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The Time is Now
TNA Wrestling should be poised to take over the professional wrestling world now that it's got a two hour weekly series. It has a roster that most wrestling companies would die for, yet in many cases, that talent has been better utilized elsewhere. It has prime-time television on a network that is obviously well behind it and the recent promotion of Kevin Kay to President of SpikeTV should be an additional boost to the company's political clout on the network. It has the timing of expanding to two hours as WWE's ratings for all of its series continue to slip at the same time it's top babyface is gone from the company for at least seven months due to injury.
The time is now. TNA will never have better potential to grasp their part of the pie, yet in many ways, it feels like it's simply business as usual within the company. The two hour debut came and went, and while it did a respectable 1.1 rating, there was no buzz coming out of the show that a new era had truly started, it was just the company continuing to tread water, in fast forward no less. The main event eight man tag team match was excellent and there were several good other matches, but for every strong in-ring match, there was the Kurt Angle-Sting storyline that falls apart the second you apply any logic to the crux of it (Kurt is mad Sting slapped Karen when he never did and hey, why was Karen out there starting with Sting to begin with, anyway? Oh yeah, it's for the World title, too.) and segments with at least eight - sometimes more - talents all jammed in there.
TNA President Dixie Carter has remarked that she wants longer matches and deeper characters now that the company has made it to the Valhalla that is a two hour series, but based on the first episode and details we've heard of the second episode (which I won't mention for spoiler reasons), it appears that the company is still running like it's DC Comics' The Flash - at the speed of light with barely a second for viewers to blink and take in what they're seeing. TNA needs to look at the history of wrestling and realize it's time for them to actually become what they claim to be - innovative.
A History Lesson
In 1995, WCW touched upon on the fact that the current generation of wrestling as it had been presented until that point - a cartoonish athletic product - had been done to death and needed to evolve. WCW sampled from great angles in Japan (New Japan vs. UWFi invasion) and created the NWO. They took from great athletic matches (ECW) and in many cases, signed those same athletes to build their foundation in the Cruiserweight division. Already buoyed by the nostalgia of names like Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, Ric Flair and Randy Savage battling in a fresh environment, all those moves helped company take off.
After many, many months of being wrecked in the ratings, WWF finally battled back with what is known as the "Attitude" era. Historically, Vince Russo is given a lot of credit for having the cajones to actually stand up to Vince McMahon and argue and fight for why he felt the WWF product sucked and needed to be overhauled. Over the top angles and characters, sexuality, hot woman and violence were added as the sizzle to the steak of a number of top developing talents putting together incredible main events featuring Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H and Mankind alongside veterans like The Undertaker and the unique draw of Vince McMahon stepping into the ring for the first time.
Wrestling on TV became edgier and more of an action-adventure format. There were times where one even wondered if the ring wouldn't just become secondary, but removed altogether. At times, it even was. There was a famous episode of Nitro, by this point a three hour live series, where there was absolutely no wrestling in the first hour whatsoever. Battles and brawls on both shows often took place backstage and at other locales. Limos exploded, monster trucks crushed cars and zambonis invaded arenas.
Without a doubt, it was a fun time in professional wrestling but like all great trends and fads, it came to an end. WCW died. ECW (where much of the newer talent for the companies was mined from) died. WWF was the victor and took the spoils, the success, the video libraries and we all know the story that has gone on from there, leading to last week's 2.8 Raw rating.
TNA's Place Today
TNA was formed in 2002. It's now 2007, yet if you watch their current presentation on television, you would think it's 2000 and WCW is in the secondary position fighting to regain all the momentum they lost with the advent of the Attitude era. The problem is that TNA is presenting professional wrestling for an era that is long-gone and forgotten by the fad fans of that era. Fans that worshipped Goldberg have moved onto new things in their lives. They are not going to return because of a company with new letters presenting the same wrestling in the same way they've seen it done 10,000 times before, because that presentation didn't result in those fans remaining loyal and sticking around. They've moved on and in 20 years, that generation will look back on wrestling the way aging fans do with roller derby. It was something they loved during *that* period of their life and moved on.
