I'm glad that Impact this week at least opened with a match. They need to get back to more kickass wrestling and have less 20 minute Bischoff/Flair/Immortal promos at the beginning of Impact. The Knockout and X divisions need more emphasis again. STILL rather watch it than WWE the majority of the time though, lol.

wow, really?

then i guess you'd echo Kurt's sentiments here, though i'm wondering how much TNA and/or Dixie paid him, lol

- Kurt Angle tweeted the following recently:

"Dixie Carter, ceo of TNA has made her company better every year. The proof is in the numbers. Dixie continues to carry TNA to new heights. I could never be more proud of any boss I've worked for. Here is a woman with 30yrs of music experience. She adapted to pro wresting quickly. Dixie and serg Carter have given incredible talent opportunity to show their talent. It takes BALLS to go up against WWE. She did it. I love them for it. I have a place to work where I enjoy it. I plan to come back soon. How, I don't know. But dixie has called me about it. If I do come back, it's due to dixie and tna talent we have. I thought I was done, but dixie is the only one to make me think of coming back. I want to stay with tna if I can. I love their passion. TNA has come so far in 4 yrs. This company had a slim chance, and look at them now. GOD bless you dixie, serg, and tna. You are a worldwide success. I am proud to be a small part of tna's success. Keep up the great work."

also some news on Samoa Joe:

- According to multiple sources, Samoa Joe's TNA contract has expired.

It's expected the former TNA Champion will work tonight's Final Resolution PPV and this week's tv tapings while both parties work negotiating a new deal.

Joe joined TNA in 2005.

Yeah I would echo those sentiments, TNA has come a long way. Does the product have flaws? Obviously. As I mentioned, the last couple of months they've been trying to hard to be like WWE with all these vignettes and soap opera storylines dominating TV time rather than good wrestling. GENERALLY though I still like it better than WWE. It's a wrestling show for adults, not children. I miss the Attitude era, and I absolutely despise the PG direction WWE has gone in with this "Youth movement" BS or whatever it's called. WWE is SO damn over produced and popcorn. This is WRESTLING, the red headed stepchild of the entertainment world. WWE is too over polished and lacks any edge, which a good wrestling show needs.

Plus I don't think that WWE handles their talent right. If they did guys like Sheamus(sp?) and John Cena wouldn't have been pushed so hard. And you certainly wouldn't have Kane as World Champion. In a lot of ways WWE has got like the old WCW at being bad at handling talent. They don't push the younger talent enough or if they do its the wrong people(Sheamus makes me think of Goldberg in this regard).

But more than anything the level of commercialism the WWE has reached makes me sick. When I watch wrestling I want to feel like I'm being out of the mainstream of society, not like I'm watching a brand thats every bit as mainstream and tame as Coca-Cola or McDonald's. When it comes to wrestling, give me a unique local soda or a good local hamburger joint. Not Coca-Cola or McDonald's. Do you get the point I'm trying to make here?

I think it's insane to say WWE doesn't manage their talent well, especially while putting TNA over. Are you kidding? WWE has always done a good job of managing talent, but in the past couple of years they've really stepped up and the creation of NXT is part of that effort.

If you don't think Cena should be a main eventer you don't know the first thing about wrestling business. And that's fine, you're a fan you're not supposed to understand business, but don't say the WWE doesn't manage their talent well because that has to be one of the things it does best.

TNA on the other hand, seems to manage talent poorly on purpose. AJ Styles has been booked like a bitch since the start of the company. Even when he wins the world title he's somebody's bitch.

He was Vince Russo's bitch at first, then Christian's, then Kurt Angle's, then Flair's, and currently he seems to be a bitch to Hogan, Bischoff, Flair and Hardy. It's ridiculous.

When Evolution was around, Flair was an adviser for the team, but HE was Triple H's bitch, and rightfully so. I remember seeing AJ as the world champion, yet sucking up to Flair. That's ridiculous, no wonder AJ can't get over. I mean REALLY over, the way he deserves.

The WWE knows when talent's past their prime and when rookies are ready to step up. TNA is such a complete opposite that it reaches ridiculous levels.

When someone leaves the WWE, they put over talent. That's the way it should be for any wrestling promotion. Even HBK and Ric Flair left the company while losing. The only exception was Bret Hart who went out beating the Miz, but considering the bullshit WWE put Bret through, I don't see a problem.

Do you remember Val Venis in TNA? Yeah, he walked in, beat a young main eventer in Christopher Daniels and then left the company, almost undefeated.
Val Venis.
Christopher Daniels.
It's. RIDICULOUS.

