TNA Moving To Monday Nights?! That's What Kevin Nash Says!

Kevin Nash posted something pretty interesting on his Twitter account today....

I think going head 2 head every monday is in the works.Spike was happy with the ratings.special 4 me to be back with the band,great night!!!

Very interesting indeed. I think the only way TNA can keep up the momentum they have from this past Mondays show is to move it to Mondays as soon as possible, and keep it live. Tapings are horrible, most people, like me, just read the results and don't bother watching the actual show before it airs. If TNA wants to compete, they gotta go head to head, and go live. I hope this is some real news, and not some crazed ramblings.

January 4th, 2010 - What happened?

Since last night, I've read a few posts in regards to TNA vs WWE and what I expected to be, a monumental night in professional wrestling. A night that hasn't been seen in quite some time, at least since Vince McMahon bought out WCW in 2001. A lot of hype went into TNA and the TNA debut of "Hollywood" Hogan (in reality, Hulk Hogan almost signed with TNA in 2003, so it was more of a return, but thats off the subject.)

Now, please note, this is what I thought of TNA's 3 hour extravaganza and WWE's Monday night Raw with the return of the "Hit Man" Bret Hart, so, do not hold it against me as we all have our opinions on the subject. Sidebar, I read some comments on other posts on this subject. Laced with bad words. True wrestling fans for you.

Now, the first thing I thought was how Vince McMahon seemed almost, calm. I use the term "calm" because non like the competition, he had nothing over the top. Maybe it was because Bret Hart was making his long awaited return to WWE since the "Montreal Screwjob" or maybe something else, but Raw was like any other Raw in recent months, which I can only sum up with Okay. On the other hand, in TNA, you had the return of Hogan. We saw a "reformation" if you will of the nWo with Scott Hall and Sean "Syxx" Waltman, and Kevin Nash meeting in the ring, along with Hogan and Bischoff. You had the Nasty Boys, and a surprise, at least in my mind, return of Jeff Hardy and "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair. It was as if TNA was pulling out all the stops on this one night. Fear of failure sure seemed as if it was on Hogans and Dixie Carters mind.

Early, I read an article which one man stated, TNA gave him a "nostalgic" feeling when he saw a lot of these men. Let me be honest here by saying, I don't watch new wrestling show for a nostalgic feeling but for knowing that the thing I love is going to continue. No offense to him as I do respect his opinion. If you're reading this, I apologize, but its true, in my eyes at least.

Back to TNA. I started feeling that maybe in the short term aspect of wrestling, bringing in all these big names of the past and present is great, but what'll happen when it runs its course? Instead of something new every week, or few weeks, they gave it all away. A spoiler for what could've been. On the contrary in McMahons Land, we had one big star that outshined the rest of Raw. The McMahon betrayal was good, let me say that. Seeing The Nasty Boys again? Not so much.

Finally, the matches on both cards. WWE had some mediocre matches. Fatal 4 way, first round of a tournament with one of the Bellas, Sheamus vs Bourne, and again, Orton vs Kingston. Matches, at least on paper, that wouldn't bring in much towards viewer. Again, almost relaxed. TNA opened with a Steel Asylum match, a knockouts title match, tag team knockouts title match, and Angle vs Styles for the title. It seemed they were pulling out all the stops. Again, short term, awesome! Long term? Not as good.

So, what is the outcome through my eyes? McMahon isn't seeing to much competition towards TNA, at least yet. If management in TNA is smart, they'll take it easy on the surprises. If they don't, they're going to bore its fans, plain and simple. WWE needs to pick it up a little bit though, as they're not out of the woods just yet. And personally, I do hope TNA delivers a better product because, as much as I love WWE, even I will say, it hasn't been putting out its best product since the TV-14 dropped to PG.

TNA is full of surprises.

TNA Impact was live on Spike TV on Monday night for a special 3 hour special.  It truly was a special evening full of many surprises including the long awaited return of the "Immortal" Hulk Hogan who was accused by the former members of New World Order of becoming corporate.  I believe that Hulk Hogan truly wants to change TNA and make it the number one wrestling promotion in the world.  No one would argue that wherever Hogan advocates, that company is supreme in this industry.  It took almost an hour for the expected Hogan to appear in the Impact Zone which made for some suspense even though I believe that the fans and especially me and my boys were begging and yelling at the television for Hogan.  On a personal note, I remember seeing Hogan live at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac Michigan at wrestle Mania 3 body slamming Andre the Giant.  On  a more positive note, it was no surprise that Eric Bishoff accompanied Hogan to the platform.  Both Bishoff and Hogan are going to bring the brains to the organization while TNA supplies the talent.  No one can argue about the talent that TNA possesses.  With the X-division, the cultural diversity, and the female wrestlers that are opposite of the WWE divas brings excitement.  Overall, I think Impact set out to accomplish its goals. The main event between Kurt Angle and AJ Styles was probably the best match that  I have seen on television in quite a while. That match is what us fans want to watch and witness each and every week.  Hogan and Bishoff have their work cut out for them but one warning to both of these men.  They are going to have to be careful of not repeating what they did in WCW destroying the company with pride and greed.  By the looks of the show last night I do not believe that that is going to happen not with Hogan on the helm. 

