The Wrestling Doctor 04.08.08: Examining TNA

Welcome to The Wrestling Doctor, a new weekly 411 feature where the troubles of professional wrestling will be thoroughly examined and then offered a practical prescription. You may not agree with the assessment, but hopefully the column will open up a new dialogue on the state the business that consumes far too much of our time.

About the Wrestling Doctor: I have been following professional wrestling since 1987, being drawn in by Wrestlemania III and remaining a fan even after watching the 1991 Great American Bash. I have committed an embarrassingly large amount of brain matter to the history of the industry, and am grateful to the folks at 411mania for giving me the opportunity to do more with that knowledge than I did with geometry.

THIS WEEK’S PATIENT: TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING
This week everybody’s favorite whipping boy, TNA, is on the table. I think that TNA has some tremendous talent and could become a legitimate rival to the WWE. The recent quality of the TNA product has provided weekly fodder for columnists, bloggers, and anonymous posters all over the net, but most critics have hung all of the company’s problems around the neck of Vince Russo. I am not going to defend Russo’s ideas, booking decisions, or mere presence anywhere near a wrestling ring – no matter how many sides – but there are other factors to consider when searching for the source of TNA’s anemia. TNA’s booking must change, but there are other issues that need to be addressed if the company is going to threaten the dominance of the WWE. I want to examine three of those problems this week.

PROBLEM DIAGNOSIS #1: THE IMPACT ANNOUNCE TEAM
Announcers are the most underappreciated and overlooked aspect of wrestling, both from the perspective of the fans and the companies. A great announcer helps the wrestlers in the ring craft a story throughout a match, thus creating a more exciting and enjoyable product. Solid announcers provide back story to an angle, no matter how weak. They help suspend disbelief by emphasizing psychology and strategy. They also quickly explain away in-ring errors. In other words, great announcers enhance an in-ring performance. Jim Ross is the best announcer of all time because he excels in all of these areas. A JR-called match is already ahead because simply because he is in the booth.

Conversely, a bad announcer can strip away even the thickest veneer of excitement. A weak announcer only calls what is in front of him on the monitor or the run sheet. He describes major moves and then glosses over the rest of the match in order to push the next pay-per-view or following week’s program. Sound familiar?

There really is no diplomatic way to state how Mike Tenay and Don West degrade the TNA product with every word. Neither man’s commentary polishes up the in-ring product. All either does is describe what the viewer just witnessed in a frenzied and overly-dramatic manner, even for wrestling. Their formulaic, poorly-scripted style weakens even a Kurt Angle-Samoa Joe match.

Tenay has disappointed in his role as lead announcer. He did a respectable job of adding to the WCW cruiserweight division back in the prime of Nitro. He should be credited with introducing many proper names for maneuvers into the wrestling lexicon – for example, all huracanranas were “Frankensteiners” before 1996. What is disappointing about Tenay is that he has moved away from his strengths – his encyclopedic knowledge of wrestling and breadth of experience – and turned himself into a third-rate imitation of a bootleg Michael Cole. Tenay is a great third play-by-play man, but the last six years of work behind the lead TNA mic have shown that he is not lead announcer material.

West’s obnoxious, over the top style may have worked on the Shop At Home Network in the 1990s, but drawing ratings in the televised retail market does not necessarily translate into a successful career in professional wrestling. Putting West in the booth is a move characteristic of Jim Herd, not a company serious about leaving its mark. West lacks legitimacy with the wrestling audience – most color commentators in all sports are former participants whose experience provides a unique perspective on the events being described. West brings nothing of the kind to the announce table. If a wrestler walks up the ramp, West simply screeches that he is walking up the ramp. If a wrestler falls off a ladder, West yells that he has done so.

West’s only strength is hard selling a pay-per-view, but that only works on the half hour PPV pre-show. West’s overbearing style is irritating, and annoyed viewers will not watch for long. Commentary has not been this one-dimensional since David Crockett or as irritating to listen to since Mark Madden. Keep West in the merchandising department, where is real talents lie, and find someone else to enlighten the viewer on in-ring action.

THE PRESCRIPTION:
Replacing the Tenay – West coupling is not a difficult problem for TNA solve. They already have potential in-house candidates and the payroll to bring in several more.

