Various News: Heyman On TNA Talent, ROH Toronto Show Tickets, Dreamer, More
Posted by Ashish on 05.20.2008
More Tuesday news...
- Tickets for Ring of Honor's Canadian debut on 7/25 in Toronto are now on sale at rohwrestling.com.
- Paul Heyman has a new column up on the Sun UK website where he talks about five talents he feels are underrated and underutilized in pro-wrestling. #2 is the entire TNA roster.
"No long term concepts + bad television writing + zero marketing strategy = hard working talents whose efforts are wasted on a show that has not grown the audience whatsoever despite the tens of millions of dollars sunken into it."
- Cryme Time, Jimmy Wang Yang, Melina, Elijah Burke, Jesse, Festus, Lena Yada, Jillian Hall and Domino will be appearing at the opening of Victoria's new bodyshop, Black Widow Customs, on 5/22 in Louisville, Kentucky.
- Tommy Dreamer has a new article up on WWE.com where he looks at a charity event that he, Mick Foley, and other WWE stars appeared at. Check out the article here.
"No long term concepts + bad television writing + zero marketing strategy = hard working talents whose efforts are wasted on a show that has not grown the audience whatsoever despite the tens of millions of dollars sunken into it."
Its True! Its damn true!
Posted By: Spike (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 01:32 PM
Heyman needs work asap,and tna would be smart to give it to him.
Posted By: mark7 (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 01:33 PM
Why doesn't Heyman (or TNA for that matter) realize that James Mitchell is horrible tv? He's so hideous that I have to change the channel when he's on. And his corny promos...ugh. He's like something out of the early 80's Florida indies.
Posted By: Peanutty (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 01:41 PM
I dont always agree with Heyman, but he's spot on here. Dammit, sometimes shit makes you think - you've got Vince Russo, notorious for stupid, shallow, short-minded & general craptastic booking (remember when he booked himself as WCW Champion? unbe-fucking-lievable) calling the shots and generally making a mess of everything with his million and one "[x] on a pole" matches, while Heyman, the booking genius who even made Justin Credible look good, sits on the shelf!! What the fuck is wrong with the world??!!
Posted By: Killah (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 01:46 PM
please take heed to the wise one's words tna, and maybe the business would have a viable #2.
Posted By: jeremiah g (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 01:47 PM
"No long term concepts + bad television writing + zero marketing strategy = hard working talents whose efforts are wasted on a show that has not grown the audience whatsoever despite the tens of millions of dollars sunken into it."
This is just so fucking true, specially considered how much good, great and varied wrestlers are there.
Posted By: Heyman Mark (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 01:48 PM
Peanutty is right but that's why I like Mitchell. He reminds me of the diabolical Kevin Sullivan. All that's missing is the Beetlenut, The Purple Haze and Habudadin...
Posted By: Charlie (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 01:48 PM
"Tickets for Ring of Honor's Canadian debut on 7/25 in Toronto are now on sale at rohwrestling.com"
AND SO FAR, 36 PEOPLE HAVE BOUGHT TICKETS
Posted By: ARMIN (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 01:48 PM
I can definitely see where he's coming from. I don't know if that would be my top five but certain they are underused. Especially the entire TNA roster. Lol.
The biggest problem there seems to be that Russo is desperate to do whatever he can to draw attention AWAY from the wrestlers in TNA rather then towards them.
But I would also add to that the entire WWE tag team division and both the US and IC titles at the WWE. It took six PPVs for the WWE to get around to defending one of it's tag titles and even then it only got 9 minutes against a makeshift team of singles competitors. Rather like Beth being wasted in the limited WWE womens division Miz & (especially) Morrison are totally wasted in WWE's tag team wasteland.
Still they get more coverage then Raws champs, they get stuck jobbing on HEAT. Lol.
Posted By: Fenris (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 01:50 PM
Heyman is a guy that, for all intents and purposes, SHOULD have had more success in wrestling. He doesn't rely on just hardcore to tell stories (he was the head SD! booker during the era when Edge/Mysterio/the Guerreros, Benoit/Angle were running wild).
What TNA needs right now is innovative writing. All they have now are ridiculously gimmicked matches that half the time, don't even make sense (reverse battle royal, title shots on a pole, an entire PPV dedicated to cage matches). Heyman CAN provide that innovation if they let him.
Posted By: ThatNickGuy (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 01:52 PM
James Mitchell when was the last time he was on TV? I know he was in the Chris Parks promo but that was months old. He has not been TV since Ricky left TNA.
Posted By: Sully (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 01:55 PM
Heyman may be right, but hiring him as booker will not improve the marketing strategy of the company. That is what is needed for more exposure. Look at the WWE. Everything they do outside of the ring, whether it be Christmas with the Troops, or Make a Wish stuff, down to the Smackdown your Vote campaigns... They may serve a good cause, but the WWE gets garaunteed good publicity out of stuff like this, while keeping WWE superstars in the public eye.
