Random TNA Bullshit Vol. 2

[King Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1460297089968226306

Ah yes. Excellent match.

TNA Wrestling really was at its best when it was waiting for something important (that we would almost immediately found out is horrible) to happen.

 

[Valeyard]

I lowkey want one more match. They're much older and Joe is made of meaty glass now but I think it could still be four stars.

 

[King Kamala]

I'm afraid Joe and AJ might be WWE lifers now but it'd be a great retirement match for the three.

 

[Valeyard]

AJ is, for sure. Crazy knowing that and watching him in TNA, though. His retirement match has to involve Daniels because they are and always will be mortal enemies.

 

[King Kamala]

Honestly, Tony Khan probably would loan Daniels out for a match like that. Maybe once Vince is gone, we'll see some WWE-AEW collaboration.

And, yeah, it is sad how many "SCREW WWE! I'LL NEVER GET ALONG WITH THEM" guys eventually change their stance once they get that sweet paycheck!

 

[Epic Springs]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1460297089968226306

Ah yes. Excellent match.

TNA Wrestling really was at its best when it was waiting for something important (that we would almost immediately found out is horrible) to happen.

Impact was sneaky good in late '09 (BFG that year might be their best PPV ever). That AJ/Daniels world title feud that followed this match was awesome. Of course, everything got dropped as soon as Hogan/Bischoff came in (and Daniels actually wound up quitting shortly after once they had him job to fucking Val Venis).

 

[King Kamala]

You also had the super short lived Nigel McGuinness main event push, with him feuding with Angle, in late 2009.

 

[Epic Springs]

Yeah., crazy to think Nigel got lost in the shuffle after the Angle feud. That series with Abyss was a huge mismatch. Then his health problem started worsening.

Another thing people tend to forget considering how his career went: how crazy over Pope was. I really thought he was going to unseat Styles for the world title but they had that one match at Lockdown and the feud was dropped. Pope then turned heel and had lame feuds with Samoa Joe and Dvon Dudley then ultimately retired fulltime (unless you count his current NWA run). Seriously though, 2010 Pope was THE guy.

 

[King Kamala]

On those TNA episodes of 83 Weeks that I just mentioned in the What Ifs thread, Bischoff love love loves Pope and thought of him as a potential crossover mainstream star. It's hard to think of why his career didn't work out other than residual stench of being a TNA dude.

 

[Epic Springs]

He was phoning it in hard after the Styles feud and didn't really seem all that consumed with wrestling at that point. He went to college, got a degree, and settled into a non-wrestling role. He seems pretty happy now.

 

[King Kamala]

He came back to do color commentary with Josh Matthews during the worst era of TNA so it's not like his interest in wrestling was completely obliterated. But I guess I think "He didn't want it that bad" is probably the best guess as to why he never became a huge star.

 

[Lazgistics Supervisor]

That...and he was just kinda there work-wise. He was probably on par with Justin Credible bell-to-bell. He would've been a big deal in the 90s, for sure, but his peak was when the fanbase at large began to shift toward workrate.

 

[King Kamala]

That...and he was just kinda there work-wise. He was probably on par with Justin Credible bell-to-bell. He would've been a big deal in the 90s, for sure, but his peak was when the fanbase at large began to shift toward workrate.

See also why Matt Morgan never worked out as a main eventer.

Although I feel like if Matt Morgan couldn't become a main eventer in mid '00s WWE then he wasn't going to be a main eventer anywhere.

Man, if his wrestling career had worked out better, he wouldn't have become a QAnon Mayor either!

 

[Epic Springs]

Morgan was flirting with the main event in '09-'10 but the trigger was never really pulled. I thought that Angle feud would have catapulted him but he was firmly in the midcard for almost the entirety of his career.

 

[Valeyard]

Remember when Nigel won that poll for a title shot that they tried to stuff for Abyss and then had RVD take Nigel out in like five minutes?

 

[King Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1461477359673036800

 

[Hawk 34]

AEW can’t fully become NITRO 2.0 if they don’t name their dancing wildcat mascot ROBBY DYNAMITE.

 

[Lazgistics Supervisor]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1461477359673036800

These were the shows that broke me during the weekly PPV era. Not because I was against the X-Cup shows having more international teams (US, Mexico, Canada, Japan, UK), but because the UK team was the absolute drizzling fucking goddamn "that may be a sign of cancer" shits. IIRC, only Mason looked anything close to competent, with Xtreme Dean being below the average featured idiot on those Best of Backyard Wrestling releases in terms of both athleticism and talent.

Seriously. Fuck Team UK. Especially when the FWA was still thriving at the time, having exported Jody Fleisch and Jonny Storm. And Doug Williams would come into TNA not long after.

It's really astounding that Jim Smallman and Mark Dallas were able to turn the UK scene around, because between Big Daddy and whoever the fuck thought these schmucks would be a good way to attract attention? It deserved to be on life support.

 

[Lazgistics Supervisor]

For clarification, even the bookers knew the Team UK talent level was shit. They're the only team that didn't even come close to winning the series (Mexico narrowly won against both the US and Canada), and their show was the only one to be headlined by a non-X-Cup match.

Which was a 6-man tag pitting ICP and 2 Tuff Tony against Glenn Gilberti, Kid Kash, and David Young.

It was the best match the company had put on (that didn't feature AJ Styles) in months.

And featured the return of Monty Brown, in a debut of the POUNCE~ schtick.

 

[King Kamala]

Which was a 6-man tag pitting ICP and 2 Tuff Tony against Glenn Gilberti, Kid Kash, and David Young.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1460740266571218948

I will sleep easy tonight knowing that Tenay is a juggalo.

 

[Epic Springs]

ICP wearing Twiztid shirts sure didn't age well.

 

[Lazgistics Supervisor]

ICP wearing Twiztid shirts sure didn't age well.

I had to look this up,

 

[Valeyard]

That was when I was unable to use the internet on any real basis (November 2003-May 2004) so I missed it. Very happy about it. ICP and pasty subpar Englishmen are just not my thing.

I do remember the feeling of reading up on things when I got back home and how everything the X Division seemed to do sounded pretty lame unless it had the usual suspects.

 

[Lazgistics Supervisor]

I tried finding my old Rush reviews on TSM, but all I could find was the Spike debut of Impact and the 2-part "Brief History of TNA" I did.

Kind of a shame, because I would've loved seeing how my opinions had changed on certain workers in the last 17 years. On the upside, of course, there is some major "edgy teenager" cringe shit written there, so maybe it's for the best.

 

[Valeyard]

Chris Jericho Teases Debut With TNA

Source: PWInsider.com After reports were just released on why WWE was not fearing the possibility of Chris Jericho signing with TNA, it seems that Jericho…

www.wrestlinginc.com

Didn't remember Jericho straight trolling at the time.

 

[King Kamala]

In his 2nd book, he talked about taking some meetings with Dixie and Jeff Jarrett when he was coming back to the wrestling in the Fall of 2007 but more or less admitted he just met with them to try and get his price up with WWE.

 

[King Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1462896181324005387

@Laz : Best Star Wars movie in past 30 years.

 

[Valeyard]

For real they should've gone Sixth Doctor with Jarrett's face.

 

[King Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1462900193859358733

Induct Goldy into the Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame

 

[Valeyard]

She should be, honestly. Her shtick in a lot of ways embodied the Asylum era. A case can definitely be made if you try hard enough.

Given how TNA fucked it up so bad every time they tried, just through sheer incompetence, I wonder if a midcard title would've ever worked. It'd give people something else to do, but I'm not sure Dixie or Jarrett could be trusted.