Tonight marks the first volley of shots in the renewed Monday Night War between WWE and TNA. Certainly the energy in the TNA locker room must be electric. I only wish the show was poised to be as big as it is touted to be.
Let's get one thing straight, and I have mentioned this before: WWE is not afraid of TNA. Just because they are competing for the same timeslot does not make TNA a force to be reckoned with. Until USA Network sees a sizeable dent in Raw's ratings, and attributes that decline to the rise of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, Vince McMahon has little incentive to change the format or presentation of his product. TNA draws 1/3 of the ratings and viewers that Raw does every week. Until there is a mass conversion of wrestling fans flocking to TNA because they are fed up with WWE, Vince McMahon's empire will remain the pinnacle of the professional wrestling world.
TNA has made the mountain twice as hard to climb by choosing to begin competing with Raw as WWE enters the home stretch for Wrestlemania XXVI. This is typically when we see the best of what WWE has to offer, and that will help audiences glued to USA Network.
Hulk Hogan made a smart statement when he stated in an interview that he wishes the best for both WWE and TNA. Obviously, Hogan would not be involved with TNA if he didn't believe he was part of a superior product, but this is the sentiment I share with him.
TNA will continue to grow, and WWE will continue to prosper. As with the Monday Night Wars of the late 90's, it is doubtful anyone will say that one product is vastly and unquestionably superior to the other. They are alternative forms of wrestling in all aspects, and that is what fans are craving. They are tired of being force-fed by WWE, and they want to see something new and exciting, and that is where TNA will succeed. Do not look for an immediate change, but wait a few months, perhaps even by the end of the year, and there may be a shift in power.
The lineup TNA has set for tonight is both brilliant and deterring. In their official show preview for March 8, 2010, TNA hypes the fact that the Monday Night Wars are being renewed. However, the only official match they announce here is the epic tag team battle between the team of TNA World Heavyweight Champion "The Phenomenal" A.J. Styles & "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair against "The Monster" Abyss & "The Immortal" Hulk Hogan. The preview also mentions the return of "The Icon" Sting.
The tag team match seems great on paper, and had this taken place in a week or two, it would be a wonderful treat for wrestling fans. Don't get me wrong, this is a Pay-Per-View quality match up that could well be the wave that rocks the WWE flagship. However, looking at it now, it seems much too gimmick-oriented, and not focused well enough on what truly matters: fresh, young talent.
Let's face it: the advertisements for this match are focused on one thing: Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair. They could care less about Styles or Abyss, who are simply put there as representatives of the TNA "Originals". The show is still too focused on the past, and not enough on the future. Yes, this match will excite older fans, but for younger fans, this match holds little interest. You have two WWE/WCW retirees facing off "one more time". Unfortunately, this has been TNA's formula for some time now.
I honestly don't mind Hulk Hogan in his position of authority, but it was my understanding (and the understanding of many TNA fans) that Hogan would not be wrestling under the TNA banner. Furthermore, Ric Flair received arguably the greatest send-off in wrestling history from WWE, and that will be ruined the moment he gets in the ring to wrestle. I love Flair as a manager. His personality really shines through. I'm not such a big fan of him molding Styles in his image, as I think it takes away from both Flair's uniqueness as an entertainer, and Styles' strength as a TNA Original.
This match will turn heads, and, hopefully for TNA, turn channels. But what long-term effect will it have? TNA has a great opportunity here to show the world what their company is really made of, and that is not just ex-WWE/WCW stars. There's so much more here that is fresh and new. They should be showcasing men like "The Pope" and women like Awesome Kong and ODB. They need to keep ex-WWE/WCW stars to a minimum because they are what fans are trying to escape from.
The return of Sting is a minor note here both in corporate minds and the minds of fans. Sting has left and come back so many times, it's a wonder he has any momentum at all because he barely spends enough time in the ring to carve a legacy for himself before disappearing again for months at a time. As far as the people in suits are concerned, Sting's return is largely and almost completely eclipsed by the Hogan/Flair rivalry. Sting is a name most young fans will not recognize unless they have been tuning in to TNA. Sting's WCW days are long behind him, and most WWE fans won't remember much about him.