Several questions to ponder is this?  How will Impact follow up with the exciting show that was presented on live TV?  Is TNA going to travel and do live shows all over the country or continue to stay in Orlando?  Finally, With all of the new talent that showed up on Impact last night where and how are they going to utilize these assets?  

January 4th WWE Raw VS TNA Impact Thoughts

So, tonight, I had a choice. Watch Brets return to the WWE on Raw. Or watch Hogans debut in TNA? I went with TNA, mainly to give them the ratings in hopes it would drive WWE to make a better product, because for the past couple years, it's pure garbage. Bret coming back wasn't THAT big of a deal mainly because, he did come back for his Hall Of Fame induction. The whole Vince being pissed that Bret didn't shake his hand crap is stupid because when Bret was put in the Hall Of Fame, WWE has a giant image of Bret and Vince shaking hands on WWE.COM when it was announced he was being inducted, so whatever. Also Bret had already stated in an interview just last year that after all these years there is no use being pissed and upset about things anymore and he has put it all in the past. So again, whatever.

After watching both shows, it goes like this. WWE Raw was boring except for maybe 2 minutes. TNA Impact on the other had, did what it calls itself. IMPACT. From the first match to that epic AJ vs Kurt match, TNA kicked major ass tonight. Sure it probably won't be huge in the ratings, but if TNA keeps going at this pace, WWE could be in some trouble. But I think the only way TNA could keep getting bigger from here and rise more and more to the top is to go live. No more tapings. No more spoilers leaking out. Go live, go head to head with Raw. Give the fans every week what we got tonight, which was a choice. During TNA, I heard "WHO NEEDS BRET" chants, during Raw, during the Vince and Bret segment, I heard "WE WANT HOGAN" chants. TNA had some great matches, some good surprises, and a feel of the old school. WWE Raw had, the same crap, horrible matches, and Bret Hart to hug HBK and get kicked by Vince. Cause no one saw that coming.

To put an end on this historic night, it might not show it in the ratings, but tonight, to me, TNA won 1-4-10.

TNA vs WWE - How they could win, and how we could win!

Yes, I am aware that all of you that read this, or skim past it, know that Hulk Hogan has signed with TNA. I'm sure you are also aware that Bret Hart has signed a short term deal with WWE. I'm not here to break any rumors because, obviously, its out in the open. What I'm here to do is give you all my thoughts on how each company can easily take over the other. But please note, this is my opinion which means nothing in the wrestling world, but an overview as I stated, on how each company can take the other one out, or be taken seriously as a contender, and alternative wrestling product.

TNA has been going strong for close to eight years, coming into the wrestling world from the minds of Jeff Jarrett, and his father Jerry Jarrett. What TNA is is the alternative wrestling product to, what many would call, stale competition in WWE. With the company just signing Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, that have an edge within the creative team because you have two men that were in the forefront of the "Monday Night Wars" which ran through most of the 90's, and led a company that almost put WWE out of business, and carried quite an impressive streak within the ratings, toppling WWE at 84 weeks.

So how can TNA do what WCW tried to do? Be the total opposite of WWE. TNA has to be real and edgy, as opposed to WWE, which has taken the road of a more comedic, childish sense, even dropping the TV-14 rating and going more family friendly in the TV-PG department. TNA has to cater to the adult male demographic. They have to hit all groups or people who watch there show, and with Bischoff having a past in marketing, he'll know what to do and how to do it. And considering this is his second run at a company not under Vince McMahon, he'll know what his mistakes were and avoid them at all costs. Not to mention, they have an icon in Hulk Hogan, who, along with Vince McMahon, turned WWE, and pro wrestling as a whole, into a global phenomenon.

Now, for WWE. What WWE needs to do if they want to stay afloat in the long run is, first off, get rid of the guest hosts. While it was something revolutionary, it has slowly lost steam, which in turn, has effected the ratings. Personally, I think it would've been something new and exciting if WWE got hosts that actually knew about wrestling. When Ted DiBiase, Batista, and Dusty Rhodes hosted, I loved it because they knew what was going on. They knew how to sell the storylines and the wrestlers. When you have somebody like Ozzy Osbourne, Bob Barker, and Jeremy Piven who know nothing about it, even pronouncing names wrong, well, might as well bring Mike Adamle back. I think it would be great to just have one General Manager, and with Bret Hart back, I think he'd fit in perfectly.

Another thing they, being WWE, needs to do and make the product just a tad more for adults. Now I'm not saying bring back the Attitude era, but I'm saying, lessen Hornswoggle, lessen Santino Marella, and lessen Chris Masters and his dancing pecs. Also, Show more exciting matches. I'm sick of watching Chavo and Jillian lose every week. Shake things up a little, even towards matches. Expand storylines so they don't end after a month and a half, and please, lessen Hornswoggles time in front of the camera!

With TNA going head to head with WWE in January 4th, this could make for exciting wresting programming again, only if TNA doesn't mess it up first and ego's don't get in the way. If they do, WWE and its "Stale" product are just going to get more stale.