On Impact, the best babyfaces are the heels
With the Main Event Mafia’s sharp custom-made suits, charisma and multitude of world title reigns, it’s no wonder that fans cheer the heel faction.
With all due respect to the TNA Originals (is that the best name the creative team could come up with?), it really is a mismatch in star power when you have Kurt Angle, Sting, Kevin Nash, Booker T. and Scott Steiner standing across from guys such as Samoa Joe, A.J. Styles, Eric Young, Jay Lethal and Consequences Creed.
The lack of star power isn't the only thing that makes TNA’s babyface group seem inferior to the MEM. The creative team makes them look like uncool whiners who are easily outsmarted. Instead of the younger guys getting a rub, they are just getting rubbed out.
There were several prime examples of this last night on Impact. It began with a promo by Scott Steiner. He not only buried Joe, Styles and the rest of the young guys, but also the company. Steiner said that the only reason Joe and Styles came to TNA was because they had no other options. Translation: WWE didn’t want them. That (and some other things Steiner said about them) might be true, but is that something that really should be said about the guys who are supposed to be the company’s biggest babyfaces?
Eventually, Joe and his entourage came out to confront the MEM. Joe told Steiner, the newest member of the MEM, that his side also had a new member. Out came Christian Cage. Score one for the good guys, right? Not so fast. Cage came out and said that he was willing to lend them a hand, but he was not officially joining the group, which made Joe look silly.
Later, Styles and Sting had a verbal confrontation in which Styles whined about Sting getting everything he wanted in his contract, such as first-class flying accommodations. Memo to TNA: That is not a babyface promo. Only heels are supposed to come across as jealous and bitter.
Then, in the main event that pitted Joe against Steiner, Joe was outsmarted yet again. After taking the bait and going after Nash outside the ring, Joe was then KO’d and pinned by Steiner, who had slipped a pair of brass knuckles on his hand while Joe was distracted.
A better finish would have been for Joe to defeat Steiner, and then Nash does a run-in and he and Steiner double-team Joe. It gets heat on the heels and protects Joe. Or, if TNA didn’t want to have Steiner do a job in his first match back, it could have had Joe hit his finisher on Steiner, but Nash breaks up the pin attempt and he and Steiner take it to Joe.
I would love to know what Joe and Styles really think about the way their characters are being written.
Other thoughts on last night’s show:
Aside from the fact that Steiner’s heel promo seemed more like a babyface promo, I found it entertaining. No one will ever confuse him with The Rock when it comes to his verbal skills, but he definitely has a style that is all his own. …
Steiner mentioned that the MEM members wrestled in all the big arenas, specifically mentioning Madison Square Garden. As far as I know, the only Sting who ever performed in the Garden was the one who sang “Roxanne.” …
Sting finally got some legitimate heel heat when he “crossed the line” and brought up Styles’ father and son in his promo. On the flip side, however, I noticed that Sting was the only MEM member not chuckling while Steiner ridiculed Joe and Styles…
If Matt Morgan doesn’t end up turning heel, he would be an asset to the TNA young guys faction. …
It’s weird to see Jeff Jarrett sitting behind a desk in his office as the founder of TNA. For anyone who has been watching TNA for a few years, this is a serious breach of story line continuity. When Jarrett was the top heel in the company, he always said that TNA management was trying to screw him over. So now that we know he is TNA management, I guess Jeff screwed Jeff. …
With Jarrett and Mick Foley both playing authority figures, where does that leave Jim Cornette? Here’s a thought: Cornette, feeling he was being squeezed out by Jarrett and Foley, joins up with the MEM and becomes the manager/mouthpiece for the group. The dueling promos between Cornette and Foley would be must-see TV. …
Steiner wasn’t the only heel who came off like a babyface in his promo. In a sit-down interview with Mike Tenay, Sheik Abdul Bashir spoke calmly and articulately about being an American citizen who loves his country, yet was a victim of discrimination after 9/11 because of the way he looked. I fail to see why that statement makes him a bad guy. After being badgered by Tenay, Bashir eventually lost his temper and began berating Tenay in Farsi. That prompted Tenay to yell back, “Speak English, already!” which made Tenay comes across like the Ugly American.
The segment reminded me of when Bashir (then known as Daivari) and Muhammad Hassan were in WWE talking about Americans being narrow-minded and prejudiced, and then Steve Austin – one of the most popular babyfaces of all time – confronted them and said, “I see sand people.” Of course that line got a huge pop, thus proving that everything the heels said was absolutely true. …
The Rhaka Khan heel turn makes no sense to me. It was only five weeks ago that she turned babyface. She showed some charisma as a face and the fans seemed to be getting behind her. Despite Khan’s limitations as a worker, I think a feud between her and Awesome Kong would have been good. …
Just wondering: Whatever happened to the angle of Shane Sewell as the tough-guy referee?
Comments
The way the MEM vs. Originals feud is going, it really reminds me of WCW vs. nWo in which everyone loved the "bad guys" and the faces of WCW all looked ridiculous for neither joining nor being able to defeat them.
Of course, there was a lot of good stuff in there too, so I guess I'll wait and see.
Posted by: Jacob | November 7, 2008 10:06 AM
Next time Rhyno cuts a promo talking about how he loves America, America is the best country in the world blah blah blah, could he try not wearing a jacket with a giant Italian flag on it.
Posted by: Elevation | November 7, 2008 10:54 AM
I was listening to Howard Stern a couple of days ago. He had Kurt Angle on promoting his MEM on TNA. Stern also had Diana DiGarmo (American Idol) on and she said she was part of something "top secret" with TNA. I don't see how she could be affiliated with TNA in any way. Seems odd. (Although I don't watch TNA regularly so she might have already made an appearance)
RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: Great. Another Idol rejecet who I never heard and wrestling fans couldn't care less about on the show.
