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Post by Bram wants to 'urt you on Sept 5, 2013 20:08:44 GMT -5
Ok, so the thread title may seem a bit strange,but bear with me. Somebody once described modern wrestling programming as "soap opera with violence". "Sports Entertainment" has superseded "wrestling" not only as a description of the product, but also as the way in which the product is presented to the viewing audience. So I wonder - with the vogue for all things "retro" in style, would a more old fashioned approach to wrestling pay dividends for TNA? Also, would a modern viewing public accept a show that was presented more like a sporting spectacle of old, rather than the drawn out storylines and scripted events of the modern era? I think it could. Scaling right back on the stories and other stuff and concentrating on the in-ring action. Get Tenay out of the announce chair and have him work as a statistician - play up his "professor" role. Have the announcers cut to him before each match for some "tale of the tape" style vignettes - "Next up we have wrestler A who has been wrestling professionally for X years. Though a proficient high flyer, he is most dangerous wrestling mat-based, his opponent needs to watch out for his <insert name of finisher> submission hold." That kind of thing. There'd still be plenty of opportunity for characterization, just less focus on forcing the characters into stories that often do nothing to promote the actual in-ring action. Also, bring back the "Wrestling Matters" tagline, and highlight the importance of the matches and their associated championship belts. TNA has gone a small way towards this with the annual Bound for Glory Series. Perhaps now could be the time they abandon the whole "Sports Entertainment" approach and return wrestling to its roots? Thoughts are as always welcome
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Post by Magic knows Black Lives Matter on Sept 5, 2013 21:23:06 GMT -5
It's worth a shot, I think. TNA needs to re-establish itself as a true alternative to WWE and this would be a good way to do it.
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Emmet Russell
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Post by Emmet Russell on Sept 5, 2013 21:48:47 GMT -5
The first time they tried 'Wrestling Matters' it failed miserably. That show featured such classics as Matt Hardy & Eric Bischoff defeating the Young Bucks.
The problem with them trying to bring back that moniker would be that WWE currently has some of the best wrestlers in the world & have put on some of the best matches all year; they would be very hard to top. WWE feels like a true wrestling product right now & constantly deliver amazing matches due to the likes of Bryan & the Shield.
TNA has some amazing wrestlers, yes, I just don't think a pure 2 hour show based mainly on wrestling would do much of a difference when fans already have a place to go to see amazing matches.
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Post by katiemorgan67212 on Sept 5, 2013 21:58:26 GMT -5
If I had to take over TNA today I would do something almost exactly like what you're suggesting. They will never, EVER be better at sports entertainment than the WWE. They should really give it up. They have a very consistent core audience that watches pretty much no matter what they do and if they went this "real" sport, super serious route it might be different enough from other wrestling that they might grow their audiences. Also TNA has so little screen time and so many people I always thought it would be easier to get the audience to identify with the wrestlers if everyone were divided into teams. Each team would have around 10 people and they would be divided amongst the different divisions (tag, x, heavyweight, women's) and that way the teams could be feuding so that the writers didn't have to come up with such complex reasons why Mickie is mad at Gail. It's just that Mickie is on Team A and Gail is on Team B and the teams compete against each other and some teams can be shady and evil and the other teams can play by the rules and love the fans. It might even be smart to extend the BFG point system to every match so that you are always fighting for points to help you and your team. That way the audience will know who is a face or heel because the whole team will be face or heel together. And guys that you really want the audience to get behind can be team captains and old guys (Hulk Hogan, Sting, Taz, Al Snow, Eric Bischoff) can be team coaches.
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Glitch
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Post by Glitch on Sept 5, 2013 22:52:46 GMT -5
So you mean no story or characters or even promos? Just guys wrestling because they were scheduled to do so? I love good wrestling matches, but this would be really, really boring. Notice how ROH doesn't go this route.
