Epitaph
01-28-2005, 10:53 PM
Of all the things written about TNA on a daily basis that baffle me, this is somewhere at the top of the list, (http://www.1wrestling.com/news/newsline.asp?news=21368 as Joey Styles shows that he has no concept of what works in wrestling and what doesn't.
First of all, it's never a good sign when a wrestling company has to start telling their fanbase that they don't understand their product. It didn't forecast good things for WCW. TNA is another example, of this kind of **** happening.
I guess it would be beyond him and any one else to realize that Kevin Nash and Jeff Jarrett headlined some of the worst-drawing PPVs in wrestling history in 2000, so WHY in 2005, when their names mean even less than they did then, it doesnt really need a rocket scientist, to relise they're not going to suddenly draw money, Or cut it at Main Event level.
There are a few things he doesn't understand:
1. Kevin Nash is not a draw, nor has he EVER been a draw. There are about ten years worth of numbers and facts and figures to back that up, but I guess you can't blame a promoter for trying. Actually, you can, but I'm being nice. Nash v Jarrett didn't exactly rock the world in 2000 as a feud, despite hype on TBS and TNT, a larger overall wrestling audience, and each wrestler having more relevance to the big picture than he does now. So why would it be worth trying five years later? Does TNA suddenly have that "Potion" that the WWF/E and WCW were Missing?
2. Kevin Nash jumped to WWE in 2002 and made no impact at all. They tried to push him hard multiple times, but physically, he couldn't cut it and he couldn't wrestle the style that was then expected of top guys. He was getting almost no reaction at all by the time he lost the hair match to Jericho and he was actively drawing boos in his absymal feud with HHH earlier in the year. Then Fizzeld out with his Injury, and there for wasnt Ever seen, or herd from again, Untill he appeared in Japans Hustle, Were he Bombed.
3. Jeff Jarrett is NOT the type of person to make your promotion look major league. If anything, his legacy is that of the guy that both WCW and the WWF gave huge pushes to in attempts to get him over, all of which failed. WWF gave him his own MUSIC VIDEO and had him unseat the popular IC champ Razor Ramon, and he still went nowhere. WCW tried leeching him off of Ric Flair and feuding him with top guys, and they ended up releasing him because he was getting such a negative reaction at the time. WWF tried a complete makeover, a shoot interview, a resurrection of the Double J gimmick, a haircut, a valet, an over tag team partner in Owen Hart and multiple runs with the IC title and none of it worked. He only slightly got heat when he was put in a program with Chyna. And Austin was expected to work a program with this guy? Please, he would have brought Austin down with him. The most success he ever had as a top guy was in WCW from 1999-2001, and that's because he was surrounded by old farts, lost causes and wrestlers who were sabotaged through bad booking, and he failed to turn around business in the slightest there. There for he wasnt anything more than US title material, Through the fact that WCW had nothing worthy of Main Event material, he won everything by default, but this guy wasnt fresh enough too be "New Blood", which is WHY TNA need to push there new blood.
4. Until TNA starts taking some risks, they're going to be seen as WWE-lite. That's just the way it is. Putting the title on someone like Monty Brown or AJ Styles will not make them look minor league if they handle it properly. They need to hire a publicist, and the publicist needs to be hired with the intent of cross-promoting the TNA-created stars as much as possible. Sure, guys like Nash and Hall and Jarrett are fine to have around for nostalgia, but building around them when they weren't even worth being built around in their primes?
5. He mentions Diamond Dallas Page here. I'm a huge fan of Page, but the fact is that Page is an old man. I haven't seen him work in some time, but if he's at the level he was even three years ago, he's still a good worker. Page has name recognition and can go. He didn't exactly draw money programmed against Jarrett either, but he can at least wrestle at a passable level that Nash can't.
Most of TNA's buys at this point are going to come from whatever fanbase they have on the Internet. That's the nature of being a small dog with no primetime national television exposure to sell their product. They need to stop insulting those fans who could potentially buy their PPVs by telling them they don't understand how wrestling works and instead work on catering to them. Having Jeff Jarrett on top is EXACTLY like WWE pushing HHH too hard, and that's the sort of comparisons TNA should be looking to avoid at all costs, Which is why they need to make there own "Champion", i mean back when the promotion started out they Mafe Shamrock, yet he flopped, then assisted in making Styles, and Then Ron Killings, if anything they need to go back to there roots, have some one chase the title, and be built up to something huge, for that "first" title win to work.
