TNA Signs Another Former WWE Guy?

[Joekishi]

Didn't stop TNA from signing Rhino

[Richard]

pdubsworld said:

I doubt he'll be there for awhile. He's got a proven track record of sucking.

What about VKM? They have been there for at least 2 years now and have sucked every minute of it.

[Lino]

I doubt Test would sign with TNA.

[Richard]

awafan6 said:

I doubt Test would sign with TNA.

He debuted already.

[angryfan]

I see the WCW/TNA comparisons, and I just don't get it.

WCW signed a bunch of WWF guys, this is true, but most of them had been big deals in Titanland. Hoban, Savage, Hall, Nash, Rude. Yeah, they brought in X-Pac, but hey, nobody's perfect. Besides, back in 1997 he was at least a little more relevant than he is now. Or than he was three years ago, whatever.

TNA signes, let's see.

Angle - Fine, main eventer, big name, damn fine talent. Bit loony perhaps, but hey, it can make for entertaining moments.

Steiner - Big name, once again, but given that he's in his mid-40's, maybe the shelf life isn't what it once was? All together, fine though.

Sting - Once again, big name to bring in, and theoretically could give a few young guys the rub. Still waiting on that one to happen, may be waiting a while.

Christian - We all said "push this man", and they did it. Still, they're batting a thousand so far, right?

BG and Kyp James, NAO, whatever the hell they are this week - Um...why? Do they not realize that, despite the fact that they were over at one point, they're still paying Billy F***ing Gunn to be Billy F****ing Gunn? Do they not see this as doomed to not only suck, but to force us all to watch it suck, knowing how much it will pain us?

Do they hate us?

Tomko - Only thing dude EVER did was be Christian's running buddy. So, naturally, they sign him, as Christan's running buddy. Inexplicably, he gets more TV time than half the roster, for...well, standing there and being Tomko.

Bashams - Sweet merciful crap. The guys have talent, but does it strike anyone else as "suckatude foreshadowing" when their first exposer is against the aforementioned VKM? God help us, this can only lead to more Billy Gunn, and subsequent drug use to kill the pain.

Test - TEST? The hell are they thinking? One angle, ONE, and that was TEN GOD DAMNED YEARS AGO. He has been the leaning tower of suck for years now, no one has cared. No one cared when he was a 6'6" bean pole that paled with Shane. No one cared when he was in the Union. Then he got hurt and released, and we said "damn, sucks or not, that's not cool". So, they brought him back, and guess what?

He found magic beans! Big, special magic beans! Did they add talent? F*** no, but they added muscles, damn it all! Now he was all muscly and, um, still sucked. Surprisingly, they thought it'd work. Unsurprisingly, it didn't. They said "get out bacneman", and so he went.

Now, he's in TNA, and...he's go a new nickname. Appropriate too, given that when I see him on my TV screen, I feel like I've just been beaten, and not in that good, tingly kind of way either. No, this is a bad kind, with the bleeding, and the broken things, and possibly a mild coma.

How's this for saying the shape of TNA? Three major programs going on.

Joe/Angle

3D/Steiners/LAX/VKM

and the six person feud with Christian's coalition and Sting's group.

That's three feuds, with 16 people involved. Not too shabby, gets a bunch of guys exposure, right?

Hell f***ing no.

Angle/Joe is fine, puts the focus on an established rivalry. One's a former E guy, but no big deal in and of itself.

The four tag team thing? Of the eight, two of them can be seen as TNA "guys" Two, out of eight, and one of them is f***ing Hernandez. Border toss may kick ass, but hey, them ain't good percentages for getting TNA homegrown talent over.

And lastly, the three on three match-up. Christan, Tomko, and (almost as an afterthought, given he's being portrayed as a lackey/pussbag) AJ against Sting, Abyss, and now f***ing Test.

Wanna lay odds when those teams do the whole trading off wins feud who takes every damn pinfall for their teams? If you guessed AJ and Abyss, you'd be dead on.

Four guys, out of 16 are homegrown TNA talent. That's NOT good, not by any stretch of the imagination. TNA isn't WCW, people, it's bordering on much, much worse.

["Nature Boy" Ric Moranis]

angryfan said:

Four guys, out of 16 are homegrown TNA talent. That's NOT good, not by any stretch of the imagination. TNA isn't WCW, people, it's bordering on much, much worse.

What does homegrown talent have to do with anything? When, in the history of wrestling, has a major national company made waves with all homegrown talent? You can't say ECW, because some of their biggest stars were rejects and jobbers from WWF and WCW. You can't say ROH, because I only got into ROH because I'd heard of guys like A.J., Daniels, Joe, etc. from TNA's TV (even if they were in ROH first).

Even Vince McMahon built his empire on Hulk Hogan (AWA), and the AWA/NWA/Mid-South/WCCW all-stars. He's still riding that wave. While doing so, Vince kicked all of his "homegrown talent" (Bruno/Backlund/Morales/Strongbow/Garea/Santana) to the curb or the bench when it came time to expand his promotion.

I'm not in favor of TNA signing Test, I think it's pointless. But Jarrett and Carter have said in interviews that the company would go back into "acquisition mode" when they were certain of getting a two-hour show. Pretty sure the Test, Morgan, and Pacman signings are signs of that.

