Swveral Questions

Question
Hello, again with a bunch of questions;

1 - Since the arrival of Hogan, TNA has not beaten WWE yet but the section which was nose-to-nose competing WWE i.e. Knock-outs Women Wrestling, almost vanished. All the female wrestlers either gone or pulled aside and those who are currently in lime light are nothing but models. I know they can not sell Pay-per View on knock-outs but we can not deny the fact that knock-outs division was well appreciated by viewers and TNA have successfully presented a show which was only featuring knock-outs. Why they have done so and why not Dixie took care of that?

2 - What is the status of "Nexus"....are they regular part of roster OR some of them will remain in WWE for long time OR they all are for few months following the current story line and then gone??

3 - Except for Abyss and AJ Styles, no TNA original is still in lime light and viewers are missing Kurt Angle (though not pure TNA original), Samoa Joe, Desmond Wolf and several other originals which were identity of TNA? Where TNA is heading too? Because now Roster is heavy but its more looking like earlier versions of Smack Down? Also creativity which was expected from Eric Bischoff like he showed in RAW and WCW (e.g. Elimination Chamber)is also not there in TNA?

4 - I still dont understand the strategy of WWE in promoting and lowering down the popularity of wrestler. Jack Swagger is biggest example of it. We dont know whether he is jobber, main eventer or middle stream wrestler. They make him ECW champion, then pulled back and he acted almost as a jobber for an year, then all of a sudden became champion and then again championship has been switched. I am also unable to understand that why they are experimenting on Swagger when they have really good wrestlers like Viladmir Kozlove, Mark Henry and R-Truth?

5 - Why Christian is not in World Title run when he has passed substantial time in WWE and also proved himself excellent in TNA as world champion?

6 - How many times we will see John Cena in title matches with Randy Orton, Edge and Jericho when they all have fought their "One-Last-Match" with each other in past years? Except for Sheamus as he is good, why not WWE giving title chances to remaining fresh talent like Ted Di-Biasi, Hart Dynasty etc.

7 - In the Last, there are number of feuds which people want to see but WWE do not set and by the passage of time the superstars either got fired, died or leave the organization and WWE stuck on same feuds (which i have mentioned earlier Cena, Orton, Edge and Jericho). We havent seen CeNa with Rey Mysterio and Undertaker in long feud when they both are giving indications of leaving wrestling in a year or 2 due to injuries. Shawn Micheals left without having feuds with Rey Mysterio or any of the new talent like Morrison, Kofi Kingston, R-Truth or Matt Hardy etc. No long term feuds of heavy wrestlers like Big show with Mark Henry, Kaali, Viladmir Kozlove or Shad; Unlike TNA where every one had fought with nearly every one (in old Roster)?

Answer
Hello again Ahsen,

1 - It抯 a bit of a paradox. A strong women抯 division nowadays leads to growth and success, which in turn means a company can hire more big name wrestlers. These big names are usually males to strengthen the men抯 singles division. As a result, the women抯 division is then overshadowed again as focus goes on the new arrivals. I suppose the rationale behind the decision might be the thinking that the Knockouts Division is strong enough, but really, TNA needs to continue to put attention on the Knockouts to make use of them. It抯 a pity that that Awesome Kong felt she had to leave; since Hogan was a big fan of her, so she would have been guaranteed an opportunity to continue to show her considerable abilities, but it was her choice to make.

TNA haven抰 focused on the Knockouts as much because they have been busy with other things. Recently now it is the beautiful People that is the focus, as well as Angelina Love, but TNA also has Tara, who actually gets to wrestle in TNA rather than WWE. TNA have at least used Tara, but it would be better if Taylor Wilde and Sarita, as well as Daffney, who is refreshing with her alternative look and style, rather than just the Beautiful People. It抯 also a real shame that Hamada and Alissa Flash are gone. They also had great wrestling abilities and Hamada was not even close to being 慾ust another blonde.?Carter, along with the writing staff, have just been occupied with other things but haven抰 made the time to make a effort on placing greater focus on the Knockouts Division.

Apart from the Kong vs. Kim feud, TNA haven抰 really provided strong feuds for their Knockouts. There have been a lot of missed opportunities, such as Roxxi after her hair was shaved, the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championships and Daffney following a Mixed Monster抯 Ball match where she could have been a very credible challenger for the Knockouts Title, or been champion herself. She would have been better than ODB, who became stale and somehow TNA didn抰 refresh her character.

