Alternate Reality by Vin Tastic

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Total Nonstop Action Wrestling was once poised as a legitimate alternative to Vince McMahon’s bloated, tired WWE. TNA had a different type of product, a unique look, a focus on the X Division, featuring the exact type of performer McMahon would never really highlight, a well-developed, strong tag team battalion, and a fresh approach to the industry. But now, sadly, they’re another example of failing to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors and many of my colleagues agree that TNA is a lost cause.

TODAY’S ISSUE: The problem(s) with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

I recently caught up online with my fellow Internet wrestling writer, the ROH International Bantamweight Champion, Pulse Glazer. As my cohort and I discussed year-end awards, our only choice for “Missed Opportunity of the Year” was TNA. Not for a storyline they messed up, or a match result, or for failing to sign somebody to contract, but for everything they did all year long. That’s unprecedented. The entire company was mishandled in 2007, and the wise wrestling wizard was happy to provide a few of his thoughts in that regard:

Pulse Glazer: “Abyss and Mitchell’s “feud” is a huge problem for TNA. It reveals how pathetic and derivative their ideas are with complete transparency. They are so obviously aping the Undertaker and Paul Bearer’s angles that it’s almost painful. What makes it worse is how inept they are at this. The Undertaker insanity worked because he was so well protected and put over major names for years. Abyss on the other hand is pure transitional talent, thus comes off looking like a jobber, while ‘Taker looked like the undead Superman. People will care about the kookiness that goes with the absolute monster who constantly beats everyone, but the guy who’s made to look like a jobber to everyone that matters and only wins garbage matches with weapons… why the hell would anyone care what silliness is attached? It’s too over the top without the in-ring credibility, a problem with TNA as a whole.

It gets worse though. Undertaker’s most successful rival was Mankind, who had a lot going for him. First, he was a legitimate maniac in the ring, as seen by his well-known Cactus Jack persona, so his insanity made him a threat to ‘Taker. Next, he was an incredibly talented storyteller and could take an insane beating while still coming out looking great. Lastly, Mankind was a classic speaker who fans did nothing but empathize with or hate, based on what he said and how he delivered it. Who did the inept TNA hire to fill this role played so amazingly by Mankind? It has to be someone great to cover up Abyss’s flaws, right? They chose Dustin Rhodes, also known as Goldust. That’s right, they chose the guy best known as Goldust to play the utter psycho role. The guy is known for being glam. It just won’t work. While Dustin is a good worker, he has never been anything near inspiring and really needs to be led to be good. Abyss will, simply put, not be leading Dustin Rhodes to anything but a mess of overbooked insanity. Hmm, sounds like all of TNA again.

Finding the right role for people is an issue that doesn’t end with Dustin, though. Have you seen what they’ve done with AJ Styles? The most athletic and dynamic individual of his era has been reduced to a cowardly heel lackey. There is nothing wrong with playing a role when it’s to tell a story, but why AJ for the role? He’s the most beloved man on the roster to hardcore TNA fans, and his current role flies in the face of every bit of character development he’s achieved, and forces one of the few wrestlers who can make people care about his character in-ring solely, without needing outside time, to take up tons of television segments to get over, while having considerably worse matches. This is an inefficient and inconsistent use of talent, seen up and down the card.

Nowhere is that problem worse than Samoa Joe. From being beaten and made to look foolish by Kurt Angle (the one match Joe won, Angle hit himself with a chair) to main event feuds being dropped, Joe suddenly jumps from one position in the company to another with no on screen reason given. Case in point: First he was in a death feud with Christian constantly trying to destroy Cage, including TNA’s Match of the Year between the two at Destination X, and then suddenly Christian simply decided to move on and Joe randomly joined the Outsiders. While I dislike Hall and Nash, putting Joe in the “third man” spot with them is a great way to get him over since their last third man was Hogan. Of course, TNA never learns from past mistakes and were burned by Hall. So Joe, inexplicably to anyone who wasn’t on the ‘net, ripped into his on-screen friends Nash and Hall live on ppv. Then nothing happened, then he hated TNA authority, and now he’s back playing second fiddle to Nash again. No wonder Joe has lost his passion.

