TNA needs to fully embrace a "New Generation" era

[HMARK Center]

Ok; the roster seems to be losing talent with amazing regularity, the shows are largely back in the (new) Impact Zone, and numerous TNA regulars have apparently hit the road thanks to the Budget Cutter.

On the bright side, there's a few newer faces around that have done decently or are at least providing some decent TV; the American Wolves, Sanada, Tigre Uno, EC3, etc.

There's no hiding the fact that TNA regularly blew chances to fully, once and for all, declare a "new generation" era; while guys like Styles, Joe, Daniels, Roode, and others are usually looked at at long time "faces of TNA", the company always seemed to find a way to derail them from being THE focal points of the show. While they've managed to do a solid job with guys like Roode in recent years, most of us probably still look back on most of the other guys and think about them being derailed in feuds against "more established" guys like Angle, Jarrett, Christian, whomever (even Bobby-friggin'-Lashley). Sure, AJ and Joe were grand slam champions and were never truly "buried" in a meaningful way, but again, the trigger was never pulled in as timely a manner as it could've been.

So here we are: it's 12 years into the company's life, and Styles, Daniels, Kaz, and other long time featured faces are gone. Hulk Hogan and a lot of his crew are gone, too. As said before, the Budget Cutter has gone to work, and TNA's in a weird, nebulous place. The guys who have stuck around, like Joe, Roode, and EY, are in "wrestling middle age" and aren't getting younger.

I think the only real answer is to finally, once and for all, do something WWF at least attempted to do at one point: actually embrace the idea of a "New Generation" era.

Scour the indies; look around internationally; check who WWE's cutting and figure out who has some upside and could simply use a change of scenery (e.g. EC3 looks like a winner from this category). Go ahead and trim the fat around the roster, and do like a rebuilding sports teams and bring in lower cost, younger options who'll bring enthusiasm for making it to international TV.

You want to keep a few veterans around, use them to sell house show tickets, even keep a handful of them in the World Title scene? Go ahead! But if somebody has no real upside to bring you more business, maybe it's time to cut ties and use the saved money to add a couple of prospects.

This really just came to me because it hit me so hard to realize that I remember all the angles talking about guys like AJ being "the future of this company"...and so many of those guys are around 35 years old now. TNA really needs to avoid doing something like that again, and now they seem to have financial reasons to invest for the future.

Plus, you'd have the added benefit of default adding to the non-World Title divisions, I would think/hope.

[Just call me D.j.m.]

This is a great idea, but TNA has shown time and time again that they just can't help themselves.

TNA has shown themselves to be terrified of any kind of youth movement, because heaven forbid, the rating might go from a 1.1 to a 0.9 for a month. DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

TNA has always and seemingly will always go for the ex-WWE/WCW/ECW name. They've wasted the prime years of the talents that their fanbase WANTED them to establish as the top stars.

They've squandered the X-Division, the Knockouts, and all of their hardcore elements in favor of being as homogenized as they can allow themselves to be because...reasons?

And now, they're a company with a smaller budget and even less goodwill than ever.

Is it really that far off to say TNA is floating hopelessly?

[king1836]

TNA already has a new generation :

Gunner

Kenny King

Samuel Shaw

EC3

Rockstar Spud

[A Platypus Rave]

The problem with scouring the indy's and taking WWE cast offs that might have upside is if they can afford to pay them (gah?!). I'm not going to state outright I know their budget, but with some of the cuts they may make more money doing random indies than TNA.

But yeah they definitely need to embrace the future now... before all of their former big names get cut.

[HMARK Center]

Apr 21, 2014 13:25:32 GMT -5 Just call me D.j.m. said:

This is a great idea, but TNA has shown time and time again that they just can't help themselves.

TNA has shown themselves to be terrified of any kind of youth movement, because heaven forbid, the rating might go from a 1.1 to a 0.9 for a month. DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

TNA has always and seemingly will always go for the ex-WWE/WCW/ECW name. They've wasted the prime years of the talents that their fanbase WANTED them to establish as the top stars.

