After 2006, what the hell happened!

[Deleted]

There was a period from around 2005-6 when TNA was on a real high. Joe was the incredibly over unstoppably badass in the Goldberg/Taz mould. Styles and Daniels were ripping it up every week. The X division was overloaded with talent. Sting appeared and was actually motivated. Team Canada was loaded with awesome. Raven was still good, Abyss was in his prime, Christian came over and then for a cherry on top Kurt Angle was coming in. And it reached its peak at Bound For Glory 2007 and Genesis 2007. And since that peak its, frankly, all been downhill.

I suppose this isn't a thread to complain about how TNA screwed itself (there are other threads for that. Because they're fun!), but rather to remember a period where TNA was a pretty damn good wrestling show. So yeah, I loved TNA in this period, and thought it was so much better than a lot of what WWE was doing in this period. It was an awesome time. Let us reminisce!

[Hawk Hart]

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Oct 21, 2014 16:12:58 GMT -5 Hawk Hart said:

Well he got re hired after BFG 06, so there's that lol.

I don't think Russo was as big of a problem until Jeff left then he got free reign, then after that Hogan came and killed the company.

[giraffe4hire]

Basically, it came down to building their company around stars who were made in other companies. The problem with doing that is you don't make people identify with your brand, but rather the brand of those stars you are promoting. 2005-2006 was TNA's best time because they really started building their own stars, but lost their way in 2007.

Now, that's not to say bringing in people from other organizations is bad, but bringing in so many that your entire main event is made up of people from other companies makes your company look like WWE or WCW-lite. For instance, I think Rhino, Team 3D, Christian, and Angle were great additions, but when your main event is Sting vs. Scott Steiner instead of AJ / Daniels vs. LAX, you are not building your own brand. They had guys like Roderick Strong, Austin Aries, James Storm, Chris Harris, Lance Hoyt, Monty Brown, Bobby Roode etc. who were never allowed main event in 2005. Why didn't Aries get main event spots until 2012? Because they needed to have Sting vs. Christian, or Angle vs. Sting, or Jarrett and Steiner vs. Sting and Christian. And when you tell your audience that the main event in your promotion is a star who got over in another company, you don't build brand loyalty. AJ Styles spent 2007 being Christian and Tomoko's tag partner. Did he make the most of it? Yes. But whey you take your former world champ and make him a sidekick to the guys who made their names in WWE, you make your brand and talent look like the bush leagues, and the competition look like the big leagues.

[JTG Fan]

They went from logical Scott D'Amore and Mike Tenay booking that furthered the company and it's stars to Vince Russo's fun-time Sports Entertainment Jamboree starring Kurt Angle.

[Hawk Hart]

Oct 21, 2014 16:17:38 GMT -5 OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 said:

Oct 21, 2014 16:12:58 GMT -5 Hawk Hart said:

Well he got re hired after BFG 06, so there's that lol.

I don't think Russo was as big of a problem until Jeff left then he got free reign, then after that Hogan came and killed the company.

So right at the tail end of 2006, meaning his booking really took effect at the start of 2007 aka after 2006. Or in other words, I nailed it, timeframe wise.

It was pretty much Russo and Dutch booking whatever the hell they wanted by most accounts while Jarrett was like "Sure guys, roll with that." It really doesn't seem like Jarrett had much interest in booking anyone but Jarrett until he left the ring in TNA.

[mizerable]

I hate to say it, but I think the addition of Angle wasn't a great move, especially with jumping the gun on the Samoa Joe feud, which pretty much killed Joe immediately.

Kurt was clearly more of a whale in a puddle, as opposed to big fish in a little pond. All subsequent booking was focused around him, when they already had a great central figure in Christian Cage. Also, slowly but surely, they kept finding ways to make me lose interest in guys I was a big fan of; Alex Shelley, Christopher Daniels, Petey Williams and so forth. But they kept finding ways to keep f***in' Eric Young pushed. TNA started to feel less and less compelling, after having an awesome time from 2005 to 2006.

