TNA (wrestling)

[Castrum]

Anyone else amazed by how good this league/show/etc. is?

I watched an episode from January on a whim and I've been hooked since. It's so much better than WWE.

[Maawdawg]

I watched a bit of it on Universal HD the other night because there was nothing else on. There were a lot of people I recognized but none of them were favorites from WWE. I flipped it on just as the owner(?) was addressing all the wrestlers about some big announcement and basically saying back me or quit. Then they were showing pictures of her with Hogan and then I started flipping channels again. I think I switched because I really hate Taz as an announcer.

[Castrum]

Things might have changed recently. I'm not sure.

I started with the first episode of 2009, and I'm at July now, so it's possible things could have gone bad.

They have Mike Tenay and Don West as announcers right now, but it seems Taz joins sometime around August, according to the info for the next few episodes. I really hope he doesn't replace either of them, as they are a pretty good team.

[Castrum]

Hmm... so I got to the point where Taz takes over for Don West... words cannot describe my disappointment. Friggin' Don West went off to join the merch team at TNA and got replaced by Mr. State-The-Obvious.

It's a shame that all that awesome wrestling is now marred by Taz's mindless "I'm not sure" and "Oh look at that" statements.

[Maawdawg]

I stopped watching WWE when he was there and I will never be able to watch TNA while he is calling matches. He is terrible. I don't understand how he ever got the position of announcer at ECW and WWE originally.

[Castrum]

I don't mind Taz as a wrestler or in interviews, but he's just terrible at calling matches. His most interesting comments come when he has history with the wrestlers, but other than that, he's about as skilled as any random fan in the audience.

Don West was much better, and the show is now lesser without him. He and Mike Tenay called all the matches from 2002 - mid-August 2009 on TNA, so you might want to check out the older matches. This one in particular is legendary amongst TNA fans (the three wrestlers in it have been the big guys at TNA since its inception):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X64B7SK4-XQ

In TNA, the X Division is like a Cruiserweight Division with no weight limits. For example, Samoa Joe is obviously 200+ pounds, yet he's able to go off the top rope and can do dropkicks and stuff like that.

You can get the older matches off of Youtube, www.tnavideovault.com (I think you have to make an account first), iTunes, and Zune Marketplace (on both PC and 360). I recommend the April 23rd, 2009 episode, mostly because of the Scott Steiner vs. Jeff Jarrett match. The episodes cost $2 each, and are about 1 1/2 hours long (the 2006/2007 episodes are about 40-something minutes I think).

EDIT:

Also, it might interest you to know that Bobby Lashley (the MMA fighter) is in TNA now.

[Castrum]

Hulk Hogan's come out of retirement to wrestle in TNA now. Quite the big move.

[Maawdawg]

That's what happens when your wife divorces you and takes everything. You come out of retirement for whoever will pay you more. TNA probably rolled the dice by giving him a big contract in hopes of getting more momentum.

[Castrum]

There's a few things to take into consideration with Hogan, aside from the divorce:

1) Hogan recently tried to commit suicide, but was stopped at the last minute by a friend. He said he was "sick and tired of feeling sick and tired all the time", and so he now has the drive to find some kind of purpose in his life again.

2) Hogan has stated that he wanted to leave behind a legacy in support of the future of pro wrestling. As such, he joined TNA in order to help them grow and compete with McMahon's (stagnant) empire.

3) Hogan has a long history with McMahon, a lot of which has been bad. Chances are that, if given the choice, Hogan would willingly sign up with a different organization than WWE (the reason he went to WWE after the merger of WWF and WCW was obviously because they were the only big promo left. Even then, McMahon only signed him about a year or two after the merger).

-------------------------------------

Overall, I think this is absolutely huge for TNA, and hopefully, it will bring more people around to the show with better wrestling and better storylines.



in hopes of getting more momentum.


