High Road/Low Road 11.16.07: The Mystery Partner

The Results for Kevin Nash Returning To The Ring:

High Road: 27%
Low Road: 61%
Both Roads: 12%

E-Mails:

These are all of the e-mails that we received this week. We do not respond to the actual e-mail, but the reply to your e-mail will be below.

freddy Neuwendyke Writes:

Sat: I will admit that it is suspicious that Kevin Nash gets injured when he is about to lose, I still think he is not faking it.

Uncle Trunx: I thought TNA might’ve learned from the Chris Sabin incident, but it seems not. The comparison with the waning days of WCW seems to be becoming more and more apt; I hope it changes before TNA go the same way.

Bill Bumgarner Writes:

Sat: My apologies to Bill (hopefully that is the right name) because his email went into the spam folder and I usually just hit delete because there is never a real message in there. I noticed that the message was in there because the subject line did say High Road Low Road.. I did create a filter that will move the messages that contain the word road in the subject into the inbox, so that should help. So, if you could resend your email that would be greatly appreciated. Sorry, about deleting your message.

Uncle Trunx: Poor ol’ Bill. Don’t take it personally!

The Genesis Mystery Partner

Before Genesis

High Road:
The problem with Genesis is that the Main Event is not going to sell the Pay Per View. So, TNA needs to give the fans an incentive to order the pay per view and the introduction of the mystery partner is the best way to do that.

Low Road:
The question that has to be asked is this:
“If the main event will not sell the PPV, why is it the main event?”
Surely the incentive to buy the PPV should be that the matches, top to bottom but especially the main event, draw people in and make them feel this is an event they can’t miss. If the main event is not going to do so, an addition of a “mystery partner” is unlikely to push the buy rate through the roof.

High Road:
One of the things that will happen with this mystery partner is that he will be put over huge because he will debut in the main event of a pay per view. I have very rarely seen this happen and I think that it has the potential to be huge because this person will be involved with the big boys right away.

Low Road:
This may or may not be a good thing depending on who it is and what effect it has on TNA as a whole. I’ll save further comment for later…

High Road:
One of the things about this mystery partner is that there is no agreement on who the person is going to be. Just on the 411 Roundtable, we had some people thinking that it was Jeff Jarrett and some others thinking that it is Booker T. The mystery partner is a good idea because it has the fans talking about who the mystery partner is.

Low Road:
To be honest, the only question about Booker T going to TNA has been “when”. There was some discussion round the mystery partner, and who it would be, sure. However, when guys from the homegrown TNA roster are so far down the food chain it can’t possibly be any of them except the boss himself (Jarrett), it speaks ill of TNA.

After Genesis:

High Road:
Booker T was a good choice for TNA because he had been red hot in the WWE until he ran into Triple H. Now, he did not appear has the King at Genesis and I think that had to be a part of his success. However, he does have Sharmell with him, so I think that the Booker T will be a valuable piece for TNA.

Low Road:
The issue here is not Booker T coming in; that, I think, is a positive step for TNA. No, the issue is that any possible impact has been diluted through the TNA policy of signing absolutely everyone released by WWE. Had they not signed 50,000 people this year alone, the Booker T debut might have meant a lot more. As it is, I’m just thinking “oh, another former WWE guy in TNA. So what?” That, to me, is a problem.

High Road:
One of the things that could help Booker T is that he is coming in as a baby face. One of the things that I have noticed about Booker T is that he always benefits when he changes from a heel to a baby face or a baby face to a heel. With Booker T coming in as a baby face, he is sure to be ready to go.

Low Road:
Face or heel should be largely irrelevant; he’s making his debut in a new promotion, that ought to be impact enough (no pun intended.) however, as I mentioned above, any potential impact he had will be severely diluted because of the sheer amount of former WWE guys TNA are using and have used, most of them to little or no benefit.

High Road:
I believe that Booker T is definitely going to be motivated in TNA because he has a lot to prove. First, he is probably not happy with the ways things ended in the WWE. He will want to show the WWE that they made a mistake in having him buried by Triple H and this anger will help TNA.

Low Road:
Unless I’m mistaken, Booker T is winding down his career. He has said in the past that he’d look to retire at 40, and that’s now come and gone. While he may well be motivated in the short term, I have to question whether or not he’s going to be with TNA for the long haul? I may be wrong and a reduced schedule may motivate him to stick around for quite some time but there has to be a doubt over how long he’s likely to remain useful to TNA as an active wrestler.

High Road:
TNA made a good idea hire by bringing in Booker T because with the reduced schedule, Booker T will be able to stay healthy. Now, I know that I have probably said this multiple times, but with a reduced schedule, a person will be able to say healthy and recover quickly from injuries. Kurt Angle has benefited from the reduced schedule. Sure, he has gotten injured, but he has also had the time to recover from the injuries. Booker T has been having injury problems in the past few years, but a reduced schedule should help extend his wrestling career.

Low Road:
Booker T may well be a good hire in the short term, (although given that Sting, Angle and Nash haven’t translated into continued ratings, I’m not sure Booker will) however in the longer term, I think there will be trouble for TNA. Not specifically with regard to Booker T,; he’s a symptom of a deeper problem; TNA signing every former WWE guy they can and pushing them ahead of the homegrown talent. How long will people like Lethal, Roode and even Joe stay around when at any time their spot could be taken when WWE release some wrestlers?

Booker T is a quality wrestler, that’s not in doubt. However, it was no surprise at all that TNA signed him or that he was the mystery partner, and that is troubling for TNA.

Are you taking the High Road or the Low Road?