Is Impact Wrestling the best American promotion currently?
 

Not talking dollars and cents. I mean overall quality.

Btw, I can't believe I'd see the day where this is an actual discussion not followed by "lol tna"

no. Lucha Underground.

and Impact Wrestling is based in Canada, obviously. :roll:

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Im going to decapitate you

my Irish ancestors didn't die just for you to decapitate me, Gertie.

:mad:

Nope it will always be the WWE

Impact just borrowing the good reputation/stars of AAA, NJPW and House of Hardcore.

Yep, they've went back to alot of the basics this year and it's worked for them. As far as story telling and continuity goes they've got WWE beat by a long shot. The LAX/OGz story has been good and has an old school feel to it in my opinion. The matches have been great as well and there is also more reason to care about a match on Impact rather than a random match on Raw. I might get carried away and fall into a Noid post.

The Knockouts have always been better than WWE's women and Tessa is just keeping tradition in that sense. Allie is what Bayley should be, the sweetheart that has a badass side. Haven't been a fan of Su Yung but I know there is a Rosemary payoff coming that I really want to see. Kira Hogan has also been impressive. Plus they have the Smokeshow Scarlett Bordeaux.
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Getting the Lucha Underground talent was a big get for them this year. Guys like Pentagon, Fenix, Cage, and Johnny Impact/Nitro/Mundo/Morrison/Hennigan /Survivor have been heavily featured. Kind of disappointed Pentagon hasn't went after the World Title again but they've got something good with the Callihan feud. Feel like Cage is a great choice as X Division Champion but I'd like to see that title featured at BFG instead of tied up in a six man tag.

Was really surprised by the Moose turn and him joining Aries. Feel like the only chance of Jericho showing up in Impact Wrestling is with Aries retaining bug I could also see Johnny Impact winning with him being on TV almost every night of the week and sometimes twice. I haven't bought PPVs for a while because in the past they'd air most if it on TV weeks afterwards but I've bought Slammiversary and Bound for Glory this year. Slammiversary was one of the best shows of the year so I hope they follow it up.

Why? He's not talking from a financial standpoint. No one will ever top WWE in that category but that doesn't stop someone else's product from being better.

If it were better people would be watching it.

Lucha Underground would be a real threat if on a decent channel. Of course that's also Impact's problem. I think wrestling on Adult Swim would be great. If they started of that block with wrestling it'd great for the kids still watching and the adults/teens just tuning in.

Now it make be the one more suited to your tastes...

The presentation is what is better on WWE's part and that's what's going to draw in more of the main stream audience. Doesn't stop Impact/NJPW/LU/ROH from being an alternative and having a better product on a lesser known station.

I'd argue WWE only because they have more to counter with NXT, Smackdown, and 205 Live on occasions.

RAW and the lack of consistent quality with PPVs is a big sore point for WWE though and also what keeps dragging them down.

Like if you split WWE into two based on the above, I'd put the NXT/Smackdown half above Impact, then a toss up between Impact and Lucha Underground, then MLW after them, and then a toss up between the RAW/PPV half and ROH TV for the worst.

It's actually XCW

I've heard Lucha Underground might be the best but I need to watch more of it (Stop judging me Dave Wadding!)

From what I've seen of IMPACT it has improved leaps and bounds from where it was and is currently "good". It's finally being run by the right people it seems.

No.

Yeah!

BTW, how you liking that main event world title feud in WWE between AJ Styles and Samoa Joe?

WWE is better for kids.

LOL. NO

Lol TNA.

I’ve quite enjoyed ROH this year

WWE is geared towards children. The question is which wrestling show geared for adults is the best?

It's apples and oranges. Nobody in indie wrestling or the small promotions are even trying to compete with RAW or Smackdown because those shows are primarily for little children.

There's some stuff for adults sprinkled in here and there, but Vince wants kids buying t-shirts and video games. He loathes everyone on this forum.

Just because WWE is geared towards kids doesn't mean Impact Wrestling is good.

NXT as a separate brand is the best. Aside from that, ROH is better, Lucha Underground is better, House of Hardcore is better, I don't even know what NWA is doing other than Cody is their champion, but they are better, CZW, PWG, Chikara, Evolve, hell I'd rather watch what is left of OVW or Juggalo Wrestling.

Just my personal opinion, but Impact ruined its rep long ago.

So like I said before... LOL. NO

Impact is normally better than Raw, but Smackdown, NXT, and 205 Live are all better than Impact.

last I checked TNA doesn't have ERAG matches.