As Kong vs. Kim showed- not to mention SHIMMER and AJW- with strong feuds between characters the fans have come to respect and feel for like male wrestlers, you can sell PPVs on women.

It can be hard to write for the women, given that they don抰 always have the resources to have enough air time or talent to put on a good product without going back to the same people again and again. Part of the problem for TNA in particular is the fact that they aren抰 at the point where they really could pull off a separate show, but in order to get there, they need to grow on iMPACT! So now time for them has to come at the expense of something else. In the past, TNA could give the Knockouts the time they needed, but as the men抯 roster grew, this is no longer the case.

It is essentially a matter of priorities and resources. Since it is the top men抯 stars that usually sell the PPVs and have the biggest fanbases- and are involved in the most extensive storylines- it is easy to see how this undesirable state has occurred. As a promotion grows, they tend to grow that side of things. Things might very well change in the future, if either the Division gets some more momentum with the addition of someone like Mickie James, or eventually TNA抯 size means they have to split, which would free up more space on each show for the Knockouts.

2 - Nexus is part of an Invasion angle and historically with invasion angles the group itself doesn抰 last. Individual wrestlers, if the company continues to see worth in them and if Creative can come up with new roles/storylines for them, will last in the regular roster after the current storyline. Other wrestlers may leave sometime after the angle is finished. Since Nexus is composed of wrestlers from NXT, it is likely that that many of them will eventually be integrated into the WWE. After all, the original concept of NXT was to promote new wrestlers into the WWE. Still, it depends partly on creative plans in the future, as well as how well WWE view the performance of the wrestlers in Nexus.  

3- What do you mean by TNA Original? Since you include Desmond Wolfe, I assume you mean pre-Bischoff and Hogan- despite the fact that Wolfe is a relatively recent addition to TNA. There were numerous TNA Originals that are getting attention. There抯 Jay Lethal, who after 揃lack Machismo?is much closer to his gimmick in the early days of TNA. He is also getting more attention than he has in a long time, or arguably, ever, given his getting consistent air time, a feud with Ric Flair and notable wins over other big names in TNA. Beer Money, who has been around for quite some time, continues to get regular matches. James Storm is as much a TNA Original as you can get, being there from Day 1 like AJ Styles. Team 3D continue to get some spotlight, who have been there seen 2005. These two tag teams have been integral to TNA抯 tag team division. Kazarian continues to get the spotlight, recently being named part of Fortune. Kazarian has been in TNA from 2003, with a brief time in the WWE in 2005. Douglas Williams is still spotlighted in TNA and he was around in 2008, before Desmond Wolfe joined.

On the other hand, numerous others who have been TNA Originals have been released, most notably Christopher Daniels, a major part of TNA抯 identity for over seven years.

Desmond Wolfe currently isn抰 getting the attention he used to have, but bear in mind he may still very well join Fortune, although it may at first be in an associate position. Samoa Joe has been in a lot of matches recently, but no major storylines. There hasn抰 been much in terms of focused direction for Joe, in my opinion, since The Nation of Violence. With these two, they still have a sizeable role in TNA.

In terms of TNA抯 identity, things are different. Abyss is closer to his early TNA days than in the past few years, but heel AJ Styles is quite different from his early TNA days and the persona that defined him. Lethal is closer to his early TNA days and others like Kazarian and Team 3D are going through logical progression. TNA抯 identity is different more with the X Division which continues to be neglected as well as the decline of the Knockouts Division. The four-sided ring and some of the storylines- such as some of the storylines in the past with The Beautiful People, at contrast with the days when the focus was on the athletic beauty and their deviousness are some of the other ways were TNA has changed.

I would say that most of the added wrestlers are a definite asset to TNA and fit in with TNA抯 identity. The Young Bucks would have been perfect for the X Division if it had been focused on. I would love to see one of the pair go head-to-head with The Amazing Red. Jeff Hardy had previously been in TNA for 2004-2006 and is just a lot more popular now, with a wrestling style that I think is slower in pace, which is natural as wrestlers get over. Wrestlers cannot keep up the sort of pace as displayed in Jeff Hardy vs. RVD at WWF Invasion in 2001 forever. RVD抯 athleticism is a good fit for TNA.  D扐ngelo Dinero has done very well for himself.