It will be disappointing to see fans tuning tonight only for the Hogan and Flair match because TNA has so much more to offer. They have a great tag team division, strong characters, fast-paced wrestling, and address a more mature audience. All of these things are what make them different from WWE. Yet even with all these tools at their disposal, they fall into a formulaic and "safe" pattern much like WWE does.
The entire angle with Hogan and Abyss is preposterous. Abyss used to be a monster and this past Thursday on iMPACT, Hogan said they were going to win their match through Abyss' "kindness".
Wow.
That's a shame, because you'll be facing "The Dirtiest Player in the Game" and his protege. No one wants to see "kindness" in wrestling. We want to see people get angry, we want to see people fight, and "kind" people do not fight.
The entire angle concerning the Hall of Fame ring is laughable and despicable. I won't waste anymore breath on it now than I did in my last entry.
The angle between Kurt Angle and Mr. Anderson is the kind of thing fans will want to see because Kurt is still young enough people won't see him so much as a WWE has-been because he did such a great job of re-inventing himself in TNA. Mr. Anderson is still young enough that people will recognize him from WWE, but since he was never really pushed as hard there, seeing him pushed so strong here will make people interested again.
I wish the main event for TNA iMPACT would've been A.J. Styles vs. Abyss with Hogan and Flair in their respective corners rather than a full-on match. Let it be a title match, and let A.J. retain by DQ thanks to Flair's interference. That would be a great way to set up a future tag team match between the four and still keep the focus on your World Champion and TNA Original.
The angle with Jeff Jarrett is actually growing on me. It is simple, and people can relate to it. While the heel GM angle has been played to death in wrestling, everyone knows what it is like to be kept down by upper management, and that will help them relate to Jeff's plight. That will make them root for him. I wish the angle was used on someone else, someone young and fresh who could use the rub, but so far that is my only complaint about this angle.
WWE needs to do little here to keep fans' attention. They are gearing up for Wrestlemania in a few short weeks, so they should have no problem making things exciting. It is simply a matter of what they use and how they decide to push their stars. While I think the Batista/Cena angle has been wonderfully crafted thus far, fans may be tired of seeing these two in the spotlight, and decide to tune in to TNA. WWE's biggest issue is not pushing young stars hard enough. Fans are tired of the broken record, and that is why TNA is growing so quickly: not necessarily because they are better, but because they are different.
TNA has a chance here to pop the cork on the wrestling world and unload with everything they've been holding back. I'm not sure how effective this will be in the short term, but in the long run, it will force WWE to think fresh and different.
It really doesn't matter what side of the ring you're on in this one. The fans are the ones who should be benefiting most from this. Even if takes WWE a few weeks or months to see the change in the market, they will eventually be forced to confront the 800 lbs. Gorilla that is TNA. We will see the best of what each company has to offer, and that is a huge plus for fans.
Finally, I hope that TNA's entry into the Monday Night War doesn't make them lose sight of what has made them strong, and that is TNA. TNA has openly mentioned WWE and Raw, and that is fine every once in a while, but it works against them if it is done too much.
Firstly, if you keep talking about your company like it is the underdog in this war, fans will believe it. If you keep telling them that WWE is the giant you are out to slay, people will tune in to see what threat the giant poses. No one wants to be part of a company that always feels like it is struggling to compete, but that is the mindset TNA has instilled in it's fans. Talk about how great your company is so that fans will forget about your competitor. As Paul Heyman would say, "hide the negatives, accentuate the positives."
Secondly, and finally, TNA is very excited to be entering this war, but I hope it doesn't make them lose sight of what they originally set out to do. Eventually the hype behind the new war will wane, and when it does, TNA needs to stop talking about how fascinating it is to be competing with Raw and decide which direction it will take as a company. Don't let the corporate heads get too big here. TNA is a small company compared to WWE, and they need to remember that. If they try to match WWE's scale, they will fail and fail quickly. But if they continue to do what they have been doing, operating at the level they have been operating, they should have no problem making fans aware of their presence.
WWE is a sleeping giant. It can't be toppled right now, but TNA can certainly light a fire to wake it up.
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