They've squandered the X-Division, the Knockouts, and all of their hardcore elements in favor of being as homogenized as they can allow themselves to be because...reasons?

And now, they're a company with a smaller budget and even less goodwill than ever.

Is it really that far off to say TNA is floating hopelessly?

I wouldn't necessarily go that far, but it IS true that the company is lacking in a solid identity right now, and that's part of why I want them to go "next gen"; again, more options on the roster makes filling up the various divisions much simpler. Hell, combine that with doing something like bringing certain guys in for short bursts of time, like maybe a couple of international wrestlers being featured for a few months at a time, and the roster remains fresher.

The potential good news that could make this happen is that there are fewer and fewer ex WWE/WCW/ECW guys available to bring in anymore. We're over a decade removed from WCW and ECW being, um, things at all, and WWE is in a new phase with a new developmental system. It's a new landscape, and TNA essentially has no choice but to recognize it...not that they necessarily WILL, but they have to. Again, bringing in guys like, say, EC3 and Knux hopefully indicates that they've gotten the message; those are guys who got a shot in WWE, but very few people associate with the WWE given how short their stints were. It's easy to remake them in TNA and make them "TNA guys". ...Granted, they had a chance to do that with guys like Pope Dinero before and totally screwed it up, though I wonder how much of that had to do with the constantly changing creative teams immediately before, during, and right after the Hogan years.

As for TNA "already having a new generation", that's not really my point; you're right that there ARE new guys being highlighted on the show, but my point is that they need to go further, and take a holistic, bottom-to-top approach in roster building. Recognize that your ratings are likely going to stay in the .9-1.2 range no matter what, bite the bullet, and take a proactive step toward freshening up all aspects of your product.

[Reflecto]

The big problem with making a "New Generation" era is- as you said, TNA's burned people with that so many times by not going the extra mile with their homegrowns that you have to earn people's trust that it will be a new generation outright. It's not just that people like AJ Styles weren't made THE focal point of the show, as much as "AJ Styles was in TNA since its inception, and his gimmick was always, through 12 years and multiple Grand Slams/Triple Crowns, 'AJ Styles is the future of TNA'- but he just never got the leap of faith to be the PRESENT of TNA."

Then, you have points like the American Wolves revitalizing the tag ranks- they're doing well, but they're examples of the same problem: TNA can't get the really sexy choices for indy standouts unless that standout knows there's absolutely no chance of getting a WWE deal (and with how WWE is getting more indy names, they'd have no reason to take the low-money that TNA can offer (especially since ROH's syndication show can usually draw comparable ratings to TNA in some markets, and can pay equally as well.) This is the same for WWE- since they stopped firing people outright and are fine-tuning their roster, it's far harder for WWE to really drop the ball on a roster talent as they walk away in such a blatant way that TNA can pick them up without problem with EC3 (and even if WWE does, it's hit or miss- witness, for example, Trent Barreta becoming a relative indy standout outside WWE, and then being...just there, in his TNA appearances.)

As a result, you've got a very hard problem to get new talent to make a difference: The indy talent has to have no chance at a WWE deal AND to have napalmed all their bridges with ROH for TNA to have a chance, and the WWE talent has to have been seen as having real potential, yet still had WWE let them walk away (which is far rarer now than it was)...which is going to take away most of the "sexy" choices. This makes it worse, since the only way to get a new generation is to go all out with it and make it CLEAR "there's a new generation coming" (and might be as high as an EWR-level move of, say, "Kevin Steen shows up and wins the TNA World Title in his debut match" level of "new generation coming" move.)

