TNA world title situation
SPOILER ALERT: If you don’t want to know what happens in the Sting-Kurt Angle match for the TNA world title that was taped last week for this Thursday’s Impact, do not read any further.
Without going into details about the various twists and turns that occur between Sting and Angle on the show, the end result is that Angle has the title back.
Just as I predicted after Sting won the title from Angle at the Bound for Glory pay-per-view on Oct. 14, Sting’s reign was short-lived. I just don’t understand why Angle was booked to lose the title in the first place.
It’s no secret that TNA booker Vince Russo loves frequent title changes, but I think the best thing for TNA is a lengthy title reign for Angle. I’m talking a year or 18 months. It would lend credibility to the title and build up anticipation for Angle’s eventual defeat. Then, when he does drop the title, it will be something special, and the wrestler who beats him will have truly accomplished something.
But Russo doesn’t think that way, and if you try to explain to him why it would be better for business to protect the integrity of the title, he’ll dismiss you as “thinking like a wrestling fan.” I know, because that’s what he said to me back in 2000 when he was the WCW booker and I was the editor of the company magazine.
From April 2000, when Russo returned to the WCW creative team after a few months on the sideline, until the end of that year, the WCW world title changed hands 15 times. That May alone, there were six title changes. I worked there and even I had trouble remembering who the champion was on a given day. There’s no question in my mind that the plethora of title changes under Russo was mind-numbing for the fans and a contributing factor in WCW's decline, although the company was probably beyond saving by that point anyway.
At least in TNA, Russo hasn’t scripted himself or David Arquette to win the title. Well, not yet, anyway. According to The Wrestling Observer, TNA has been talking to Arquette about bringing the actor in for an angle. Like I’ve said before, TNA is looking more and more like WCW (the Russo years) all the time.
It was announced at last week’s Impact tapings that the main event for next month’s Genesis pay-per-view will be Sting and a mystery partner against Angle and Kevin Nash, with the wrestler who scores the pinfall getting the world title. Could Arquette be the mystery man? After all, Arquette won the WCW world title in similar fashion. The Observer’s Dave Meltzer doesn’t think so – he believes Jeff Jarrett will get the spot – but I wouldn’t put anything past Russo.
Comments
Vince Russo only has one really good idea in booking, that it's good to get as many people as possible, as over as possible. The rest of his ideas tend to be "shock TV" garbage, and he only had success with Vince McMahon filtering him and ultra-talented wrestlers like SCSA and Rock to work with.
It's a shame that he denigrates fans and even veterans that way. He could learn alot of things from Jim Cornette, if Cornette had any respect for him (last I checked, he doesn't). Jim Cornette, if I remember correctly, said in a shoot once, that what wrestling fans want is two people --a "good guy" and a "bad guy"-- fighting over something important.
People have been getting behind characters fighting for things for millenia in different media, and it doesn't seem to be changing anytime soon. Pro wrestling is no different. Remember Hulkamania and various wrestlers wanting to end it? McMahon made tons of money that and even more on Steve Austin fighting the billionaire boss. But Russo can't even get that part down (to be fair, neither can Vince McMahon these days).
IMO, TNA will never grow beyond a "niche of a niche of a niche" product until they ditch Russo. But then again, I don't think they will as long as Jarrett's there, waiting in the wings for the title or to be the over-sympathetic face. They need to put the title on Angle and have Joe meet him for it sometime next year.
Posted by: Chris | October 22, 2007 5:05 AM
Kevin. Did you have a problem with Russo and Arquette holding the same belt won by Race, Steamboat, and Flair????
BTW - I sure did.
Posted by: Big Sexy | October 22, 2007 8:22 AM
Vince Russo just doesn't have the creative power that Mr. Eck believes he has. It's been noted on several websites, that Jeff Jarrett is ultimately responsible for the majority of the booking decisions in TNA. A man by the name of Dutch Mantel also contributes, but at the end of the day, it's still Jarrett's call. Russo's key, and reportedly only, responsibility is plotting and scripting Jarrett and Mantel's ideas. We all know Russo played a large role in the demise of WCW but the booking in TNA has been heavily ridiculed long before Russo came on board late last year. Mr. Eck, if you need to publicly blame someone for the ridiculousness that is TNA creative, perhaps you should look past Vince Russo...
RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: Yes, Dutch Mantel (who has spent many years in the business as a wrestler and booker) and Jeff Jarrett are involved in the creative process, but Russo has reportedly gained much more power as of late, and that is obvious if you watch the product. Russo may not have absolute authority, but there is no question his fingerprints are all over the show.
Posted by: Christian Lee | October 22, 2007 2:20 PM
I'm curious as to where you (Mr. Eck) heard that Russo has "gained much more power as of late". I'm not trying to come off as confrontational and I'm not questioning whether or not it's true, I just haven't read that anywhere. In fact, more recently, I've read reports that some within TNA are pushing for Russo to obtain more power in response to whole Jarrett vs. Angle meltdown that's supposedly taking place within creative. By the way, thank you for your quick response to my previous post. (Also, I certainly don't want to come off as rude, but I'm aware of Mantel's history in the business.)
RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: It has been in The Wrestling Observer, most recently in the Oct. 1 issue. Here is an excerpt: "The direction of the company more to the Russo style of late is because he's got Angle with him as his ally and both are powerful forces with Dixie Carter."
Posted by: Christian Lee | October 22, 2007 9:14 PM