If you were running TNA...

[Tb1]

Who would you push?






Who would you fire?

[St. Jimmy]

I honestly sat here and thought about this... and I couldn't figure out what I would do. Only person I knew I'd fire for sure was A1. Guy is a waste of paycheck.

[Impeccable]

Firstly, I'd go back to a four sided ring. I know they're marketing themselves as "The alternative", but so was WCW. I know it's considered "innovative", but I just can't like it...ever.

I would release Monty Brown first. He adds nothing to the product they're trying to push. I'd get rid of Scott Steiner...again, he adds nothing.

I'd stop pushing Jeff Jarrett to the moon. You see, the problem with TNA is, he's always...ALWAYS been around the title hunt. WWE, although not brilliant, find other things for established main eventers to do while they are pushing new talent for the title. i.e DX, Wrestlemania X8 was a classic example, where you had The Rock, Steve Austin and The Undertaker embroiled in feuds that had nothing to do with the title.

TNA has trouble making new stars...they are sticking to tried and tested methods of Jarrett, Sting, and let's face it, WWE made Christian a star, and he has gone from being a medium sized fish in a big pond to a big fish in a very small pond. TNA knew they were getting a star when they signed him.

I'd be tempted to push Daniels, Styles, Abyss and Rhyno towards the title picture, keeping Christian in there and Jeff Jarrett. That way, there are many different matches they can have there. I'd also consider giving Chris Sabin a shot...what have TNA got to lose really?

They need a 2 hour timeslot too. We don't see these guys enough to mark out...I've never seen a mark out moment in TNA.

There are so many problems with TNA...I'm sure someone will disagree with me, and I would love to see a counter argument...but these are just my opinions...that's all they are...opinions, and like it or not, everyone's got one.

[Tb1]

Here's what I'd do...



1. First off, fire the following;

I mean, lets face it. TNA has a 1 hour timeslot, yet they have over 40 wrestlers on the active roster.

A1
Monty Brown
James Gang (In my opinion, they're washed up. Boring, and TNA has plenty of new tag teams with young fresh faces to push instead.)
David Young
Lance Hoyt
Raven (Old, slow and out of shape.)
Scotty Steiner (IMMEDIATELLY.)
Sirelda (What?)
Jeff Jarrett (Enoughs enough)

2. Main event the following;

Abyss
AJ Styles
Alex Shelly (Y2Shelly. He's small, so what. I see never ending potential in this guy, really.)
Christian Cage
Eric Young
Christopher Daniels
Rhino
Ron Killings
Samoa Joe



One more thing... FIRE Don West. I cannot stand this guy. You could get better color commentary from a special person.

[Volare]

Just think if somehow West and JR paired up on RAW....the mute button would be loved by all.

[Tb1]

I don't understand why everyone dislikes JR. He tells a great story, and makes it believable amist WWE's most terrible storylines. He's been praised for years, by dozens of wrestlers for his nack for storytelling. Yet little by little, I see more and more anti-JR's. Why's this?

[Nark Order]

Firstly, I've always said that TNA has unlimited potential with the guys they have if they actually used them correctly and to their full potential.

What I would do firstly is get rid of guys that aren't improving the product:

Steiner - Slow, boring. Can't go 5 minutes without almost coughing up a lung. Time to go big man

A1 - Terrible name, gimmick, in-ring performance. Get the hell out

Hoyt - Could he try to be anymore like Test? Honestly...

Raven - You had your time bro. Focus on your health and stay out of the ring

Don West - Every match is not the best match I've ever seen. That is impossible

Also, there are a number of people in TNA that I think have potential but they are using improperly:

Nash- The guy just cannot stay away from injuries long enough to be in the ring. Nash is absolutely golden on the mic though, put him on commentary. Don West problem is solved.

Johnny Devine- I'm not buying this. He doesn't fit with Shelley whatsoever. Great in the ring though as demonstrated in his match with Eric Young. Repackage.

Jarret - Out of the title hunt. NOW. Still main event and have decent old school matches but there is no reason in hell that he should be champion still.