[HMARK Center]

Apr 21, 2014 14:07:40 GMT -5 Reflecto said:

The big problem with making a "New Generation" era is- as you said, TNA's burned people with that so many times by not going the extra mile with their homegrowns that you have to earn people's trust that it will be a new generation outright. It's not just that people like AJ Styles weren't made THE focal point of the show, as much as "AJ Styles was in TNA since its inception, and his gimmick was always, through 12 years and multiple Grand Slams/Triple Crowns, 'AJ Styles is the future of TNA'- but he just never got the leap of faith to be the PRESENT of TNA."

Then, you have points like the American Wolves revitalizing the tag ranks- they're doing well, but they're examples of the same problem: TNA can't get the really sexy choices for indy standouts unless that standout knows there's absolutely no chance of getting a WWE deal (and with how WWE is getting more indy names, they'd have no reason to take the low-money that TNA can offer (especially since ROH's syndication show can usually draw comparable ratings to TNA in some markets, and can pay equally as well.) This is the same for WWE- since they stopped firing people outright and are fine-tuning their roster, it's far harder for WWE to really drop the ball on a roster talent as they walk away in such a blatant way that TNA can pick them up without problem with EC3 (and even if WWE does, it's hit or miss- witness, for example, Trent Barreta becoming a relative indy standout outside WWE, and then being...just there, in his TNA appearances.)

As a result, you've got a very hard problem to get new talent to make a difference: The indy talent has to have no chance at a WWE deal AND to have napalmed all their bridges with ROH for TNA to have a chance, and the WWE talent has to have been seen as having real potential, yet still had WWE let them walk away (which is far rarer now than it was)...which is going to take away most of the "sexy" choices. This makes it worse, since the only way to get a new generation is to go all out with it and make it CLEAR "there's a new generation coming" (and might be as high as an EWR-level move of, say, "Kevin Steen shows up and wins the TNA World Title in his debut match" level of "new generation coming" move.)

On your first point, I completely agree - but I think the benefit of going full on "New Generation" means that that fear is lessened. You wouldn't have those old WWE castoffs around keeping whoever the "new AJ Styles" is away from being THE man, because you've gone further in embracing the idea of making a new identity. People have definitely been burned before, so make them more accepting of your product by mostly removing the guys on the roster who would create that fear of getting too close.

As for the second - I certainly wouldn't say the Wolves have "revitalized" the tag ranks, given how few tag teams TNA currently promotes. However, the big thing here is that the Wolves didn't make it into WWE, but they are still a very solid signing for TNA, no matter what some fans might think of their style (insert superplex no-sell gif here), and TNA did the actual smart thing and signed them up when it became clear they weren't going to be signing with WWE.

WWE isn't going to sign everybody out there; there's already been stories out there of WWE bringing exciting indy names in to Florida to try out, and it's not like all of them have been handed contracts. Does that mean you may well be stuck with "less sexy" names? Sure; however, it's a wrestling company's job to promote these guys as equally good/better. Doesn't mean they necessarily are, but it's the beauty of being in a worked industry. Plus, not everybody WWE signs to Florida or uses on NXT will crack the main roster; TNA would do well to keep tabs on those guys, see who has something to offer, and if somebody just doesn't click in WWE they can offer an alternative for them if it doesn't work out. It doesn't mean mass signings, but a few well-thought out ones would make a world of difference.

I'm also not sure I'd cite Trent Baretta; apparently he's working a TNA "One Night Only" PPV soon; I'd wager he's simply doing well on his own at this stage, may not be looking to tie himself down with one company.

As for your last point...you're not wrong, but let's not get crazy here. Wrestlers aren't marks; seeing a guy like Steen coming in and winning immediately wouldn't be a sure fire sign of a "new generation" any more than a guy like Steen coming in and having to work his way up would be a sign of "being stuck in the past" for TNA. In this situation, it'd be on TNA to present itself to the talent out there and make it clear "hey guys, we're in a new era, and there are opportunities here, and you'll likely be on TV a lot quicker than if you go to FCW". Yes, they certainly would have to demonstrate it on TV to make the point clear, but it wouldn't take one single moment, it'd take a prolonged, thorough booking philosophy that removes all doubts. These guys are businessmen at the end of the day, and one big show of "look, we're different now!" won't be what shifts things.

