Whoooooo!

Does the rumored signing of 'The Honkey Tonk Man' by TNA fit into your idea of pushing young and exciting talent?

Speaking of nostalgia, I see that Buuba loving idiot must have gotten in your head Kev. Cause you chaged your blog pic after all. LOL

RESPONSE FROM KE: I can't lie. The "roided up fat face" line got to me.

This is good news for WWE fans, as WWE is showing signs of invigouration - Sheamus aside.

I guess one bankruptcy for Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff wasn't enough. First moves they should make since apparently Dixie Carter is no longer important - fire Vince Russo, fire Bubba the Love Sponge, fire Scott Hall, bring back the six sided ring and start a story line in which Hulk crawls under a rock and is never heard from on wrestling TV again.

If they are doing one live show, one taped show every two weeks, I'd imagine it won't be long before every second week on RAW they pull a Bischoff and start with, "Tonight on Impact you'll see..."

Or maybe they'd keep up with the ignore the competition to show they're not competition in our eyes routine?

The change doesn't affect me as we don't get the show until Saturday anyway, but it's a very courageous (and possibly dumb) move from TNA.

As an aside, i thought you were joking about changing your picture.
You looked badass in the last one, in this one you look like you've just walked out of a lecture at Yale (the white, preppy collar adds to the image).
Sorry Kev.

Good luck keeping viewers with the train wreck that is TNA Monday Nitro featuring Hulk Hogan and Cronies.

RESPONSE FROM KE: The thing is, train wrecks often draw ratings, although usually not over the long term.

"pushing younger talent and not focusing too much on nostalgia acts"

That's pretty much what every article on TNA has said for the past 3 or 4 years.

Hopefully if they're going up against Raw on Mondays they'll start paying attention to guys like you in order to figure out how to compete otherwise they'll just become another WWE acquisition.

Here's a thought - WWE are supposedly considering revamping the ECW show. Maybe their long term plan is for it to become the new Impact highlighting all the X division guys - WWE could even make Jimmy Wang Yang the X division champion!

I'd like to see with them do away with the Thursday repeat and just do the Monday show...I think people knowing it would be on Thursday probably cut into the Monday ratings a bit. Also, I think the move is a good one because I know in many markets it was going head to head with shows like Survivor, which def had to hurt their ratings. Here in El Paso, wrestling's big, but then, so's Survivor and the other Thursday night powerhouses...and many people just have a main cable TV set up around here, so wrestling tends to lose out to the other shows.

Hey, as long as both products improve, we all win.

"not focusing too much on nostalgia acts"
I think you're forgetting who's running the show here, Kevin. *lol*
Welcome to WCW 2!!!

Hi Kev, I'm a UK wrestling fan who has had the pleasure of seeing TNA live twice. I was there for their first ever live show in the UK and I saw them again last night.
It was AWESOME right from Suicide/Red/Sabin through the beautiful people vs Taylor and Sarita, Joe v Daniels, Beer money v The Brits. I dont know how long this will last but Rob Terry won the Global title from Eric Young. We were given tables by 3D and Angle and even Dixie made an appearence. Main event of AJ vs Wolfe.
This is the TNA I have enjoyed for the past 6 years.
If Hogan takes the current TNA tv show up against Vince, I think he will lose badly as Hogan seems to want to re-run some old stories that the TNA faithful have already seen. It does seem like there is currently 2 versions of TNA: The tv show (which has very recently become very poor) and the talent (the young wrestlers both male and female)
The talent that TNA has is incredable but I still can't understand why Hogan keeps old hacks around him (The Nasty Boys, Hall & Waltman and the fat sponge) If this is a work to try to ignite a fire under the TNA talent, fine. But he needs to get the fire going before looking to burn the WWE.

That is great news. I have never been a huge tna fan and only started watching when Hogan showed up, but this may give WWE a kick in the rear to get moving. I wonder if it would be a good idea to get TNA to start at 8pm or 8:30pm to get a head start on Raw.

I just got off the phone with the Honky Tonk Man. He wants his sideburns back Eck!

Hopefully this'll be as eventful and entertaining as the original Monday Night Wars. WWE has needed a good shake-up for a long time now, and Impact moving permanently to Mondays might just be the thing to do it.

