TNA's creative issues

[NeanderCarl]

To those who keep knocking TNA for allowing Vince Russo to write their show, I have to ask... who else is there??

Yeah, Russo is clueless to how the wrestling business is supposed to work, but he is still an ideas man. Amongst the crap and bad comedy, he books otherwise good wrestling storylines, except he books them like he is on speed, and TNA is on fast forward.

But if not him, then who?

Jim Cornette can talk the talk, but when he actually had his own promotion he booked it into the ground, had no idea how to cater to the modern wrestling fan, and happily allowed ricockulous gimmicks like Prince Kharis The Egyptian Mummy to feature on his shows.

On the other hand, Paul Heyman knows how to create a realistic product that is different, which is what TNA needs... but beyond fleshing out characters (which is actually a Russo strength too) and storylines, Heyman is another guy who obviously can create a product that appeals to a niche audience but not a mass one, as he too saw his own promotion perish.

Heyman and Cornette are so often touted as wrestling geniuses, but if either of them had been able to tap into the collective viewing desires of mainstream wrestling fans (the same mainstream wrestling fans TNA so desperately need to grab the attention of) then their own companies would have been met with more success.

Now, I'm expecting a barrage of support for both men here, but please don't used the tired "they couldn't compete financially/bigger companies kept stealing their talent" excuses, because real "wrestling geniuses" would have overcome this by creating a product which had mass appeal, which sold out progressively larger buildings, giving them more money in the coiffers in order to hold onto this talent which abandoned those sinking ships in droves.

So, anyway... yes, unedited, Russo is not the answer to TNA's problems... but if not him, then who??

[Xerzes]

Vince Russo is a fine booker. He just can't be left alone. He needs other people around him who are capable of telling him, from time to time, "no, you fucking moron, that's a terrible idea and kills wrestling companies." Maybe if he and Cornette could work together, instead of trying to kill each other. Hell, I'm told Mantell is booking the women's division at the moment, and that's doing well. The three of them should be enough to tell each other not to do stupid shit like Elevation X.

[Sting Fan]

To be honest I think every name you list there has had there time.

If someone wants to succedd and truly push the business to a new level I think it needs to be someone new and fresh.

Someone who has done the hard yards in the business, not necesarily a wrestler but someone who has been around it for a long time. And that same person needs to still have some grasp on the real world.

Heyman, Cornette, Russo and everyone WWE has booking for them right now are the past IMO. What wrestling needs is something new and edgy and the same old hacks arent gonna bring that too the table.

[Porcupine]

What wrestling needs is something new and edgy and the same old hacks arent gonna bring that too the table.

Yes. Something new and edgy like...a PAY PER VIEW OF ALL STEEL CAGE MATCHES! :naughty:

[JH]

i know jarrett has been through alot but he needsw to get his damn head straight and take over booking again cause at least he did know what the fans wanted cause at one time tna was red hot when he was booking everything

[Exyle]

They never should have let Raven go. The man has an incredible mind for the business, and could have been the best thing to ever happen to their creative team.

[BigDaddyCool]

Raven is highly overrated. If Raven is such a booking talent, why does he alway book himself in Flock/Nest rehashes?

Heyman is actually a fairly decent choice for a booker if he is on a leash and really just booking. When he was in charge of Smackdown, it was good. They basically need a booking team that knows how a storyline and feud should work and able to see the big picture instead of just throwing out cluster-fuck after cluster-fuck and understanding that if two wrestlers are both being built in different angles, then they should just face each other arbitrarily.

Also, wrestling needs to move away from making everything a comedy act.

[NeanderCarl]

wrestling needs to move away from making everything a comedy act.

I blame The Rock.

[Verbose Minch]

Foley would be great. It should be Foley.

[loopydate]

Heyman has a great mind for the product, but sucks from a businessman standpoint. Putting him with TNA's money could be just what both sides need.

[Mr. JL]

lol, knowing TNA they'd probablly hire Heyman for the sole purpose of managing the finances

[Mr. Nerfect]

Raven is highly overrated. If Raven is such a booking talent, why does he alway book himself in Flock/Nest rehashes?