It is more, I think, the way some of the wrestlers are being used, especially those in the Knockout and X Divisions that show a difference in TNA抯 identity that is more negative than positive. I miss LAX, as I believe others do and at least for the moment The Motor City Machine Guns finally have some more exposure (who knows how long that lasts for.) Wrestling-wise, TNA still do well, so overall it could be worse. Jeff Jarrett抯 role has changed a lot too.  

The roster is definitely larger, which is definitely to TNA抯 detriment given that they don抰 have another main brand. They aren抰 at the point yet where it is really worthwhile splitting into two, since they don抰 have that many people, but they are at the point where some of their championships and divisions just cannot get the attention they deserve, even if TNA were to really try, especially given the various big and popular names that need to be shown. Xplosion is more a supplement than another main show and isn抰 shown as widely as iMPACT!

As for TNA抯 future, well, they are going to expand. When it comes to creative plans, they change frequently, even if one knows what the current plans are, you can only speculate what the future will bring in coming months. Right now though, they are going through an ECW invasion, which ironically, is much more of the Original ECW than WWE did since One Night Stand 2006. The only problem with this direction is the timing- WWE have the Nexus as an invasion storyline right now as well. Not good for diversity. Of course, it also remains to be seen just how well the storyline is pulled off.

Creatively, it is a lack of continuity in some areas that hurts TNA from doing better storylines-the depth continuity adds always helps- but this is a common problem with wrestling problems. It also makes it harder to keep track of everything sometimes. Apparently Vince Russo is under a lot of pressure, which probably contributes to some storylines not being all they could be. Personally, I feel a separate writer should be the head writer for the Knockouts, and X Division, working with the head writer of men抯 singles and tag team divisions, to ensure the other divisions get the attention they deserve and help ensure quality. Otherwise, especially with big names, there is a tendency to focus on the men抯 single storylines at the expense of variety. Such variety is particularly relevant for TNA, given that the Knockouts and X Division are areas where WWE has long been lacking compared to TNA.

When it comes to lack of innovative matches, well, you cannot expect new ideas like the Elimination Chamber to be generated that often. Variations of existing matches are far more common. It really isn抰 easy to generate really new types of matches considering what is already out there. As for the Elimination Chamber itself, stuff like that is trademarked by the WWE. TNA wouldn抰 be able to use it, unless they did some variation and called it by a different name so it didn抰 bring any copyright the WWE has. WWE and WCW had resources TNA lacks, so they would play into it as well. The Ultimate X match is an example of a TNA innovation, but there limits to what they can do. One advantage they have (at least for now) due to their relative lack of touring is that enclosure matches like a Steel Cage, is that it is much easier to set up those kinds of matches. Still, since Bischoff and the rest of TNA management is occupied with other aspects, unless there is a particular storyline where a new match would really be useful, you cannot really expect him to present a new one.

True creativity in wrestling is more than just match types and also has to do with new moves/new variations of moves, character development, different match structures, including endings and storylines, which are very hard to get truly great. Bischoff was behind the new TNA logo, so that shows some creative energy right there, regardless of what one thinks of the logo. Bischoff also presented the ranking system, most likely developed with others in TNA management. Bischoff is being creative, just perhaps not in the ways you expect.

4 - I wouldn抰 call what WWE is doing in this regard a strategy. For one thing, that wouldn抰 make sense considering the lack of logical transition. For another thing, that suggests that all the movement is done like a decision agreed upon by all. Some moves of talent up and down in WWE occur because WWE management turns to favour other wrestlers and neglect other wrestlers, to some extent. At other times, wrestlers are moved down as punishment if they are doing something they shouldn抰 or get into trouble for an incident backstage. Some of the sudden championship reigns may be because in more recent years WWE have tried to go more for surprises, in part to counter wrestling insiders giving away unwanted details that can spoil enjoyment.

WWE also has backstage politics, as wrestlers and groups of wrestlers use influence to get opportunities. The extent to which these backstage politics exists depends on the time and whom you ask. It does seem likely that there is some level of backstage politics going on, as The Kliq was one example where backstage politics have became known openly, though again, the extent of their influence is open to interpretation.

The experimentation with some of the wrestlers is due to WWE trying to gauge their worth, whether they are ready for a higher position in the card. Also, there can be a changing opinion of a wrestler. Sometimes the moves are just very inexplicable, but it is a reflection of backstage activity as well as WWE Creative plans and isn抰 really a strategy. It just happens.