[________ has left the building]

What TNA needs is a much improved scouting and development system. There are tons of diamonds in the rough out there for them to hire. TNA needs to do a much better job locating them. When TNA was doing the in person Gut Check, they had the opportunity to see undiscovered talent up close and personal but rarely hired anyone outside of Gunner, Crimson, and Sirelda(Remember her?). A number of whom were more than willing to work in TNA like Sugar Dunkerton and Lufisto got turned down and were never spoken to since. The online Gut Check was a disaster due to people rigging the voting, people dropping out because used their real names being used, and tons of technical issues. The tv Gutcheck was more about being an American Idol knockoff than actually bringing in the right people in for actual shots at a contract. And except for Samuel Shaw, all of those who did win have been fired. People like Adam Pearce and Ivelisse Valez got passed over. Valez did come back for some ppv gigs but it never turned into an actual job. The British Boot Camp focused more on having a tv show than searching for the best talent in the UK. You can't tell me the best talent there are Spud, The Blossom Twins, and Marty Scrull. TNA passed over talent, misused those who got the nod, and fired them. Which scares off talent.

TNA has a problem with developing their talent. They had a working arrangement with OVW and proceed to screw that up. All the Gut Check and rarely used talent got sent to OVW for training. Crimson actually improved as a talent there and is fired because management didn't like him because he was a Double J hire. Lei'D Tapa went there green, stayed green, and got brought up green. Rob Terry was Rob Terry, nothing was going to change that. Jay Bradley showed promise and earned a ticket out. But he got slotted into the jobber role for last year's BFG and eventually earned his pink slip. Alex Silva disappeared which was for the bes since he was reckless(in the bad way)in the ring. Taeler Hendrix got told she was fat and quit when the checks from TNA were late. TNA never really looked at the talent already in OVW for consideration for jobs. Guys like Jamin Olivencia, who is very underrated as a wrestler, campaigned for matches against TNA talent like Angle but nothing came to be. Basically TNA didn't want OVW but Bruce Pritchard did. Once Bruce was gone, TNA stopped caring until they finally broke off their deal with them. And the younger people on the main roster aren't exactly learning either. Magnus lacked babyface fire and was average as a wrestler. He's not a ring general so he can't lead someone through a match. Making him a heel didn't help his cause because the heel sets the pace and match. Whoever are the agents are not doing their jobs helping talent develop.

And then there is the problem of getting top level indy talent. Years ago, if you were an undersized wrestler; TNA was the place to go for national exposure. TNA had a who's who of the hottest indy talent of that day working on their ppvs and Impact. Even if the pay wasn't that good, being on tv and ppv made up for it. But once technology advanced and the ways to watch wrestling changed, so did the need to work for TNA. It also didn't help that WWE overhauled their hiring practices and are hiring the smaller yet talented wrestlers. So having the goal to go to WWE became realistic. It's hard to convince someone who is making a decent living in the indies to get that up for less money but working national tv. WWE is able to do that because the wrestler knows eventually they will be on WWE programming and make real money soon enough. Go to TNA and you lose money. Some guys did work there making nothing and eventually made a good living with TNA. But those guys are deemed costing too much money now and are being asked to take pay cuts. And most rather go back to the indies and overseas to make good money instead of making concessions to stay in TNA. Especially after the success AJ Styles is having since leaving. So good luck convincing Adam Cole to give up all he built up for that.

[metylerca]

Scott Hall, Bob Holly, Duke the Dumpster Droese, Doink, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Savio Vega.

The New Generation

[benstudd]

Here's the thing, if TNA did this? They would be too similar to NXT in my opinion. New, fresh guys who may turn out to being entertaing(or not). There would not a lot of reasons to watch.