My 'push to the moon' list:

Alex Shelley - This guy is seriously something special. His time needs to come soon. Great on the mic, has a decent gimmick, and is absolutely feckin amazing in the ring. Get this guy the X-belt NOW.

Christian Cage - Yes, he's been pushed alot in the past months but he needs to be on top right now. I gigantic heel title run is a must considering he is the only one I've seen in TNA lately that can actually play heel with the fans. (Except for Jarrett, but that's mostly X-Pac heat nowadays). Build Mr. Reso as the franchise.

LAX- I like how this has been going. Continue with it. Dominate the tag division for quite some time.

AJ/Daniels- Split. Go singles. Have insane matches with Cage for the belt. Enough said.

Eric Young - Get this guy some more air time, we need our Eric fix. X-division title matches FTW

[What Would Kevin Do?]

Let Raven commentate in Don West's place. Kills two birds w/ one stone.

[Impact!]

Raven/Tenay/Nash announce team = win

[mrslackalack]

Nash '' I am a champion right now''

Tenay' '' You are not!'''

Raven ''yes he is we started back up the Comedy Championship we had back in WCW''

Tenay '' Your drawings as champ must be as good as the were up North''

Nash ''Yes they are, you have seen the chart''

[RVDmark]

Firstly, I'd go back to a four sided ring. I know they're marketing themselves as "The alternative", but so was WCW. I know it's considered "innovative", but I just can't like it...ever.

They need a 2 hour timeslot too. We don't see these guys enough to mark out...I've never seen a mark out moment in TNA.



Rep for you.

[D Mac]

Tenay/Nash/Bobby the Brain Heenan.

:y:

[KingofOldSchool]

Fire:

Don West
Scott Steiner

Push:

Christopher Daniels
Christian Cage
Chris Sabin

[The One]

I would put Nash on commentary without question, Eric Young would finally get the air time he deserves, Daniels would be promoted as a singles god, and you betta believe I would have James Gang be untouchable.

[JH]

the only thing i'm gonna say is one simple thing
FALLEN ANGEL/SAMOA JOE FEUD FOR THE WORLD TITLE

[mike627]

Jarrett:gone

Steiner: gone

West: gone

Christian: Heel Championship run.

Samoa Joe: number 1 contender

AJ Styles :first ever NWA grand slam champion:North American title run.

Nash:colorman with Tenay

Raven:the Boss can do whatever the hell he wants.

Daniles: number 2 contender.

[redoneja]

No over-the-top storylines or characters. Present it in a more realistic fashion. Make it a real alternative to WWE programming.

Get rid of the six-sided ring and return to using a traditional ring. I'm not bothered by the six-sided ring at all, but I think the traditional ring is more accessible to a larger audience.

Redesign the Impact Zone so that there is only one entrance, and have the entrance way come directly to the apron(a la some ECW and old WCW events)

Make the X-Division 'unique' or get rid of it. At one time, it was nothing more than a crusierweight division. Samoa Joe kinda changed that but he's moved on to the World Title scene. Now it's back to just being a way of showcasing the smaller talent. Problem is, alot of the X-Division guys are the most talented guys on the roster and most should eventually move onto the World Title scene. So if X-Division guys comprise the main roster, what's the point of the X-Division? I really don't know what to do with it, any suggestions are welcome.

And while we're on the subject of the X-Division, give the X-Division guys some personality. Otherwise it's just random juniorweights with competing movesets wrestling each other. And while the quality of matches may be good, you aren't gonna draw fans in if they have no emotional involvement in them.

After the company is financially secure, get the hell out of Universal Studios. You don't have to tour the country or anything, put secure an arena that you can make your home base that will attract paying wrestling fans, not tourists who have no fucking clue what's going on.

As far as who to push/depush/fire, I can't really make that call. Obviously push and market the guys who have the most potential and then just listen to the fans and look at the ratings.

[FourFifty]

I'd sell everything I could to Vince, and retire.

[Fox]

Have Jeff Jarrett always main event...



Episodes of Xplosion. Nothing esle.

[Xero]

I just watched my first full Impact, ever.

And I have just one complaint.

FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, GET RID OF DON WEST!

[FourFifty]

I'd fire Eric.

