base for 6 months to a year. Chicago for 6 months, Las Vegas for 6 months, Nashville for 6 months, and really build up a little territory and something to happen during this time period.
4. People want to break up Aces and 8s, and honestly, it's a good idea. The storyline has been shit. So, I'd swerve people and have Aces and 8s disband but maybe keep Bully Ray in title contention and maybe he wins the belt back before Bound for Glory. Bully Ray is still a strong talent, and he doesn't need Aces and 8s and is simply held back by them.
5. Hiring guys isn't a good idea at the moment, but I would like to do a trade in for some talent. Release and hire. So, Velvet Sky is gone, and Cheerleader Melissa is brought in. Knux is gone and Cedric Alexander is brought in. Rob Terry is gone and Brian Cage is brought in. Chavo Guerrero is gone and Colt Cabana is brought in.
6. A marketing campaign poking fun at TNA's past. It would have three types of videos. TNA past, TNA classic, and TNA now. TNA past would show stuff like, the Lockbox deal, Black Reign and Misty, all that nonsense. I'd have one episode where Joe is almost attacked and kidnapped by ninjas, but Joe murders them all. For TNA classic, I would show the great moments in TNA history, and TNA now, showing the hot stars of today.
7. Try to work with international companies and get on their good side. Yujiro is awesome with his porn star girlfriend, and Okada is the biggest star in Japan right now, selling out the Tokyo Dome. They had gold before. I would ask to get an up and coming guy from Japan and try to put him over, and try to get the rub from New Japan, to expand TNA"s brand awareness in Japan at least. Maybe a guy like Kushida I could bring in and put him over huge.
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Square
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Post by Square on Aug 5, 2013 12:31:54 GMT -5
The major thing you need to do is to stem the bleeding and the major cost at the moment is the 1.2 million a month on touring so here is what I would do with that.
1. Stop trying to be WWE v2.0, they have got an amazing system in place after years of work you can not copy it overnight 2. Lose the stage, yes it looks big and impressive but they arn't needed. Look at UFC's entrances for example 3. If you can only attract a few thousand people for tapings then run 2-4 thousand places MAX, do not go for big places at all. Its better to have a turn away crowd of 2000 then a papered crowd of 5000 in a massive arena. Go to places like the Hammerstien or to Vegas, go instead of the spectactle of arena but for the unique and cool looking buildings to give each show its own unique flavour. 4. Get rid off house shows until you are in a position to run them at a profit. Why lose money to put on a show for 200 people? 5. Promote more in other nations, you will never beat the WWE in the US or Canada but you can become the number 1 promotion in Spain and Portugal for example. Run a house tour in those nations and rake in the cash
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Post by kamero00 on Aug 5, 2013 12:45:01 GMT -5
Have Brooke Hogan be the first to FINALLY slam the legendary Chavo Guerrero.
It has nothing to do with the talent(generally) it's more of a booking fail. Fire everyone and start fresh. To think if they actually hired Paul Heyman, they would more than likely have CM Punk right now.
Right now the powers that be seem to be more obsessed with stable feuds and hiring former MMA fighters
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2013 13:42:46 GMT -5
1. Make the KO division seem like legitimate competition again. Basically build it like a real sport while retaining the sex appeal that the women have. Women's tennis and gymnastics all draw as all as if not better than the men's version of those sports and the UFC has women main event some shows and a big reason is that the women are attractive but they're also competitive, athletic and highly skilled. There would even be a spot for someone completely terrible like Velvet Sky, just have her manipulate some low card guy to be her bodyguard and run interference for her letting her get fluke victories and she would probably get pretty good heel heat. I seriously believe that if the WWE or TNA pushed the women as legit wrestlers it would get over and be a decent draw. This year we've had some really good KOs/Divas matches and I think that they should build that further.
2. The X-Division should be reworked so that it is a fun athletic way to kick off the show and get the crowd into it with some high flying and spotcentric matches. If they still have the deal with AAA bring in some of their guys every so often. I'd drop the X Titleholder as #1 contender thing as well, there doesn't seem to be much of a point to it IMO.
3. Storylines. Guys need something to do other than going after titles, or getting sucked into a stable war, or wrestling in the BFG series. Take Jay Bradley for instance, what is his motivation? Does he care that he never wins? etc. If people understood his character and he had something identifiable about him maybe they would care more about him and his matches. That is hardly limited to Bradley though.
