The Wrestling Doctor 05.13.08: TNA Sacrifice

Posted by W.S. Thomason on 05.13.2008

The Wrestling Doctor looks at the wrongs (and the rights) of TNA Sacrifice.

THE WRESTLING DOCTOR: THE PRESCRIPTION FOR WHAT AILS

Welcome to The Wrestling Doctor, where the troubles of professional wrestling will be thoroughly examined and then offered a practical prescription. You may not agree with the assessment, but hopefully the column will open up a new dialogue on the state the business that consumes far too much of our time.

THE SECOND OPINION
The consensus appears to be that the WWE should reduce its schedule. There are a lot of arguments over how to achieve that goal, from one week on / one week off to holding a live Friday Smackdown / Saturday house show and a Raw Sunday house / live Monday broadcast. The reality is that the WWE is not likely to make any adjustments unless they see a financial benefit in doing so; as it stands now, they will look at the numbers associated with reducing house shows, see a drop, and do nothing. The WWE will have to suffer a loss from their current schedule in order to make much needed changes. The top talent will have to simultaneously go down in a scenario out of Dr. James Andrews' dreams, or the fans will have to demand a reduction in events by refusing to attend house shows. My money is on the former.

THIS WEEK'S PATIENT: TNA SACRIFICE
I was wrestling with my original plan for this week's column, but I could not seem to finish it. Then TNA pushed out that pay-per-view stinker Sunday night and my problem was solved.

Unlike most IWC pundits, I really liked the idea of the Deuces Wild tournament. I also was fond of WCW's Lethal Lottery in theory, but just like the execution of that concept, TNA did not deliver on this unique tag team tournament. It could have been great, but the gimmick was killed in the (over) booking room. The pairings of the "Egotistical Eight" were painfully predictable – three of the teams were the exact combinations of rivals that even casual viewers expected – and the fact that the teams began to be assembled on Impact removed any element of surprise. Awesome Kong's inclusion in the tournament had great potential, but putting her together with B.G. James and jobbing the team out in less than six minutes was a waste of her talent and presence. She would have been better used taunting the other Knockouts from the ramp during the battle royal. The four established pairings all made the semifinals, making the inclusion of random tandems meaningless. The only decent development to come of the "Egotistical Eight" was the heel turn of Booker T.

An alternative may have been to include four established teams – dropping Styles / Eric for The Motor City Machine Guns – and two teams randomly paired on air from a larger group of stars (with Styles / Eric in that mix) at the pay-per-view in two triple-threat matches, with the winning teams advancing to the finals. Alternatively, they could have held the early matches on and only booked the semi-finals and the finals on the pay-per-view, like several of the King of the Ring shows. Either scenario would have allowed more time to develop quality matches throughout the card.

The biggest problem with a pay-per-view tournament is that it forces bookers into an unhealthy abbreviation of matches. A company could get away with abbreviated matches in the pre-Monday Night Wars era, such as the tournament at Wrestlemania IV, but short matches between respectable talents are the television norm today. Giving people the exact same thing that they can get for free is beyond bad business. Seven out of the ten matches were at or under ten minutes, which reeks a little too much of Starrcade 90 for my comfort level.

TNA did do two things right at . First, they booked Kaz into the main event. He earned his spot by winning Terror Dome, and he has built up a track record by winning the Fight for the Right tournament and giving Angle a great match on Impact. The booking of his character since November has been questionable, but at Sacrificehe got another chance to show that he can hang in a main event situation. If his push continues remains to be seen, but Sunday night was a last-minute substitution well done.

But the most brilliant thing that TNA did Sunday night was shaving the head of Roxxi Laveaux. Hell, this may have been their best booking move outside of giving the belt to Samoa Joe.

I am a big fan of Roxxi; besides Kong, she is my favorite Knockout. She has a fantastic character that can be taken in a lot of directions. She has shown that she can carry a match and a storyline. She is willing to work ladder matches, cage matches, and is not afraid to bleed. Her growth since her lackluster debut last fall has been incredible, and the fans have rewarded her hard work and dedication with their solid support.

Roxxi is over, and that was evident last night. Fans were not chanting, "Fire Russo!" during the match (as they were at last year's Destination X) but after it, because Roxxi was the one getting shaved. They did not like the screwy finish, but if Angelina Love or Velvet Sky had been under the shears because of a Laveaux run-in, those chants would not have gone out. The shaving was most likely legitimately humiliating for Roxxi, but she will benefit from it in the long run. She displayed her toughness during the ladder match, and she showed her dedication to the company by going along with a very difficult and questionable storyline decision. The fans are not going to forget that. Roxxi's character is designed for revenge, and she can spend the summer dishing out just desserts one-by-one to the Knockouts who caused her embarrassment. She will then be in a great position to challenge Kong again in the fall. Laveaux has picked up serious character momentum by last night's result. Look for Roxxi to be the one to take the belt off of Kong later this year.

So all was not disaster. However, the over-crowding of Sacrifice with short and ultimately meaningless matches was the type of bad business decision of which TNA needs to be overly sensitive. The WWE can afford to deliver two or three weak pay-per-views a year. Their industry pedigree and financial resources allows them generous room from failure; they can even produce a downright pitiful event once a year without major ramifications. TNA does not enjoy this luxury. One bad pay-per-view may be all it takes to turn off casual fans, who are the backbone of any successful business enterprise. A lot of fans who have been turned onto TNA this year may think twice before buying a future pay-per-view. That does not mean that they will not buy another, but TNA cannot afford as much second-guessing as the folks in Stamford.

TNA is nearing a stage in its development where it can make a real run, but it needs to be careful not to expand faster than its resources. The company is gaining fans and expanding their merchandising and house show profits, but pay-per-view revenue remains its bread and butter. If TNA alienates its PPV base, it is dead in the water.

I was a loyal WCW fan since 1987, sticking with the company from JCP to Jim Herd, wading through Lazor-Tron and P.N. News, Bill and Erik Watts, and Ric Flair's first retirement at the hands of Hulk Hogan. I stuck with them through most of the Monday Night Wars, but I eventually drew the line at purchasing their later pay-per-views. The breaking point for me was Starrcade 99, another in a long series of dismal WCW PPVs (with or without Russo) that suffered from over-crowding, senseless booking, and were only set-up vehicles for the following Nitro. TNA is not to that stage yet, but they are closer than most in Orlando believe. Great television will make a company a lot of fans, but pay-per-views will lose a company the paying fans that really matter. People can be tempted into purchasing a show by a great build, but they will stop buying if they have a few bad experiences. For TNA's future, Sacrifice must be the worst pay-per-view of 2008.