[D Mac]

NOOOO Don't fire Eric!

[Mr. JL]

Right of the bat I'd fire Jeff Jarrett, Monty Brown, A-1, Lance Hoyt, Elix Skipper, Sonjay Dutt, Jackie, Sirelda and Don West. Just for starters.

I'd take Larry Zbyszko off TV, and have him be an agent and work with the younger talent backstage.

Jerry Lynn would be put back on the active roster. I'd hire 2 Cold Scorpio and Kanyon.

Offer Chris Jericho... Sting-like salary and pray he takes it.

I'd make Sting the NWA World Heavyweight Champion then have him job to a heel Christian Cage on Impact! You'd have to heavily hype up the match in order to get a large rating.

Make storylines people may actually give a fuck about. Get rid of the six sided ring, and go back to the traditional four sided ring. Get the hell away from Orlando!

[Skippord]

Do I really Have to say.

Push: CHRIS FUCKING SABIN and ALEX FUCKING SHELLEY

Fire: Sonjay Dutt

[Mr. Nerfect]

As much as I hate to say it, some of the firings do make sense. Scott Steiner has been great in TNA, but he's really done nothing of note, nor will he. His salary can be given to a more worthy guy, or just put in the TNA kitty.

Use your women better. Gail Kim is pretty damn good in the ring. I wouldn't start a women's division yet, but I would hire Nora Greenweld, and have Kim and Molly Holly train the women of the future. I'm not sure how good they are at the moment, but Traci Brooks and Christy Hemme can learn a lot from them. You have some great agents in TNA, and being lodged where they are, they can easily have plenty of classes, and someone in each day to train some of the more inexperienced members of the roster, and to make them into potential future stars. If the matches in TNA's developmental classes are as good as OVW's are, you can find a way to make money out of them.

Don't let Ron Killings and Monty Brown slip away without doing jobs. Killings, as a former NWA World Heavyweight Champion, can do the clean job to a guy, and launch him to main event level. Monty Brown should look like a bitch before he goes.

Don West should probably be replaced on commentary. Raven would be excellent. Nash is the obvious choice, but I love his role as Alex Shelley and Johnny Devine's mentor right now. Have Shelley and Devine split-up in the near future, and have them start a feud where Nash dresses them up as samurai to do battle for the sake of their Sensei. That would be seven shades of awesome.

As the alternative to the WWE, TNA should not worry about who they push. AJ Styles should be in the main event. Christopher Daniels should not be far behind. The fans LOVE Eric Young. Give him a mid-card title reign. Oh, and I'd change the X-Division Championship into a mid-card title of sorts. I love the X-Division and all, but the style should be so heavily focused on by TNA, the X-Division guys should get NWA Title pushes. Rename the X-Division Title the "TNA Championship", and call it a second generation World Title, like the WWE, WCW or ECW Titles.

Matt Bentley should be pushed. I know the guy apparently has attidude problems, but being the cousin of Shawn Michaels is enough to make the guy seem legit. Stick him with Frankie Kazarian, and remind everyone that Kazarian was undefeated in the WWE before walking out. As a tag team, they have a lot of potential, and they can serve as kind of a measuring stick, comparing the WWE guys to TNA guys, much like the TNA Championship.

Christian Cage should get a push. Like a real main event heel push. Have him dominate Sting in their match, and beat him cleanly. That would be sweet.

That brings me to the booking of guys. It is so hard to book faces and heels in TNA, because the crowd eats everything up. Use this to your advantage and change the way wrestling works. Don't have "good guys" and "bad guys". Let them all be "good" to an extent, and let them all be "bad" to an extent. Have each match freed of the face-heel restrictions, you not only get rid of formula, but you create an essence of story about each match. Say we had Chris Sabin vs. Petey Williams. Usually Williams would play the heel. Have Sabin dominate the match, though. The fans would still be behind Sabin, and they'd get behind Williams, as well. It would be up to commentary to tell the story of how these two men trained together, and how Sabin has just seemed to have grown leaps and bounds ahead of Williams.

I didn't explain that as well as I could have, but get rid of faces and heels. I really think it would work, and add drama to the broadcasts.