Apparently, 2009 has been TNA's best year yet. They'll be on British TV early next year, and they have a strong history with New Japan Wrestling now (something McMahon threw away a short time ago). They also seem to have good connections down in Mexico, judging from the number of wrestlers in TNA from there, and their total roster is at least 50-something (I think WWE's is somewhere around 30-something, but I would exclude the female "wrestlers", most of which barely ever wrestle, and when they do it's usually nothing but hair-pulling and basic moves).

Aside from the unfortunate addition of Taz, it looks like TNA will be the new WCW. Luckily, they aren't owned by a massive media conglomerate with slack-jawed neanderthals at the helm, so chances are they won't succumb to the bull**** that ended up destroying WCW.

[Maawdawg]

Yeah, those are all valid points. I haven't watched any more TNA since that one bit. I haven't really watched any wresting at all. Spike keeps so much UFC on that I normally just watch real fights.

[Castrum]

I'm more into the whole spectacle element of it. I don't focus on the fact that it's "fake", though I do recognize it. The high-flying moves, the quickness of the X Division guys, the power and superb execution of moves (ex. a lot of clothesline moves in TNA actually make a guy do a 360 in the air), the trash-talk between faces and heels, the surprises, and so on are why I watch TNA over UFC. To me, there's really no difference between MMA and Boxing (another related sport I've never been all that interested in that existed before UFC became huge): both are real fights between well-trained fighters, and both tend to be quite boring. I watch TV shows to be entertained, not to be bored to tears.

One thing I wish we would bring back are gladiator fights. Actual fights to the death, with harpoons and scythes and huge ****ing lions on chains. Now that **** I would watch :-P

[Castrum]

TNA going up against Raw on Monday, January 4th. 3-hour special featuring Hogan's first appearance on the show, along with the other guys he's apparently bringing with him.

[Maawdawg]

Hogan and the TNA owner were at the UFC finale this weekend. They cut to them in the crowd.

[Shaynard]

Hogan and the TNA owner were at the UFC finale this weekend. They cut to them in the crowd.

They interviewed Hogan as well.. Hogan announced that they are going Head to Head with the WWE.. Signing a Monday night TV slot.. So it's back to the days of WCW/NWO VS WWE.

[Castrum]

I think they're testing the waters right now to see if going to Mondays will boost their ratings. Word is that it's Bischoff's idea (one of the guys Hogan's bringing with him), perhaps to try and create another Monday Night War situation, though with the prevalence of DVRs, as well as the recent draw towards unscripted fighting in UFC, I think they've got more factors to deal with now than WCW did in the early '90s. TNA also lacks the financial power of a big corporation like WCW had back then, though with people at the helm who actually understand the wrestling business, it could counteract that (one of WCW's biggest issues was extensive waste of resources and disorganization, which eventually led to its collapse). I'm willing to consider the possibility that WCW's fall has humbled the formerly-brazen Hogan and Bischoff; certainly if Kevin Nash's example is anything to go by, they should be able to keep themselves in check (Nash has been with TNA for several years now), so I'm hopeful that this whole experiment won't end up with Hogan and crew dominating the show for a very inordinate amount of time.

With any luck, David Arquette will **** off as well :-P

[Shaynard]

Only based on what Hogan said at the UFC event, it's a done deal. He was there with his "business partner" (a woman) and Eric Bischoff.

He said they are moving into a Monday night slot to officially take over from the WWE. "Go head to head with Vince McMahon". That doesn't say it's not just a trial, but I didn't feel like they were talking about a trial, sounded as if it was going to be long term. But thats all I heard about it, and was surprised.

"and you just never know when you'll see the old man in the yellow boots walk down to the ring".-Hogan

Either way this should be a good thing for all wrestling fans..

[Maawdawg]

Yeah, Turner had the bucks to push WCW and that didn't work. Bishoff is a known commodity in wrestling and was the brains behind the huge ratings that the WCW had at the start of Nitro. It will be interesting to say the least. I don't watch a lot of wrestling anymore but if a good competition starts between the two it will probably both better to watch.

For now I stick to the UFC as my source for beatings on TV.

[Castrum]

his "business partner" (a woman)

That's Dixie Carter, the President of TNA.


"and you just never know when you'll see the old man in the yellow boots walk down to the ring".-Hogan

Either way this should be a good thing for all wrestling fans..