Simply put, TNA is not going to attract fans that have given up to return or even new fans by presenting a product that is weaned in the 1995-2001 era of professional wrestling. They need to re-invent their own wheel. The company's only chance of picking up momentum as they hit the road is to realize that despite their five years in existence, they are still at Stage One. There's nothing wrong with that, either. Stage one with a talented crew, national licensees and a primetime weekly series are great assets to start with, if TNA will admit they need to regroup and start fresh.
What do I mean from start fresh? No, I don't want a nod to WCW hitting the reset button as we once saw during the Vince Russo-Eric Bischoff era. TNA has five years of history and they can and should use it to their advantage but from top to bottom, they need to realize it's time to shake things up.
With Bound for Glory set for this weekend in Atlanta, Georgia - the biggest PPV event of TNA's calendar year- there will never be a better setting to springboard new concepts and to finally present the company that their diehard fans and hardest working performers want to take part in. Its time to lay the foundation, once and for all, hitting the ground running at the same time.
With that said, here are some suggestions I'd love to see implemented into TNA's presentation of their product, none of which will cost the company an additional dime of their budget:
The X-Division Needs To Be Saved
When I asked Dixie Carter about the presentation of the X-Division in recent times during her media press conference, she said that the expanded timeslot will provide them with a chance to "do what they do best." The first episode of Impact saw Jay Lethal, coming off his biggest career win over Kurt Angle, being beaten down like Barry Horowitz by Team 3D. That move, and the treatment of the X-Division in recent weeks is nothing short of absolutely pathetic. There is no excuse for the X-Division, one of the calling cards that first attracted fans to TNA to be presented in such a manner, whether the "biggest names" have moved onto other storylines or not.
Historically, WCW's Cruiserweight division helped create an incredible string of great shows because no matter how good or bad some of the main events were, there were 2-4 excellent matches underneath. When WCW began disrespecting those talents, it was a sign of the unraveling of their company, leading to the departure of the Radicalz, who could have been the next generation of top names for WCW and instead left. Currently, WWE treats their current Cruiser division like an afterthought. Those talents are fodder for matches where fans sit on their hands or to be comedic foils in the back for the main players.
TNA used to promote the X-Division as having "No Limits." Well, having those talents presented as secondary to older veterans certainly limits how important those performers can be perceived by the audience. Jay Lethal pins Kurt Angle clean. An hour later, he's punked out by Samoa Joe. The next TV appearance, he loses cleanly to Christopher Daniels. Then he's being punked out by Team 3D. The result? Not only has Lethal's big win been squandered, but now Kurt Angle has lost to someone who can't even defend himself and is presented as a goof. Even worse, that goof's title defenses are now supposed to be taken seriously. Lethal deserves better.
It's not even Lethal, it's how the talents in that division have been presented since the days of Kevin Nash "feuding" with Chris Sabin, Bob Backlund putting chicken wings on Austin Starr, etc. The X-Division went from being pro wrestling to Saturday Night Live parody. Like anything that has gone way too far in one direction, it's time to go back to basics with the X-Division and the best way to do that is to put the kickass back into it.
Take the reigns off those talents and let them have great wrestling matches to kick off every episode of Impact and to fill the undercard of those PPVs. With Chris Sabin, Senshi, Alex Shelley, Sonjay Dutt, Jay Lethal, etc., TNA Impact can have great matches every week on the undercard. Instill some pride in the division by offering bonuses to MVPs of each PPV to see who can put together the best matches. Show off why "the best wrestling in the world" takes place in TNA.
Dixie Carter wants "deeper characters?" In 2007, characters are not caricatures. MMA has proven that. Go the reality route and give the audience a chance to get to know these performers by showing who they are as people, following the UFC's lead. TNA needs to sit down with each performer, find out what they feel their on camera persona should be about and what those goals are, then run with it.
