What would save TNA at this point...

[hollywood]

poisonrana said:

he's there to make sure nobody puts the belt on an immobile giant or midget.

Indeed. I say we nominate Mr. Russo for pro wrestling sainthood!









Wait, are there any midgets in TNA?

[Hiroshi Hase]

poisonrana said:

he's there to make sure nobody puts the belt on an immobile giant or midget.

Maybe, but the Cruiserweight title has been long dead when he decided to have Madusa and Oklahoma feuding over it in WCW, and when he let Arquette win the WCW title, and not to mention himself as well.

[lildude8218]

Confetti Cannons

[Mozenrath]

TNA needs a real "People's Champ" type of character right now. When WCW was dying, people thought they could still depend on DDP and Booker T to make it all okay.

Samoa Joe could've been it, but they had to feed him to Angle like he's chopped liver.

[hollywood]

kiddobradley said:

TNA needs a real "People's Champ" type of character right now. When WCW was dying, people thought they could still depend on DDP and Booker T to make it all okay.

Samoa Joe could've been it, but they had to feed him to Angle like he's chopped liver.

But it's Kurt freakin' Angle? So it's okay? Isn't it?

[Mozenrath]

hollywood said:

kiddobradley said:

TNA needs a real "People's Champ" type of character right now. When WCW was dying, people thought they could still depend on DDP and Booker T to make it all okay.

Samoa Joe could've been it, but they had to feed him to Angle like he's chopped liver.

But it's Kurt freakin' Angle? So it's okay? Isn't it?

Exactly. It IS Kurt Freaking Angle. It was pointless having him end Joe's streak, and all these wins over Joe give Angle NOTHING. It only hurts Joe, and makes him seem weak.

[Sajoa Moe]

hollywood said:

kiddobradley said:

TNA needs a real "People's Champ" type of character right now. When WCW was dying, people thought they could still depend on DDP and Booker T to make it all okay.

Samoa Joe could've been it, but they had to feed him to Angle like he's chopped liver.

But it's Kurt freakin' Angle? So it's okay? Isn't it?

I would mention the fact that he's hogging all the titles, but then the picture of Ultimo Dragon wearing ten belts comes to mind.

[Jason Todd Grisham]

comahan said:

Uhg, nothing needs 'saved'. Just because a lot of people on the internet doesn't like some decisions doesn't mean the company is dying.

I addressed this in my previous post, but I'll try to do so more indepth. TNA's ratings are going up, for all we know buyrates are the same. TNA is in the black and no longer seems to be failing to make a profit. By all rights externally it seems TNA is doing fine. But that doesn't mean the company doesn't need "saving." It means they won't realize what changes need to be made for the company to realize its full potential.

Let's look at WCW. WCW was doomed to fail just as much in 1996 as it was in 1994 and 2001. But why? You say. WCW had the nWo! They were riding high! Everyone was in nWo shirts and everyone wanted to see Sting beat Hogan's ass! The WWF's buyrates were in the gutter and even if the show sucked I could always count on a great undercard to deliver wrestling action!

WCW's problems were backstage. They granted too many powers to the stars of the promotion who held the others down. The talented had no say while the proven overstayed their welcome. Morale for a long time was a mess. Bischoff realized WCW was going to die long before many others did, he just didn't know what to do. So he jumped ship.

TNA may not be showing many fiscal signs of failure, but they will in the future if they pursue their current path. History demands it.

maverick said:

Not to be an ass but, it always strikes me as strange that people bring out Heyman, Cornette, and Bischoff as saviors of TNA and great bookers. Maybe a little less with Cornette but have we forgotten that Heyman ran ECW into the ground? While I claim no insider knowledge wasn't the Bisch in charge of everything WCW? I guess the argument could be made that although good bookers they were bad business men.

I honestly don't understand why people always point to Cornette. I see him more as a logic guy, if I were to hire him he would fact check my angles and make sure they make sense. He could add a level of realism Russo lacks, but he also lacks Russo's sense of excitement. His booking style is in the 70's, we all know what's going to happen before it happens. Some people love it (particularly on these boards) but I don't think it makes for good television.

Heyman, from all accounts, is a brilliant booker. While he has come up with his share of crap, he knows how to get the best out of people. I think it's accepted that he could bankrupt a lemonade stand. I don't think anyone wants him in charge of finances.

Bischoff made mistakes in WCW. He failed to make the changes at the right time to give WCW longetivity. However he has many strengths. For one he has an insane amount of charisma. This is the man who convinced Turner to put him in charge of WCW even though he would appear to be underqualified. This is the man who convinced Ted Turner to grant him a live television spot head to head with Raw, the highest rated cable television show at the time. This is the man who convinced Fuscient Media Ventures to purchase a failing wrestling promotion (if only the television deal didn't fall through). He could make very good deals for TNA I think, particularly a two hour slot.

He knows that in order to compete you need a different product. Today's WWE is very much like the WWF he once overtook. It focuses on cartoony larger than life characters (even HHH has his Hunter of the Hill People garb) and shorter matches (other than that utterly random HBK/Cena match in the UK which I adored). Bischoff could easily compete using his ROH-Lite approach. He has all the talent he needs in TNA to accomplish this. Faster paced, more competative matches, something more cerebral that you have to pay attention to to figure out what's going on. Not like Russo where to get the clues you have to be reading the Observer.

As long as Hogan isn't around and Bischoff doesn't give into Kevin Nash, it all depends on whether he learned from his mistakes. And really, why not give him that chance?