The offical TNA thread - News, Spoilers and the rest...

CMpunked

Wrestlezone breaks a story for once! :eek:

Hopefully now the #iwantwrestling shtick will actually result to something.

Machismo Fan

PW Torch are disputing it (or at least some of it, it might be only the fact that Lagana has taken over creative): http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/quicknews/article_58036.shtml

According to a top level source in TNA, reports of Dave Lagana replacing Vince Russo as Head of Creative are incorrect.

Nick Paglino of WrestleZone.com has reported this afternoon that Vince Russo has been replaced in TNA with Dave Lagana in the creative structure. The story did not detail how Bruce Prichard, who was recently given the title of Head of Creative, fit into the new structure.

We are currently attempting to clarify what regarding the original report is incorrect, but our source who would know says the story as reported is not true.

We can report from another source that Dave Lagana is in Orlando for tonight's PPV, but Vince Russo is not. That may have led to speculation that Russo was replaced by Lagana.

Lord TSC

Yeay Lagana!

Now let's hope he can actually do something good rather than get swamped by Hogan & Dixie politics.

Machismo Fan

I'd imagine Lagana would just slot into Russo's position with Prichard still setting the direction and Lagana writing the shows.

Furious-Red

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

Furious Red has Rock and Roode in the draft, I smell a conspiracy

And i have Bully Ray :D:D

GTR63

Machismo Fan wrote: »

If it ends up being confirmed here's a picture of me with the man himself to mark the occasion (I bet my brother that if we ran into Vince Russo during BFG Weekend I'd take a picture with him with a nice cheesy grin and 20 seconds later we turned the corner and there he was, terrible Batman tattoo and all):

Anyone else think Machismo Fan was Black, I assumed he was all along. Not that there is anything wrong with that

rovert

Hogan contract expires in fall. Impact agreement w/Spike expires in fall. Hogan will try2 snake deal from Dixie, start Spike-branded co.

https://twitter.com/#!/MarkMaddenX/status/169078428128129024

Hope this happens for the craic

JP Liz V1

Source

Look for a tag match with Hulk Hogan and Garett Bischoff vs. Gunner and Eric Bischoff at TNA's Lockdown PPV in April. It's possible that Ric Flair may end up teaming with Gunner instead of Eric Bischoff.

Machismo Fan

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

Look for a tag match with Hulk Hogan and Garett Bischoff vs. Gunner and Eric Bischoff at TNA's Lockdown PPV in April. It's possible that Ric Flair may end up teaming with Gunner instead of Eric Bischoff.

They could add Sting and Gunner (and probably should) to each side. James Storm vs. Bobby Roode will be the main event of Lockdown.

D2D

Dixie Carter President of TNA Wrestling

TNA and Vince Russo have mutually parted ways as of this week. The separation is amicable and professional. We are glad for the opportunity to have worked together and wish each other nothing but good luck and success in the future.

Headshot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMs9feeSknk

gnfnrhead

BRING HIM BACK VINCE!!!! :pac:

Headshot

Anyone in the wrestling business (cornette) say anything about this?

D2D

Headshot wrote: »

Anyone in the wrestling business (cornette) say anything about this?

Jim Cornette wrote three words on his Twitter account after the word came that Russo and TNA had parted ways:

"Have I died?!?!?!"

gnfnrhead

I think he would if Russo signed with ROH.

Riddle101

gnfnrhead wrote: »

I think he would if Russo signed with ROH.

Imagine Russo in ROH. 80% of the show would focus on storylines and promos while only 20% would focus on actual wrestling. They'd also proberly put emphasis on female wrestling but only push the girls who look good and sexy, while the ones who can actually wrestle get misued. Finally the ROH World Heavyweight Championship would constantly change hands and would be used as a prop in storylines.

Yep Russo would do great things in ROH alright.

the groutch

Riddle101 wrote: »

Imagine Russo in ROH. They'd also proberly put emphasis on female wrestling but only push the girls who look good and sexy, while the ones who can actually wrestle get misued.

Leave the mammaries alone

Headshot

What the **** were challenge doing or ho ever It was with not showing what happened to jessie

rovert

From a name branded newsletter:

Regarding Ken Anderson, he was off for a few months due to personal reasons, was back for one house show run but hasn’t been used of late, similarly to Pope, Devon, RVD to a degree, and others, simply because when cutting back on storylines and not trying to cram everyone onto the television shows, those who don’t have storylines aren’t going to be on TV until a role comes up for them.

I guess this sums up the different between the old and new regime. Good news.

Charisteas

Does this warrant asking the question are TNA ready to go two shows a week, or would that be overkill?

Ditch Xplosion, and put out a second weekly 2-hour TV show.

They have a plethora of talent available for use on two separate shows, they could use the mid and lower guys once a a week and use the top guys on both shows. The Tag-Team division could get a resurgence again, and more of the knockouts could get in-ring time.

Maybe have have 'A' show on the road, and the 'B' show at the Impact zone, not sure of the financial possibilities of that though. A lot would also hinge of whether Spike would be for or against.

gnfnrhead

Charisteas wrote: »

Does this warrant asking the question are TNA ready to go two shows a week, or would that be overkill?

Ditch Xplosion, and put out a second weekly 2-hour TV show.

They have a plethora of talent available for use on two separate shows, they could use the mid and lower guys once a a week and use the top guys on both shows. The Tag-Team division could get a resurgence again, and more of the knockouts could get in-ring time.

