High Road/Low Road 11.06.09: Hulk Hogan In TNA

Welcome back to the High Road/Low Road!

A brief explanation of the column: Sat takes the High Road (positive view) on angles, gimmicks, and other wrestling related “stuff” while Chad Nevett takes the Low Road (negative view).

Results for World Elite:

High Road: 79%
Low Road: 16%
Both Roads: 05%

Sat: I am surprised with the number of high roads we received. I was expecting the low roads to win this week.

Chad Nevett: I was as well… until Thursday’s episode of Impact where Eric Young and the World Elite took great steps to improve their problems. Young established the Global Championship with the stipulation that it will never be defended against an American or on American soil, Homicide began chasing the X-Division title, and the British Invasion made light of their suspension. Luckily, I got to write the Low Road prior to that episode or my job would have been much more difficult.

Hulk Hogan In TNA

High Road:

I like that Hulk Hogan has become a partner of TNA because it helps to increase TNA’s credibility. Hogan has always been one of those guys who has made some smart business decisions and I have to believe that he would not join TNA if he did not believe that they could not compete with the WWE.

Low Road:

Or, Hogan sees a small company that is desperate for a chance to compete with the WWE that he can come into and have one final chance at glory in an environment where people won’t say no to him. Hogan has always been about Hogan, not about building other companies or pushing other wrestlers. Can TNA compete with the WWE? They haven’t shown it yet with ratings on par with WWE’s C- and D-shows, low PPV buyrates, and shockingly low live show turnouts, but they want to compete desperately — so much so that it’s the only place where Hogan can call the shots because of his name.

High Road:

With the Internet, I am rarely shocked by some of the things that happen because we know before hand that something is going to happen. The few moments that have been shocking was Kurt Angle joining TNA and John Cena entering at number 30 at the Royal Rumble. Hulk Hogan joining TNA was one of those moments because nobody saw this coming at all.

Low Road:

The initial shock of this announcement can’t be denied, but that’s over now, so what does it matter? How surprising the news is has little bearing on whether or not it’s good news or will result in anything of quality. Hogan and TNA kept this a secret, so good for them, but with an announcement like this, it could be the only thing they do right.

High Road:

While nothing is official with Hulk Hogan wrestling, I think that eventually he will get in the ring. I think that when he does get in the ring, he will only be wrestling sporadically. I think that this is the best course of action because Hogan is a lot older and it should give his body time to recover. Plus, if he only wrestles on pay per views, that should help TNA’s pay per view buy rates because that will be the only chance to see him.

Low Road:

Does anyone actually want to see Hulk Hogan wrestle again except in that ‘watching a car wreck’ sort of way? The man is beyond over-the-hill and while TNA has become a company that has veterans who are past their prime compete, none have been as broken down as Hogan. To make a match featuring him watchable, his opponent would need to be among the very best in the world, not just at wrestling but at carrying matches and making their opponent look fantastic in the process. I don’t think TNA has anyone of that caliber currently. While one match with Hogan may attract an audience, it would be the only one to do so.

High Road:

There are some intriguing matches when Hulk Hogan does decide to get in the ring in TNA. Some of the matches that would definitely be interesting to see would be Hogan/Foley, Hogan/Angle, Hogan/Joe, Hogan/Styles, Hogan/Lashley and Hogan/Sting. While some of these matches have happened before, I still think that people will be interested in seeing these matches.

Low Road:

Again, Hogan is 56 and has numerous injuries that make the prospects of him wrestling cringe-inducing. Add to that that half of that list are wrestlers on the downside of their careers and it seems like a lot of fanboy dream matches that won’t deliver anything except sympathy and a general feeling of dirtiness as childhood heroes embarrass themselves at one last chance for glory. In the case of the younger wrestlers, they’ll either get buried by Hogan or beat up a man no longer in his prime, which is a lose/lose scenario if I ever saw one. Leave these matches to video games where reality isn’t a factor.