I think January 4th will be his first Impact showing, though I expect he will show up at Final Resolution (PPV) on the 20th.


I don't watch a lot of wrestling anymore but if a good competition starts between the two it will probably both better to watch.

Hopefully this will drag WWE out of its stupor and get it in gear for a return to the Attitude Era, or at least some kind of similar style. I'm so tired of wigger John Cena being the top face for the bazillionth time and Randy Orton being his whipping-boy. And why in God's name is Bob Barker talking to a ****ing leprechaun on a wrestling show? Honest to God, it's like a Family Guy parody of the WWF.

EDIT:

Also, this is one of the 3 guys who got me to watching TNA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZppBqi3AsoA

SECOND EDIT:

My absolute favorite move of his: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOyB1Ui6GQY#

THIRD EDIT:

More awesomeness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoXnZJHMUdQ

[Shaynard]

I prefer UFC as well.. However this little idea of TNA's is tempting me to watch again. This could turn out really well.

I think it has more to do with timing and the fans than who's running the organization.. I figure because WWE fans are bored and TNA fans want MORE this should be exactly what they both need.

The most common view on the first installment of this was, "Oh wow look at how well they built up the WCW".. However, WWE was hurting at the time (they always have viewers I mean the show was hurting) and WCW's rise breathed new life into them. So basically it helped Vince just as much as Ted once it became full blown, and in the end I think Vince got the most out of it all.. That could, and probably will, all happen again.

[Castrum]

The problem for Vince was that he was running an incredibly-tight ship at the time and, by his own admission, they almost went under at one point trying to stay the course.

At any rate, I think Vince will have a tough time trying to get back into the 14 and 18A demographics nowadays, both in terms of mass appeal and in terms of business (the whole Going Public thing and all that).

One important point to note is that TNA does its show from one single location, in Orlando (at Universal Studios, where WCW went back in the early days of the MNW). Therefore, their bills are much lower, and as such, they can compete with WWE without spending massive amounts of money moving **** from place to place.

[Shadow Symbosis]

i havent been watching raw or smackdown for awhile cause its the same crap all the time over and over.i think they have fallen short on the wrestling aspect of the buisness and go more for the stupid storylines more. thats why ive been keeping up with tna more.dont get me wrong ill still get wwe dvd sets that come out but id rather watch old stuff then watch the garbage they have on now.as far as tna and hulk hogan goes i hope that the fued that happened back in the wcw days with bishoff taking it to them happens again.its great to have some sort of rival wrestling promotion going against them cause vince is a ego-maniac so i cant wait to see what happens in january:)

[Shadow Symbosis]

oh yeah i forgot thanks vince for the ruin that is now ECW man does it blow!!!!:mad:

[Castrum]

Paul Heyman must have died a little inside upon seeing Vince turn his revived ECW into that abomination of a wrestling show.

EDIT:

Russo is about to get his comeuppance: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/wrestling/2743982/Hulk-Hogan-I-run-TNA-not-Vince-Russo.html

As for Hogan, please Jesus, do not let this go to his head. He doesn't need to be in every PPV for the next 5 years.

SECOND EDIT:

Ric Flair coming to TNA: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/wrestling/2758439/Ric-Flair-has-dropped-his-biggest-hint-yet-that-he-will-join-TNA.html

Sycho Sid as well: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/wrestling/2738017/Former-WWE-and-WCW-champion-Sid-linked-with-TNA-move.html

With all these new guys, I have to wonder why they don't just make a second show already. Half the roster doesn't even get to wrestle on Thursdays.

[Shadow Symbosis]

Psyco Sid really? Hes Gonna Rule The World!!!!!!! man he was nuts!!!!!! and as far as flair goes all i have to say is WWWWOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!:)

[Castrum]

Jeff Jarrett coming back to TNA next week, finally. Should be good.

[Castrum]

Bret Hart signed with WWE: http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/article/more-on-bret-harts-wwe-signing-will-he-wrestle-a-match-92749

Looks like the challenge has already brought us something we thought we would never see again.