[Woo]

Yeah I mean even know they still act like Angle is the most important guy ever. Christian was treated similarly but it never got to the crazy levels as it did when they gave Angle every belt in the company. Christian didn't end Joe's streak for instance. Joe should have beaten Angle. Right off the bat prove to the fans that TNA is better than the WWE by having YOUR guys go over.

Funny how they always take pot shots at the WWE and say how they are better, so why then did they keep pushing Sting, Angle, Booker T etc?

[One-Armed Drummer of Defrebel]

Oct 21, 2014 16:55:41 GMT -5 Hawk Hart said:

Oct 21, 2014 16:17:38 GMT -5 OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 said:

Well he got re hired after BFG 06, so there's that lol.

I don't think Russo was as big of a problem until Jeff left then he got free reign, then after that Hogan came and killed the company.

So right at the tail end of 2006, meaning his booking really took effect at the start of 2007 aka after 2006. Or in other words, I nailed it, timeframe wise.

It was pretty much Russo and Dutch booking whatever the hell they wanted by most accounts while Jarrett was like "Sure guys, roll with that." It really doesn't seem like Jarrett had much interest in booking anyone but Jarrett until he left the ring in TNA.

Saying it didn't really take effect until 2007 seems a tad generous. Within 3 weeks of him being employed we got the reverse battle royal, the VKM war on WWE, and LAX trying to burn the flag. One month later and the co-main angle on the show is about the world champion, who won it by a DQ, shooting his dad.

Russo's too speedy for his own good, basically.

[giraffe4hire]

Oct 21, 2014 17:04:59 GMT -5 mizerable said:

I hate to say it, but I think the addition of Angle wasn't a great move, especially with jumping the gun on the Samoa Joe feud, which pretty much killed Joe immediately.

Kurt was clearly more of a whale in a puddle, as opposed to big fish in a little pond. All subsequent booking was focused around him, when they already had a great central figure in Christian Cage. Also, slowly but surely, they kept finding ways to make me lose interest in guys I was a big fan of; Alex Shelley, Christopher Daniels, Petey Williams and so forth. But they kept finding ways to keep f***in' Eric Young pushed. TNA started to feel less and less compelling, after having an awesome time from 2005 to 2006.

The big problem with Angle was that he was a main event star before he came to TNA. Christian and Rhino, and to some extent Raven, worked in TNA because they were mid card guys in WWE who had a lot to offer when given the spotlight. So when you had Christian in the main event in TNA, it didn't feel like it was emulating WWE. It felt innovative, allowing a talented guy to have a shot at greatness. To this day, I still see Christian as a TNA guy, because that's where he saw the most success. Angle on the other hand, was a huge name and had been main eventing for years when he came to TNA. So even though Angle has been in TNA longer now than WWE, he'll always be seen as a WWE guy. Same problem with Nash, Steiner, Sting, Booker T, Foley, and just about everybody who started main eventing in 2007 onward. In short, TNA putting the belt on Christian felt like something unique to TNA. Putting the belt on Angle felt like TNA trying to emulate WWE. Another good example is Bully Ray's singles title run, which received universal praise. It felt like TNA making a star instead of recycling past glories.

[Hawk Hart]

Oct 21, 2014 18:05:31 GMT -5 One-Armed Drummer of Defrebel said:

Oct 21, 2014 16:55:41 GMT -5 Hawk Hart said:

So right at the tail end of 2006, meaning his booking really took effect at the start of 2007 aka after 2006. Or in other words, I nailed it, timeframe wise.

It was pretty much Russo and Dutch booking whatever the hell they wanted by most accounts while Jarrett was like "Sure guys, roll with that." It really doesn't seem like Jarrett had much interest in booking anyone but Jarrett until he left the ring in TNA.

Saying it didn't really take effect until 2007 seems a tad generous. Within 3 weeks of him being employed we got the reverse battle royal, the VKM war on WWE, and LAX trying to burn the flag. One month later and the co-main angle on the show is about the world champion, who won it by a DQ, shooting his dad.

Russo's too speedy for his own good, basically.

To clarify my original statement, I meant that the show didn't top to bottom become a Russo product until 2007 allowing for an angle or two to play out but upon further review, you're absolutely correct.