Maybe have have 'A' show on the road, and the 'B' show at the Impact zone, not sure of the financial possibilities of that though. A lot would also hinge of whether Spike would be for or against.

The ratings seem to have taken a bit of a hit this year and their Spike contract is up in (I think) October. I doubt Spike will be offering them another two hours right now. That could easily change by the end of the year but I dont see it happening soon.

jaykhunter

how much time do u think Lagana needs to fully implement his vision; to see a show and say "this is all him"? 6 months, later? less? Like I can't imagine he's thrilled to have so many expensive 50+'ers on the payroll.

rovert

Charisteas wrote: »

Does this warrant asking the question are TNA ready to go two shows a week, or would that be overkill?

Ditch Xplosion, and put out a second weekly 2-hour TV show.

They have a plethora of talent available for use on two separate shows, they could use the mid and lower guys once a a week and use the top guys on both shows. The Tag-Team division could get a resurgence again, and more of the knockouts could get in-ring time.

Maybe have have 'A' show on the road, and the 'B' show at the Impact zone, not sure of the financial possibilities of that though. A lot would also hinge of whether Spike would be for or against.

Spike doesnt want more Wrestling. If it did Reaction wouldn't have been cancelled and Xplosion would be on the station.

Charisteas

jaykhunter wrote: »

how much time do u think Lagana needs to fully implement his vision; to see a show and say "this is all him"? 6 months, later? less? Like I can't imagine he's thrilled to have so many expensive 50+'ers on the payroll.

Well they have greatly reduced the number of veterans on the roster compared to what it was 2 years ago. Now there is really only Hogan, Flair, Bischoff and Sting. Steiner and Jarrett are doing Ring Ka King now, and gone are guys from 2010 such as Nash, Hall, Booker, Foley. So they have significantly cut the 50+ payroll.

But there were some dirt-sheet articles floating around about Spike picking up a portion of the tab for Hogan and Flair.

jaykhunter

That's good to hear; I'd keep Steiner around for his promos I'd imagine it'll take months for lagana to finish off russo's storylines and progress them to his stuff. I don't think hogan sting or the bischoffs add anything to tna's bottom dollar that good booking couldn't fix. Sting really is nothing special in tna. Did hardy ever confront him for costin him the ppv match?

Charisteas

rovert wrote: »

Spike doesnt want more Wrestling. If it did Reaction wouldn't have been cancelled and Xplosion would be on the station.

Reaction and Xplosion are magazine shows for diehards and channel surfing casuals who missed the latest Impact.

Would Spike not be interested in a second show if it were to gain similar ratings as Impact? Then again 4 hours of TNA a week may be overkill for the casual, and a 'b' show would bomb. Worth taking a chance though?

Machismo Fan

jaykhunter wrote: »

how much time do u think Lagana needs to fully implement his vision; to see a show and say "this is all him"? 6 months, later? less? Like I can't imagine he's thrilled to have so many expensive 50+'ers on the payroll.

Well his influence on the show is limited in the first place (though highly influential if he's clever about things). Pritchard sets the direction, Bischoff chimes in, Hogan occasionally pops up with something if he feels like it (though I doubt he really has much to do with it) and then it's given to Conway and Lagana to write. There's a lot he can influence in terms of structure, continuity, flow, focus and presentation of characters in a general sense but it's still never anything near his vision. And I doubt he has too much of a issue with having to incorporate Hogan, Flair, Bischoff and Sting into the show as all can be great assets.

Charisteas wrote: »

Would Spike not be interested in a second show if it were to gain similar ratings as Impact? Then again 4 hours of TNA a week may be overkill for the casual, and a 'b' show would bomb. Worth taking a chance though?

A second show would more than likely split the audience and over expose the top talent and then one show by default will be viewed as the 'B' show. Plus TNA aren't nearly popular enough in the first place. The monthly PPV preview shows are something they really need to get on TV though.

rovert

Charisteas wrote: »

Reaction and Xplosion are magazine shows for diehards and channel surfing casuals who missed the latest Impact.

Would Spike not be interested in a second show if it were to gain similar ratings as Impact? Then again 4 hours of TNA a week may be overkill for the casual, and a 'b' show would bomb. Worth taking a chance though?

A second show typically dilutes the first show's rating and may drag down the station average. Ad rates for Wrestling are piss poor and wrestling shows aren't good for building an audience as once the wrestling is over fans feck off instead of watching what's next.

Charisteas

jaykhunter wrote: »

I don't think hogan sting or the bischoffs add anything to tna's bottom dollar that good booking couldn't fix.

Hogan and Sting t-shirts sold like hotcakes in Wembley last month (whoops, after mid-night, it's March now) and probably sell a good few shirts for tourists in Orlando on a weekly basis, so maybe the higher-ups are too scared to take the risk of getting rid of them.

Then again if it's just a case of those fans having disposable cash burning a hole in their pockets who are likely to spend that dosh anyway, then with the veterans not around, they would probably have picked up a Hardy or Storm shirt.

I like them both and still think they have something to offer on screen as in promos, maybe i'm in the minority

Machismo Fan

jaykhunter wrote: »

I don't think hogan sting or the bischoffs add anything to tna's bottom dollar that good booking couldn't fix.

You could say that about nearly anybody on the TNA roster.