Random TNA Bullshit Vol. 2

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Going to start a new thread instead so we don't distract from my VERY IMPORTANT 2003 TNA recaps in the Vol. 1 thread (which I should resume tonight).

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1389243154537267200

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1388861888591769604

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1389262986943115264

LOL. This is more WWE than WWE

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1390415342581817345

Posting this for @Laz

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

Sandman was always so natural when in backstage segments. Probably because he was always hammered.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1391101955779465216

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

You can see the exact moment he became a Trumper

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

I was listening to an Impact Wrestling podcast the other day and I was surprised to hear them talk about how Kid Kash had a comeback in 2013 for them as a cranky vet. That was right around the time I really got into TNA and I don't remember that AT ALL.

Kid Kash is a very underrated worker IMO. I feel like if he'd come around 5-10 years earlier, he'd be a Hall of Fame level talent.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

Kid Kash's 2003-2004 heel run is epic. Use your Impact Plus sub to catch it. He is, quite literally, the best part of the show from November 2003 to summer 2004.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1393241855614099458

(also in what context did Steiner and Aces & Eights era Bully interact!?)

Edit- I guess they were both in IMMORTAL. YKW? Maybe it's best I skip around the Hogan/Bischoff era of TNA...

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1394422036949262341

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

Wicked dumb thing, giving a guy who misses as many spots as Julio a bunch of Hot Topic platform boots and telling him to throw spin kicks.

 

[Valeyard]

Yeah I always gave Julio a little leeway because of those boots. He was still really bad but there is no one who could make those work.

D-Lo in the best shape of his fucking life, too. Jesus.

 

[Fall of Epic]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1396268782029623299

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

3LK was awful. From Konnan's accounts, they really were great friends behind the scenes and are still good buddies, but that act was so goddamn lame after a year of Killings being one of the hottest acts in the entire business for pointing out structural racism.

 

[Valeyard]

3LK is why Truth's been a joke since. I'm sure that's made his career longer but it's so bittersweet. Truth would've been a hell of a leader for SEX.

 

[Valeyard]

Also Konnan's whole point in coming in was to defend lucha libre and keep the white X-Division guys from stealing it more than they had.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1397955706100330513

My World on Tuesday is gonna be on the start of TNA.

Also I straight up forgot or didn't know that TNA originally stood for Tuesday Night Attitude. Which might be even worse than what we got. Invoking the Attitude Era in the mid '00s is kind of like if you asked a group of high schoolers in 1994 if they liked Whitesnake.

 

[Valeyard]

I want to know if there's truth to the comedy Austin gimmick Jarrett wanted to have, just to piss Austin off. If I remember it was Austin Suggs, a character who was a parody and the idea was getting chants of "Austin Suggs" because it sounded like "Austin Sucks" and lol

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1086682556576100352

Also Kurt Angle reffing shirtless in velour athletic sweatpants with his name embroidered on them should be mentioned alongside Shawn Michaels and Ken Shamrock for goofiest ref outfits.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

BFG 2006 is on a shortlist of the best shows the company ever did. One of the most surprising parts, given today's way of cards going? Not a single match broke 20 minutes, with most in the 11-15 window.

 

[Valeyard]

RIP Triple J.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

BFG 2006 is on a shortlist of the best shows the company ever did. One of the most surprising parts, given today's way of cards going? Not a single match broke 20 minutes, with most in the 11-15 window.

I feel like that stretch from Spike TV debut in late '05 to some point in 2007 is simultaneously the peak of TNA's relevance and when I knew that they couldn't challenge WWE. A lot of people will misattribute Hogan signing and the faux Monday Night Wars but I don't think that's really the case, even though I would guess they had more viewers in the 2010-11 than the mid '00s. What made WCW challenge WWF in the mid '90s wasn't necessarily Hogan signing or the debut of Nitro but when they got two current WWF main eventers to jump ship.

I thought it was possible for a similar thing to happen when Kurt Angle and to a lesser extent, Christian made the jump. Now they both had good if not great runs in TNA but when they failed to use them in a way that captured the interest of the casual fan, I knew they'd always be a distant #2 even if they signed "bigger" names. Jeff Hardy was arguably the #2 babyface in the US when he returned in 2010 and I immediately knew that nobody would give a damn.

 

[Valeyard]

To be fair they made Jeff just kind of wander out while Homicide was stuck in the dome. It was TNA.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Exactly. TNA did an OK job of creating talent but they seemed absolutely clueless when it came to presenting talent that was established elsewhere with the exceptions of Sting, Raven, Angle, and maybe Big Poppa Pump.

Whenever, a big star made the jump, it usually seemed like they were slumming it not that TNA signed a huge star.

 

[Valeyard]

They made Christian legit. Didn't get pinned for a year, had good matches, did everything WWE wouldn't let him. The problem with him was when Angle came in it swallowed his momentum, it seems like. Speaking for me I'm way more into the Joe/Angle dream match than anything Christian was doing, even if it was great.

Right when they got Jeff right, he fucked it up. I put that on him.

Saving Steiner's career is huge for them. Went from written off to being maybe the top heel and getting the awesome Joe feud.

I'd argue Nash, too. He busted his ass when he didn't need to. Not a strike hit but good matches for an old Nash

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

I'd argue TNA probably created the idea of Christian being a star. He was on the cusp when he made the jump and TNA was smart enough to push him to the hilt and get him over the next level. First year or so of his TNA run was probably the best run of his singles career up until the Orton feud in 2011.

 

[Brocklock]

I remember being on a high during BFG 06 then most of that was lost the next month when Russo started really indulging in his Russoness with stuff like The Reverse Battle Royal. They also kept running the same top three or four matches every month on every PPV. I think we got 5 Dudleys vs LAX matches on PPV in the first six months of 2007. And four AJ vs Rhino matches.

I absolutely hated Abyss winning the title from Sting on a DQ as well. That whole feud was nonsense which sucked because I was excited for it. I remember kind of liking their first match before Abyss got hung up and the match died before the stupid ending.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1399506157656477700

(humming "My World")