[Deleted]

That Russo picture will never not be funny. One pic can explain so much.

[mcmahonfan85]

2006 was the escalation of their problems following their shift into being WCW: Version 2 in late 2005. all the stars they'd been building up from 2005 and before either had their pushes halted or were shoved down the card to make room for the ex-WWE and WCW wrestlers. in the span of the year they whipped out the ol' checkbook to sign Team 3D, Christian Cage, Sting, Scott Steiner, and Kurt Angle (despite his ongoing health and drug problems at the time). meanwhile, AJ Styles (a 3-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion) went from being "one of the stars of TNA" to being "a future star in TNA", and Samoa Joe's push towards the title was changed to "lets stick him back in the X Division". then of course there was Jeff Jarrett's constant need to be the focal point of the promotion, the god awful iMPACT! Zone crowd, and just general TNA stupidity like "The Rematch Too Big for Pay-Per-View"

[Deleted]

I'll say this but I think BFG 2006 was one of the greatest wrestling PPV's of all time period. There just seemed to be a huge drop in quality after Genesis 2006. Holy shit TNA's biggest missed opportunity by far. The buzz was huge for TNA with the Angle Signing and it was the most bought TNA PPV in history with so many first time TNA watchers watching the PPV. If only they had the same buzz for BFG 2006.

[Deleted]

Oct 21, 2014 19:00:30 GMT -5 @supersweetbotch said:

I'll say this but I think BFG 2006 was one of the greatest wrestling PPV's of all time period. There just seemed to be a huge drop in quality after Genesis 2006. Holy shit TNA's biggest missed opportunity by far. The buzz was huge for TNA with the Angle Signing and it was the most bought TNA PPV in history with so many first time TNA watchers watching the PPV. If only they had the same buzz for BFG 2006.

It's interesting you say that.
I think the Bound For Glory 2006 booking made me the most irritated I've ever been at a wrestling company.

Kurt Angle just came in and Samoa Joe was a force unto himself.
Everyone was clamoring for the Joe vs. Angle showdown that would eventually happen and it was a disappointment it wasn't at BFG, but holding it off would've been understandable if TNA called the audible and had Joe utterly crush Jeff Jarrett for the title at BFG.

Everyone wanted to see Joe beat the living shit out of Jarrett and I guarantee people would've paid a lot of money if we got just that, then have Joe vs. Angle for the title.  Tie that with what I think was Christian turning heel on Sting on the PPV previous and they was no ****ing reason that show didn't have Joe vs. Jarrett and Sting vs. Christian at BFG other than the fact they just had to finish the storyline between Sting and Jarrett that nobody cared about in comparison.

What we got on that show felt like getting a bottle of Elmer's Glue for Christmas.

[Deleted]

Oct 21, 2014 23:16:50 GMT -5 @keijikage said:

Oct 21, 2014 19:00:30 GMT -5 @supersweetbotch said:

I'll say this but I think BFG 2006 was one of the greatest wrestling PPV's of all time period. There just seemed to be a huge drop in quality after Genesis 2006. Holy shit TNA's biggest missed opportunity by far. The buzz was huge for TNA with the Angle Signing and it was the most bought TNA PPV in history with so many first time TNA watchers watching the PPV. If only they had the same buzz for BFG 2006.

It's interesting you say that.
I think the Bound For Glory 2006 booking made me the most irritated I've ever been at a wrestling company.

Kurt Angle just came in and Samoa Joe was a force unto himself.
Everyone was clamoring for the Joe vs. Angle showdown that would eventually happen and it was a disappointment it wasn't at BFG, but holding it off would've been understandable if TNA called the audible and had Joe utterly crush Jeff Jarrett for the title at BFG.

Everyone wanted to see Joe beat the living shit out of Jarrett and I guarantee people would've paid a lot of money if we got just that, then have Joe vs. Angle for the title.  Tie that with what I think was Christian turning heel on Sting on the PPV previous and they was no ****ing reason that show didn't have Joe vs. Jarrett and Sting vs. Christian at BFG other than the fact they just had to finish the storyline between Sting and Jarrett that nobody cared about in comparison.

