High Road/Low Road 01.08.10: Jeff Hardy 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 TNA-WWE Head to Head:

High Road: 56%
Low Road: 13%
Both Roads: 31%

Chad Nevett: I expected the high road to win, but am surprised at how many chose both roads. Some guarded optimism is usually the smartest way to go in these situations.

Sat: I also expected the high roads to win, but I was expecting to be by a larger margin.

Jeff Hardy In TNA

High Road:

Jeff Hardy joining TNA was definitely the most shocking moment of the night. We all expected Ric Flair to join TNA eventually. We knew that Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, and the Nasty Boys were going to be in attendance. I think that when we look back, Jeff Hardy joining TNA will be similar to when Lex Luger joined WCW.

Low Road:

I can’t argue with the shock factor (even despite the rumors swirling on Monday about his presence in Orlando), but the actual execution of his arrival was pretty bad. He comes through the crowd with little fanfare, mixes it up for two seconds with Homicide, climbs the cage, and then paints pictures backstage. How about having him do something? For anyone who hasn’t watched wrestling a long time (a group Hogan was supposed to bring in somewhat), it was a non-event when it didn’t have to be. Having Hardy actually compete would have been a much better way of introducing him.

High Road:

TNA knew that they were not going to win the rating war against the WWE. I think that is one of the main reasons that they introduced Jeff Hardy in the first hour because they were guaranteed to have people watching who were waiting for RAW to start. Plus, after seeing his arrival people probably started to wonder what else TNA had under their sleeves and they would have been more likely to stay with Impact instead of changing the channel.

Low Road:

The poor manner in which he arrived also sends the message that while surprise arrivals may happen, nothing of consequence will actually occur. That reduces the surprises to soundbytes rather than something that must be seen. Seeing Hardy arrive live and hearing that he joined TNA were virtually identical, so why bother actually watching Impact?

High Road:

You could probably argue that Jeff Hardy made a mistake to join TNA, but I don’t think that is fair. I think that Jeff Hardy joined TNA because he wants to wrestle, but he wants a lighter wrestling schedule. TNA can offer that while the WWE can not. I think that Jeff could have gotten more money from the WWE, but at the end of the day, I think he wanted to spend more time at home.

Low Road:

At the same time, TNA may not be good for Hardy since they are much more lax in their cracking down on talent with substance abuse problems. It’s not my place to discuss Hardy’s personal life, but there is at least some measure of comfort that, in the WWE, they try and keep their talent clean and provide whatever assistance to that effect. TNA, in its desperation to compete with the WWE, looks the other way much more.

High Road:

The one thing that I am willing to concede is that Jeff Hardy’s court case could be a huge problem for TNA. If I had to guess, I think that TNA probably did their due diligence to make sure that this will not be a problem, but granted TNA has done some stupid moves in the past.

Low Road:

As has been pointed out, an indictment isn’t damning and is, apparently, very easy to obtain. And, of course, Hardy is innocent until proven guilty. But, the timing of the indictment did not make TNA or Hardy look good. When Hardy debuted, news of the indictment hadn’t been released, but it still seemed a questionable move to sign him because of the drug charges hanging over him. Whatever the reality is, it simply does not come off as the move a serious, professional company would be making at this time. We’re expected to take TNA seriously and this move shows that they’re far more concerned with a short-term surprise than long-term consequences, and that’s an amateurish image to have.

High Road:

Jeff Hardy is definitely going to help TNA in multiple categories. I see his merchandise sales helping TNA and I think the potential is there to see Jeff Hardy’s TNA DVD re-released. Jeff Hardy is also going to help TNA draw in the female viewer ship. We have seen Jeff Hardy have a huge influence on the female population and I see this continuing in TNA.

Low Road:

The crossover between the WWE and TNA is debatable when it comes to the fanbase and Hardy has been out of the general audience’s eyes for four months, which may not seem like a long time, but is enough for people to forget about him. I think this is an area where the surprise arrival of Hardy hurt TNA as advertising his involvement with Hogan’s may have brought in the female viewers you mentioned right off the bat. Now, it’s a matter of hoping that things slowly build as people learn that Hardy is in TNA.

High Road:

Jeff Hardy was a world champion for the WWE just a few months ago and now he is with TNA. I think that this is one of the things that makes it a huge signing for TNA. TNA has not brought in a guy from the WWE that was world champion just a few months ago. They have been bringing in guys who were world champions, but were on the tail end of their careers. Hopefully, TNA continues to make the Jeff Hardy’s signing a big deal.

