TNA Bound For Glory PPV - 20th October 2013 (San Diego)

[Guest Ciaran The King]

They need to downscale absolutely and go with a more affordable product, there is no doubt that the acquisition of talent like Hogan (father & daughter), Bischoff, Sting, the Bellafore guys and a few others drained the funds and TV time

[Omega 354]

Well, there's an argument that some outlay is worthwhile. I don't think having Hogan on the show in some capacity is totally worthless but it should always have been a manageable amount compared to the total saturation they went with. Sting to some extent as well since he did actually work the ring side of things wasn't a total loss. The guys I'm thinking of are the Mr Anderson's or Matt Hardy's who probably came in on massive salaries and do junk for TNA.

 

Paying one of Hogan, Bischoff, Flair, Booker etc makes sense in a marquee kind of way but they relied on them being a long term investment as a full package. I'd say having Bischoff about to do some backstage stuff and be an on screen face of authority would justify his inclusion on a repackaged TNA because you get more than just the performer. Having a Hogan appear now and again is good for a pop.

 

They really though need to hire someone who can book a solid wrestling show week in and week out. Heyman is busy, Dutch is busy so really I think the person you'd say has the background and is "available" would be Cornette in my eyes plus you'd have his experience as a trainer as well to help bring on talent.

[ViciousPrism 177]

Cornette won't go back for love nor money. Not since he worked with Russo, then after he had been fired made a comment about legit wanting to kill Russo, which Terry Taylor forwarded to the TNA higher ups who sent the emails to the authorities and they considered the threat "terroristic". Not even kidding. Edited October 22, 2013 by ViciousPrism

[Guest Ciaran The King]

Did bringing in both Hogan and Bischoff raise awareness of TNA at all???

[Omega 354]

I believe that Hogan did spike ratings on his debut as you'd expect but obviously they haven't kept that audience so long terms it's a failure. Look, wrestling fans did a bit of nostalgia, it's why we all discuss meaningless HoF nominations every year. Having a legitimate megastar of wrestling past on the show is a coup but only if you use the heat that person generates correctly.

 

It's not the call itself that' the problem itls how long you allow that call to go bad without doing something about it. It's not Hogan at fault, he's paid, he turns up, does the best job he can, makes the decisions he thinks is best when he's asked to make them. Whether his ego does blind him to the fact he can;t simply turn up and draw for any promotion is debatable but really it's for the actual management to manage that situation correctly and they didn't.

[Guest Ciaran The King]

It was Hogan overkill to begin with and that's what I think ruined it, he should have been used sparingly to enhance feuds and talent. I think TNA made massive mistakes in bringing in Foley and Flair as well. TNA should have allowed to grown organically not rushed

[ViciousPrism 177]

I believe that Hogan did spike ratings on his debut as you'd expect but obviously they haven't kept that audience so long terms it's a failure. Look, wrestling fans did a bit of nostalgia, it's why we all discuss meaningless HoF nominations every year. Having a legitimate megastar of wrestling past on the show is a coup but only if you use the heat that person generates correctly.

 

It's not the call itself that' the problem itls how long you allow that call to go bad without doing something about it. It's not Hogan at fault, he's paid, he turns up, does the best job he can, makes the decisions he thinks is best when he's asked to make them. Whether his ego does blind him to the fact he can;t simply turn up and draw for any promotion is debatable but really it's for the actual management to manage that situation correctly and they didn't.

 

It didn't really spike ratings, simply because of the fact that at the time it was going head to head with Raw (in a dumb as a box of hammers Monday Night... uhmm.... Blip in the armor? Not even.) plus WWE that night had Bret and Shawn having an "awkward off".

[Omega 354]

It didn't really spike ratings, simply because of the fact that at the time it was going head to head with Raw (in a dumb as a box of hammers Monday Night... uhmm.... Blip in the armor? Not even.) plus WWE that night had Bret and Shawn having an "awkward off".

 

Hogan's debut is still their best ever rating I believe so I'm not sure that's strictly true, plus they didn't go head to head permanently on Hogan's debut, it was a t least a few weeks later when they got absolutely creamed by comparison. I know they'd floated in the lower 1.2-1.3 type region most of that time. Last thursday's Impact did 1.08 by comparison.

 

So my overall point was that it was probably worth getting Hogan in but he needed to be managed better to get the best use out of him.

[Guest Ciaran The King]

Hogan's debut was a good show for TNA but I think the writing was on the wall already, many were annoyed at the Hogan Bischoff alliance and signing

[GENE 86]

TNA had there best shows when D'amore had the book along with Tenay and Borash which was back in 2005/2006 if I'm not mistaking? Why not give those guys a chance again? At least Borash and D'amore are youngish with fresh ideas compared to Russo,Bischoff and Pritchard who are well past there sell by date. TNA was also at its best when it had an x-division full of young guys who were going out there having great matches and trying to make a name for themselves, they also had a good tag team division full of proper tag teams why not go back to that? Instead of trying to copy the WWE, it would be a start at least?

[Dead Crow 370]

GDPR Edited November 16, 2018 by DraVen

[ViciousPrism 177]

TNA had there best shows when D'amore had the book along with Tenay and Borash which was back in 2005/2006 if I'm not mistaking? Why not give those guys a chance again? At least Borash and D'amore are youngish with fresh ideas compared to Russo,Bischoff and Pritchard who are well past there sell by date. TNA was also at its best when it had an x-division full of young guys who were going out there having great matches and trying to make a name for themselves, they also had a good tag team division full of proper tag teams why not go back to that? Instead of trying to copy the WWE, it would be a start at least?

 

Wait... Tenay had the book at one point? Jesus Christ...

 

Anyway, on the subject of Pritchard and Russo, it was widely reported that the feeling of most was that "Russo is a man with bad ideas, Pritchard is a man with no ideas."

[GENE 86]

I'm sure Tenay was in the booking committee back then or am I wrong? Or was that some sort of insider joke that went over my head?

[ViciousPrism 177]

Just had a look and yeah, he was. Jesus wept...

[Guest Ciaran The King]

I forgot about that

[dsrchris 190]

TNA could do a lot worse than going back to what they were doing in 2005, where they cherry picked the top Indy guys to give them some exposure, but still allowed them to work on the Indy circuit in a reduced capacity.

 

But (as has already been pointed out) NXT seems to be snapping up most of the talent pretty quickly, so if TNA wanted to get in there they'd need to make it happen now.

 

They could actually do a lot worse than bumping a few folks up from OVW too. There's a few guys down there with more than a modicum of talent, so why not give them a run out?

[Guest]

Well that would be a good idea if they could actually pay their talent. :lol

[dsrchris 190]

Well I figured since TNA can't pay them, it'd give them an opportunity to get TV exposure while still being able to do a few potentially lucrative Indy appearances.

[Guest Ciaran The King]

Money is money

[Omega 354]

not if your current level of business is community halls and occasional basket ball courts. TNA can;t afford the old big names, the were able to afford the indy talent before Panda energy showed up so they could go back there again.