Candidates for lead announcer:

Scott Hudson is the logical choice. He already has a relationship with TNA; he knows the executives, the wrestlers, and the product. He acquitted himself well in front of the weak Global Wrestling Federation, and he was superb as the lead announcer in July 1999 on Nitro when Tony Schiavone had surgery. Hudson helped to elevate the sagging WCW at the time, even making another worn out Hulk Hogan return seem interesting. Then Schiavone returned, and all of the color bled out of the show once more. Hudson was strong as Schiavone’s second in the dying days of WCW, but the chaotic backstage environment of the time never gave him the opportunity to show what he can do. It is in TNA’s best interest to give Hudson that chance.

Jeremy Borash is not the best choice, but he is already familiar to the audience and he certainly knows TNA. He needs to do a lot of work, but he is trainable, and losing the ridiculous persona of backstage patsy to Kurt Angle will only help him and TNA. But he’ll have to drop the 11th grade hipster look first.

Tony Schiavone – okay, I can’t believe that I am suggesting that Schiavone return to the booth, either, but consider this suggestion the equivalent of organ removal. Radical, but sometimes necessary for survival.

Joey Styles would be the ultimate prescription for TNA’s commentary woes. Styles is the best lead announcer in wrestling today, and he could be ripe for TNA’s picking due to his lowly status on the WWE food chain. Styles brings a wealth of technical knowledge to the booth as well as the ability to enhance and improve upon what is going on in the ring. He would add credibility and personality to the Impact broadcast, and he can create an atmosphere that draws in a new audience. His gig calling the lackluster WWECW may eventually burn him out, despite its obvious financial rewards. I hoped that Styles may jump ship last year when it was rumored that Sci-Fi would cancel ECW. A major factor that may keep Styles on McMahon’s payroll for a long time is that WWE owns the ECW video library. Styles probably wishes to stay on as a curator to his masterwork. He is not probable, but he is the dream choice for TNA. Jarrett and company should spare no expense in trying to bring Styles over.

Practical Prescription: Scott Hudson
Dream Prescription: Joey Styles

Candidates for color commentator:

Jim Cornette is hilarious, and he proves it each week in spite of the restrictions of his current role. He was great on the programs of Jim Crockett Promotions, WCW, and Raw as both a color man and an analyst. He has been on the creative and administrative end of several companies, so he knows what a successful wrestling product looks like and how it is achieved. He is being wasted in his ridiculous and predictable “Voice of TNA Management” role. Cornette is the closest thing the industry has to an official historian; he is one of TNA’s best resources, but he is not being used as such. Both TNA overall and Impact as a show would be better off with Cornette behind a monitor instead of playing foil to Matt Morgan and Kurt Angle.

Kevin Nash is more clever and smarter than most people in the business. He is a political player and can be self-serving, but he has solid mic skills and could be great in the booth with very little effort. He has been on the creative end of a company, and he has the ability to help expand storylines. Putting Nash on commentary would have the added benefit of keeping him from lumbering into the ring, which at this point can only be a plus.

Bill DeMott (Hugh Morrus) has a good deal of experience announcing on Velocity and Deep South Wrestling. He understands the business and how angles are constructed, so he could help develop storylines from the former wrestler’s perspective. He has expressed interest in returning to the booth. DeMott has the added benefit of bringing his vast experience training young talent to TNA. The big spot addicts that are most TNA wrestlers could use a little of DeMott’s old school style.

Lisa Moretti (Ivory) was respectable hosting the WWE recap show Experience, particularly when you consider that she was paired with Todd Grisham. TNA has turned its Knockouts division into a major draw, and it could break ground again by putting a woman in the booth.

“Sweet” Stan Lane did well with his brief commentary run with the WWE, and also in Ted DiBiase’s short-lived WXO. His DJ experience is another plus. He has been out of major wrestling for a while, so TNA could probably get him on a bargain.

Practical and Dream Prescription: Jim Cornette

Another idea that I will propose would be to use a rotating cast of color commentators in addition to a full time lead announcer and a permanent color man. TNA could use a team of third commentators to create more of an identity for each of their divisions: Nash for the heavyweights, Moretti for the Knockouts, Lane for the tag teams, and (turnabout alert) Tenay for the X-Division. Remember, he excelled in a similar role in WCW.

PROBLEM DIAGNOSIS #2: THE SIX SIDED RING
The six-sided is a unique trademark for TNA, but just because something is unique does not mean that is useful or valuable. The six-sided ring does not improve the wrestling occurring inside of it. It confuses a lot of casual fans and – like it or not, smart marks – they are the backbone of any successful entertainment enterprise. The ring also lends itself to a more spot-heavy style, which has eroded the effectiveness of all big spots. TNA needs to pull back on the big bumps and save them for moments that really matter.