I'll still be watching TNA on the 4th, but I think it will be interesting to see the Youtube clips of Bret Hart on Raw later in the week.

On that note, Top 10 Monday Night War Moments: http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/article/top-ten-biggest-moments-of-the-monday-night-wars-92889

4-hour New Year's Eve special featuring the best PPV matches of 2009 + a Knockouts (women's) tournament: http://www.tnawrestling.com/content/view/1846/84/

Also, seems Hogan, Angle, and Dixie Carter are going to be "babyface" in the new feud in January; that'll be kind of hard, considering Hogan's plans to replace the six-sided ring with a lame old 4-sided one and, admittedly, assuming creative control of TNA, as well as the fact that Jeff Jarrett and Mick Foley will be opposing them (with various wrestlers picking sides as usual). Jeff Jarrett just came back after a 5-month absence that seems to have been tied to him getting involved with Karen Angle (Kurt's ex-wife), and currently he's almost a Jesus figure amongst the fanbase. It'll be interesting to see where this goes...

[Castrum]

My god.

It's me 2 months ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EslzYAR8Sk

(Not really)

[Castrum]

The Young Bucks just signed with TNA. Holy ****.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGzbu1NeABs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X85WqDzWmLs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSAbA5bJ5m4 (skip to 2:00)

EDIT:

Oh, also, I watched RAW this past week... God help anyone who enjoys that ****ing insult to wrestling.

[Castrum]

4-hour show tonight, featuring actual quality women's wrestling, plus the Top 3 PPV matches of the year (Sting vs. AJ Styles at Bound For Glory, Kurt Angle vs. Desmond Wolfe at Turning Point, and AJ Styles vs. Daniels vs. Samoa Joe at Turning Point). From what I've heard, all 3 of those matches were epic, and the more recent matches put up on Youtube (the #10 - #4 best were put on Youtube; I'm referring to #5 and #4) have been awesome:

#5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF_mswyve94&feature=player_embedded
#4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej5gW04ef6M&feature=player_embedded

[Castrum]

The moment of truth is upon us.

8 PM EST.

[Castrum]

Last night was awesome. TNA really impressed me; personally, I think it was the best episode of Impact in several months (I thought the beginning was objectionable, with the Steel Asylum match being a cluster**** and ODB winning the Women's Title for some retarded reason, but everything else was good). If you missed it, it's on Spike again on Thursday.

I also read the notes for last night's RAW and watched the last 20 minutes of it (as it ran long, after Impact was over). The Orton/Kingston match was good, mostly because Kingston deserves to be on a better wrestling show than RAW. The Bret Hart/McMahon face-off at the end was lackluster and dull, amazingly. They faced off in the ring with mics and basically droned on about Bret's achievements and such for about 5 minutes too long (especially by that point in the show), and then they shook hands, celebrated, and then Vince low-blowed Bret and walked off. Kind of anti-climactic, considering Bret just laid there as Vince strode off up the ramp. They didn't even try to act like it was a big deal or anything (no Vince screaming into a mic about how Bret's his *****, no Jerry Lawler going "OH MY GOD! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!", nothing).

[Castrum]

Just saw that Impact got its highest TV rating ever, a 1.5 average, during that show on Monday. Very good sign.

[Maawdawg]

The first show will have the highest rating just out of curiosity for many people. The coming weeks will tell if they keep a decent rating or people go right back to Raw.

[Castrum]

Well, RAW had Bret Hart's first appearance on WWE TV in 12 years, and that still didn't obliterate TNA's rating (in fact, I hear RAW's rating was significantly lower than what people were expecting). Granted, the curious were obviously led to TNA on a whim, but hopefully that epic match between Kurt Angle and AJ showed them what a real wrestling match looks like.

[Castrum]

My review of the Genesis PPV:

Well, Hogan decided to replace the six-sided ring with the standard 4-sided one without telling anyone (fans or the wrestlers), just in time for the PPV. It looks like the old WCW ring format, with a wide ramp extending out to the ring.