High Road:

We keep hearing about Hulk Hogan never putting over anybody. While it is true, I think there are a few things to mention here. I think Hogan only allows himself to get pinned if he is sure that person is going to be a major star ala Goldberg. Two, I think with all the things that has happened in Hogan’s life, he is going to be more willing to listen.

Low Road:

Hogan has a history of be unwilling to put other wrestlers over unless he considers them in his league, a club very few belong to. TNA is finally beginning to give its younger talent serious pushes after the dissolution of the veteran-driven Main Event Mafia, so this is exactly the wrong time for an over-the-hill egomaniac to come storming in, demanding to be the centerpiece of the company. Hogan getting involved in the action could do long-term damage to the company by stunting the growth of young wrestlers that will be what the company relies in for years after Hogan re-enters retirement.

High Road:

The Hulk Hogan signing has gotten TNA’s name out in the media. Hogan has been making the rounds on most of the TV shows and while TNA is only getting a few minutes, I think it is still beneficial for them. Finally, while I am not a big twitter guy, I think it was a huge thing for TNA to be one of the trending topic on twitter. The Hulk Hogan signing has gotten TNA’s name out in the media and it is bound to draw in some of the older fans to TNA.

Low Road:

Hogan’s name is a draw, but is it enough of a draw to get more than a quick mention or glance from most? And, if his involvement does bring in new viewers for TNA, how long will those viewers stick around if Hogan doesn’t show up? Last week’s Impact was the first after the Hogan announcement and all it featured was highlights from the press conference. Part of using Hogan’s name to bring in viewers is to actually deliver Hogan. As well, while TNA has been improving as of late, it’s product isn’t at a level that will immediately hook someone and engage them. This is the time where TNA really has to be on its game, delivering fantastic matches and solid stories, and they aren’t doing that consistently enough. Who cares if you get a ratings bump for a couple of weeks if the numbers return to normal again after?

High Road:

While TNA signing Hogan is a big deal, I think that signing Eric Bischoff will also have a huge impact for TNA. Now, we don’t know if he is officially going to be involved in creative, but even if he gives a little input, I think it can be beneficial for TNA. The one thing that the Eric Bischoff signing does do, is that it allows for TNA programming to get a shot at another network if Spike passes on one of their programs. We have been hearing for awhile about some of the ideas that TNA has had, so the Bischoff signing could get these ideas on the air.

Low Road:

Eric Bischoff has been the driving force behind a lot of great moments in wrestling and made a lot of money for WCW and WWE, but he’s also been the driving force behind a lot of bad moments, including being one of the main contributors to the downfall of WCW. He seems to work best when he works under someone who isn’t afraid to keep him on a short leash, to take the good and throw out the bad. As for his influence in television, TNA has done well for itself with Spike and Spike was a big part of the press conference on Wednesday, so how much Bischoff will be needed in that area is debatable. TNA also needs to focus on raising the quality of their existing product before branching out too much.

Are you taking the High Road or the Low Road?

High Road
Low Road
Both Roads
OR

Simply write “High Road”, “Low Road”, or “Both Roads” in the comment section.

E-Mails:

These are all of the e-mails that we received this week. We do not respond to the actual e-mail, but the reply to your e-mail will be below.

Sat: The only email we received this week was for voting purposes.

Chad Nevett: Then on to the comments!

Comments:

Below are the comments for last week’s columns and our responses. Every comment will not be included because it makes our lives a lot easier. The comments section was last looked at on Saturday Night Pacific Time.

Michael Writes:

High road for me, they are all talented and Eric Young has shined ever since he went from goofy lovable shmuck afraid of his own pyro to The Leader of the group and has shown a great deal of cunning. Homicide, we know how good he is in tag and singles and has displayed a more violent side since he turned on Hernandez. The British Invasion, Magnus has improved tons since he first debuted earlier in the year wearing a spiked helmet. Williams is amazing and Terry fits the bodyguard enforcer role well with how huge and strong he is. Bashir and Kiyoshi are decent in the ring as well. They have racked up some impressive wins and they are holding gold also. They managed to interact and hold their own with the MEM as well.

