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In writing this column, I'm subjecting myself to a lot of criticism. Well, there's nothing new here, but this will be a "more than the normal amount" sort of criticism. It's because this column will focus on TNA, a wrestling company that I have watched for a total of 45 minutes in the past five 1/2 months.
Let's start with the basic facts – around 2 years ago the only big name in TNA who was a former WWE star was Christian. The rest of the roster consisted of guys who grew up in the indies, TNA homegrown stars, and WWE midcarders. TNA had an 11PM timeslot. Yet their ratings where 80-90% of what they are today.
Today, TNA has a prime time slot and arguably more recognizable main event caliber wrestlers than the WWE, yet, asides from performing consistently and holding more PPVs outside of Disney World, they haven't really moved forward. In a way, they're moving backwards.
TNA had an immediate following because it was easily distinguishable from the WWE. The X division was a big part of it. In the past two years, ever since Samoa Joe became a world title contender – that is no longer the case, and I don't think that the Team 3D VS The X division feud can save it. But reading about it sure makes me think that it's quite an entertaining story line.
Then, you had the problem of getting the fans to care about your characters, as they simply didn't know most of them. At first, TNA did quite a good job and I don't think they got the praise they deserved. In a relatively short span of time they created a lot of characters that the fans loved or loved to hate. The problem is that it was always the same 600 non paying (and my philosophy when it comes to wrestling is – you don't pay – your opinion doesn't count. Which is quite ironic considering all the money Colin promised me for the column. Where's the check, you bastard?!?!), and those 600 people could ruin a perfectly good gimmick because "it's not original TNA".
But like I said, TNA did a good job overall with creating characters. But then I heard of the plan for the Abyss gimmick. You have to understand that the way I see it – creating some sort of a "inhuman" gimmick is the hardest thing to pull off in wrestling – yet it's the most rewarding thing. In the WWE the most formidable performer in the past 15 years has been the Undertaker because although his gimmick is completely illogical – he makes it work.
TNA had that with Abyss. So what do they do? First of all, they make his matches lose all affect by having him go through such hell in every PPV that fans are at this point not even blinking unless the guy goes through a flaming barb wired covered table. Less is more is a completely alien concept for Vince Russo, Dutch Mental and Jeff Jarrett, apparently.
Now I hear that there are plans for Abyss to return without his mask and under his real name. All I want to know is what the person who came up with that decision smoked before, and where the hell do I get something that alters your brain in such a profound way. Seriously – how stupid are you?!?!
Abyss should be kept as a monster, cutting short promos which he does very well, be a heel or a face depending on the situation, use the fact that he can work with guys of various sizes, and for the love of god, have him go through blood baths only once a year or the fans will simply NOT CARE.
The last issue I want to discuss before looking ahead is TNA's stupid obsession with trying to make things look "real". The plan to have no heels or faces is stupid, because as I said in my Ric Flair column – you can't have an entertaining wrestling match if you don't have a guy that the fans want to win (sometimes they want him to have the crap beaten out of him before – so the victory will be sweeter), and a guy that they want to lose. And all this nonsense about the Attitude era having no clear faces and heels is just that – nonsense. Even if, say, The Godfather, would never be a face in any other era of wrestling, the fact is that in the late 90's the fans loved him.
So where do we go from here?
I'll start with the last subject I raised – forget the whole "only tweeners" lunacy. When you come up with characters, think of how you want the fans to react to them and then think how you can create that reaction. Let the wrestlers be themselves. If they're just repeating lines – we can see that on TV. Give them bullet points and let them get the message across BY THEMSELVES.
Allow time for mid card feuds, as those feuds are the ones who discover your headliners of tomorrow. Usually the mid carders are more open to try things that are more creative because they are not in the spot light, and in feuds that take place on the first hour of Impact they can create a fan base for themselves.
Give the X division 20-30 minutes each impact, but not for a spot-fest of a match. Tell them to have one or two good WRESTLING matches. There are so many capable guys there that it should be no problem, and it would differentiate the TNA product from WWE.
Get the hell out of the Impact Zone. That's more important than going live – you cannot let 600 people dictate your creative direction.
Be PATIENT. When there's an important happening – give us a few seconds to absorb it, don't cut to the back right away. Limit your crazy spots because at a certain amount the crowd just stops reacting and they become counter productive. True, it's easier, in a sense, to get a big "ohhhh" from the crowd by having a huge bump then by getting them little by little into the match with good mental and physical work, but once you do have them there – they're much harder to lose.
And last but not least – envision how and where you want the company to be in, say, 5 years, and start thinking of efficient ways to get to that point. Copying the bad things in the WWE is not one of them.
One last non wrestling related note – I'm one of the applicants to the second season of Survivor-Israel. Now, wouldn't you all like to say that you all read the Israeli survivor's columns way before he was famous? The channel that airs Survivor in Israel is working with facebook to select the candidates. So to vote for me, click here.
Obviously, most of you will have to install this application, but hey – it's a worthy cause, right? After you install it and go back to that link, to vote for me you have to press the button near my birth date (15.07.1982, for those wondering), those four letters in red fonts. Thanks!
This has been the Wrestling Authority, and for questions, remarks, or general rants about how much you hate Michael Cole, syxx_ok@hotmail.com
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