Lance Storm: TNA is "unwatchable"

[Illuminattile]

February 2, 2007

RUSSODIMY

I know I do this a lot but I am about to go on another TNA rant. I didn’t want to but I got so worked up and angry after watching this week’s show I had to get this off my chest. I can however promise that this will be my last TNA rant for a while because I am now officially boycotting TNA until Vince Russo is removed from the creative process. How a company with such an amazingly talented locker room can produce such an unwatchable show is beyond me. Actually it isn’t beyond me I watched Vince Russo do it in WCW. There is an old expression: “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Someone needs to explain the history of WCW to Dixie Carter.

I have come to the conclusion that TNA is to Wrestling, what Scary Movie is to Horror Films. It has become a comedic spoof of a wrestling show. No sane rational person would act the way people do in TNA. Chris Sabin in an effort to make fun of Jerry Lynn’s age shows up in a bathrobe, using a walker, and wearing depends. Is he six? Who would do this? It felt like a bugs bunny cartoon. Why would Jerry be mad that Sabin is making himself look like an idiot?

Ron Killings stuff looked like a bad SNL skit. He said he was going Hollywood and going to be a big star so we now get to see him doing bad movie trailer spoofs. What is meant to be accomplished by this?

Counting Cornette and valets there were 39 people on this Freakin show. How are we supposed to remember any of it? What purpose did Bob Backlund serve? Why is Sonjay Dutt now posing? Has Big Kev convinced him that he is on the gas?

The LAX thing was beyond unbelievable.
Mike Tenay is handed video footage of a horrific violent crime against innocent people he decides to:
A: Report said violent crime to police and hand over the video evidence.
B: Air the footage and act disgusted and mad.

After having close family members viscously attacked and assaulted, Team 3D:
A: Reports said violent crime to police sending the people who assaulted their family to prison.
B: Become so enraged that they track LAX down immediately seeking revenge.
C: Sends D-von to the weekly TV show to vow revenge next week.

Are we to believe that Sting now has magical powers, since he disappeared out of the back of the ambulance leaving only his “trade marked” baseball bat behind? That tiny cage behind James Mitchell during his promo, does the prison yard match take place inside that tiny thing? What was the point, was that incase we didn’t understand the concept of jail?

There were three matches on the show. All of them had outside interference and brawling after the match. We got a total of maybe 10 minutes of match time on the entire show, and they didn’t even bother to announce the result of the main event. Do finishes not matter? Doesn’t anyone care who won? I used to. To plug a PPV caliber main event then deliver a 3 minutes match with no finish is asinine. If that is a PPV caliber match I will never order a PPV. It is also insane considering the PPV caliber Main Event match that Edge and HBK delivered on RAW just over a week ago.

The show is called Total Non-Stop Action yet we get almost no action and when we do get some it is over shadowed by endless run ins, outside interference, and non-finishes. I am officially at wits end and will not watch another TNA show until they replace Vince Russo. Hopefully this will happen before TNA goes out of business, because if they do Vince McMahon will just end up with another video library and we will have to see all this nonsense again on 24/7.

Lance Storm

Storm is, as usual, spot on.

 

[Snowman]

yeah i'll give it to Storm this time. Russo does need to go.

one thing i have been noticing is that there making Abyss out to look like Kane. Abyss was the monster, then right around the time Russo came in again TNA decides to make Abyss look weak.

as in the WWE Kane was a Monster then they went through that im a softie stage. which lead to Kane losing the mask, and Kane losing in PPV matches to Shane Mcmahon?? where he was suppose to be the dominate one. Russo "whatever the WWE is doing we gotta stay within step to them".


According to Kurt Angle. TNA is having higher ratings than Smackdown. and their last 2 PPVs have been TNA's highest since the show started.

 

[tHuG $TyLe]

Yeah the ratings Kurt Angle speaks about don't exist lol. TNA is stuck on 1.1 while SD is aroun 2.7 - 3.0.

Anyway TNA is as bad as RAW.

 

[WayCide-Ridah]

i gave up on wrestling...i used to be a faithful watcher till about 2002 or so...now i switch pass it whenever i see it on, i juz watched wrestling society X on MTV, that shit was like how ECW used to be...even seen some wrestlers on there i hadn't seen in years

i sticc to the real stuff now, like PRIDE, Boxing, N' UFC

 

[hizzle?]

is wrestling society X any good?

 

[Snowman]

is wrestling society X any good?

i was watching a few minutes of the debut. it seemed alright. it does reimnd you of the old ECW. from what i understand WSX recieved a decent rating for a debut show.

X-Pac, Justin Credible, and New Jack were the only faces i knew. a lot of unknown names of course.

in the long run i think MTV will probably pull the plug on this. They should keep it, if they can keep the crappy Real World . they should allow the WSX on the network.