To make matters even worse, Hogan and Bischoff decided to come out and address the situation, wherein they chose to ridicule and mock everything TNA has stood for for the last 8 years. Hogan referred to the six-sided ring as a "rinky dink playpen", and Bischoff basically called the large contingent of fans chanting "WE WANT SIX SIDES!" idiots. What a class act. I really have to wonder how in God's name they're ever going to get Hogan over with the non-Hulkamaniac TNA fans after that.

Oh, and Brooke Bollea (Hogan's daughter) was given air-time in about 75% of the matches tonight, for reasons unknown. I guess what Hogan wants, Hogan gets.

Overall, the matches were of good length tonight, and were fun to watch for the most part, but everything felt like it was in slow-mo. I'm guessing it was because of the 4-sided ring and the lack of angles/turnbuckles, particularly in regards to the Desmond Wolfe/D'Angelo Dinero match, which dragged on for ages.

Brian Kendrick vs. Amazing Red was decent for an opening match, but the 4-sided ring and Kendrick's submission approach to wrestling harmed what could have been an awesome high-flyer match.

The Christopher Daniels/Sean Morley (Val Venis) match was also forgettable, though Daniels certainly didn't job out to Morley. There were a few interesting new moves from Daniels that made the match better than it would have been. It's still kind of odd seeing Daniels feuding with Val Venis a month after he was in the main event picture, though I guess that's another one of Hogan's ideas. Still, he's doing better than Samoa Joe right now, who disappeared after the November PPV last year, showed up at the December PPV to win the World Title Shot, and then promptly vanished yet again. Thank you Mr. Hogan.

Tara finally finishing off her abysmal feud with ODB was a sigh of relief for everyone in attendance, as well as myself. They have no chemistry in the ring at all, and ODB, frankly, isn't that great of a wrestler. Word was that Hogan, in his infinite wisdom, liked ODB's gimmick, so I was fully expecting her to win and move on to another abysmal feud, but thankfully Vince Russo is still Head Booker at TNA, so he must have pulled a few strings and told Hogan to **** off. Maybe now Tara can feud with Alissa Flash, who has been relegated to jobbing-out (i.e. getting dominated in matches easily) to mid-carders and doing webmatches for Youtube. Flash is so over with the crowd, it's not even funny, so a feud between them could be epic.

The tag-team title match was awesome, though the 4-sided ring ****ed the flow up again. Morgan and Hernandez are a goddamn monster of a tag team (both being easy contenders for the Heavyweight Title), so it's nice to see them get any kind of push at all. The British Invasion put up a strong offense against them and looked like credible champions even in defeat, so everyone benefited from this match.

As I said earlier, the Wolfe/Dinero match went on way too long for the action (or lack thereof) involved. Wolfe lacked the extra turnbuckles/ropes to make his punishing moves and his Tower Of London matter, and Dinero lacked for ways to do his DDE move, as well as his awesome "floating turnbuckle elbow drop", as I call it. The match mostly consisted of Wolfe using holds on Dinero's leg (whilst wearing terrible new wrestling gear, probably another one of Hogan's ideas), with Dinero making the odd lunge towards Wolfe. While Wolfe ended up with another good win that he needs to solidify his credibility as a title contender, the match itself was highly forgettable (reminded me of the garbage you see on RAW every week), which is a shame, as their promos (backstage interviews, etc.) against each other recently have been fantastic.

The Beer Money/Nash&Hall match was decent for what it was, but Beer Money have been up against much better teams than these two broken-down has-beens (one of whom, Hall, thought he looked fat in wrestling trunks [in real life], so Sean Waltman took over for him via the results of a rock-paper-scissors duel, of all things). I shed bitter tears for the fact that Alex Shelley of the Motor City Machineguns has neck problems right now, as they should have been on this PPV in some form instead of this crap.

Abyss vs. Mr. Anderson was meh. I have no idea why people ever liked this Anderson guy's character, and his wrestling style is so stale I thought I was watching a 1980s heel wrestler. Another one of Hogan's brilliant ideas.

