TNA: WCW 2.0?

Being a wrestling fan during the Monday Night Wars (or just the mid to late nineties in general) was fantastic, it truly was a second golden age that catered to nearly every fans taste. It was during this period that I became a fan of the business and my favourite promotion was WCW. Partially due to it having my three favourite wrestlers of all time on it's roster (Bret Hart, Sting and Raven) and partially due to it being the easiest and most convenient to watch wrestling show over here in the UK. Don't get me wrong, I liked the WWF/E and in particular became a big fan of Mick Foley but never fell in love with the product, possibly not helped either by the football-esque rivalry been the two companies fans. I was also aware of ECW and it's wrestlers and I remember being really annoyed learning about Raven and Foley's storied careers there but being unable to see it. This was pre-Internet and back when tape trading was the prevalent source of watching wrestling outside the big two. Alas, I was not lucky and never owned any ECW tapes.

When both WCW and ECW folded, I stopped watching wrestling due to a lack of interest in the WWE product. It wasn't till around 2004/2005 when I discovered TNA for the first time that I became a fan again. Back then the perception of the company was that it was "indy" and yet original and exciting. Fast forward five years and that perception has changed into simply "WCW 2.0". Before Hogan and Bischoff joined TNA, there was similarities, just not at face value and as noticeable. Big name WCW legends have often been in TNA, whether long term (Jeff Jarrett, Sting, Booker T, Kevin Nash) or short (Randy Savage, Vader, Dusty Rhodes, The Road Warriors) and I can see the similarities between the X-Division and the Crusierweight Division, particularly when TNA was high up on bringing in international stars.

Since Hogan and Bischoff's arrival, the resemblance is uncanny. we've seen an influx of WCW veterans, two seperate factions that are alike to the nWo (And that's not even counting the actual nWo reunion in TNA or "The Band" as they were known due to legal reasons. It was a terrible name and you should only be allowed to use it if you back Bob Dylan) and even a modern day Four Horsemen in Fortune! Who would of guessed after that final Nitro bout between Sting and Flair would happen one more time ten years down the line? Even scrapping the six sided ring and the re-branding into Impact Wrestling has made it look like WCW. I could of easily believed back in 2001 that the current Impact production and set up was WCW in the future.

The IWC almost always use the term as an insult, something I can't really understand. Is it because like WCW, TNA also relies on established names and veterans from WWE and is perceived as a retirement home? Maybe. Perhaps more so for illogical and bad booking that will lead to the company's demise? Sadly, people always seem to focus on the negative side of WCW, the fingerpoke of doom, David Arquette etc and I agree, they were terrible decisions. Even the nWo is rarely recognized for being great without adding "until they milked it to death" or something similar. Fans can often tear WCW apart while blindly praising the "WWF Attitude Era" to the hilt, but the truth is both shows had their fair share of greatness and groan inducing awfulness.

If TNA can avoid the pitfalls and demise of WCW and still retain most of it's identity then maybe truly can become WCW 2.0 and rival the WWE. After all, WCW must of done something right to dominate the ratings for 84 straight weeks.

Whatever Happened Between AAA & TNA?

In February 2010 TNA Wrestling and Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) started exchanging talent and restarted their working relationship, which was previously thought to be impossible due to Konnan's messy departure from TNA. As an avid wather of both TNA and AAA this excited me greatly. Right away TNA talent began heading south to represent the company, Mr Andrerson, Rob Van Dam and Hernandez being examples. The TNA talent also managed to capture some gold, with Abyss tagging up with Chessman and winning the AAA World Tag Team Titles and managing to hold the belts for 364 days. Jeff Jarrett also won his 11th world title by capturing the AAA World Heavyweight Title (The first American to do so and also the longest reigning champion in the titles history)

Initially, it was expected that AAA talent would begin appearing on TNA programming, with El Zorro confirming he signed a deal with the company. However, he never made one appearance in TNA and for that matter, neither did any of the other roster! It was disappointing to say the least, I for one was over the moon about the possibility of Teddy Hart, Jack Evans, El Mesias and Texano Jr appearing. Dream matches such as L.A Park/La Parka vs Sting could of been huge. I have no doubt that some of the more gimmick based wrestlers could of made an impact too, Gronda and Los Psycho Circus for example.  

I've always been curious as to why the relationship was never utilized to it's full potential in TNA. In my opinion I would rather see a AAA Invasion of wrestlers than Ace's & Eight's these days. It would be great exposure internationally and could help expand the product into Mexico. I can't help but wonder what a missed opportunity it was.

Hulking Up

So I haven't posted in a while, could use getting mouth surgery as an excuse but I won't. I got lazy, but I'll make up with it with plenty of content, both written and videos. The big news was me and fellow TNANews.com writer Elto Alexandrov getting promoted and then insulted by Hulk Hogan! The tweet is below and the article (Which I hope you take the time to read, quite proud of the piece and won't be posting on this page) over here

Whatcha gonna do brother?

My reaction? I'm incredibly honoured! It's great publicity and to know he read (which I hope did) my work is a great honour. Hell, it's cool to know that even for a minute or two, he knew who I was.

Anyway, like I said, some Toldo Show, wrestling articles and a couple of reviews will be out daily to make up for my laziness.

Peace out.

KRS 

TNA Stars On The Rise: Rob Terry

In my previous articles about TNA Stars On The Rise, I have been rather positive about each wrestler and their future in the company. However, this is my first where the negatives thoroughly outweigh the positives.

Rob Terry joined TNA in 2009 after a brief spell in WWE's developmental territory FCW. He also currently  competes in Ohio Valley Wrestling, TNA's developmental territory (Where he is a two time OVW Heavyweight Champion). For the first year, he was a enforcer for the excellent tag team The British Invasion (Douglas Williams and Magnus) and was thus aligned with the World Elite.

2010 was Terry's most successful year, starting in January when he beat Eric Young for the Global Championship (Now currently the TV Title)  and defended the title right through till June, subsequently breaking Booker T's record as longest reigning champion. After being a member of Hulk Hogan's stable "Immortal" and various face/heel turns, Rob Terry found stability in 2011 by teaming up with Robbie E right through to 2013 when they began feuding.

Now after that brief biography, let's get down to my opinion on Rob Terry and my predicted outlook for him. First, yes he has very impressive physique and his size is unparalleled in TNA. I won't speculate on how natural it is, but I'll take an educated guess and assume it's not 100% natural.  His in ring skills are questionable at best and I'll admit when he first debuted I was forgiven because he was young and green. Nearly four years later however and the improvements have been minimal. He can be slow and sloppy with no real sense of timing or flow in a match. He is cumbersome and due to his size, struggles to connect with a variety of wrestlers in the ring.

His mic skills are almost non-existent and I feel this is partly due to his heavy Welsh accent. I don't think that, apart from certain English accents, British accents translate well abroad. (I'm Scottish btw) As such, he cannot connect with the audience on the mic and looses them any time he opens his mouth.

I do not predict a bright future for Rob Terry in TNA. He must come on leaps and bounds and after four years of little improvement, I'm pessimistic to say the least. I understand the desire to keep him due to his size and I'm sure TNA don't want him in WWE (Where he could tag up with the Welsh Batista - Mason Ryan!) He doesn't garner much reaction from the crowd and can seem a bit unbookable at times. He should not just rely on his size to guarantee him a job and should spend more time studying tapes and training in the ring than training in the gym.

KRS