Heyman is actually a fairly decent choice for a booker if he is on a leash and really just booking. When he was in charge of Smackdown, it was good. They basically need a booking team that knows how a storyline and feud should work and able to see the big picture instead of just throwing out cluster-fuck after cluster-fuck and understanding that if two wrestlers are both being built in different angles, then they should just face each other arbitrarily.

Also, wrestling needs to move away from making everything a comedy act.

Is he the guy who keeps doing that? I mean, he very well could be, but I don't know.

Raven is a genius when it comes to perfecting his character and when it comes to promos and psychology. I don't know if that would translate over to writing an entire show, but I think he would make a great part of a booking team. Especially if it was headed by Paul Heyman.

[Mr. Nerfect]

You can use the excuse that ECW failed, but Heyman is a great writer. When he was in charge of SmackDown!, it was the best writing the WWE had seen since the prime of their Attitude era. He should be the guy TNA gets to head their creative team.

Paul Heyman, Raven and Scott D'Amore would be the way I would go.

[NeanderCarl]

I disagree. SmackDown was great during Heyman's run because of the in-ring action, not the writing. Heyman has a knack for booking great series of matches between well suited opponents. ECW proved that. He knows how to put guys together who will have great matches. But during the era of the "SmackDown Six" it was the wrestling which made SmackDown great, not the writing.

Not taking anything away from Heyman and his influence. Without him, there probably would have been no Attitude era, But he has never proven able to book a product with mass appeal, which is the antithesis of TNA's needs right now.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I disagree. SmackDown was great during Heyman's run because of the in-ring action, not the writing. Heyman has a knack for booking great series of matches between well suited opponents. ECW proved that. He knows how to put guys together who will have great matches. But during the era of the "SmackDown Six" it was the wrestling which made SmackDown great, not the writing.

Not taking anything away from Heyman and his influence. Without him, there probably would have been no Attitude era, But he has never proven able to book a product with mass appeal, which is the antithesis of TNA's needs right now.

Well, my counter-argument to this would be that a wrestling product's "mass appeal" would be wrestling. People do not tune into professional wrestling if they don't want to see wrestling.

Heyman knew how to put guys in circumstances where they could do that, which is the alternative approach TNA should be going for, in my opinion.

[NeanderCarl]

Paul Heyman's ECW also produced arguably the best top-to-bottom selection of varied wrestling matches of the Big Three, yet they never moved outside of the niche market. Vince McMahon became a billionaire on the understanding that most fans- the most desirable fans (ie. customers)- want an entertainment show with a wrestling backbone, rather than a pure wrestling show.

Now, it doesn't take a Paul Heyman to work out how to put two superlative workers together and let them go pedal to the metal. But it takes somebody with a finger on the pulse, an insight to the zeitgeist, to make the entertainment aspect work. Because, as a fan of workrate or not, that is where a company with high hopes needs to set its sights...

does TNA want to be the "wrestling alternative", a ROH style company popular with purists and workrate fans, but always content with a niche, minority audience? Or do they want a slice of Vince McMahon's pie? Because, try as they might, it is near impossible to ever find that balance. WCW came close to achieving it in 1996. WWE achieved it in 2000. TNA may never juggle all those balls.

If TNA wants mainstream success they need to worry less about the in-ring product, and more on creating larger than life characters and gripping storylines. I agree with everyone who has said we need a fresh vision, somebody brand new with sound knowledge of how wrestling needs to work in order to draw, but also with a bigger picture mindset. Russo, Cornette and Heyman, from a creative perspective, are all worn out and worthless in 2008.

And so that nobody thinks I am biased, save a few flashes of his obvious brilliance, so is Vince McMahon.

[Mr. Nerfect]

The thing about wrestling storylines, is that often the best ones come from good wrestling. TNA rushes their wrestlers, and their stories actually get in the way of the action in the ring.

Their main events are clusterfucks, usually because of the story. And TNA has this story going on with Kurt Angle, and it takes time that could go towards giving guys more time in the ring to get them over, and to effectively tell their stories.

[El Fangel]

TNA's Creative Issues + 1 = Rhiannons Relationship Issues.

[Londoner]

TNAs only creative issue is that they dunno what creative means.