The main event was awesome, though not as good as past efforts between Angle and Styles (4-sided ring ****s things up yet again). AJ's heel turn was long overdue (last time he was a heel was in mid-2008), so I'm glad to see that happen, as well as having Ric Flair as his manager.

In summary, **** Hulk Hogan. In expanded summary, God help us.

EDIT:

Pretty much my feelings on the matter: http://www.tnawrestlingnews.com/headlines/265811474.shtml

[Castrum]

Ok, so after last night, **** TNA. Or, rather, **** WCW 2.0.

Hogan and Bischoff are on the power trip Maaw spoke of a few months ago, and it's quite clear that they want everything and everyone to conform to their bull**** ideas of what a wrestling show should be. The final straw for me was seeing Hogan and Bischoff send their Production crew lackies out before Monday night's taping for this Thursday, informing the fans in attendance that, unless they were good little marks (wrestling terminology for fanboys) and acted like mindless drones supporting whatever nonsensical feud or squash match Hogan had set up, they would be kicked out (there was a video posted yesterday on Youtube that I saw, but Hogan and crew made quick work of that).

So, basically, I am boycotting TNA now. I will still read the spoilers for the next week, if only to keep up with the poor wrestlers laboring beneath Hogan's Barad-dur, but I will not watch Impact again nor will I order a PPV until Hogan and his cronies are gone from TNA.

And just for the hell of it, I think I'll keep a running tally of Hogan's terrible ideas thus far:

LAST UPDATED: January 22nd

- Changed the TNA logo from something that looked professional to something that looks like a first-year Art student's doodle. Removed the symbolic references to the X Division, as well as the fast pace.

- Decided to get rid of the six-sided ring in order to facilitate his own belief that "real wrestling is done in a 4-sided ring".

- Decided that he would surprise everyone, fans and wrestlers alike, with the unveiling of a 4-sided ring at a live PPV, and then have the audacity to ask the crowd what they thought of the new Impact Zone (which the fans responded to with loud chants of "WE WANT SIX SIDES!" over and over again). As if that weren't enough, Hogan and Bischoff then proceed to go off-script and tell the audience that the old TNA was a joke and that the fans are all idiots.

- Decided that the opening match for the live January 4th show should be a multi-man cage match that ends in a disqualification after about 2 minutes (after which the fans in attendance chanted "THIS IS BULL****!").

- Decided that bashing Jeff Jarrett (the founder of TNA) publicly after Jarrett told the fans how much they meant to him was a good idea, and then proceeded to get angry at fans' reactions.

- Decided that getting his Production team to tell the fans to be good little fanboys was a good idea.

- Decided that, even after telling the audience to watch their language, Kurt Angle saying "punk *** *****" on TV was ok.

- Decided to remove Mick Foley from the show after he had been built up for a meeting with Hogan for months.

- Decided to remove Jeff Jarrett from the show after Jarrett was clearly more over (popular) with the crowd than Hogan was.

- Decided to remove Jeremy Borash (the backstage interviewer) from the show because Bischoff doesn't like him.

- Wanted Vince Russo (Head Booker) and Mike Tenay (Play-By-Play Commentator) to be fired, but was thankfully prevented by Dixie Carter.

- Decided that a very overweight and over-the-hill Scott Hall, as well as a drugged-out Sean Waltman, would be a "major acquisition" for TNA. Hogan's buddies get jobs x1.

- Decided Orlando Jordan, the overrated midcarder that he is, would be a "major acquisition" for TNA. Hogan's buddies get jobs x2.

- Decided Mr. Kennedy/Anderson, the most overrated cheap gimmick wrestler I've ever seen, would be a "major acquisition" for TNA. Hogan's buddies get jobs x3.

- Decided Bubba The Love Sponge, the despicable leech that he is, should be given a job as a backstage interviewer, though thankfully, Bubba's idiotic comments regarding Haiti recently have made sure he'll be getting fired soon enough. Hogan's buddies get jobs x4.

- Decided that the Nasty Boys, who are so bloatedly fat they could sink a barge, would be a "major acquisition" for TNA. Hogan's buddies get jobs x5.

