What Were They Thinking? 1.20.08: Wasted Talent and Those Without Talent in TNA.

Posted by William Bumgarner on 01.20.2008

This week, I take a look at more people TNA should be getting rid of and why.

Welcome, once again, to What Were They Thinking?. I had something of a choice to make
as far as my subject matter this week. I was so tempted to write about my feelings on the
whole Hustler/Nancy Benoit topic, but there's really not much to be said there except that
Larry Flynt is the scum of the Earth and this is low even for him. So, instead, I'm here to, in
a way, continue last week's column, as I've got more to say on that. It's mostly a "use 'em or lose 'em" piece about the dcent wrestlers they have that are being wasted in favor of a select few. (Speaking of wasted, Kurt Angle's going to trial for his DUI charge a few months ago.) But first, I want to answer a bit of criticism I received last week.

A guest named Rich said this:

why do you say one minute that TNA beating ECW in the ratings was no big deal, then by the
end of the column, you say it was?

I though that it was clear what I was saying, but I obviously have to explain myself to
some people. What I was getting at was that it was clear that people would rather see TNA than
Vince's "new" ECW, if given a choice. It was a commentary on how bad ECW on SciFi is.
Basically, I was saying that Vince should have taken a warning from the fact that, for the first time
since WCW folded, there was direct, head-to-head competition with one of his shows on national
TV and more people watched the competition than his show. In the long run, that victory over ECW
doesn't seem to be meaning much, as TNA's shows haven't improved in the ratings since then.

Also, I got a few e-mails regarding this and I'll answer them all here: I do not think that
Booker T and Kurt Angle are bad wrestlers. Far from it. But at this point, TNA is oversaturating their
roster with ex-WWE guys, and I feel that it's hurting the product as a whole. Had they not hired
Christian and then announced Kurt Angle, I'd probably be singing a different tune. But, as I said
once before, I lived through WCW's hiring itself to death and I'd hate to see that happen again.

Lastly, I received this e-mail from Steven Lavender (which I replied to personally, but it deserves
mentioning here):

First off, I'd like to say that i appreciate the fact that you have an opinion that you can write down
and share with other people. And do it like a professional, no less. I just thought, after all the
comments I read, that you needed to hear that.

It is very much appreciated, Steve. Thanks.

Secondly, I agree with you almost 100%. I was kinda hoping that Booker T would ride off into the
sunset, directly to his wrestling school. To Be Honest, There is no way that Kurt Angle should be
wrestling either, considering the shape that he's in. The reason he was fired from the WWE was
because he wouldn't take time off to rehap his injuries. Rhyno and Christian can be great veterans
for a roster. Christian is my favorite heel in the buisness and Rhyno is extremely underrated (plus i
love the gore).

Rhino's a fave of mine, too, and it's sad not to see him used as well as he could be (but at least
he's not being jobbed out to the likes of The Miz on WWECW every week; I'm actually going to talk a bit more about Rhgino later on). And you're right; Kurt was let go from the WWE because he wouldn't take the time to let his injuries heal, and now he's in TNA, where they obviously only care about whether or not he can wrestle now and aren't worried about what it could do to him a year from now. Booker T has more talent than most guys in the WWE right now, but he really should be focusing on his wrestling school. I say he should
train guys there, then work with TNA to get them brought into the roster. He could do a lot more for
the business that way and keep himself healthy as he gets older. A lot of guys made that
mistake and paid the price for it. I just hope that doesn't happen to Booker. I never was a big fan of
his, but I'd hate to see someone crippled later in life because they didn't know when to quit.

Okay; now for the main part of the column - people TNA should be getting rid of. I'll start with the
Voodoo Kin Mafia. Seriously - were these guys ever entertaining? I never saw these two run
as members of DX (thankfully, I was a WCW fan at the time), but I can't imagine them ever putting
on a decent promo or match. BG James was tolerable as part of the 3 Live Kru, but when they
brought in Billy Gun (who proceeded to use two or three different names, as I recall, before sticking
with Kip James), not only was one of the better acts on the show busted up, but it only accentuated
BG's faults on the mic and in the ring. As the James Gang, it was bad enough. But these two were
totally buried by the "VKM vs. VKM" thing, which even I will admit was a very stupid
move on TNA's part, and have been going downhill ever since. Please - cut these two loose and put
them out of our misery.

I initially had a paragraph about Shark Boy here, but TNA finally seems to have a direction for him, so I'll hold off on this at least until I see where, if anywhere, this leads.

Next, we have Samoa Joe. He was going strong all through his TNA tenure and had a strong feud
with Jeff Jarrett until Christian Cage entered the mix. Joe was then forgotten. After Cage took the
belt and Jarrett disappeared from TNA due to his wife's illness and subsequent death, Joe came
back sttrong and looked poised to finally win the title from Christian.....and then along
comes Angle. TNA immediately books The Olympic Gold Medalist and the Samoan Submission
Machine into a feud, forgetting Joe in the title picture, and by the time Joe got back around to
hunting the belt, not only had it become a side note in the new feud between Christian and Angle,
but most people felt that TNA had missed their chance to pull the trigger on the "Era of Joe". Now, if
Joe can manage to go on to win the belt and do it soon, we can only hope that it's enough to
salvage him. But he came into TNA a monster; a destroyer; a merciless mountain of muscle who
had gained quite the following in Ring of Honor; but the way they've booked him is beyond
stupid. Honestly; I try to give Russo the benefit of the doubt these days, but he's not making
it easy on me. (Since I originally wrote this, a news item here on 411 has stated that Joe is being groomed for the TNA Championship. If that is true, then they're finally going to use him properly and this little rant won't mean as much. But, just in case that report was in error or he's not slated to win the belt for a few months yet, I'm leaving it up here.)