Posted By: Toddo (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 02:05 PM
I puked in my mouth a bit when I saw Tito Ortiz on that list, but damn that Heyman. Little punk DID raise a DAMN good point.
Posted By: CM Wolf (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 02:15 PM
Heyman is officially in "please hire me TNA!" mode. Before he just talked about their marketing, but now he is all over their writing and booking. And who does he think could fix all that? Why him of course!
I guess he already has the itch to get back into wrestling. Not shocked.
Posted By: Steve (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 02:29 PM
Actually Steve Heyman has no time for wrestling. He's just a wrestling fan complaining like all other wrestling fans do. He's absolutely right though.
Posted By: Marcus (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 02:40 PM
I never really thought about it but Tito would make a damn fine pro wrestler.
Posted By: Jake Fury (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 03:07 PM
Actually Marcus, considering what has become of his post-wrestling career, he likely has plenty of time for wrestling. He might have left wrestling for good if he got involved in the purchase of the MMA company Strikeforce. But that fell through.
Paul Heyman is a lifer. Wrestling is the one area where he excelled at. It sounds like he wants to write and book again. It's an addiction.
Posted By: Steve (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 03:09 PM
"No long term concepts + bad television writing + zero marketing strategy = hard working talents whose efforts are wasted on a show that has not grown the audience whatsoever despite the tens of millions of dollars sunken into it."
Remove "tens of millions of dollars" and "bad television writing", add "I don't pay my hard working wrestlers, because I don't have money, and we get pretty close describe of ECW
Posted By: L'Mago (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 03:31 PM
Give Heyman a little more control than Vince McMahon would and keep him away from the checkbook and I think he could do wonders with TNA.
Posted By: Erock (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 03:33 PM
"Remove "tens of millions of dollars" and "bad television
writing", add "I don't pay my hard working wrestlers, because I don't
have money, and we get pretty close describe of ECW"
What the hell is your point?
Posted By: Jamal (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 03:35 PM
TNA, Paul Heyman just PWNED your asses! XD
Posted By: Guest#7718 (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 03:37 PM
@Peanutty ?
James Mitchell is bad for TV ?
Mitchell's promo's are golden - TNA dropped the ball on Abysss's last foe - he was a runt compared to Abyss !
James Mitchell hasn't even been on TV for Christ sakes !
Posted By: WTF (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 03:49 PM
I think the next time people are at a TNA event, they should break out in a Heyman chant
Posted By: TWilliams (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 03:59 PM
WOW.I had no idea that tna was still in business.I thought they went out a while ago.
Posted By: wwe is better (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 04:01 PM
""Remove "tens of millions of dollars" and "bad television
writing", add "I don't pay my hard working wrestlers, because I
don't
have money, and we get pretty close describe of ECW"
Posted By: L'Mago (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 03:31 PM
What the hell is your point?
Posted By: Jamal (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 03:35 PM
"
That Heyman has little room to talk when it comes to managing a company?
Posted By: His Bubbliness (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 04:12 PM
Did half of you even read Heyman's article or just quoted his remark regarding TNA? He quoted numerous WWE superstars as being underused as well.
Posted By: ex (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 04:12 PM
Does anyone else find it strange that WWE is the Coke of the "wrestling" world. Basically #1. A very sucsessful brand name. Yet McMahon still buries his own company by repeating the same contrived storylines that we have seen repeatedly. But then buries anything that is fresh, original or entertaining content. The sadness of it all.
Why do I have to search so hard for quality wrestling now. If someone would invest some money in ROH or CHIKARA.
Am I the only one who found Wrestling Society X entertaining despite its obvious cheesy announcing and production.
Posted By: Sadman (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 04:21 PM
Yeah seriously I know there are skeptics about Heyman but really he would be worth at least a look at this point. Russo can't afford to have the ratings continue to slip and from the sound of it Jeff Jarrett isn't too found of him anymore and would like new blood in there. He did good things with the original ECW and when it was brought back it was successful under his formula for most of the first 6 months so honestly what does TNA have to lose.
Posted By: Paul (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 04:27 PM
"What the hell is your point?"
My point - Heyman just jealous and plain crazy to think what TNA can have same resourses as WWE. And he forget what TNA closer to ECW when to WWE. He can brag about money, long term-contracts and marketing strategy right now, AFTER his work in WWE, but before it ECW don't have any marketing strategy and long-term contracts. And unlike TNA, ECW never turn profit.
Posted By: L'Mago (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 04:28 PM
Still we can't forget Haymen has some issues in and of himself.