Sat: I think the key for me is that Eric Young has shed that goofy gimmick and taken on a more serious role.

Chad Nevett: Eric Young has improved greatly over the past few months, beginning with his feud with Jeff Jarrett. While I don’t buy him as world belt material yet, he is far more credible now than he was a year ago (or even six months ago).

KanyonKreist Writes:

Both roads.

I love the Super-Friends-like cultural variety of the team, and the concept in general. This is something that hasn’t quite been done since I can remember. The closest thing I can think of was the UnAmericans, and they were used purely for exploitation, unlike the Elite.

However, as well as they’ve been used (as far as mid-carders go), it’s hard to consider some of these Elitists major threats. Aside from Eric Young and Homicide, most of the TNA audience had never heard of any of these guys a year ago. What exactly makes them “the best of the best”? And while we’re on the subject of Young, as much as I respect him as a performer, I don’t think he’s completely escaped his goofball image. His heel work has been good, and I support his inclusion in this group, but as their figurehead? I’m just not totally on board… Too bad Christian jumped back to WWE, huh?

Also, they really need some more muscle. I just don’t think a stable will be taken seriously at the top of the card if more than half of them are smaller X-Division guys. To expand to that role, they need, well, Desmond Wolfe, but also some more big guns. I wonder if they can get Takeshi Morishima…

P.S. – Welcome to the show(?), Chad. So far it looks like you’re able to inject logic in all the right places… that sounded weird. But anyway, the more nerds, the better, I say.

‘Til next week…

Sat: I think they probably need one more muscle guy. They have Big Rob, but they need one more guy.

Chad Nevett: Thanks for the welcome, glad you enjoyed my first contribution. I’m not sure they need to add anyone else as you don’t want the faction to get so big it can’t help but collapse under its own weight, but, as Sat mentioned, another big guy would give the group a more imposing presence.

Guest#6111 Writes:

High Road, absolutely. Despite the jobberific status of Kiyoshi and Bashir (could Kiyoshi be dropped and Bashir be played up as the money behind the group?), they have made an impressive impact in a short amount of time, most notably by consistently going toe to toe with the MEM. Eric Young has transformed into an excellent leader, shrewdly and confidently staying a few steps ahead of his enemies at every point. I still wouldn’t buy Young as World Champ contender, but if they made an acquisition of Samoa Joe or Desmond Wolfe (and you gotta think either would be perfectly reasonable), they’d have that base covered. And crazy Homicide has been missing from TNA for years.

Valiant effort, Low Road, but you just don’t have much of a leg to stand on.

Sat: I would hope Joe does not join because he would most likely overshadow Eric Young.

Chad Nevett: As much as Joe joining sounds appealing since he’d add credibility and muscle to the group, he would also become defacto leader because of his status. It would be difficult to buy him taking orders from Eric Young. Desmond Wolfe joining makes sense only in that he’s British; his character up until now suggests that he wouldn’t want to be part of any group, preferring to stand alone and make a name for himself solo.

BobbyC Writes:

High Road

In the “good ol’ days”, managers would have a stable of wrestlers. This would be a group who would still wrestle individually, sometimes as a team – but would help each other to cheat to win (as the manager directed).

Well – managers are all but gone – which is why you now have “factions” or “groups”. There is still a leader, but rather than a manager, there is a wrestler, usually the top dog of the group. And most groups need a theme – and “evil foreigners” is a tried and true formula.

It’s not original, but it’s necessary in the development of storylines (and of underdogs) to have a heel group that wins the “numbers game” and someone for the underdog face(s) to overcome.

Sat: You had to remind me about the fact that there are no managers. I find the fact that managers are no more one of the disappointing things with wrestling these days.