 

[CoolWaterz]

i kinda enjoyed wrestling society x...a lot of high flyers in there which was something i always used to like about wrestling...the wwe wrestlers dont perform like that anymore, their all too big, too slow, and too boring to pull out flips and shit like rey misterio or the blue blazer

 

[Bombsquad]

What are you guys talking about? TNA is 45 minutes long. The show went from 2hrs on Wednesday night PPV's to 45 minutes. Of course the product will show digression because they took a step backwards.

Storm is an idiot. The guy is talking as if wrestling is real and naming real life scenarios. So far wrestling is entertaining and the show he was bitching about was entertaining. He's just bitter that Russo has a job and he doesn't.

Also have some of you forgotten that Vince Russo was the man who helped build early TNA back in 02. If not for him, TNA wouldn't have been what it was in 02 and you all need to realize that. You can't have a quality matches and quality feuds and quality storylines with only 45 minutes. Let TNA have 2hrs and you'll see a big difference.

 

[Illuminattile]

Storm is an idiot. The guy is talking as if wrestling is real and naming real life scenarios.

Obviously wrestling isn't real, but there's only so far you can go before it becomes hard to suspend your disbelief.

He's just bitter that Russo has a job and he doesn't.

He retired from wrestling and was given a job backstage at the WWE. He then resigned from that job. He was offered a job on the ECW roster, but he turned it down. If he wanted a job, he could very easily get one.

Also have some of you forgotten that Vince Russo was the man who helped build early TNA back in 02. If not for him, TNA wouldn't have been what it was in 02 and you all need to realize that. You can't have a quality matches and quality feuds and quality storylines with only 45 minutes. Let TNA have 2hrs and you'll see a big difference.

Have you forgotten that Russo was the man who helped run WCW into the ground?

The stuff that happened during Russo's tenure as booker/writer of TNA was hardly stellar. Have you forgotten about The Johnsons gimmick? I don't blame you if you have. Have you forgotten that he, yet again, booked himself as a prominent on-screen character? Have you forgotten (or did you know) that he tried to bring in The Ultimate Warrior. Thankfully he failed. The only positive thing I remember him doing was putting the belt on Styles, and even then it was thanks to Russo which made him the centrepiece of the storyline. He essentially rehashed a bunch of WCW angles that didn't work the first time around. He wasn't as inept as he was in WCW, but he certainly didn't "make" TNA as you seem to think.

Besides, even if Russo was responsible for "building TNA", that doesn't excuse his booking now.

 

[Bombsquad]

Obviously wrestling isn't real, but there's only so far you can go before it becomes hard to suspend your disbelief.

Suspend what disbelif? Wrestling is openly fake to the general public. The job of wrestling isn't to make it look real but it's to entertain. TNA has made it clear that all they want to do is bring in excitement back to wrestling storylines. Not to make it as real as possible.

He retired from wrestling and was given a job backstage at the WWE. He then resigned from that job. He was offered a job on the ECW roster, but he turned it down. If he wanted a job, he could very easily get one.

If he's criticizing TNA so much, imagine his gripe he has with the WWE product. Storm doesn't even talk about how stupid the WWE product is, so why the hell would he take a job with them. I'm sure if TNA was to offer him any time of position in the company though, he jump on it.

Have you forgotten that Russo was the man who helped run WCW into the ground?

Russo helped run WCW into the ground and that's well documented. But don't forget that when he arrived to WCW, he had already arrived on a shrinking ship.

The stuff that happened during Russo's tenure as booker/writer of TNA was hardly stellar. Have you forgotten about The Johnsons gimmick? I don't blame you if you have. Have you forgotten that he, yet again, booked himself as a prominent on-screen character? Have you forgotten (or did you know) that he tried to bring in The Ultimate Warrior. Thankfully he failed. The only positive thing I remember him doing was putting the belt on Styles, and even then it was thanks to Russo which made him the centrepiece of the storyline. He essentially rehashed a bunch of WCW angles that didn't work the first time around. He wasn't as inept as he was in WCW, but he certainly didn't "make" TNA as you seem to think.

He didn't make TNA but my point is that he was a big help. He was basically the creative team over there. He was there for the Ultimate X matches, King Of The Mountain matches, and so many other things like that, that made them an attraction until they got their tv deal.

Besides, even if Russo was responsible for "building TNA", that doesn't excuse his booking now.

You sure are right but you need to know that Feb.1st edition of Impact was actually the best Impact in a long time. See you need to know that before Russo was rehired he wasn't watching the product, so now he's caught up. And now TNA has added men like Mike Tenay to the booking team so the show will definitely shape up. Cornette, Russo, Tenay, Jarret, they can do a good job but people aren't giving them a chance.