If he gets back to United states televised wrestling, he'd have to be in purly creative and on screen roles, he's a great promo guy, a good commentor and an excellent writer. however his ability to run the boring behind the scenes part of a buisness is not good.
also Haymen's priorities with his top five are mixed. anybody whos got A s in high school drama and has access to a costume shop can be james mitchell just as well as he can.
admittedly Beth Phenoix should be a much bigger deal. but with the WWE woman's division not being serious, theres really no way WWE could market her right now. she's attractive, but I'd give my right arm to touch Melina or Candice, Beth doesnt inspire that kind of desire.
Heyman doesn't know Orton's history that well "What Crime has he commited against a babyface you love?" he asks. Here's a list of Randy's offenses
RKOing Stacy Keibler: several men probably tried to rush the ring when that happened.
abusing Cena's dad: picking on a 60 year old man who isn't a retired veteran that you expect to still be able to fight (or Vince McMahon), is just plain ruthless.
demanding a last man standing match from Triple H after Triple H had 2 matches in one night: how unsportmanlike is that!
beating up Matt Hardy to scare Jeff! in Kayfabe terms he put Matt back in the ER!
RKOing Hulk Hogan onto the back of his car! sneak attacking somebody is bad enough, but forcing a man with back issues to bounce off of a metal car, if it wasn't scripted that might have really put Hogan in the Hospital!
his intentionaly DQ wins while he was champ!
Orton comes across as a mean spirited guy, and truly one of WWE's most evil men!
Posted By: Davy (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 04:30 PM
theres always someone who goes well look at what Heyman did as far as pay go do you clowns have half a clue the guy brought that company up and made it a solid company I know I know Vince is the only genius in wrestling RIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiighhhhhhhht moving on.
Posted By: I love it (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 04:32 PM
Sadman, WWE is the coke it sucks and Pepsi is better in quality taste. TNA has great talent but wastes it with bad marketing.
Posted By: true (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 04:34 PM
@hisbubbliness
While you may be right about the financial situation ECW ended up in, you are wrong in terms of how they got there. Heyman did too much, thats well documented, but he ALWAYS got the best out of his workers by accentuating their positives and trying to hide their negatives.
TNA however allows Booker to say "who the hell are you?" to AJ Styles, a former double triple-crown winner in TNA.
ECW's best talent was raided by both WCW and WWF while TNA is being drip-fed star after star and yet they still manage to fuck it up. Angle has less credibility now than when he was singing songs with Austin and hugging Vince. Ditto AJ, ditto Joe, ditto Christian (though he has been better protected than some).
TNA is ran by a committee of so-called wrestling veterans, and yet at times it's as if they're trying their best to emulate circa 2000 WCW.
ECW ran successfully for years and was legitimately pushing WCW for the #2 position in the states, but as a consequence of Heyman trying to juggle too many balls, the expense of trying to run a show for TNN while they were courting the WWF, and plain old lack of funding, ECW folded.
TNA have all the talent in the world where ECW had little, divided responsibility where ECW had one guy trying to do it all, and a rich financial backer. All for naught. 0.7-1.1 ratings every week no matter the quality of the show and absurd booking up the arse.
The WWE is no stranger to shitty booking, but they have that brand recognition that sells despite the content of the show. How many WWE events sell thousands of tickets before a card is even thought of? TNA have the tools to build their own identity but seem too enamored with trying to be WWE Lite. All that is unique about TNA is quietly being swept under the rug - with the exception of the Knockouts division, and it can't hold out for long under that regime - X Division be damned. AJ, Joe and Daniels created a huge buzz with their amazing X Division title matches - now AJ is a goof, Daniels is reduced to playing Curry Man and Joe is the most 'meh' TNA champ since Rhino's cup of cofee with the NWA belt.
Heyman made mistakes, but did the best he could with a fraction of the money and star-power TNA has, and he nearly made it. TNA seem to be doing what they can to shoot themselves in the foot at every turn.
Posted By: dennett316 (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 04:47 PM
I have never understood the appeal of James Mitchell.
Posted By: Guest#6198 (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 04:53 PM
I think Russo's one strength is his script writing. Booking and segment layout on the other hand is something he needs to stay far away from. Russo needs a better filter, a smart wrestling mind who has his finger on the pulse of the fans that can say "look, this is a bad idea, fans won't like it." The fact is, while Russo can create some good lines and delivery, he has no clue about the direction the fans want to see the company go in. So don't give him the authority to book shows. It's that simple. You woul think someone in TNA has heard this by now.
Posted By: bighustle (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 04:58 PM
True:
TNA has
great talent but wastes it with bad marketing.
The problem there is TNA has already lost their chance to build a fan base nationally. Really they signed Christian, Team 3D, Kurt Angle, Sting & Booker T (at the height of his career as King Booker none the less) and have not been able to capitalize on any of them aside from Christian who they built up and is now stuck in pointless fueds.
