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Welcome to the Greenfield Review, in this week’s edition I will be looking and evaluating whether or not TNA is moving in the right direction under the new regime of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff. It is still hard to come to a conclusion about whether this is good or bad for TNA? But can look at the changes that have been made so far and changes that seem to be happening very soon. Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff have only been in TNA effectively as on screen characters for only a month, but have been working with TNA since the end of October, when it was announced that Hulk Hogan signed with TNA. As well as looking at whether TNA has moved in the right direction? I will also be looking at whether TNA is ready for all these changes and are able to handle everything that will be thrown at them in the future. I will also give my opinions on this week’s TNA Impact show and the TV rating they achieved for the show.
Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff have been in control of TNA for just about a month, but a lot of changes have been made in the month of January, with more still to come. Since the January 4th show we have seen new arrivals on the talent roster, the Impact Zone getting a makeover, the four-sided ring coming back, better production and Eric Bischoff back on creative with Vince Russo. TNA President Dixie Carter promised there would be a lot of changes, when she addressed the TNA employees back in November. She said that it was time for change and that it is time for TNA to make a mark in the wrestling industry, to become more of a competitor to WWE.
The January 4th show was the first show that we got an idea about what Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff’s were doing in TNA? This gave us a first taste about what to expect from TNA, with these two given power to make changes. The January 4th show was a live special going for three hours, head to head with WWE Raw. This was the first time in 9 years that two wrestling promotions went head to head on a Monday night since 2001. This was the first change made to the company, where they were given the green light by Spike TV to go head to head WWE Raw. This would not have happened if they did not have Hulk Hogan in the company.
The idea of the show was for TNA to take the first shot at the WWE and to show Spike TV they are able to get a good rating on a Monday Night against the WWE. The January 4th show did show a lot of change some of it was good and some of it was bad. The idea was to try and sell TNA to a whole new wrestling audience on a Monday Night, as an alternative by being different. But instead they did the total opposite by they brought in lots of the older names from the 90’s and presented a show that reminded us of WCW back when they were on TV. They made a lot of talent roster changes during this show with lots of debuts. They brought back Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, Ric Flair, Sting, The Nasty Boys, Orlando Jordan, Sean Morley, Jeff Hardy and Shannon Moore. I get the idea they needed to make lot of surprises to keep fans interested and it did pay off getting a 1.5 rating. But the problem was is they brought in wrestlers that were draws 12 years ago and did not present much of the current roster, who have the ability to wrestle good matches and would be good to give the fans something new to see.
I had no problem with them bringing in a lot of the older names because it was a special show, but the problem is they are now part of the roster taking spots from the current wrestlers in the company. It does feel like they are trying to turn back the clock and try to use wrestlers from the 90’s to draw for the company, doing the same storylines, like Scott Hall and Sean Waltman reuniting with Kevin Nash as the NWO. It was good to see them reunited, but it has already gone stale in the last few weeks already. It does seem that the creative team does lack some direction to come up with new and effective storylines that are different from the past. The wrestlers they have brought in are now in their 50’s, late 30’s and even 60 years old. If they are not in TNA for long it will be good for them, but if they are here in a year, without developing or giving the spots to the younger talent then TNA is going to struggle.
The January 4th show indicated to me that Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff had not changed still trying to live of the glory days of WCW. But the show was entertaining because we still had a great main event between Kurt Angle and AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy made an appearance, the biggest draw in WWE in 2009 apart from John Cena and also it was a much better feeling all round about how the show was produced.
Since this show they went back to their normal timeslot on Thursday, the Impacts they have recently produced since this show have been at a better standard. The reason why I say this is because the show is more spaced out, segments are not being rushed to allow the story they are telling to sink in and they have also given a bit more focus on some of the wrestlers, but not as many as they should focus on. The wrestling on the show has been very good and each main event so far has had a reason for being the main event, by getting some build up throughout the broadcast.
But the problem that is very clear to me at the moment is some of the storylines being produced are still living in the past, for example last week on TNA Impact they did a segment where the main event match was between Kurt Angle and AJ Styles, but the end of the match was a repeat of the Montreal Screw job back in 1997 and was completely restaged out. It came across like, does TNA not have any other good ideas that has not been done before? This again is a creative problem trying to resurface storylines that don’t really need to be repeated anymore. Half of the wrestling fans that watched the screw job in 1997 are not watching wrestling now, so mostly everyone will not understand it. But to new wrestling fans that do not know much about the 1997 incident may see this as something new.
The shows do look more professional and TNA Genesis was an example of this, where most of the matches had clean finishes and the main event had the major angle at the end of it and allowed to become a main point of the PPV. The show was also where the changes were made to the ring, where it was made to go back to the traditional Four Sided Ring, rather than the six sides. In fairness it makes no difference, just as long as the wrestling in good, that is all that matters.
Even though it does seem that TNA is trying to relive the glory days of wrestling. The ratings have shown over the last few weeks since the January 4th show that wrestling fans are interested in TNA. Hulk Hogan does have a following and it seems to be proving he can still draw in his segments. Since the January 4th show the rating has risen to a 1.3 and a 1.4. So it does seem TNA is doing something right and will be interesting to see if they stick around. This is a plus point for bringing in all of the older talent.