Using Senshi as an example: Senshi is a warrior that lives for competition and training? Follow him around Brooklyn for a few days and show how driven he is to be the best in the world, training and working out. Explain what his goals are and where he came from. Have him explain that fighting in TNA is a matter of pride because he needs to be the best in the world because it's what he lives for.
Finally, keep the X-Division the hell away from anyone and everyone that will make them seem smaller in comparison. Kevin Nash should never be in the same frame. The performers are smaller, but that doesn't mean that should be presented as a weakness. The X-Division should be as important as the World title scene, right down to video features where (for example) Kurt Angle and Sting give their opinions on a major X-Division title match or angle.
The X-Division isn't a comedy joke. It's where the true heart and soul of TNA resides. It's time TNA finally remembers that.
Clean Finishes, NOW
One of the remnants of the Monday Night War era that remains prolific in professional wrestling and TNA in particular is the screwjob mentality. Everyone reading this knows exactly what I mean. That mentality usually features one or more of the following - run-ins, interference, referee bumps, a DQ, or a loss where you don't really lose because of some contrived idea. Today, every fan scapegoats Vince Russo for them, but the truth is they always existed. In the 1980s, everyone blamed Dusty Rhodes for the Dusty finish, but they existed even before that.
One of the things that helped Vince Russo rise to power in the WWF was the idea that "just because" something always used to happen, that doesn't mean you can't break the rules and do something different. In 2007, what used to be different is now "the rule" and it's time to break them again.
I suggest that starting with Bound for Glory, every single match end with a clean pinfall or submission. I am sure half the people reading this are up in arms now, but imagine the landmark PPV of the year where the focus is what's going on inside the ring and whether these athletes can defeat each other.
Don't do referee bumps because everyone knows they are coming. Shock the audience by not having any
Don't have a litany of run-ins, except in places where it makes sense. For the Matt Morgan Enforcer role, it makes sense he's going to ward off an AJ Styles and foil him. Fine. Do the spot and have Styles thrown out so he can't return. Then you can do a quick bit in the back where Tomko smirks at Christian Cage having to do it all on his own "like the tough guy he claims to be" to explain where Tomko is. Once that spot is done, go back to the focus of whether Cage can survive Joe's onslaught and whether Joe and Morgan are going to end up at odds. It's all about what's going on in the ring.
Given the build to Sting vs. Kurt Angle, it makes sense that Karen Angle will get involved as well, but if those are the two matches where outside influences need to be included, don't have them anywhere else.
Less is more and that is a lesson TNA needs to write in bold capital letters and hang at every creative meeting. TNA often bloats themselves by having too many talents involved in different segments. A great example of this was the Gail Kim vs. Jackie Moore bout at Impact. There was a population of male wrestlers associated with the various Knockouts at ringside. Why? None of them were part of the match or finish and they all had other appearances later in the episode. There was no point to it and by having them out there, TNA not only diluted the women, but the later appearances.
The same less is more mindset needs to be implemented for finishes, so none of them are diluted when they are executed. To that end, TNA needs to go to all clean finishes, because if one competitor beats the other, the loser now has something to avenge while the victor has just made himself mean something more. A great match between them will lead to both meaning more in the long run. There are no losers when there is a great in-ring bout, just winners because the fans get what they paid for and the performers involved have all enriched their worth to the company. The focus is on the performers, not the contrived nature of the bout's ending.
Of course, then when you really need a BIG major angle to create controversy, you can do a big screwy finish, maybe once a year, and it will mean something to the fans and the storylines, in a positive manner. To get to that point, however, you need to strip away the outlandish stuff and go back to basics.
Accentuate the Realism
One of the greatest time periods ever in wrestling was the mid-1980s presentation of Mid-South Wrestling. There was a logic to everything that happened and when the heels got one over on the babyfaces, by God you believed Magnum TA, The Junkyard Dog or the Rock N' Roll Express were coming for vengeance and not only did you want to see them get it, you wanted to pay to see it because you "had to be there." Why? You believed those guys wanted to kill each other.
