Some big TNA news and some not so big TNA news

Set expectations to stunned.


TNA have signed their first ever Indian wrestler, Mahabali Shera!

http://www.impactwrestling.com/news/item/6084-TNA-and-SONY-SIX-Announces-the-Signing-of-their-first-Indian-Wrestler-Mahabali-Shera

Extracts from the press release:

Marking a historic moment in the world of wrestling entertainment, TNA and SONY SIX together announced the signing of the first ever Indian wrestler Mahabali Shera into the global roster of TNA Wrestling. Catering to the sustained demand and popularity of the sport, the announcement marks a significant investment by SONY SIX and TNA to the growth of wrestling entertainment viewership across the Indian market.

Viewing the market potential, SONY SIX and TNA, through this announcement, state their collaborated vision of exponentially growing and reaching out to a broader fans base for TNA in India.

Now this says two things to me: one, TNA are committed to expanding into Asia (first BFG in Japan & now signing Mahabali Shera) and two I think TNA must be confident that a new TV deal is or will be in place soon. I wouldn`t be surprised if in the next month or so we got another press release revealing who their new TV deal will be with. I just can`t imagine TNA making this signing and announcement if a new TV deal in America was not on the horizon. I mean there`s carrying on business as usual but this is a major announcement and a potentially huge signing for TNA if indeed his popularity in India will help grow the product over there. There is no time to work him into impact tapings as an established star before the end of the year and so they must be looking ahead to next year. With the way TNA pre-record all impact tapings before airing them, this announcement must be with the view of 2015. I think 2015 might also include an India tour at some point, maybe even taping a few episodes of impact while they are there like they do in the UK.

The other piece of TNA news (I`m trying not to flood the forum with a new topic for every little piece of TNA news), Josh Matthews has been seen outside TNA Headquarters in Nashville.

http://www.impactwrestling.com/news/item/6089-Breaking-News-Josh-Mathews-Spotted-Outside-of-TNA-Wrestling-Headquarters-in-Nashville?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+impactwrestling%2Fnews+%28Impact+Wrestling+%7C+Latest+News%29

While this news is not as big as their new Indian signing (or take your pick if you`re a Josh Matthews fan), I do think it`s a positive sign. I personally have grown bored of Taz & Mike Tennay on commentary. Don`t get me wrong, Mike Tennay loves the industry and has been around a while but I don`t think he can get the best out of Taz who is so error prone or just underwhelming. I`ll admit Taz was my guilty pleasure in wrestling for a while, but I`ve grown really tired of him. I think it would be refreshing if Matthews signed with TNA as a new commentator. To hear a new voice would be welcomed. Or have him in a Jeremy Borash role, with backstage interviews and segments.

So once you`ve scraped your jaw from off the floor, let me know what you think of the latest breaking news from TNA.

Josh Matthews as lead and Tenay as colour (as he was in WCW) sounds a good pair. Taz is beyond awful.

I talked about the commentary team on last weeks podcast (what do you mean you don't listen?)

Taz is pretty poor but he has grown on me. Tenay is awful in my opinion. But they are still my favourite pair on TV. Which means I must really like Taz (or hate all the others so much!).

For me, I would like a Matthews/ Taz combo with Tenay maybe taking the gorilla position.

Tenay is bad as well, but of the two I would pair Matthews with Tenay over Taz. I think Tenay could improve with a better partner. Or it might be that Tenay wants to retire and is looking at leaving TNA?

If they got rid of Lawler the WWE commentary team would easily be the best

Sounds like a double dose of good news. If TNA are looking to expand into India and making new signings that aren't expected to feature in the immediate future, they must have some kind of plan in place.

No idea who Josh Matthews is, but any improvement on Taz & Tenay is welcome.

Think Taz irritates me most with his constant flying off at tangents and its usually left to Tenay to drag the subject back to the match. Ends up being more of a distraction instead of selling the match.

Wouldn't mind either or both being replaced, as long as we didn't end up with a new comedy double-act.

Tenay occasionally sounds irritated by Taz and frustrated by his performance. I`m not sure if they have the greatest chemistry together as commentators. Josh Matthews is a former WWE interviewer/commentator. I liked him, so would be happy to see him at TNA.

As for this new Indian wrestler, I`ve watched a little bit of him on Ring Ka King over youtube today and he seems to have potential, though far from the finished article yet. The crowd certainly loved him, which is a good sign - if he gets a reaction from the fans then he could open doors for TNA in India. Not sure how American audiences will react to him. But if TNA can book him well and don`t drop the ball with him then I can see him being an upper mid-carder within 6-8 months. TNA seem to be making an investment with him so I would imagine they have plans to put him in some prominent storylines.

