I will begin with the following statement:
I cannot believe I am writing a column about TNA Impact Wrestling. This means they did something right, or something very, very wrong.
If you guessed the latter. You would be correct. However, attention, even negative attention still is attention.
Thursday night, it was revealed on television Tito Ortiz, former UFC Champion has made a deal with TNA for some appearances. Adding his name to King Mo and “Rampage” Jackson, two other notable names in cage-fighting history. So what gives? Why bring in all these “tough guys” to a wrestling promotion? Will they wrestle? CAN they wrestle?
Obviously, a major UFC player in a wrestling promotion, even a crappy one is news. Tito Ortiz is big news as he is one of the, if not the most well-know fighter I the last ten years. I am not a UFC buff, so anyone who is, feel free to correct me. WWE has Brock Lesnar, and it the past had Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock. Those guys trained as wrestlers also. WCW had Tank Abbott, but I do not want to go down that road. It only leads to pain and disaster.
Normally, any promotion obtaining deals with major talent like Rampage or Ortiz should get some good attention. TNA/Impact fails. Why? First off, the hype for Ortiz was next-to-nothing. ONE video on YouTube which promised a second one after reaching 250,000 hits. It did not come close. Then, you have to remember (if anyone even knew) they fired a whole slew of talented wrestlers in a so-called “cost-cutting” effort to stem losses. Yet they still travel for show, costing thousands upon thousands of dollars. So Dixie Carter wants to cut her losses, yet turns into a big spender to get UFC guys? The ratings clearly show no one cares, the ratings show no increase in ad-revenue, so what the hell is Dixie Carter thinking?
It is time for us, the fans, the wrestling world to realize TNA will crash and burn faster than WCW on its last legs. WCW had a long and storied history, but thanks to poor judgment and mis-management, came to a crashing end. TNA has only been around 10 years, yet I feel as if half the time was spent doing damage control. Maybe I am wrong, but this time I doubt that.
Hogan still runs the show. They have great ideas, which never seem to find fulfillment. The Aces & Eights gimmick could have been great, except half their club are people no one heard of, people who were jobbers in WWE (Knox and Gallows), with the only major players being The Dudleys, Kennedy, and… and… is there anyone else? They gave Chris Sabin the TNA Title. Great job, glad the youngster gets some nice recognition. I think it is TNA in a last-minute ditch attempt to do something oh-so-shocking to turn heads. Yes, it turned my head, to the internet, and then turned my head back to eBay searching for a decently priced RID/Car Robots Brave Maximus. Loose and complete preferred if anyone wants to buy me one. TNA has ruined its show to a point where I might be glad a guy like Sabin is champion, but ultimately it is not enough to entice me to watch the program. AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Kazarian, and Samoa Joe are four guys I would love to watch over and over, but not on a TNA show. They have become stale, and in TNA they just regurgitate gimmicks and force face-and-heel turns on a weekly basis. If they were in WWE, at least each one would have a chance to be packaged and given rejuvenation time.
Dixie, it is time. Time to cut your losses, get rid of Hogan, and look for some new ventures.
The fat lady has sung. It’s over.