I have liked the direction making AJ Styles the main headliner for TNA as the World Champion, managed by Ric Flair. This allows AJ Styles to be taken more seriously by having the greatest talker in the business to try and put him over as the next top legit talent coming out of wrestling. I have also been impressed with the way they have tried to keep things simple, and allow things to digest. I have liked the feud from Team 3D and The Nasty Boys because it has never been done before and also it is considered something new, even though the Nasty Boys have no other reason to be needed in TNA after this feud.
I am excited for TNA because there is a buzz again in the wrestling business and it is good to see more people watching wrestling, but also talk about wrestling. So from that stand point it is good to see, but as time goes on will it be just another what if TNA did this, rather than actually doing it. Hulk Hogan is known to bail out or disappear when things seem to turn bad, but this time he should be committed more.
But with much bigger changes set to happen in the next few months, it does look like they may be able to keep up the momentum. TNA is rumoured to be going to a permanent Monday Night timeslot against WWE Raw on Spike TV and is suggested that it could happen in March. This for me is a move that could be too early for TNA as they do not have a big enough audience at the moment to compete with the WWE and don’t have the brand recognition that the WWE has. But having said that it does seem likely it is going to happen and would actually bring back a lot of memories but also this would be a new kind of Monday Night War.
Where TNA can start from scratch and take a fan at a time from the WWE audience making a slow rise in the ratings on Monday. TNA is not as big as WCW and they don’t have the bigger draws. Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair and Sting were massive draws ten and twenty years ago, but in 2010 can they really hold an audience head to head with WWE, mixing in with younger and present wrestlers like Desmond Wolfe and Matt Morgan. On January 4th Hulk Hogan did hold his audience when he appeared, but as time goes on when he appears on a weekly basis will he still be able to do draw?
TNA is likely to continue to bring in more wrestlers into the company as the year progresses, but hopefully they do not rely on past names. But use them to work with the younger talent and pass the torch. I think that wrestlers like Rob Van Dam, Bill Goldberg, DDP, Sid Eudy and many others have been linked to TNA and fully expect maybe a couple to show up in the near future. I would love to see RVD come to TNA because he can still have great matches and have lots of potential dream matches waiting for him, if he were to decide to join TNA. DDP would be a good fit because he has worked with Eric Bischoff before and is very good friends with him. So I would expect him in TNA sometime down the line on a short term deal. TNA has recently brought in Ken Anderson and Brian Kendrick; they both debuted for TNA at the Genesis PPV.
It does look like TNA does have a lot of momentum behind it and with Dixie Carter and her father Bob Carter putting in the money to try and push TNA to the next level. Plus with Spike TV behind them and giving 100% backing on the TV front, it does look like TNA is going to be around for a long time. If it was to fail with the additions of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, to try and shake things up, then I don’t know what else they can do. But things are looking good, but they need to really push to younger talent and try to avoid going back to old storylines, with the same old guys.
In the next section of the column, I will give my review on this week’s TNA Impact episode. I thought this week’s show was a show built around Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff Vs Mick Foley and Jeff Jarrett, but at the moment they are not teamed together. The first segment with Hulk Hogan, Bischoff and Mick Foley was quite well played out, but did not make much sense because Mick Foley was fired the previous week by Bischoff for attacking him. But do see where it is leading, where Eric is trying to force Hulk Hogan to fire Mick Foley or make his life a living hell.
The matches on the show were also designed for a purpose. The two qualifying matches for the 8 man tournament to name a new number one contender for the World Title at Against All Odds were both competitive matches with Desmond Wolfe defeating Sean Morley, and Hernandez defeating Daniels. I do feel sorry for Daniels though because he has fallen right down the pecking order in TNA and seems to be getting jobbed out now. The 6 man tag match between Motor City Gun and Brian Kendrick Vs Generation Me and Amazing Red was designed where Amazing Red was beaten down and Doug Williams cashed in the X division Feast or fired briefcase, held by Rob Terry. Doug Williams beat Red in a quick match to win the X division Title. The main event between Ken Anderson and Jeff Jarrett was setup throughout the show, where Ken Anderson laid out an open challenge and Hulk Hogan and Bischoff forced Jeff Jarrett to take the match. The match was good and it also put over Ken Anderson as a top heel in TNA.
The confrontation between Kurt Angle and Hulk Hogan was clear and understanding, where Kurt Angle apologised to Hulk Hogan for spitting in his face the previous week, but also he shook his hand. Kurt Angle came across as a baby face outlining he will do everything he can to win the TNA World Title and win the Number One Contender ship tournament at Against All Odds. They also teased when Hulk Hogan left, he was turning heel, when looked into the camera in a heel way and then Scott Hall and Sean Waltman attacked Kurt Angle.
The Team 3D and The Nasty Boys confrontation was not a bad angle, it had some good back and forth talking. But Brian Knobbs, when talking looked like he was going to explode and Jerry Saggs is not a good talker.
I give the show a 7 out of 10 and thought it was a good show overall. Still areas need to improve and it does feel strange that they did not even mention Samoa Joe, throughout the 2 hour show. The TV rating did a 1.4 rating and was the best rating they have done since being on a Thursday Night. It will be interesting to see what the rating is next week and what they have planned next week.