Fourth, Scott Steiner. Don't get me wrong; he's doing better than he did in his WWE run and
better than he was in WCW's later years, but he's still not the best guy TNA has on
the roster (though, as far as the older guys go, I'd rather watch Big Poppa Pump than VKM or Kevin "I Pulled A Hamstring Ordering A Pizza So I Can't Make The Show" Nash). His promos with the Dudleys were pure gold and left promises of things to come.....but then they mysteriously have the Dudleys feud with the entire X-Division and leave the Steiners with nothing. I remember Scott being injured at one show (I think it was in Puerto Rico; feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) and them having to hastily rewrite a few angles/feud, but they could have at least let it play out with a decent match or two after Scott's return. So they're booking Steiner as a guy angry because Petey Williams got the World Title Shot (which, by the way, I had almost forgotten about because they only mention it in passing whenever Scott and/or Petey has a match, and then that's seemingly only when TNA doesn't have something about Kurt Angle to air) after Scott opted to trade cases
with Williams, and now Scott steals back the case that was his in the first place. (I'm never going to
become an out-and-out Russo-hater like most of the IWC, but I can honestly see where you guys
are coming from sometimes.) I mean, to Steiner's credit, I can't recall a single instance of him no-
showing (Scott Hall, anyone?) and the only time he missed any TV time was dueto the aforementioned injury, and if you can't think of anything better to so with someone who has, if nothing else, been fairly reliable since he was hired, it's time to not only cut him loose, but also to think about whether or not you're actually, you know, thinking in the first place.

Team 3D is number five on this list, again due to being misused. These guys have more talent than
TNA is letting show. I mean, feuding against the X-Division? Yeesh. The Dudleys did better than
this during their time as heels on SmackDown! being bossed around first by Heyman, then
by Spike. I'm not ragging on the X-Division; far from it. But the entire division is being made to look
like chumps, especially given that their champion doesn't even have his belt around his waist
because it's been "stolen" by the Dudleys. This happened before. Once was towards the end of WCW.
Terry Funk was the recognized WCW Hardcore Champion, but the belt was "stolen" (by either
Meng or The Barbarian; I can't rightly remember which and I can't find a website that gives specific
details on that) and the title was abandoned and never mentioned again. (I hope that the
same thing doesn't happen here, because a well-booked X-Division is really the only thing that can
save TNA at this point.) There was also at least one case where the NWA Championship was "stolen" from Jeff Jarrett by Samoa Je (I believe there was another instance of someone stealing the belt from Double J before Joe did, but I can't recall any details or find anything on the web, so I may be mistaken about the other theft Like I said with Shark Boy, Joe, and Steiner....if you can't book 'em better than this, then this is another pair you're better off not having on the roster. Name value alone doesn't guarantee a good show. I've been to indy shows that have no wrestlers of real name value on them, but still put on better matches than what you usually get on national TV. You have to have wrestlers with talent and know how to book said talent in order to have a good show. Sadly, TNA has the first in abundance, but very, very little of the second.

Number six - Rhino. Seriously, I know the guy's had personal problems in the past that turned many
fans against him, but from what I've seen of his WWE and TNA tenures (alas, I saw very little of his
ECW work), the guy can still go in the ring. I wouldn't reccomend hardcore-type matches at this
stage, because there's no telling how much damage has already been done to his body. But book
him teaming with/facing off against some of the newer guys and let them learn from him, and they're
sure to pick up something. Or book him with/against veterans and let their combined experience
show in the ring. But at least, you know, use him as long as he's under contract. I'll be the
first to admit that he's far from the best or most skilled guy to ever grace the squared (hexagoned?)
circle, but I have no doubt that he'd be able to at least liven up the upper-midcard (though having him
main event would be dicey at this point, considering how he's been booked). His too-short reign as
NWA World Heavyweight Champion was fairly decent, but he ended up jobbing out to Jeff Jarrett
(the former champ) and thus making his title reign merely a footnote in NWA history. At 32, Rhino
still has a good bit of time as an in-ring performer, but TNA is wasting that time by refusing to do
anything with him.

I was going to mention Raven, as well, but it'd be basically repeating the Rhino paragraph (although
Raven got a considerably longer NWA Championship reign before doing the job to Jarrett). And, at
43, he has even less useful in-ring time than Rhino, assuming he hasn't used it up already.

There's no use in talking about Rikishi, Scott Hall, or Test here, as none of them are under contract
at this point (hell; Rikishi wasn't under contract to begin with), but I will say that those incidents
should have been a wakeup call to TNA about being careful who they hire. But I will
go so far as to say that, if I owned a wrestling promotion, I wouldn't even think about
hiring these guys, as their records speak for themselves.

That really about does it for this week. I honestly can't think of anyone else who TNA is better off
without (or who is better off without TNA, which is really the issue here, I suppose). TNA is making
major mistakes in who they hire and how they book them; this is why they've lost Chris Harris and
Ron "The Truth" Killings. They push their real talent aside to make room for people that can
"stick it to the competition", whereas all they do is come off looking like a bush-league promotion.
Seriously; they're looking like a little kid drawing on the walls and saying "Look at me! Check out
what I'm doing!". It's really pathetic.

Again, feel free to comment, though, to my detractors.....if you hate me so much, why do you read
my column in the first place? It boggles the mind, really.