If there would have been one surefire way to differentiate TNA from WWE, it would have been to not allow any heel authority figures in the company. As weve seen in WWE since the beginning of Austin vs. McMahon, they have been obsessed with one authority figure after the next. Its tired. Its played out. It really isnt best for business as it takes away too much TV time from the wrestlers, and puts too much focus on people that dont go to house shows or sell merchandise. Ever since TNA's inception plenty of people have played some form of on-air boss. Dusty Rhodes, Jim Cornette, Vince Russo, Erik Watts, Mick Foley, Sting, Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, MVP, Kurt Angle and Dixie Carter (more on that soon) all ate up obscene amounts of TV time with little payoff. Dont forget that as soon as Bruce Prichard joined TNA he also found himself a nice, cozy little on-air gig as a Gut Check Judge. Just imagine if the time devoted to the authority figures had instead gone to giving guys like Alex Shelley, Low Ki, Jerry Lynn, Beer Money and L.A.X. more screen time over the years. They would have had more homegrown stars. Matches would have been longer. Most importantly, it wouldnt have looked like TNA was being a direct knockoff from WWE.
As Rust Cohle from True Detective said "Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you're good at."
Sadly, I can't solve a murder like Rust...or change a tire, or even tie a tie. But I do know all the lyrics to Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme song and can easily name every Natural Born Thriller from the dying days of WCW. I was once ranked 21st in the United States in Tetris...on the Playstation 3 version...for about a week.
Follow along @AndrewSoucek and check out my podcast at wrestlingwithfriends.com