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Reflecto
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Post by Reflecto on Sept 5, 2013 22:58:04 GMT -5
Also TNA has so little screen time and so many people I always thought it would be easier to get the audience to identify with the wrestlers if everyone were divided into teams. Each team would have around 10 people and they would be divided amongst the different divisions (tag, x, heavyweight, women's) and that way the teams could be feuding so that the writers didn't have to come up with such complex reasons why Mickie is mad at Gail. It's just that Mickie is on Team A and Gail is on Team B and the teams compete against each other and some teams can be shady and evil and the other teams can play by the rules and love the fans. It might even be smart to extend the BFG point system to every match so that you are always fighting for points to help you and your team. That way the audience will know who is a face or heel because the whole team will be face or heel together. And guys that you really want the audience to get behind can be team captains and old guys (Hulk Hogan, Sting, Taz, Al Snow, Eric Bischoff) can be team coaches. I think so, Brain, but I think they already made their own twist on the Great American Turkey Hunt match.
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Rick Mad
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Post by Rick Mad on Sept 5, 2013 22:58:51 GMT -5
At the end of the day I prefer my great matches along with great stories - they don't need to be mutually exclusive, and if TNA wants to seriously grow, they need to consistently do both. As previously mentioned, the days of saying WWE doesn't bother with a good in ring product are mostly gone, so TNA would be really hard pressed to push themselves as having better matches. Especially with their low budget atmosphere, they simply can't compete with "big match" feelings WWE can give you. I say this as a long time TNA fan so I'm not putting them down, its just the reality of the thing.
I've often thought about if this would be possible - kind of no-nonsense treatment of a fake sport, almost like an oldschool wrestling/MMA presentation hybrid - I don't think most people respect pro wrestling enough to take it seriously, though I bet it could fine a niche.
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Post by rybackrulez on Sept 6, 2013 2:48:23 GMT -5
Seriously wwe has been having the best shows week in and out. From raw-me-sd and also nxt the wrestling is what keeps bringing me back.
In ring only new japan can put on a show comparative to wwe as a whole.
TNA has a lot of good talent. Just give them the opportunities to keep shining.
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Reflecto
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Post by Reflecto on Sept 6, 2013 2:54:11 GMT -5
The Bound for Glory Series is a good example of the small things TNA could do to make the show seem more 'sport' like but not take away all of the 'entertainment'. They're already letting fans accept wins/losses as mattering anyway and leading some standings- going further with that would probably help things along that route:
Full roster standings [merely wins/losses/draws] before the BFG series. It goes back to 0 after BFG the year before. On April 30, the top 12 in the standings are the Bound for Glory Series competitors. Right there, you make wins/losses mean more, all year long, and you add the potential for more storylines to come in for each division [The X Division Champion qualified, but now they have to fight in triple threats? The tag champs tied for 12th place, now they have to fight each other for a spot in the series? The Knockouts champion won so many matches in-division they ended up qualifying for the Bound for Glory Series, and now they're forced to level up in a big way? Etc.]
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Post by Bram wants to 'urt you on Sept 6, 2013 3:19:03 GMT -5
So you mean no story or characters or even promos? Just guys wrestling because they were scheduled to do so? I love good wrestling matches, but this would be really, really boring. Notice how ROH doesn't go this route. Sorry no, I didn't make it clear. There'd still be promos, but keep them to the point. Probably have more old school "wrestler/interviewer in the back" style promos, focusing on the upcoming match and ongoing feud. At the moment the promos can tend to ramble and quite often I find myself thinking "yes, WE GET IT ALREADY, GET ON WITH IT". The show itself wouldn't need to change drastically. Simply take out the arcing stories and stables, and keep things simple and to the point - why are these people wrestling each other? Either to win a championship belt, to get one step closer to a position whereby they can wrestle for a championship or simply to prove a point - who is the better wrestler/team? It would also keep things easier for the casual or new viewer to get up to speed. By keeping things simple it would also allow for more rotation. At the moment, people by and large agree that Wes/Garett (just as an example) aren't really up to much or worth the screen time they get. But since they're part of a bigger storyline we get them regardless of whether we want them or not. If they were simply two guys (or a team) and not part of a bigger group, it would be easier to mix them up and find a context that they actually work well within. Personally I love a good story played out by fun, interesting characters. The problem at the moment is that too many characters are stifled by big groups and long winded stories. I'd prefer it if they could change things more "on the fly" - if something isn't working, change it around.