- Decided that Sean Morley (aka Val Venis), the irrelevant jobber that he is, would be a "major acquisition" for TNA. Hogan's buddies get jobs x6.

- Decided that Brian Kendrick, the cruiserweight who wrestles like a UFC fighter, would be a "major acquisition" for TNA. Hogan's buddies get jobs x7.

- Decided Ric Flair would be a major acquisition for TNA. Which he was. But the fact that Flair is only in this for the money, by his own admission, leaves me not wanting him involved. Hogan's buddies get jobs x8.

- Decided that Samoa Joe, who has a World Heavyweight title shot, should be tossed into random matches for two weeks and then disappear from the upcoming PPV.

- Decided that Christopher Daniels, who had been the Heavyweight contender just a month before, should be jobbed out to Val Venis, of all people.

- Maintained the Tara/ODB feud for another month for no reason whatsoever, thereby killing whatever momentum Tara had left.

- Decided a feud between the Nasty Boys and Team 3D (Dudley Boys) would be a great idea. Such a great idea, in fact, that they should resolve their terrible feud on a PPV in February, wasting time that could be better spent on a real match, preferably one featuring wrestlers whose careers didn't peak 10 years ago.

- Decided a feud between Christopher Daniels (one of the best wrestlers out there today) and an over-the-hill Val Venis would be a good idea, then proceeded to present Hogan's lackey as the face and Daniels as the heel, despite the fact that Daniels will always be more over with the fans than Morley/Venis ever will.

- Decided that a blatant copy of the Montreal Screwjob (brilliantly named the "Orlando Screwjob") would be a smart and interesting storyline event. Shows you how much **** they've got on the shelf.

- Decided that having a very over D'Angelo Dinero job out to another one of Hogan's lackeys, Orlando Jordan, would be a good idea.

- Decided that, despite advertising it to Hell and back that Kurt Angle's title shot at Genesis was his last one this year, Hogan comes out the next show and says Angle's got another shot that night (this leads into the idiotic Screwjob event).

- Decided that Kurt Angle should be kept in the title picture, despite losing his one shot at the Heavyweight title for this year (referring to Angle at Against All Odds).

- Decided that Eric Young (a wrestler who was, last year, being primed for a big heel push) and Kevin Nash should job out to the Nasty Boys. Words cannot describe my disgust with this.

- Decided that a feud between Mr. Anderson and Abyss would be a good idea. Clearly, after their flop of a Genesis match, it's not.

- Decided that jobbing Jay Lethal (a great X Division wrestler) out to Orlando Jordan, his crony, was a good idea.

- Decided that Doug Williams, a mat wrestler with virtually no high-flying/quick moves of his own, would be a good X Division champ.

- Decided that D'Angelo Dinero should job out to Orlando Jordan one week, but then get a clean win over the Heavyweight champ the next.

- Decided that jobbing the Women's Champ and the Women's Tag Champs out to unskilled, incompetent bimbos (The Beautiful People) would be a good idea.

- Decided that having every wrestler kowtow to him, even when they have a feud with him, would be a good idea.

- Decided to keep Bubba The Cum Rag (Love Sponge, actually, but it's the same thing) around, despite Bubba's comments on Haiti ("**** Haiti", "it was to keep their population under control", "they deserved it", etc.).

- Just to add insult to injury, Hogan went on Bubba's ****ty radio show after Awesome Kong, probably the only (good) "big-man" female wrestler out there today, beat the **** out of Bubba backstage for saying that aforementioned mindless drivel. Bubba proceeded to call Kong a "*****", and Hogan wrote Kong's anger off as being "menstrual". No, I'm not joking. Now, Kong has asked for her release from TNA. Tell me Hogan is doing something good here.

- Decided to write off Alissa Flash as usual, prompting her release from TNA. Another move destined to increase ratings no doubt.

- Decided that all TNA house shows should be cancelled.

[Maawdawg]

I hadn't checked this thread in a while but did when I saw your new CT. Sucks that they changed the product so much but I can't say I didn't see it coming. :(