TNA Off-course

Total Non-stop Action Wrestling could be off-course. It actually is longtime in coming and unfortunate. TNA started as an underdog promotion that had the good fortune of striking a national cable deal with Spike. They were building a good company and then they went the WCW route.

Recall WCW? Ted Turner's attempt to buy into Rasslin'. Big checkbook buying big talent and it worked for awhile. Then it began to wane because the creative died. In the meantime WWF was by necessity needing to work its creative to grow its own talent. It did in The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin, two icons. Wrestling hadn't seen stars of this stature since Hulk Hogan. You can't buy instant success.

TNA doesn't have Ted Turner money but they have been getting disgruntled WWE superstars. This is doubly worse than WCW. One, you never build any organization with the malcontents of another organization. They were look for greener pastures and after the honeymoon will continue to look for greener pastures. They are quitters who will quit you after a period of time. At least WCW had an understandable motive- money.

Second, creative builds talent. Get talent prepackaged then it has no where to go but down, while ignoring growing the next replacements. If provides a false sense of success. TNA was on track working AJ Styles and Samoa Joe, my favorites Black Machismo and Sharkboy were a new way to revive old themes, and Beer Money had a lot of possibilities. Then TNA tried to shortcut its way to success with recruited talent. Indeed, it did give them a bump but its also choked growing talent and creative. Now, they are floundering, trying to find storylines that will last longer than three weeks.

Trump-eting WWE

OK, Vickie is gone and Vince sold Raw to Donald Trump. I think this has some possibilities and we will be seeing more Trump on the Titantron. Don't really see The Donald traveling arena to arena, week after week. So, I imagine most of the Titantron will be him speaking to set a few feature matches a week. My prediction is that he will eventually turn Raw over to an Apprentice GM after two or three weeks. He will make occasional appearances for PPV build-ups. This will probably run for 3-4 months.

Like much of the WWE creative, they set themselves up to do something good, but will they take it?

Vickie Guerrero, Please Come Back

Vickie Guerrero is hopefully taking a haitus from wrestling and not leaving. I for one will miss her screeching "excuse me, excuse me" to interrupt some wrestler in the ring, as she comes out to turn his world upside down with some impossible match. Also, on a more "real" level I always felt that she was working in the WWE because Eddie Guerrero may not have left much for the family to live on. They have two children and being on the road as a single parent cannot be easy. Always thought highly of the WWE powers that be for giving Vickie the work, and they shouldn't be disappointed. She rose from Teddy Long's assistant to taking over Raw as GM. And she did the heel great, and as all heels should- get there's in the end of a story arch. She would get her knocks as a heel and was great with just plain screaming when things didn't go her way.

My only knock on her or her character was with Edge. Didn't like their "marriage," kayfabe or not, felt it was disrespectful to Eddie. Though I am sure he wouldn't have minded when it meant helping his family. Felt the marriage was only a time killer and didn't add anything to Vicky or Edge's character, was just an uncreative plot gimmick.

I don't think Vickie has left a legacy but her time on WWE was well spent for its time and hope she returns for more.

O'Something O'Good O'Coming

Can't say I always liked Finlay. When he debuted with the I Like To Fight story, he didn't look very street to me. Round in the gut, blond, wearing a singlet, and carrying a shalalee, his heel tactics using a weapon didn't fit the I like To Fight. Someone who likes to fight doesn't need to cheat or use a weapon for one-on-one action. Then he did the Hornswoggle bit which was fun but didn't help him or his character. At Wrestlemania, a year back, he got shalacked by JBL which I found somewhat sad and thought he was on his way out. He has spent the past year as a jobber. Most recently he went to ECW without Hornswoggle.

Then a wonderful turn of events, he just started jumping everybody. What does this mean? I have no idea and I love it! The possibilities are endless for Finlay's character, and I realized something. I actually like him, but it has been his storylines that have held him back. A guy who likes to fight doesn't need to rely on a stick or a midget to get him over. I like the I LIke To Fight bit if he actually fought. Now he can, if WWE creative can really work something good for him. Finally, something worth watching on ECW.

Here We Go Again

Randy Orton is the heavyweight champion again, after taking Batista out again. And again and again we will have to end every other episode of Raw with Legacy doing a 3-on-1 beat down and a fade out with Randy Orton sneering in the face of the "victim." What I cannot figure out is why the face can never figure out to eliminate DiBiase and Rhodes, before facing Orton. We have seen it before, start Raw with a backstage take down of one of the parties and ultimately leaving the leader of the pack one-on-one with avenging superstar. Instead, WWE creative has Batista and Triple H chasing all three around the arena solo only to get caught in ring for a 20 minute beat down to end the show. Even the commentators stop talking.

Orton makes for a good heel, no doubt there. But I cringe to think for the next three to six months we have to deal with him as champion. WWE does well when they have a surprising champion have a reign, not just regurgitate another Triple Hype championship. Jeff Hardy, Eddie Guerrero, CM Punk, Rey Mysterio these are fun and exciting times. But it is boring when a the title gets passed around the same few same olds.

The CM Punk Reprieve

I am so glad that CM Punk is the new champ. Not that I am a fan of his blandness, I would much rather have Jeff Hardy hold a charismatic run as champion. But with CM Punk as title holder, that puts Edge out and the fact that it is a three way feud hopefully means Edge will be out of the heavyweight title championship for a long time. My beef with Edge (and Randy Orton for that matter) is that though his gimmick makes him a great heel, it also is one noted and has been played too much. The Rated R Superstar angle died, well it is time for the ultimate opportunist to die also. Or at least do something new and that angle does not always have to end with him holding the title.

A great heel for the long term can make you guiltily like (or love to hate him) him and he also doesn't diminish his heel-ness if he gets his comeuppance. That is the social contract, we will shell out the $35 bucks for a pay-per-view to see the heel get what he has coming. But when an Edge or a Randy Orton never get what they have coming, it breaks the contract and I stop paying for the PPV. Why pay when the feud is just going to continue for the next three months or until the face gets injuried (for real)?

Wrestling Business

I am always fascinated with various businesses and how they work. With wrestling there are many facets, but the one that gets me is the salaries. How much do wrestlers make? Researching I see that it runs the gamut. Local promoters may pay $20-50 to a jobber to a pair of C-notes to a past star. TNA at one time was paying a couple of hundred dollars per show for a homegrown star like TJ Styles, and $75 for everyone else. I am sure that has changed, especially to the Main Event Mafia members.

Then there is the big Kahuna, the WWE. Most superstars make $75,000-$200,000 per year. Divas on the low end, and Superstars on the high end. They get a traveling stipend and airline coupons to get place to place. Now, real Superstars hit the seven figure mark. Reportedly, Ric Flair made $2 million in his last years, Batista and John Cena make a million or more.

These kind of dollars make WWE wrestlers almost on par with star professional athletes. Most league minimums are in the $200K a year range, with stand-outs hitting the million or more marks.