5 - The dominant reason for Christian抯 position, according to insider sources, is simply that Vince McMahon- in contrast to most in the WWE- doesn抰 see just how good Christian is and so doesn抰 help boost him up to a more suitable position for him.

6- Unless Vince changes his mind, you will stop seeing Cena in title matches with Orton, Edge and Jericho when either they cease being heel, cease being champion, or either they or Cena retires. Cena will continue to challenge heel champions. Orton, Edge and Jericho have faced Cena so many times simply because they are great heels and so make great heel champions. Sheamus and others who become heel champions in the future will also face Cena and at first will be a change.

The problem is the fact that Cena is not an effective face with his character, despite whatever Vince wants to believe and not even the greatest heel champion can make Cena more supported. If anything, that heel champion might get cheers like Triple H did when he faced Cena at one of the WrestleMania. I can抰 remember which one right now. Vince has wanted and continues to want Cena to be the face of the company. It doesn抰 quite work out that way. Cena has his demographic and a fanbase, but his character lacks depth to engage a broad range of viewers. He also has won too much, particularly in the matches that count. At times he has had more support than others. The marine aspect of his character lacks impact for international audiences. Praising US troops is fine, but saying they are the greatest doesn抰 quite work for international audiences, who are much more likely to have an emotional connection to troops of their own nation. TNA does this too with Jesse Neal.

WWE might see some of the fresh talent as still needing to do a bit more before they are credible as champions. Since WWE is focusing on Nexus at the moment, there may very well be some fresher challengers in the relatively near future, during or after the storyline. There are a definitely a number of newer wrestlers who are ready, or very close to being ready. Partly, it might be that creatively, WWE have ideas for using guys like those currently holding titles, but aren抰 sure how to use newer wrestlers in those roles.

WWE might also see, for now, the current champions as best for the job, yet, at the same time, not see newer challengers as a better option than Cena. Still, look on the bright side- there抯 Sheamus adding something new to the main event scene and there will in all likelihood be some change to the main event in the future caused by the Nexus storyline, during or after the storyline.  


7 - Cena and Mysterio are/were both faces. Michaels has usually been a face and Mysterio has always been a face. When it comes to feuds between faces, it usually doesn抰 happen since historically it hasn抰 drawn as well. History has also indicated that the reason for this is because the writing hasn抰 been good enough in those cases. Writing needs to be of a higher quality for face vs. face feuds to work. For some of the match-ups that haven抰 been done, one of the guys could have turned heel, as Michaels did to feud with The Undertaker.  Matt isn抰 a new talent- he first arrived in the WWE in 1998. At 35, he is no spring chicken in the world of wrestling. There are a couple reasons why some feuds just don抰 happen. The first is that creative plans just don抰 call for them to meet and there isn抰 enough interest within the company- vocal interest made known within the company- for Creative to go out of their way to put together the matchup. Creative don抰 have a lot of time of their hands, so unless it is a matchup they get really excited about, they might not get onto it, perhaps thinking that it would happen sometime, but then before you know it, one of them leaves.

When it comes to long term feuds of heavy wrestlers, there are reasons why those feuds aren抰 often done- when large wrestlers fight other large wrestlers, the resulting match can be quite slow. This isn抰 so much the case with Big Show, Shad or Kozlov, who are quite capable of speed, but other pairings wouldn抰 be easy to make it work in a feud with multiple matches. Ever notice in Khali matches how there are points- and some entire matches- where Khali抯 opponent does most of the moving? It isn抰 just to show Khali抯 power- it is also to give a match a faster pace as the other, faster wrestler, can get back to their feet or go at Khali again while Khali doesn抰 have the kind of mobility or speed most other wrestlers do. That partly comes with the territory of being a 7-footer, but when you compare Khali with Andre The Giant and to a lesser extent Big Show, there is a big difference in wrestling skill.

Also, both with large wrestlers and other wrestlers, there are times where the gimmicks of the wrestlers mean a feud wouldn抰 be suitable. There are other matchups where nobody, or not enough people, would be particularly interested. This is why smaller names don抰 face everyone in feuds. There are matchups that should happen but don抰 and others that should be left, at least at certain times. There is also the time factor. The longer wrestlers stay in a company, the more opponents they will have. Naturally newer wrestlers wouldn抰 have time face everyone if they are to have meaningful feuds.