Meanwhile they have stars like Christopher Daniels, Robert Roode, James Storm, Abyss & AJ Styles floundering to any WWE outcast Russo(lol) sees fit.
Its been said before but TNA is the new WCW. All the potential in the world but severly mismanaged into complete failure.
You never get a second chance to make a first impression.
TNA has tops three years left. Yet I hope for their sucsess.
Posted By: Sadman (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 05:02 PM
does no one remember Orton spitting in the faces of the legends and then "killing" them.
Posted By: Guest#3899 (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 05:04 PM
"WOW.I had no idea that tna was still in business.I thought they went out a while
ago."
I see the 12 year old WWE marks have discovered this topic. Go back to drooling on your John Cena poster, kid.
Posted By: Steve (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 05:15 PM
COME BACK HEYMAN!!!
TNA NEEDS YOU!!
WE NEED YOU!!!
Heyman with TNA vs. McMahon with WWE...BOOK IT!
Posted By: ECWFan (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 06:07 PM
Paul Heyman did wonders in ECW. Just think what he could have done had he been put in charge of WCW booking? I'm a huge Bischoff fan, but Heyman is a genuis when it comes to wrestling and booking. With him on the shelf and russo in charge of TNA, the industry has lost a lot.
Posted By: Joe (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 06:28 PM
Big Hustle has said the most intelligent thing on this thread. Russo isn't good at Booking but great with script writing which is why Jim Cornette needs to be his editor.
Heyman is the most overrated piece of crap. Vince Russo took alot of Heyman's ideas and made them fit for television which Heyman couldn't do.
TNA doesn't need Heyman, hell it's needs its fans to get it through their little mind that different isn't bad.
Posted By: Talon (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 06:45 PM
Hey TNA if you by any chance get to read this PLEASE PLEASE PRETTY PLEASE get rid of your brain tumor Vince Russo and bring in Paul E. He is all you need to survive.
Posted By: Dr.Lickalotapus (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 07:04 PM
James Mitchell is 1 of 2 characters in TNA that makes ANY sense, the other being Jim Cornette
Posted By: Brad (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 07:19 PM
do you think that ricky banderas known as "judas mesias" might come to wwe?
Posted By: vito (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 07:28 PM
Nobody gets guys over like Paul Heyman. NOBODY. The guy taps into any wrestler's potential and makes them shine. He can turn a nobody into a somebody. He can make an old wrestler nobody cares about anymore relevant again.
I'd love to see his knack for putting talent over combined with Russo's wealth of ideas that at least keep things fresh on TV, like them or not.
Posted By: Heyman knows talent (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 07:30 PM
I think Heyman might have meant to qualify his statement about the lack of Orton's heel actions with a "lately". 'Cause, yeah, Randy has commited plenty of heinous acts over the course of his tenure, but the last really bad thing I remember him doing was beating up John Cena's dad and that was what, almost a year ago?. Hitting the RKO or head kick out of nowhere might count to some, but I put those in the "Hey, he's a bad guy wrestler, why wouldn't he do those things" category.
Posted By: Michael O (Registered) on May 20, 2008 at 09:04 PM
No long term concepts + bad television writing + zero marketing strategy =
hard working talents whose efforts are wasted on a show that has not grown the
audience whatsoever despite the tens of millions of dollars sunken into
it." Its True! Its damn true!
Is this a introspection on the original ECW? People normally notice their own fallacies in other people - then they don't have to recogize their own!
Posted By: Dr Bob Onit (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 09:37 PM
ok let me summarize
TNA=WCW -full of talent being misused with limited pushes,less and less tv time, and being overshadowed by stars that have already been made stars else where
ROH=ECW(the original)- Great talent, Great matches, great creativity, and limited exposure.
WWE=WWE(F)
same shit no motivation to change whats wrong
to further prove that point the behind the scenes people are almost the same as how i compared them
Posted By: Ramirez (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 10:57 PM
Why is Heyman the bible? He's a history of burning out. He couldn't do fuck all due to their booking strat. And more impotantly, people want heyman to book more than Cornette. Such idiots.
Posted By: ButchReedMark (Guest) on May 20, 2008 at 11:13 PM
Because Cornette is doing such an awesome job, right?
Posted By: Vallejo (Guest) on May 21, 2008 at 02:44 AM
"I think the next time people are at a TNA event, they should break out in a
Heyman chant"
They should make that chant at TNA.
"Hire Heyman! *clap clap clapclapclap* Hire Heyman! *clap clap clapclapclap*"
Also, didn't Heyman say that his plan to lose weight was having sex?
Posted By: Vitamin D (Registered) on May 21, 2008 at 05:37 AM
Copyright � 2011 411mania.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
Click here for our privacy policy. Please help us serve you better, fill out our survey.
Use of this site signifies your agreement to our terms of use.
