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| Smug (l) and out of touch and crippled (r) Photo Credit: TNAWrestling.com |
In case you don't know what I'm talking about, TNA ripped off the Undertaker 2/21/11 promo videos for the return of Sting last night on Spike. The videos hyped his return next week, which according to spoilers, leads to him defeating Jeff Hardy for the TNA World Championship. The whole ordeal is based off the idea that TNA is delivering what the WWE couldn't, the Icon, Sting. The whole problem with that premise is that the WWE never promised Sting, was never in really serious talks with him and made those hype videos with Undertaker and, as we found out Monday, Triple H in mind. All the speculation about Sting came from the IWC, this community of fans who contrary to popular belief amongst the haters, doesn't share the same mind and actually has as many different opinions about wrestling as it has different people. It was chatter that sprang up from people who had too much time on their hands to create Photoshop images marrying Sting to the idea of fighting to end The Streak. It was spread by people who had no affiliation with WWE, myself included, as evidenced by several posts of mine, including this one. I'm not going to apologize for speculating, mainly because I never passed off those posts as fact, but I'm also never going to pretend that because I fell for the hysteria, that I was speaking for WWE and thus have a right to feel angry that they didn't deliver on Sting to take on Undertaker.
Still, the fact remains that any hype surrounding that was created by fans, not by the WWE. So even a knowing smirk type flash scene by TNA as a jab at WWE for the Sting hype would be disingenuous. However, a total rip-off job, followed by strapping him for the show to happen the week after as a way on capitalizing on the heat generated by his name? Yeah, that's pandering so transparent that in-character Chris Jericho would be too embarrassed to point it out due to how obvious it was. For as standoffish and aloof as Bischoff and crew seem to be concerning us Internet fans, they really, really love trying to book to our sensibilities. If not, then why would every angle have some kind of shooty-personal aspect to it? If not, then why would they be trying to lure the smark-ass smark fan back in by promising to refocus attention the X-Division? If not, then why air the blatant rip-off video and push Sting like 1997 Bret Hart SHOULD have been pushed upon arriving in WCW?
This is just another reason why TNA will never get ahead as long as Carter continues to administrate the company and as long as liars and frauds like Russo and especially Bischoff continue to sabotage it from within while spreading smug vitriol to all those who dare question it in public. TNA has longed for an identity for years now, and this continual baiting of a market leader that doesn't even acknowledge them as a legitimate competitor only makes them look bush league in the process. If they spent half as much time trying to build a legitimate wrestling company, built off its own homegrown stars and complemented by free agents to give star power instead of being built around castoffs and using the homegrowns as job fodder as they did trying to troll the WWE, they'd be a force to be reckoned with. Instead, they're just a pathetic company with pathetic leadership trying desperately to gain the approval of a body of fans that they purport to hate.
You just can't make this shit up.
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it'll be funny when on next week's impact, the announcers pretend to be baffled by the 3/3/2011 promo. and then freak out when sting appears.
ReplyDeletenext week will be the greatest "so bad it's good" show ever. you got a guy falling over accidentally. the idiotic wedding ceremony. and of course 3/3/2011.
The WWE hyped the return of Taker for weeks which led to a wordless segment with HHH, leaving more room to build towards WrestleMania in 6 weeks.
ReplyDeleteTNA is hyping Sting for 1 week (and ripping off WWE) to have him in a match with the full payoff the same day he returns.
How could they not get this? I don't even blame Russo or Bischoff, they worked fine under Vince. This and everything else is all on Dixie. You need someone with a basic grasp of how to build towards something at the top, and someone strong enough to see that it gets done.
I have no fucking idea what TNA is doing. None. Zero.
ReplyDeleteBecause Sting, by and large, has actually been a draw in relative terms for that company. So hyping his return over a few weeks to pop a big rating or *gasp* maybe get a few curiosity buys on PPV would be a good idea.
But doing a shitty, throwaway hype video at the end of Impact with the idea that he shows up the next week, unannounced, and wins the World title? At the very least, have him show up next week and then win the title the following week.
Good lord, TNA promoted a whole bunch of crap for 3-3 - football players, c-list celebrities, matches that I couldn't possibly care a lick about. They could promote that stuff ahead of time but not this?
So. Fucking. Stupid.
Awfully glad I didn't sit through this episode so I could be maddeningly disappointed by TNA once again. I've pretty much stopped watching Impact, and every time I try, I wind up switching to Rachel Maddow or an NCIS rerun or The Cubic Zirconium Hour on QVC. Usually during one of Bischoff's endless monologues.
ReplyDeleteYou could call me a TNA hater, but really, the exact opposite is true: I'd absolutely love to see TNA succeed. The industry is better when there's more competition, and TNA is perfect for the role of WWE foil. They have a talented roster with plenty of home-grown stars; they have a national TV deal; and, most importantly, they have a deep-pocketed owner who could compete with McMahon's empire in a way that ROH or Chikara really can't.
Which makes it all the more disappointing that TNA is saddled with incompetent management, clueless storytelling, and financial recklessness. The result: an unwatchable product, and a sad waste of some fine wrestlers' careers.
It's sad. If Dixie Carter had her act together, the entire wrestling industry would be far better for it. As it is, she's pissing it all away, and WWE can dominate the landscape without ever addressing its own shortcomings.