Posted by: Rick Chaney | November 7, 2008 11:44 AM
Wow they are massacring what could be a very good angle.
Maybe the New guys can add Above Average Mike Sanders for a rub or something..
RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: Either him or Shawn Stasiak.
Posted by: micheal deff | November 7, 2008 11:48 AM
After not being able to catch it over the last few months, I was actually able to watch iMPACT last night and was really dissapointed by what I saw. I use to feel that the show was superior to what the WWE was churning out, but it has crumbled into a mish mash of "been-there-done-that" and "never-needed-to-see-that-again".
You couldn't be more right about the Main Event Mafia. I'm not sure what the writers could do to remedy it. They simply don't have the young star power to pull this off, besides AJ Styles. I think you're on to something with the idea of bumping the Blueprint up. In past incarnations of this idea, there was always a grand babyface to put the hopes of the opposition on his back. The NWO had there arch-nemesis in Sting and the Horsemen had there arch nemesis in, well, Sting. Now, Sting is on the other side, and although he looks great in the MEM look.... somethings up.
I reckon Sting is acting "on-the-fence" because he's going to slowly realize that he has joined a group that is exactly like all of the ones that he fought against his whole career and he will have an epiphany and join the faces, even though he is... old.
I also think the "Italian-ish" theme music and Scott Steiner's new "Hitman" gimmick are really cheesy. Just because you use the word Mafia doesn't mean you have to.... you know what, nevermind.
Speaking of Big Poppa Pump, he is a horror to watch in the ring and he has the eloquence of the Iron Sheik, but I'll be damned if that wasn't a great promo last night.
Weird booking: Bashir as the face and pro-American [yet loud, sexist and dressed in an Italian theme(?)] Rhino as the the overbearing heel? I like Rhino as the heel, but the sympathetic card for Bashir is odd.
Overall, I feel like TNA is starting to look like a clear number 2 instead of a number 2 on the way up. Everything from their announcing team (terrible, both of them) to their theme music (rap-rock? 1998?) is dated and tired. They needed to start building up or searching for some new young original star power or they will start to look like the WWF-graveyard that WCW became and we all know how that turned out.
RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I totally agree with you about Sting. I wrote a couple weeks ago that it's just a matter of time before he is booted out of the group or leaves the group like when he was a Horsemen in 1990.
Posted by: JGavin | November 7, 2008 12:07 PM
Was there any significance to the pieces of the Karen's Angle set in the garbage, during the Kong/Raisha/Roxxi segment?
RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I didn't notice that.
Posted by: Zack | November 7, 2008 12:30 PM
How likely is it that Christian is going back to WWE? I've read that WWE is perhaps waiting fo return Edge to TV for when Christian signs with them, and so I was thinking it might be plausible for Christian to lose to Booker and say that he'd rather quit than join the MME and then show up on Raw on Monday.
Posted by: Derek Benschoter | November 7, 2008 2:36 PM
I also thought Kurt Angle's - well, angle with Jeff Jarrett is becoming redundant. Going after JJ's kids like he did with Sting? C'mon.
And I had to laugh at Steiner's promo about "no other options". Isn't that why he's with TNA? No matter what kind of spin you put on it, he couldn't sell tickets or PPV's with WWE on his last run.
Posted by: Marko50 | November 7, 2008 4:14 PM
Kev, as much as some may hate to admit it, the return of (my fav) Scott Steiner was just the shot in the arm TNA needed . That was vintage Steiner on the mike last night (marbles in the mouth and everything) .
The return of the Booty Daddy and the formation of the MEM has at least renewed my interest in viewing .
The MEM somewhat reminds me of the old NWO in the sense that it seemed then that anybody that was anybody eventually joined .
Watch the ratings soar with Steiner ! :)
Posted by: the artist formerly known as jack in hebron | November 7, 2008 4:49 PM
This is probably the first time I ever saw Steiner wrestle with a t-shirt on. The match started before the bell rang, so I kept expecting to see Steiner take it off whenever there was a lull in the action.
Do you think he may have been rushed into the ring to play off the MEM angle before he was ready. His knee seems healed, but it looks like he may have missed a few days in the gym during his absence.
Posted by: Chris Slater | November 7, 2008 5:25 PM
That's "PerfectShawn" to you!
Posted by: Matt | November 7, 2008 7:19 PM
TNA= They Need Action
Posted by: Zacharias Caldwell III | November 7, 2008 7:55 PM
Eric Young, Jay Lethal and Consequences Creed? Has the latter even been in TNA long enough to be considered an original? Why not Christopher Daniels, Petey Williams or even Abyss? Quite frankly, they should just throw Christian Cage into the originals faction because goodness knows they need a better mouthpiece than Styles or Joe. Someone that can come across as something other than a whiner.
RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I agree with you. As much as I enjoy Curry Man, TNA should have brought Daniels back (the same way Eric Young dropped the Super Eric gimmick). The group would be better with Kaz, too. I also agree about Abyss. I think Petey will be a part of it.
Cage doesn't really fit in with the group, but like you said, they need a mouthpiece in the worst way.
Posted by: Anonymous | November 8, 2008 5:45 AM
So who's the worse speaker in an expensive suit - Steiner or Palin?
RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: Steiner is the most entertaining bad speaker of all time.
Posted by: RH | November 8, 2008 12:51 PM
If Jim Cornette joined the Main Event Mafia to become another mouthpiece in the group, complete with those dueling promos between Cornette and Foley, then when would TNA fit wrestling into its two-hour broadcast?
Posted by: Kay | November 9, 2008 3:37 AM
Is Steiner "returning" his suit like Palin is ?
Posted by: the artist formerly known as jack in hebron | November 9, 2008 3:52 PM