Rodney's Columns
12/14/09
January 4th- The Last Hope
I’ll be the first to say that since Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff signed, or “partnered,” with TNA I have actually been intrigued in the brand and it’s near future. I’d like to see what they’re going to do with the biggest name in pro wrestling. The fact that younger talent are upset because of Hogan’s backstage reputation and there are other key staff members unsure of their job security gives me more entertainment than what’s on screen.
For years TNA has been giving excuses as to why they aren’t as big as they should be. They needed a network deal, they got Spike TV. They wanted to be on Thursday nights, they got that. Then they wanted 2 hours, they got it and yet I still don’t see a positive difference in the product. The fact is that TNA had the opportunity to do something big & different and they blew it. Samoa Joe was the hottest thing in wrestling when he had his undefeated streak going. It was going so well that they failed to put the belt on him to catapult Joe into the next level. Smooth. Enter Kurt Angle. Probably the biggest jump from WWE to TNA to ever happen. People wanted to see Angle & Joe, and they gave us Angle vs. Joe. Just not the right way. Over the past few years, TNA keeps bringing in & pushing names such as Mick Foley, Booker T and Scott Steiner to make them look like a legit threat to the mothership brand. And now they caught the biggest shark in the ocean & the man who was the catalyst of the Monday Night Wars.
For the first time since March 2001, a wrestling program will be competing with Monday Night Raw. TNA is finally going head to head with Raw. To me, t’s a smart move to debut Hogan on a live edition that will compete with the company that made him so famous. One thing that TNA is better at than WWE is keeping secrets. People are speculating a Ric Flair or RVD appearance which would be nice if done the right way. This is where I hope Eric Bischoff and his creative outside-the-box mentality comes into play. For this live show, they have to think of this as a “re-branding” of TNA. If they are predicting 2 plus million viewers, many of them would be watching it for the first time. To capture the attention of a loyal Raw viewer, TNA needs a makeover.
First and foremost, get rid of Mike Tenay. Listening to him makes me want to change the channel. He was great in WCW calling Lucha matches with the broadcast team, but as a play-by-play guy, he’s not it. He wouldn’t know what “it” is if it was sleeping with his wife. Second, the overall look and feel of TNA needs a dramatic change. Can you picture WCW Worldwide competing with Raw? This wouldn’t be that much different. In the beginning of each Impact there should be a message saying “TNA is filmed in front of a live studio audience,” because that’s exactly what their audience sounds like. It doesn’t have a 'live event' feel that it needs. Listening to a bunch of Disney tourists cheer and boo things they probably have no clue about doesn’t exactly keep me tuned to the program. These two changes are vital in TNA’s big January 4th show.
They’ve got Hulk Hogan, they’ve got Eric Bischoff helping steer the wheel in the right direction, and they’ve got a 3 hr live timeslot to compete against Raw. This is their last hope to claiming themselves as not only an alternative to WWE, but as competition. I have some faith in Dixie Carter and that she knows what’s got to be done in order to turn TNA into a brand taken seriously. They’ve got to make it into a program where audiences feel anything can happen. A program that doesn’t seem like a second rate version of Raw. If they’re satisfied in getting 1.0 ratings and just getting by, then January 4th will be a normal Impact taping. But in order to make an “Impact,” they need to catch WWE’s attention and cause them to make changes in their programming. I think TNA is so far removed from Vince McMahon’s concern that WWE probably doesn’t even know TNA is going head to head with him. This is their one opportunity to change that perception.
The answer to beating Raw? Have Hogan come out and beat every single wrestler on the TNA roster, winning every belt without taking a bump. Not only would that be great in so many ways, who wouldn’t find that entertaining??? I would personally like to see it - to bury Matt Morgan & prove he’s not star material.
The Difference Between the Giants: What UFC would do with the Strikeforce Main Event
Saturday’s Strikeforce card marked an important night in MMA. It was the first time ever a women’s match main evented a card that featured male fighters. With all the injuries and late replacements, it seemed the card was doomed before it started. With suitable replacements made, the main even still wasn’t affected. Gina Carano & Cris Cyborg both made weight (they both have history with not making weight) and were ready to tear the roof off of the 13,500 fan-filled arena. With a televised night that saw all finishes and an exciting main event between the women, the night seemed to leave more questions than answers.
