TNA is… 29th of September

I’m not gonna recap the show, but I want to talk about what’s happening in the run up to BFG, so…

For the past, i dunno, maybe 6 months (?) we’ve been hearing about Bound For Glory’s Hogan v Sting match & TNA booked things in such a way that it looks like BFG is the only PPV that means anything to them. The X-Division PPV was simultaneously announced & shat all over by having AJ job as part of the Glory Series, storylines have been dropped & back to back heel-face turns have been happening just to show how big a guy like Hogan is.

Is he though?

When Hulk arrived at TNA he promised a ratings boost while forcing us to watch the Nasty Boys, Bubbuh the Love Sponge & a lot of other shit that TNA really didn’t need, especially when they were going to try & start another Monday night war.

It’s been over a year now and PPV buys are below 10,000, Impact’s ratings are 1.6’s & they don’t seem to have any more “brand recognition” than they did in 09.

Has he helped out guys backstage?

I have no doubt that he’s shared his knowledge of the business with the executives, Dixie, Jeff & maybe even guys like Angle (who seems to be a big part of TNA’s locker room, whatever you think of him).

In terms of what he’s brought to the roster, well he didn’t share much of anything with guys like AJ & Joe. Those two should be the Hogans, Flairs, Stings, Austins… of this generation. AJ isn’t a guy working his way up through the ranks right now, he’s a guy that PPVs should be sold around.

AJ has jobbed on almost every impact i’ve sat through over the last few months & Joe was given a gimmick where he gets DQ’d on a regular basis.

What about Immortal then? Maybe Hogan actually took those guys under his wing?

Jeff Jarrett is a guy who managed to fail upwards & found himself in a position not unlike Hogan in the 90’s: one where he could book himself into whatever angle he wanted (no pun intended).

Steiner? Steiner is the same Steiner we watched shoot on Flair more than a decade ago.

Bully Ray? They took one of the greatest tag teams of the late 90’s-early 00’s, split them up & handed them both shitty gimmicks. They’ve booked him so poorly that his promo a month or so ago consisted of him saying “i don’t like bullies”.

Matt Hardy? He’s in WWE’s rehab program right now, that should be all you need to know.

Jeff Hardy? Victory Road.

Abyss? Man, Hulk really fucked Abyss over. How can you book “The monster who knows only pain” like fucking Eugene. The Legend’s Ring storyline killed Abyss.

Flair? Flair has dramatically decreased in value during his time in TNA (a real shame, given that he really needs cash right now).

Mr. Anderson? Anderson has been thrown in & out of storylines because of other people getting injured or overdosing on drugs. He may not be on par with guys like AJ & Joe, but he still doesn’t deserve to get fucked around on a whim.

Gunner? He’s the one guy that’s gotten an honest (as undeserved as it might be) push out of all this.

People say TNA doesn’t make stars, but when they try to with guys like Gunner, Crimson, Sorensen & whoever else, it’s more like they just don’t know how to.

They say “Crimson has a large undefeated streak, that’ll get him over, right?” because it worked for Goldberg, but Goldberg was a marketing package, not just a poorly read line by Tazz.

This week on Impact: Hogan says he’s retiring.

Next week in Impact: Sting reveals Hogan isn’t retiring.

2 weeks from now, on Impact: Hogan & Sting sign the contract, then Hogan beats up sting.

The 80’s, 90’s, 00’s & now the 10’s have all featured Hulkamania in one way or another, so when that woman in the crowd started crying & phoned her friend when Hogan said “this is it, brother” you could actually see his value. Hogan could’ve done some great things in TNA, but it was poorly booked from the get go. Imagine him in a Foley type commissioner role where he’s never in the ring & never laying a hand on the wrestlers. He would’ve got respect from us for actually appearing to help guys & not making himself the centre of attention. He would’ve got respect from the locker room for making guys look good on camera.

I hope they do something like that with Flair once Hogan’s contract expires, he’s going to die in the ring if they don’t.