TNA vs. WWE: Week 1

Total Nonstop Action vs. World Wrestling Entertainment: Week 1. I know that title may seem a bit weird to anyone familiar with the world of professional wrestling, as TNA has been working for roughly 7 years to build a following in a quest to provide an alternative to WWE’s three brands of Raw, Smackdown and ECW, as well as WWE’s entertainment empire, which includes music and movies.

TNA was founded by Jeff Jarrett after two storied runs apiece with WWE and the now-defunct (or absorbed by WWE) World Championship Wrestling. But TNA’s early years have been met with mild ratings in comparison to WWE, mainly due to a tumultuous television schedule (it started as a pay per view only venture, and then changed time slots several times, wound up online for a bit, before finally finding a home on Thursdays with Spike TV). All the while, TNA has built a solid roster of talented and big name wrestling figures (sometimes with those two categories overlapping), and Dixie Carter has since taken over as president of the company.

This all sets the stage for what happened Monday, Jan. 4. TNA fired the first shot in what could very well be the next incarnation of the famed Monday Night Wars that used to take place between WWE and WCW. TNA went live with its premiere show, Impact, for 3 hours on Spike TV Monday in a time slot that overlapped with WWE’s Monday Night Raw for 2 of those hours.

TNA booked Hulk Hogan as an on-air figure, purchased a billboard in Times Square to promote the show, and directly called out WWE with its content. So while it may have been 7 years in the making, the first full week of January officially marks Week One in what is set to be an intense battle between TNA and WWE. TNA took the first shot, but whether the underdog can upset the reigning champ remains to be seen.

TNA’s show had several major hits, including the stellar main event. While WWE has been known to tease bouts only to hold them back for pay per view, TNA pulled a reverse for the live show, taking the major championship match scheduled for the next PPV challenger Kurt Angle vs. champion AJ Styles, and made it free as the main event of the live Impact!

Just reading that billing is fantastic. Kurt Angle has seemingly lost nothing since his days with WWE. The Olympic gold medalist still performs to the fullest every time he enters the ring. And AJ Styles, a wrestler who put in countless years climbing the proverbial ladder, has finally been given the spotlight as champion in TNA. The two of them put on a fantastic match that lasted roughly 20 minutes and could have easily headlined any PPV, including WWE’s Wrestlemania, and been well worth the purchase. As importantly, an early masked man interference was a non-factor, and the rest of the match, including the finish, were clean, avoiding a cheap no contest to carry the battle to the PPV.

Unfortunately, this was the only match really worth noting on TNA’s 3-hour special. There was a wealth of bouts, though the enticing Abyss vs. Rhino barbed wire match teased at the beginning was sadly taken off the bill by later events. TNA offered plenty of matches, but many ended in a few quick minutes. It is evident that TNA used this live event as a showcase, the goal of which was to highlight as much of its talent as possible and deliver surprises, but hopefully the trend won’t continue on future shows. With fans constantly starting live chants of “This is wrestling,” TNA would do best to recognize what fans want to see and deliver – and that’s great matches, one after another.

Another disappointment came in the form of the opening bout – an eight-man Steel Asylum battle featuring members of TNA’s X Division. The match had no major spots to speak of, and ended quickly with referees calling a no contest due to Homicide hitting another wrestler with a baton. Though it didn’t really come across on television, the live crowd erupted in a “This is bullshit!” chant. Not the best way to start a show. Given, it was simply a launching pad for the debut of Jeff Hardy in TNA, but after his turbulent career, it remains to be seen whether he’ll be a worthwhile addition to the roster.

The biggest highlight of TNA’s event was unavoidably Hulk Hogan. The wrestler appeared to announce his involvement in the show – which seems to be of an authority figure involved in booking, thankfully, rather than as a wrestler – but was quickly interrupted by his former New World Order cohorts Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman (better known as X-Pac). The story goes that the Wolf Pack has come back to ride Hogan’s coattails and start making some money again. This is where TNA’s new direction is uncertain.

I like the idea of Hogan working on the show as an authority figure – it keeps him on the screen and bringing in the years of accumulated Hulkamaniacs without having to actually do battle in the ring, which could just be sad at his age. What I don’t like is the reemergence of the Wolf Pack and re-introduction of Eric Bischoff to the mix. In so many ways, despite TNA seeing itself as the underdog looking to upset the media empire of Vince McMahon (almost a reversal of the situation WWE was in with WCW), TNA is dangerously treading the Ted Turner path to success in this scenario, which ultimately ended in failure for WCW.

