TNA Major Breaking News (possible Spoiler)

[Yakuza Rich]

I think part of the problem with TNA is that they have talent, but so many of them are better off being faces. Which is okay. But, they have a real lack of convincing heels. So you have guys that are better faces working as heels, which makes things tough and they don't have the writing behind it to make it work.

Kendrick, Styles, Sting, Angle, Samoa Joe, etc...IMO, all better faces than heels. But, there's nobody there to really counter them as a foil. Jarrett? Fans were sick of him in '97. Hogan? Puh-leeze. Hogan is really an awful heel. Hasn't been a good heel since his AWA days. The entire nWo thing was just shock, but it quickly wore off because Hogan is such a crappy heel. Anderson does next to nothing for me as a wrestler.

They've got Abyss...and that's about it as far as a good heel goes. And he's too busy destroying the X-Division.

To me, Abyss defines the entire situation. He's got a lot of talent, he can work in the ring, he's charismatic, he can work the mic and be a really scare heel. But, he's stuck in the muck of the Hogans, Jarretts, Nashes, etc. Instead of working to develop some other great young heels, they either turn them face or give up on them.

Still for me, I'd rather this now over WWE because there's more action involved. And I'll give Cena credit, he sells a lot of tickets, but he's just too corny for me.





YR

 

[Cowboy Brian]

I think part of the problem with TNA is that they have talent, but so many of them are better off being faces. Which is okay. But, they have a real lack of convincing heels. So you have guys that are better faces working as heels, which makes things tough and they don't have the writing behind it to make it work.

Kendrick, Styles, Sting, Angle, Samoa Joe, etc...IMO, all better faces than heels. But, there's nobody there to really counter them as a foil. Jarrett? Fans were sick of him in '97. Hogan? Puh-leeze. Hogan is really an awful heel. Hasn't been a good heel since his AWA days. The entire nWo thing was just shock, but it quickly wore off because Hogan is such a crappy heel. Anderson does next to nothing for me as a wrestler.

They've got Abyss...and that's about it as far as a good heel goes. And he's too busy destroying the X-Division.

To me, Abyss defines the entire situation. He's got a lot of talent, he can work in the ring, he's charismatic, he can work the mic and be a really scare heel. But, he's stuck in the muck of the Hogans, Jarretts, Nashes, etc. Instead of working to develop some other great young heels, they either turn them face or give up on them.

Still for me, I'd rather this now over WWE because there's more action involved. And I'll give Cena credit, he sells a lot of tickets, but he's just too corny for me.





YR

Anderson is fantastic IMO..


They have guys with potential to be great heels, I would include Anderson but you don't like him...

'The' Pope, Robert Roode, Samoa Joe if he gets back in shape, Crimson down the road, Matt Morgan could make the transition, Bully Ray is the best heel going right now. They have a ton of good midcard heels.

Jeff Hardy as absolutely fantastic as a heel, most interesting heel since JBL/King Booker IMO. I never would've predicted it, but Vince Russo was right. Only Jeff Hardy could've pulled that gimmick over.

 

[DallasGirl50]

Corny is a great word for Cena..wish I had thought of that. Got to say though he is a monster money maker...all they do is change the colors of the shirts & the money rolls in. Got to say to me the only person Abyss would scare would be his dentist. Anderson is fine but not walking around as Sting...that is lame even for wrestling. He deserves a raise for having to endure that silliness.

 

[Hostile]

I FF'd thru some of it...I see Angle and Jarrett are STILL feuding...the blonde stripper diva is STILL in a trance...and Anderson is walking around in an old Sting costume. And people say WWE is lame...OK! I can't stand "Bully Ray"...funny how he lapses in & out of that NY accent. I do like Matt Morgan. Always have. Kendrick is ok. He's not bad for a small guy.

I am the opposite on Kendrick. Have never liked him at all. He cannot convince me he is anything but a bad acrobat.

 

[DallasGirl50]

I am the opposite on Kendrick. Have never liked him at all. He cannot convince me he is anything but a bad acrobat.

that's the first time I've seen him in a long time...his last days @ WWE were awful. He's a pothead. Maybe he's cleaned up.