WWE isn't geared towards kids. They don't shy away from the kids demographics, hence the action figures in stores and so forth, but it's not their largest market.

The largest viewing demographic of WWE's product is consistently over the age of 50.

WWE's a bit weird for direct comparisons. Compared to the Cena era, they are a lot less geared towards kids now.

They still run under a PG model to stay family friendly unlike other promotions and live events still favors kids for merch sales but everything else leans or favors the older crowds. They just do a terrible job trying to mesh all the groups together or cater to them evenly.

Even the split in demographs is a lot more female friendly than before but not because the kids demo having a lot more girls.

Just because previous regime's made bad decisions doesn't mean Impact is bad.

They've really stepped up their game this year. Don Callis and Scott D'Amore have been great for the company. As a guy that watches ROH and a weekly basis I promise you it doesn't top Impact. They don't even try to make their TV match up with live events or shows with NJPW. Being the Elite carries more storylines than ROH TV does.

I won't disagree on Lucha Underground because its great but its not your typical promotion. Impact gets to use Lucha Underground talent and use them well. They also work with House of Hardcore which I also watch, good show but it doesn't have as much as Impact does. The NWA has put out some great stuff on YouTube and will be putting on their first show later this month.

Impact has a solid 2 hour wrestling show every week that has something for preety much everybody. It's not geared towards kids but it is kid safe. I feel like they've taken an old school approach to their booking with none of the shady things that TNA had a reputation of doing.

Just my personal opinion but you should watch more wrestling.

Who from NJPW has Impact used? Ishimori was with Impact before going to NJPW, he came from NOAH. He's been able to continue to work Impact along with NJPW but that is kind of how the business is going. Talent are not locking themselves into one promotion and can work where they want.

I may have got a little carried away, but I stand by the sentiment.

I watch plenty of wrestling, and I enjoy multiple promotions more. Impact is simply not as polished, interesting, or consistent enough for me to rate it better than ROH, Lucha Underground, House of Hardcore, PWG, CZW, and a handful of others.

This has always been the argument for TNA, for 15 years people say it is the best just because it's not WWE, and it just never has been, and it certainly isn't as good as it has been in the past either.

My argument isn't because it's not WWE. My argument is its what WWE should be with their production on top. Impact has better story telling than any promotion you've listed. As a guy who's watched TNA through the worst this is definitely the best they've been in years. Destor probably hit it best on the head as far as what best for one's taste. I could care less about the random stuff that happens on WWE when they're actually building a reason to get behind a match on Impact.

I still don't believe you've watched a single episode of Impact this year. Although one episode doesn't do it justice when they've been focused on long term storytelling around 2 PPVs.

Just because that's the audience they get, that doesn't mean that's the audience they gear themselves too. The high school drama, the broad and obtuse character motivations: WWE wants to gear themselves towards kids -- they just think kids are stupid.

But the previous regime burning everyone else does cause a lack of faith in the product. If you buy any business with a bad reputation, you have to battle against that reputation. TNA has a very established relationship with wrestling fans, and fans don't owe them shit when it comes to giving them another chance.

Neither Don Callis nor Scott D'Amore is an idiot. D'Amore's booking in TNA was pretty solid until Vince Russo got brought in to fuck things up. But they've bought a product that repeatedly spat in fans' faces. That's the legacy they are forced to inherit. And that is why they are getting <200,000 viewers every week.

And the times I have caught a clip, it's been some shitty over-produced hyper-aware fight scene between two guys who come off like geeks set to bad non-diagetic music. It's fucking shit.

Personally I've enjoyed the movie style stuff they've done. They don't do it alot like Lucha Underground but if a feud gets to the point where they can throw something like that in to progress a story it works. It's just another way to tell a story rather than just having a match. I was disappointed in the last on they did though with LAX/OGz because they billed it as a street fight which would have been a hell of a regular match. It did set up alot for that program though.

It's just not my thing at all. I like my wrestling to be somewhat aiming for realism. I don't see the point in a wrestling story where there is no fight psychology. As soon as you score the matches and place them in a context where they are clearly scripted fiction, I think the game is done. You don't want to waste your time to engage me, I won't waste mine with your product.

And Eli Drake was there and champion. And Eli Drake is easily the worst professional wrestler of the past three decades.

Eli Drake is awesome and I don't see how anyone can not like the guy.

I want you to provide evidence that you are not legally blind let alone starting on your credibility after a statement like that.