A TEN COUNT TO THE DAMN BELL
DING DING
1. We have saw a slight rise in gimmicks in the WWE in the last 16 months. I personally think this is a good thing for the industry. As the 2006-2010 run in the company, had its fair share of blandness and boring feuds. Which resulted in some fans like myself preferring the TNA programming every week. We had stars such as Cena, Orton, Batista, Lashley etc shoved down our throats every week. Ok so some of those stars are still on our screens each week in 2014. But with numerous new faces and a good blend of gimmicks and technical wrestlers, some of the aforementioned stars, are now reaping the benefits from working with the newer charismatic talent. WWE seem to be getting it spot on with the newer gimmicks. Not silly over gimmicked characters like the mid 90s, but not the blandness of the later part of the 2000's. We currently have a good mix of characters who make you want to invest more time in them, by giving us strong promos, great matches and a connection with the viewer. Stars such as Bray Wyatt, The Wyatts, The Shield (pre split), Cesaro, Bad News Barrett, Rusev, The Real American, The Usos, Emma, Fandango to name a few. And of course Daniel Bryan played the underdog character perfectly with his YES movement story. His whole package coming over strongly on our screens each week.
With NXT doing such a great job with talent, I fully expect WWE to keep getting the perfect mix of characters and stories for the next few years to come.
2. Dustin "Goldust" Runnels has done a fantastic job since returning to our screens last
year. The 45 year old "bizarre one" is looking sharper, quicker and more energetic than he has done in years. I believe he is underrated by some fans, and could be used more for putting over the younger talent further up the card. Why shouldn't he carry one of the mid card titles?? Then subsequently put over some of the up and coming talent, dropping the title to them at one of the top ppvs?? He has proved since his return, that he still has the skills to hang with anyone in the ring. And we all know he can provide interesting promos and great feuds.
There has been a long burning story running this year for the eventual feud of Goldust and his young brother Cody Rhodes. It had been certainly looking like its heading toward a big match at Summerslam, Until the emergance of Cody's new gimmick, Stardust. But what happens to Goldust after this?? With his contract rumoured to be up after August, I feel WWE should give him another one, as he can still be an integral part of the roster.
One of my followers (@RomanWillReign) mentioned in a tweet, she would like to see Dustin Runnels get a job behind the scenes at WWE as an agent or a trainer. I think this is a great shout, and I really hope it happens. He definitely deserves it!!
3. So once again the WWE seem to have forgotten all about the tag division. Toward the end of 2013, it seemed as though creative were going to invest in this division finally,
with The Wyatts, The Shield, The Rhodes Bros, The Usos, Rybaxel, The Prime Time Players, The Real Americans, Tons of Funk all competing to be the next holders of the belts. But leading up to WrestleMania XXX, WWE seemed to take their foot off the gas. Electing instead to promote the new yearly mania spot, The Andre the Giant Battle Royal. With most of the tag team members being included in the match, It meant NO tag team title match at mania. Since then WWE have split some of the teams and the importance of the division has fallen to bottom of the agenda and planning once again. Hopefully some time in the near future, they can invest in the formation of new legitimate tag teams. There is plenty of underused talent who they can work with and repackage together as a team.
On the subject of tag teams. I really do hate the current tag team belts. they are an awful design. Back to the drawing board please WWE!!!
4. There are two BIG Wrestling names that could be on our screens by the end of the
summer. Kurt Angle and Sting are both rumoured to be rejoining and debuting in WWE at some point in 2014. With the imminent release of a WWE produced Sting DVD, I sincerely hope he ends up on TV at some sort of level. It would make sense to coincide with the dvd release. What capacity should Sting debut in? I don't know. The 55 year old is a legend and I would love to see him in WWE even for a short run. It will definitely be a mark out moment for me!!
Kurt Angle has been tagged with injuries most of last year. and injured again this year. He's rumoured to have already had his last match for TNA, as his contract is due to run out before he is scheduled to return from injury. Kurt has never hidden his desire, to one day return to WWE, and has hinted strongly that it could happen this year. My question is, can he or would he return on a full time contract?? RVD, Lesnar and Undertaker are already on part time contracts. Is it fair to add another big name to that list? Is this unfair to the solid workers who arent on tv? I'm afraid it's all about the $$$. Kurt Angle would draw money in a run. As unfair as it sounds, Its simple as that! Kurt is undoubtedly one of the best, if not thee best in ring performer of all time. So i would love to see him back in some sort of contract. With his body only at 50%, he will still be able to enthral us with his impeccable mat skills. So the wrestling mark inside me would love to see those two legends once again. Even if its only for a short time.
5. Sasha Banks may well be the most excited I've been about a female competitor since the days of Trish, Lita, Mickie, and Victoria! The young lady from Boston oozes potential. With a great look, and style she caught my attention quite early on after her NXT debut. She has improved in the ring in recent times and has formed a formidable stable along with Charlotte and the returning Summer Rae. I can't quite put my finger on what draws me to the young 22 year old. She just has an Aura about her and a presence in her ring entrance. Her BO$$ gimmick is definitely working for me. She also invests time in social media to promote her Boss of NXT character. This is good to see, as she is going all out to get herself over and impress enough to make it onto the main roster. Being only 22 gives her plenty of time to develop even more over next couple of years. I look forward to Sasha's career unfolding on WWE television. I see a great future for this girl and she impresses me every time I see her. The girl is $$$.