 

[Cowboy Brian]

that's the first time I've seen him in a long time...his last days @ WWE were awful. He's a pothead. Maybe he's cleaned up.

He's been fantastic in his role as "voice of the x-division".

 

[Hostile]

He's been fantastic in his role as "voice of the x-division".

I've seen him 2 weeks in a row and I have yet to see mediocre, much less fantastic.

 

[DallasGirl50]

Well fan or not it appears they are pushing Kendrick. Really they should spend some time getting their best wrestler..Kurt...as far away from the Jarrett angle as possible. I don't even watch much & that feud is tired to me. And I'm one who doesn't mind Jarrett.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

They are gonna feed him to batista when he comes back.

I'm under the impression that Dave has no desire to wrestle anymore cause he started so late and hte injuries have really piled up on his aging body.

It's difficult being a pro wrestling reporter because pro wrestlers love to work anybody they come across. In other words, people in the wrestling business lie all of the time because they get a kick out of it. Doesn't mean that they are all bad people, but it's just part of the wrestling culture. Everybody wants to work everybody. Some guys will lie about everything under the sun, just because they can.

I've known Mike Johnson personally since '95. Good guy and a really great writer when the stars align. I don't think the actual reporting thing is his strongpoint and I don't think his heart is really into that. But, if I wanted to read a report on a wrestling story I usually stick to Meltzer and the Observer. Wrestlers lie to him all of the time as well, but he's got a good BS radar by now and he has so many contacts and does a good job of trying his best to verify stories. But, even he gets stuff way wrong. Not much one can do.

I did watch some of Impact last night. Lots of disjointed storylines. Bully Ray was pretty good on the mic. AJ should be a Steamboat like, full-time face. He just doesn't have the mic work to be a great heel and there's too great of a dearth of great heel managers. Plus, his fans don't watch him because of his mic work. Anderson and Young was straight up Russo thinking he's a booking comedic genius again...probably got reeled in by Jarrett. I never saw any appeal in Anderson other than he looks comfortable on the mic, but even then he's not actually *good* on the mic.

Kendrick vs. Kazarian was typical Russo crap. Maybe Bischoff suggested it because he loved killing off the cruisers in WCW. They still don't quite get how to make Abyss a monster heel. You can't just put him in the X-Division because after awhile nobody will care that he's beating a bunch of smaller guys. He needs to be at the top to stay strong and dominate in squash matches, dominate a few top faces, and have a showdown or two against your top face where he dominates there.


Hogan and Bischoff segment is about as bad as it gets when it comes to ending a show. Instead of ending a show with great wrestling action and maybe insert an angle into it, we get this crap. I could go over how Hogan is overrated as a talent, but I've been doing that since '91...when he was considered 'old' back then.





YR

Really great post and the bolded part really caught my eye. If I was ever going to listen to anyone, at all, when it comes to wrestling reporting it would be Dave. He's far and away the best at what he does it's not even close.

Anderson is fantastic IMO..


They have guys with potential to be great heels, I would include Anderson but you don't like him...

'The' Pope, Robert Roode, Samoa Joe if he gets back in shape, Crimson down the road, Matt Morgan could make the transition, Bully Ray is the best heel going right now. They have a ton of good midcard heels.

Jeff Hardy as absolutely fantastic as a heel, most interesting heel since JBL/King Booker IMO. I never would've predicted it, but Vince Russo was right. Only Jeff Hardy could've pulled that gimmick over.

I won't say Anderson is fantastic but I'm with you on liking him. I always have. People bag on him, and that's fine, but he entertains me. I really wish he'd not had the rash of injuries in the WWE and was running there still in their main card.

I like Pope and Roode. But Roode has to be a tag team guy or I don't like him. I never did, and likely never would, buy him on his own.

When was Joe ever IN shape? I've never seen that guy being anything more than fat. lol. I do like him though. I think he's entertaining when he's used correctly.

Bully Ray is the best heel in TNA? Cause while I like him, always have cause I'm a big Dudley Boys fan, he's certainly not a better heel than Punk. Personally I think even R-Truth is doing a better job than him as a heel right now, even with the dumb way they've made him heel.

