Passing the torch

[Fox]

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.

[Next Big Thing]

Originally Posted by Fox 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.

The other key part of that is that the torch which is being passed must still be lit.

Rock jobbing for Brock was monumental, not just because he was The Rock, but because he was still on top of his game and could still go.

At this point in TNA, if Nash or Sting put someone over clean would it matter? Samoa Joe choked out Sting at the last PPV and that's basically an after thought in the eyes of most fans. Flair put Jay Lethal over, how much of a rub did Lethal get from that?

HHH and Taker might be the only torchbearers left who could put a young guy over clean, walk away, and have that match be a meaningful part of that guy's career.

[Tom Guycott]

Originally Posted by Fox ...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... ...TNA just doesn't do this. I have no problem with the Legends in TNA, but only if they do their shit right.

I may be wrong, but it looks kind of like where this whole Wolfpac thing is heading. They're fleshing the story out half-ass'd, but I think the INTENT is that Nash and Sting, using some "Russo magic" worked shoot shit, are a couple of grumpy old guys who still want their last shot vs youngsters who will take their place.

The problem comes from TNA seeing the potential, but then taking a shit on it in execution. Are Nash and Sting supposed to be heels? They're being put over as two guys who merely disagree with Hogan and Bischoff. Didn't they just do this angle with the MEM just a short while ago? What happens when they get beat? Will the winner dissappear (a la Jay Lethal) in the end?

As I said, the INTENT seems sound, but TNA has a knack for screwing the pooch on what could be gold. Look at their track record: Machine Guns insanely over? Let's keep them off TV for a VERY long time, then have a tourney with Beer Money like a year and a half later to remind people why they once cared. Knockouts division entertaining? FIRE THEM (or, make no effort to retain) and hire fat botch machines (Knuckles and Lottalove). AJ Styles is the man? The company icon, eh? Held every TNA title, you say? Well, now that we got a TV deal with Spike, let's make him a comedy act, Christian's bitch, then Flair's bitch! There's more, but this would turn into a wall of text.