It may be 2007 and the genie is out of the bottle but smaller fringe companies like the original ECW and Ring of Honor have shown that if you treat the product with a sense of emotion and realism, it improves the presentation a tenfold and invokes fan interest. TNA has never really done that during their SpikeTV era. There was always a sense of out-there, contrived reasons for storylines like the Abyss vs. Sting feud or even the current Kurt Angle-Sting build.
While this wasn't a wrestling feud, Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock in UFC was a huge deal because the audience believed those two didn't like each other and depending on what side you were on, you wanted to see someone get knocked the fn' hell out. The closest TNA has ever come to creating a true blood feud situation was the Samoa Joe vs. Scott Steiner feud that ended up disappearing well before its time after one great singles bout. Watching that build, you believed Steiner was a no good piece of garbage who was disrespecting Joe and Joe was pissed off and hungry, looking to rip Steiner's head off. It was great stuff.
As I said, it may be 2007, but there is a time and place for realism in wrestling to return and that time is now. Eliminate silly backstage promos where wrestlers give scripted dialogue to each other in a soap opera setting and cameras are ignored. Replace that with pissed off wrestlers explaining why they are pissed off and coming for blood as Jeremy Borash shows off those awesome facial reactions. It will also give viewers a reason to connect with performers. Homicide is one of the most intense, realistic wrestlers going today because his gimmick is who he really is - a tough former gang banger from NYC who will kick the crap out of you and leave you for dead if you cross him. TNA has never really given the audience a chance to know that. He's not alone. There's a laundry list of talents who have never been given that chance. It's time for TNA to start checking off that list. Some of these guys will fail, but others will connect and mean more to the company.
I believe that in 2007, a lot of people in power forget why wrestlers are wrestling to start with. They want to be the same thing any athlete wants to be, the best. Why do the Yankees play baseball? To be the World Series champions. Why is Evander Holyfield boxing again? To be champion one last time. So why are these performers part of TNA? They want to be champion, to be the best in the world, to prove to everyone that they are superior.
There are places and roles for characters like Eric Young as the unofficial silly mascot of the company and AJ Styles as the clueless second banana, but for the most part, everyone should be in the ring for one of three reasons - to be the best, to hold the gold, or vengeance. It's time to reaffirm that within the universe that is TNA television. Let wrestlers talk about their current storylines but drop little hints like, "and when I'm done with this bastard, I'm looking at you Kurt Angle because I want your title." Whether they get to the title or not is irrelevant. Everyone should want to get there because that's what the best in the world want - to thrive.
Rebuild the basics of what makes a wrestler want to wrestle. Give good, logical reasons for characters and their feuds and keep those stories strong with the same logic. If you are going to have a crazy stipulation match, like the Ultimate X, make sure that is the ONLY stip match on the entire show, so that you can properly build it like something special and like a major, big level event is going down. Bound for Glory has far too many stipulation bouts in one show for my tastes, but at least the company can say "Well, it's the biggest show of the year." Fine, but after this weekend, start rotating those stipulation matches and build to them. If you are going to do a Lethal Lockdown match in April, then figure out who's going to be in it in January and work backwards to figure out the logical progression to get there and run-ins shouldn't be your logical progression.
Take a little bit of what made companies like Mid-South and the glory days of ECW so strong and apply it to TNA, but make sure its not done in a schizophrenic manner. Once you establish something, don't then backtrack from it. Let the moment breathe. If TNA is going to close with a strong angle where Kurt Angle beats the piss out of Sting's son (an angle done with far better execution by Eddie Gilbert in the old Continental territory), don't then go to a rocking music video of highlights from the last two hours. That only screams "fake" to the viewers. Treat each moment is if it was is real life and if something serious goes down, let that moment hang there as a cliffhanger. If a character dies on House, you don't close with a dance number. You close with the severity of that moment.
