What’s the difference between last night’s Wrestlemania and a given episode of Impact?
Two hours.
I watched Wrestlemania 27 over a friend’s house, and I was disappointed, as it was a show that hardly captured my attention. I don’t understand how people who know that TNA exists can claim that WWE is better than TNA when WWE is pretty much making similar mistakes to TNA, possibly even more so than TNA.
You know how people complain about Immortal’s extra long promos in the beginning of each Impact? Well, Wrestlemania starts off with 15 minutes of The Rock talking about nothing. Don’t get me wrong, I love The Rock, but he didn’t really say anything. At least with Immortal’s 15 minute promos in TNA, they’re trying to convey an idea that is supposed to feed into the storyline. Rock makes one shot at Cena and then plays to/with the crowd for the rest of the promo. I guess that’s one of those things where “you had to be there” to fully enjoy it.
You know how people complain about how TNA overbooks their matches? Well the World Heavyweight Title match, which was also the first match of the night, features Edge (Champion), Alberto del Rio (Royal Rumble winner), Christian (man in Edge’s corner), Brodus Clay (man in del Rio’s corner), and del Rio’s ring announcer (how did del Rio earn his own ring announcer?) There was also a match that had John Morrison, Trish Stratus, and Snooki on one team and Dolph Ziggler and LayCool on the other team. There was also a match involving The Coore going against Big Show, Kane, Kofi Kingston, and Santino Marella, which ended faster than it takes an intoxicated Jeff Hardy to lose to Sting. Just to be clear, my point here is that someone booked an eight man match to end faster than a mistake… just saying.
You know how people, like myself at times, complain about TNA’s seemingly pointless angles? Well Cody Rhodes and Rey Msyterio had a pretty solid match, but do you know what started that feud? Mysterio hitting Rhodes with a 619 that apparently disfigured his face. I guess I’m supposed to ignore the fact that the 619’s been hit on countless other stars with not much of a big deal placed on it. Should I mention pointless backstage segments dealing with Peewee Herman or Snoop Dogg that added nothing to the show and were only there because it’s Wrestlemania?
You know how people complain about TNA having too many old people in the ring? Wrestlemania had Jerry “the King” Lawler work a match, and not a very good one. It was against Michael Cole, and ended with him losing via a reversed decision. He’s pretty old, is he not? Undertaker just cannot go like he used to. Ric Flair is definitely doing better ring work than him at this point, and I’m glad that Sting didn’t go to WWE to wrestle Taker, simply because Sting would probably be the one carrying that match.
You know how people say that Impact has about 9 minutes of wrestling? Well, yeah… that’s actually been a pretty truthful statement as of late. But when TNA gets to the PPV, most of the talking stops, the wrestling begins, and the matches are overall decent. This is less than what I can say for many of the matches of last night’s Wrestlemania. Let’s take the scapegoat that everyone likes to make fun of known as Matt Hardy. He may not be main event material, but I enjoyed his matches against AJ Styles and RVD more than I did any match last night that wasn’t CM Punk vs. Randy Orton, which I felt was the match of the night. Mysterio vs. Rhodes was solid, but still slow and predictable. Edge vs. del Rio was slow and overbooked, and I don’t see why del Rio is so hyped. Miz vs. Cena was as good as you would imagine it (it also ended in a count out, which was a decision that was reversed by the Rock, only for the Rock to screw John Cena).
In the end, I feel like WWE is a robot that makes calculated decisions without risk and TNA is a silly human that tries to be cute but ends up making silly mistakes. Say what you want about Hogan and Bischoff wanting to hog the spotlight, but I feel like TNA as a whole is at least trying to put on a show. Interestingly enough, I didn’t watch TNA last week because something within the first 15 minutes put me off from caring about the episode until Christopher Daniels showed up in the main event. After having watched Wrestlemania though, it really shows me that things in TNA could actually be much worse than how I feel it is at the moment. It also shows me that there is a sliver of potential for things to get better in TNA, unlike WWE, which looks like it will continue to be the stale wrestling entertainment product that it is for a long time.
Just look to your sobriquet, Mark, and you’ll have your answer. If you’re a wrestling fan, it means you’re a Mark. It’s undeniable. The entertainment value is totaly subjective, so your idea of what will or won’t work is based on the fact that you enjoyed the entertainment of something else much more. Something more creative? Perhaps. Truth is you were probably just younger and not as numb to this stuff as you are now.