What we got on that show felt like getting a bottle of Elmer's Glue for Christmas.

I just thought the card delivered big time with great matches and great match results all around. Plus that Sting vs Jarrett was a long term storyline reaching its finale

Edit: It was the first TNA PPV that felt like a Wrestlemania, with a great crowd and atmosphere like the first show that wasn't held in a studio but in actual arena, and there was just a lot of buzz going on in TNA and it felt great. It felt like we were watching a company that will soon grow to become something bigger

[Deleted]

Oct 21, 2014 23:28:58 GMT -5 @supersweetbotch said:

I just thought the card delivered big time with great matches and great match results all around. Plus that Sting vs Jarrett was a long term storyline reaching its finale

Edit: It was the first TNA PPV that felt like a Wrestlemania, with a great crowd and atmosphere like the first show that wasn't held in a studio but in actual arena, and there was just a lot of buzz going on in TNA and it felt great. It felt like we were watching a company that will soon grow to become something bigger

I'm not saying the show didn't have great matches.

It's just I wouldn't know because those booking decisions were bad enough to where TNA talked me out of buying a PPV I previously had every intention of buying. Out of the 20 or so years I've watched wrestling only a handful of shows get that dubious distinction. BFG 2006 was the first.

Because like many other people at the time, Samoa Joe killin' fools was the main reason I started becoming interested in TNA again. Nobody wanted to see Jarrett with the title, but Jarrett's ridiculous reign would've at least ended on a high note had they actually booked Joe to beat the piss out of him.

I mean, the hottest thing in the company by far was Samoa Joe who could do no wrong and with a match against Angle on the horizon it would've made sense to have Joe smear Jarrett all over the canvas to much rejoicing and then have him (The TNA Original) actually beat Angle in their first match.

I never thought Jarrett vs. Sting was a feud hot enough to headline BFG over the possibility of Joe winning the title from Jarrett.

[67 more]

[Rick Mad]

Oct 21, 2014 23:16:50 GMT -5 @keijikage said:

Oct 21, 2014 19:00:30 GMT -5 @supersweetbotch said:

I'll say this but I think BFG 2006 was one of the greatest wrestling PPV's of all time period. There just seemed to be a huge drop in quality after Genesis 2006. Holy shit TNA's biggest missed opportunity by far. The buzz was huge for TNA with the Angle Signing and it was the most bought TNA PPV in history with so many first time TNA watchers watching the PPV. If only they had the same buzz for BFG 2006.

It's interesting you say that.
I think the Bound For Glory 2006 booking made me the most irritated I've ever been at a wrestling company.

Kurt Angle just came in and Samoa Joe was a force unto himself.
Everyone was clamoring for the Joe vs. Angle showdown that would eventually happen and it was a disappointment it wasn't at BFG, but holding it off would've been understandable if TNA called the audible and had Joe utterly crush Jeff Jarrett for the title at BFG.

Everyone wanted to see Joe beat the living shit out of Jarrett and I guarantee people would've paid a lot of money if we got just that, then have Joe vs. Angle for the title.  Tie that with what I think was Christian turning heel on Sting on the PPV previous and they was no ****ing reason that show didn't have Joe vs. Jarrett and Sting vs. Christian at BFG other than the fact they just had to finish the storyline between Sting and Jarrett that nobody cared about in comparison.

What we got on that show felt like getting a bottle of Elmer's Glue for Christmas.

And didn't we even have Joe vs Jarrett in a non-Title match the PPV before BFG? I think it was a fans bring the weapons match or something. So they gave us the "JOE AND THE FANS GET REVENGE ON THE EVIL HEEL THAT ALWAYS HAS THE BELT" match.. without giving Joe the belt.. and then even taking some of the wind out of the sails of the actual Title match, Sting vs Jarrett, since we'd already seen Jarrett get his comeuppance to a degree.

Even more than any problems with the Joe vs Angle feud, this booking is what ruined Joe, because he never had the same momentum after this IMO. Doing Joe vs Jarrett at BFG would've been the perfect example of striking while the iron was hot.

[CeilingFan]

Hulk Hogan happened.