In many ways, TNA is built on the same foundation as WCW. It is filming in the same studio, has a roster of talented individuals but seems dangerously focused on ex-WWE talent past its prime (in the Turner days it was luring them away with money, now it’s apparently a common hatred for McMahon – note: Ric Flair also appeared on Impact), the NWO is trying to take over once again (whether by name or not), and two of the creative forces behind TNA now appear to be Bischoff and Vince Russo. To give credit where it is due, these are the people that introduced the brilliant angle of the NWO and kept WCW competitive for a long time, but they are also the people who gave David Arquette a world championship, thereby cheapening it forever.

Hogan’s “role” in this fiasco, as Nash so accurately called it, is to play the guy who says those old days are over – someone who is actually interested in doing good for the company and therefore putting himself at odds with his old faction. I’ll be the first to say I was hoping for a heel turn from Hogan (how great to bill his return only to have him betray his fans all over again), but I like the angle. I just wish it didn’t involve Bischoff, and I wish that when Hogan told them off in the original promo in the ring that would have been the end of Nash, Hall and Waltmann. Classy on Hogan’s part, and it gets rid of a trio that can no longer wrestle and, at least in the case of the latter two, work a mic with any respectability. But no, the show ends with the Wolf Pack wreaking havoc and Hogan looking on with concern. Worse, the conversation in the ring was based on years of industry knowledge, insider and public, and that excludes some of the audience. If TNA is looking to start fresh and change things, that’s what it needs to do, not bring back the past.

TNA has a real shot at success, because it seems WWE has become complacent in its product (more on that later). But I don’t think it is another revival of WCW trends and the NWO that fans want to see. TNA needs to be an alternative, and that means young, talented wrestlers delivering a show every single night, with fresh storylines in a business that’s been around for years and is simply recycling history. TNA has the ability to deliver that, but is sadly underutilizing talent like Nigel McGuiness (he’s been promoted as a big-time wrestler, but the Desmond Wolfe character is lifeless), and unfortunately making the focus of this rebirth old talent. That’s the challenge the company has ahead of it.

Meanwhile, WWE’s answer to this blockbuster spectacle was Bret Hart Monday night. The wrestler was undeniably one of the best in the business in terms of sheer talent, but left on terrible terms in what has become infamously known as the Montreal Screwjob, creating bitter feelings between Hart, Shawn Michaels, Vince MacMahon and even former WWE/current TNA referee Earl Hebner. The major angle of Monday Night Raw was the return of Hart after 12 years, and he opened the show by making public amends with Michaels. He followed it by calling out McMahon, who did not appear. The boss later entered the ring on his own accord and Hart joined him. The two seemingly made amends…then McMahon kicked Hart in the balls, likely to set up some sort of feud for Wrestlemania in a few months.

The problem is, while Hogan is past his wrestling prime, there’s still a larger-than-life feeling when he’s in an arena or on screen, and he simply creates energy wherever he goes. Hart, unfortunately, looked like the walking dead in the ring Monday, showing little emotion on any end of the spectrum, and it made the bits feel stale. Worse was that the rest of Raw was delivered as a regular show, as if WWE did not consider TNA’s show a threat.

If WWE wants to survive, that can’t last much longer. TNA has called the company out, and there’s a very good chance that the Monday Night Wars could be reignited if TNA gets a new slot. TNA or WWE, fans should be rooting for that to happen, because it can only mean good things for viewers, as the previous feud arguably provided the best years of wrestling, no matter which brand was favorite. Both company’s had direct competition and had to bring the A game every single night or face the risk of viewers flipping channels and staying on the other side permanently.

I missed ECW Tuesday with everything going on this week, but Friday night’s Smackdown was an abysmal show, with lackluster matches, terrible promos and a no contest main event not worth writing anymore about, though it’s nice to see CM Punk back to being a jackass and doing it well. The only notable bit of WWE wrestling this week came with the Tag Team title match between DX and the team of Chris Jericho and the Big Show on Raw. The match was a solid exchange of trademark moves between the veteran competitors, but it was the finish that really shined. With four men (four and a half counting the leprechaun wrestler Hornswoggle) in or around the ring, the match had an absolutely fantastic finish, choreographed to involve everyone with a great back and forth before the big finish. It is going to take a lot more matches like this and Angle vs. Styles as competition heats up, and ultimately it should be wrestling fans who are the winners after the three-count. We can only hope. This is the kick in the ass wrestling has needed for years.

Raw airs Monday evenings on USA Network. ECW airs Tuesdays on Syfy. Impact airs Thursdays on Spike TV. Smackdown airs Fridays on My Network TV.

About the Writer
Bill Jones is the editor-in-chief of Pads & Panels, a site dedicated to the coverage of comics and games.