More on TNA Backstage Morale; Booking Changes & Sacrifice PPV

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Morale in TNA was said to be quite deflated after the announcement that Impact was being moved back to Thursday. Many of the roster members who don’t follow the history of the business had been convinced by talk a couple of months back that the move to Monday nights was going to turn the company around. Some are fearful that the Thursday ratings will not return to what they were in February, with the Monday experiment perhaps having run off a sizeable portion of the fanbase. In the past, the consensus has been that although the money in TNA was not as good as in WWE this was offset by a far more enjoyable atmosphere at work. Now, the general feeling is that TNA is still a less stressful environment than WWE but nowhere near as much fun as it was a few months ago. Some feel that this is attributable to Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan coming in without any knowledge of the product, storylines or characters and yet changing the dynamic regardless. Others go back farther and attribute it to Jim Cornette being let go in favour of Ed Ferrara. Cornette had been the one who took scenarios that seemed foolish on paper and performed major damage control on them, while Ferrara lacked such instincts. This was said to demonstrate just how little Dixie Carter knew about the business and how easy she could be manipulated. At the moment, it is becoming clear to many that Bischoff has no fresh ideas about how to turn business around. The upcoming schedule should be quite revealing about the creative team. The Sacrifice PPV on 16 May will be followed by TV tapings for four straight weeks of Impact on the 17th, 18th and 19th, right up until the next PPV. This has been done in the past as a cost-saving measure, yet it led to segments being taped out of order on different days and numerous internal logic holes, such as some people being in different outfits for no reason on the same show. When such tapings were being written by Vince Russo the major plot points and directions of the script would be left intact. Under the new regime, there are far more last-minute alterations to major aspects of storylines. Kevin Nash & Scott Hall winning the TNA Tag Team Championships was a last-minute decision after somebody brought up that Nash still had a Feast or Fired briefcase to use for a tag title shot. Bischoff knew nothing about the concept, while Russo had long since forgotten about it. When the subject was brought up they decided to go ahead and use it for a title change. This screwed with the original Sacrifice line-up, where Matt Morgan and a partner were to face Ink Inc, while Hall & Nash would have been in a #1 contenders four-way with Beer Money, Team 3D and Motor City Machine Guns. Now they are having Hall & Nash defend the titles against Ink Inc, with the other tree teams perhaps having a three-way match instead. Morgan has nothing in particular planned, although a match with Samoa Joe is on the cards since Joe cost him the tag titles. The original plan for Morgan was that Hernandez would return as a mystery partner for Homicide, who would have won a tag title shot, yet the entire LAX reunion idea has been forgotten about since the original Hernandez injury angle. Meanwhile, Homicide was confronted about his recent interview comments about his lack of faith in TNA, their current direction and Hulk Hogan’s involvement with the company. He claimed to have been misquoted and so Terry Taylor has asked for a copy of the interview tape.

Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscribe here)