Young talent playing second fiddle to established stars isn’t remotely to Joe and AJ Styles. Abyss was constantly rescued by Sting for a time, because Sting surely needed to be more over as the savior. The entire X-Division followed Kevin Nash around and were essentially destroyed by his comedy skits that killed the division’s credibility. Daniels tried to have a feud with Sting that was summarily dropped. Even Rellik is Dustin Rhodes’ lackey. Very few young guys are able to get anything at all on the established stars and those few that do, Kaz and the Murder City Machine Guns, immediately become the most over guys on the roster. Of course, both are kept well out of the title picture. The big names need those slots for the credibility.

The tag team titles are booked just as poorly. The former New Age Outlaws are never far from a title shot and push, and they constantly take up TV time with an angle that never goes anywhere, and drives fans away. They’re stale, can’t wrestle, can’t talk and aren’t over. Pushing them is possibly the stupidest idea ever. The Steiner Brothers, ‘roided beyond belief, are at least over, but they can’t work anymore either. So far the Machine Guns have done great with Team 3-D, but if Team 3-D ends up squashing them, than it will all be for naught. TNA doesn’t have a track record that makes me confident. Remember what happened to all of LAX’s steam last year?

The world title is tied up by Cage, Angle and Sting. These guys are all wildly over, but competing ONLY with each other is a self-indulgent circle-jerk. I can’t wait for Jarrett to come back to join the fray. Ugh.”

These are all valid points by Mr. Glazer, though not by a long shot the only problems in TNA. There’s all the un-funny Eric Young shenanigans, the lame gimmick matches and convoluted #1 contender tribulations. There’s the big stiff Matt Morgan trying to act like he’s got stroke, and the crappy strippers in the “Knockouts” division like Angelina Love and Velvet Sky, who are about as useless as a screen door on a submarine. There’s the played-out Macho Man gimmick which looks to be picking up steam, and the on-screen ups and downs of the Angle family. And so much more.

Right when Kaz was set to be truly elevated to the “hot young gun” position, he’s been left to languish in the mid-card yet again, showing that TNA is more interested in outside talent like Booker T. Yet they didn’t go out of their way to try and sign RVD or Jericho, who each could have added some special depth and in-ring quality to the main event scene. If they want to hire former McMahon employees with little value like Rikishi, Tomko, and Morgan, plus anyone who had success in bigger companies, like Sting, Angle, Cage, Team 3-D, and Booker T., how could they pass on Jericho and RVD? There’s no consistency in that strategy.

One could continue listing their flaws all night long, but the bottom line is that TNA has squandered opportunity after opportunity and turned off far more viewers than they’ve earned since they seemingly changed their vision statement from “Be The Wrestling Alternative” to “Let’s Do What WWE Does, Only Far Worse”. I can’t imagine what their creative department is thinking.

Thank goodness there are always Ring of Honor DVDs and ppvs, Puro downloads, and indy feds like PWG and Chikara for real wrestling fans to turn to. I also hear the NWA has a new television show this month, so there are alternatives. Sorry, TNA – it should have been you, but you blew it.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled reality.

p.s. – “Every artist was first an amateur.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Before you go, check out our Rasslin Roundtable for TNA’s Final Resolution and compare our picks to the results below to see how we fared.

IP Staff Roundtable Results for Final Resolution

Matthew Michaels
TNA Final Resolution (6 Jan 08): 6-2
Total: 99-87

Danny Cox
TNA Final Resolution (6 Jan 08): 6-2
Total: 117-98

Mark Allen
TNA Final Resolution (6 Jan 08): 5-3
Total: 63-27

Paul Marshall
TNA Final Resolution (6 Jan 08): 5-3
Total: 32-19

David Brashear
TNA Final Resolution (6 Jan 08): 5-3
Total: 68-56

Master Sergeant, United States Air Force