WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has
posted a new blog entry,
here are the highlights…
Impact Wrestling had a solid PPV Sunday night in
Arlington, Texas and their roster, which many under rate, stepped up. As I have
said many times on my Ross Report podcast, Impact Wrestling has a marketable and
potentially winning roster but my issues have been with the ‘play calling’ for
the lack or a better term aka the creative booking.
Samoa Joe, Jeff
Hardy, and Bully Ray all losing on the same show could be a head scratcher but
if it helps get new talents over and legitimately builds for the future then I’m
all for it. In other words if there is a long term, definitive plan in place
then bravo to TNA.
The Von Erich’s not winning cleanly was perplexing.
Please don’t try and sell me the worn out tale that the Von Erich’s are ‘part
time and the other talents are not’ argument. The Von Erich’s had as much, if
not more to do, with selling the tickets in Arlington than any one on the card
so why not get two pops from the pro Von Erich crowd than one? Kevin Von Erich
using the Von Erich Iron Claw was a classic touch and I’m happy it was saved for
KVE. That’s good booking.
Even though I am of the belief that the
authority figure/owner role in pro wrestling is wearing extremely thin in
general, it seems obvious that TNA is building to Dixie Carter getting the “Mae
Young” table treatment from Bully Ray aka Bubba Dudley. At least, like it or
not, there is a creative destination being targeted which is good.
If
Impact could produce more weekly, TV shows like their Sunday PPV, and they
easily could, then their brand has a chance to regenerate some momentum. In
other words, stop with the long, drawn out talking elements and provide the fans
what Impact’s talents do best and that is to wrestle. I have much more to say
about this particular topic and a potential solution for this matter on this
week’s Ross Report podcast which drops Tuesday at 6 pm pacific
time.
Every smart promoter that I ever worked with generally booked to
his roster’s strengths and did his best to conceal his roster’s weaknesses.
Impact Wrestling’s roster strength is bell to bell wrestling.
Speaking
generally about the business, why many wrestling promotions don’t want to
promote wrestling and would seemingly rather do campy vignettes, sophomoric
backstage scenes, and totally unbelievable storylines riddled often times
riddled with bad comedy is apparently way above my pay grade. That philosophy
that does not cater to their primary demo and their most die hard fan
base.
Nonetheless….good job Impact Wrestling and let’s hope that the
crowd reaction you received in a fresh market motives you to wrestle more,
provide more physicality, more organic drama, and logical storylines in hopes of
creating more interest in your brand which is perfectly positioned to be the
alternative on national TV in the pro wrestling world.
Speaking of
Impact, tomorrow night (Tuesday) I will visit with Bubba Dudley on the Ross
Report for a future podcast. Check out the home page for our list of upcoming
guests and air dates. Bubba or Bully is one of my favorite guys in the biz and a
true, old school, man’s man. Plus, MVP is my guest this week and we talk
extensively about his 9 1/2 year prison term and his relationship and some
compelling info on the late, Chris Benoit.
You can read Jim’s full blog by clicking
here.