And Jeff Hardy as a believable heel? I just don't see it man. Sorry. There was nothing he did as a heel that made me think anything other than "Man you suck. Whose the moron booking this junk?"

Jeff Hardy has always, and will always, suck.

I do like your mentions of JBL and Booker though. I enjoyed both of those heel runs.

I am the opposite on Kendrick. Have never liked him at all. He cannot convince me he is anything but a bad acrobat.

I'm the same way. I wanted to like him, at first, but after that he just came off as some carbon copy, sloppy, flippy flyer.

Boring.

 

[DallasGirl50]

I always liked JBL..hated the program he worked with Shawn though where he was his "slave"...I liked that JBL wrestled anyway but didn't have to. He's super wealthy so it wasn't for money. That is either commendable or goofy...I vote commendable.

 

[Cowboy Brian]

Well fan or not it appears they are pushing Kendrick. Really they should spend some time getting their best wrestler..Kurt...as far away from the Jarrett angle as possible. I don't even watch much & that feud is tired to me. And I'm one who doesn't mind Jarrett.

I love Angle, who by the end of the year I think Styles will overtake him as the best wrestler in TNA, he keeps improving, week after week, you see him getting better. Loves the business and he won't stop until he's universally accepted as the best in the biz. He's got that mindset.


Jarrett is one of the best heels IMO, in Mexico he was going to work for CMLL? Or that other promotion this month, and the company reportedly got death threats. He is more over in other parts of the world than he is in the US for some reason... I guess it is because he plays the "I'm the boss of the 2nd biggest company in the world, i'm better than you, i'm a southern american redneck. etc; gimmick". Most of the traits he has people hate lol

 

[Cowboy Brian]

I'm under the impression that Dave has no desire to wrestle anymore cause he started so late and hte injuries have really piled up on his aging body.





Really great post and the bolded part really caught my eye. If I was ever going to listen to anyone, at all, when it comes to wrestling reporting it would be Dave. He's far and away the best at what he does it's not even close.




I won't say Anderson is fantastic but I'm with you on liking him. I always have. People bag on him, and that's fine, but he entertains me. I really wish he'd not had the rash of injuries in the WWE and was running there still in their main card.

I like Pope and Roode. But Roode has to be a tag team guy or I don't like him. I never did, and likely never would, buy him on his own.

When was Joe ever IN shape? I've never seen that guy being anything more than fat. lol. I do like him though. I think he's entertaining when he's used correctly.

Bully Ray is the best heel in TNA? Cause while I like him, always have cause I'm a big Dudley Boys fan, he's certainly not a better heel than Punk. Personally I think even R-Truth is doing a better job than him as a heel right now, even with the dumb way they've made him heel.

And Jeff Hardy as a believable heel? I just don't see it man. Sorry. There was nothing he did as a heel that made me think anything other than "Man you suck. Whose the moron booking this junk?"

Jeff Hardy has always, and will always, suck.

I do like your mentions of JBL and Booker though. I enjoyed both of those heel runs.




I'm the same way. I wanted to like him, at first, but after that he just came off as some carbon copy, sloppy, flippy flyer.

Boring.

JBL & Booker T are two examples of people I was like "why the heck are they getting a singles push right now." JBL was a tag team guy, and 2 weeks later he is competing for the WWE title, I found it ridiculous, but he got it over and made Eddie G a star.

Booker T is the only person who got the "King" gimmick over, he was fantastic as it. "I'm King BOOKAHHH".


Yes, Dave is the best.. Dave Scherer.

If Anderson got injured in WWE, he was being pumped up for a 1 year build to main event wrestlemania for the WWE title vs Cena.. He announced he was cashing in money in the bank a year later at the main event of WM. Then got injured, then he had some other problem i forget, then back and injured again, and then released. Very sad, but he's doing great in TNA.


Joe was always fat, but in 05/06, he wasn't like fat fat, you looked at him and said ok that guy works out a ton, but he was still fat. Look up pictures, its hard to explain lol.


& right now, yes Bully Ray is the best in TNA.. R-truth no doubt is the best in the industry right now, but he's not in TNA, neither is Punk . R-Truth was turned heel so stupidly it was ridiculous.

