You know, it takes an awful lot for me to turn off a "wrasslin'" show. I believe that as a pro wrestling fan, I owe it to the guys and gals bruising their muscles and breaking their bones to stay tuned and respect what they are putting themselves through purely for my entertainment. That's why I am also firmly under the impression that there should be a separate Academy Award for Best Stunt Person, or at least their own damn Oscar show, but that is another topic for another time. And there was a point in my life when this extended to Total Non-Stop Action wrestling, or as some people out there like to call it, TNA. I crossed the line each week and tuned into both Impact and Explosion to cheer on my favourite wrestlers and knockouts. Although I am a WWE fan through and through, I know that history has always favored competition in terms of success when it comes to the art known as "Sports Entertainment", and in order to at least have an "alternative", I needed to support this little fed in all of its attempts at glory. But then, something happened. Something that, although the critics initially pre-ordained it was going to happen, I was willing to at least give it the benefit of the doubt and keep the faith. Boy, wasn't I a misguided fool? We are of course talking about that fateful date in 2010 when the red and yellow corporate jello made its long awaited return to our television screens to inform the (potential) viewing public that this was the "future" of professional wrestling. My initial hopes were instantly shattered as they began to make the same mistakes that they should've learned from back when the last company they attempted to "take to the top" and suffered an extreme case of high-speed dirt. Then the mistakes just kept on coming, and coming, and coming. So in part 3 of my series (technically part 4), I will present to you an on-screen retrospective of what led me to finally, at last, in total and complete frustration, reach for that elusive off switch and say in a loud and steady voice, "that's it, I'm done!" Now, I could spend all day sitting here and tearing a new one out of the managerial skills of the unholy trinity that makes up the Carter/Hogan/Bischoff Alliance, but there has already been countless articles written on the subject and I believe the message is pretty clear to anyone that has an actual brain. So instead, I thought I would just count down the five "on screen" occurrences that even me, a dedicated "wrestlehead," just couldn't take for one second longer. Maybe the management of both companies will read my thoughts on the matter some day and incorporate it into a little manual they should be compiling entitled "What Not to Do To Turn Even The Most Dedicated Fan Off Your Product!"
5. No More Six Sides?
My reaction on that fateful day at Genesis, January 17th, 2010 was identical to the illustrious Mayor of Quahog ADAM WEST (He spells his name with CAPITAL letters) up there. This was where the free fall began, folks. The one thing TNA wrestling had going for it above all else was that no matter what happened backstage or story wise, it was always a viable alternative to the WWE for one simple and undeniable reason. Because of the six sided ring concept. That's it. And the first thing that happened when the curtain was raised on what was the debut of this new "regime" under the guise of change was just that. But instead of change "for the better," all they managed to do was strip away in one fell swoop any identity that TNA had developed over the course of almost a decade and make it just a cheap carbon copy of the WWE. Now you'd think a smart business man (in any entertainment industry) or woman would hear the initial reaction to this decision and say quietly to themselves, "Hmm, maybe this wasn't the such a great idea!" But no, the same people that brought you "David Arquette, World Champion" had once again made the simple mistake of not listening to what the fanbase wants, which was nothing more than an alternative to what is currently the "norm", rather than a rehash of what has come before (and failed). In a previous article, I mentioned that there were 3 things that made me turn off TNA, one of which you can find out about by clicking right here. Number two was this travesty. The six sides epitomised everything that TNA stood for and represented, and the first decision was to take that away from us? And the hammer falls once....