In the buildup for this event, 95% of the promotion featured Gina Carano, even though she was a heavy underdog. The posters, the videos, the Maxim 100 list, it seemed that Strikeforce really wanted to reiterate the fact the Carano was the face of women’s MMA. It was obvious they wanted the undefeated woman with sex appeal to be their first Women’s Champion. But there was only one problem; Cyborg didn’t see it that way. Using her power to overwhelm Gina to a TKO stoppage at 4:59 in the first round, now the question is, 'was Carano’s loss the downfall of women’s MMA?' Did Cyborg kill the momentum by ripping off the face of women’s MMA? My answer is if Strikeforce did what the UFC would’ve done, nobody would ask these questions.
One thing that the UFC executes very well that other promotions fail to is that they are constantly building new stars. Fighters such as Brock Lesnar and Thiago Alves were turned into main event fighters within one calendar year. If the UFC were to have Gina Carano vs Cyborg, they wouldn’t have Bruce Buffer introduce Gina as the face of MMA. Spike TV would’ve been more of an instrumental part of promotion for the event than Showtime was for Strikeforce. Whether UFC would’ve done a special primetime series or one of their PPV countdowns, they would’ve done one major thing that Strikeforce didn’t ; prepare the fans for a Cyborg win. Cyborg’s win over a major star should’ve given her the rub to turn herself into one herself. But with a one-sided buildup and the crowd reaction to Cyborg, that failed to happen.
With a women’s main event, UFC would at least have one women’s match on the undercard. This would’ve been a great opportunity for fans to see other women fighters, build new contenders for Cyborg & Carano, and set up possible matches for their next event.
So what’s the difference between two of MMA’s biggest promotions? UFC would’ve been able to avoid such questions as '...the downfall of women’s MMA.' Fans would be talking about what’s next for Cyborg instead of what’s left for Carano. They would’ve used this event to announce Fedor’s next fight so it's kept in everyone’s mind. There is a reason why more casual fans know what UFC is than what MMA is. As a fan of Strikeforce, I hope they learn from Elite XC and do not put all their eggs in one basket.
At least Carano didn’t get knocked out in 14 seconds by a replacement fighter. Then we would be counting down the days of Strikeforce shutting down.
January 4th- The Last Hope
I’ll be the first to say that since Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff signed, or “partnered,” with TNA I have actually been intrigued in the brand and it’s near future. I’d like to see what they’re going to do with the biggest name in pro wrestling. The fact that younger talent are upset because of Hogan’s backstage reputation and there are other key staff members unsure of their job security gives me more entertainment than what’s on screen.
For years TNA has been giving excuses as to why they aren’t as big as they should be. They needed a network deal, they got Spike TV. They wanted to be on Thursday nights, they got that. Then they wanted 2 hours, they got it and yet I still don’t see a positive difference in the product. The fact is that TNA had the opportunity to do something big & different and they blew it. Samoa Joe was the hottest thing in wrestling when he had his undefeated streak going. It was going so well that they failed to put the belt on him to catapult Joe into the next level. Smooth. Enter Kurt Angle. Probably the biggest jump from WWE to TNA to ever happen. People wanted to see Angle & Joe, and they gave us Angle vs. Joe. Just not the right way. Over the past few years, TNA keeps bringing in & pushing names such as Mick Foley, Booker T and Scott Steiner to make them look like a legit threat to the mothership brand. And now they caught the biggest shark in the ocean & the man who was the catalyst of the Monday Night Wars.
For the first time since March 2001, a wrestling program will be competing with Monday Night Raw. TNA is finally going head to head with Raw. To me, t’s a smart move to debut Hogan on a live edition that will compete with the company that made him so famous. One thing that TNA is better at than WWE is keeping secrets. People are speculating a Ric Flair or RVD appearance which would be nice if done the right way. This is where I hope Eric Bischoff and his creative outside-the-box mentality comes into play. For this live show, they have to think of this as a “re-branding” of TNA. If they are predicting 2 plus million viewers, many of them would be watching it for the first time. To capture the attention of a loyal Raw viewer, TNA needs a makeover.