TNA can easily apply these ideas, especially since the last great wrestling writer (outside of Paul Heyman, who by all signs, is done with wrestling), is one who grew up during the territory era and currently works for TNA, but is among one of the most underutilized performers on Impact, to boot - Jim Cornette. Pay him more and utilize that expertise.
Longer Matches
This is self-explanatory. TNA can do more to create an emotional response between their performers and the audience, live and on television, with 10 minute matches than they can with three minutes. That's not news to anyone inside or out of the company.
Do Not Hire New Talent (with an asterisk)
With the longer timeslot, there has been a lot of talk lately about who can be added to the company's roster. That discussion makes me want to beat my head against the wall. The excuse has been that TNA didn't have enough time to present their roster and storylines in a satisfactory way because they only have one hour. The TV time is now doubled, so the discussion goes toward adding even more names to an already underutilized and cluttered roster? Stop that.
TNA needs an immediate freeze on all hires. There is not one talent out there that is going to make the difference in the ratings and the drawing power of the TNA brand. They have hired Kurt Angle, The Dudley Boyz and Christian Cage in recent years. They've developed Abyss, Samoa Joe, and AJ Styles, among others. The rating is remaining within the same range, improving somewhat because of timeslot changes and whatever viewing loyalty TNA has cultivated.
TNA is fond of mentioning they have the stars of tomorrow. They don't. They have the STARS of today. Samoa Joe, XXX, Abyss, Robert Roode, etc. are the stars of today. There may be other talents who have established themselves elsewhere, like Team 3D for example, but in the world of TNA, they should be equal to the in-house performers, not above them. The TNA stars are the home team to the fans and should be presented as such. ECW did wonders for their own marketing by portraying a group of Northeastern indy talents like Taz, Tommy Dreamer and The Public Enemy as top names and over time, they became legitimate top names for the original ECW. TNA has to do the same.
TNA should accentuate the great crew they already have, not look for new names. That only destroys the current roster's sense of importance and creates strife. Who wants to work where they aren't treated as if they matter? That's a universal response. Unless The Rock or someone of that magnitude falls into TNA's lap (and in my opinion, there is no one right now that fits that description), there is no need to add anyone new to the mix. The only asterisk to this I would even consider is hiring some well versed undercard performers with strong workrate to fill out lower rung positions - performers like Devon "Crowbar" Storm, CW Anderson, Joey Matthews, David Young. They are good enough to deserve jobs but likely can't or won't ever be top flight draws for the company but will break the monotony of (for example) Robert Roode vs. Petey Williams for the 10,000th time in the pursuit of getting a performer over and add one more good performer to the roster.
The bottom line, however, is that TNA has a roster any promotion would love to have. Like any major league sports team, however, they need to be managed to accentuate their strengths and to mean the most in their roles. There's not an exact science but things should be strengthened with the current crop of talented wrestlers before TNA starts plucking and adding more.
What IS TNA?
I want everyone reading this to say to themselves, in one sentence, what TNA is. What is the TNA product that makes it stand out against everyone else in the industry? If you cannot surmise the company in one sentence outside of "professional wrestling in a six-sided ring" then they need to shake up their marketing plan and how they present themselves.
A good place to start would be for TNA Management to ask the younger talents how they think TNA should present themselves. The older veterans are set in their ways, because those ways made them money during that time period, but the new crop of talents are closer to the fans TNA wants to attract. Instead of looking at them as indentured servants who were lucky enough to be plucked from the independent scene and placed on national television, look at them as the performers who exist in the same demographic that the company is trying to attract more of. There needs to be a fresh approach and it needs to come from those who are young and passionate about the company, because they are the ones who will grow with it as it hopefully grows and the veterans move onto the next part of their lives, because no in-ring career lasts forever.
It's time for TNA to figure out once and for all what TNA means.
Mike Johnson can be reached at Mike@PWInsider.com.
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