& Jeff Hardys recent run was "the anti-****** of professional wrestling" was very entertaining, rarely has a heel character been that intriguing since JBL's or Bookers runs. Only one that comes close is Edge's character before no good reason they stuck him with Vickie G. Edge didn't need it, he had more than enough charisma on his own.

 

[DallasGirl50]

AJ as good as Angle? Not on this planet....I know you think he's some sort of wrestling god but to me he's just another guy....Angle has always been exceptionally great....his current story reeks though. I think your other wrestling god Shawn would beat Styles easily...conjecture of course.

 

[zrinkill]

AJ as good as Angle? Not on this planet.

WOW ....... I can only guess who the no nothing that said that was.

 

[Cowboy Brian]

AJ as good as Angle? Not on this planet....I know you think he's some sort of wrestling god but to me he's just another guy....Angle has always been exceptionally great....his current story reeks though. I think your other wrestling god Shawn would beat Styles easily...conjecture of course.

AJ Styles is ranked by a ton of people as the greatest in the world right now, watch youtube videos read comments, read internet forums. I'm far from the only person with this opinion.


& yes Michael's would. Michael's is the Jerry Rice of wrestlers, the next guy to him is sooo far away. You can argue it, but your arguing a lost cause. Only 1 person is even should be mentioned in the same breath as Michael's, that being Ric Flair. If Kurt can put together another good 5 years of matches', he may get to that level one day... But Michael's can come back at any time in the next 20 years and still be the best in the biz, he's only 45... Wrestlers have had runs well into their 60s and 70s. Terry Funk is what? 72, and he still wrestles once a month, Flair is 62 and he wrestlers 2 or 3 times a month.

& Neither is Michael's level good.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

Yes, Dave is the best.. Dave Scherer.


& Jeff Hardys recent run was "the anti-****** of professional wrestling" was very entertaining, rarely has a heel character been that intriguing since JBL's or Bookers runs. Only one that comes close is Edge's character before no good reason they stuck him with Vickie G. Edge didn't need it, he had more than enough charisma on his own.

First question is...Who?

Sorry but that dude can't hold the jock of Metzler when it comes to wrestling knowledge, respect, and knowing what he's doing. He's not even close. Really not surprising that you'd try to claim otherwise though.

Any wrestling fan worth their salt knows that Metzler is the best and it's by such a wide margin it's not even up for debate.


And the Anti-****** thing was absolutely STUPID. Sorry. I know you love your TNA and drink the kool-aid of everything they do as being the best thing going but it was stupid.

First off the whole gimmick was very blah. Second off they picked absolutely one of the worst people to try and make wrestling fans believe in that role.

Just about the only person I can think of, off the top of my head, that would have pulled that off worse was Matt Hardy.

Probably AJ as well but not because AJ isn't talented but simply because its the kind of role that would be very difficult for anyone with limited personality and character charisma to pull off.

But I'd likely have bought it a lot more from Styles than I would from Drug Hardy.

 

[Cowboy Brian]

WOW ....... I can only guess who the no nothing that said that was.

Well i'd rather be a know nothing, not no nothing, than a WWE mark who for some reason that would take scientific formulas to explain thinks Alberto Del Joke is worthy of anything other than being a jobber on indys with 6 people at them, or that well, anyone besides Daniel Bryan, CM Punk or Sin Cara can be mentioned in the same breath as AJ Styles in the ring.

 

[Cowboy Brian]

First question is...Who?

Sorry but that dude can't hold the jock of Metzler when it comes to wrestling knowledge, respect, and knowing what he's doing. He's not even close. Really not surprising that you'd try to claim otherwise though.

Any wrestling fan worth their salt knows that Metzler is the best and it's by such a wide margin it's not even up for debate.


And the Anti-****** thing was absolutely STUPID. Sorry. I know you love your TNA and drink the kool-aid of everything they do as being the best thing going but it was stupid.

First off the whole gimmick was very blah. Second off they picked absolutely one of the worst people to try and make wrestling fans believe in that role.

Just about the only person I can think of, off the top of my head, that would have pulled that off worse was Matt Hardy.

Probably AJ as well but not because AJ isn't talented but simply because its the kind of role that would be very difficult for anyone with limited personality and character charisma to pull off.