Chad Nevett: I also miss managers. Thanks to the plethora of DVDs showing older matches, we can all see just how instrumental managers were in getting over young wrestlers who didn’t have the mic experience to present themselves well and to impact the outcome of matches. A retired wrestler whose character has an anti-American history could have leant a lot of weight to the group, I think, making them a bigger deal right off the bat.

The Gold Standard Writes:

High Road. Young winning the Legends title and renaming it the Global title will actually give the belt a chance to be taken serious as a real title. British Invasion is great cause it adds another team to the tag division as well as contenders seeing that their champs now. Homicide could always be the x division guy and Kioyshi, Shiek and Rob Terry can be the guys who get bitched out from beat downs.

Sat: I really hope that title is renamed to the Global title, but I don’t think it will stick.

Chad Nevett: I love the idea of the Global Championship, but do wonder what they have in mind to eventually take the belt off of Young if he refuses to defend it against any Americans or on American soil. They may have written themselves into a corner with that idea.

TheWho Writes:

High Road:
Who would’ve thought that Eric Young would amount to anything more than a comedy act? He excels at playing the dastardly leader of the World Elite. In addition, this gives Bashir, Kiyoshi, and Homicide something to do when they would probably be lost in the shuffle.

TNA could strengthen the group, of course. Continue to build up Young, the Brits, and Homicide. And either make Bashir and Kiyoshi more active in the group or drop them altogether. A cool storyline might be that Eric Young tells them they aren’t pulling their weight and that one of them will be kicked out. The two can then have a mini-feud with Bashir winning and Kiyoshi packing his bags.

Sat: I think with the addition of Homicide should lead to Bashir or Kiyoshi being dropped.

Chad Nevett: As I said, Bashir and Kiyoshi have been such non-factors that dropping them would be a good idea, and would bring the group down to a more manageable size. Ideally, you don’t want any members getting lost in the shuffle, which is the case for the two of them.

B.W.G. Writes:

High Road

–Parroting all the sentiments on Young. Personally, I couldn’t give a shit about him or what he does in TNA, but I’m happy for the man that his character has gotten more face time in this role than he has since his days as part of Team Canada.

–Anything to improve, or at least add to, the tag division to any promotion is my top booking priority, and to that end the Brits have excelled here. Williams may have been a godsend to the other two guys…hardly anyone knocks Magnus for anything these days, and Terry has safety net to fall bakc on while he learns to actually work. Given enough time, HE can be one-half of the future tag champs if the Invasion drop and then win back the titles down the line.

–Kiyoshi may be useless here, but every faction needs a fall guy and he’s there explicitly for that purpose. Unlike most, I hope he can ride out the TNA stint for as long as possible, so when he gets back to AJPW it’ll seem important, he can get a decent push and finally move beyond the “lower midcard” status he been stuck in for nearly his entire career.

–The only real wrench in the group is Homicide, surprisingly, is Homicide. The fued with Hernandez is coming for sure: the real question is what does he do from there? It’s not like the company will ever take him seriously enough to be a big star (as his aborted X-Division title has shown).

Sat: Honestly, I see Homicide has number two in the group in terms of singles competitors and I think this is a good thing. Though if he enters a feud with Hernandez, that will not do him any favors.

Chad Nevett: Homicide feuding with the Amazing Red over the X-Division title is the smartest move for him right now. Though, with Red now being managed by Don West, it’s hard to tell who creative is going to push for the victory in that feud.

The Great Captain Smooth Writes:

High Road. It has the “a little bit of this and a little bit of that” vibe that I like. I would like to see them become of face group in the future. We’ve had enough of the “they aren’t from around here, so let’s boo them” type groups. I’d love to see them be one of those stables where anyone on the team is a tough out and if there is a big brawl, they use the proper teamwork to come out on top. In other words, they would work well together.

Sat: As one of the previous commentors mentioned, I don’t think you can have everybody be a tough out.