WWE has worked hard to give young stars opportunities. Men like Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, Wade Barrett, The Miz, CM Punk, Orton, Cena, Sheamus the list goes on, and they're all talented, hard workers and OVER.

How many stars has TNA created? Their biggest stars have been Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, Hogan, Flair, RVD, Christian, Sting, Booker T, Nash, Mr. Anderson, Jarrett, and the ECW Originals faction.

The young talent always gets treated like bitches. Abyss, Matt Morgan, Samoa Joe and AJ Styles keep getting pushed and buried.
How many times has AJ won the world title, only to lose it and become someone's lackey?
Samoa Joe had an undefeated streak going, and once that was over he started losing to everybody, getting put into stupid angles, and became a bitch to the Main Event Mafia. Remember Samoa Joe getting jumped and kidnapped by a bunch of hooded men? Whatever happened to that?

Matt Morgan suffers from AJ-syndrome, except he never even wins the world title. He's always the big stupid dumbass who wants to be a part of the big heel group but keeps getting rejected. They did it for the Main Event Mafia, and they did it for Fourtune. And then he just quickly turns babyface on the team.

That's another thing.

TNA turns their wrestlers ALL the time, and that stops them from ever getting any momentum going, and it makes it possible for the fans to create emotional bonds with the characters. At one point you're so sick of the turns that they wont even mean anything anymore, and you won't connect to the babyfaces because fuck it, they'll turn heel in 5 months anyway.

Even though the Pope had come from the WWE, I pretty much considered him a TNA-made star since his gimmick was different and he was given different opportunities. So he got a ton of momentum, he got over, put on good matches, and then suddenly turns heel, only to turn babyface again a couple of months later. People stopped caring about Pope. They'll care even less when he turns heel again in less than a year.

Another thing TNA does to keep severing emotional ties between fans and superstars is the absurdly bad roster management regarding who's actually on tv or not. They'll have Orlando Jordan do his Lady Gaga skits for 3 weeks in a row, and then beat Samoa Joe CLEAN in 4 minutes, and then you wont see Jordan on TV or PPV again for a month or so.

Then they'll have Amazing Red doing great x division matches on TV regularly, until one day they decide ''meh'' and keep him off TV again.
Desmond Wolf comes in, has a main event feud with Kurt Angle with long vicious matches, and then gets jobbed out in 4 minutes on iMPACT! to the lower card and disappears from TV.
I wont be surprised if rising star Douglas Williams beats AJ for the TV belt tonight, and then doesn't show up on iMPACT! for 3 weeks.

Speaking of the fantastic TV title.
Isn't a TV title supposed to be defended on every tv show? WCW even extended it to PPVs.

If I'm not mistaken, AJ hasn't defended the stupid belt since he won it.
It wasn't even on the line in his PPV match with Tommy Dreamer.
What a champ!

All AJ ever does on TV is participate in tag team matches and the weekly giant brawls.
Giant brawls.
TNA does giant brawls almost twice a week on iMPACT!. It's become so absurd and overdone that it never even means anything anymore.
WWE might not push everybody at the same time, but that's no way to push anyone anyway. WWE lets people shine on their own so they can get over.
TNA shoves the whole roster down everybody's throats on all of their shows. So you have 6 man tags every week, giant brawls with half the roster every week, and battle royals where you can't even remember half the people that participated in them.

And another thing!

WWE actually makes their world title belts mean something, which is VERY impressive considering it's one company with two world titles.

TNA's titles are all a complete joke.
Samoa Joe was a hungry kid looking to win the world title at all costs. Unless of course, Kurt Angle pays him some money, and in that case Joe will just help Angle win the belt by LOSING TO HIM ON PURPOSE. That is so absurd.
Considering his gimmick, attitude and style, Samoa Joe's the last guy I'd ever book in this sort of angle. He's a stiff, samoan fighting machine. You'd think he'd want the world title more than money from Jenna Morasca.
Samoa Joe was in a world title match with Kurt Angle, and lost the match on purpose. For money. What does that say about the world heavyweight title?


The Immortals (which apparently includes Fourtune) are a team that include Hardy, Jarrett, Abyss, Kaz, Robbie Roode, James Storm and AJ Styles. Jarrett, Abyss and AJ are all former world champions yet they don't want to win the world title anymore. AJ will settle for the meaningless TV strap, and Jarrett will settle for grinning on TV like an idiot.
If they are wrestlers, why don't they want to be the champion?