TNA has become too much part of the wrestling scene and the truth of the matter is in my opinion, what TNA has that say...WWE doesn't is familiarity and that some of their guys have been there from the start. I think they should utilizes that to their advantage and focus on their long-time homegrown as much as possible. That is why I think them losing AJ Styles is more important than most people think. Cause he was literaly the soul of this company and the special ingredient that sets them apart, that the WWE will never have. In watching the WWE you can say for example that "Orton and Cena have hugged too much of the spotlight" but you'll never hear that about AJ from TNA fans. Cause of his longevity, fans have a strong connection with him.

And that can as much a positive as a negative but new blood should not be TNA's main selling point. What happened since January has been way too much new characters and gimmick. You can bring in new people but slowly insert them into the roster. TNA should take 80s NWA as example. They always used the same guys but did it well and a few times, they brought in someone new.

[benstudd]

Apr 21, 2014 14:07:40 GMT -5 Reflecto said:

The big problem with making a "New Generation" era is- as you said, TNA's burned people with that so many times by not going the extra mile with their homegrowns that you have to earn people's trust that it will be a new generation outright. It's not just that people like AJ Styles weren't made THE focal point of the show, as much as "AJ Styles was in TNA since its inception, and his gimmick was always, through 12 years and multiple Grand Slams/Triple Crowns, 'AJ Styles is the future of TNA'- but he just never got the leap of faith to be the PRESENT of TNA."

Then, you have points like the American Wolves revitalizing the tag ranks- they're doing well, but they're examples of the same problem: TNA can't get the really sexy choices for indy standouts unless that standout knows there's absolutely no chance of getting a WWE deal (and with how WWE is getting more indy names, they'd have no reason to take the low-money that TNA can offer (especially since ROH's syndication show can usually draw comparable ratings to TNA in some markets, and can pay equally as well.) This is the same for WWE- since they stopped firing people outright and are fine-tuning their roster, it's far harder for WWE to really drop the ball on a roster talent as they walk away in such a blatant way that TNA can pick them up without problem with EC3 (and even if WWE does, it's hit or miss- witness, for example, Trent Barreta becoming a relative indy standout outside WWE, and then being...just there, in his TNA appearances.)

As a result, you've got a very hard problem to get new talent to make a difference: The indy talent has to have no chance at a WWE deal AND to have napalmed all their bridges with ROH for TNA to have a chance, and the WWE talent has to have been seen as having real potential, yet still had WWE let them walk away (which is far rarer now than it was)...which is going to take away most of the "sexy" choices. This makes it worse, since the only way to get a new generation is to go all out with it and make it CLEAR "there's a new generation coming" (and might be as high as an EWR-level move of, say, "Kevin Steen shows up and wins the TNA World Title in his debut match" level of "new generation coming" move.)

Frankly I don't think getting talent matters. There's enough guys to have five major promotions in the US alone so whether guys go or don't go to the WWE should be not even be a discussion. WWE will always favors certain type of guys they want and there's a a lot of different flavors and styles outthere for different wrestling concepts. Low-Ki was an example of a guy that didn't work in the WWE yet he was an phenomenal talent. 

[Reflecto]

Apr 21, 2014 15:02:57 GMT -5 HMARK Center said:

As for the second - I certainly wouldn't say the Wolves have "revitalized" the tag ranks, given how few tag teams TNA currently promotes. However, the big thing here is that the Wolves didn't make it into WWE, but they are still a very solid signing for TNA, no matter what some fans might think of their style (insert superplex no-sell gif here), and TNA did the actual smart thing and signed them up when it became clear they weren't going to be signing with WWE.