What?! A new Kevin Eck picture...don't tell me that Bubba letter got to ya!

(sigh) I really like TNA, and I have watched it probably 3 times as often as any WWE show, but I already have things that I watch Monday (24, Law & Order...I know, where are my priorities?), and Thursdays have been reserved for TNA since they moved off the late night slot they first had with Spike. I am likely unable to watch TNA anymore after February. Thankfully, I have this blog to keep up with it, so thanks in advance, Kevin!

Holy Krap Kev......how old was that other picture?!?!?

RESPONSE FROM KE: It was taken abut five years ago.

Not related to the post: New banner is great. But where's the beard? You and some office guys had decided to grow beards 'for no particular reason'.

RESPONSE FROM KE: Shaved it off as soon as contest was over.

I think this is a good move! I won't go out of my way to watch TNA and rarely go out of my way for ECW, Superstars, or Smackdown! So having two wrestling shows on at the same time will permit barely-interested parties like myself to watch some TNA, at least during commercial breaks.

First off, nice new pick, KE.

Second, who's idea was it to return to the four sided ring? Was it contested by anyone but the talent? If Hogan leaves, would they return to six?

Third: I live in Canada, does my viewership of TNA on Spike factor into their ratings?

If TNA thinks that they can compete with Raw while Hogan is running (and ruining) the show, then in the immortal words of Judas Priest, they've got another thing coming!

(Yes, I am channeling Road Dogg circa 1997.)

In other words, TNA needs to do what they were doing, and reverse all the stuff they started since Jan. 4 of this year. Agreed!

I'm sure the WWE creative staff will be completely fired up once they realize they have to compete with the Nasty Boys.

/snark

I know there was some brief talk about TNA expanding into 2 shows per week (monday and thursday). As big as the roster they kind of need to. Kev any additional talk about that happening?

RESPONSE FROM KE: I have heard the idea being thrown around but don't know how serious it is.

A new Monday Night War by TNA may just make Napoleon's invasion of Russia (or insert your own recent U.S. war if you so choose), look like a stroke of genius.

RIP TNA.

Monday Night War II is on!

Hopefully people are still watching TNA by then. Judging from the direction things have taken since Hogan's arrival they'd better improve quickly.

unless there gonna have shows like the 1 on the jan 4 who cares by september ince will probably have already have bought the company. Do you think though since their is already a TV deal in place and spike is not likely to bail out on TNA the way Time Warner bailed out on WCW that maybe the Hogan/Eazy E contingent is purposely destroying TNA so maybe them with Hervey can buy out TNA on the cheap and then do things right.

" As for TNA, if it truly hopes to challenge WWE in the ratings on Mondays, the company needs to present itself as a distinct and exciting alternative. In my opinion, that means pushing younger talent and not focusing too much on nostalgia acts."

And bring back the six-sided ring. That is what set TNA apart and makes it unique.

I like your idea, Gary... it would be cool to have a WWE show that focused on the high-fliers, faster-paced, more lucha-libre style wrestling.

I have enjoyed WWECW-- ya really can't go wrong with Regal, Goldust, and Christian-- but part of the problem was that every time I started to get excited about a newer wrestler or team (Swagger, the Hart foundation) they'd vanish to Raw.

As for TNA, I guess I am following the upsetting, tragic train wreck for another week or two. I really did quit watching RAW when it disappointed me too often, and TNA, like poor ol' Teddy Long, is very seriously "on notice" since the Hogan takeover.

I think the day Vince in any formal way acknowledges TNA's existence will be a big day... and it may never come.

I apologize if I missed this info, but when and why did TNA switch to the regular 4 sided ring? I really like watching the 6 sided one and thought it made everything a little more excitiing.

RESPONSE FROM KE: At the Genesis PPV. Hogan didn't like it.

Kev, Bubba or no Bubba, the new portrait is tight!

The Honky Tonk Man? Really? Seriously? Why? Hogan! Why? Who is next? Akeem? Slick?
I know I am going to get some heat for writing this but i am happy for Big Rob. Maybe they can have some good storylines with him. Or will he drop it to Sean Morley?