TNA has always been corny and lame. But when they had two-hour weekly PPVs, at least they had some really great matches to offset it. Hopefully that's where they're headed.

TNA's in no way like WCW in the Russo death years. It's more like WCW around 1993 in that they grasp at straws to sign any worthless WWF reject, but still have some cool matches, and great young talent.

[Hiroshi Hase]

aaaaaaaaa said:

angryfan said:

Four guys, out of 16 are homegrown TNA talent. That's NOT good, not by any stretch of the imagination. TNA isn't WCW, people, it's bordering on much, much worse.

What does homegrown talent have to do with anything? When, in the history of wrestling, has a major national company made waves with all homegrown talent? You can't say ECW, because some of their biggest stars were rejects and jobbers from WWF and WCW. You can't say ROH, because I only got into ROH because I'd heard of guys like A.J., Daniels, Joe, etc. from TNA's TV (even if they were in ROH first).

Even Vince McMahon built his empire on Hulk Hogan (AWA), and the AWA/NWA/Mid-South/WCCW all-stars. He's still riding that wave. While doing so, Vince kicked all of his "homegrown talent" (Bruno/Backlund/Morales/Strongbow/Garea/Santana) to the curb or the bench when it came time to expand his promotion.

I'm not in favor of TNA signing Test, I think it's pointless. But Jarrett and Carter have said in interviews that the company would go back into "acquisition mode" when they were certain of getting a two-hour show. Pretty sure the Test, Morgan, and Pacman signings are signs of that.

TNA has always been corny and lame. But when they had two-hour weekly PPVs, at least they had some really great matches to offset it. Hopefully that's where they're headed.

TNA's in no way like WCW in the Russo death years. It's more like WCW around 1993 in that they grasp at straws to sign any worthless WWF reject, but still have some cool matches, and great young talent.

I don't remember WCW in 1993 signing WWE rejects. They had Davey Boy but that was about it. Most of the stuff going on was with guys like Vader, Flair, Steamboat, Austin, Sting, Cactus Jack, Ron Simmons, etc.

[RedSmile]

I dont mind Test. I think he's a better wrestler than people give him credit for.

[Ace Diamond]

redagony said:

I dont mind Test. I think he's a better wrestler than people give him credit for.

Maybe at one point. Nowadays...oh hell no.

[mysterydriver]

His debut wasd edited like freaking crazy. There was a cut every two seconds to cover up his actions.

Test's big boot hit Tomko in the chest, closer to the midsection than the head.

He couldn't even press Styles in the air. Instead, Test clung to AJ's tights and barely got his arms past a 90 degree angle. It doesn't reassure me for his strength.

Sigh. Matt Morgan would've been better. There. I freaking said it.

Of course, they have other plans for Morgan. Plans that...sigh. I'm not going to spoil it

[Powder/The Professor]

hollywood said:

TENAY: "OH MY GOD! THAT'S ANDREW "TEST" MARTIN! IT'S "TEST!" WHAT'S HE DOING IN THE IMPACT ZONE!?

WEST: HOLY CRAP!!! ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING ME!!?!?! THIS IS UNBELIEVEABLE!!! IT'S--

*Don West explodes*

I could only wish for something as beautiful as this.

[Powder/The Professor]

kiddobradley said:

ddt said:

I fear that TNA is going to start becoming WCW by signing all of these ex-WWE wrestlers. TNA has got a great product, but adding more 'established' stars and putting them over the TNA roster members that have been there pretty much since Day One would be WCW stupidity all over again.

....Start becoming?

You're a little late to the party. All they need now is Bagwell and his mom.

Russo's, back so its only a matter of time.

[Powder/The Professor]

jobber2thestars said:

Didn't he change his name to Andrew "Test" Martin so he could use the name outside of the WWE? If so, good for him for going the Warrior route.

The Ultimate Warrior was a proven (half assed) commodity that people paid tickets to see. It can be argued that Test never made a dime for McMahon, that is definately not going the Warrior route. It's believing your own hype, being a mark for yourse----ok, ya got me

["Nature Boy" Ric Moranis]

yjc1019 said:

I don't remember WCW in 1993 signing WWE rejects. They had Davey Boy but that was about it. Most of the stuff going on was with guys like Vader, Flair, Steamboat, Austin, Sting, Cactus Jack, Ron Simmons, etc.

1993 WCW also brought in....Paul Roma, Sid Vicious, The Nasty Boys, Tugboat, and....NAILZ!

So I guess you could be thankful that TNA's only brought in Test and Dustin Rhodes so far.

[Powder/The Professor]

aaaaaaaaa said:

yjc1019 said:

I don't remember WCW in 1993 signing WWE rejects. They had Davey Boy but that was about it. Most of the stuff going on was with guys like Vader, Flair, Steamboat, Austin, Sting, Cactus Jack, Ron Simmons, etc.

1993 WCW also brought in....Paul Roma, Sid Vicious, The Nasty Boys, Tugboat, and....NAILZ!

So I guess you could be thankful that TNA's only brought in Test and Dustin Rhodes so far.

Well played.