AJ helped Hardy beat up Morgan this week. How come AJ wasn't kicking Jeff Hardy in the face and trying to get himself a world title match?
Beer Money I can understand since they want the tag titles, but what about the rest of Immortals?
What kind of ''superior establishment'' faction includes TWELVE MEMBERS, anyway!?

Evolution was so well done, and so easy to imitate.
Triple H was the world champion, so Flair sucked up to him.
Orton and Batista had Triple H's back because they were both young and new to the business, so they realized it was better to associate themselves with Triple H rather than try to beat him.
As soon as they started getting strong, they decided to chase the world title instead of being Triple H's lackeys. Makes sense.
And I'm sure Ric Flair never yelled at Triple H while Evolution was around.

Look at Fourtune. Ric Flair, the oldest, most out of shape fuck in the group is the leader and the man in charge. AJ Styles who was the champion had to act like his bitch and take his orders. Who in their right minds would book this shit?
While TNA keeps building their product around WWE's rejects and old farts who can't bump without dying anymore, WWE has been keeping its product fresh.
Comparing Sheamus to Goldberg is not entirely ridiculous. But saying it's a bad thing is ignorant. WCW had terrible roster management... BUT GOLDBERG WAS ONE OF THE ONLY GOOD THINGS TO COME FROM WCW!

Look at the WWE's main event: John Cena, Randy Orton, Barrett, Kane, Edge, Sheamus and the Miz, with future prospects in Alberto Del Rio, John Morrison, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Drew Mcyntire, Kofi, Swagger and Kaval.
A GREAT balance of veterans, present stars and rookies.

TNA has completely failed to do this, and right now the dominant figures on their programs are Hulk Hogan, Bischoff, Flair and Hardy.
ONLY ONE OF THOSE 4 PEOPLE IS A WRESTLER.

And don't get me started on match gimmicks. Is there a reason why the Abyss vs Pope match tonight is a casket match?
Is there a reason why RVD vs Rhino is a first blood match?
Is there a reason why Cookie IS LOCKED IN A CAGE ABOVE THE RING during the X Division match?

Ridiculous.

Regarding WWE being over-commercial while TNA is edgy. That is complete bullshit.
TNA books Danny Bonaduce, J-WOW and Adam Pacman Jones. I don't know which of those three is the lesser star, but Adam Jones even won a championship. TNA is just as commercial as the WWE. They're just the cheaper, dumber version. If TNA had the means, they'd make celebrities into all their champions.

I also think it's absurd to complain about the PG because WWE is a ''wrestling show, so it needs the edge! I miss the attitude era''.
The attitude era WAS NOT A GOOD AGE FOR ACTUAL WRESTLING. The attitude era was trash TV at an all time high. It was about hardcore matches, flipping the bird and mentions of genitalia. I'm not saying the attiude era was bad, but it was NOT a great wrestling era.
Personally I love the PG thing. We're actually seeing more wrestling matches with great quality more often, because TV time isn't dedicated to people getting their wieners chopped off. It's more of a wrestling show today than it was during the attitude era, because wrestling DOES NOT NEED BLOOD.

TNA thinks that having curse words and blood all the time makes them badass, cool and edgy. It doesn't. Someone said that WWE was a kids show while TNA was a show for adults. I disagree. I feel that WWE is a wrestling show for anyone, including kids, while TNA is for young teens and preteens who are impressed by the presence of blood and the words ''bitch'' and ''ass'', which seem to make their way into every TNA promo.



Sorry for the rant, feel free to ignore it but I get irritated when someone says WWE doesn't know how to manage their roster and TNA is so much better.

Props Zentile.

Wrestling is a business. You don't want to feel like you're watching something popular when you watch wrestling? I mean, what? Seriously, wrestling doesn't work if it doesn't make any money. That's why TNA will be out of business in a few years time. They're a crappy promotion that doesn't know how to book or market themselves with any level of seriousness. All of TNA's biggest stars year in and year out are people who leave WWE, not people TNA creates. Styles and Joe should be RUNNING that company weekly, yet any reject from WWE can steal the spotlight from them.

Everything you said is pretty spot on. I especially think it's problematic how TNA never seems to make up it's mind about how they're going to use someone and who is getting pushed at the moment. They'll push somebody for 3 or 4 weeks, then back off. They do it over and over. I agree.

So yeah, maybe I am wrong to say WWE handles their roster worse. They could do a BETTER job though. I mean Kane? Seriously? I would figure he'd be washed up by this point, not World Champion.

I guess when it comes down to it I just don't like the tone of the product on WWE. And I think the TNA originals are a better crop of talent than the young guys you are talking about being pushed in WWE. That's how I should of put it. Because you're right, when it comes to BOOKING them, TNA is ten times worse than WWE. I guess I was just trying to say I like TNA's young stars themselves better. Not how they are booked/handled.