First and foremost, get rid of Mike Tenay. Listening to him makes me want to change the channel. He was great in WCW calling Lucha matches with the broadcast team, but as a play-by-play guy, he’s not it. He wouldn’t know what “it” is if it was sleeping with his wife. Second, the overall look and feel of TNA needs a dramatic change. Can you picture WCW Worldwide competing with Raw? This wouldn’t be that much different. In the beginning of each Impact there should be a message saying “TNA is filmed in front of a live studio audience,” because that’s exactly what their audience sounds like. It doesn’t have a 'live event' feel that it needs. Listening to a bunch of Disney tourists cheer and boo things they probably have no clue about doesn’t exactly keep me tuned to the program. These two changes are vital in TNA’s big January 4th show.
They’ve got Hulk Hogan, they’ve got Eric Bischoff helping steer the wheel in the right direction, and they’ve got a 3 hr live timeslot to compete against Raw. This is their last hope to claiming themselves as not only an alternative to WWE, but as competition. I have some faith in Dixie Carter and that she knows what’s got to be done in order to turn TNA into a brand taken seriously. They’ve got to make it into a program where audiences feel anything can happen. A program that doesn’t seem like a second rate version of Raw. If they’re satisfied in getting 1.0 ratings and just getting by, then January 4th will be a normal Impact taping. But in order to make an “Impact,” they need to catch WWE’s attention and cause them to make changes in their programming. I think TNA is so far removed from Vince McMahon’s concern that WWE probably doesn’t even know TNA is going head to head with him. This is their one opportunity to change that perception.
The answer to beating Raw? Have Hogan come out and beat every single wrestler on the TNA roster, winning every belt without taking a bump. Not only would that be great in so many ways, who wouldn’t find that entertaining??? I would personally like to see it - to bury Matt Morgan & prove he’s not star material.
The Difference Between the Giants: What UFC would do with the Strikeforce Main Event
Saturday’s Strikeforce card marked an important night in MMA. It was the first time ever a women’s match main evented a card that featured male fighters. With all the injuries and late replacements, it seemed the card was doomed before it started. With suitable replacements made, the main even still wasn’t affected. Gina Carano & Cris Cyborg both made weight (they both have history with not making weight) and were ready to tear the roof off of the 13,500 fan-filled arena. With a televised night that saw all finishes and an exciting main event between the women, the night seemed to leave more questions than answers.
In the buildup for this event, 95% of the promotion featured Gina Carano, even though she was a heavy underdog. The posters, the videos, the Maxim 100 list, it seemed that Strikeforce really wanted to reiterate the fact the Carano was the face of women’s MMA. It was obvious they wanted the undefeated woman with sex appeal to be their first Women’s Champion. But there was only one problem; Cyborg didn’t see it that way. Using her power to overwhelm Gina to a TKO stoppage at 4:59 in the first round, now the question is, 'was Carano’s loss the downfall of women’s MMA?' Did Cyborg kill the momentum by ripping off the face of women’s MMA? My answer is if Strikeforce did what the UFC would’ve done, nobody would ask these questions.
One thing that the UFC executes very well that other promotions fail to is that they are constantly building new stars. Fighters such as Brock Lesnar and Thiago Alves were turned into main event fighters within one calendar year. If the UFC were to have Gina Carano vs Cyborg, they wouldn’t have Bruce Buffer introduce Gina as the face of MMA. Spike TV would’ve been more of an instrumental part of promotion for the event than Showtime was for Strikeforce. Whether UFC would’ve done a special primetime series or one of their PPV countdowns, they would’ve done one major thing that Strikeforce didn’t ; prepare the fans for a Cyborg win. Cyborg’s win over a major star should’ve given her the rub to turn herself into one herself. But with a one-sided buildup and the crowd reaction to Cyborg, that failed to happen.
With a women’s main event, UFC would at least have one women’s match on the undercard. This would’ve been a great opportunity for fans to see other women fighters, build new contenders for Cyborg & Carano, and set up possible matches for their next event.
So what’s the difference between two of MMA’s biggest promotions? UFC would’ve been able to avoid such questions as '...the downfall of women’s MMA.' Fans would be talking about what’s next for Cyborg instead of what’s left for Carano. They would’ve used this event to announce Fedor’s next fight so it's kept in everyone’s mind. There is a reason why more casual fans know what UFC is than what MMA is. As a fan of Strikeforce, I hope they learn from Elite XC and do not put all their eggs in one basket.
At least Carano didn’t get knocked out in 14 seconds by a replacement fighter. Then we would be counting down the days of Strikeforce shutting down.
