Passing the torch

**Fox** · 09-08-2010, 08:04 PM

It's been so fucking long since the torch has properly been "passed off." To end an era with one superstar and ring in a new era with an up and coming superstar is a huge moment and one that doesn't just change the wrestlers involved, but changes the company as a whole.

Having guys like Nash, Sting, Hogan and Flair in TNA is great if they're going to pass their torches along to the new stars of today, but that isn't what's happening. In order to pass the torch, the match needs build. It needs to be an epic encounter. Sting versus Rob Van Dam or AJ Styles should get months and months of build, and when RVD or Styles pins Sting's shoulders to the mat and wins the World title on PPV, it should fucking mean something. It should mean something more than a new champion - it should mean the beginning of a new time in TNA. It should mean Sting is going to stop wrestling because he can't hang anymore. He's still a legend, but he's not the present: AJ Styles is.

But that's not what happens. Hogan feuds with Abyss and Styles with the idea of "helping the young guys," but when the feud goes back and forth and is simply a continuation of something else instead of a singular event with a beginning and an end, it doesn't mean anything for Abyss or AJ Styles. When it's just a series of matches and sometimes the young guys win and sometimes the old guys win, nobody really comes out looking better. The only way to "help the young guys" in that situation is to job out and make them into stars, and do it with proper build-up and an epic encounter.

Look at Lesnar versus The Rock (which is a weird example considering Rock's age at the time). They built Lesnar up to be a menace for 6 months, had him challenge Rock in the main event at the second biggest show of the year, Rock jobs clean and disappears and Lesnar owns the WWE and the title. THAT is how you pass the torch and make a new star. Mick Foley's feud against Randy Orton is also an incredible example of passing the torch and making a new star. TNA just doesn't do this.

I have no problem with the Legends in TNA, but only if they do their shit right.

09-08-2010, 08:04 PM	#3
Fox "Ask him!" Posts: 10,075	It's been so fucking long since the torch has properly been "passed off." To end an era with one superstar and ring in a new era with an up and coming superstar is a huge moment and one that doesn't just change the wrestlers involved, but changes the company as a whole. Having guys like Nash, Sting, Hogan and Flair in TNA is great if they're going to pass their torches along to the new stars of today, but that isn't what's happening. In order to pass the torch, the match needs build. It needs to be an epic encounter. Sting versus Rob Van Dam or AJ Styles should get months and months of build, and when RVD or Styles pins Sting's shoulders to the mat and wins the World title on PPV, it should fucking mean something. It should mean something more than a new champion - it should mean the beginning of a new time in TNA. It should mean Sting is going to stop wrestling because he can't hang anymore. He's still a legend, but he's not the present: AJ Styles is. But that's not what happens. Hogan feuds with Abyss and Styles with the idea of "helping the young guys," but when the feud goes back and forth and is simply a continuation of something else instead of a singular event with a beginning and an end, it doesn't mean anything for Abyss or AJ Styles. When it's just a series of matches and sometimes the young guys win and sometimes the old guys win, nobody really comes out looking better. The only way to "help the young guys" in that situation is to job out and make them into stars, and do it with proper build-up and an epic encounter. Look at Lesnar versus The Rock (which is a weird example considering Rock's age at the time). They built Lesnar up to be a menace for 6 months, had him challenge Rock in the main event at the second biggest show of the year, Rock jobs clean and disappears and Lesnar owns the WWE and the title. THAT is how you pass the torch and make a new star. Mick Foley's feud against Randy Orton is also an incredible example of passing the torch and making a new star. TNA just doesn't do this. I have no problem with the Legends in TNA, but only if they do their shit right.