WWE isn't going to sign everybody out there; there's already been stories out there of WWE bringing exciting indy names in to Florida to try out, and it's not like all of them have been handed contracts. Does that mean you may well be stuck with "less sexy" names? Sure; however, it's a wrestling company's job to promote these guys as equally good/better. Doesn't mean they necessarily are, but it's the beauty of being in a worked industry. Plus, not everybody WWE signs to Florida or uses on NXT will crack the main roster; TNA would do well to keep tabs on those guys, see who has something to offer, and if somebody just doesn't click in WWE they can offer an alternative for them if it doesn't work out. It doesn't mean mass signings, but a few well-thought out ones would make a world of difference.

I'm also not sure I'd cite Trent Baretta; apparently he's working a TNA "One Night Only" PPV soon; I'd wager he's simply doing well on his own at this stage, may not be looking to tie himself down with one company.

As for your last point...you're not wrong, but let's not get crazy here. Wrestlers aren't marks; seeing a guy like Steen coming in and winning immediately wouldn't be a sure fire sign of a "new generation" any more than a guy like Steen coming in and having to work his way up would be a sign of "being stuck in the past" for TNA. In this situation, it'd be on TNA to present itself to the talent out there and make it clear "hey guys, we're in a new era, and there are opportunities here, and you'll likely be on TV a lot quicker than if you go to FCW". Yes, they certainly would have to demonstrate it on TV to make the point clear, but it wouldn't take one single moment, it'd take a prolonged, thorough booking philosophy that removes all doubts. These guys are businessmen at the end of the day, and one big show of "look, we're different now!" won't be what shifts things.

I agree with the fact that an immediate win wouldn't really help things. But that's also the other problem. The GutCheck issues was the problem with "you'll be on TV a lot quicker here than you will on NXT"- simply because the WWE Network's changed that whole issue. Before, TNA did have "you'll be on TV quicker if you come here"- but now the difference becomes "you'll be on TNA within a couple weeks" or "you'll be on NXT television within a few months, and be on the verge of promotion and get a big buzz before going to WWE on the Network". They're both opposite each other- TNA on terrestrial television, WWE on streaming. Put them together- and being on Impact is a slight advantage- but for wrestling fans? It's not THAT big a difference. So, that era won't change things either way.

Meanwhile, even with a new era, it's the same problem. Quite frankly...the IWC has changed the terrain. TNA can get less sexy names and do well- Gunner, Samuel Shaw, and Spud are all examples of less sexy names who've been perfectly acceptable on TNA television. However, the early days of TNA defined what it was: Get the hottest indy talent paydays and recognition...and as a result, it's spoiled TNA fans. Now, a wrestler who ISN'T a "less sexy" name has an even harder road to climb for fans...and thus, when TNA can get sexy indy names like the Wolves or Brittany on roster, it makes them look like they're succeeding. TNA needs to improve their scouting dramatically- but until they can get an improved scouting system at the level of WWE's, then they would have to help enhance it with top indy names- and top indy names won't go to TNA unless it's a last resort.

[benstudd]

Apr 21, 2014 19:54:33 GMT -5 Reflecto said:

Apr 21, 2014 15:02:57 GMT -5 HMARK Center said:

As for the second - I certainly wouldn't say the Wolves have "revitalized" the tag ranks, given how few tag teams TNA currently promotes. However, the big thing here is that the Wolves didn't make it into WWE, but they are still a very solid signing for TNA, no matter what some fans might think of their style (insert superplex no-sell gif here), and TNA did the actual smart thing and signed them up when it became clear they weren't going to be signing with WWE.

WWE isn't going to sign everybody out there; there's already been stories out there of WWE bringing exciting indy names in to Florida to try out, and it's not like all of them have been handed contracts. Does that mean you may well be stuck with "less sexy" names? Sure; however, it's a wrestling company's job to promote these guys as equally good/better. Doesn't mean they necessarily are, but it's the beauty of being in a worked industry. Plus, not everybody WWE signs to Florida or uses on NXT will crack the main roster; TNA would do well to keep tabs on those guys, see who has something to offer, and if somebody just doesn't click in WWE they can offer an alternative for them if it doesn't work out. It doesn't mean mass signings, but a few well-thought out ones would make a world of difference.