However, TNA`s booking being what it is, I really hope they don`t push him at the expense of other upper mid-carders who need to be building momentum of their own i.e. Gunner, EC3 and Storm. MVP is a tricky one, he was brought into the company I`m sure with some major plans but his injury really threw a spanner in the works. I`d hate to see MVP become a Jericho type guy who is used for his name value just to put people over. But I can see a MVP feud being a good way for Mahabali to establish himself. Anderson might be another good feud to build him up as TNA don`t seem to have any plans to push Anderson at the moment. There`s always Robbie E, but that feud would have less meaning as Robbie isn`t taken too seriously.

I think thats what worries me most (well, maybe the only thing) about TNA's expansion plans.

They can't use all the talent they have at the moment, so any new signings can expect a lengthy "incubation" period, unless they're pushed at the expense of some of the current regulars.

I think thats why so many shows are lacking in atmosphere - because only the main eventers tend to have any kind of storyline / decently-developed feud going on. For everyone else, its either the sketchiest of plots, a mandatory defence or contender's match, or an "on-the-spot" booking by the GM.

Basically, they only shine the spotlight on a few people at a time, leaving most of their pool of talent in the background for long stretches.

I think Dixie summed it up when she said that if they stay at 2 hours worth of TV a week, they will shrivel up on the vine and die (I think that was the quote anyway).

The problem they have is that they don't have enough time to push the talent they have (which is really great talent).

Ironically, WWE have way too much TV time they don't know how to fill properly.

For once, I agree with Dixie - TNA either needs a second hour show or go to 3 hours. I would prefer a second show where they can focus on other lower card feuds.

I think they can do it. In fact, I dont think it would be hard for them at all. It would benefit them to have an extra show so they can tell their stories properly, rather than feuds going in and out of focus because they want to keep people relevant but at the same time sandwich feuds in on and off. Things like Knockouts matches sometimes are on one week then not the next as they try to fit a midcard feud in the same slot. If they have the time then they can showcase both each week.

They would have to make sure they don't fall into the trap of making it so obvious which are lesser feuds and wrestlers by only ever using them on show two.

I think TNA need to get the 2 hour formula right before expanding.

Yeah, why not cut down on the roster, saving them money and improving the product creatively.

Rumours going around that Tna have secured a new network already and will announce it in the next few days.

http://www.tnasylum.com/2014/09/dixie-carter-addresses-talent-potential.html?m=1

I believe WGN America were the rumored TV partner Adam.

Samo wrote:I think TNA need to get the 2 hour formula right before expanding.

Hard to say that when no company is getting it right any more. Might work better if they have less panic to flood everything in two hours

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:
Hard to say that when no company is getting it right any more. Might work better if they have less panic to flood everything in two hours

NXT are only on an hour a week and deliver a more compelling and entertaining product than both WWE and TNA.

I think if NXT had to appeal to more it would not come across as well as it does. There's a lot of guff on it as well, but the short scale and lesser expectations mean the big matches and good bits are so magnetised that you forget the rest

Why can`t TNA just convert Xplosion into a second show that builds off of Impact! and continues storylines, predominantly the mid-carders who don`t get as much screen time as the upper-mid to main eventers on Impact? Surely any station that signs TNA will be getting all of their shows not just impact? You could have Impact on a wednesday or thursday evening and have xplosion on a friday or a saturday?

Or alternatively, have Xplosion be an X-Division only show. All X-Division title matches could be contested on Xplosion exclusively! The champ could still appear on Impact to compete in non-title matches or storylines, but all the X-Division matches would have their own show on Xplosion! It would free up time on Impact and enhance the X-Division.

Sonjay Dutt?

talkingpoint wrote:Why can`t TNA just convert Xplosion into a second show that builds off of Impact! and continues storylines, predominantly the mid-carders who don`t get as much screen time as the upper-mid to main eventers on Impact? Surely any station that signs TNA will be getting all of their shows not just impact? You could have Impact on a wednesday or thursday evening and have xplosion on a friday or a saturday?

Or alternatively, have Xplosion be an X-Division only show. All X-Division title matches could be contested on Xplosion exclusively! The champ could still appear on Impact to compete in non-title matches or storylines, but all the X-Division matches would have their own show on Xplosion! It would free up time on Impact and enhance the X-Division.

Great ideas.

Its pretty obvious that TNA have more talent than they currently have air-time for and they seem happy enough doing taped shows that might not be aired for weeks. A mid-week TV slot would give them the opportunity to showcase their mid-card wrestlers and give them the chance to be built up and pushed for a place in a main event.

Might even help attract new fans who aren't particularly interested in the likes of Roode, Gunner, EC3 etc.

The thing with Tenay is that he's not a lead announcer, he was the colour comm in WCW and i don't think he has the skill set to call the match (especially with someone like Taz next to him).

I tend to agree.

He is very bland in my opinion and Taz doesn't bounce off him very well.

I think that both would do better with a new cocommentator but only Taz would do better with Josh.

I quite like Tom Phillips and Renee Young on Superstars.

The sooner WWE get rid of Lawler the better. And this might seem controversial, but I honestly think they should start calling the match and stop arguing between themselves.