So you want to see (cough) ReaL raaaslin’? There are plenty of outlets for that…but that’s not what makes money like Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Goldberg, Undertaker, Austin, Rock, Cena etc. Wrestling “reporters” like to crap all over the goofy stuff these guys did, dismissing their charisma and saying that they weren’t “Real Workers”. Unfortunately for you, the people who spend the money are the one’s whose children love the catch-phrasers and gimmicks. “Reporters” and Marks who spend they’re time ripping and obsessing over the wrestling business are typically: Singal, Poor, Unattractive, Uneducated, Anti-social, Awkward, Lazy, and probably have a fetish for weapons, UFC, lots of pornography, and cartoons.
You see my point?
The business doesn’t care for the opinion of the Mark. It doesn’t matter because, like sheep, you’ll keep coming back. You may not buy a wrestling doll or video game (err, probably should’ve included video games in the list of Wrestling fan traits), but they’re targetting 8-year olds for that stuff anyhow.
Here’s the thing Ben.
Back in those days when I was young, there were definitely wrestlers that were main event because they had “the look,” “the charisma,” and all that other stuff that people claim can and will get you to main event status. And then you had wrestlers that were better than those that had the bells and whistles and could actually wrestle. True, I was numb to this, and didn’t fully appreciate the likes of the Radicals, of the spot filled Cruiserweights, and the many other forgotten wrestlers that could actually wrestle. However, they were there.
When I look at WWE, I don’t see many wrestlers that can actually wrestle. No, let me be fair; maybe WWE doesn’t really let these guys wrestle at their full potential. The dead crowd of a RAW arena when Cena isn’t in the ring speaks volumes. The liveliness of a TNA crowd that isn’t in the Impact Zone in Florida speaks volumes. The sheep may come back to WWE time and time again for one or two guys, but TNA fans are used to seeing the depth of the roster do what they do best.
I don’t even watch WWE. Last WWE program I attempted to watch before Wrestlemania was the Royal Rumble. Couldn’t bother watching the matches, so I waited till the rumble itself… When I was capable of predicting that Cena would be the one to eliminate Nexus when they maintained control and eliminated like 6 or 7 other superstars, I stopped watching and did something else. I had been phased WWE programming out of my life when I discovered TNA in 2007, as it was providing a much more entertaining show for me. Fast forward from 2007 to 2011, where TNA allowed 3 terrible main events to conspire in a row starting from Victory Road, and I was pretty close to being done with TNA. This is probably why I couldn’t bother paying much attention to TNA last week; I was fed up with the same formula week in and week out.
What Wrestlemania made me realize is how bad WWE actually is and how much better TNA can actually be. I return to watch TNA because a part of me believes that some day they’ll return to being what they used to be, with or without a 6-sided ring. If they continue with what they’re doing, however, I won’t be investing my time in watching TNA until I hear that something changed, because even though life is the longest thing you, it’s too short to waste your time with entertainment that isn’t entertaining you.
And yes, I do buy Wrestling games. The SmackDown vs. Raw series is the best thing WWE produces. Technically, WWE doesn’t even produce it, they just give direction to THQ, and they generally produce fun games year after year. WWE All Stars is pretty awesome as well.
what the hell this website is ment for tna fans but you cant go round saying that when tna comes up with shit most weeks
I don’t understand the comment, Tim. The website is meant for TNA fans (yes). “but you cant go round saying that when tna comes up with shit most weeks” Ummm… what? I can’t say that this website is for TNA fans because, in your view, TNA “comes up with shit most weeks?” Is that right?
I don’t see the connecting logic.
What I think you’re trying to say is that you believe we can’t be fans of TNA Wrestling because, in your view, their programming isn’t that good. That would be like saying that the Detroit Lions have no fans because they didn’t win a single game a few seasons ago.
And on the topic of good content, I watched my first full WWE show in over 5 years the other night – WrestleMania XXVII. Let me tell you folks something, if you want to see a gigantic, “entertainment” production, then WWE is what you want to watch. But if you want something exciting, something fun, or something that is engagingly entertaining, then you want to watch TNA Wrestling. At least that’s my opinion.
you know,i was almost going to time how much wrestling actually happend during wrestlemania.havnt watched wwe in like forever,and wrestlemania confirmed i shouldnt be.taker hhh match sucked.the majority of the time one would execute a move,then there would be lying around for four or five minutes recovering till next move….LAME!!!!thank god i watched on my pc and could jump past the lame stuff(which i found myself doing the whole show)young wrestlers of today need only study flair.hardly anyone can cut promos anymore,flair can completly entertain outside ring.inside the ring,i have seen flair carry a whole match,while losing.that is talent,to totally entertain while getting beat up is just awesome and something wrestlers should learn or be taught cause i dont see it much
I don’t know what I like best about this site, the news & opinion columns or reading the written mental breakdown of WWE fans in the comment section.