 

[Illuminattile]

Suspend what disbelif? Wrestling is openly fake to the general public. The job of wrestling isn't to make it look real but it's to entertain. TNA has made it clear that all they want to do is bring in excitement back to wrestling storylines. Not to make it as real as possible.

Films and TV shows are fake too, but if they're too unrealistic then they're not enjoyable. Booking should still be logical, wrestlers should act believably. If I'm watching something, whether it's The Sopranos or SmackDown!, I don't want to have to ignore obvious plot holes or continuity errors or irrational things. It ruins it. Realism is one of the basic tenets of booking. Realism is what made wrestling so popular from the mid-90s onwards.

 

[Bombsquad]

Films and TV shows are fake too, but if they're too unrealistic then they're not enjoyable. Booking should still be logical, wrestlers should act believably. If I'm watching something, whether it's The Sopranos or SmackDown!, I don't want to have to ignore obvious plot holes or continuity errors or irrational things. It ruins it. Realism is one of the basic tenets of booking. Realism is what made wrestling so popular from the mid-90s onwards.

Really??!! Is that why in 1998 or so Degeneration X was in the middle of a WWF ring mocking the Nation Of Domination with customs, voices, and a full out imitation. I'm sure that wasn't booked for realism purposes or was it? It was booked for entertainment purposes and for character development. It was skits like that, that helped get DX over in the 90s as a comedy act/entertainers/rebel group. So I don't see why Lance Storm has to pick on something as slight as Chris Sabin mocking Lynn's age when he knows well that it's part of Sabin's character buildup & can serve as entertainment in the same breathe.


In wrestling fun and entertainment comes before realism. And part of wrestling entertainment is to have characters. If everything in wrestling including every wrestling character was to behave rational or to behave like everyday human beings then wrestling probably wouldn't be as big as it is in our world today. Because if wrestling characters acted like everyday people, then it really wouldn't be an escape, which is the main reason why most of the public watches wrestling.

 

[Illuminattile]

Really??!! Is that why in 1998 or so Degeneration X was in the middle of a WWF ring mocking the Nation Of Domination with customs, voices, and a full out imitation. I'm sure that wasn't booked for realism purposes or was it? It was booked for entertainment purposes and for character development. It was skits like that, that helped get DX over in the 90s as a comedy act/entertainers/rebel group.

What's unrealistic about people making fun of other people?

So I don't see why Lance Storm has to pick on something as slight as Chris Sabin mocking Lynn's age when he knows well that it's part of Sabin's character buildup & can serve as entertainment in the same breathe.

The difference is, DX was actually quite funny.

In wrestling fun and entertainment comes before realism. And part of wrestling entertainment is to have characters. If everything in wrestling including every wrestling character was to behave rational or to behave like everyday human beings then wrestling probably wouldn't be as big as it is in our world today. Because if wrestling characters acted like everyday people, then it really wouldn't be an escape, which is the main reason why most of the public watches wrestling.

But, like I said, there are limits. You have to believe what's going on, otherwise it's not enjoyable. There is some 'give', it doesn't have to be entirely realistic, but there has to be some semblance of logic. You have to believe that Styles and Rhino hate each other, otherwise you don't care about it when they wrestle. And to make you believe, they have to do things that make sense. If you tuned into iMPACT and saw AJ Styles trying to drop an anvil on Rhino, or blow him up with dynamite, would you still be able to sit there and buy into the feud? No, you wouldn't. Just like if it happened on any other TV show.

 

[hizzle?]

^^^are you saying that the whole Undertaker personna and his fued with Kane was bullshit?

 

[Illuminattile]

The Undertaker gets a free pass, because he's a legend. Kane and 'Taker shooting lightning each other, that is bullshit.

Anyway, just read the spoilers for Against All Odds. From what I hear, it was an overbooked trainwreck. During one match the fans chanted "FUCK YOU RUSSO".

 

[Bombsquad]

What's unrealistic about people making fun of other people?

Nothing! But you should ask yourself that since you're the one who completely agreed with Storm's article, where he bashes Sabin's mockery.

The difference is, DX was actually quite funny.

Yeah if you were 5-6 yrs. old at the time.

But, like I said, there are limits. You have to believe what's going on, otherwise it's not enjoyable. There is some 'give', it doesn't have to be entirely realistic, but there has to be some semblance of logic. You have to believe that Styles and Rhino hate each other, otherwise you don't care about it when they wrestle. And to make you believe, they have to do things that make sense. If you tuned into iMPACT and saw AJ Styles trying to drop an anvil on Rhino, or blow him up with dynamite, would you still be able to sit there and buy into the feud? No, you wouldn't. Just like if it happened on any other TV show.

You just killed your whole reply right here with the one you answered about the Taker/Kane feud.


As for Storm, he's right about the current booking and the overall hiring of Russo, but him nitpicking just shows that he's bitching and maybe even bitter.

 

[Tha_Wood]

storm is boring