Chad Nevett: I think that the group came together at a time when the younger TNA wrestlers were perceived as being kept down by the veterans like the Main Event Mafia, Jeff Jarrett, and Team 3D helped it overcome the boring ‘they aren’t from around here, so let’s boo them’ aspect, but it is a very cliché idea.

JWestmoreland Writes:

High Road – If for no other reason then they are finally doing something relevant with Eric Young. I don’t care if no one takes him serious yet, its better than SUPER Eric! Plus, having Kyoshi and Rob Terry in the group doesn’t hurt because they are used more as backup(gang warfare) than in the ring. Though I think this group maybe would come across better as just EY, Homicide, and the British Invasion, I dont think Bashir and Kyoshi take anything away from them.

Sat: Man, I can’t believe I missed that. One of my high roads could have been, “Way better than Super Eric”.

Chad Nevett: As a relative newcomer to TNA, I missed ‘Super Eric,’ which sounds like a good thing.

Justin Writes:

Having sent in my own ‘Low Roads’ last week to become the replacement, I must say that Chad did a nice job, but was not as good as I.

Low Road.

Sat: As I said last week, I had a tough time picking a winner. At the end of the day, I decided to go with my initial reactions.

Chad Nevett: I knew someone would say that, but since I didn’t read anyone else’s submission, I can’t comment.

Scipio2009 Writes:

High Road:

-EY is emerging as a solid upper midcard, and possibly main event, threat, with his solid ringwork, promo ability, and the continued character development.

-The British Invasion vs. Beer Money Inc is set to be TNA’s tag team main event feud, and a feud against one of TNA’s most over draws should do tons to elevate The British Invasion even further. Also Rob Terry fits pretty well into his role as bodyguard of TBI, so things are looking up even more.

-Homicide gives the group a legit X-Division title threat, as well as a guy that’s been built to be a solid upper midcard threat.

-Bashir and Kiyoshi also fit into a role for the group, of necessary “enhancement fodder”, to protect other members of the group, as well as get over other talents challenging fellow group members. Both guys are solid in what they can do and are compelling enough personalities to maintain at their level, regardless of win-loss totals.

-And finally, if TNA decides that EY is more apt to stay in the upper midcard, rather than challenge the main event, TNA has a guy that they just brought in, in Desmond Wolfe, who can easily fill that role immediately. With Wolfe in the group, you also lay the foundation for EY’s eventual main event test feud of Wolfe-EY, in the coming future.

Things are looking really good for World Elite.

Sat: The one thing that comes to mind is that even if Eric Young does not become a main eventer, he can be a solid mid card talent for TNA.

Chad Nevett: I could buy Desmond Wolfe joining the group in the future if he did so by replacing Young by taking the Global title off of him.

Yoshio Writes:

They really should have ponied up the cash to get Masato Yoshino fulltime after his World X Cup 2008 appearances. Yoshino looked like a true star in that super 12 man elimination match in the semi-finals of the World X Cup.
oh and although all logic and current booking goes against this, i’d have to go high road. World Elite has a lot of potential as a mid-card threat, if only they could use the NUMBERS GAME more efficiently. if using multiple guys still doesn’t stop Hernandez, then what else could the group possibly do? run him over with a truck and say they did it for the rock?

Sat: Well, TNA does want Hernandez to be a top star for them, so the best way to do that is for him to always overcome the odds.

Chad Nevett: The conflicting desires of wanting to both push the World Elite and Hernandez resulted in some uneven booking that hurt both parties, I think. It still seems odd booking to me that the British Invasion couldn’t collectively defeat Hernandez on more than one occasion but have one both sets of tag belts in TNA. It was a feud where neither side came out looking as strong as they should have.

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Your reasons for taking the High Road, Low Road, or Both Roads and suggestions for future High Road/Low Road are welcome at [email protected] or in the comment section. Your reply will be included in next week’s column.