But I'd likely have bought it a lot more from Styles than I would from Drug Hardy.

Putting that gimmick on AJ would be like WWE have Undertaker start playing a gay character. It'd be ******** and illogical, and you can say "that's not even close". Well it is, Undertaker is the greatest homegrown character for WWE, greater than the Rock and Stone Cold IMO simply because of longevity. Only 2 characters have lasted close to that long in WWE w.o major changes, Michael's & Undertaker... AJ Styles is TNA's Undertaker/Michael's.

You don't take your best home grown talent with a gimmick that is over to the moon, and try a risky gimmick with them.

I far from drink kool-aid, I enjoy most of what they do, but a ton of it is illogical and just plan vince russo is the only way to describe it.

and Dave Scherer IMO is better, its opinion based, but Dave used to run ECW.com, he ran ECW magazine, then he worked at 1wrestling & then founded PWInsider. He was also offered a job at WWE, i'm sure Meltzer was aswell, but its worth mentioning. Meltzer is more known, sometimes he breaks stories, sometimes Dave/Mike Johnson break stories. PWinsider or Wrestling Observer/F4W or whoever it was they merged with are the sites that break stories regarding wrestling. The other sites are pretty much all whatever comes to some guys mind. Both deserve respect, I prefer PWInsider, I subscribe to the elite service and find the podcasts/audio a ton more entertaining than Wrestling Observers', and since Dave/Mike E/Mike J/Stu etc; are pretty much all anti-TNA, I love listening to it. When they praise something TNA does, you know it was great as basically outside of Fortune, Kurt Angle, Crimson everything TNA does they **** on.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

AJ Styles is ranked by a ton of people as the greatest in the world right now, watch youtube videos read comments, read internet forums. I'm far from the only person with this opinion.


& yes Michael's would. Michael's is the Jerry Rice of wrestlers, the next guy to him is sooo far away. You can argue it, but your arguing a lost cause. Only 1 person is even should be mentioned in the same breath as Michael's, that being Ric Flair. If Kurt can put together another good 5 years of matches', he may get to that level one day... But Michael's can come back at any time in the next 20 years and still be the best in the biz, he's only 45... Wrestlers have had runs well into their 60s and 70s. Terry Funk is what? 72, and he still wrestles once a month, Flair is 62 and he wrestlers 2 or 3 times a month.

& Neither is Michael's level good.

Youtube? That's the source you want people to get wrestling opinions from? Youtube comments? lmao!

Right.

She might as well log onto XBox Live and get comments from all the 10 year olds screaming about how they're 1337! She'd get about as much quality there as she would on youtube video comments.

That being said let me talk about the Michaels thing here. I'll agree and disagree with you on this one.

I agree with you that he's the best ever. I've said this before so we all know that I'm in agreeance with you there. I don't necassarily think there is anyone I'd willingly put over him if a discussion was had. Not because I wouldn't listen, cause I certainly would, but I'm just not sure I believe there can be a valid argument made to put anyone above him.

Now let me get to where i totally disagree and that's Kurt Angle.

Are you ****ing mad man? Seriously? 5 more years of quality matches to even be on that level? Look I'm as big a Flair fan as the next guy. I still think he is probably the best heel the business has seen in my lifetime.

But for Gods sake man! Kurt Angle is already on Ric Flair's level and has been there for a while now. To say anything less is just slapping Kurt in the face at what he has accomplished and what he can do.

Kurt is flat out amazing. He's misused currently in TNA, and that's a shame, but he's a friggen star. The guy can be the biggest heel or the biggest face in the blink of an eye if asked to be and given the proper oppurtunity to do so.

AJ Styles, as good as he is in the ring (and he is absolutely amazing. I take nothing from him there) is not now, nor will he ever be, close to Kurt's level when it comes to the total package of pro wrestling.

We all get it. AJ has passion. He has drive. He has the want to. I commend him for that and it's clear, in the ring, he certainly does. But he is not now, nor is he ever going to be at this point, more than average/mediocre on the mic, and as a character, and therefor he'll never be in Kurt's league when it comes to the all around package.