TNA purports itself to be a true wrestling alternative to the WWE’s brand of sports entertainment. The six-sided ring is one of the few major differences distinguishing the two companies at present, and that is a major weakness for TNA. Gimmicks are not going to help TNA draw in the WWE audience that is tired of predictable Raws and stale Smackdowns. TNA needs to focus on a straight-forward wrestling – like they did with the highly successful Global Impact special – and the best way to produce such a show is to use a straight-forward ring.

THE PRESCRIPTION:
Lose the six-sided ring and replace its 20′ x 20′ square cousin. Drop some gimmick match weight. Focus on wrestling.

PROBLEM DIAGNOSIS #3: THE IMPACT ZONE
The Impact Zone is a sterile Disney-MGM sound stage, with a design only slightly above the one used by WCW for its painfully beige World Wide Wrestling shows from 1993 to 2000. Any company that wants to believably offer itself as a tougher version of professional wrestling cannot be associated with Disney.

Another weakness of the Impact Zone is that it does not allow TNA to evaluate its program in front of different audiences. Loyalty is great, but the recurring fans of the Impact Zone may be doing the company they love a great disservice. They are very passionate, but almost overly so. The Impact Zone crowd are not as discerning as the ECW faithful. Occasionally a “Fire Russo” chant breaks out, but usually Zone will pop for all matter of booking, and certainly out of respect to veterans, regardless of whether or not they can still perform. As a result, wrestlers who are over in Orlando may not be over with television viewers or live audiences elsewhere, and TNA bookers have no accurate measure to rely upon. TNA’s paltry attendance at recent pay-per-views on the road are a symptom of this problem. Twelve-hundred fans in the wrestling-rich Norfolk Scope should be a wake-up call that what works in Orlando may not sell tickets in other parts of the country.

A great example of Impact Zone misperception is Jeff Jarrett. Despite what he believes about himself, Jarrett has never been over as a legitimate main-eventer. He does not have the persona or the ring ability to carry a company. He did not main event in the WWF because of his failings, not because of backstage politics. When he was given the ball in WCW, he failed miserably as World Champion. TNA fans in the Asylum in Nashville and the Impact Zone respect Jarrett for his efforts in building up TNA. He deserves all of those accolades. However, TNA spent years confusing the respect fans have for Jarrett’s dedication in starting and maintaining a new promotion with legitimate heat for his on-air character. The TNA audience was tired of Jarrett long before the Impact Zone faithful pelted the ring with garbage at Slammiversary 2006. Television ratings have grown since Jarrett stepped behind the camera. Double-J is better suited to an administrative role instead of a spot as a top-tier talent. It took TNA too long to recognize this reality. Remember that the Impact Zone audience recently popped huge for Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Rikishi, and Test. Nash and TNA have made the most of his limited situation, but the brief tenures of the other three were disasters – and one out of four is never an acceptable figure. TNA needs to diversify its live Impact audience before it makes more such mistakes.

It is also important to not look at wrestling from within the vacuum of the IWC. Advertisers and sponsors grow and sustain companies. Advertisers and sponsors are interested in drawing power. The Impact Zone makes TNA look like a regional promotion with a national cable deal, much like the original ECW. One area where Eric Bischoff excelled as President of WCW was to gain mainstream sponsorship. He did so by pulling WCW television away from dilapidated halls like the Cobb County Civic Center while at the same time advertising his product in national publications like USA Today. TNA needs to reach a similar level in order to survive long-term. The first step in this process is to reshape the company’s image so that advertisers believe that their efforts will reach a wide-scale audience.

Of course, there is also the issue of no gate from Impact Zone shows. The IWC burned Bischoff for four years of a gateless Road Wild PPV, yet no one seems to care about TNA collecting nothing for a seat at its television tapings. We should care about such things, however, as TNA’s only chance of becoming a serious competitor to the WWE is long-term profitability and solvency.

THE PRESCRIPTION:
Take Impact on the road. Start slowly – maybe tape one show a month outside of Orlando – and grow the product from there. Use arenas in areas that are already friendly to TNA, such as the Northeast, St. Louis, and Nashville. Try traditionally wrestling-friendly markets within Florida, like Jacksonville and Pensacola, as a way of keeping road costs low. Changing the presentation of the product is an important first step in moving TNA onto the national stage.

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