WM_Marylander

Oh, one more thing. The whole issue of making money on wrestling is the fact that Wrestling makes their money through HIGH PPV sales (very high sales) and the more importantly getting people to shell out 40 bucks to go see a house show. TNA still has a long way to go before they're competitive in the House show arena (heck they don't even go out there much at all... and their money isn't based on that). If TNA starts touring a bunch, then the WWE will have something to worry about.

That has been floating around for a while. Especially since his "ebaums world" clip show has basically been canned. He has been working on that for a while, and probably is a pretty big setback to see it get trashed pretty easily after a long setup time. As for the person who said that TNA's shows are pretty good, I'd have to disagree. Look, the premise under TNA is smart with the Xdivision. They might have the better wrestlers (other than say, Benoit or a few of the other good workers buried in WWE), but the problem is they have nothing to go on. AJ Styles is a good talent, but the guy has zippy main stream exposure. The people who know him are Wrestling Marks and Internet Fans. Or people who have been watching WCW or ECW or the old shows religiously. This primetime show will help to give some new wrestlers they want to push more exposure and hope to make them a better draw, but I find it funny they're only getting put on Thursday. They can beat Smackdown, because Smackdown is basically TNA minus a wrestler or two who can work the mic. However, TNA's shows they put on are boring. As long as Jarrett is highly involved at the top, they will continue to be so. Not only is he not a good wrestler, he won't give up the top status easily... It's almost a gurantee whenever Angle comes in, he fights Jarrett for 2-3 months at least. Who wants to see that garbage? Angle will only make it so entertaining himself. I enjoy watching Angle, but he can only carry so much midcard talent to the next level. Oh, and for the conspiracy theories, they probably aren't true. TNA is smarter than that. If Vince wanted to shut them down, he would just buy out their indy stars and other contracts. It would cost him money, but it'd be feasible.

As for a discussion on TNA, they really still don't have the depth that the WWE can offer. Their show and product is still poor. now, Angle gives them some respectability, especially with advertisers (he is a proven star and somewhat of a PPV draw) but they lack the top to bottom depth to put on much of a show. if they want to improve the product, they're going to have to cut some of the dead weight they brought in at the start (Steiner, end of Nash's contract, and a few others) and actually compete for some decent developmental contracts. They still are missing out because the WWE can afford to pay some guy a developmental contract and stash the guy in OVW or wherever for a year or two without much loss. TNA can't do that. So they're stuck in a cycle of paying for either WWE castoffs who no one really wants, or overpaying for talent that has issues. I know they've been putting up Samoa Joe, but honestly, in the WWE, he would be a midcard at best. Who is Angle realistically going to fued with? Sting? Jarrett? Those both could and would be AWFUL matches. Maybe a Christian fued. But that still is a poor matchup. I guess just the fact that the entire TNA tv shows to this point have been god awful with no hope of getting better doesn't leave much hope. Sometimes throwing money at a problem won't make it better either. If Angle gets hurt seriously (his neck is still an issue) TNA is back to square one.

there have been rumors floating for a while around the internet about things of this sort. However, the most substantiated were his being rather dangerous with a few of his moves. It also wouldn't shock me to see that he needed some sort of medication, as when he was in the WWE for a while he was pretty banged up. Either way, I have to say that it is a bit of a shock as it probably is for much of the WWE front office. I'm not sure what will happen at this point, because Angle is a decent draw. Vince will want to win in the ratings (and will) just because he is Vince, but their money is and never will be made from Television. It's made from people paying money to go see house shows... If TNA keeps picking up decent stars (and top of the line wrestlers as Angle is... actually, he probably is one of the top guys in the business right now, even if he is a bit on the shelf/out of it) then Vince will have to do two things. Up the envelope in his own shows (probably already going to occur), and then get talent (either raiding TNA or other indy wrestlers). Raw's brand has enough to keep those house shows going, but the ECW shows and the Smackdown shows will suffer to the TNA roster. I've a feeling Vince will be calling pretty hard to get Jericho and a few others back soon. Wonder if Benoit will think about going to TNA (along with a few others) when or if they ever come back. I wouldn't be shocked to see Nash and Hall finally get more than a token call and some discussions occuring. the WWE might even give in to their desire to work less house shows. The one thing I wonder is where this event leaves the WWE on contract negotiations. Angle basically had a "lifetime" handshake contract whenever he wanted it. So what's that say about their product? I can understand not wanting to go to ECW and being strong armed to straighten things out, but it isn't like he is going from mid card to main eventer in TNA. He already was a main eventer in the WWE. I'd argue, with the right push and work he would be THE MAIN EVENTER in the WWE still.

bah...