That's one thing pissing me off VERY badly about TNA currently. I KNOW they have the talent in that company to really give WWE a run for their money. But they aren't using that talent correctly at all right now. Paul Heyman not be the best promoter in the world but Dixie Carter made a mistake not hiring him to book/write for TNA. Supposedly he wanted too much control. Hearing that makes me want to tear my hair out, thinking about how she's pretty much let Hogan and Bischoff do whatever they want. And look how well that has worked. I think a lot of the boos Hogan and Bischoff get when they come out now aren't just because they're supposed to be heels. I think it's because a lot of people think they are fucking up Impact.

TNA needs to end the Immortal storyline, or at least vastly scale it down, as soon as possible. They need to go back to focusing on in-ring action because when TNA does that is when it shines(just think of how TNA used to be about a year ago before Hogan arrived). They need to put the X-division and Knockout divisions back in prominence. Also, FFS, get rid of Fortune. Or at least change it to where AJ Styles takes an active role as leader.

TNA should be built around the following people: AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels(bring him back), Hernandez(bring him back too), Matt Morgan, The Pope, Samoa Joe, Desmond Wolfe and Mr. Anderson. Actually Mr. Anderson is ONE example of someone who I think wasn't used to his full potential in WWE who has actually managed to shine more in TNA.

Jeff Hardy,RVD and Kurt Angle are alright but they need to be the veterans helping to put the guys I just mentioned over. It should be a given that they are nearing the end of their careers though while all the other guys I just mentioned are ascending.

The potential in TNA is better to me than what WWE is. Like I said, I just hate the organization and the platform itself, not necessarily every performer as an individual. I don't care for the way they've shaped the brand over the last several years at all.

I was LOVING what TNA was doing earlier in the year before the "THEY" storyline started up. All the stuff between Mr.Anderson and Angle, and Mr.Anderson and the Pope was great. I wish they'd nix this Immortal stuff and focus more on stuff like that, with the kind of in-ring action they had going on before all this.

I DON'T. I don't like feeling like I'm watching some over-commercialized garbage that a million 12 year olds are also watching. I like wrestling with more grit to it. Have you forgotten ECW? Or even the WWE of the Attitude Era?

TNA isn't a crappy promotion, I wouldn't have ever gotten into it if it was. It's BECOMING crappy, lately, but the TNA I first started tuning into in early '08 was the bomb. It got me back into wrestling after having not watched it in YEARS. You're absolutely right about what the problem in TNA is. When I first started watching it, the TNA originals DID run the show.There WAS Nash but he didn't steal the spotlight all the freaking time then, there was Angle and Sting but I think they added to the show and helped get the younger guys over. When I first started watching I liked all the fresh TNA originals(Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Matt Morgan etc.) and the awesome matches they put on, along with some more established stars like Sting thrown in the mix to spice things up. The last year it's changed for the worse but they can correct course.

They HAVE the talent to really step up their game they just need to use it. You're right, guys like Joe, Styles, Anderson, The Pope etc. should be running TNA.

But yeah, still though, FUCK WWE.

The Attitude Era was the most pop WWE ever was, you know. Wrestling used to be on the front cover of TV Guide every other week because of the ratings war. It was culturally relevant; and I feel now it is less so.

I just don't think you get where I'm coming from at all. I'm not sure how to explain it any better than I already have.

Wow, I'm surprised two people even read what I wrote! Great, thanks guys.

TNA has ALWAYS had a great roster. They've just never been able to book well. That's the most frustrating thing of all.

As for the Kurt Angle interview posted here before,

Kurt's been on acid ever since he left the WWE. His interviews following his signing with TNA were complete crackhead rants, saying how all of his matches were match of the year candidates, how TNA would beat the WWE within 5 years, and in one interview he'd praise Vince as the best ever and say he was like a father to him, and then a week later call Vince an asshole and tell him to go fuck himself.

Kurt and Dixie like bringing up how the ''numbers'' are proof that TNA's doing a great job and improving every year. I don't know where they learned their math, because TNA's ratings have been static even before Kurt Angle went to TNA, house show numbers are at an all time low, and PPV buyrates are around 50 000. In the whole United States of America, 50 thousand people are buying TNA's PPVs.
The rest of TNA's numbers are confidential, so I'm guessing they're not that great either.