Low Road:

This could be big, but they seem intent on not capitalizing on that world champion status by putting Hardy into a feud with Homicide, a guy who hasn’t been able to even win the X-Division title off Amazing Red. I don’t want this to come off as being negative on Homicide as I like him, but Hardy’s world champion status means zip if it’s not used to push Hardy in TNA. He doesn’t have to be the number one contender and scheduled to face AJ Styles soon, but at least placing him within the sphere of main eventers is warranted, or it’s a waste.

High Road:

Jeff Hardy’s arrival in TNA has created for some interesting matches. I’m not going to spend too much time on this, but if you look at the roster, every match up looks very intriguing. I think that this will help TNA’s buy rate a bit and keep the fans interested.

Low Road:

Any new addition to a roster creates interesting match possibilities. This is only a positive if you like Jeff Hardy and TNA actually follows through on the promise of new, interesting matches.

High Road:

While I am writing this before anything has officially been announced, I think that it is a smart move to have Jeff Hardy face off against Homicide in his first feud. Since Jeff Hardy was a world champion for the WWE, it would seem like a mistake to start him against an X-Division competitor. I would argue that it would be a mistake to abandon a very good Angle/Styles program just to insert Hardy into the main event. Plus, Hardy has not wrestled for a few months, so he is going to have to get into ring shape. I see him being in the main event in a few months.

Low Road:

What about Daniels, Desmond Wolfe, or Samoa Joe? Why not have Hardy feud with one of them? How about playing up the real life friendship of Joe and CM Punk, using the WWE’s own storytelling to help put over that feud? He doesn’t need to be in the main event, but putting him up against main event talent is the smart move here.

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.

Freddy Neuwendyke Writes:

High road. This is what the business needs. Competition is what drives companies to be creative. It’s no big secret WWE is in a huge rut and TNA needs direction. Hopefully competition is just the thing to force both companies to be creative instead of the same old same old.

As for the Fiesta Bowl well wrestling is always gonna be up against some show somewhere. It ain’t like back in the `50s when TV was only the DuMont network, ABC, and NBC. Every program is competing against something. That’s the way the biz goes. It’s not up to the other networks to make room for wrasslin’ it’s up to wrasslin’ to step up their game and prove they can hang in the bigs.

No more excuses about holidays, football, basketball, hockey, baseball, auto racing, olympics, poker games, spelling bees, eating contests, bowling, LOST, Survivor, or American Idol. It’s time for wrestling to step up and answer the call to greatness not to keep leaning on the crutches of mediocrity.

Sat: Good point. When you think about it, there can be excuses made every week for why the rating is down.

Chad Nevett: I like the sentiment you’re expressing here. I didn’t mean to raise the Fiesta Bowl as an excuse for poor ratings, merely as one reason. Accepting specific programs as tapping into the wrestling fanbase as a reason for ratings dips is different than using that as an excuse. A one-time event (well, once a year) like the Fiesta Bowl is different than steady programs that happen every week, too.

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 Tuesday Morning Pacific Time.

The Great Captain Smooth Writes:

Both roads, leaning high. Low, because of the crap that can be on both shows. High, because of Hogan, any other shocks that may happen on Impact, Bret Hart coming back, what might happen with Bret, Vince, and DX, how they will deal with Cena not being there, and I doubt this will happen, but anything could. Will Bret screw Vince and show up on TNA?

Sat: At the end of the day, the head to head showdown was a high road for me. Sure, there was problems with both shows, but I had a fun time watching both shows.

Chad Nevett: I wasn’t that impressed with Impact. I found the drama better on Raw with Hart/Michaels/McMahon, while TNA only delivered two rather good matches that had nothing to do with Hogan.

The Gold Standard Writes:

High Road for TNA. Even if they get beat they have got the E’s attention. TNA got Hogan so WWE countered with Hart. If the WWE acted like they didnt care they would have got someone else. In any event I hope TNA comes through cause WWE nowadays is just utter crap. Really no different then TNA when pushing guys past their prime over young talent (see Taker over Punk).I expect a lot of misutilized performers in the WWE to head to TNA.

Sat: I’ll agree that TNA has the WWE’s attention. I will also say that there were some questionable calls by TNA too.

Chad Nevett: Both companies need to do better, but getting the WWE’s attention may not be the best thing for TNA in the long run given the WWE’s much larger size and financial position.

Guest#4602 Writes:

High Road

Positives:
– TNA has nothing to lose.
– WWE probably already had the Hitman lined up, but they’ll have more incentive to deliver something big.

Negatives:
– Probably lots of promos and highlight reels to fill time on Impact.
– Tons of direct references to Raw on Impact. (Although, with Cena at the Fiesta Bowl, I’d like to see TNA bring in a Cena lookalike to kick around.)

Sat: The one thing I found surprising about TNA was the amount of promos and commercials that they had (the commercials is understandable though).