6. I was never a major fan of the roster split from late 2002 until 2007. But the one thing
it did produced during those years was a much better Smackdown tv product than we are viewing just now. It makes me kinda sad when I read that the Smackdown tv tapings are sometimes not a sell out. Half of the top tier closed off etc etc.I do not blame the fans one bit though. WWE do not do a good enough job to promote the lagging tv brand. Raw is their number one show, and quite rightly they promote it every chance they get. But I feel even shows like main event and total divas, receive more weekly hype and advertisement. Personally it feels like WWE see it simply as "the other show". Producing it with too much filler content, and even a 10 minute RAW rewind segment. Why not start making it feel important again?? Push the mid card strongly on the show, give the underused talent more mic time, and more ring time to connect with the audience. But advertise these segments, push the show. It would make for much more enjoyable viewing, Both for the attending fans and the viewers at home!!
7. I was sad to hear of the release of ten WWE talent last week. Some of which, were on our televisions every week leading up to their release. Some people ask why some of these stars,
who are solid workers, are released but certain divas, midgets, and injury prone stars weren't? I think there is a simple answer to this. The WWE Network hasn't sold as many subscriptions as the Board of Directors anticipated. This along with the recent WWE shares falling in price have dented a big hole in the company revenue. The released stars don't make WWE any money. Not necessarily their fault, as they either weren't getting on tv or they were simply portraying the roles they were given. Most of the divas have been making the total divas show a success with certain sections of the wwe universe. Injury prone stars such as Rey Mysterio and Christian still currently make money in merchandise sale. Even El Torrito will be making more merchandise money than certain of the released stars. I certainly wish all of these stars all the best wherever they end up. Hopefully we will see most of them on our tv with alternative wrestling companies.
8. I have recently been putting a lot of thought into what my favourite ever feud is. There have been so many amazing feuds over the years. From Hogan/Andre to Daniel Bryan/Authority, From Savage/Jake Roberts to NWO/WCW, From Bret/Shawn to HHH/Cena. So many more than I can even mention. The one that sticks out to me though, is Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. It happened at a time just after i returned to viewing wrestling after a three year
break from 1993 until very late 1996. I got sucked back in just as the Monday night wars was beginning. This was the start of one of the best runs in wrestling history for the viewing fans. With the whole anti establishment theme kicking off in both WWF and WCW, I found myself being swept away in the whole stone cold phenomenon. I was hooked on the wrestling legend. This was Hogan or Warrior except ten times better I thought. Every week I just couldn't wait to see what he would do next. After The Rock won the Title at Deadly Game tournament at Survivor Series 98'. I knew straight away it was going to be The Rock vs Austin at WrestleMania 15. The weeks running up to mania was just sublime tv from both of these legends. With Vince McMahon playing a great support role. And then again in 2001 leading up to WrestleMania 17. Both mania matches were absolute classics. The two all time greats just seemed to click perfectly in the ring. The chemistry they shared was just amazing to watch. Both men selling the others move to the highest standard. Although I was upset at the Austin heel turn, I think the mania 17 match just shades it in quality. But i did mark out more at mania 15 due to Austin capturing the title once again. From their early IC battles to Austins last match at WrestleMania 19. The Two giants of the squared circle have given me some of my greatest memories as a wrestling fan.
9. With the emergence of the WWE Network, there isn't going to be such a focus on pay per
view buy rates. This leads me to believe WWE should cut their main roster PPV's to 9 per year. The other three slots should go to NXT two hour special shows. Sometimes throughout the year I feel we have ppv overkill. With no real emphasis on pushing the ppv to be a big deal. And no real hype for them in the weekly shows leading up to them. After the first four ppvs of the year, I believe the fifth month should be changed to the NXT special. Thus leaving time to set up all the summer long feuds and storylines. Then again in September or October, After the summer fallout. Setting up feuds for the fall. Then the December ppv to be Nxt. As everyone's minds start to think toward Christmas and it will give stories time to develop or emerge in the run up to the Rumble and on to WrestleMania season. I would have the NXT specials remain as 2 hour shows. Not changing anything with them except the days they are showcased on. Too many main ppvs can sometimes take away the special feeling of the live show. I can't see them going with this though. As fans who buy the network would see this as losing on value for money. Not everyone will agree that 12 ppv's per annum is too much. But I certainly do.
10. It hurts me to say, But in 2014 I have ceased my viewing of the TNA product shown each Sunday here in the UK. With the over booking, silly gimmicks and some pointless stories, I found myself huffing and puffing all the way through each Impact taping I watched.
I felt like the booking had been dragging me up, down, back, forth, round and back again. It has all seemed totally disorganised to me.
I feel really sorry for a lot of the roster. Even after the departure of certain company stalwarts, TNA still have a tremendous amount of talented wrestlers within their company. I am not saying every segment of the shows were bad. I still enjoyed a certain stories and good matches. But i just felt the negatives were far more outweighing the positive's of each two hour show. Where has the emphasis went, on letting the in ring action do the talking?? Where is the awesome X-Division segments gone? What's happened all the fans in the front row, jumping around and going crazy at all the innovative in ring action??
With the departure of TNA originals like AJ Styles, Chris Daniels, and loyal employees Kazarian, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley. A lot of my favourite wrestlers were no longer on my screen each Sunday evening.
Dixie Carter deciding to insert herself onto TNA television, has to be one of the worst ideas in company history. I don't think I need to explain why!
I really do hope they start improving again and return to the days of simple booking and great in ring action. I really don't want to see the company go under. They are going to be under even more strain once Jeff Jarrett's GFW takes off in 2015.
I have made the decision to start viewing once again, give the company one more chance. Hopefully we see a marked improvement in the product over the next up and coming months. Not try and compete with WWE, But just to be TNA, the brand known for TOTAL NON-STOP ACTION. DING DING