First of all, it's never a good sign when a wrestling company has to start telling their fanbase that they don't understand their product. It didn't forecast good things for WCW. TNA is another example, of this kind of **** happening.
I guess it would be beyond him and any one else to realize that Kevin Nash and Jeff Jarrett headlined some of the worst-drawing PPVs in wrestling history in 2000, so WHY in 2005, when their names mean even less than they did then, it doesnt really need a rocket scientist, to relise they're not going to suddenly draw money, Or cut it at Main Event level.
There are a few things he doesn't understand:
1. Kevin Nash is not a draw, nor has he EVER been a draw. There are about ten years worth of numbers and facts and figures to back that up, but I guess you can't blame a promoter for trying. Actually, you can, but I'm being nice. Nash v Jarrett didn't exactly rock the world in 2000 as a feud, despite hype on TBS and TNT, a larger overall wrestling audience, and each wrestler having more relevance to the big picture than he does now. So why would it be worth trying five years later? Does TNA suddenly have that "Potion" that the WWF/E and WCW were Missing?
2. Kevin Nash jumped to WWE in 2002 and made no impact at all. They tried to push him hard multiple times, but physically, he couldn't cut it and he couldn't wrestle the style that was then expected of top guys. He was getting almost no reaction at all by the time he lost the hair match to Jericho and he was actively drawing boos in his absymal feud with HHH earlier in the year. Then Fizzeld out with his Injury, and there for wasnt Ever seen, or herd from again, Untill he appeared in Japans Hustle, Were he Bombed.
3. Jeff Jarrett is NOT the type of person to make your promotion look major league. If anything, his legacy is that of the guy that both WCW and the WWF gave huge pushes to in attempts to get him over, all of which failed. WWF gave him his own MUSIC VIDEO and had him unseat the popular IC champ Razor Ramon, and he still went nowhere. WCW tried leeching him off of Ric Flair and feuding him with top guys, and they ended up releasing him because he was getting such a negative reaction at the time. WWF tried a complete makeover, a shoot interview, a resurrection of the Double J gimmick, a haircut, a valet, an over tag team partner in Owen Hart and multiple runs with the IC title and none of it worked. He only slightly got heat when he was put in a program with Chyna. And Austin was expected to work a program with this guy? Please, he would have brought Austin down with him. The most success he ever had as a top guy was in WCW from 1999-2001, and that's because he was surrounded by old farts, lost causes and wrestlers who were sabotaged through bad booking, and he failed to turn around business in the slightest there. There for he wasnt anything more than US title material, Through the fact that WCW had nothing worthy of Main Event material, he won everything by default, but this guy wasnt fresh enough too be "New Blood", which is WHY TNA need to push there new blood.
4. Until TNA starts taking some risks, they're going to be seen as WWE-lite. That's just the way it is. Putting the title on someone like Monty Brown or AJ Styles will not make them look minor league if they handle it properly. They need to hire a publicist, and the publicist needs to be hired with the intent of cross-promoting the TNA-created stars as much as possible. Sure, guys like Nash and Hall and Jarrett are fine to have around for nostalgia, but building around them when they weren't even worth being built around in their primes?
5. He mentions Diamond Dallas Page here. I'm a huge fan of Page, but the fact is that Page is an old man. I haven't seen him work in some time, but if he's at the level he was even three years ago, he's still a good worker. Page has name recognition and can go. He didn't exactly draw money programmed against Jarrett either, but he can at least wrestle at a passable level that Nash can't.
Most of TNA's buys at this point are going to come from whatever fanbase they have on the Internet. That's the nature of being a small dog with no primetime national television exposure to sell their product. They need to stop insulting those fans who could potentially buy their PPVs by telling them they don't understand how wrestling works and instead work on catering to them. Having Jeff Jarrett on top is EXACTLY like WWE pushing HHH too hard, and that's the sort of comparisons TNA should be looking to avoid at all costs, Which is why they need to make there own "Champion", i mean back when the promotion started out they Mafe Shamrock, yet he flopped, then assisted in making Styles, and Then Ron Killings, if anything they need to go back to there roots, have some one chase the title, and be built up to something huge, for that "first" title win to work.