Let's just wait and see. See if WWE "ramps it up",see if TNA "is really that stupid" (as last weeks show) and hell just see. All of you that comment "haven't bankrupting one company been enough" to Bishoff & Hogan have a point, but was it really them or was it Time Warner's stupidity,and of course the follow up is, is Dixie really that stupid. Well it looks like we shall see. As for VKM, we shall also see, as shown in the first Monday night "Wars" he was the main culprit in letting "WCW" kick him to the curb, and many would say that were it not for the ridiculously stupid management at Time Warner at the time he would not have been able to get it back, but what is past is past. Blame,there is plenty to go around. So I say we shall see. And thankful finally we will. In big business (hell all business) smart companies don't measure success by the week, show or month. Most at least accrue a quarter's worth of information prior to making any major changes, unfortunately I don't think TNA has a quarter, at least if it starts out like last week, it won't take much for TNA to become a player. In my opinion they were right there with Hernandez,Young,Styles,and so many other up and comers,then Hulk/Bischoff come in,I thought strong at first but lame quickly, but what if they killed off all of the fat,old useless add-ons, the first Monday, using the Hernandez's et all. Then we would all have a different opinion, not saying it WILL happen, just saying it could and should happen. Then it would be a whole new ballgame. I think Kev you would agree. We all want to have the ante upped,we all fear that the Hogan/Bischoff team is incapable, but there is at least for the first time in a looonng time at least a small amount of hope. Now if only we could have a stringer HOF,some strong AWA shows, and hell maybe "Booker" could bring back some good old fashioned Texas "rasslin" show then we would have choices,true competition, and some serious one-upmanship. No I didn't hit my head I just am waiting for the cycle to evolve, actually hope that the cycle evolves. Now THAT would be some news.

Thats a great picture of McGee from NCIS

If the recent booking fiasco with Hogan don't change, then bringing TNA to monday nights will just kill the company even sooner than I thought.

Hey Eck, I heard that WWE is looking to retire the ECW name and re-brand the Tuesday show. Here's a really dumb idea: since TNA is trying to call itself the modern version of WCW, then maybe the WWE can call its Tuesday show WCW!

Phew, be glad I'm not in charge!

Forget 6 sides! Make it 12 sides! That is the key to a good wrestling show, HOW MANY SIDES YOUR RING HAS. TNA was clearly dominating the industry when they had 6 sides on their ring, NO ONE DENIES THIS.

I think Vince hired Hogan to ruin TNA. TNA is sucking the big one these days. WOOOOO

Let me tell you something. Bollea came from AWA to the WWWF at the perfect time, playing the Real American gimmick v the Iron Sheik at the time of the Iran Hostage Crisis, a charismatic character who received a serendipitous bump from his appearance in Rocky III, the first time a wrestler was given billing in a major picture (other than The Wrestler which did nothing for Ed Asner's career). Couple that with the explosion of Cable TV... yadda yadda.

TNA aint going to reproduce that today.

If memory serves, Bollea's initial run in WCW was "ho-hum" until he made "the Heel Turn".. Huge because of the image he had cultivated. The nWo angle worked because wrestling was ready for the Attitude Era, which finally blurred the line between the cut-n-dried milk-drinking faces and the international-object-hiding heels. That was run into the ground....LWO, indeed.

So, whatcha gonna do, Bollea?

You brought in Flair (whose sequined gowns and feathered boas remind me of my great-uncle Claude in the privacy of his bedroom (Worked 25 years ago, pal)), and the rest of your sycophants to entertain us with 20 min of TOTAL NON-STOP ACTION WRESTLING in a 2 hour show.

Sure... Let's go head to head with the competition.

Let me tell you something, "brother": I hate VKM but I admire that he is a student of the game. He grew up with promoting wrestling; you didnt. He is going to rise to the occasion and outshine you.

Why?

Because, Bollea, 2 times in your life you were in the right place at the right time when wrestling needed a change. The only way you can please the fans now is not the reality crap that you think we crave... It's to see you go down ignominiously, a train wreck....

My suggestion? Be the Hulk Hogan America hasnt seen. did you hear the cheers when Angle hocked a lunger into your polished Hollywood puss? Thats your cue.
Be a jobber... Job to the stars... Better yet, get squashed...stretchered, bladed, a crimson masque.

That'll put cheeks in seats

did you get to win the beard contest?

RESPONSE FROM KE: No, I was screwed worse than Bret Hart.