I'm also not sure I'd cite Trent Baretta; apparently he's working a TNA "One Night Only" PPV soon; I'd wager he's simply doing well on his own at this stage, may not be looking to tie himself down with one company.

As for your last point...you're not wrong, but let's not get crazy here. Wrestlers aren't marks; seeing a guy like Steen coming in and winning immediately wouldn't be a sure fire sign of a "new generation" any more than a guy like Steen coming in and having to work his way up would be a sign of "being stuck in the past" for TNA. In this situation, it'd be on TNA to present itself to the talent out there and make it clear "hey guys, we're in a new era, and there are opportunities here, and you'll likely be on TV a lot quicker than if you go to FCW". Yes, they certainly would have to demonstrate it on TV to make the point clear, but it wouldn't take one single moment, it'd take a prolonged, thorough booking philosophy that removes all doubts. These guys are businessmen at the end of the day, and one big show of "look, we're different now!" won't be what shifts things.

I agree with the fact that an immediate win wouldn't really help things. But that's also the other problem. The GutCheck issues was the problem with "you'll be on TV a lot quicker here than you will on NXT"- simply because the WWE Network's changed that whole issue. Before, TNA did have "you'll be on TV quicker if you come here"- but now the difference becomes "you'll be on TNA within a couple weeks" or "you'll be on NXT television within a few months, and be on the verge of promotion and get a big buzz before going to WWE on the Network". They're both opposite each other- TNA on terrestrial television, WWE on streaming. Put them together- and being on Impact is a slight advantage- but for wrestling fans? It's not THAT big a difference. So, that era won't change things either way.

Meanwhile, even with a new era, it's the same problem. Quite frankly...the IWC has changed the terrain. TNA can get less sexy names and do well- Gunner, Samuel Shaw, and Spud are all examples of less sexy names who've been perfectly acceptable on TNA television. However, the early days of TNA defined what it was: Get the hottest indy talent paydays and recognition...and as a result, it's spoiled TNA fans. Now, a wrestler who ISN'T a "less sexy" name has an even harder road to climb for fans...and thus, when TNA can get sexy indy names like the Wolves or Brittany on roster, it makes them look like they're succeeding. TNA needs to improve their scouting dramatically- but until they can get an improved scouting system at the level of WWE's, then they would have to help enhance it with top indy names- and top indy names won't go to TNA unless it's a last resort.

Again, it should not be an issue, there are plenty of fishs in the pound.

[king1836]

Apr 22, 2014 12:45:30 GMT -5 benstudd said:

Apr 21, 2014 19:54:33 GMT -5 Reflecto said:

I agree with the fact that an immediate win wouldn't really help things. But that's also the other problem. The GutCheck issues was the problem with "you'll be on TV a lot quicker here than you will on NXT"- simply because the WWE Network's changed that whole issue. Before, TNA did have "you'll be on TV quicker if you come here"- but now the difference becomes "you'll be on TNA within a couple weeks" or "you'll be on NXT television within a few months, and be on the verge of promotion and get a big buzz before going to WWE on the Network". They're both opposite each other- TNA on terrestrial television, WWE on streaming. Put them together- and being on Impact is a slight advantage- but for wrestling fans? It's not THAT big a difference. So, that era won't change things either way.

Meanwhile, even with a new era, it's the same problem. Quite frankly...the IWC has changed the terrain. TNA can get less sexy names and do well- Gunner, Samuel Shaw, and Spud are all examples of less sexy names who've been perfectly acceptable on TNA television. However, the early days of TNA defined what it was: Get the hottest indy talent paydays and recognition...and as a result, it's spoiled TNA fans. Now, a wrestler who ISN'T a "less sexy" name has an even harder road to climb for fans...and thus, when TNA can get sexy indy names like the Wolves or Brittany on roster, it makes them look like they're succeeding. TNA needs to improve their scouting dramatically- but until they can get an improved scouting system at the level of WWE's, then they would have to help enhance it with top indy names- and top indy names won't go to TNA unless it's a last resort.