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mrbananagrabber
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Post by mrbananagrabber on Sept 6, 2013 4:08:58 GMT -5
Ahhh, "Wrestling Matters." I forgot all about that.
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Post by Ryushinku on Sept 6, 2013 4:41:21 GMT -5
Didn't that slogan come about because of the rumour, no idea how true it was, about the word 'wrestling' being banned from WWE tv?
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mrbananagrabber
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Post by mrbananagrabber on Sept 6, 2013 5:17:04 GMT -5
Didn't that slogan come about because of the rumour, no idea how true it was, about the word 'wrestling' being banned from WWE tv? I think the word "wrestler" gets downplayed because they want to put across that you can get wrestlers anywhere, but in WWE they are the best of the best, "superstars", even. Makes kinda sense. Because other than that, they talk about "wrestling" all the time, even Michael Cole.
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Post by CM Parish on Sept 6, 2013 5:20:50 GMT -5
Do you mean something like the current NXT? I do enjoy current NXT.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2013 10:55:07 GMT -5
I think a combination of straight-ahead wrestling show and really retro, campy production could work. Go for a classy, yet out-of-touch look. The wrestlers' gimmicks need to change with it in that everyone would need to over-emphasize what they're doing now. Definitely new music all around. Very plain graphics like 1980s WWF. Goofy presentation, but takes itself completely seriously as a sport. No shooting, no trying to be modern and hip and ironic or "in the know". No references to backstage and cutting edge Reaction style camera.
I figure tv showas and other media that reference wrestling positively are usually referring to the 1980s, so I say give fans that stuff with the newer wrestlers, instead of WWE's way of nostalgia within their tip-top state-of-the-art bitchin HD LED stage look.
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Post by Red Impact on Sept 6, 2013 11:32:32 GMT -5
I think there's a pretty good reason WWE does the style they do today, while the pure wrestling shows are highly niche products. Not saying that I don't think a strict wrestling company could survive, but I doubt you're going to draw huge PPV audiences and keep a national tv deal with it. Wrestling in that time didn't have the competition the wrestling of today does, didn't have the number of channels or the internet. The entertainment choices have ballooned significantly and action as a genre has just gotten faster and faster over time. And if people want combat sports without arcing stories, they have MMA to go with now. I don't know if a faux-combat version would really find the audience needed to reach TNA levels today, even with their problems.
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Post by bootytea on Sept 6, 2013 13:48:02 GMT -5
Ring of Honor is trying that and it is not working out.
Casual viewers simply do not care about the actual wrestling as much because it is not something they understand.
There are also wrestling fanatics, like me, who can not get into a match unless it is leading to a story or has some form of dramatical reason for happening.
If I wanted to see a wrestling show, I can go to a high school wrestling meet. I pay for cable to be entertained in ways I could not imagine, not to obsess over work rates.
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Malcolm
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Post by Malcolm on Sept 6, 2013 14:16:47 GMT -5
I'd be for a wrestling show that told stories through interviews, in-ring promos, pre and post match shenannigans, and wrestler promos. I've honestly grown tired of all the backstage "invisible" camera crap.
I really do like ROH's approach.
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Post by HMARK Center on Sept 6, 2013 14:41:45 GMT -5
It can work to a certain degree; unfortunately, audiences have really been trained in the past 15+ years to accept a more "Monday Night Wars-esque" approach to wrestling products, but given TNA's time limitations each week, it would allow them to highlight more of their roster, plus as said before it'd be a clear way of saying "this is different from WWE".
I'm pretty sick of "sports entertainment" myself; I do need good storylines, feuds that have compelling reasons to continue on, but frankly we got plenty of those in the heydays of promotions like the AWA or Jim Crockett Promotions, companies far less reliant on gimmickry than WWF/E has been over the years. Obviously those companies all failed for a reason, but going into that approach with the idea that you're appealing to a different mindset, knowing full well what it's limitations are? It could work, though you probably couldn't get away going 100% full-bore with it.
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Post by ________ has left the building on Sept 6, 2013 14:53:50 GMT -5
The question is if their current fanbase would stick around for a return to the NWA Worldwide studio setup.
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