It’s a old age rule in marketing, in life and in the wrestling business. Make yourself, you, as a brand, different. That is, if you want to be remembered and want to make bank. If you don’t want to stand out among your peers, in your company, or among the wrestling landscape as a whole as something special, different and worth remembering, then repeat what ‘has always worked for you’ and then watch yourself be dropped from your slot, your spot and from your deal.
TNA was on the road to being that ‘different brand’ and that’s what they are trying to sell wrestling fans on but if you base it on what you saw at Genesis, then you got more of ‘what has worked before… must work again, (damn it).’ If this was a Pepsi versus Coke taste test in the form of wrestling, fans aren’t going to know the difference between the two big brands at this rate. It’s one thing to say you are going to be “pro wrestling†and are the ‘anti-sports entertainment’ brand, but when you deliver a finish (after a four star match between AJ Styles and Kurt Angle, a good old fashion, story in the ring between two very capable main eventers) that ends in a old swerve heel gimmick (the ref gets pulled out by Nature Boy who watches the match for a good 15 minutes or so, AJ decides to go along with Ric’s cheating and then the ref as if NOTHING HAPPENED OUT OF THE ORDINARY COUNTS FOR THREE FOR THE ‘CLEAN’ WIN!), when it COULD have been a clean finish and ended on the ‘we deliver wrestling’ note….then how can I (or anyone else) take you seriously, Mr. Russo/Bischoff/Hogan and Ms. Carter?
If that wasn’t enough to piss off people like me who like a good story being told in the ring, you take away the one gimmick that makes TNA stand out….the six-sided ring. Boy, did fans really crap all over that guys. The six-sided ring, gimmick ring or not, at least offered something different and innovative. Instead, we’re back to the basic ring so more passive fans who don’t watch the sport closely can see no difference in brand presentation. Just because guys who haven’t wrestled in the six-sided ring before may be a little green in there, doesn’t mean you trash it because it makes certain guys uncomfortable. I remember once upon a time when talent started out in the ‘indies’ and didn’t care where they wrestled, as long as they got to grow at their craft. It’s talent that tap into that passion, that passion of performing because they are confident in their skills, and getting a reaction from the crowd that has them riding the wave with them…..when every night is a WrestleMania type experience for all involved, if everyone went into this business with that attitude, maybe the sport would be a better place to play in.
I’ll keep saying it because it remains true…you want to show fans you are serious about the sport of pro wrestling, then let’s try clean finishes. Let’s try letting the men and women who are more than capable of delivering a good match, perform.
– Ex-WWE guys who made their prime living in those gimmicks are bringing those gimmicks back….again. You change a name and as long as you give the fans what they remember, that’s all that counts, right? See Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, 6-Pac (as The Band), Sean Morley (Val), Mr. Anderson (Mr. Kennedy), and Eric Bischoff for reference. Is it working? I couldn’t want The Band to be off TV more than I do now because Scott Hall is no where near where he needs to be to perform… simply put, it’s not working. Eric has reached beyond the traditional annoying character he has always been to the point that I question whether or not I want to walk out of the living room when I see him on TV. It’s just too much EB. I’m happy to see Anderson in TNA and he did get a good reaction but he can’t win cleanly either? The Back (my new collective name for the Higher Ups at TNA since they would be cute and use The Band to describe the nWo) thinks the formula of making what’s familiar to the wrestling fan and doing nothing to tamper with that. Without real risks there are no rewards. As much as I respect all these guys for all that they have done and do in this business, it’s going to take more than name power to get TNA to the next level. The writing has to change or the writing on the wall, won’t.
– On the positive, how refreshing is it to see a 2 out of 3 Falls WOMEN’S MATCH? I’m so glad Tara is apart of TNA. Too bad they couldn’t hang on to Gail Kim since she’s buried into a nothing role in the WWE. When TNA does what SHOULD be the REAL BRAND DIFFERENTIAL, and let the talent wrestle quality matches (again, AJ v Angle and Pope v Wolfe were fine examples), then WWE should sweat what TNA brings to the wrestling collective and competition.
– I want to take this time out to shout out to Awesome Kong for her efforts to raise money for Wrestlers For Haiti. I also want to shout out to Mick Foley for being the classy guy that he has always been and donating as well to this cause. In two days, they raised $5,097.23 for this important cause. Thank you for giving back and being great examples in this industry of ours.
This brings me to my final point of this column – wrestling is meant to give everyone some enjoyment during really hard and crazy times like we are experiencing today. Wrestling is supposed to entertain us, to make us cheer for the good or bad guy and care about the outcome of the stories. TNA needs to be careful and not piss off their core base or turn off the Curious in their efforts to be different yet more of the same. WWE needs to also listen to their core as well….I for one wondered Sunday is if WWE had been smarter with Blue Print Matt Morgan, would he be in Shamus’ spot? Another topic for a separate time. Thank you to all the talent, in the WWE, TNA and the indies, who let the fans take their mind off the heavy stuff of the world and of daily life for a few hours a week.
Thank you for your support, be sure to catch me on ShootFinish.com, OutImpact.com and OutImpactProductions.com. Follow me on Twitter at @OIProductions!