Again, it should not be an issue, there are plenty of fishs in the pound.

I think you meant "fish in the pond".

[kinginthenorth]

Apr 21, 2014 13:29:20 GMT -5 king1836 said:

TNA already has a new generation :

Gunner

Kenny King

Samuel Shaw

EC3

Rockstar Spud

Shite 
Never used
Shite
Solid
Minion 

[ZombieElvis]

Going New Gen is what TNA should have done starting in 06/07 when their current top stars were younger and ready to start their take over.

I feel like what TNA needs to do more than anything is come up with a plan on how they want the show, roster and promotion to be looked at then stick to that plan. No more world title pushes after a couple of weeks of build and no more having world champions drop the title on their last show. Bad booking like that makes TNA look like WCW in its dying days or a low rent indy fed.

Let Roodee, Joe, Aries and other top talent carry the main event for the next 2-3 while you develop the younger stars and make the necessary changes.

Fill the tag team and X divisions with hungry young talent that you want to make top guys in the future. Also, have real storylines not related to those divisions titles as a way to see if talent can can carry a story and be as popular without a title belt than they are when fighting for the gold.

Working on the KO division and taking it serious once again would be another good move for TNA.

Throwing stuff at the wall and hoping it sticks doesn't work and I hope TNA will understand that in the future and try to be a promotion that I can take pride in watching again.

[Deleted]

I think the off-screen talent has been a much bigger detriment to TNA than the on-screen talent ever has.

Sure Hogan was a big mess from start to finish, but (and I say this as someone who has zero interest in seeing him on TV) he COULD have been used in a way that made the show better instead of the show basically revolving around him, his daughter, his radio DJ buddy, etc etc.

TNA's always had great talent on their roster but a lot of what they do is cut at the Achilles tendon by some idiotic idea from the creative team.

The "New Generation Era" needs to happen behind the scenes, not with the talent they have up front.

Take Gunner for example. Why he's not a heel is beyond me - what, just cause he's a soldier? Come on.

[king1836]

Apr 22, 2014 16:26:29 GMT -5 @personman01 said:

I think the off-screen talent has been a much bigger detriment to TNA than the on-screen talent ever has.

Sure Hogan was a big mess from start to finish, but (and I say this as someone who has zero interest in seeing him on TV) he COULD have been used in a way that made the show better instead of the show basically revolving around him, his daughter, his radio DJ buddy, etc etc.

TNA's always had great talent on their roster but a lot of what they do is cut at the Achilles tendon by some idiotic idea from the creative team.

The "New Generation Era" needs to happen behind the scenes, not with the talent they have up front.

Take Gunner for example. Why he's not a heel is beyond me - what, just cause he's a soldier? Come on.

Gunner used to be a heel. Now, he is a hero to millions!

[kinginthenorth]

He's not even a hero to dozens.

[bluemeii]

Apr 22, 2014 16:32:39 GMT -5 king1836 said:

Apr 22, 2014 16:26:29 GMT -5 @personman01 said:

I think the off-screen talent has been a much bigger detriment to TNA than the on-screen talent ever has.

Sure Hogan was a big mess from start to finish, but (and I say this as someone who has zero interest in seeing him on TV) he COULD have been used in a way that made the show better instead of the show basically revolving around him, his daughter, his radio DJ buddy, etc etc.

TNA's always had great talent on their roster but a lot of what they do is cut at the Achilles tendon by some idiotic idea from the creative team.

The "New Generation Era" needs to happen behind the scenes, not with the talent they have up front.

Take Gunner for example. Why he's not a heel is beyond me - what, just cause he's a soldier? Come on.

Gunner used to be a heel. Now, he is a hero to millions!