4. I'm not a big fan of having most of the older guys around but if they have to be then use them for something entertaining. Hogan leading an Expendables type stable against some upper mid-carders would probably be fun. Definitely not the focus of a lot of time or of the show or anything but it could be decently entertaining if done correctly.
5. If Hogan is still a big deal in Europe and Japan send him over to do some promo work and try to spread the word about TNA and possibly get a TV deal or at least be able to run events in those markets.
6. Figure out who the anchor of the company is and push him accordingly. I think that's a big reason why the WWE is so successful, you always know who the face of the company is. Hogan, Austin, and Cena whether you like them or not were the face of the company and were pushed as such. You let them look just weak enough to sell the angle or match and then let them run wild.
7. Guys need gimmicks/hooks. I don't care if a guy is a really good wrestler, if that's all he has going for him 9/10 I'm not going to care.
8. New announcers. I wouldn't even care if they sent Eric Bischoff out there to be the lead announcer at this point Tenay and Taz are awful.
9. Better themes as well. Serg sucks ass at wrestling themes.
Just some thoughts.
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Post by HMARK Center on Aug 5, 2013 13:54:17 GMT -5
I keep seeing "stop trying to be WWE 2.0", but for all the issues TNA might have, I really don't think being just like WWE is one of them...mainly because I find them to be very distinct wrestling promotions.
Maybe that trend was in place when it felt like TNA was bringing in anybody who had achieved even a slight modicum of fame in the WWF/WWE, but those days are really fading.
I think the big thing they need to do is continue to prioritize what the focus of the show will be, and thus how big the roster needs to be to accommodate that. Does TNA really want to have a strong X Division and Knockouts Division? Does it want to put most of its eggs into the World Title basket? Don't half-ass these things, come down definitively on them, and go from there.
Also, agreed on the notion of doing more to make situations/matches feel like bigger deals. I find Wrestlemania to routinely be an underwhelming show (I'm just not a WWE fan) most of the time when I see it, but where nobody can ever fault WWE is in overall presentation, and making things like entrances feel huge, kind of like in boxing. I realize WWE has the cache to play to larger venues and pay for better effects and what have you, but TNA is fully capable of building "big fight" feels, they just fall short of it too often because they seem to, once again, "halfway" things.
Take AJ Styles' new entrance as an example: it's intentionally slower paced and meant to evoke AJ's current character, which is great. However, when AJ walks out you still feel like the camera is doing the same old Impact technique of going all over the place and not really establishing a sense of mood or pace. If they did more to really get across what the effect of the entrance is supposed to be, it would say more to the TV audience.
I understand that part of it is rushing some stuff due to not having much weekly TV time, but it's better in the long haul; us fans are suckers for things like dramatic entrances, well shot angles, pacing, etc., even if we don't realize it. Hell, I'd argue that Triple H's entrance is a huge reason why he's remained popular.
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The Ichi
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Post by The Ichi on Aug 5, 2013 13:59:17 GMT -5
Instead of a list of things, Ill just go with the main one; TNA needs to focus on being an alternative to WWE. Not become WWE-lite. Don't book striaght out of 1999 WCW. Be something different. They had an awesome X-division/KO Division. They had the 6 sided ring, which was something totally unique. They have to stop trying to competee with the WWE and just focus on soldifying their niche I really think this was where TNA first started going seriously wrong. TNA used to win over people who wanted something different from WWE. Yes, some of their alternatives were stupid, but at they least they had alternatives. Nowadays they're basically Mr. Bean in that episode where he's trying to copy some other dudes exam paper.
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SOR
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Post by SOR on Aug 5, 2013 15:19:11 GMT -5
I keep seeing "stop trying to be WWE 2.0", but for all the issues TNA might have, I really don't think being just like WWE is one of them...mainly because I find them to be very distinct wrestling promotions. Maybe that trend was in place when it felt like TNA was bringing in anybody who had achieved even a slight modicum of fame in the WWF/WWE, but those days are really fading. Out of their roster of 40-50 performers they only have I believe 15 ex WWE performers leaving the majority to be talent they've built from the indies or "TNA guys" so yes, The stigma of them being "WWE lite" should be fading.
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