Chad Nevett: TNA has plenty to lose, but more to gain. There were far less promos on TNA than I’m used to, but that’s because Hogan has arrived, so there’s no need to constantly hype the deal he made and his imminent arrival before and after each commercial break.

JLAJRC Writes:

Both Roads. This Monday is going to be a fun time in general for wrestling fans, like it was during the original Monday Night Wars. I can also see the ratings for both shows going up, even if it is slight. That’s actually benefits TNA more because any increase for them is good.

Now for the lows:
Let’s be honest, this Monday boils down to “Who do you like more?” Hulk Hogan (and whoever he may bring in) or Bret Hart? The matches on either show, even if they’re good, don’t matter. It’s all about Hogan/Hart. Once the excitement of their appearances wears off, what are they gonna do?

I don’t see the ratings for either show skyrocketing this Monday. I can see TNA going from a 1.1 to a 1.4, and Raw going from 3.2 to a 3.5. While TNA might declare that a victory, that would have to be a disappointment for the WWE.

Speaking of a ratings increase for TNA, will those extra viewers follow them to their usual Thursday night slot? That’s a big maybe.

Plus, what about long term plans? If TNA’s big plan is NWO Part 78, they are going to be for a big shock when that fails. A Hart/Vince feud is just plain more interesting, even if everyone is expecting it.

Sat: Seems like TNA is rehashing the NWO which I think is a mistake. Hopefully, it is not the same old stuff and something new.

Chad Nevett: The Hart/Vince stuff is far more interesting than an NWO retread. Sure, neither story will feature great wrestling, but one has been twelve years in the making and the other has no real reason to return other than… a lack of creativity?

KanyonKreist Writes:

Sure, TNA will get their asses kicked this time around, but the bigger failure here would be a failure to TRY to compete. They really do have nothing to lose.

I mean, how much of the casual viewing audience checks the ratings? Y’know? TNA *LOOKING* like a credible rival show would be almost as good as actually BEING one, on this occasion.

Until I’m proven wrong, I say that any competition for the WWE juggernaut is a good thing… even if it is the stink-bomb that is TNA Impact!

HIGH road.

Sat: That’s a good point. Any competition is definitely a good thing for the wrestling fans.

Chad Nevett: The perception of being a credible rival is, indeed, more important than actually being one since being perceived as one can lead to being one.

The Pants Writes:

Low Road
It seems the more we clamor for a new Monday Night War (capitalized), the further from it we get. Not that TNA or WWE is so bad, you just need to convert fans who wouldn’t watch at all, not old fans who stopped watching. Most of those folks were following the fad, not that invested in the actual show (Lots of my old wrestling buddies fit that mold).
That said, though Hart’s arrival is better hyped and more meaningful, nothing brings people to wrestling like Hogan. In the long run, unless TNA has a genius streak of innovative shows (which, if anyone in wrestling can do it, it’s Russo) this won’t mean too much, though. There just aren’t enough wrestling fans, and creating new ones takes risks that wrestling is not apt to take, though they try, with pathetic results, now and then (Katie Vick, Vince’s death, Sandman crucified, Oklahoma). Also, wrestling is so ubiquitous now that another boom seems hard to accomplish. From video games to stores in the mall people are constantly shown it. It may be too mainstream for another resurgence.

Sat: I kind of buy that. I don’t see there being another huge reassurance like before, but I do see a small resurgence.

Chad Nevett: I’ve also been wondering if another Monday Night War is really a good thing. The first time around, it was exciting and lead to some good things, but the product then was just as uneven and full of godawful stories and angles as it is now. I think a lot of people look back on that time through rose-colored glasses.

Eboney Writes:

I say Both.

High – TNA has everything to lose, but it’s about time they are taking a big gamble like this. The last time they had a Monday night slot is when the WWE was bumped for a dog show. So, what did TNA do? Not a live show, not even a new show. But a recap? Come on. I wasn’t sure what to think about Hogan being in TNA at first. But if this means that he single-handedly made TNA as a whole grow some balls, this I am all for it.

Low Road –
It has nothing to do with having to choose sides. This is TNA. For every good episode of iMPACT!, there’s at least a whole month of TV that even the biggest fan would be hard-pressed to say they watched. If any company in history has managed to shoot themselves in the foot continuously, it’s TNA.

Sat: I would say that TNA shot themselves in the foot this past Monday. Besides Hardy debuting and the Angle/Styles match, everything was pretty hard to watch. The opening match was bad, strip poker was a bad idea, Orlando Jordan debuting, NWO rehash, multiple people trying to get in the building. I think at the end of the day, TNA shot themselves in the foot.

Chad Nevett: It was an uneven episode that, honestly, wasn’t that different from any other episode. The best and worst parts of it were the sorts of thing you’d expect from TNA and have seen from them in the past. For all the talk of change, I didn’t see it.

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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.