For fuck's sake, Jeff, fuck off! I actually get what TNA is trying to do with Jeff Jarrett, but it doesn't make it any less stupid. People don't want to see Jeff. Have him take a backstage role with the company, or have him spend time in the mid-card for at least a year.

Here is a big one for me: Make every PPV a WrestleMania. The only reason WrestleMania is a WrestleMania is because back then there was no Backlash. TNA has the benefit of coming into a wrestling world where monthly PPVs are the norm. Market each PPV as if it NEEDS to be ordered by wrestling fans. They've done a good job of doing this, but they do seem to delay feuds, and they seem to be trying to make Bound For Glory "TNA's WrestleMania". I think that is silly. Book for the month. Make it as epic as possible, move on. People don't think PPVs like Unforgiven are important. That doesn't mean they can't think No Surrender is important.

Money should be an issue for TNA. Are they charging admission to their shows? I think they could at least charge a few dollars for entry, even just to PPVs. Maybe do exclusive shows during the week, where people can meet the wrestlers, etc. Find any way possible to get some income. DVDs could be a big thing. Give Nash, Shelley and Devine a DVD. Just make it a comedy documentary with Shelley matches as special features. People on here seem to find Nash and Shelley hilarious. Make money out of that. Releasing redundant talent like Scott Steiner would be great, as well. It's not he's been bad in TNA, it's that he's a big name they don't need.

You have Christy Hemme and SoCal Val in TNA. Playboy has a relationship existing with Christy Hemme, and they are apparently interested in Val. Let them go. Maybe even have them do a photoshoot together? Find a way to make money out of their hotness.

Try and get an increased timeslot, and have two shows air a week. Seriously. It would make TNA seem larger and much faster than WWE. Also try and get Spike TV to air old PPVs on television when they have time. I don't know when they could do it, but Spike needs to try and get people more interested in the growth that is TNA. Airing a retro Lockdown before Lockdown next year would help establish the event. Maybe just make it a one-hour special, or a two-hour special, featuring the better matches in the history of the PPV?

Try and get mainstream involvement, but don't have the celebrities match talents with the wrestlers. It should be the other way. I don't know why they could get, but let's just say they want an actor to do a deal with TNA. Have Alex Shelley "stalk" him. Have the actor in on it (storyline-wise) and just have them join in on Kevin Nash, Alex Shelley & Johnny Devine's fun. Get Daniels and Christian Cage to do some acting work.

Hire Matt Morgan and Aaron Aguilera. They are bigger men that can wrestle quite well, and are apparently Gods on the mic. Let them speak and let them show their stuff. Have them replace talent that doesn't need to be on the card.

On the topic of hirings, there are plenty of guys TNA could hire for the X-Division, but as far as heavyweights go, I'd bring in Kanyon. Take the money Scott Steiner is getting, add it on top of a Sting salary, and bring in Chris Jericho. If TNA can somehow get the rights to a comedy film (I don't know, maybe Universal can work something out); Christopher Daniels, Christian Cage, Chris Jericho, Eric Young, Kevin Nash, Alex Shelley and Raven would rock it. Jericho wants a career past wrestling. He obviously loves the business, though, and TNA would treat him like a God. Plus the guy's already won the WWE and WCW Championships. He's felt like he's done enough there. Taunt him with the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Do things like "the greatest men to never hold the NWA Title" on their website.

They should also try to get Brock Lesnar in. So yeah, my major hirings for TNA would be: Aaron Aguilera, Brock Lesnar, Chris Jericho, Kanyon and Matt Morgan.

Oh, and just a little subtle technique they can use for their website. Don't have all their Roster on one page. Have rankings. Former NWA World Heavyweight Champions on one page, mid-card guys on another, lower-card guys on another.

Something they could do for Impact! is cut out all entrances. It seems unprofessional, but keeping entrances for PPV makes them seem special. They have an hour to work with. I'd go as far as having all promos take place on the internet, and only have pure wrestling on the show. The colour commentator can bring up what has happened outside matches during the matches, but re-direct fans to TNAwrestling.com for the whole story. At least give it a go one week, and if it works, keep it up until they get a longer timeslot.