Kurt doesn't just wrestle as good, or better, than anyone in the business at any given time. He can easily be the absolute best character, face or heel, at any given time as well. AJ can't do that. Its a natural ability that AJ just sadly doesn't have.

In fact there really aren't but a handful of guys today that can do what Kurt does from the total package standpoint.

Here is a big way to know the star power, and proven draw ability of Kurt over AJ.

If TNA closed tomorrow Kurt Angle could walk right out on Monday Night RAW next Monday night, be put into the title picture, and people would go as if he never left and think nothing of it.

AJ Styles would be heading to ROH.

Big difference.

 

[Cowboy Brian]

Youtube? That's the source you want people to get wrestling opinions from? Youtube comments? lmao!

Right.

She might as well log onto XBox Live and get comments from all the 10 year olds screaming about how they're 1337! She'd get about as much quality there as she would on youtube video comments.

That being said let me talk about the Michaels thing here. I'll agree and disagree with you on this one.

I agree with you that he's the best ever. I've said this before so we all know that I'm in agreeance with you there. I don't necassarily think there is anyone I'd willingly put over him if a discussion was had. Not because I wouldn't listen, cause I certainly would, but I'm just not sure I believe there can be a valid argument made to put anyone above him.

Now let me get to where i totally disagree and that's Kurt Angle.

Are you ****ing mad man? Seriously? 5 more years of quality matches to even be on that level? Look I'm as big a Flair fan as the next guy. I still think he is probably the best heel the business has seen in my lifetime.

But for Gods sake man! Kurt Angle is already on Ric Flair's level and has been there for a while now. To say anything less is just slapping Kurt in the face at what he has accomplished and what he can do.

Kurt is flat out amazing. He's misused currently in TNA, and that's a shame, but he's a friggen star. The guy can be the biggest heel or the biggest face in the blink of an eye if asked to be and given the proper oppurtunity to do so.

AJ Styles, as good as he is in the ring (and he is absolutely amazing. I take nothing from him there) is not now, nor will he ever be, close to Kurt's level when it comes to the total package of pro wrestling.

We all get it. AJ has passion. He has drive. He has the want to. I commend him for that and it's clear, in the ring, he certainly does. But he is not now, nor is he ever going to be at this point, more than average/mediocre on the mic, and as a character, and therefor he'll never be in Kurt's league when it comes to the all around package.

Kurt doesn't just wrestle as good, or better, than anyone in the business at any given time. He can easily be the absolute best character, face or heel, at any given time as well. AJ can't do that. Its a natural ability that AJ just sadly doesn't have.

In fact there really aren't but a handful of guys today that can do what Kurt does from the total package standpoint.

Here is a big way to know the star power, and proven draw ability of Kurt over AJ.

If TNA closed tomorrow Kurt Angle could walk right out on Monday Night RAW next Monday night, be put into the title picture, and people would go as if he never left and think nothing of it.

AJ Styles would be heading to ROH.

Big difference.

If you think WWE wouldn't offer a ton for Styles your mistaking, they've tried to sign him 2 or 3 times. He has turned them down both/all the time. AJ has gotten better on the mic by the month, he is IMO good now, he's far from the person on the mic he used to be. He opened iMPACT and held his own against Bully Ray on the mic a month or so ago.

AJ in the ring, is not far from Angle's level, you can argue that but AJ isn't in his prime yet, when he gets there it'll be amazing to watch him. He'll get the reputation as another that can carry a broomstick to a good match..

& Flair has been wrestling for ever, Angle has been wrestling 11, 12 years. 5 more years would be half the time Flair has put in so far, so that would be an insane accomplishment...


Ask me for my top 3 total package wrestlers of all time and it goes as follows;

1. Michaels
--Huge Gap--
2. Flair
--Gap--
3. Angle.
--Gap--

Jericho could've made it on that list, but honestly he keeps wasting his prime as a wrestler by taking time off....


& Youtube comments, yes that is the common fans opinion. People on a wrestling forum are "smartened" up to the business, they care about in ring work, they care about everything the common fan doesn't. People on youtube comments argue if its real or not, and a ton say AJ Styles is the reason they watch TNA. I've seen that a ton, this is the general wrestling fanbase. The 15-25% that are "smartened" up are a small portion of the audience.