I'm not sure either. You say you don't want to watch something commercial but then you say the WWE should go back to the attitude era, and praise TNA. TNA is commercial to the point where they don't even care about their belts anymore, putting the tag title on Pacman Jones and the X Divison title on a wrestler completely based on a Jersey Shore personality.
Vince Russo books TNA, and to this day he still defends that putting the World title on David Arquette was a GOOD idea.

I think what you mean is, you like ''edgy commercial'' rather than ''family commercial''.

I like family commercial better because I know it brings more money to the industry, and I know I'll watch some actual wrestling instead of ''controversial'' backstage skits and hardcore matches.

Nothing you say is going to make me not despise John Cena, btw.

And Kurt did put on some really great matches with Jeffy Hardy a few weeks back. I got to give him credit there.

I love Kurt, but he seriously needs to dislodge his head from Dixie Carter's rear end.

You want family entertainment go rent a Disney movie, this is wrestling.

Just my thoughts.

And if you think edgy means nothing but skits I don't think thats correct. ECW was VERY edgy and I remember it having lots of great action. TNA is somewhat edgy and open until the last year at least it had lots of great wrestling.

Edgy doesn't necessarily mean you constantly have outrageous skits. It just means you don't write your programs like you're writing for a saturday morning cartoon aimed at 5 year olds.

She needs to dislodge her's from Hogan's. What is maddening to me is I think TNA was more or less on the right track until she got Hogan and Bischoff involved. I still can't believe she honestly thought they were what was needed to take TNA "to the next level". Really Dixie? How'd you figure that when these same two guys helped take WCW DOWN 10 freaking years ago?

Dixie Carter obviously doesn't know shit about the wrestling business. I guess up until Hogan she was just blindly stumbling into having a good product. Because I don't think we can chalk it up to her skills as a good promoter. That's why I really wish she'd have agreed to Heyman's terms and brought him in. The problem in TNA isn't the wrestlers(they have a GREAT roster). It isn't even Hogan and Bischoff because when you get down to it, it's DIXIE'S company and it was her bad judgement to bring them in and put them in charge of the product. The problem with TNA is obvious. It's Dixie Carter herself.

She'd probably be better off letting Jim Cornette book than Hogan or Bischoff(or herself most definitely).

You know, for a long time I wondered if "THEY" were going to be Dixie Carter's parents, just wanting to know what the hell she is doing with their money. lol.

Oh and as for TNA wrestlers having their heads up Dixie Carter's butt... I've had a sneaking suspicion for awhile now that like half the TNA roster is probably nailing her.

Samoa Joe just lost to Jeff Jarrett in a submission match.

Man I can't even stand Samoa Joe and I get frustrated from the horrible booking.

Wait a minute...

You're saying how bad TNA is...

And you bought Final Resolution? Are kidding me? Dude, I'm still sticking with TNA and I didn't even buy it.

Let me guess what happened though...

Jeff Hardy STILL has the title doesn't he? There's no way with how bad the booking is right now they'd be smart enough to put the belt on Morgan...

I'm sure he got off the internet and on top of that, dude's a wrestler himself, so seeing A.J. styles wrestle is never a bad thing.

Btw, Pêgaso, I agree with ya on most things, except a little on the Attitude Era thing and Joe. Good rant.

What he said.

Jeff Hardy retained the title. Ugh. And reports are all over the net that he was drunk at Final Resolution.

Whats up with Douglas Williams getting the T.V. title? He's a good wrestler, but come on. I don't see any reason to further diminish AJ Styles like this. Styles badly needs to get TRULY put over by somebody like RVD maybe, and instead they have him trying to put over a low-mid carder like Williams. He went weeks without defending this title then loses the first time he does. I'm all for pushing Williams but not at the further expense of Styles.

Why not keep Williams in the X division, helping to rebuild it and put him over there? And keep AJ Styles TV champion and have him put on a lot of great matches where he SUCCESFULLY defends it, to help get him back on track, and to establish some respect for that title. Because right now it means nada. Even being compared with the other titles in TNA.

I think this is a pretty good example of the poor booking he was talking about.

A.J needs to be face plain and simple.

I'd agree with that. For a smaller guy like him it's harder to be a heel and be booked to win. As a face, he has the underdog dynamic going for him all the time.Plus, too much of how they portray him as a heel is him acting like a bitch. Which also makes it harder I think to book him winning matches.

I swear to God the fucking stables in TNA are messing up all the booking. If they'd get rid of damn Fortune and Immortal it'd be a lot easier to book good matches without having to take that BS storyline into account all the time.

I don't even download TNA shows for free because it's a waste of time to watch them. I certainly didn't buy the Pay-per-view!